Namnet´s Philosophizing Playground

New Year Is Coming....

2011-12-30T23:22:00.003+01:00

New year is coming. And it makes me summarize everything what happened in 2011. The year of Rabbit, the year of huge disillusionments when I lost a part of my enthusiasm and my belief in people. Difficult times. But everything happens on some purpose. It must be so. Because without difficult times we probably could not see the good so clearly, and all things (even the bad ones) lead us to the point we are standing at now.

I read somewhere that people should listen to their intuition more, they should pay attention to all those small hints and try to connect them with their everyday reality. 2011 was also a year when I came back to books I could not have read in the past. They were boring for me. Now I know that I did not understand them as I had not had the proper experience. I was simply too young when I was trying to read them (I was about twelve).

So in a year of Rabbit I was able to identify with Simon and a loss of innocence in Lord of the Flies, Great Gatsby helped me to understand, and some short stories by Faulkner and early short stories by Hemingway just fitted to my 2011 mood. Those books were my 2011 intuition, they were the symbols of my everyday reality.

It is said that after some time one´s brain is able to push the bad memories away and only the good ones remain. So I hope that once I will get my lost enthusiasm and belief in people again. On the other hand how can you stop growing up?

Every cloud has a silver lining. And 2011 was also a year of discoveries, a year when I realised that the people around you matter once again. And that I have some good friends. Their weird, but they are mine. I also have a good job, which is nice. And I have a great family. Again - they are sometimes weird, but they are mine and they supported me so much that I probably will not be ever able to pay them back.

This year has been like being on a roller coaster. And not only for me. Yesterday a friend of mine wrote me an e-mail where she was wishing me everything good for the next year and I wished her the same and I asked her how she was. My friend answered that she was not fine but it could be much worse. And she told me about two children I was teaching two years ago that their mother died a week before Christmas. And I told her about my sister´s friend whose baby is seriously ill and is suffering a lot. And we both agreed that in spite of the fact our problems were damaging us, they could be worse and we had to be grateful they had been not.

As I have said before. Last year was full of changes, I do not remember any other year like that. A lot of people around me got married, a lot of my friends gave a birth to their first baby. Many couples also broke up. For some people it was a good year, for some it was a bad year. But usually nothing between. So let´s say that it was a weird year and I hope the next one will be more calm and peaceful.

Learning to Learn Again...

2011-12-11T10:15:00.007+01:00

I have started to study at a university again. And because I am impatient I decided to shorten my studies and study those six semesters in two years. That means that I am studying two semesters together now, instead of one. And I have also started a new job. Well, two new jobs as I am teaching at two schools. I am really enjoying my studies and I am glad for such great jobs, but my free time has become really precious and rare. And that´s the thing I do not like at all as I am accustomed to have many hobbies and to spend time with my beloved ones regularly. But...
But I have realised that those studies are also my hobby. I studied similar courses few years ago so these days I am focusing mostly on subjects I like. As literature, history, and cultural studies. And I am surprised how my perception of all these things has changed, how differently I see them now than I did about five years ago. Five years is not so long but I feel like I have passed quite a journey. Isn´t it weird how things start to make sense? Because that is how I feel it now - the things suddenly connected together and started to make sense in a very logical way. Learning never ends. It should not never end as it can change our thinking and therefore ourselves. Well, I just like the feeling when I do understand:-)

-----

(just browsing through the photographs of summer)

-----

Learning and getting new information is great. I like it. But I have found that my brain has some capacity and selects data for me. The unimportant ones are forgotten quite quickly. So three weeks ago I forgot my internet banking password and I had to go to the bank to solve it. And about two days ago I forgot my password to the account here, in blogspot. I had used these passwords quite often and suddenly my brain went on strike. I didn´t remember those passewords but I had been able to tell you thousands pieces of information about modern American writers, about history of the USA from 1900 to the present days, about Tom Stoppard and Peter Ackroyd, about cultural differences in terms of low and high context or polychronic and monochronic cultures, and other stuff like these. What does that mean? It means that my brain is not very practical one....

20 Years Ago....

2011-09-24T20:42:00.006+02:00

Exactly 20 years ago Nirvana released their album Nevermind. Today is the day. 20 years ago. Weird.

Sometimes time passes so unnoticedly and invisibly that only in days like these you can see it. You can imagine the time that has passed.

And today has evoked me some memory: I am about ten, eleven years old. It´s an evening and the whole family is at home. My father has bought some new tape and now he is going to play it. I am wondering what it is. While he is putting it in our old big cassette player, I am looking at the cover of the tape. There is a baby in the water and he is grabbing at some banknote. I have never heard about the band, but I like the cover. I find it interesting. And blue. I feel that maybe I don´t understand the message completely, that maybe I am too young (and I hate that feeling), but I still find it cheeky and definitely smart. I like it a lot. Then the tape starts to play. We are sitting in our living room and we are listening. My mother (who is going from the bed room and catches what we are listening to) doesn´t like it much and she is heading directly to the kitchen. My sister is maybe in her bedroom, I don´t know. It´s dark outside, the light in the room is quite soft, I am sitting in the living room with my father and we are listening to Nevermind.
---

When we were children, my sister and I, music was definitely an inportant part of our growing-up. There were so many different impacts that they helped us to grow in so open-minded people we are now. I believe it is so. My mother´s parents and my mother played a lot of classical music to us. If I imagine my grandparents´ house, the classical music is a part of the vision. Thanks to all three of them I also found musicals and let´s say popular melodies. My mother also liked to listen to pop music as The Genesis, The Beatles, music from the 60s and 70s and many others. My father was a rocker. Thanks to him we listened to Queen, Deep Purple, Alice Cooper, and again many others. We played the music at our old big cassette player, we sang along, we danced. So our base consisted of all these elements. From the classical music to the music of 60s to Queen. And we were like a sponge. We absorbed all of it and made it to be ours. And when time was passing we also added some things on our own. I added world music, dance music and heavy metal. My sister added something a bit different. But it was our parents and grandparents who gave us the love to listening to almost any music. And it is funny that when we are together now, my sister and me, when the radio is on we still sing along, still dance along together.

Today has been definitely a bit nostalgic day. Nice but nostalgic.

---

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fregObNcHC8&feature=related

(I think their whole Unplugged MTV concert which this song is from, is one of the best concerts ever. Timeless. I have it on CD and I usually listen to it when I cook:-)

One of Those Favourite Bits....

2011-09-08T10:33:00.002+02:00

Death: "Humans need fantasy to be human. To be the place where the falling angel meets the rising ape."

Susan: "With tooth fairies? Hogfathers?"

Death: "Yes. As practice, you have to start out learning to believe the little lies."

Susan: "So we can believe the big ones?"

Death: "Yes. Justice, mercy, duty. That sort of thing."

... Susan: "They're not the same at all."

Death: "You think so? Then take the universe and grind it down to the finest powder, and sieve it through the finest sieve, and then show me one atom of justice, one molecule of mercy. And yet, you try to act as if there is some ideal order in the world. As if there is some, some rightness in the universe, by which it may be judged."

Susan: "But people have got to believe that, or what's the point?"

Death: "You need to believe in things that aren't true. How else can they become?"
-

(an extract from Terry Pratchett´s Hogfather)

The Journey to the Bottom and Back

2011-09-05T22:28:00.003+02:00

About some time ago I was in the cinema with a friend of mine. Both of us are about thirty, both of us broken hearted in some way, both of us in a particular time of life when we are dealing with "things". It was a film called Bridesmaids. It was a comedy about women and for women, nothing serious, quite fun.
And there was a wonderful line both of us mentioned while going home from the cinema - when the main protagonist who is thirty-something appears in the front of her mother´s door and says something like: "Do you remember when you told me last time that that was the bottom? You were wrong. This is the bottom." and then she dejectedly moves in.

It´s hard to say when you are in your personal bottom, because even when you think that things cannot be worse, they usually become worse. Of course they do. So, isn´t the bottom the place where you just simply decide that you bounce back? That you do not want to give up? Sometimes simply just because you cannot. The place where you realise you want to be happy so you should do this and that?
Last week I was in that place. My personal bottom. It was that kind of week when you are able neither cry nor laugh. You are tired as hell and simply just want to survive.
I was handing over the keys of the house I had rented to a new tenant. We met at that house - me, the new tenant and the owner of the house. I handed the keys, we all left the building and said good bye and then the owner and the new tenant got into their cars and moved off. And at that moment I realised I had left my personal keys indoor. And I didn´t have a telephone number to a new tenant and the owner had changed hers not a long ago so I didn´t have it either.
And at that moment I appeared myself in my bottom. It wasn´t the biggest event that had happened but it was the last one which made it to that bottom. I was standing in front of the house for about five minutes. I got simply blank. I was standing there, staring at the house and having a strong feeling that if I had sit at that place down, the ground would have opened, have swallowed me and I would have rested in peace...
I was lucky enough that there were not many people around, because I must have looked nuts. After my five minutes staring I realised there was very small chance the ground would open. So I called my sister to borrow her keys and therefore to be able to get into our flat. And I started to think again. It was kind of restart.
Things are not going to be better just because I really want them to be. And it will take some time to calm things down inside of me, to get some system again. But my restart was done, I stopped being afraid of future. Everything´s going to be all right or bearable at least. Because it has to be. There is no other option.
I am sometimes very impatient and I want everything now and quickly. And I wanted to be happy and satisfied and sort everything out quite fast. But it didn´t work and I started to feel more and more terrible. Now I know. I know that the fact that I don´t have all I want now doesn´t mean I would not have it somewhen in the future. I don´t regret anything. Even the bad things. Every single one of them was good for some other. I know who my real friends are, I know I have loving family around me, I know I am not perfect but I can try to fix me, I know where I am heading now. Slowly, but I believe I get there once.
Maybe I am a bigger fighter than I have always thought to be. Or maybe I am simply stubborn as hell. Which I know I am. Things will be all right again. Because I will make them to be. A big part of my energy has been sucked dry. And I want it back. So we will see how my plan is going to work. Soon I think:-)

Perfect World and Becoming "We"

2011-06-29T20:50:00.004+02:00

...and nobody pretends anything. And everyone says the truth to show their respect. And nobody hurts each other on purpose to show their love. They listen. They care. And nobody makes up stories or events to look perfect. Because nobody is. People wear their differences as a jewel. And when they are sad, they show it. And when they are happy, they show it, too. Being self-contented and hurt nobody while reaching that is the finish of long path, not the certainty. And everybody is able to apologize and means it. Everybody makes mistakes but they can set them right. And outspokenness is appreciated. And... well... maybe somewhere else. Somewhere over the rainbow or so.

----

At the weekend I was with my friends. They are lovely couple and they have been together for about six months. Both of them are quite strong personalities. But they respect each other and I think the chemistry also helps.

On Friday, me and my girl friend were out and were passing a board where the cinema programme was hanged. And we decided to go to a movie. On Saturday I sent her a short message if we would go. And she answered they would go. "They". I don´t mind her boyfriend, actually he is one of my best friends. But I have realised that she is using it very often these days. It is like if "she" and "he" have disappeared and they became "we". As I said before - I like her boyfriend very much. And I am happy if he goes anywhere with us. Well, maybe I should say if they go anywhere with me together. I am just surprised. For me it is almost like losing your own personalities and becoming one big unit. Which is nice and in many situations appropriate, but to be one unit at all costs... I am not sure.

For me the perfect words are: You and Me are We. Not just We and nobody else.
-

My Two Precious

2011-06-18T23:35:00.007+02:00

This Thursday was for two of my best friends their wedding day. And I was a part of their story.

When I was looking for some photo of Adélka and me I found many of them. And most of them cannot be published as their character is quite wild, let´s say... We became colleagues about four years ago, we started to have lunches together, and soon we happened to be friends. And then she moved next door and we became even closer. Now I can say we are best friends.

We have overcome many hard situations and times together and we always support each other. In past years we were also on many parties together and we organised most of them. Wild times. My comrade-in-arms:-) And it was the same on Thursday when I was helping her to get dressed and to calm her down.

When I was looking for some photo of Joseph it was even harder than with Adélka´s photo. Because on most of them we are young. We have known each other for about fourteen years. We both studied at the same secondary school and because both of us were living in the hall of residence we became friends.

He is one of the most kindest people I know. And one of the most stubborn people I know. And funniest and briskest and the most supportive. If I had a brother I would like him to be like Joseph.

---
Joseph spent a few years in England and we were not in touch for some time. I knew what he was doing there, I knew when he came back. But we didn´t "talk". And last december we met and realised that we were missing each other. It was a wonderful encounter.

The Christmas was coming so the Christmas party was organized. And I invited Adélka as well as Joseph. So they met. They liked each other. It could be seen.

After a week all three of us went to dinner together. They told me it wasn´t a date. Maybe they didn´t make a date, but I could see how they feel about each other after an hour. And from that day they have been together. It is almost like a romantic story from a book.

So they met in December 18 last year. Now they are married and they are expecting a baby in December 19 or 20 this year. Destiny...

---

By the way. At the begging of this year me and Joseph were to see a fortune teller. And she told him that he would meet a girl who was going to be the right one for him, they were going to have a baby very soon and they were going to get married till the end of the year. And she told him some other things, of course. All of it has come true to these days. And Joseph didn´t believe her...:-)

---

Spring and Summer Awaking in Vienna

2011-05-21T20:10:00.016+02:00

Every season has its own smells and sounds as well as colours. The spring smells like freshly dug soil and lilacs in blossom. Its sounds are sounds of passeriform birds. And its colours are very light at first, but they continue to be bright and vivid after all.

Today a friend of mine showed me her new face cream and I smeared a bit of it on my hand. And because I have to touch and smell everything I investigate, I also smell this cream on my hand. And it smell like summer for me. For me summer smells like cool water, like coconut milk or oil, and forest full of coniferous trees and moss. Sounds of summer are sounds of your own thoughts. Because everything is usually so calm and days are so long that you have time to hear them. And the colours are a bit darker and the world has sharper outlines when you are watching it throught the sun glasses.

All those things mean spring and summer for me. And they also mean more trips. More journeys.

---

At the end of April I visited Vienna. A friend of mine organised a school trip there. And she invited me to join them. So I did. And it was a great day. Full of sun, slow motions and enjoying ourselves. We left all our troubles and worries at home. I did need this kind of pure relax.

At first we visited Schönbrunn Palace. I had never been there before. We visited the rooms and chambers inside and after that we spent some time observing and enjoying the Easter Market in front of the palace.

I visit the Christmas markets in Vienna every year, but this was the first time I had ever been to Easter market. And I loved it. There were so many wonderful wooden and pottery products, most of them hand-made. Our plan was to go through the market quickly and then to have snack in the famous gardens of Schönbrunn Palace.

But... In the middle of the market we found one special stall. There was a man who was selling the most beautiful pottery things we had ever seen. We were standing there for almost half an hour and it was: "Oh, look! Have you seen these?" "And look at those birds! Those are wonderul!" "And those cups! I have to buy one of them."

So I bought that cup and my friend bought some pepperpot and salt cellar in a shape of hens (I know it sounds aweful and kitsch, but they were not).

I would have bought everything there. Nothing kitsch, everything wonderful and made with an idea. We were admiring those products and thanks to that we had no time to go to the gardens. Which was quite a pity, but I would like to see them, so I know I will come back one day.

So.. then we took our group of students to the city centre, my friend showed them some important historic sights and then we had about three hours to do anything we wanted to. So... my friend and me bought a ticket...

...and left the centre to some other part of the city - to the north bank of Danube river. Where in the Donaupark there is a Donauturm ("Danube Tower"), the tallest structure in Austria and a lookout point and attraction.

There are two high-speed elevators and it tooks only 35 seconds to reach the viewing platform in 150 metres. Well, I don´t like these elevators. I don´t like elevators and it doesn´t depend on their speed. But I loved that one we were lifted up. Because it had a glass ceiling and I was able to see how we were reaching the top. It was awesome. If it hadn´t been embarrassing to me, I would clapped my hand because of pure joy:-)

There was a lift boy and he asked my friend very carefully: "Are you here for the first time?" And she answered that she had been there before, but her friend (me) was there for the first time. I think the lift boy must have distinguished that.

And then we reached the platform in 150 metres....

..and then we went to the revolving café on the platform. When I sat down I thought I would be sick soon as I felt weird about the movement.

But after some time it was ok and I did enjoy the view. And because we were tired and had to top up some energy we ordered someting nutritious and delicious.

It was a wonderful experience and I was so glad my friend took me there. I enjoyed it a lot. Also the park where the tower is situated was wonderful as well as weather. Just one perfect day.

Letting Go

2011-04-21T19:59:00.003+02:00

Today a friend of mine told me: "People come, people leave. So let them go."

There are people I cannot get rid of at all. If you allow somebody to see the real you, to come too close, it is not easy to shut that door. And with my nature when I could be stubborn as hell, when I tell myself "It will work, it has to work, even if it kills me, it will work". Well, it is not agreeable for me to close any of those doors. But where is the line between "let´s give it more time and it will work" and "it is a waste of time, start a new thing". Sometimes I don´t know where that line lies.

So I know the friend of mine is right. She is a very clever woman. I am like a balloon and she is the string which holds me gently near the ground. I believe that people are good in general. That there must be something nice and worthy in everyone (ok, I don´t talk about serial killers or anybody who does any harm to a child, etc.).

I can see people´s faults, of course. But I also can see their merits and strengths and these shine for me more than their imperfections. The problem is that I can see that light but those people are sometimes afraid or maybe lazy to see it in themselves. Even if they make any mistake it is ok if they try to fix it, nobody´s perfect, I can still see their radiance. There is no strenght like the strenght of correcting our mistakes. For some weird reasons I believe that the way you treat people, the way they should treat you. Of course, I am sometimes surprised that it doesn´t work this way. As I said before, I am a kind of balloon, flying high above the sky...

