| Christmas coming |
[Nov. 24th, 2009|01:37 pm] |
It's a month to Christmas, and most other December holidays. With Tonio's condition and twice-daily medication, it'll probably be the first Christmas in over twenty years that we spend at home. All this means that in addition to the usual gift shopping (all gifts from me for family members, and all their gifts for me, since they cannot possibly fathom what I would like to get), I have to look into acquiring Christmas decorations.
To help others with the gift-shopping task:
- If you want to give someone a book, give Black Ships by Jo Graham. It's a wonderful tale with history, magic, religion, and volcanoes! Of note to people who want to support non-fail literature - name any test you want and Jo's characters pass it with flying colours.
- In the jewelry department, Astarise Designs just opened and offers extremely original jewelry:
(Obligatory disclosure: I've known ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) astarise for over half a decade, and jo_graham for a little less. The former bribes me with coffee, the latter with sneak peeks of her prose. The above is still meant with complete earnestness.) |
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| Won't be around too much |
[Nov. 18th, 2009|06:12 pm] |
My elder cat, Tonio, is six years old. He's never been the healthiest of cats, ever since we got him at five months old, so thin and wasted that the first vet mis-diagnosed his sex. He's also very traumatised and neurotic towards strangers, sudden noises etc, which doesn't stop him from being an absolute darling evil feline mastermind who demands cuddles and thinks way too much.
Coming back from my trip, I noticed he'd suddenly lost weight. I was also told he hadn't been eating dry food, and it was unlike him to go to sleep so soon after greeting us.
I had him at the vet's this morning for a blood test. By this afternoon, he's been seen by one of the best feline nephrologists in town, and he's had an ultrasound test.
Tonio has chronic renal failure. His kidney function is at 25%. He's apparently one of the cats that are just born with it: his kidneys have been quietly deteriorating all his life, it's just that this week, he tipped over the threshold and became symptomatic.
He's on twice-daily IVs, special food and special treatment. We won't know the prognosis until much later, depending on how he takes to treatment. But he's not going to be around for the decade or more I thought I had left with him.
It's been four and a half years since losing Lady P, and I still think about her. I want my cats to live until they're twenty-five.
(People I owe stuff to, especially packages: it'll be a few days.) |
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| Winter approaching |
[Oct. 14th, 2009|01:51 pm] |
The single most effective reminder that it'll be winter soon is the bloody snow outside my window. The snow-storm started at 7AM and shows no signs of slowing - power failures, airport failures, car failures abound.
The other reminder is that ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) yuletide fandom nominations are open. I am having very strange ideas, but I am hoping to recover my sanity by sign-up time. |
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| Icon meme |
[Sep. 14th, 2009|01:51 pm] |
THE RULES
01; Comment to this entry saying 'ICONS!' and I will pick 6 of your icons.
02; Make an entry in your own journal and talk about the icons I picked!
Stolen from givemeyourwings, so here are her picks :)
( Includes one of my new slew of icons )
In other news, today's edition of the second-largest national broadsheet published an article of mine, with this photo. Now to see if it has any effect on business ;) |
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| This day in history (70 years ago) |
[Sep. 1st, 2009|11:00 am] |
1st of September is the day school begins. Twenty years ago I first put on a navy skirt and white shirt, with my hair in braids for the first day in school. (The principal mispronounced my family name and I stood up in a crowd of over a hundred first-years to correct him. He still says hi to me when we meet in the street.)
Seventy years ago, at 4.45 AM, shots were fired that meant school wouldn't begin that day. Something else was beginning.
There had been fighting in Asia already, but these were the shots that began the war that swept the world. At the end, 15% of my country's people were dead. Often the best of them - the ones that fought, the ones that were a danger. Anielewicz and Baczynski and Fieldorf. It took us half a century to dig our way back to freedom.
Memo to world powers: this is what warmongering leads to.
Attention! Attention! It passed by!
Comma three!
Somebody runs on the stairs,
Door slammed somewhere,
One sound of the tumult and uproar
Bursts out, timidly rolls, grows,
Sound of sirens - in octave
Subsides - and rises the moan:
"Announcing alarm for the city of Warsaw!"
And silence.
Somewhere from above
Buzzes, buzzes, hums and quivers
And bursts
Deafly in the deeps.
One, two three,
Series of bombs.
It's somewhere farther. No fear.
Possibly Praga.
But now closer, still closer.
