(Oxford) goodbyes

"I said goodbye to a dear friend this morning... There is no sweetness in the day that makes it better..." 

You think you've toughen up. You've done it all before and as most people will tell you, it becomes easier. I'm not a toughie when it comes to goodbyes; I give everything in relationships, there is no holding back and that makes parting that little bit harder... and wetter. I've moved around a few times and I got through it, sure, and I got through it pretty alright, but tears were shed.

When I moved to Oxford, things changed. Suddenly, I wasn't the one leaving. Oxford is such a transient place... So transient some would say is not for me, a nostalgic little Portuguese soul with her fado and saudade. And some would be, quite possibly, right. I remember the first of my very good friends to leave. And then the second. And then the third. I stopped counting. One more moved and my happiness for him and them softens the ache of yet another goodbye... but just a little bit.

Today, as Autumn settles back in and the long British winter looms in the not too distant future, I said one more goodbye. Phil touched my heart in so many ways, mainly because I never wanted him to. You see, sometimes when you've said enough goodbyes and you think you're done with it all, you shy away from temporary people; Oxford has plenty of them. This is not an official decision, it's just how it is. And sometimes, in spite of your best efforts, there will be people who get through your lack of interest and show you that temporary is really what you make it. Memories can last a lifetime; so can friendships.

Phil and Bec have added so much to my life and I've been so much happier these last couple of years for knowing them that I wouldn't have it any other way, no matter how many todays I had to go through.

P.S.  Dear friends reminded me earlier that technology is there to make our lives better. And they warmed my heart.

::inspiring Mondays::

I have a cold, the mother of colds. I woke up at 5:15. I was out of the house by 6:15. I was on the 6:55 train to London. We were delayed by over an hour. The later train arrived before us. I was late to the event I was attending. Yet, I had a good Monday.

It's all about perspective. I arrived. All my loved ones are safe. Very little else matters. I mean, really matters. In fact, everything else is just a bonus.

:: my family.
:: my friends.
:: Yoda as my screen saver reminding me of the power of the force and what I can achieve just by doing it (I have finished it but I still prefer this earless Yoda photo!)

How was your Monday? I hope perspective worked in your favour :)

nós por cá todos bem

This week has flown by. There was sightseeing last weekend, cycling during the week, going on a narrow boat - aye Captain - and packing. Today there is a cold, blog writing, knitting and... sunshine!

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Nós por cá todos bem is a randomly scheduled feature for when images describe what's happening around here so much better than words could. You can read the first post here.

reasons if reasons were needed

I agree. I so agree. And, perhaps more importantly, I accept it.

At a time when time is ever so precious and we're all going from commitment to commitment with pit-stops at other time consuming tasks (like doing the laundry, cooking, exercising... hum... sleeping), keeping a blog - and dedicating time to it, of course - may seem, how shall I put, a waste of time. For a while, I thought about this and questioned whether my time was well spent here. I concluded it is!

On important matters such as this (and take this as the first clue that this space is important to me), I like to consult with Little brother. It's a conversation we've had a few times and he always tells me the same and you know what? I learned it now. I love writing and I love photographing and I love putting it together here. What better way to spend your time than doing things you love?

Enjoy your wasted time this week!

cool news

So, what were the good news I alluded to on my last inspiring Mondays? I am one of the new contributors to Fe-line, an online publication primarily aimed at women.

I'm really excited with this opportunity to write for an established publication and connect with local people through my writing and little snippets of life. I will write one article a month, largely on a topic of my choosing. I did put forward several ideas in my proposal, but all of the sudden nothing seems worthy of that first article. Do you know that feeling? It's quite awesome... hehe!

There were several reasons why I wanted to be a Fe-line contributor and the cool thing is that some are only becoming clear now. I love when that happens! I love that feeling you get when things just feel right and the more you sail through, the better they feel.

Let the writing begin!

Photographing the every day

If, like me, you like to photograph little snippets of life, you will love this post by a Beautiful Mess. It's all about photographing the everyday and capturing the essence of daily life. The light in their photos is enough to make me dream and want to have my camera with me at all times. Like it used to be.

::inspiring Mondays::

I woke up tired. It's cold. I cycled in a strong head wind. I had a frozen jaw until 10 in the morning. But... I decided I will share here a bit more of this business idea I keep hinting at (just not today), I had some pretty exciting news smiling at me from my inbox (I'll explain in detail later in the week) and I had an amazing hot shower followed by a delicious dinner. All in all, I win!

It has been a while since my last inspiring Mondays, early August if the scientist in me demands precision. Just over a month, a good month of summer and welcoming the changes ahead. A month of an unexpected (but oh so good!) blogging break. A month that didn't need inspiring Mondays. And while life is good (read above), I'm back to feeling a gentle need for a little Monday's blog posting hot chocolate.

:: Michael surprising me with the most beautiful 1920 Singer sewing machine. ♥ the machine ♥ Michael.
:: Little Brother is back from his holiday and our normal texting and emailing has resumed.
:: hot showers. again, hot showers.
:: cycling. it definitely brightens my day.
:: writing.
:: the excitement of having news to share :)
:: no rain on my cycle today. windy, yes, but dry.

