Book 2: Emma Donoghue: "Room"

Hi All,

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My next book is a book club read.But it's not what I wanted to start with. I just watched "The social network" movie. It's part of my catching up with the last years "unseen movies list". It has been nominated for the Oscars for the best picture. It took me long time to get myself to see it. "Computers?" -I thought, what on earth can you say about it and make it into a movie? Well, how mistaken was I.I watched the piece more from the social point of view.It was about a computer genius,a hacker.OK, you must be exceptionally talented to do this stuff but what kind of life is that? In front of the screen? I'm thinking about the Matrix scene:remember the white rabbit. Neo was a hacker, he was powerful, but he lived in a hole-nothing fabulous or interesting (from my point of view,to be clear )about it. He lived in numbers. Is it that some people are destined to crack THE CODE? By saying CODE I mean the way the world works, are we just numbers? I once saw a movie that said: when you crack THE CODE the two worlds become one.Ours and of the other side. Probably... I don't know about the Oscars though: I didn't see all the nominated movies: just The kids are all right and the Inception and including Social network it's 3 out of ten. I will say more when I see them all.

Yesterday I went to the book club. It's always so nice to meet up and talk about the same book. About what you liked and what shocked you. We talked about "The slap", the book that takes place in Australia. As I read, I was really interested in the way of living there.Once, we thought about moving there for a while.Now, I'm glad we didn't. Bottom line:Europe is Europe and I love Ireland so much that I would cry like crazy if moving out of here. No way Jose.
Well, going back to the book...I was quite shocked when I started to read the first few pages. From the first glance it seemed that the book is about a childhood (that's actually the truth, because the main character is a 5 year old boy, and the story is told from his perspective) but it's a very particular childhood. The mother of the child has been held captive for the number of years by an evil man. She has his child during that time. Both mother and a baby are kept in a confined space, the child doesn't know that there is a world outside the telly...I just started but I can imagine that the book will be unputdownable.
Good night for now my Friends. Now I have to go to bed and have some sleep. Tomorrow is another adventure with Nataniel. Today he started to do yoga exercises and he wants us to repeat after him. He learned that from The Waybuloo:) and his Polish"Chodz!" became Englishw "Come on!"now.

January bliss

Books I've read since the last update:

Book Nine: Andrew M.Greeley "Irish gold"...a book I've read in Wroclaw, borrowed from my father...he reads everything on Ireland...well, me too:). It's about an American who comes to Dublin to discover a secret behind his grandparent's escape to the States from Cork in 1920's. Nice read and a couple of interesting things I learned about history and Dublin.

Book Ten:Cecelia Ahern: "The book of Tomorrow"...another warm and magical book about family relations.

Book Eleven: Muriel Barbery: "The Elegance of The Hedgehog"...the most elegant and subtle expressions on art and the meaning of life.Is life without higher,pristine moments of rituals, music, literature just the sequence of getting out of bed, washing the dishes, doing the daily rutine?...Without art... are we different from the primates?

Book Twelve: Christos Tsiolkas: "The slap"...living in Australia from the Greek expat's point of view. Very interesting insight into the world of a Greek family.

In 2011 I'm reading everything on Sicily. We greeted the New Year with the first part of The Godfather so it sounded tempting to buy tickets to Trapani for two weeks in May and June. I'm so excited about this trip that I already read 2 guides and another one is waiting on my night table.

See you next time.

Hi again!

As you have probably seen I've had a bit of blog free time. I've been a bit busy lately with my son...and cooking.

Two weeks ago I bought Jamie Oliver's "30 minute meals" and I'm reinventing my kitchen now according to Jamie's "must have" list. It's a combination of kitchen gadgets to make life easier. Fortunately I have most of it but I still need a good set of pans, first class knives and other smaller objects. Lately I bought ice cream scoop. This very important piece of kitchen's equipment comes in handy while serving the potatoes or rice. Does it make the dish look good? I seriously don't know. Never tried. But I'm gonna!

Basically due to the time of year I'm back to square one: Christmas preparation. Yes, yes it's already two days after Halloween so IT IS OK TO TALK ABOUT CHRISTMAS AGAIN!
My in laws are coming over. Unfortunately my parents couldn't come. It's very busy time of year for my dad at work and mum ...mum wouldn't let my dad to have a lonely Christmas. One thing is sure for this year. There will be no roast turkey! I can't handle the meat that looks like an animal. I wanted to try last year but it's beyond my abilities to eat it(the same is for chickens and other meats).

