A Glass Castle im Rosengarten

Moving

2010-03-09T12:59:00.003+03:00

One has already noticed I completey gave this page up of late.
Partly due to technical problems (low-speed internet and besides the blog is attached to my old email account which does not even exist any more, so I cannot follow any comments and have to log-in/log-out all the time). Besides, I've been doing other things recently and tried to be online not too much!

Now I have normal internet (knocking on the wood ;-)), and I am opening a new page, so technical problems solved. I'll be (probably) filling it with new photos and drawings and rants on Vienna, Sisi and Maya Hakvoort, but I'm not sure how it goes, for I prefer to spend more time offline now :-) More exciting things to do!

The Glass Castle stays as it is to be enjoyed and I thank all the readers for attention.

Sonntagskind

2009-12-25T00:36:00.007+03:00

Elisabeth Amalia Evgenia, Princess of Bavaria, later Empess of Austria and Queen of Hungary was born in Munich 172 years ago. She was an extraordinary woman who was ahead of her time and died as extraordinarily as she lived.
On Christmas Eve 1837 she was only a little princes, a chrismas angel for her family and, given the circumstances of her birth, a child who was expected to have a happy life.

Here are some drawings based on her photos and portraits that I have not come around to posting here yet:

Hidden in the title is my video dedicated to Elisabeth (the waltz is known to anzone here, it is taken from a well-known film (an adaptation of Chechov's short story) which I ironically have not seen, but the waltz is very well known even to me ;-)) I think it passes well to Elisabeth's story too).

Jane treasures!!!

2009-12-23T00:39:00.005+03:00

Three days after Jane's Birthday my Christmas presents for myself arrived safely, from Bath, delivered practically to my bed on a lovely Saturday morning. Now I have the most elegant silver charms in town and the most elegant Emma edition! All complete with a booklet.

And... I even have a stylish plastic bag ;-)

(Link to the JA centre in Bath hidden in the post title).

Käthe Wohlfahrt

2009-12-23T00:14:00.006+03:00

There must be something lovely and uplifting posted here.

To swoon over Christmas decorations, and not only, follow the link.

To swoon over cute Christmass teddies, click here.

Two birds from a Käthe Wohlfahrt store in Rüdesheim am Rhein have been living with me four zears and a half already. No need to say the store was a Christmas dream come true!

True Love

2009-12-14T20:10:00.003+03:00

If I only could go there

Drawings

2009-12-13T22:18:00.004+03:00

Pity I can't give out any Christmas-themed ones here (yet). Those for whom they are might see them too early. So just a little one. Drawing is so relaxing and reassuring!

Better

2009-12-13T20:49:00.011+03:00

Have not posted much of late for recently many things were just too depressive. I am very well, and was well, but I did not feel well for some reasons. We have had the darkest and most Dickensian and depressive November that I can remember. There was no sun for three weeks and autumn grey mists making it still darker in these short days! A groupmate of mine was killed in a car crash about four weeks ago, does one have to die so young? And when I think of her family... It still makes me unbearably sad. And then, all the news about accidents. And the new flu virus. The Uni was closed for about a week to prevent the virs spreading. But I guess there was more panic and politics to it than real danger. Since the black colour here recently.

Now it's at last frosty, and there lays a thin layer of snow sparkling either in the sun (we do have some sunlight from time to time now, even if the days are short!) or in the light of street lanterns.

It's last week of classes before winter exams at the Uni, tomorrow I am having 3 hours of doing nothing but seing to it, they do not talk when taking the translation test. Then... there will be doing something.. Checking 11+ 16х2 papers by Friday. And then... the evening class writing their papers next week. Love most of the evening class, they are so cute!

The holiday season is not far off, and I am having immence pleasure in drawing Christmas motifs for handmade cards, or to be put into bought cards, if I fail (again) to make the cards myself this year!

There was also a little photographing binge yesterday, after many days, but I am not it the mood of putting anything up here now. They were not that great, most of them, either. Ny camera begins to disappoint my expectations.

Off to print out test papers!

One more thing: I have up the Glass Castle novel around the middle, I just could not be doing anything after the sad news. But I'll finish it!

Yet something more: I did order the fan charm! And the Jane one! And a red edition of Winchester "Emma". It's a Christmas present for myself to myself, and an attempt to cheer up! Just imagine wearing the treasures around the festive season :-)

2009-11-19T14:25:00.003+03:00

Additions to wishlist...

2009-11-12T13:46:00.002+03:00

Beautiful things here. I guess I may add at least a Jane and a fan charm to my wishlist, into the category of unpractical, but beautiful things!

Glass castle in progress

2009-11-07T21:01:00.002+03:00

Keeping up so far. But it's a real marathon. I hope I manage this year.

Update

2009-11-05T12:10:00.003+03:00

I haven't posted quite a while but I've been thinking for some time I should make a quick update.

I'm well, having enough work at the Uni and not enough if any translation work, I'm reading the FT and The Economist and other papers to keep up with the news, I'm visiting granny once a week to help her and cheer her up, for she hasn't been well recently, I'm reading quite a lot in German, both fiction and Sisi-and Vienna-related Sachbücher, and, inspired with the Emily books (by the dear Lucy Maud Montgomery) and my Viennese diary I am trying to do something with my writing: 1) I've been working on a piece of Prague and Vienna-based fluff I'm writing together with my friend Lena (we based the characters on ourselves, made them cousins and sent them to Prague and Vienna for romantic adventures), 2) I'm yet hoping I won't give up my Glass Castle story, I've typed a little more of it for the NaNoWriMo project...3) I've taken out my old notebooks and plan to edit and type the stories I'd written some years back. Then I'll be thinking what to do with them further.

I've been walking with the camera around quite a lot this autumn, you can see tons of photos I uploaded recently here, at the favourire discussion board, just click on the link.

I'm posting an autumn picture with this entry (Yuri Vasnetsov is one of my favourite artists, he illustrated a lot of children's books of fairytales and rhymes), but actually the beauty of golden autumn faded some time ago. It's November now and for a week or so it looks winter. I am often asking myself: where has the summer gone?

Poscards from vacation - 1. Vienna

2009-09-09T19:35:00.008+04:00

I haven’t posted for ages and I’m not sure if I write much again, but some “postcards” from my vacation are here:

Stefansdom, the very heart of Vienna

The opera

Schoenbrunn, palace and park on a Sunday noon, above this picture: Karlskirche, the only rainy day in those three weeks.

Towards twilight, on the Ring

So, wie man plant und denkt-

So kommt es nie –

Unfortunately due to a serious accident I only could come to Vienna 8 days later, so I missed the last performance of Rudolf, the musical in Raimundtheater, did not get the certificate of the course for I missed a week, and had to alter my travelling plans, crossing out Hungary, Graz and some other places I wanted to visit. However, Vienna is still Vienna, what can I say more of it? I enjoyed every single minute of my staying there except when it was too loud in the street at night and when I failed to meet Isabella because I did not know the Zoo had two entrances. I have also been to Bad Ischl and Baden and took a tour along the Danube and visited a lot of Sisi-related places in Vienna and the surroundings, like Hermesvilla in Lainzer Zoo and Laxenburg and Elisabeth-Ruhe on Kahlenberg.

I enjoyed the course – even if I did not get my certificate… It’s ironic, but my test was the best even if I missed more than the others, but there are formalities everywhere. The professor was really wonderful, a born philologist with a fine sense of humour.

I met an old friend and made wonderful new ones, and I climbed Kahlenberg and ate Austrian on the day I turned a quarter of a century :-)

Kahlenberg: Spanish groupmate Depy, Dr. Hummel and his little girl

Ein Lokal am Campus: Thomas + Isabella, Herbert and the birthday girl.

P.S. The internet connection is more or less okay now, if not fast at least it is not unbearably slow, but Blogger seems very, very weird!"

"Postcards from Croatia" (hopefully) to follow

Almost vacation

2009-06-26T12:53:00.007+04:00

I haven’t posted for ages for I am busy, lazy and have a bad internet connection.

