december 2019 finds comes very late because i was in tokyo for the winter holidays. and i’ve been slowly getting over the jet-lag.
1.i’ll start by saying that i’ve been writing a novel. by now, i have a 450-page draft i will edit until it becomes what i need it to be. i’d be happy if it became a pop novel you read during a flight and then forget in the plane.
it’s been a struggle and a learning curve to keep on writing and to manage the story. i am not quitting. i will get this done before i move on. if you have any questions or advice, find me in the comments below.
i’ll keep you posted.
2. now, i’ll tell you about visiting the island of madeira in low season. essential tip: you kinda need a car.
3. my favourite thing was the subtropical climate. it allows unbelievable plants to grow everywhere. i went to the market one day and they were charging pennies for proteas and orchids. heaven!
exotic fruits are easily available. i ate the monstera fruit for the first time, among others.
4. i went to the miradouro cabo girao twice. it was close to our airbnb. the first time, it was foggy and then it was sunny. it’s a skywalk 586m above the ocean. we liked it a lot.
5. then, we took the teleferico do rancho. people have cultures down there. it was full of scurrying lizards and the ocean waves were loudly grinding the rocks underneath.
6. we visited the jardim botanico in funchal. the best thing about it were the views. there is an outdoor cafe where you can have a drink and a snack while staring at the ocean. do that.
7. we ended up twice in porto da cruz, on the other side of the island. smart people came prepared and were swimming in the pools.
8. one day, we made the 3h hike at ponta de sao lourenco. it’s not hard, but don’t go in flip flops. the 360 views are hard to forget.
9. later, we took the teleferico da rocha do navio.
the lower area was once again full of domestic agriculture. we walked around the tiny empty village. majical.
10. we went to ribeiro frio twice. it’s up in the mountains and it’s usually rainy.
we took a hike to balcoes where we met some unafraid little birds.
11. jardim tropical monte palace is kinda expensive at 12.5 euro. go only if it’s your only option.
12. we went to grutas de sao vicente and learned a lot about the volcanic past of the island.
13. we visited the quinta da boa vista on our last day. it’s a private collection of over 500 species of orchids. wonderful.
14. near my place in porto, there is a little gallery called galerias diogo de macedo. right now, they have asian masks.
15. dolor y gloria was definitely the film of 2019 for me. click here and here to read 2 interviews with almodovar.
16. you cannot have possible missed the whole banana circus
at art basel. click here and here for two interesting articles about the man behind the whole stunt, emanuel perrotin.
17. on a whim, we ended up spending the winter holidays in tokyo. it’s always top of our list. and it was full of secrets and surprises, as always. i won’t post about everything we did, it’d be too much.
18. it was my fifth time there so i tried to see a more secret tokyo. i like kiyosumi gardens even if winter is not their best time.
19. this winter, mega department store ginza 6 teamed up with finnish designer klaus haapaniemi. the suspended whales were called astral sea.
20. we went to a tiny kite museum hidden in ginza.
21. okura hotel had a revamp and faithfully re-created its famous lounge, in preparation for the upcoming olympics. we loved it. if you are there, it’s worth visiting musée tomo across the street.
22. we spent at least one hour in the seaside observatory. there are many high buildings in tokyo we climbed, but this one has especially good views.
23. tatemichiya is my favourite izakaya in daikanyama.
24. nearby, there is my absolute favourite place in town: t-site.
25. we were lucky to have sun when we saw st. mary’s cathedral.
26. gallery perrotin in roppongi showed murakami and doraemon. it’s one of the galleries of the guy at no. 16.
27. we went to kamakura one day.
28. we were lucky to see mt. fuji when we went to enoshima.
29. on our last day, we went to see the imperial palace.
30. we all live in harry styles‘ world. he has that undeniable super energy. he’s just launched his new album, fine lines. check him live and check his latest very nice video with narration by rosalia. also, another carpool karaoke with james. and a reunion with former girlfriend, kendall. and no, i haven’t forgotten about the video where’s his half naked and surrounded by sweaty boys and girls. i haven’t posted the lizzo cover, but that’s also good.
31. i watched glow up. not bad. not all that good either.
