reading and watching.

I am still a bit terrified of making any solid plans for the approaching 2013.  To ease myself into it, I thought I’d start with something light-hearted, like books and movies.

I always make these challenges for myself, wherein I’d decide to watch 500 movies all the while reading 200 books.  It never happens, of course, as I’m not a film critic or a book reviewer.  Come February I find myself 50 movies and 20 books behind the challenge, so I drop it completely.

This year, I’m going to set it to something lighter.  I’m going to pledge to read 33 books and watch 150 movies.

Of these 33 books 6 will be Big Srs Reads.  This year, I plan on tackling:

• Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy; I’ve started this three times and stopped somewhere on page 120.  Now that the Joe Wright movie is out, I really want to finish reading the original before the film premieres here.
• Crime and Punishment, by Fyodor Dostoevsky;
• Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri; this book’s fate is similar to that of Karenina.  I keep starting it and dropping it.  Starting and dropping.
• Don Quixote, by Miguel de Cervantes;
• Little Women, by Louise May Alcott;
• Master & Margarita, by Mikhail Bulgakov.

Additionally, two books should be dedicated to my profession, and two books should deal with God and/ or theology.

I’d also like to make my way through the entire Bible in 2013, but that’s pushing it.  Also, I will probably discuss it in a separate post.

These are all the books that I keep telling myself I’d read, but end up reading some urban fantasy young adultish once again.

Actually, it’d be nice to focus the entire year on all those books that have been on my ‘to read soon’ list for a while now.  The only reason I’m not going to list them here (though I LOVE lists) is that if I write a definite list, I’d become inundated by it and read eight hundred different books on frugality instead.

Out of 150 movies I plan on watching, at least 30 should be classics.  Say… 15 should be Soviet/ Russian classics, and 15 should be foreign classics.  I took a good look at my movie list the other day, and I’m terrified to say that it mostly consists of whatever blockbuster was released whenever.  So aside from these flicks, I’m going to try and watch something more serious.

the archived plans.

I was digging through my old blog (here, if you wanna take a look at it; plan on converting it to an exclusively *~*style and beauty*~* endeavour, so that here I could focus on words and photography), and stumbled upon my quarterly plans which I diligently wrote up till the misfortune that befell my family so suddenly.

I am still quite afraid to plan, but with these I come from the bizarre logic that they were written before.  So I’m not exactly planning anything new, rather, trying to get my life in order and tie any loose ends.

Below is the list of all the plans, merged into one monster of a list, with my commentary.  It’s long and boring to anyone but me and those of us who love lists.  I didn’t even bother copying them in order I wrote them, nor prioritising. 

Some of these have been completed, I’ve kept them, with comments, for posterity.  Others have become obsolete, sadly.  They are there too, with notice.  There are repeats, but I think I managed to catch most of them.  Should I become brave enough to come up with new plans for 2013, I’ll share them closer to the New Year.

So, the cut.

dislocation.

My mum’s and mine visit to the British Embassy Wednesday this week was not a success.  While our documents were all in order, the wait for a stamped passport is too long, and there’s no guarantee the visa will be issued.  I do not have the luxury of waiting, so my mother and I will be flying to a visa-free country for mum’s treatment.  It will be either Turkey (more than likely), or Israel (father insists).

There is a lot of unfinished business, and some things (like household chores) just keep piling up.  Some cats need to be taken to the vet to be neutered and spayed, and also to have some other health issues resolved.  I need (really, really need) a new pair of trousers and a pair of shoes, and maybe one shirt.  Mother can do with a new shirt.  I need to get some necessities (decaf tea and coffee, fruit sugar, unopened bottles of shampoo and conditioner) as I have no idea when I’ll be able to really do a shopping spree in Istanbul or wherever it is we’ll end up.

I need to find foster homes for cats, or arrange a cat hotel stay for them, which is a bit out of my budget, but what needs to be done, will get done.

I need to pack some entertainment in Russian, for mother.

I need to learn some Turkish (or Hebrew) phrases.

I need to arrange some groceries for brother.