The past month has been on the one side filled with Uni work and with preparing for vacation on the other side. It is the end of the year and there were a lot of tests and exams consequently a lot of papers to mark. I can proudly say that none failed this year and the marks I gave were almost all good and excellent. The 5th year received their diplomas on Wednesday and yesterday we had a teachers’ meeting. I was a bit late (the river taxi is irritatingly unpunctual!) and not attentive but the lovely thing was chocolates and champagne at the end, so I had my late breakfast. I’m not too fond of the combination, though (if you have champagne, you must have substantial snacks!), but this time it worked well for me. We are having department meeting on Tuesday (I am bringing tea as usual) and then it will be VACATION.

Speaking about vacation, indeed, I am going to the city I have grown to love in the previous two years – to Vienna the beautiful. I have registered for a four-week course at the University of Vienna, and I am going to improve my German as much as possible and explore the Austrian capital and its surroundings, there are so much interesting things to discover there!
The previous fortnight I travelled to Moscow twice: to apply for a visa and then to fetch the passport from the Austrian consulate. Haven’t been to Moscow for ages before the two short trips (interpreting there in 2007 doesn’t count because I hardly saw anything but traffic jams, the airport and the woodworking exhibition where I had to interpret) and I think I would like to return for a couple of days. Moscow only has its charm as an old city when it’s early morning and the streets are almost empty, traffic and people in the street ruin the feel considerably. However, there some Museums in Moscow I would just love to visit (the museum of fine arts and Marina Tsvetayeva museum topping the list) and Cathedral of Christ the Savior is of course impressive. However, I like our walking street, Bol’shaya Pokrovskaya much more than Arbat in Moscow.
I caught a slight cold probably on Monday when in Moscow so I have to get better before the trip which is in a week. If all is well, the vacation my dream is starting next Saturday, I’ll be in Vienna since the 4th!

I have yet a lot to do this week to prepare for the trip, including packing, but I am happy I at last bought the essentials yesterday: a pair of pretty and comfortable shoes and a bag that can provide enough room for the many essentials I am used to carry with me, looks elegant and is not heavy :-)

Josephstadt, the disctrict where I am going to stay this year.

P.S. I think I should upload a couple of Moscow photos later. Sadly, I did not take a camera in the first trip, and the feel of the city doesn’t seem so prominent in the photos taken at midday during my second trip.

"Зайчонок и муха"

2009-05-25T16:32:00.005+04:00

This is a brilliant piece of animation. I watched it as a child, and feeling nostalgic, bought a DVD with a collection of old cartoons (mainly because of this one), and watched "Зайчонок и муха" ("Little hare and a fly") 10 times at least since last Monday!

The story is simple: the little hare did not want to eat anything his mum gave him and threw the food out of the window. The fly who lived there, ate everything and grew very fast and troubled by the noise, "kidnapped" the naughty little one. She brought him food on condition his mum would give her food as tasty as she used to give her little son. All is well that ends well of course, and the naughty little one was taught a good lesson.

Click on the picture or the post title to see the cartoon :)

I think it a masterpiece. An instructive story told in an engaging way, with a lot of cute details and wonderful dubbing. It's from 1977 by the way.

Happy Birthday, Paula!

2009-05-15T15:26:00.004+04:00

Dear Paula!

I am wishing you many precious moments which you can now film with you new beautiful camera! And may your other dreams come true!

Tulips in the heart of the city.

Mein liebes Fräulein Mozart…

2009-05-15T15:11:00.004+04:00

Just discovered my copy lost deep under the papers… And it’s only half-finished.

I find the idea of a novel about Nannerl Mozart, a forgotten genius, fascinating. A historical novel set in Salzburg of the 18th c. sounds very promising. Part of the novel being in letters adds to it. I share my birthday with Nannerl and I visited Salzburg in summer 2007. I have read half of the book, finding it atmospheric and the main character appealing and could at some moments identify with her. So, why did I stop reading?
It was so sad I could not bear it and turned to other books. But of course I’ll return to it when I am in the mood. And I would like to learn more about the real Nannerl , for the personality seems extremely interesting. It was just so heartbreaking she did not have any possibilities to develop her talent and be happy with the one she loved. Even, of course, if this novel is only a version. Interesting that there are at least two novels by other authors dealing with Nannerl’s story:

Mozart's Sister by A.M. Bauld
Mozart's Sister by Nancy Mozer

I’m reading a German translation of La Sorella di Mozart by Rita Charbonnier. It’s curious all the three ladies did not think of a more interesting title to their novels. I love the way the title of Rita Charbonnier’s novel was translated into German.

Some links:

Rita Charbonnier’s site
Rita Charbonnier’s blog (in Italian, but with some useful links)
Nannerl in Wikipedia…

Liebeslied

2009-05-10T10:38:00.004+04:00

I am hardly musical, but this piece of music has been one of my favourites for ages, alongside Chopin's nocturnes and waltzes:
Fritz Kreisler playing his own piece of music. Coincidently, as I discovered recently, he wrote music for an operetta very loosely based on the life of the real Sisi, Elisabeth of Austria.

2009-05-09T22:51:00.016+04:00

To make up for the past months when I hardly posted any photos: a lot of spring in suburb streets of a little town, and, of course, I could not do without cats!

I spent two hours uploading this, in earnest…

Cafe Gloriette

2009-05-08T13:39:00.009+04:00

Built in 1775 under the reign of Empress Maria Theresia in the gardens of Schönbrunn Palace, it was ment to be a ‘temple of glory’ and probably also as view point. In 1780, it was equipped with glass windows for the first time and became a location for dinner and festivities. Emperor Franz Josef I. used it as breakfast room. What a start into the day!

One of the most beautiful cafes in Vienna, more information and photos in the link hidden in the title.

Updates on wishlist

2009-04-20T23:02:00.007+04:00

Crossed out:

- Kati in America by Astrid Lindgren (great book, but the following two are even better)
- Mulberry perfume from Ives Roches

Additions:

30) Miss Austen Regrets DVD (saw the trailer today)
31) The new Jane Eyre with Toby Stephens on DVD with all the extras
32) Northanger Abbey, DVD of the new version
33) Books about Steffi and Nellie, jewish girls sent from Vienna to Sweden just before WWII, by Annika Thor
34) A German soap takes the form of Anna und die Liebe
35) Anna on DVD, it’s a German series from the late 80s about a girl from a ballet school who was badly hurt in an accident and it took all her strength and courage to turn back to normal life and dancing. Brings back childhood memories. I mean the series, not Anna's experience!
36) A waffle-maker

New haircut by the way

2009-04-20T23:00:00.002+04:00

and the already mentioned new pink jacket ;-)

Easter in April, Easter with snow...

2009-04-20T22:32:00.006+04:00

My self-made Easter tree with Easter eggs brought from Salzburg:

Decorations from Stift Heiligenkreuz near Vienna (hung on crystal candleholders):

Granny’s cat:

Visiting:

Best of Musical, September 2003

2009-04-01T19:30:00.004+04:00

1. Maya looks and sounds wonderful, she just stands out, even if the recording is low-quality

2. I'd like to have a haircut like her, with probably a little longer hair

3. I never heard her singing "Mein Leben" before :-( Craving for a full version

4. Click on the photo to see the video, start from 2:35.

5. P.S. I am so happy she received my present and letter :-)

Happy Birthday to my laptop

2009-03-23T20:03:00.005+03:00

I bought it exactly a year ago. And named it Hartfield. As in Emma. For an elegant pink laptop must have an elegant name. Happy Birthday to my mobile phone too. It doesn't have a name, but it's a very helpful device, for the signal is really loud and I almost never miss calls. Besides, I can hear the best alarm-clock in the world - Maya Hakvoort's melodic voice! And I can attempt at catching the beauy around when I don't have the camera with me.

Photo: My good friend helping me translating in autumn 2008.

