Life is back to busy. Which is not a bad thing by itself but it's very difficult to maintain a balance between different things, I've realised. I was a bit too optimistic about the sleeping problems being gone for good so I try not to overwork. Because as soon as I do, I can stare at the ceiling for half the night and think about existential matters (well, actually, most of the time I think about matters far more mundane). Nights have turned into a sort of a test where the maths is rather staightforward - you work and worry too much = you can't sleep, you keep the workload and stress under control = you sleep. It's the hard knock life.

The second half of my vacation turned into work and I'm not very proud of it. All I have to say in my defense is that my conscience just wouldn't let me ignore the opportunities so I coached a church planting group and I wrote and recorded the morning devotional minutes for the national radio station. I did leave the city again after that but the holiday mood was gone. But I think I learnt the lesson - next time I have my annual leave, I either have to leave the country or hide at R's summer house again. By the way, I saw him a week after I returned from his cottage and he most graciously invited me back, "any time you need". I try not to misuse his hospitality but the truth is, I've hopelessly fallen in love with that place and I really really want to go back next year. Maybe I can spend my birthday there? Oh. Oh. That would be too good.

A strange thing happened last week. My hermeneutics paper was due last Monday and, I kid you not, for the first time in ten years which I've spent in uni, I failed to submit my paper on time. First time ever. But the weirdest thing is that I didn't even feel bad about it (maybe part of the reason is that my friend from Beirut wrote me AFTER last Monday and told me he was struggling with finding a topic for his hermeneutics paper. Ha!). So I'm trying to figure out whether the unexpected lack of shame and guilt is a good or a bad thing. I really don't know. In any case, I'm going to the Baptist Seminary early tomorrow morning (as I'm in Tartu anyway) and I'm going to sit down next to my own students and I'm counting on the academic air for inspiration so that I could finish this sorry paper and get it submitted.

--

I don't have books to recommend today nor music to post. But for the first time I want to talk about a movie. Two weeks ago I was on a bus from Tartu to Tallinn and I decided to watch a movie on the bus - we have those fancy buses here where you have your individual screen. I didn't care too much what to watch so I randomly picked The Grand Budapest Hotel. Heavens! It wasn't only funny, the visual side of it was absolutely stunning. Every single scene was like a piece of art - all the colours in perfect harmony. Phew! I'm not sure I had seen anything quite like it before. Wes Anderson skyrocketed straight to my movie director's pedestal. I totally recommend this movie. And not only because of its visual brilliance but also because Edward Norton and Jude Law grace the screen with their presence. Yes.