Last month it was Nataniel's birthday. He is two already. I baked a cake but this year not only it tasted great but also looked ...OK (I guess some things never change).



We are having so much fun now with Nataniel. He is such a cutie. A month ago we packed his cot and put him in a big bed. It is so funny when we go to check on him and he is sleeping with his back blocking the door ...or at the windowsill (thank God we have the windows child proofed).

Update ...and the glorious rain

First of all I need to update the book list:

so

Book six: Stieg Larsson "The girl who played with fire"
Book seven:Stieg Larsson "The girl who kicked the hornets nest"
Book eight: Joseph O'Neill "Nederland"

Currently I'm reading "Wolf Hall " by Hilary Mantel. Winner of 2009 Man Booker Prize. Story about Thomas Cromwell.


Is it me or is the weather in Ireland actually nicer than in the rest of the world? No heat wave, pleasant 20 degrees, lots of sunshine. Not bad.

The long weekend is approaching and we don't have plans yet...aaaa. It's a pity the The Festival of World Cultures is over. It took place last weekend in Dún Laoghaire. What a fascinating experience to see so much diversity in one place. We tasted the Lebanese and Indian kitchen. Listened to African tribal music, Hindu music.Saw Tibetan monks!!!Truly great time!

"Stevie" the TV

The time has finally come for us to buy a TV. We are no longer the outcast of the society. There will be no more late book sessions in bed...Just kidding! We probably are the only people to buy the old second hand TV. It may by big and heavy but still looks great.

The freshly brewed coffee awaits me. Let me excuse myself so I can continue with "The girl who played with fire". It has stricken me today that it's a bit written as a play....she came to the room, took a bath, put on a robe and ate a ham sandwich...nevertheless I enjoy that.

Back home

It's a couple of days that we are back from France. Nataniel is rediscovering his toys and I'm enjoying the beautiful Irish weather.

France was great. Perfect family spot in a middle of nowhere...a nice break from the city lights. The village we were in is called Pen Ar Creach just outside Plonevez Porzay. The village consisted of two houses:our gite and the owners house:).



The only noise we heard was from flies (they are not so annoying in Ireland) and the owner's kleptomaniac dog. Seriously, we are not used to animals at all.Even my new plant collection is on it's last feet.

Upon the arrival I checked the Breton grass. It wasn't too green so I thought that it doesn't rain as much as in Ireland. How mistaken was I? There wasn't maybe the Mediterranean weather but nevertheless we enjoyed our stay the lot as the temperature remained over 20 degrees. The rain was different though it contained more water and the wind wasn't bothering us too much.

The people we met were so nice. Well, maybe apart one arrogant French bard from Locronan who didn't know where Poland is and said that Romania and Hungary are our neighbours.

The amazing thing about the place we have been to is that everything looks so ...French...tiny, detailed...even small deli shops in 2 street village were decorated up to the highest standards.



I loved the farmer's markets. We had one in Plonevez Porzay on Sunday morning. Fruits, crepes, olives, local cuisine were a joy to look at...and cheap to buy.
There was one lady from Malaysia selling food. When we said that we don't speak French she started to sing the United States national anthem as it was the only thing she knew in English. How nice was that?



We visited so many beautiful spots like Locronan, Crozon Peninsula, Douarnenez, Quimper, Concarneau, Landevennec.



As we tend not to visit the same spots twice, next time we will probably go to the northern part of Brittany or southern part of France as I want to see St. Tropez where they filmed "the Gendarme" with Louis de Funes.

I like the Breton lazy way of living( although it was a bit annoying when shops were closed most of the day). From day one I wanted to move there but all in all I wouldn't change Ireland for the world. This is the best place in the whole Universe.

France

So I'm going on holidays !!! In just 2 days we will be in Brittany. Can someone please tell me why the region we are going to is called "little Ireland" ?:).

I'm taking with me the next Stieg Larssen's book "A girl who played with fire" so should be fun. Actually my friend warned me not to take this one as it's so captivating I wouldn't do any sightseeing:).

Now I'm off to pack. We have one bag for three of us so it will be 98% Nataniel's stuff and a pair of socks to share for us.