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Still feeling very much like crap. It started with a sore throat last Saturday, and now I'm at the coughing & sneezing (& drinking disgusting herbal tea) stage. And to make my life complete, right in the middle of all that I got my period. Thank you, body.

I vaguely considered a trip to IKEA for today, since I need a new book shelf as well as some minor stuff, but I really don't feel up to it, not without a car, and not on a Saturday, not with an insane crowd of happy shoppers. I've got ten days off in a couple of weeks anyway, so it'll have to wait until then. It's not as if I even have the energy to clean up the residual mess from the move right now.

(But at least I'm going to have warm water next Tuesday! (Could have been yesterday if I hadn't had to close the shop and my mother hadn't been in Salzburg.) Threatening to involve the Mieterschutz apparently really does wonders - much thanks to the people from my belly-dancing class who suggested it when I had a bit of a break-down last Tuesday.)

Things I did last week beside feel like shit, drag myself to work for a few hours every day, and sleep a lot - Watch C'est la vie with R. last Sunday, which wasn't bad at all, although the latter episodes weren't as good as the first two, it started to drag just a little bit around the middle and the end was ridiculously, almost offensively, predictable. Well acted, though, and great cinematography & soundtrack. Like R. put it - it failed on a high level.

Read alex_beecroft's new book False Colors, which kept me up until 3:30 in the morning because I literally couldn't put it down. (Also there's that tingly feeling when you already knew and loved an author back when...*g*) Also started rereading Ricardo Pinto's The Chosen, because randomly browsing amazon I found out that the last volume of the trilogy has finally come out after I'd already pretty much given up hope. I've found that rereading fantasy novels can be a bit hit-or-miss experience, but this one stands the test well enough so far, and the word building remains absolutely stunning.

(And speaking of follow-up volumes, has Clive Barker disappeared off the face of the Earth? Amazon doesn't even list the third Abarat book any more. *long suffering sigh*)

Also I finally watched the last two Dollhouse episodes a couple of days ago, and maybe it was because my brain was a bit addled with the cold, but I was very underwhelmed with the resolution, such as it was. Perhaps it's going to make more sense once I've rewatched the whole season (which I'll probably do - eventually), but the whole Alpha storyline seemed so very... random? Out of left field? And somehow hijacked the end of the season at the expense of the established characters, IMO. I'd still like to see a second season, though, so I'm pleased to hear it looks like there's going to be one.

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Settles down to watch the song contest. Er. *facepalm* Also, on ZDF, with Thomas Anders commenting. *more facepalm* *frowns at ORF*

I'll try to get some Russian homework done while watching, though.

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Opening - really nice.

Lithuania: boring with stupid hat.

Israel: Not bad at all, and I kinda like the dresses. And the one with the curly hair looks quite gorgeous.

France: *Bad* dress, even if she's an icon. And looks kinda out of place there.

Sweden: Right, they weren't kidding about the brightness. Not particularly memorable, but not bad. Nice voice. And what's with the masks? Does there have to be one strange prop per song?

Kroatia: And once again the most memorable thing are the costumes. Whatever is that song supposed to be about? Because the background singers wouldn't be out of place in a Greek tragedy in those dresses.

Portugal: Um. I'm not terribly impressed with the singer.

Iceland: Yet another blonde chick with a boring English ballad. And they're wondering why the Eastern European countries tend to win?

Greece: Oh, dear. *hides face in hands*

Armenia: Well, that was at least original.

Russia: Liked it. Very classy, and at least there was a bit of genuine emotion.

Azerbaijan: awful, awful costumes, boring (English) pop song. They should have done what the Armenians did.

Bosnia/Herzegovina: Bit strange, but original; liked it.

Moldova: Maybe not the best so far, but frankly, I take the folkloristic numbers over the cookie-cutter boring English ballad or recycled bad English pop song any day. At least they're entertaining.

Malta: See above. *yawn*

Estonia: Gratuitous violin much?

Denmark: Booooring. Very strange singer, doesn't fit the song at all.

Germany: Ouch. Ouch. *cringe* But Plushenko worked for Dima Bilan last year, maybe Dita Von Teese will work for him, even though she was by far the classiest part of that number. And looked faintly embarrassed to even be there.

Turkey: Oh Turkey. You could do so much better. *sigh*

Albania: *stares* That's.... unique. *shuts mouth*

Norway: Well, at least he makes a better show of playing his violin. What's with the dancers though? Strange show.

Ukraine: Oookay. I really want to know who comes up with these ideas.

Romania: Are we finished yet? It's really kind of boring and same-ish this year. Now personally, I'd bring back the rule where they all have to sing in their country's language.

UK: Not bad, I guess. Nice voice. *is bored regardless*

Finland: Mostly they're not even entertainingly bad this year, they're all just so *uninteresting*...

Spain: See above.


My personal favourite is definitely Russia, with Israel coming second and Bosnia/Herzegovina third. (And so much for the Eastern European conspiracy theory.)

No guesses as to who actually will win.