Was busy the last few days moving my stuff to the shiny new computer - it's unbeliveable how much junk I've aggregated on my old HDD through the last 5 years (yes, you heard that right, my rig was five years old, possibly even six, I'm not sure I remember correctly). Bitch to sort it all out. Photos, pictures, texts, videos, some unidentifiable random junk... old archives dating back to '97... i couldn't just erase it all, though I've no idea what purpose my old notes about videogames might serve in the future, really. Or dictionaries which I now can buy wholesale on one CD.

So, I didn't even know until today that Momo's announced her retirement. So let's count: 3 (three) of my favourite players were done this year. That's not including Richie, whose career, and I'm first to admit it, is going nowhere fast, and that was even before the coke hoopla. I'm in dire need of some new faves, cause who have I left? Djokovic and... hey, anyone? Cause with my luck, he will retire next year too.

Только что из френд-ленты узнала, что умер Тихонов. Это нехорошо с моей стороны, если мне все равно? Я всегда была равнодушна к актерам. Нет, мне нравится фильм про учителя, и "Война и мир" была замечательная. Штирлиц вгоняет меня в ипохондрию (кроме анекдотов). Но я никогда не понимала вселенской скорби по актерам и любви к ним: да, среди них есть хорошие, есть очень хорошие, но в конце-то концов сами они ничего не создают. В конце концов, они всего лишь сосуды для чужого творения. Тенденция делать из них властителей дум меня слегка озадачивает.

Все это безотносительно Тихонова, конечно. Мир праху.

My best wishes for you on this amazing day!

Our cat died today, at the age of 13. She had kidney stone disease for quite some time, had a surgery two years ago, and this morning she was finally put to sleep. R.I.P., kitty. You were very independent and particular, you could purr like no other, and we will remember you always.

God, the year two thousand and nine cannot end soon enough - what an utterly shitty, heartwrecking, miserable year it had been. 42 days to go.

2nd part of the Marat awesomeness is up: http://www.sports.ru/tennis/48148791.html. 2001-2006.

And Steve Tignor the Bandwagon Jumper picked Djoko to win WTF. Oh noes, we're surely doomed now.

The last couple of days were all muddy grey mass, punctuated by some intensely unpleasant patches. Monkey boy and his ADD don't enjoy the school any - as I'd feared; as long as the teacher stands right by him and constantly tells him to work harder, it's all more or less passable, but the moment she leaves him alone for anyone or anything, he just stops. Sigh. Bought some kids' nonsence, like calendars with transformers, pensils and such, and gave all that to the teacher to give to the Monkey boy and his classmates as kind of reward for tasks well done - little effect so far.

No tennis, the weather's turning foul, and I will probably have an ovaric cyst surgery in winter. Oh joy.

Watched Surrogates, which turned out to be possibly  ( the most mediocre sci-fi movie that I've seen in the last half-decade or so ).

Also, this Ms. Grumpypants tried to read a russian novel called Stone Maples that a friend recommended profusely, and just couldn't understand why would anyone read, let alone write a book about such extremely unpleasant bunch of buggers. I think I should leave it for some other time when I'm in lighter mood.

I woke today with rheumatic back pain - oy vey. For the first time in my life i simply couldn't get out of bed for love nor money for about 15 min., I've never felt anything like that before. Unpleasant to say the least, and led to a day full of bad "old age" jokes. Better Half had a field day at my expense. I couldn't bend, couldn't walk faster than an elderly tortoise, public transportation was a slow torture, and the worst thing is, I've a train tonight to go arrange mom's 40-days memorial, and this fucking pain is just fucking inconvenient.

Also, watched three movies over the weekend.

( Blood diamond )
( Quantum of Solace )
( The Curious Case of Benjamin Button )

Photos uploaded today at last - as you can plainly see, I'm not much of a photographer.

( three more )

 On all the others he's making faces XD

Also, on the subject of faces: Nole impersonated McEnroe:


That's probably more good-natured than Fed or Rafa. Not to mention, safer.

And day 7 recap is up - read and comment, please!

Well, I feel I should post something here at least, seeing as I don't want to make an impression that this journal is abandoned.

My mom passed away on 16th of August, 15:35, I barely got back home to be with her in her last moments. Her very last moments - ten minutes or so I'd been holding her hand, and then she was gone. She was only 58. I didn't want to write or talk to anyone about that, because that would've kind of made it final, and my brain is still refusing to process it. I still catch myself thinking that I should call her. Today I finally deleted her text messages which were still stored in my mobile, and erased her number. I'd not had the heart to do it earlier.

It's better that I live in another city, I think. This way I'm not stumbling on her things everywhere. I only brought back one of her potted plants and her massage device (monkey boy liked to play with it when he was a little tot).

I don't think I've ever felt it before, that surreal feeling of absence, as if everything that's going on in my life, actually happens to another me, the me that the real me is only loosely conneted with. I work, take monkey boy to school and to music lessons, talk on the phone, Ive even been to church. The USO entertains me somewhat, but if I didn't promise to write recaps, I don't think I'd have bothered to watch this time. Besides, the tournament's been utterly boring so far.

My mom was the most wise, kind and courageous person I've ever known in my life. I miss her, folks. I miss her a lot.

I spent the last month and a half with my mom, who is now in a really bad shape. Chemotherapy is not effective for her any longer, the only hope left is beam therapy, but she's so weak now that the doctors don't know if she'll be able to survive it - the blood indexes are horrendous. I couldn't stay with her any longer, had to go home to work and suss out Monkey boy's school issues, and as soon as I left, her condition worsened. I honestly don't know if I will ever see her again - Sister girl stays with her for now.

Monkey boy is almost a first-grader now - after much hoopla between hubby and me during the last two month, re: what school is the most deserving of our progeny, we quietly got his papers to the nearest one, where he will torment the teachers with his ADD, and his speech issues, and his unsufferable spoiled-to-the-quills antics for the next year at the least.

Seems like I'm gonna write about tennis for www.sports.ru - one of the biggest Russian sports resources. So, for anyone out there who speaks Russian, welcome: http://www.sports.ru/profile/16153696/. Read what a rambling tennis fan has to say, and drop me a line!

With all of the above going on, I even missed Public Enemies in theaters (though like a dutiful mom I am, I took Monkey boy to see Ice Age III, and liked it a great deal more than sugar-coated Up! - liked it as much as I'm physically able to like a kiddie animated movie, I would say). But PE is the movie that I most wanted to see this summer, and I just couldn't find time. General opinion is, it's a disappointment, but in general opinion, Terminator IV was also a disappointment, and I enjoyed the hell out of it. Oh well. Will wait for DVD.

Tennis update coming sometime soon.

I come back from a pleasantly drunk week-end (had a blast btw., celebrating a triple birthday - Monkey boy, father-in-law, who has the same d.o.b., and the Better Half who'd had his 10 days earlier) and find the ground shaking.

( How Nole lost )

( How NAdal lost )