Close by, close by.
Shout like a bloody rag.
And silence, silence, which grows stronger
"Attention! Attention!
Recalling the alarm for the city of Warsaw!"
No. This alarm nobody can recall.
This alarm lasts.
Wail, sirens!
Beat, drums!
Cry, the church bells!
Let the orchestra play march
From Wagram, From Jena.
Grab this moan, regiments,
Battalions, guns, tanks,
Let it burst forth,
Let it persist
In fiery, sacred "Marseillaise!"
When people leave the church at noon,
When in the sky wind the clouds is chasing,
When a dark sleep on Paris falls,
Who makes me continually listen?
Who is that wakes and calls me?
I hear the hum of the night air raids
Floating over the city. Not the planes these are.
Demolished churches are floating,
The gardens changed into graveyards,
The ruins, the rubble, the wreckage,
From the childhood known streets and houses,
Trauguta and Swietokrzyska
Niecala and Nowy Swiat.
And the city floats on the wings of glory
And falls like a rock to the bottom of the heart.
"Announcing alarm for the city of Warsaw!"
Let it last!
(Alarm, Antoni Slonimski, translated by Stefan Golston
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| Notice of absence |
[Aug. 7th, 2009|09:25 am] |
Off to the lakeside for nine days. Back on Monday the 17th, but mail will definitely get checked and answered, and web access may happen if I can get the mobile phones to behave long enough to let me connect. GSM coverage holes are annoying :P
( In the meantime, have a deer ) |
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| Meme on account of tiredness |
[Jul. 25th, 2009|07:52 am] |
I wrapped up last week at a party, as if I hadn't been tired enough. Hence, meme swiped from galynthia, because brain isn't up to more.
Look up your birthday in Wikipedia. Pick 4 events, 3 births, 2 deaths, and 1 holiday.
July 7
EVENTS:BIRTHS:
DEATHS:
HOLIDAY:
( And speaking of Tanabata ) |
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| Obligatory notice |
[Jun. 18th, 2009|05:52 am] |
Off to, literally, other side of the world. Back in 3 weeks (July 10). Will, hopefully, check in intermittently throughout, but can't promise anything.
Fwee. |
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| T minus 2 and packing |
[Jun. 16th, 2009|11:32 am] |
I'm almost entirely packed for Japan. Thank goodness for Google Street View, because I get to shadow-walk my way everywhere as a dry run before actual travel. It's going to be... fun? :)
Internet availability is pretty sure, but due to the sheer amount of stuff to see, I'll be limiting online time to skipping through the f-list. Anything that requires my attention should be emailed. (No texting, please, my roaming plan's extortionate.)
And once I get back from Japan, I may very well be buying a flat and getting a driver's license in the same month. Fun?
In the meantime, have a coloratura falsetto Abronsius: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8GKlvByZDI |
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| T minus 8 |
[Jun. 10th, 2009|02:10 pm] |
In 8 days, I'll be on a plane to Japan. It's only just starting to hit home.
The postcard offer is still open (though actual postcard sending may be from Poland, since the last few days of our trip will be particularly hectic). Thus far I know we're meeting mayoini in Osaka, a friend from secondary school in Nagoya, and utena1409 in Tokyo. Some other people may come out of the woodwork, and since ladyoz is taking her laptop, we should be mail- and LJ-capable for meeting arrangement purposes :)
Now, to sit on someone before we end up seeing not only her, her and him, but also her, her and her... ;) |
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| Update from the bunker, and Angel Voice |
[Jun. 2nd, 2009|10:52 pm] |
My exam is on Saturday. That would be the exam that tests, in six-hour, 240-question detail, the encyclopedic knowledge contained in 6 books that together run well over 3,000 pages. Thank gods for Schweser Study Notes is all I'm saying. And study leave.
Last-minute studying is made all the more fun by infection-related vertigo. For some reason it's worse when I'm in front of a computer, so that's added motivation to look at a page, not a screen ;)
And just in time, my study aid came in the mail. I had a *cough* copy of Maki Ichiro's graduation CD Angel Voice album before, but it was a much-copied cassette tape version with distortions. It's much better in original CD format. And it showcases Ichiro's voice in such good songs - everything from an otokoyaku-transposed Ich gehör nur mir to female-register Beauty and the Beast theme, with everything else - Luck be a lady, It's a wonderful world, Unchained melody and other standards - chosen to show off the warmth and quality of her voice. It stays up to repeated playing very well.
