940 Tweet

940, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

Wings of a book. Lisbon, Portugal

illegal pleasures Tweet

illegal pleasures, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

This is how I found Bucharest: smelling of winter, sunny as spring, traffic packed, under (eternal?) construction and hanging on to old habits like this—selling flowers in the street illegally. Something my frequent readers know just how much I miss.

As usual, I feel slightly dizzy on such a short trip. Went to bed late, slept too little, organised three meetings, spoke to mom too little for her taste and yearning, heard nothing from my sister, walked the devastated, dirty streets, heard a cab driver curse in half an hour as much as I do in a month, and generally enjoyed feeling the city being alive. The trip to the bank, though longer than expected, proved smoother than expected, as well. Enjoyed explaining how Britain is not so much better, as so much different.

Now in City Grill, another usual suspect, where Internet flows beautifully and freely. Where I can catch up with work and email, in between meetings, over a fresh lemonade made with sparkling water and honey. Where I can smoke indoors, still, which is glorious and disconcerting. Where I won't be told off for hanging around with my laptop for too long.

I love going to places that challenge me. I can't envision the day Bucharest will stop doing so to a local.

939 Tweet

939, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

Ideogram. Ipswich, UK

938 Tweet

938, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

Walking in Doca do Santo Amaro. Lisbon, Portugal

937 Tweet

937, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

And they call them weeds. Corbeanca, Romania

936 Tweet

936, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

To the airport. London, UK

the table's dead, long live the table! Tweet

new table, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

Last night we stayed at home and had a chat among hyacinths in full bloom, drinks, pillows, music and candlelight. It turned out that although we're living richer than anyone we know, on a daily basis, we too could fall in the trap of habit. So my company got up for some reason or other and ended up rearranging our twin Ikea tables. Like that. And it's awesome.

We had breakfast in the new setup this morning and, while it may not work so well while sitting a dinner party, it proved magic for us, being THAT close and having to find a leg embrace of some sort under the thin end of the table. It also called for a quite a great deal of giggling, touching, and more giggling, and no, strangely, no breaking of crockery so far. Or legs, for that matter.

Sunday evening chats, mmm. This is a great outcome, and fair to say, just the tip of the iceberg of what we came up with over an hour of loud dreaming. Sure you can't say why you love the other, not if it's true love (it seems), but it helps to be reminded that you do. A dozen times a (Sun)day.

935 Tweet

935, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

Dress of the swallow. Corbeanca, Romania

934 Tweet

934, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

What makes this a Christian bike? London, UK

933 Tweet

933, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

My mother's babies. Bucharest, Romania

932 Tweet

932, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

Good to be at home. Bucharest, Romania

931 Tweet

931, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

Late bloomer. Bucharest, Romania

in between days Tweet

a few petals away, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

Only after taking the photo today did I realise it was nearly the same angle as yesterday. Not many variations and temptations on my way to work, I guess. Perhaps because it is so short, even at snail's speed. At least in this changing season I get to see live things, and colourful.

930 Tweet

930, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

Golf course. Surrey, UK

join avatar blackout on twitter until february 24th Tweet

avatar blackout on twitter until feb 24, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

My Twitter avatar/ photo and many others (see @stephenfry and @jemimakiss) on Twitter are entirely black now. It should have started yesterday, it will last until February 24th, and it will hopefully make a memorable impact. Here's the call to arms and here's why you should join me in this protest ASAP.

929 Tweet

929, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

Embrace. London, UK

spotted, and tried: milk bar, 3 bateman street Tweet

the milk bar, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

I've heard about Flat White's brother for a while, but only now got round to check it out. Coffee rocked, as expected, and the atmosphere was alright (if you don't count the somewhat noir paintings on the walls, which are possibly for sale, thus to be replaced). I didn't eat this time, so will have to come back to that, and to what makes it a milk bar, of all things. Bottom line: coffee at Flat White (and Lantana) levels, Aussie style, is always a rare sight and a big plus in London: great when the Italians don't cut it and as much as you love Pret, you can't have another coffee from them, not even for free.

