Where Were You When... Take 2

There hasn't been much posting here recently, for a number of reasons that can be summed up as "Real Life". I have a whole bunch of unposted, unfinished posts in the background. Waiting for photos and stuff like that. I even had my usual Easter post written for this year, and then I... I don't even know. Fell asleep? I was ill over Easter this year, so that seems like a probable explanation.

Google reminded me that it's Labour Day today. As an explanation, I did not exactly forget what day it was; a Monday off is easy to remember. But I've gotten used to thinking of it simply as "First of May", probably because there is more than just Labour Day connected to the date in Czech culture (such as our Day of Love proudly distinct from Valentine's, and Maypoles, and stuff). So. I got reminded it's Labour Day, and I remembered something from many years ago, and it both amused me all over again, and reminded me it's been nearly twenty years since we officially joined the EU, back in 2004. Which is a bit of a weird realisation. It doesn't exactly feel like it (maybe in part because we did not join the Schengen Zone until later) - until I remember where I was back then and where I am now.

Back in 2004, I crossed the border from Germany to Czechia on April 30th, on the return journey from a week-long school exchange trip. It felt rather symbolic. First of May fell on a weekend that year. I can't remember which day exactly, but I think it was Saturday. (I should probably be able to find out for sure, but I don't feel like it.) I do know it was a weekend, because that same weekend a weekend youth event in our presbytery was taking place, and I went there a day later, on May 1st, because I had been in Germany. All those events lining up is why I think it was Saturday.

After I arrived, my sister told me that that morning, the person responsible for waking everyone up walked into the room where they had been sleeping, and announced something like: "Rise and shine! Early bird gets the worm! We'll celebrate Labour Day with labour! And other than that, we're in the European Union."

Which always amused me, and did so again today.

If I remember correctly, the labour in question was helping out in the parsonage garden. I remember running around with a barely cooperative old lawnmower at some point, and I think it was that particular parsonage garden, so I think the memories slot together. I can't be sure anymore, though. It's been nearly twenty years.

So it's a bit of an interesting exercise in memory retainment and retrieval. A good deal of the memories can be retrieved with the help of other factors, like a historical date, and knowing how the weekend events usually went so knowing Saturday makes the most sense. But I don't actually remember. I need those mnemonics to put the memory together. The actual memories are fragmented, more like isolated images, and some of those images may not be from this particular time.

* * *

A while ago, I found this quote:

"There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs."

And found out it came from here.

Ayn Rand passed me by completely, and the more I learn about her, the more I'm glad she did. I think overall she's more of an American phenomenon. The Lord of the Rings, on the other hand, entered my life much earlier than at fourteen, and I'm also very glad of that. What a poor childhood it would have been without it. (I can't remember when I first read it. It wasn't entirely in one go because we were borrowing the books.)

So I can't remember if there was any book that "changed my life" at fourteen in particular.

Did I read The Last Hero at fourteen? (My first Pratchett, incongruously, because, as a heavily illustrated book, it ended up in the children's section of the library while the rest of the Discworld books were in the adult section.)

I can't remember.

I know I first read Pan Tadeusz earlier. By about a year or two years, I think, based on when Wajda's film came out.

The only conclusion I can make is that fourteen was not a particularly life-changing age for me. Zooming in on it, in the quote, feels rather random to be honest, which of course makes a lot more sense when you realise it was just a rather random, irreverent paragraph coloured by personal experience, quickly fired off in a blog post.

This, too, is that sort of blog post.

* * *

The previous post of this kind was from 2014. It serves, in a way, as an example of its own kind. There's the mention of me and my sister discussing big countries bent on acquiring and retaining territory at all costs. It was, of course, in reference to Russia and the annexation of Crimea. At this point, I'm honestly not sure if I should say it aged well, or it didn't age well. I think the observation I made back then did? I think I'm still glad to live in this country. We have loud grumblers, and out share of problems, but overall, it's still a good country to live in.

HSF #12: Shape and Support - My Regency stays

After some four years or so, they are finished - well, unless I decide I want to do some alterations to the cording or something...

Finished, wearable, very much so. Wearing them right now. I'm getting used to the busk - the fact that I cannot just bend like I'm used to is... weird. But other than that, I like the fit, and would wear them out just because.

