Little things are important, Mr. Wind-Up Bird.

Monday 5 August 2013


Surround yourself with people who are intellectually stimulating. Vada Sultenfuss of My Girl, rings a bell? Anna Chlumsky? Jack Crawford's protege in Hannibal? The arm girl? Nothing? Okay, I'm done trying. To the point now. Today, I'm going to talk about something I find particularly intellectually stimulating. What is going on with me and Mondays anyway? The posts have been that irregularly regular because of the fact that developing film takes time, getting a full film used does too. I've moved onto the 24 frames film, so maybe that will speed things up a little bit.

It's Friday as I'm starting to write this post, but I already know it's not going to be up until Monday when I get my current roll of film developed. Oh schedules. I'm being really weird recently and I am deeply, deeply sorry about that, guys. I know it's the time I put my shit together. My excuse is, I, myself, know best when I need a couple of days off alone and if I decide to be a freak who spends her days under a blanket, with a book and/or coffee in her hand or Orange is the New Black (9 episodes in and I'm already starting to talk like a stereotypical black person on that show does) playing on her laptop, then be it. And origami, lots of origami! I noticed paper cranes while stalking Erin's blog and since I really dig them as a room decoration [and I'm already in the phase of decorating my new room in my mind] (switching rooms again) - I decided to give it a try before I order some fancy origami paper off ebay. If you're a beginner like me or, oh, you just suck at anything manual - see for youself - how to fold a paper crane in 25 steps, easy peasy! I'm going through some serious withdrawal, but I finally have time to do things I love the most. Eating, sleep and reading Murakami.



He's a contemporary Japanese writer, you might or might not have heard about. Even my dad has read a book of his, or two, but on the other hand, my best friend truly despises him. I don't judge. I understand that some people might find the complexity of Murakami slightly hard to approach. For me, stuff he writes is extremely inspiring. So far, I've read 4 books of his and I am currently reading the fifth one, 1Q84, which I received as a birthday present. Someone once told me that you should not trust people who don't read books. Don't get me wrong, I'm not some kind of a bookworm. Not as big as my flatmate anyway :) Aren't people who don't read much, or basically never read much, slightly less sensitive about the world? There are certainly various ways of expressing yourself or taking the world in - sensitivity is definitely not defined by the number of pages one's read, but I can't help feeling that books and lives we live with the characters, that carry inside of us later on, help us shape what kind of people we are, almost as significantly as our own actions. If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking. One of my favourite Murakami quotes. Norwegian Wood - named by the name of one of the Beatles' songs. So I started a year ago, with The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and let me just tell you, it brough so much joy, acceptance and understanding into my life. Also, I finally found a perfect tune for cooking pasta, because apparently, that's what The Thieving Magpie is.

I never buy books, because I can never find anything for myself in a bookstore. They are so poorly stocked! Only one shelf of books in foreign languages​​? Really? For some time, most of the books that I managed to buy was in English. I always thought it would help me to develop the language, because I feel that my progress in that field stopped a long time ago, but now slowly cease to do so, going back to my native Polish, mainly because the importance of the plots I deal with is hard to grasp not knowing half the words. I hate PDFs though! I own an iPad mini and sometimes it's definitely more comfortable to just "wave" my finger like a wand, turning pages, but guess what, there is completely no magic in that. I love books in their original form, with pages so sharp that they're cutting fingers and the wonderful, irreplaceable smell!

(favourite reading spot in my garden)



Spend your money on the things money can buy. Spend your time on the things money can't buy. I bought a new Helios lens and then I purchased a Praktica MTL3 body. I cannot wait for those to arrive and I hope my new babies will get along together.

Just a quick selection of my favourite Haruki Murakami quotes;

▲ “Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.” What I Talk About When I Talk About Running
▲ “If you can love someone with your whole heart, even one person, then there's salvation in life. Even if you can't get together with that person.” 1Q84
▲ “As time goes on, you'll understand. What lasts, lasts; what doesn't, doesn't. Time solves most things. And what time can't solve, you have to solve yourself.” Dance Dance Dance
▲ “Find me now. Before someone else does.” 1Q84

▲ “And it came to me then. That we were wonderful traveling companions but in the end no more than lonely lumps of metal in their own separate orbits. From far off they look like beautiful shooting stars, but in reality they're nothing more than prisons, where each of us is locked up alone, going nowhere. When the orbits of these two satellites of ours happened to cross paths, we could be together. Maybe even open our hearts to each other. But that was only for the briefest moment. In the next instant we'd be in absolute solitude. Until we burned up and became nothing.” Sputnik Sweetheart
▲ “Memories warm you up from the inside. But they also tear you apart.” Kafka on the Shore
▲ “Have you ever had that feeling—that you’d like to go to a whole different place and become a whole different self?” The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
▲ “A person learns how to love himself through the simple acts of loving and being loved by someone else.” 1Q84

“The point is, not to resist the flow. You go up when you're supposed to go up and down when you're supposed to go down. When you're supposed to go up, find the highest tower and climb to the top. When you're supposed to go down, find the deepest well and go down to the bottom. When there's no flow, stay still. If you resist the flow, everything dries up. If everything dries up, the world is darkness.” The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
▲ “Maybe she thought the garbage and rocks in your head were interesting. But finally, garbage is garbage and rocks are rocks.” The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
▲ “Sometimes when I look at you, I feel I'm gazing at a distant star. It's dazzling, but the light is from tens of thousands of years ago. Maybe the star doesn't even exist any more. Yet sometimes that light seems more real to me than anything.” South of the Border, West of the Sun


“Whatever it is you're seeking won't come in the form you're expecting.” Kafka on the Shore

26 comments:

  1. I love these pictures! :) I haven't used Kodak ColorPlus in a long time and yours have such a different tone to those in my photographs, the good kind of different. Excited about your new camera as well! :)

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    1. I really enjoyed your botanic gardens posts with that film! tbqh, I visit your blog quite often, checking results of different films before trying them out myself. I've just ordered a stock of agfa vista 200, since I was in love with the pictures you got with it :)

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    2. :) I was the same when I first started... I could be searching the Internet for hours and hours to accumulate imaginary experience, hahaha! Each film reacts differently with different cameras/lenses but that's the fun part!

