Walking The Sunny Side Of The Street

a Farewell and a Legend

2012-01-20T22:23:00.000+03:00

From my 2009 diary.

As soon as my family found out that I was about leaving for Kabardino-Balkaria district, they freaked out. They warned me about locals who were capable of kidnapping a girl in order to marry, that they were hot tempered and I’d better never leave the territory of the hotel on my own.

They even told me a legend about a dzhigit* who once kidnapped a girl and galloped her up into the mountains. There he threw a yak-fell on stones, raped the girl and said that it would be her home from then on. The girl submited.

The story impressed me, of course, however I thought that if I had been that girl, I would have knocked down the guy, jumped onto his horse and galloped back to my parents.

What a romantic experience could it have been!

There were more stories about the habits of locals, but none of them would persuade me to travel there. That’s why I packed up my skiing gear and got on the first train to the Caucasus Mountains.

—
*dzhigit – an inhabitant of Kabardino-Balkaria district, the Caucasus Mountains; a very talented horse rider

What every student needs to know – in pictures

2012-01-20T18:36:00.005+03:00

The slideshow from Advice To Sink Slowly is for students. However everyone should follow it.

Enjoy the project. "It Will Be Worth it":

... and "Be Yourself":

Winter clean-up

2012-01-08T12:06:00.004+03:00

New year has arrived and it's time to clean up last year's stuff and remove 5 extra kilos I've gained during the festive season.

First of all I took down decorations. The house instantly turned empty and gloomy. Then I sorted out Christmas kitsch gifts and carton bags to ~~forward them as presents~~ recycle. Miss Christmas already.

Furthermore I donated XXL and pregnancy outfits to charity shops, made L clothes ready to wear and put M's on higher shelves of the wardrobe in hope to wear them again one day... Dream on, girl.

Finally, greeting cards from the last decade and old diaries went to the bin.

I'm very proud of myself now :)

I also flicked through those diaries. Found all kinds of entries from super embarrassing to cute. I'll probably post some entries here. Ah, good ol' days.

...Meanwhile have to work on those extra kilos.

twitter, my newsletter

2011-12-18T00:54:00.004+03:00

Twitter is addictive, isn't it. Everyday I watch millions of people tweet their life away in great details. It's a bit different to me, though. I got an account in order to follow gossips and sneak peaks of my favourite TV shows and to learn about local discounts, events and news. Twitter also provides an occasional laugh and reminds that there is life beyond stay-at-home-mum routine. I read through trends dreaming of participating in that life. Not gonna happen any time soon, though.

Anyway, here are some fun bits about Twitter:

"you know you tweet to much when..."

and

David Letterman's list from 2010 show

1. You answer the phone, "Twello!.. Twello!"
2. You've spent millions developing iPhone waterproofing technology so you can tweet in the shower.
3. You ask yourself, "What would Jesus tweet?"
4. You sleep-tweet.
5. You stopped paying attention to this list after the first 140 characters.

There's more, click

Where real happiness is

2011-12-10T22:38:00.002+03:00

"Look at the trees, look at the birds, look at the clouds, look at the stars... and if you have eyes you will be able to see that the whole existence is joyful. Everything is simply happy. Trees are happy for no reason; they are not going to become prime ministers or presidents and they are not going to become rich and they will never have any bank balance. Look at the flowers - for no reason. It is simply unbelievable how happy flowers are."

by Osho

pic from deviantart.com

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T23:03:00.002+03:00

"Thanksgiving was never meant to be shut up in a single day".
~ Robert Caspar Lintner

This is Finland

2011-11-23T12:02:00.000+03:00

For the record: the tempretare in Finland can be higher than +30C. It is not the country that is covered with snow all year round.

Source

+15°C / 59°F
This is as warm as it gets in Finland, so we'll start here.
People in Spain wear winter-coats and gloves.
The Finns are out in the sun, getting a tan.

+10°C / 50°F
The French are trying in vain to start their central heating.
The Finns plant flowers in their gardens.

+5°C / 41°F
Italian cars won't start,
The Finns are cruising in cabriolets.

0°C / 32°F
Distilled water freezes.
The water in Vantaa river (in Finland) gets a little thicker.

-5°C / 23°F
People in California almost freeze to death.
The Finns have their final barbecue before winter.

-10°C / 14°F
The Brits start the heat in their houses.
The Finns start using long sleeves.

-20°C / -4°F
The Aussies flee from Mallorca.
The Finns end their Midsummer celebrations.
Autumn is here.

-30°C / -22°F
People in Greece die from the cold and disappear from the face of the earth.
The Finns start drying their laundry indoors.

-40°C / -40°F
Paris start cracking in the cold.
The Finns stand in line at the hotdog stands.

-50°C / -58°F
Polar bears start evacuating the North Pole.
The Finnish army postpones their winter survival training awaiting real winter weather.

-60°C / -76°F
Korvatunturi (the home for Santa Claus) freezes.
The Finns rent a movie and stay indoors.

-70°C / -94°F
The false Santa moves south.
The Finns get frustrated since they can't store Koskenkorva vodka outdoors.
The Finnish army goes out on winter survival training.

-183°C / -297.4°F
Microbes in food don't survive.
The Finnish cows complain that the farmers' hands are cold.

-273°C / -459.4°F
ALL atom-based movent halts.
The Finns start saying "Perkele (=damn), it's cold outside today."

-300°C / -508°F
Hell freezes over, Finland wins the Eurovision Song Contest.

Red Velvet Cake

2011-11-15T22:20:00.002+03:00

Ten years ago I would say cooking was not my cup of tea. Ten years later half of my web bookmarks are recipes.

Ingredients:

12 tablespoons butter, 1 1/2 sticks
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons red gel food coloring plus 2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1 cup buttermilk - HELP! What is this thing?
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon baking soda

Cooked Frosting
1 cup milk
1/3 all-purpose flour
1 cup butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
milk or cream

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350°. Generously grease and flour 3 8-inch round layer cake pans or 2 9-inch cake pans.

Cake: Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and beat 1 minute longer. Beat in vanilla until blended. Combine cocoa, food coloring, and 2 tablespoons water; beat into the egg creamed mixture. Combine flour and salt. Alternate adding flour and buttermilk mixtures to the batter, beating on low to medium speed. Combine soda and vinegar in cup and add to cake batter. Spoon batter evenly into the 3 cake pans; bake at 350° for 22 to 28 minutes. Cool on cake racks. Remove from pans and frost tops and sides.

Frosting: In a saucepan, whisk together the 1/3 cup flour and milk and cook, stirring, until thickened; cool in the refrigerator. Beat butter, sugar and vanilla with mixer. Add flour and milk mixture a little at a time (make ahead of cake so that it has plenty of time to cool). Beat well, adding milk or cream as needed. Frost layers, sides, and top of cake.

from About.com

A few words about my new home

2011-10-23T21:53:00.002+03:00

Finland, land of forests, saunas and magic

Finland, tucked away near the top of the world, is a country that few of my acquaintances have visited
ALISTAIR ANDERSON
Published: 2011/10/14 09:51:52 AM

Finland is a country that few of my acquaintances have visited. It is not that it is dangerous or dead boring; it is just tucked away near the top of the world, and its citizens are not famous for letting the world know how proud of their country they are.

Upon landing at Vantaa airport, in the capital, Helsinki, I am overrun by trees. Hamish, a friend from South Africa, was right; Finland is a giant forest.

As I walk out of the airport, I wonder why I am not wearing shorts. It is as humid as Mozambique in January. Hamish did not mention the humidity, but he had been here in winter. He said it was -30° Celsius.

Having arrived on a Saturday, I spend the weekend visiting beaches and seeing the sites the city has to offer. But I start the first official week of my programme here (it is a business visit) by befriending trees.

Hamish said all he remembered about Finland were trees, trees and more trees. But he did not mention how beautiful these trees were. As much as 70% of the country’s land area is covered by forests. It is full of beautiful green structures and has more lakes than any other country — the combination is spectacular.

According to the website Forest.fi, Finland is the most extensively forested country in Europe. There are about 4,5ha of forest to every Finn, of which there are about 5-million. Aki, a Finn from the country’s embassy in South Africa who has visited Mpumalanga, says he saw many trees there too, but they looked planted for industry. Finland, instead, has maintained its forests, adding some trees, but always trying to make it hard for tourists to tell which are for industry.

It is Tuesday and, following a cruise along the Baltic Sea, my group is visiting Nuuksio national park. We take a bus from Helsinki and stop among — surprise! — some trees. We are going to experience some of the most beautiful forests in Finland. A man in a multicoloured cap, jeans and a lumberjack-type shirt greets us. What hair he has is quite light.

"Hello, I am Pekka and welcome to our forest. We go for a walk and then we drink coffee, OK? Coffee is wonderful," he says.

