Friday Music Favourites - 30 September

Dear,

I am currently deciding what to write about on Friday, because there is a lot to tell. I have so many ideas for topics to discuss, but it must be put in a systematic way and that makes me a little confused.

Last time we decided to make sections (rubrics) we couldn’t keep posting them regularly, so I am reorganizing the way in which some of my letters will look like. My first idea was to write each Friday about my favorite things from the week (not very original, since lots of blogs have it); I even have a lot of stuff to write about this theme.  But music – something that has a huge part in our lives, deserves more than just one little rubrique.

So, I guess this Friday the post will be called Friday Music Favourites. Sounds simple, but I hope that you will like it anyway. Note: Wednesday Wisdom also wasn’t something newly discovered or original as a title, but I decided to use it. More interesting was that when I came back from work on Wednesday, I saw the same name as a trend on Twitter. Destiny or just a coincidence?

Well, let’s continue… With my favorite genre – K-pop!

INFINITE’s new album

Photo source: Wikipedia

Initially this band wasn’t something I was attracted to in the first place. Bands with more than five members exhausted me during my first k-pop days and I also was super distracted and obsessed with my first K-pop love, SHINee. But as Key (member of the latter) and Woohyun (member of INFINITE) debuted together as ToHeart, plus the acting ventures of Hoya and L (Woohyun’s bandmates), I decided to try the infinite taste of their music. And Back was my most favorite piece of the cake on my first try.  

Now, continuing on the topic – their newest mini album, called Infinite Only, was released ten days ago and the promotional song The Eye peaked the charts. Since I am not always interested or have no time to pay full attention to MVs, I started to listen it while I was busy reading news. Of course the dramatic notes, so typical for the group, grabbed my attention. The song is really good! Those high notes are very well sung. It’s one of those songs that you like even more after listening to them several times.

I am not going to write about each one of the tracks. Instead I will choose several that I liked the most in no specific order (which is really difficult, trust me!).

Another song that I much enjoyed from the first listening is Air. It’s a strange mixture - it feels like I am listening to a song from SHINee’ s Misconceptions album, making love to a Justice’s song. I can even hear the parts of Key and Jonghyun while listening to it while remembering the funk sounds from Justice’s D.A.N.C.E, for example. Of course, a little pinch of high-notes drama is always desired and at the end you have this awesome, very well synchronized combination of voices of the Infinite boys. I like the way they sing together. Each group has its own style, but they seem like they are equal in some way when I listen to them, even if only one of them sings a part at some point of the track. The rap part is not so intrusive and with the electronic elements and high notes the song definitely wins the listener with its energizing melody.

One day and Thank you are your songs to listen when you are coming back from work in a sunny, but cooler afternoon, when the last rays of the autumn sun caress your back. True Love is a catchy song that doesn't burden the listener with heavy melodies. Zero is a song that deserves a dance! It sounds really fresh, making even my ears want to explode from enjoyment. There is this light infinite feeling that can be sensed - the melodic and rhythmic tune, combined with wonderful vocals. Indeed a fresh ending for Infinite Only.

I promised you not to write about each song from the album, but I couldn't keep my promise. I only forgot the intro song, Eternity, but what can I say, doesn't it resume everything I wanted to say above? This album is definitely something I want to indulge for a long time, especially when autumn is here now. 

SHINee's back!

Having mentioned SHINee, they will be having a comeback!!! October definitely is going to be insane with so many bands that will present their newest albums! I am most excited for Shinee! Their campaign is quite interesting - they have opened an official Instagram page, pretending it to be like a radio program and they post those photos that are like a puzzle - you need to post several in order to see the whole picture (I have seen this trick before). And the final photo is actually a track with each member presenting a song from the upcoming album. Very nice ad campaign indeed! I'm soooo looking forward to it!

Photo source: Soompi

Well, I guess I need to stop right here, because I could write a novel - music is so exciting and inspiring that words are not enough to express my love for it!

Till next Music Friday!

Hugs,

R.

