It's a bit early...

...to be up and about on a day off, but it's waking up naturally (i.e. not being jerked out of sleep by the alarm) that makes all the difference.

Imagine my surprise when I found out I'd received another gift at the sshg_exchange , featuring a wonderfully stubborn Hermione and an increasingly desperate Severus. Go read, it's lovely!

Having a free afternoon yesterday was great. In spite of partial facial numbness -- 10 years ago I wouldn't have been caught dead like this in public, but age does tend to make me shrug off such concerns -- I went to one of the new shopping centres and had lunch first, out on the terrace for the first time this year! Didn't find any sunglasses, but bought a few cosmetic thingies I needed. I also looked for shoes but there was nothing that particularly attracted me, so no results there. Of course I couldn't resist D&R, where I spent the best part of half an our browsing the shelves -- CDs and DVDs only, because their selection of English books is very meagre.
I ended up buying 4 DVDs, among them Bend It like Beckham.

Strange indeed are the workings of the human mind: Don't ask me why, but I've always dimly asociated Bend It like Beckham with Fever Pitch. Now Fever Pitch is one book I put away after about 40 pages of tedium (I usually like Nick Hornby's books, but not this one). But then I remembered that a friend -- no idea who, but I know it's somebody whose opinions on films I value -- had warmly recommended it to me, and since it was priced at YTL 4,50 (i.e. about € 2) I decided it wouldn't be a big loss, even if I disliked the film.

I didn't dislike it, though, but loved it.
I'm of course aware that cultural differences and the conflicts they entail are rarely solved in such a rational and loving way. Then again, we read about the other ways of "solving" them every day in the newspaper, and while it's important not to close one's eyes at the violence, it's at least as important to show that mutual understanding *can* be achieved, if people give it a try. 
What I found particularly appealing was the film's way of showing, in a completely non-judgmental manner, that prejudice, ethnic and religious discrimination and homophobia have nothing to do with one's skin colour or birthplace, and everything to do with being human.

Today there will be more drawing, I think, and quite a lot of reading. I'd like sunglasses and shoes, too, but am not sure whether I'll go shopping today or later. There's no hurry, which is what makes a 4-day holiday so wonderful.