Sunday evening

2009-03-22T22:24:00.002+03:00

No, I'm not ill, but I don't feel particularly well either :(

One is a Maya-fan when:

2009-03-22T19:27:00.007+03:00

1) One cannot start working in the morning before listening to Mayas song or two, maybe three
2) One googles her name every day to see any updates for the last 24-hours and uses Google alerts for “Maya Hakvoort”
3) One checks Youtube daily for new Maya-videos
4) One plans a Vienna trip so that one can get to the concert/musical where she will sing
5) One adds books she mentioned in interviews to the reading list, ditto films
6) One gets interested in some musicals for the sole reason than Maya had a part there
7) One decides to read books on which musicals where she had a part are based
8) One thinks it’s a good idea to start learning Dutch
9) One is awoken every morning by Maya’s voice (singing “Mach die Nacht zum morgen” at 7:00, “Our time” at 7:30 and “Inside Looking out” at 8:00, depends on the day of the week)
10) One has a couple of Maya’s photos framed and put up on the wall
11) One does not feel well when one leaves their MP3-player with Maya’s songs at home. And one feels still worse when the said player is broken
12) One hears a beautiful song and thinks it will fit Mayas voice perfectly
13) One considers it a good reason for mourning when Maya has to cancel her appointment to be in a certain musical one hoped to see because of Maya
14) One thinks a trip to Vienna loses a part of its charm if a Maya concert is not included into the visiting schedule
15) One makes Maya fan-arts
16) One is considering to get a credit card only to buy Mayas new album which is not available where one lives and can be ordered only via internet
17) One’s family hates them for playing Maya all the time
18) One makes Maya CDs for all friends possible to hook them too
19) One is having dreams of being at Mayas concerts and talking to her afterwards (or even helping her to organize a concert, as crazy as that!)
20) One pays A LOT for EMS so that a present and letter one sends to Maya reaches her in time for the meeting of the fan-club. And, after sending, one starts fretting that the present should have been done better and the letter should have been written more carefully…
I wonder what she will say of my modest attempt at producing her likeness (that has already been posted here before). I just had to express my gratitude for the joy and support she gives me with her singing and acting.

Beautiful poem

2009-03-16T18:39:00.006+03:00

On Saturday I discovered a thin book of poems I thought had been lost forever. At 4 or 5 I was absolutely captured by the romance of this. The combination of the poem and illustration still seems perfect.

Sisters

the dawn

and the sunset

two daughters of the Sun

two sisters inseparable

but married far

married far

to their young husbands

to the West the evening one

to the East the morning one

a sea and a mountain

between their two palaces

the day is the high mountain

the night is the deep sea

the sisters are stretching their hands

but all in vain

Crystal spring

2009-03-16T18:27:00.004+03:00

Since I tend to forget about recharging batteries, here's this photo from Saturday is the only one. I usually do not like early spring much and always feel sorry for the snow that becomes dirty and has to melt, but this year it melts so beautifully is looks crystal, the days are so clear and light-colden and the air is so fresh that I find myself loving spring!

And a crystal song for crystal winter: Traum vom Fliegen - A Dream about Flying

My Wishlist as of 14.03.2009

2009-03-14T13:30:00.008+03:00

My wishlist:
1) In my life, the new live-CD and anything related to Maya Hakvoort for that matter
2) Picture album on Sisi, edited by Brigitte Haman, any beautiful books on Sisi
3) Sisi-Verse on CD
4) A teddybear
5) A good book on Prague with loads of high-quality pictures, another such book on Vienna
6) A new dress, tasteful and modest enough to wear to the Uni
7) A new bag for papers
8) Kronprinz Rudolf DVD (starring Max von Thun)
9) The recent Forsyte Saga on DVD if such a DVD exists at all
10) The Impressionists (also a DVD)
11) Jane Austen. The world of her novels, by Deirdre La Faye
12) Jane Austen biography by Claire Tomalin
13) Biography of Beatrix Potter
14) Biography of Elisabeth Gaskell
15) Kristin trilogy by Sigrid Unset
16) A perfect set of make-up and a mulberry or rose perfume from Ives Roches
17) Kati in America and Kalle Blumquist books by Astrid Lindgren
18) Emma critical edition or any other pretty illustrated edition of the novel
19) Several first seasons of Komissar Rex on DVD (including the Sisi episode)
20) Something turquoise-coloured to wear
21) A pretty soft towel, new rugs and rubber ducks for the bathroom
22) All those pretty things from Victorian Trading (especially the silver headband)
23) A bottle of good lavender perfume
24) New watercolours
25) A Lucy Maud Montgomery album, all the volumes of her diaries and anything on her
26) Les Miserables, for I haven’t read it yet
27) Some supplies to make a teddybear
28) Several seasons of a good German soap on DVD
29) The early seasons of Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten with Maya Hakvoort

The two wishes I recently crossed out from the list look like this:

Pink jacket from Finn Flare

and the new "Sense and Sensibility" DVD

Happy International Women's Day

2009-03-08T19:08:00.003+03:00

We are not celebrating at home, I'm not having an extra day off all the same, for I don't have classes on Monday. But I thought I'd have a day free of translating and preparing for classes. And I spend the day drawing flowers...

And a goodbye to winter.

Radetzkymarsch

2009-03-02T13:28:00.003+03:00

Joseph Roth's fiction
Dec 5th 2002 From The Economist print edition

IN A lull at the battle of Solferino in 1859, the young emperor, Franz Joseph, asks for a spy-glass to survey the field. Aghast, an infantry lieutenant, Joseph Trotta, hurls him to the ground as French and Italian marksmen open fire on the figure who has so foolishly identified himself as the Austrian commander. Trotta, the son of a Slovene watchman, takes a bullet in the shoulder. In gratitude, the emperor promotes and ennobles him. So opens one of the gravest and grandest of all 19th-century novels written in the 20th century.
The story traces the varying fortunes of the Trotta family. The hero of Solferino, a stranger to the social heights, grows eccentric. His son, a cautious district commissioner, lives dutifully in the paternal shadow, hoping that his own son, Carl Joseph, a well-meaning but feckless young officer, will somehow justify the newly glorious Trotta name. …

I actually have the book (It was recommended in the trabel book on Vienna, so I was tepted to buy it). Die Frage ist blos--- The quiestion is only--- when do I read it?

I am browsing through The Economist articles to find new material for classes, and found this excerpt by chance (all the interesting articles seem to have premium status).

Ohne Thema

2009-02-24T13:29:00.002+03:00

Ich weiss gar nicht, was ich hier schreiben kann, in bin noch immer mit der letzten Uebersetzung nicht gerade fertig. Das Problem ist, das Buch was in drei Absnitte geteilt und jede Uebersetzerin muste mit einem Abschnitt arbeiten. Es wurde aber auch vorgeschrieben, dass wir einen Glossar mit Fachlexik zusammenstellen sollten. Und jetzt ist es so, das ich, die die letzten zwei Kapitel hat, ist die einzige, die eigentlich die Uebersetzung der Fachlexik vergleichen will. Und die anderen Uebersetzerinen haben auf meine Email einfach nicht geantwortet, bis ich am Samstag der Auftraggeberin das Problem mitteilte. Und sie haben natuerlich auch keinen Glossar und scheinen keine Lust zu haben, mitzuarbeiten. Also, der Auftraggeber bekommt die Uebersetzung wahrscheinlich wie es ist...

Schoenes Fotos

2009-02-16T20:32:00.005+03:00

Habe vorgestern das Foto im Internet entdeckt. Ich glaube, es ist zuZeit mein Lieblingsfoto von Sisi, sie sieht in dieser weisser Robe elegant aus und scheint gleichzeitig sensibel und in eigenen Traeumen verloren.

Ich bin, von meiner Seite, in meiner Uebersetzung verloren und weiss nicht wann ich endlich fertig bin.