Wednesday Wisdom – 28 September

When we were travelling back from Varna to Ruse after our three-day visit to the seaside, you saw my so-called present diary.  In my life, the only time I have ever had a diary, was when I was about 6^th grade and I decided to use a notebook that was given to me as a present long ago and that had a small padlock to keep away the “intruders” who wanted to open the doors of my own privacy. A childish thing made just for sale purposes, but still that little pink notebook was something that was eventually my diary for a while. I am sure you had such thing, probably given to you as a present from your parents or a childhood friend. And you (almost) never used it or got bored easily after writing the cliché “Dear diary…” several times. 

Although I lost trace of this little pink book, I kept writing.  On different pieces of paper, in old notebooks or special pocket books, I kept writing. Not to my diary, not about how my day had gone. I wrote abstract things about life, about melancholy or joy, sadness, anger and hope, trying to analyze every little thread of those feelings, trying to see them from the person who I was inside or from the point of view of another person. Never saying it was about me actually. The people (on the paper) that felt all those things and lived through all those moments were never mentioned to be me and I really enjoyed that little privacy I had. The same feeling you have when you wrap yourself in a blanket and you feel safe because you are in your blanket, in your room, in your house, i.e. super-protected. I guess I have always been a little introverted, but let’s not put so many labels and go to the main point of this post.

The notebook you saw is actually the second one that I received from my colleague, the secretary (a corporate product so to speak – for our clients, alongside other made for advertisement stuff). It is outdated and for many useless, but for me and for people who like to write things about work – priceless. I write many things in it, including my schedule, thoughts and quotes and work related things. So, considering that we didn’t have so much time in the train back from Varna, I decided to share some of the wisdom I used to write in that notebook. In moments of despair and tiredness at work I sometimes read them and they keep me motivated. I hope that you will enjoy them and understand all of the things I wanted to explain to you in the train that afternoon.

Starting this section today and after all the things I wrote above, let me introduce you to a thought by Kurt Vonnegut that I found really inspiring and motivating me to keep writing these letters in any possible way, just as the two of us decided it in the beginning:

Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia. 

The butterfly which we found in the train and released together afterwards

September

My dear,

Continuing my enthusiastic elan, I am currently writing to you to tell how my days have passed since you left in mid-August. Mostly I will write about the first days of September, considering how bad I felt almost during the entire previous month.

Village People

At the end of July I decided not to take a day-off during August, in order to combine the days at the beginning of September and to enjoy some time in or villa near Dryanovo. I really wanted to take you there, but I couldn’t go before that and arrange everything and also, the second wedding and you having a guest from France made it almost impossible for us to go there together. That’s why I think the road trip we did on the last day of July was a wonderful idea at that time.

The last time I went to our villa with my grandmother at the end of April, someone had broken inside and there was a lot of mess. Luckily, nothing super precious was taken, but we had a lot of negative moments while waiting for the police to come and investigate. There were some windows broken and also one of the glasses was pulled down and left on the balcony, with drops of blood on it. We previously had the glass of one of the bigger windows cracked, but it wasn’t so bad; when we got there at the end of April (and to celebrate Easter), there was a hole in it.  I think the damages were more… windows-oriented and, considering how difficult and, maybe, expensive it would be to buy and put the new ones, so I can say it was serious. Also, when my great-grandfather constructed the house, he wanted bigger windows and lighter rooms, thus making the size of the windows quite unusual for these days. 

We went again at the end of June, because I had to go to the police in the town to testify against the thieves who turned out to be two underage brothers, who had escaped from a detention center in the near village. Of course, at the end they were found not guilty and no measures would be taken for them to “return on the right path of life”. This, my dear, is called Bulgarian justice system, and it is useless as all the effort we put in seeking our right.

Anyway, as summer was drawing to its end, we decided that September was the perfect month to visit our villa for the third time. And, luckily, nothing bad happened at that time. I wish we went together with you! No snakes, broken/stolen things or dog mites (as the one that bit me and I had to go to the hospital for an injection at the end of June), or even dead mice, hiding in unexpected places. The weather was cooler and much more bearable than the summer heat during July or even August.  My initial plan was to go there only with my granny, but my cousin and my brother decided they wanted to join us. We had 5 days filled with lots of work, fun, with a pinch of Korean drama. My cousin is all against the Korean wave, but there was no escaping when each evening we watched “Descendants of the Sun”. I think she liked it, because she decided to stay and watch the drama with us after the first night. 

