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I write. I write. I write. I read a little in a book I bought ages ago, started and then left. Half way through it now. Not one of the best books I've come across, but it's a nice read all the same ('The king's bishop' by Candace Robb, a medieval murder mystery). And I got my of my free review books in the mail so I can start chewing my way through that. More reading. And I write some more. (As you might see there is a lot writing going on right now. I blame finally getting my story to work for me, it's so much fun running from scene to scene to capture it all. I really like the characters and the mood, and the cross-over between teen drama and fantasy. I just need to figure out why two guys with black wings like sitting on a roof-top in a middle-sized English town. Any ideas?)
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Two out of eight bookcases sorted and completed - which means the books are put in different groups according to subject and author (how else to keep track of your 1500+ books?). It's taking ages, but at least it's getting done. Fittingly enough the two I've done is one for my manga and Japanese collection (complete with the household collection of Final Fantasy action figures) and one for books on art, architecture, religion and history (the books on such subjects not confined to a specific period because I have other shelves for them (in the library). I'm.... eclectic... when it comes to my book collection. Oh, and I found a place for my collection of travel books - I collect them. They are of two kinds, the ones I got for actual travelling - and the ones I can go through earth and fire for, my pre-1914 collection which is SO entertaining to read! One of my favourites is the one for northern France from 1904 which makes the note that the Eiffel Tower is an impressive structure but there was no reason to include a picture in the book since it was soon to be pulled down! (It was built for the world exhibition in Paris 1900 - and it was really meant to be de-constructed!)
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My cat is in a box. She usually is, if there is a box around to hide in. Now there are several, but she is a polite cat and shakes her head from to time so that I will hear her. Working on my article on fashion and the French revolution, it requires a complete rewrite from when I did the last version (two years ago) because, quite frankly, I write much better now, but it is fun and I feel quite accomplished with the presentation. (It's about the influence of ancient Greece on the fashion, and why and how come it turned out the way it did. But it's in Swedish so I'm not posting even a snippet of it! ;)). Today I've put up a lot of pictures - because that makes me comfortable to have around me - and I fear it's enough to drive my neighbours bonkers! But luckily for them I ran out of the proper nails so I had to take a break until I get the opportunity to buy some more. Not today when the snow is even thicker than yesterday. I can always say I want to give my neighbours' ears a rest and leave it at that! And the lamp is up in the living-room ceiling. Now I'll just lean back and enjoy my pictures - be it 19th century fashion plates or Albrecht Dürer's Madonna, or Greek cats... No, they are not next to each other, they're not even in the same room! On a totally unrelated note - just read chapter 63 of La corda d'oro, and I must say: that was about time! |
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And three of them I even got to choose myself. *does happy dance* Lucky for me I'm out of my streak of not being able to read books!
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This time hopefully to stay! ;) Or at least to write proper entries and read yours - and sometimes even comment on them! (But I'm not promising too much, right?! ;)) The world around me is still somewhat chaotic, but the boxes and bags are no longer up to my shoulders, just my knees - which feels like a nice development. I've picked up almost all of my books and placed them in my book-shelves, now I just have to sort them too (which is a more complex process and therefore have to wait a bit more). And you can actually walk in to the library now - even if you're not a cat! She, on the other hand, is a bit sulky since removing most of the boxes there means she can no longer jump to the top of the shelves and walk around there. Poor little thing. Once I get my other computer working I will post some pictures of the chaos which is no more! And as from today I no longer have my old flat, someone else is renting it now, someone else's name is on the door and I will mostly likely never walk past there again - if not just to feel a bit nostalgic. But I'm not a nostalgic person, so maybe not... Right, time to get into town to buy some frames, and then work on my article on the influence of ancient Greece on the fashion of the French revolution (the one in 1789 that is, I doubt there was much such influence on the later ones).
