Going Home

Walking through the pouring rain
Brownish leaves on brownish ground
Kitchen lights through a windowpane
Clouds of grey that dull the sound

Kindly woman on a rattling train
Black and listless through the night
Walking home through pouring rain
Home to comfort, warmth and light

Sono vicino casa, ascolto musica che qui è super pop, pacchiana pure.Quello che da noi viene definito simil nicchia-indie-o cose così. L'underground londinese è molto più rigoroso del nostro, le cagate hanno vita breve e la musica vera è quella che rimane. Lo si scopre abbastanza presto, parlando con chiunque, anche con quelli che non fanno questo lavoro, passo molte ore nei negozi di dischi, in certi posti l'umiltà è d'obbligo, questo mi ha permesso di conoscere un botto di gente con le mie stesse passioni. L'inghilterra, davvero, mi dà molto in questo senso.

Ieri, sono andato a ballare al cosack disco, ovvero ad una festa con musica tradizionale russa, la canzone più nuova aveva almeno la mia età. Assurdo ma mi sono divertito come un cretino, e fanculo tutto quello che mi stava cambiando, io sono quel che sono e tra la festa di diesel, il barbecue al Macbeth, cazzo sono andato a sentire la musica russa in un posto tratto da "un tramonto all'alba". I vampiri non c'erano ma ho incontrato un tipo con la coda e si mi sono divertito come poche volte negli ultimi tempi. Appena sono entrato in sequenza: Inno dell'unione sovieta, della ddr e l'internazionale socialista. Per un attimo mi sono sentito a casa, io e il mio sogno di socialismo perfetto a pochi km dalla city. Insospettabile una cosa del genere.

Nottingham è strana, ruspante, e la provincia anche qui regale perle inaspettate. Non come da noi per mancanza di cosmopolitismo ma ragioni strettamente legate alle county's. Le ragazze alle 21,00 erano sbronze, alle 24,00 mi scambiavano per un dj, alle 4 mi suppicavano di ballare con loro... assurdo e privo di ogni senso per me, ma non sono in Italia e per quanto imbarazzante possa essere una ragazza ubriaca e malconcia mi sembrava del tutto normale, almeno in un contesto come quello inglese di venerdi notte. Lampi di orgoglio personale e professionale, Day and Night suonata 4 volte, la tee di qualcuno che conosco indossata da un dj resident. Ad un certo punto mi sono ritrovato ad essere l'attrazione del posto, io, un italiano non lì per lavorare come ristoratore. Sono andato a letto alle 7,00 e per colazione Matt mi ha fatto trovare il Traditional English Breakfast, quello vero fatto in casa... Praticamente una cena abbondante in italia! Una cosa che non si trova a Londra. Caro ragazzo, come Sam e Kathy, ma bevono troppo per me,  se la cosa ti sfugge dalle mani qui sei perso. Perso come il ragazzo homeless vicino alla metropolitana, conciato male, italiano. La povertà qui ti riduce male, l'alcool ti devasta, è un attimo.

Ho visto il The Bomb, probalmente il modello di club che ho sempre avuto in mente, qui c'era 20 anni fa ora è chiuso, la storia non fa campare per sempre, sembra. Il club con la musica vera, non tutte le fuffe che ci sono ora in giro, dove 20 anni fa si esibivano Norman Cook, i 2 fratelli chimici, Thomas e Guy-Manuel a fare i dj, emozioni che in pochi riuscirebbero a condividere... a comprendere. Uniche come solo certe cose ti sanno dare. Matt dopo pochi minuti, senza che io gli chiedessi nulla mi ha portato li. Abbiamo parlato 4 ore di musica, ed ha subito capito che io quel posto lo avevo sicuramente sentito nominare anche in italia. Si lo conoscevo anche io, da Modena quel posto.

Inutile, c'è un'età per tutto, e certe cose le capisci solo dopo alcuni anni. Lo so, mi ero solo dimenticato per un pò della cosa.

