So, here’s a surprise. I’m into gardening now. Not the flower-growing for pointless purposes, I’m growing my own vegetables and herbs so I can cook with them. My awesomest dad built me a raised vegetable bed and I’ve been enjoying working in it. Unlike most people my vegetable plot is in the frontyard. We had a bunch of space out there that gets lovely afternoon and evening sun and was going to waste. Now my rhubarb plants have lots of veggie friends to keep them company. Yes, I’m slightly obsessed with my veggie plot. It’s great to see my plants grow from tiny little seeds into pretty and yummy plants and then veg.
Isnt it pretty?
Herbs underway, I forgot what I planted where so itll be a cool surprise when they get bigger.
More herbs ^^
Radishes in the making. NEed to thin these out when I get back from the UK.
These will be strawberry plants. Itll be hard to separate these to repot, though.
Chamomille and some lost lemon balm <3
This is the lemon balm I thought dead. I planted it in the backyard and now its thriving!
This started growing against our terrace in the corner where I rinse out Joccas food bowl sometimes. I have no clue what it is but its pretty and had tiny white flowers up until last week. Anyone have a clue?
I know, I know. Another Amanda Palmer song, and not even an original one at that. If it wasn’t clear by now: I love this woman. I was lucky enough to have seen her live twice -although she did get arrested mid-gig on one of the occasions- and have the chance to chat with her a little bit. She’s amazing. If ever there were a woman I would go gay over it’s her.
She just released an album with her husband -the equally amazing Neil Gaiman- called “An Evening With Amanda Palmer And Neil Gaiman” which is absolutely brilliant. His CD is filled with some of his lesser known stories and poems. Theirs is filled with a little bit of everything, including two poems they wrote to each other. Amanda’s “Poem for Neil” is one of my favourite things on the album. Her CD is filled with songs -as was to be expected- both old and new, her own and covers. And among them is this little gem. The CD version is played on ukelele but is nowhere to be found on youtube (but can be listened to here, as can the rest of the album). This piano version might just be even more fitting, though.
Her singing is not flawless. It never is. That’s why it’s perfect. I can’t get over how beautiful this song is. The original (by Death Cab For Cutie) is much more upbeat and secretly dark which is something I usually go for but somehow it doesn’t work for this song. I love how sincere and uncomplicated it sounds. The lyrics are also beautiful, and a bit sad I guess. It makes me want to cry and smile at the same time. It’s wonderful. Listen to it. Fall in love with it.
Amanda Palmer also has a new kickstarter campaign. Go support it. I did. You get awesomeness in exchange for money. Always a good thing.
I recently rediscovered this song and fell completely in love with it. It was covered in my third year of high school for my Dutch class and I had completely forgotten about it until earlier today. As you might have guessed the song is in Dutch but it is also amazing. If anyone is interested I can work on a translation of the lyrics. Basically the song is about the end of the world and the writer is describing the craze after the world’s alleged end has been announced. He’s getting rid of all of his possessions and living on the streets, spending all of his money and giving into a careless final few days.
I have been crazy busy lately. I’m not going to start giving excuses for not blogging. There’s no excuse. But here’s an update of what’s been going on in my life.
Work
Anyway, I’ve been put on a new project at work that’s due April 20th. It’s really interesting and I love doing a qualitative project again. It’s a US-based project though so I’m working 2-10 in the afternoon for the coming weeks. While that does open up my mornings to do all the stuff I’ve been missing, it also means I barely have the time to blog. And that sucks. For some reason writing up a post just doesn’t come naturally in the morning and in the evening I’m often too tired to write one up. I’m working on it, though. I’m trying to find to find a schedule that works for me.
25 New books in 2012
I’m right on schedule here. I’ve read 5 books so far and enjoyed every single one of them. At the moment I’m reading Jamrach’s Menagerie by Carol Birch which is absolutely fantastic. Although not literally. I could actually see this being true. Maybe. I don’t know. It isn’t of course but it’s sort of realistic. Anyway. Rambling.
Visit the UK
YES! This is so happening! My train tickets have been booked for ages, my hotels/hostels have been booked (apart from Birmingham but I need Emily for that) and I’m so freaking excited about it! I’m working on a day schedule to try to make the most of this trip so if you have any good tips, let me know!
Gardening
Believe it or not, I’m actually enjoying gardening this year. I planted loads of seeds over the weekend and I’m hoping that, soon, I’ll have my own home-grown sunflowers (red and yellow), chilli peppers, basil, mini basil, lemon balm, chamomile and zucchinis. I’m just a little worried about the bad weather coming up so I think I might have to move my plant nursery inside.
I think that’s everything there is to mention. If there’s anything else you guys want to know about me, let me know!
Writing a good, spoiler-free review of this book but still mentioning everything I absolutely love about it is hard. Almost impossible I’d say. But I’ll give it a go anyway and see where we end up.
Room tells the story of five-year old Jack and his mother, Ma. They live in a single, locked room, and basically that’s it. The whole book is written from Jack’s point of view which probably sounds like it is very childish but, in fact, it is not.
I’ve been trying to write up a summary but I just can’t find the right words to capture the awesome of this book. It is written in a way that completely absorbs you and places you in the middle of the story. As I was reading I saw Room coming to life around me. I saw Ma flashing Flashlight up at Skylight in the middle of the night, I saw Carpet with her worn-out areas, I saw Jack watching Dora on tv and running up to the screen to touch her.
I’ve mentioned before that this is very typical of me, I tend to visualise whatever I’m reading but Room managed to go one step further. At several key points in the book I found myself feeling the same things as Jack felt. I’m usually quite invested in the books I’m reading but not usually to the point where I can feel my heart racing during exciting chapters. In my opinion this sort of enveloping quality comes from the simplicity of the mind of a five-year old boy. His way of thinking is so recognisable and pure that it just draws you in completely.
I read a lot of reviews about this book and Stockholm syndrome seems to be one of the topics that is always present in them. I don’t think Ma or Jack ever developed even the slightest positive feeling towards Old Nick. Jack is absolutely terrified of him and Ma tried to kill him more than once. On a more abstract level, however, I do feel like Jack developed a great fondness for Room. Although since he never saw Room as a place where he was captured, I doubt it qualifies as Stockholm syndrome. Really, it was all he ever knew. Can you blame the kid for wanting to hold on to it?
All through the book I couldn’t help but wonder: What if I ended up in a room just like Room? What if I were stuck in it for what seemed like the rest of my days? What if I were born in it? What if I had a kid in it? I’m pretty sure none of us can imagine what it’s like to be in a 12 foot by 12 foot room without being able to leave it whenever we feel like it.
I definitely recommend reading Room. It’s amazing. It makes you question all kinds of things but more importantly, it makes you appreciate everything around you so much more.
I’ve been obsessed with Ellen lately. I wish they aired it here….