Sisis Verse

2009-02-15T12:54:00.010+03:00

Muss ich vielleich hier ein bisschen Deutsch schreiben? Weil ich zur Zeit viel zu viele aus dem Englischen ins Russische uebersetze und fast keine Zeit fuer meine Deutsche Buecher habe (Mausi Zum Beispiel habe ich noch nicht bis zum Ende gelesen, obwohl es ein wirklich lustiges Buch mit vielen Sprachwitzen ist). Ich werde jetzt ein Gedicht von kaiserin Elisabeth hier posten, das mich wirklich beeindruckt hat.

Ein unergründlich tiefer See
Ist meine Seele,
Den ich oft selber nicht versteh'
Und gern verhehle.
Es kommen wohl an seinen Rand
Viel fremde Seelen,
Doch wie den Blick sie drauf gewandt,
Trübt's seine Wellen.
Vergebens späht ihr kecker Blick
Nach seinen Tiefen,
Die Wasser drängen ihn zurück,
Wie zornergriffen.
Lang ist der See noch trüb erregt,
Nachdem sie schwanden.
Und bis ins Innerste bewegt,
Aus Fug und Banden.
Doch naht vielleicht im Lauf der Zeit
Die Schwesterseele,
Dann ziehet Kreise, mächtig weit,
Der See zur Stelle;
In seinen tiefsten Grund hinab
Mag sie dann schauen;
Und wendet dennoch sich nicht ab
Mit stillem Grauen.

Und gestern vielleich habe ich viel zu viel vor dem Computer gesessen und viel zu viel langweiliges Stoff uebersetzt, dass ich Lust hatte, ein Geicht von Elisabeth auf Russisch zu verfassen (ich habe zuvor niemals versucht, Gedichte zu uebersetzen, ich bin fest ueberzeugt, dass ich dafuer gar kein Talent habe. Aber gestern ist mir si was gelungen).

Verlassen
November 1886

In meiner grossen Einsamkeit
Mach' ich die kleinen Lieder;
Das Herz, voll Gram und Traurigkeit,
Drückt mir den Geist darnieder.

Wie war ich einst so jung und reich
An Lebenslust und Hoffen; I
ch wähnte nichts an Kraft mir gleich,
Die Welt stand mir noch offen.

Ich hab' geliebt, ich hab' gelebt,
Ich hab' die Welt durchzogen; D
och nie erreicht, was ich erstrebt. –
Ich hab' und ward betrogen!

Die Russische Verfassung, die ich gestern gemacht habe:

Покинута

Слагаю я тихие песни
В свей одинокой печали,
И грусти в моем сердце тесно,
Забота на душу мне давит.

О, как я однажды была молода,
Полна жажды жизни и веры!
Сильнее любого была я тогда,
И мир мне распахивал двери.

И я любила, я жила,
По миру я скиталась,
Мечты поймать я не смогла -
Обманутой осталась!

Ich glaube, muss ich jetzt leider zu dem langweiligen Text wieder gehen, aber bevor ich gehe, werde ich nochmal sagen, dass Sisis Verse bestimmt Wert haben, obwohl sie literarisch kaum als was besonderes gelten. Es ist vor allem ein Tagebuch, voller menchlische Gefuehle, und wenn man sich traurig fuehllt, kann man sich mit der Verfasserin der Gedichte identifizieren und auf dieser Weise das Gefuehl haben, das mann Verstaendniss findet. Ich bin Elisabeth fuer ihre Gedichte wirklich dankbar.

Happy Chinese New Year!

2009-01-26T13:41:00.005+03:00

I'm wishing everyone a happy, healthy and harmonious new year!

Now I'm listening to Melodies from New Year's Greetings while typing a paper for tomoroow's evening class. The people from China I used to work with sent me a card which is a really nice gesture.

Picture: a view of the Summer Palace, Beijing (taken in Oktober 2007)

Marina & Sergey

2009-01-11T03:05:00.007+03:00

I only just realised I never uploaded the 2nd video here. It's based on the poem Marina dedicated to her husband Sergey Efron:

Писала я на аспидной доске,

И на листочках вееров поблёклых,

И на речном, и на морском песке,

Коньками пo льду и кольцом на стеклах, -

И на стволах, которым сотни зим,

И, наконец - чтоб было всем известно! -

Что ты любим! любим! любим! - любим! -

Расписывалась - радугой небесной.

Как я хотела, чтобы каждый цвел

В векáх со мной! под пальцами моими!

И как потом, склонивши лоб на стол,

Крест-накрест перечеркивала - имя...

Но ты, в руке продажного писца

Зажатое! ты, что мне сердце жалишь!

Непроданное мной! внутри кольца!

Ты - уцелеешь на скрижалях.

18 мая 1920

I wrote on paled leaves of the fan

And on the board of slate

And on the river and sea sand,

On glass with a ring and on ice with skates -

And on the trunks, a hundred winters old,

And in the end - that everyone would know

That you are loved! Loved! Loved! Loved! -

I signed with a celestial rainbow.

How yet I wanted this, that each would bloom

For centuries with me! My fingers under!

And how thereafter I crossed out the name

Leaning my forehead on the table yonder.

But you, within the arm of sellout scribe

Pressed down! You, why you sting my soul?

Not sold by me! Inside the ring!

You - in the tablets will stay whole.

(Click on the picture to watch the video)

To be tender and rabid and noisy...

2009-01-11T02:42:00.006+03:00

Быть нежной, бешеной и шумной,

— Так жаждать жить! —

Очаровательной и умной,

—Прелестной быть!

Нежнее всех, кто есть и были,

Не знать вины...

— О возмущенье, что в могиле

Мы все равны!

Стать тем, что никому не мило,

— О, стать как лед!

—Не зная ни того, что было,

Ни что придет,

Забыть, как сердце раскололось

И вновь срослось,

Забыть свои слова и голос,

И блеск волос.

Браслет из бирюзы старинной

—На стебельке,

На этой узкой, этой длинной

Моей руке...

Как зарисовывая тучку

Издалека,

За перламутровую ручку

Бралась рука,

Как перепрыгивали ноги

Через плетень,

Забыть, как рядом по дороге

Бежала тень.

Забыть, как пламенно в лазури,

Kак дни тихи...

— Все шалости свои, все бури

И все стихи!

Мое свершившееся чудо

Разгонит смех.

Я, вечно-розовая, буду

Бледнее всех.

И не раскроются — так надо —

— О, пожалей!

—Ни для заката, ни для взгляда,

Ни для полей

—Мои опущенные веки.

— Ни для цветка!

—Моя земля, прости навеки,

На все века.

И так же будут таять луны

И таять снег,

Когда промчится этот юный,

Прелестный век.

Феодосия, Сочельник 1913

Thus to thirst life:

And to be tender

And rabid and noisy,

To be intelligent and charming -

Gorgeous to be!

More tender than what are or have been,

Guilt not to know...

This, that in graveyard all are equal,

Angers me so.

To be what nobody holds dear -

Like ice become!

Not knowing what has come before now

Nor what will come,

To forget how the heart broke and

Grew back together,

To forget both the words and voice

And shine of hair.

Bracelet of ancient turquoise

On the stem, on

This my white arm

Narrow and long...

Like painting over a cloud

From afar,

One took the mother-of-pearl pen

In one's arm,

Just like the legs jumped

Over the fence,

To forget, how along the road

Shade advanced.

To forget, like flame of azure, how

Days are subdued...

All my mischief, all my tempest,

And poems too!

Laughter will be chased away by

My miracle.

I, always-pink, will be

The most pale.

And they won't open - thus is needed -

Pity this one!

Not for the sight, not for the fields,

Not for the sun -

These my lowered eyelids. -

Flower not for! -

My earth, forgive for centuries

Forevermore.

Thus both the moon and the snow

Will melt away,

When this young, beautiful century

Will rush on by.

I finally finished my 3d video related to Marina Tsvetaeva. The song used only parts of the poems (italicised), and they changed the order of the parts marked pink and red. Clicking on the photo will lead you to the video.

Oh, Felicity!

