November

The weather is awful. I don't like November - it's such a sad month... There is only one person who managed to show me its cold beauty and convinced me to admired it - L.M. Montgomery.  I've just read her book called "The blue Castle" and these few lines about November changed my attitude.. :)

November--with uncanny witchery in its changed trees. With murky
red sunsets flaming in smoky crimson behind the westering hills.
With dear days when the austere woods were beautiful and gracious
in a dignified serenity of folded hands and closed eyes--days full
of a fine, pale sunshine that sifted through the late, leafless
gold of the juniper-trees and glimmered among the grey beeches,
lighting up evergreen banks of moss and washing the colonnades of
the pines. Days with a high-sprung sky of flawless turquoise.
Days when an exquisite melancholy seemed to hang over the landscape
and dream about the lake.  

All Saints' Day vs. Haloween

Many of my facebook-friends added a lot of new photos recently, which show them wearing dreadful costumes. Yes, it's famous Halloween. We all know this tradition from American movies ;) Well, as for me, I find it quite silly. People want to be "as cool" as Americans so they pretend to be a vampire or a werewolf or Joker from Dark Knight. It's not just a problem of costumes - there's something much more deeper.. I'm trying to understand why do people want to scare each other. It's like.. well.. It seems to be against nature. Ages ago people were struggling to deal with fear and know we are creating monsters just to 'feel the thrill', isn't it weird? Maybe I'm odd, but I have never even watched a horror movie, because I really don't like this feeling - being scared.  

Well, as for the tradition - it is great, but unfortunately it's not ours. We used to celebrate All Saint's Day on 1st November. Well yes, it's quite a sad day - we don't party, we don't drink - we are reminding of our relatives who have died. It's a vital element of Polish culture. Why should we abandon it?  

Routine..

I have still mud on my sneakers. Just think: I was on the beach yesterday.. I visited my friends who live in Wolin. I love this place so much :)
But today is Monday.. and I hate Mondays. Hello routine! I missed u, I truly did :]

Slava Ukraini!

I'm looking at my photos from Lviv right now.. just to cheer myself up.. ;) It was such a great time - the best part of my holidays actually. I went there with my two friends. We had no plans - we just wanted to spend that time together and have fun. So, we were sightseeing, spending money on our silly whims and each day we were dinning at other restaurant. I remember very well dinning at one, called 'Kryjivka'...

It's quite remarkable place because it refers to the Second World War and UPA and it looks just like a real partisan bunker. Finding the restaurant is pretty challenging because it is built underground. When we finally found the old wooden door and we knocked on it, an old man - a real stern guard, demanded a password. "Slava Ukraini!" we answered (thanks to the guidebook we were able to) and so, we were allowed to enter 'Kryjivka'. Everything inside refers to the UPA, old wooden tables, authentic photos of UPA soldiers on the walls, waiters dressed like partisans, mouth-watering Ukrainian dishes in military plates. I really enjoyed it - the atmosphere was great, my 'pielmieni' were delicious and the service was so nice although I'm Pole. Yes, I really did. Until I found in the menu a duck in cherry sauce - a dish called 'Tupolew' for 24 hryvnyas...

:(

Great.. I'm sick again :/ Headache, fever, chills.. I love autumn colds so much.. :/

Artful disarray

     I must admit: I love 'artful disarray'. Even now I'm struggling with stacks of books which can collapse in any moment on my laptop. I've just found one that I had read during holidays - "Eragon". Everybody knows the title because it was a bestseller few years ago. Well, I've never been really obedient to the trends, so I was waiting for Eragon until book-sales in 2012 ;)
     We all know the history, a poor farm boy finds a blue stone in the forest which is not a stone at all in fact. When time comes it brings a blue dragon - Saphira, and that fact changes dramatically Eragon's life. Because of his new friend, he has to leave home and he starts a great adventure.
     I thought that it would be a great pleasure to read it, as for it was said to be a famous teenage bestseller, but actually I found it not so 'cool'. I had an impression that the author doesn't trust me. That he thinks I'm not able to imagine the whole story, so he bombards me with tiring, meticulous descriptions which make the narration unnatural and... boring.
     In spite of all these minuses there was something that caught me - the plot was so gripping that I couldn't put it down. I remember my night-reading- that's another thing I do love, next to artistic muddle ;) So.. To sum up, the book is still.. really worth reading!
May your swords stay sharp!

