Great news! On tuesday I'm going to visit my aunt! It's almost eight hours by train, but so worth it. The next door neighbours will take care of Sakura, and I'll have three well-deserved days of family time. Yes! I can't wait! I'm so excited I'm only using exclamation marks! I can't help it!

I also have a couple of links I forgot to share here:

- an epic Sherlock/X-Files video // the ancient name for the devil. Never thought they could work so perfectly together. Stunning work, and that part of me who was a huge X-Files fan, almost 15 years ago, is absolutely ecstatic.

- a new Simon's Cat episode!

- Writing On Water // Water first, fountain pen ink after. Beautiful.

Hope you enjoy them, I'll go back to filling my iPod with nine hours worth of music. ^^

My order from Adagio Teas is finally here! 33 days, your average delivery time from the US. Considering we have, you know, airplanes, I still wonder why they send stuff by rowboat - which is the only logical explanation. Anyway, here they are!



The Sherlock one reads "all at once exotic and mysterious and perhaps a little bit insane, with a lingering hint of smoke", while the Watson one is "Queen and Country traditionalist, but still recounting his days in Afghanistan drinking green tea, John Watson prefers his tea with a bit of cream, no sugar, and just a little warm from a touch of cinnamon". Can't wait to try them! Might have to postpone it to tomorrow though, I had a big lunch and then took a stroll in the scorching sun, my stomach is definitely feeling more like camomile right now.

I bought the MJN Air eye mask because of the cuteness, and because Sakura's taken a habit of napping with me, and I've been woken too many times by her scratching my arms and legs, or chewing my toes. I love napping with her, but I don't like the idea of her planting her nails in my eyeballs. So, eye mask! I'm a proper genius indeed. ^^

No therapy today because my therapist had a family emergency. This month had some serious bad karma, I can't wait until it's over. Hoping the weather will stop being so crazy too. On monday it was 10°, today it was almost 30° downtown. Pick a season and stick with it, please!

In spite of real life stealing all my energies, it's time to do a nice fandom post! I missed doing them. ^^

First, all the diatribe with Community. The three final episodes aired last week, and they were superb. Amazing. They should have been aired one by one, they deserved more. We had an arcade game episode, an elaborate heist one, and the Finale. Yes, because shortly after learning that it was coming back for a fourth season, we had the horrible news that Sony fired Dan Harmon, the creator and showrunner. Now, with any other show, I'd say let's give the new season a chance. But Community is too much Dan Harmon's creature. Maybe what they'll do next will be a nice show, no doubt, but it will be a different show, with the same actors. What made Community so special was that it was unique. So, we had a wonderful run, three great years, and it's over. At least we had a nice finale, way better than what they did to Pushing Daisies.

Then, the Supernatural finale. My usual reaction to a SPN season finale is a sea of tears. They always leave me an emotional wreck. Last year's finale didn't make me cry, but it short-circuited my brain, and left me mumbling "what the actual fuck we're all doomed" to the screen for a good hour. This year, after singing and shouting along to Born To Be Wild (I love that song!), I had an ending full of enthusiastic "I KNEW IT" and throwing my fist in the air. Oh, I so knew it. And I'm so excited about the next season. And I'm actually happy I wasn't left an emotional crying wreck, for once. :D

I just found out the first Berserk dvd comes out in Japan tomorrow. That's the Egg Of The King one, that covers the first part of the Golden Age arc, and judging from the trailers, it's stunning. Not to mention, Berserk is my favourite manga. I love it so much it's part of my soul. I swear, the way I love that manga, it's not even funny. Years ago we had a tv series, it was mediocre, and they censored most of the violence out, while these movies look like they're faithful to the source. Thank you. It's a very mature story, there's no way you can weaken it to appeal to a wider audience without spoiling it all.

Back to my original point, with the dvd out, we'll finally have a subbed version! I can't wait to see it! \o/

It's been a dark and stormy day, but I had a lovely time. I went to visit Martina, that very talented friend of mine who does my nails, and who's pregnant now! Not to mention, her sister had her second baby a week ago, so we spent the whole morning talking about breastfeeding, babies, painkillers, giving birth, more painkillers, breastfeeding again. Then we did a little dance to celebrate how big her belly is (it's only three months, but she's huge), and then we went back to the topic of postpartum depression. All of this while doing my nails. I swear, I have so many estrogens in my blood right now it's not even funny. I need to watch some action movie with lots of manly men killing people, and I need it right now. I watched Game of Thrones when I came back and it was full of feelings and romance and I was crying and shouting at the screen "oh for god's sake will somebody kill someone already?!"

