Books and magazines (or languages and music)

Hello, welcome to the news edition of Cuttings on a blog!

We're discussing Dreaming in hindi at the Hermit Book Club today! I'm starting the conversation:

Dreaming in Hindi is the story of the author, Katherine Russell Rich, while living in India and learning Hindi for a year. But not really. It's mainly a collection of theories, ideas, and reflections on learning a second language.

Read more...

Come and visit even if you haven't read the book, as we can have an interesting discussion about learning languages and living in different cultures. At some point in the book, the author mentions a Slovak proverb that has stayed with me: With each new language you acquire a new soul. In my experience, and that of the author of the book,  learning a new language is a window into a different world, and speaking a language can make you into a different person, even without you realizing.

On other news, have you seen Stacey's new venture, Music Sandwich? It's a music magazine with a multicultural angle. For this first issue, I wrote an article about the history of tango and the city of Buenos Aires. Oh, how I miss Buenos Aires... Unfortunately, the photos in the article are not mine, because I managed to lose most of them. There are also articles on jazz, electro music, and my favourite section: Sounds like... where you can discover local bands from all over the world that sound like the ones you already know and like. Have a look!

Latitude: More than a music festival

Entering the festival site

OK! Where did this week go? Finally, here it's the promised post about Latitude! Because I know you've all been impatiently waiting for it!

Latitude's organizers market the event as "More than a music festival", and that's exactly what it is. Of course, music is a big part of it an it is part of what makes the festivals' atmosphere so attractive. They have great acts and many people come exclusively to see them. They have, after all, five music arenas, but there is so much more to see and do outside these areas: theatre, cabaret, literary talks, comedy, film, radio, a knitting surgery...

Knitting surgery

This is my favourite thing about Latitude. The amount of interesting shows, and the variety of it. You can watch a theatre play, then move to the Comedy tent to see an act, go and watch a short film in the Film and Music Arena before heading to the Literary Saloon for a debate on the future of the book and finally going to the main music stage to see Pet Shop Boys. There is so much happening that acts have to really try hard to captivate their audience. With so many other interesting things going at the same time, they can't afford to lose audience interest. And they very rarely disappoint.

Overview of the fields

The downside is that it'd be impossible to see everything you've planned to see. Inevitably your favourite things happen at the same time, or something is running late and ruins your schedule, or you forget about them in between all the other acts. The upside? If you let go of your schedule, you are very likely to find an unexpected gem, a new singer or writer you hadn't heard about!

It's funny how some people do their research before they go, grab a timetable as soon as they get there and then follow a plan all weekend, and others just drift from place to place looking for something they may like. Some simply camp in their favourite tent and spend a whole morning, a day, or even a weekend there. I'd love to say I'm one of the spontaneous ones, but I did lots of planning and research before I went, so I knew what I wanted to see. I did however allow for some free time and ended up discovering great surprises... the inspiring and slightly scary debate on climate change that took place in the Music and Film Arena, the absolutely brilliant and funny Jessica Delfino in the Comedy tent and the very young and very talented Ruby and her Whorses on the Poetry Arena.

Outside the poetry tent

Another thing I love about Latitude is that many of the people that perform over the weekend do it more than once and in different arenas. These artists are very difficult to classify, some appear in the Comedy tent first and the Poetry one later, or read their poetry and then sing in one of the music arenas. I love how there is music everywhere, even in the literary tent some of the acts manage to include music during their set. For me, great artists are those that express themselves in lots of different ways, that use many subjects and different tools, that simply follow their inspiration and let it guide them to the right media. On a personal level, this makes me realize that it doesn't matter that I don't know "what to do with my life", that maybe I'm meant to have more than one calling. That it's OK to want to write, take photos, make collages, that I can actually express myself through words and images whenever necessary. That I don't have to choose.

Outside the Literary tent

Going from tent to tent is so inspiring, there are so many ideas floating in the air, so many interesting people either performing or attending (sometimes both!), so many new things to learn, books to read, websites to check out, bands to listen to... It's impossible not to come back inspired to write that book, start that research project, or experiment with your blog... And I'm going to do all of those in the coming months! So wait and see!

But before, I want to tell you about some of my favourites from the weekend.

Comedy tent:
Mark Thomas: Ah, he should probably be the oficial ARWP comedian.
Shappi Khorsandi: Iranian-born, her family moved to England escaping the regime. She makes fun of politics, death threats, and race and can express better than anyone what it's like to belong in two different places, to be a foreigner at home... always with a laugh.

