This Is Love, This Is Porn

I am still the busiest of bees, and still enjoying it :)

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas was a good movie, very true to the book. My friend Paul had seen it with his son the day before Movie Night, and warned me I would probably cry - which I off course did. Loads! It was worth it, though. Tomorrow I'm taking Movie Night to see The Spirit, and although the reviews have been rather poor I'm really looking forward to it!

Saturday I met up with Deb, whom I hadn't seen for weeks, for Bar 9 lemon chicken and knitting, before I went to Melody's house warming party in Espoo in the evening. Due to another engagement (real ale festival in Gallow's Bird), the stop at her place was cut rather short, but it was a lovely apartment and full of a lot of lovely people :)

The ale festival was a lot of fun and nonsense, with Dave, David and Dave's friend Stefan. David turned into a pumpkin around midnight, whereas I proceeded to get my brain well pickled and spent all of Sunday trying to get out of bed (no success).

This week I've so far completed my input in the first business plan submission, hamburgerized with Lotta, and finished reading Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. I have the Hugh Grant version of the movie, but it only works halfway and hence I never knew how it ended. Such a charming story! And so funny! It is normally regarded as inferior to Pride and Prejudice, which I now cannot wait to get started with. Have to read Breaking Dawn first, though, so no social activities for me this weekend :)

"And I wanna hear what you have to say about me!
Hear if you're gonna live without me!
I wanna hear what you want...
What the hell do you want?"
Damien Rice - I Remember (O, 2002)

The Songs Are In Your Eyes

Most days are good days. Some days are a bit shittier than others, and then there are the days where you basically wish you had not bothered to get out of bed. Today is one of those last ones. In fact, I am quite sure today would have been a blossom of a day if I'd spent it in bed. In the office it's been more like a rotting cactus.

I'm going to see The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas with Movie Night this evening, and will probably end up sobbing my eyes out. (I don't know if you can tell, but my level of commitment to this day really does leave a thing or two to be desired.)

On a completely different note, my CD listening project is going nowhere fast. First Richard Ashcroft tricked me into skipping both The Ark and Ash, and now I'm for some reason spending my days in the office with U2 and at home with Damien Rice. Three months, and I'm still not out of the A's. It'll take me until 2025 to get to Cajsa-Stina Åkerström at this rate.

"I've had enough of romantic love."
U2 - Miracle Drug (How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb, 2004)

Walk On

1 car
2 cars
3 cars
4 cars
...
253 cars

The meaning of life, ladies and gentlemen, is (at least partly) 253. At least for the next couple of weeks.

So, Meyer's vampires. I still have not been able to get a copy of Breaking Dawn, as it gets sold out in a matter of hours after the stores get new supplies. Have reserved a copy from tomorrow's Akademiska shipment, though, so in a couple of days I'll be able to close off my latest obsession.

The movie was not what I thought it would be. For someone who has not read the books I assume it is more or less impossible to make sense of as it jumps through the storyline with insane speed. Having read the books, however, the dialogue and characters are very much in line with the Forks world in your head. I must admit I giggled quite a bit.

Jasper was all wrong, not at all in line with how I read him. Carlisle, as portrayed by Peter Facinelli (the husband of 90210's Jennie Garth), was also a bit off, but in a far more positive manner. In fact, that actor makes such an outlandishly pretty vampire he took most of my Edward focus away. And I don't usually _like_ blond men.

So... I'm hooked. Sorry about that, I usually consider myself rather more levelheaded and not so prone to teenage fancies, but what can I say? Let's hope Breaking Dawn allows me to move on, I've started reading Sense and Sensibility and will continue with the rest of Austen's works once the Cullens have left my sphere.

"All that you measure, all that you feel,
all this you can leave behind."
U2 - Walk On (All That You Can't Leave Behind, 2000)

I Love To Hate You

I am so busy! We're in the middle of the BP09 process, and at the same time I'm juggling two other major projects, _and_ have to keep in mind I still want to fit into these skirts of mine two weeks from now everytime I walk into a store!

The last couple of weeks have been great, with the exception of a nasty flu that jumped up and bit me. It died away by Wednesday last week, but then on Friday it returned full force and it still hasn't really let go. Only had to stay away from work for one day, though, so it hasn't been half bad with the exception of totally losing my voice in Dave's house warming party and as a result sounding like I was strung out on bad whiskey the entire evening :)

I've had a couple of lemon chicken incidents, one involving spontanious post-drunkedness with Dave and Sebastian, two yarn shopping trips, one knitting group introduction (scary), two seasons of Friends, a couple of football games, burger bonanza with Lotta and way too little sleep. It didn't make anything better that I started to read the Stephenie Meyer vampire books last Thursday, starting with Twilight, continuing with New Moon and then finally last night I finished Eclipse. For some reason I thought there were only three of them, and hence I am now on a mission to secure Breaking Dawn. And if the story doesn't end there, I'll freaking kill someone!

They are quite good, by the way. Not Nobel prize winning material, but then again, they _are_ vampire books. Easily read, and some of the characters are easily loved. Oh, and there is no cheesy sex. Some tension, but no sex at all, in fact. At least not in the first three books. Always admirable when it's vampire stories we're talking about.

On that subject (Meyer's stories, not sex), I am going to see the film adaptation of Twilight with Movie Night tomorrow. Thursday the Nordic dealer board is visiting for the day, and we'll go out for dinner in the evening. Friday I might go to my first Synapsi, if my four o'clock head dresser visit doesn't exhaust me completely. And then; weekend :D

Just to make one thing clear; The title of this post is not in reference to anyone I know or don't know, it just happens to be one of my favorite songs and Erasure is on my mind today. Life's good, my friends :)

"Love and hate, what a beautiful combination."
Erasure - Love To Hate You (Chorus, 1991)

Please Forgive Me

I've had a long, long break from David Gray, and kind of forgot how good he makes me feel. I'm not really supposed to listen to his records, as I'm still supposed to be working on my A's (am now on Richard Ashcroft), but what can I say? I've got half a mind to scream out loud, I've got half a mind to die!

In October I broke 1 year and 7 months of not smoking and returned to that stupid, filthy and disgusting habit. Another NYE and I am again smoke-free, without any hesitation around whether or not it will last, and I can not believe that I fell for the charm of it after such a long break.

My Christmas holiday was good, although very full of family and in that manner a bit much for my solitary cavewoman self. Working in Norway the days between Christmas and NYE was an excellent choice, as it was rather quiet and un-stressful, and NYE itself was an unusual celebration of friendship with people that know and love each other. It's not always flowers and sunshine when I visit Norway, but that was a night to remember.

Over Christmas I learnt that a friend of mine had been left by his wife. Things get fucked up every once in a while, and I usually don't dwell on them, but in this case it struck something in me. I do not at all know the wife in question, but this friend of mine is one of the few truly excellent men I've met. It always comes as a surprise to me when people I look up to encounter difficulties. I know they are human and not immune to trouble, but still. If they get run over, then how the hell am I supposed to be able to protect my heart? There's no way.



2009 will have to be a good year. 2008 was good, but involved some mistakes that I know to avoid this time around. Here's to not making them twice :)

"Please forgive me if I act a little strange,
for I know not what I do.
Feels like lightning running through my veins
every time I look at you."
David Gray - Please Forgive Me (White Ladder, 1999)