I wanna start by giving some more respect to Kazuo Ishiguro. Last week, I read his novel When We Were Orphans and man… Everything I have read from this guy is so beautiful. Every time, he manages to touch something really deep in humanity, it all flows incredibly, his play with language is impressive… How he builds the stories, how he works with memories… What a writer. Coincidentally, part of the story takes place in Shanghai. So as a side effect, many memories from that part of my life surfaced. I guess that’s what getting old feels like. The idea that I lived in that place for years, all the people I met there, all those places and those moments… How formative the whole thing felt. The fact that most of those people I’m not in touch with anymore… It really feels like a different universe, some sort of alternate reality… Yeah, all of that happened and I feel somewhat connected to it but it feels so fucking unreal, so far away and it keeps on gradually fading… Anyways, shout out to Kazuo and shout out to everyone from back in the day. Hope y’all good!
I got into the book after finishing Charles Dickens’s Christmas Carol. That one took me like 3 months to do. The English there is so old-school and complicated. Kazuo, on the other hand, writes books I usually do in like 4 days (his language is pretty complex too but compared to Dickens it’s very digestible). Real page turners. So yeah, last week I was doing that. It was mostly because I got to spend a lot of time by myself. Which is something that had not happened in ages. And it felt kinda therapeutic. Being left with your thoughts uninterrupted takes you places. Apart from work, I cycled, I ran, I did yoga, I worked out and I read. A lot. The whole week flew by like it was nothing. Oh, and I also wrote some lyrics after a while. Got some beats from a bro so I’m getting ready to do my yearly birthday recording session once I’m back in Brno.
I ended up having an exceptional day yesterday. I felt like going to sauna which can get a bit complicated here. It’s funny how sauna culture differs country to country. I really like the way it works in the Czech Republic. You have these places where you come and go as you please and for reasonable money, you get access to different rooms with different setups. That does not really happen here. Wellness is usually something offered by hotels or by these high-end facilities, everything needs to be booked in advance for a specific time period and it’s super pricey. And then there’s Kuuma which provides these small trailer-like saunas in various locations all over the country. Those are affordable and pretty pleasant. I had been under the impression that these guys close in the summer so I was really happy finding out that some of their branches run all year long. The one we got in The Hague does not but there’s a new one in Rotterdam that does so I booked myself a session Saturday morning. Which meant a beautiful morning bike ride all the way there. I sound like a broken record here but this country is the cyclist’s heaven. Gorgeous. The sauna is right by a canal by this former warehouse turned café/vintage store building, there’s plenty of outside seating and it all feels very cozy. I took a different route on the way back and accidentally ended up stumbling upon De Grote Plas, a lake right by Delft. I had had no idea of this place’s existence and it was a welcomed surprise. Clean body of water with little beaches and loads of grass around. And even though weather was damn near perfect, it was not that crowded. So I stopped by for a quick swim. In the afternoon, I caught up with some of my people, did some shopping and went out for a workout in the park. Because I really felt like being outside.
And that’s that. It’s Sunday morning I’m listening to Ruff Squad’s White Label Classics and I feel good. Hope you guys are well, too. Keep it light, keep it positive and stay safe. Shout out to all the cyclists, divers, runners and vegans. And to all of your reading this. One!
Highlights:
- Cycling.
- When We Were Orphans.
- Black Mirror. Finished the new season; some cool episodes there.
No comments:
Post a Comment