Historical Food Fortnightly 1: Literature - Breadrolls (Mini breadrolls with caraway seeds)

 
This isn't HSF, this is HFF. People were inspired by the Historical Sew Fortnightly and outbranched with another aspect of reenacting, just like the HSF open to people who don't necessarily have to reenact. I love this.

Research and cook, in this case.

The first challenge was Literature:

1. Literary Foods  June 1 - June 14

Food is described in great detail in much of the literature of the past. Make a dish that has been mentioned in a work of literature, based on historical documentation about that food item. 

So this is mine. I should admit straight up that it's a bit of a joke. I'm Czech, OK? You'll see what that has to do with anything soon.

The Literary Heroine Blog Party 2014

It's that time of the year again and Kellie is holding the Literary Heroine Blog Party again. I participated only half-heartedly last year, so this year I want to be better about it.

But before I do that, I want to share yet another American Duchess giveaway, because it concides nicely with it - her shoes are definitely worthy of literary heroines (some are even named after literary places, after all).

The usual statement still applies - is she ever making shoes I don't like?! Well, okay, I don't like the Pompadours so much, they're too something for me... and since I don't like buttons, I'm not that mad about the buttoned boots either... but still, oh, I love her overall modern-historical aesthetics so much and wish all shoes were like that.


And now, finally, to the questionnaire! I tried to do a mostly new version this time, though it hearkens back to the previous ones.

Introduce yourself! Divulge your life's vision, likes, dislikes, aspirations, or something completely random!

I am, I think, something called “an eternal student”. I love learning things... I love language(s). I would like to be – already am, in one sense – a translator. And an interpreter, even though that’s really hard work. (By the way, it seems I really made it to the interpreting course, yay!) I like learning about different cultures and sharing tidbits about my own.

I like reading, and books, and this means physical books, too; and I have more books than I can fit on my shelves and still can think of books I would like to have.

I like writing, too. And I have this strong editorial streak, noticing typos and stuff, so I guess that’s why I ended up volunteering as an editor for my church’s youth magazine.

And I love creating, all kinds of things. Writing falls in there, too, but there is of course sewing; and I'm doing at least little bits of drawing once more (I had a years long artist's block in that area and am glad that I'm finally able to draw again, if only little sketches).

What, to you, forms the essence of a true heroine?

As I said the first time, being good / doing good things, and the ability to learn if she happens to be not that good.

Share (up to) four heroines of literature that you most admire and relate to.

Beside those I’ve mentioned before, there was the heroine from Silver Rose / Green Brigade, who happens to be the only (not historical) character in the book whose name I remember – Leslie. She was more of the kind of heroine I wished I were more like. She was brave, even bold at times, she was also loyal, and clever and thinking on her feet. Bravery and thinking on my feet seemed, and still seem, like things I could use more of.

Out of those already mentioned, I think I’ve always related most to Dorothea Callum / Dot, from her writing and making up of stories down to her braids (and now that I’m older, also to her imperfect attempts at housekeeping in Picts and Martyrs).

Five of your favourite historical novels?

Beside those shared before:

The book by Gerd Theissen that was apparently published as The Shadow of the Galilean: The Quest of the Historical Jesus in Narrative Form in English – I love how it combines the story with the research and reasoning behind it; I always start out reading it rather unimpressed and end up really moved.

Speaking of combining story and research, I love probably all the Cadfael books (certainly those I’ve read so far). Ellis Peters / Edith Pargeter knows a lot about England and Wales in the 12th century, so even though these are detective stories, you get a good idea of the times and places, too.

Speaking of medieval and detective stories, I’ve also enjoyed a Czech one, Zločin na Zlenicích hradě L.P. 1318 (The Crime at the Zlenice Castle 1318 A.D.), by Radovan Šimáček. I have to throw at least one Czech book here! And I’m always surprised just how good this one is. (I think a proof of the cleverness of the crime part might be the fact that I can’t remember whodunnit and howdunnit, yet I perfectly remember being enthralled by the story.)

The Czar’s Madman by Jaan Kross – that’s a rather tragic story, all in all, which I tend not to enjoy, but it’s so well-written... and deserves even more recognition in the world than it seems to be getting, I think, because it manages to cover so many grounds with its story, as excellent literary works do.

