little bit of an addiction...

As I have mentioned before my mum and I are real Longchamp bag addicts. It started when a friend had one in 2002, I suddenly was convinced I needed one too and ran to a small shop in town on a saturday afternoon to buy my first one. The colour was taupe and the size s.
Then it started...there were sales...there was Paris with it´s two flagship stores...there were new colours...and more sales...
So it happened that now we own 20 Longchamp bags (three are missing on the photo as they are on exchange holidays in England and wanted to get a change of scenery).
Think of me whatever you want - I love them :-)

Mrs Messy

In some corners of my flat you wouldn't guess that I'm the messiest person on the planet, would you :-) ?

I shoot people

this week´s "Blogstöckchen" is all about my favourite hobby, photography - thanks Miss Winkelmann

do you like to post your own pictures?
I like doing that but sometimes I simply don't have anything suitable in my archives or am too lazy to search through all of them.

your favourite subject to shoot?
weddings, flowers, coasts, urban decay and general weirdness

who is your favourite photo model?
Tiger, my beloved cat...and Ela, one of my closest friends, who has the most amazing way of looking happy, relaxed and genuine in every single picture. Definitely the easiest bride a photographer can wish for...and great that I am allowed to shoot their church wedding this year again.

how did your interest in photography start?
I grew up as a plane spotters daughter, so some of my earliest memories are connected to sitting on my father's solid silver camera case on various airfields in the 80's (unfortunately as well on that fateful day when the planes crashed in Ramstein).
I always owned a camera and was eager to document my life and holidays but the real passion started when I was searching for a wedding photographer for our big day. I found so many wonderful examples and so many simply horrible ones that I wanted to find out more. I took two classes in 2009, experimented with some old analog cameras and finally bought my first DSLR. Since then I'm hooked, trying out a lot and always eager to learn more.

which cameras do you use?
a Nikon D40 as my main one, a boring Fuji compact camera I lost interest in completely, my iPod touch with the Hipstamatic App for playful moments and some retro fun, a Nikon FE and a Nikon F2 - both unfortunately slightly faulty and waiting to be brought back to their former glory. And I'm thinking about a major update and buying the Nikon D700, if only it wouldn't be so damn expensive...

do you edit your photos on the computer?
a bit and only with programmes that already came with the laptop. And only for changing contrast, turning them b/w and cropping. I don't believe in the over-use of photoshop - try and get it right straightaway and there will be hardly any need for editing (gosh, I sound smug).

what inspires you?
in terms of photography: the yearly exhibition of the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize in the National Portrait Gallery in London. Always leaves me stunned, touched and inpired.

www.npg.org.co.uk

snail mail...

...or: I love DaWanda!
To take my mind of my non-improving and earth shattering cough which I picked up about 10days ago and haven't stopped since, I had a virtual "wander" around DaWanda again. Always find it extremely inspiring to have a look about there but so far never actually bought anything.
That now has changed - I saw this jersey scarf and fell in love. Now I'm waiting for the delivery with anticipation. The best thing about that bloody cough so far is that it gave me the justification to buy another scarf :-)

dawanda.com

Pinkelstadt alias Urinetown

"One of the most uproariously funny musicals in recent years, URINETOWN is a hilarious tale of greed, corruption, love, and revolution in a time when water is worth its weight in gold. In a Gotham-like city, a terrible water shortage, caused by a 20-year drought, has led to a government-enforced ban on private toilets. The citizens must use public amenities, regulated by a single malevolent company that profits by charging admission for one of humanity's most basic needs. Amid the people, a hero decides he's had enough, and plans a revolution to lead them all to freedom!"

I have to confess that I didn't go and see most of the plays, musicals or performances done by student groups in the last years. Yes, even then I still was an immatriculated student but didn't feel like one and was basically completely out of touch with everything. This year now I saw the posters for the musical "Pinkelstadt" and it stayed in my mind as the titel was so unusual (and I had never heard of it). So I went and saw it.

www.mainzer-rhein-zeitung.de

I must say that the plot is rather odd and I'm not sure if I am overly taken by it. But it is a musical after all and who thinks too hard about faults in the plotline when the music and dance is done well?! On the other hand it is great to say such an ironic and un-sentimental musical. Especially if you are fed up with all the A. L. Webber &Co works...what made me proud is that I think I got all the "quotes" from other musicals. Some "Chicago"- like show, some "Hair", some "Jesus Christ" and, most important, some "Les Mis" (even with the waving of the Tricolore). So all my years reading musical magazines and collecting cd's weren't wasted after all ;-)
The quality was amazing, some very good singers. Acting mostly convincing (better than some of the big musicals with their mostly imported clones) and a very entertaining choreography considerring the limited space on the stage of an uni lecture room. So all in all I had a very entertaining evening and am stunned by the amount of effort and dedication some people put into something that is after all only a hobby!
Thumbs up, a success.

