My top ten quotations by EMILY Dickinson

The brain is wider than the sky.

I dwell in possibility...

I'm nobody, who are you?

Forever is composed of nows.

A word is dead when it's been said, some say. I say it just begins to live that day.

Bring me the sunset in a cup.

Love is anterior to life, posterior to death, initial of creation, and the exponent of breath.

Poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but an escape from emotion; it is not an expression of personality but an escape from personality. But, of course, only those who have personality and emotion know what it means to escape from these.

Tell the truth, but tell it slant.

Much Madness is divinest Sense

Awwwww!

For Christmas in 2011 I got a baby rabbit which I named Molly after Molly Bolt from Rubyfruit Jungle. My sister ended up getting Molly’s sister who doesn’t look anything like her. Turns out they are brother & sister or not related at all. Anyhow, we have eight rabbits now. 

Things I would buy if I had the money

1. The Marc by Marc Jacobs Hillier Hobo snake-effect PVC shoulder bag
2. The Lobster Necklace by Tatty Devine
3. The Gingerbread Heart Necklace by Tatty Devine
4. The Gilbert & George Gin Necklace by Tatty Devine
5. Daria leather and PVC slingbacks by Sophia Webster
6. A Star Necklace by Jennifer Meyer (it reminds me of Sam's necklace in Perks of Being a Wallflower)
7. A heart-shaped bag by Vivienne Westwood
8. The blue pannier cotten dress by Vivienne Westwood
9. The Alfred Hitchcock Collection (Blue-Ray) (Limited Edition)

Quotation of the Day

“No government has the right to tell its citizens when or whom to love. The only queer people are those who don't love anybody.” 

Rita Mae Brown 

My Reading List for 2013

1. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
2. The Boy with the Cuckoo-Clock Heart by Mathias Malzieu
3. League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore
4. Hark! A Vagrant by Kate Beaton
5. White Teeth by Zadie Smith
6. The Old Man and The Sea by Ernest Hemingway
7. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
8. A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin
9. The Color Purpel by Alice Walker
10. Orlando by Virginia Woolf
11. The Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler
12. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
13. Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
14. Stephen Fry in America by Stephen Fry
15. The Bell Jarr by Sylvia Plath
16. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
17. Tree of Codes by Jonathan Safran Foer
18. The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
19. Scott Pilgrim by Brain Lee O'Malley
20. A Million Suns by Beth Revis
21. Sweet Thursday by John Steinbeck
22. Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
23. Player One by Douglas Coupland
24. Generation X by Douglas Coupland
25. On the Road by Jack Kerouac

Ten Great Places I Have Been Too & Ten Great Places I Want to See Before I Die

1. London
2. Paris
3. Istanbul
4. Venice
5. Barcelona
6. Berlin
7. Prague
8. Denmark
9. Madrid
10. Dublin

1. New York
2. Vancouver
3. Vienna
4. Amsterdam (ever since reading The Fault in Our Stars by John Green)
5. Nepal
6. India
7. Lofoten Islands
8. Las Vegas
9. Koh Phi Phi
10. Fiordland National Park

Ten Movies to Watch on a Lazy Sunday

1. Breakfast at Tiffany's
2. Pretty in Pink
3. Bridget Jones's Diary
4. Pride and Prejudice (the one with Colin Firth)
5. La Boum
6. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
7. Happy-Go-Lucky
8. Pretty Woman
9. Dirty Dancing

FriDay tUnES

Au Port by Camille

Prescilla by Bat for Lashes 

Seashells by Natalie Squance

In Your Appletree by Natalie Squance

Jack by Natalie Squance

Time Machine by Robyn

Dancing On My Own by Robyn 

All the Sun that Shines by Peaking Lights

Finest Hour by Submotion Orchestra

I'm Gonna Get You by Nina Kraviz

After Laughter by Wendy Rene

Save Yourself by Hiatus

Golden Bay by Coreur De Pirate

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes by The Platter

London On a Budget

Cheap vacations/trips are somewhat of a speciality of mine, when I went to Paris in December I paid 82 Euros for transfer and hotel and I am currently planning to go to Vienna or Amsterdam in February or March. However the last time I went anywhere was to London. It was my third time there and despite the fact that I & a friend went over New Years, it was my cheapest time ever. We got there on Dec 30^th and left on the third of January. We paid 70 Euro for our flight and roughly 50 for 3 nights of accommodation. Additionally I spent 200 Euro in London (about 35 for a name necklace by Tatty Devine and about 13 for a DVD & I guess roughly 40 for day card on the London tube/underground. Adding it all up, I spend about 112 Euros for food and my own amusement.  