I can't think of a fifth one. I'm sure there's something yet that I'm forgetting, but that's how it goes. There are many of the Cadfael books, so I guess that balances it out. :P

Out of those five books who is your favourite major character and why?

Probably Cadfael; but I’m not sure if it’s not cheating when there are actually many books with him as the main character. :-)

I like that he's caring and understanding, I like that he's Welsh (ha!); and knowledgeable and using his knowledge for good. I like that, similarly to Father Brown, he is a detective who cares for the culprits' souls, too. 

(I also like the portrayal by Derek Jacobi a lot!)

Out of those five books who is your favourite secondary character and why?

Absolutely, without question, Hugh Beringar. :D I always like good, strong friendships in the stories I read, and Hugh is a good friend to Cadfael, a good husband to Aline (though she does not appear that often), a good (deputy) sheriff for Shropshire, and a very good character to read about!

I love how he's clever, even cunning; yet honourable. His cunningness makes him consider unconventional approaches, which is a good thing for a detective (and he seems to be more of a detective than sheriffs tended to be at the time, at least that's the picture painted by Peters).

(I also like the portrayal by Sean Pertwee in the first season of the series a lot. Aside from the tiny detail that Hugh is supposed to be a dark-haired Norman, Sean Pertwee is perfect in the role.)

Yeah. A Literary Heroine Blog Party, and I pick heroes, and post a picture of heroes. Bear with me, please. I think Eeva in The Czar's Madman is a really admirable woman as well, they way she tries hard to rise above both her peasant background without losing contact with it, and the little minds surrounding her in her new station in life, and the way she sticks to her husband through thick and thin; but I don't have a picture of her. :D

If you were to plan out your dream vacation, where would you travel to - and what would you plan to do there?

I think, at the moment, I would love to go back to Estonia and explore more of it. Go to Saaremaa and the coast, and to Peipsi järv (the large lake in the east)...

The beautiful botanical gardens in Tartu - a place where surely a heroine could find herself...

... and while I’d be there, I’d like to revisit the places I’ve been to before in the Baltics, and also see more of Riga because despite being in Latvia several times, I’ve only seen a small part of its largest city.

 
A little manor house or something, at a lake near Trakai, Lithuania, where we were in 2006 (as you can see, it was boarded up); photo by my father

Plus Wales. Always Wales. I’m even liking Welsh accents now.

Because how can you not love this landscape?! Again, photo by my father, who's been to Wales four or how many times, while I've never been. I don't know when this photo was taken, but I hear when father's friends visited later, the old church / chapel was already in ruins...

What is your favourite time period and culture to read about?

I honestly don’t know now. I just lap up nearly anything that is connected to my English studies...? And in my free time, beside that, I just read what I’ve always enjoyed, and that has always been somewhat eclectic, too...

You have been invited to perform at the local charity concert. Singing, comedy, recitation - what is your act comprised of?

Singing in a choir, or maybe acting with other people – probably not comedy, because I always kill my jokes by laughing first. :-)

If you were to attend a party where each guest was to portray a heroine of literature, who would you select to represent?

Phew! I’m out of ideas. Or maybe I have too many ideas...

With the sewing ideas and plans I have, maybe I’d be Lenka from Filosofská historie, to make use of the planned 1848 costume. I do not exactly relate to her in my life situation, but I guess I have similar interests to what I know she does (reading and sewing and enjoying the nature and, well, the Czech language, too), so that would be easier to imitate.

What are your sentiments on the subject of chocolate?

Dark chocolate is delicious. And cocoa. Milk chocolate tends to be too sweet for me, but dark chocolate, also with various flavours, is one of the most fantastic things ever invented.

Hot chocolate, too. Aah, hot chocolate!

Favourite author(s)?

C. S. Lewis

J. R. R. Tolkien

Ellis Peters :-)
G. K. Chesterton
I guess I can safely say Jane Austen now, too...

...

And I’m enjoying Shakespeare more and more, although more often in film form than any other for some reason. :D

Besides essentials, what would you take on a visiting voyage to a foreign land?

