Scottish scientists

my dad sent me this picture two days ago. the subject was 'Finally, you'll be able to look Willy in the eye' and by Willy he meant William Shakespeare. he hopes by looking Willy in the eye I can make some progress in my thesis. he also enclosed an article about how a Scottish scientist has reconstructed a 'warts and all' image of Shakespeare based on his death masks. by Jove, it's fascinating.

cutting wood

so I had the countertops cut. for that, we drove to a corner of the city I'd never been before. it was an industrial kind of place with a dusty, eerily silent inner yard and a lot of other workshops around that all seemed to be vacated. at the entrance there was a gate complete with a pike, a sign that said PRIVATE and a jovial young man, the porter, who didn't ask a word and opened the gate at once. I hadn't expected this hot-knife-through-butter entry and dialled the shop in panic. I just wanted to tell the porter where we were going, even if he couldn't care less. I didn't remember the name of the company. "What's the name of the company?", I shrieked into the phone. someone at the other end giggled. "I'm coming to have my countertops cut. Where am I going?" the man still didn't answer, instead, the giggle grew into a relaxed, happy laughter.

I teach something called 'Communication' at an American college. this is what I do for a living. I knew instantly it was a breakdown so I niftily disconnected the call. I hate talking to strangers on the phone, especially when they don't talk, just giggle. luckily, the next moment we found the shop. inside there were three young men, smiling and cutting wood panels and a little boy with protruding ears and a pair of very big glasses. like a kid from those Czechoslovakian children's programs we used to watch on TV. he was sweeping wood chips, deep in his thoughts. one of the three men was wearing headphones to keep the noise out. he came up to me and I explained to him what I wanted. he seemed to hear every word, despite the headphones. he was fast and friendly. he cut the wood, and told me it was 500 HUF (=about 2 USD) and at the end he gave me his cell number in case I needed any help in the future. we drove away, happily.

to do list

ok, Veron has sent me the TO DO LIST. I am happy to announce that the minus 2nd point has already been accomplished.

TO DO LIST

-2. buy new countertops and have them cut to the right size (one for the countertop, one for the kitchen table)

-1. calculate everything (how many square meters of laminate floor and paint for the furniture and the walls are needed)

0. select and buy the laminate floor, the paint, the tools (paint rollers, brushes, gloves, painter's tape, etc.)

1. clear the room of all movable items and prepare the surfaces we want to paint

2. cover everything we don’t want to paint

3. hop on the ladder and paint the kitchen wall

4. while the walls are drying, paint the cupboards

5. prepare the tiles

6. paint the tiles

7. put down the under lament for the flooring

8. install the laminate floor

9. remove the old countertop and the kitchen table top

10. install the new countertop and the new kitchen table top

11. remove the old lamp, install the new lamp

12. clean the place and marvel at the beauty of the new kitchen

I'm sure there will be some tough challenges popping up on the way but looking at this list I have the feeling it is a doable plan.

sense of duty

this afternoon as I was waiting for the elevator a voice loud and clear said "sense of duty". and then "commitment". the words came from behind the locked door of one of the ground-floor apartments. I knew that voice; it was the unemployed husband of the janitress and I cannot possibly tell about what and to whom he was talking. I swiftly jumped into the elevator and contemplating those heavy words echoing in my ear I remembered that I should post an update about the project.

lo and behold. here are the before pictures of our kitchen:

granite/faux marble (?) countertop used for the kitchen table

white tiles alternating weird tiles
(thanks to a handsome water meter installed some time later than the weird tiles)

I love the lamp even if I can hardly see it stuck in the corner behind stuff

now here is the other half of the granite/faux marble (?) countertop

weird tile galore

the decision

the decision was made months ago; I just had to call Veron to make it official and at the same time to make her join me. it's about the kitchen makeover project.

I am not a housewife, not even a wife, I am not a good cook, I am not rich, and I don't have time for anything and I don't know anything about makeover projects. I'm not good at DIY or keeping stuff organised or neat and I don't have famously good taste either. I live with my man in a 35-square-meter (375-square-feet) flat in the heart of Budapest, Hungary. I moved here exactly eight months ago and I still haven't been able to transfer my books and clothes here completely (= about 5 percent of my books are here and about 40 percent of my clothes have made it). and I keep buying more clothes and more books so we are constantly fighting things around us. or at least trying not to tread on them.

the kitchen is a slightly different issue. it's not only short of storage space but it's also rundown and damn ugly. so I've decided to dissolve this depressing combination and do something at least about the look of the place. I have not much money for the whole thing, but as I am self-confident and hungry for success, I want to create a spectacular difference between the now and the would-be. and because I'm a minus-10-level beginner in makeover projects, I made that call and asked for Veron's help.

Veron is my friend. we met eleven years ago when we started our PhD studies together. Veron graduated with flying colours and since has written a book about Shakespeare Behind the Iron Curtain that was published in the States. I haven't finished my thesis and there's not one day that passes without me thinking of it. the fact that I think of it everyday did not stop the University from terminating my PhD student status after the final, finaler, and finalest deadlines passed, thus trimming my hopes for an academic future and making my parents deeply disappointed in me. still, in theory, I haven't given up. we'll see what theories are worth.

so Veron, besides being a devoted academic in the field of English Renaissance studies here in Hungary, is a great friend. and a great home-lover with precious kitchen makeover skills (not to mention her kitchen skills). me and her, we are a great team. I'm funny and energetic, she is funny, energetic, and knows what to do.

about the blog. I used to write a blog about myself, my time in New York City, my then-boyfriend, my ever-friends such as RsB aka Rosemary's Baby and my feverishly opinionated family members. it was six years ago, the blog was popular and then slowly died. it was also in Hungarian, the only language the devil respects, or at least this is what someone told me once. now I'm doing this in English because most of the people I know respect English as well.