How was your Monday? Exciting? I hope you are having a lovely start to the week!

week in the life... Wednesday to Friday

I really enjoyed this project, tweaked massively to fit what I felt like doing. I didn't take loads and loads of photos. In fact, I took less photos than on an average day (but ensured I took photos every day). On Monday night, it became clear to me that what I wanted was to capture the essence of each day. I wanted a lot of white, a few photos and a little bit of text. So that's what I did.

Hope you enjoyed you're week in the life, if you're doing it, and mine too :)

Here are my Monday and Tuesday of this project.

Seven years of Britishness

Seven years ago today, on a rainy and dark evening, a younger Joey arrived in Bristol to do a masters. And the rest, as they say, is history.

I am happy in the UK. This country has been good to me and I have felt nothing but very welcome here. In return, I have opened myself to Britishness, work on my English every day and dutifully complain about the weather.

I have a bucket list of “such a British thing to do”. I have eaten fish and chips from a paper wrap, outside, on a cold and wet day. I have eaten fish and chips because I felt like it, damnit. I think it appalling to turn the heating on before November and have become best friends with a hot water bottle. I hate marmite. I love Marks & Spencer’s food. I think roasts are the best thing on a Sunday. I have more than one umbrella and always carry one (except today! it's raining). I apologise *a lot*; sometimes I apologise for just standing there when people bump into me, a classic British thing to do. I say “we” when referring to the great British public. I love pubs; Friday pub after work is like, awesome! I know what interesting means. I have a diary and I use it; we book things in advance over here. When the sun is out, I make the most of it; take it not for granted, we say! I’m doing well on this journey, if I may say so myself.

My story in the UK would not be what it is without the bunch of people I'm lucky enough to call friends. Blimey, have I been lucky! They hug me and take me on British adventures and adventures into Britishness. I have a family of friends here… of course these seven years have been great!

week in the life... Tuesday

I photographed more on Tuesday compared to Monday. I went running but that photo didn't make it to the final selection. I photographed one of my favourite Oxford building, but that also stayed out, I wanted the layout to be all about little snippets of my life. I learned something this Tuesday regarding my style for week in the life - I have an impressionistic approach to documenting; while I love writing, I don't particularly enjoy long texts of journaling. I'm ok with that. When I look back on this project, I'm sure I'll get as much out of my approach to it as I will from the photos and little bit of journaling. 

on photography

I want to reconnect with my camera. I want to experiment again, be creative, open my eyes to what's there. The photo above was taken when I did Jackie Rueda's course L'Atelier, which I would very much recommend if you speak Spanish. I met a lovely group of people on the course, we're still in touch and their photography and enthusiasm still motivates me to pick up my good old Nikon and make it shine. That's when I truly love the internet.

As I go through my week in the life, I realise things are a bit rusty here. This project has been amazing to me just for that! I want to photograph more, not as a photographer but as a documenter of life, my life and what goes on in it, with a creative flare.

Do you ever feel you're not making the time for the things you want to do?

a week in the life... Monday

Monday is done. I took less photos than I hoped for and of those few, I only liked two. I'm happy with the small (very small!) selection though. Although the "rules" say one should focus on documenting during the week and putting the pages together later, I didn't. I wanted to know what this project looked like in my head and the best way to see it would be to do it. So I did. I'm so glad I did and I'm so very happy with the white space and the overall simplicity of the layout. The big news of yesterday - we have a moving in date, at last!

Are you doing week in the life? Do you have any idea of what your final pages or collection of photos will look like together? I'm enjoying seeing the different approaches around the web.

a week in the life... of Joey

Having thought about it for a while, I decided this morning to embark on the little adventure of documenting a week in my life more thoroughly. This week, to be precise. A week in the life is all about capturing the every day - my kind of thing - in a detailed way; it was created by Ali Edwards and you can read more about it here. At the moment, a lot is changing around here and it will be good to have a small record of how things used to be.  

My aim is to keep it simple. I will have photos and a bit of journalling. All of it will be part of my Project Life album. As I only decided this morning that I'd be doing this, I don't really have a plan and I'm ok with that. I just want to take photos, write a little bit about my days this week and enjoy the journey.

Let the documenting begin :)

Nós por cá, todos bem

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Nós por cá todos bem is a randomly scheduled feature for when images describe what's happening around here so much better than words could. You can read the first post here.

a little bit of Porto II - window life

September goals

The second half of the year really starts in September for me. Too many years of formal education can have this effect on people. It’s good to see it as a second start with a close-to-reach end. September is also just that month sandwiched between my two favourite months, August and October. It’s when my beloved summer goes and the beautifully coloured Autumn arrives, but not fully; however nostalgic I may be for the end of summer (or August, more specifically!), I am determined to enjoy this no man land of a month.

In January I embraced change. In February I created change. In March I somewhat learned to deal with change. In April I accepted change. In May I (let myself) enjoy change. In June, I settled in the change. In July, I ignored change. In August, I lived with change. In September I would like to make it through change.

:: keep calm.
:: run 15k.

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You can read all my monthly goals posts here and my change :: one little word posts here.