2009-01-05T21:07:00.005+03:00

I'm on a drawing binge today (and it feels really relaxing for I haven't taken my pencils out for ages!) and, looking through the collection of numerous bits and pieces in my folder, I discovered this face:I sketched her about two years ago when I was still working in the old office, during some quick pause between translating commercial correspondence (I was listening to "A Story Girl" from librivox.org at the time). When we were moving office, I saved this one as well as some others, and in the depths of my folder it was kept till today. It seems just yesterday I did it and it seems at least two lives ago at the same time...

I posted another Felicity portrait last summer but there she is "Felicity a couple of years after the events in the book", neatly dressed and with a grown up air, and here she's exactly the girl Peter admired so much, and (remember her cooking talent?) she's even wearing an apron :-)

Another drawing

2009-01-05T14:41:00.003+03:00

Maybe you remember a pencil sketch of a house in a wood I posted last year. Colour version to be framed and given to Grandma for Christmas!

Glass Castle drawing

2009-01-05T14:17:00.004+03:00

As usual, only a small part of the castle is to be seen... :-/ The quality is so so because it was in a notebook and the part near the spine did not scan well. I've filled half on a thick notebook and a thin notebook writing the "darft of the draft", maybe, I can be through this year? ;-)

In the days of nowhere...

2009-01-03T20:47:00.006+03:00

The days after the new year night and beore Christmas seem like days nowhere. You have a free week, but you cannot afford a holiday trip anywhere so you stay at home with your books and films and the interet. You don't venture outside much unless you are invited anywhere for it's dark soon after ou get up and you mostly don't have to get any food since you have plenty of leftovers from new year night. Sometimes you unwrap you cross-stitching you've been doing for (five) years and still haven't done those final touches to think it complete. Sometimes you get o read the book you've meant o read for ages and you can afford to be engrossed in it. Yesterday I picked up "Little House on the Prairie" by Laura Ingalls Wilder which for various reasons I left unfinished on page 120 this summer. And it felt really nice to be totally engrossed in a book after many days. True, in my mind I jokingly regard some passages as "material for technical translation classes", for it has some deailed descriptions of carpenter work etc., which I have to reread one or two times before I can picture how building a roof or making a beadstead looked, but on the whole I think it's a great book and look forward of reading the series further, for, again, it's a book on immortal values, and it being written so simply makes you feel snug and warm like the little girls Laura might feel tucked up in her little bed in their little house.

Queen Maria of Romania

2009-01-02T17:50:00.003+03:00

This is a good quality version of the photo I have over my chest of drawers. I just discovered a very informative resourse on her (link hidden in the post title), including her autobiography. I was interested to search a little on her for I visited her summer residence in Bulgaria in 2007 and also because I am now reading an album with short essays on European royalty (a new year gift from myself to myself) and there are a couple of pages on her too.

New Year Here

2009-01-01T19:24:00.007+03:00

The town on the 29th, when I bought my tree:

~}{~

My real tree in many years! The last time we had a real tree for the new year was when I was ten, Nothing can compare to its smell and shape which is not so perfect as that of the plastic trees but more endearing! Unfortunately the only tinsel I had when decorating was red ;-)

~}{~

New year night at the neighbours'. Barsik has grw a lot since I last time took pictures o him :-)

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T18:44:00.008+03:00

In the past ten years we've collected quite a few New Year cards (indeed, they are new year cards, or maybe new year + Christmas, since we are a country where everything was turened upside down after 1917 and we associate all the Christmas traditions like the tree or cards or presents with new year celebrations...and celebrate Christmas in the new year but don't make much fuss of it since main celebrations and presents have already taken place on 31 December/1 January). I've scanned some favourites to display them here.

No year ever went faster or me than 2008. Let 2009 be a happy one. I was looking through a newspaper today, and it mentioned it was a good sign if something happens to your clothes during the new year night. They mentioned torn stockings... Let the hole on my stocking I accidentally made with a zipper mean a lot of luck soon ;-)

Süß

2008-12-15T21:05:00.002+03:00

Maya Hakvoort and Kerstin Ibald, Vienna Musical Concert 2003 (fragment of a larger photo with some other performers).

Holiday cards

2008-12-15T20:32:00.004+03:00

The three new ones, and I think I am not buying any more this year!

New looks

2008-12-15T00:13:00.006+03:00

Yesterday I was cleaning the bedroom, including the chest of drawers which I like to think of as my dressing table (or it s rather a drssing chest of drawers) and a kind of Pippi-Longstocking chest of drawers where I keep things like Chinese fans, chopsticks and other souveniers, cologne water, parasols, shawls, perfume bottles etc etc etc, mostly treasres brought from trips and travels. (Pippi used to keep in her drawers all the wonderful treasures she brought from overseas in the times she used to sail around the world with her father). In the end Arabella Georgina had a new look, for I tied her hat up with a ribbon and rearranged her hair a little. Now she looks the sweetest girl in my little collection. And I rearranged the objects on the top a little, putting away some boxes and bottles and adding a painting and candles. We've had the painting for ages (again, brought from a trip!) but never ended hanging it on the wall and I thought it was a pity to keep it hidden and made it a background for my ladies. The photo on the wall is of Maria, Queen of Romania, somehow I find it fitting, for I can relate to her love of roses and I loved the summer residence of hers I visited in Bulgaria last year. Again, the pink roses stickers fit here.

I was pleased with the result, but when I went to bed and looked at it again, it seemed too empty and cold without the usual hundreds of necklaces and bottles and little boxes scattered over it. But I guess it won't be a problem to create a cosy havoc there just in a couple of days ;-) And the change is most likely temporary, I'm going to add more pictures on the wall, so probably some rearrangements are to follow.

Photos are made with the mobile phone camera, I can't remember when I last saw our camera, it's impossible to find it in the havoc of my sister's room which is 10 times messier than mine in its "great havoc days" (I think), so I don't even attempt looking for it.

Elisabeth card

2008-12-14T01:03:00.002+03:00

Made something to create a bit of pre-holiday mood (again, doesn't look exactly as I imagined!). I'll be updating more soon for I scanned some Christmas/New Year cards and I have also renovated the look of my dressing table a little so a couple of fotos to follow.

2008-12-07T20:45:00.002+03:00

I finally found a little time to get out my big box of paper and make something. In view of the current crisis such things may be a good alternative to bought postcards. I'd be making them crisis or no crisis though!

Happy Birthday to Maud!

2008-11-30T17:28:00.006+03:00

I am planning to cook supper consisting of:

1)Anne's cream potatoes
2)oatcakes from Emily books
3)ginger tea

recipes here:http://www.tickledorange.com/LMM/Recipes.html

And I must do the final editing of The Materialising of Cecil (I translated it into Russian).

HAPPY LUCY MAUD MONTGOMERY BIRTHAY TO ALL HER FANS!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MAUD, a kindred spirit who gave people a real treasure in her books, the opportunity to leave through the sweet moments of childhood once again, Once she said she dreamed to write a book that would live, and they do live!

Off to the kitchen!
(You cannot imagine how great it is to have the weekend for yourself, without any translating or preparing for classes !)

Purr...fect :-)

2008-10-26T10:55:00.002+03:00

Please don't laugh at me (too much), I had to buy this sweater or whatever it is. I am also wearing this:

so... I am purr..fect ;-)

As bonuses to everyone missing my photos: yesterday's evening sky behind the birches and our neighbour's kitten sleeping on a chair.

*Off to translate*,

yours &c.

Cute shop window moment

2008-10-24T19:47:00.003+04:00

A shop for interior decorations near the Uni. And it's not the first time I see a cat sleeping in thier shop windows. I must have awakened it though :-)

P.S. I haven't updated for quite a while for I am much into translating and teaching these days plus of course Sisi-related things and Maya Hakvoort to relax a little. I wish I could upload some photos but it takes too long, mayabe, later!