I'm back!

My holidays were great! Three months of traveling and exploring... three months spent with my friends. I'll miss that time! But now I'm back. Back to university, to new challenges and new goals. Yet, I don't have much work to do so I'm enjoying my free time. I've just finished watching a great movie "Pearl Harbor" and I really liked it. The history of the people shown in the film was moving. Especially, I liked the characters of women, nurses - firstly they were careless, pretty girls flirting with soldiers, but after the attack they became strong and brave as they were saving people in the hospital. But there was one thing that disappointed me. Why in every American film dies the guy I like? Why the screenwriter killed Danny Walker? :(

The dripping tap and cup of tea..

Sometimes some unpleasant situations can turn to be really pleasant in fact. I have experienced it today..
This morning started as usual.. Alarm clock, breakfast (this time on the balcony), packing my bag up and visiting the bathroom. But this the most ordinary activity has made me a little nervous today. I discovered that my bathroom ceiling is marked. Fortunately it was just water, unfortunately it seemed that my neighbors had a small flooding in their bathroom. After a few minutes I knocked on their door. A young women opened it after a while. She was at my age actually. I forgot that this apartment was rented a few months ago. Anyway, I explained her the situation and I found out that she had a serious problem with a dripping tap and so we called the plumber. While we were waiting for him she offered me a cup of tea and we started talking..
The plumber came, he mended the tap and left and we were still chattering and laughing...
I had no idea that above my head lives such a great person.  She became my good friend and I must say that this cup of tea was definitely worth my marked ceiling.

"The Wisła" festival

Yesterday our east neighbors,  Russians, watched last films which were presented during the 5th "The Wisła" festival in Moscow. I must say that I really appreciate the idea. The festival was initiated in 2007 as a response to "Sputnik in Poland" which presents Russian cinema. I considered both festivals as a great opportunity to get to know our cultures. For some people in Russia the festival is the only way to meet polish culture. This year during "The Wisła" were shown such polish films as 'Rose" by Wojciech Smarzowski or "The Black Thursday" by Antoni Krauze with tell about our not always good relationships. We all know our history and in my personal opinion facing difficult subjects on the big screen is a way to understand each other. This year were presented our best rewarded films and I hope that they moved the Russian viewers.

Seven Pounds..

   

       Yesterday I watched again my favourite film, Seven Pounds by Gabrielle Muccino. With tears in my eyes - as always. It's a rousing drama with Will Smith playing the main character which tells how much human life can change. Grant Nieparte wrote such a thought-provoking script which makes the film extremely haunting.

       The film is a moving story of Ben Thomas who survived the car accident in which the woman he loved and six other people died. He's blaming himself for this what did happen and he decides to compensate that by helping seven ill people. The film reaches a dramatic climax when Ben devotes his life to save one of them. 

       Seven Pounds is a riveting film despite it isn't action-packed. The plot is totally absorbing although it's quite complicated. The mystery of Ben is slowly unfolded and the atmosphere of awaiting is accented by impressive soundtrack. The script is absolutely touching, but this which makes Seven Pounds a captivating film in my opinion is spectacular acting. Especially powerful performance of Will Smith makes the main character entirely believable. Emotions of Ben Thomas are shown exceptionally convincing and shock the viewer. 

       I think it's so unfair that Seven Pounds didn't get any awards. In my opinion Gabrielle Mucciono should be appreciated because he created a masterpiece.  It is definitely a film worth seeing. I recommend it!   

By the sea...

Last weekend I went to the seaside.. The weather was rather stormy, but actually I prefer clouds and wind than dazzling sunshine.. I was walking on the seashore and I couldn't give up crooning The Old Ways...


The thundering waves are calling me home unto you..
The pounding sea is calling me home unto you..