The One With The Origami Cranes

An ancient Japanese legend promises that anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes will be granted a wish by a crane. Some stories believe you are granted eternal good luck, instead of just one wish, such as long life or recovery from illness or injury.

I've got injured and so I'm not able to act out and decompress the way I usually do - by some physical activity, most preferably: dancing or running.
So I'm making origami cranes in order to, well, just do something that will take my mind off my life.

(Yeah, it's been a tough week... Fortunately, remote virtual hugs help to some degree).

Stay tuned.

The One With Not My Cat

I have been babysitting my friends' cat for the last ten days.

You can get the flat, I can have my under-the-bed. For now.
(Or: day 1)

I'm allowed to lie and sleep all day (aren't you...?).
I'm a cat. A CAT. C-A-T. BTW, that's my spot.

That's MY bed (in case you haven't noticed yet).
I'm going to be generous and let you sleep here -
but only as long as you get up on time to feed me.

Did you sleep well? Oh, good. But that's enough.
Now get up! It's high time you gave me breakfast!
(And yes, I've been watching you while you were sleeping)

I'm going to be gracious and let you scratch me behind me ears. Mrrr.

Mrrrrr. You're a nice girl to have put that laptop away.
After all, I need your lap to lie down and let you scratch my back.

Yep, brushing my belly is also acceptable as a substitute for scratching. Mrau.

What are you looking at? My spot.
No, not your work chair - MY SPOT.
(Be a good girl and scratch me behind my ears, then maybe
- just maybe - we'll talk about who's eligible to sit here.)

Of course that's my spot. Every spot here is my spot.
Told you already. What's not to understand?

My spot...?

What's cooking? (Also my spot. Seriously:
my flat, my kitchen, my spot. Get used to it.)

More photos here.


---

Now I know how people feel around me when they meet me for the first time.
(Being a cat person takes a whole new meaning.)

Stay tuned.

The One Not At The Campus And That Should Have Taken Place A Month Earlier

ca. 9 AM // btw, I HATE running in the morning

24 minutes and 35 seconds later // or 5 kilometres

I've got wonderful friends.

Stay tuned.

The One In The Capital City

And the Warsaw National Stadium was pretty much all I got to see.

Stay tuned.

The One With White Chocolate Coated Blackcurrant Filled Gingerbread

I have visited some interesting places in Europe, but I still have lots of catching up to do when it comes to my home country. The cities are what I want to experience particularly. Last time it was Poznań. This time - Toruń.

Toruń's Old Town consists mostly of timber framing constructions, red brick historical buildings and ruins. Oh, and bizarre doors. You can feel it has different style than the cities of Southern Poland. For me, it resembles some Northern Dutch towns.
Plus there is plenty of nice museums and a great science centre nearby.

Some more photos

Stay tuned.

The One In The Book Fortress

Visiting a library I got books from almost all departments (good thing they all have separate limits):

• adutls'
• chldren's
• comic books'
• foreign languages'
• youth's (despite the fact that I am not really allowed to borrow books from there, since I am neither youth nor any pedagogical sciences student)

And a new library card, even though my old one was still in a good shape.

Incidentally, I made at least one person's day better on that occasion - a librarian smiled looking on my 'book lover' pendant and said she should get one too.

The most successful book hunt in ages.

And the best part is I do have time to read all that - Summer is here!
(Btw, is it weird that my dream holidays do not include me laying in a sand fortress on a beach, but me surrounded by a book fortress anywhere...?)

Stay tuned.

The One With Where 10 Books Moves Out, 10 Moves In

Another book exchange in Cracow (I had already been to one before).
Actually, it is the whole series. They organise such event one a month in the city centre.
It works a tad differently: you get the ticket with the number of books you have brought and you are allowed to take out the amount of books up to that number. It you take less, the ones that are left are going to be passed on to the library.

Rip Van Rinkle, a collection of children's classics by Washington Irving (in English!), seems to be the most promising part of my today's haul.