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...I got myself a proper, working screw-driver. Because every lady needs one. At least when she's moving. Cleaning out the old flat is boring and takes a lot of time.... ...and my cold isn't getting any better. Actually it's getting worse because it's cold and damp outside which makes breathing kind of hard. It sure is fun right now.... It's getting done though, and in a week or two I should be more able to hang out here and care about you all! :) On a more fun note though, my favourite josei-mangaka Yuki Yoshihara is finally available in English (as in officially translated by Shojo Beat). It has the really corny name of "Butterflies, flowers", but I'm willing to forgive them that...
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I have an old apartment to clear out. I know. But it's boring and I still have more than a week left - if I want to make it take that long. Otherwise I should be able to clear next Thursday-Friday. That old, sad, derelict place which used to be my home.... I loved it when I lived there. Well, it was bit cramped and too hot in the summer (31 C) and too cold in the winter (18 C), but still it had charm. Apparently all that charm was placed in my own belongings because when they were removed I could just look at the place and think 'oh my god, how could I stand living here - and how can it be this small? Isn't empty rooms supposed to look big?' But right now, this weekend, I think it is more important to get the new place into shape - it will give me more energy to take care of the rest. (And somewhere in the middle of all this I have to get a new video card for my other computer, because the old one just died on me.... *insert gritted teeth here*) Getting things into shape was it...... *at least considers leaving the sofa*
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My back may be broken, my body may be bruised and my whole life might be in boxes and bags right now - but I'm here. I just have my laptop to write on, not having put together all parts of my big one yet, but I have Internet (god bless the router, brought from my place - before I never had access to the Net when I was here). Everything is of course total chaos. Moving does that for your life. The bedroom is the room mostly in shape - and I have even put together my bed (for the first time in my entire life using a drill, at least the kind you hold in your hand). I am so proud of myself. I should perhaps add the drill was there for putting the screws right, not making holes! Now it's just the unpacking left (and cleaning out the old place, but I have almost two weeks left for that), and some things are more important than others. Like my hair brush. And the box for Lost Odyssey - since we are just finishing disc 1 and want to move on to disc 2. A great game, btw! ;)
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Just to let you all know I'm still alive! I have a read a few of your entries, commented on even fewer, just to realize how much I miss it, and how I really don't have the time... I haven't slept properly for over two weeks (I need my 8 hours), because I can't stop thinking of... things. And as soon as I stop thinking of one thing (or it's actually solved) the next thing pops up like a Jack-in-the-box. And in less than four days everything should be away from here - I was going to say 'in place', but lets face it, that won't happen! ;) I'm right now on my way to throw away my VHS-tapes (yeah, I actually owned quite a few, but it's not like I can watch them, is it?!), and I got a key for the road-block to the yard - which was kind of lucky since it turned out they only had one left... and without it things would have been very nasty indeed. And I got my cellar-keys out of the cellar. Me tired + self locking cellar door + the only set of keys to that door = accident waiting to happen. Right, off I go.... see you next week!
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The next week (or make that two weeks) I will be kind of busy - meaning I won't just be bad at commenting but also reading your entries (which I normally do everyday, several times a day - hey, I like to keep track of you all! ;)). Moving drains my brain... But I'll see you all on the other side!
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It feels like I'm a the last flickering moments in my old house. Not really true, since I'll be staying here for another week or so before it's completely uninhabitable, but still... I don't like moving. If you had as many books as I do you wouldn't either (but you don't! ;)). It's snowing outside and it's cold inside - which is a very good reason to get out of here. I still haven't heard anything about my laptop which makes me kind of disappointed. I know, I know, it's not like they are there working around the clock at Christmas/New Years - but I have some fiction on it I would kind of like to continue with. No, I am not so stupid enough as not to have copies of my work all over the place (two computers and an external hard-drive saves the day, any day of the week), but when I just start something I don't immediately go into saving-mode, as if it would be bad luck for my creativity. After all I have a hard-drive on the big one absolutely littered with beginnings of stories which never turned to anything at all... If you write several stories a year it's bound to be some false starts - I don't think out a whole story-line in my head (complete with characters, settings and events) and then sit down and write, I start with a vague idea and begin writing, because you can never tell if a story will work until you actually see it on the page. And I don't throw away stuff that I write, even if it turns to nothing!
