Witch

Found some good, really weird music: it’s called ‘Flamma Flamma (The Fire Requiem)’ by a Belgian composer Nicholas Lens, and if I’d try to describe it, I’d say Dead Can Dance meets Koyaanisqatsi meets Carl Orff meets Les Mystères des Voix Bulgares. The texts are in Latin, and consist of poems conceived for every chapter of a book ‘Ignis Perennis’ by Herman Portocarero. Both highly recommended, tho the book is scaringly thin. I read it aloud to 17 year students and we translate the poems, while listening to the music.

It’s good !

Heh, had a nice day today ! This lj shouldn’t be all negative :-). First had a long lie (again), then answered a bunch of emails and played some. Then a friend of mine came over, a young very handsome dude, and above all, really intelligent and very goth ! We had a nice long philosophic talk, did me good.
Then we went for friday coffee: me, hubby and some geek friends who discuss latest web events and technologies over some yum coffee, every friday afternoon. I really look fwd to that kind of meetings. Then Bart and I went to the new sushi bar in town, fast food, expensive, but really yum. After that we had set to meet our friends again at Machine Centered Humans, a very experimental theatre project: Scratch Robot, Sonic Cooking (had some delicious tiramisu) and then a performance of two net artists. We’ve known their project for years now, check it out every thursday between 11 and 12 pm GMT at http://www.entropy8zuper.org/wirefire. I recommend this very much !
We ended our evening with a drink at a real nice place, very arty farty as well :-p.

Yep, one of the better nights of lately. Pity I had to go home because the ache in my back was getting too much. I really hate that back of mine !

Bowels are pretty much ok now, back is getting worse again. And the doc says there’s nothing that can be done about it. I hate it ! It’s obstructing my busy life and all the plans I had during this vacation. 🙁 I can hardly walk right now !
Luckily there is always my Scots love to comfort me (albeit only online right now), the weather is still lovely, and I have a game of Cthulhu to look fwd to tonight. Yay, I can tease Randall again !
Gonna shower now and go to that hairdresser. Gonna leave it all ‘naturel’ this time: no curls, no colour, just me. Heh.

Mmmmm, vacation !!! All I did since friday, when I picked up my Scots love, was: saturday: pick up an English friend at the airport, hang in the sofas, talk… Sunday: sleep late, go to the Rugby Easter tournament, hang around in Gent, have ice cream, drink beer, talk, sleep. Monday: sleep late, hang around in Brugge, have ice cream, have a drink, talk, get back home, sleep. Tuesday: sleep late, wait for a friend of Holland to arrive, lunch, hang around in Gent, have ice cream, have a beer, talk, play Cthulhu, sleep. Today: bring the English girl back to the airport, hang around in Brussels, have ice cream, just enjoy the company of my Scots love, ….
And all of this in a lovely summer weather, over 20� Celcius here, bright blue sky, sun all over, for like 10 days now… Mmmmmmm….
Needless to say I like vacation ?

Yep, just had Faust on the phone, and yes… He said the concert on saturday was lousy ! He went pretty late in the afternoon, and it turned out Funker Vogt just sucked ! He’s a pretty big fan of them, so if he claims he didn’t like the concert at all… There was so little atmosphere, so little vibe, only such lame persons, that they even left before Deien Lakaien and Goethes Erben. Since he told me he really wanted to see those, it must have been pretty horrible. Heh… Glad I didn’t spend my money on it indeed, and that I didn’t feel too lousy about cancelling it.

Just wanted to let you know this, it’s a hell of a busy week, so a positive note is always welcome !

Right now I just wish: Coyote to feel at home at his new place, Jolefay to find an excellent room mate, Morganna to make up with her mother, Bluey to get more sleep, Randall to be happy with his love, Glod to love me, Ecola to see a splendid movie or two, Kai to have an excellent time in NY, and all of you: to be happy !!!

Still feeling ok… busy, but ok !

