no naked flames

Coming across odd, English translations of Chinese figurative language and idioms was one of the things I was honestly looking forward to, when we visited China. Hence I was a bit on the lookout for them :O)

When I saw the top one (which I found really poetic, by the by) I was reminded of David Sedaris' book "When You Are Engulfed in Flames" - the title referring to the headline of a fire escape manual he found in a hotel room in Japan instructing guests on what to do in the event they found themselves, well, engulfed in flames.  

 

French Concession, Shanghai

 

Dynasty

twinsies

So, this seemed kind of like a thing in China. Dressing alike, I mean.

As you can tell from my second photo of the lady and her mini-me, people generally find it way more pleasant to be photographed from behind without their knowledge. And also, as a white woman in China, one must remind oneself that it's kind of tricky to blend in. Sort of like being a black man in Copenhagen, I would imagine.

FYI though, I gave her a neat little wave afterward and mouthed "oh my god, so cute" in the kid's direction after taking the photo. And I kind of sensed it was all good and that neither of them felt bad and objectified.

In other news, I went to China

What up bitches! And by bitches I mean every single one of you 3 awesomely nice girls that let me know I was missed on the interweb, the men and women in my family who've been such devout readers all along and not least Johan, who, for the past couple of months, has persistently encouraged me to get back on that horse called blogging.

I don't really know what to say except that when I posted that little memo about by grandmother and her vitamins in January, I had no plans whatsoever to stay radio silent for more than 3 months. What I do know, however, is that at some point during the past quarter, a major shift happened, and suddenly it felt like a bigger deal to actually post something on here than to not post something, if that makes sense? (I'm struggling to come up with a relatable parable, but then again, who cares. All that matters, as Bryan Adams so eloquently put it, is that here I am, next to you, and suddenly the world is all brand new.)

And to be honest, nothing much happened lately. Except that I went to China over Easter, which was such a massive sensory overload, that I'm (almost) going to keep my trap shut and (mostly) leave it to the pictorial evidence below.

First off. A quirky little Beijing neighborhood that I like to call The Forbidden City:

And markets where they sold piglet cookies and scorpios on skewers.

There was big (oblique) government on Tiananmen Square, which got Johan really excited. 

And a bulletproof car fleet to go with it.

There were monumental art museums, which I never visited, because the mere look of them gave me instant museum fatigue.
 
There were magazine kiosks that pretty much look the same as they do in the rest of the world.

There were floral arrangements that looked straight out of a 1970's postcard.

There were intimate and narrow hutongs, where they served PBRs (really!), rode fixies  and cooked chicken feet.

There were things to cross off our bucket list.

And then there was beautiful, crazy Shanghai. Which is, of course, a story in itself. And by that I mean to indicate that I'll be back here soon :O) 

vitamins and gran

I went grocery shopping late the other night and walked past a shelf with vitamins on special. And it reminded me so much of my grandmother, and how she used to be so diligent about taking her vitamins and drinking vegetable juice, and the way she'd patter about in her kitchen and prepare afternoon or evening tea along with a plate full of different cookies and sweets, and how she'd always have a plate on the kitchen counter with a half-eaten piece of white toast that she didn't finish in the morning because she was so adamant about eating her piece of rye bread first, which made her feel full, I guess.

And I missed her so much because she was just the best there ever was.

Freudian Slippers!

I saw an ad for these in The New Yorker - available at The Unemployed Philosophers Guild!

Here's to a new year, Hillary being out of the hospital, avoiding the fiscal cliff, underindulgent breakfasts and failing spectacularly

Since new year's, I think I've read 257 bloggers' new year's resolutions online, and somewhere half way, I kind of decided that I wasn't going to post any myself.

Then again, consistency has never been my strong point, so here goes: I wanna write more and I wanna paint more and I wanna be less intimidated by the prospect of failing at both. Also, I want to work hard and stay humble*.

*Provided it means I will become successful.

crack and sizzle

To All Of You, From All Of Me

Happy holidays every one!

I decided to skip the pine tree this year and dress up my house plant instead. Blasphemous? I thought so too, to begin with, but then I reminded myself that Jesus was born in Mediterranea, and that a decorated palm tree along with some couscous and the scent of myrrh would be his idea of a good holiday.

And on that note, I'd like to wish you all a very merry Christmas, a splendid Hanukkah, a great Las Posados or whatever you may be celebrating this time of year. I have some great posts lined up for you in the new year (not really, but I noticed this is what the cool blogger girls say in their Holiday greetings), so stay warm (or cool, depending on your December climate) and talk soon!

Sarah

 

Perhaps, one day, something really extravagant will happen to this blog

Is there anything more depressing than bloggers who write about how they've lost interest in blogging? Well, besides global warming and fat dogs in strollers I mean?

Wait what, there's plenty more depressing things?

Alright, let me put it this way then. I think it's time this blog gets a dramatic makeover - thematically, I mean. Because I realize that I've lost all interest in sharing my trivial day-to-day activities as well as the more extra-ordinary things. Like my trip to Stockholm with two of my besties, for example. Which I am posting pictures from now anyway, because when I looked at my camera, I realized I had two options: Posting a picture of a hung over Johan eating pizza - or the stuff below.

Or reblogging someone else's content again.