---

The moment I was closing the door behind me, leaving to catch a bus, I thought I could go by bike as well. And so I did.

First time a sign like this came in handy. More than once, actually.
It turns out there are quite a lot of them in the city centre. And thank heavens for that!

Stay tuned.

The One With The Wall. Or How I Spent My Summer Vacation

I built a wall.
I have build a wall.
The wall in my friends' house-in-progress.
The wall that some day some one will lean on or hang a picture or sth.
In case you do not believe I have superpower: see proof.
It took me approximately five days of hard work.
But it feels... WOW!!

Stay tuned!

The One With The Strawberry Pie, Strawberry Shake, Strawberries With Whipped Cream, And Another Strawberry Pie (Of Different Kind)

What more does one need on a day like this...?

Stay tuned.

The One Where Karo Is Being Creative

I was wrong thinking that I am no artist and I was not capable of being creative in any way. The art of cooking is still art and I like following proven recipes as much as I enjoy experimenting with the ones I already know too well, making up my own meals, inventing desserts.

Today's special - salty-sweet salad:

• black olives sliced in rings
• dried tomatoes cut in small chunks
• feta-like cheese [cut] in cubes
• whole-wheat fusilli pasta
• chopped walnuts

I even prepared my own aromatic dressing (based on various herbs and - in the absence of wine / cider vinegar - martini). Decided, however, that the salad was too good on its own, so I just added a pinch of garam masala (♥ Indian spice mixes!) and a few crushed white pepper cloves. No need for extra salt due to feta and olives being already salty enough; on the other hand, dried tomatoes (and maybe walnuts as well?) have a hint of sweetness in them. Together you get an extraordinary blend of flavours that go along surprisingly well and result in a whole new palatable experience. (The dressing wound up on a bread slice.)

BTW, I must try this cheese & strawberry combination some time...

As far as I recall, the big break occurred when I lived in Copenhagen and made some international friends. We used to meet once a week and have dinner together. The problem was three of my friends were vegetarian... So when I wanted to make a lasagne I had to come up with some idea of its meatless version. That was when and why I discovered pumpkins (om nom nom!!^*), started experimenting with spinach (om nom nom!) and, consequently, some other veggies that I had not particularly loved previously.

Anyone. Even a rat.^**

However:

Anyone can cook. But I realize, only now do I truly understand what he meant. Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere.

Well, I'm afraid I cannot qualify as a great artist and will not become one in the future. But, since I am not going to earn my living as a chef, I suppose I will be fine with that and settle for being acknowledged as a fair and creative cook.

Stay tuned.

---
^* Recently I have learnt that our Czech / Slovakian peers are severely aggrieved. That is due to Czechoslovakian Television, which deprived them of the pleasure of enjoying Sesame Street! What miserable kids they must have been...

^** Yes, Ratatouille is one of my favourites from Disney Pixar animations. One of my favourite films at all, to be frank. For too many reasons to even start listing.

The One Where Karo 'Grows Up'

And how do I know that? Because I have run out of mascara. And of hair mousse. And for the first time in my life I can actually see a hollow in my pressed powder.

By the way, Aggie and I were wondering a while ago why women did make-up at all.
I can only state this: I do not apply make-up - I apply self-confidence. And I believe it is as much about the result as it is about the very process, the ceremonial I would say; it helps you prepare - for anything.
I think the same holds for wearing high-heels, smart shirts and skirts etc.

Another reason may be that I cannot draw or paint, I cannot play any musical instrument or sing. So make-up is as close to the art as I can go ;)

(photo by Dominik)

---

Setting: weekday, evening, in a crowded bus. I am standing, a couple of teenagers are talking nearby. The name Justin occurs repeatedly in their conversation. I think: Justin Timberlake. A minute later one of them specifies: Justin Bieber.
But that is not the proof of growing up - that is the proof of getting old. Yikes!

Stay tuned!

