Another New Year’s Resolutions

Remember the last time? Now is the hour to see if I achieved what I planned and, of course, make some new vows for the upcoming year.

The Year Gone By

Well, as nobody expects resolutions to be fulfilled I think I did rather good…

1. Stop biting nails. I did it! Quite rapidly in December, but at least I did it! I just hope it will last…
2. Get an online shop started. It wasn’t to be, though Jules and I planned a little bit. Oh well.
3. Host a Steampunk con. DONE! It had some flaws, but it was great, anyway. I just wish I finally had those photos!
4. Wear more Lolita. I could have done better, but at least I tried.
5. Fulfill 50% of the Daring Deeds. No, but 23% are better than expected… ^^
6. Take better care of myself. Somehow yes, somehow no.
7. Keep my room tidy. I managed to succeed, somehow!
8. Go to Latin classes regularly. Errr… no. Curses!

The Year Upcoming

I guess I’ll make less resolutions… Five is a nice number, isn’t it?

1. Start my own online comic and update once a week! Sounds tough, but I will at least try!
2. Build a nicer wardrobe and wear it! Containing Lolita, Steampunk, Mori Girl…
3. Be a Game Master again! And finally get to play that Grimm adventures I’ve been planning for so long.
4. Write letters regularly! Only if my pen friends still want to be my pen friends…
5. Take good care of myself, keep myself happy and stay in health! Especially the last part. I really don’t want to spend weeks in the bed again.

Intermezzo: Retrospective 2010

As the end of the year draws near again, it’s time for another review of a year.

• First of all, I met Scoundrel this year and with him someone who truly understands my way of life, loves me as I am and lets me love him back as he is. Thank you for always being there for me, for supporting my insane projects and thank you for trusting me this far so that I can catch and hold you, too, when you need it.
• Another person that grew really important to me this year: Teli. Thank you of being such a great friend, for being so patient with my outburst and letting me hug you when you’re down. You mean so much to me and I fear I often can’t show it (this is why I’m telling it via my blog, in front of the whole aethernet).
• My bond with Lilibeth strengthened, too. We even met each other in person three times and I’m looking forward to the fourth. You still are my kindred spirit to accompany on my journey trough the world of neo-romanticism and Lolita and I’m incredibly glad to know you. Some day I should write a Lolita valentine for you, too.
• This year was quite unpleasant concerning my personal health as I fell ill at the beginning and didn’t really catch up with my former self after that. But I’m glad that I’m as well as I am after all this and I hope I will be able to “grow back”, just like a feeble tree after a storm.
• Another thing I’m thankful for is that I cut everything that bound me with the Goblin after all. There’s nothing more to say.
• I held my very own Steampunk LARP in September, which was sort of exhausting as an experience, but went well thanks to Scoundrel and Teli and surely was not the last one.
• I started to get exercise again with Savate and Canne de Combat, and at both I’m not as useless as I sometimes think I am. Plus, it is great for my adrenalin level.
• Finally, I paused my studies at university to catch up with myself again.
• I’m sure I forgot something, but some of the other great things of this year were: Seeing Coppelius twice, buying an over-100-years old encyclopedia, recovering Blue Monday, keeping this blog, watching Stardust and Sherlock Holmes, meeting Tristan (you’re dear to me, I hope you know that) and hosting the first party ever at our flat in November.

And, of course, thank you for reading my blog during this year! Thank you for your opinions and comments, it really means so much to me.

Back Home

Finally I’m back in Marburg! I missed my fairytale town dearly during the winter solstice though I enjoyed to be at my mother’s house, too, of course.

But now I’ve got all my art and craft supplies around me again to finally make all the Hogswatch* gifts for my friends! We don’t see each other during the holidays nowadays, so I can give out the presents only after the 25th anyway. Sure, I’d loved to be on time, but the circumstances… you know.

So, at the moment I’m sewing my small gift for the Scoundrel who will arrive here in the afternoon again after he spent the festivities at his grandmother’s house.

Also, I’m eager to clean and scrub the whole flat until it shines before the turn of the year – out with the old! It’s some kind of ritual I inherited from my mother, and – only by the way – I’m in charge, too.

I still don’t know how we’ll spend our new year’s eve as the blowing up of the architecture models won’t happen this year as the Imp is engaged elsewhere.

Oh, I love to be back here!

- – - – - – - -

* Hogswatch is the “Discword christmas” and new years eve at the same time, centered around the legend of the Hogfather (some kind of Father Christmas). As it marks the year’s end, it is obviously set on December 31st, hence the “legal” delay of presents.

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

Just as I promised: Photos of Jules’ and my snow adventure.

There aren't so many photos of the sledging, actually, but here's a Jules for you.

This one was shot two weeks ago when I was here at my mother's house for the Coppelius concert.

 

Another two-weeks-old picture.

I guess the sledge is about twice as old as I am. At least.

Outside it’s still snowing. Yesterday, the snow was even too deep for real sledging as it was as high as the sledges themselves. But we found a nice, steep hollow way that was completely surrounded by trees so that the branches formed a tunnel which stopped a part of the snow and it was just right for us! And it was fun indeed. If I find the time between my appointments tomorrow, I’ll go sledging again.

White Christmas

This was the view from my window when I woke up this morning. I hope you’ve got white Christmas, too! Also, I wish you a merry time with all your beloved ones, enough cake for everyone, most of the presents you wished for and that you won’t catch cold (as I did).

