Artists I admire/adore/am envious of pt. 1

Hello there!

I decided to start making blog posts about some of my favourite artists and why they are in my favourites list, starting from Jen Wang, who was actually the one to inspire this idea anyway. I definitely wanted to do a post about her, and then I decided I should make that a series of posts about different artists.

You'll ask, of course. Why do you want to dedicate a post to this Jen Wang lady?

Has it ever happened to you to be really, really fascinated by a work of art? Truly, utterly fascinated by it? In a way that makes you want to just stare at it and take in all the details and understand why it looks like this?

That's what Jen Wang's art does to me.

Yes, her art is beautiful. Her style is lovely, and she uses her techniques well.

But, at least to me, there's so much more in it.

A few days ago, I decided to have a look at her site again. I was just looking for eye-candy, but I ended up looking at everything she has uploaded there and sitting in the same way for about two hours. And I don't usually do that.

I was sucked into the world of her paintings, savouring the colours and the atmosphere, staring at her works, trying to see fully into them. Somehow, they manage to really move me. They manage to evoke my feelings in a very strong way, that not many artists get to achieve. I immediately want to discover all the details, to try to find a story behind it. I don't care if her paintings are in a website and not a museum, or if the style is cartoony. They seem more real to me than a lot of things in the real world. Or, rather, some of them do. Others just look like from another world.

I know that you might not feel like this - after all, each person sees and feels different things, especially when it comes to art - but you can't deny it, it's plain good art, isn't it?

:)

Links:

blog
site

PS.: I WANT TO BUY "KOKO BE GOOD" SO F**CKING MUCH.

All works of art in this blog posts (c) Jen Wang.

July already!

Hello wonderful people out there!

I'm sitting right outside my front door in Rhodes - the only place in the house I can connect to the net. It's slightly uncomfortable and quite hot, but I love the sun on my legs and the electric blue tiles. :)

So here you go, the Notes from the Toothfairy game, from yours truly, Elviella, because I love doing this thing.

On July...

...I like: so many things! the sun. the sea. just walking around. working! (more about this one later) not getting enough sleep but not being tired. lemon sorbet. Rhodes' old town. my hair growing longer. my hair becoming a tad more golden. sunny songs. the beach. doing stupid things in the beach. white t-shirts.

...I don't like: the hairs on my legs. and the pain necessary to get rid of them.

...I want you to know: that I think that I should seriously write more here and that I hope to do that.

...I've planned: a short comic! :D It's for a contest in 9 magazine, and I'm really into it now. It's about a librarian. And some other things.

...I want to say to someone special: Good God, I SO miss you, Sherlock. And you should speak louder in the phone, most of the times I can't hear half of the things you say.

(I really wanted to have a picture here but I haven't any pictures in my sister's computer! I do promise some in the next post. C: )

Okay, now I'll explain the "working" thing. As some of you already know, last summer I worked for some time in a hotel, in the kitchen. Good times, really! So this year me and my dearest cousin are repeating that and I've already worked 8 days. We are planning of getting pictures and writing about our work, so you'll learn more about that. Most important thing is, I'm having fun, and I really hope you are, too. :D

Yayyyy!!

Hello there, Elv and Vls here!

Yeah, long time no post, we know, but this one will be a quick one. Because...

WE'RE GOING TO WATCH AEROSMITH LIVE TONIGHT!

Oh yes. We know. It's freakin' AWESOME. Oh God. We would be SO excited if our little siblings weren't so godsmackin' ANNOYING. Dammit. Little bit of a soundtrack, and we promise to post more stuff. But only after tomorrow.

Summer's knocking on our doors.

On June...

...I like: sneaking in my sister's room, borrowing her netbook, "stealing" other people's internet connections and surfing on the net by myself, in peace and quiet, in my bedroom. (my computer is in the living room -.-). And my pink transparent trainers.

...I don't like: that the last day of my exams I'm having an exam on ALGEBRA of all things.

...I want you to know: that blogging and receiving comments on my posts make me happy!

...I've planned: going out A LOT, getting a haircut, and painting more.

...I want to say to someone special: that no matter how much I used to love you, and how sad I am about all the things that have happened between us, I DON'T CARE ANYMORE. I'm not willing to continue feeling like shit because you are angry or annoyed or whatever. Get some sense and then we'll talk.

(I'm doing the game from Notes from the Toothfairy :3)

Some music before going, because tonight Kat, Ion and I are going to the Maraveyas Ilegal concert. :D

This is a post about donuts.

...or just happy things.

I had thought about THREE very serious business things to write about (one about friendship, a review about 500 days of Summer that is stack in my head days now, and another thing about something I'm making). Still, I'm posting something that has to do with donuts and songs. Because, for no apparent reason, I feel HAPPY. I was just here in front of my screen, thinking of what I should do later and reading something over at livejournal - and then, I felt so happy I wanted to scream it out loud or something!

Instead, to save my neighbours' ears, I decided to share it here.