And today my friend told me very tenderly and considerately that some people are different. She explained me the people are bad. And sometimes evil. And that even if I like them, it needn´t mean they like me the same way. And that I should treat them the way they treat me, not the opposite. Not to be nice and open-hearted and expecting them to be the same. And then she said that sentence: "People come, people leave, so let them go."

I know what she meant to say.

But. People come. And some of them have the power to change something. Something in you, influence you, influence looking on yourself or events around you. Some of them are smart and sharp, with a great sence of humour, and you find them really interesting and you enjoy being around them just because there are so many things you have in common or even more things you can learn from them. They have the power to push you somewhere else. And finally there are some people who share the same scars with you. And even these people changed and let you down, the scars are still there. You cannot erase them. They connect you.

So. People leave. Maybe to understand why they do so, makes their going away a bit easier. And maybe you are not important for them, maybe you haven´t changed anything in them. Maybe you are not interesting enough. And maybe they just used you and the scar is something they would like to forget as soon as possible. And maybe your behaviour patterns and seeing of reality is simply different. Who knows. But nothing is as difficult as letting go somebody you like, or even love.

----

Do You Know How Your Parents Met?

2011-04-01T20:16:00.008+02:00

It´s not easy to be happy, to find the way how to live the life you have always wanted to live, to cope with all those tiny (and sometimes quite big) things which try to complicate everything. But what makes things a bit easier is to know yourself. To know who you are, where you come from, what your background is, what has made you to be you.

Yesterday I was teaching my adult students. They are all around twenty. We did some reading tasks and then there were some talking points. One of the questions was "Do you know how your parents or grandparents met?" And I asked my fifteen students who were in the class. And only one of them knew how his parents met. It was a shock for me. I told them that I couldn´t believe they didn´t know. And I was asked "Why should we know? We have never even thought about how our parents or grandparents met." My reply was quite long and I do believe they started to think about it. But I don´t know if somebody is going to ask his or her parents about it.

I think it is important to know your past. And the past of your parents and grandparents. Because those things can influence you. Even you don´t know the past, it influences you the same way. And it´s always better to know what you are facing, is it.

I know the influence of genes, but I am talking about seeing your parents coping with things, about seeing them how they treat themselves or other people including you. Because it is very possible that when you are adult, you will treat yourself and other people the same or similar way. Of course, nobody chooses their family, and I do believe everyone of us has their own path. But we should be able to understand and want to learn from the "mistakes" our parents made not to repeat them.

For example I have a friend. She is a glamorous intelligent woman and loyal and supporting friend. But, as all of us, she has some demons. One of them is her mother. The problem is for quite a long talk, but to abridge it - there was a long time during her childhood and teenage years when her mother wasn´t supportive as mother should be. Things got better later on, but it was too late for my friend. Those things are inside her, influenced her a lot. She has taken a long journey to cope with all these and I know that she will be a great mother one day and that she will not allow herself to repeat the mistakes her mother made.

Or. My wonderful grandmother didn´t have a nice childhood in some ways. It was a difficult time for her. And when she was seventeen she met my grandfather and many things changed. At that time his family was quite reputable in our town. And my grandfather opened a new horizons to my grandmother. But her childhood and what happened influenced her. I didn´t know her when she was young, of course, but since I have remembered she tries to help everybody. She can´t say no often. She is very caring. She is the person who cements the whole family together, she needs to do so. She needs people that she loves to be around her. And I know why she acts the way she does.

___

It is nice and interesting to know your background. Your background is you, can influence you. And you should know who you are. Or at least, you should try to find it out.

By the way, one of my grandparents met in a canteen. They both worked in shops. My grandmother was a shop assistant at goldsmith´s and my grandfather was a watchmaker. They went to the same canteen to have lunch. And they fell in love.

My other grandparents got to know each other thanks to one of my grandfather´s sisters. She and my grandmother went to school together.

And my parents met on holiday. They spent a week with their parents (my both grandparents) in the same lodging house.

Days Full of Smallone and Adventure

2011-03-18T19:10:00.019+01:00

This whole week I have been having holiday. And my sister´s been having holiday and Smallone has been having holiday, too. And it means that we have spent a lot of time together, we have experienced lot of fun and adventure, and it has been wonderful so far. And it haven´t end yet.
--

On Monday we spent the whole afternoon outside in the huge park near my sister´s house. Me and my sister were walking, but walking is too boring for Smallone. So she was riding her favourite scooter.

She is a very careful driver. She was going around every single little ant or bug she saw. Which was a very dangerous for the people passing her and for me and my sister, but those bugs and ants were safe. Or, at least, most of them.

When I was shooting her, I almost stepped on one bug. Smallone saw it and I was told very clearly that I should have been very careful. Then she hop off her scooter, kneeled by the poor bug (which was running around quite chaotically), watched it for a while and then she calmed me down telling me that even the bug was trampled by my big and dangerous feet, it was still moving a bit, so everything was ok, "But be very careful next time, will you." I promised it to her. And I was.

(Smallone is wonderful. There are some meanings of words that are hard to distinguish for her. So when she was talking about the bug (which was definitely alive), she told me that it was trampled by me. Not almost trampled. And the same situation - she was telling me about her and her mother when they were at the swimming pool. She was thrilled because: "I was going down the slide to the water, and then I drowned! But then Mummy saved me. And it happened twice!" She didn´t see the difference between drown and submerge. And it was very cute.)

So we were walking through the whole park, Smallone was riding her scooter, and the weather was almost summery. I had my first ice-cream this year. We had snack in a gazebo in the middle of the park. We played skittles. We had to carry all those small sticks and cones and leaves Smallone had found and needed at home. We jumped off the tree stumps, we were running up and down the small hills. I couldn´t take any pictures during all of these things because I just didn´t have any time. It was a busy afternoon.

On Tuesday we were explorers. Me and Smallone experienced this many times before. It is almost a new tradition - we catch a public transport bus to the other part of our town, there we go around this place, then we catch a bus back and we usually finish eating something not very healthy in a restaurant.

(Smallone is on the watch for a bus impatiently)

But that day our expedition was a bit different as we took my sister to accompany us, and (which was the most important thing) we had a plan! My mother works in that part of our town so we wanted to say hello to her. And Smallone came up with the idea that "maybe we can bring a present. Or! I have an idea! We can put the present in a nice box, then we can leave the box in front of the door, ring the bell, hide ourselves, and then grandma will come out, she will see the present and she will be surprised!" And so we did all of it.

(We put the present in front of the door, rang the bell and hid)

(My Mum found the present and was very surprised. She found some very nice gift-wrapped candy and some wonderful pictures. They were drawn and signed by Smallone the Queen of All Seas and Oceans.)

After that me, my sister and Smallone revealed ourselves and Smallone got a wonderful soft toy dog from Grandma. So she was thrilled that Grandma liked her surprise and that she got so cute toy in return. And then we all got hungry so we say goodbye to our Mum and headed for the bus back.

(But before catching the bus there were many more adventures we had to experience. As a seesaw.)

(In a bus. Smallone was carrying her new toy dog. And all of us were tired and hungry but also happy and tickled.)

And our expedition ended in a restaurant as every other expedition does. And Smallone had been determined what she was going to have for lunch a long time before she entered the building. She wanted Vienna schnitzel. She loves this food, she can eat it anytime anywhere.

(And because it was our expedition, where everything is possible, of course she got a big schnitzel. Even she didn´t eat it all, she was satisfied and we were happy that she is happy.)

---

On Wednesday our plans were not so wild. Me, my sister, our mother, and Smallone were invited to lunch by my grandmother, Smallone´s great-grandmother. My grandad was the only man among four generations of women. But I think he is accustomed to be so, and I do think he doesn´t mind because his role in that house is indisputable. He is the Master of a Swing and Stepladder. So he and Smallone, the Queen of All the Seas and Oceans, have always some good time together while our grandmother is cooking. As me and my sister did when we were children. My grandparents are great. They are one wonderful and cheefrul tandem. I am sure I wrote about them here before.

After delicious lunch ve stayed for a while at my grandparents´ house, we played many games, had some nice cups of coffee, and then my mother went to work, and me and my sister and Smallone went home.

My adventures went on as my friend visited me and we had a great picnic on our balcony (with some chocolates and coffee again). And then I had to go to work and that was the end of a great day.

---

On Thursday and today it has been raining. I am quite fed up with these weather changes. The temperature during this week has changed from 30 Celsius on Monday to 5 Celsius today. I have headaches thanks to it.

Tomorrow we are visiting our father, Smallone´s grandad. So our adventures is continuing.

Collecting Moments

2011-03-18T17:33:00.001+01:00

I started to write about that maybe it´s better to be the black swan than the white one (even I am sometimes not sure which one I am), about me installing my new printing machine (watching me doing it must have been kind of slapstick comedy, I am sure). I started both of these posts but haven´t finished them and that´s why you are not going to read them. The first one was a bit angry, the second one was ironical and funny. But I suppose they were not meant to be.

Everything has its own moment and if you do not say or write it in that certain moment it could lose its meaning, or the meaning is lower or not so important or maybe it is like "ok" instead of "wow!". Well, the big and momentous things have more than one moment usually, of course. But I am not going to talk to myself back. Those posts´moments have disappeared and that´s it.

Not long ago I visited a friend of mine. We meet each other once a week, usually on Friday, and she call herself my personal psychologist as she helped me to solve two quite big issues during the last two months. She is completely opposite to me. I am quick, poetic, expressive, and able to solve fifteen things in one day, and I sometimes talk just because I can. She is able not to talk for a long time, run herself without discussing things, she can see the world from its very practical side. But we still share the same values. I like her because she isn´t afraid of telling me what she really thinks. And I listen to her because I know she cares. It doesn´t mean I obey everything she tells me, but at least I listen to her.

So. When I visited her about two weeks ago she gave me a sheet of paper removed from a magazine. And there was a definition of Gemini, which is my sign of zodiac. She gave it to me with a huge smile and told me that: "When I was reading it I was laughing a lot, because that´s you! That´s just simply you!". And then I read it and yes, that was me.

And among many other things there were sentences like: "The energy of Gemini is connected to discovering words and notions, making connections and relationships. The world for Gemini is a place of interest and relish. And a place of gathering and collecting moments."

My next post is going to be full of moments I have gathered this week so far.

Who Doesn´t Want to be a Weirdo?

2011-02-12T21:04:00.004+01:00

Last week or so I had a conversation with a friend of mine. And a part of it was this dialog:
Her: "... and he said that´s funny."
Me: "Well, ok. And did you talk to him about the stuff I had told you before?"
Her: "No! Of course I didn´t. He could think you are really weird. More than he thinks now."

A small explanation: we were laughing this whole conversation, the subject of it wasn´t serious at all, and the thing I talked about was a bit strange but funny and yes it was a bit crazy as well. But when she said those last two lines and all of a sudden her face looked very solemn, it was like hitting a wall for me. So I asked myself if I should be worried to act as I am used to act? To act the way I feel?

I am usually a very outspoken person. I tell what I think. Especially among people I recognize my friends. Among them my thoughts sometimes go throught my mouth before they even touch my brain. They appear and I immediately express them without thinking about them. But isn´t it the thing you could do among people you trust? They know me anyway, so why I should be so cautious? I know I can be seen as a bit unusual or let´s say different. And I like it. I know who I am. I like my strangeness. But I must say that I have never felt SO strange. I mean I have always been surrounded with so many free spirits that it is sometimes me who´s been feeling a bit ordinary.

So I was a bit shocked at first. And I wanted to know more. I don´t care what other people think of me and I don´t care about their lives as well unless they do harm to anyone or something like that. Of course, I worry about people I love but I speak about "the strangers". So when the friend of mine told those things I was stunned for a while as I was trying to figure out if I´d already crossed some invisible line dividing those sections of a "normality" and a "lunacy" in my mind. And I don´t think so.

I grew up in an environment of such creativity and full of imagination. My parents and my grandparents gave me and my sister so many imputs, stimulation and inducements while growing up. We were risen to be versatile in many aspects of our lives. We can do or play many sports, we can play the musical instrument, we know the names of butterflies and constellations. Of course, both of us are good at different things, but at least we have tried them.

We were grown up to use our own minds, to think about and of things. And I know we were lucky.

So many people are afraid of using their imaginations, to act sometimes in a silly way, to be different. They bury their creativity just not to be seen as a weirdo. And I find it sad. They are closed in their boxes and cannot see the sky.

After this conversation I´ve decided to control myself better, because who wants to scare people? I do not. But still I love being a weirdo. I love to be a person to remember. It´s nothing as much useless as being forgotten and constantly overlooked. I know there are people who don´t understand me, who think I am crazy and better be omitted. But I have some true friends who know all of my sides, they know I am much more than that goofy woman. And that´s all that matters.

People shouldn´t be afraid of being themselves just because some other people cannot see the beauty of diversity. I am who I am. I cannot change myself and I don´t want to (well, and I even don´t believe that people can change. They either have those things somewhere inside or not, they just can control themselves, but not change). I have no problem to cope with people with different opinions and believes. Maybe I don´t understand them, but I respect them. It´s all about some respect and of course a self-esteem, too. People are different. We are. And I love it. I love those small things that specifies each of us. Those little weird habits and customs. Those are why I love my beloved ones. I love them the way they are. Everyone is different, is weird in their special way. It makes them special and real. And precious. And mine.

Somebody recently has told me that I have some strange friends. "Yes, I have. And I love them all." I replied proudly. Isn´t it that we all want? To be loved the way we are and to live our lives not just last them out? Well, I do.

Scotland

2010-12-03T20:43:00.002+01:00

I have never been to Scotland. But I have always wanted to visit this country. One of my friends has been working there for a few months and he keeps me posted about all wonderful things he has already seen, about all those wonderful (and funny) people he has met. And he´s also sent me some photos so far. Wonderful. I love the nature there. Have I mentioned it´s wonderful?
Ok, Scotland... love the nature.
While I was browsing through the internet I found the following poem. It makes me laugh. A lot. And it´s wonderful as much as Scotland must be.

-

Scotland

I want to go to Scotland
I want to find a man
with hairy legs and chest and face
no blond, blue eyes and tan
with muscles on his muscles
a strapping kind of lad
with kilt and great big sporran
that would make me glad!

I want to go to Scotland
I've been practising the dances
I can fling my leg right up to here
that should improve my chances
I do a real mean highland fling
I can strathspey, jig and reel
What I may lack in timing though
I make up for in feel

I want to go to Scotland
right to the northern bits
I know I'll freeze my bum off
and probably my tits
I'd certainly be noticed
that funny Aussie lass
who came to Scotland for a man
and left without her ass

I want to go to Scotland
Billy Connolly's so great
if just half the lads are like that
I'm sure to find a mate
and if he turns out boring
and has no sense of fun
I'll just pop over to Ireland
I'm not fussy where he's from

I want to go to Scotland
to roll among the heather
with Geordie, Bill or Robbie
or Glen or Tom ...whoever!
I want to meet the real men
The ones who play bagpipes
who breathe through nose & ears as well
that could keep me up all night!

I want to go to Scotland
to find my true soul mate
I hope they've not all moved away
I'm probably too late
I'd love to marry a Scottish man
and live inside a castle
though when I think of cleaning the thing
It's probably not worth the hassle

I want to go to Scotland
I'll go sometime this year
although I need to work a while
on letting go of fear
it's not the cold that scares me
colder places I have felt
I'm more afraid of what I'll find
when I look under their kilt

I've heard they keep their weapons there
a dagger, spear or club
and they keep them polished, shiny
and they'll offer you a rub
I don't think I could handle it
the pressure I mean, the fear...
No, I think I'll settle for an Aussie Boy
and stay put over here.

Copyright; Arcadia Flynn

Indian Summer

2010-11-14T15:40:00.006+01:00

Indian summer has lasted for about two months now and I love the colours of leaves, I love the sound of them crunching under my feet.

Does It Work?

2010-11-14T11:41:00.002+01:00

Can a virtual relationship work? And can it be real when it is just virtual?

I am usually very sociable person. Very friendly when I like that person or find them interesting. It´s a kind of "hey, let´s be friends and spend the rest of our lives together doing silly things and talking about everything. Now you´re mine, all right? And I am yours so take care of me as well as I take care of you." One friend of mine once told me that I am an "avid and whole-souled and keen" kind of person.

And that´s it. Once I feel interested in something or somebody, I have to know all about it or them. If it is a person I like staying in touch with them. And if it is a thing I usually forget about it as soon as it starts to be boring for me.

(That is why I know all those things about all those different subjects. Come on, I am Gemini, it´s normal for us to know anything about everything, we are curious but not very constant. As soon as it starts to be boring for us, we can get rid of it very easily.)

So, I am keen on people. I like most of them. People are interesting. And I like to staying in touch with them. But. Maybe it is the same as with things. If they are not interesting enough I slowly lose my enthusiasm. It sounds awful, I know, but I still think that if you do not have a new input or impulsion in any kind of relationship from time to time, it dies.

(And further more I am a woman. We need to ruminate about everything. We just need to talk about things. We need to share things. We need to feel connected. And without new imputs what are we going to talk about???)

Every relationship needs to be cultivated. And it doesn´t matter if you´re a couple or just friends. And if it is a virtual relationship it is not easy, because it is limited in progress. It can´t go further and further. It has its edge. So is it a real relationship, or could it be? If you do not see each other, if you do not spend time together doing those silly things? If you share just some things you decide to share and when you decide to share them?

I started blogging because I needed to write and a diary wasn´t a good choice for me. I just can´t write into a diary. I need to share things, I need a response. Any kind of response. So I start blogging because it has seemed to be a nice chance to share photos and some thoughts, to make new friends I wouldn´t meet anywhere else.

