Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Porque te vas

The first song I learned in Spanish, even before 'Hijo de la luna' de Mecano.



Hoy en mi ventana brilla el sol
y el corazón
se pone triste contemplando la ciudad
por que te vas?

Como cada noche desperté
piensando en tí
y en mi reloj todas las horas ví pasar
por que te vas?

Todas las promesas de mi amor se irán contigo
me olvidarás
Junto a la estación lloraré igual que un niño
por que te vas


Bajo la penumbra de un farol
se dormirán
todas las cosas que quedaron por decir
se dormirán.

Junto a las manijas de un reloj
esperaran
todas las cosas que quedaron por vivir
por que te vas?

Todas las promesas de mi amor se irán contigo
me olvidarás
Junto a la estación lloraré igual que un niño
por que te vas


Todas las promesas de mi amor se irán contigo
me olvidarás
Junto a la estación lloraré igual que un niño
por que te vas

(Jeanette Dimech)

Made up

Something I'm not used to wear:

And something I usually wear (yessss there is a thick layer of shiny cream there!)

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Tongue twisters

Ala, this is not kissing tricks description you all expected.

I only know a few in French and they can keep me busy for hours:
'-combien sont ces saucissons-ci?
-ces saucissons-ci font six sous.
'

The only one in English I know is from the movie Singin'in the rain, from the soundtrack titles 'Moses'
Moses suposes his toeses are roses
But Moses supposes erroneously
And Moses, he knowses his toeses aren't roses
As Moses supposes his toeses to be

Moses suposes his toeses are roses
But Moses supposes erroneously
A Rose is a rose
A Nose is a nose
A Toese is a toese

Hupidubidu!

Moses suposes his toeses are roses
But Moses supposes erroneously
And Moses, he knowses his toeses aren't roses
As Moses supposes his toeses to be

Please tell me more of those tongue twisters

Monday, February 26, 2007

Why is it that...

...when I am most in need of empty space I end up in a crowded area?
...the weather is bright and sunny when I need to sleep?
...my bank account always empties faster than my shopping list?
...my love life is as fruitful as a desert?
...people never say what they think and mean what they say?

Saturday, February 24, 2007

LA CHANSON DES VIEUX AMANTS de Jacques Brel

Bien sûr nous eûmes des orages
Vingt ans d'amour c'est l'amour fol.
Mille fois tu pris ton bagage,
Mille fois je pris mon envol.

Et chaque meuble se souvient,
Dans cette chambre sans berceau,
Des éclats, des vieilles tempêtes.
Plus rien ne ressemblait à rien,
Tu vais perdu le goût de l'eau,
Et moi celui de la conquête.

Mon amour,
Mon doux, mon tendre, mon merveilleux amour,
De l'aube claire jusqu'à la fin du jour,
Je t'aime encore, tu sais, je t'aime.


Moi, je sais tous tes sortilèges,
Tu sais tous mes envoûtements.
Je t'ai gardé de piège en piège,
Tu m'as perdue de temps en temps.

Bien sûr tu pris quelques amants,
Il fallait bien passer le temps,
Il faut bien que le corps exulte.
Finalement, il nous fallut bien du talent
Pour être vieux sans être adultes.


Oh, mon amour
Mon doux, mon tendre, mon merveilleux amour,
De l'aube claire jusqu'à la fin du jour,
Je t'aime encore, tu sais, je t'aime.


Et plus le temps nous fait cortège,
Et plus le temps nous fait tourment.
Mais n'est-il pas le pire des pièges
Que vivre en paix pour des amants.

Bien sûr je pleure un peu moins tôt,
Je me déchire un peu plus tard,
Nous protégeons moins nos mystères.
On fait moins faire le hasard,
On se méfie du fil de l'eau,
Mais c'est toujours la tendre guerre.


Oh, mon amour,
Mon doux, mon tendre, mon merveilleux amour,
De l'aube claire jusqu'à la fin du jour,
Je t'aime encore, tu sais, je t'aime...

