Saturday, October 20, 2012

Excuse me, I've lost my yoga mat, and...

... I wanted to ask if anyone, maybe, had found it.
I have said this sentence exactly 7 times at the railway station on Tuesday.
When I was in Sieradz my parents, knowing that I am going to start my yoga lessons soon, bought me a yoga mat. Useful and nice present. When I was packing, I attached it to my backpack. It wasn't very solid but I told myself I will pay attention to it. I didn't, of course. When I was getting out of the train, the yoga mat was still tied to my backpack. By the time I got home it was gone.
Next day I decided to go and look for it at the train station. First, I went to the customer service center. The woman working there was truly amazed that I asked her and send me to the information.
The man there said that he wasn't working the previous day so I had to ask the auditors of the rolling stock (rewidenci taboru kolejowego). They were surprised I asked them about something that, in fact, wasn't left in the train, and told me I should go to the office at the end of the building. I was hardly surprised when I heard there that I need to go the cash desk number 14. The woman working there ordered me to go to the cash manager who was an amazingly polite man. He called cleaning service and security service but nobody had seen my mat. At the end he sent me to the railway security guard's office and police office. The policeman was very amused with an idea of looking for yoga mat at the police station.... It was the end of an epic journey for yoga mat. Unfortunately I didn't find it. It was almost like I was looking for a long lost artefact of the extremely high value. Maybe I wasn't fighting with dragons but I was fighting with PKP! It is almost the same... I found this adventure absurdly funny.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Illness and movies

Guess who's ill? Yes, me... something with my throat.

So what have I done with this massive amount of free time I had, you ask? I was sleeping a lot, drinking hot tea, reading, coughing terribly, spending too much time on the internet and I was watching movies. And I want to tell you about those movies.

Here goes the list:
1. Iron Sky - yest, it is about nazis. Yes, the idea of nazis on the moon is great. And yes, this movie is a crap.
2. Quantum of solace - much worse than Casino Royale. I had the feeling that creators decided to include all possible versions of pursuit: car chase; boat chase; normal, standard chase and even airplane chase.
3. Rear window - did you know that Hitchcock has a cameo in most of his movies? I noticed him in this one!
4.The curious case of Benjamin Button - Really nice movie. Brad Pitt is an excellent actor, and he is more handsome than Johnny Deep! Deal with it...
5. Mirror, mirror - I just couldn't take my eyes off the dark and big eyebrows of the main character. What the film was about? eeemm Snowwhite? Yeah, I think... gosh, those eyebrows are the only thing I remember. Oh! And Julia Roberts plays in it! Yes.... But, wow, eyebrows...



And that's all - not very ambitious, but I' have some problems with focusing since I have to wipe my nose every five minutes.

Sunday, October 7, 2012

"To be loved deeply not widely"

"The fault in our stars" is the fourth solo novel written by John Green. It is a story of Hazel Grace Lancester (who is also a narrator), a sixteen years old girl with a cancer. To be more specific: with stage IV thyroid cancer and tumors in her lungs.  She had been diagnosed at the age of 13 but thanks to the experimental treatmen her "miracle" happend, giving her few years to tell this story. Her mother being convinced that Hazel has a depression due to her illness, sent her to a support group meetings. Hazel met there Isaac - a boy with an eye cancer who was going to loose his sight, and Isaac's best friend Augustus Waters, who had osteosarcoma to which he already lost his right leg. This story has another very important character: Peter Van Houten. An author of the "Imperial affliction", Hazel's favourite book. The book soon created a bond beetween her and Augustus. They shared a mutual dream to meet the author. So this is the story. Seems terribly sad because all of the characters were suffering? And here comes the suprise - it is funny in good taste, brings hope as well as sadness. It isn't pompous, its characters aren't heroic. They are just a mix of philosofical thougths, dreams, love and a great sense of humor. 
John Green's book was a great way to began my holidays, but just now I've paid more attention to the dedication: " to Esther Earl". Who was she? What is her connection to the author? Let me go to the begining. There was a girl... hilarious, warm, optimistic and loving. And she was diagnosed with a thyroid cancer. When, by reason of oxygen therapy, her mobility decreased, she began to make a videoblog. On Youtube she found her friends. She found the nerdfighteria - a community of nerds fighting with the world suck and spreading the awesomeness. It was created by the author of the book and his brother, - John and Hank Green. On august 25, 2010, Esther died. Despite this fact Nerdfighters didn't forget her and in order to honor her memory they have a holiday on her birthday - August 3. They gather together to recollect Esther and to do what she taughted them to: tell members of a family or a friend that you love them. Because we simply don't do it often enough.
"The faul in our stars" inspired by Esther Earl is about dying as well as about living. It is about love, friendship, awesomeness. It is all about what Esther was. I highly recommened it to all of you.

Welcome

This year I enrolled on an English class at my university and I joined an amazing project: writing my very own blog in English. I hope it won't be that bad and I won't hurt you with my errors. May the force be ever in your favor or something like that...