Tu, non potrai mai capire che tipo di proiezione stellare sei stata nella mia testa, non ha senso neanche provare a fartelo capire, esattamente come temevo. Ci sono stato male anche per questo, ma non ha più molta importanza ora.

I wonder what date today is

I WONDER HOW COULD I FORGOT THE DUE DATE FOR ASSIGNMENT?!!!!!

I wonder why I havent FINISH my BORAT ASSIGNMENT!!!!

I wonder what would happen if Su Li didn't message me

I wonder what would happen if she didn't remind me

I wonder if I would fail for this assignment

Tomorrow is 13th October

The DUE DATE

I would have forgotten about it

Thank God she reminded me XDDD

Today is the day that I am going to throw my life away. I'm going to empty every drawer, every cupboard, every nook and cranny, put it all into one big pile and then aim to put a good 70% of it into bin bags or send it to a charity shop (although seriously, just because it's for charity doesn't mean I should subject the patrons of Oxfam/Mind/[insert charity shop name here] with out of season, out of order, holey and battered attire). Bin bags it is then.

It's going to feel SO GOOD. It'll be like feng shui for my mind - currently it's in a permanent state of kerfuffled, confuzzled, discombobulated, bamboozled-ness (oh I love words) and I think if I organise my environment, perhaps the thought-clutter will clear too. Plus, I LOVE a clear out. It gives me another reason to go shopping for more stuff. It gives me a reason to be resourceful with what I'm left with - I love how I find old clothes I'd forgotten about and find that they go perfectly with newer apparel I've acquired.

It'll also give me the perfect excuse to rumage through my 'memory box(es)', a shoe box inside a big plastic box (because the contents keep on growing), both full of photos, leaflets, tickets, cards, letters and general junk from school days, university, friendships, very old boyfriends and life with Kiwi. Last time I delved back in time, through the depths of my memory box(es), I found a load of old negatives and sent them off to see what secrets lay in store. In return I received a CD full of incriminatingly bad hairstyles, brace-filled smiles and old school fashions. The negatives were from photos I'd taken between the ages of 15 and 16 and had previously been used in my own, homemade year book (which I also relocated, bonus!). For your delight, you can take a gander at the photos and the pages of my year book, here, here, here, here and here (for the actual yearbook).

Ooh the nostalgia, it feels good to look back at the days before life became less carefree. These are the friends I left behind when I moved up North, the friends who moulded me - I am my school friends, my ex-boyfriends, my first love. They are the friends who I grew up with, laughed with, cried with, partied with, first drank alcohol and smoked (both cigarettes and the good stuff) with. New Zealand will be like a second coming for me, I can do all those things for the first time again (obviously the first time in New Zealand), but for me it'll feel brand new - I feel really lucky in that respect.

Anyway, what I meant to write about was last night. Once a year for the past 16 years, Copenhagen has arranged a "Night of Culture", where the entire city opens up for a long night. You buy a pass and get access to a vast number of cultural institutions with guided tours and seminars as well as free public transport between 5pm and 2am. Shops stay open late and there is an almost celebratory atmosphere about the city. It was quite fantastic, actually, seeing so many people of all ages trekking around in the darkness.

I hadn't really considered or looked into what this night was about at all, but when my friend Jacob texted me and asked if I was interested in joining him, it sounded like a good idea. After meeting up at seven o'clock (OK, it was more like quarter past. I was late. Not exactly breaking news) at Kongens Nytorv and leaving our bikes we headed over to the Nordic Council just across the street, where Jacob works in the reception. They have the most wonderful yard ever in there, and it was absolutely choc-a-bloc with people speaking the full variety of Scandi (sorry, Nordic) languages - future workplace, perhaps ;)? The faroe singer Eivør Pálsdóttir was performing. Damn it, she's good! I've heard of her before; Peder Karlsson of my beloved "The Real Group" wrote a song inspired by her, for which she recorded the demo... it is to date my favourite Real Group arrangement ever. We also had a look at a photo exhibition down in the basement. The theme was immigration and the pictures were all of people come to the Nordic countries from all over the world. Many of the pictures were actually rather surreal, as were the short stories that accompanied them.