Flight

If you’re not from Europe then that will be pricy and would definitively blow my budget. If you are you are pretty lucky and will find a cheap flight with Ryanair, AirBerlin or EasyJet. You should book ahead though. A friend of mine went to London over New Years as well, she booked in January 2012 and paid 270 for a one week stay in a private room in a hostel and the flight. We booked in late October and weren’t so lucky, we ended up in mixed dorms but I will come to that later. Also you should be spontaneous and not mind great discomfort, we spend the last night on the airport and I thought it would be a complete nightmare but it actually was okay. There were lots of people our age and all of them were sleeping on the floor just like us and there was security so I felt pretty save as well (the airport is London Stansted which reminds me that we had to take the bus from Stansted to Liverpool Street which costs you about 11 pounds I think but we paid at Bremen airport, which is where we started so I haven’t counted it as part of my expenses. In general Stansted is way cheaper than Heathrow but if you have a long distance flight I guess there is no way around it)

Accommodation

We had 2 different hostels one with a mixed dorm for 18 people and another one with a mixed dorm for 24.

The first hostel was The Greenman Bestplace Inn, in Paddington. We shared our room with 16 other people, most of them Americans actually. Everybody was really nice and the rooms where clean. The staff is very friendly and you get a coupon for a half-priced drink since the hostel happens to be above a pub. This is really cool especially if you haven’t been to London and don’t know where to go, you will get to talk to some of the other guests (not just from your room) and somebody will always be able to recommend something.

The other Hostel was really close to Hyde Park, sadly I forgot the name. It was twice as expensive as the Greenman tho and not as clean. Plus they did not have free Wi-Fi which is rubbish as you can get it at any decent hostel nowadays. The bathroom was a complete disaster and the rooms weren’t to clean either (but it was okay, you get what you pay for and we got extremely lucky with the Greenman). Just like in the Greenman there where mainly young people (with one exception he was a creep tho, sleeping underneath me, and when I woke up he was starring straight at me, sort of touching my bed).

Food

I guess if you want it cheap, got to Tesco its less expensive than most others and they are all over the place and easy to find. Pub food is great too and not too pricy and McDonalds can be found everywhere just like Nandos (who are a bit more expensive but so good). So I guess if you really try, eating on a budget is no problem.

Drinks

Since you are in England you probably want to drink a pint which come in at 4 pounds (roughly) so drinking can be pretty expensive. I got lucky on New Years tho. We went to see the Fireworks at 6 a clock and got a really good place (in front of the London Eye). They started playing music at some point I didn’t recognize a single song at first, and I didn’t like a single song. But they got pretty mainstream at the end which was fine because at that point I was slightly drunk. We met two English girls and they had everything Jack Daniels, tequila, vodka and beer and they were really happy to share (also they were really drunk).

 

Fun

Well, we went to the New Years Day Parade which had a surprising number of American Marching Bands and Cheerleading Squads. But there are other things to do which are free as well:

1)      Go to a Museum, lots of them are free in London

2)      Go to a Park (Hyde Park or any other)

3)      You can have a look around London’s many free Markets (my favourite is Camden Market but Portobello, Spitafields and Greenwhich Market are great too

4)      Go visit Covent Garden and make sure that you visit Tatty Devine who are located in Monmouth Street (they have another shop in Brick Lane)

5)      The Changing of the Guard is free too of course

6)      Also you can look at most of the sights from outside (Big Ben, Westminster Abbey)

How to pretend that you have read the book

I study Literature and sometimes the amount of books/papers that we have to read seems overwhelming and nobody reads all the assignments right?