And I found a new favourite musical earworm...:-)

(taken from a different production but nevertheless great)

retail therapy

On wednesday I had a quick look in H&M and suprised myself with finding two new addictions to my wardrobe which I already adore.
I picked this dress with a (what I think) lovely gorse print and it was only 7, 95! And, cause it was love at first time, the green fake stone necklace. They both go absolutely perfect together and I'm happy whenever I look at myself in the mirrow today (which is a rare event...).

www.hm.com

Hollywood Lifestyle

I'm a bit late with answering this weeks "Blogstoeckchen" by Miss Winkelmann but as it is a rather unusual one, I just had to.

Imagine you would be an actress in Hollywood, just been casted for your big breakthrough film...

In which film do you play the leading character?
some arty French production winning in Cannes...a new Amelie Poulain

www.locasun.de

Your look?
same as now, streamlined for the screen. So less Gabourey Sidibe amd more Christina Hendricks. And hopefully never the one caught in Juicy Couture tracksuites...

where do you live?
 I will enjoy the luxury of not having to decide - a flat in Paris, a house in the English countryside, another flat in New York, one in Berlin, ...

your co-star?
Colin Firth of course...and to stop it from getting boring Patrick Bruel, Jeremy Northam. Nick Frost and Scarlett Johannson (God knows what sort of film THAT should make ;-))

your allures?
being brutally honest and therefore being disliked by most other celebs...

your special requirements?
having my own chaffeur 24hrs, that's all

what to do with the time between filming?
travel, shopping, eating, doing nothing - so pretty much like I'm doing already ;-)

your fans?
probably no teenies and that would be good

your problems?
not being used to all that and obsessively googling myself and thinking how to kill anyone who writes something bad about me...

Race for Life

And for everyone who hasn't seen it yet on the sidebar:
In July I will be taking part in my first ever charity walk to raise as much money as possible for Cancer Research UK.

My Race for Life website

It is supposed to be a little bit of a challenge so I opted for the 10k track through Clapham, I will walk not run though. Will be different in 2012, I promise.

If you have some money spare and want to use it in a sensible way then sponsor me please. It doesn't matter how much you give and if the paypal system causes troubles (especially for the German readers) than let me know and we will find a way.

Thank you !!!

the name of the rose...

or: a day along the rhine.

Although I spend all my life living at the entrance to the Rheingau I never actually spend much time there and so never warmed to it. The predjudice that only old people (basically the people I described here) go there to have wine in horribly unstylish glasses, ( Roemer) out of bottles which still have that very same eagle symbol on them they had in the 1930's/40'2...a kitschy and frumpy place full of rip-off's and gloom.

Yesterday two friends of my other half and me took us on a flash bang Rheingau Highlights tour anyway, and what shall I say. I absolutely loved it! Maybe I'm just getting older...and who says that one is not allowed to change opinion in life.

Kloster Eberbach
Niederwalddenkmal

The Djinn in the nightingale´s eye by A.S.Byatt

"Once upon a time," A.S. Byatt's title fairy story begins, "when men and women hurtled through the air on metal wings, when they wore webbed feet and walked on the bottom of the sea, learning the speech of whales and the songs of the dolphins ... there was a woman who was largely irrelevant, and therefore happy. Her business was storytelling..." But this is no backward looking, quaint fairy time. The time is the present, and the protagonist is a sensible scholar who is given the not-at-all sensible gift of a genie. How will Gillian, an expert in fairy stories and well versed in all that can go wrong with wishes, use hers? Distinguished British author and Booker Prize-winner A.S. Byatt creates fairy tales for adults, each a blend of the magical and the modern, and readers of Angels & Insects and Possesions will recognize the role of Victorian fairy tales in her fiction. This handsome little book includes reproductions of woodcuts that evoke our childhood wonder for dragons and princesses, glass coffins and netherworldly things. (source: amazon.com)

A fairy tale for grown-ups I had to read for my Byatt seminar at university. While reading I found it a bit weird and cryptic but the more I think and discussed about it in class, the more depth I see in the story.
It´s one of those pieces of literature where you can see a symbol or metaphor in nearly every sentence. Opens up endless possibilities for discussions and interpretations but might leave you a bit unsatisfied as it doesn´t give you a solid, proper message or ending.
Definitely not something for everyones taste but recommended for people with an interest in fairy tales and feminist literature. My verdict is: If you like Angela Carter then you probably will like this.

www.victoriascholes.blogspot.com

I´m dreaming...