Our next stop on our night of culture was the Church at Holmen. Neither of us had never visited this sparesly, yet slightly Anglican-style church. Most of the Lutheran churches in Denmark are very simply decorated interiorly, almost to the point of being bland. Here the carved dark wood and gold decorations were just enough to make it interesting. The entertainment on the other hand, was spectacular. A DR (Denmark's Radio) Junior Girls Choir performed some Nordic material as well as some pieces from a mass. I'm not usually a big fan of all-female choirs but these girls were friggin amazing. Some of those harmonies... wow.

We continued our walk up to Christiansborg Slot, the seat of the government. After having a look at the massive queue, we decided against actually going in there, and had a go on the labyrinth pond, whilst simultaneously trying to avoid wet feet :

We had a look in the church and then headed up towards Rådhuspladsen and Politiken's (one of the biggest newspapers in the country) Editorial Office, where they were having some general entertainment and an open house. We ended up spending more than three quarters of an hour solving logic-games. The first game we played was simple on all the four levels we tried. I happened to say that to the woman responsible for the stand and we were immediately offered something a lot more difficult, already at one of the highest levels. And since both myself and Jacob are as stubborn as mules, we just couldn't bring ourselves to leave until we had solved. We just kept on going "this is the last time and then we'll give up". Luckily, we did end up solving it. Otherwise we would have been there all night...

We had decided to meet up with two of Jacob's friends down at Rundetaarn (the Round Tower), and slowly started to head down there. On our way we passed by a group of, ehm, let's just call them "elderly" who all dressed up and line-dancing in the street. It took a good deal of self-control not to start laughing out loud at them and their irregular "whoop!"s. Oh the hilariousity. We also passed by an interesting shop selling some, shall we call them, alternative pets.

Onwards and upwards. We had a quick visit to Vor Frue Kirke (Church of Our Lady) which is located right in the middle of town, opposite the old University building. We met up with Jacob's friends and headed up into Rundetaarn. For those of you who don't know it, it's a tall (we're talking Danish standards here!) tower which was built by Christian IV in the 17th century, which is famous for the spiral "ramp" that it has instead of stairs. Apparently the king was too lazy to walk, so he made sure that he could go up in a carriage. A little more than halfway up, we got stuck in a queue. There obviously isn't unlimited space to go out at the top and enjoy the views, so we were probably standing around for half an hour before it was our turn. Apart from the mild fog, we had a lovely view over Copenhagen. It's forever since I've been up in the tower, and I've never been up at night, so it was pretty darn cool, and well worth the wait.

It was closer to midnight by the time we were down again. We were supposed to meet up with Júlia, another girl from the class, but she ended up not being able to join us. Instead we made our way back to where we'd just come from. After a short trip into the main Uni building (where I have classes on Monday mornings), we went to see the Skt. Petri Church. Apparently, this is where the German Congregation has their base and there was a concert going on by the time we arrived. Some mass or other by Bach. It was neither particularily brilliantly sung nor were we in the mood, so we left soon after. We bid Jacob's friends goodbye and went off down to get our bikes at Kongens Nytorv. From there we cycled to our campus at Uni (CSS :)) where the Fredagsbar (Friday Pub) had been in full swing for quite a number of hours. The vast amount of drunken people combined with tiredness and music that was too loud, led us to spending most of our time outside, observing the antics around us, chatting to each other and to classmates that ventured outside.

All in all, it was one of the best evenings I've had in a long time. Brilliant company, great concept - why doesn't Stockholm have a Night of Culture? It's inspiring and fun and great promotion for all involved. I'm already looking forward to next year's event! There were a million other things to see and do that we just didn't have the time for. Darn, I love Copenhagen :).

In crisis times, who wants Balmain or Phillip Lim when you've got vintage? Apparently, this kind of drummer jackets are everywhere at Californian vintage stores. The guy frome The End (shop at street Velarde, 1, Madrid) has brought some of them to my city and they are reaaaaally nice.  