Anyway, visual evidence of the pinkness and frilliness of this morning:



Cute, aren't they? ♥

I'm back home, a bit worse for wear. There was another earthquake this afternoon, that claimed more victims. I heard my friends living in Ferrara, they didn't have to leave their homes but tonight they're going to sleep either in the car or fully dressed, by the door with a backpack full of stuff. Everyone's pretty scared. I'm lucky, I checked my flat all over and only found a few books toppled over, but nothing more. Sakura is very excited, and she's spent the last hour trying to get me into playing hide and seek with her. I had to decline because I was starving. I called my aunt, who's very worried, and then made myself a sandwich. The plan now is: eat some chocolate cookies, drink a cup of camomile tea, and go to bed because tomorrow I have to rise early in the morning and I need a good night of sleep.

Something of a short entry today, just to tell everyone that I'm fine. For those of you who haven't heard, last night we had an earthquake. It was pretty close to where I'm staying. Tati and I woke up at 4:03 am, the house was shaking, the beds were rocking and the pictures on the walls were tingling. Then we had a few more shakes during the night, it was quite hard to go back to sleep. Luckly here in Jesolo (that's the city where Tati works during the summer, a nice little town by the beach, north of Venice) no one was hurt, but back in Ferrara it looks like pictures from World War II. A friend of mine lives there, but luckly she's fine, only quite frightened.

I'm going back home in the evening, I already called my neighbour and he says they're fine, although a bit scared. It's been quite the eventful week.

I spent the entire morning refreshing news sites. This morning, a bomb exploded in front of a school in Brindisi, a city in Southern Italy. A young girl died, many kids were hurt, everyone is in shock. No one claimed the action yet, but it's almost definitely to blame on the local mafia network, the Sacra Corona Unita, the Sacred Crown. In a few days it'll be the 20th anniversary of the death of judge Falcone, killed by mafia, and the school bears his name, and there's no such thing as coincidence.

Now, the even scarier part is that when we turned on the tv, the computer, the radio this morning, we all felt that a new era of terror is beginning. In Italy we had what we call the Anni Di Piombo, the Lead Years. It's a long period, back when my parents were young, when terrorists of different political views, but who all shared the same goal, put bombs in train stations, art exhibitions, public squares, banks, killing hundreds of innocent persons. Everybody lived knowing that fear. In the early nineties, it was mostly the mafia, to counterattack laws againts them. I was a kid, but I still remember clearly my mom hearing of Judge Borsellino's death, and bursting into tears in the middle of the street, where my sister and I were playing. She tried to explain to us what had happened, but she couldn't stop crying.

So today that fear is back. It's a fear I inherhited from my parents, when my dad wouldn't throw away a kleenex in a garbage bin on the street, but would put it in his pocket so he could throw it away at home, because he couldn't shake the feeling that there could be a bomb inside that bin. Today everything my parents feared has come to life, once again.

So, how did the anniversary go? I have to say, better than I expected. I still felt nauseated the whole day - every bad emotion goes straight to my stomach, it's my curse -, but no panic attacks, no crying, it was a quiet day. Good. I avoided conversations, kept my head down, spent the evening reading and I only ate junk food. ^^

Not to mention, the adorable stardust_made wrote a story for me! How cool is that?! It's called An Interlude, and you should all read it, because it's stunning. Do yourself a favour, go read it, you can thank me later. So beautiful. ♥

In other news, today I finally watched Warrior. I had it sitting there since christmas, at least, and the other day I saw an interview with Tom Hiddleston saying it made him cry like a baby, so today I watched it too, and holy crap, I cried and sobbed the whole movie. So glad no one was here to see me, not even Sakura who was napping on the balcony, because seriously, it was embarassing. Tears everywhere. Truly a great movie, and such amazing performances (and there was even Emma from Once Upon A Time!).

