Pride and Prejudice and Other Classics I Didn’t Read

Some time ago, I stumbled across people discussing some reference to Pride and Prejudice. To my surprise, one of the points raised was that one cannot consider oneself a book-lover if one has not read Pride and Prejudice. That gave me a pause. I definitely consider myself a book worm, but at the same time, I haven’t read anything by Jane Austen. And come to think of it, I haven’t read a bunch of other books considered classics either.  (more…)

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The Story from the Bag That Was Stolen

When I first arrived in Ireland, I lived at my friends’ place, on the north side of Dublin. The area consisted of indistinctive dark gray houses that must have been built back in 70’s, and small gardens that weren’t much to look at in late autumn. Once I found a job, I moved closer to it, and for the next eight years I became the resident of Dublin’s south side. (more…)

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Melfka’s Birthday Week: Melfka’s Accent

Welcome to my Birthday Week during which I post random, interesting or embarrassing facts about myself. If you missed the introductory post, you can find it here. Today, I’ll be wrapping up the birthday week. I know it’s a bit of cheating, since it’s only day 5, but I hope today’s surprise will make up for it.

I was thinking about something special to put up here as a way of saying “thank you” to all my readers, and here it is: a video! If you ever wondered what Melfka’s accent sounds like or how it would be like to meet me in person, you can get the taste! I’m even slightly nervous as I would be in a real life meeting. (more…)

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Melfka’s Brithday Week: Those Horror Things

Welcome to my Birthday Week during which I post random, interesting or embarrassing facts about myself. If you missed the introductory post, you can find it here. Today you’ll venture into the dangerous territory of Melfka’s personal horrors. Of course, since it’s my Birthday Week, I won’t be talking about those real and well-grounded fears probably almost every human being has. Instead, I’ll amuse you with those absurd things that shouldn’t cause a flinch reaction.

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Melfka’s Birthday Week: All the Pretty Dragonflies

Welcome to my Birthday Week during which I post random, interesting or embarrassing facts about myself. If you missed the introductory post, you can find it here. Today you’re going to have a peek into my peculiar relationship with dragonflies.

There are people out there who collect “everything cat” or “everything dolphin”, and if I had an obsession like that, it would be with dragonflies. Yet, at the same time I own hardly anything with dragonflies… (more…)

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Melfka’s Birthday Week: The Sweet Tooth Witch

Welcome to my Birthday Week during which I post random, interesting or embarrassing facts about myself. If you missed the yesterday’s introductory post, you can find it here. This time I’m going to cover a topic that is quite obvious: Melfka’s favorite sweets.

It’s not a secret that I like my sweets. A household is not a household without chocolate, but the list doesn’t end there. (more…)

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Melfka’s Birthday Week 2018

It’s that time of the year again when Melfka turns a year older, though not necessarily wiser. (Though rumor has it she actually improved her English skills!) And like last year, to celebrate Melfka’s Birthday Week, I invite you to a bunch of posts in which I’ll share funny, not very serious, or embarrassing facts about myself. I’m not too keen to reveal my birthday date publicly, so instead I claim the whole first week of March for my birthday, following JR Bee’s idea who two years ago organized my Birthday Week on Twitter. (more…)

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Watching Novels: Thoughts on Book Adaptations

Sometimes, when you look at Hollywood’s movie repertoire, it seems they only release remakes and book adaptations. Some people cringe, hoping for more original content and fresh stories, and as much as I’d love to see more originality as well, I do have a soft spot for book adaptations. There’s something enchanting in seeing the story I loved (or at least enjoyed) envisioned by someone else. It’s almost like sharing thoughts on a book and learning someone else’s perspective. (more…)

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Being the Reader I Used to Be

I’m not the reader I used to be. Ever since I stopped being a student, I struggled with reading as many books as I did in my youth. Partially it was because of my limited time: I didn’t have gaps between lectures or workshops to fill with reading. Being employed full time meant 9 hours a day at my workplace. After that, I had to take care of my food and house chores. It was also the fear of losing sleep over a book – something I confessed to two years ago, and something I couldn’t afford being an employee. But lately, I realized the problem is more complex than just less time to read. (more…)

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