P.P.S. There's a cute typo in the previous sentence, I think I won't change it ;-)

Young Sisi

2008-10-03T10:20:00.002+04:00

This time inspired by a couple of lines from the text of the musical.

Staying on topic ;-)

2008-10-01T13:08:00.004+04:00

I finished typing it! Only several hours of editing and I am done!

(I can't remember where I saved this photo from, but it fits the topic and the October mood)

P.S. Today is my name day, and yesterday was day of translator/interpreter but I'll post about it later.

Another table-themed eye candy

2008-09-28T14:18:00.003+04:00

(for I do not feel sick any more)

Staying on topic. I have to hand it all in on Wednesday, and almost a half is still left.

It's was ironic to be translating about food when literally sick in the stomach. But I am coping somehow, completing the table on food commodities already. I only have to get through the courses and then the drinks section, and the section on planning functions seems quite small.

The problem is I fainted on Wednesday because my blood pressure suddenly dropped down, and it still keeps low so I cannot work as fast as I should :-\

Sissi, with double "s" this time

2008-09-26T12:59:00.005+04:00

I knew that the "Culture" channel aired the "Sissi" films since Tuesday, 23 September, but I did not connect it with Romy Schneider's Birthday which was on this day. Seems they are not too fond of Romy if they put the films almost at midnight. I have to watch them yet (have the DVDs since July, don't have a TV that functions and don't have time). But some eye candies here:

P.S. Romy's life was hardly happier than Sisi's.

Retouch

2008-09-23T19:47:00.003+04:00

This is a beautiful portrait:

But for some time I had suspected it was a retouch. Today I found time to compare:

Nevertheless the retouch remains a beautiful likeness. The retoucher made her look more mature and sure of herself I think and I like the brown tones and the clothes.

Schloss Schoenbrunn

2008-09-23T16:54:00.003+04:00

Eine Ansichtskarte/a postcard.

It was my favourite haunt during my Vienna week this year. *Sigh* The summer gone, this year's September weather not particularly cheerful and loads and loads to translate in a brief period of time. But isn't translating about food and beverage operations a great fun? ;-) Off to have my fun with "types of outlets" then :-)

Cuteness continues :)

2008-09-21T17:31:00.003+04:00

She's a powerful queen of some eastern kingdom, sitting in a room decorated with beautiful embroideries in her luxurious palace , the little prince on her knee... ;-)

Maya in Farbe

2008-09-21T17:10:00.003+04:00

Made a colour version of Maya's portrait. I have one more Maya-related creative project in my mind, but it will take some time to make it :-)

Some Wednesday Photos

2008-09-21T14:36:00.005+04:00

It wasn't a beautiful day and the park seemed so small and uncosy after the lest time I had been there (and it's been a couple of years)

Happy Birthday, Maya!

2008-09-19T09:36:00.003+04:00

(Free based on the "Maya goes Solo" album cover).

Maya is wonderful: she has a unique expressive voice, warm and stress-relieving. She's very conciencious and professional when it comes to her roles and concerts. She's friendly, charming and elegant. She makes you think "I want be like you", for she's a modern talented woman who managed to balance a successful career and happy family life. She's just great!

Herzliche Glueckwuenche zum Geburtstag, Maya! Viel Weitererfolg in deiner Karriere und Glueck und Harmonie im Privaten! Danke fuer alle schoene Stunden, die deine Kunst schenkt!

Brought a little autumn home

2008-09-16T15:58:00.003+04:00

...and decided to hang it up on the lamp:

A romantic couple

2008-09-15T22:14:00.004+04:00

Hmmm... Don't they look just like a perfect Jane and a perfect Edward Rochester? And don't they look so well together? I wish they released the series on DVD here soon...

To brace myself up

2008-09-15T19:01:00.002+04:00

Warum es ist nur so kalt here? - Why is it so cold? :-(

А sweet little picture

2008-09-15T18:56:00.004+04:00

Just an eye-candy, for it is so cold and rainy and grey here. Autumn came too early this year :-(

By the way, the artist is Karl Larsson, his art reminds me somewhat of Astrid Lindgren's books. I should make a special post on him some time later.

Some cuteness

2008-09-12T17:57:00.003+04:00

Some cuteness after the recent sombre post and look dedicated to Empress Elisabeth (on the 10th of Septembet it was 110 years since she was assassinated at the Geneva Lake).

These two were lying so cutely in my sister's bed when I came home from the Uni...

Rest ih Peace

2008-09-10T21:11:00.005+04:00

"Peace and felicity reign beyond"

Let it be so

Returning to the child whose talents cause her only grief...

2008-09-06T11:23:00.001+04:00

Just an attempt to illustrate the quotation in the previous post...

Child and faries...

2008-09-03T18:44:00.003+04:00

"Sie erinnert mich an das Märchen von dem Kind und den Feen. Die guten Feen waren gekommen, und eine jede von ihnen hatte ein wunderbares Geschenk in seine Wiege gelegt: Schönheit, Charme, Liebreiz, Ansehen, Klugheit, Esprit. Doch dann kam die böse Fee uns sagte: »Ich sehe, Euch wurde alles gegeben, aber ich werde dafür sorgen, daß diese Gaben Euch weder Freude noch Glück bringen werden ... Selbst Eure Schönheit wird Euch nur Leid bescheren, und Ihr werdet nirgendwo Ruhe finden".

~ Marie Festetics, Hofdame von Kaiserin Elisabeth

"She makes me think of the fairy-tale about a child and fairies. Good fairies came and each of them put a wonderful gift in the cradle: beauty, charm, good standing, cleverness and liveliness of mind. But then came the evil fairy and said: “I see you have been given everything, but I’ll see to it that these gifts will bring you neither joy nor happiness… Even your beauty itself would bring you nothing but grief and you won’t be able to find peace anywhere”

~ Marie Festetics, Empress Elisabeth's lady-in-waiting

My Favourite Things

2008-09-02T21:45:00.006+04:00

Continiung today's posting binge I put up one more drawing here. It is an illustration for "My favourite things" from "The Sound of Music" which I did in early summer immediately after I watched the DVD. Loved it, and some of the enjoynment might be becuase I had been to salzburg and could recognize some locations!

"My favourite things" is such a sweet and cosy song!

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens,

bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens,

brown paper packages tied up with strings,

these are a few of my favorite things.

Cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudels,

door bells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles.

Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings.

these are a few of my favorite things.

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes,

snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes,

silver white winters that melt into springs,

these are a few of my favorite things.

When the dog bites, when the bee stings,

when I'm feeling sad,

I simply remember my favorite things,

and then I don't feel so bad.

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens,

bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens,

brown paper packages tied up with strings,

these are a few of my favorite things.

Cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudels,

door bells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles.

Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings.

these are a few of my favorite things.

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes,

snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes,

silver white winters that melt into springs,

these are a few of my favorite things.

When the dog bites, when the bee stings,

when I'm feeling sad,

I simply remember my favorite things,

and then I don't feel so bad.

Wieder Fanart... I mean, fan-art again...

2008-09-02T21:15:00.007+04:00

Inspired by the song hidden in the link (a bonus track from the Stuttgart "Elisabeth" CD, sung by Karin Seyfried and Maike Boerdam, snippets from various Elisabeth versions in the video). The song title "Zwischen Traum und Wirklichkeit" means "Between Daydream and Reality"

Exquisite beauty

2008-09-02T15:28:00.005+04:00

Mintie put it very well, she was an exquisite beauty!

Just a photo here (around 1865), and a link to a good biography article hidden in the title. It has some photos and exerpts from "Sisi: Myth and Truth" by Katrin Unterreiner which I think is a very good introduction to Elisabeth's life.

Since I don't have enough time to put up my own article on her in English...