My camera. Probably a sketchbook and pencils, too. If I travelled by train, maybe even some sewing.

The old teddy no longer travels with me, because he’s so worn he could fall apart soon, and I don't want that. But I might take the newest one, this Canadian teddy I got from my sister for last Christmas. He’s called George, after Constable George Crabtree from Murdoch Mysteries – that’s a Canadian detective series that takes place in Toronto at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries (apparently originally based on some books, too); and George looks a bit like the Constable (who's played by Jonny Harris and is both hilarious and absolutely adorable).

In which century were most of the books you read written?

Still the 20th, despite my attempts to learn more of authors from other centuries...
... I've also been reading quite a lot of medieval literature recently, but that covers many centuries.

In your opinion, the ultimate hero in literature is…

Weeell, beside those already mentioned here and elsewhere...

... I’m also getting to appreciate Peter Pevensie; I think because he’s so far removed from me in the sibling constellation, it took appreciating the more “developed” John Walker to appreciate Peter. (They have a lot in common.)

And in the area of Austenian heroes, I’m always in love with Mr Knightley and Mr Tilney, both – I think my ideal is somewhere in between them. Mr Knightley, as Natasha Marie rightly commented on a Pin, is the perfect gentleman, and not afraid to speak his mind, which I greatly admire; but sometimes he could use more of Mr Tilney’s simple joy in life, I think. And Mr Tilney is definitely fun to be around, and he acts on his principles instead of (just) talking about them like some others, which I also greatly admire; but sometimes, he should talk about them more, like Mr Knightley. So I guess in that way they’re not exactly my candidates for “the ultimate hero”, but in the realm of flawed human heroes, they are definitely worth mentioning.

PLUS I love Faramir. I love that he’s tempted and resists the temptation, and I love the patient relationship he forms with Éowyn.
And someone else also mentioned Sam Gamgee (sorry I don't remember which of the many participants that was!), and while I tend not to think of him because I tend not to like the parts of The Lord of the Rings where he gets to shine, I like him when he gets to shine. :-) And I also just like him at the beginning where he is the wide-eyed novice to travelling, and at the end of the book when he comes back to his family. I very, very much like that the book ends with that.

Describe your ideal dwelling place.
Here I go back to my old description, because that's what it is:
A house. With a garden. At the outskirts of a town, with a forest nearby. In the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands, because that’s my favourite part of my country (and I cannot imagine living anywhere else than the Czech Republic).
It’s probably from the turn of the 20th century. It has big windows and lots of light, but still rather thick walls that keep the warmth inside in winter.
It has bedrooms in the attic, with walls lined with wood.
It has a roomy kitchen equipped in light wood. (So that I am forced to clean it regularly.)
It has a cool pantry.
It has a room dedicated only to my sewing.
It has a big library.


And I have a Pinterest board of pictures that cover some aspects of it, too, for those of you who are more visual. (I'm both.)

Sum up your fashion style in a short sentence.

It is historically and vintage inspired - or outdated, depending on your point of view; and very eclectic with occasional classy peaks.
(I guess that's a bit longer than short. I can't do short.)

The coat and the hat are definitely the vintage-y classy peaks. The lace-up boots and barely visible corduroy trousers underneath are the eclectic part.

Have you ever wanted to change a character’s name?

As I said, naming a semi-villain in a Sherlock Holmes story A. Dvorak was a really bad and lazy choice on A. C. Doyle’s part.

(And, outside of names, I’m also a bit allergic to Prague being used as the mysterious city where dubious chemical-related things happen at that time in history. There were probably some dubious things happening, like in other cities, but as far as I know, the days of alchemists in Prague happened in the 16^th or 17^th century, not at the end of the 19^th century... I suppose I can’t expect better from the man who ignored the political situation of the time and made up the King of Bohemia as well.)

So in my mind, his name is actually F. Lischka and he lives in Vienna.

In your opinion, the most dastardly villain of all literature is...

Hmm... after the previous rant I’m tempted to say “Professor Moriarty”, but the thing is, he is not as much of an archvillain as the adaptations make him out to be, even though he is definitely very dangerous and very clever and very bad.

I’m still sticking to Iago, because I cannot think of any other character that undermines the other characters’ (ahem) characters in such a way.