If I had the chance to take you there now, I would definitely do it! We cleaned the garden from the grass and sprouted trees and, as we do each time, tidied up the house (we couldn’t do it properly the last time, since it was only granny and me). I must say, even with one or two people more, we did a lot of work.  My cousin brought her new camera and took a lot of photos. I wanted to make a photo shoot, but we were too ugly, dirty and tired for that, hahaha!

 Rock(-your-ears) Festival

Right after we came back from our trip, there was a Rock festival the other day.  This year it was held in the city center and not in the arena that opened last year.  You could say that this meant an easier escape from the loud noises and screams, but no way! I don’t think I can call it a rock festival, since the “music” there was much more… hm, harder, I guess. Honestly, I enjoyed the one from last year when Nazareth were guests (not that I am their fan, but their music was definitely more melodic and reminded me of Queen). Considering the fact that there are a lot of fans (with hair longer than mine), including our mayor (who doesn’t have any hair, but is also a fan), I think that this (so-called) rock music will definitely be more respected in terms of concerts in the nearest future. Not bad, but why they don’t make a K-pop concert? It will be awesome! (SHINee-e-e!!!Wo-hohooo!) I have the feeling that if there is a K-pop festival in our town someday, it will be when I am dead or retired… (The solution is to go somewhere else, haha!)

New School/Uni Year

As September was progressing, the time to go back to school came. This year is the first year of high school for my brother and the first year at the university for my cousin. He is enrolled in the same high school as me, although he chose Informatics as his main subject; and she will begin her studies at our university. It is really strange to see them going through things that are now behind my back. Nostalgia, sadness, joy and pride are the feelings that occupy my heart these days. I hope that my brother will enjoy his school years much more than I did. I wish him to find his first love, to be both happy and sad, nervous and excited, tired but determined to succeed.

I hope that my cousin will see what really feels to be a student, to go to exams and, hopefully, to meet teachers and professors that will shape her view of the world in some way. The rest depends on her. University may be a way to connect to the real world, but it definitely won’t show her how to live her life.  Good luck to both of them! :)

Speaking of school…I bought myself a new backpack! It is not so big as my last one, but it’s more compact and looks classy. I hope you like it!

In my last post about our summer I forgot to thank you for the presents. You really surprised me! I had the idea to make a selfie, dressed in the black dress from you, accompanied with the watch on my hand, eating the ramen noodles. I imagined it quite funny, since I told you that the pack of noodles would be eaten in my saddest moment. Now the weather is quite cold for the dress and, luckily, I still haven’t had a very sad moment this autumn, but I will surely tell you about the taste of the noodles soon. Once again, thank you for all the mentioned (and not mentioned) presents and for the precious moments we had together!

I can see that I used a lot of words to describe everything so far, which is not bad, but may bore you. I hope that you will enjoy the writings and ideas that I have prepared for you and hopefully I will be more persistent in terms of writing here.

Expect some little surprises, my dear!

In the meantime it would be wonderful if you take some time to write me a letter. Don’t worry if you can’t – I will be happy even if you read at least one of mine.

Hugs,

R.

 

What We Did This Summer - 2

Unplanned things that happened

Not all things go as planned.  But still, we can say that even in those moments a person can find happiness. Some of the things from Part One can also be included in this section.

1)    We saw fireworks!

2)    We saw a hedgehog!

3)    We were around the English language school when the alarm brought the security and the police (of course, we are not responsible for switching the alarm)

4)    We spoke to a person who can’t speak – not a good experience I must say, but it was a bit strange

5)     All the above things happened in one night

6)    W e did not see any falling stars, but we actually prepared ourselves; magical moment on the balcony in a cloudy but warm night (see number 8 from Part One)

7)     We went to the theatre – our first meeting after more than a year apart from each other. We went to see this year’s play, presented by the Student Theatre. Sadly or not, this year I was among the people watching the performance. A strange feeling it is to be just a spectator. 

8)     drinking Korean –made juice with aloe.

Two weddings and two funerals

As I mentioned before, I went to my friends’ wedding in June (I was a bridesmaid, too!)

The pictures of the first wedding finally arrived and they are truly hilarious. Not because of the faces I made in some of the photos, but also the whole atmosphere is very positive and filled with happy vibes. The newlyweds are a wonderful couple and, I must add, that they deserve this happiness, after all the struggle they have been to (it’s very personal and it more information won’t be given). I wish them long years love, health and happiness.