I have met some wonderful people here. I have read and follow some great blogs. But. From time to time I bumped into a blog that was amazing, therefore had many followers. And when I started to follow as well it was a bit annoying when the person who runs the blog seemed to be bothered with another follower. And as I need those responses... I stopped to follow those blogs. You are bothered to talk to me, so why should I talk to you? No inputs mean it starts to be boring.

And there was time I stopped writing here. And I stopped to follow all those amazing blogs I had followed. I stopped by from time to time, but I wrote no comments, I just read the article, admired some photos and then silently disappeared.

And I thought to myself "Maybe I come back one day, and they won´t remember me. Maybe I will have to create a new community around me. And maybe there won´t be any. We´ll see. Well, what do I want when those relationships are just virtual?"

Yesterday I got an e-mail from Paula. We started blogging almost at the same time. I bumped into her blog by chance. At that time she was building a new home because of hurricane, I was writing about my gnomes and we started to follow each other blog. When we started nobody knew our faces. But we have grown to show even them here. And it was quite fun that we did it almost at the same time. Again. Paula takes gorgeous photographs and connects them with some interesting stories.

That e-mail from her I read yesterday made me really happy. Happy that she considers me her friend. And that she considers me worth writing me why she has to leave for a while. I hope she recovers and comes back as soon as possible. I will miss her.

So... first an e-mail from Chrissy, now from Paula. Yes, even the virtual relationships can be real. They are different, but they can be real.

Skywatch Friday

2010-11-04T17:18:00.005+01:00

After thousand of years I am contributing again. And it makes me happy.

This is a view from our living room window. I love the antenna on the roof of the opposite building. I love to photograph it. It always makes the photo quite unique and sort of old-fashioned.

I am looking forward to see the gorgeous photos of other keen skywatchers here. Do not miss them.

Damn, Where Have I Been?

2010-10-29T19:13:00.009+02:00

-
It was a long break from blogging. I stopped teaching at the primary school. And I have started to run my own business with a friend of mine. I still teach at the language school. I still teach the elementary students and I am sure my English is going to... well, sometimes I think my English is gone for a walk somewhere very far away. But I hope I will be able to bring it back.

And three days ago it was Smallone´s four birthday. Me and my sister were quite moved and misty-eyed while looking at some old photographs and watching videos where both of us were teaching Smallone to talk. It wasn´t so long ago. Two years are not a long time. But when I was watching it, it seemed to be billion years ago.

Do you know the feeling when you look back and it appears that there is nothing before some event or some events? That everything important happens after those things. That after these events your life starts. Or changes. Or something like that.

Well, Smallone is four now. She is a big girl. She got her first hangbag for the birthday because she had desperately needed it, of course. I got her a red slide because I think every small girl needs one. Smallone´s mother probably will put some very nasty spell on me as she is still trying to figure out where they are going to store this gorgeous but not very small slide. But I hope the spell´s not going to take a long time as I am sure she loves me. And Smallone is happy. And that´s everything I need to know.

(my sister and Smallone)

By the way, my sister (Smallone´s mother) is a great person. Have I mentioned her here before? I am sure I have, but these days have proved more than anytime else that she is the greatest sister I could imagine.

The changes in my life (the important ones, the ones that have influenced me till today) started somewhen in December last year. And from time to time I say to myself "Where was I before that December? Who was I?" because I am not that person any more. I have grown up in so many ways. I have realised so many things about me I didn´t see before.

(me and one-eyed Smallone)

I have started to write short stories and playlets and poems. I always write a lot. Long letters,e-mails and essays and stuff like that. But till that December it´s been like opening some hidden box in my mind. When I was at high school one friend of mine asked me to write 12 short stories for his birthday. He said "When you become a famous writer, I will sell them and be very rich". I wrote them but never gave them to him. Now they are lost, but I know they were quite awful, by the way. I didn´t give them to him because I knew they were not good enough. I wasn´t ready to write things like those. Now I am. And I am enjoying it a lot.

-----

2010-10-28T20:45:00.003+02:00

So You Want to Be a Writer?
by Charles Bukowski

if it doesn't come bursting out of you
in spite of everything,
don't do it.
unless it comes unasked out of your
heart and your mind and your mouth
and your gut,
don't do it.
if you have to sit for hours
staring at your computer screen
or hunched over your
typewriter
searching for words,
don't do it.
if you're doing it for money or
fame,
don't do it.
if you're doing it because you want
women in your bed,
don't do it.
if you have to sit there and
rewrite it again and again,
don't do it.
if it's hard work just thinking about doing it,
don't do it.
if you're trying to write like somebody
else,
forget about it.

if you have to wait for it to roar out of
you,
then wait patiently.
if it never does roar out of you,
do something else.

if you first have to read it to your wife
or your girlfriend or your boyfriend
or your parents or to anybody at all,
you're not ready.

don't be like so many writers,
don't be like so many thousands of
people who call themselves writers,
don't be dull and boring and
pretentious, don't be consumed with self-
love.
the libraries of the world have
yawned themselves to
sleep
over your kind.
don't add to that.
don't do it.
unless it comes out of
your soul like a rocket,
unless being still would
drive you to madness or
suicide or murder,
don't do it.
unless the sun inside you is
burning your gut,
don't do it.

when it is truly time,
and if you have been chosen,
it will do it by
itself and it will keep on doing it
until you die or it dies in you.

there is no other way.

and there never was.

-------------------------

I am back, by the way.

I have started writing for last few months. And I mean "the real" writing. Short stories, plays, poems. Those months were quite unusual for me. Many things´ve changed. I have changed. They were very emotional months and maybe, as I started to feel different, I had to express myself in a different way as well. So I wrote all those things. And therefore I didn´t have any time or maybe any urge to continue in blogging.

But now things have calmed down, I have settled in a certain spot in my life, and I am back. I am still writing short stories, plays, and poems. But now I have my horizon broad enough to blog as well.

Sometimes you need to be pushed to do something you are just thinking of. Sometimes it´s the smallest event you can imagine. I was induced by a short e-mail by Chrissy. One part of it was a wonderful quote by G. B. Shaw: "Without art, the crudeness of reality would make the world unbearable." So true, so wonderful.

I have to catch up with so many amazing people here.

Skywatch Friday

2010-04-01T21:23:00.007+02:00

There were lots of wonderful clouds on the sky today. The sun was hiding behind them from time to time and made them look even more beautiful.

And even I was having a camera with me to take photos of the children first today (look at my latest post about playground), I also had to take some pictures of sky, of course. So here it is, today sky:

I bet there are hundreds of gorgeous photos in the blogoshpere at the skywatch site. Don´t miss them.

Adventure Playground With a Real Man

2010-04-01T19:44:00.016+02:00

-
I had have a day off today. Yesterday I agreed with my sister to look after Smallone from the early morning. I promised to take her to our grandparents´ house, to have lunch there, and to sway on their magic swing. But Smallone´s body have had another opinion. When I came this morning she felt sick. She was ill. I was (and still I am) so sorry for her. There´s nothing worse than suffering and ill child.

So there was a whole day off ahead of me. I stayed with my sister and Smallone till after noon, and then I went to visit my best friend Mája. She and her husband were taking their three children for a walk around the river. As I live near that river I was going along with them for a while and really wanted to go home then. But again children and their opinions, they changed everything. So they never reached the river and I didn´t go home. We stopped somewhere in the middle of the route where there is a wonderful playground. And we were there for about two hours, and I took thousands of photos.

This is Tereza. She is Maja´s oldest child. She looks like Maja in miniature.

And this is Martina, she is the middle child. She´s got wonderful curly hair and when she is talking about me, she is like: "Is aunt Namnet coming? That aunt who´s got the same curly hair like me?"

And this is her youngest, Vladimír, almost-two-year-old boy with hear-warming smile.

Although there are more attractions as swings...

... and some other lures...

... the favourite attraction was this one:

I don´t know why but children loved it. They were like monkeys in a treetop. They were able to climb up and down for thousand times, they barely touched the ground. Even when they were thirsty they were gotten the bottle of water in the ropes. You know, it is so useless and time-consuming to climb down just because of some water.

Also Vladimír wanted to join his sisters up there in the heights....

... but he was so tired that he ended his journey up to the sky on my chest:

I am the kind of person who children usually talk to. Some strange children say hello to me while walking the street all the time. Is it so visible that I am a teacher? Maybe they can feel it and that fact force them to be polite. I don´t know, maybe it is some kind of weird teacher magic. But what I like about being continually talked to is that the children do so even while playing on the playground. So this afternoon I made some new friends. They were all deeply under my age but I didn´t mind.

And I met a real man on the playground. You know, that kind of man who is polite and tough at the same time, who can make you laugh and smile widely, who is clever and gentle. A man who can ride his bike like a devil, a kind of man who you never forget. And here he is, hiding behind his cap to be misterious enough to make you feel even more interest in:

Yes, that´s him! The winner of my heart. And why I know he is the real man? He told me. And I believed him unconditionally.

He: (after the oldest girl jumped down of one rope) "I can do it. Even better."

Me: "Really? Ok, but be careful anyway."

He: "I am not afraid. I am a real man, you know. I am tough. I am a real man as Spiderman is."

And he jumped down, got on his bike, smiled at me widely and moved off to the sunset.

---

Hair Magic

2010-03-29T21:02:00.004+02:00

My sister sent me a photo. A photo of me about two years ago with the long hair. And I mean really long with thousands of beautiful soft ringlets. And just for a little moment (which lasted for about two days) I regretted I cut them and shortened them of about 50 centimetres. And straitened them. The change was truly sweeping.

And then after those two days of regret, I admitted I had always known that I had to cut them. It was time for do so. Have you noticed that every important change in a life of woman can be seen thanks to her hair? Especially in connection with her feelings or love life, or something like that. We, the women, cut ourselves off our feelings through cutting our hair. And it usually works. Some kind of hair magic or so.

And some other aspect of hair magic is, that I behaved differently while having those straight hair. More strict or sleek maybe. These days when I have my curly hair back, I am more open, more bohemian. As I was during my teenage years. As I always was inside of me. Maybe I am not the right person for having straight hair.

Skywatch Friday

2010-03-26T06:33:00.004+01:00

The spring has come and brought us a lot of sunshine and clear sky. These photos were taken about 15 minutes ago. The sun has risen and I think this day will be another one of those hot and nice spring days which lift my mood up.

Don´t forget to browse the photos of other keen skywatchers!

Are You Visible?

2010-03-25T12:58:00.002+01:00

Just right now I am sitting in the heart of the primary school I teach at. And I am waiting for a kind of celebration. We are celebrating the Teachers´ Day. Yes, it exists. That means we come together in a local restaurant (not just teachers but also cooks, and other school stuff) and we have dinner and then we gossip (about people I don´t know and about their "problems" I don´t care about at all). And it is usually something I don´t like much. These dinner parties. As I don´t see these people as my friends. Their my colleagues and that´s all. We are way too much different (but if you remember when I mentioned a new colleague in September - well, she is a very nice woman and I like her).

Even I see them in this way I have been surprised many times that they don´t know many things about me. I have been teaching here for almost six years (with small break) and they don´t know. So either I am quite uncommunicative or they don´t pay much attention to the details (and I bet the second option is right).

For example I love honey and I season tea with it. I put a spoon of it to every cup of tea I make for myself, I don´t use sugar. My working days here starts quite the same - I prepare a cup of nice tea with honey. And it is perhaps a month ago, I was making my morning tea and one of my colleague was like:

she: "So it is your honey in the cupboard? I don´t know you like it."

me: "Well, yes, it is. And yes, I do. I have been seasoning the tea with honey since... ever, I suppose."

she: "Really? I haven´t noticed."

And I know what kinds of tea all of my colleagues like drinking. And I know if they put some sugar in it or not. I even know if they like coffee and what kind of coffee they like. I even know what cups they drink it from.

And about two weeks ago I was talking to other colleague:

me: "I really need a haircut. My hair has started to flutter too much and I can´t make them understood that I am the boss, not them."

she: "Try to brush them not comb them. Maybe it will help."

me: "Comb? Brush? No way. I neither brush nor comb my hair. If I did so, my hair would look like an afro."

she: "So why have you had your hair permed?"

me: "Permed? I don´t have permed hair. These bloody curls are mine."

she: "Really? I always thought you´ve got permed hair."

And I´ve started to think that is it only me who pay attention to the details, to those small things? I mean how it is possible not to know a person you´ve been working with for almost six years? Remember that "new" colleague? She has been working here just since February and maybe she knows more about me that those others. So it is me, or them? I don´t know. I am just wondering if they really see me. And maybe I don´t want them to see me. Maybe I know who their are and am hiding a bit. Maybe. And maybe they just don´t care. Which is quite sad.

Writing

2010-03-21T18:02:00.002+01:00

I have just read a wonderful post by Fabulous Larraine about writing. About writing and what makes you to be a writer. And it´s fitted my today´s mood as I am thinking why I write. Why I put thing down. And why here. And why somewhere else and what happens when I do so.

I started this blog almost two years ago. And I did so because I had to write. Something. So many thoughts, so big need of writing them down. It was a kind of experiment. I didn´t have any concept, I didn´t have any plan what it was going to be all about. It was like: "ok, let the river flows and I will see where the stream will take me".

And I was writing about the origin of ice-cream, about Sarah Kane and In-Yer-Face Theatre, I wrote about cutting my hair (and it was a big change) and gnomes, about some funny and about not so funny situations I experienced as a teacher, and about creating kind of "teaching voice", I wrote about clever flies and seamonsters, about how I hate insect and so does my sister. I wrote about some evil cleaning machine, I dedicated one post just to my sister (it was a day before her wedding) where you can see some very old photos, I wrote about the fact that Smallone is going to be me and posted some great photos taken by her. I also wrote about the weird moon.

The beginning of the year 2009 was dedicated to Smallone and my sister as they stayed with us for a while and when my sister and her husband split up, I stopped blogging for quite a long time. And when I started again, it was mostly about the summer travels, and only once I came back a bit when I wrote about my darkest side.

And suddenly it is March 2010 and I am going back through this whole blog. And I have found how much my writing´s changed. How much my themes have changed. And I do want to bring back those "silly" things I wrote before.

I always know that writing is important to me. When I write I sort my thoughts out. I have to put them in some order and unexpectedly things begin to make sense. My only "problem" is that in many cases I need a reader. I can´t write things just for myself. I can´t write a diary. If I don´t have any response (or If I don´t think there could be some), I find it kinda useless to write anything. That´s why my diaries from my teenage years were usually so short - three posts at most, and then I found it boring and did other things, much more interesting ones.

I´ve grown sort of addiction to writing. When I undergo some hard times and have to speak about it, I sometimes write long e-mails, or some essays where I let my thoughts fly and hope that they would find their way and settle. But sometimes my thoughts break away and fly really high. And at that time I have to be very careful who I give the letter, who I send the e-mail to. Or if I do this at all. I have to decide if the letter or the e-mail is comprehensible at least. The power of words is huge. And you should be careful about it. And I am still learning about that.

This blog was a beginning. The beginning of my writing. Of my constant writing. I still haven´t got any plan what it should be about. I still have no concept. If I had time, I would have at least three blogs - one about my silly thoughts, one for my photographs, one about books and other cultural stuff. Well, and I would also need the fourth blog - for Smallone, my family and friends.

But I don´t have so much time and I´d love to find the balance among all those subjects. I don´t think I will, but I´ll give it a try. And I will also try to come back to the roots of this blog.

Writing is a way of relax, writing can be a kind of convalescence. Why do all bloggers write? Post photographs? Share their thoughts? And although I write many things outside the blogosphere, and I enjoy it, I also like posting things here. I like sharing them. This blog is mine. This is my playground.

Skywatch Friday

2010-03-20T14:28:00.006+01:00

I haven´t been contributing for quite a long time. It´s connected with some things I had to manage outside the blogosphere. But I still have been taking photos of the sky. When you become a skywatcher, you´re a skywatcher forever. So here are some photos taken during the February:

This is a photo of sunset taken from my bedroom window.

And this photo was taken in front of our house. I just like the sharp outlines of the clouds and the way they are formed.

And this is a photo of the moment when the sun was rising among the clouds. It´s perhaps just the second sunrise photo I have post here. But maybe the time has come and there will be more of them as it is the part of the year when the sun rises when I wake up to work. So, there is a big chance I will take photos of sunrises more in the future. Well, till the summer at least, when there is a dawn very early here and as I love sleeping I don´t think I will get up just to take a photo of some sunrise.

To Be Under the Control of Tough Ladybug

2010-03-15T21:42:00.006+01:00

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Smallone loves attending the nursery school as she is usually very sociable and companionable. She likes learning new things, she likes being among other children. And she likes the special events the teachers set up for the children. One of them was a carnival.

My sister bought a nice fancy dress for her. Smallone was so impressed and happy that she spent almost the whole afternoon wearing it even at home (Well, I agree with her that it would be perfect clothes for wearing at home, for wearing it everywhere, anytime.).

The carnival was a huge success. Smallone was overjoyed. When my sister picked her up that day, Smallone couldn´t stop talking about it, how wonderful it was, what games they played, what other children were wearing, etc. And because my sister knew that the teachers were taking some photos, she promised the whole family to send them via an e-mail as soon as she got them. So we all waited for the pictures full of the most jolly Ladybug in the world enjoying herself.

And our little precious has surprised us again.

That "little grimace" on her face is probably an attempt to smile widely. She was so in don´t-you-dare-to-take-a-photo-of-me mood, that she looks like this in every single photo taken in the carnival. My father was browsing the photos and asked me: "She looks.. Oh, she didn´t like it at all, did she? Poor sweetie." And I just answered: "No, she really truly surely enjoyed the carnival. She loved that." And I am still sure she did.

My favourite photo from the carnival is this one:

Tough Ladybug: "Ok. How dare you not to follow my orders? You silly Spidermen!"

Spidermen: "Sorry, ma´am! It won´t happen again!"