Invisible fountain

My room is very zen. I have white paper lamps, sakura flowers, white furnishings, big windows opening to tha farm and inviting the sunlight, and then a gurgling invisible fountain. I hear it sing, burp, drip through to the ground on the balcony. Sometimes it invites your imagination to picture disgusting activities (diarhea, vomiting), and sometimes it sounds as peaceful as a gentle river running on polished rocks and pebles. In any case it inhabits the room.
I must mention that my room has plenty of pink flowers and the scent of pink lillies and pink cherry blossom. Truly girly and peaceful. It was designed according to the principles of feng shui, or at least my interpretation of it: sometimes tidies up, with water, soil around the bed, bed not facing the door.

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

When time flies

When I am sleepy and wait for the time when I get to bed, time takes its time and rolls ever so slowly. It makes my head hurt and my eyelids feel like a flatpacked wardrobe. I have been awake before dawn and the dayis dragging its feet to completion.

I was feeling better earlier though, having spent some quality time chatting away and having a stroll on my favourite Queen's walk with an old friend visiting from the land of marmots, snow storm and Cirque du Soleil (ie Montreal). He was only in town for a few hours, which felt like seconds.

Yes, it is the standard picture I take of my friends when they visit London: on the millenium bridge with St Paul in the background.

After a very long day then, I come home to see my bunch of cherry blossoms blooming prettily with its delicate touch of pink. Puts the life back in me.

Monday, February 19, 2007

Wasting £2 and 45min of my life

This started as a pretty ok day but turned into a very very bad case of the Mondays. Woke up before the alarm clock, had time to have healthy breakfast (oatmeal) and even got to wash the filthy hair. Managed to catch the tube after peak* hours for Wimbledon. Because on this day I was ready to have the DVLA (driving and vehicule licensing agency, yeah) certify that the picture I will put on the provisional** license is really resembling me...they are very suspicious in this place.

Took me 4 podcasts in Spanish and a full £2 to get there, get a ticket, and wait for 2 minutes before the guy at the counter tells me:'ah yeah we don't certify for foreign passports, only British passports. You'll have to send that passport as proof od ID'. So basically all my efforts not to send my passports to useless bureaucrats were lost on this universe. So I stayed in that building for 4minutes and took another 20min to get back to central London.

Managed to get some shopping done before going to work. I even managed to get there early, to grab lunch, but they took 15min to grill a bloody chicken and rocket wrap. I am not sure I stayed very polite during the day. No amount of cofee or sugar can calm me down and I apparently had a tan (red cheeks, maybe because I was so unnerved by it all).

*peak time as opposed to peek time, which is when I got mooned by some lady parading naked at her window without any consideration for us tube travellers going about our business staring blankly out of the coach's window!

**a provisional license is a license to allow you to learn how to drive and sit for the driving test..yes, you must have a license to sit on a chair and anwer questions about road rules. Don't ask me why. They probably need money as this provisional license costs £38....I will die of nerves I tell you!

Sunday, February 18, 2007

Home sweet home





The balcony has no light and has loads of laundry drying so will show that when the laundry is off and during daytime, with even closer view to the farm

Saturday, February 17, 2007

Moving in...

The stupid pig moved out his crap this morning at 5am, disturbing me in my peaceful sleep. He won't get far hopefully, with all the curses I directed towards him!

That means today I can move in my new room, which has a balcony filled up with laundry ropes. But there are some funky fixtures on the walls and a big vertical tube in the balcony. Alas, it's not a pole worth dancing about. It's merely a passage for the dirty waters to go into the ground. Architecture over here is a mystery.As for now I'm using wet laundry to block the view from outside I will be putting up curtains shortly, after everything is stored and tidied up inside. I had to broom and mop the disgusting remains of a filthy immature bastard. I even found a condom behind the couch (arghhhh).

The room is now bleached and awaiting the lovely lady who will soon enjoy the sun and donkey (yup, I get closer to the farm). Which reminds me of a quote from Mr Sheeppy (yet another animal). I told him my room has 3 walls, so he said astonished:' do you live in a triangle?'.

