Saturday, August 31, 2013

It's that time again... August Snapshot

A quick look back on a very active August! Appropriate, since that’s my word for the year. I'm linking up with Leigh's What I'm Into.

What I'm Into at HopefulLeigh

Reading: Guidebooks for Russia. I love reading guidebooks. We’ve got three shelves full of them in the living room, of places we’ve been or would like to visit. I love the pictures and illustrated maps in Eyewitness guides, but I love the info in Lonely Planet. Tall Guy’s solution? Buy Lonely Planet and also the Eyewitness Top Ten. More books? Works for me...

I’ve also been catching up on some art reading. ArtNews from June is just full of great articles. I really enjoyed reading about the resurgence of art in Cambodia – the arts were nearly wiped out during Pol Pot’s regime. The reading led me to Seaons of Cambodia, an arts festival in New York, and this article about finding dance again. There was also a timely article on Degas' Little Dancer Aged Fourteen, since I recently read Cathy Marie Buchannan's The Painted Girls.

check it out on IMDB
Watching: Damages. We took a break from this show, but I quite like it. Kind of like a legal version of 24. And we also saw a really great film, Headhunters. It’s an insane Norwegian art-heist thriller, where two kinds of headhunters go head-to-head. Despite the dark nature of the film, there were some hilarious lines.

Drinking: Smoothies and iced coffee. And sangria. Homemade by Tall Guy.

Listening to: SwingRadio. It’s hardly ever the wrong time for Glen Miller, but 30s music just feels like hot weather music to me. I picture outdoor band stands and summer nights, slick hair and polka dot dresses gliding around the dance floor. It’s really too hot to listen to much of anything else, except maybe a bit of Phil Phillips – is it ever the wrong time for good guitar?

Browsing: This lovely retelling of John the Baptist and Elise's new Healing Cuisine site. I'm hungry already.

Doing: I’ve been making... a scrapbook! Yes, you read that right. I made a scrapbook. I thought I’d make one for the wedding, and it morphed into a pretty huge book and a great “paper” first anniversary gift for my husband. My hard work and the fact that he had never seen a scrapbook before really upped the wow factor. He loved it, and I loved having a project. I haven't really made anything in a while.

I’ve also been teaching the dog English. Sit. Down. Fetch. Heel. Monosyllabic commands are just better.

Celebrating: Our first anniversary. And finally, finally getting my residency card.

Thinking about: Back to school prep. If only it were cool enough for a kilt and sweater, maybe I would feel excited about this. Instead I just want to crawl into a hole and hide. Or maybe I will just hide out at the beach.

8 comments:

  1. Little Dancer Aged Fourteen, smoothies, sangria, big band music, a residency card and happy anniversary. All good things.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Once you make your first scrapbook, you'll keep wanting to make more.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Leelee, this is so true. I had a lot of fun and it turned out quite well. I did another one for university, and now I'm planning what to do next!

      Delete
  3. I love reading your What I'm Into posts because they always seem full of exotic- or at least international- things. A trip to Russia sounds amazing! Congrats on your anniversary and on getting your residency card!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the kind words, Leigh! I'll be posting more about Russia soon, it was so interesting. Something I love about living in Europe is how close other countries are. :)

      Delete
  4. After reading this, I watched Headhunters last weekend. It felt like a slapstick thriller. Although it is very gory, I laughed a lot. Thanks for the recommendation.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Corrie, glad you liked the movie! I just mentioned it to someone again last weekend. A strange combo of gore and jokes, but it works. :)

      Delete