Tough Ladybug: "Of course, it won´t! And now, go and get the control over this building! Go! Go! Go! ... Oh, sefrs - one have to watch over them all the time. Anyway, where is my white cat???"

Let´s Walk Barefoot

2010-03-14T22:01:00.007+01:00

Me and Smallone have created a tradition. Every Friday I pick her up from the nursery school, we go by bus to the mall where we sit in a café (I usually sip coffee and Smallone have some chips and some apple juice - which is definitely very healthy...) and we wait for my sister till she finishes at work. Fridays are our days.

And everytime I am with her I am back in my childhood. Or sort of it. We sing while walking along the pavement, we dance while waiting for the bus, we play foolish games anytime we can. Maybe it´s something with an inner child. Everybody needs one. Everybody needs to keep him or her as close as possible. Because if you lose your inner child, there will be a barren place left in your mind or soul (or how you´d like to call it), and you will become an austere and stiff person.

Everybody should have his or her Peter Pan´s side of mind to be able to see how wonderful world is around. With so many colours, so many wonders, with so many tiny mysteries and puzzles.

There is no such thing on earth as an uninteresting subject. The only thing that can exist is an uninteresting person.

A dead thing can go with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it.

(both quotes are by great G. K. Chesterton. And here you can find more wonderful quotes by him.)
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Skywatch Friday in White

2010-02-04T22:24:00.005+01:00

When I got up this morning and looked out my window - I saw nothing but white. And this situation lasted till early afternoon. The white mist filled the air and made your view smaller.

There were white frosty trees and bushes everywhere.

The whole world was white.

Browse other skies from all over the world and they will make your day!

Mystery

2010-02-03T22:48:00.006+01:00

My best friend Maja runs a shop. And the shop is in quite an old house. The space there is small, but really cute and comfy. And I love the way she stores things there. It is like in her own flat - there are thousands little things everywhere. For somebody it could look untidy or disordered, but the system in these things is obvious. Well, for me. As the place where I live looks the same in many ways.

When I first came there the thing I found the most interesting was this sculpture/engraving placed within one of the walls:

It is so nice. And notice the lower part which indicates that this "picture" is much bigger under the white coat of paint. I would like to know how big it is, and what other things could be found. But this is going to be a mystery forever as the building is not owned by Maja (she hires the place). And the owner wouldn´t be very happy if I let my investigative tendencies develop into something uncontrollable. What a pity...

Skywatch Friday and the Beauty of Beeing a Super Aunt

2010-01-28T21:03:00.010+01:00

It´s terribly cold these days. And it often snows a lot. And it means that the sky is usually without clouds and it´s grey. Or white. Nothing between.

But yesterday the weather got bored with all that no-shape-grey colour and the sun was shining for almost whole day. And thanks to it my energy swelled and most of the problems seemed to be not as difficult as they probably were.

Yesterday my best friend Maja felt ill, so I promised to take care of her three children for a while so she could go to see a doctor. And I was there the whole afternoon. It was fun. She has three kids - two beautiful daughters (6 and 3 years old) and a son with the most amazing smile ever (1,5 year old).

When the boy was sleeping his afternoon nap, I was playing with the girls. We drew a lot. We doodled some nice snakes, lizards, and princesses (and no, I also see no connection between the reptiles and the princess...or very weird one). And I got many drawings as gifts, and also one amazing hand-made picture made from felt by the older girl.

My best friend seeing us (me and the younger girl) frolicing around said she would lend me as many children as I want. Deal said I. And I was fed with crisps (lots of crisps) by the boy (who could resist that smile?), I got a sweet good-bye kiss from the younger girl, and I felt like a super aunt.

It was a beautiful day and when the sun was setting I removed all Maja´s plants from the sill, opened the window, leaned from it a lot, and I took this picture:

Me: "Would you like to see the picture what I have taken?"

Maja: "Of course, show me."

(and I showed her the photo)

Maja: "Beautiful. I didn´t realize it could be so nice outside our house."

Me: "Well, isn´t the beauty in the eye of beholder?"

Maja: "Yes, you´re right. Beauty is everywhere."

Don´t miss the photos of beautiful skies from all over the world!

Just Some Things

2010-01-27T21:08:00.005+01:00

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I haven´t been blogging for two weeks. Many things have happened, still I am going to write just about some of them.
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My classmate from school has passed away last weekend. We spent a lot of time together when we were teenagers. Then our ways separated but we still knew about each other. We made new friends, new experiences. But we sometimes encountered while walking down the town, doing shopping or things like that. And now he´s gone. And it is quite bizarre. He was only 28.

My sister is happy. Or she looks like she is. And I am happy for her, too. Well, something (as her job) could be better, but who would want an utter felicity?

Because of some things relating to my job at the language school I have realised that I am still a dreamer. I do believe in creativity, laugh, freedom and open-mindedness. And I am not willing to change any of this even as a teacher. So if somebody from the management has a problem with it, well, I don´t care. Being a rebel is not going to calm things down, so there will be some hot moments lying ahead of me, I suppose.

Outside is freezing. And I mean really freezing. Some cold winds (or so) are coming from Siberia and thanks to them I have started to wear the gloves. Which is not usual for me. I like using my senses freely and touch is one of them. But these days the only eventualities are to lose the sense of touch by the freeze or by wearing the gloves. Nothing between.

Skywatch Friday

2010-01-14T21:36:00.006+01:00

As I wrote in my last entry, the sky is grey these days. Only ravens spoil this cloudless, shapeless, and dull sky. And some planes from time to time.

So I haven´t taken any photo of recent sky. Not interesting one enough to share here. And because I missed last round, I really want to contribute this one. Therefore I have browsed my secret collection of take-a-picture-of-everything-you-see photos and here they are:

All these photo were taken in 2006 while we were on holiday in Jeseníky mountains. There is one little (very little) village where my family and friends of ours had been going every summer since I was three. And we stopped when I was about 15. It is kind of place you have forever in your heart. Kind of secret place with thousands of adventures. Those fields, forests, brook, caves, wild berries and mushrooms, all of them are "ours". In that year, 2006, we were there for recollecting all these things. We did and it was bliss. Again. Even lots of things have changed (it is not a secret place any more, some tourists have discovered it), it was one of my best holidays so far.

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Don´t forget to visit other keen skywatchers!

"Pink? No, Thank You"

2010-01-13T19:24:00.006+01:00

There are certain colours I just don´t like. For last two or three years I have been in no-green-or-orange mood. I don´t know why but I would never ever wear any clothes in these colours. I don´t mind when other people wear them as it´s their choice. But I would rather bite my hand than put anything orange on (or I thought so).

I know there are many shades of these colours and some of them I am able to accept. As khaki. Well, khaki only.

I love black and purple/aubergine things. I find these colours very nice. But my mum always says that I look like a black widow and when we go shopping for clothes together (especially for summer ones) it is like:

Mum: "These trousers are awesome! They would suit you."

Me: "Err... they´re orange. They´re pastel orange."

Mum: "Yes, and that´s very nice summer colour!"

Me: "Maybe. But I like these dark blue ones."

Mum: "These? They are not summery at all. You would look like a fool."

Me: "They´re perfect. I am going to try them on."

Mum: "As you wish... and what about these great white ones?"

Me: "Yeah, they´re nice. But not for me. I would be dirty all the time, you know. And I don´t like white. Except when there is another colour, like black or red, covering it."

(if you browse some summer-holiday pictures here, you can see what are my summery colours...)

I wear colours according my mood. And even they are usually dark, they are not dismal for me. But these days when the weather is awful (no sun, everything is grey) I´m missing some vivid colours. So I find myself wearing the tee-shirts and tops in such colours I wouldn´t wear any other days. I realised it on Monday when I was wearing a white tee shirt with long sleeves and a white and orange sleeveless top. The world is going to stop turning or something, I am sure....

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I am not only one who is not a "pinkish princess" very much. According to Mirror in London Zoo, there are two flamingo chicks who are scared of pink.

The zoo keepers wear a pink hand puppet to imitate adult flamingos to get them to feed themselves. The grey month-old chicks may take a year to acquire their distinctive. The keeper Alison Brown says that they hope that when they turn pink they´ll be fine.

What´s wrong with not being in love with pink? I don´t like it either and I can live with it. Maybe those two chicks will have their feathers dyed when grow up. Maybe they just have an attitude.

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(photo taken by Tom Arma: http://www.tomarma.com/)

78 Genes

2010-01-05T22:18:00.005+01:00

According to scientist there are only 78 genes separating men from women. We all know that it is the Y chromosome which makes the difference, but...

All chromosomes contain the structure of DNA. And there, in this coiled DNA you can find many genes, regulatory elements and other nucleotide sequences. And because genes are the basic units of heredity, all living things depend on them.

And as the question of difference between men and women is everlasting and everybody has something to say about it, the BBC Online readers suggested what those 78 genes might be.

You can find the whole article here (with all 78 gene-answers), but here are some of my favourite replies:

1. Women have the If you need to be told I am not going to tell you gene.

2. Ask a woman in the street how to get somewhere and she will direct via shops. Ask a man and it will be via pubs.

3. Women can use sex to get what they want. Men cannot, as sex is what they want.

4. Women know when all you want is a glass of wine, nodding sympathy and a good whinge. Men offer a solution.

5. When men want something they ask for it. When women want something they make a point distantly related to the subject and wait for a response.

6. Women could never invent weapons that kill, only ones that make you feel really bad and guilty until you surrender.

7. Men can write their names clearly in the snow.

8. Women order rice and eat men's chips.

9. Women have the ability to brain dump their entire day when they get home - men can only remember that it went OK.

10. Women eat curry if they like it. Men eat curry to prove they can.

(And you can guess what line was told by woman and what by man:-)

The New Year Came And Brought me... What? Gnomes? Not Again... And Would You Be So Kind And Take a Photo With Me? No? Oh...

2010-01-02T18:11:00.008+01:00

The very first day of last year I was ill. I was happy that I had time to watch some things I hadn´t been able to watch before, but it made my days just for the first few ones. Then I got bored. Even I was trying to convince myself I was not. I missed people, I missed just hanging around with my friends, doing nothing but with somebody. I didn´t want to pass any viruses on anybody so I see nobody for quite a long time. And was bored. Really bored.

The old Czech proverb says that "the way you feel on New Year´s Day the way you feel for the rest of the year". According to that the last year should have been full of free time for me, watching movies, doing nothing. And as you know, it was completely opposite. I didn´t have time for myself (truly didn´t any) since about November. Almost for the whole year I was taking care of somebody else but myself. I don´t regret it at all. It was just something I had to do it. For me, for my sister, for Smallone.

In contrast, the very first days of this year are very pleasant. Full of people, full of new information, full of energy, full of time spending very agreeably. And I am not bored at all.

So I hope it will continue the way it is now. Or, according to the previous experience with the proverb, my new year will be about caring of myself again. Or I hope at least some part of the year will be about it:-)

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And my gnomes are back. Again. I had not realised they were missing since I coudn´t find some important things. And now I regret I didn´t enjoy the time they were gone. Silly me! And now they´re back.

I can´t find some socks again. Just one from the pairs, of course. So yesterday I was wearing two black socks but with absolutely different pattern on each. I didn´t realise at first (it was a New Year´s Day, I was tired, and...you know..), and when I did, it was too late. I wasn´t able to find the rest of the pairs.

I can´ t find one DVD. It is very mysterious disappearance. It is nowhere here in our flat. And I mean really nowhere as I was so desperate that I was looking for it even in the fridge, even in the basket of clothes to wash next to the washing machine, even behind the cupboards and cabinets. It is nowhere.

And I still don´t know what the gnomes long for to pay a bribe to them and get those things back.

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Yesterday my Sister and Smallone came (with my sister´s new boyfriend) to have a New Year´s Day´s lunch with us. Despite the fact I wasn´t feeling very alive (I was tired as hell and therefore I looked like a noonday witch with all those fluttering hair around me, and almost no make-up), I really wanted a New Year´s photo with Smallone. With my sweet and lovable niece. But I was so wrong!

She has turned three and started to be even more stubborn as she was. And yesterday she decided she didn´t want to be taken any photo of her. I was trying to be very furtive and so was my sister (who were holding a camera), but nothing worked.

So I have many photos of my breast and Smallone´s running legs, many photos of my legs and Smallone hair (yes, that is possible), many photos of my hair and Smallone´s hair. And the best we could do was these two:

Smallone: "Nooo, you cannot see my face, not at all!"

Me: (through the teeth to my sister ) "Come on! Push that button! Oh, it´s late again.."

Smallone:"Stop taking photos of me! My face´s not here, and even my hands have disappeared!"

So it was until Smallone found a princess hat in my room (don´t ask what this kind of hat does in my room, long story) and put it on. She started to frolic and "Look, I am a princess, take a photo of me!" So I did and they lived happily ever after. The End.

Knock Knock... Who´s There?... New Year!

2009-12-30T21:09:00.003+01:00

The new year is coming. This year has been quite good. In many ways. And quite bad in the others. As the other years. Many things have changed. Many have stayed the same. As the other years.

But which is meaningful in every year it´s your friends and all those beloved ones who support you whenever you need it. Those who really care. And I think that if they have cared till today, they are going to care the next year as well. And that´s a good news and augury for the year which is coming, is it.

So may your new year be full of good people who love you the way you are, and may you be the person they can fall back on.

Te Deum
by Charles Reznikoff

Not because of victories
I sing,
having none,
but for the common sunshine,
the breeze,
the largess of the spring.

Not for victory
but for the day's work done
as well as I was able;
not for a seat upon the dais
but at the common table.
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Skywatch Friday

2009-12-25T00:28:00.007+01:00

About two weeks ago I visited Vienna. It was something like let´s-the-Christmas-come-into-our-mind trip. And it was beautiful. The weather was amazing. Freezing but sunny. The blue sky almost without a single cloud.

We started with a short walk into the city centre, we lit the candle in the cathedral, had a good espresso in one of many Vienna´s cafés. And then we went to Albertina to see the great Impressionism Painting Light exhibition.

My favourite painter is Joseph Mallord William Turner who influenced some of the greatest Impressionists (eg. Claude Monet), so watching all those painting in Albertina was like watching his children growing and changing and developing and evolving. And it was a bliss.

After visiting the gallery we went to the Christmas Market to drink some hot toddy and then we went home. The whole day was great and the Christmas atmosphere grabbed us. And, of course, I should have done some photos for skywatch. And here they are:

(a part of the statue in front of the Austrian Parliament)

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(in front of Albertina)

(Kunsthistorisches Museum at Maria-Theresa-Square)

(Christmas market in front of the City Hall of Vienna)

Browse the Skywatch Friday site for more skies from all over the world. You won´t be diappointed.

Christmas Time

2009-12-24T15:57:00.004+01:00

Today is the Christmas Day for us. I was writing about all the customs and things connected with this day last year here, so I am not going to repeat myself. Last year´s Christmas was a bit different thanks to my sister and her situation. This Christmas is also a bit different, as my sister has a new family. I am so happy for her. She seems to be cheerful again.

We have just returned from the graveyard. We were there with my maternal grandparents. It was quite a nice trip (if I can say that visiting graveyard is nice).

Everytime my grandparents start to tell me some story about people they knew, our family relatives, about past, I just listen and try to remember as much as I can. It is like open a very old book, blow the dust away from its pages, and start to read. It is kind of adventure. And you know that this adventure can stop as soon as it begins. So you turn those pages very carefully, and try not to get disturbed by anything else.

And my grandparents told stories this afternoon. About my relatives, about some people they knew, about some graves, about past times. And I was listening. Oh, I was listening very carefully. And from this very day I know where there is a grave of my grandma´s father. It is a long sad story, but I have realised (once again), that there have been many strong women in my family. I am very proud of them all. Even some of them were so different from me in their seeing the world around.

Last year I was posting many photos of all our Christmases. I don´t think I am going to do the same this year. But maybe I will change my mind. Maybe. Well, who knows what there is in the mind of woman?:-)

Happy Christmas to you and all your beloved ones.

God Bless the Food:-)

2009-12-21T11:58:00.003+01:00

Yesterday, me and my mother were visiting Smallone and my sister. We got there in the morning, made some lunch, ate it, then went home in the snow. And among those things we had a great laugh and time.

After lunch my sister´s neighbour and friend came with her daughter (who is Smallone´s best friend). And this friend of my sister was quite seriously ill. Fortunately, now she is going to be fine again. But the thing is - she has to be on a very strict diet. And Christmas is coming...

So she has baked some Christmas sweets, but cannot taste a one. Everytime she prepares lunch for her husband and her daughter, the only thing she can do is to smell it. And because of this she has become a kind of salivating monster these days - she really needs some "proper" food. She said: "It´s so freaking awful. My husband was peeling the tangerine next to me. And I had to go away! It smelled so bloody good."

And she also said: "On Christmas day, I am going to eat everything! I have a plan. I am going to eat just small amount of every single thing on the Christmas table. Nothing wrong can happen. I am sure of it. What else can I do? I just need the potatoe salad and a carp at Christmas. It is my primary necessity and right during Christmas!"

And the only thing I can add is: I have crossed my fingers for her. Because I understand so well! I know Christmas is about something else (and I love giving presents, and I like the love and kindness in the air), but Christmas food is so special. It tastes, and even smells, differently than in any other part of the year - better, more delicious. And I also think that our bellies understand as well, and they are more flexible at Christmas as I am able to eat really big amount of meat and potatoe salad up during Christmas.

By the way, we are decorating our Christmas tree right now. It is going to be a very nice tree. And I know that Christmas is going to be nice as well. Everything is indicating it.

You know I love Neil Gaiman and his work. And he wrote a very nice "Christmas" short story which is worth reading (as everything he has written). It is called Hanukkah with bells on.

Just Sharing Some Birthday Parties...