Now I’m waiting for Jules’ call to go for a sleigh ride in the hills of the shire, my snow attire beside me. And after that, I’ll write regularly again, about the snow, about presents and gifts and steampunk and Lolita. But until then I’ll stay with wishes for

Love, peace and chocolate

yours,

Bonnie

Welsh People’s Army Banner

I finally gave my last year’s (sic!) Christmas present to the Satyr some weeks ago, said banner of the (fictitious) Welsh People’s Army (WPA?). It descends from a joke of our Celtic Science tutor that developed to grow into a symbol derived from the IPA symbol for ll aka. ɬ.

I’m a little ashamed that it took me so long to finish that gift, and it was only the hangers and back lining that lacked. But enough with the words, here are the pictures:

Wool on, I suppose, Earl Grey-tinted linen

Advent Calendars

I know I haven’t posted too much this month, especially about my Christmas preparations. At the moment I’m doing the ornaments for the annual Yuletide letter to my relatives overseas in New York, and I’m planning to catch up with all the presents during the next two weeks.

Air Mail to America

 

But something little that I can show you right now are the advent calendars I’ve got back in Marburg (you remember, I’m still at my mother’s house).

First, there’s the (hippie-eco-tree hugger – I love it!) tea advent calendar I got from my Mum in the mail.

I didn’t have the chance to get my daily cup during the last week, but this makes me even look more forward to coming home the day after tomorrow.

The second one is some kind of “collective” advent calendar my mother also sent to me. I always had it when I lived with her, and now I use it for the whole bunch. There are four of us – Bambi, Satyr, Scoundrel (doesn’t officially live with us, but unofficially he’s a member of the household as well) and me which means there are six bags for each of us. I filled those for the boys – mostly the same stuff in different colours but with at least one specific gift in the last bag before Christmas. Sadly, I couldn’t take any pictures, but maybe I’ll be able to when I come home again.

So far I have only opened one of my bags as I’m the fourth in line and went south at December 5th. But there I found a wonderful little gnome from the Scoundrel, just like the ones that I had when I was younger.

And now I’ll leave you again to pack my bags and go for an evening stroll to see all the lighted houses with my Mum. Tomorrow at this time I’ll be in Frankfurt at my father’s house after lunch with my grandparents, a visit on the Christmas market and a short meeting with Jules. And when I’m back in Marburg on Tuesday I’ll visit the Historian to take a look at the pictures he took at the Coppelius concert. Which means: I’ll be posting soon again!

Love, stardust and snowflakes,

The Hedgefairy

Oh I just Can’t Wait…

… for tonight!

Tonight’s the Coppelius concert I’ve been looking forward to for month. I got me the new album last week and haven’t stopped listening (well, except for another song, but that’s too off-topic now).

My favourites so far are:

• Diener 5er Herren (“Servant of 5 Masters”) – “The sufferings of young B.”, about the work of Coppelius’ butler Bastille.
  
• Gumbagubanga - Nonsensical song about a witch doctor which has pretty good choral parts.
  
• Stetig Fromm (“Always Docile”) – About a marriage gone very, very wrong.
  
• Ade mein Lieb (the German version of The Turtle Dove) – So beautiful, I can’t even tell. It’s a great texture with wonderful voices weaving into each other…

I’m also looking forward to hear Damen (“Ladies”), Nachtwache (“Night Watch”) and Klein Zaches (“Little Zaches”), the eponymous song for Zinnober.

As always when it comes to a Coppelius concert I’m a little concerned with my outfit for tonight. I’m struggling to decide whether to go for a more simple-could-be-anywhere-from-rennaissance-to-1900s look or something nearly baroque… but I’ll get a little help from Jules. The time between picking up Tristan, another acquaintance (dare I say friend?) of mine, from the station and meeting the others at the concert we’ll spend at his house, planning outfits. We’re girls, after all (except Tristan).

But now I’ve got to iron my about ten yards of fabric and get something to eat before I leave. I’ll bring you some photos!

10 Things I Love In December

1. Blue Monday. I just recovered this comic after years of oblivion while cleaning up all my boxes at my mother’s house. And instantly I had to order the whole series in English, as I had only two volumes in German (it’s already out of print here and the last two books weren’t even in print anyway).
2. Eloise. Sadly, I haven’t read the books yet, but as far as I may say this, the movies are very, very heartwarming.
   
3. Snow. We had plenty in Marburg, and I do hope that it will last, no, be more!, at least until new year’s eve. I just can’t understand how one can’t like snow, except those folks that can’t get anywhere trough the white masses as the public transport tends to be a little weak at this point.
   
4. Vintage Christmas. I love old-fashioned Christmas cards! I’ve got a whole book full of examples of weird post cards featuring hog-riding hams, pillow fights and cherub jockeys on bats.
   
5. Chai Tea. When I first tried it I thought I wouldn’t like it, but since I discovered the Yogi Tea bags with their wise sayings (just like fortune cookies!), I somehow managed to drink my way though two boxes already.
   
6. The First Pictures of Bioshock Infinite. Absolutely Steampunk! There are not so many trailers around at the aethernet yet, but what they show is splendid!
   
7. Zinnober, the new album of Coppelius. What a surprise!
8. Gregorian Chants. I always had a soft spot for sacred music, and this is one of my favourite variations. It just has something epic to it, especially if you imagine an old church with a ceiling so high that you have to lay back your head to really see it, reverberating with the voices…
   
9. Hair, the song from the musical of the same name. I love the revival of the Broadway musical, too (and the leading actor, Gavin Creel, was in the Eloise films, too).
   
10. Merry-Go-Rounds. There’s an old-fashioned one at the Frankfurt Christmas market and I just love the motif! I think about making at least a carousel-themed t-shirt, if not a whole outfit.

Pumpkin After Halloween

When the Satyr returned from university today he held something small and orange in his hand, his arm stretched out in my direction.

“For you, from Teli.”, he said.

She made me a crochet pumpkin!

That’s so cute.

*squeak*

Thank you so much!