It is with some sadness that I leave my beautiful room.


But hopefully I'll enjoy the big living room as well...Just went to Ikea yesterday (took me 3h total) and got some metal curtain cord. It' hard to imagine this is a living room with no curtains at all originally.

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Trips...


So here I am trying to plan for the upcoming tax year. it's that time fo the year when I feel restless. I have 25 days to fill and just staying in London won't do, no matter ho fun it is here.
The options or wish list that always seem to be must-dos are:
-climbing Machu Pichu (May?)
-visiting Montreal (before June)
-going to Madagascar (May or November?)
-murder party in Brittany (October-November)
-South East Asia somewhere
-Malta
-Texas
-Madrid
-somewhere sunny and exotic where I've never been...(trouble is maybe I won't come back)
-christmas/New year will be with family (paris or wherever the family will be)
-Ireland

Am sure I'm forgetting some....

And even if all those could fit in 25 days, it will not fit in my budget unless I stop eating and resign myself to walk to work...ah well. Enough headcahe as it is!


So maybe I'll just make a trip to Ikea!

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Flatmate sought...not anymore!!!

For the past week or so, we've been putting adverts online and on the market for my room to be let. I am moving in the bigger room/ex-living room at the end of this week so my current room will be vacated and let to a potentially really nice girl. Except it's very difficult: either the girl is very nice but doesn't like us or the room (i did tidy up the place, and we even vacuumed, scrubbed and burnt candles), or the girl that shows up to visit the room is completely opposite of the ones we usually get along with...meaning we didn't like them.

There are a few anecdotes worth mentioning though.
First there was the very butch girl from New Zealand. She didn't stay long but made such an impression on us we decided not to invite her for a second interview.

Second there was the really nice french girl who just moved to London. I think she was nice because she asked us what we were studying...ahem! We even offered her the flat but she found something else..which made us panick a bit because of all the dozen girls we've met, we only liked 3 of them.

Third, there was a girl called Ariane who wanted to visit the flat but when she called me she said her name was Ariana. So I asked her to pass by 19:00 and by 19:15 she finally found the gate. We opened the gate and waited for her to show up on our doorstep. Except she never did...she called later on asking where on the 3rd floor the flat was...given that it was on the 1st floor, she was never going to find it. Anyway she finally made it to our doorstep. She was very pretty and well dressed and well made up, with knee-high boots and flat blonde hair. She barely looked at the room, kitchen and bathroom, took a picture and left! later on that evening, she rang me panicked saying she couldn't find number 257...and I said I lived on number 5..obviously she mistakenly rang the wrong number...sweet and stupid. We were tempted to get her back to our house so that she can rest and have a cup of tea, because obviously she didn't know anything about the area..LOL

Anyway, we finally settled on a French girl from Lyon who made her decision at the last minute and paid the deposit in extremis. It was very stressful because we didn't want to go through the whole process of having strangers visit us again...
She works in beauty product marketing but wears no make up....I work in TV but don't watch TV, and Electra works in bars but doesn't drink alcohol, so it's a perfect fit really. So from next week, I will have a bigger room with a 3 seater, a balcony and not much closet space.

So to celebrate I'll be going to Brussels to stock up on chocolates...

Heart



Another overdose of chocolate today I suppose.
Thinking of family and friends...

Monday, February 12, 2007

Happy birthday to you!

A special thought for a little brother who now joins the world of late teens...and will soon face University life..good luck and happy birthday!

Thursday, February 08, 2007

Sorrow

'As for us, our life is like grass.
We grow and flourish like a wild flower;
then the wind blows on it, and it is gone'




Reflecting my mood at best, the snow envelops me in its cold fluffy numbing coat. And I pray for my friend who is in pain, and wish I was by her side to hold her tight and close, to give her courage, for her to rest her head on my shoulder. I cannot hold my despair at being so physically far away.