Elisabeth in Hungarian dress

2008-08-30T11:00:00.004+04:00

Here's a colour version of the Elisabeth drawing I posted recently:

I used two photos for this drawing but it's more like my free version of Elisabeth based on the photos, not a copy :-)

Elisabeth as queen of Hungary, 1866, several months before the coronation

Elisabeth and a dog

A bit of Vienna Flavour

2008-08-30T10:15:00.006+04:00

I thought I'd better organize my Vienna experiences not chronologicaly but by topics. So, here the first one comes, the food:

Die Wienerin: a very nice little restaurant in the very centre, with various Vienna specialities. Here in the photo there are Palatschinken (Austrian pancakes) with a nut filling, whipped cream and chocolate :) And I also tasted Almdudler, Austrian limonade made using grasses from the Alps. It's a pity they are closing this place soon. Isabella and I had a very lovely meal in there.

Kurkonditorei Oberlaa. It was a hot day so I decided I'd have an ice-cream. With wild berries. Hat geschmeckt!

This was one of my favourite places in Vienna this time. It is Gloriette Pavillion in the Schoenbrunn gardens. It stands on a hill so there's a wonderful view from there onto the palace and the city. There's a cafe inside (I wrote my postcards cards in there waiting for my coffee!).

Here's coffee that they serve in Gloriette in close-up (not the Maria-Theresia one I had when writing postcards on Wednesday but Kaffee Advocat which I had on my last day in Vienna)

Interior in the Gloriette cafe, Sunday, August, 24. Spacious, isn't it?

I also bought a cookbook in Austria, "Oesterreichische Mehlspesen", so I'll soon try backing something Austrian!

Drawings brought from the river criuse

2008-08-13T19:28:00.008+04:00

No claims for artistic value, it just was so nice having a notebook and a pencil/pen after a long pause and after typing and looking at the screen a lot!

A general view of a town on a river. Purely from imagination based on old impressions (I did it at the very beginning of the cruise before we stopped anywhere)
Two friends. People usually smile looking at these two
A chicken who run away from his mum into the nearby forest and decided to entertain himself by reciting poems (I have a story about him)
This has no artistic value, but I tried to fix general view from the ship'd deck. Love this kind of travelling

Elisabeth, as Queen of Hungary here (I used two photos from the book, the official photo in coronation dress and also the photo with a dog I like very much. but it's more not a copy, more of an Elisabeth-themed drawing)
Elisabeth (again, I used a portrait as a pattern (by Franz Schrotberg, with a blue ribbon, but in my drawing she looks older than her 25 in the portrait)
This took two minutes at most :-)
A made-up still-life
I was really really touched by a sad cat lying on the gangboard when we were stopping in rainy Uglich. Never I will be able to forget her. Strangely enough, it seemed as if the cat was waiting for someone, like a dog waits for a person it loves (like dog Monday waited for Jem "In Rilla of Ingleside". Maybe, once it will turn into a story of a cat's love and loalty...)

The words run: "HELP HOMELESS CATS"

Birdie

2008-08-13T18:43:00.003+04:00

It's from older drawings, about 2 years old, made based on a photo from "Vogel im unseren Garlen" - "Birds in our Garden" books.

Теплая тишина (Warm Stillness)

2008-07-31T17:53:00.013+04:00

"Дзинь" - прозвенела росинка.

Сонная синяя тишь.

Не залопочет осинка ,

И не зашепчет камыш.

Тишь.

И малыш, засыпая,

Видит волшебные сны.

Будто июль, уплывая,

Сделал ладью из луны.

Легкая лунная стружка

Тихо прилипла к сосне.

Теплая наша речушка

Чмокает сладко во сне.

```

Warm Stillness

"Jingle", - a dewdrop jingled.

Sleepy blue stillness.

No aspen will mutter a word,

No reed will wisper a word.

Stilness.

And the baby, falling asleep,

Is seeing wonderful dreams,

As if July, sailing away,

Turned the moon into his boat.

The light curve of the moon

Slightly stuck to the pine.

Our warm brook

Is squelching sweetly in her sleep.

