Categories
general weeknotes

weeknotes, 12/23

— finally heading to taiwaaaaaaaan! ?? i’m writing these words on a delayed train to lisbon… i hope we’ll make it to our flight in time. fingers crossed!

– the week before something big and exciting is always a drag, but this week has been so full with errands and family and work that i feel like it has passed in the blink of an eye. i don’t know where time went. we’ve spent a lot of it with our families, eating, chatting, playing boardgames, visiting sick people… i’m grateful for all these moments.

– incidentally, i’ve been sleeping rather badly lately… so on the upside, lots of reading is happening in the middle of the night. i’ve finished “encyclopedia of an ordinary life” by amy krouse rosenthal (where this quote comes from) and it was a lovely memoir, in an unusual but interesting format. it reads a bit like the book of disquiet, random fragments that float to the top and tell something about a person. i’ve started “green island”, a chunky book that mixes fiction with the history of taiwan, and also loaned “shades of milk and honey”, “mouth to mouth” and “the gentle art of fortune hunting” for the flights. i hope these will be good!

– we had fogaça and regueifa, from bakeries that still wrap their things in beautiful paper! ?

– and in more food news, francesinha with the boy! ah, there’s nothing quite like visiting our favorite francesinha place to catch up on the familiar flavors.

Categories
one second everyday

february 2023 — one second everyday

i’m a bit late with last month’s video, but here we go!

february was a month for reading, planting trees, seeing friends, redoing the garden, spending time in alentejo, learning baby-russian… it was a good month. :)

Categories
just life weeknotes

weeknotes, 11/23

– after all the packing and the cleaning, we arrived at the train station at 6am on wednesday, only to discover the railway workers were on strike and our train wasn’t going to come… so we drove north instead, which feels like a waste of gas and reading time, but it’s not the end of the world.

– we spent time at my parents, whose love language is cooking up a feast every time we’re home. this weekend was the camellia’s fair at their hometown, and the whole place was brimming with people and excitement. children were dressed up with flowers and marched in the main street, tv channels interviewed people… everyone seemed happy.

– the four-book saga of lila and lenu has finally come to an end, and i feel a little empty. i’ve been reading and listening to these books for three months now, following their lives as they unfold like a violent soap opera. the naples of 50 years ago felt like a vicious place, with forces pulling in all directions and conflict taking place in everyone’s doorstep. how small the world was back then (the size of a neighborhood), and how things have changed since, especially for women… i’ll miss these two, and their love-hate relationship.

– as a sidenote, it’s amazing how much i’ve read since i stopped reading fanfiction… which is to be expected, but i’m kind of blown away by it nonetheless. books are still not as satisfying as fanfiction for the most part… but i’m trying to branch out and explore different styles, find my way to the things and authors i like. it’s been fun!

– the new camera is here! it’s unbelievably slim, and unlike most cameras i’ve owned, the film rolls from right to left. i loaded it with a long-expired ilford pan that has been languishing in the fridge for years, and have been snapping away with it. can’t wait to see what comes out!

– this is a little ridiculous, but i’ve become the kind of person who is so sensitive to coffee that having tiramisu for dessert at dinnertime will keep me awake at night. sigh.

– one week until taiwan!!!!!

Categories
analogue wednesdays in italy

analogue wednesday #279

bright autumn days in merano, last year.

Categories
just life weeknotes

weeknotes, 10/23

the boy turned 42, and we celebrated with bolas de berlim!

i sent a couple of forgotten rolls of film to the lab, and the scans came back this week — both not great. failing cameras have been killing my photography mojo for sometime now, so while searching around for a new 35mm point and shoot, i stumbled on the reto ultra wide and slim (a remake of the old vivitar uws). the price was cheap, and the camera looked so thin it could probably fit into any pocket… so i went for it and ordered one. can’t wait to get it and run some rolls through it!

it’s two weeks until leave for taiwan, but we’re going to the north in a few days, so we’re in full packing mode already. in the middle of the frenzy, i got myself my first pair of paez, with a funky print. i really like alpargata-type of shoes for the sunny months.

this week has been all about interviewing people to help me with support at postcrossing. i’d never done this before, and it felt huge and difficult — conducting the interviews, choosing the person (and the prospect of telling others they’re not the chosen ones), mentally preparing to let go of bits of the job… we’re still very much in the beginning of it, but i have some hope that by this time next year, my days will be better.

our part-time cat, checking out the newly finished succulent garden.