What else? Tomorrow I'm finally going to visit Tati, since I'm not ill anymore (let's do a celebratory dance, stupid bug is finally dead), and in the meantime I'll try to finish that last Final Fantasy XIII-2 DLC. I have to beat the boss with a 5-star performance, and so far my record is 2. Embarassing. ^^"

A few news and links from my favourite fandoms!

We have an update on the Travelling Lemon Project: the new deadline is June 4th, and they're still accepting donations. They're up to 135 different cities, and you can see a list here. When you see them all together in a nice list like that, it just leaves you speechless. So glad to be part of this project!

News on the Save Undershaw front too. Today Sherlockology announced the Empty House winners. There were 400 entries and only 31 winners, and the story I was cheering on didn't make it. While usually I'm a very nice loser, the "oh well, better luck next time" sort, it turns out I turn into a very bitter, sore loser when it happens to someone I admire. I re-read the list three times to be sure, and then proceeded to shout at the screen "you wouldn't recognize true genius if it were standing right in front of you! which it were! idiots!" Anyway, still buying the book (obviously), but what a shame indeed.

The sour mood can also be blamed on the fact that tomorrow it'll be 11 years since my sister died. And as all of you know by now, anniversaries always bring out the worst in me. I'll try to avoid all forms of social interaction, bury myself in depressing music and junk food and wait for the damn day to pass.

Now, first of all the real life news. I'm feeling better, the fever's gone, and my voice doesn't sound like Tom Waits anymore. Another few days of aerosol, and I should be fine. My aunt came back home yesterday, as she couldn't take any more days from work. Grandma seems to be doing better, her shoulder hurts and itches, but the doctor says it's a sign the bones are healing. We're all crossing our fingers here. On the phone my aunt sounded tired, but a lot like her normal self, and that made me so happy. ^^

And now, another season finale, and what a wonderful one!

( Once Upon A Time )

The bluray boxset comes out in August, considering shipping times from the USA I should get it in time for my birthday. *_________*

It's sunday, I'm still sick, it's raining and freezing outside and I'm bored, so how about some tv reviews?

( The Big Bang Theory )

( The Vampire Diaries )

I had to put all the books I'm reading on hiatus because with that stupid fever I had to re-read every page three times before I'd get it, so I've been playing Okamiden instead. Apparently my feverish brain works enough for videogames at least. Anyway, there was this scene where the two main characters had to wear masks to enter the demon market, and I had to draw demon faces on the sheets. I drew a huge smiley face on one mask, and wrote "GET SHERLOCK" on the other one, because it was the most demonic thing I could think of. And they wore those masks for a good hour of cut scenes and fight scenes, it was awesome. :D

This morning Sakura finally did her x-ray. They had to put her under, so that she wouldn't move, so I dropped her at the vet at 9 and came back at 11:30. I wasn't feeling very good: fever, nausea, shivers, but I really didn't want to postpone it. Anyway, it was worth it, because as it turns out Sakura doesn't have bone cancer!!!! YES!!! The problem is simple, her right femur isn't perfectly lodged in the hip, so when she stands up it stings for a couple of seconds, but as soon as she warms up, it stops hurting. That explains the disappearing limp, and the fact that she didn't look like she was in any pain.

In conclusion, it's a rare but absolutely normal disability, and we already learned how to deal with it in the past few weeks (believe it or not, I taught her how to stretch her legs when she stands up, like the good mama cat I am), so everything's alright, and I can go and collapse in my bed because this stupid bug needs my attention, and I do not want to spoil the day by spending it throwing up.

Tune in later for a fandom meme, and a review of the Vampire Diaries season finale, aka, the best TVD episode ever, holy crap.

Today was one of those rare days when I didn't have to wake up early in the morning. And since yesterday I went to bed with a fever and a running nose, I didn't even set the alarm, planning to wake up when my body decided to.

At 6:15 am, a fucking crow came to sit on the windowsill just outside my bedroom, and started cawing, all happy with itself, and it was so freaking loud. It was like it was sitting on my bed, stupid bird. I kicked off the sheets, opened the door to the terrace, and Sakura was hiding in a corner, staring at the crow, standing absolutely still. I made some noise, the stupid bird flew away, and Sakura ran inside and hid under the covers on my bed. Since I was obviously bright awake by then, I poured myself some orange juice, grabbed my kindle, and got back under the covers to read a bit and comfort my silly cat.

