AD Pottery: A square planter for growing some herbs on the new kitchen windowsill (made by coils rather than slabs – extra weight)22-Jun-2011 04:26, NIKON COOLPIX S51, 3.3, 6.3mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 100
AD Pottery: Not sure what this is for yet, but I am using more clay now to make bigger items on the wheel.22-Jun-2011 04:25, NIKON COOLPIX S51, 3.3, 6.3mm, 0.125 sec, ISO 320
Just kidding – I mean it’s not that awful that I missed a day of writing. It just looks like a big black hole on my calendar, is all. π
Yesterday was a busy day with running some last-minute errands before the week ends and I am off on holidays. Plus, then I have to finish some paperwork (which I am avoiding by posting right now) and we went to the first Emirati Korean Friendship Society event last night at the Holiday Inn nearby us.
(sorry about the blurry photo…)
The event was a showing of a film called “The Host”. I can’t say that I recommend it but as a comedic sci-fi horror film, it was okay enough. There was some interesting directing to it, so it wasn’t all bad. Afterwards we went to the Silk Route Cafe, which boasts a Korean buffet on Thursday nights. It was very average – 5/10 – for Korean food. It is still an on-going quest to find some decent Korean food in this town. So far, Han Kang is the best, but that is really only about a 6/10 to me. I am hoping that as the Korean population grows and interest in the country continues to be a fad, that someone will start up a truly Korean restaurant here. Otherwise, I just gotta make do….
Until next time,
-T
**Warning that I probably will miss a few more days of posting as I leave in a couple of days and will be less consistent online. Still, I will try my best to stay updated here. If I can manage it, I will try to at least post the new apartment before I leave, but I make NO promises! :D**
_Someone Knows My Name_ by Lawrence Hill
A while back when I wasn’t sure what book to read next, my BFF suggested this title to me. So, I downloaded it and though I took a bit of time (for me anyway) to get through it, it was not from a lack of interest. π
This story is written in a memoir-like style, though it is fiction, and follows the life of Aminata Diallo. Aminata is captured at a young age from her home tribe in Africa and taken to the US south to be a slave. Luckily for Aminata, she was young and smart enough to make herself useful with skills that would allow her to continue to succeed through the various stages of the US independence from Britain and freedom of slaves throughout the East Coast up to Canada. Although she has trials and tribulations, she is able to survive.
From the information at the end of the book, it is clear that Hill did a lot of research to ground the story in facts from life stories, historical documents and the Book of Negroes, which I had not really heard about until this book. This is what made the story different from other fictional novels as it was almost easy to forget that it wasn’t a true memoir.
I enjoyed the style and readability of the novel quite a lot. Since I have always been fascinated by the history of slavery, it was also a good refresher of history. I was often reminded of Harriett Beecher Stowe’s _Uncle Tom’s Cabin_ in much of this book and yet it was different, modern enough to be its own.
This is a definite recommended reading, if you are interested in history. Thanks, Jess for the recommendation! π
More to come…
-T
Although I still have quite a bit left to catch up on here, I thought today would be a bit shorter as I have errands to run and things to go about doing.
It has been since November, 2009 that I last saw my best friend, her husband and son (my godson). So, finally after months of just catching up on phone calls and emails, we are finally going to be able to do so in person. I am SO excited! It is hard to believe all that we’ve gone through since and I cannot believe that little E is already 5-years-old. I will feel so old…. ;D
So, I am trying to tie up loose ends from here to ensure everything is set for the summer holidays and then on Sunday morning, I will fly out, on my way to hours of chatter, drinks, laughter and fun times. Of course, after that I will get to spend some awesome time with family and friends at home before exploring the easy beach-life in the Philippines and Indonesia. Summer holidays – here I come!! π
Before I go, though I will definitely write to catch up on what I can.
Until tomorrow,
-T
As I continue finding areas of my blog that need more posts, I also see that I will have to start keeping up with my craft projects as well. Over the years I have done a number of projects and tried to take pics, but somewhere along the line I stopped posting them…. That is about to change! π
My friend, S in AD had a birthday in April. Since she had passed on a couple skeins of yarn, I thought I would try to make her something special with what I had. So… here is the result:
I took a basic pattern from a hat website I have been using to make knitted hats. Then, I created my own crocheted pattern for the brim as I wanted to create something that would protect from the UAE sun even in the cooler months.
I was a bit worried that the hat would be too small, but it is a bit big, so I hope that S can make it shrink a bit to fit her petite head. π
More to come…
-T
It just came to my realization that I have not made a single posting about my pottery hobby on this blog. It seems hardly possible considering how much of my life is spent on pottery and what it means to me to be able to do it regularly here in Abu Dhabi.
