Eavesdropping

It's like everyone's playing a game I don't know the rules of
Smiling, half amused, half amazed,
Aquiescing and conniving.
On the surface.
I walk on dazed and dizzy with questions
Pretending to know the answers
Yet knowing that they amount to deciphering hieroglyphs
A writing so strange and enchanting
So appealing and yet so aloof
Inclusive and exclusive
Where do I belong?

Done with Xmas spirit?

One thing that always gets me is this scene from "Love Actually" when Billy Mack (a.k.a "uncle Bill" hohoho), played by utterly terrific actor Bill Nighy, gives some wise advice. So anti politically correct in an otherwise quite predictable romcom, but hey, can we really escape those?
On the other hand, I do confess I like myself a good old Xmas film, even the very down-to-earth - not too say overly sweet and a wee bit tacky - made for tv ones that are broadcast at the moment. Even a little after Xmas.
... "Aaand I do believe it's time for commercial break"!

Long time no speaky

Still catching up on (multiple) re-runs of the Royal Wedding and all things Wills & Kate (obsessed? me??)
I unfortunately couldn't see the live ceremony because well, 1st. I don't have a tv set (but had planned to go to my parents' for the week-end anyway) and 2. because of that stupid administration I had to go and see to have an urgent paper signed, which, of course, they couldn't do because "the one in charge" was still on holiday (let me point out that it wasn't a public holiday here, ahem). Same thing happened the following monday even though they told me the clerk would be there, and all over again, they said to "come back tomorrow". Our admin system is such a joke!

On another grotesque note, my ophtalmologist (because yes, as if my day hadn't been ruined enough by the admin-&-missed-wedding debacle, I had to have my eyes tested on that day too, I couldn't let a 3-month's wait to get an appointment go down the drain) advised me to have a haircut, since I have that (rather unconscious) habit of tilting my head to the side.

Okay, so the dress was gorgeous, Kate (Oops, sorry, Catherine the Duchess of Cambridge) looked stunning, William's imminent baldness raised everyone's concern again, Harry's grin was more annoying than ever and the Queen's own interpretation of this season's colour block trend was smashing. I wish I could have been there but then again, I can't really stand big crowds and would probably have ended up looking like poor little bridesmaid Grace above ;o)

I was thrilled the couple was given such a title, it reminded me of my great stay in Cambridge last month for a brilliant conference, one or perhaps the best I've attended, all the delegates were so nice and gave me the best feedback ever. I've been sick for almost a month now (how is that even possible?!) and it has really put a strain on my energy and motivation to go on with my thesis, though. Fingers crossed this nasty illness will soon be out of the way, please?

k, babbling almost over, sorry about the whining quality to that post though!
xx

Happiness, please!

Few things make me happy, even though I wouldn't consider myself a sad person, I'm not an optimist at heart either. But when tiny little things happen, it can change my mood drastically (either from very good to very bad, that is. Call me bipolar!) So I was quite thrilled to hear from my former Japanese student today and learn that his family was okay too. I was happy to see that my parents had left some pumpkin soup - my favourite - in my fridge after they visited me yesterday and even happier when I actually realized it was pumpkin in that deceptively orangey glass bottle and not orange or carrot juice as I first thought (luckily I realized that before pouring the liquid in a glass, but I'm sure the mere smell would've been clue enough). I was glad when I received an email from my thesis supervisor on a sunday forwarding me the email from a colleague she had asked about a little detail we discussed just the day before. I was beyond joyful when my mum found my old cream cable cardigan she knitted herself and that I used to wear when I was about 10 years old, and that still fit me!! Love at first sight all over again!
So, on days when I'm so down I don't even feel like getting up and face the stressful day awaiting, I should just focus on tiny details like that. One step at a time.

Colin's Speech

I am so thrilled The King's Speech received another award, an Academy award on top of every other distinction Colin Firth had already been crowned with. I am one happy girl! And yes, I am easy to please as long as "costume drama" and "British" are used in the same sentence. Just add the names of Colin Firth and Helena Bonham Carter and I'm over the moon. Easy, peasy, told ya!



And for the record, I'm sorry but the following scene is not "offensive", just meant to be utterly funny. (Admire the hesitation "... and tits" + Rush's advice to his son. Haha) I'm still puzzled with puritanism and the paradoxes of the US society/ censors as far as movie rating is concerned (among other things though!)

Small is beautiful

I've recently come across this lovely short film, and inspired by Chloe from "Dirt on your new shoes", I'm posting it for you to have a look. I must admit that my first impulse was to check out Mr Tennant (hehe) only to be slightly (read - utterly) disappointed not to hear his oh-so-swoony Scottish accent. Oh well.