According to research by Alwyn van der Merwe, Sanlam Investment Management’s director of investments, Finns drink more coffee per capita than any other nation. The average Finn drinks 1,400 cups of coffee a year.

Pekka Väänänen’s company Green Window operates in Nuuksio. Judging by our 30-minute bus ride, one could argue Nuuksio is near the city. But there is no sign of city slickers other than my tour group.

"Don’t disturb the elves," Mari, a Finnish organiser, warns.

"There are elves? Do Finns really believe in magic?" I ask.

"I don’t know what you mean by magic but elves are real. You may just see one," she says.

Nuuksio’s valleys and gorges were created during the Ice Age. I know I will not see mammoths and other creatures from that time but elves — I am now determined to see one.

I did not see any elves in any forest but I was still able to be Fox Mulder of the X-Files for a few minutes. I spotted something that looked like a dog with wings and fangs. I was convinced it was la chupacabra, a mythical creature that kills goats in Latin America.

Back in Nuuksio, we are, I assume, halfway through our trip, when Pekka shows us a flower. I am not sure what it is called.

"Give it to a beautiful person. It will bring them luck" he says.

Well, I like my tour group, and the respective Finnish embassies in each of their countries chose well. I am looking around for a pretty person, and many of the girls already have flowers. I give mine to Ekatha from India. "I hope he’s right," I say.

Next, we pick blueberries. Pekka also picks mushrooms, showing us which are edible and which are also edible but with side effects.

"These ones will make your stomach unhappy. These red ones will make you see things and not sleep," he says. "But the blueberries go well with coffee."

It is slightly darker, so it must be nearly 8pm. We have been drinking average-strength coffee. Some people wet their feet in the lake in front of us, while I drink more.

Half an hour or so later, Pekka says the salmon he was smoking is ready. It is the finest I have eaten in my life; so juicy. I hear the food is from restaurant Metsätähti. It’s a Finnish surname. The boys drink copious amounts of wine with it, while the girls go to do something else that also involves smoke — "they go to sauna".

The rest of us also conclude the day by going to sauna, a popular but also spiritual activity in Finland. It is a tradition that came from people wanting to make their bodies stronger for the winters — to build their sisu, or strength of will.

Nowadays, Finns sauna throughout the year. It is a peaceful setting. I do not think intimacy accurately describes it but I feel stripped of stress.

* The writer was hosted by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland

Source

My Everything

2011-10-15T22:41:00.002+03:00

I gave birth to the cutest girl in April and she has become my world ever since. I would never imagine that sleepless nights, sore nipples, poop problems and permanent exhaustion could light up my life so much.

Random Q and A

2011-10-13T21:07:00.000+03:00

Anyway, since we haven't had a random Q & A in ages, I thought today would be a good time for one...

How it always works: I will answer the below very random questions - then you answer the questions as a comment. Why? Cause sharing is caring *winks*:

1. Thought for the day... so much to do , so little time
2. Right now I am wearing... glasses and pyjamas
3. Last night... I had pea soup and watched Pirates Of The Carribean: On Stranger Tides
4. Currently I want... a bigger closet for my baby's and my clothes, a trip to Paris and a long undisturbed night sleep
5. What season suits you best? Summer
6. My worst enemy is... Cookies
7. Last film you saw? Pirates Of The Carribean: On Stranger Tides... unimpressive
8. Would you choose an evening of computer games, art house films or karaoke? Karaoke! I may not have a voice but singing makes the stress go away

Reflection in frustration

2011-03-10T17:00:00.004+02:00

They say Nordic countries have two seasons: a cold season and a very cold one. I tend to agree especially when winter lasts painfully long.

This time the very cold season began in October 2010. Long nights, frosty grey days and two-meter high snowdrifts brought me to extremely low spirits. My mode of life was very uneventful, boring and filled with distress. I had a terrible job, health problems, boyfriend blues and dreaded a huge change in the near future.

The Huge Change was a marriage proposal and a move to Finland, the country that dramatically differs from Russia and where I knew nobody but my husband. Besides I supposed the town we were going to live was so small in comparison with St. Petersburg that there would be nothing to do. That was the right assumption.

Anyways, the decision had been made. I moved in mid-February, married in March and began to get settled in Finnish suburbia fighting back boredom and frustration. A tough thing to do.

These days I often recall Francesca (a character from “The Bridges Of Madison County”) who once said: “When a woman makes the choice to marry, to have children; in one way her life begins but in another way it stops. You build a life of details. You become a mother, a wife and you stop and stay steady so that your children can move. And when they leave they take your life of details with them. And then you're expected move again only you don't remember what moves you because no-one has asked in so long. Not even yourself.”

…And I start to wonder if I am actually capable of leaving the swinging twenty-something life behind and ready to dedicate myself to my brand-new family.

Weight Gain

2011-01-14T15:18:00.000+02:00

Last visit to gynaecologist's was quite stressing. She nagged at me for gaining 6 lb in three weeks. She believed that weekly gain should be 1 lb max and warned that those extra pounds would hamper in labour.

Frustrated, I called another doctor who said that an average woman gained up to 35 lb during pregnancy and I had nothing to worry about. What a relief!

I also googled how much weight I should gain. There goes the answer:

Based on your pre-pregnancy body size, a healthy weight gain to aim for is:

- Underweight - gain 28-39lb
- Normal - gain 25-35lb
- Overweight - gain 15-25lb
- Very overweight - gain at least 15 lb

info on weight gain is from Pregnancy & Birth magazine

Pregnancy

2011-01-01T15:02:00.000+02:00

Dreams do come true...

A few months back I found out that I was pregnant. What a tearful discovery it was! I told no one but mum. My boyfriend was the second to know after a visit to the clinic.

The first ultrasound showed a little black spot with a tiny white heart. "Meet the baby!" the doctor solemnly announced and my life has never been the same again.

On the way home I purchased a couple of magazines to glimpse into what I'm about to go through. There was a whole new world of healthy life style, proper nutrition, pelvic floor workouts and nappy changing.

How am I supposed to learn all that within 9 months and become a super mom?

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-24T00:29:00.000+02:00

Dusty Spring

2010-04-10T20:25:00.002+03:00

Spring has been forging ahead steadily and has finally won out.

It was so warm and sunny recently that three meter high snowdrifts were gone within a couple weeks. There were huge floods of thawing snow, and for the first time in my life I didn’t feel embarrassed wearing my red rubber Wellingtons, the number one footwear for fashionistas this spring.

The whole city is now longing for a torrential downpour. The dust and dirt of winter must be washed away as soon as possible; otherwise lots of people will die of severe allergies to all the crap, which has been congregated under the snow all winter long. Moreover, there is too much pets’ faeces in the streets as cleaning up is not part of local pet owners’ culture.

But for the dirt and the smell, the life would be very close to perfect. School year’s coming to its end, summer holidays are on the way, and so is my three-month vacation!

Horror Egg Stories

2010-04-05T16:40:00.000+03:00

Found some scary egg stories in my inbox yesterday. The photographs were accompanied by Easter blessings, which was rather weird.

Anyway, some of them are quite cute. There goes my Top 5:

Happy Easter! to the whole world

2010-04-04T18:49:00.002+03:00

Easter Joy

Jesus came to earth,
To show us how to live,
How to put others first,
How to love and how to give.

Then He set about His work,
That God sent Him to do;
He took our punishment on Himself;
He made us clean and new.

He could have saved Himself,
Calling angels from above,
But He chose to pay our price for sin;
He paid it out of love.

Our Lord died on Good Friday,
But the cross did not destroy
His resurrection on Easter morn
That fills our hearts with joy.

Now we know our earthly death,
Like His, is just a rest.
We'll be forever with Him
In heaven, where life is best.

So we live our lives for Jesus,
Think of Him in all we do.
Thank you Savior; Thank you Lord.
Help us love like you!

By Joanna Fuchs

Father and Daughter

2009-12-01T22:41:00.001+02:00

"Father and Daughter"

animal planet

2009-11-29T22:35:00.003+02:00

This wonderful portrait was created by Harald Löffler at Eye Of The Tiger, a very talented photographer who once created an amazing calendar and sold it in aid of 21st Century Tiger.
Here is his story: "Once upon a time there was a national park in India. For a long time there lived a healthy Tiger population in this park. In 2005, during a very short period of time (about one month), all the Tigers fell prey to poachers. When I heard about this horrible incident I decided to create a limited edition of my “Cats Unlimited 2006” calendar"... Read further.

challenging months

2009-11-23T20:55:00.004+02:00

I’ve been out there teaching again after a year break.

These three months have been the toughest ever! I seemed to have never taught before. The knowledge obtained at the teachers training college, the university and eight year experience of teaching disabled kids, handicapped kids, normal secondary school kids, weird teenagers, talented teenagers, really hard-working guys and a few grown-ups DID NOT help. I had found myself absolutely frustrated by the end of the first two weeks of teaching at a primary school.

