Oh Exeter...

There once was a girl who learned about the possibility of doing an internship abroad as part of her bookseller apprenticeship. Via an aquaintance she found his brother, a comic shop owner in Exeter, Devon, England, UK and spent a month there working in said shop, living with said brother and having the time of her life. That girl was me (now imagine a real loud gasp from an imagined audience).
That was last year in April. This year, my boyfriend and I decided to go to Exeter for a week to visit all the friends I've made during my time there and I fell in love with South England all over again.

Our journey began last Saturday. Early. Really early. We left the house at 7am to catch our flight in Düsseldorf at 10.55 am. I kinda sorta hate my boyfriend for being that keen about being early (rather than late, yes, it's the responsible thing but come on). We spent ages at the airport and to be honest, after security checks there's really not much to do in Düsseldorf airport. But oh well.
The one thing that is really annoying about Exeter is that it's not that easy to get there. You can't just take a flight straight from Düsseldorf to Exeter, no - you take a flight to London and then get on a coach to drive for another 3 hours until you finally arrive. Still absolutely worth it though.

Exmouth

Jup, I'm going to do the thing and write about Exmouth first thing in my post about Exeter. To be honest, to me they're more one city than two seperate ones. So we spent our sunday in Exmouth where my friend Lewis' parents live. They are definitely two of my favourite people in the world - when I met them in April last year they just welcomed me with open arms, they are almost ridiculously kind and warm people and I am very glad I got to meet them again.
Before we actually met them we went for a little walk on the beach and through town and I found it again - the shop of my dreams.

Look at this front. Look at the windows. I am dreaming of buying this shop one day and have my own bookshop inside it, along with a coffee place a friend would lead - it'd be amazing. Of course it would actually need a lot of touching up before that, so I'd need to become ridiculously rich to be able to afford that. If someone has a proper plan how to become rich like that, let me know.

The Glorious Art House

The Glorious Art House is a coffee shop I already fell in love with last year. It's located on Fore Street, which is in general heaven. If Frida Kahlo was a building, she'd be the Glorious Art House. It's just a really colourfull, happy place with friendly people, amazing coffee and couches I could spend weeks on. Thus we went there almost every day.

The couch right in the front might be one of my favourite places in the world. It's great to just sit there, read a book, sketch or, you know, talk to people sitting there with you. Also, I can highly recommend their moccha, and my boyfriend was all over the Glorious hot chocolate (because it had all the marshmallows). Another reason to just go there, of course, it that it's one of the many local independent places on Fore Street.

 The Quay

Exeters quay is a thing I didn't see last time - according to Lewis, it's no fun at all in April? I can only tell that in June, it's quite nice down there, even though you have to climb all the way up again when you're leaving.
We went to the quay two times, the first time for a nice lunch (I can recommend going to Mango's!) and the second time for a pedaloe tour on the river.

Well, to be honest, the boat ride has been a bit disappointing. We rented the pedalo for an hour, and while we got in we got told how small the area was where we were allowed to go. Also, I underestimated how anxious I'd be about my stuff falling into the river... accordingly, we only spent half an hour on the river before we gave the pedalo back and instead took a little walk through the neighbourhood to discover what was going on there.

The Museum

Another thing I can recommend checking out is the Royal Albert Memorial Museum And Art Gallery. It's got free admission so it's definitely worth checking out, and it has a broad variety of things to be discovered, from, well, art to fossils to stuffed animals.

There's so much stuff there, and they also give you activities and you can try on different costumes (which I didn't because my hair but the boyfriend was all over this).

So what else?

Other than that we just spent a lot of time drinking coffee in general. Another really nice spot for this is Camper Coffee Co. in McCoys Arcade on Fore Street. 

 

We also spent some time in the park and on the lawn in front of the cathedral sitting around, reading, enjoying the lovely weather and a burrito from Taco Macho (which is, hands down, the thing I missed most about Exeter).

At the end of the week we finally managed to go out with our friends and I ended up having a nice little hangover on our way back...

...which made the fact that Heathrow airport doesn't have a smoking area after the security checks a lot more annoying. Especially since that wasn't stated anywhere before the security checks. Which we entered about 2,5 hours before our actual flight. So yeah, the actual trips were quite unpleasant, but I still think it was worth it and will be every time in the future.