Flight of the Conchords

One day, quite by chance, I listened to a hilarious "mockumentary" on BBC radio with brilliant Welsh actor / comedian Rob Brydon as a narrator (you may best know him through his role in the film "A Cock and Bull Story" or the BBC series "Gavin and Stacey" - that I both heartily recommend! - or then again as "Alan Partridge"). The show was called "The Flight of the Conchords" and it was about the eponymous band from New Zealand and their chaotic but jolly adventures while touring the UK. I then enthusiastically embarked on watching the HBO adaptation of their comic duo and I must say it is beyond quirky and ridiculously funny! But little did I know that the band actually existed as such beforehand and they had performed at various festivals, including the Fringe in Edinburgh, which is where they initially caught the eye of Rob Brydon.

Sorry if most of you guys already know about them, I've heard they were featured on The Simpsons, so I guess they are quite famous in the US (especially as the HBO series is all about their move there) but they are quite unknown here, sadly...

I'll leave you with these screen caps from Season 1, episode 4 where Bret is giving feedback on his dinner date... and trying to give some kind of compliment still using the food lexical field! Classy and hilarious!
and a song from the first episode (I love the "depending on the street" and "you could be a part-time model but you'd probably still have to keep your normal job" haha. Well, I'll let you enjoy it by yourselves now.)








P.S: and I want shirts just like theirs!

Unwittingly trendy

Hee hee, let me introduce you to Felix the leo (yep, that's his name, and don't laugh at me for being all dotty, this name was actually given to him quite officially by the company selling them. I'm not lying)
It's been part of my menagerie for a couple of years now, I think I bought it in Scotland, I just can't resist cutsey things, let alone fluffy animal-themed things. I realize this number is quite on trend right now, and the poor thing luckily doesn't even know about it, otherwise he wouldn't put up with being tucked away in books.
Ok, now I'm rambling.

Going with the flow?

As anyone else is doing at this time of year, I've decided to write something about my New Year's resolutions, even though I know perfectly well that I won't follow them or at least will have a hard time sticking to them ;o)
The thing is, I make a lot of lists (from random ideas, urgent things to do, books to read / borrow from the library, artists I like, etc. to the obviously very exciting grocery shopping list) but whereas they put my mind at ease for a while (especially when an idea crops up just after I've jumped into bed and keeps torturing me until I write it down in order not to forget about it - scatterbrain is my middle name these days...) I have a habit of not following them / forgetting them and improvise. So let's hope 2011 will be full of skilful improvisation! But don't get me wrong, I'm still a sucker for carefully (over)prepared things, maybe something to rethink this year?

* Cut the procrastination and stop dreading the hard work ahead (i.e stop making a mountain out of a molehill, even if the said molehill takes the form of a 500 page PhD to be written)

* Go back to yoga (it might help - or worsen, who knows? - my back problems. Oh my, do I speak like an elderly lady... 2011 with a vengeance

* Be more fearless and do (e.g dress) as I like without thinking about the probable stares and frowns that might ensue

* Eat more healthily (says I after stuffing myself with a delicious tiramisu and buying 500g of chocolate because it was on sale, *ahem*) but my sweet tooth is one of my trademarks (read: whims) Surprisingly I don't eat much "regular" food and feel stuffed very quickly but I seem to have a separate compartment in my stomach for sugary food and unfortunately this one is bottomless, hee hee

And here are my current obsessions:

* Two of my favourite actors playing in the same film about one of my favourite era. I knew I had to see "The King's Speech" as soon as I saw the trailer a few months ago (and still have to wait for it to be out in cinemas!!!)




* Listening to sweet, soothing music such as this:



or this:



Have a sweet and brilliant Year!

Love at first sight

Yesterday my mum came to visit and we went to two of the few vintage stores the city has to offer. In the first one we called at, we had to listen for about 10 minutes to the saleswoman - who was beyond tipsy - rambling on about how ethical real fur actually was. All this because I winced when she mentioned the hat I was looking at was made of real fur. Maybe I should have added that my concern was not only ethical but also practical, but I just wanted to end this burbling of hers as soon as possible, especially as it was very hard to remain unflinching and refrain from laughing when she kept mispronouncing words and so on, all this accompanied with richly-scented breath. My mum and I tried not to exchange looks for fear of bursting out laughing. In the meantime, my mum made a few attempts at taking the conversation onto a different track with a couple of "oh, look at this nice handbag" thrown away here and there, but the fuddled yet congenial saleswoman kept on. When she eventually stopped talking, we had to leave and laugh it out, even though the boxy shop had some cute cintage designer pieces we didn't have time to examine thoroughly (because thrifting is all about thorough, scientific examination indeed!)

In the second, hippier store, my mum was fascinated with the very 80's looking (because they were) fairisle sweaters and at the back of the shop, I literally squealed when I saw this adorable handbag made of thick embroidered tapestry. It was love at first sight. I didn't even go through the usual questions "do I really need it?" and so on, it had to be mine and all this customary reasoning seemed useless and completely irrelevant!