Here you go:


AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHHHHHiuoahrgv9woaehge24g920983r9y8uhyzix75ed12brl;egk=-03hiu-45hnbioryg3[4ytj -insert scream of happiness-

Why I'm happy? NO IDEA. I...I just suddenly felt such a huge inspiration inside me, and it was such a over-fulfilling, wonderful thing! I'm in the mood to do practically anything, and I'm so happy about it! Even if I don't really do something special, I'll be happy just for getting this feeling!

Anyway, I said this thing is about donuts.

On Friday, my younger cousin came to visit (from Rhodes, haha. He and my aunt came here for some celebration), and we were a bit bored, so we decided to bake something! Yes, we are the kind of people that bake/cook things when they're bored. Actually, we both love creating things in a kitchen - and for a 11 year old boy, my cousin is wonderful at doing that. He even wanted us to make something on our own with whatever we would find, but I protested because if we messed up, everyone would blame it on me. Or not. I just wasn't in the mood for gastronomic experiments. So I came up with this:



It's DONUTS, baby! :D A thing I've, like, NEVER made before and that is a bit difficult to make right. But who cares?

So we got the stuff we needed and did what the recipe said. The mixture was very, very thick, and very, very hard to blend nicely, but we did it! Then we spread the dough on the table and cut our nice, round donuts, and by that point I was really happy, really hungry, and tired after all the blending.


And then, I realised I had to fry them in very, very hot oil and all. How lovely. It was very relieving that my dad came home and that my sister and cousin convinced him to do it. (He held a grudge to me because I hadn't done the laundry xD)


Then he offered to help with the frosting, which came out very smooth and tasty, and was too much for the donuts, actually, so we ate the spare (yay! :3)



So here is the result of the next morning (after some hours in the fridge):




Yes, they tasted GREAT. :)

I also said I'd write about songs, but now I don't really have something to say. I'm not listening to anything right now, because I like the birds chirping outside and the sounds of the neighbourhood. They really make me feel like it's summer. C:

But here is a part of my summertime playlist:

Mungo Jerry - In the Summer Time
SEAMO - My Answer (a Naruto ending - the animated video is very nice and carefree!)
KT Tunstall - Suddenly I See
The Magic Numbers - Forever Lost
The Black Eyed Peas - I gotta feeling (it's funny 'cause I don't like the band nor the style, but the song makes me feel very happy, and, in my opinion, it has a very summery mood)
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros - Home
Train - Hey Soul Sister
Coldplay - Strawberry Swing

I will complete my list of favourite summer songs and then I'm thinking of making a picture for each one of them. What do you think? C:

Closing, I'll make a list of things I feel inspired to do now:

-Cook/Bake something
-Watch a film (suggestions?)
-Draw!
-Write some story or something
-Tidy and organise the monster of a bookcase I have (a lovely monster, but a monster nonetheless)

Well, I might not do anything and read more blogs :P

Until later! <3

(some more donuts just to make you jealous! :P)

PS.: thanks for the comments and follows! :)
PPS.: If you want the donuts recipe, just ask! <3

A generation of stolen dreams.

Hello there, people.

It's Thursday afternoon, and I should be studying. Yet, this thing I want to tell you about hasn't stop buggering me since the morning.

My friends and I were out, eating ice cream, after sitting our exam. We were just chit-chatting, talking about people we know, about the latest flirt (not mine!), about ice cream. I have no idea how the economic recession and the political situation came up.

And then, all hell broke loose.

We are living under very difficult conditions. The mother of one of my friends is unemployed. Another one, had 500 euros cut off her salary. Another one's father hasn't been paid for months. Everyday, we hear about all the things the working people will have to go through. Worse than that - we don't know what conditions we are going to work and live under. If this country will be a place where we will be able to live freely and have children, if we will work and be paid. Every right the working people have seems to be taken away. And then - we feel that something else is taken away from us - from the kids, the young people. Our dreams.

When J. talks to her mother about what she wants to do in the future - be an actress, or a teacher, and travel, and have kids - her mother tells her that it's very possible she won't be able to do any of these. That she will have to work without knowing if she will be paid for her work, since the employer will be able to give her the money he wants to give her, not the ones her work is worth of. Her mother hasn't got a real job the past few months, and she has probably stopped believing that she will get one soon.

A. says that her parents tell her to leave, go to Europe or America and live there. Her parents didn't even considered letting her live by herself while in University until two months ago. She doesn't know what to do. The way she views life is the most realistic out of us four, but now reality scares her - she can't think straight about her future.

V. may not talk a lot - but I'm pretty sure she's thinking the same.

And we all realise. Of all the people in our school - we are some of the very few that seem to be concerned about all these. Of course - we don't know what other people have in their heads. But I know for sure that no-one talks about it.

Are we so numb? Are we so engrossed in what's on the TV or on our computer screen? Are we afraid to talk? Yes, these are not things we talk easily about. But not one mention? Not one? Are we scared of talking, unsure of what to say? Are we unable to put our thoughts into words?

I...I don't know.

J. said today what we our dreams are taken away. Stolen. They prohibit us from dreaming, saying we will never manage to do all we want. Saying we will have to take care of ourselves - find the way to survive. If surviving means I have to stop dreaming, I'd rather die, thank you very much.