There are two classes that specialize in languages, so the children have been learning French 5 (!) times a week since the first form.

I “inherited” the third formers and the fourth formers. Both of the classes had never written a single sentence or a vocabulary test and their previous year activity books had been almost empty. Therefore my challenge number one was to teach them a little Writing and Reading. The children were as shocked as their parents when I made the pupils write new words in vocabularies, sentences in activity books and even *huge* compositions of 4-5 sentenced .

The second challenge was Testing. Another shock arrived along with the first vocabulary test, which was a total failure. It took me and the children a few days to recover and then I kept on pushing. They must hate me by now, BUT I’m looking at it from a different point of view:

-My pupils are now able to work in pairs,
-create compositions of 5-6 sentences,
-Talk on two serious topics: “my family” and “my home”.
Moreover, they actually know many words by sight not by ear, as I’m not always around to pronounce the words so that the pupils guess the meanings.

Am I an evil teacher? Could be, but foreign languages are vital nowadays.

I also teach second formers. Their class specializes in something else and it is their first learning-a-foreign-language year. It’s so cool and so much fun! We sing and dance, learn alphabet and transcription symbols, paint and what not. On the way I teach them a bit writing, reading and speaking so that they will not be too stressed when serious stuff begins.

back to school

2009-09-15T22:11:00.002+03:00

Yep, after a few months of a translator career I’m back to teaching English as a second language.

What can I say; I missed the drive and the extreme of school life... and got a huge doze of it on day one. There were no books to work with. The administration was kind enough to order new student’s books for each and every pupil but didn’t purchase a single one for teachers!

On the 1st of September I had neither textbooks nor teacher’s books and a crowd of well-equipped pupils. It was okay at first, as we just got acquainted I explained the classroom rules and dictated the list of required stationery. Then I launched a summer holiday survey to get the pupils speaking. By the next lesson I had downloaded exercises from the Internet and devoted it to grammar revision. So far, so good.

The second week went smoother as some teachers’ sets of books had been delivered. There are also some student’s books available on the Internet. They help me keep the students occupied.

God bless the web for a huge amount of downloadable materials, I would have never survived the past two weeks without them.

...keep smiling

2009-08-10T22:47:00.000+03:00

to go or not to go

2009-07-15T21:29:00.003+03:00

The issue of utmost importance now is a possible moving in another country. My fiancé insists on living in his motherland, because everything is settled there: he has a job, an apartment, a summer house and a teenage daughter to look after. While I will be a unwelcome emigrant, who has no job, no citizenship and speaks a local language badly. Sounds exciting, isn't it.

I’m now considering if I can survive without my beloved family and friends and if I manage to stay sane there.

Besides, the whole citizenship status thing thrills me, as it requires too much time, efforts and bureaucracy. And I hate waiting in queues and gathering papers from the authoroties.

P.S. This whole situation reminds me "Mistery" by Hugh Laurie

new job

2009-07-13T19:37:00.001+03:00

I'd been dreaming about a regular job for a few months and finally got it. Hope, I will survive two months of probation.

The office is a lively place filled with sales managers, who are distributing marine equipment and I’m to translate every document that all these guys feel like giving me. For two weeks I’ve been working on translation of technical specifications, brochures, information notices, drawing, what not, which is quite exciting. I have never translated anything on this topic ever (!) and now learn more and more useful vocabulary. I know I’m going to like all those ships, pumps, navy planes, towboats and so on.

Two sales managers of maritime equipment are sharing desk with me. They are quite peculiar personalities. The guy is a short fat fun-loving fellow, who jokes and laughs all the time, comments any remark heard in the office, mocks on stupid clients, green translators, received e-mails and so on. In the evening he quarrels with another guys in the office claiming that the other guy is lazy and bolder than himself, that this guy has stolen his magazine, talks to much or to little and is an ugly one in general. While the lady is a tall, middle-aged, strict Madame, who is always tired, sick and annoyed with overwork, stupid clients and customers, her desk-mate’s comments and “this whole thing”. She rarely smiles and always complains. Her assistant is a twenty something fellow, who works really hard, is uptight and feels uneasy if there is nothing to do. At the same time he watches working hours, comes exactly at 9am, leaves exactly at 6 pm and has a late lunch out of the office exactly from 1pm to 2 pm.

Watching these guys I do my best to concentrate on translating.

animal planet

2009-07-11T17:07:00.000+03:00

"Teach your children to honor themselves with integrity and you will teach them to honor your love."

Wes Fessler

animal planet

2009-06-21T00:56:00.001+03:00

animal planet

2009-06-07T00:02:00.001+03:00

"Beauty without grace is the hook without the bait"

despair

2009-06-03T07:30:00.000+03:00

My fiancé incidentally discovered that a school teacher had been taking advantage of his underage daughter for a few years. Actually, he suspected that something was unhealthy between his daughter and the teacher. His daughter said there was nothing. Neevrtheless my fiancé requested the school to take care of the matter a couple of years ago. The headmaster promised that she would. Apparently, she did not.

As for the girl, my fiancé used to trust his daughter and when she said that she would stay at her friends, it never occurred to him to check it. The truth was discovered a few days ago, and the daughter took off with her abuser.
Noone knows where she is now.

Neither my fiancé nor his ex-wife knows how long their daughter has been misused. The most heart-breaking thing is that the teacher has been manipulating the girl and made her believe that her parents are bad people. He has also been defaming the girl’s parents at school and everywhere he could. The daughter likes her teacher so much and is so credulous that believes his every word. She even lies to her parents in order to protect her lover.

My fiancé hoped to get hold of the girl after the entrance exams at the university, as she had said that she would be taking them there. It was another lie. Her parents called the University and found out that her school test results had been so high that she had been enrolled at the University without any further exams. Now the police are looking for her. They have managed to get in touch with her, but she did not reveal her whereabouts.

My fiancé and his ex-wife are heart-broken. I pray for them and the girl and I want so much their daughter to return in the family having realised what wonderful people her parents are.

And I’m… I’m simply shocked. This animal is actually my colleague.
I thought, teachers are supposed to be virtuous and set a nobel and righteous example to their pupils. Apparently some of them have a different opinion.

this is my life

2009-06-02T10:29:00.001+03:00

One of those days filled with blues that makes me realise how wonderful life is.

animal planet

2009-05-31T00:02:00.001+03:00

"The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dreams shall never die".

Edward Kennedy

Frozen River

2009-05-29T00:02:00.000+03:00

I’ve finally watched “Frozen River” and was very impressed by the straight-forward story of two single mothers that reveals harsh and barren life as it is.

The upright film tells about Lila, a widowed Mohawk, whose child had been taken away. Her relatives didn’t want a child to be brought up by a smuggler; and Ray, a mother of two, whose gambling-addict husband had recently taken off with the down payment for their new trailer home. The two desperate women were forced to earn living on their own. They joined in an illegal venture of transporting immigrants into the USA across the Mohawk territory, quite successfully.

With the money enough to pay their bills the women were determined to make one last run. However the circumstances spiraled out of control and the two women had to make life or death decisions based on their friendship and love for the children.

Though the film seemed to be very slow-moving, the story itself was involving. The women’s desperation knew now borders. They were both quite experienced adults and realized how dangerous their occupation was and what kind of consequences there may be. Nevertheless they took up it and when the time came to answer for the consequences, they didn’t run off. They paid the bill even though it was painful. I was amazed. There were not many characters in films that made up their mind to surrender to the authorities and to be punished.

To my mind the film submits the values that have been long forgotten. The importance of a family, self-sacrifice for the sake of some one else’s well-being, sympathy and empathy. While the most important message of the film is that a crime is followed by a proper punishment. The option that has been long forgotten in most films of today.

a thank you and an award

2009-05-26T15:31:00.000+03:00

First of all I would like to thank Kasia at Clockwork Orange and Dan at Wood and Pixels Narratives for the lovely messages, which they sent while I was away. You made my day, dear blogger-mates.

One more Thank you goes to Jane at Gaston Studio . She has surprised me with a lovely Great Blog Award, created by Jason, a 14 year old in Louisiana. The award has to be passed to five more bloggers of my choice.

The bloggs that are great in general are the following:

Laverstone Tales, a great collection of lovely stories.

Writer's Musings, a great collection of notes of Afganistan and its people.

Lake View Photography blog, a collage of wonderful portraits showing love as it is.

Wood and Pixels Narratives, a great collection of fairy-tale photographs and beautiful thoughts.

Today's Chicago Blues, everything you would like to know about Blues life of Chicago and more.

hi there

2009-05-25T17:09:00.000+03:00

After two month of a desperate job search, complicated love affair and a couple of short trips to Finland and Estonia I'm back to blogging. There is still no regular job. Love relationship is more complicated than ever. The next short trip to Spain is not scheduled yet, but it will happen... Someday.

