Ipek's birthday

Just a couple of photos from last night. İpek's little birthday dinner. To be honest, I didn't take as many photos as I wanted to for several reasons (especially later at night, after dinner) but I enjoyed it all the same. Dinner (pizza and a messy banana split for me), wine, coffee and fortune telling (nothing very excited in my near future obviously), walk in the middle of the night and crowds (though I didn't like the part where we couldn't find a place to go at first), birthday girl making faces to camera. Oh and me falling down the stairs. It's been awhile (like a couple of weeks).

Dün akşamdan, İpek'in doğumgünü yemeğinden fotoğraflar. İstediğim kadar fotoğraf çekememiş olsam da (özellikle yemek sonrası) eğlendiğim bir akşam oldu. Yemek (pizza! ve biraz karışık bir banana split), şarap, kahve ve fal (yakın gelecekte çok heyecan verici şeyler olmasa dahi), yürümek ve kalabalık (yer bulamadığımız başlangıcı dışında tutuyorum), doğumgünü kızının pozları. Ve benim merdivenlerden düşmem.

Walk in the Park

Just a quick post from my little morning walk in the park, which led to croissants and coffee.

Links! Links! Links!

My grandmother makes a mess when drinking coffee as you can see. Anyway I spent this week mostly with my family. Drinking beer on my grandmother's balcony with my cousins, having dinner with parents and aunts, going out for a coffee with my granny (again). I think it's really fun because your family always knows the most embarrasing stories about you (and you about them) and it's bound to be natural. At the end of the day I feel like they are the only people who can accept who you are no matter what.

Other than that, it's been a slow week (month/year) so here are some links that I find interesting lately. Oh and a mix to listen to while reading.

• I know most people doesn't even know Twin Peaks (shocked silence) but I find this news pretty exciting. Yes, Twin Peaks return in 2016, with David Lynch. 
• Also a new Sherlock Holmes movie is discovered (!) after almost a century. I want to watch it but I can't. 
• If you read Murakami, loved it (I've been reading for the last 2 years, book after book and I'm in love) and want to continue reading more books from Japanese authors maybe this list is a place to start. 
• I can never say no to a good cheese platter and this makes me want to eat tons of cheese. 
• Is anyone surprised that experiences bring more happiness than possessions? I'm not.
• I really love Carol Rosetti's illustrations of women and how positive they are. 
• I can't believe these are made from paper carvings. Amazing art by Maude White. 

Old Times: Howth

I take very few photos lately (none to be specific) and even if I do, I use my phone and then I just forget about it. So while cleaning my computer I realized there are many old photos I liked and I decided to upload them while I try to find some inspiration in daily life without travelling.

These are from a day trip from Dublin to Howth, a little fishermen's village (or the way I see it) last November. I do remember the day very clearly since it was the day I almost froze myself to death because of a problem with heating and water (and eventually wind). I had to have an ice cold shower (in November. in Dublin.) and then had out. Howth was very close to Dublin, yet gave the feeling of country side. Or rather, seaside. The air was fresh and the sky felt higher than ever. We walked down by the waterside to the lighthouse, listened to the street musician, tried to reach Howth castle in near-dark and ate sea food. On our way back I found a little second hand bookshop near the train station and bought some cheap books. I also remember that we had to run to catch the train.

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Son zamanlarda çok az fotoğraf çekiyorum (hiç demek daha doğru olur) ve çeksem dahi sadece telefonla hızlı bir kaç kare çekip sonra tamamen varlığını unutuyorum. Bilgisayarı temizlerken eskiden kalma çok fazla fotoğrafın olduğunu da fark ettiğimden şimdilik onları yüklemeye karar verdim. Bu sırada günlük sıradan hayatta biraz olsun ilham bulmayı umarak.