1. If your finances allow it buy the book anyway (I sometimes don’t) or borrow it
2. If you happen to be in possession of the book take it to class with you
3. Also you might wanna underline some passages or sit on your book for a bit in order to make it look used
4. Read an online summary/ interpretation and try to memorize at least some key facts
5. Look for quotations/ or certain passages that seem relevant  online and write them down, this way you will look prepared (If you don’t own the book this is essential since it is likely that you teacher will try to test you if this occurs you should try to shut him down with all your online- knowledge)
6. Read about ten pages to get a feeling for the book
7. Always look your teacher straight in the eyes
8. Nod when your teacher is talking (not all the time tho)
9. Try to participate (if you are lucky your teacher will start by asking whether you liked the book. This should be an easy one in case you have read a review/ summary plus teachers tend to memorize the students that participate in the beginning of the lessons more strongly)

10)  Be cool, put on your best pokerface and just stay calm

Paris, je t'aime

Paris-track-list

About a month ago me & my sister went to Paris, this is our paris-track-list:

Quelqu'un ma dit by Carla Bruni

Raphael by Carla Bruni

Printemps by Coeur de Pirate

Place de la Republique by Coeur de Pirate

Dance with me by Nouvelle Vague

Dancing with Myself by Nouvelle Vague

Don't you forget about me by Nouvelle Vague

Crave you by Flight Facilities

 Joe le Taxi by Vanessa Paradis

Top 10 Books of 2012

1. Harry Potter 1-7 by J. K. Rowling
I tend to  re-read Harry Potter about once every year or so and no matter how much time passes by it will always be my favourite

2. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
My main reason for reading The Perks of Being a Wallflower again is of course the movi which came out this year. I love them both, the movie and the book (& the soundtrack). 

3. Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown
Another one of my all time favourites and the last re-read on this list.

4.The Fault in our Stars by John Green
The first John Green novel I have ever read. It was so good that I got all the other books by John Green.

5. The Complete MAUS by Art Spiegelman
The best graphic novel I have ever read and a new & unique take on WW2.

6. A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
I had to read this for a class and am currently struggeling with a term paper about it. The book is still good tho.

7. Looking for Alaska by John Green
The second book by John Green I ever read and also my second favourite.

8. The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
Ever since watching Melancholia I have a new found respect for Kirsten Dunst which made me watch both Bring it on and The Virgin Suicides. And while the first one impressed me a lot; the second one made me buy the book which was really great.

9. Alle sieben Wellen by Daniel Glattauer
I actually wrote a review about Love Virtually which is the the prequel to Alle Sieben Wellen. It is also the first post I have ever written.

10. Never Let Me Go Kazuo Ishiguro
I got this for Christmas and I love it. I read it in 2 days.

Term-Paper-Writing-Track-List

Asleep by The Smith

Closer by Tegan & Sara

The Con by Tegan & Sara

Not Tonight by Tegan & Sara

Ride by Lana del Rey

Never Let Me Go by Lana del Rey

Dog Days Are Over by Florence and the Machine

Spectrum by Florence and the Machine

Little Bit by Lykke Li

Tonight by Lykke Li

Until We Bleed by Lykke Li

Don't Say Oh Well by Grouplove

Love Virtually

"Write to me Emmi. Writing is like kissing, but without lips. Writing is kissing with the mind"

Love Virtually is the translated version of Daniel Glattauer's book "Gut gegen Nordwind" which was published in 2008. It became immensely successful and a sequel "Alle sieben Wellen" hit the market in 2011. The book itself is one of my dear favourites and deals with Emmi Rothner & Leo Leike who meet (my pun-gun is full of ammunition today) virtually. She wants to cancel a subscription and accidently & repeatedly sepnds e-mails to him. Leo & Emmi are both unhappy with there lives. He is pining for a certain Marlene and she caught in a marriage with an older man who brought 2 children (one of them a teeange girl) into the relationship. Emmi & Leo soon develop a flirtatious friendship and write to each other regularly. However, things get intense and tangeld when both of them fall for each other.

"I'm not looking for adventure with you. I just want to see who you are. Just once I want to look my email buddy in the eye. If that's what you call cheating, then I admit that I might just be a cheat" 

The book is a real page-turner and superbly intense. It was, some people might have guessed translated from German and that is the only problem I can find with "Love Virtually". 

I have read the book in German a while ago and was really pleased to find out that it had been translated into English and therefore is now available to a much bigger audience. I was disapointed tho once I saw the the actual book. The "German cover" looks much nicer and the title "Love Virtually" makes the book sound cheesy and silly. So for the sequel why not just translate the title?