Books I want to read

Because I am entirely devoted to my PhD corpus and feel like reading something else is a case of high treason (even though I'm committing such a crime right now and have done so many a time... ahem) or at least some silly way to waste time on something that is not vitally relevant to what defines my life at the moment (did I just say silly?), I often have to postpone reading books I come across or hear about. Here is a brief list of books I'd love to read as soon I have more time away from preparing seminar lesson plans, reading for my thesis, exam marking or conference paper writing (the latter I should be doing right now instead of writing about what I should or shouldn't do!):









And this is only a ridiculous glimpse of all the books I'm hankering after and that are cramming up my shelves!

I wish...

I wish I could stop worrying about every little thing,
I wish anxiety wouldn't stop me from doing things I have to do and should enjoy doing
I wish I could believe people's compliments
I wish I could plan ahead peacefully
I wish I could stop procrastinating (like I'm doing right now!) and start doing things that matter instead of postponing them for fear I might not be up to the task
I wish I could learn to enjoy the moment
I wish I could start to live instead of dreaming up my life
I wish I could stop being testy
I wish I could stop wallowing in self pity!
I wish I could simply speak up my mind no matter what
I wish I could shed this perfectionism
I wish I could feel the same in real life as I do in fiction
I wish I could start to live as I should and liked


image credits http://photocompetition.hispeed.ch/seo/photo/243719/bulles_de_savon /bulle_savon_etang_eau_bulles_rond_ovale_sphere.html

Lady of Shalott where art thou?

So many words I want to say, so many things I want to do
Inside my cocoon, unopened pupa, fragile and brittle,
A touch of frost, a wave of heat, a drop of dew,
excuses,
unripe, uncertain, meandering,
when does the butterly finally spread its wings?

Yet clichés all work and fail,
the whale and the aeroplane,
Why should they all be meant to mean
the life, the signs, the plasticine,
childish and true, our fears oppressive,
our burden both cumbersome and necessary,
the meaning, the night, the flight,
oh dear, what if we were right?

Ins-PIE-ration (I know...)

Another inspiration retro & vintage-wise is Anna Friel who, I think, somewhat looks like Zooey Deschanel. I remember being fascinated by her outfits when I watched Pushing Daisies more than a year ago. Here are a few examples...









and she totally pulls off an otherwise grannyish patterned dress! Amazing ;o)

The Guardian & Sartorial advice

This article from the Guardian is so funny & sarcastic! Another reason why this newspaper is among my British favourite

The 10 rules of summer dressing: Here's how to stay cool this season,

by Jess Cartner-Morley

The Guardian - Sat 05 Jun, 2010 12:03AM GMT

1 Tights/Bare legs: British summer fashion is a kind of collective madness. From about early May – even if, as with this year, it is actually still slippers-in-the-morning weather – we all have to dress as if going to a picnic. Wearing black opaque tights in summer, even if the skies are gunmetal, marks your card as a killjoy and a wuss. Hey, I don't make the rules, OK? Deal with it. This, my friends, is why God invented cropped trousers. Unflattering they may be, but think of them like stabilisers while you adjust to getting your legs out, and pray that 20 minutes a week in the gym doing half-hearted lunges while watching MTV will get you Gwyneth Paltrow's legs.

2 Playsuits: Awful name. Sounds as if the wearer should be banging a rattle on the table while covered in ketchup. But then, in America they call these rompers, which is worse. Absolutely nothing wrong with a playsuit, so long as you realise it is entirely impossible to convey the smallest amount of authority while wearing one. And no, banging the rattle harder won't help..

3 Sunglasses: Deciding which sunglasses to buy is simple. First question: are you the sort of person who remembers to put your sunglasses back in the case and back in your bag when you take them off. Second: do you cultivate friendships with the sort of people who will surreptitiously check out the side of your sunglasses to find out the designer label? Third: is your self-esteem affected by the name inscribed on the plastic arm by your ear? Unless you answered yes to all three questions, put a £20 cap on the purchase and buy yourself something useful with the difference.

4 Harem pants: It's tough, keeping up with fashion. You'd think wearing unflattering trousers would be enough, but no: you also need to wear the right kind of unflattering trousers. And so it was that at the precise moment in 2007 when skinny jeans reached their tipping point – probably when you started wearing them – the fashion-forward abandoned them in favour of a new type of ridiculous trousers. The harem pant was first launched as the drop-crotch trouser, a style that mimics the effect of a toddler with a soggy nappy. Even fashionistas, it turns out, have some self-respect, and the drop-crotch was refined into the harem pant. The moment you start wearing them, the cool people will stop, so why bother?