Life goes fast forward and I have very little time to look around and review whatever is said and done. Hope Blogger will help here.

So... Hello again! What have you been up to for the past two months?

animal planet

2009-05-24T00:02:00.001+03:00

"From birth, man carries the weight of gravity on his shoulders. He is bolted to earth. But man has only to sink beneath the surface and he is free"

Jacques Cousteau (1910-1997)

one hundredth of a second

2009-03-24T16:58:00.000+02:00

birthdays

2009-03-23T19:41:00.005+02:00

Birthdays! I love birthdays: drinks all around!

Most members of my family managed to be born in spring, that is why March and April are the most festive months of the year here. We used to organize thematic birthdays parties, masquerades, family sports competitions and so on. Those parties were hilarious.

Later various diseases started to take us down one by one. So those, who are still alive, have learned to treasure the rare occasions of just gathering around the table talking, sharing recent news and photographs of the past and present.

Somehow birthdays have turned into tributes to those who passed away. There is a tradition to propose the second toast to the birthday girl's or boy's parents. The parents are not with us any longer, and these moments are the most intense and sad.The toast is usually followed by a silence, as everyone goes back to the past mentally for a few moments to meet the dearest ones again. These were the days we thought would never end...

Then I slip into the present and see the little ones fooling around, playing and amusing themselves. They still believe that a birthday is a day of fun, presents and laughter.

I wish they had more happy birthdays than we do.

animal planet

2009-03-22T20:15:00.002+02:00

"The start of a World Cross Country event is like riding a horse in the middle of a buffalo stampede. It's a thrill if you keep up, but one slip and you're nothing but hoof prints".

weekend post

2009-03-16T21:06:00.005+02:00

The forecast promised sunny weekends, so I invited the guy to have a walk in one of my favourite suburbs. He had never been there before, so we had a tour around the park and the palace wondering how inconvenient living there would be.

The guy pictured how complicated it would be to run around the ~~house~~ palace if the bedrooms were in the left wing of the building, the kitchen were in the right one and the living-room -somewhere in the middle. He would watch football and ask me nicely to get him a beer from a fridge. I tried to explain that the match would have been over by the time I fetched a beer from the kitchen. To that he promised to buy a bicycle so that I could go around the place faster.
What a nice guy, you'd think.

Anyway, we walked down the park paths, skated on the frozen lake and had a lovely dinner later in the evening. All weekend long the song "Strangers In The Night" was playing in my head...

It was just one of those days to remember.

animal planet

2009-03-15T00:02:00.000+02:00

"A lion's work hours are only when he's hungry; once he's satisfied, the predator and prey live peacefully together".

by Chuck Jones

The photographer's site is here

trip to the Happy Land

2009-03-13T05:15:00.006+02:00

Once again children have reminded me that life is a gift, which is to be treasured.

I have been to an amazing exhibition called "We are different, but we are friends" that presents more than 700 works created by handicapped children from dozens of orphanages and compensatory kindergartens throughout the country.

The children have created a lot of colourful and very talented works in various techniques such as painting, graphic arts, makrame, patch work, engraving, applique' work, origami, herbarium, embroidery, beadwork, stained-glass, lace trimming, batic, stuffed toys and so on. I was astonished by very high quality of their arts and crafts and by immense joie de vivre radiating from each and every creation.

It was a fairy-like trip to the Happy Land that only children could enter and understand and I loved it.

about women

2009-03-12T08:15:00.004+02:00

"Whatever you give a woman, she will make greater.
If you give her sperm, she'll give you a baby.
If you give her a house, she'll give you a home.
If you give her groceries, she'll give you a meal.
If you give her a smile, she'll give you her heart.
She multiplies and enlarges what is given to her..

So, if you give her any crap, be ready to receive a ton of shit".

weekend post

2009-03-11T11:31:00.003+02:00

The beauty of freelancing is flexible working hours and an opportunity to flee any time. That was what I did last Friday. I got a return ticket to the capital and gone to see my friends.

On Saturday we visited a well-known picture gallery to look at the paintings of late 19th and early 20th centuries. The canvases took me in the past and I had a walk down lovely Paris streets, New York broadways and tiny Moscow alleyways. We also spent a couple of hours at impressionism halls, as I'm a huge admirer of this art movement. I love impressionists' boisterous and lively painings, because they are full of life and sunshine. I always feel a little happier after visiting these exhibitions.

On Sunday I managed to see almost all my friends. We went to my favourite blues bar "Road House" to listen to the most outstanding bluesmen and sing a few songs along. I performed "Wild Thing" right at the stage. It was a blast! What a wonderful night it was.

On Monday we just walked around the city, skated at a local park and talked and talked until my train left at 10 PM.

I'm going to miss my friends.

animal planet

2009-03-08T00:12:00.001+02:00

"There is no surprise more magical than the surprise of being loved. It is God's finger on man's shoulder".

~Charles Morgan

16 again

2009-03-06T18:15:00.005+02:00

Spring is everywhere and my head is full of ~~flapdoodle~~ romance. The guy from "Liverpool" and I met a couple of more times. We walked, talked and laughed a lot.

The guy snows me in with compliments and I just can't keep concentration on anything at all. At his age (47) he sends lovely text messages such as "Pleasure of learning to know you is beyond my oral description. Thank you for your lovely company. I am looking forward to seeong you at your earliest possible convenience" or "Dear Sunny, spring is coming, Mother Nature wakes up from Her deep winter sleep again starting to blow life and joy to the flowers. Even the flowers are so beautiful they never can be in that full bloom being able to challenge your beauty and charm. I want to congratulate you for your day today". I have never received that long messages on the phone in my life.

I feel 16 again. Crazy!

Happy Weekend to all of you out there!

at home, finally

2009-03-04T09:05:00.005+02:00

The major repairs are over in my appartment, so I'm back and very excited about it. There are still some minor things to do. Fortunatelly, they can be done while I'm around.

The bathroom is now of a lovely sky-blue colour and the restroom is in emerald one.

The room is still under reconstruction. As soon as the walls are ready I'm going to glue the wallpapers of a deep orange colour and hang curtains with some ethnic pattern. I have also found a huge bookcase in an incredibly beautiful mahogany color, which has enough space for all the books I have and a room for those to be bought. The plan is to turn my roon into some African landscape (see the pic). Hope it will work out.

*sign happily* It is so good to be back home finally.

a weekend post

2009-03-02T17:42:00.002+02:00

Saturday night was not the lonliest one of the week. I persuaded one of my former college friends to go out.

We went to one of the best bars in the neighbourhood called "Liverpool", had a few mojitos, lots of chatting and even met a couple of nice guys. The guys were rather drunk and burst into songs from time to time. I liked one of the songs so much that decided to find out its title to download an original version later. My friend just shook her head, she knew it was not only the song that I liked.

The following day one of those guys and me had a lovely walk down the river recollecting countless jokes and anecdotes, talking about the differences between cultures of our countries. Speaking of the differences. The guy told me the following story:

An American and a Russian farmer had a few shots at a bar and started to boast.
The American farmer said: "My farm is so big that it takes a day to drive around it by car".
The Russian farmer responded: "Yeah, our cars are as bad as yours".

I just loved this example of cross-culture communication.

animal planet

2009-03-01T23:06:00.001+02:00

"Freedom is the oxygen of the soul'
~Moshe Dayan

a better day

2009-02-26T12:32:00.004+02:00

Yesterday's evening of moving the furniture around my “garret” (as Sacha van Straten has called it) to clear away more space for a plumber to change the pipes in the room cheered me up. I never realized that I’m strong enough to move sofas and a piano.

The night was wasted on watching House MD season 4 and the most recent NCIS episode that immediately raised my spirits.

This morning I had a lovely stroll down the river to the gulf watching ships in graving-docks, where the most talented shipwrights were getting them ready for deep waters later in March. The sun was shining brightly. Snow was crunching under the feet. The ice on the river was cracking and the whole world seemed to be smiling.

Spring is definitely in the air!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-02-25T12:46:00.002+02:00

Hope your day is much better than mine.

a weekend post

2009-02-24T14:27:00.007+02:00

Melissa Leo didn't get an Oscar as I hoped. Well, at least she looked gorgeous at the ceremony. Maybe she will be offered more leading roles in the future.

The guys, who are working on my apartment, have finally installed all necessary pipes. They are neatly built into the walls, so they won't be visible under the tiles. The photo to the right shows my bathroom before the pipes have been replaced. That is really cool!

Some of the new pipes are smaller than they should be, so I will have to use them more carefully in the future.

In other news, those blues are on parade again and are difficult to fight back. Even skating on a frosty and sunny day didn't help much.

