Sweet September

Finally, I can say it out loud: Summer is officially over. Which means the end of the unbearable heat and sunshine dust. I've always preferred cold and dark places. Once a teacher of mine suggested the cemetery as the ideal home for me. I felt a little offended then, but if I think about it, he really needed guts to say that to a pupil and I respect that.

I'm taking great risks as well. At this precise moment I should be studying for an exam, and yet not a single shiet is given. Instead, I turned off all the lights, opened the window and as I write I listen to the rain and other noises of the night. I live in a village, so there's not much of it. This is my way of celebrating the coming of my favorite season.

Autumn. Read it out loud: autumn. Even the sound of the word is beautiful. Autumn. The season that celebrates death with the promise of rebirth. If I die I'd like to do it with as much grace and beauty as the trees around me every year. (Note: Trees are perennial plants, they don't actually die, but rather hibernate during the winter.) If anything, autumn teaches me (personally, but there's always room for more students) that the end of a life is not something I should mourn, but celebrate. It all breaks down to this: it's not the finality of it that matters, but the fact that life happened. Maybe.

Now, as I reached the level of optimism my body and mind can handle for the day I leave you with George Elliot's words of wisdom:

Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.

A speak out with your geek out moment

As part of something way bigger and much nobler cause than my attempt to entertain I am about to share an interesting story full of twists and unexpected turns.

I've never been called a geek. True story. Well, mostly because the word in my mother's tongue doesn't exist. Unfortunately, this doesn't mean that a few of my habits wasn't frowned upon with my parents leading the way.

My father and mother had a hard time accepting that their precious little daughter refuses to grow up by constantly watching animated movies of all sorts. They were convinced that as an older sister I set a bad example for my sister, Laura. Long story short, I got my fair share of criticism.

At this point I have to admit my scale was indeed wide. I could sit and watch everything from Two stupid dogs and Powerpuff girls to The Beauty and the Beast. But as I grew older and my taste sophisticated ever so slightly I discovered Hayao Miyazaki's work and realized nothing I did till that point was in vain. I won't go into details about the brilliance of the man and his animation studio (not to mention Madhouse). That's something everyone has to see for him/herself.

My point here is that one day Laputa: Castle in the Sky was airing on TV. By that time I was already familiar with Miyazaki's film and managed (using superhuman forces) to convince my parents to give it a chance. I mean it won an Oscar, for Pete's sake. They can't deny its worth.

Unsurprisingly neither of my parents was delighted with it and by mutual agreement we changed the channel. The moral of this two-sided disappointment (parents in the film, me in them) made me realize one thing: I'm not the weirdo here. On the contrary. My folks are nice people, but they are undeniably narrow minded. And for that they are missing out on many great things.

Since that day I embrace my geekiness. Calling someone a geek can only be interpreted as a compliment, because those are the people who understand the world to its fullest.

Which, in itself, is the single most adventurous journey one can dream to accomplish.

What do you think of my conclusion? Any pros or cons?