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En tiempos de crisis, ¿quién quiere a Balmain o Phillip Lim cuando tienes el vintage? Al parecer, de repente, las chaquetas de majorette están en todas las tiendas de segunda mano californianas, y el chico de The End (C/Velarde, 1) se ha traído algunas a Madrid. Son muy bonitas, aunque arriesgadas (largas por detrás) y no tan baratas como una esperaría.

Stanna eller dra vidare?

Hence, a futile attempt to sum up what's been going on these past few weeks:

• Freshers' Camp: Basically, it's a custom at Danish Universities that all freshmen go away for a few days, usually at the very start of the term. At Political Science however, we don't go until about 6 weeks after we've started - allowing us to get to know each other first. And it rocked. We stayed far off in the middle of nowhere, in the beautiful Danish countryside. Plenty of alcohol was consumed, but it wasn't just a four-day binge. Planned activities included visits from graduated students, a dress-up theme-day where we walked a track and completed various "tasks" - my group were "Faderhuset", a Christian Sect. Mucho amusing. There were parties every night, ending with a ball, spontaneous sing-songs, football games, walks (three of us even went for a 10 km-trek one afternoon!) and just general socialising. The Danes call it "hygge" - I believe this might have been the epitome of it. A wonderful week, all considered.
• Moving: In September I lived in a small room in a suburb, which I rented off my grandmother's sister's husband's brother and his wife. From the beginning of this month on, however, I'd managed to find myself a (ridiculously expensive, but nevertheless a) room in the city centre, in a flat-share with two other girls. I started moving my stuff over the same day we came back from camp, and am now the happy inhabitant of a 25m2 room furnished with a cupboard and my inflatable mattress. Luckily, my mother will be down in a few weeks with a table and other tidbits. Can't wait :). Otherwise, it's great living in the city centre. My flatmates and extremely nice and I love having a real kitchen once again. Shame it's so dear, otherwise I could really consider staying here for quite a while.
• Essay: I have slept, eaten and breathed source criticism for the past week. We had a essay due in the subject for last Wednesday, and I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that it's the hardest essay I've ever had to write. Not because of the subject matter (which was actually about the regulation of Universities and criticising the sources of what people thought...), but because of the group. It was very hard for us to agree on and get a general contiuity in what we wrote. I am not a little relieved that it's over - for now. There's a pretty big risk that we'll fail, and thus need to redo some of it. Frankly, at the moment I couldn't care less.

So, that's the sum of my past weeks. A rollercoaster between the downright desperate and the wonderful. I'm settling in so well here - already making closer friends than I made in Ireland in almost two years. This was so right for me.

Have you been awake for 30 hours straight? Well, I just had my longest 30 hours. Here’s a recall of the last 30 hours before I finally slept last night…

09 Oct 0430pm. Woke up to prepare for my night shift. Started cooking dinner. Checked emails.

0630pm. Left the house to come to work. I usually walk my way to the hospital.

0645pm. Arrived in the unit.

0700pm. Received endorsement from the outgoing shift.

0730pm. Started a gruelling 12-hour shift. I had six patients:

1.  A diabetic patient who just had a right knee arthroscopy who complained of pain several times. I had to check his blood sugar twice during the shift.

2.  An old man with Bilateral Hydronephrosis with left and right nephrostomy tube. He was on a lot of pain also.

3.  A post left catheter nephrostomy insertion, also in pain.

4.  A comatose man on tracheostomy. Suctioned secretions. Turned to sides. Fed per PEG. Washed on bed early in the morning.

5.  A left lung sarcoma patient with amputated left leg. He has two chest tubes attached to suction. He complained of pain although he was already on Patient-controlled Analgesia (PCA). He also complained of inability to pass urine post foley’s cath removal during the day shift. I inserted another foley’s which needed a lot of convincing before it was done. I pushed him by the bed to the xray department in the morning.

6. A patient with an external fixator whose urinal gets full whenever I checked him out. He was on some IV antibiotics.

I had a very heavy non-stop night shift. I planned to take a 30-minute nap during my break, but I was not able to do that. I had my dinner break at 2am.

