Can't particularly be bothered writing something from the heart today. Work has been tiring this week. But there are some links that I want to share with you. There's so much brilliant stuff out there. So go click happy!
1. A cool flickr set, especially the spam. How can people eat that? > 2. Want to go to this! Alina got famous a year too late...I knew it was going to happen...but just too late! The best Lithuanian export there is. > 3. Lithuanian street style > 4. Nice PDF mag moloko + via smosch > 5. Some street art in Ukraine > 6. Polaroids > 7. Another Swedish blog > 8. Random beauty
Created: 2008-04-16 17:14,
Tags: inspiration,
links,
randomness,
Comments: 1
Got in today and a Valentine's card was waiting for me. Tomas said he wasn't sending me one and I told him that I wasn't either. He's sweet, but now I feel bad. Anyway, yesterday (possibly) I said I would post some links of random, interesting things. I'm in a good mood now and feel like blogging.
How I waste my time on the Internet:
1. How Putin gets to work. The Guardian newspaper over the past few months has been extremely critical of Russian politics (in particular Putin).
2. Cute video from a Lithuanian graphic design firm, Sesame Street music and how to wallpaper a room free.
3. Got this most excellent notebook from a most excellent friend at Christmas.
4. This has been on my radar for a while now. Do you speak Ikea?
5. Men are from Murmansk. Women are from Vilnius. Slavic identity project. Although Lithuanians aren't Slavs but Balts.
6. The World has looked like a polaroid this week. Something about the light and the pink tones in the sky. But it didn't look like these polaroids. Also: polaroid are going (or have already) to stop producing film and cameras.
7. Abandoned hotel in Lithuania via smosch. I've linked Smosch before, but her blog is amazing.
8. Nice photos of Eastern Europe including the town built for the workers of the Ignalina nuclear plant.
9. Russian illustrators.
Can't say I don't share :) More Lithuanian updates soon when I actually get around to learning something.
Created: 2008-02-13 17:40,
Tags: links,
post,
randomness,
Tomas,
Comments: 0
I came across this list of 100 ideas to brighten up your day. I spend 7 and a half hours typing data into a computer...I need all the help I can get. Plus, my idea for making my life more interesting is to learn Lithuanian! It's hard to feel like I'm achieving anything quickly here. This week on the way to work (one hour bus journey) I learnt the first two lessons in po truputį, including conjugating some verbs, declension of nouns in the genitive and locative, asking questions, introducing myself, countries and nationalities, about 30 adjectives and professions. A quick question for all you Lithuanians out there. You know the adjective juokingas (it means funny as in haha funny)? Well, is it from the English word joke or joking? Have you ever thought about this connection?
Well, the ideas from the link are a lot more attainable than learning a whole language. Let's have a go:
Idea number 37. List all the places you've ever lived. OK, this one is easy: Blackburn, Cologne, Oxford, Yaroslavl.
Idea number 39. Write about your relationship with your washing machine. ??? Well, firstly it's not my washing machine, but I think we have a healthy relationship. No socks go missing, no clothes shrink and it's automatic (unlike the ones in the public laundry in Yaroslavl!)
Idea number 58. List you ten most important things (not including animals or people). This is just from the top of my head and after just taking a quick glance around my room. I hope this doesn't mean practical things like shoes or anything. Photographs and letters, German dictionary, Russian dictionary, Russian vocabulary notes, my computer, passport, paper, pens, my necklace. So the list isn't too sentimental. But that Russian dictionary is a second hand bookshop find and I haven't seen it in any other shops.
Just one last link to finish off the post. It's 3 o'clock in the morning in a Yaroslavl suburb. You've drunk 5 litres of beer and the thirst is kicking in. But you remember you can't drink tap water and boiled water tastes like crap. What do you do? Go to a kiosk staffed by a lonely old woman. Knock on the little glass window and get served some refreshing mineral water. Oh and a packet a crisps. Oh and just one more beer. Oh yeah and a mars bar...In celebration of the wonderment of kiosks (a rarity here in Britain) is the website Kioskierung. Scroll down for a link to the English version.
Created: 2008-01-17 18:26,
Tags: blogs,
creativeness,
ideas,
kiosks,
links,
Yaroslavl,
Comments: 0
My goodness, it's 2008 already and I haven't blogged for ages (no surprises there). I could go on about New Year's resolutions and all that, but there's really not much point in me saying "I'm going to blog every day". If my life is interesting and happy, then I blog. Simple as that. 2008 seems promising though. I've got a job lined up at Blackburn Hospital and my studies will start again in September. I plan to start learning German and Russian again and also to make some progress with Lithuanian. Tomas got me the po truputį CD (series for people learning Lithuanian by the publisher baltos lankos) for Christmas which has motivated me a little. I'm also going to invest in the Colloquial Lithuanian series.
So, all in all, I'm looking forward to 2008. I'm going to be creative and fun. I got some Muji stamps from my best friend for Christmas, so there's no stopping me now! :)
Here are some new links to get you warmed up:
Polish blog about communist era music, photography, adverts, cinema and packaging. Brilliant!
Go crazy with these French pads. I got mine at Paperchase.
You can never get enough of Japanese stationary. Some of the best around!
Why I like Lithuania.
I wanted to share this with you all a long time ago.
Because trees and poles need to keep warm too.
