9 posts tagged “books”
Slow Learner tagged me. I've never been tagged before. i feel like one of the cool kids now :p
- Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
- Open the book to page 123.
- Find the fifth sentence.
- Post the next three sentences.
- Tag five people.
Angdawa's efforts soon came to an end and in spite of the security of the rope I had not the heart to ask him to go on, so I took his place and went ahead
From Annapurna by Maurice Herzog. I've not started reading it yet, it's just on the top of my stupidly big teetering pile of books because I stole it off my brother's bookshelf last night. I'm on a nepal kick at the moment.
I tag blink_lu, Dr David Coddingsteine,kelly, wedgeh and Wissam if they haven't already done it because I don't pay attention....
In other news my Japan trip is all booked up: Kyoto - Tokyo - Sapporo - Morioka - Kyoto.
I really miss japan and i can't wait to go back. i get the feeling I'm just not going to want to leave again....
Also off to Budapest for lucy's hen weekend in a few weeks which will be a very welcome mini break. How lucky am I to live in Europe? I really wish I'd taken the time to take more advantage of it while I'm here. when i think about all the money i've spent on flights to asia....
oh well, off to watch prison bread. Roll on friday!
ANYWAY i've been keeping myself entertained and happy by making tentative plans in my head for my little escape. right now i'm thinking november will be a good time. spend a couple of months travelling on the way - visit eric in thailand again, liyan in beijing.... i'm so excited just thinking about it. not sure when to apply for visas and things too - lots of research to be done!
the start to my 2008 has been mega lazy and i'm making that change from tomorrow. i need to start eating properly, exercising again and actually doing things in the evening instead of just flopping. plans plans, i have plans!
a few of my friends have made it their new year's resolution to read more books. i read quite a bit and i've never felt the need to aim to read more (in fact it would be a better resolution for me to stop buying so many damn books but that's never going to happen - i bought 9 just this week. oops) but i thought it would be interesting to see how many books i read in a year so i've started a list over at all consuming - http://www.allconsuming.net/person/deletia/ i'll try to remember to put them in here periodically too but i forget.... books make me happy. sigh.
i'm quite ashamed of this but i am totally enthralled by big brother at the moment. think the whole celebrity bb thing is the best idea they've had in years and getting people in the house with actual talents makes it so much better to watch. i love the brother and sister circus performers. i love all things circussy and wish i was that bendy...
oh it is so not nice going back to work after a few days off. at least this week is another 4 day week so i can pretend it's nearly friday... i need to absorb myself in code and design so i forget i'm there and keep my eyes open for someone prepared to give me more money. hah.
went on a penny book buying spree on amazon last night and bought:
I felt like superwoman this morning because I got up at 6am and made carrot and butterbean soup from scratch, then i went to the gym and did 4k on the treadmill. 4k! that's like... nearly 5k! hehe. nearly killed me but never mind.
Also i've been drawing pretty girls in my sketchbook and experimenting with new drawing tools like the brush pens i got in japan. i'm really enjoying drawing again, i've been paralysed with empty sketch books for far too long.
i can't go see the manics because i am in london that day (cry)
on a separate note, i really like The Feeling's song 'rose'. i didn't realise until i listened to the lyrics closesly that it is *literally* a love song to rose wine. and i dooo love rose wine!
The white to your left
The red to your right
Are all that I'd seen
Til I realised the love that I seek
Lies right in-between
hee!
I've been ill this week so I've mainly been drinking lemon and ginger tea, eating peach and rasberry throat sweets and sleeping a lot. I look forward to sleep so much these days, it's just not quite right. Well maybe not just sleep, but going to bed and cuddling up in my duvet and reading. I miss my old loft bed which was a big old mess of duvets and pillows and soft toys. Like a nest. Also been consuming books like candy. I'm a bit ADD when it comes to books - I currently have A winter book, Cathy's book, The Magician's Nephew, The art of Travel and McSweeney's No.15 on the go at the same time, picking and choosing depending on my mood at the time. In contrast I read Love is a mix tape and The perks of being a wallflower one after the other in one day. I'm still hungry for more books. Flying to Oslo tomorrow so no doubt I'll pick a couple up in the airport before I leave.
Work is pissing me off at the moment. I can't wait to get out at lunchtime to walk around and listen to my ipod or get out at the end of the day to go home and watch dvds and sleep. sometimes i just want to block it out.
My hair is blue-black at the moment and it confuses people. they look at me and say "what colour is it?" Like I dyed it blue by accident or something.
I want to live in a little house by the sea and eat sushi and drink vanilla tea and pomegranate juice.
I've got my motivation to draw back and it's good.
My brother pretty much finished moving out yesterday and I am soooo happy to have the flat back to myself. He wasn't a bad flat mate to be honest and the extra money came in very handy (for buying plane tickets to thailand, hee!) but it just feels so much nicer with just me and the cats. I honestly don't think I'll ever be able to live with someone ever again after realising how nice it is to live alone! So now that the living room is vacant I have plans to move in my desk/table and set up a little studio corner where i can keep all my art materials. and I'm finally going to get round to getting all the prints I own framed and hung up - I'm terrible for buying them and then leaving them rolled up in a tube! Can't wait to get started...