2009-12-20T21:34:00.010+01:00

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I haven´t been blogging for quite a long time. Again. Lots of work, almost no sleep. And two birthdays.

My grandmother is xx years old. She´s still young, but you know - when women turn 25 , they will remain 25 years old since passing away. She has experienced many things in her life, and I think she is the same kind as my great-grand aunt was. One strong, tenacious, but still very kind woman. When I will be her age, I hope I will be the same kind. And I also hope I will have the kind of man as my grandad is beside me. They are such a wonderful couple. Still teasing each other, still kissing each other.

(this photo was taken this summer)

When there´s a birthday in the family, we always get together and have a great time. And because our birthdays are spread for all over the year, we usually celebrate (and meet) every month. I love these moments.

There are four grandchildren in our family - me, my sister, and my two cousins. I was looking for some photo where we would be together. And I found none. So when my granny was celebrating her day, I asked my grandpa to take a photo of all of us. And here it is:

(my sister, me, Peter, and Honza)

Before this photo was taken, there was a moment, when I was sitting next to my older cousin, Peter, and we were arranging ourselves on the sofa. Before my sister and my younger cousin came, my grandad took this photo:

I love it, because we just did silly things, talked silly talks. And had great fun. Even I look like a squirrel here:-)
Me: "Oh, come on, take a photo of all of us." Peter: "Gosh.. I have to, do I... ok then..." Me: "I love you, you know that" Peter: "Women... always get what they want..." Me: "Don´t be silly and smile nicely.."

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Maybe you remember my best friend Mája. Well, she also had a birthday! And she was also 25. Again! We had a great girls´ night out. Again.

She got a wonderful hyacinth plant in a pretty "bag" made by Bára. She also got a beautiful necklace from Verunka. And I gave her a book (Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman), and a comic (strips of our favourite cat - Garfield).

(Verunka and Mája)

(Bára nad me)

I have realised that I have a great family. Supportive and loving. And so are my friends. I am very happy and very lucky to have them all. I know it. And appreciate it.

Today´ s Poetry

2009-12-09T23:54:00.002+01:00

It´s all I have to bring to-day,
This, and my heart beside,
This, and my heart, and all the fields,
And all the meadows wide.
Be sure you count, should I forget,--
Some one the sum could tell,--
This, and my heart, and all the bees
Which in the clover dwell.

by Emily Dickinson

Skywatch Friday

2009-12-03T20:47:00.005+01:00

I have never posted a photo of a sunrise here, in Skywatch Friday before. I have posted many sunsets but no sunrise. The reason is simple - when I go to work by the dawn, I usually have no camera with me (I forget it or I have no time to take pictures). And the other explanation is - I hate getting up early. When I have time to sleep late, I sleep late. I am quite a nightbird.

But today - SURPRISE! Here you are some beautiful sunrise. Photo taken by me. Yes, me. Really. And it is probably the only photo of a daybreak taken by me for a long time, I guess (even it was worth getting up so early and taking it).

I bet there are many beautiful photos taken in various parts of a day here. So let´s have a look at them as they are all amazing and taken by even more amazing people.

Comics? Fantasy? Give Me More!

2009-11-22T20:07:00.003+01:00

I have always thought that I am not very kinda" comics and fantasy" girl. I was writing about it earlier and mentioned it here and here mainly. But today I almost think something opposite.

I was browsing my old posts and I have realised how much time I was spending by writing about something connected with comics or fantasy. And perhaps it means something.

I was following the news about making a film called Zack and Miri Make a Porno directed by Kevin Smith (who can be connected with comics a lot) from the beggining to the releasing the movie.

I was writing about films based on comics as Wanted (2008) and Iron Man (2008), I found two great movie villains (Tilda Swinton in Constantin and Wes Bentley in Ghost Rider) and haven´t found anybody better yet. I was writing about Coraline based on Neil Gaiman´s gorgeous book, and I was also recommending Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer. And if you check my profile, you could see that I also love Terry Pratchett´s and Philip Pullman´s books. And there are many others. Hm. So I think I AM kinda "comics and fantasy" girl.

This doodle is made by Kendra Stout.

(I was posting it once some time ago, but I think it fits this post as well. And I love it and it´s my blog, so I can post it as many times as I want to:-)

Skywatch Friday

2009-11-19T22:52:00.004+01:00

These days the weather is very nice to us and the sun is showing us its face a lot. The only problem is that there are usually just a few clouds in the sky (if there are any). And it means that the sky is blue. Nothing but blue. And it means that it is a bit difficult to take a photo of something interesting in the sky. Except the diversity of blue. I am not complaining at all, just saying.

I took this picture today from the window in the school I teach. It must have been a great view of a teacher leaning out of the highest window in the whole building and trying to take a photo of the meadow far away.

I am too tired to look at the other skywatchers´ photos today (and I am heading to the bed), but tomorrow I am going to do my best to comment as much of them as possible.

The 20th Anniversary of the Velvet Revolution

2009-11-18T17:23:00.002+01:00

Yesterday the whole republic were celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution.

So we´ve had 20 years of democracy. And yesterday many people have realised that there are still many things to learn. But we after all we can learn them freely. No one would decide instead of us.

Last year I was also writing of this event which changed our lives and the whole country. You can read it here.

It was an amazing week in 1989. The whole nation came together and in that frozen week there were people in the streets and squares, and they were protesting, non-violently. There were usually about 500,000 people, sometimes even 1 million, on Prague´s main square (the Czech Republic has only about 10 millions people, so it was really a lot).

Because the television studios in capital city were occupied by the communist powers, and there were no chance how to get people in the other parts of the republic know what was happening, many people were crossing the whole country by their own cars and telling people that the history was going to change.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IYJJXTGpOk

Also the people on the squares were there every single day to let people in passing cars (which were honking at them to support them) know the news. Literally all people came together and supported each other. That was the most amazing thing about this revolution.

The other amazing thing was that the whole revolution was started by students, artists, and the intelligentsia. So the whole revolution is an evidence that even art can make the difference. And when Václav Havel, the playwright, became a president (chosen by people), it was a pure happiness. And even nowadays all call him President Havel (although he is a president no more).

Here are the news (from USA) describing what happened in the whole then communist Europe, but there is also a big part dedicating to our Velvet Revolution:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPyKuGXppsA

And here is a slideshow of some photos from those days. The song accompanied the slideshow is sang by Karel Kryl, and it is his very famous song called Close the Gate, Little Brother. Karel Kryl was very popular Czech singer-songwriter and performer of many protest songs in which he strongly criticized and identified the shortcomings and inhumanity of the Communist regime.

His song were banned, of course. And I remember how I felt as a small girl, when my parents were listening to them, we sang them together, and even now I can sing these song by heart.

I have read an article in the newspaper where somebody had written: "to understand the Velvet Revolution is like to understand the Czech mentality". Well, maybe.

Hen Party and St. Martin´s Wine

2009-11-17T23:34:00.009+01:00

I live in the area where there are hundreds of vineyards. The vine growing has a long tradition here (almost thousand years), and we know what good wine is and how to make it. People from other parts of Czech Republic go to visit our famous wine cellars, and I am proud to be a part of this cultural heritage (because even the wine can be a part of the culture).

On 11th November we celebrate the name-day of Martin. There are two important things connected with this date. The first one is an old saying that: "St. Martin always comes riding a white horse". That means that usually the first snow of the year appears in this very day. And it is usully true.

And the second event (which is more important in my area) is that the very first wine of this year is revealed. After the grapes are harvested from September to October, they are processed and then the this-year-wine appears. The wine is bottled and from the November 11, you can see it in the shops, in the restaurants, you can taste it for the first time.

This young fresh wine is called St. Martin´s, and there is usually not so much alcohol in it.
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So on Friday evening me and my friends went to the restaurant to taste some St. Martin´s wine. We went there with a strong belief that we would taste all offered wine - white, red, and rosé. As the first one, we tasted rosé. And it was so amazing, that we stayed loyal to that colour for the rest of the evening.

On the left, there is my best friend Mája. She has three children (yes, she is so brave), a loving husband (although from time to time she says that being a lesbian wouldn´t be so bad, you know - men...*), and since July she has been running her own shop with dry goods and her own handmade things. She makes wonderful weave scarves, great wicker baskets, gorgeous small mosaic boxes, jewellery, and many other things. Sometimes I think she has to steal the energy somewhere, because nobody would stay sane with so much work around family, the business, and still be the nicest person in the world. She is a bit hyperactive. And she is awesome.

On the right, there is my other friend. She´s called Verunka. She is the kindest person in the world. She is so kind that we all have the tendencies to protect her somehow. Perhaps she doesn´t need any protection (she is a quite big girl), but she is so tender and sensitive that we have those tendencies anyway.
She also runs her own business - she has her own beauty parlour. Small, but very nice and cozy place. We all love to go there and let her take care about our bodies.

And this is Bára. I met her for the first time that Friday, but I had seen her work many times before. She is a dressmaker, and also runs her own business. She cooperates with Mája and supplies Mája´s shop with made-to-measure clothes (at the moment, a wonderful red winter coat is hanging in the shop window), and some other small things.
She is also a very nice person, and fits to our company perfectly. And I have realised that our mothers were co-workers for about ten years. The world is small.

And this is, of course, me. Photo taken by Mája.

And in this photo we are going home. It was late after midnight, and we were tired, but happy and we had a great time and laugh.

We agreed that we should meet more often. So we have decide that every second Friday in the month, we will have a hen party. But maybe we will meet earlier, because since tomorrow there is going to be "Beaujolais Days". So another wine tasting is waiting for us.

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* just kidding, of course Mája loves her husband:-)

Skywatch Friday

2009-11-12T21:16:00.005+01:00

The winter is here. With all its weird things as grey sky, rain with snow and snow with rain, just rain, just snow. But today the weather was quite nice, fortunately. The sun was shining, the sky was blue. And it all has lifted my mood.

I liked that tree top. I don´t know why some leaves are white. But I find it interesting. And nice.
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The sun was hiding behind the cloud and the light was wonderful. And I like that particular cloud so much, that here it is once more:

There are some great and incredible and amazing skies from all over the world here. Do not miss them!

Turning to the Dark Side

2009-10-30T21:08:00.004+01:00

I was browsing through my latest posts and I was quite surprised how different they are from my older (or the oldest) posts. Was the last year really so different than this one?

Till June/July this year (and a part of the last year) was really tough one. Fortunately, from summer holiday the days have become bright again, and the old (although sometimes still quite tired) Me is back again. Or I think so.

I am going to write today about something I have mentioned about a year ago.

I am Gemini. That means I have two sides - the good one, and "the other" one. I don´t believe much in telling something about people just according their zodiac sign, but all I have read about Gemini.. well, that me.

These days I have found something else. I don´t have two sides, I have got three. At least. The very good one, the ironical one, and "the Darth Vader" one.

And these days I am definitely in my "Vader" mood. I am sharp-tongued, rough and wry. Still, I am not cruel (am not eating small children or so), which is the only positive thing about this state of mind.

And sometimes I think that people around me are glad I am in this mood. Because if they didn´t, they wouldn´t do such stupid things as making me angry or almost furious. I just don´t like when dull and not competent people try to make me do something stupid.

Now I am heading for getting control of some of the nearest galaxies. You know, sometimes it´s better to leave the line and rule your own world than to fawn over anybody pretending their opinion is the only right one. It´s not. Or it needen´t to be.

(This picture is called Point of View and it´s one of my favourite. But unfortunately, I don´t remember what artist it is made by. And I am quite sorry about it.)

Skywatch Friday

2009-10-29T19:38:00.006+01:00

These days the weather is quite playing jokes on us. A half of the week is so hot that we almost wear just T-shirts again. And the other half the temperatures are so low that there are snow calamities in the mountains in our country. I don´t remember such changing of almost summer temperatures and almost deep winter temperatures in my life. This year is weird in this way.

So here are some photos taken in those warm days. Two different places, two sunsets.

Don´t forget to check the skies from the other keen skywatchers!

Smallone´s Birthday

2009-10-29T19:24:00.004+01:00

Smallone´s birthday is on 26th October. So since this Monday, she is three years old. A big girl. Time is running so quickly.

We baked her a cake and decorated it with small edible ladybugs and strawberry gumdrops.

Smallone was given a lot of presents, and all of them made her smile widely. And she also got a kind of princess set - the diadem, earings and a ring. And she truly looked like a small royalist:

So happy birthday again, my sweetheart.

A Wonderful Day With Smallone

2009-10-29T18:29:00.010+01:00

After three years of maternity leave, my sister has started to go to work again. She doesn´t like the work much, but she has had to start somewhere. And some job is better than no job.

As Smallone can´t go to the nursery school regularly until next week, me and the rest of the family have become babysitters for these days. And we are enjoying it a lot.

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Me and my mother have had a day off today so we took care of Smallone from the morning till about four o´clock in the afternoon when my sister came home from work. And you wouldn´t believe how many things you can do during one day. And I must say that to keep up with Smallone´s energy was the biggest problem for us.

First of all, we decided to painted my study. Smallone got dressed her favourite apron and started to help me:

We blend the white paint with the colour one and stir the mixture:

And then we started to paint the walls:

It was such a fun. Smallone is a really good helper.

There is nothing better after hard work than good lunch....

... and after good lunch, there is nothing better than playing. Smallone´s favourite plays these days are "at the shop assistant" and "at the doctor´s".

So Smallone sold us a lot of thing, e.g. some nice diadem, some food, some purse, some toys.

And when her doll was ill, she took care of her very well:

And after a good play, there is nothing better than a nap for a while.

And then we played again and we did some exercises. That was quite a bad idea as me and my mother were tired, Smallone looked more relax than at the beginning of the exercising.
And then Smallone´s mother came and they went home. But it was a really wonderful day. Smallone is a precious.

My "Aunt"

2009-10-28T21:46:00.005+01:00

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I haven´t been blogging for almost three weeks. Many things happened. Some bad, some good.

This blog entry is going to be about my aunt. Well, she wasn´t my real aunt. She was my father´s aunt (my grandmother´s sister), but we all call her Aunt of Hrádkov.

Hrádkov is a very small village in the middle of wonderful nature. Hrádkov is a magic land. Something unique and special with a flavor of past times. Something true. And so was she.

She died about a week ago and I have realised how much I value the time I could spend with her.

My aunt was a very strong, but kind woman. She lived all her life in the house where she also had grown up. She had two daughters. When one of them was about two years old and the second one was an infant, her husband died, and she had to manage everything just by herself - two small children, a house with a big garden, the farm animals they kept. And she succeeded excellently.

She didn´t get married again, and stayed single for the rest of her life. I remember one of her talk with my mother, when she told her that she had never regretted this thing. She didn´t want to bring another father to her two daughters, and

"..you know, it was the life. Bad things happens all the time and there´s no other possibility that to cope with them. I have never regretted my decision. Nor my daughters. They were, and still are, my only love." - That was about six years ago.

She was one of the strongest people I know. Strong-willed, steady, humble, very kind and caring. And her decease has hurt and striked us a lot. I always thought she would never pass away.

Skywatch Friday

2009-10-08T22:22:00.006+02:00

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While walking along the river yesterday I had noticed the perfect colours of autumn. The nature is so beautiful these days. The leaves have started to change their colours as well as the fields. And the cerulean sky is full of violet and grey clouds.

I have also noticed that these days there are lots of clouds shaped like these:

It looks like they would be ripped up. Tens of greyish islands in the sky.

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Don´t miss the incredible skies from all over the world!

Indian Summer All Around

2009-10-07T22:55:00.016+02:00

Today it has been one of the warmest days this autumn. Around noon it was about 28 degrees of Celsius. The perfect weather for a walk along the river.

My younger cousin is called Honza and he and Smallone are really good friends. Honza was so looking forward to our trip that he had cancelled his football training so he could go with us.

The sun was shining and me, my mother and my aunt (Honza´s mother) were chatting and enjoying the calm of the environment around us while Honza and Smallone were pretty far ahead discussing some important things as the ducks on the river.

We stopped at the dam, and we were watching some rowers for a while...

... and then we collected some chestnuts. We brought a few home, but most of them ended thrown in the river. It was fun.

The weather these days is really wonderful. The sun shines all day long, the temperatures are high. Extremely nice Indian summer.

Then we met my uncle (Honza´s Dad) and because we had needed some refreshment, we stopped in a restaurant for a drink. We sat in the restaurant´s garden and enjoyed the sun even more.

And then we had to set out home. So we said goodbye to the ducks:

... and then we accompanied Honza and his parents to their home, and we said goodbye to them as well:

(Smallone: "I´m not here!")

It was such a lovely day. We have agreed with Honza and his parents (and with Smallone, of course) on other trip next Wednesday. It´s gonna be fun again, there are no doubts.

Filming Spot

2009-10-01T21:14:00.008+02:00

There were two films I had wanted to see in the cinema in September - Zack and Miri Make a Porno, and The Boat That Rocked.

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The first film, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, I saw at home on DVD, finally. And it was amazing and funny and clever and sweet and all those things I had been expecting from the flick directed and written by Kevin Smith. And I have fallen in love with Seth Rogen (who plays Zack). He and Elizabeth Banks (Miri) are really cute together. Cute and funny.

The only thing I haven´t been able to cope with is the fuss around this film. The director had to fight for the R-rating, the posters should have been changed because some people thought they were too erotic (which they were not - they were clever and amusing).

All I want to say is that I strongly don´t believe in censorship. At any level. And I don´t understand why the film with tuns of blood has lower rating than films with naked breasts in them. Or, for example, everyone of us has been told about Shakespeare once, have we. And if you read his plays, they are full of sex. And they are damn good plays.

By the way, have I said that Zack and Miri is a romantic comedy? Yes, it is. And very good one.