I need to ensure bills will be paid while we’re gone.

I need to buy flight tickets.

I’m forgetting a lot of things right now, but really, this is not a thorough or even partial list, it’s just some ramble to clear my mind a bit until I start with the chores again.

I just really hope this’ll work, you know.

to-do list, 21-22 july 2012.

Before everything that’s happened (and continues to happen) in my life recently, I used to keep a detailed journal.  It was a mix of an account of events (which were lacking), my thoughts (of which there’s always plenty), to-do lists, various cut-outs and ephemera…  I keep telling myself that I need to return to keeping a journal, that I need to keep better track and try to preserve every memory of every happening that God sends my way.  But I can’t find words.  My journal these days is basically a continuous to-do list, to-buy list, with a short note about a recipe I want to try or person I need to call.  I want to record my thoughts, but I suppose it’s too painful.

To-do lists, however, still need to be written, and points on these lists still need to be crossed out upon completion.  With mother’s release from hospital and things that are happening and will follow, I certainly do need that axis that a to-do list might provide.

My to-do lists are always very ambitious.  What I list for two days cannot be done in a week, at least by me.  But over and over again, I continue repeating that mistake.  On the other hand, my to-do lists might contain such seemingly obvious items as ‘take a shower’ or ‘have breakfast’ or ‘pray’.  Because if I don’t add them to the list, they won’t get done.  By the end of the day I am usually so drained, I forget why I lie down on my bed.  (Hint: to sleep.)

Weekend to-do list:

Laundry: one, two, three, four, five loads; one blanket; one rucksack.

Ironing: what’ll pile up.

Cooking: corn pancakes, syrniki, regular pancakes, maybe some baking to use up all the old kefir, chicken nuggets for brother, Brussels sprouts for all; experimental batch of biscuits for cousin’s visit; maybe preserve watermelon rind; maybe bake pineapple pie.

Cleaning:

– wash windows in: big kitchen, my room;

– hoover: brother’s room;

– cat litter boxes

– big bathroom; small bathroom.

Buy: kettles (electric, regular — maybe); cat litter, cat food (definitely); wax candles; chicken, milk.

Organizing: find keyboard wire; move magazines from one shelf to some place else; clean out shelves from under TV.

Crafts & improvement: make a “shelf” out of laminate board; start on curtains for two shelves.

Research: TV sets; cat hotels; window blinds.

Other: send mum’s scans over to two clinics; take a shower; church!; read with mum (one, two times); clinic with mum (stitches removal); call aunt T; call M.I.; call L.V.; call A.A.; call aunt L.; talk to brother about cemetery visit; plan vet times with brother.

That’s it!  I can already see it’s a bit too ambitious for 48 hours (even less now).  But my to-do lists are continuous, so this one will serve as a reminder for next one.

We’ll see how much out of this one I’ll get accomplished by the end of Sunday!

listen, children, the war has begun.

 

I finally made the Big Book of Plans, as I like to call it. It’s actually just a folder where I file all my projects, separated into vague categories. House, Cats, Self, People, Craft, etc. Many are material, some focus on improvement. Some are physical, others are mental, maybe in both senses. I’ve written massive to-do lists and plans for a long time, record being sometime in late June — early July. After doing a rather cathartic Tarot reading, I sat down and journalled for eleven A4 pages, writing down every minute detail of how I want things to work.

Never make plans, I’ve been telling myself since early teen years. Indeed, I should probably listen to this and give in, as all my plans are thwarted somehow. Whether I make it happen so or it’s an external influence, it’s really not a subject to discuss here. Perhaps one of these days when I finally have enough money for a good therapist or am simply admitted to a psychiatric ward, I’ll finally have an answer to that question.

Right now I prefer to go with the flow — the flow of plans.

Some things I did manage to succeed in.

So it’s not all bad.

It’s currently raining, and I’m making myself a bath. I’d like to publish this before I go and soak, but Brother’s internets aren’t being too cooperative. I’ll save this post then, maybe until tomorrow morning, when all these words will become irrelevant and bland.

Such is the joy and curse of instant publishing.