```

It's a beautiful poem from my all-time favourite collection of children's poems (the name of that book was "The tomtit is having her birthday". Make me think back of childhood and also makes me feel a little sad (like in Anne, beautiful things always hurt a little), for only a little piece of summer is left before Autumn and August is never a very a hot month and begins to smell autumn and school. And also, Birthday away (and Birthdays are somewhat bittersweet themselves), nothing much to look forward to. And school on the 1st of September was never something I was looking forward too, indeed! (It was like going back to prison, even though I had good friends and teachers and was good at almost everything. It's just organized time I could never get into).

```

The painting belongs to some English pre-Raphaelite painters, but now I cannot remember to whom exactly.

Birthday

2008-07-31T11:18:00.006+04:00

Thanks to:

Mintie (and the 24 cats in the card!) for the beautiful card, Bangkok cards and an absolutely wonderful Elisabeth of Austria photoshopped card. And for sending everything beforehand (it was quite a problem, the lady from the next block got your package again so I got it only several days ago!)

Angel for the beautiful Greek-themed card and the amazing video. I did recognize many works but there were still many I did not know!

Paula for the card (either my internet connection is too low or I don’t have some FlashPlayer so I did not see the picture, but I could read you kind words all the same!)

Katie, Katya, Alena, Anya and Anatoliy for kind words on vkonakte.ru. Tanya A. for her wishes on odnoklassniki.ru.

Olga Vladimirovna for the phone call and kind words. Also thanks for calls to Maria Ivanovna, Katya and cousin Misha.

Vadim Vitalyevich who did not know it was my birthday but surprized me with – “a text to translate into good hands” (quoting him). Lol!

Kindred spirit Lena for kind words, the poem and the presents I will get some time in August when I’m back from river cruise with mum and dad.

Isabella for kind words here on the blog and Michelle for the message on facebook. Also thank you Isa for Lord Nelson caramel tea, I finally tasted it yesterday morning. Hat geschmeckt :-)

Godmother and granny for their love and cards and presents and for coming and tasting Eiswein and lunch with me.

Mum for helping me with the cake and other food. And for pink gladioli.
(Auntie) Tanya for the best present – a silver necklace!

Vera Pavlovna and Sasha for flowers and presents (the box from the cups will do perfectly to keep letters!) and for the fun with the stuffed dog. And for being patient with me crying (I cannot sing) some songs from “Elisabeth” in the car ;-)

My sister Sveta (in advance) for bringing me something lovely from Creta on the 10th and leaving mum only for myself for whole ten days! And for helping me lighting the candles on the cake ;-)

Gladioli - my Birthday flowers

Sandwiches. I also made some meat and cucumber ones, but they did not look so presentable as to make pictures (Tasty all the same though)

Eiswein - finally there was some event to open it

A bit of cake for everyone, If you need the recipe just let me know. Never again a package of 24 candles will be enough for my cakes…

Birthday girl with mum’s flowers

Happy and wearing Tanya’s necklace if you can discern it!

Birthday girl and red roses in the café courtyard (they cannot cook there but it does not matter!)

More summer paintings

2008-07-19T19:35:00.005+04:00

Verandah in twilight

Summer

A lady with an umbrella

The firs two were painted by Isaac Levitan, one of the most famous (and one of my favourite) landscape painters. Lucky me, I've been to his museum 3 or 4 times before, but it's already 7 years since my last visit. His museum is in Pless, a little town on the Volga, and we always visited it when on river cruises with the family. And, more lucky me, at the beginning of August we are going on a river cruise again in so many years and we'll be visiting Pless again!!

Well, the first painting is a little romantic, and the second one is Russian summer itself.

The third painting was painted by Ivan Kramskoy (the lady is his niece Ludmila). I love it very much for the lady's elegance and the summer feel and I'm proud it's in our local art museum in Nizhny Novgorod (so I've seen the original, not only a postcard copy!).

Maybe I'll find something else on Russian summer in painting, or summer in Russian painting, any way you like to put it. But I'm not promising :-)

Als ich fortging

2008-07-19T00:27:00.004+04:00

Als ich fortging war die Strasse steil - kehr wieder um
Nimm an ihremem Kummer teil, mach sie heil.
Als ich fortging war der Asphalt heiss - kehr wieder um
Red Ihr aus um jeden Preis, was sie weiss

Nichts ist unendlich, so sieh das doch ein
Ich weiss, du willst unendlich sein - schwach und klein
Feuer brennt nieder, wenn's keiner mehr nährt
Kann ja selber, was dir heut widerfährt.

Als ich fortging warn die Arme leer - kehr wieder um
mach's ihr leichter einmal mehr, nicht so schwer.
Als ich fortging kam ein Wind so schwach - warf mich nicht um,
unter ihrem Tränendach war ich schwach

Nichts ist unendlich, so sieh das doch ein,
Ich weiß, du willst unendlich sein, schwach und klein.
Nichts ist von Dauer, wenn's keiner recht will,
Auch die Trauer wird dasein, schwach und klein

Discovered this beautiful and melancholy song today, sung by Rosenstolz, but seems they were not the first to sing it.

Picture: photo of the road some three weeks ago when I was returning from granny's (colour, brightness and contrasr adjusted).

A video from youtube with the song hidden in the link.

Ein Bild zum Traeumen

2008-07-17T19:28:00.003+04:00

I looked through my painting card collection today and found an absolutely beautiful summer painting among them! It's just permeated with sunlight and justsmells July. And indeed, the name of the painting is "In July"! The painter is Yevgeny Stolitsa (not famous, I don't know any other single work of him), and it was 1897 when he painted it! The painting is now in Samara art museum and indeed, the nature and the sun here feel a little southerner than here in Nizhny!

A wonderful painting to look at it and relax. Enjoy!

Fuer Isabella zum Geburtstag

2008-07-07T23:36:00.004+04:00

Liebe Isa!

Ich wuensche Dir alles, alles Gute zum Geburtstag, alles, wovon Du traeumst und viel mehr! Zum Beispiel zum Jane Austen Festival in Bath fahren ;-) You are such a lovely person that you truly deserve it :-)

Deine Irina

P.S. Das Original schicke ich mit dem naechsten Brief!

It's a small world

2008-06-30T16:49:00.003+04:00

I went to Germany three years ago and among places of interest I visited Marksburg, a medieval castle. After the tour which was really very very interesting especially since I had been in such a place for the first time in my life I went to the souvenir shop and was completely captured by medieval-style earrings there. So I ended up with the earrings exactly like in this photo. The jewellery box has the manufacturer's name - "St. Justin". Today I decided to look the manufactrurer up, and? to my surprise, the earrings appeared to have been made in Britain, Cornwall (Daphne Du Maurier's country!) after some celtic patterns. The long intricate patterns mean longevity the site said about my earrings. All this is very nice, Britain and especially the romantic Cornwall but I expected to be buying some German jewellery in a German castle. Lol! You can never know!

The site displays many other beautiful products, so everyone who's interester in silver eye-candies can look the site up from the link hidden in the post title.

Amelie und die Liebe unterm Regenschirm

2008-06-29T23:20:00.004+04:00

I finished this book last week and I feel really sorry it ended for it was such a nice cosy read to have in bad weather curled up with a bit of cinnamon tea (Christmas mystery in June (!) and marshmallows. It tells a story of a young owner of an antique toys Amelie Lenz, from Vienna, who once bumps into a stranger on a rainy day and loses her heart even if she has not seen it face under the umbrella... Of course, she's trying to find him and eventually the man of her dreams appears somewhere where she has not been looking. All in all, it's cute for the Vienna feel, especially if you have been there before and can recognize some places. The book has a very cute toy character too, a large teddybear Augustl, who sits in Amelie's shop window and is ever decorated with various accessories according to Amelie's mood.

(Oh, I find it hard to be retelling a German book in English!)

Well, when I finished it I definitely felt I wanted more "sugar" :-) But switched to "Little House on the Prairie" so far (it's a treasure I discovered in the staff room bookcase at the Uni). Speaking about the Uni, the academic year is finished, we've eaten O.V.'s bluberry cake and now I may think myself free for freelance translating (already started and it's sooo boring to translate about boring machines) and also some holiday afterwards! Belive me or not, but it's the first time I've been looking forward to the beginning of an academiv year hardly has one come to it's end! I think "this academic year results" deserve a separate post later.

I am Emily

2008-06-21T14:39:00.001+04:00

Which L.M. Montgomery Heroine are You?

I did this ages ago and now was reminded of it by Paula's post. So let it be here. Time to read about Emily, by the way, I suspect these may become my absolute faourites by LMM!

Can't help it

2008-06-11T00:19:00.004+04:00

I wanted to write a coherent post here on Elisabeth later, but I can't help posting it here now. She's absolutely amazing!

(I mean this video: http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=YY-4efOKjeU)

Frozen

2008-06-10T17:57:00.004+04:00

It's so cold outside we had to switch on the portable heater and it still doesn't help much/ I want nothing but wrap up in a shawl with a cup of Christmas Mystery (!) tea and L.M.Montgomery's diaries or better Amelie und die Liebe unterm Regenschirm. It feels so much like late autumn! I was taken for a student again. Yesterday I had a re-sit with a student and while she was writing the test I sat at a desk in the next row. A group of students went into the classroom and announced they were going to write a paper there, their teacher would not be present however. I had to expain we were having an exam there. Then the students... asked when our teacher was going to come. Sure I had to explain and saying sorry they left my student and me in peace. I think it will still continue several years longer. Not that I mind it much (better than too look like ateacher ;-)) but sometimes it's too tiresome to explain to people I'm a teacher! it was so cold at the Uni too. The classroom was awfully big and I entertained myself examining the desk graffity left by many many students who had to while away a boring lecture there. I was reading a bit of Amelie und die Liebe unterm Regenschirm too, it fit so much because it was describing late autumn! It does not look like June at all :-( And June my favourite time of the year for its long days and the promise of a whole summer ahead!!!

Not hard on myself anymore

2008-06-07T13:12:00.003+04:00

The results were exactly as I expected, there were two failures that would have happened all the same had I even given an easier text to them. The rest of the works were pretty good or at least satisfactory. I'm now searching for an easier text for those who failed to give them a chance to re-sit.

Today I had a dream mum and I were in Vienna... Evidently I had been reading up about Vienna and watching/reading/listening about Elisabeth too much. In the picture is my sister's stuffed dog Bulya and her little (they are a big family joke with us!), here they are thoughtfully studying a Vienna map!

I am a bad teacher

2008-06-03T13:23:00.005+04:00

I picked up a too difficult text for the 2nd year exam. The bad thing is that I could not consult anyone at the Uni beforehand: all the teachers were away, so there was no time to change it really after I showed it to the head of the department. Now I feel awfully incompetent and unprofessional and guilty. Even afraid to touch the papers I am to mark. --------------- A song from musical Elisabeth and a drawing I did this night as I could not sleep (inspired by the song).
Ich wollt ich wäre wirklich du In der Zwangsjacke statt im KorsettDir schnür'n sie nur den Körper einMir fesselt man die SeeleIch habe gekämpftUnd mir alles ertrotztUnd was hab ich erreicht?Nichts, nichts, gar nichtsDenn die einzige Lösung wär der WahnsinnUnd die einzige Rettung wär der SturzEs lockt mich der AbgrundIch möchte michFallen lassen -Warum schaudert mir vor dem Sprung?Wär ich nicht verdammt dazuElisabeth zu seinDann wäre ich TitaniaUnd würde lächeln, wenn man sagtSie ist verrücktIch steh auf dem SeilUnd die Angst macht mich krankDenn schau ich nach unten, seh ichNichts, nichts, gar nichtsIch taste mich weiterMit suchendem SchrittUnd fürchte mich immer vor demNichts, nichts, gar nichtsWirklich frei machtwahrscheinlich nur der WahnsinnDoch zum WahnsinnFehlt mir der MutSo spiel ich die StarkeUnd tu was ich tuAls wär dieses Leben mehr alsTäuschung, Irrtum, BetrugAls wärNichts, nichts gar nichtsGenug