Yesterday I went to the cinema to see The Boat That Rocked. Written and directed by Richard Curtis (Nothing Hill, Love Actually). And It was stunning! The storyline is quite simple, but the actors, the music, the jokes, and most of the scenes are unforgettable. I was laughing aloud and absolutely enjoyed it. The Boat That Rocked really rocks.
Today I was recommending this film to every single person I met. You should see it! I just love this kind of sarcastic British humour.
Here´s the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sb0LX7BrbBQ

(I´ve just read that: "In July 2009 it was reported that Curtis is planning to delete approximately twenty minutes of footage and re-cut the film for its American release in November, after many critics complained of the film's excessive running time. Reportedly the film's title has been changed to Pirate Radio for the U.S. release as well.)

Skywatch Friday

2009-09-10T17:11:00.006+02:00

This is a photo my sister took for me in our holiday. My last skywatch post was also from our holiday, but this is special, because my sister took it for me. She was thinking of me. She is my precious. She has always been. And I like the photo a lot - beautiful and unique clouds, don´t you think?

Do not miss the amazing photos of the skies from all around the world. You should have a look at them, browse them and write some nice comments on them.

On the Board!

2009-09-10T16:49:00.003+02:00

The new school year has begun. And lots of work has started to scare me at night. But it is a pleasure in some way. My adult students are very nice and smart, and my small students are bringing me to the planetarium next week which is also very very very nice. And I am looking forward to it a lot. I haven´t been there for quite a long time.

Now, I am sitting at the primary school, in our headmaster´s office. We are all here waiting for the first meeting with parents this school year. It is going to be about summing-up the last school year, what we did, where we were, what was bought, etc. And about what is going to happen this school year, about free time activities organised by our school, some important events, etc. It is going to be very boring. I have never said a word in this kind of meeting ever, our headmaster talks and explains. But I have to be here in case some parents will want to speak with me. I should hate it but it is quite fun to stay here and wait. The school is empty, no screaming or shouting children. And my colleagues and I are sitting with our coffees and it is nice to talk to each other without being interupted by some students all the time.

The New School Year And Things Needed

2009-09-02T19:10:00.008+02:00

The New School Year has begun. I am still teaching at both schools. Still the small kids and the 20-somethings. At the primary school I have a new colleague at about my age. She seems to be a nice woman and I am curious if we will become friends or stay just colleagues. But I think things are getting brighter.

Smallone is going to start to attend the nursery school on Monday. Today we (me, my sister, Smallone and our mother) went shopping for things needed to the nursery school as the toothbrush, sweatpants, etc. And our little precious was driving us mad as for some mysterious reason she wanted everything in green colour.

My sister: "Sweet, look at these shoes. Come on, let´s choose which pair you want."

Smallone: "Huh... the green one."

My sister: "Well, are you sure?" (Smallone nods) "Ok, try them on."

So we bought dark green shoes.

My sister: (showing Smallone two pairs of sweatpants - orange and red) "Ok, which of these would you like to buy?"

Smallone: "The green one."

My sister: "But there is no green pair of sweatpants. Look, these two pairs are so nice, choose one of them."

Smallone: (looking behind my sister and pointing to the shelf) "But here are some green ones. I neeed green one."

My sister: (sigh) "Gosh, I thought I could hide them from her. Ok, we´re buying the green sweatpants."

And it went on and on the same way. Smallone is definitely a person with an attitude. But I must confess we cheated on her a bit, because when she wasn´t looking we changed the whole green sweatsuit she had chosen for the white and green one. She will be satisfied with the green colour and we are satisfied with the white colour and the fact that she is not going to coincide with the grass easily or not going to look like a soldier on his mission with all that protective colouring.

Skywatch Friday

2009-08-22T14:02:00.004+02:00

It´s been quite a long time, but I am back and I am happy to contribute again.

This is today-morning sky when we were leaving for home from our holiday. It looks cloudy a lot, but it wasn´t so bad. The sun was shining through the clouds and the temperature was (and still is) summery.

It´s not the best picture I have ever taken, but the week off was so nice and groovy, that it has some personal value for me.

Don´t miss the most amazing skies taken by the nicest people from all over the world here!!

Vacation With Only Two Books

2009-08-15T09:15:00.004+02:00

I am packing my bags and in about two hours I am leaving for one-week holiday. I hate packing (I always forget something), but I am looking forward to spending one week with Smallone, my sister, my mother, and my grandparents. And for few days even with my cousin. A huge family holiday.

The funniest thing I´ve realised today about my packing is that the biggest problem was to choose right books to bring with me. Do I have enough socks? Do I have enough warm clothes as the nights are cold there? I don´t care. But it took me about half an hour to choose the proper books. Maybe I should think about myself a bit....

I´ll be back on Saturday and the first thing I am going to do is a post for Skywatch Friday. I haven´t been contributing for so long time and I quite miss the nice people there. It´s nice to be a part of such a wonderful idea and community.

What Makes You Get Up at Night?

2009-08-14T22:52:00.004+02:00

Again the 2-week break from blogging. Damn. I really wanted to post something, anything, more often after my almost 3-month break. And there was no time. Again. Sometimes I think that the more free time I have (or I should have as I am in the middle of my summer holiday right now), the more things I would like to manage. Does it make any sense?

As I´ve mentioned I am in the middle of my summer holiday. I love summer holidays mainly because I have more time to read. To read during the night. And not to be worried about getting up early.

There is something special about reading at night. It´s just you, the book and the space you´re in is determined by the light of the table lamp. And thanks to this, there´s more space for imagination. So you´re like in the bubble of light and the heroes and heroines start to live their lives around this bubble. And because there is no sounds but the sounds of the night, you can hear them talking.

These days I usually start to read books at about 9p.m. and I read it till their ends. That means I go to bed very late, but I am enjoying it a lot. Who would be able to stop them talking? I am not. I like the feeling of falling asleep knowing how the book ends. I´ve realised that I can read a-300-page book in about 6 hours and that´s the power of the reading at night.

So nothing makes me get up in the middle of the night, because I am totally awake till the morning hours these days.

There´s only one thing I lack after night reading - the forenoons. As I need to catch some sleep at least, the forenoons have become my sleeping times. But I don´t care at all as far as I have my night reading. The problem would appear when my summer holiday was over. But it is still too far...

Vacation - Castle Lipnice and The Old Cemetery

2009-07-22T00:05:00.029+02:00

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Lipnice is a a village in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 700 inhabitants.
It is where at The Czech Crown Inn, Czech author Jaroslav Hašek wrote a substantial part (books Two, Three, and Four) of The Good Soldier Švejk.

(A number of literary critics consider The Good Soldier Švejk to be one of the first anti-war novels, predating Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front. Furthermore, Joseph Heller said that if he had not read The Good Soldier Švejk, he would never have written his novel Catch-22.)

Jaroslav Hašek is buried at the Lipnice Old Cemetery.

And there is a notable 14th century castle at Lipnice nad Sázavou:

The castle is partly roofed, partly there are just remains of the castle towers, now it is an excellent view.

the courtyard (with the stairs to the chapel)
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Me and Smallone

basement (long-ago it was a hall where the feast were held)

An old Gothic chapel with amazing Christian pictures on its walls. They almost cannot be seen, but the restorers did a good job.

My father and Smallone

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The Old Cemetery

I had never visited so small cemetery before. The graves were very old, and it was obvious that there is nobody (alive) to take care of them - only grass among them was cut. The half of the gravestones was so old that the names on them cannot be read. But I loved this cemetery a lot. The atmosphere was so touching and free in some way. I cannot describe it. But once I would be more than happy to rest on such a place once. Perhaps I won´t be, but it would be nice...

Vacation in the Highland Region - Picking Mushrooms

2009-07-21T19:41:00.017+02:00

In our family it is a tradition to spend some weeks (or at least one) somewhere else than at home during summer holidays. To discover new areas, new landmarks and historical sights, different landscapes and sceneries.
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The vacation in the Highland region was very relaxing and I enjoyed it even the house we stayed in was very close to the river and because there were lots of horrible floods in our country, the river was quite dirty, very fast and the level of its surface was quite high.

The cottage was in the middle of the woods, so we picked many mushrooms.

Picking mushrooms is something like a national sport in my country. It is one of the most relaxing things I know - walking through the wood and looking for mushrooms. And then enjoying the joy of cooking them, or make them desiccated/dried, store and use them later in the year.

It was a premiere for Smallone, her first mushroom-picking:

"Little mushroom, where are you?"

"Oh, there you are!"
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This is Smallone´s first mushroom ever. And it was a gift for her mother of course. The plant/leaf included.
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The mushroom-picking can be also very dramatic. For example, when you almost lose your father/Smallone´s grandad in the middle of the thick trees:

... or when Smallone also needed a stick as her grandad had...

...and the stick was too long. Then it was ok, but in Smallone´s hands it became almost a lethal weapon:

My sister: "Oh, look Smallone, on this mushroom there is also a little slug. Isn´t it cute?"

Smallone: (with a frown) "No, Mummy, put it down!"

My sister: "Ok, never mind." (and puts it to the grass)

(Smallone starts to hit the ground and the poor slug with her stick)

My sister: "Don´t..! Ok, it´s late.."

Me: (looking closer and pointing to the grass) "Look Smallone! It´s still alive! Look, it is not threating you. It´s just a very little animal. It does nothing at all! You liked the frog over there, so you shouldn´t mind the slug either."

Smallone: (protecting me with her hand) "No, don´t touch it!" (and starts to hit the ground again)

So we let her believe that she saved us from the little devilish killer slug. Later I came back to realize that the slug survived. It was a very brave and lucky slug.

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We picked many mushrooms - some Summer Ceps, hundreds of the Day Boletes and The Red Cracking Boletes.

My step-mother made some meals from them, as typical Czech fry-up dish Smaženice - you cut the mushrooms and some onion to small pieces. First fry the onion pieces, than add the mushroom ones. Add some saraway seeds and you can also add some garlic or water if it is needed. Than steam the whole mixture for a while. At the end add some whisked eggs with salt. Serve the hot dish with a slice of bread. It is very easy and very tasty. But don´t try it with pickled mushrooms, they won´t work.
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But I saved some mushrooms to dry them. I cut the mushrooms to thin slices, put them on the paper, and to the dry and warm place, sometimes turned them over and waited...

...till they dried up and could be stored:

Just Heard Something I Should Remember...

2009-07-21T12:26:00.002+02:00

"Do you know the most magical word ever?"

"Of course, I do. It´s me, me, me."

"I know better one - you, you, you."

"Well, and that´s me again..."

House-and-Cats-Sitting

2009-07-15T20:32:00.017+02:00

I´ve just come back home. As I wrote yesterday I looked after my friend´s house and two cats for two days. And flowers and plants of course. It was a pleasure to did it as my friend is very nice and caring and filled her fridge with food and drinks for me. I lived as a queen for two days. My only duties were to water the plants and feed the cats. Easy job.

The two tigers I was looking after are Snuggles (female, found at the airdrome):

... and Mikeš (male, called after famous Czech fairytale tomcat):

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And as I also wrote before, my friend is a keen gardener and grows different (and weird, but nice) plants and flowers.

One of them is a funny plant called Mimosa, or Touch-me-not. It has got also many others names, but all of them mean that this plant is very very shy.

Its curiosity value is that the compound leaves fold inward and droop when touched, re-opening within minutes.

She has also many plants outside the house, especially on the terrace. She grows Daylilies - their buds come into blossom usually just for one day:

There are many types of Gentians and my friend grows one of them on her terrace:

She has also some Solanum trees:

I don´t know what kind is that, but it has small white flowers. Those flowers than turn to small green berries which become orange soon. And they are not edible:

The terrace is really calming and relaxing place. On the one side there are all of those above mentioned plants (and some more)...:

... and on the other side there is a nice place for having a cup of coffee in the morning or reading a book in the evening. And the relieving shadow is also provided by some plant, of course:

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I always admire my friend´s plants. Inside her home it looks the same as on her terrace - plenty of flowers everywhere. And she really amuse herself with taking care of them all. The flowerpots are put in some fancy shelves, they have their places on the ground. And not just the flowers, but also the flowerpods are special in my friend´s house:

Long Time, No Blogging... Lots of Thoughs

2009-07-14T21:08:00.002+02:00

Ok, I´m back.

At first, I thought: "Oh, I really need a break from blogging, from thinking, from everything. Let´s focus on my work and family matters. Let´s have about two-week holiday from blogging." But then I looked at the calendar and it´s been about three-month holiday from blogging at last. A long time. Lots of things happened. Smallone has grown up a lot. She´s also learned a lot of new words and she can´t be stopped from talking now and therefore her mother´s head is going to explode soon. By the way, my sister is quite happy now. Things have calmed down a bit. And I am happy for her.

Me, my sister and Smallone, spent one week holiday with my father and step-mother in the Highlands region. I took lots of pictures, and am going to post them here soon.

Smallone was bought a first real bike! Also lots of pictures of her riding it and people jumping aside not to be run over.

The school year ended and I had to say good-bye to many of my students. With the small ones it was easier, even there were some moving moments. As this one - one of my ten-year old student knocked on my door and said: "I just want to thank you for everything and to say good-bye as I am not going to be here next school year..." and he started to cry. So I gave him a hug, said thank you and "be brave, everything is gonna be fine". And was moved a lot.

With my older students it was quite tough for me. They were amazing class and we spent lots of funny moments together. They were clever and quick-minded and it was one the best classes I have ever teached. So I gave them their certificates and we went to the pub and spent there almost three hours chatting. I miss them already. I am also going to write about them in some other post as they made me think about me, about teaching, and about how some people influence your live.

Now I am sitting in my friend´s house. She´s gone for holiday and I promised to take care of her two cats and thousands of marvelous flowers and plants. She is the most keen and capable gardener I know. Also lots of photos.

It is getting dark and I have to water some plants outside. And I have to see them. Or their flowerpots or, at least, watering can. And then a bit of reading in the bed.

Skywatch Friday - Finally the Clouds

2009-03-13T15:43:00.006+01:00

Last few days were not very good for skywatching. The sky was grey and it was drizzling. Usually for the whole days. It is a sign that the winter is coming to its end. Also the temperatures are higher and the air smells differently. Almost like a spring.
The clouds have appeared and it´s been an amazing parade of beautiful views.

There are many amazing photos of the sky from all over the world here, so don´t miss them!

Short Animation Movies

2009-03-04T22:57:00.003+01:00

You can find almost everything on youtube. Something is boring, something is good. And some things are precious. Youtube is a well of priceless short movies you cannot see anywhere else. Well, not for free.

I post some of them before. As a tale by Jean Giono called The Man Who Planted Trees, or a very good short animation video written and directed by Tim Burton called Vincent (in the same post there can be found also my favourite short story Angst, do not miss it.)

I´ve found some more today. The first one is called Father and Daughter, written and directed by Michael Dudok de Wit. It is about a father who says goodbye to his young daughter. This short film won Oscar.

The other one I´ve decided to mention here is Kiwi!. I found this short movie many weeks ago. And it is still one of those movies which I cannot get out of my mind. It is always very nice and satisfying to see a plot which is so simple, but absolutely new and very good one.

And now, we cannot forget the Pixar movies! Both of the short films above are quite sad, so here are some really funny (and still the best) movies made by Pixar artists.

My favourite (and also Smallone´s favourite) For the Birds and Scrat´s movie (Do you remember the squirrel from the Ice Age movies? Do you want to know how continents were parted?)

Now I am too tired to do anything but going to bed. Tomorrow is another Skywatch Friday and I do not have any suitable photo of the sky. That means I am going to bring my camera anywhere I go tomorrow and I am going to search the sky from the morning to the evening. I wish something interesting will happen in the sky. Well, you (and me) will see tomorrow. I hope so.

Darwin´s Process of Evolution

2009-03-04T19:02:00.008+01:00

According to the research by Gallup agency, only 40 percent of the Americans belives in evolution, the 200 years old theory by Charles Darwin.

This research also says that belief in this theory relates to the level of education and, of course, the religion. It means that people with tertiary education deny evolution more than people with secondary education. And that people who often visit church don´t support this theory.

Interesting, is it?

I must confess I don´t believe in God. Not in the way the most (or all) religions do. In a nutshell - I believe in me and my family and friends, in goodness, politeness, knowledge and never-ending learning, enlightenment, outspokenness and equality. The list of my believes would be much longer, but enough is enough.

All these make me believe in the Darwin´s theory of evolution. I do believe we were originated from monkeys. And I am constantly fascinated by all aspects of the evolution. And that evolution never ends.

So I am atheist, but still interested in all religions (I am saying that with all humbleness and without taunting) and I have many friends who believe in God and visit the church often. And all of them believe in the evolution. Or they say so. They are all well educated, they are all pious. And they believe in Darwin´s theory.

Does it mean they lie to the outer world to be seen as more "normal", or do they lie to themselves? Is it possible to believe in evolution and God at the same time?

Interesting. I must talk about it with a friend of mine soon. She´s a precious - we can talk about things connected with religion (well, her religion) for hours. She knows she cannot win me over, and I don´t try to persuade her at all. We just chat and respect each other. A true friendship.
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Skywatch Friday

2009-02-26T23:18:00.005+01:00

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Last days were quite nice - lots of snow, lots of sun. I took the following photos in one day.

In the morning the sky was a bit cloudy, but the sun was battling with the clouds bravely.

So the sun won:

Don´t forget to visit the others and their skies here!

I Was Doing Thousands Things But Blogging

2009-02-26T20:25:00.010+01:00

Last two weeks there were many things in my mind. Blogging was one of them, but my priorities were the others.

Maybe you remember that I teach at two schools. And at one of them, the windows were changed last week. So all things which were close to those windows had to be moved somewhere else. Imagine a school. Imagine where there are windows (everywhere). Imagine what things are close to those windows.

Now imagine a very small school (thank God) where there are windows everywhere, where all empoyees are women, and where there should be something moved. Yes, we are very strong women....