Theatre
The theatre was seriously good. This tent was the first and the last that we visited at the weekend. We started with Is everyone OK? a play by the group Nabokov about being 30 and wondering "How did I get here?" (so appropriate!!) and finished watching an incredibly funny account of sudden loss of dignities. Check the Bush Theatre website for more. And if you have experienced a sudden loss of dignity, let them know! They may include your story in their next show!

Is everyone OK? by Nabokov

Literary Arena and Literary Salon
They had great writers at the Literary Arena, but what I really enjoyed was the Literary Salon, where there were debates on the future of the book, workshops on how to play outdoors or how to talk to strangers with The School of Life and talks about writing for the BBC. Well, you all know how much I like taking courses and workshops so as you can imagine I spent a great deal of time here. Also they had sofas!

A very tired me at the Literary Salon on the Sunday

In here, I was reminded that we should sit sill from time to time, let our mind wander, because than when the best ideas happen, and that we shouldn't let the fact that we are amateurs stop us from doing something. So what if my photos aren't perfect? I enjoy taking them and that's enough for now.

Film and Music Arena:
My favourite thing was Richard DeDomenici talking about plagiarism. Has everything been done? he asked, and although his presentation, tracking down the roots of many famous works in music and art seemed to say that yes, everything has indeed been done before, he ended up reminding us that there are new ideas around and it's up to us to find them! We also saw a fascinating debate on climate change. We were urged to make drastic changes to our lifestyles before it's too late, to commit ourselves with real action and to pressure our Governments to make a commitment to change in the Copenhagen Climate Conference in December. See where your country stands here.

Music
All my favourite ladies were there (OK, Zooey Deschanel wasn't) I was already looking forward to both Bat for Lashes and Regina Spektor. It was the second time I saw Bat for Lashes live and she has grown and improved so much in two years. Regina was incredibly sweet, and she has such a strong and light sound at the same time, it was incredble watch her play the piano. The surprise of the Festival was Grace Jones who I didn't really know as any more than a famous name. She is an amazing diva and gave her everything to the public.

Grace Jones making a grand entrance

Also, The Doves were amazing, I'm not really a fan but there were great live and really engaged the public. Thom Yorke, of Radiohead, did an exclusive solo gig on Sunday morning, a mellow set that was perfect for a quiet Sunday morning. I also discovered and loved Sky Larkin. And The Pretenders! OMG, I heard I'll stand by you live!!!

Ufff, sorry for the long post. If you got here, thanks for reading!! I can't stop talking about it! And I can't wait for next year's Latitude!

Randomness and links

Hello people! I'm still here, even tough I haven't been posting much, and not only because I've been feeling shy! Work is absolutely crazy, and there are other things going on in my life at the moment that I'll have to tell you about (good things that are making me feel all grown up!). I don't have the energy right now, but I'll soon be back with some planned posts about my awesomeness (because you know I AM awesome), my diary wreckage and, most important of all, my first dressmaking project. In the meantime, I'll leave you with a random list of random links.

Do you want to see some dreamy photos? Go to the Daydreaming images in the Rebecca Miller's portfolio. How would you represent daydreaming?

***

I'm still obsessed with yellow and I've found a couple of cool things in the blogospehre lately:

A yellow room from This is glamorous. Have you noticed the little office? Want.It.

And this lovely dress from my new favourite shop, Ruche. Go to their blog for more.

***

I'm sure you know Kerri Smith, the author of Wreck this journal. She posted this on her blog a while ago and I really want to remember. I always resist when I'm doing something outside my comfort zone, but, of course, those things I do turn up to be great most of the time and make for fantastic memories.

***

Have you seen this brilliant project about little people in the streets of London? It reminds me of a cartoon I used to watch when I was a kid, The littles. Do you remember it? More on the little people blog.

***

This is a lovely modern love moment that I saw in Le Love sometime ago. I just think it's perfect!

My mobile phone quit as I tried to let my wife know that I was caught up in traffic and would be late for our anniversary dinner. I wrote a message on my laptop asking other motorists to call her, printed it on a portable ink jet and taped it to my rear windshield. When I finally arrived home, my wife gave me a the longest kiss ever. "I really think you love me" she said, "at least 70 people called me and told me so.

***

I found this poster in Naturally Nina. What can I say? My thoughts exactly.