I've been trying to get back into the rythym of my japanese study and I've found a new way to learn kanji which is making it so much easier! I always hated learning kanji but now I'm having competitions with myself to see how many new ones I can learn each day. And it's so nice recognising them in sentences and actually knowing the meaning rather than staring at them and thinking "I *should* know that but...". I just totally don't want to go to my classes anymore but that's just laziness!
had some tasty sushi and plum wine and conversations about moomins last night. I'm still coveting the moomin mugs i saw in copenhagen. oh why do the nice things all have to be so expensive?
I thought I'd take a little time out from talking about my non-eventful life to show you some of my favourite children's books. I may or may not have mentioned that I collect them - I love the illustrations. Started off with some favourites from my own childhood and then found some amazing ones in Japan. Now I'm trying to get at least one in every country I visit.
Another book from Japan - I got this from the studio ghibli museum near Tokyo and it's one of my better souveniers. full of fun pop-ups and pull out bits.
I found this book in a shop called crayon house (i think) in harajuku - best kid's book shop in the world - go check it out. anyway i couldn't resist because i remember having a really well-read battered version of this when i was little. this one is in japanese obviously but i think the original is german or something. i can't remember the english title and it's bugging me. anyway it's about highwaymen who kidnap a little girl but she makes them see the error of their ways. it's kind of creepy but in a good way!
I really want to build up my international collection. I bought a couple in china but i was disappointed with the selection there overall. Of course I'll be picking up some in Denmark and Thailand. Also I've been dying to get my hands on some books by a norwegian illustrator called Svein Nyhus so I'll definitely be hunting out some of his books when I'm in oslo. happy sigh!
My amazon order came which was funded entirely from £35 worth of amazon gift certificates courtesy of my amazon credit card and rpoints. free stuff makes me happy.
There's more on the way. i also got a japanese dictionary but think i might return it - it's not quite what i was looking for. I really need to sit down and browse through them before i buy. maybe a trip to borders is in order... and i'll try to hide from the temptations of paperchase. I'm getting better at japanese but i still feel totally out of my depth in class. everyone else is a much more confident reader and i feel like i don't know what's going on half the time. oh well, only practice will improve me. more time please?
I am reaaaaally excited about thailand. I'm going to have to stop thinking about it or i''ll spend all my time between now and january looking up stuff on the net. i haven't seen eric in years so it'll be nice to catch up properly and he'll be able to tell me all the best places to go and hopefully show me around when he's not working. i am in amazement at the abundance of beach front apartments that cost just a few pounds a night. some of the hotels are more expensive obviously but they're still way way cheaper than they would be in the uk. look at this amazing hotel in bangkok. i have no idea where i'm going or what i'm doing yet, i'm just excited :) need to get hold of a guide book and talk to eric.
well it's late and i should go to bed. friday tomorrow. hrm. i secretly hate weekends these days :p i want to be busy!!! need to get a saturday job or something... pay for all my plane tickets.
I am trying to cut back drastically on my spending at the moment but i spent a happy few hours browsing at borders last night and this is what i came back with. These books are so fun and inspirational, i could just sit and look at them for hours. and they are so cheap for art books. i've already browsed the entire publishers catalogue and i'll be planning on aquiring more in the future. I do so love borders and i have missed going there. i just love being around books and i could have just as easily been there all night and not bought anything. plus there's a starbucks and a paperchase. what more do you need? I did also buy myself a cheap pen and keyring from paperchase - the problem with not spending money is that i end up feeling so sorry for myself that i want to buy things to make myself feel better. especially as all my birthday money just vanished into my overdraft....
Anyway my blythe doll auction just ended at £85. not bad. I didn't really want to sell anything that i had up but i do need the money for travel. I'm getting more determined to go to thailand at xmas and i'd like a weekend to copenhagen before the year is out too... anyway i have too much stuff. i do love looking at my japanese craft books but i have so many of them and they're guaranteed to make money on ebay.
i keep missing japan. i was looking at the andon website again today and i can remember being there so well. i can even remember how it smells... i just want to go back and wander round asakusa and go shopping in loft and people watching while i'm drinking matcha latte. who knows when i'll get another chance to go back... i'd really like to see design festa as i somehow mangaged to just miss it the times we've been. one day....
i just want to escape. i want to be in so many places that aren't here and i don't know how to do it. what is making me stuck? i want to get rid of more stuff so i feel like i have less baggage, physical and emotional... but there's nothing holding me here really. only fear of the unknown. maybe i will get lucky and some amazing opportunity will throw itself in front of me. if not i will make the leap some day.
What books are on your nightstand?
because i'm planning my trip :)
birthday present from neil. full of cute illustrations and things that remind me of japan
just got this because i finished my latest haruki murakami book and i needed something new to read. it was recommended to me on amazon and cost 1p plus postage :p
