Dienstag, 14. August 2012

What a Week!

About a week ago I came back from holidays brimming over with enthusiasm. I wanted to blog all day long, write about books, talk about books and read all the books on my shelves at the same time because each book seemed like a glorious adventure. And now? There's hardly anything left of it and it's my own fault, so this is probably going to be the first completely non-bookish post I've ever written.
This week a lot of crazy stuff has been going on here. How come I'm always busier during summer break than when I have to go to school? This is a serious scientific problem.

I'll start with the sad news: my guinea pig Hermine (named after the German variation of Harry Potter's Hermione) died as an old lady of eight and a half years. I sat by her when it happened and if you have ever watched a little animal die, you'll know that it is heartbreaking. She lay on her side, something which she had never done before and now and then her whole body jerked violently. At the very end her eyes were wet and it looked as if she was crying. I had never seen anyone or anything die before, but when she suddenly lay very still I knew that she was dead. Not the best start into a week...

To "cheer me up" my whole family decided to organise a belated birthday party for me since I actually turned sixteen on the 29th of July, but was in Greece at the time. I suspect that they all just wanted to eat birthday cake, because they know exactly that I hate my birthday. There is something about being the birthday girl, being the supposed centre of attention that I never liked and since my family had a horrible quarrel during my birthday party some years ago I refuse to recognise birthdays as special days in any way. Well, my family celebrated nonetheless, ate their cake and were satisfied. Back to normal life now, please!


Lord of the Dance - 10 Cry Of The Celts, The Lord of the Dance and The Clan

Finally something positive to tell! While my mood was definitely below average for a large part of last week, I have some amazing news. I am sure you all know shows like Riverdance or Lord of the Dance. What those incredible dancers do is Irish Dance, a form of traditional Irish stepdance which makes the dancers look as if they were weightless. Last week I listened to some Irish folk songs and suddenly wondered how one could not dance to these rhythms, so I did a lot of research and found several academies for Irish dance in Austria. Unfortunately they are all situated in Vienna which is about three hours' drive away from where I live. But since annoying people has often led me to success I wrote emails to all those schools inquiring after a possibility to learn dancing in Graz. To make a long story short, after several desperate calls to complete strangers I actually found a coach who is starting a beginners' class here in my tiny town in October.
Trinity Academy of Irish Dance
I am so excited! The only problem is that I have no experience in dancing at all and that I am not a very athlectic person. I have started working out in order to be fit enough when dance class starts (and lose a little weight, have you seen those dancers? Tiny elves, all of them!) and that is the reason I am currently reading so little. My muscles are sore, I'm tired and cannot really concentrate.
So, enough whining! I seriously have to get back to writing focused posts without self-pity. Maybe I'll manage that tomorrow...I have lots to say about Persuasion and Jane Austen.
I hope you're all having a nice week!

6 Kommentare:

  1. I did Irish Dancing when I was at school and it is seriously a lot of fun. I was never coordinated enough to be any good at it but it was so much fun that it didn't matter.

    I'm sorry to hear about your guinea pig, losing a pet is losing a member of the family. I'm sure in her way she was glad you were there with her until the end.

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  2. Irish dancing is a lot of fun! My daughter did it for a while a few years ago and we loved it. Also it was very good for her leg muscles. :) I hope you'll have a great time.

    We used to have guinea pigs, they are so sweet and nice little critters. I'm sorry you lost your pet.

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  3. I'm so sorry about your guinea pig, hon :( Like Sam says, it is losing a family member, and you had her half your life :(

    By the way, I'm the same as you with birthdays! I hate fuss of any kind, it totally embarrasses me! In fact, had some vague talks with my boyfriend about getting married (I'm not announcing anything here, nothing is planned!) and we've agreed to pretty much elope to avoid that similar kind of fuss!

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  4. I'm sorry to hear about Hermine. That is difficult, I know.

    Good luck and have fun with the Irish Step Dance! It looks like fun, although I'm afraid I'd never be coordinated enough for something like that.

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  5. I am new to your blog thanks to a BBAW recommendation so I'm just saying hi! I'm excited to get to know you better.
    And though I don't know you, I'm very sorry about Hermine. I was with my bunny Lily when she went and it was very similar -- so heartbreaking!

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  6. Hey hon, hope you're ok - miss your blog posts :) Hope all is well xx

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