Maria’s blog

If you were independently wealthy, where in the world would you live?
Submitted by Eileen.

Anyone who knows me knows I cannot make a choice to save my life and I am sure there are dozens of places all over the world I would want to live... So you are not going to get one answer but a few options! In the little travelling I did, there were times when I though 'Hey, living here would really be great!'

Stresa, Lake Maggiore

One place I adored was Stresa, a beautiful little town

on the Maggiore lake in Northern Italy.

London, UK

Another place where I could totally see myself living is London.

 From the first night there it felt familiar, as if I'd been there before, and I cannot think of one thing I didn't like about it.

english_countryside.jpg

Oh, the English countryside was awesome too! (basically, I have only good impressions from my trip to Britain)

corfu.jpg

Corfu, the Greek island, would also be one of my top choices.

And these options are just from the little piece of the world I've seen!

Show us something you're allergic to.

Two years ago I found out I am allergic to kiwi... And I found out the ugly way! I went on a one-day trip to a nearby island with my mom. We swam, we walked around in the market, we had a delicious lunch... We had a little time until the ship was leaving for Athens so we decided to have coffee or ice cream or whatever... At the beautiful, seaside coffee place we picked, they had a variety of fresh fruit so I ordered a fruit salad. This was rather surprising, because I'm not a big fan of fruit and veggies, but it was so hot and the fruit looked really great... Anyway... Apples, pears, bananas, strawberries, all fruit I had eaten before and I liked. The only fruit I hadn't had ever before -and never again- was kiwi! From the moment I swallowed it I knew something was not right... The taste was fine, but I suddenly had an itch on my lips, tongue, throat! And then... Well, let's just say all of my digestive system was very upset! It was an eventful end to our little trip...

Kiwi

Oh, and the allergy was verified a few months later. I was at a birthday party of a friend and the cake had pieces of fruit on it. I specifically asked for a non-kiwi piece, but I suppose some part of the evil fruit had found a way in there, because when I took a bite I immediately felt that horrible itch... Thankfully, I drank a lot of water and of course stopped eating the cake, or I would have inevitably stolen the spotlight off the birthday-girl!

And I am also allergic to pollen, but I find sneezing and having irritated eyes less disturbing than throwing up all over the place!

 

 

What's the one thing you're most neurotic about?

I have many, many neuroses, but I think that my skin is the number one! I think it's of pretty good quality, it doesn't need much care and it is usually smooth and blemish-free. I basically just use Clinique's Three Step and that's it... But, in the off chance that I do get a zit I get really really upset! In my mind it is magnified many times, it is all I can see! I am no longer just me with a zit, I am the person hiding behind it! I know this is ridiculous but I can't help it! I check its state every five minutes and I apply Clinique's anti-blemish solutions gel religiously until the enemy is vanished...

I am overwhelmed by your thoughtful, supportive comments! Really... It's simply amazing how the kind words of people who I never even met make me feel better and more confident that I will get through this. It wasn't easy for me to admit how I've been feeling over the Internet, but I'm glad I did...

Thanks for bothering to say a kind word. You are fabulous and you made my day!

Lately I've been feeling really down... Like everything is an effort. I haven't been sleeping much either... Even little things seem terribly hard to do… For a couple of days I indulged in a not-getting-out-of-bed phase... But then I began to seriously worry. I mean this can't be ok...

For the past week I've been forcing myself -so far successfully- to do stuff, to get out of the house... It's not easy. Every morning, I feel the urge to just stay in bed and read or watch mind-numbing tv, but so far I've managed to resist and drag myself out... I have been going to the library to study which is very good because not only do I get more work done but I usually meet friends there... So, I no longer have whole days pass without talking to a single person…

I'm hoping this is just a passing thing, but I made a promise to the only friend who knows about it, that if I find myself sleepless, numb, sad and well... let's admit it, depressed, I will go to a doctor. I just have this attitude, I want to be able to solve my own problems and I hate asking for help... And the thought that something might actually be wrong in my head is rather terrifying; maybe it would be best to be ignorant... And I hate taking medication... I guess I could find a million other excuses but I know that this is serious and I know I will keep my promise… I’m just hoping I won’t have to…

I have a philosophy of physics exam tomorrow (yeah, on a Saturday) and then I’m done with exams for now. I really want to do well, I’m afraid that another disappointment at this time would be really hard to take…

How did you create your username for VOX? What influenced your decision?
Submitted by Strive2Be.

I used my name... So I guess laziness influenced my decision! I was too lazy to think of something witty or cute...

Show us what makes you sleepy.

Fundamentals of Fluid Mechanics

Studying fluid mechanics is a guaranteed way to get me from wide awake to can't-keep-my-eyes-open sleepy in a matter of minutes! Extremely inconvenient...

I don't understand where all this bad karma is coming from... It's not like I killed a puppy or something... I just got two back to back rejections from grad schools... Yikes!

I just want to crawl under the covers and hide from the world for a while... Oh and get a ton of chocolate... I'm shooting for a sugar-coma here!

Just practicing...

I finished this a couple of days ago and boy, was I surprised!!! When I read it for the first time a few years ago I didn't really get into it and it was probably my least favorite Austen... But now? I loved it! Really! It's up there with Pride & Prejudice...

Persuasion

Jane Austen

First of all, Anne is so real! She is not perfect, she has flaws, but she is so sweet you can't help but love her....

 And the way she suffers seeing Captain Wentworth 'flirting' with Luisa and being so cold and distant towards her... I just wanted to be her friend and give her a hug! Oh, and slap her stupid father and older sister who didn't appreciate her at all... I couldn't not like Captain Wentworth even though for a big part of the book he is a bit of a jerk to Anne. Just like it happens in real life, he was trying to hide his true feelings and let his anger control his actions... But it only verified he still cared for her. Of course Anne was painfully trying to read his mind and see through his actions, what he thought of her and whether he was in love with Luisa or Henrietta, in a way that was so relatable. All through the book, she is forced to be in Captain Wentworth's social circle, which gives her both pain and pleasure; I felt for her...

I should probably mention how ridiculous I found Mary. I laughed out loud when I read her letter to Anne, in which she contradicts herself in the space of a few lines! She mostly made me laugh, although if I had to deal with such a person in real life I couldn't possibly have Anne's patience and understanding...

I was glad to see Anne could sense something was wrong with Mr. Elliot. I trusted her into not trusting his motives and when this was verified by Mrs. Smith it was good that unlike Elizabeth Bennet, Anne's first impression was correct. The way he kept getting in the way of Captain Wentworth at that concert made me actually yell at the book, I couldn't wait for him to be out of the picture! 

As for the ending? I loved the ending in the book! The original ending wasn't so exciting as this... The way Captain Wentworth returned into the room and gave Anne that unbelievable, heart-swelling letter made me gasp so audibly that the Non-Boyfriend looked up from his laptop, stunned! Going on a small tangent: I had to read that part to the Non-Boyfriend since he requested to know what it was that made me smile so widedly. Big mistake! It resulted into him declaring that I was a romantic after all, and he said it in a mocking way... I am not a romantic! I just have a weakness for Jane Austen's novels... And that's the story I'm sticking to!

Anyway, Persuasion is truly a great book! I am so glad I had to reread it for the book club, even though I was too busy to actually take part in the discussion, because I completely changed my mind for it! And that rarely happens!