I'm Back!

I told you I'd come back to see you once university was over, and... indeed, here I am, and there it is. It's a little weird to think of myself as a Criminology graduate now, but hey, if I take it one step at a time, I'm pretty sure I'll get there eventually.

Meanwhile, I'll leave you with a image-HEAVY post of the months we spent apart.


We begin with this stag beetle, found dead under a tree. I didn't really know the proper way to pin it, but I knew I wanted to show off the wing, so I improvised.


Back then I was still locked inside, studying for my final exams.


My mother grew up in France, so while she does have a huge collection of (now vintage) records... they're all french singers. Ah well!


New jars I got for a few cents each, and my little box of baby teeth on top.


I don't think you've been formally introduced to my tiny little bird skeleton? First attempt at cleaning bones last summer... it could have gone better, but I was really proud of myself back then.



And finally, first attempts at butterfly lockets. The second one, I've been using pretty much non-stop. I love it.



Then the supermoon happened.


Bo was a really photogenic dog, as usual...



...and we took him, along with Crude, for the first serious walk of the season. The puppy couldn't quite contain his enthusiasm. (remember him at six weeks? look how much he's grown!)


Crude also enjoys long swims in the creek that separates our property from the neighbour's. He comes out filthy every single time, but really, so do we when we walk in there.


With Bo, in the midst of cleaning the aforementioned creek. This dog doesn't really get along with summer, so he spends most of his time standing in the water, very still, just cooling down. I've done that too, it's really effective.



Random sunset shots.


Random shot of a vertebra my sister and I found, I think, as we were picking strawberries. It looked pretty clean, but still I decided to macerate it in a jar... the water turned light pink after a few days, and it's currently dark orange.


Also, there was this tiny tiny grasshopper, and while I was struggling to get the focus right, it turned right towards me. It was the cutest.


My grandfather rescued a couple of baby doves, and we had them in the apartment for the first few days, back when they still couldn't eat on their own. Right now, they're fully grown, and have their own little (right, little... I'll show you one of these days) home in the country house.


I'm not too fond of ice cream (this one was actually my dad's), but I had to snap it just for the looks of it.


This photo chronicles the beginning of the slow, slow decline of my camera's auto-focus feature. I don't wear my glasses at the beach (so, you know, I can't actually SEE what I'm shooting) and it's not like I can use manual focus and the screen either (glare, loads of it)... so without auto-focus, yeah, no beach pictures for me.


But fear not, because we found an antique fair right by the boardwalk, with plenty of secondhand books to keep me entertained.


No, really, my auto-focus is dead.


Though this one kind of got away.


The end of August took me right back to my university town, to pack up and say goodbye (more like see you later) to the sights and sounds of these past four years.


I discovered a type of ice cream I actually did love.


Aaaaaaand I shot the last sunset from my university apartment. We returned the key a few days ago, so I guess those walls will be seeing a new tennant very soon. I hope they enjoy the place as much as I did.

So what about you, readers, friends, family, etc? How was your summer, and what are your plans for fall?
xx

Please Hold While I Graduate

Ah well. I guess I should have seen it coming? So instead of performing a disappearing act on you all, I decided to drop by and tell you, right here right now, that next time I talk to you, it’s going to be as a Criminology graduate. (you can still ilegally download music in my presence, it's okay) This four-year journey is coming to an end, and to be completely honest, I can’t wait to put it behind me. Expect a post, somewhere around July, about all the amazing things university taught me. I never stop learning – just this past week, I learnt that one should never, ever, leave the nail polish remover near the facial tonic, under risk of mixing up the two and attempting to apply the first where the second should go. Of course this did not actually happen. Of course not. And then today I learnt that one should never, ever, leave the nail polish remover near the alcohol, under risk of mixing up the two and attempting to disinfect a scratch with... that’s right. Fortunately, I caught the mistake on time. I guess the cautionary tale is, leave the nail polish remover where it belongs. Next to the killing jars and the shadow boxes and the butterfly specimens. Though I’ve heard some people use it to, go figure, remove nail polish.

Anyway.

I guess this proves that there is no graceful way to graduate. There really isn’t. My desk is littered with trash right now – from candy wrappers to water bottles to a now-empty box of chocolate. My asthma has been kicking my ass, getting me to wake up at dawn, barely able to breathe. My shoulder has been acting up from too much time on the computer. I’ve been wearing nothing but pajamas, or, alternatively, black tights and my big university hoodie. I rotate between dubstep and folk music to stay awake (and entertained!) as I work on my papers. And sometimes I get up to stretch and pretend I'm a ballerina. Like I said - no gracefulness for the wicked seniors.

So I guess in the meantime, feel free not to watch this space. I’ll leave you with a picture I took of a strange, unknown creature (Google tells me it's a Dusky Moorhen) on my Lisbon daytrip. It popped our of nowhere as I was observing a little dead duckling, and proceeded to mourn (read also: poke at) it.

Cautionary tale: nature is weird.
xx

Fancy Film Friday #4: Valerie And Her Week Of Wonders

Valerie A Týden Divu, 1970 (Czechoslovakia)
Inspired by fairy-tales, a surreal story in which love, fear, sex and religion merge into one fantastic world.

Here's a secret. I don't understand this movie. I understand the idea behind it, and the archetypes played by each character, but I can't follow the story and halfway I just get so distracted by Helena Anýzová (that would be the lady in black with the asymmetric hairdo and the neck brooch) and her frankly stunning face that I don't even know what's supposed to be happening.

But that's okay. This is still a very pretty movie, and a very nice way to spend a couple of hours. IMDB says it's referenced in The Company Of Wolves (1984), another very pretty movie, inspired by the writings of Angela Carter no less (though inspired may not be correct, since Carter got to write the actual script...), and I know the first time I read that I felt really outraged because how dare anyone say that movie was inspired by anything other than Angela Carter's own genius... but then, turns out, Carter watched this movie, was apparently "impressed with it", and "admitted Valerie heavily influenced her own script". Isn't it wonderful how these things connect to each other? I think it is.

Meanwhile, this movie is also relevant because it managed to get me interested in Czechoslovak cinema. This happened last year, and I regret to announce I still haven't watched that many movies... but I'm working on it, with a never-ending list of titles to watch in the summer.

As of now, I think it's safe to recommend The Cremator (1969), Morgiana (1972), and Daisies (1966).

That's in order of magnificence, by the way.
xx