Three favourite Non-fiction books? 

(If the question were “least favourite”, I just may have to say the MLA handbook. Because I always forget about some part of the MLA formatting; and after the years of struggling to keep up with it, I will probably have to use a different format for my thesis anyway.)

I enjoy most of C. S. Lewis’ non-fiction in general; my favourite is probably The Four Loves – I even used that one for school two times, years apart. :D

As mentioned previously, Das Traumcafé einer Pragerin by Lenka Reinerová is a really delightful slim book of memories about various interesting people. I can read it in about an hour and a half, so it makes for a really nice mood-making read, if you know what I mean. :-)

And on a completely different note, I’m very fond of An Illustrated History of Britain. It’s also a slim volume that somehow manages to give a really good overview of British history (though with a definite bias for England).

Your duties met for the day, how would you choose to spend a carefree summer afternoon? 

Reading somewhere outdoors out of the sun but with light... or writing there... or walking in a forest, picking blueberries... visiting a chateau with family and friends... with a campfire and singing in the evening... all of the above.

Create a verbal sketch of your dream hat - in such a way as will best portray your true character. 

Once more, words shared before:
My hat is a wide-brimmed straw hat. It shades me from the sun, so that I keep cool in summer heats. It is also fun and pretty to look at, because the brim is embroidered with small flowers. They are ordinary but colourful flowers, daisies, poppies and cornflowers, entwined with ears of grain. It’s a summer hat, and brings summer back into shadier days.

Share the most significant event(s) that have marked your life in the past year.

Well, I already have those covered in the 2013 in review posts. :D Namely, Part 3.

Share the Bible passage(s) that have been most inspiring to you recently.
I'm not sure this qualifies as "most inspiring", but I was once more struck by the unusual connections in the passage on killing in the Sermon on the Mountain - this time suddenly noticing that it goes straight from saying that whoever, you know, speaks badly of someone will end up badly, to the idea that if you realise someone's got something against you, you should sort it out first... and I suddenly wondered, does that mean we have to think about their spiritual health as well? It ends with a suggestion we have to sort out our guilt in the quarrel to save ourselves, but now I think that does not quite cover everything that preceeds it...

The world is full of beautiful things

Last year, while searching for historical depictions of kathak dancers to try and figure out if the costume I was making for my sister had any sort of historical background, I did not find much by way of that, but instead, I found this.


The "origin" part is a bit dubious (there are many origins); ignore that and watch from 0:53 - it is, both me and my sister have agreed, one of the most fantastic dance numbers we have ever seen.






And Ennio Morricone. Yesterday. 22th row. I had to crane my neck to see, but I did see; I saw various instruments playing at various times in the music, and I love that.






There are few musical pieces more breathtaking than this. In fact, there are few musical pieces as breathtaking as this; I do not think "more" applies anywhere.

There was standing ovation, always, and it was a bit difficult with my large coat, but I did stand up, because everyone did, and how can you not? There were three encores, and this was one of them. Another was The Ballad of Sacco and Vanzetti, which my father has a certain fondness for (I have not been able to tell him yet, because he was already asleep yesterday and now he's at work), and the third and last was On Earth as It Is In Heaven from The Mission, and there's that, too:

I nearly missed the station on the way there, reading Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller on the train. It's not the sort of book that blows my mind exactly (the style of sharing stories about himself and his friends gets a bit repetitive and somewhat simplified after a while; and now that I think about it, there might be something else yet again to the Bible being so diverse, genre-wise), but it's the sort of book I keep laughing while I read, because so much of it is so true.
Then I read it before the concert started. There was a bit of a blend in with the music later on, even though Morricone in the document they showed in the beginning said there was no "meaning" to the music except the same that is in the film, and what the audience finds in it is of no concern to the composer who only has to be true to the music, or something along those lines. But the book got me wondering, so I wondered, about a large orchestra and choir playing and singing On Earth As It Is In Heaven, with the composer conducting.

So there's that.

2013 in review: Part 2

Compared to this time last year, are you:

1. happier or sadder? I think happier, because unlike the years before, I did keep in touch with more of my friends, at least a bit, and that helps a lot. And as evidenced in the previous post and below, I’ve discovered some great music, and realised a little thing about the way I spend my time, and that helps, too.