(Not to mention the Phantom of the Opera with Ichiro!Erik and Hanafusa!Christine. Why do I like Mari Hanafusa best in her first combo?)
Sunday is freedom, and possibly madness. |
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| Notice of absence |
[Mar. 4th, 2009|10:14 pm] |
And with everything and vampires, I forgot to mention that I won't be around this weekend :) Tomorrow afternoon I'm heading to Oberhausen via Düsseldorf, seeing the requisite dancing vampires, and coming back on Monday around noon-ish. No mail access due to mobile roaming fees. |
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| I have not fallen off the face of the planet |
[Jan. 24th, 2009|08:13 pm] |
I've just noticed I haven't posted in two weeks. As usual, this means work's eating me alive. And amusingly enough, of my New Year's Resolutions I'm doing the best with exercise, which means less weight already, but also 45 to 60 minutes less in the day. Studying isn't going badly, but writing, thus far, is mostly of the Morning Pages kind, letting out steam and stress.
And I'm watching the news about the newest Elisabeth production with... bemusement. Not only will Sisi be taller than Death (which has happened before), but it looks like it'll be equivalent of Sandor Nagy playing Sisi to Szilveszter Szabo's Death. It'll be - interesting.
But hey, she's cute. And I need to look for this concert while I'm over there: 【ニコニコ動画】I have a dreamコンサート「オスカーワイルド」０１ |
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| OMGYuletide |
[Dec. 20th, 2008|11:41 am] |
Despite some real-life events (which in the end, turned out not as badly as they could have), I managed to finish my main Yuletide story on Thursday and just uploaded it. I'd offer goodies to people who guess which one I wrote, but all in all, this is the story that has "Beth Winter" plastered on it in mile-high letters. Trust me.
I have one stocking-stuffer written already, and am eyeing more. Somebody stop me.
(Also, I'll be away from December 23 to 28, but the new keitai has a good web browser and email client.) |
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| Time off |
[Oct. 29th, 2008|11:09 am] |
I should have expected that I can't keep this tempo up for long ;) I've got the day off with firm orders to lie down and not move too much, which will hopefully mean antibiotics won't be needed.
And this is also notice that I won't be around much until Tuesday. I'm acquiring a fyrie tomorrow :) |
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| Notice of impending absence |
[Oct. 8th, 2008|09:08 am] |
fyrie has already abandoned me. This is probably a good time to note that I'll be absent as well, Thursday evening to Monday morning, so should anyone require me online, now's the time to say something :) |
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| Scotland |
[Aug. 29th, 2008|09:52 am] |
Am safely ensconced in Edinburgh in fyrie's custody :) Needless to say, online presence will be scarce until Tuesday, and inexistent between Tuesday noon-ish and the morning of the next Monday (lakes! finally!).
Now, shopping :D |
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| Budapest trip, again |
[Jun. 25th, 2008|10:10 am] |
Life has interfered with blogging, alas. On the upside, I'm off tomorrow evening for three days in pretty, pretty Budapest, with pretty, pretty musicals to watch. And a certain blond Hungarian to try and kidnap ;)
I'm taking the train this time, night trips both ways, and between that and the fact it's Budapest, I've about as much nerves as with a trip to the seaside that I take every summer. Sure, I don't speak the language, but no-one expects me to speak it, and the city's so nice. I have my favourite bakery, my favourite pancake place, and among my plans are stocking up on a Hungarian hand cream and spices. It's not a strange city anymore.
And once I'm back, expect more squee about musicals :) |
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| *falls over* |
[May. 4th, 2008|08:24 am] |
Got back yesterday near midnight and was so exhausted I fell into bed without even touching the computer. Reviews will be up tonight or tomorrow. In the meantime, highlights of my Berlin trip:
- seeing Uwe Kröger, twice. No Pia, but oh, UWE. No more watching certain Hungarians for you, the set'll fall apart!