For the first time in years, I implore the powers above to guide her and her family through this loss.

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Time machine

If I had a time machine, I'd go back in time when I was a happier person, with no worries, and I would bring you there from the future so that I can enjoy it with you...

But I don't have a time machine so I am left to watch the clock like any other mortal, straining to hear the seconds tick by while the future gets hold of me slowly (is the future=death?).

When I'm not watching the time, I am watching likely happy events to be, such as:
-a real positive email for a date
-my body hitting the bed and fluffy pillows
-my trip to visit my family
-my promotion
-the 7th book of Harry Potter saga
-my accelerated weight loss (hmmm..crossing my fingers and toes)
-my nails grow...ugh, yup apart from my left thumb it looks almost normal

I am sure there are more..it's just I haven't got the time to list them all before they dissapear from my present...

Sunday, February 04, 2007

'NaNa'

I don't have TV but I have an internet connection. And that means I can get addicted to series from far far away. In this case, I am addicted to an anime called 'Nana' I mentioned this before but I am at a point where I am collecting all reference to it, the way kids collect and trade cards about Yu-Gi-Oh or something.

The most addictive thing about Nana is that it has everything talked about: single mothers, friendship, forbidden love, abandoned child, etc...It is an anime, but it is based on a very popular manga. And it is now airing in Japane every thursday. It is also being turned into a movie, which is really strange to watch becaus eall the angles and camera point of views are the same than in the anime, only there are real people in there, not drawings..I kinda prefer the anime because at leas they can't be accused of being bad actors, as the voice actors are really good. I find myself collecting the songs from the anime..which is probably what the producers are expecting since it's the story of the members of two punk/rock bands (Trapnest and Blackstones).LOL.

Anyway here is one of the beginning credit song of the anime.

It's called 'Rose'


And here is one of the most famous theme ('Glamorous sky'), sung by Mika Nakashima who stars in the movie as rock n roll Nana.


And I just love the song for the one alternate ending credit:




And here is another one, called 'starless night'


So if you are passing by Japan and coming to the UK, please drop me a line and I'd beg you to bring me some Nana stuff...:)
Arigatoo gozaimasuuu!

Saturday, February 03, 2007

I hope you dance (Lee Ann Womack)


I hope you never lose your sense of wonder
You get your fill to eat
But always keep that hunger
May you never take one single breath for granted
God forbid love ever leave you empty handed
I hope you still feel small
When you stand by the ocean
Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens
Promise me you'll give faith a fighting chance

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance
I hope you dance
I hope you dance

I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance
Never settle for the path of least resistance
Living might mean taking chances
But they're worth taking
Lovin' might be a mistake
But it's worth making
Don't let some hell bent heart
Leave you bitter
When you come close to selling out
Reconsider
Give the heavens above
More than just a passing glance

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance
I hope you dance
(Time is a real and constant motion always)
I hope you dance
(Rolling us along)
I hope you dance
(Tell me who)
I hope you dance
(Wants to look back on their youth and wonder)
(Where those years have gone)

I hope you still feel small
When you stand by the ocean
Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens
Promise me you'll give faith a fighting chance

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance
Dance
I hope you dance
I hope you dance
(Time is a real and constant motion always)
I hope you dance
(Rolling us along)
I hope you dance
(Tell me who)
(Wants to look back on their youth and wonder)
I hope you dance
(Where those years have gone)

(Tell me who)
I hope you dance
(Wants to look back on their youth and wonder)
(Where those years have gone)

In the country...

I live 5min from the City in London, where bankers, investment giants and towering glass buildings occupies the landscape and crowd the horizon. But I wake up with the sound of the dear donkey next door.


And on a nice weekend like today, when I am so lazy I can't even cross the road to visit the farm, I just take pictures from my window, and try to block out the sound of the neighbours redecorating the nearby buildings, or the muffled sound of the trains passing 2 miles away.


No need to have a chalet in the mountains or a getaway manor in the country...East London has it all.