I've got a couple of movie reviews too! Slowly working on that gigantic to-see list, that's me.

First, I finally saw Constantine. I didn't have high expectations, except for the visual effects, as those looked great even in gif sets on tumblr. And the visual effects were indeed amazing. In the little things, like the angels' wings, and all those details that looked so real. Other than that, it was boring as hell (pun not intended, sadly). Pity, because that's exactly the kind of story I usually like: angels, demons, detective fiction, gloomy cities, good vs evil, the usual. And I found the character of Constantine fascinating in Sandman. But it was just soooooo boring. The girl was way too annoying, and completely unbelievable as a cop. She was supposed to be your average catholic, but she came out as a lunatic, and by the end I was just hoping the bad guys would win because the good guys were too boring to be allowed to live.

The second movie review of the day is for a great, great movie, that I can't recommend highly enough: Sea Wall with Andrew Scott. It's 30 minutes long, a monologue written by Simon Stephens about a father. Can't say anything more, and do not check the interview or the Q&A on the site because they contain spoilers, but it's only £3.50 if you live in the UK and £6 if you don't, and it's so beautiful, you can't miss it. You can download it here, and believe me, that is money well spent. Again, I wish I could say more, about how stunning Andrew's acting is, completely different from his Moriarty, intimate, real, to the point you'll feel like he was tearing your heart out of your chest, but hey, spoilers. 10/10 from me, and waiting for your comments. ^^

And a lovely little game to end this entry, a Sherlock Observation Game. I love these puzzles (they occupy 90% of the time I spend on Facebook), and on my first try I got a good 84 and scored as John Watson. As soon as the stupid fever runs out, and I'm a bit more coherent, I'll try it again and see if I can get Sherlock. :D

Today I was going to meet a friend of mine who's three months pregnant. Luckly, yesterday she called me to tell me she had to postpone it. I said luckly because today I woke up with a cold, a slight fever, aching throat, sneezes, all the package. So I would have had to cancel it anyway (no way I'm going anywhere near a pregnant woman while having a cold, I've seen The Mirror Crack'd, thank you very much). I must admit I'm almost glad I got this stupid bug: everyone else had been sick these past two weeks, I was the only one left, it was only a matter of time, and I prefer to just get it over with. The one downside is that with such a sore throat I don't feel like eating at all, but I have to eat solid food to get my meds, so I've been in a sour mood since I woke up. Yes, I'm acting like an annoying six-year-old, yay!

Anyway, this is the week everything else I ordered during the last couple of months arrived: the courier even offered to help me bring all the packages upstairs, but I declined because otherwise what are all those months at the gym for? But carrying awesome stuff up two flights of stairs, of course! ^^



It's a Record Player! Now, let's rewind this a bit: we used to have a record player back in the 80s. Dad and Mom had many records when they were teens, mostly classic rock (although I guess then it was just... rock) but they had to leave them in their old homes when they got married and moved to Venice, so all the records I have here are records they bought for me and my sis. When I was five or six our record player broke, and dad decided to buy a cd player instead, so it's been at least 22 years these records have just been sitting there, in a corner with my old childhood books.


It took me a few attempts to get it working, because, I can't stress this enough, 22 years, but in the end it is surprisingly easy to use. And even more than the songs themselves (I own all these albums on tapes and cds too), it was the whispery sound between tracks that sent me down memory lane. I sat on the floor, while Sakura checked all the boxes, and felt like a little kid again. So worth it.


But since it's also 2012, I bought the player with the USB port too, so I can use it for my iPod as well. :D It also has a SD card slot, and on the back the jacks to connect it to my stereo speakers. The player speakers are already great, the sound is clear and polished, I was so surprised.

There's a lovely music store downtown where they sell all kinds of records, I'm definitely buying a Ella Fitzgerald one! \o/

And I also got the War Horse bluray (cue joyful dance I would do if all my joints weren't aching like hell), The Charioteer by Mary Renault (in keeping with the vintage vibe of this entry) and Okamiden, the Okami game for Nintendo DS. Okami is one of the most beautiful videogames ever created, an amazing experience, and now the sequel is my hands! Yessssshhhh!