...of all this more than lovely things from Dorothy Perkins. Even though they have a 30% off offer on at the moment I still will stay strong and not spend anything...while hoping for the proper sales with 50 and 70% :-) I keep my fingers crossed...and: keep dreaming.

books, etc.

This week Miss Winkelmann talks about books in her "Blogstöckchen" so I copy her questions and do the same :-)

Which book do you currently read?
for uni but actually really enjoy it so far: "The children´s book" by A.S.Byatt. But I'm one of those people starting 30 books at the same time...

first book you ever read without help?
honestly can´t remember

do you read a lot?
depends...I have reading phases. Sometimes I read 3-4 books in a week then nothing for 2 months.

favourite book?
several, don't habe the ONE

favourite children´s book?
"Der Brief für den König" and "Der wilde Wald" by Tonke Dragt. The first three Harry Potter books...and plenty more. Love Astrid Lindgren and couldn't get enough of the "Cindy" ballet books by Jean Estoril. And a bit of Enid Blyton from time to time is not wrong either.

a book you read in one go?
the last I remember was Daniel Glattauer's "Gut gegen Nordwind"

a book you hate?
there are loads of books I never finished (so far) but really hated?! Not even the infamous "Wetlands" by Charlotte Roche ;-)

favourite author?
again, don't have the one but I like Jane Austen, Bill Bryson, Theodor Fontane, Friedrich Hoelderlin

favourite magazine?
only British ones: "Red", "Marie Claire" and sometimes "InStyle" or "Elle" - depending on the freebies. Absolutely love reading magazines and can spend hours with every issue.

favourite type of book?
all sorts...have weak spot for travel guides. And I'm not really into crime novels or thrillers.

your favourite place to sit and read?
on a quiet park bench in Holland Park or Regent´s Park in London. I like reading in bed or on trains too but often fall asleep then...

Das Lied in mir

"During a stopover in Buenos Aires on her way to Chile, 31-year-old Maria recognizes a nursery rhyme. Maria doesn't speak a work of Spanish, but without understanding what she is singing, she remembers the Spanish lyrics. Disturbed and thrown off course, she decides to interrupt her journey and wander through the unfamiliar city. On the phone to Germany, she tells her father, Anton, about her experience and the peculiar fascination the unfamiliar city has had for her. Two days later, Anton suddenly turns up at Maria's hotel with something to confess: Maria spent the first three years of her life in Buenos Aires during the military dictatorship at the end of the 1970s. The people she had always thought were her parents had adopted her and brought her to Germany. Father and daughter begin a journey in search of Maria's biological parents. Anton does everything he can not to lose his daughter." (sourse: imdb)

To say the most important thing first, I liked the film a lot.
I liked the story dealing with questions of guilt and of identity. The film appears very structured and "clean", not many different characters are visibly involved - a modern "Kammerspiel" (intimate play).
The reactions of Maria, Anton and her new found family are always authentic, never over the top. Even though (hopefully) the majority of the audience has never been in a similar situations it grips you and you keep asking yourself "What would you do?". Of course the plot is not always fully logical and it left me with some open questions (who is Maria? is she single? does she have friends? a job? what happened to her German mum?) but it made me think about it quite a lot.
Little details suddenly sprang into my mind like the fact Maria calls her (as she doesn't know then) adoptive parents by their first names only.
My positive feeling about the film is probably linked to the fact that I like Jessica Schwarz as well.
In a way it is like "Lost in Translation" with a more substantial key conflict.
Only one little thing was annoying - yes, Maria is supposed to be a swimmer. But that doesn't mean that outside the pool in 99% of the time she still wears tops with racer backs. Her shoulders and whole body look great and toned, yes, but we got the message.

www.fn-magazin.de