*peers round corner*

Hello, everybody!
Long time, no see.
Not that I've got a lot to report -- as per usual -- but I thought I'd let you know I'm still alive.
Which is a bit of a miracle, considering that I had to go to Vienna from July 4 - 11. Not only was it hot, it was also humid, and I'm not entirely sure how I managed to survive. Partly by going running every morning at 6, I suppose, because it probably helped stabilize the circulation.
It was a work-related trip, but fortunately I had no compunctions about skipping about half of the so-called training -- had it been of any use whatsowever, I'd have stayed (if only because of the a/c), but since the quality was abysmal, to put it mildly, I merely signed the list every morning and then left around noon. Even though there was nothing substantial to be learned from the various presentations, one thing has become very clear: unless they grant me an additional year in Skopje, I'm going to apply for another posting, because I don't think going back to Vienna in a year's time would be bearable. Not because of Vienna, needless to say, and the lower pay wouldn't be so terrible either, but the mere idea of having to spend eight hours a day amidst a bunch of incompetent morons (that's what most of them are) induces me to think that I'd be better off somewhere else.
Since I played truant every afternoon, I was at least able to meet friends and family, which was nice. And do a bit of shopping, which was expensive but also very nice.
Anyway, I was very happy to return to Skopje yesterday.
Critters are fine, even though they don't like the heat. And I slept like a baby, unlike the past week -- not only was the bed not my own, but those stifling hot nights made for very bad sleep.

Exchange fic is being read by the wonderful camillo1978 and consequently getting better. First chapter sent off to mods already two weeks ago, so as to prove that I'm being a good little participant.

I'm sort of hoping for a pinch hit to come my way, seeing as there won't be much work to be done during the summer months.

Last night I watched Coriolanus (I'd ordered the dvd a couple weeks ago -- amazon's suggestions aren't always bad I must say). It's the one directed by Ralph Fiennes, who's also playing Coriolanus, and Gerard Butler is Aufidius, and I have to say that I liked it a lot. Purists would probably object to the text being so severely cut. I, OTOH, prefer a "digestible" version which actually stands a chance of being seen by a broader public to three hours of unabridged Shakespeare only very few people would take the trouble to have a go at. (Not that I object to it, but I think the Bard's chances of surviving the 21st century are better if his oeuvre is being served in more manageable portions)
Fiennes is marvellous and so is Butler, and Vanessa Redgrave's performance is also splendid. The movie was shot in Serbia, and even though the setting remains a "place calling itself Rome", the visual allusions to Serbia and Bosnia are sufficiently clear. I think that the modern setting has achieved what a more purist production probably wouldn't: shorn of all its ancient-history connotations and transposed into a recent past, the movie becomes a very poignant demonstration of the effects war has on societies and individuals, which is what Coriolanus really is about.

While still in Vienna, I was also lucky enough to watch the Wimbledon finale on Sunday -- sorry though I was for Murray, he was no match for Federer, who really deserved to become no.1 once again. Murray's only 24, after all, and is going to have many more chances, whereas Federer won't be playing for much longer, seeing as he's already 31. I hope he'll have the good sense to stop after the Olympics.

That's it, me darlingses.
A very good day to all of you!