***

I'm loving the Disposable Memory project. Disposable cameras are released into the world for people to take some photos, pass them on, and finally send them back to the organizers. When we were in South America last year, my boyfriend and I used to have disposable cameras competitions from time to time. See the results here and here. And this is me, in Cuenca, Ecuador, snapping the winning photo in our second competition!

5 questions

Sussanah (of Unravelling and Ink on my fingers fame) invited us all to participate in this game. She sent me five questions that I'm answering below and I'll send five other questions to those that want them. Just leave me a comment if you want to play!

1. If you had to be stuck in a lift with someone, who would you choose?
I'd rather not be stuck in a lift at all, but if I really, really had to, I'd have to choose my boyfriend, he's great when I panic (and I would!) and of course, there is none I'd rather spend my time with, lift or not. Or maybe Keanu Reeves in his Speed incarnation, because he'd get us out of there in no time.

2. What's your favourite day of the week and why?
Definitely Saturday. I love the feeling of having whole two days to do what I want to do. Unless we're going somewhere, Saturday mornings are always a slow and lazy time in my house. It will more likely include breakfast in bed (yes, I have a great boyfriend), some Internet surfing, reading or film watching. Then, we'd go to town for lunch, to the park, or will have friends coming over to visit.

3. You have £100 you have to spend right now - what would you buy?
No problem, leave me in Borders for half an hour and the money will most definitely be gone. Although, because I want to belong at blog camp (7 days to go!!!!), I'd probably have to go and buy some chucks.

4. What's your superpower?
I can pretend I'm listening to my colleagues when I'm in a meeting while planning my next post here at the same time.

5. What compels you to keep a blog?
I started my blog as a way of creating a writing routine and an outlet where I could post all kind of things and be as random as I want. This is still one of the best things about having a blog. But what really makes me continue writing is you, the people I've met through this blog. You live in the UK, Denmark, US, Canada, Japan, or South Africa and yet, I can connect with you almost everyday. You do different jobs and are of different ages, and still we can always find something to talk about. I've met wonderful people and fantastic blogs online and I'm going to meet some of those people for real in only a week! We've started a book club that got me reading interesting books that I may not have picked up otherwise, I can see different corners of the world every wednesday... Do you need more reasons?

So, do you want five questions?

Randomness and links

I don't normally write random posts, but today my head is full of randomness and more than a bit fuzzy. This may or may not be due to the fact that I haven't had coffee in over 24 hours. I didn't decide not to have it (could never do THAT), but my stomach is telling me that it may be a good idea not to drink coffee for a while, like until tomorrow. And this leads me to the first bit of randomness:

How come I spent a whole year in South America, and didn't get any stomach bugs, while everyone around me was ill, then I come back to Europe and I start getting them? So I asked this very important question @ Twitter and I got interesting responses, VEG thinks that it's the Universe telling me to drink more coffee to kill the bugs, Extranjera thinks that the bugs already on my stomach were killing the South American bugs. I, the eternal optimistic, think that it's the Universe telling me to go and live in South America, since I liked it so much.

***

Which leads me to Twitter (Ha! Not so random after all, there IS a method to my randomness), I've been on it for while but couldn't actually understand the point of it! Suddenly I totally get it! See? I was told Twittering was microblogging, which may sound very exciting but gets boring after a while, specially if you like talking non stop (140 characters is not enough!). But it's actually such a good conversational tool and, when you are following interesting people, they post really good links to lots of good articles and websites. Do you twitter? If you want to follow me, I have a link on my sidebar.

***

I don't normally miss receiving letters in the mail, I think it's much easier keeping in touch in the age of email and Facebook, but I do miss getting pretty cards and postcards. If you want to start getting postcards from all over the world, join Postcrossing here. I've just joined! I discovered this website because it was tweeted (is that a word?) by Angelthreats. (Ah, Twitter again)

***

If you are anything like me and the blog camp girls and like to spend your whole day in your pyjamas, but feel bad and lazy when you do, and unfortunately need to eventually get changed when you have to leave the house, then go to this clothes website here. They had me at their name, Pyjama Room and their motto: "comfortable luxury". Is there anything better?

***

Finally started to properly read The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao for The Hermit Book Club. I'm loving the writing style and specially the humour; the author manages to make everything funny. Even some very tragic things. I'll tell you some more when I'm at least half way through (hopefully I'll have time to read this weekend, as we're discussing it at the end of next week!

***

If you have a business and are struggling to find a cool name for it, go here. If you don't need a business name, go anyway, because it's so much fun! I quite like Peach Banana Design and Red Parrot Labs.