I think I was just too happy to update this thing. Heh, as so many, I use this channel to write down all my misery, and that helps resolving it. But there is a happy note now, yay !
The stomach thing went pretty well, all in all, and the doc prescribed me some new pills, which would turn me into a new being, he promised. Sceptical tho I was, I must admit he was RIGHT !!!! Haven’t had a stomach ache ever since, even drank a glass of red wine without cringing ! Stupid stubborn me should have gone to see that doc ages ago…
For the rest, it was a pretty ordinary week. Worked, played a little PC, went for lunch with Faust, talked to Les a lot… Played a nice game of Cthulhu, heh.
Had been looking forward to go to an indoor festival on friday and saturday, had arranged to meet a lot of people there, was going to pick up Jurryt at home, but… Friday I skipped, cos the bands coming weren’t that good after all, and saturday morning I checked my bank account and made some necessary payments, and… I noticed I was kinda running short on money :-(. I went to Glasgow to see my love earlier this month, and I broke a lens, so I need to spend money on that and on a new pair of glasses (my eyes need resting a bit more, so no lenses all the time), and I’m going to Paris in two weeks, with a class of 16-year old pupils, all prepaid, but still you spend money there. :-(( So I had to cancel the concert: no Funker Vogt, no Deine Lakaien, no Goethes Erben… Oh well…
Bart and I watched a movie then last night, I read Tolkien (once more) and I did some nice work, so all in all I don’t feel too bad about it.

Heh, I think I just feel content these days. More than most people can say. I wish you luck, all !!

A short update from Scotland, the region where my love lives…
The trip didn’t start out too well tho: my hubbie drove me to the airport (I have the most loving and understanding and caring husband), but when I went thru the security, they noticed my ring on the scanner. It must be said, this ring is made of pewter, but is about 20 cm long and looks like the skull of a bird with a very long beak. Pretty sharp too, I guess you could stab people with it. I really love that ring, it was given to me by Faust and is so dear to me that it’s always in my purse, no matter where I go. I had it on me on several occasions where I took the plane, but now… The guy said he couldn’t allow it in the cabin it all, it was too dangerous. Err… I hesitated, all I could do was give my purse in as luggage as well. As I hesitated, the guy started to make a big deal out of it, took it and went to the police with it. These claimed it to be an illegal murder weapon and therefor confiscated it to be thrown away! There was nothing I could do, even when I started crying ! I just was devastated, and wanted to turn back…
All numb I got on the plane, and at the other end was Les, awaiting me with a single red rose… So sweet ! We just went home, had our tea, watched an episode of Kindred (as I wanted to see that for a long time) and, heh, went to sleep.
Friday we slept long, and finally took his dad’s car (his just broke down the day before I arrived) and went into Ayr for a long walk around the town and the coast line. Heh, and at night he took me for a fancy candlelight dinner :-)))))
Saturday: slept long, played some AC, waited for the garagist to call, walked up to the garage (a couple of miles further)and took a stroll around Troon. Heh, had fish and chips at a local chippy, and man, that fish is good ! Then his friends came over and we played Chtulhu all night long.
Today: Of course we slept long, and finally decided to drive into Glasgow. Picked up Iain, a friend, but Les started to feel bad, so pretty soon we had to leave again. Les is sleeping now, while I’m at the PC. His mom is cooking me dinner, heh, and then I have to get on the plane again :-((((
This visit was wayyyy too short !