At weekend we were celebrating two birthdays - my uncle´s and my mother´s. Many of my friends joke that our family (including my grandparents, uncle, aunt, cousins) does nothing but celebrating. Well, it´s true that the only months when there´s nobody´s birthday are July and August. And we still come together reguralry.
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After the birthday party, my sister and Smallone stayed overnight with us. I was truly enjoying it. But you know - if there´s a cute small child in the house, there´s no other space for anything.

"Oh, hello Blue Mirror." "Hi, Red Clock. What´s up?"

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Last week a lot of snow fell. And so did this week. It is not so usual here, in the south, to have snowdrifts at the end of the February so we seized the opportunity and walk outside a lot. The weather was quite nice since today (today it was raining in the evening), the sun was shining, there was a lot of powder snow, the trees looked like from the fairytale. What else we could wish for?

On Monday and Tuesday the water pipes were changed in our house. Just part of them, but it was still quite uncomfortable.

The other days I read three books. I slept just a little (as I was reading those books and couldn´t stop in the middle of them). I visited a friend of mine (long pleasant chat). I worked.

And I realised how much our sight can deceive us. I visited my sister and Smallone last two weeks a lot (support is support, and once you decide to be the buttress you should hold on). Once I went there in the morning. The day was grey, no sun. And there were lots of new snow on the ground. One thick unbroken layer, no footmarks, no sidewalks. So I was walking through the white flat land and I started to feel a bit dizzy - I had to stop focusing on the ground.

There were no shapes (remember no sunshine or any other light), everything was white (I was going a bit up the hill so the white colour was really everywhere in front of my eyes), there were no trees or any other significant point I could focus on, and I realised how difficult was to persuade my mind that the ground was not going upside down. Quite a weird experience.

Skywatch Friday

2009-02-12T20:39:00.004+01:00

This week was full of skywatching as the weather was bored and was trying to let us focus or something like that.

It started on Monday. The night fell and while I was walking home (I visited a friend of mine), I saw the most unusual moon I´d ever seen. It was huge and yellow, and looked like from the horror movie - just the thin black cloud was crossing it. I could almost hear the werewolf´s howl. The moon was so weird that I rang to my sister to look at it.

Me: "Have you seen the moon tonight?"

My sister: "What?"

Me: "The moon!"

My sister: "Are you crazy? You are calling just because of the moon?"

Me: "Yes! Look outside!"

My sister: "Ok, ok. I will."

I was hurrying home, grabbed my camera, but the moon wasn´t neither so big nor so scary anymore. So I took no picture of it.

On Tuesday the weather was the nicest ever in the morning - the sun was shining, no wind, quite nice temperature. But about the noon the sky became one big dark grey cloud. It all happened so quickly I couldn´t almost noticed.

Then it started to snow. But it wasn´t the usual snow-falling as we know here. The snowflakes were about three centimetres big and became one big impervious wall of snow. The wind was so strong you couldn´t hide from it. And it was snowing and snowing and snowing. And I didn´t have my camera with me. So no pictures again.

On Wednesday the snow started to melt. And today, the sun was shining again, again there was a wonderful temperature, and there are almost no signs of snow after all. Tricky weather.

So I´ve decided to post a photo I took last Friday while walking with Smallone home (see the last post).

It was cold but sunny. A beautiful winter day. The sun in winter makes so different light from the summer one.

The photo is not edited at all. Just straight from the camera.

To see beautiful skies from all over the world, visit the skywatch site!

Another Photo Report (At My Grandparents´ and No Sleeping at All)

2009-02-09T19:53:00.018+01:00

On Friday our grandmother invited us for lunch. It was delicious.

Who is wondering? Everybody knows she was born as an excellent cook.

Smallone was talking our grandfather (her great-grandfather) into something:

Smallone: "Now, do you understand, why we will have to do it?"
Grandpa: "Of course sweetie."

We were swinging a lot. We always do while being at the grandparent´s place. We swing till we are sick. But it is the swing´s magic - you are never so sick not to be able to swing again after few minutes.

Maybe you´ve noticed my sister´s hair. Oh yes, she has had a hair cut. She wasn´t so radical as I suggested (well, she is sane), but in spite of it she has shedded about 20 centimetres of her hair. It suits her. And makes her a bit older, I think.

(She´s glad about the getting-older thing. Because when she goes for a walk with Smallone, some people usually stop her saying: "What a lovely girl you have. Is it your small sister, girl? Or are you babysitting for someone?" Oh yes, this really happened. We all laughed about it a lot. Even my sister did:-))

We went shopping after lunch. Smallone should have been asleep. We told her. She knew it. Or she pretended to know it. But she didn´t care about it at all. She was in her walking and running mood.

After the long run Smallone´s legs got hurt a bit ("Sweetie, what about sitting in a pram?" "Nooo, no."), so she rested her legs while we were waiting at the bus stop for our Mum, Smallone´s grandmother.

It was quite fun. People, who were walking along, were watching with astonishment, one small child wanted to join Smallone ("Mum, could I also lie there?" "No, you could´t! It´s freezing, you will get a cold. Come on, keep going!"), but Smallone didn´t care at all. She found the best position for herself and relaxed.

And then our mum arrived and we continued walking home.

Smallone: "Mum, I´ve found a new pair of boots for you. You should buy them!"

Smallone: "I will hold it! I will help you!"

"What is it? I´ve noticed something really interesting over there! I should explore it."

"An old pump! What a thing! I shall try if it still works..."
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Note: We got home safely, no wet shoes or any other part of clothes.

A Photo Report (Including Working and Posing Sweetheart)

2009-02-08T21:19:00.017+01:00

Last Sunday my sister and Smallone´s holiday in our place ended. So till Monday they are at their home again and I miss all that excitement their staying brought.
And because the both sides enjoyed being together, I was invited by my sister and I stayed at her place for two days.

We played with cars a lot:

We cooked. First Smallone was cooking for her own (she was "cooking" some of her wooden toys):

Then my sister made lunch (it was absolutely delicious, Sister!), and Smallone wanted to help:

Smallone always wants to help. With everything we do. It is very sweet and nice, but thanks to this, every housework can be very time-consuming as "she is helping". But still it is sweet.

So here she "is helping" with hoovering (it was too heavy for her, but she didn´t mind):

(Now it´s better!)

Then my sister baked a magnificent cake.

(There´s special name for it, but I am not sure if it is a fancy bread or a scallop-edged cake. I found both of these names in a dictionary. In the photo, the cake is in its typical shape.)

In the afternoon (and after necessary Smallone´ s after-lunch-nap) a family friend, called Hannah, came. We grew up together, created secret clubs (with her brother and some other children from next door), our families have spent holidays together.

First, she and Smallone were playing with wooden bricks.

Then Smallone discovered Hannah´s handbag.

And there were so many interesting things she had to explore them. Some of them (as a hat or leather gloves) she had to try on. Simply had to...:-)

They had a great fun.

We all did.

Skywatch Friday

2009-02-05T20:38:00.009+01:00

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I visited a friend of mine today. We know each other for about three years (or four? I am not sure, the time is passing so quickly) and we met thanks to my mother, as they were playing together when they were small children. Then their steps led to different parts of our republic and they met again after about 25 years. Quite interesting story, quite interesting ladies.

But let´s come back to the present - so I visited her and while she was showing me some photos she took last year, I complained that my photos for today skywatch were going to be grey again. She mentioned that she also took some photos of the sky, showed them to me, I was (and still am) fascinated, she promised to send some of them to me via e-mail, and here they are:

All of these photos were taken from her terrace. They are the views towards the centre of our town, and over the roofs around her house.

I was trying to persuade her to participate on Skywatch Friday by her own. We will see soon how successful I was.

To see more beautiful photos, enter the Skywatch Friday site and enjoy!

A Scarf Fay

2009-02-04T21:55:00.008+01:00

I had a meeting with a friend of mine. We got together after work, went to the café, gossiped, and then we went shopping a bit. We didn´t look for anything special, just went through the shops and browsed the things.

And I found a truly bargain - two wonderful (and extremely cheap) scarfs. One was dark red, the other one was light blue. I bought them both and they made me happy. I love such things.

The lovely afternoon ended with visiting my sister and Smallone. Of course I showed off my catches. My sister was thrilled (we have agreed I will borrow her any scarf anytime she wants), Smallone became mad about them both.

She was trying the scarves on...

...we tied them to some kind of dress, she was posing...

...and running around...

...having fun.

Skywatch Friday

2009-01-29T20:33:00.004+01:00

These days the weather is teasing us. First, the temperatures got higher and all the snow melted. Then the temperatures has become lower again, but there´s no snow, just the cold strong wind is trying to blow us away.

The sky is grey all day long and only ravens cruise above our heads.

Te memories about last year summer holidays comes to my mind very often during these grayish days.

You shouldn´t miss the skies from all over the world in Skywatch site. I bet the others has been visited by some clouds, maybe the sun, and therefore they were able to take more interesting photos than I was.

Today´s Adventure

2009-01-28T19:00:00.005+01:00

My sister´s and Smallone´s holiday here is coming to its end. I´ve realised that even I don´t have time to do almost anything, I am really enjoying playing with Smallone, even arguing with her is a fun (for me, not for my sister who argues with her much often and about more important things than me, of course). I couldn´t imagine how the child is able to fill your household and leisure time.

Although Smallone is a big girl already (2 years and three months), we usually go out with her pram. Just in case she would be tired. But today we went out without it and we decided to walk quite a long way.

She was gorgeous. We went to the centre of town. We stopped in a flower shop (she loves flowers, and there were also some birds in the cage in this shop - she loves birds), then I bought a book (The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman), and after that we caught a bus (she adores buses) and went home. About 50 metres from our house she claimed she was so tired that her legs were trying to disobey her. And her eyes were closing.

My sister and me thought: "Good! She is going to fall asleep immediately when she comes home."

And then we came home. And guess what? Yes, she fell asleep two hours later (after playing thousands of games).

I know I wrote it here before, but I wonder more and more: Where, the hell, those kids take so much energy? Can I get some? (I fell asleep immediately after Smallone did).

There´s nothing as sweet as sleeping child.

(Smallone is visiting her father now, so that´s why I am able to write this post. Maybe I will be able to write the other one. Just maybe, because she is coming back soon. Our sweetheart.)

Skywatch Friday - The Smoke and Ravens

2009-01-22T21:35:00.006+01:00

During one of our afternoon-nap-then-making-footprints-in-the-snow walks with Smallone (see posts below) the sun was shining, but the light was a bit unusual. It was about 2p.m. and the clear sky was reflected on the roads.

There were no single cloud floating in the sky but this one which looked like a big mass of smoke:

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Every winter many birds leave the country and also many birds arrive. The certain proof that winter comes is that the ravens start to rule the white kingdom.

The Raven King observes.....

...his kingdom and his servants:

Do not miss the other skywatchers´ photographs!

Everybody Has to Wear Panties to Be Able to Draw

2009-01-21T20:55:00.007+01:00

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Yesterday the whole household discussed the problem of wearing panties. The result of all talks, according to Smallone, is that everybody must wear panties. So... Do you remember Smallone´s Puppy? Everybody is everybody.

When Smallone was younger, my sister´s flat looked like a gallery - on every wall there were many pictures (doodles). They were just to the high of waist (Smallone wasn´t able to reach the higher point), but they were everywhere.

Now, she knows that nobody can doodle on the walls. But I have a picture drawn by a friend of mine attached to the side of my wardrobe. And Smallone saw it and wanted to draw a picture of herself. And I thought "What a great idea." I save so many things, so why don´t have a picture by Smallone on the wall or somewhere else?

My sister and her daughter have really brightened our place a lot.

My sister: "Oh dear, not this photo. I look like a twelve-year-old girl there. And I am not even combed...."

Smallone Rules the House

2009-01-19T19:22:00.019+01:00

My last post was made many days ago, I also missed one skywatch Friday. And why? Well, the reason is quite nice - my sister and Smallone are staying with us. They are here just for a short holiday and they´ve turned our household upside down. But in the most pleasant way I can imagine.

Now, our days are full of games, going for walks (an afternoon nap in her pram is Smallone´s favourite relax), singing songs, drawing, and reading and watching fairytales.

Smallone´s favourite TV fairytale series are about Mole and his friends (Hare, Hedgehog, and Mouse), and she knows them by heart. And now so do I, because the most of time while we watch TV, these Mole´s stories are on.

Here is one of Smallone´s favourite part called the Mole and the Little Brolly (there´s a wrong translation of this part on youtube).
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About two weeks ago a lot of snow fell. It is Smallone´s first snow. Well, actually the second one, but she was too small last year to realise that there was some snow.

After her everyday-afternoon-nap in her pram...

...Smallone loves walking in the snow, and making footmarks. She can walk there for hours and she doesn´t mind having wet boots or freezing hands (despite having two pairs of gloves on).

It is very hard to take a photo of Smallone´s face while she is playing on the snow (laughing, happy smiling), because she capers and runs around and cannot stop herself. She enjoys the snow so much. And that´s why the most of the photos I´ve taken look like these:

"Oh no no nooo, you won´t catch me!"

After coming back from the freezing outside, we have dinner (and play more games and watch more Mole´s stories), and then Smallone has a bath. She baths with her rubber ducks, many plastic pots and crudibles, a plastic ladle and spoon, and some other things which are absolutely indispensable for bathing. And after the long bath, she puts her red dressing gown and pink socks on, and starts to rollick again.

And then in her pyjamas... well, she is never overtired. We have tried to make her tired, but nothing works. I always wonder where children get their never-ending energy.

"No, no, noooo, I won´t fall asleep! I am not tired. I needn´t sleep at all!"

My Sister´s Hair and Going Shopping Last Year

2009-01-10T21:24:00.006+01:00

I´ve always been jealous of my sister because of her hair. She´s got a strong, thick and smooth hair which lies on her shoulders as a cascade of soft waves. Well, I see them this way.

When we were small kids, my sister was a curly golden-hair angel, while I had dark straight hair. As we were growing up, our hair was changing - mine has become a bit lighter and curly, my sister´s has become straight and light brown. Absolutely opposite.

Of course our hair had weird periods of time. For example, when my sister was about twelve, she was wearing a fringe, a very thick and eyes-covering fringe for almost a year. Or, I never went out without a ponytail. For almost two years. I was fifteen - weird time.

But since then we´ve matured, as well as our hair. And I envy my sister her strong hair. I need my hair-endings cut every three months or they would be damaged. I think she even doesn´t know what the damaged hair-ending is. Perhaps she´s put a spell on her hair or something:-)
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For about two last years she has been wearing a kind of chignon. I´ve never seen her with unbound hair for about a year. I understand that it is much easier not to have her hair fluttering around while she chases Smallone.

We agreed on going shopping together last year (sounds interesting, doesn´t it:-)). It was on December 30. And when we met I stayed pole-axed seeing her hair. Especially its length. Ok, pole-axed is a strong word, but it was like "Hey, where I have been last year? I think your hair is shoulder-length.".

My sister: "My hair is so long now. I need a haircut. Some distinct and conspicuous one."

Me: "What about very short hair? 5 centimetres?"

My sister: (laughing) "Are you insane?"

Me: "That would be definitely conspicuous, you know. And I think it would suit you."

My sister: (with a huge smile) "Oh yeah, I know I would be a beauty even hairless."

Me: (laughing) "I bet you would!"
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While wandering up and down the town we met one friend of mine by chance. She´s my friend from school and we hadn´t seen each other for ages, so the encounter was a delight. She was accompanied by her husband and their sweet baby boy who couldn´t be almost seen in his pram.

Also Smallone was bundled up in warm clothes. It was really freezing so she needed to be, but I was a bit sorry for her, because she almost wasn´t able to move. Too many layers of clothes for such a small pram:-)

But still it was a very nice afternoon wandering up and down the town. Freezing, with two gloves on, but nice.

Skywatch Friday

2009-01-08T14:17:00.004+01:00

It´s been freezing since weekend and on Monday the snow started to fall. When the sky cleared the next day, sidewalks vanished under the thick layer of snow and many snowmen has appeared. As well as the sun which has been shining since that day.

This is a sunset above the car park by the shopping centre almost on the suburb of my town.

Do not miss wonderful skies from all over the world and check the skywatch site!

New Year Came and Brought Me Ilness and Plenty of Time

2009-01-06T19:24:00.003+01:00

The New Year´s Eve was fun but it seems to me that midnight comes earlier every year.

I´ve started this year with an ilness. I have a cold and sore throat and therefore I ´m spending most of my time in bed and drinking hot tea with honey.

Despite the fact, I don´t like being ill and limited in things I usually do, I must say that doing nothing is quite a relax and amusement. While I am ill, I can pursue the things I cannot spend much time with in my "normal life". Usually because of lack of time (you know, one should be responsible and settle his or her duties first).

So I´ve realised I am enjoying myself a lot these days. I am reading about one book and half a day and I saw several films and TV shows I missed at the cinema last year or just didn´t have time to watch them. All those things have made me quite happy, I must say.

At weekend, I saw Wanted (2008) and Iron Man (2008) movies. Both of them are based on comics. I haven´t read any of them (I am not very comic kind of girl), but these movies are fun and gripping.

To be honest, I think they are so fine mainly because of James McAvoy (Wanted) and Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man) playing the the leading characters. Those two actors are amazing and thanks to them, the movies are as good as they are.

So the weekend was full of action, but my mood changed yesterday and I went through a very pleasant six-hour marathon of 1995 BBC series of Jane Austen´s Pride and Prejudice.

I was sipping my tea (let´s say litres of tea) and watched Mr. Darcy´s (awesome Colin Firth) and Elizabeth´s (cute Jennifer Ehle) journey to each other, and was absolutely thrilled about every single part of the series. Charismatic actors, witty lines by Janes Austen, wonderful adaptation.