2. thinner or fatter? About the same, I think. I don't keep close trace. (The Little Black Dress still fits.)

3. richer or poorer? See above. The same student living on potatoes and onions and stuff. :D Though unlike the year before, I've discovered the awesomeness that are chicken skeletons for soup (with enough meat for a dinner for one!) and homemade noodles. (Why it took me so long? I guess because I was head over heels in love with leavened dough. I still am in love, but it's toned down now, and I've gained enough experience with it to whip it up confidently and shift my attention elsewhere.)

(And why I talk about food? Because it's part of what most of my money went into.)

What do you wish you’d done more of?

Sewing.

And more meeting with the editorial board, which due to my not being in Prague was not possible. This year, more of us are not from Prague, and so it will hopefully be better.

What do you wish you’d done less of?

Procrastinating, as usual...

And spending time on a certain Czech fashion-focused site/forum. I'm a happier person when I don't go there and don't engage in discussion with people who don't get my drift and try to force theirs on me. There were some interesting discussions (often historical-related) and some good advice, but it was mostly eating up my time and energy, and reinforcing a sort of negative approach to life and vainglory or what. The whole site has too broad a focus and it's pretty much all based on critique. And while I originally thought constructive criticism was useful, there was far less of it and far more of the other kind than was good for me; a tendency to find faults at any cost, or failure to explain why someone did not like something (a system of posts rating that leads to a lot of unexplained anonymous hate. Most notable case: American Duchess shoes!)

I'm not going to go and delete my account to demonstrate my epiphany (a lot of the more reasonable members whom I actually enjoyed a discussion with seem to have done that), but phew, I do have better, more positive, productive things to do with my time.
Like the newer and so far mostly stagnant Czech sewing forum. That's much closer to my heart.

I mean, I like constructive criticism. I may not like it at first if it is aimed at something dear to me, but in the long run, it helps.
I just think it is a waste of - not just time, but humanity -  to almost purposefully not like things in a not constructive way. And even though I said, and keep saying, that I do not make resolutions, my one resolution for 2014 and onwards might be the obvious and often repeated but still easily forgotten "whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things." (Phillippians 4, 8)

Phew. Time for something more worthy of praise.

What was your greatest musical discovery?

Bombino!

So many thanks to Jana Š. for bringing him to my attention. It’s... just wow. Perfect feel good music for me.

Bruce Springsteen. It used to be one of those names you keep running into and for some reason never check out (does that happen to you?). So I finally did. And loved a lot of what I heard, particularly these two songs:

For the record - because these seem to spur a lot of heated political / social debate on YouTube - I am not going to pretend I know all that these songs are about. I love the music, and the fact that the lyrics are engaged and engaging does not hurt.
And now I regret that I did not check him out a year earlier and missed out on his concert in Prague last year.

Plus, in a convoluted internet wormhole way, I started listening to the Seatbelts' Cowboy Bebop soundtracks at the very end of the year, and again, wow – with this, and Privateering, and The Bad Plus that Oona brought to my attention earlier, I’m finding out that I actually like jazz and/or blues. :D

Aaand... once more, Radůza's Psalm 22.

Thank God for YouTube - it's an excellent source for musical discoveries! The world is full of great, great music.

How did you spend Christmas?

Fell ill before it, and did much less preparation than I planned to. Had fried carp. (I've had carp before, but not fried in the traditional Czech Christmas way. It was good.) Had our usual wine sausage, too, and wanted more, even though there was lots. Managed to make a good potato salad in spite of forgetting several ingredients: celery was a good addition, and it always helps when it's been in the cold for a day or two.

There is a decided lack of green in that salad, because I forgot the gherkins.

Made much less cookies than I wanted to.

My poor sister was actually ill during Christmas, so almost nothing went as planned, and our Christmas stretched over several days, but it was quite fine in the end. We did not decorate a tree, did not sing, and put the usual Bible reading from Luke together from memory, which made it all the more poignant.
The sermon did not give me much this year, but we sang the two best Czech Christmas songs. One is so popular that it's an unofficial Czech Christmas anthem (seriously: last year at an Advent concert, people stood up to sing it), the other is almost virtually unknown outside of church circles. Both are medieval.
You see, medieval Christmas songs are what I grew up with. Listening to an LP. And look, one of the tracks is up on YouTube now!