Rough week, this last one. On monday I accompanied our last graders to visit a glass factory and a splendid museum in France on the V1 and V2 bombs Germany made during WWII. Interesting, but very tiring. As an addition to that day, I had that visit to the gynaecologist. Can’t say that cheered me up, but at least I recovered by now. Tuesday I just went teaching, and slept. Slept half of the afternoon indeed. Wednesday I was the jury for an international Latin translation contest: spent all day correcting tests, yay… No, was kinda nice, esp. since I had done early and spent the rest of the afternoon at Faust’s, drinking coffee and discussing the weirdest things as usual. Man, that guy REALLY is my best friend ! Guess I just still love him. Thursday: teaching from 8 till 5, and then staff meeting for another two hours, argh ! Hurried home, swallowed some bread, drove off again to my first Nephilim table top session. If you haven’t tried it yet: give it a go ! It’s weird, but fun ! Friday: been teaching till noon, lunch with Faust and the usual coffee and talks after that, and then I went home to sleep a little, finally answer emails, read the papers from the last week… And got ready to get to Antwerp for the Vampire party this month, with a not really gothic friend. Party rocked !! Lots and lots of people, a bit too much techno-based music tho. I love electro, but no techno. At least I got to dance. AND I’ve been kissed by this beautiful girl, a remote friend of mine, who did get a tongue piercing last week. Man, she’s a goooooooood kisser! But I’m not sure: was that her or just the piercing that made me feel like that ? Heh, she had a bit too much to drink and kissed like 10 women that night, just for the feel of it. Left at 4, brought Katleen home, drove home, was there by 6. Heh, and just woke at 3 pm here. Need to leave again for the next dinner party in three hours. And tomorrow we’re going to Amsterdam, yay ! Randall, Stekske, Kai, Sammy and me. Hugius couldn’t make it, is moving this same weekend, pity tho. And on Valentine’s day I’m flying over to Glasgow to see my love for four days !!! Cant wait !!!! YAY !! Me happy happy !!

It’s weird, sometimes I like dinners a lot, sometimes I hate them. And then I mean those elaborate dinners at family or friends. Take yesterday: we had two friends over for dinner. I made scampi flamb� in Ricard and cream, then wild feasant (or however you write it) in a rich sauce of french cheese, a variety of mushrooms and cream, served with Belgian chicory, and a chinese dessert with lychees. Didn’t take me so long to make it, and a lucky thing that is, cos I went storytelling in the afternoon for Randall (he became a TV star), but I had a most enjoyable evening, even tho the house is still littered with dirty dishes now. But in a couple of hours we have to attend a formal dinner party at my parents-in-law, with half of the family whom I can’t stand, and I’m really not looking forward to it. I know the food will be delicious (my mother in law is a wonderful cook) en it will all be very posh, and the only thing I’ll have to do is just sit there, but… Can’t say I look forward to it.

How do other people actually feel towards those kind of formal family dinners ? Or towards dinners with your friends (and I don’t mean a spaghetti or stuff) which take all night ? I mean the thing with the fancy plates, with the silver cutlery and the crystal glasses, candles everywhere, fancy napkins… I tend to like it, with friends. Not with family. Is it such an ordeal for everyone, or is it just me again ?

Please tell me ?

Yes, vacation is over. Can’t say it was the best I ever had tho. First of all I hate the holidays and the compulsory happiness, and man, those carols got on my nerves !
My parents and in-laws came for dinner on Xmas eve, and that was fairly allright, but dinner the next day was hell: bad food, bad company. And then I got ill… Sniffing, sneezing, fever, coughing, generally feeling lousy. The only ever so nice thing was the fact that my Scots love came over, and that felt sooooo good ! We didn’t do much tho, mainly due to the fact that I wasn’t feeling well. Then NYE was allright too, but the next day, those family visits… Hmmm… And then, after I had more or less gotten the better of my flu virus, my PC became infected with a major virus as well that wiped my Windows, so I spent the rest of my vacation trying to set up my system again.
It’s allright by now, but now I’m back to work as well. Back to the old routine of getting up early, teaching, shopping for groceries, doing stuff around the house, make preparations and corrections…

Heh… Just my luck that I really really like my job. In fifth grade we started today with Love Poetry, which is soo nice to teach. Even when I’m feeling particularly cranky, after such a class I feel completely refreshed. Mmmm, Catullus, Ovidius, Horatius… Some Sappho from time to time… And then 3rd grade: the Metamorphoses, really nice as well.

People sometimes ask me why I’m a Latin teacher. I just can’t explain. After all those years I’m still in love with the language, and I LLLLLLLLove to teach 17year olds how to look upon a dead language as being really alive. Heh, the mere beauty of a Latin poem, the dephts of the feelings… I can’t explain. But as my students say: ‘Miss, when we see the sparkle in your eyes when you talk about Latin, we know enough. You love Latin ! You’re stark raving mad ! And we like it !’

Guess life can be okay sometimes.

Oh, and Les ? Love you !