Persepolis/Embroideries

persepolis book
Originally uploaded by jennywren146.

I read "Persepolis" at the end of summer last year. Set in Iran during the Islamic Revolution, it follows the story of Satrapi. As she grows up, she witnesses first-hand the effects that the revolution and the war with Iraq have on her home, family and school.

It's told through the eyes of a child (reflected in Satrapi's simplistic black-and-white drawings), and the story shows how Marjane learns about her family history and how it's entwined with the history of Iran. A very human story and beautifully told.

I received in the mail today (thank you Fran) "Embroderies", Marjane Satrapi's third novel... Apparently not as good as Persepolis 1 and 2, but then it would be impossible to top those... But I can't wait to read it.

rem...

I listened to this song for the first time in a long time and remembered how much I love it.

REM: Why Not Smile

The concrete broke your fall
To hear you speak of it
I'd have done anything
I would do anything
I feel like a cartoon brick wall
To hear you speak of it
You've been so sad
It makes me worry
Why not smile?
You've been sad for a while
Why not smile?

I would do anything
To hear you speak of it
Why not smile?
You've been sad for a while
You've been sad for a while

26th April

I am going to France, for four weeks! The flight is booked and the work placement sorted, so all I have to do now is remember how to speak French~~~ I think the change will do me good. It's so easy to slip into routines and get stuck in a situation. It will be a mini-adventure, and I will be able to eat crepes as much as I want!! (I just turned my keyboard to French so that I could put the little hat on the e, but when I did I suddenly remembered how the layout of the French keyboard is different from the standard one - ie, a becomes q on a French keyboard. Gosh, I'm going to be so confused when I come back to England.)

Tulips

Tulips
Originally uploaded by jennywren146.

チューリップ！

we are what we do

I bought this book: Change the world for a fiver (we are what we do). It lists 50 actions that you can do to change to world, and make yourself feel good at the same time. These are the actions that I am going to do:

1. decline plastic bags wherever possible
2. take public transport when I can
3. if it says 30MPH, do 30MPH
3. register as an organ donor
4. do something I think I can't do
5. smile and smile back:)

I am also going to give my dad a copy of this book because he ALWAYS leaves the TV on standby, which is still using lots of electricity. Action 12: turn off appliances at the mains.

The Edukators

edukators
Originally uploaded by jennywren146.

I think this is a must-see.

who to vote for

Having just watched Blair being grilled by Jeremy Paxman, I have been trying to give some thought as to what my tactic will be on May 5th. (Actually, I will be out of the country having fun- hooray!! - but I shall have my postal vote;)) I just checked out the stats on the web, and, much to my horror, not only did John Greenway get 10% over the Lib Dems in Ryedale (my constituency. Sigh), Labour only got 15% of the vote in 2001!! So, as a Labour person (for the most part, anyway, since really there's no alternative) I don't know whether to at least be loyal and give them my vote, or go for the Lib Dems, in the hope that we can get rid of Greenway. I don't want my vote to be wasted voting for Labour, but then again it would feel strange to vote LD. Hmmm. This is a tricky one! And if I didn't vote at all, then that would be unforgiveable.

"Tokyo"

"Tokyo"
Originally uploaded by jennywren146.

I also wanted to add something about the photo exhibition that we saw at the Lowry today too. This is the photo (taken by Lucking) that won first prize of the Schweppes photographic competition 2004... I can't decide whether or not I like this picture, but I think it achieves the aim of capturing the antithesis of the cute Japanese school girl stereotype. I never saw school girls look as mean or as grumpy as this (or perhaps I did) but then again Tottori is not at all representative of the rest of Japan!

Manchester and LS Lowry

Street scene
Originally uploaded by jennywren146.