The One Definitely Not In The City

I have always claimed that if I don't live in the city centre, then I don't care much how far from the centre that is - I have to commute any way, so what's the difference?
Moreover, for some time now I have been saying that I definitely prefer my current, further location - if compared to some housing areas that are a bit closer and strictly within the Cracow city boundaries.
Wieliczka poseses many advantages those city estates lack. Among them are the hills. No, they cannot be called mountains, but still - you can hike, up and down you can wander. And it is wild enough to find some woods and fields to walk across, you don't have to stick to the roads; at the same time you don't need to worry that you will get lost, if you sheer off the road.
So I took advantage of the weather and set off to explore the neighbourhood. Over the hills and far away...

Still waters still ice-covered, despite apparent Spring

Left: The Three Witches (or the point where I have absolutely no idea where I am)

Right: Doesn't look like city suburbs from where I am standing, does it?

Finally, we've got some directions!

Jewish Cemetery discovered! In the woods, buried in fallen leaves. Pretty charming.

(Oh, and I think I even got tanned. But I hadn't thought of applying sunscreen... Ouch!)

Stay tuned.

The One In The Cinema-Café [To-Be]

I usually go to the cinema in order to see a movie. Sometimes to see a few movies. Or some other show. This time I went to see the cinema itself.
People who can take credit for me spending many great evenings in my currently favourite cinema in Cracow are soon opening another one. The curious thing: it is going to take form of a cinema-café.
In general, I have never been fond of the idea. But some time ago I gave it a try (had no choice, really: the café room was the only one where they still screened Midnight in Paris and I did want to see that movie). And it turned out to be a lot more pleasant than I'd expected.
Anyway, it seems that KIKA - the soon to-be cinema-café - is intended to be both a café and a cinema - but not both at once: there is a screening room and there is a waiting room where you can get some beverages and snacks. It already looked charming, so cosy and inviting, on the 'open day', which was organised a week before the grand opening (to tell the truth: instead of the grand opening, which got delayed), even though there were visible signs that some work still needed to be done: no screen yet, no movie projector, crumbling walls and wires poking out, unstuck wallpapers etc. Lovely!

Oh, I can't wait!

Stay tuned!

The One With Tarragon (But Without Spinach)

To prepare cream of leek soup did not turned out to be such a challenging task as I had expected. Especially, when I finally got this bloody dragon's wart ( = a nice, folk name of tarragon).

Because I had been looking for tarragon for over three months. I searched for it every time I visited any grocery store. Nothing. Eventually, I remembered that there was this nice, little natural shop, where you could buy various kinds of spices, tea etc. by weight. Bingo!

Which reminds me how much I miss spinach. I do. While abroad, I got used to having spinach-based dinner at least once a week. But I did not use this awful frozen spinach pulp - I used fresh, packaged spinach leaves, which you could find at the fridge shelves around fruit/vegetable stands at every supermarket. And you had to be quick in order to get it - if you didn't make it before lunch time, little was the chance that there would be some spinach left!
Anyway, I learnt that tarragon goes well together with spinach (as well as with courgette, avocado and pears) and that is where the association comes from.

As for the cream of leek - it was pretty good, considered that it was the first time ever I prepared such a soup and I did not follow any recipe but just improvised.

But I still like my cream of courgette better.

Stay tuned!

The One With Reindeer

He turned round, revealing that what had seemed from the back like a harmless navy sweater was actually a V-neck diamond-pattern in shades of yellow and blue — as favoured by the more elderly of the nation's sports reporters.

Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding

Pity, in the movie Mark Darcy is not wearing a diamond-pattern sweater, which was replaced by a reindeer jumper. Still, the scene is hilarious; it makes me smile and creates some kind of a soft spot for both diamond-patterns and reindeer-decorated cloths. Tricky, since it's Christmas time and reindeer lurk pretty much everywhere and can pop out unexpectedly anytime...

Catching up with Adele:

She has been popular for quite a while now. And the more praised she was, the more prejudiced and reluctant I became.
Unnecessarily.

Stay tuned.