THIS MAKES ME ANGRY...

... and I hope it makes you angry, too.

I am, most of the times, a peaceful person. I try to be fair and honest as much as I can. I am not perfect. In fact, far from it. I live comfortably, I eat more than I should and I have everything I need. This could be said of many other people and it is not necessarily a negative thing.

I am aware that many people aren't as lucky as I am and I know I could do more.

The recent news about the political situation in Tibet awoke feelings of sadness, guilt and anger within myself.

I have listed a few facts here and I hope these will make a few bells ring within your souls as well.

• Since 1950, an estimated 1.2 million Tibetans have been killed by the Chinese. China has ratified a number of UN conventions, including those related to torture and racial discrimination, and yet has repeatedly violated these in China and Tibet.
• Chinese has replaced Tibetan as the official language. Young Tibetans are being re-educated about their cultural past, with references to an independent Tibet being omitted.
• The 1982 Constitution of the People's Republic of China guarantees freedom of religious belief, but China seeks to restrict the numbers of monks and nuns entering monasteries and to discredit the religious authority of Dalai Lama. The child recognised as the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama was rejected and the Chinese installed their own candidate. Read more about the real Panchen Lama here: http://www.freetibet.org/campaigns/panchen/index.html (It is terrible. I suggest you read this)
• China's predominant interest in Tibet is no longer ideological, but is based on resource extraction and land for Chinese colonists. Mining and mineral extraction is the largest economic activity in both U'Tsang and Amdo and at least one-half of Tibet's natural forest has gone since Chinese occupation.
• Long-term Chinese settlement in Tibet has been deliberately encouraged, with the result that Tibetans are in the minority in many areas. Independent research puts the number of Chinese in the TAR at 5 ­ 5.5 million versus 4.5 million Tibetans; in Kham and Amdo, Chinese outnumber Tibetans many times over. Chinese traders are favoured by lower tax assessments and the dominant position of Chinese in government administration.

GREEN ARMY INVADES LONDON :)

A "supreme" Kermit the frog has been spotted in several locations around London. I wonder who's behind this ;)

Apparently Kermit has made his appearence in other cities simultanously: Tokyo, LA and NYC.

What is he up to?

I am lazy as usual... check this link if you want to know more http://www.hypebeast.com/node/21832

PANCAKE TUESDAY

Today is Pancake Tuesday and I nearly forgot! I'm very busy at work and after typing all day all I could think of was my bed. Thankfully a guy on the bus told his friend over the phone that he was going to make pancakes, so I bought the ingredients. They were very nice.

Easter falls really early this year and Carnival feels too close to Christmas. Well, there is no Carnival in England... or Lent... or anything really.

Anyway, it is raining badly outside. I hope it'll stop by tomorrow morning. Don't fancy getting soaked and ill. I'm looking forward to the Everest program I usually watch on Tuesdays. I'm also looking forward to a hot bath and my lovely bed.

BAKING ETC.

I wasn't feeling too good this weekend. Tummy ache... When I'm like that there isn't much I can do and there is no point for me going out and making plans.

I spent Saturday reading "The Tin Drum" in bed then I watched "La Vie en Rose". Sunday (today) I was feeling slightly better and decided to get up and cook a nice breakfast with scrambled eggs and salmon. Now I am also a mochaccino master. The milk frother I got for Christmas works a treat!

In the afternoon I watched an old series from 1995 entitled "Full Circle" with Michael Palin. Very interesting to see how much the world has changed in little over 10 years. Around 4pm I decided to bake scones and use my new heart-shaped cutter. They came out really nice and pretty. I had them with Cornish clotted cream and Bonne Maman Wild Strawberry jam.

For dinner I prepared my absolute favourite: lentils and polenta. This is really traditional of the area I come from and I always use my granny's recipe, which is the best. I could eat this dish every day. It isn't anything refined, but it is very healthy and I love it.

LAST WEEK

I've never got the time to write things as they happen and then I forget half of them. Work isn't busy at the moment so we are trying to tidy up and make space in view of the new season. There is so much clutter in the office. It is unbelievable. I've managed to sort out all the stationary and I've reduced to a minimum my files and documents. So much dust!
I've been to the gym or exercising almost every day and I feel much better. I can't stand being inactive and waste time. I just get frustrated and depressed. I hope I can keep this up!

Last Sunday I went to the Tate Britain to see the Millais exhibition. I knew it was ending soon and I really didn't want to miss it. It was £11 to get in, but it was well worth it. They had so many paintings. It was massive. It was my chance to see some of my all time favourites. What I like when I go to exhibitions is to find out the story behind the paintings. It really adds up to the experience. Since I've always been interested in the Pre-Raphaelit Brotherhood, I already knew many stories about the artists and the models belonging to this movement. One of the figures that has always fascinated me is Lizzie Siddal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Siddal) She is the face of Millais' Ophelia and to me she is a true romantic heroine, tragic ending included.
It is crazy that she had to pose in a bath full of water for hours no end while Millais was painting. She got so ill that her dad asked for compensation!

The story of Effie, Millais' muse and wife, is also interesting. She looks amazing in "The Eve of Saint Agnes", inspired by Keats' poem. The basis of the poem is the superstition that a woman would see her future husband if she performed a certain ritual on the eve of Saint Agnes. If she were to go to bed without looking behind her back, her future partner would appear in a dream, eat with her and kiss her. In his original version, Keats emphasised the sensuality but his publishers persuaded him to change the wording so as to avoid a controversy.

On Thursday I went to Saki, a Japanese restaurant in Smithfields. Hiroko is leaving for 6 months and it was very nice to see her. The food was excellent. It was a bit expensive, but perfect for a special occasion. I had been to Saki once before on a Sake Tasting Event, but it was my first time eating at the restaurant. Highly recommended! http://www.saki-food.com/

Tommy is back from San Francisco and she brought me a lovely panda puppet. As you can see they are both very jet-lagged! Ah, ah!

This week one of the most inspiring figures of the past century has died. Sir Edmund Hillary was 88. He was the first to summit Everest, together with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay in 1953. A true explorer and philantropist. Sadly we will not see his kind again.

PANDA :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The Xmas holidays have just finished and I'm already fed up with work. Today was the first day back and guess what? I was the only fool to turn up for work... I felt really sad because I came back slightly optimistic and hopeful for the future and everything was exactly the same old crap, maybe worse. Freezing, messy, dirty and nobody gives a damn. Well, why should anyone? I left early because I really couldn't be asked.

In spite of that, I really had two nice weeks off and a good time back at my mum's in Italy. I cooked and played a lot with my sisters. My DS pet hamster Uik gave birth to a baby boy with stars as his coat. I called him Stellino. I wanted to call him Super Stellino, but it was too long and didn't fit the screen.

Today I've also collected Tora from the cattery and she is very happy to be home.

I've finished reading "Mayme Angel" by Yumiko Igarashi. It is a manga from 1979 and I used to read it, as it appeared monthly on the "Candy" magazine. I was really young back then and I must have missed a few issues because I had never managed to read the very beginning and the end. Now it has been reprinted and I got it as a Xmas present! I'm so happy. Hi, hi!