I have also finished reading a cool novel by D.Baldacci called "Last Man Standing". The novel is packed with action, tough guys and big guns. It was a very good read! Even Dr Gregory House reads his books.

sporty tag

2009-02-23T14:22:00.000+02:00

Stay at home mom Maria dreams of Bugatti Veyron and tagged me to write about my dream sports car.

The rules:
1. Just state what kind of sports car will you buy if you have a ton of money at the moment.
2. Don't spoil the fun guys, please get back to me if you are done posting it and leave a comment stating the name and kind of the vehicle.
3. If you could link me to the post, it would be awesome!

Unfortunately, I do not have any. Though, there is a car I would like to waste my money on. Bentley 4 1/4 Litre, released in 1939, was perfect for comfortable long distance Continental touring. The Bentley is incredibly elegant!

Later I googled for top 10 sports car to see if I actually like any. Well, none caught my eye, because apart of being fancy they are actually small and inconvenient.

After reading a dozen car charts I came across the photo of Aston Martin Vanquish with really cool paint job! So that will be my car of the day.

Now, I'm taggin' Southern Sage, Cowguy, Irish Gumbo, VodkaMom , Beth and everybody who wants to share his/her secret dreams.

animal planet

2009-02-21T14:56:00.001+02:00

“An acquaintance that begins with a compliment is sure to develop into a real friendship”

Oscar Wilde

at the post office

2009-02-20T09:33:00.003+02:00

There was that guy at the operator’s window asking for an envelope. The operator asked what size of the envelope the client wanted. The guy was surprised to know that the envelopes can be of different sizes.“The smallest one”, he said. “I’m going to send my sister this SIM. She has forgotten it”.
Now it was the operator to be surprised: “You cannot send a SIM in an envelope, you must send it in as a registered postal packet”.
“No, I don’t. SIMs are not on the banned list”, the guy insisted.
“You see, you may send only paper items in an envelope”.
“Oh, come on. I’m sure it’s going to be fine. No one is going to check the contents, and my sister desperately needs this SIM”…

Their conversation lasted a few more minutes, the queue behind grew irritated. I was standing in it, amused. If I ever forgot a SIM in another city I would just go to the nearest service center of my mobile provider, block the lost SIM and get a new one with the same phone number and data. It is as simple as that!
So, why waste his own time, mine and all the others’ in the queue at the post office?

Eventually, the operator persuaded the guy to buy a greeting card, hide the SIM inside it and then put in the envelope.

"Next one!"

home sweet home, i miss you.

2009-02-18T19:03:00.008+02:00

Excitement over annoying my stepfather with girl's stuff is wearing off. I have grown accustomed to Mum's extreme care and don't go crazy anymore when she meets me at the doorsteps: "Hello, honey. How did your day go?"

Nevertheless I still keep to myself, because time on my own is precious after a working day. I walk the streets, do freelance on my laptop in cafes or ~~blog~~ work on PC at home postponing visits to mum's. I only shower and sleep there, while mum would like me to be around more often. She even promises to buy DSL. That's really nice of you, but... No, thanks my satellite is fine.

Sometimes I stay at *home*. It does not feel like home though, as hot/ cold running water is still off and the fridge does not work. The computer is in the only room of the apartment that is not under reconstruction. Actually all my belongings are now stored in it leaving a tiny square space near the computer.

Besides, I don't have much furniture, so I ~~blog~~ work staying on my knees in front of the screen and look very much like a heathen at the foot of an idol statue.

Good news. The workmen say they will have got the bathroom into shape by the end of the month. *fingers crossed*

S for Sunny

2009-02-17T10:27:00.004+02:00

Mich, a wonderful bloger at Who is Mich? has picked a letter for me, which happens to be “S” for my nickname. I have to write about my top 10 favorite things that start with the letter “S”.

There they go in no particular order:

1) Snow, as it snows off all troubles revealing sparkling nature's beauty. Besides, I love winter fun, snowballs fights, skiing and sledging.

2) Scotch whisky on rocks is the best remedy from low-spirits and depression.

3) South Africa, my dream holiday destination. Though, I'm looking for a job there too.

4) Sense of humour. It may be weird, stupid, English, great, but it surely helps to survive in our crazy world.

5) Southern Sage's collection of dirty jokes and funny stories about relationship makes the whole men-vs-women thing look less complicated.
Don't take life too seriously, nobody gets out alive anyway.

6) Savage chickens, there is so much common sense in the cartoons.

7) Sunshine, it gives life to everything.

8) Snail mail, an old-fashioned version of gchat that I still use to the full and love every moment of it.

Note: it is not an advertisement, I'm just saying:

9) Shampoo "Phytum Actif" by YR. It turns hair into ultraglossy soft silk.

10) Sally Hansen's nail care products and nail polishes.

Now, if you feel like joining in the fun. Leave me a letter request in the comments and you'll get your letter in no time!

weekend post

2009-02-16T10:32:00.006+02:00

Valentine’s was very nice. I woke up late to greet a snowy sunny day.

It started with a phone call from the man of my dreams (What a surprise!) who congratulated me swiftly and then talked for 25 minutes about his recent activities. I tried to response for the first few minutes, but he was so eager to speak that ignored any comments. He didn’t even suggest sex on the phone! That’s why I just put him on the loud speaker and took up polishing nails mumbling on the cell: “hm.. wow… I see” .

In 25 minutes he said that it was nice to have a chat and hung off. Well, at least my nails had been perfectly pink by that time. Besides my beloved siblings presented two huge dark chocolates accompanied with a CD of 24 beautiful love songs performed by a famous Philharmonic Orchestra. So I totally forgot about the guy.

Later the family got together and we had a delicious dinner followed by wild dancing. I have to admit, that a lot of Tom Jones’ music and red wine works much better that sex on the phone.

The conclusion of the day was that I have to find another man of my dreams in the neighbourhood, because long distance doesn’t intensify love at all. It destroys it and turns into indifference.

P.S. Here's some sweet love story about long distance. It may have a happier end than my and the man of my dream's one.

animal planet

2009-02-15T08:39:00.002+02:00

“So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they're busy doing things they think are important. This is because they're chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.”

Morrie Schwartz

family issues

2009-02-13T10:02:00.004+02:00

The repair of my apartment is in full swing. I called on to see how much of the apartment had already been torn down. To my surprise little was done. The old tiles were removed, the floor and the walls were leveled off, the doorways were widened and new door studs were installed; they even started to glue new tiles. However the pipes have not been replaced, the batteries have not been unpacked and the bathtub is still in the hall, which means I’m to live at mum’s for a couple of weeks more. That’s not cool!

You see, since I started to live at mum’s, she’s been treating me as her little girl. She worries if I’m not at home by midnight, she asks if I eat well at work and why I don’t dine at home. A couple of days ago I slipped on an icy road and limped home half-covered with snow, so mum wanted to make sure that nothing had been broken. She even fills me a lunchbox as she used to when I went to a primary school. It’s crazy!

I have been living on my own for almost eight years now. I have learned to take care of myself and developed certain habits, most of them are outdoor activities. So it’s okay for me not to be at home early, not to eat regularly or fall off the bridge on a regular basis. Mum has been comfortable with it for the last eight years, and I’m wondering why she just can’t behave the same way, while I’m at her place.

I’m not unhappy about bunking down there. I’m glad to have a chance to spend more time with mum, to help her around the house, to chat about my apartment repairing, the parents’ country house decorating and so on. It’s just weird to receive phone calls in the middle of the night requiring where the hell I am. Trust me, mum, there are places you wouldn’t like to know about!

Anyway, I’m spending the coming V-Day with my family at our country house, because the only true love I’ve ever experienced is for my parents, siblings and grandparents.

Happy coming Valentine’s Day to all of you!
Love and be loved!

today's Sister Day

2009-02-12T19:13:00.003+02:00

This e-card's just hilarious!

Happy Sister's Day!!

thermoelectric power station?

2009-02-12T15:20:00.006+02:00

So much for the blogging addition. I did miss two wonderful days of posting, because in between all the fun of blogging and watching House MD and NCIS I have to make a living.

Monday evening I was offered a translation job, which was so handsomely paid that I accepted it at once. It appeared that there was 10 pages of blueprints and 33 pages of whiteprins of some super powerful thermoelectric power station, which had to be translated by 12PM Thursday. That was tough, as 43 pages of technical vocabulary are quite a challenge for a minor translator of teenage horror stories like myself.

The battle with all types of valves, heat exchangers, various circuits and what not had been going on during most part of Tuesday and for the whole Wednesday. Eventually, I nailed both blue and white prints on time, having learnt a lot of useful words on the way. Exciting!

Now I'm back to NCIS and Blogger.

See you on-line.

addicted to blogging

2009-02-10T15:17:00.007+02:00

I have been spending a lot more time reading and commenting other blogs since I got fired. I even plan my posts sometimes. The thing I have never done before! I used to let my mind go and type whatever there was. Now, things are different.