The second wedding was at the end of July. I wore a custom made dress by my mother. It feels good to write it like that – “custom-made” – just like “made by a famous designer”, but it was made by my mom and I think that is even better.

A very fun and light experience amidst the very warm weather, this wedding had its own charm and another good asset – more young people than the old guests. I was there with the couple from wedding number one and it was such a relief (a lot of unfamiliar people = nervousness).

I am glad that I was invited to both weddings and to have such amazing friends that respect me – something that I think I miss in our society or at least in my life recently. To be invisible most of the time may be comforting but it can be painful for you self-confidence in moments when you want to be heard or seen.

About the funerals… I actually wasn’t present at any one of them. It may sound very rude to include them here, but the people mentioned had more or less a significant part in my life or how it goes at all.

At the beginning of August our young colleague to whom I actually have been substitute to, died from skin cancer. She was 25 years old, young and had her life in front of her. Oli and I know her from before; we even went to a tour to Germany together with the choir. When she became a lot worse in her illness I had to take her place for a while. I remember the week before her death I was hoping that she would come back soon and I imagined how I would explain to her all the new things at work... May her soul find peace.

The second person, even closer to me that is not among us anymore, is our class teacher. She taught us Bulgarian Language and Literature and was with us for four precious years, trying to hear each story in one way or another, trying to make us feel valuable and loved. I am not sure that I have all the appropriate words nor the strength to describe her in the most genuine way and also, to say how deeply this affected me. Our class doesn’t have a parent anymore. In two years, if we gather altogether, there won’t be that important person I would like to share all my excitement, bitterness and grown-up thoughts about life. She is just… gone.

Apart from these two cases, that had a great impact, a lot of my surroundings experienced losses of their close people not only in August, but in 2016 at all. I really feel that this year is not my or our year at all, but I stand here, trying to pass all through the hardships, saying that it could be even worse. I am thankful that at least I have my close people healthy and happy around me (or at least trying not to lose contact with me). And I am grateful to see that there are people who actually care about me. Not on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or any other social media platform, but in my life.

Exciting things ahead

                         

Angers, here she comes!

Oli was accepted to study E-tourism in Angers. New city, new people, all alone in the rented flat – very challenging perspective, yet very exciting! Of course, she would be even more busy (she already is), but this won’t stop me from supporting her, although I truly miss her and the feeling varies from deep sadness to strong frustration sometimes. Anyway, good luck to you, my dearest friend! Fighting!

Ideas and positive thoughts

Recently I have written a lot of things that come to my mind. I have been doing this for years, but not every time in a structured way. It has been almost two years since I started my current job and started actively writing almost everything that I feel and I have gathered a lot of thoughts, experience and ideas to share. Although they do not have much to do with the work I have, I must say that it is time for me to step ahead and start doing (some) of them. I have this feeling which was lost for a while, that good things will happen. And I think it is time to embrace the positive thoughts and put my introverted, melancholic and depressed side in the wardrobe of my fears for a while. We will see. :)

I think this describes in brief what I wanted to write after Oli left for France in mid-August. Of course, if I was more persistent with the blog, these words would have come in a more creative and certainly not so boring way, perhaps each week during the summer. But, anyway, I am glad that I resumed most (but not all, of course) of the things I wanted to share. I will not write about the future plans for this blog, because big intentions don't always count as big actions.

Okay, that was it. For now.

Bye.

R.

What We Did This Summer - 1

More than a month since Oli went back to France have passed. Autumn is here, bringing some bitter excitement and also hope that the next months won’t be as cold as they usually are. And, also, hope that depression won’t be as severe as usual. So…

Before Oli’s arrival at the end of June, we created a list of things we wanted to do and places we wanted to visit. For me bucket lists are something very sweet, but not necessary obligating. That’s why it was a bit like a… joke plan, so to say – some written ideas how to spend our summer together, written on a paper sheet that went directly in my wallet.

The most surprising thing was that we actually followed a lot of the things from this list. Not diligently, but still seriously fulfilling these quickly-written ideas, surrounded by doodles (consider the grumpy face I usually draw, positioned right next to Oli’s suggestion that we should go to the swimming pool). And it was exciting! And a lot of other, even more exciting things happened (maybe because they weren’t planned).

