maaliskuuta 08, 2007

Spring...sleep

Spring is now definitely making its first move towards this direction. They've promised degrees above zero for the next few days, which pleases me greatly. An occasion for a bit of a spring-dance, me almost thinks. Except that I don't really dance.

I am tired again. It's not even eight o'clock and I'm already tired. Yesterday I fell asleep on the couch around this time, struggling through a German book about early modern procedural law, which was just a touch too much for my language skills. But I have to practice if I am going to manage in Frankfurt later this year. That's my excuse for hanging on the German forums. Just learning the language...

I went to see "The Painted Veil" today with the girls. I rather liked it: a somewhat modernised version of W. Somerset Maugham's book by the same name. Extremely beautiful scenery, good acting (Edward Norton, Naomi Watts, Liev Schreiber) and an enjoyable plot. I haven't actually read the book, but I did some googling just now. After the literature class it is really easier to notice how tied to their time and context books are. The story in the movie is apparently pretty much the same as in the book, but the morality is that of the 21st century. As it has to be to speak to the people of this time and age. It's only when reading old books that one notices how different values people really had before.

Bugger. Too tireeeeeeeeeed. Can't form a sensible thought anymore. Maybe I'll watch some TV and put the last brain cells to sleep.

maaliskuuta 06, 2007

Winter vs Spring

Yuck! I baked muffins and now I'm as stuffed as an owl in a bio class. Why does one always have to eat too much of the sweet stuff?

I stayed home today to finish the seminar paper. Ended up being a bit of c&p job from my disseration, but I did manage to write something too. And I have to say it was much more fun than I thought it would be. Just as easy and fast to write as the poetry paper. I think that is due to the fact that I've finally gotten around to reading and analysing the actual cases from the 18th century and therefore I actually have something new to say. Yup, yup, yup... Research at its best is a fun thing to do.

After finishing the paper I went out for a walk. At a right and proper time too. The sun was shining - mostly - the birds were singing and it almost felt like spring. It was a couple of degrees above zero and here and there you could actually see that the snow was trying to melt. Unfortunaly after a couple of hours it was again snowing - or perhaps sleeting - so it wasn't much of a spring. But the hope of a spring is already there and that is already enough to make one feel a little joyous.

I have mentioned that I am not a winter person, haven't I? Although this winter I have - for the first time in probably about fifteen years - gone to skiing. Altogether three times. Thanks to my sister. Yep, I actually bought a pair of skis and have practiced outdoor winter sports. Who would have thought of that.

maaliskuuta 04, 2007

Computers and writing

Well, well, well...now it's really been a while, since I've last been here. But - thanks to the lovely comment of S - I'm once more sitting in front of this familiar screen clicking the buttons. (Thank you muchly, brought a smile to my face! :D) But alas, I am also sitting in front of my desk and not on my lovely couch, the common abode for my scribbling activities. This is due to the sad fact that the new computer - which I purchased just before that merry event called x'mas - decided before it had quite turned a month old that it did not like to function.

Since I am as lazy as ever and apparently destined to remain so, the computer has sat on my couch at work now for quite a few days, weeks and soon months waiting to go and see a nice computer doctor. The old computer still works - thereby not hastening my need to take the new one to the aforementioned nice computer doctor - but since it is already old and cranky, it needs to be held steadily on an object such as an table and not precariously on one's lap. Otherwise it will soon claim that it is not getting enough power and will end up deader than a spitting spider in a cow's stomach. Not a happy condition for blogging or any other sort of computer-related writing activities.

And writing is what I've been doing and what I should do. Writing at work is at the moment going quite well (that pesky dissertation you may remember). I've also managed to produce the first poetry analysis for the literature class I've been taking with my sister, and yesterday I finally took the Classics test. Now I've analysed heroism in Kalevala and the man's dualistic nature in Kallas and feel, ah, so wise. Bothersomely I also feel troubled by the annoying fact that I had much more fun writing the freaking poetry essay than I have contemplating writing the paper for the doctoral seminar, which should have been done by Wednesday... Which I was supposed to be writing today... And did I? As if!

I have been writing this weekend, but just not anything I should. I started a new story yesterday, but couldn't bring myself to continue it today. So I dug up an old barely started story, which goes by the name of "Hell hath no wrath like a woman scorned". Isn't that original? I started that one already a couple of months ago, feeling pissed at a certain otherwise lovely male person in the wonderful world of forums, who chose to call me boring. In retrospect he may have had some reason, but at the time I needed to vent my feelings and so a charming little revenge fantasy was born. Or a beginning of one. It only has ten pages so far, but maybe this baby will have the chance to mature.

I think I will post yesterday's scribblings in "Pieniä ajatuksia elämästä ja kuolemasta". In Finnish, I'm afraid, that one.