Florence ...

... had a pretty amazing holiday - can't really complain when the combination consists of renaissance art, awesome architecture, lots of sun, on top of pasta and ice-cream ... but I missed the following during my travel:

• tea - my selection of fruit tea, herbal tea, Earl Grey, Lady Grey, random Chinese tea ... (coffee is just not an equivalent - not even Italian ones)
• texting & picking up my phone to talk to my friends ~ although my travelling buddy is lovely; calm, patient, can defuse any situation, can read a map, can fix my camera, has a bag which has everything I ever wanted, can motivate me to walk even when I don't want to.
• St Helens - all those Gothic churches with lots of icons have a gloomy atmosphere.
• all of my books - I really wanted to read some scenes from "a room with a view".
• English newspaper - going to bed with one now :)

But I survived without the above for a week ... so maybe it wasn't too bad afterall ...

sun ...

... comes out today ... it has been around for a while, but due to various reasons (mainly work!), I haven't had an afternoon off, at which I just sit under the sun, reading the paper, chatting and generally, not doing very much ...

It reminds me of the installation which Olafur Eliasson did at Tate Modern back in 2004. He created "The Weather Project" in which lots of lights are used to create a sun, with a mist filling the space. It was an amazing project ~ you could see the dense yellow lights and felt the warmth it created. It did indeed make London seem less cold that winter ... although looking at the current environmental issues, we may have to resort to having an artificial sun for our summer in 20-30 years' time, and look back at these summer days with nostalgia.

All sounding really depressing - must be the effect of going to a party ... I get really nervous (and therefore hyper) while I am out, and then I just get kinda sad ... maybe I do have bipolar disorder ... hmm ...

building up a safety zone ...

... is what I do best. I am so good at it that it really hit me when it falls apart. This week, I suddenly see a few people every night (quite unexpectedly) and now, because of the Easter holiday, I won't see them for ages. Also, my work partner is on annual leave from tomorrow. So, suddnely, it feels like that everyone is away and I just found it really upsetting. The fact that my presentation went into diasterous mode (when I personally thought that it was a very interesting presentation - for once!) does not really help or rectify the situation! Never mind. That is indeed life ... I just have to try to build a comfort zone around myself, with no friends :(

Maybe, I will just go and watch Grey's anatomy instead - a much simpler option ...

The History of love ...

... "So many words get lost. They leave the mouth and lose their courage, wandering aimlessly until they are swept into the gutter like dead leaves. On rainy days you can hear their chorus rushing past: IwasabeautifulgirlPleasedon'tgoItoobelievemybodyismadeofglassI'veneverlovedanyoneIthinkofmyselfas funnyForgive me ...."

An amazing beginning - it made me want to find the "The History of Love" and read about it ...

dream on ... all those unspoken words flowing in mid-air ...