Completely off-topic, there's an update on the Travelling Lemon project, with an amazing map of the submissions they already got, a new deadline, and info for donations. This fandom is brilliant indeed!

I've had the most horrible week. So many ugly things happening, and no space to breathe. Today things are finally starting to look better, but I'm still tired from all that ordeal. So, after a well-deserved therapy session, I got a new haircut (shorter than before), and dyed it even pinker, and god, did I need that. I'm all cute and funny and pink, that's the way it should be!

And when I came home, I found the RedBubble package I'd been waiting for a whole month (why does it always take a month from the USA, why?). Since it was all t-shirts, and today was the first day I could actually wear a t-shirt and sandals, I have to admit it arrived at the right time. But I'm still shaking my fist at stupid customs at the italian border.



For an impromtu photoshoot with yours truly and her new amazing shirts (and her pink and funny and cute hair), just follow the cut. ^^

( Find it and shine it and wind it always//It is her hour and always it's hers. )


I also had this little envelope hidden inside a magazine, and inside it, my MJN Air luggage tags! Four of them, I still have to decide if I want to tie them all to my bag, or choose a different one every new day according to how I'm feeling. "Why, today I'll go for the jeans and the Abu Dhabi tag! Or maybe the yellow skirt and the Cremona one!" :D

I'm back! Spent the weekend at Tati's, and came back home right on time for the rainstorm. So happy I had my Erik Lehnsherr jacket with me. Sakura was absolutely ecstatic, though. She loves water and the rain (while my dog loathed them, and turned every bath into a warzone) and she's just collapsed from exhaustion in an empty Amazon box, after spending the last hour running up and down the terrace chasing raindrops. :D

Anyway, the stickers I ordered from RedBubble finally arrived (a whole month!), and here they are in all their glory:



Now the question is: where should I put them, for maximum effect? I'm thinking one on the printer and one on the cabinet right above the computer, and maybe one on the shelf with the Sherlock Holmes shrine? All suggestions are encouraged, guys! Embrace your inner nerd and help me out here. :D

On a sort of off-topic but not really, I spent an embarassing amount of time squeeing and flailing my arms over the fact that they mentioned Metatron in Supernatural. Crossing all fingers that he/she'll make an appearance soon, I'm so excited about it! \o/

(And now off to lunch because I'm starving)

Today it's Star Wars day, so all together now,

May The Fourth Be With You!

I love saying that, it never gets old. :D

Today is also the 121th anniverary of the original Reichenbach fall, on May 4th 1891. So happy anniversary, Sherlock Holmes fandom, the fandom that waited, and waited, and waited some more! May it always be 1895 in our hearts. ;)

It's been a quiet uneventful day. Had to move my therapy session to next tuesday because my therapist got the flu, working in a hospital and everything. Man, I wouldn't last one day. Not sure I would have been able to go, though, because today is the second day of my period, and I ache everywhere. Plus the usual, nausea, headache, and dizziness. Ugh.

Anyway, the Vampire Diaries episode brightened up the day a lot, with its incredible plot twists. It felt like a two-hour-long episode, so much stuff happening, amazing. The season finale is going to blow my mind, I know it. And I especially loved that song right at the beginning, these guys sure know how to choose great songs. *________*

I'm praying the tv gods they'll give Community a new season. Yesterday's episode felt so much like a final episode, it was heartbreaking. And I read some great theories online, concerning the characters from the evil timeline interacting with our timeline, if that's true, then it's definitely another season finale that's going to blow my mind. :D

A few weeks back I mentioned working on a little Sherlock Holmes shrine in my living room. I had cleared up four whole bookshelves (I got rid of an old encyclopedia), and the idea came from finally having some free space to play with. Today the last piece arrived, and I found my dad's copy of A Study In Scarlet, so here it is:



I'm going to borrow the hat from time to time, because since I bought it I have been using it as a Thinking Hat. When a problem arises, Nausicaa dons the hat, assumes serious expression, and everything looks silly enough to be solvable. Laugh all you want, but it works. :D


That's a little Sherlock card ReaperSun sent me when I bought my #believeinsherlock pins. And the thermometer was a gift I recieved years ago, but it's the only chemistry-related item I own, and it's beautiful, so there.


