Happy New Year!!!

World, friends, everyone... Happy New Year!!!!! I got too much champagne I guess, but it feels good! LOL May all your wishes come true, may all your fears disappear (champagne helps, trust me!) and have a wonderful, beautiful, loving, lucky New 2013!!!

Life is short...

Remember this?

Life is short,
break the rules,
forgive quickly,
kiss slowly,
love truly,
laugh uncontrollably,
and never regret anything that made you smile.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than the ones you did.

So throw off the bowlines.
Sail away from the safe harbor.
Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore.
Dream.
Discover.

~ Mark Twain ~

And I'd say: don't be afraid to do all this.  :) Have a different and wonderful New Year!

Snake edition: ladies

Ladies... the Snake year is coming. This is a New Year's edition of my ramblings, dedicated to fashion outbursts. LOL No, it's going to be stylish just like the Snake requires it to be: sleek, exploring, sly, enigmatic, bold yet elegant, secretive yet seductive... with an unexpected twist. Colors: black, ivory, indigo blue, dark green, the sea patterns, metallic. And keep the dress as close to the body as possible! LOL

 

(my favourite! Lanvin!)

Patterns, patterns...

 

 

 



 

 

 



On the other hand, you can knock the whole party down, ignore any style experts and shoot for the ultimate piece of shorts! LOL

 

In this case I find the dress absolutely unnecessary. The shorts will do the job. LOL

Whatever the clothes, don't forget your jewelry. Choose one piece but make it bold.

 

 

And most important: don't forget the Snake is a mythical creature, a keeper of many treasures and of ancient knowledge, a master of transformation, an award winning actor on the universal stage, a subject of both passion and hate, one who will never go unnoticed if she doesn't want to... We are not indifferent to her. We may admire her or fear her but we can't ignore her presence. ;)

Near the end

What an interesting end of the year I'm having. First, I found out that "Side By Side" was actually shown right here, under my nose and right on my birthday (!!!) while I was fighting the gone mad powers of nature in Tuscany. True, there was no presentation here and this festival is totally uknown to me (and I tend to know the festivals quite well), and there was no proper publicity, otherwise I would have known the movie was going to be here but still... Oh well. Another city, another time.

Then I'm meeting people I haven't seen for fifteen years at the local market while I'm picking apples and bananas... Those people happen to be old flames. Ended up in a piano bar listening to heartbreaking stories in which I played the leading role. Of course, there was nothing true in them, I'm not that mean. LOL But the bar was really nice. I love piano bars. Starting to wonder what to expect in the remaining three days. And do I really want to know? Yes. I do. It should be a big and nice surprise but I can handle a hint or two in advance. :)))))))

(the snow melted, sadly, but at night the city still looks beautiful)

P.S. Someone has bought the dress I wanted to get for the New Year's Eve. I'm very disappointed. It was only one. And there is no other indigo-dark-night-blue dress like that. :(

Pushkin, Winter Morning

To me winter is very much Pushkin poetry and Russian memories. I choose "Winter Morning" for today as I look outside and the snow has covered everything, the air is filled with sparkling snowflakes, the streets are still white, and the city lies bewitched by some late magic. This is one of my favourite Pushkin poems, a gentle and very touching tale of someone who is more than a friend which I think virtually impossible to be translated but I found a relatively good translation too in the link below the original.

(If you have the chance to get on a Russian "trojka", please do! One of the most romantic ways to celebrate winter ever!)
А.С. Пушкин ЗИМНЕЕ УТРО

Мороз и солнце; день чудесный!
Еще ты дремлешь, друг прелестный -
Пора, красавица, проснись:
Открой сомкнуты негой взоры
Навстречу северной Авроры,
Звездою севера явись!

Вечор, ты помнишь, вьюга злилась,
На мутном небе мгла носилась;
Луна, как бледное пятно,
Сквозь тучи мрачные желтела,
И ты печальная сидела -
А нынче... погляди в окно:

Под голубыми небесами
Великолепными коврами,
Блестя на солнце, снег лежит;
Прозрачный лес один чернеет,
И ель сквозь иней зеленеет,
И речка подо льдом блестит.

Вся комната янтарным блеском
Озарена. Веселым треском
Трещит затопленная печь.
Приятно думать у лежанки.
Но знаешь: не велеть ли в санки
Кобылку бурую запречь?

Скользя по утреннему снегу,
Друг милый, предадимся бегу
Нетерпеливого коня
И навестим поля пустые,
Леса, недавно столь густые,
И берег, милый для меня.

http://www.russianlegacy.com/russian_culture/poetry/pushkin/winter_morning.htm

Have yourself...

a Merry Little Christmas, of course... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZ6yQgBvuoI

After all, it came... all the same. Just like in the Grinch story. I wish you all faithful friends, happy ends, merryments... May the Fates allow you a smooth sailing. :) Merry Christmas!

No hidden (Christmas) catch?

This "holiday season" has all chances to win the prize "most hated of all times" if it goes on like this. I feel like Grinch. My son was sick and I hardly managed to heal him somehow. I am sick. I almost lost my thumb and in fact, don't know yet what will happen with it after all the antibiotics are done. Hopefully all my five fingers will remain where they are and in good condition. More than half of my friends here are a/facing separations, divorces; b/having violence issues at home, or c/being sick themselves or their kids are sick or both. All our party plans are ruined, as a result. Work projects were thrown out the window due to health issues. Some next year plans related to my son's first school year across the ocean seem quite impossible at this point... And, uh... What Christmas? What else is hidden in Santa's oh-so-big bag? I'm not sure I want to know anymore.

So... I'm hoping for no hidden catch, no strings attached... Depeche. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8S249dr-jY

Their performance here which I couldn't work on as I was currently on the other side of the pond is one of my biggest professional regrets. There are very few names I'd love to work with, they were among those, and we just went different ways at the time... I love them. As well as this song which, of course, has nothing to do with my Christmas ramblings but on the other hand, Christmas is supposed to be about love, no? And not every love but pure love. The one they say has no requirements, no expectations, doesn't envy or lie, doesn't know jealousy or games... Same one.

Highways, choices...

Among my most "favorite" expressions is the famous "My way or the highway". Aside from the obvious arrogance and lack of proper manners it betrays, it's a sign of non really existing but marching "boldness". Many times I've tried to explain to people there is a significant chance they are placing their bet on the wrong number. Imagine, there are some of us who actually like highways. We would choose the highway any time. Imagine there are those of us who feel free on the highway and not on your way because your way may turn out to be a narrow sidewalk walking which we can't breathe. Sadly, those people never think of this possibility in advance. They feel in "control" declaring such dusty phrases.

But, as Frank Sinatra once sang, "I've travelled each and every highway, And more,much more than this, I did it my way." Which would be priceless if it didn't turn into a war. But it does. Then comes the inevitable reflection and the equation's final result is not always positive. May be sometimes it's worth abandoning all roads, highways and sidewalks and hit the woods. Without a direction or a path ahead. If only both sides could swallow the pride and the unnecessary words. If you can.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8m0dJXtwwiY

Or it may be just holidays approaching (again!) and against all traditions I'm becoming more stubborn and not at all embracing the Christmas spirit.