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I have a very clear idea of who I am. I can be introverted, extremely so. I can be abrupt. And I can bland. I have this guy that I know who probably thinks of me in this light, in this narrow, negative light. I'm very well aware that of it and he's not wrong to think that. It's the message I've been deliberately projecting for weeks on end now. Why? Because he's a childish, spiritualist, flake and in the early days here in Tokyo, when I was grabbing at friends I grabbed at him. I think what gets me the most is the childishness, the sniggering at the dumbest jokes and the repetition. He's a nice guy but he's too old to be that...silly. Or maybe the problem is that I'm too old for my mere 23 years. The one thing I've realised as I've gotten older is that I let go of people very easily. I don't know if that's a good thing though...

The works of Stieg

I just kinda finished the Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson; I say kinda because I'm on page 698 and I don't really care to find out what happens between Gibraltar and Stockholm. The series was great. It was the first time I'd delved into the world of crime novels and this was the perfect one to start with. I could think of no flaws in this book save one. But I'll get to that later. I loved the strength of the women within the books,which in the third book, coincides with the theme of the legendary Amazons. I think was paramount because all of the books focused on crimes committed against women by men. Crimes against women is such a broad topic; it can range from rape to harassment to being labelled as emotional. The key difference lies in the distinction between physical and mental crimes; the latter of which is much harder to prove.

My main issue with Larsson's classic is the need to create this superfluous male protagonist. Mikael Blomkvist is so obviously the creation of a man. Why else would he be so smart, so sexually appealing to a variety of different but strong women, even though, according to Larsson, he's nothing particularly special. I don't get the sense that he's unattractive, but he's not Brad Pitt is my point. I think that Blomkvist represents what a man of Larsson's calibre finds attractive in other men. And it is at this point and only on the point that I find Larsson utterly predictable and annoying beyond belief. There is nothing attractive about a man who fucks around with anyone that catches his eye and refuses to commit. The thing that bugs me even more is that with both of his two major trists, (first with the dragon lady herself Salander, and then with the SIS agent Figuerola) you witnessed these women, these Amazons throwing themselves at this... guy.

Alas I could go on for quite a bit about this but I have a guesthouse to clean. Aside from that guy this is an amazing book that needs to be read by everyone that reads in the world.

It is his legacy.

Happy Birthday

My birthday was an interesting one this year. I had a budget of zero and a new job so I couldn't even ask for a day off to do the cheapest activity I could thinking of (nursing a 750¥ Ouzo), so I prepared myself for nothing, like so many other birthdays past. On the actual day, I got a call from my family back in London and a slew of birthday wishes on Facebook. We had a meeting at the guest house I'm living in; meetings tend to drag here so I figured I'd eat first. Big mistake. They had planned a surprise birthday lunch which I had to eat because they'd gone to the trouble. I can't not eat anything put in front of me. It's a curse really. So I ate and ate and gave out an excess food sigh. It was great though. I really appreciated it and it was the first time I'd actually been surprised like that.

p.s. I finally started my fashion designer project; I'm basically taking in a kimono and shortening it.