And I was also very curious about the "one of the most unforgettable moments in British TV history" (according to some research) - the scene showing Firth in a wet shirt:-)

I like the recent adaptation of Pride and Prejudice with Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Bennet, and directed by Joe Wright, but this 1995 BBC serial is my favourite so far and really worth to see.

Being ill and have plenty of time can be really nice.

Welcoming New Year

2008-12-31T16:23:00.002+01:00

Today is the last day of this year. I am going to spend it with part of my family and with some friends. I usually do not visit big parties or do not need thousands people around me. But when the midnight strikes, we kiss each other, wish the best for new year, and then we phone (thanks the mobile phones´ inventor) the rest of the family and friends to wish them the best too.

I do not make any New Year´s Eve resolution as I think everything depends on us, and us only. But still I hope the new year could be different, maybe there will be some change (a good one, of course), and I am looking forward to it. What can it be? We will see the next year.

What Is to Come

by William Ernest Henley

WHAT is to come we know not. But we know
That what has been was good--was good to show,
Better to hide, and best of all to bear.
We are the masters of the days that were;
We have lived, we have loved, we have suffered...even so.

Shall we not take the ebb who had the flow?
Life was our friend? Now, if it be our foe--
Dear, though it spoil and break us! --need we care
What is to come?

Let the great winds their worst and wildest blow,
Or the gold weather round us mellow slow;
We have fulfilled ourselves, and we can dare
And we can conquer, though we may not share
In the rich quiet of the afterglow
What is to come.

So let´s the year 2009 be full of health, kindness, love and friendship for you.

Even More Christmas

2008-12-29T22:55:00.011+01:00

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We had many Christmas celebrations as our family is quite spread out. So here are the rest of Christmassy family photos.

unwrapping presents at my father´s place - from the left to right: my sister, Smallone, my father and stepmother

Smallone: "Oh, what a present!"

The best present of the day (She is erasing a picture of a bird doodled by her. What? You cannot see it? It is so obvious!)

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Every year, on December 26 we visit our second grandmother (our father´s mother). Again a Christmas tradition. So we did this year as well.

Smallone is a very curious child. She loves exploring and discovering new or hidden things. So here, in this picture, she is holding her favourite toy (a pup called Puppy - Smallone chose this name for him) and the key. It cannot be seen properly, but she is trying to open the cabinet with it.

"Oh no! We are revealed! Hurry, Puppy, run away!!"

More Christmas

2008-12-28T17:32:00.009+01:00

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On December 25, my grandmother makes dinner for the whole family.

(from the left to right - my mother, my sister and Smallone, my Grandma who makes the best meals ever, my Grandpa, my uncle and aunt (they cannot be seen properly), and my two cousins)

Smallone´s eyes were (literally) shining again.

my aunt and uncle while distributing the presents.

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My grandparents have something special in their garden. A swing! Even it has undergone many reconstructions and repairs, it is the same swing my great-grandfather made for his children. All children in the family has been enjoying this special thing since then. Even the grown- ups like it.

On December 25 the weather was wonderful. There was no single cloud on the sky.

So we went to the garden and were swinging and swinging and swinging...

Smallone with me and my younger cousin

The only disadvantage of such a nice weather was the weird light on some places. Here is my mother and Smallone. They are a bit green and yellow, but I still like the photo.

Another beautiful Christmassy day.
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Christmas

2008-12-28T16:01:00.008+01:00

As I wrote before, our Christmas was fun and pure joy of being together. I felt that way. And here are some photos:

This is our Christmas tree. Usually we buy a pine tree, but this year we have a fir tree settled in our living room.

Smallone was thrilled about these presents the most. She loves girl´s things as dolls or tiny children´s tableware, but she also loves the things as buses or motorbikes.

And because some part of our town is being reconstructed and she can see diggers everywhere, she´s fallen in love with these machines as well.

She also liked the small wooden box I gave to my sister (above).

And she also liked this superb teacup my sister gave me. I´ve started to make tea about 10 times a day! I just love things like teacups. And this one is of a perfect size and shape. Love it.

We enjoyed our Christmas Day.

Something More Exhilarating Than the Last Post

2008-12-25T22:38:00.002+01:00

Little Jesus was very kind to me this Christmas. He gave me some useful things, some things just for fun, but all of them were lovely and amazing and I am very thankful and grateful.

The Christmas dinner was delicious yesterday (as usual, thank you Mum). There were four of us - me, my sister, our mother, and Smallone. After eating the dinner and unwrapping the presents, we were watching fairytales and eating the Christmas sweets. It was very nice time. We enjoyed it a lot.

Today all the family was invited to my grandparents´ place for dinner. It is our family tradition. The dinner was toothsome (as usual, thank you Granny). And we enjoyed it a lot again.

After that my sister, Smallone and me, visited our father´s family, because Little Jesus brought some presents for us there as well. The refreshment was very good (as usual, thank you Hanka). And we enjoyed it a lot.

Tomorrow I am visiting my other grandmother. It will be the last distribution of presents this Christmas. And after that I am going to share some photos of my presents (I was a very nice girl!), and our Christmas tree, and Smallone whose eyes were shining all the time.

Well, I must have been very nice girl to have so many Christmases and to feel so much love around me. I think I was:-)

One Sad News

2008-12-25T16:09:00.005+01:00

Harold Pinter, the 2005 Nobel Laureate for Literature, a world-renowned English playwright, screenwriter, actor, director, poet and political activist, died yesterday.

Playwright Harold Pinter was born in Hackney, London, on 10 October 1930. He was educated at Hackney Downs Grammar School and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and Central School of Speech and Drama.

His plays include The Room (1957), The Birthday Party (1958), The Dumb Waiter (1959), The Caretaker (1960), The Lover (1962), The Homecoming (1965), No Man's Land (1975), Mountain Language (1988), Moonlight (1993), Ashes to Ashes (1996) and Celebration (2000), first performed with The Room at the Almeida Theatre in London. His adaptation of Marcel Proust's novel Remembrance of Things Past was performed at the National Theatre in London in 2000.

He has adapted many of his stage plays for radio and television and he has written the screenplays to a number of films including The Servant (1963), The Quiller Memorandum (1965), The Go-Between (1970), The Last Tycoon (1974) and The Comfort of Strangers (1989), adapted from Ian McEwan's novel. He has directed many productions of his own plays as well as plays by other writers, including James Joyce, Noel Coward, Tennessee Williams, David Mamet and Simon Gray, and has acted on stage, film, television and radio.

Pinter's dramas often involve strong conflicts among ambivalent characters fighting for verbal and territorial dominance and for their own remembered versions of the past; stylistically, they are marked by theatrical pauses and silences, comedic timing, provocative imagery, witty dialogue, ambiguity, irony, and menace ("Biobibliographical Notes"). Thematically ambiguous, they raise complex issues of individual human identity oppressed by social forces, the power of language, and vicissitudes of memory. Like his work, Pinter has been considered complex and contradictory (Billington, Harold Pinter 388).

For more information about Harold Pinter and his work, check the wiki site, his official site. To read some of his poems or quotes check this site. There are also thousands of other articles flowing through the internet about him, his decease, describing his amazing work.. Just try to google his name.

When I was studying the Theatre Theory at uni, Harold Pinter was mentioned all the time during many lessons there. These lessons concerned different theatre movements, different periods of time, and he influenced so many people. Even me.

The master of two silences, the defining playwright of the Theatre of the Absurd movement and the lord of comedy of menace has passed away. Will it be possible to fill the gap he left behind?

Christmas Time

2008-12-24T18:38:00.003+01:00

So Christmas has already came. Today is the Christmas Eve for some people. Not for me. For me, and milions of other people in the Czech Republic, 24th December is the Christmas Day.

I wonder how the same event can be celebrated in so many ways.

In general, we fast the whole day (I am talking about December 24) because it is said that if we do so, we would be able to see the Golden Pig. Then, when the first star appears, we have Christmas dinner. The traditional Christmas meal is fish soup, and fried carp with potato salad. After dinner, the little bell rings. It means the Small Jesus leaves the presents under the tree and we can go to unwrapped them.

There are many wonderful traditions connected with our Christmas. Before Christmas Day the twelve kinds of sweets are baked - one for each month of a year. There should be nine kinds of different meals served during the Christmas dinner (number three, or its multiplyings, is a really magic number).

Nobody should leave the Christmas table as it brings bad luck. So some people bind their legs together by rope or cord. Some people also chain the legs of table together. Both of these traditions signify the desire of every person sitting by the table for meeting together next Christmas again.

We also predict the future in this very day of year. We cut an apple (a star shaped inside means luck), the single women throw their shoe (a tip heading to a door means wedding - the woman will leave her home), we fasten candles inside the half of a nutshell and then put them on some water (if they stay together - we will together, if some leaves - the "owner" of this nutshell will leave, etc.), and some brave women (with an ambition to know their future husband´s face) take an axe and at midnight they cut the ice in the nearest lake, pond, or a river, and looking at the water inside the hole they will see him. And many others.

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Merry Christmas for all of you, your family and friends.

I hope you are enjoying the Christmas holidays with your beloved ones as much as I am.

Skywatch Friday

2008-12-18T20:22:00.005+01:00

I took these photos while we were walking to the supermarket on Sunday to buy a new pacifier for Smallone (the post below).

This is the sky above the fields behind our house.

Don´t forget to check other people´s skies from all over the world here.

Chasing the Gloom Away

2008-12-16T20:49:00.007+01:00

Our mission (to make my sister´s life a bit easier and funnier) is going on.

On Saturday we went to the cinema. There were four of us - me, my sister, our mother and our grandmother.

It was my grandmother´s birthday so we wanted to do something special.

She hadn´t been to the cinema for ages. For really looong time. We were happy she enjoyed it. Well, we all enjoyed being together.

On Sunday my sister came with Smallone for lunch. After that we went shopping to the near supermarket, because the terrible thing happened! Maybe you remember Elizabeth, my sister´s dog. Well, she ate Smallone´s favourite pacifier. So my sister promised her to buy another one. And because Smallone is a very generous person, we had to promise her to buy also one for her doll. So there we were:

Notice the Smallone´s doll sitting in the pram. Smallone insisted on carrying her with us.

When we reach the store, we showed Smallone five different pacifiers, and this one won:

Smallone doesn´t need any pacifier during the day, but when she goes to bed, the right pacifier makes her calming down easier. She was carrying it the whole way back home because she was so happy about it. She´s our darling. But you´ve realised it already, have you.

Skywatch Friday

2008-12-11T20:51:00.008+01:00

The sky is still grey and looks like this:

(this photo was taken tody from my living room window)

So I´ve decided to post something more bright and clear. Following pictures were taken in 2006, and they show the sky above the fields and meadows around my town. I took them from the car, so the quality could be better. But I loved the way the clouds were shaped. They are so playful to me.

Don´t miss the photos of the sky from all over the world in Skywatch Site.

Bad Things Happen...

2008-12-10T21:15:00.003+01:00

As I wrote in one of my comments connected with the last skywatch post - I haven´t had time to browse other skywatchers´ posts and I am sorry about it. I have to rectify it next time. I appreciate every comment here, and I don´t like being impolite and not returning every person´s visit.

The reasons why my latest days have been so busy are two. The first one is the "normal" one, and it is my work. My work is my hobby so I am able to spend much of my time thinking about some improvements, games, etc.

The second reason is a bit worse. My sister and her husband have split up. He moved from their flat today. My latest days were full of talking with my crying sister, full of thinking of her and Smallone, full of understanding and persuading her to let him go. That was the only possibility how to survive - my sister´s health was getting worse (now she weighs only 45 kilos with height of 168cm) as well as her nervous system. Nothing can let you down such as the wrong person next to you.

Perhaps you remember the beautiful wedding photos of them. Well, the wedding is not a solution. Never. We told her so, she didn´t want to listen. Now she knows and she and Smallone have all our love and support. The whole family is standing by their side and trying to help them to overcome this period of time with as little scars as possible.

And why I am writing this? I want to express my support, of course. And I´d like to invite her here! My sister is one of the funniest people I know. She can be ironical, smart, amusing, nice. So I hope she will sometimes join us and stop thinking about all those things that happened.

When I told her about my idea of writing here, she was surprised, pleased, and afraid a bit.

Me: "Come on, it´ll be fun!"

Her: "All right, then. But do you really think that it is a good idea?"

Me: "Of course it is!"

Her: "Well, but what am I supposed to write about?"

Me: "Anything you want. It is all up to you."

Her: (smiling) "Don´t be silly, I am on maternity leave for two years now! What do you think I am thinking about all days long?"

I hope we will see soon:-)

Skywatch Friday

2008-12-04T20:33:00.007+01:00

When I woke up today and looked out of the window, I was a bit afraid of my today skywatch post. The reason was the absolute mist outside. No sky, no shapes, no colours except the light blue and grey.

I hoped that the weather could turn fair during the day, so I took my camera with me and went to work. But nothing happened, nothing changed.

I was a bit desperate so I took some photos of the misty hills around the school I teach at. But the result was a bit.. weird let´s say. It sounds great and magical - misty hills, but it wasn´t great and magical at all. So I erased all those photos and moved to the other school I teach at.

The classes are on the thirt floor of quite tall building, so the sky can be seen much better from there - nothing spoils the pictures (as other tall buildings, wires, etc.), there is only the big sky.

And I was lucky to take the only today´s sunbeams as the sun was setting:

Visit the Skywatch site, and see the great photos of the sky all over the world!

Is That You Moon?

2008-12-02T21:07:00.005+01:00

Weird day. Full of work and other weird things.

I commute to work twice a week. On Tuesday and Thursday. I wake up unnaturally early (waking up before eight o´clock is the most unnatural thing I can imagine) to be able to catch my bus.

Today is Tuesday, so I was commuting again, of course. But today, a friend of mine was travelling with me. She was travelling somewhere else than me, but we spent about 30 minutes together chating. And laughing.

I am usually very absent-minded and musing during my morning travels. You know, it takes some time to wake up completely. Especially to me. But today it was different.

Me and my friend started to talk about some silly things (you know, it was very early in the morning) as women´s purses and what we usually carry in them (everything), we talked about some funny experience I´ve had with my students, we chatted about men, you know the usual things women discuss when they get together.

After 20 minutes of talking, the driver (we sat just behind him) turned towards us and asked (very kindly): "Girls, are you going to the last stop?" Me: "She is, I am not." He said nothing and turned back to the steering wheel. That was weird! Were we really so loud? Err, maybe..

And the weird day continued.

My small students paid less attention than they usually do, they were bewildered. They were weird.

Even my colleagues were weird. One of them was looking for her keys almost the whole day. She was so desperate and disconsolate that she looked for them even at her parents´ place and in the attic and the basement of our school (I was amazed what things you can find there). And guess where she found them - in the fridge in our staffroom. Weird, is it. And funny.

After classes there was a parent-teacher association. That was a bit more normal than other things today. But still even the parents were like hit with something heavy to their heads.

When I was travelling back home, it was dark already. And as I watch the sky all the time, I noticed that the moon and the sky itself is a bit different than the other days.

It was beutiful. There was a half moon. And around him just two bright spots and nothing else. And the moon was so big. Wonderful and magical.

A while ago I read the post by Birdchick (from the December 1 - her skywatch post). And she took a photo of my weirdly beautiful moon. Those two bright spots were (or still are) Venus and Jupiter.

(This photo was taken by Grant Cohen in Glasgow)

How can people stay sane under that kind of sky?

For more photos visit the BBC site. You won´t be disappointed.

Skywatch Friday

2008-11-27T22:14:00.009+01:00

During my yesterday walk around the river (see the post below) I was also watching the sky, of course.

I´ve found out that everywhere I go or walk, I watch the sky. And there were thousands of moments I thought for myself - "Oh gosh, it´s a pity I haven´t got my camera here. It would be wonderful Skywatch Friday post..."

Fortunately, yesterday I had my camera and I took these photos:

the fields behind the housing estate:

walking along the river:

the hiding sun in the right corner:

the sky above the river:

Don´t forget to browse other Skywatchers´ photos!

And the Water Flows..

2008-11-27T20:26:00.020+01:00

I live in a small town on the border of Czech and Slovak Republic. In fact, the borderline between these two republics is formed by the river Morava here. So one of her bank belongs to Czech, the other to Slovak.

And this river flows almost behind our house. It is a very pleasant walk along its banks, to the weir, watching birds and relaxing.

Yesterday, I walked there with a friend of mine. She had a day off, I was free in the afternoon, so we went to enjoyed the mother nature.

We left for the walk at about one o´clock in the afternoon. The weather was very changeable - the sunbeams were replaced by cloudy sky almost every five minutes. The only thing which lasted was the temperature - it was freezing. We were freezing. All the time.

We are leaving the housing estate and heading to the river in this photo:

The housing estate is bordered by the one-time rivulet:

... and over the rivulet there is nothing but fields and woods:

When we were children we loved having so big playground. We were jumping over the water (which was clear those times) and climbing the trees in the field. And in autumn we were flying kites there. Big space - lots of kites.

Then we reached one of the branches of the river:
Where people live along its banks:

...and where also some animals as ducks, swans and beavers live. We saw the ducks, but didn´t see the beavers. Also swans live in the different part of the river.

And where every house has its own little piers and thanks to this, some very nice scenes can be seen. As this one:

Then we reached the embankment and dam:

... and the look back at the town:

And then the "proper" river. On the left of the dam:

...and on the right of the dam (the bridge connects the Czech and Slovak republic as the river is their natural border):

Notice the different mood and clouds in the photos. The photos were taken in maximum 5-minute intervals and the sky looked differently every time.

We were so cold we had to go to the log cabin, the pub near the weir.

.. a look from the log cabin to the river:

When we left the pub for home, the sun was just setting. In the winter the sun usually starts to set at about four o´clock here.

...and we hurried home, and were thinking only about the hot bath to melt our bodies a bit.