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    1. He's incredible, isn't he? What is your favourite books of his?

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    2. I read them all and it's like choosing witch son i love the best!;)

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  3. I really need to read a Murakami book! I have a huge list of books/authors to read and he's in the top, but I'm so busy I can't seem to find the time to pick up a book this year. Which would you recommend me to start with?
    (and as always in love with your pictures! I love how analog photography gives so much character to the pictures)

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    1. Aw you really do hun! As soon as your summer vacay starts. Are you spending your summer in Berlin? I started with the Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, but I would really recommend you start with Norwegian Wood or Kafka on the Shore, both are excellent! :)

      Oh yes, that's what made me interested in analog photography in the first place. Plus I never knew how to edit pictures in photoshop. I suck at photoshop. And now I get my negative scanned and voila, the final result is already there. No corrections!

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    2. I'm flying home two days after my last exam; I miss my family too much to stay here the whole summer. Besides, all my friends from school will be home from uni as well, and we've planned a few fun trips, so I can't miss out on that.
      (taking note of those books; can't wait to get my hands on something other than lecture notes/gigantic study books for reading :D)

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    3. I see! Of course, I understand. You need to relax and what place is bettern than home. I suppose you've read The Perks of Being a Wallflower? Because it's definitely my favourite book out there :)

      Ohhh I totally get you! It's such a relief to finally be able to read something for yourself and not for school.

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  4. Kasia - thank you so much for visiting my blog and leaving such a nice comment. I am so glad you brought up Murakami because I need to start reading his books. I think I am going to start with Kafka on the Shore whenever I get a chance!

    In addition, the photos in your blog are amazing. I love that you use film instead of digital. I am really lazy and I opt to go for digital, but I really want to start experimenting more with film.

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    1. Great choice, Liz! Enjoy your reading. I really loved your photographs, hun! So inspiring. I especially want to take my analog camera on a plane one day and see what happens then :)

      Oh yes, it's so tempting sometimes to go lazy too and use digital, but film was kind of my idea for that blog plus I don't have a fancy digital camera, the effects would probably not satisfy me. Thank you for stopping by! :)

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  5. it's not my favorite author, but i am an affectionate reader of Murakami, too. i really liked kafka on the shore and a wild sheep chase.
    i've not read 1Q84's second part yet, so no spoiler please :)

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    1. I feel like the moment must be right to read something written by him. I must admit everything he writes is unconventional :) A Wild Sheep Chase is one of my faves! Excellent book. Don't worry, Silvia, I only just started part 1, so no danger of being spoilt :)

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  6. I never liked reading books like these because they usually bore me to tears, but I would like to open up my eyes a bit to different things. I haven't read any good books lately, so maybe this one will be the one? Thanks for the suggestion, and very nice blog!

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    1. You should start with Norwegian Wood, Wild Sheep Chase or Kafka on the Shore if you decide to read anything by Murakami. I admit, they can be pretty odd sometimes, but something draws me to them anyway. Thank you so much for writing! Thanks <3

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  7. haha shooting a roll of film and then getting it developed certainly takes time! I feel your pain. Lovely blog, I just happened across it and I'm so glad I did. You are a wonderful writer!
    www.thisanalogadventure.com

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    1. I'll try to keep posting weekly! Rarely is better than never, I'd rather think my posts over before publishing than post some random photographs just for the sake of 'posting anything'. Quality over quantity, I think :) Thank you a lot, Jessica! It's so nice to hear such words! Speak soon! x

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  8. It's always nice to learn about new authors! I've been on a search for new books to read. You should really start buying some books, it's so nice to have a little mini library!

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    1. I do own a little library, mostly Sylvia Plath, Murakami, Suzanne Collins & Stephen Chbosky and I will surely have a bigger one when I ever get an apartment for myself, for now I'm renting a flat and the probability of having to move out sometime in near future makes me pretty reluctant when it comes to buying books :)

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  9. I love reading, there's nothing like ending the day in bed with a book until you fall asleep! I've not touched any of Murakami's works yet though, I feel like they might be too deep for me, haha. I buy most of my books online now, because they're quite expensive here in Australia.

    Your blog is lovely, by the way, film photography sounds fiddly and takes longer but you're getting great results!

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    1. Thank you so much for stopping by!! I love your blog, Jane. Have you heard of book depository? It's an online store, which offers free worldwide shipping, their prices are pretty fair, I must say ;)

      Thank you a lot! Speak soon x

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  10. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is one of my favorites from Murakami's. i am just starting on Hard-boiled wonderland:)

    So excited to find your blog. It's wonderful.
    And thank you for dropping by mine:)
    Have a lovely weekend.

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    1. Aww I've read Hard-boiled Wonderland, it's...complicated. I kind of dropped it in the middle because I was busy with school and now tbqh I'd have to start from the beginning to get all the facts straight again.

      Thank you a lot! So nice of you! Have an awesome weekend yourself! Speak soon! x

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  11. Murakami, my favourite of all the times. I have a big collection of books written by him. Almost every books ahah Your blog is amazing, the pictures, the layout.. everything.

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  12. Aww thanks for the little shoutout <3 <3

    Those quotes at the end are perfect. The running one made me giggle!

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© Dipped in Rococo ~ lifestyle in analog Maira Gall.