- Spargel - height of the season, and oh, they were delicious
- lovely Roman-inspired sandals and a jacket that cost far too much
- stuffed alligator O.o |
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| Missing in action |
[Apr. 29th, 2008|08:13 pm] |
I'm off on Thursday morning for Berlin, back on Saturday night. Have decided not to lug the computer around, since it's just two nights and a rather busy schedule of shopping and two shows to catch. If anyone has anything urgent, speak now, or hold your peace for four whole days ;)
Incidentally, this will be the first time in three years or so that I'll be incommunicado from e-mail for over 24 hours - even when I was net-less, I monitored things via mobile phone. Wish me luck! |
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| Travel plans |
[Feb. 29th, 2008|10:24 am] |
Two weeks ago, I had no plans for the summer at all. Now it turns out I'll be out of the country two, possibly three times between May and June:
- May 1-3 in Berlin (Shopping and Elisabeth. Mostly shopping.)
- May 23-26 in Edinburgh (fyrie's birthday party and uh, more shopping?)
- Tentatively, June 21-25 in Budapest. Again. For the same purposes as last time.
Since the only other plans I have are for Vienna in the autumn, I need to find some new countries to travel to. Spain, possibly? Or Mallorca, I adored selenak's photos of her trip there. |
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| Sell-out (but for silky hair, wouldn't you?) |
[Feb. 14th, 2008|09:51 am] |
For the past few years, I've heard people praising a singular hair product. There were tales of how hard it is to obtain, how expensive, and how you must use Just A Single Drop to make your hair absolutely fabulous.
Yesterday, I gave in and tried a sample Mother brought back from her new hairdresser's.
Farouk Systems' Biosilk Silk Therapy Serum is, indeed, magic.
The amount of oil that covered the tip of my index finger when I poured it was enough to make my hair a waterfall of silk. For the record, my hair is waistlong, thick and very fine, wavy to the point of rebeliousness, 6 months without a trim, and recently dyed with a commercial non-permanent colour. Just making it fall down without major frizz usually requires heavy-duty conditioner, mousse and hair wax. With just the tiny bit of serum, it's now down, still wavy, and utterly controlled.
I think I have a new addiction. |
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| Tanz der Vampire / Vampirok Balja: 50th show |
[Jan. 7th, 2008|08:45 am] |
You have to be special to randomly stumble on a 50th show of a musical, and one with a signing to boot. Fortunately, we are special.
( Show )
Before the show, I wandered over to buy the new shiny programme and live CD (even though I accidentally recorded the same show that's on the CD while I was over the last time). I managed to keep my feet when the teller told me that after the show, there would be a signing upstairs.
( Signing ) |
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| Tanz der Vampire #28 |
[Jan. 7th, 2008|12:07 am] |
I think I managed to break Von Krolock's brain.
SCORE. |
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| Happy day-off-work, everyone |
[Dec. 21st, 2007|01:43 pm] |
Tomorrow morning, I'm on the train to the seaside; I'll be back on Thursday evening, and while I'll check my mail on my mobile, I won't have connectivity otherwise. I'm hoping some kind soul will mail me my Yuletide story.
Due to December health issues, I haven't completed my personal Yuletide yet, but it's definitely a project for my upcoming offline period. We'll do Russian-style New Year's gifts ;)
It's funny: due to work and health, it doesn't feel like Christmas yet. Still, happy holidays to everyone. Even if you don't celebrate, isn't it fun to have time off? Especially since my next day of work will be Wednesday after next. Long live Evil Corporate Empires. |
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| Edinburgh yay |
[Nov. 28th, 2007|06:23 pm] |
At fyrie's. Her internet's dodgy, so I might be not around much, but I live. Until Sunday, when I go back. Yay :D |
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| Perfume angst |
[Nov. 18th, 2007|05:53 pm] |
I've recently decided on my next signature fragrance - it was pure chance, but I tried out L'Instant Magic de Guerlain and it was almond love at first right. I adore oriental fragrances, always have - Samsara is still my standby for when I want to knock people dead - and as my bottle of Poème by Lancôme wore out, I wanted something different, less floral. I've been getting by with various pure-rose things, but they're really not cutting it, and with L'Instant Magic, I keep sniffing my own wrist obsessively.
And this is the pefectly wrong time for me to notice that there's another fragrance that I'd love, love to have. And it's bloody Mitsouko. I mean, it's Mitsouko - almost 90 years old, freaking chypre, the fragrance every ten-bucks bottle of "Parisian" perfume imitates.
Currently I have L'Instant Magic on my right wrist, Mitsouko on my fingers on the right hand, and possible RSI from turning my hand all the time to sniff them both.
(I also have Vol de Nuit on my left wrist, but buying three bottles of Guerlain perfume to alternate would be madness.) |
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dizzy
dead