I finally made it through to Manchester today to visit Becky... I've been promising to go for ages since I'd never been there before and never visited her place. In fact, Manchester is pretty nice! I've only ever been to the university and the airport before, so it was cool to actually visit the city. We also went to visit The Lowry, which was built for the millennium and houses around 300 paintings of LS Lowry. It was dead cool - so many famous pictures under one roof!! I learnt quite a lot about the artist himself too... I only knew him before for his industrial lanscapes of Salford (and other places too) and for his famous matchstick men and women. In the beginning he drew the figures from a distance, but as he developed as a painter, the people he painted became more individual with real faces and expressions. 'The Cripples' is a good example of this, but not a picture I'd like on my wall exactly... I had no idea that he was really into seascapes ("life itself", and often referred to as a self-portrait) and his portraits of Anne are really famous too (apparently inspired by the paintings of Rossetti). It also seemed that he led quite a solitary life, and was very close to his mother too. Actually, after the death of his mother, the emptiness he felt was evident in the paintings of the time; a landscape he would once have painted full of life became sparse and empty... I just love his paintings so much; the colours, and how you can almost hear the voices and chatter of the crowds and smell the fumes coming from the factory chimneys. Anyway, enough talk of Lowry for now.

So after all that cultural stuff we then went shopping and wandered around Manchester and even watched part of the FA cup semi-final on a huge TV screen near Selfridges! We went to the best shop over (FOPP) to look for cheap CDs... I wanted to get Rufus Wainwright's Want Two but it was still expensive, so think I'll wait for Demi to buy it first!! So, Manchester was pretty cool. I think I wil be going back soon.

昔話

Wanyu asked me what 'mukashibanashi' meant - so I told her that it means 'folklore', 'legend' or 'fairy tale' (somebody correct me if I'm wrong). I don't know why I chose it as my blogger web address, but I suppose I just like the sound of it. I used to have so many favourite Japanese words, but these days I just seem to be forgetting everything. Even simple words that I used to use every day. It just seems too easy and straightforward to speak in English all the time! Oh well, nevermind, I'm sure that I will get the chance to use real Japanese again one day!

Lowry

Lowry
Originally uploaded by jennywren146.

I don't know a lot about Lowry, but I reallly hope I'll get to see some of his paintings this weekend....

I think I've got the hang of uploading pictures now...

IMG_1692
Originally uploaded by jennywren146.

OK, this house is cool (and only a few mins walk from my aunt and uncle's house). Cool huh!

Happy Birthday Emily!

IMG_1687
Originally uploaded by jennywren146.

I like this photo.... Happy 21st Emily!!

Did this work?

IMG_1675
Originally uploaded by jennywren146.

This is an experiment.... can you see this picture on my blog?

First blog

This is my first ever blog entry and I'm not quite sure what I'm supposed to be doing here. Anyway, I want to explain the title of my Blog. Basically I heard 'First Day of My Life' by Bright Eyes for the first time a few weeks back and absolutely fell in love with it. It's such a sweet song. Do you think he's settling for her (paycheck) or should he wait for the love of his life (the lottery)? Tricky. Here are the lyrics below, so decide for yourself:

This is the first day of my life
I swear I was born right in the door way
I went out in the rain
Suddenly everything changed they're spreading
blankets on the beach
Yours is the first face that I saw
I think I was blind before I met you
I don't know where I am
I don't know where I've been
But I know where I want to go
So I thought I'd let you know
These things take forever, I especially am slow
But I realized how I need you
And I wondered if I could come home
I remember the time you drove all night
Just to meet me in the morning
Yeah I thought it was strange
You said everything changed
You felt as if you just woke up
And you said, "This is the first day of my life."
I'm glad I didn't die before I met you
Now I don't care, I could go anywhere with you
And I'd probably be happy
So if you want to be with me
With these things there's no telling
we'll just have to wait and see
But I'd rather be working for a pay check
Than waiting to win the lottery
Besides, maybe this time it's different
I mean, I really think you like me

Isn't it so great when you meet someone for the first time and they make your life feel so much better and you think wow, I'm glad I didn't die before I met you!

And also I'm not creative enough to think of something for myself.