Bunlar geçen Kasım'da Dublin'den Howth denen minik bir sahil kasabasına yapılan günübirlik geziden kalma fotoğraflar. Günü bu kadar net hatırlamamın sebebi donarak ölmeye fazla yaklaşmış olduğum gerçeği. Buz gibi suyla duş alıp (Kasım'da. Dublin'de!)dışarı çıkmak zorunda kalmıştım. Howth, Dublin'e çok yakın olmasına rağmen şehirden fazla uzaklaşmış hissi veren bir yer. Daha ferah, gökyüzü sanki daha yüksek. Sahilde deniz fenerine kadar yürüyüp sokak müzisyenlerini dinledikten sonra hava neredeyse kararmak üzereyken Howth kalesine ulaşmaya çalıştık (başardık ancak biraz geç olmuştu) ve sonrasında deniz mahsülleri yedik. Dönüş yolunda, tren istasyonuna yakın bir sahaf keşfetmek ve ucuz kitaplar almak günün beklenmedik olayı oldu. Bir de trene yetişmek için koşmak zorunda kalmak.

Inspiration: Autumn

 
I'm aware that we're almost halfway through autumn but I feel like this year autumn comes slow. I don't know if it's because it was 22C yesterday or because the leaves didn't even started to fall properly yet. Either way, seeing these beautiful autumn inspired photos and illustrations makes me wish it was more autumn-y here as well. For most maybe October is about Halloween, spooky stuff and pumpkins but I'm simple. I'm not going to picnics with a backpack. I'm not picking apples or spend time in the woods. For me it is walking in the rain, trying to hold my umbrella still, earthly tones, stomping on fallen leaves like a child, drinking a lot of black coffee, reading in bed while listening to wind or listening to some old rock songs, early nights, wearing loafers and big cardigans,  buying way too many books, reading vampire stories, smell of rain, earth, cinnamon, warm. Autumn is my favourite season and probably it's not just because my birthday is in October, or it's raining, or it's cool but not freezing, or the light is perfect. It's because there is a feeling of a fresh start in the air. Even after graduating it feels like it's school season and you're about to learn something new about life. Sor for this year, I want to learn something new from the start, maybe attend a course. I'm bad with resolutions but I want to bake the perfect apple pie, knit a new red pillow case, take a lot of photos and restart writing (NaNoWriMo is coming). I want that feeling to last.

Oh and all photos/illustrations are linked to their sources.

 

Not many things are happening right now but I plan to post some old photos some time soon (like tonight). Until then I just want to say that I'm in Bloglovin now. After many years of using Google Reader (RIP) and then feedly (it just ate some unread posts so I'm a bit frustrated to it right now) lead me to this A LITTLE BIT late. Yeah so:

Follow my blog with Bloglovin maybe?

Links! Links! Links!

I'm back in the city and it is, considering I'm a full-time jobseeker at the moment not in the least exciting. But I have my moments sometimes. On wednesday I took myself to an extraordinary date for instance. Yeah, you heard it right. And remembered that treating yourself right is VERY important.

I've been planning to do these link roundups every week but going back and forth between city and summer house messed with my sense of time lately. So here we go. You may listen to this week's mix too.

• After my post on Friday if you still want to read (not watch this time) something related to food I'd recommend reading Michelin Star. It's one of my favourite web comics and it's still getting updated so...
• Did you know there is a door to hell in Turkmenistan? No, really, there is!
• If you're like me and go around all day with the feeling of 'But it's on the tip of my tongue!!!' you can use this website. Thanks İpek for this one. (I also need a Turkish version of this one)
• I LOVE airbnb, don't you? And now there are websites for eating like a local too.
• Came across with these staycation ideas and since I'm back from summer house and can't be travelling for a long time it's the best alternative. Some of them maybe everyday things but doing them with a fresh feeling would do me good.
• I'd love some Harry Potter reference on my mug.

Films on a Friday: Five Food Films...

... that'll make you hungry.

Alright I love food. I love eating it, making it, reading about it and more importantly watch it. But this probably isn't the only reason why I love food related films. The fact that they are mostly about people who are passionate about something (something being food) and trying to make it the best way they can is very enjoyable to watch. And while at it, having some mouth watering scenes and probably some family related drama which'll definitely going to be solved in the end of the film? Deal! As a big fan of dark, scary films food films are my go-to feel good films. So you probably heard most of them, but even if you watched I think you should rewatch them.