***

To end on a lovely note, lovely Lynette from the lovely blog My creative fling, gave me a lovely award. I want to pass on this award to lovely Jan, who writes a beautiful blog called Race of Style. Jan always finds the best things from Britain, tells us all we need to know about Paris Hilton (please, don't stop) and loves Cecil Beaton. Although she's not keen on Twitter. But she's a caring and lovely lady, so she truly deserves a lovely award. Go and visit her!

***

What randomness is going on in your head at this very minute?

It's the small things...

Amanda over at Sucker for marketing published 6 unimportant things that make her happy and invited us all to play along. So here it's my list!

Weekday mornings: Now, hear me out, not that I'm crazy to go to work, but I've come to cherish the time in the mornings before I go to work. I've got into the habit of getting up an hour earlier than I need to and so I'm normally the first one up. I love getting down to the kitchen, putting the kettle on, having the first coffee of the morning (one of many), and sitting down with my coffee and my journal or my Mac, to think, write, or read.

Home made fruit smoothies: They make me feel good and healthy and they are so, so yummy!

Borders: I love the Borders in Oxford. I should probably tell you that the concept of a bookshop where you can browse, pick up books or magazines, sit down with them (and a coffee), and just relax and enjoy is completely alien in Spain. I literally could not believe it the first time that I got into Borders when I moved here 8 years ago. It's still my favourite place, although I should probably not go so often, specially when I'm trying to think before I buy.

Friends, the TV series: I know what you are thinking. It may not be the best TV program in the history of TV, but a good episode of Friends never, ever fails to put me in a good mood. In fact, J has learnt that when I'm having "one of those days", he only has to suggest we watch an episode to make me happier.

Blogging: Why? Real people ask me (that's people not in the blogosphere). Let me see: I've made new friends, there's going to be a blog camp, and we're starting a book club. In blogs I find lots of inspiration, laughs, beautiful photos, crazy ideas, random facts... and all, without leaving the house.

My pink wellington boots! which are not really pink, but anyway...

What small things make you happy?

Am I taking on too many challenges?

I kind of started another challenge yesterday, the "Think before you read the news challenge" (although I need another name for it!!). I'm still trying to work out how I'm going to keep myself informed and, at the same time, avoid the panic and mass media induced hysteria. You left some good suggestions on the comments, so I'll try some of those and report back.

But this got me thinking about my other challenges (yes, I'm one of those, in order to do something, I need a challenge... or a deadline, although worryingly these don't seem to work as well anymore). I can remember three at the moment, and I'm sure there were others. As always, trying to do too much.

The 2009 Reading Dangerously challenge (more info here) is, incidentally, how I met Julochka, who brought most of you here. I'm so happy you are here so thank you for coming and thank you, Julie!

You can see my list of dangerous books in my sidebar, of which I've read exactly one. I remind you I'm writing this on May. I'm reading, I'm just not reading dangerously enough. I've just finished eat pray love, which is a lot of things, but definitely not challenging. I'm still trying to decide if I liked it or hated it (can a book be inspirational and annoying in equal measures?). So, next on my list, one that has been on my bookshelves for a really, really long time: White Teeth. I'm trying, really trying.

The other self imposed challenge is Think before you buy (I'm so good at coming up with catchy names!). I'm trying to be more careful with impulsive purchases (mainly clothes, magazines, Starbucks coffee and yes, books!). This was going pretty well (except I did get one or two magazines that I definitely didn't need), but I miserably and utterly failed two weeks ago, when Gap decided to send me a 30% discount voucher. Of course I blame Gap, sending me the voucher AND having a collection that I actually like this year! This is not so bad, considering that I used to get a new piece of clothing (or two) every week. It's funny, despite the Gap incident, I've realized that I don't miss all that clothes shopping at all, which has been a real surprise, and just goes to show that sometimes we have no idea what makes us happy.

As for the Disconnect challenge, in which I try to spend less time on the Internet... let's just say I need to try harder.

Where is home?

