Thursday 10 January 2008

8 random things about myself

Darla at Books and other thoughts has tagged me for this,so here am I again with another meme, not about books though. Or not entirely. Enjoy. I will also have to tag 8 more people...

1)I like making things. It can be food, knitted scarves, notebooks, cards, cosmetics…I like the process of making them, sometimes more than the finished product. I love the feeling of the dough for a cake in my hands, the softness of the yarn while I knit and the pride of watching the knitting taking form, the joy of mixing colours on paper before painting. I’d love to learn how to make pottery, because I like handling clay. One day I’m going to learn how to sew properly and maybe design my own clothes.

2)I am an artistic gymnastics fan. That sport with the beam, uneven bars, floor and vault. Not with clubs and ribbons. That’s rhythmic gymnastics. I did some gymnastics when I was younger, and I was actually good but never had proper coaches nor proper gyms. I have an insane amount of tapes of recorded gymnastics competitions, which I got through trading with other gymnastics fans. In 2004 I even went to Athens to watch the Olympics.

3)I have a thing for Japan. Food, mangas, 80’s anime, Harajuku’s street style, all that kind of things. My dream is to have enough money to go on a backpacker’s trip to Japan, travel around, sleep in a traditional Ryokan, and take a bath in its hot spring common bathroom, possibly in some remote little village on top of a mountain. Then taste all sorts of food, go to one of their festivals and look at all the colourful stalls, write a wish on a strip of paper and hang it on a bamboo branch. I’d like to be there for the blossoming of the cherry trees and have lunch in a park surrounded by pink petals, enjoying the arrival of spring. Then I would spend few days in hectic Tokyo, and visit all the manga shops and spend a fortune on silly gadgets. I might even buy a cartoon costume and be a cosplayer for a day. Anybody wants to come with me?

4)I’m the best at NOT keeping resolutions. I’ve just bought a book when I had said I wasn’t going to buy anymore books this year. It’s a special one, I’ve been wanting to read it for two years now, and I’ve ordered it especially from the States. I meant to keep it for the shop and let other people buy it. But I couldn’t refrain myself and here I am, reading a book that’s not in my tbr list, that’s new and not even part of a challenge. But, hey, another resolution was not to get stressed over reading, and to read for pleasure, so there you go. Even.

5)My heaven on earth is called Levanzo and it’s a tiny island in Sicily. I’ve been going there on holiday since I was born and I believe it has a magic effect on me. It recharges my batteries. There I feel inspired, relaxed, creative. I’m going to live on that island when I retire, one day. Or possibly sooner, if I make enough money to buy a house there. (sigh).

6)As a kid I never believed in Santa. For some reason I always knew it was my parents who were buying the presents. But I believed in a guy called Asdrubale (pronunciation for he English speakers: as-droo-ba-lay). He was the product of my playschool teacher’s imagination, who told us that he was the coolest guy, a sort of super robot. He could fly and he had lots of buttons to press. If u pressed one you could have a shower of sweets. With another one a bunch of flowers. He was an almighty hero for all of us kids. And I firmly believed in him. Until some other kid cruelly said: “I bet he doesn’t exist. I bet he’ll never come to us. He’s only an invention of our teacher”. Hence instilling the doubt in my faithful child’s heart.

7)The first book I’ve ever read is “How babies are born” (I still have that book!). Every day I would sit down, look at the watch, and dutifully read for 30 minutes straight. I was barely 6 and I thought the book was very boring and not clear at all, what with all the bees, and flowers, and chickens. Also I thought “spermatozoon” was the weirdest word ever!

8)I like sleeping a lot. I get grumpy if I don’t sleep my 8 hours at least. If I don’t sleep enough my whole day is going to be ruined. I would have headaches and a general feeling of hatred for everything that’s around me, except my bed. Which remind me that I work tomorrow at 9 and it’s way past bed-time…

That was fun!
Now for the tagging, I've no idea who did this already but let's try. I'll randomly tag:
trish
Tiny little librarians
melody
alisonwonderland
carl v
chris
raidergirl
aloi

6 comments:

Jill said...

I really enjoyed learning more about you! Your fantasy trip to Japan sounds heavenly - I would love to join you! I love making things, too - I have a blast doing stuff with my kids, and I've also been learning to make pottery for the past year or so. I have a long way to go, but I really enjoy myself (I always did love to play in the mud). I spent quite a few summers in Sicily, but unfortunately I've never been to Levanzo. It sounds amazing. I spent most of my time near Siracusa. I miss the cannoli and the granite di mandorle. Sigh. Oh - and I'm totally with you about getting sleep. 8 is okay, but 9 - I feel great! Thanks for doing the meme.

Anonymous said...

ooh, i've been tagged! i can see so many similarities between us (well, no. 1 and to some extent no. 3). plsu we share a love for YA books!

be posting something soonish! :)

raidergirl3 said...

Your island sounds marvelous! I spent an afternoon on Capri two years ago, and vow I must go back.

Tagged! I'll get to this sometime.

Anonymous said...

my answers are up, valentina. thanks for the fun tag :)

Abhinav Maurya said...

You're gorgeous in that pic of yours.

valentina said...

wow thanks :)