Reviewing the Milk Bar in my mind afterwards, it struck me that one thing I disliked strongly was the look of the staff of three: as if they'd fallen out of bed straight behind the bar, having slept in those clothes ever since they left the beach. Don't get me wrong, they were clean, and there's nothing wrong with surf-ware, which may very well be normal and cool around the beach and in many other places and instances. My love actually sees nothing wrong with it and was terribly amused to hear about my issue. Which makes is it even stronger and less explicable. I needn't see French maids in a cafe, not even uniforms (though at Nordic Bakery they had a cute take on that), and yet... There could be a correlation in my head between coffee and crispiness, and an expectation, perhaps, that the whole atmosphere of a cafe is in harmony with the crispiness of coffee.

However I think of it, and look at it, one things' certain: Milk Bar put me in an aesthetic pickle.

928 Tweet

928, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

Pink. London, UK

927 Tweet

927, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

Lunch. London, UK

my shiny valentine's Tweet

my shiny valentine's, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

I woke up alone in the house. It's funny how you can tell that you're alone in the house while behind a closed door. The silence has a different fabric, one of fluffy sun rays and undulated dust streams, invisible to the eye, shining to the soul.

And then I lost the poetry and plunged into sorting things around the house. I guessed my Valentine was out shopping for romantic dinner providings, and later learned that was true. Was a bit distracted by the flowers, though, hand picked into an unusual bouquet by an unusual eye.

Did I mention I love him?

926 Tweet

926, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

Discarded. London, UK

925 Tweet

925, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

The patch. London, UK

goldfinches, here I come Tweet

goldfinches, originally uploaded by James Rose.

Author wrote: We'd never even seen a goldfinch in London, but put up a feeder full of their favourite food in hope, and less than 24 hours later they came to visit!

I thought: Right. Gotta get meself a feeder... yesterday! And install it, umm, somewhere. Also: Yay! Flickr posting to Blogger seems restored, at least partially.

924 Tweet

924, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

Spring watch. London, UK

guess what? zemanta in gmail! and yahoo! Tweet

zemanta in gmail, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

Don't remember the very day this happened, but it's recent. Hot. And scary. Zemanta is the plugin I use with Blogger (for links only, this far), and love. But do I want it in my email client? Probably not. I believe in plain text, non-formatted email, with attachments that are not in-line (the horror!). But you? Do you normally like elaborate emoticons, teary presentations (with sound, of course!), and one too many links? Then Zemanta in Gmail/ Yahoo is built for you, so give it a go.

an innocent nursery rhyme, you'd think Tweet

Found on a Wordpress theme instead of dreaded lorem ipsum (still better than naghsdfhjgsdjfg or text here text here text here at times), the following nursery rhyme could refer to the plagues that swept Europe in the Middle Ages (!) or be one of the English "Lace Tells", or short songs sung by the makers of bobbin lace as a memory aid—annotated version on Wikipedia, together with the medical version of the lyrics (!), and other trivia on its use across time, from the title and structure of an Agatha Christie novel to appearing in A Nightmare on Elm Street movies.

One, two, buckle my shoe
Three, four, knock at the door
Five, six, pick up sticks
Seven, eight, lay them straight
Nine, ten, a big fat hen
Eleven, twelve, dig and delve
Thirteen, fourteen, maids a'courting
Fifteen, sixteen, maids in the kitchen
Seventeen, eighteen, maids a'waiting
Nineteen, twenty, my platter's empty...

923 Tweet

923, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

Surrounded. London, UK

made to measure Tweet

made to measure, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

Finally got round to measuring my love's maps and ordering frames made to measure. A few minutes before the month-long promotion of the producer was expiring. But it worked, and we're so happy with the results that 1. we're probably going to acquire more maps (3.35 metres high walls, what do you know?) and 2. we're probably going to order more frames (surprising consequence, I agree). It is the second time we designed our photo frames quickly and easily on the website of Frame Express, which probably means we're stuck with them. A good plan. Goes to prove that it pays to spend enough time on research before actually buying.

One important reason why we love these frames, other than the reasonable price and wide range of options while designing is the fact that they don't come with glass, but plexiglass. Neither heavy, nor breakable. Win!

made me happy Tweet

made me happy, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

One of my photos. One I wasn't especially proud of. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

922 Tweet

922, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

Bentley delivery. London, UK