Day by day I'm becoming more and more addicted to Blog-land, as your stories, memories, photograghs and tags are so much fun! Blogging also deprives me of sleep and I've started to suspect a fatal blog virus in my head...

Fortunately, Definelife has just posted a test on Blogging Addiction, which diagnosed me only 67% crazy. That's good news.

67%

So I'm off to read and comment a few more blogs. I love you, guys!

Tag - I'm it... weird

2009-02-09T11:41:00.006+02:00

Fabulous blogger Maria at Maria Went to Chicago has tagged me to write 6 weird facts about me.

The rules: write a blog post of 6 weird things about you, choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says "you are tagged" on their blogs.

1. I'm a huge fan of the "The A-Team". George Peppard, Mr. T, Dirk Benedict and Dwight Schultz rocked and will always be. Besides, I love it when a plan comes together as much as the A-Team members. Besides, I'm on the jazz most of the time.

2. I used to like green colour so much that had my room at the parents' house painted in green and my kitchen furniture was green. I wore only green clothes, used green copybooks, pens, soap, toothbrush and so on. Fortunatelly, the greenfever is over now.

3.I usually give pets a different name. Once a friend bought a cat, which had changed several names until "Zorka" was established. However I still call the cat its second name "Guatemala". The parents's husky was called "Carma", but for me it had always been "Candy" till the last day of her life, because she was the sweetest and the most kind-hearted dog I'd ever seen.

4. I love eating snow. The habbit has developed since my recent trip.

5. My first e-mail address was Pink_Cloud.

6. I'm still fond of colouring Barbie colouring books.

The tag goes to a bunch of really great bloggers. They are Sarah, Henry North London, John Finn, Janie, Mariah, Jordanka.

I'd love to know more about you, guys!

animal planet

2009-02-06T14:08:00.003+02:00

"There is nothing we like to see so much as the gleam of pleasure in a person's eye when he feels that we have sympathized with him, understood him. At these moments something fine and spiritual passes between two friends. These are the moments worth living".

Don Marquis

family issue

2009-02-05T13:40:00.006+02:00

The piggy's adventures at mom's place are in full swing.

Mom's poodle has recently developed a crush on it and even attempted to kidnap my lovely toy. I rescued it twice from his teeth and once retrieved it from the poodle's secret hide-out in the living room. Piggy was so dirty that I had to wash it and then blow-dry.

My step-father got intrigued by the piggy blowdrying and sneaked into his study aka my room. He gasped at the sight of it: his beloved bookcase was now filled with colourful tubes, bottles and tiny cases, the aroma of Kiwi (eau de toilet) used as airspray flying around, some nailpolish was half-opened on his computer table and... there was me drying the piggy with his hairdryer. It was too much to bare.

He muttered "sheer lady" under his breath and left.

Tag- I'm it.

2009-02-04T11:39:00.005+02:00

Thanks Bambi at http://bambisblurbs.blogspot.com

I'm to post six random things about me following the rules:

1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
5. Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

1. I learnt to swim at the age of 12 (!) That day I slipped and fell overboard. I panicked and instead of clutching at the side of the boat dashed to the shore. It took me 400 metres of waters to understand I could swim.
2. I speak four languages, write in six languages and do typos in all of them.
3. I'm an Yves Roche fan, as cosmetics is of high quality there and is kept in colourful tubes. Besides, Yves Roche is nature friendly
4. Dark chocolate is the only item I may trade government secrets for.
5. Most drastic decisions in my life were inspired by books.
6. I'm a huge fan of the Beatles, so is Bambi. I have their Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band poster, T-shirts, books and Paul's and Ringo's autographs!

Now... Kasia, Ash, Polergirl, Milltini, Beth, Maria I'd like to know more about you :)

family issue

2009-02-03T10:48:00.009+02:00

Due to serious repairs in my apartment I had to find a current place to live in. There were several options: grandparents', dad's, or mum and step-father's place.

The grandparents live too far from the city centre. My sister is currently stationed at dad's, so I'd better not go there, as she is a lazy teenager and I'm an ex-teacher who has been telling off lazy teenagers most of her life. I'm sure dad will involve me into upbringing the sister, so I'd rather stay away. Thus the only refuge is mum and step-father's place, which is in two-minute walk from my own apartment, close to the city centre and doesn't contain a crazy teenager. Don't get me wrong I love my sister. I just prefer spoiling her to bringing up.

Anyway, yesterday I collected living essentials, tons of cosmetics and headed to mum's apartment. The step-father answered the door. His jaw dropped when he saw me cuddling my stuffed piggy and clutching a huge bag of cosmetics . He was too startled to say anything. I made my way inside.

Mum and the step-father had prepared their study for my bunking down for a couple of weeks. And I'm now living in a tiny study surrounded by a computer, a huge plant and an empty bookcase that serves as my dressing table. Lovely!

Mum is so excited about the whole thing that even cooks, while the step-father complains that she never gets into so much trouble to feed him. These two are so sweet!

I do feel that three is a crowd at their place. Therefore I'm looking forward to the repair to be completed, so I can go back to my little universe and leave mum and the step-father in peace.

Premio Dardos award

2009-02-03T09:47:00.005+02:00

Bella@That damn expat awarded Premio Dardos to me. Thank you, Expat!

Premio Dardos' significance is the folowing:
"With the Premio Dardos is to recognize the values that each blogger uses to transmit cultural values, ethical, literary, personal, etc.. that, in short, demonstrate their creativity through the thought that is alive and remains intact from their letters, between his words. These stamps were created with the intention of promoting fraternization between bloggers, a way of showing affection and gratitude for a job that adds value to the Web. ”

The rules for receiving the prize are:

1) View the image of the stamp;
2) Link the blog for which you received the alert;
3) Choose 15 other blogs to those who receive the Premio Dardos.
4) And tell everyone, of course

...and the Winners are

the Fourth Annual Brigid in the Blogosphere Poetry Slam

2009-02-02T09:38:00.006+02:00

Happy Feast of Brigid, aka Groundhog Day!

As promised, here comes one of the most life-asserting poems by Josiah Gilbert Holland

A Song Of Faith

Day will return with a fresher boon;
God will remember the world!
Night will come with a newer moon;
God will remember the world!

Evil is only the slave of Good;
Sorrow the servant of Joy;
And the soul is mad that refuses food
Of the meanest in God’s employ.

The fountain of joy is fed by tears,
And love is lit by breath of sighs;
The deepest griefs and the wildest fears
Have holiest ministries.

Strong grows the oak in the sweeping storm;
Safely the flower sleeps under the snow;
And the farmer’s hearth is never warm
Till the cold wind starts to blow.

Day will return with a fresher boon;
God will remember the world!
Night will come with newer moon;
God will remember the world!

animal planet

2009-01-30T11:27:00.003+02:00

“There is an old Cherokee story about a grandfather who is teaching his grandson about life. He says to his grandson, ‘A fight is going on inside me. It is a terrible fight between two wolves. One is evil; he is anger, envy, greed, arrogance, self-pity, resentment, and superiority. The other is good; he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, generosity, and compassion. This same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other person, too.’

The grandson thinks about this for a minute and then asks his grandfather, ‘Which wolf will win?’

The old Cherokee simply replies, ‘The one we feed.’”

from Zoe Weil’s book "Most Good, Least Harm"

dog matter

2009-01-28T10:49:00.005+02:00

Since the death of our beloved husky named Candy my parents had been reluctant to buy a new dog for almost half a year. They finally recovered three or four month ago and googled for a dog of some other breed. They wanted a fun-loving, kids-friendly dog that would not stink and shed hair. The search took a while.

Then one day I received this photo and a short message from mother: "That's our future dog's dad. Do you like it?"

Of course, I do. It is cute, fluffy and will make my parents happy. Besides, according to Wikipedia Great Japanese Dogs are clean and odorless. They are very devoted and gentle with its owners and usually do not show affection on an outsider.

Dog-breeders say that a typical pet Akita (another name of great japanese dog) will follow you from room to room, yet has the uncanny ability not to be underfoot. Your Akita lives his life as if his only purpose is to protect you and spend time with you.

Having received my official approval the parents are now looking for our future dog's mom. So all we have to do is to find a mom, to make the future dad and the future mom date, wait for several months and the dog is ours. Piece of cake!

Now, tell me Dear Bloggers, do you like the DAD?

meme me interview

2009-01-27T12:56:00.008+02:00

Reading an interview with Peudonymous High School Teacher was really interesting so I volunteered to be interviewed too.

1. If you could time travel back in time or forward in time for an afternoon of hanging out and chatting, what time period would you visit and who would you visit with?

If I could travel in time I'd go to Ancient Rome to talk to Marcus Tullius Cicero, because he was interested in philosophy as much as I do, and because his ideas may be applied nowadays.

2. You are going to be given one superpower. What do you want and why?

An ability to shift to anyplace anytime, because traffic-jams and many cases of emergency require travelling at speed of light.

