But now, I am OK. Mostly OK. I am settled, yes, but starting to feel a bit depressed: it's one year since I went to Rio last, and I miss it a lot. We will go there for Christmas, true. But whenever I stay more than 10-11 months away, I start to feel depressed and anxious. So, that's why.
The house is now looking great (I think!), but of course there are still some bits and ends left (hanging pictures, for example).
I still haven't restarted the jewelry though, but at least all my stones and beads are well-organised and in the right places right now.
What have I been up to, during these 3 months then? Well, not much, really, except for the usual: watching DVDs, reading manga and books, organising my little things (Kitty collection, stationery, perfumes, magazines etc) and playing with Super Poke Pets on Facebook. I must say I turned out to be quite an addict, for the pets and objects you buy and collect are so lovely, that it's really very hard to resist!
The manga I've been reading lately are: Nodame Cantabile (Sapphire's recommendation, really great), Inuyasha (yes, yes, still!), Chibi Vampire (which just ended in a rather abrupt/hurried way), XXXHolic (which quickly became one of my favourites), and some others. As for the books, mostly Japanese authors: Natsume Soseki, Natsuo Kirino, Yoko Ogawa. Special mention of course goes to Natsume Soseki, a wonderful Japanese classic. I started by reading his "Kokoro", which is very moving and very hard to put down. I was wanting to read him for some time already, since I read Murakami's (indirect) praises of his work in "Kafka on the Shore" some years ago. At the time I thought: well, if it's something Murakami (his characters, in this case) waxes lyrical about it, of course I am bound to love it. And I was right. It's not a light reading, but one that really makes you think and consider a series of things. And if you enjoy Japanese culture, even better, however the chore of this specific work was rather universal , global, ie, things that anyone (in spite of cultural differences, backgrounds, religion, gender etc) can feel, live and why not, die for. But that was his first book I read, and quickly bought some others: "The Three-Cornered World", "The Gate" and "I Am a Cat" - but am only starting the former tonight.
Talking of books then... Our Play Room (aka library, aka computer room, aka...) is finally ready. Mark finished the book shelves that we bought in Ikea (my favourite place for house stuff, for sure!) and I am very happy to report that our book organising issues are all sorted (for now, ha ha! Nah, just kidding...)...
If you want to have a better look, please click the thumbnails for a magnified view...
And some details here...
Posts
Welcome back, dear Andrea!
ReplyDeleteI'm very glad to read your new post again and hear that you are settled now. And..Congratulations, Rio, to have been selected as the host city of the 2016 Olympic Games! All of you must be very excited at this news!
Your play room look GREAT! Your husband made all these shelves?! Amazing! How sweet and skillful he is! My husband is very clumsy..
Isn't Soseki rather difficult? I feel ashamed to confess that I haven't read "The Gate". How embarassing as a Japanese! Recently I'm reading a manga "Pluto" by Urasawa Naoki. It's really interesting and it makes me think what human beings are.
Your trip to Rio in December sounds wonderful!! Will you stay there for about a month? I suppose it is summer in Rio. Thank you so much for sharing all these.
Hi dear Sapphire!
ReplyDeleteYes, yes, the Olympics! It will be cool, good for the economy (I think!) and for business in general. Like a long Carnival!
I am glad you like the Play Room! Yes, Mark assembled everything, in two or 3 days! We bought the shelves and doors flat-packed from Ikea and he assembled it. He is very good at DIY. Not like me, he he (meaning, I am clueless).
Soseki... He is maybe difficult in the sense of being a rather "heavy" reading, very deep and very harsh sometimes. Not in the "intelectual" sense, but at an emotional/psychological level. It is not an easy reading, simply because it's not supposed to entertain and amuse us with light views of the world. It's rading that can make you deep in thoughts and even cry at times. So, yes, in that sense it can be difficult, since sometimes you will see yourself identifying and empathising with some obscure feelings that he portrays so well. I guess you have to be in the mood for that, no? But let's see the other books, since Kokoro was just my first. I will let you know. I am liking him a lot, so far, however I must admit it can be a bit overwhelming.
Yes, we will be going in December for 1 moth or so. I normally stay 2 months but I am due to start a new MS treatment that will require me to go to hospital every month for an infusion, so, I still don't know when it starts and if I can skip one month of the treatment. So, I can come back to Rio in June, when it's not as hot as well, for December is very hot and humid!
I will try and post one little thing every two days or so! Let's see if I can keep it going!
Are you in Facebook, by the way? If so, you could maybe add me as a friend! I am there! Mostly to play with my virtual pets, he he!
Thank you so much for reading me and talk to you later!
Big hugs,
a.