32. i got a new camera. it’s called sony rx100v and i’m very happy with it. because i spent the last 2 years plus with a bad camera and it was hard. it was my forth point and shoot and the only bad one. it actually discouraged me from posting. because the pictures were just not good enough to post.
33. i watched a video about cindy sherman. it’s an episode of a series called art in the 21st century. click here to see it. i enjoyed watching a woman with a mission, who’s not trying to please or seduce anybody.
34. i also watched rams: principles of good design. i heard about it while researching some day trips to frankfurt. a museum had shown the film in the presence of dieter rams himself! i was able to see the exhibition, but not the film. until this month! click here to watch it. the original score is by brian eno. very inspiring film, no matter your job.
35. i am intrigued by food binding. it’s the now extinct chinese tradition of tying girls feet until their bones broke. the resulting feet were tiny and looked like lotus buds. pfff. click here for erotic (and funny) chinese art featuring bound feet.
36. i can’t stop listening to trent reznor’s and atticus ross’ the watchmen soundtrack.
37. an interesting interview with anjelica houston.
38. the last installment of the series.
39. i tried to watch seven days out about how huge events are pulled off. finally, i only watched the chanel spring summer 2018 haute couture show. i’ve never liked chanel clothes. or shoes. i sometimes liked one of the weirder bags karl did. when you hear them saying these outfits cost between tens to hundreds of thousands, i’m flabbergasted. this is a rich man’s game and not much else.
40. i’ve been watching this rabbit channel. all the videos feature the very cute pipkin.
41. also, i’ve been watching this cat channel. imagine very patient cats getting things piled on. i love it.
42. i hear simone rocha citing her many sources of inspiration and all i see is how similar her work is to comme des garcons. am i wrong? anyhow, i think she is interesting.
43. an interesting short animation by osman cerfon. it’s about the absences/presence of the father.
44. i’v been watching soothing sister for a few years now. this is a sad video. a video showing and recommending several items that women could use to protect themselves. watch it. you may either need it or realize the fear we women live in.
45. read here about how stanley kubrik swindled malcolm mcdowell of 2.5% of the box office from the clockwork orange.
46. in a world of disposables, this youtube channel teaches you how how to clean and restore shoes. i love it!
47. i watched to all the boys i’ve loved before. and i liked it. a sequel is coming up this year.
48. i started watching the punk singer – kathleen hanna and i didn’t like it all that much. but i watched it all the way through and i can tell you that i understand her more. watch it if you are into riot grrrl stuff, feminism or simply women in arts. weirdly, i’ve just heard that bikini kill will play at primavera sound.
49. watch funky monks to see how blood sugar sex magik was made. you’ll see rick ruben in the studio, gus van sant taking the pictures of their profiles and tats for the iconic sleeve and everybody at work. very interesting and fortunately not too edited.
i remember when the album came out in 1991, i was so excited! finding older rhcp stuff was not easy like it is now. but we managed to get it and we were really into it.
now i realize that the suck my kiss video is parts of funky monks footage.
i’ve lost touch with rhcp in time. but i like some of their newer songs. and i’m certainly looking forward to john joining the band again. i’ve watched a few videos about him but none is cohesive enough to share.
50. i watched earthquake bird. cutie pie alicia vikander seems to only have one facial expression. i liked the japanese scenery, but maybe it’s not worth losing 2 hours of your life just for that.
51. i watched the king, too. timothee is still good. lily-rose is still underwhelming.
watch this video detailing some of the actual history behind the story.
52. i watched dirty dancing again, after decades. i liked it, it’s a classic.
53. marriage story. what’s up with all these loong films? anyway, i recommend it. adam is good.
54. i watched the notebook again. you can tell they were actually in love during the shooting.
55. i like her house. a whole lot.
56. this post was especially long. it’s because i tried to go through all my lists and make them shorter before the year’s end. i did it on netflix, on facebook saved, on youtube. i read the magazines i had on my nightstand. i did the chores and went through the to-do lists. listened to the spotify saves. went through the inboxes, sorted them out.
a new decade is starting. let’s see what it’ll bring.
how did your decade end?
photo and video credits: little aesthete and copyright holders
