Last week while looking through the DIY blogs that I follow, I stumbled upon this awesome My Owl Barn calendar for 2013. I am a total owlover and a sucker for cute DIY thingies, so I've already made my own copy. It's also a great Christmas present, I know I would be really happy to get it! It's possible to customize it by choosing the image for every month. These owl pictures are made by various artists and I was surprised to see a Lithuanian last name on the list. Apparently, this guy Nathan Jurevicius is an Australian artist with Lithuanian roots! He even explores Lithuanian folklore in some of his works, like the mini figurine series called Miško (from forest in Lithuanian):

It seems that Nathan is really fond of owls, cause I've also found this amazing(ly childish, but yet still super awesome) watch designed by him that I'd kill to have. 

Now you realize that the owlover part was an underestimation. I should call myself Crazy Owlady (imagine this, with owls instead of cats:

Anyways, there are only 150 of these watches, so it makes it even more special. If only I had 80 bucks lying around... I know it's too late to get it for Christmas, but maybe my birthday next year? Although it's probably weird to ask for something like this when you're turning 24...

Good night,

Crazy Owlady M.

In December 2011 a new trend called The Book Challenge appeared in the Lithuanian blogosphere. This year it was brought to a more public level by a website for bookworms and book-lovers www.100knygu.lt.  Until the 31st of December everyone can register their 12 books (plus 2 alternative books) and thus take part in a contest, where it is possible to win 5 books per month and a final prize at the end of the year (it is going to be possible to register later too, however, these participants don't get a chance to win the final prize). The only condition is to post reviews of the books you've read in your 100knygu.lt profile. They might also appear in the news portal www.15min.lt. 

I'm a die hard fan of books and reading, therefore I also took this opportunity to participate in this cool project. My list for 2013 looks like this:

1. Zadie Smith - White Teeth
2. Ray Bradbury - Dandelion wine
3. William Golding - Lord of the Flies
4. Honoré de Balzac - La Peau de chagrin
5. Erich Maria Remarque - The Black Obelisk
6. J. K. Rowling - The Casual Vacancy
7. David Mitchell - Cloud Atlas
8. G. G. Marquez - 100 Years of Solitude
9. Arundhati Roy - The God of Small Things
10. Haruki Murakami - The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
11. Mantas Martišius - [ne]akivaizdus karas
12. Herman Hesse - Steppenwolf

2 alternative books:

1. Giedra Radvilavičiūtė - Šiąnakt aš miegosiu prie sienos
2. Ričardas Gavelis - Vilniaus pokeris

I'm encouraging everyone to join this project, because it is a great motivator to keep on reading and discover new exciting worlds. My Book Challenge 2013 journey starts tonight - I'm going to start reading The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.

M.