good-bye 2009

it's the last day of the old year. it's been a good one. i'm grateful and send my best wishes out to you for the new year. here's to many beautiful encounters and lots of happiness.

baby, it's cold outside

1. 365.013, 2. peace, 3. Untitled, 4. Untitled, 5. Untitled, 6. Untitled, 7. Untitled, 8. old town, 9. Untitled

here's some wintry flickr inspiration for you. to me, these images sum up this season so well. don't you want to curl up with a good book too, when you look at these snaps? ... wipe a little hole into the ice flowers on the window and watch the snow falling?

click on the link underneath the mosaic to view the photographer's site. many of them are blogging friends - their flickr profile will guide you to their blogs. be inspired!

it's very cold in berlin these days. we are having minus 13°C this morning. bought buttons for my heavy winter coat with the white collar yesterday. i better sew them on pronto, in this weather a coat with missing buttons is no good.

happy sunday!

corner view: books

when i was little, i used to feel guilty for not loving my dolls and furry animals quite as much as my books. i also liked to read adult's books. i read so much, in fact, that a family friend felt she had to have a word with me: "so much reading can't be good for your health, kristina." i remember that scene quite vividly - i was lying on my tummy on the carpet and was reading a three-volume-edition of some novel, completely oblivious to everything around me. that friend seriously worried about me. to no avail, as it turns out - i've gone on to uni to study literature and other book-related things and have been working in the world of publishing ever since. mark me down as a hopeless case.

p.s.: the picture spread is from one of my favourite photo books ever - family. photographers photograph their families by phaidon. caption reads: susan andrews, lois, 1996-2002. those little photo monographs are from the phaidon 55 series. and finally that vintage book, 1x1 des guten tons by gertrud oheim is a 1950s book on etiquette that i loved as a child and have bought second-hand some years ago. makes me laugh. and says a lot about the changes in western societies.

take a look at other corner views via jane's spain daily.

weekend

what a wonderful thing when you can spend your weekend with friends after a busy, busy week - have a laugh, make some food, catch up. hope you had a lovely weekend too!

corner view: evening

sigh. i'm so sorry to have kept you waiting yet again. weeks are just so full at the moment.

i love evenings. things seem to be slowing down. if we are lucky, there's the promise of dinner with friends or family, or of curling up on the sofa with a book or magazine or a good film. or there's a party to go to and the excitement of getting ready (yes, i really don't have anything to wear! plus a bad hair day. and i can't find my mascara. and i'm late!!!). 

still, ordinary, everyday evenings are pretty lovely too. like when my sister was here and my nieces were getting into their pyjamas early and wore my ballet flats as slippers. the length of one shoe measured roughly the same as their shins... or when they were in bed and my sister and i sat in the kitchen chatting. and then read at the kitchen table (my sister) and pottered around (me). or that evening i rode my bike home and came across the big neon lights on leipziger strasse and saw the ferris wheel by alexander platz from a distance. evenings are good.

find links to more corner views at jane's spain daily (and wish her luck - her computer is at the doctor's!).

look!

happy second of advent! (we are lighting a candle each of the four sundays leading up to christmas - traditionally people have a wreath with four candles). what traditions are you keeping alive at this time of year?

this is just a quick sign of live - this weekend i'm having my photo workshop, we spent friday night and all day yesterday in the darkroom processing our films and making prints. tricky. i'm not the most gifted student, to be quite honest, and am a wee bit impatient with my myself, but getting there, getting there... it's exciting to be sure!

just take a look at what i received in the mail the other day: jen's beautiful calendar for 2010! the new year can roll around now... hop on over to jen's blogs simply photo and simply breakfast and take a look at her new pop up shop, featuring her own work and prints by photographer friends. beautiful! maybe you still need some gift ideas...?

speaking of which: those of you who are making gifts this year rather than buying everything, do you have lovely ideas you'd be willing to share? i'm feeling creative but haven't come up with too many crafty ideas so far. thank you, thank you!

have a wonderful sunday!

corner view: corners of home

i know, i know, i'm very late with corner view this week... here we go then: corners of my home.

you wonder if i'm cheating by showing you just the tidy corners? well - maybe. a bit. that's why i'm throwing in this pic of my sink for good measure.

for more corner views, take a look at jane's spain daily - enjoy!

p.s.: many, many thanks for all your tips re: my techy questions. can i bug you a bit more? when using an external hard drive to store images, do you run your picture manager from that hard drive (for mac users - do you use an alias on your mac and run the programme from your external drive)? and which software do you use - iphoto, nikon viewNX, other? i'm checking forums as well, but your advice really helps and is much appreciated!