Bruno Schulz

This summer in Ukraine was the 5th annual Bruno Schulz festival.  I'm terribly embarrassed to admit that I had never heard of this writer before. A friend of mine gave me a incredulous look when I asked her if she knew who he was. Of course. He was Jewish, wrote in Polish, and lived in a Polish town that is now part of Ukraine, Drohobych.  He is claimed by all three groups: things were a bit complicated back then. He was shot by a German SS officer in 1942.

Since this summer, I've read bits and pieces of his short stories. A passage always jumps out at me and I think to myself that this is an author I'd really love.  There is a website with many of his short stories translated into English. One day ... But glancing through this evening I discovered a new word:

Peripeteia: a sudden or unexpected reversal of circumstances or situation especially in a literary work

I need to find some way to work this into my dissertation that I may or may not ever get around to writing.

Crochet in Ukraine

I managed to successfully navigate the craft store today. I count the day a win even though the saleswomen there thought I was Polish. This is what I bought:

The color is way off for some reason for the yarn on the right; it is much more purple than pink.  I wanted to buy just two skeins of that one, but they were out. Then I found the other, so I ended up with three total.  Not quite sure what I'm going to make though I was looking up patterns today for a hooded scarf.  I think I found one that is manageable. I'll let you know if I end up finishing anything.

I know, as if I need more things to do other than getting my research done.

Kindle Love

I just want to gush a bit about how much I love my Kindle. I got it last year and hardly ever turned it on. But then I moved to this other country for the year and I've come to really appreciate it. Not only can I get lots of free books from Amazon (I don't even have to pirate!), I can still check out books from my library. How freaking cool is that?

For some reason, being in Ukraine makes me want to eat a lot of chocolate and sleep all day. I swear I'm not depressed! It also makes me totally willing to read whatever horribly edited free book I find on Kindle. I've been reading a lot of English. I know I should of course be doing work and learning the language etc, but me and my Kindle have become best friends. I wonder if I would read books in Ukrainian on it if I could find them .... probably not.

Many thanks to my parents who decided to buy it for me as my Christmas present.

You Should Watch This

By now most of you probably know about my semi-obsession with the band DakhaBrakha.  I personally think they are the most amazing Ukrainian band I have ever heard.*  They play mostly what I would call "folk" music, but what they refer to as "ethno-chaos."  I wrote a paper about them for my ethnomusicology class, so I have both an academic and a personal interest. 

Anyway, the point of all of this is to say that you should watch this video:
http://vimeo.com/14950124

The song and the video are both beautiful.  Sorry, I don't off the top of my head have a translation for the title, nor can I tell you what the song is about exactly.  If I thought about it more I would tell you about how the imagery and the lyrics (in other songs) have clear connections to Romantic Nationalism, modernity, nostalgia, and avant garde**.  But not today.  I will add, however, that I find the video a tad bit creepy, especially starting around 4:50. 

Enjoy!!

*But never seen - they have a tendency to be in places either right before or right after I am there.  It is very sad.  Although, I did see Nina (if you watch the video she is the girl with the braids) in L'viv during the summer. 
**The band originated at the Center for Contemporary Arts in Kyiv (DAKH). 

Hot Chocolate Induced Insomnia

Seriously what the hell? I know that it was rich thick amazing chocolate, but I cannot actually believe that I am still awake. While this does give me an opportunity to pretend that I have a blog that I update, I do need to be productive tomorrow, which means I need to go to sleep now. Not likely to happen any time soon :(

Also not likely b/c my friend is on Skype and we decided to relive the funny terrifying moments spent in the convent in Ukraine this summer. As most people know, we didn't actually live in the convent, but in converted apartments in the courtyard. A key moment being when the mirror crashed to the floor around midnight scaring us to death: my roommate said "call 911" and I grabbed a vase for "protection." Not a good moment for either of us :)

But otherwise...what have I been up to since the SuperBowl? Well nothing. Went out for Valentine's Day, had fun dancing, became even more addicted to a certain band, applied for funding and stuff, wrote a few pages, read a few books, had an existential (or maybe theoretical) crisis, became involved in random department drama. And to add one thing more:

Started a secessionist movement - that is crucial and defining. Long live the Republic of West Florida!!

But sadly the people (person?) who reads this already knew all of that. Bleh.

Eurovision

12 points to Serbia. The only song that I listened to twice, and thoroughly liked. It was quirky and the guy's hair was a bit much, but the lyrics were catchy.
So many others were too generic, or super scary - like, as much as I hate to admit it, Ukraine. What was she thinking? It was terrifying on multiple levels actually. The music video is freakish and her live performance, was well, sketchy to say the least, not to mention the utterly ridiculous lyrics.
Seriously, Serbia should win, but probably won't.