The Summer 2016 Bucket list… and the results (Or what we planned and what we did eventually)

So, what we planned to do/visit/eat was:

1)     Go to the disco, dressed with… well, dresses and high heels (We wanted to go to that place we visited last spring, but it turned out that the “place” and the staff  were moved to the seaside. Smart marketing strategy maybe?)

It was one of the last times that we went out, two or three days before she went back to France. It was good. Honestly, I felt really retarded among such young and good-looking people, who had changed a lot during the past several years (and I have not so much), but I guess that’s just a matter of self-confidence. And trust me, self-confidence is really important in such events, especially when your introverted side has decided that it is tea time! And also – good music everywhere. Conclusion-disco, especially in my town, is not my thing. Sorry, O.! Maybe not this summer and not in Ruse. Or maybe not right before you go back to France (sad face).

Apart from that, the cocktail pre-disco party was fun!   

    

2)     Eat sushi – Oli ate sushi, but not in my company. Girl, you better save a date to eat sushi together next time! ;)

3)     Pajama party – did not happen, I guess we are too big for this now. Actually, it was my idea at first (see how retarded I am?) - to have a sleepover, lots of talking, movies and funny games. Oli invited me, but I couldn’t stay the night, because I had to get up earlier the next day. Maybe we had to plan it earlier, I guess?

4)  Visit the pool (consider my grumpy face here) – now that’s something I am really grateful NOT to do! Oli went there several times without me (I had to go to work after all) and saved me the embarrassment from being around familiar faces (here comes again the point about self-confidence, hm…).

5)     Eat rice at home – did not happen, maybe next year? The rice cooker will be ready for us!

6)   Visit my village and our villa there – did not happen. We couldn’t arrange our schedules and also I couldn’t prepare everything (I will probably explain myself in a separate blogpost).

7)   Go to Varna (or just near the seaside) – Checked! We went to my aunt’s place, stayed in Varna for three days, went to a club near the beach (it was gooood!). We also went to Pasha Dere for a day - a magic place with a pristine beach near a forest - lovely!

8)  Go to the cinema – we actually watched a movie at Oli’s place. Me Before You – supposedly heartbreaking movie that caused a lot of attention to Emilia Clark’s eyebrows’play. Anyway, I really like her and this is not supposed to mock her acting. We had a lovely ladies’ night with home – cooked Chinese and Korean food (Oli, those mushrooms were delicious!) and funny talks. We also wanted to see the falling stars, but unfortunately it was cloudy. But we spent 20 minutes on a balcony between the stairs, whispering warm words about the future and the stars, waiting for one or two to show to ourselves. A fond memory I shall treasure during this winter and during many more to come!

9)     Eat Chinese food – apart from the home-cooked version (see above), we actually had a ladies’ night with fellow choir ladies at the beginning of our summer and we ordered some Chinese food.  A very nice evening I must say!

10)  Ride a bike – Oli did, no time (and bike) for me. Next year?

11) Eat ice cream together – of course we did! But Oli seems to lack the complete philosophy of a glutton when it comes to sweet foods – she actually couldn’t eat the whole ice cream and threw its remains in a bin. Shame on you, girl! (And shame on me for eating so much sugar I guess! Not that the ice cream was really big or super sweet, but anyway.)

12) Eat fries or pancakes – did we? I don’t think so… Oh, we actually did eat potatoes, cooked by Oli, with sesame and honey. Original Korean recipe, yeah, baby! (see pictures from number 8) No need for fries! Well, I hope that we will have the chance to eat pancakes sometimes. 

13) Road trip near Ruse – we actually went to Veliko Tarnovo (Tsarevets), Etara and Dryanovo Monastery. A lovely one-day trip with lots of sun, BG retro music from the beginning of the 21th century, sandwiches, selfies and smiles. Indeed a day well spent!

 

 

 

 

14)    Picnic – didn’t go as planned, but maybe next time.

15)   Go to the Danube pier – Checked, I think twice! We should definitely visit the bar there together next time. 

16)      Eat some delicious things from the Bakery (in the city center) – next time?

End of Part One