3. You are housesitting for a friend and you are far from the store. As you open the pantry or fridge, what five items do you hope is stocked there for you?

There is always flour, eggs, milk/ yoghurt, a lot of dark chocolate and some "kitty cat", so I can always bake a cake.

4. If you were able to magically change careers now and be transformed into a wildly successful and fully trained anything-other-than-a-teacher...What would you be?

I would be an interpreter working at international conferences or on some super-secret projects of Ministry of Defence. I've been dreaming of that kind of work since childhood, as I was and still am a fan of spy movies and world military history. Besides, I once worked for an aviation company. I translated a lot of working drawings, articles, lectures and meetings. Aviation thrilled me. I even learnt how to fly and how to do some minor repair job. The experience I'd never forget.

5. What is your favorite vacation you have ever been on?

Three years ago I travelled to Italy on vacations. I went to Rome, Venice, Napoli and Florence. Florence appealed to me most. I loved walking tiny streets, smelling leather, dining at small cafes and chatting away with locals.These were lovely days.

And now the rules for this little meme, which is a challenging one by the way cos you just don’t know what’s coming your way.

If you want to participate…

1. Leave me a comment saying, “Interview me.”
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. (I get to pick the questions).
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

ok day

2009-01-26T13:07:00.004+02:00

The bad day turned into an okay day yesterday, as I broke a cup, cut a finger, had a headache and watched BBC film "Murder in Rome". The film inspired me to wonder about the purpose of my life, which was definetly not doing the job I'm busy with now. So when the boss reached the office today and officially fired me I kept calm.

This week is officially my last one here. So far so good.

animal planet

2009-01-24T09:59:00.002+02:00

"Hear! hear!" screamed the jay from a neighboring tree, where I had heard a tittering for some time, "winter has a concentrated and nutty kernel, if you know where to look for it." ~Henry David Thoreau

tribute to Melissa Leo

2009-01-23T09:32:00.005+02:00

The 81st Annual Academy Awards is on the 22nd of February and I'm overexcited, because one of my favourite actresses Melissa Leo has finally got nominated as Actress In A Leading Role.

She plays Ray Eddy, an impoverished mother who becomes involved in a smuggling ring in an attempt to avoid losing her home. The film is called "Frozen River".

That is Melissa Leo's first Academy Award nomination and I'll keep my fingers crossed for her.

Melissa has been acting for more than 25 years. She started as actor's actor and never became really famous. Most of her roles were and still are supporting or bit parts, and she merges into each and every of them really well.

In the 90ies Melissa performed wonderfully in "Homicide: Life On The Streets" as Sgt. Kay Howard. I remeber watching the pilot. That beautiful detective looked up from the papers and said to a newbie "Homicide, we work for God". There was something in her voice that got to me and kept me glued to the tv-show for years. Homicide detectives worked for God, as the God himself was too smart to come 'round Baltimore streets.

Later she took part in "21 Gram", one mesmerizing movie. That was a story of four gentle persons, who would be brought together by a terrible accident that would change their lives. By the final frame, none of them would be the same as they would learn harsh truths about love, faith, courage, desire and guilt, and how chance could change their worlds irretrievably, forever. Melissa's performance was stunning in this movie, and once more I exclaimed that she should be nominated for Best Actress.

This year she is and I'm rooting for her.

"Woodstock" & my college years

2009-01-22T15:23:00.008+02:00

I’ve recently laid my hands on a copy of “Woodstock”, the Academy-Award-winning documentary about the first rock festival ever. The press called it “Disastrous Zone” while these were three days of Peace and Music. I’ve never seen a crowd that huge, which managed to get along and behave themselves so well.

The documentary covered all aspects of the event. It interviewed the kids around to find out the cause of their arrival. Some of them wanted to get answers to their lives in music, which seems very weird to me. Music may heal soul, inspire vigour, reflect emotional states, but it is hardly able to give answers to where the road of life is going to. The other young people came to hang around and become a part of whatever it was going to be. Finally, there were people who actually paid for the concert and intended to listen to the music.

Janis Joplin, the Who, Joe Cocker, Santana (to name a few) performed at the festival. They were skinny kids themselves, filled with right ideas, radiating energy and love. It was an amazing gig to watch even on a dvd.

The documentary took me back to college years, when I attended an event of the same sort for the first and the last time. The rock festival I went to was far less peaceful: the kids were rather aggressive after hours of rock music and bottles of beer. It was rainy and the kids dirt-bathed. I remember sweaty and smelly bodies around singing rather well to the bands on the stage. I remember the music affecting me more than any drug exist, I was stoned with rock power. The festival was the most disgusting and the most thrilling experience ever.

I wish I had been at Woodstock festival rather than at the local one.

wtf?... I need advice

2009-01-21T09:31:00.005+02:00

I loaded my blogger "Reading list" and that was what I read:

I am following a lot of blogs! Is it some current error? Won't I be able to read blogger-friends' updates on my Blogger Dashboard any longer? Or am I just stupid and have to press some button somewhere to see your recent posts again?

bad day

2009-01-20T11:54:00.006+02:00

The boss called yesterday morning from abroad, reprimanded me for not managing the job (Huh? Which job?) and promised to organise a meeting on Monday for a decision to be announced. I got the feeling that the decision would be my dismissal.

So I'm about to leave the so-much-hated job (or shall I say: to be fired). Whatever it is called I may be out in the streets on Monday, which is unpleasant, because the job search I started in November still hasn't yielded any positive result yet. To top it off I got in a traffic accident.

So I 'm off to try a supernew diet and wash sorrow and pity down with good ol' JD.

So much for a promising 2009.

Invitation to The Fourth Annual Brigid in the Blogosphere Poetry Slam

2009-01-19T12:47:00.005+02:00

Feel free to copy the following to your blog and spread the word. Let poetry bless the blogosphere once again!
WHAT: A Bloggers (Silent) Poetry Reading

WHEN: Anytime February 2, 2009

WHERE: Your blog

WHY: To celebrate the Feast of Brigid, aka Groundhog Day

HOW: Select a poem you like - by a favorite poet or one of your own - to post February 2nd.

RSVP: If you plan to publish, feel free to leave a comment and link on this post. Last year when the call went out there was more poetry in cyberspace than I could keep track of. So, link to whoever you hear about this from and a mighty web of poetry will be spun.

Feel free to pass this invitation on to any and all bloggers.

Thank you, Reya, for beginning what is now an annual event. And
thanks to Moonroot for spreading the word. I'm in.

animal planet

2009-01-16T11:33:00.002+02:00

"No day is so bad it can't be fixed with a nap". ~ Carrie Snow

coming home

2009-01-15T10:21:00.008+02:00

Coming back from a holiday is never cool, because I start missing the place the moment I leave for home. The recent trip is no exception.

When the equipment was cased and the suitcase packed I went out into the sunlit courtyard to say farewell to the picturesque mountains that had served me a home for two weeks. I never had such wrench and had never been so reluctant to leave. I was watching the vault of blue skies, the might of the the tall snowy gorge, the elegance of centuries-old pinetrees and was eager to become a part of them. Unfortunately, it was not going to happen... yet.

Later that day I arrived home down and depressed, as in my mind I was still up there skiing. I could still see snow-white slopes instead of brownish city slush and smell crystal air instead of exhaust gas. I craved so much for flying back!

Monday was a blur. So was Tuesday. I feel much better now and learn to love the dirty and smelly city again. Have to be back to normal by the end of the week.

the pleasure of reading

2009-01-14T10:30:00.005+02:00

I've recently read two wonderful novels written by New York Times bestselling authours. They are "Playing For Pizza" and "Darkfever". Both books impressed me a lot, as one of them is lovely and romantic, while another one is dark and shocking.

“Playing For Pizza” is a lovely light-hearted novel by John Grisham tells a story of a third-string quarterback Rick Dockery who screwed up at an important match and was dismissed from the National Football League. However Rick was not going to give up and made his agent to find him any team that might want him. Against enormous odds the agent eventually found such a team and Rick set off to a lovely city of Parma (Italy) to play for the Parma Panthers. There Rick fell in love with all things Italian and made a journey from an egotistical past, to a true desire and passion towards the sport he loves.

The novel is a wonderful read about building up a character, football, food and love.

I’m a fan of Italy myself. I’ve travelled there a lot and grew to love open-hearted Italians, fancy architecture, cosy villages, delicious meals and wine.

"Darkfever" in a shadowy novel that verges on the paranormal world of myths and legends and the real world, which most people are used to. It tells a tale of a perfectly ordinary twenty-first-century woman MacKayla Lane. Or so she thought…until something extraordinary happened. When her sister was murdered, leaving a single clue to her death–a cryptic message on Mac’s cell phone–Mac journeyed to Ireland in search of answers. As Mac delved deeper into the mystery of her sister’s death, her every move was shadowed by the dark, mysterious Jericho, a man with no past and only mockery for a future.