A new face - Thoughts about the 13th Doctor

SPOILERS AHEAD! DO NOT READ IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW WHO THE NEXT DOCTOR'S GOING TO BE! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

So the new Doctor aka the actor who's playing the 13th Doctor has been announced two hours ago. And I really should say actress because yes, it is a woman. Jodie Whittaker is our new Doctor.
Now I, personally, couldn't be happier about that. Apart from having a strong and popular character like the Doctor being the same gender as me, the lead of the oldest Sci-Fi show in the world be the same bloody gender as me (which feels pretty good tbh), to me it just makes a lot of sense.
I mean, we are talking about an alien race that regenerates into completely random new forms, an alien race that can regenerate into literally everything - at this point I am kind of wondering why it never struck me as weird that even with those endless possibilities the Doctor has always been a white male. Thus, I was rooting for number 13 to be anything but a white male - a white woman, a man of colour or even a woman of colour (now wouldn't that be just extraordinary????), I'd love all of those, just give me a break from the same type all over again.
And here we are. Female Doctor. And with it, the backlash. Of bloody course.
Now I already explained why I think a female Doctor is a great idea. But I think I should also explain why I think it is definitely not a bad idea. Sounds like the same thing? Just wait...
Many people have voiced how they think that a female Doctor would change everything and it would not be the Doctor anymore. Personally, I don't think it would change anything about the character. Here's the thing: character traits rarely if ever are gender specific. I can't think of a character trait any of the former Doctors had that was inherently male. Jesus, I can't think of a character trait that I have that is in any way tied to me being a woman. I am actually pretty certain that I'd be the exact same person I am now if I was a man. Except maybe from me being socialized as a female and experiences I have made that are completely tied to be being female (as in, experiencing misogyny). Now we have been shown repeatedly that timelords don't seem to give two shits about gender. Not that they don't have gender or don't acknowledge it, they do understand the concept, but they just don't really make a fuss about it - mostly because, given female and male representations are a possibility for regenerations, it can be assumed that all time lords are inherently non-binary. So why would the Doctors behaviour and personaility change more than it usually does with this regeneration? She couldn't be socialized as a female because gender binary socialization isn't a thing on Gallifrey and the Doctor hasn't been a woman before (as far as we know). The only thing I can imagine actually changing is the reactions she gets from others. She could not be taken as seriously, she could experience all the misogyny a human woman faces, I guess more in episodes set in the past than in the future because if there's one thing Doctor Who has shown us then it is that the future and aliens are a lot more progressive, really. But I don't think her core characteristics change at all just because now she has a vagina. If she has a vagina, because I am not quite sure how similar human and timelord reproductve organs are. For all we'd know, we could see the same we see on a Barbie/Ken doll when a timelord ever pulls down their pants (and I bet that'll never happen, it's still a family show after all, for gods sake).
In general, I'd say wether or not a female Doctor works is down to the writers and wether or not they make it work. It is down to their ability to write a female character just as multifaceted as they write their males. But if it doesn't work out, I know who I am definitely not blaming: Jodie Whittaker. So let's just wait and see what they make of it. For now, all we have is a new face as always.

Edit: My friend Ryan wrote this amazing piece that you should definitely check out!

Spider-Man: Homecoming - Review

One great thing about being in England this week is that I got to see Spider-Man: Homecoming a week earlier than in Germany. I am pretty sure waiting another week might have killed me. No, patience is not one of my strong features.
First of all, I am very glad they did not repeat the usual Spider-Man origin story. We all know by now that Peter Parker was bitten by a radioactive spider, thus got superpowers, then his uncle got killed etc. etc. with great power comes great responsibility - we've seen it several times and are informed at this point (in case you have not seen it before, were not aware of Peter Parkers backstory and are not informed... spoiler?). This backstory was not told again in Homecoming, and it gave room to a lot more plot after all of that. Of course we knew about the lack of backstory because we have seen Tom Holland as Spider-Man in Civil War already - the story of Homecoming starts off right after that. Peter is told by Tony Stark to "not do anything [he] would do, certainly not do anything [he] wouldn't do, there's a little grey area between those and that is were [he - Peter] should operate" (greatest advise ever) and that he will be called by someone if there's another operation for the Avengers Peter can help with. So Peter is dropped back into his usual life, going to school, being an awkward teen and, secretly, also the friendly Spider in the neighbourhood. And, of course, Peter is ridiculously keen to get on another mission with the big guys. So instead of just doing little things to help everyone around, he also gets in trouble with a huge group of people who develop weapons from the remainings of the alien attack 8 years ago (as seen in the first Avengers movie), some comparedly harmless like a anti-gravity gun, some really everything but harmless, like granates. So of course Peter does all the things Tony Stark would and wouldn't do and gloriously fucks up both as Spider-Man and at being a normal teenager for everyone else - which, obviously, has consequences.
Spider-Man: Homecoming got the whole teenage thing right. For the first time, with Tom Holland, we have a believable 15-years-old Peter Parker - he looks young enough to be 15, he and his peers at school have believable teenage vocabulary and interests, and personally, I think Marisa Tomei is great as May as well - after all, she's supposed to be the sister of a mother of a 15-years-old boy, so why exactly did everyone look so old so far? In my honest opinion, an Aunt May in her late 30s to early 40s makes a lot more sense - even though Marisa Tomei is 52, she does pull that kind of age portayal off very well.
Another point that I really like about this movie is the diversity we see in Midtown High and around the neighbourhood - another point that makes perfect sense since a) America has a diverse population, b) New York sure as hell has a diverse population and c) god, when will the day come when natural diversity actually been shown in movies is something that isn't outstanding? So of bloody course Peters best friend Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon) is Filipino, his love interest Liz Allan (Laura Harrier) is black, then theres Zendaya as Michelle (who might be the most relatable character ever, at least for me) - it's a proper percentage of brown people in there, and personally, I love it. Yay Marvel!
So we have all of that, plus amazing dialogues, just the right amount of Tony Stark (and other characters from the other movies) making appearances, just the right mix of awesome fighting scenes and a proper plot and a really nice sound track (Marvel clearly learned something from making two Guardians of the Galaxy movies which live from the sound track). Overall, Spider-Man: Homecoming has been a really good experience and I might want to enjoy it a few times more.

