Show us a self-portrait.
Take a photo of something in motion.
Inspired by Meg.
It was quiet while I was there, hovering in that perfect time after the rush of tourists, right before autumn creeps in and frosts take over. The leaves were starting to change and settle on the pavement, and in the early mornings the side streets were blocked with markets, which cleared out in time for morning rush-hour traffic. The city is big, and tall, and soviet buildings loom overhead ominously, wetting the ground with hundreds of individual air conditioning units that hum loudly in the afternoons.
When it rains in Sofia, you can walk down the cobbled historic streets and watch puddles form in the sunken indents where graves are located. You can eat at cafes that use sections from early Roman columns as tables; walk th rough a squat, square soviet apartment complex to the courtyard, and you'll find a 3rd century bathhouse, surrounded by clothes lines and mothers keeping a careful eye on children that clamber over the dilapidated ruins. A pedestrian tunnel under a major throughway uses the original city walls as supports; commuters tread over impossibly smooth-worn stones that have been tread already for thousands of years. The history is there, in Sofia, it's just lived in, on, around.
So, I've kind of got the whole grad-school hunt going on. Not somewhere I ever thought I'd be. But, see, I'm kind of getting the feeling that I'm going about it with the wrong idea: basically I want to go to grad school so I can live somewhere exceptional for a few years.
Here's the shortlist, even though it is highly unlikely that I will ever get in to any of these. I can always daydream:
- University College of London, England
- University of Cape Town, South Africa
- University of Auckland, New Zealand
- Ludwig-Maximillian University, Munich
I do actually have a realistic list going, but I'm still totally applying to the University of Cape Town (and UCL, which is actually a top choice on the 'realistic list'). And, really, even thinking of grad school at this point is a little premature -- but, yeah, pretending like I can look forward to two years in Cape Town? Is just about the best kind of pretending there is.
It's been a miserable day, though there is something satisfyingly appropriate about the cold, hard rain that's barely let up at all for the past week. I was up all last night, shivering and sick in bed, alternately tearful and frustrated that I wasn't sleeping. This morning, confronted with dark clouds, a cold apartment, mounds of papers to write and work to go to, I had a difficult time convincing myself that it was worth getting out of bed, ever.
Fortunately, though, I've made the amazing if belated discovery of this album, Stars' Set Yourself on Fire, which I've found to be full of the most perfect get-you-through-the-day songs. I'm usually one for lyrics, and terrible lyrics will inevitably ruin an artist forever and ever for me (example, Rhett Miller, who I thought had some fun pop-y music until I actually bought the cd and realised his lyrics make me want to gouge my eyes out with forks (ie: "sex in wartime is sweeter than peace/ yeah, it's the one sweet thing about war")). Stars, they may have some moderately cliched lyrics here and there, but the rest makes up for it. So much so that I've had it on repeat for about a week, and I'm not tired of it yet. I can see why they were up for (did they win?) a Juno.
What food or drink do you love when it's cold out? (Recipes and recommendations, please!)
Chai tea. The good stuff, when the teabags have been boiled on the stove in milk with a lot of sugar. I also have an unfortunate weakness for incredibly buttery mashed potatos. It's imperitive that either of these be consumed while under a heavy duvet in bed, or cuddled on the couch.
What are your plans for the weekend?
Studying, always studying. Except, not really, because look! Here I am messing around with this vox thing when I should really be thinking about Malinowski!
First post - test?