5 Maxi dresses: The further a hem gets from the knee, the more difficult it is to wear. It makes surprisingly little difference if the direction is going up or down. If it works, a maxi dress might give you that insouciant Angelina Jolie look, without even having to shave your legs. If it doesn't, you will look like Matron from an Enid Blyton book. To err on the side of Jolie, remember the golden mantra of impact: shoes and hair. Repeat after me: shoes and hair. Shoes and hair. Got it?

6 Holiday packing: Most people spend too much time and money buying new clothes for their holiday, and not enough time packing the actual suitcase. The packing has as much impact, and is cheaper, although admittedly is less fun. This is the time to indulge your inner fashion nerd: lay out everything in outfits. Allow sufficient time, and come back a couple of hours later to reassess – there will always be at least one thing that you realise instantly you won't actually wear.

7 Clogs/Sandals: The only positive benefit of the return of clogs to fashion is that, by comparison, they make gladiator sandals seem both flattering and comfortable. Gladiator sandals are, of course, neither flattering nor comfortable: they make all but the most photogenic of feet look like slabs of undercooked meat, and the law of averages states that if you crisscross a hot pair of feet with 14 leather straps, then at least one of those straps is going to rub. But the alternative, this summer, is to wear clogs. Oddly, there is nothing that accentuates a tree trunk leg quite like attaching a log to the sole of your foot.

8 Swimwear: The only sensible way to choose swimwear is to ignore all photographs posed on models. Buying a bikini because it looks good on Lara Stone is no different from buying a pair of earrings because they look good on her. It's not your fault; the presence of a to-die-for body on the page messes with the balance of your brain. It's a proven fact.

9 Summer weddings: It is your duty as a wedding guest to look nice. Not look nice as in look attractive, but look nice as in look as if you are nice. The point of a wedding, you see, is that the bride gets to act out her perfect married-life scenario, to be the best-looking girl, the centre of attention, surrounded only by guests who will gush and whoop and give her presents and tell her husband how marvellous she is. And why not? It's one day – give the girl a break. Your role is to look decorative in the album and add to the aura of wholesome, cupcakey gorgeousness. Any fashion that hints at negativity (wonky Belgian avant-garde charcoal raw-edged felt tunic) or potentially-threatening-to-the-smug-married-order vampishness (Versace slit-to-the-thigh numbers à la Hurley) are strictly verboten.

10 Tribal trend: Wearing "ethnic" is sartorial code for, "I am much too serious to bother myself with fashion. I choose jewellery that looks a bit like something you'd find in an obscure gallery of the British museum to show how cultured I am. My female friends wear artisan scarves and consider themselves evolutionarily superior to women who wear diamanté." The tribal trend is an attempt by fashion designers to combat this. Good luck with that.

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media 2010

Suit yourself!

To celebrate (wow, that's a big word and has to be taken ironically of course!) the revamping of this blog, here is a video of hilarious (what am I saying AAWESOME or rather legen-daaaary) Barney Stinson from How i Met Your Mother.

Retro perfection

Don't you just love the quirky retro touch in this video? It reminds me of 1950s musicals. But I'm even more wowed by Zooey's outfit, I just love that full skirt (or is it a dress?) & cardigan. Perfect! It makes me think of this Primark skirt I saw and stupidly put down because i found it, well, too... full! And for a couple of quids at that. now who is the fool? Ha!

Note to myself

When/if? by chance, I have time to do some cooking again (apart from scones) here are some recipes I definitely have to try! (after revising my maths i.e table conversions taken from the internet - aren't we living in a splendid era?!)

I love tea!

I heart tea! (How surprising given the title of this blog, hee hee)

I love its colour, both light and intense, like a sweet forbidden liquor.

I love it even more when milk adds its soothing hue, especially the very moment when you pour it into the cup (err, mug, please!) and this undescribable cloud-like texture that dissipates in the twinkling of an eye, but what a magical experience!

I love its taste, of course, especially Earl Grey, my all-time favourite that has never disappointed me (...so far)

I love the cute little cakes and biscuits, often colourful (like Battenberg, mmh, so fanciful and even puerile but soooo tasty!) and most of all scones, that go with it and that make the perfect afternoon cream tea, and even better is to share it with your lovely friends & family.

Beside my love for English tea (I'm so nostalgic about my last year in London), I adore tea-inspired jewellery, so childish & quirkily funny and so refined at the same time, don't you think?

Thanks to Anna's lovely blog, I even started to like (almost love?) Mondays

So, just look on the bright side of life, as the Monty Python would say & start enjoying Mondays :o)

Irish brunette

A video from super-talented Lisa Hannigan (no longer in the perhaps too overwhelming shadow of Damien Rice... I adore him too, though!)
by way of apology for my long absence.
Hope you'll like it!