Books to read to make you feel better

Reading can help a lot with things, I think if you, dear reader, found this humble blog, you propably know that already. Throughout my life, I struggled with a lot of different things, from things as simple and survivable as break-ups up to actual depression. And even though I tend to prefer books about the saddest, heartbreaking topics, there are some that helped, either anyway, or because I picked up something carefree for once. I will not go as far as pretending books could cure mental illness, rest assured, but what I am going to say is that personally, I found peace in reading books that are supposed to make you happy, I found calm within pages as I found useful advise from time to time when characters went through things comparable to my own situation at this point. So I don't guarantee for anything, but here are a few books that help bring me up again when I am feeling down and maybe they can help you too.

"Hectors Search For Happiness" by Francois Lelord

 See, this is one of those carefree books. The style of writing is very pure as if Hector wasn't a grown-up psychiatrist but, well, a little boy viewing the world as a very happy place to begin with (which propably makes his search for happiness easier). The movie with Simon Pegg and Rosamund Pike is very recommendable too, even though it is a lot more realistic because we rather watch Hector on his journey than seeing the journey through his own eyes.
I read this book when I just started my apprenticeship and the town I newly moved to was still a bit scary and strange and I was just starting to get a bit better after the really dark few months - it did help me with my recovery, and I still like to watch the movie on bad days (and cry like a happy little baby in the end).




"Eat Pray Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert

Another book turned into a movie, but this time, for the love of god, please don't watch the movie (or, if you have already, don't let the movie stop you from reading the book). I came to read this pretty coincidentally, I got a used copy somewhere for free and thought "okay, this is said to be a so called 'womens book' (=aka cheesy and lovey dovey and just not my type of books), but it's hyped a lot, so let's see what all the fuss is about, after all it's free"- this one one of the luckiest coincidences in my life so far (and I do have a lot of lucky coincidences).
"Eat Pray Love" is non-fiction but still pretty much written like a novel. It is about Elizabeth Gilbert herself recovering from her divorce by spending a trimester each in Italy (where she basically eats her own body weight in pizza and pasta to enjoy wordly things), India (where she joins an Ashram to embrace spirituality) and on Bali (to find a way to combine both). I read this book when I was recovering from a pretty rough break-up myself and found some useful advise on how to deal with my own feelings in the way Elizabeth dealt with hers, as well as advise on how to go about my love life in the future. I have since been a lot more chill about dating, so this book actually had a long-term positive influence on me.

"The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho

 I actually just finished this book last week, I picked it because it's a classic and pretty short (less than 200 pages) so it was a nice read after I finished "The Blackthorn Key" and waited for the second Blackthorn book to be released. "The Alchemist" isabout following your destiny and your dreams and having trust that somehow, everything will work out.
After realizing that the next two months will be rough financially and being frustrated with the infamous German bureaucracy, this book really calmed me down - it's right, I will survive this and everything is going to be so much better after going that one last mile on my way to a life with a new, well-paid job and a new flat etc. "I'll be okay, even if everything sucks from time to time" is the message this book shouts in your face.



Other examples would be the Harry Potter books, for example, or "Ronia, the Robbers Daughter" by Astrid Lindgren, just books from my childhood in general because they always take me back in time a bit to a time where things were just easier. Of course that wouldn't work for everyone, but it works for me, and I'm glad reading helps me cope. Do you have books as well that you keep going back to when everything sucks?