Created: 2008-01-06 12:51,
Tags: life,
links,
Comments: 0
Just a quick post to say that I've arrived home, so all post back to the UK address please. Had a really nice day even though journeys are always tiring and stressful. Tomas was kind enough to accompany me all the way to Berlin and we met up with one of his Lithuanian friends. He had just moved into a new flat and it was unfortunate that we could only make a flying visit. I had the usual fun and games at airport security. The words "special security check" are nothing new to me. So I was accompanied to an office and had my computer checked over. I thought I was going to get the complete bag check, but I was deemed clean in that department. It's quite a humiliating experience as you have to walk past the other passengers with a guard with all your belongings and I probably always look guilty to them.
For the moment, just a few links that I've found recently. I hope to get back to some serious blogging soon.
Found a great online book shop. They seems to have a huge stock of interesting titles.
Some street art.
And some tape lovin. Really want to have a go at this!
Created: 2007-11-04 22:32,
Tags: life,
links,
news,
Comments: 0
It's not going to be a neat and tidy post; it's going to be a jumble of random stuff that you may be interested in. Firstly, there's the news that I'm flying back to the UK on 3rd November. I expect balloons and banners waiting for me in arrivals in Liverpool. I'm getting a job and earning lots of money which I'll probably just put in the bank for a rainy day or possibly pay off my student loan...but it's a big possibly. I've also been learning a bit of Lithuanian. I was searching manically on the internet to find out how "mano" declines (it means "my") and I searched and searched, but nothing...and then Tomas told me that it doesn't decline at all!!! This is amazing news and means it makes learning Lithuanian about 1% easier.
I've also had plenty of time to surf the internet. I've found some pretty sweet blogs from Sweden and Finland:
happysilly
manteli
une petite fleur
smosch
fine little day
They make me want to live there so much. Everything seems so fresh and natural. All that crispbread, smoked salmon, dill and lingonberry jam.
On my travels I also found another cute Korean stationary site. Here's some of the nice things they produce:
I'm really thinking about investing in some stamps. They would add a little something to my letters.
Created: 2007-10-23 15:35,
Tags: blogs,
design,
inspiration,
life,
links,
randomness,
stuff,
Comments: 0
I get a bit angry when people think that a quick link and maybe a photo constitute as a good post, but I'm rather guilty of this crime today. However, there's a link that I really have to share with you. It's rare to stumble upon such a treasure of a blog amongst the mass of trash on that's out there. The blog's called Crust Station (bit of an unfortunate name) and it will fill all your eye candy/inspiration/design/shopping needs. Basically, it's just a collection of great links to other great websites/photos on topics such as Japanese cuteness, photography, books, illustration.... So enjoy!
Created: 2007-10-17 13:50,
Tags: design,
inspiration,
links,
Comments: 0
Just a quick post for today.
I came across an interesting post on a Finnish blog about Finnish fashion, which you may or may not be interested in. Finnish fashion is not all about IVANAhelsinki, you know :) I've been reading La Primavera's blog for a while now. She writes mainly about the world of fashion and the scene in Finland, but is not afraid to add a little cynicism and sarcasm into the mix. All in all it's very refreshing and insightful.
I promise to post something more profound soon.
Created: 2007-10-17 12:29,
Tags: design,
fashion,
finland,
ideas,
links,
stuff,
Comments: 0
On my many wanderings in cyberspace (how uncool am I?!) I came across a blog that caused me great concern. The girl who writes it seems to be worryingly obsessed with magazines. Monthlies, quarterlies, rare publications, mass publications, Vogue, Dazed and Confused, ID. You name it, she buys it. She works to get money to buy her magazines, she eats less so she can get her hands on the latest issues, she goes into Stockmanns every day just to see if they have anything new, she knows exactly (probably to the hour) when the fresh copy of French Vogue will be on the shelves. Somehow I totally admire her willpower, her passion and her 100% devotion to her obsession. It's a true skill. The thing that worries me with her is the sheer amount of money she spends each month. (Of course that's her business, not mine.) International magazines are never cheap, but totally satisfying to buy. The whole thing got me thinking about magazines. I found some pretty nice ones out there that you may be interested in. I also decided to do some research into online magazines, which are free to download and a good source of eye candy and inspiration.
Somewhere out there I found an online directory of loads of magazines published in Europe and the rest of the World. There are listings for independent publications and for the more well known ones as well. I also found an online directory of PDF magazines. My search (as usual) seemed to take a Baltic/Scandinavian direction (they have the best taste, after all :) ) and I came across a new glossy magazine called B EAST dedicated to fashion/design/general coolness in Eastern Europe. Then I found Bulgaria magazine (some of which you can access online), which is an annual Finnish publication dedicated to life/stuff/weirdness/design/ art/Scandinavianess (which I love). On this note I found a directory of Swedish magazines, many of which you can browse through online. Some other graphic design/arty/fashion publications online are Candy magazine and Stockholm New. The last link goes along the crafting/fashion/objects tangent and is a pretty magazine called Neet that I came across a while ago.
Well, I'm sure all this is just the tip of the iceberg. Feel free to send me more links via comments. I like eye candy as much as the next crazy obsessive :)
Created: 2007-09-22 21:33,
Tags: baltic,
links,
magazines,
media,
scandinavia,
Comments: 0
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