It's not my favourite, but the whole album is my favourite Christmas album. I already wanted to share last year, but it was nowhere to be found, so yay!

My friend gave me a fabulous scarf. I gave her The Ocean at the End of the Lane. I have yet to read it myself, but I've heard only good things about it.
We visited grandma as usual, and she filled us with food as usual. This time, I made use of my new camera and took photos of objects in her flat, things I've always been looking at there and never thought of photographing.
My favourite is this little glass monkey. Well, it used to be a monkey: it used to have a tail, once, I'm told. I'm told that when one of my sisters was very small, she somehow bit off the tail, and now the tail is lying on the bottom of the glass and the monkey is an ape.

It's the same word in Czech. Well, there is a special word for ape, but most people in everyday setting don't distinguish between them, even less so than in English. It makes the whole Librarian business in Discworld even more fun.

How are you spending New Year’s?

I spent the night with my sister, her husband and a bunch of their friends, like last year: singing and prayer (which I unfortunately missed this year, in part due to the water disaster mentioned in the previous post) and of course good food, and games! Dixit’s the best game ever, but I don't have a picture.

There is a terrace on top of the house they live in that makes for good fireworks watching. And I finally have a camera that sort of photographs them.

Who did you spend the most time on the phone with?

I don’t phone much. Almost not at all. Probably my mom or my sister; those are the two I am on the phone with most often.

What was the best book you read?

Huh. Murder in the Cathedral by T. S. Elliott? That did blow my mind, although not quite in the “the world’s never going to be the same” way...

And speaking of medieval English, Pearl is quite beautiful, and so well written.

It's school-related books that spring to mind, because my leasure readings were usually things I've read before. And fanfiction - there's some awesome stuff out there, but you have to wade through a lot of not-so-good. My favourite from this year, which is definitely reaching book proportions by now, is probably the stories Wholmes Productions are putting out.

Did you fall in love in 2013?

I don’t think so...

What was your favourite TV show?

I don’t have TV, so I catch up with them where and how I can, and Doctor Who remains my favourite, even though I admit the quality is variable. I enjoy it the most because I tend to like the thinking behind it.
Besides that, I basically discovered that I like series that have self-contained episodes. Sci-fi and detective series fit the bill most often for some reason.

Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

No.

What did you want and get?

Honey. :D
 

What did you want and not get?

Doctor Who DVDs for Christmas, but there’s no complaint whatsoever, because instead, my whole family bought me a ticket for an Ennio Morricone concert this February!
 

I'm not showing you where exactly my seat is, but for that huge arena, it's pretty close!

What were your favourite films of this year?

Smoke Signals. That did blow my mind in the “the world’s never going to be the same” way, so much so that anything else I can come up with pales in comparison.

Go and see Smoke Signals. It’s much less of what you’d expect it to be, and all it should be. Huh, I guess I’ve just come up with a sort of my own definition of an outstanding film or something...

This never fails to crack me up. :-)
And the ending always blows my mind.

2013 in review: Part 1

There was a decided lack of posts in 2013. So I'm borrowing something from Natasha Marie (who borrowed it from someone else) and posting a wrap-up.
Seeing as this also happens to be my 200th published post on this blog, I think a wrap-up is very fitting.
Warning: it's long. I'm making up for a year of little posts. So it actually comes in more parts.

What did you do in 2013 that you’d never done before?

Saw an opera. My sister and her husband’s birthday gift for me was a visit to an opera they’d been to several times before already. Now we all want to see it once again, and more. It’s a modern recreation of the earliest at least partially preserved opera, and the music has only the best features of both.

(There's Czech monologue/dialogue until about 1:55.)

(Awwwww, everyone, and I mean everyone, needs to hear that thing! In person! One of the saddest realisations of 2013 is the realisation that that’s not humanly possible.)

I picked one of the artificial laurel leaves they pour out during the performance and keep it as a memento. I do not think I was the only one.

After that, we met with some of their friends from church and made pretzels, which was a first for me, too.

Had port. (Nom!)