I'm writing this from Spain, where we've come to spend a long weekend. I should be happy to spend some time with friends and family (and I am) but I'm seriously tired and, probably as a result of it, feeling a bit weird and lost. I thought I'd got to a place where I was at peace with being a Spanish in England. I like leaving in England (yes, despite the rain) for lots of reasons and I enjoy spending some of my holiday in Spain.
During the 8 years I've been living in England, I've gone trough different phases. At first, it was hard to live in another country, specially one where I didn't speak the language, and where I didn't understand many of the customs or personality traits. Then, I started to really like England, feeling at ease there, to the point where so many "Spanish things" started to seem strange or even wrong to me. Finally, I enjoyed having two so different homes so close to each other and the fact that I could easily switch from English to Spanish (most of the time).
Now, I'm starting to feel a bit lost in both countries, missing one when I'm in the other, and never completely happy where I am. Where is home? I keep asking myself. I've always thought that at some point in my life I'd go back to Spain and settle down, as my Mum puts it (I think I'm pretty settled in England but this obviously doesn't count for her, since it's in "another country" which means I'm "traveling"), now I'm not so sure. But I don't see myself staying in England either.
I read somewhere that "Home is where my books are", something I completely agree on (because you know that books are my friends). The problem is that at the moment, my books (and many other of my possessions) are in two different places.

This week...

I have been thinking about spring! Yes! It's on its way!
He estado pensando en la primavera, que ya llega.


I have been spending lots of time (but not enough) practising my belly dancing routine. I'm performing (in a group) for my very first time next Friday! I'm nervous but, at the same time really looking forward to it!
He estado ensayando para mi primera actuación como parte de mi clase de baile de danza del vientre. Estoy nerviosa, pero al mismo tiempo, me apetece mucho.



I have finally finished reading The catcher in the rye.
Por fin me he terminado El guardián entre el centeno.

Prints, Patterns and Patina - a workshop with Martin Bergström

I have booked myself a place in this workshop at the Fashion and Textile Museum in London.
He reservado un lugar para esta clase.

I'm still unravelling myself. I wasn't very inspired by my camera this week, though. But this post has made me want to take my camera out again.
Todavía estoy haciendo el curso de Unravelling. No me he sentido muy inspirada por mi cámara esta semana, pero este post me hace querer usarla de nuevo.

Photos by B, The book cover archive, Mikael Schulz (via Fashion and Textile Museum website)

If you really want to hear about it...

I have finally finished reading The Catcher in the Rye for my Reading Dangerously Challenge. As I said, I read this years ago in Spanish, but I most definitely didn't get it, and in fact, could not remember very much of it.
"To tell you the truth", I was not impressed at first this time either. I just wasn't interested in Holden's ramblings and was losing all my patience with him. But suddenly, after his conversation with a cab driver about where the ducks go in winter, I was strangely hooked. I was back on my teenage years, and I felt the pain of feeling that nobody cared, that nobody understood, and that I was alone. I found myself nodding when he said things like

"All you have to do is say something nobody understands and they'll do practically anything you want them to."

Because it's just so true. And the pain, the confusion, and the self-awareness is so real.
Towards the end, though, I started getting tired of the self-pity. I could see how Holden was spiraling out of control, and I lost my patience with him. I could not understand his resistance to grow up, and I wonder if that comes when reading this book now, because I now know that, despite the fact that adult/real life is hard, it's so much better than being an insecure teenager with an identity crisis.
If it's been a while since you read this, read the digested version from The Guardian here. Hilarious.

Sit and experience

"I fear we no longer take the time to sit and experience"

From Poetry for You, @ Blurb

She had decided to stop, to look around her, to feel, to laugh and cry. To pay attention. But, after a while, everything was a blur, life rushed back in, and she couldn't stop. She didn't have time to look around anymore. No time for flowers, or colours. Stones or trees. No time for lazy breakfasts and long walks. No time to enjoy.
And then, she remembered. She had to take the time to sit and experience.

Found @ Blurb

Beatifully simple: Clotheslines

Sunny and sweet: Trois Semaines

Both books @ Blurb

If you really want to hear about it...

Yep, I have finally started my year of reading dangerously with The Catcher in the Rye. I've actually read this book already, many years ago. I can't say that I didn't like it, but I definitely didn't get it, or at least, I didn't get as much from it, as many other people seem to have. Perhaps I was too young, perhaps it wasn't the right moment in my life, perhaps the Spanish translation I picked up wasn't very good.
I'm intrigued to see if my experience this time is similar or completely different. I'm a different person in so many ways that I wouldn't be surprised if it was. I'm much more centered now that I used to be, I'm more aware of everything around me (or at least, I like to think I'm), but, above all, I'm so much more open to other people's experiences, opinions and ideas, and so much more confident that being challenged is not longer a threat but a very welcoming experience.
So, I'm off to read and will let you know what happens.