Actually... I'm not sure. I don't know what to believe. I don't want to believe that us young people don't dream anymore. I don't want to believe that we are numb. I think that all we need is a reason to wake up, and dream with eyes open. But, will we do it? The reason is given, but we are afraid. So many things happen, we see our parents so worried, we hear about all those economic stuff we can't really understand. We can't fully realise what's in order, or how we can stop it.

I feel she is right about us being prohibited from dreaming - the television stops us from dreaming; our parents are worried and tell us not to dream because our wants won't come true; the teachers don't talk to us about anything but the lesson; between ourselves, we are trying to seem loose and carefree, or we are loose and carefree and not preoccupied about anything. Welcome to life people, after the 700 euros generation, the 0 euros and no dreams generation.

Damn. I'm sounding far too pessimistic. I'm trying to talk about what I worry about and can't seem to be coherent. Mostly, I'm trying to tell you what we were talking about today, mostly what my friends said.

I don't want my dreams taken away, and I don't want to be a part of a generation that has no dreams. And I'm not willing to give up on them, nor are my friends.

WE ARE THE ROBIN HOODS OF THE DREAMS.

Here, I said it. I'm discouraged by what I hear (or don't hear), worried about the future, angry about what's happening... Yet, earlier I wrote a list of 101 things that make me happy, and yesterday I was counting my possible future occupations.

I want to be an animator.

Or an illustrator.

I want to own an arty cafe.


...or a bookstore.


I want to travel.



To draw, to listen to music, to create whatever comes to my mind.

I want to make my house the way I want it.

(I couldn't find a nice picture for that ;___;)

I want to have fun, to be with friends, to see new places, read more books, taste new things.


As my mother says, difficult times are ahead, but this doesn't mean we will stop living. We'll try to make the best out of everything, we'll need the best out of ourselves, our ideology, our values. And what we need will always be other people. People need to be together, especially in difficult times. They need each other, and they also need their dreams.



PS.: Okay. Enough rambling and sappiness for now. I think I want to bake something.
PPS.: I don't own any of the images used. I know for sure that the artist behind the last one is the wonderful Rebecca Dautremer. The others belong to their respective creators.
PPPS.: What do YOU dream of? What do you want out of life?

How (not) to study Ancient Greek.

Hey there! Remember my last post? Well, I didn't come back to say if I finished, but I did finish and in fact I think I did very well in the exam. So here's a presentation of my studying method (note, not a very dependable method that is)

How (not) to study Ancient Greek

First off - Gather anything necessary.


1. Dossier with notes from class
2. Ancient Greek schoolbook
3. Helping book, part 1
4. Helping book, part 2
5. Notebook for anything that might occur
6. Ancient Greek grammar (nyaaah -.-)
7. Pens and pencils
8. Beverage of your choice (mine is lemonade, but that day it was coffee because I was far too sleepy - it is VERY important by the way, the spoon becomes a lovely distraction device once you get bored.
9. Clock - so you know what progress you have done, or rather, how much time there's left til you freak out.


Secondly - Get organised.

Before you decide to start studying, organise your books, so that you know which part of a book corresponds to what part of another one. This is probably the only thing that you will do that you will be very devoted and determined to finish, so do it well!

See the colourful little papers? I wrote on them what chapter of the book it is in that page, and with the same colour, there's the same chapter in the helping book. I only had two colours of post-it notes, so I used one for Xenophon and one for Thucydides.


Thirdly - Make a studying plan!! (which you won't keep)

(Sorry, forgot to take photos. It's not necessary anyway - No-one ever manages to follow their studying plan)

Then - Start studying!

You studying for like...what, half an hour? Hmm, maybe some more? Of course you're bored! It's time to KILL SOME TIME DOING RANDOM THINGS! -everyone's favourite hour!-

One of the best and most usual ways to do that is to shoot random photographs (going out for a walk, having a bubble bath, or going to hunt lions aren't as practical - your parents will figure out easily and, plus, you'll need preparations)

The worst quality the photographs have, the best! :D















See? Told ya you'd need the cups!










(The only excuse is that toes look cool. :B )

What else to photograph? Look around! Everything can provide an interesting subject. And by interesting, I mean random.














Okay, okay! Enough stupidity! I gotta study again. Fuck.

...But what can I do? I study, until boredom strikes again (after a little bit more than half an hour - small attacks of boredom in between don't count).

Bored of photos? Let's doze off for a bit - you don't even have to change position (my "dozing off" record is 45 minutes)


But - it's photo time again. There we go! Markers!














And shoes!

Once again - start studying! Time is running out! D:

Okay, this time some real studying happens - but then...

...I spot my mp3 player nearby. Now this is a temptation no-one can resist. D:

And since I like to draw while listening to music...















Oh, great. It's lunch time. And the exam is tomorrow? Oh, lovely. At least, that will make me study.

Indeed, now I get to study a lot. Still, not enough - I end up studying irregular verbs at 10 o' clock p.m.


...



Gah. At least it's over....


ENDING CREDITS - a collection of completely stupid self-photographs, because everyone does that. I prefer to take ridiculous rather than pretty photographs, and you'll see that.



































...Now I have Physics. Great.

-THE END-

I'm off to go make BANANA PANCAKES now. YAY!