"The Blackthorn Key" by Kevin Sands - Review

Christopher Rowe is extremely lucky in an otherwise unfortunate life – after growing up in an orphanage he gets the opportunity to become an apothecary’s apprentice and ends up with Benedict Blackthorn who is probably the only apothecary in London in 1665 who would never beat him. He studies hard, the recipes and how to encode them, and he finds a father figure in Master Benedict who tries to bring his curiosity under control when he almost blows up the apothecary shop again with one of his unauthorized experiments. Actually, everything could be perfect, if it wasn’t for the mysterious murders that keep happening in the city – the victims primarily being apothecaries. Christopher worries for his master and a race against time begins where he has to try, with the help of his masters codes, to lift the secret of the murderers.

Kevin Sands’ debut “The Blackthorn Key” is an exciting mix of adventure, crime and a tad of fantasy that gets a slight historic spin from its setting. Young Christopher Rowe and his master grow close to the reader very quickly, the other characters are designed with a lot of love as well, and the plot is worked out with loads of details and pretty much impossible to solve by yourself. “The Blackthorn Key” is recommended for children between 10 and 13, but the now grown up Harry Potter- and Bartimæus-fans will probably like it just as much.

Soulfood - Spinach Salad

Oh my god it. is. hot.
Nap season has officially begun where I have to take a nap as soon as I get home because the heat is so physically exhausting, and I am sure I am not the only one who can't stand the thought of a warm meal when it's 31°C outside. So I switch over to a lot of vegetables and less carbs, when it's warm I get a weird desire for healthy food (well, at least things that feel healthy). Last weekend I was visiting my mum, and since my sister was out and my boyfriend was at a fancy dinner for doctors/med school students/anyone who is somehow involved in the whole health care business we made a lovely dinner for ourselves and since my boyfriend is weirdly opposed to raw fish, we tried a recipe I found on Buzzfeed the other day and made a salmon poke bowl which was really, really good. At this point I want to stress that even though I spend a great evening with my mum and had a great meal, I am a bit pissed that just this one time I would have liked to submit to gender roles and play my boyfriends arm candy to get awesome food for free but no, they wouldn't let me. Yes, I am a bit sulky about that.
Anyways: Salmon is quite expensive, so I don't feel like making this just for myself would be worth it. Plus, even though I am not a vegetarian anymore (because I am a weak ass bitch), I try to keep eating meat and fish to a minimum, so today I decided to make a salad a bit similar to the poke bowl.

Ingrediences

• 2 hands full of fresh spinach
• 1/2 cucumber
• 4 cherry tomatoes
• 1 avocado
• 1 shallot
• 2 tbsp. of sesame
• 2-3 tbsp. of soy sauce
• 1 tbsp. of olive oil
• pepper and chili to taste
• optional: Nori leaves for garnishing

How to make the thing 

1. Cut the spinach in stripes.
2. Dice the cucumber, tomatoes, shallot and avocado.
3. Put everything in a big bowl and add the oil, soysauce and sesame.
4. Mix everything. 
5. Season.

 Et voila. You can eat this as a normal salad but you could also put it in a wrap, on rice, on toast etc. if you're missing some carbs here. If you want to buy a house anytime soon you can, of course, skip the avocado as well. 

Excursion To Poetry #2 - Apr. 2015

I see how you look at me.
I see your look
that always brushes me when we meet
how it wanders up my body
inch by inch
until it rests on my face.

I see the way you look at me and I think
I know what that means:
desire.
Craving.
Wild emotions in a heart
that can rarely be wild,
if ever,
the heart of a person that seems as if
in regards of softness,
a lack of impulsivity
could compete with a rabbit:
for flight reasons, tops,
but fully unfit for the hunt.
And it's good as it is.

I enjoy that look way too much,
enjoying the attention,
enjoying feeling more than welcome,
as if you and I,
in this room full of people,
share a secret that was never has been told,
never spoken aloud,
that maybe doesn't exist at all.

I enjoy this feeling to be special,
a fobidden fruit,
a jewel displayed on a velvet pillow,
ready to be grabbed but surrounded by alarm systems.
Look, don't touch,
or your world will collapse on you.

It is good as it is,
that you are reserved,
because I enjoy it too much to tempt you,
being the emboyment of a fantasy
that mustn't come true
and, in the next moment,
blinking innocently,
wallowing in my own guilt.

I am torn between monster and moralizer,
and I am sure that if you were not you
we'd already boarded
the night train to the brink,
but I dream. I am allowed to dream.
My thouhts are free,
and I will think, dream,
as long as my conscience lets me.

Dreaming of fingers running through my hair,
touching nose tips,
only half open eyes,
only quiet, muffled breaths,
of the dawn,
just standing on the ledge a few more minutes
staring down, fascinated by not seeing the bottom of the pit,
dropping a pebble down from time to time
to estimate how far down it goes
before you hit the ground.

And then taking a respectful step back,
one step, two steps,
to safety where no one has to catch me,
until the echo of the pebble fades away
and I can finally sigh with relief
and then pretend nothing ever happend,
and that I never saw that look of yours.