…here’s to growing old together! :)
Author: ana
about me
our (almost impromptu) visit to barcelona in february coincided with the la laia festivities, in honour of the city’s 13 year old patron. as the tragic story goes, in the fourth century, young eulalia refused to renounce her christianity, rebeling against the rule of emperor diocletian… which ended up getting her imprisoned, gruesomely tortured and killed. pretty depressing stuff… but she’s remembered as a martyr child who fought for her convictions until the end.
i love discovering the traditions and costumes of the places we visit, so we had to ask… how do they celebrate a young martyr? turns out, the answer is with dances, giants… and dances with giants!
people started gathering in a square one afternoon, chatting, grouping, putting their stuff on the floor… then suddenly, the band started playing and everyone around us was giving hands dancing sardanas! the footwork seemed rather tricky, with sudden twists and jumps but everyone seemed to be in on the secret steps!
after that, the giant laias and other characters walked the streets of the old town, eventually joining the dancers in the square for a little dance too while nearby, some volunteers distributed hot chocolate and buns for the children!
giants dancing, you say? yup! pretty awesome in my book!
one month ago, we saw this great ted talk by cesar kuriyama. every day, he recorded one second of his life, and after a while, edited all the seconds on a video montage. it’s a simple thing… and yet, the result is such a captivating mashup of glimpses into someone’s life, that we immediately decided to download the 1 second everyday app and give it a go.
so… one month later, this is how the past month looked like in our lives:
somedays we almost forgot about it until the last minute and ended up recording something dull (or food), so the result isn’t a showpiece… and still, like magic, every brief second brings to mind a very specific moment, which in turn allows us to instantly remember the whole day!
having a visual reminder of every single day i ever lived is pretty awesome. i think i want do this for the rest of our lives! :D
Categories
truly happy
MARTIN: But does it make you happy, truly happy?
DOUGLAS: Oh well come on, no one’s truly happy.
ARTHUR: I’m truly happy!
MARTIN: Oh God.
DOUGLAS: No, Arthur, you are cheery. No one’s interested in the secret of true cheeriness.
ARTHUR: But that’s not true. I’m fairly often just completely happy. Like, for instance, when you get into a bath quickly and it’s just the right temperature, and you go “ooooh”. I mean really no one gets any happier than that.
MARTIN: What a depressing thought.
ARTHUR: No, no, it’s not though, because those sort of things happen all the time, whereas you’re hardly ever, you know, blissfully happy with the love of your life in the moonlight, and when you are, you’re too busy worrying about it being over soon, whereas the bath moments, there’s loads of those! Oh, like when you realise your knuckles are ready for cracking.
listening to cabin pressure makes me (truly) happy! :D
Categories
2 years in berlin
we moved to berlin on april’s first, two years ago. some days, i find it hard to believe we’ve been living here for two years already – yet others, it feels like we’ve been here for a lifetime longer… and still, we barely know berlin at all.
we’re sticking around for a while longer because frankly, it feels comfortable and safe here. things work. for all their bluntness, the germans are strictly predictable and law-abiding, and although it comes at a price, it’s also a reassuring feeling.
besides, there’s so much left to see… so, prost! and here’s to another year of adventures in germany :)