Before we go back to the city

The best and the worst part of summer house is that time goes extremely slow. But when you look back it's been already 2 weeks plus on and off 2 months. So there's not much to do there but watch sunrise and sunset, drink beer watching the mountains, write and read a little, swim, cook, eat (a lot) and sleep (also quite a lot) For me best time for a summer holiday is September though. It's not that hot (biggest advantage), less crowded (meaning less whiny children), prices are reasonable and service is always better. But for me holiday is over for a while I guess. NOW I'm ready for autumn.

Links! Links! Links!

So I'm here in the summer house (again! yeah) but I only came last night so it probably doesn't count yet. I didn't do much this week. Nothing really worthwhile anyway. Except going out on to a tavern with İpek (and a couple of her friends) and drank rakı which is always nice. Well other than that I created this blog where I share my stories.  There's only some prompts right now (MYTHS) but I hope there'll be more. So I decided to list things that I found this week (and thought that are interesting). Here have some sunday reads. Also you can listen to this little mix while you're reading.

• Since we're talking about music, Interpol's new album El Pintor is about to be released next week but I've been listening to it for the last 10 days non-stop like the true fangirl that I am. Thanks for online streaming. If you know me I probably harrassed you in some way or another over the last decade about Interpol and how I love them. So I'm really happy that I can read tons of articles about them.
• I LOVE walking. I love how it clears my head and boosts my creativity. And here's an article on why walking helps us think. 
• This is magnificient and beautiful.
• Shieldmaidens are not a myth! Well, we knew it wasn't a myth but now scientist came around on that one. If you like history, vikings and woman warriors, a lovely article for you. 
• While we're on the powerful, vicious woman figures in history, here are 10 female gangsters you should know about.
• And I've been loving this non-sexist tabloid headlines since it's out. 
• It's been quite a while since I started a school year like a student but I'm still all for stationery shopping. And I think these pencils are really good, especially if you're having a breakdown at the office.
• Another perfect shop (on kitchen utensils) where I want to buy everything but can't afford it at the moment. I mean what will I do with 9-inch professional kitchen sears anyway. I don't have a place to put it. It's good that most of them are sold out at the moment though.
• Excuse me madame/sir, can I interest you in a new coffee grinder? For a long time I've been saying that a good grinder is probably more important than an expensive espresso machine and The Coffee Compass tells you why. And they give you options for your price range, too!

End of Summer

I know it's the 4th of September and I know lots of people went on their Autum modes the moment clocks hit 12 a.m. on the 1st. But unfortunately I'm not like that. Maybe it's because I'm a procrastinator but probably because it's still above 30C around here, I don't feel like summer is over. (Summerhouse plans for the next week are also preventing me from that) The problem is I don't know where summer went. And while I want to blame the horrible days we went through as a family, it'd be an overstatement. Because those days were mostly over during summer and I didn't want to do anything. This doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the summer. But I also realized that I need to remember those moments and that's where a blog comes handy. What did I do this summer?

• Was mostly in the summer house with a spectecular mountain view and 10 minutes walk to the beach. 
• Some friends came to visit so we stayed till late at nights and slept on the beach because of the heat. We also ate tons of mussels and drank beer a lot.
• I got to go to Tenedos with other friends. Probably had the most delightful 3 days. Walked a lot, drank a lot of wine and watched the sunset. 
• Then some extended family members came to visit. Which was actually more fun than you might think. So we had huge dinners which led to lazy conversations. 
• I came back to the city a couple of times. It was not that bad. Watched Star Wars in open air, had picnics in the park. I met with an old friend and a new friend in Istanbul for 2 days. Gotta miss Istanbul. (Besides I had quite a lot of fun)
• I finally wrote some stuff. Not that much but it was still more than rest of the year.
• I didn't read much unfortunately. But the book I enjoyed most was Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin (Don't ask me why it took me so much to finally read this book).
• And I finally realized how much I missed 'listening' to music. Actively, like the old times. 
• Oh and I ate a lot.