A sweet present

Es el cumpleaños del ahijado de mi novio este fin de semana y este es uno de los regalos que le hemos comprado:

It's my boyfriend's godson's birthday this weekend and this is one of the things that we have got him:Es una historia preciosa sobre la pequeña Susie, que está cuidando al caracol Victor, porque este tiene un agujero en su concha. Las ilustraciones están hechas de letras y signos de puntuación, así que esperamos que a sus padres, a los que les gusta mucho el diseño, les guste también.

It's a beautiful story about little Susie who takes care of Victor, as he has a hole in his shell. The book is drawn entirely with letters and punctuation marks, so we know his design loving parents will appreciate it.

*Update: This has arived! It's rather small, but very sweet!

You can find it in the Brighten the Corners website.

More reading

OK, so I have changed my mind (again) and I'm going to do the Reading dangerously challenge (My Year of Reading Dangerously) properly. Here are the 6 other books I'm adding to my list:

The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger: thanks for the suggestion, Cheryl. I read this book years ago in Spanish and I've been meaning to read it in English for a while now, so this is the perfect opportunity.

Forgotten Voices, by Max Author: I wouldn't normally read a book about war, so that's the challenge. Also, I do want to learn more about WWI as I feel there is not enough information out there about it (certainly not as much as about WWII)

Memoirs of a Geisha, by Arthur Golden: I got this book as a present many years ago, and I want to read it, and then watch the film to compare them.

The Secret Story, by Donna Tartt: I have never read anything by Donna Tart, so it's a new author to try!

Also, two books that have been on my shelves for a really long time: Prozac Nation, by Elizabeth Wurtzel, and White Teeth, by Zadie Smith.

Phew, I better start on one of this soon. Not today, though. This is my first week back at work after more than a year and I'm EXHAUSTED in the evenings, so I'm reading something light and funny: Remember me? by Sophie Kinsella (of Shopaholic fame!)

Reading Dangerously

I'm joining a reading challenge, My Year of Reading Dangerously. I have to read 12 books I consider "dangerous" during 2009. These can be banned or challenged books, new genres, authors I'm afraid of or (my favourite) books that seem to have a permanent space on my shelves. I have 6 books in my list so far (any more suggestions?):

Rayuela (Hopscotch) by Julio Cortázar: Very scary, what I don´t get it?

100 años de soledad (100 years of solitude), by Gabriel García Márquez: Ive loved other García Márquez's books, but, for some reason, have always resisted reading this one.

The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova: As much as I loved Buffy on TV, vampire books are not my thing, but this one has been recommended by my sister so...

The Satanic Verses, by Salman Rushdie: I WILL finish one of his books.

My New York Diary, Julie Doucet: I have never read a graphic novel and this one (recommended on the Dangerously challenge blog) looks great.

In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote: I like "fun, light Truman", but I have always been TERRIFIED of reading this one. Thanks, Jan, for the recommendation!

Come and join us. Otherwise, you can join one of these reading challenges: Art History Reading, A to Z challenge, Childhood favourites.

Update: I'm thinking I'm going to leave my list as it is, with only 6 books. Even though the challenge says 12 (and I definitely going to read more than that number of books this year), I want to have time for other non-dangerous books.

Reading

I love reading. But I, too, wish I could still read like a girl again.

Finding books

For me, finding a book is one of the greatest pleasures in live. Of course, reading something from your favourite author is great. You know what you are getting and you know you like it. But there is something magical about discovering new authors, new themes, new worlds. I recently found The unknown errors of our lives in a exchange book in a hostel in Ecuador. I have never heard of the author and I have never heard of the book. I normally prefer novels to short stories. But I picked it up (I think it was the title what drew me to it), I opened it on a random page and that was it. I read it in a day, and I loved every story. The characters, and their errors, will stay with me for a long time.

Books, books, and more books

Por el momento, todos mis libros (y son muchos, muchísimos!!!!! ¿Qué puedo decir? Algunos se consuelan con ropa o comida, yo tengo debilidad por los libros) están almacenados en cajas, y lo que es peor, en diferentes lugares (la casa de mis padres en Salamanca, la de los padres de mi novio en Oxford, algunas de mis amigos). No veo la hora de tener mi propia casa, en la que colocarlos y podar disfrutarlos.
At the moment, all my books (and I have many, many books! What can I say? Some people get clothes or food, I´m obssesed with books) are stored in several boxes in several locations (my parent´s house in Spain, my boyfriend´s parents house in Oxford, some of my friends´ houses). I can´t wait to have my own place where to put them all!