seven loves and five obsessions

teaching the best part of these past two weeks feels like i've been sucked into some mysterious black hole. i'm slowly re-appearing. i had to cover for a colleague and, alongside my translation work, was teaching english for beginners at a college to students aged 16 to 28, eight hours straight each day. i was so knackered. but then i had lots of stories to tell at the end of each day. to all of you full-time, professional teachers out there: i admire you. so much.

today we are celebrating the first of advent, i lit the first candle this morning - such a beautiful time of year. this time, i don't have a advent wreath, but a simple candle arrangement with some silver baubles. will have to tweak it a bit though, it's not quite what i want yet.

while i'm re-appearing here, i might as well respond to those two tags passed on to me by blogging friends in denmark, sweden and france.

a long while ago (in fact a-g-e-s ago) i was tagged by wonderful julochka and kristina of across öresund. they very kindly gave me an award and asked me to reveal five obsessions. thank you so much! -- you should really check out their other blogs too, julochka's moments of perfect clarity and kristina's vigdis et al - beautiful and inspiring places!

and then there's marion of l'inventaire de l'esthétique, who tagged me to let you know seven things i love (which i think i'll extend to seven loves). i love the way marion discovers and presents photographers and artists from all over the world.

if you like, consider yourself tagged to play along and if so, let us know in the comments, so we can all come and take a look at your obsessions and loves!

five obsessions
photography - i can't really put this into words, but you know, right?

food - as in strolling across farmers markets, cooking with or for friends, enjoying meals around a big table with lots of talk and laughter

books - reading them, looking at them, holding them, smelling ink on paper, this definitely is a sensual thing

chocolate - what can i say

art - it just makes me very happy. life would be empty without it. how wonderful that humans have this inbuilt capacity for creativity. i refuse to believe there are people who are unable to create

seven loves

my loved ones - without you i would only see a fraction of life's beautiful mosaic. i'm grateful for your different perspectives on life and for your willingness to be there for me

beauty - do you know that feeling when you see or hear something that touches you with its beauty, quite unexpectedly? my photo of that fragile bare branch was taken in our courtyard amidst rubbish bins, bikes and tricycles

london - the city, the friends - love you tons!

berlin - i hated you at first, but now i love you all the more 

cafés - taking a break, just sitting there with a coffee and being happy doing nothing

johann sebastian bach - i love all kinds of music, but his has stayed with me since childhood and moves me beyond words

me-time - moments to stop and think, to step out of the routine, preferably somewhere quiet with some books and my diary

have a good sunday.