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April 29, 2011

The Life of Vida Winter

It's been a while since I read this book, but I think it was good enough to write something about it anyway. The amount of books I read these days makes it a bit hard to keep up with summaries and recommendations...

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield is a really good book. It's a story about stories in a way. Margaret Lea works at her father's antiquarian bookshop and one day the famous (but mysterious) writer Vida Winter contacts Ms. Lea because she wants her to write her biography. Vida Winter's life has been everything but normal and even when you think you've figured out what is going to happen, new facts and details that changes Vida Winter's story completely are revealed again and again. Sometimes a bit confusing, but in the end all the pieces of the puzzle fall into place.

I would have enjoyed this exciting story even more if it wasn't for the terrible smell of vomit that came from the book (one of the reasons why I'm not so fond of libraries). But hopefully it's the only copy of that book smelling like that. If you ever get a bad-smelling book in your hands, just keep it open all the time, it helps a little.

[image: Goodreads]

April 26, 2011

Home sweet home



Hope you all had a nice Easter!
As much as I love travelling, I also love getting back home again. Especially when all the trees are suddenly green and the cherry trees are blossoming!
It was a great trip, even though the weather was rather cold the first couple of days. I ate a lot of tzatziki, moussaka and other delicious dishes. Greek cuisine is not bad at all.
I also took loads of photos. Quite a few of them are cat photos, but the cats weren't that cooperative, so I don't think they turned out very well. Haven't seen them yet though, so there might be some surprises.

[photo: roraadear]

April 15, 2011

Le Chats du Soleil



I have an ever-growing list of places and countries I'd like to visit sooner or later. Next week I'll be able to tick off one of the destinations, as I'll be on my way to Greece this weekend, yay!
The photos is from the only coffee table book I own (it has never been near a coffee table though), Les Chats du Soleil by photographer Hans Silvester.
I hope I'll meet a few cats on my way, so I can take some photos as beautiful as the photos in the book (possibly a little ambitious). All photos in this book are from the Cyclades, not exactly were I will be staying, but it's still Greece.


April 12, 2011

From the archives

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From my trip to the Royal Albatross Centre at the Otago Peninsula, New Zealand. We didn't see any albatrosses (but did somewhere else), but I was lucky enough to get hit by a sea gull's droppings. Yummy!

(By the way, if you know the name of the flower, please tell me what it is)

April 10, 2011

The Makers

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When I saw these photos I realized how much I miss sitting behind a potter's wheel! To start out with a lump of nice, soft clay, not knowing what it will turn out to be and suddenly you have a bowl or a cup. I love it, it's so much fun and luckily I'll spend a week this summer making ceramics again, can't wait!

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The photos is a part of a photo project by Jennifer Causey called The Makers Project. With inspirational photos she takes us behind the scenes, showing the work spaces and studios of various craftsmen in Brooklyn. Among others she visited a ceramicist, a printer, chocolate and candy makers, a perfumer, a florist and a designer.

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[photos: Jennifer Causey/The Makers Project via design is mine]

April 8, 2011

The curious incident of the dog in the night-time



Now, this is a good book!
The autistic 15 year-old Christopher is the main character in this moving little book. He hates the colours brown and yellow, is extremely good at mathematics, physics and logical thinking. One night he finds his neighbour's dog killed with a garden fork and he decides to solve the crime and then the adventure begins.
I love the way this book is written and the way Christopher is thinking. It's such a moving story and I think it's impossible not to like Christopher and sympathize with him (at least it was for me).
Of course there's much more in this book than I've written about, so I think you should read it, it's so good!

And by the way he's really good at minesweeper, a game I've been quite obsessed with when I was younger, so we could be good friends, I think. Trying to beat each other's records and eat tomatoes or something (his favourite colour is red, so he loves red food).

Have a nice weekend!

April 6, 2011

Learn something every day

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I love fun facts and other pieces of more or less useless information (you never know if it might come in handy someday!). It's always a nice thing to get to know new facts and Learn something every day is a good place to get them. Fun facts combined with strong colours and small drawings, what's not to like?

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Some of my favourites. Phobias and pink. If I had a mint, I would definitely test the last fact. Probably not with pencils, though. Maybe I should also start thinking more about my muscles...

[images: learnsomethingeveryday]

April 3, 2011

Breathe me



I've spent the weekend with my beloved math book, notes and a handful of frustrating problems. Sounds nice, don't you think? But it feels good when you finally manage to solve the problems (and at least the book has some pretty colours).
The weather was almost summery yesterday and for the first time this year I went for a run without wearing my thermal top. Finally, spring is here for real!

A little piece of music for your Sunday:
Sia - Breathe Me