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No, I don't do New Year's resolutions, because I don't like the concept. But if you make any, I wish you the best of luck all the same (I'm not THAT evil!). At the moment I have my last minutes of peace in my old home before the moving starts for real - I have a good friend visiting from another part of the country, to celebrate the new year here, so it really is fun (except when she tries to touch my neck because she knows that makes me all hysterical - for real!). So, no new deals for 2010 - I will just continue to be an intellectual snob with a fondness for tea, the arts, obsessiveness and fandoms (because I'm like no one else! ;)). (And I think of redoing my layout - but it will probably have to wait until the other side of the moving. If it's not a great way to take a break from it all, of course!)
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Wishing everyone a happy new year! Love and hugs to you all!
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Why do I always hit my head on any sharp corner I can find on any piece of furniture - no matter how out of the way the subject seems to be? And how could I find red tinsel in my bed?? I didn't even know we had red tinsel in the flat, and now I have even slept on it!
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(I always think of changing my Christmas user-pic, because it's not a very good one - but at the same time it's one of the first user-pics I have ever made, as you can tell, and it kind of makes me nostalgic... Or maybe it's because I always realize I want to make a new one when it's already Christmas time and I really don't have an opportunity to make a new one. I need my Photoshop to feel comfortable - mum's computer lack that! ;)) Christmas was nice, my coughing somewhat less so - but now I can at least spend an hour without it sounding like my lungs are leaving my chest. It's just a cold, but it's not a pretty one. Which means I have to stay indoors and can't enjoy the first white christmas in about ten years - but the again it's +1C, which means it's kind of wet anyway. It's better viewed from a window.
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A very merry Christmas - with love and hugs and all! :) Or 'God Jul' as we say in Swedish....
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[I'm at my mother's now - my laptop has died on me (or more exactly the screen has so I'm not too nervous about it) so I'm borrowing my father's, complete with Internet access, so I can sit in the sofa and write this... very comfortable. The train-ride went well, which considering the snow now was no less than a miracle. It's snowy here too, and very cold, with -12 degrees C.] But before I went I bought the latest copy of Bleach in Swedish. It's just number 13 - we're a bit slow yes, but it's fun to read the beginning of it all, at the same time as I on-line can read the new stuff - but I wanted it. Took my copy and walked over to the counter to pay for it. And the cashier took it, my money, and then turned around and gift wrapped it for me. Thanks... I guess... (Was it because of my age or because I was of the wrong sex?)
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I thought I for once wouldn't do everything later - and I've been wrapping Christmas presents all day (or close enough) so I'm in the mood for some winter right now.
And winter it is!
Here are a few shots from the last couple of days (if you want them bigger, just click!):
( Read more... ) |
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The package that had such a hard time getting delivered to me turned out to be from Spain - it was my issue of the art magazine Belio in which I participate with some vintage photos and a few well chosen words about time and people long gone.
Yeah, I'm pretentious - isn't that why you love me? If you want to, you can be a copy yourself for €20....
[and the snow is deep outside my window - very picturesque, very Christmas-y.... might post a photo later, though knowing me, later may very well be in May! ;)]
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Me: Hi! I got a text message from you saying to call you and give you this number: *insert long number for a parcel delivery from a for me unknown company [but then again I only know about DHL and UPS]* Lady in the other end: Yes, that's right we tried to deliver it but no one was home in the afternoon. *long conversation on whether or not I'm at home in the afternoon and if I'm not could someone else take it for me - and me trying to explain that no, I wasn't home in the afternoon [how many are?], and no, no one else lives here [was I supposed to be a house-wife or what was I missing?] - oh and by the way you didn't have my address correct either* Me [slightly desperate, since I'm not going to be home tomorrow afternoon either]: Can't you just put it in the letter-box? Lady: Yes, we could do that too. The regular post may have its downsides, but at least you get a note of them coming!
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hungry
amused
chipper
determined
blah
tired
drained
cold
naughty
hyper
confused
lazy
contemplative
restless
exhausted