10 Oct 0700am. Endorsed to the next shift.

0730am. Left the hospital. Went to the nearby gift shop to buy some gift wrappers, only to find out the shop was still closed. Started walking to go home, till a nice guy with a car saw me and gave me a lift.

0800am. Home sweet home. Prepared breakfast. Grabbed TV remote to catch the morning show. Opened my laptop to answer emails.

0900am. Prepared to attend a baby dedication (same like christening, but this one’s for the Baptists). Can’t wrap the gift I previously bought from a mall. Decided to just place it in a nice plastic bag. Took a bath.

0945am. Picked up by the couple whose son will be dedicated.

1000am. Arrived at Palm Resort. There was a program for the 4^th Anniversary of Lighthouse Baptist Mission in Al Ain and the dedication was included in the program. Was feeling so sleepy in between and my eyes was starting to give up.

 0230pm. Lunch at last. Food was nice. Met new friends.

0400pm. Picture taking. My contact lens were starting to dry up.

0500pm. Went home. Opened TV again. Checked emails again.

0600pm. Prepared to leave again for a scheduled 7pm dinner party. Took a quick shower. Changed to a another dress.

0645pm. Catched the bus going to town.

0725pm. Arrived at China Wall Chinese Restaurant for the dedication reception. Met new friends again. Was feeling high already, as if I took a drug! Nice food also! Ate a lot!

0900pm. Picture-taking beside the Dancing Fountain at the Park Square.

0930pm. Home at last. Cleaned self. Prepared to see a buddy who called me earlier to see him.

1000pm.  Night cap with Remyr and Miller at Miller’s flat. Remyr prepared some melon shake.

1015pm.  Went back to my own flat. Checked emails again.

1030pm.  Crashed on bed!

Whew! I could not imagine I was awake for 30 hours. I woke up this morning after an eight-hour sleep, but I was still feeling so sleepy. After I had breakfast and made some email updates, I crashed again on bed and slept for another 6 hours.

What happened was basically an abuse of one's body. It was just that I couldn't break previous commitments. I had fun with my new acquaintances though.

 The good news is, I have started recharging while writing this :)

Both Father and daughter are doing fine. Kikay has some physical limitations and no sports or PE for her. On my half, the doctor advice me to stay home and recuperate with minimal usage of my left hand and hopefully by Monday I will be doing a whole lot better and back to work.

So, I am home all alone with a lot of things in mind to do with just one hand that is fully functioning.

hi everyone...im aliph XD...hehehe...im not sure wat i have to write in this first post *head scratches*..umm...so im new to all this wordpress thingy..i was usin blogspot before akum dhen vai vegen i deleted my blog...hehe...wordpress actually suks..cox i cannot change the template the way i want to without buying the...the...err....CSS somethin...Ceriusly Sucking Script...XD...keke not all can afford it u know!!...greedy bastards >_>...so far it seems okey dhen...anyways bye take care

:-D

It's been a hard days night...

Rasanya semula expect minggu ini akan santai karena baru mulai kerja lagi setelah liburan... Ternyataa...

One of the hardest week ....

Dan lagu beatles ini adalah lagu pertama saya belajar mengaransemen dulu sekitar 15an tahun yang lalu. Ya ampuuunnn... dari tahun segitu belum jago juga ngaransemen sampe sekarang !! wakakakaka

I know it's not very picturesque in this ... picture (redundant?), but come Saturday afternoon, this will be the most beautiful place on Earth.

On this basketball court, with the autumn hills in the background, one of my very best friends will be married.

I'm leaving tomorrow morning to drive out to this court, which happens to be located in Hocking Hills, Ohio, to begin wedding festivities, which are scheduled to include decorating, prank-playing, a pig roast, hot tubs, umm ... beverages, massages, hair appointments, lots and lots of flowers and photos, and saying vows and kissing the bride and all that good stuff.

It's going to be an amazing weekend.

