Goal #10 Book #5 Serdar Ozkan - The Missing Rose

    One day I saw a tweet by Paulo Coelho about a book which is not his but a Turkish writer`s. It was The Missing Rose (Kayıp Gül) by Serdar Özkan. He was saying that it was a great piece. So I decided that it would be the next book I`d read. And I did read it.

    I have to confess, it was not as great as I expected it to be. It was almost ordinary except the content. In the beginning I was shocked to find out that its form was almost of an American one and I found it tasteless. It crossed my mind that I drop it, but I was curious about the ending at the same time. Also, comments suggested that it was the Turkish Little Prince, so I had to read it, since I have not read the Little Prince yet. I was also interested in searching for oneself in a journey through time, mind and space. Kept on reading, and reading....

    The last feeling I got was something approximating Coelho`s work but not quite there yet. I was not satisfied with the flow of the events, very content with the oriental taste in it, disappointed with the repetitive nature of some aspects of the characters and overall Americanness. It should have been deeper, with more layers into the character analysis and more oriental emotiveness. Very wise sayings of the great thinkers of orient is not sufficient, spreading a few phrases of wisdom does not make a book great. Many things actually looked disconnected or as least not that well connected.

    Would I recommend the book? Yes.

    Although, it was not my taste, it may be of your liking. It is also short and fluent so why not taste it :)

Goal #5 Revising the List

    Goal #5 on my list was something like this "Revise my goal list on the first day of each month and evaluate my progress". I will do that now, on the 4th of March.

    I have downloaded my list on 43things.com, it is as following:

• 1.Rent my own room
• 2.earn my financial independence
• 3.update my blog daily
• 4.create a travel book about my future destinations
• 5.revise my goal list on the first day of each month and evaluate my progress
• 6.gain 3 months of experience in a decent company
• 7.learn water marbling
• 8.excel in sumi-e painting
• 9.submit 100 works to Deviantart
• 10.earn at least 100$ on Etsy
• 11.read 100 books
• 12.watch 100 films
• 13.read all of the National Geographic Magazines in my library
• 14.read all of the japanese mangas in my library
• 15.take more photographs
• 16.open a bank account
• 17.graduate from school
• 18.Read "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"
• 19.learn yoga
• 20.Try 30 new recipes in 2013
• 21.meditate in a buddhist temple in Nepal
• 22.Try new recipes.

    Let`s take a look

1. I had a small fight with my parents about moving out and it didn`t go well. Both parties got very emotional and no real discussion was done at the end. We shut up and never talked about it again. They told me that I can move out when I get married. Shocking news for me. I didn`t know that my parents cared so much about what other stupid people say. I feel kinda disappointed. I understand though. I have to be patient, because the time will come for me to set sail. 
2. Financial independence, hmmm... Being very lucky to find a good job in no time, with minimal effort, I am now trying to keep up with the high tempo of my life and to do my best. In short, with school and two jobs that pay fair I am pretty content.
3. Oops! That goal is one I have hard time accomplishing. Let alone finding topics to write about on my blog, I hardly find some time to check the news on the net. After starting to work full-time in the beginning of February, because I feel tired every night when I get home, I do not have motivation to think about anything but not thinking about anything. I will try updating it weekly.
4. Traveling seems like a distant dream to me for the next couple of months. Besides having no motivation to consider this goal list of mine, I have no motivation to create a travel book or anything of that sort. Maybe I will recover that goal in the summer, when the good weather will fill my heart with high hopes.
5. Revising the goal list was something I wanted to do for some while now. After two months, this are the results.
6. "Gain 3 months of experience in a decent company" God loves me, that is for sure. Even though I did not pray for or try hard enough to realize this, one day everything worked in my favor. It has been a month now, I will probably hang around here for at least a few months.
7. I was very enthusiastic about learning water marbling in January. I lost interest, or let me say, I lost track of what I really wanted to do, after starting work. I realized that I still very much want to learn water marbling. Currently I am saving money for a starter`s kit and courses. I want to concentrate on this in summer.
8. As well as water marbling, sumi-e painting is another thing I want to postpone until summer and improve to a certain extent.
9. That goal requires some serious work. Again, in summer.
10. Money money money... Water marbling hopefully bring much money. I know I am stupid to exploit art for commercial reasons. :( sorry, but I have to make money to survive.
11. I have read five or six books so far. I wish I could read faster and did not waste my time on the bus staring into space. Last book I read was The Missing Rose of Serdar Ozkan. I will next read The Little Prince of Saint-Exupery. (Blog entry about the book is on the way)
12. Watching 100 films seems easier than reading books. Only problem is that I don`t. I used to watch so many movies. I do not know at what point I lost interest. However, I will definitely work hard to accomplish this goal in 2013.
13. Although I haven`t read all of the NGMs in my library, I got my friend to bring me some old issues of NGM from Japan. Hahaha! How silly! :) That`s for studying Japanese, so my priority is the Japanese ones.
14. I have started reading on of the girl manga series I bought. You may have heard of this one. It is called NANA. I had watched the anime, than I bought the series while I was in Japan, now I am reading the first volume, there are 21 volumes in total.
15. The weekend before the last, my boyfriend and I went to a place I had never gone before. There I took some pictures, some of them I liked. I think I will do such day trips more often, because it is a really good opportunity to practice my skills in photography. (Blog entry about the day trip is coming soon)
16. Opening a bank account I found unnecessary. I already had one, which was, and partly is, under control of my mom. Lately, I told mom to stop managing my account and let me handle my own business. Let us consider that I have completed this goal.
17. I will be graduating from school in less than a year. I will look at this goal next year.
18. Maybe after reading The Little Prince, I will read this book. I cannot promise though.
19. Learn yoga? I may start taking classes very soon. Apparently, there are cheap classes from interns at some yoga institutes. I can start next month.
20. and 22. Try new recipes. I have baked cake and muffins, salmon and prepared a dish of cooked vegetables. I will write about it and upload some pictures soon, hopefully. I want to try preparing a soup or grilling some meat.
21. Meditating in Nepal... Will definitely do someday. Not so soon though.

    Wow! Being silent for a month, and look what comes out of me in an instant. Man! I needed to write so bad. And I feel so good :)

    See you next time!