Bonus pic for stardust_made. ;)

----

Real life news are all good news: my aunt found a nurse for grandma, she's a very nice woman, and grandma likes her a lot, so that's done. The meds are working, and today she was able to walk all the way across the house, holding on my aunt's arm, so everyone's very optimistic. My aunt should be back home on the 13th, and from the looks of it she'll actually be able to have a good night of sleep before leaving. I'm so relieved. ^^

Today was so hot. So, so hot. I was wearing a long-sleeved shirt and my Erik Lehnsherr jacket, and god, I should have worn a tank top, because by noon it was full-on July. I need to check the expiration date on the sun lotion, and get my summer hats out of the wardrobe.

After lunch I had my first icecream while Sakura chased and killed her first fly of the year. These are landmarks. They mean it's almost sundress season! Woot! :D

And because I haven't done this in a while, and I have so much new music in my computer it's not even funny:

Music Meme

Number of Songs Total: 6597
Total Length of Songs: 18 days and 8 hours
Most recently played: I Put A Spell On You // Nina Simone
Most recently added: The Russlan and Ludmilla Overture (aka the Cabin Pressure opening theme)

Sort By Song Title
First Song: (Crazy For You) But Not That Crazy // The Magnetic Fields
Last Song: Zombie //Jay Brannan

Sort by Artist
First Song: With Or Without You // 2Cellos
Last Song: Donne // Zucchero

Sort by Time
Shortest Song: Dig Your Grave // Modest Mouse 0:12
Longest Song: In A Gadda Da Vida // Iron Butterfly 17:02

Sort by Album
First Song: Bad Kids // The Black Lips -- (500) Days Of Summer
Last Song: Stay (Faraway So Close // U2 -- Zooropa

Top 10 most played songs
1. I Can't Smile Without You // Barry Manilow (70)
2. Better // Regina Spektor (59)
3. For Reasons Unknown // The Killers (53)
4. Where Is My Mind // Maxence Cyrin (51)
5. Rhythm Doesn't Make You A Dancer // Jon Fratelli (49)
6. No Surprises // Radiohead (49)
7. My Kind Of Guy // Kaiser Chiefs (49)
8. Boom Boom Ba // Métisse (49)
9. I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) // The Proclaimers (48)
10. Half A World Away // R.E.M.(48)

First 10 Songs That Come Up on Shuffle
1. I Wish I Knew How It Would Be To Be Free // Nina Simone
2. Comment Te Dire Adieu // Serge Gainsbourg & Francoise Hardy
3. Für Elise // Beethoven (Piano Only Version)
4. Starry Eyed // Ellie Goulding
5. Amore Che Vieni Amore Che Vai // Fabrizio De André (♥)
6. Serenity // Godsmack
7. Elephant Gun // Beirut
8. Our Day Will Come // Ruby And The Romantics
9. Magic // Bruce Springsteen
10. Looking Out My Back Door // Creedence Clearwater Revival (woot!)

I found a couple of sites with tutorials for drummers, especially tricks with the drumsticks, and I'm so looking forward to try them. *____*

Some bad news, some good news. It's been one of those days.

My grandma isn't recovering all that well. My aunt sounded very depressed over the phone, and it worries me. She's usually way better at hiding it, so it must be bad. I insisted on looking for a nurse to hire and look after grandma, and tomorrow my aunt and a cousin of hers will do some calls about it. Crossing my fingers. At least they already know where to buy a wheelchair, because everytime she tried to walk to the bathroom, she fainted. So, at least that's settled.

Yesterday at the gym we had a nice surprise, because my old teacher was there. I had to resist the urge to glomp her, I was so happy to see her. We decided that I'll skip May, and starting June I'll move to another time slot, starting at 7 pm, when she's teaching. She also told me that class is smaller, only a few girls, and that she would have been happy to have us back.

She was wearing a black tank top and combat trousers, and my friend and I couldn't help it but making a bit fun of her, calling her Sergeant Major while we were getting ready. As an answer she put a cd in the stereo, and the Bridge on the River Kwai theme started. She had made a military mix cd, to go with her outfit! And people wonder why I love this woman. :D

And let's add Roy Orbison's In Dreams to my Post-Reichenbach list of songs. I was singing it earlier on Rock Band, and it's perfect.