As a co-Maid of Honor, I was privileged enough to be asked to give one of two toasts at the reception. (The downside to having writing as a chosen profession.) And since I know for a fact that the bride and groom have already left town for said wedding destination (which has no cable TV, Internet, or cell phone access, by the way), it's safe for me to post this here. What follows is an excerpt from what I hope is my toast on Saturday afternoon. Assuming I make it through. Here goes:

Nicky and I first met back in our college days at Robert Morris. But we really didn't become close friends until after we both graduated and moved on with our lives. She's been there for me when I've needed her ... even while she's been drowning in wedding planning recently. And ever since she met Joey, she's been pounding one thing into my head: "You have to find someone who will treat you like a princess."

I didn't believe it was possible ... except in the Disney movies. You know, white horse carrying Prince Charming ... sweeping Snow White off her feet while the Seven Dwarfs look on ... or something like that. But after spending time with Joey and Nicky, I know that not only is it possible ... it's happening. The two of you were absolutely made for each other, and it's evident. I mean, a man who takes good care of you ... AND cooks and cleans? It's a dream come true.

So to Joey, thanks for taking such good care of my best friend. I only hope to find someone someday who is as sweet and caring as you are. And yes, I promise to come over for dinner more often.

To the beautiful bride, my friend Nicole, thank you for allowing us all to play princess on the day you married your Prince Charming.

And to the newlyweds ... after your fairy-tale wedding in this beautiful setting, a toast to you both: May your lives together always be filled with laughter, friendship and, most importantly, love. And may you both live happily ever after.

Huh. Now that I think about it, it is kind of appropriate that they're getting married on a court, isn't it?

L'indiano ha però dato senso alla giornata rigidamente poco gratificante. Sotto ogni aspetto.

Fine di un pò di cose vecchie e inizio di nuove. Anche per la panza....

I think it's a garlic bread XD

Found it cute, coz they pack one piece of bread in such cute packet XD

Plus, the design is simple and nice!!! \\>_<//

Turn behind please, garlic bread... XD

Chocolate with different flavour, I ate the cacao edi, this one is sugar beet XD

Too bad I'm still a beginner in Japanese... too deep... six thousand feet under the sea

O Castor do ENSIMESMANDO me convidou para participar de um meme: 8 coisas que desejamos fazer antes de ir lá pro andar de cima.
Espero que lá em cima as coisas estejam melhores que aqui embaixo... Enquanto não subo esta escada (tomara que ainda demore muito!), quero ir fazendo estas coisinhas por aqui:

1- Escrever um livro de contos à la Anaïs Nin super charmoso e recheado de imagens sensuais de autoria de um grande amigo.
2- Voltar a morar numa casa, só que esta vai ter um quintal bem grande cheio de árvores que eu vou plantar. O desejo número 3 pode e deve morar comigo nesta casa.
3- Parar de brincar de esconde-esconde com o homem de my life (hey, olha eu aqui!), e se for prá continuar brincando vamos brincar de pega-pega (mas eu corro devagarzinho e dou umas paradinhas, ok?). Pega logo vai!
4- Ter um blog super-mega-ultra visitado e ganhar dinheiro com isto por absoluto prazer de fazer algo que adoro.
5- Viajar o mundo inteiro (se der tempo e tiver tanto dinheiro), descobrindo lugares pouco conhecidos com o homem do desejo número 3.
6- Voar de asa delta lá no Rio de Janeiro (amigos que moram no Rio colaborem, ok... rs, aceito hospedagens e companhias incentivadoras).
7- Fazer um trabalho voluntário ligado a questões ambientais.
8- Envelhecer com dignidade.

Ah sim ... eu desejo mais, muito mais que 8 coisas (essas são só as do meme, rs)!

O Castor disse também que tenho de passar o meme para outros amigos... então lá vai! Disse também que era para 8 amigos, mas qdo vi já tinha escolhido 9 ... então vai assim mesmo.

-Marcelo do formato híbrido
-Lidiane do giramundo gira eu girassol
-Mariposo L do mariposo
-Cejúnior do blog do Cejunior
-Lella do cinema é minha praia
-Bete do encanto de renascer
-Daniela do artista de mim
-Celine do mô blog
-Um amigo do not obvious cinema

( FOTO: Boyana Petrova )