I first started pottery back in Japan when I lived in Kyoto. I needed to find something creative to do with my life that took me out of the house since I was living a very reclusive ‘housewife’ lifestyle back then. When I moved to New York, I tried to continue it but sadly the potters there were quite clique-ish and far to snobby for me to waste my time with them. After moving back to Japan, I found a lovely place called Art Factory where I went with a colleague for about a year. So, upon arriving in Abu Dhabi, I began to look for a place to continue doing pottery here. Luck would have it that Abu Dhabi Pottery is established here!
Homa Farley is the owner and teacher of classes. She also has a studio out of her home in Dubai, but AD is where it all began. So, for the past (almost) three years I have been going fairly regularly on Sunday nights to have a bit of creative release. π I thoroughly enjoy it and miss getting my hands in the clay if I am away too long. Who would have thought a girl who hates to get her hands dirty would love pottery?!
Here are some photos (including works from Art Factory):
Until next time,
-T
Back in the days of C, I was introduced to this old improv British comedy show – “Whose Line Is It Anyway?“.
Though not generally a big fan of comedy and it has taken a number of years to appreciate British humour, I have slowly come around to certain aspects of it and most especially I do enjoy improv shows of any kind as this is where I believe talent comes into play. I am in awe of anyone who can be funny, convincing or moving off-the-cuff whether it is through legal battles, comedy sketches or musical performances.
So, when I saw that a show was coming to Abu Dhabi at the Crowne Plaza on Yas Island, I thought it would be fun to take R out and do something a little different.
I’ve uploaded the pics and videos, so you can check it out here:
The verdict is that the show was full of laughs and it was nice to get out! π
More to come…
-T
There is so much that I want to write about that I hardly know where to begin. I will have to make a list of posting topics that go with pictures of things that I have done. Even though I haven’t been posting regularly and been fairly anti-social, I have still surprisingly been doing things.
For today, this is it because I don’t have my list at the moment. However, I want to build my habit of writing regularly, which starts a little at a time! π
More to come, (I promise!)
T
It has been a long journey the past six to eight months. In some ways I wonder where the time went and who that person was living my life during this time. Now that I am on the way back to being me, but a renewed me, I realize just how much I needed to go through this phase and am grateful that it wasn’t a longer episode.
Lemme ‘splain….
Sometime late last year I felt myself falling into a depression that began to take a physical toll on me. I was regularly experiencing feelings of despair and if left alone too long, I would have panic attacks that left me in shambles. I wasn’t happy with anything and only the support of a few people kept me going.
By the end of December, I decided to take the step to seek therapy and consider taking anti-depressants to get me back on track.
Despite trying a couple of different medications, I felt myself constantly frustrated with the fog that seemed to have taken over my mind. I couldn’t concentrate on anything for very long and I really didn’t seem any happier/relaxed than I had been before. I was like a zombified version of the depressed me. The only thing that was helpful were the sleeping pills to help me get rest at night as I wasn’t sleeping well and felt exhausted all the time.
Along with the meds, I began to regularly visit with a psychiatrist. The first one was quite supportive and wonderful, but sadly she left the country just around the time where I wasn’t sure about the medications or the counseling…. However, I had committed to at least three months of consistent therapy to try to beat this state I was in and so I agreed to continue with another psychiatrist whom she recommended to me. I am soooo glad I did. Dr I is so great for me and I think I have come a long way with her in a relatively short time.
On my own, I did decide it was time to go off the meds a couple of months ago. They were just not working for me and I really need to be focused and productive to find happiness in myself. As I started this process, the news of Catherine Zeta-Jones came out.
When I was younger, I was convinced that I am bipolar, but I never could fully believe it as I do not have manic highs even though I have the same lows. So, when news came out about another type and lesser-known bipolar disorder, I began to realize that I just might have been right in my self-diagnosis.
Working with my therapist, I have begun to see that my highs might not be manic or cause an extreme in a negative sense, but I constant on-the-go and productivity can be considered the highs that I don’t think I am having since it seems like such a positive thing. So, I am working on building habits that try to balance out my need to be overly productive with ‘chill’ time each day so that I stay on top of what might cause me to hit the lows and consider how to adjust my behavior to either keep the lows from being overwhelming or prevent them altogether.
So…it feels great to be back to me. I am getting more done.Β I am seeing my friends again. I am re-establishing my independence and with a new sense of confidence than I had before. It’s been quite a journey thus far and it is far from over, but it feels great to be more aware of myself and to understand better the sources of the feelings and emotions that I have spent years learning to suppress and control out of fear of what they may mean or bring to my life. I am old enough now or in the right mental place to start to deal with my past and move forward as the woman that I am meant to be. π
This long post is the beginning of my re-awakening and more posts to come!
Until next time,
-T
I try to understand
I try to empathize
I try to rationalize
Yet, my words get twisted
Yet, my voice gets lost
Yet, my heart gets pain
How can it be –
This change?
This stranger?
This feeling of loss?
The more I try, the less I sleep
The more I think, the less I understand
The more I rationalize, the less it makes sense
My love is the same
My passion is the same
My feeling is the same
So, why does it all feel different?
~T
June 4, 2011
