this girl has been ...

poorly, sickly, ill, and therefore at home and mostly in bed since monday afternoon. and no, it hasn't been fun. and the heat outside did not actually help. blah.

so nothing much is new, except that i finished a poem the other day - the first since late september. i am not sure i am happy with it yet, but it is a first tiny little step in the right direction. at the moment, i feel too weak and tired to celebrate this, but i will make up for that. :)

i have completed most of the boooooring translation (if you ever want to know anything about supplier management software, this is who you should turn to!) with the mid-july deadline, hooray!

a few days ago, i tidied up my flickr site - the sets are now neatly arranged in collections. the most recent one is the euro2008 collection, and the vienna collection has been updated.

and it appears i have been hispanified. which means that i am picking up spanish here and there, and that i seem to have gotten over my dislike for the language, and that - who would've thought? - i want to know more. according to one of my "teachers", i don't quite deserve una estrella dorada yet, but at least i am worthy of a tiny little little purple star. (gracias, valerio. not!)

pic of the day:


taken from my living-room window last week


song of the day: quedate luna by devendra banhart.

the problem with self-crucifixion ...

... is: how do you get the last nail in?

sure, you could always get the romans to do it.
but where are they when you need them? and roman booking agencies are few and far between in this day and age.

john s., dominik n. & michi will no doubt present solutions soon (the heat'll help), at a forum near you.


song of the day: ochrasy by mando diao.

like ice in the sun ...

... i melt away. yes. it is still hot. yesterday, temperatures went up to 39.5C (103.1F) in one place in eastern austria, the second highest temperature on record (the highest being 39.7C or 103.5F, 1983 in a village near my hometown). it got muggy, too, which really did not agree with me at all.

* * * * *
yesterday evening i went to see this


at augarten park where they have "kino unter sternen" ("cinema under the stars") every year, showing classics, avantgarde, and new films for nearly seven weeks each year, against the backdrop of one of the park's flak (anti-aircraft) towers.


always a wonderful film to watch.
speaking of watching - one of my favourite quotes from casablanca:

Mr. Leuchtag: Liebchen - sweetnessheart, what watch?
Mrs. Leuchtag: Ten watch.
Mr. Leuchtag: Such much?

* * * * *
the new harry potter book was delivered this morning - even though it is saturday, and there is no regular mail on saturdays here. soooo ... i guess i will be spending some time reading this weekend. and no matter what one thinks of the novel / the series, i think it is a good thing to see that people can still go crazy over and be passionate about a book.

* * * * *
i am on day 7 of my 10:10. here's today's:

loose fists
drip ice water
until skin turns, aching,
to braille, until the night itself
shivers

* * * * *
this is not a good day to dye one's hair.
*she says, dripping henna*

song of the day: ice in the sun by status quo.

hot! hot! hot!

we're melting here in vienna - 38C (100.4F) today, and no end to the heatwave in sight. unfortunately i will have to venture outside tomorrow, as i am teaching one english summer conversation class at 9. if anyone is actually in the mood for education in this weather. *s*

i am keeping myself alive by drinking 5 litres per day and thinking of this:



my computer classes finished yesterday, and i have a month off now, yay!

the muse has very successfully tricked me into writing, and before i knew what was happening, i ended up clicking on "new topic" at the 10:10 forum, and i'm on day 3 today, already working on tomorrow's poem, with ideas for a couple more. it still feels like a struggle, like i am a little rusty, but at least i am writing.

i finished jasper fforde's latest thursday next adventure, first among sequels, on the weekend, and am now reading the first ever discworld novel (terry pratchett) - the color of magic, as well as poetry by kristy bowen and steve mueske.


song of the day: meltdown by slobberbone.

heat wave

thirsty mouths
crave watermelon slices
pink as lips


song of the day: hot in the city by billy idol.