Made plum cakes. Cuts. Whatever. (Yummy.)

Made handkerchiefs. :-)

Read medieval English literature in actual medieval English. (With lots of footnotes.) 

Visited Karlštejn. Tourist trap level as expected. The guide's level of knowledge was a less expected letdown. While the castle itself is certainly interesting, you might want to save your money and go visit somewhere else, maybe Ploskovice. I'll post about it this year, promise.

Spent a whole weekend with the people from our youth magazine editorial board (we're mostly volunteers), learning about media and having lots of fun.

Spoke to a Touareg. (Something along the lines of “Could you please sign this for me. – Thanks. – It was wonderful.” See below.)

Did you keep your New Years’ resolutions, and will you make one this year?

I don’t do New Year’s resolutions as such, so there. I do make occasional resolutions (occasional as in for / at an occasion), and right now it’s to finish more of my sewing.

Did anyone close to you give birth?

Not anyone very close to me.

Did anyone close to you die?

Sadly, two of our cats, Yksi and Kuusi (so yes, that Kuusi lesson is a retrospect...).

What countries/states did you visit?

I visited many new places around my own, and loved it!

(The year before, it was Finland, which I still have not gotten around to telling you about. Ahem.)

(This was already in 2012, but whatever.)

What would you like to have in 2014 that you lacked in 2013?

I cannot think of anything in particular. Except maybe attending the interpreting course.

What date from 2013 will remain etched upon your memory?

I don’t remember any particular dates for things that happened to me. So I’ll go with November 8th when my friend did not take an important exam in the end. :D It’s because it’s an important date from my country’s history (the battle of White Mountain) that I could never remember, and now I do!

Did you move anywhere?

No.

What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Probably translating quite a lot into English, in an official capacity. It's not something that you should be doing, mind you, translating into a second language and not your own; we'll have an English editor go over it.

What was your biggest failure?

Probably still failing to finish my sister’s kathak skirt. My sewing failures stand out the most to me, because they’re still lying around the house to remind me.

Did you suffer illness or injury?

Thankfully, nothing serious, just the usual seasonal colds.

What was the best thing you bought?

One thing? Phew. That would be very hard to decide; I don't buy big things.

A beige felt cloche and bamboo scent in January with my Christmas money – the hat is pretty and practical and very much me, and that is actually my first scent, one that’s very much me, too (before that, everything had always smelled just perfume-y to me).

A pair of lace-up boots. 

The Felicitas Queisser scarf - I wear it all the time now, 1797 fichu en marmotte style.

Those 15 meters of lining fabric - that was definitely the haul of the year, maybe even of the decade, but only fabric-wise.

And I finally got myself a purse/shoulderbag that's almost perfect. It might even be leather and it was dirt cheap in a thrift shop. My only complaint is that I would prefer a wider shoulderstrap.

Two Cadfael books, the last in the shop, hidden away in a "last copies" shelf: one for me, one for my sister for Christmas.

Whose behaviour merited celebration?

I think the biggest thumbs up go to my sister for inviting her Latvian colleague and friend who had to stay here over Christmas to celebrate with us, and the rest of the family including grandma for going along with it - even though in the end it did not go quite as planned because of my sister's illness.

On the internet, it's without a doubt Leimomi, for running the Historical Sew Fortnightly which turned out to be hugely popular and way more time-consuming than she had expected; and doing it again this year!

Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?

I can’t think of anything. It was a fairly happy year, all in all.

Where did most of your money go?

In general, school.

What did you get really, really, really excited about?

As evidenced by this post, Peter Capaldi as the Doctor.

What was the best concert you’ve been to this year?

It’s a tie between Mark Knopfler & Co.’s concert in May (an online newspaper review gave it 90%, which caused an outrage from commentators who demanded to know what was their excuse for the lack of the remaining 10% :D) and La Dafné in December (an online review gave it 100%). And how could I forget Bombino?! 2013 was very good, concert-wise.

What song/album will always remind you of 2013?

Privateering! The album. I still love it more and more and more. Song is probably Yon Two Crows from it.

Or maybe Her Tenere by Bombino. Yes, that will be the song, because friends and concert and awesome discoveries about the world thanks to the internet.