The series was called “A seductive mix of Celtic mythology and dark, sexy danger” by Chicago Tribune and that's what it is. If you like dark fantasies, you won't be dissapointed.

To me the main disadvantage of the novel is an absence of an end. The novel is over at some crusial point, and right after it comes the first chapter of the second book called "Bloodfever". "Bloodfever" ends with the first chapter of the third book "Faefever" , and a little voice in my head is saying that there'll be more 'fever" of some sort.

Anyway, the two novels are perfectly written and you'll enjoy them to the full.

down the mountain

2009-01-12T11:48:00.006+02:00

The past two weeks were filled with extreme adventures and passion. It never occured to me that I may develop a crash on mountain skiing so fast.

The moment I slided down the mount for the first time I was hooked. It took two days to gain some paramount skills, and on the third day the cable-way lifted me to the height of 4700 metres and the adventures began.

I was so agitated and scared that had to pluck up courage for several minutes to ski down the narrow route in the teeth of the wind. There was a cliff to the left of me and a steep to the right, which left me with a metre-wide skitrack. Scary. Reckless. Wild.

I was sking down the Elbrus for almost four hours, while the descending normally takes maximum 30 minutes. The stress was immence and the next day was spent on lying around and walking.

The walk brought me to a lovely cafe at the foot of the Mount Cheget, where I met a man of my dreams. Together we stayed till the day I left. We went skiing all day and danced all night. We shared our life stories and believed we'd live forever.

It was a lovely winter romance with a man of my dreams and mountain skiing. I'm still not sure which I love most. Time will show.

animal planet

2008-12-26T11:32:00.001+02:00

...off to see the world

midnight shopping

2008-12-25T13:39:00.004+02:00

While half of the world is celebrating, I'm working fast to tie up loose ends and be able to flee from the cloudy city to snowy montains on Saturday.

Last night I went shopping really late and experienced all benefits of midnight shopping at a sports market. There were very few people, lower prices, mignight discounts and no rush at all. I have to admit that I loved it. So now I'm fully equiped to climb up the mountains and stay there for two weeks.

The cat is to be taken to Granny's in the evening today. The presents are already hidden under the fir-tree so that the family could find them on New Year's Eve. The suitcase is almost packed. Life's good!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

2008-12-24T12:19:00.001+02:00

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you, dear bloggers!

fun google tag

2008-12-23T10:23:00.019+02:00

Thank you, Maria, for Fun Google Tag. As I jusl love various pictures, it's going to be fun.

The rule is to use Google Images to search for your answers to the questions below. You must choose pictures from the first page from the results and post it as your answer.

1) Age of my next birthday

2) Place/places I would like to travel to...

3) My favourite place

4) My favourite thing

5) My favourite food

6) My favourite colour

7) The city I reside now
8) The city I was worn in

9) My college major
10) Name of your first lover

11) A bad habbit
12) Hobby

13) Wish list (max 3)

the tag goes to...

the purring cat
diary of a Polergirl
being brazen
clockwork orange
sounding forth

week-end post

2008-12-22T20:26:00.008+02:00

Saturday was great, as a friend called on and brought an amazing Christmas film "It's a Wonderful Life". The story of finding enough bravery to keep on going when times get rough. James Stewart and Henry Travers were wonderful and the film aroused a lot of contradictory emotions. I was laughing and crying and wanted to hug the whole world. A perfect film, indeed.

Sunday was cool as we headed to a punk rock holiday party and listened to some famous songs in a funky music arrangement. The music was weird and merry. I enjoyed it and Jack Daniels on rocks a lot.

The rest of the evening was spent on explaining to my Granny how to use Photoshop. This one was tough, but Granny is a bright pupil, she can now use brushes, text options and resize pictures!

animal planet

2008-12-19T10:22:00.004+02:00

"It is in his pleasure that a man really lives; it is from his leisure that he constructs the true fabric of self".

variety

2008-12-18T11:07:00.005+02:00

Don't you love the spirit of Christmas? I do, even though I'm not supposed to celebrate it.

Jesus' birth is celebrated in January here and it is a completely religious holiday. While all the fun, presents, binges and family dinners are held on New Year's Eve and are celebrated at night from Decembre 31 to January 1.

It was always a very complicated matter for me, as most of my friends and two ex-boyfriends are form the USA and France, so I know perfectly well what an old-fashioned Christmas is about, as I spent several years celebrating it. Returning here I celebrated New Year and followed Orthodox traditions.

They say "When in Rome, do as the Romans do" , and that is the best advice I've ever got. I'm very grateful that life has taken me to countries with different traditions, that I have met people of many religions and that there are still so much to see.

Adventures are ahead...

a little quote

2008-12-17T16:00:00.003+02:00

A friend has just sent this picture and it breathed new life into my work.

Good luck with whatever you do, dear bloggers!

slowing down

2008-12-17T09:57:00.005+02:00

Holidays are closer and closer. The office routine is so slow and uneventful that I have enough time on my hands to work on side projects. They are completing The A - team and NCIS episode descriptions for my friend's site; translating Dana Fuchs' blog for her Russian and German fans and translating several medical articles for another friend of mine.

The only disadvantage of all that is computer radiation that hurts my eyes and I have to use eye drops more often. I'd love they present me a computer screen that doesn't ruin eyesight.

La Travia

2008-12-16T09:51:00.005+02:00

Sass has posted one fun thing to do, so I joined in. I wasn't actually tagged, so feel free to join in

Fun little exercise

1. Put your iPod (or media player) on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN, NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!
4. Tag 10 friends who might enjoy this quiz as well as the person you got the note from. :-)

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
Forever and One (can it be called "a motto"?)

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Can't Get You out of my Head (It's not surprising as I post on their Facebook pages almost daily).

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
Hey Baba (huh?).

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
Tu es foutu

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
If Tomorrow Never Comes (makes sense).

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Imperial March. Rage Mix (lol, I'll become alive again)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Superstar

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Mondo Bongo (whatever).

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Casablanka (That's me in the corner of the screen at the 54th minute of the film)

WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
Madoca's Theme ( a terrible music piece, actually)

HOW WILL YOU DIE?
Julian Beam (the killer's alias?).

WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
I feel love (hm...)

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
Left Outside Alone (dancing and singing in the rain)

WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
In Your Eyes

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
72 Fast and Furious (cool!)

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
Red Blooded Woman (you never know)

WHAT IS 2+2?
Indiana Jones movie theme (hillarious)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Indietro II - Destino (whatever).

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Oranges and Lemons Again

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Gotta Get Thru This (makes sense)

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Eye Of The Storm

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Jigga that N***a (whatever that means)

WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
Jesus to a Child (Guess, George Michael scares me)

DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
How I Know You

WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
Lady Marmelade (hurts my ears now)

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
La Travia (huh?)

So much for a fan of rock-'n'-roll :) But I have an excuse, that's the music collection of the office. Anyway, that was fun to do and I'm off to listen to my funeral song again.

mystery

2008-12-15T10:38:00.006+02:00

Several days ago I noticed that yellow lights on one of my christmas-tree garlands didn't work. That was weird as they had worked fine before. So I checked the electricity distributor to see that all wires were attached properly, then I counted the tiny lamps to make sure they were in their places. Everything seemed to be in good condition. However, later the red lights went off, so I had to examine the garland again. Nothing was wrong. Sheer mystery.

Today I woke up to see my cat champing somewhere between the branches of the christmas-tree. She saw me awake and dashed away under the sofa. The light went on and I saw a tiny garland lamp cracked under the tree. Eventually my cat had screwed the lamps off.

So now I have to take the crazy cat to the vet to make sure she hadn't eaten a light or two pretending to be an electrician. It's going to be a long day...

animal planet

2008-12-14T11:40:00.002+02:00

recreation time

Smell in the kitchen

2008-12-13T17:48:00.008+02:00

The old-fashioned holiday spirit has got to me finally and I felt an urge to do something for my family. I invited them for a dinner.

“Oh, - you’d say - big deal”. Well, it is, as I haven’t invited anyone at my place for several years and I’m a lame cook. So the deal was BIG for me. Anyway.

By the afternoon I grew slightly nervous and had a creepy thought to cancel the dinner. Luckily, I was brave enough not to do it. I left the office, did some last-minute shopping and headed home.

The next our was a rush. My grandparents arrived earlier to watch their must-see TV-show before the dinner. That could have been fine, but for granny who entered the kitchen every commercial break to ask how it was going. It was actually going not bad.

I did ruin one frying pan, as didn’t notice that the ring under it was hot. When I poured water in it, the frying-pan burst into hissing, bowling and crackling. The kitchen filled with smog and I heard a voice somewhere in the doorway: “Do I detect a fire in the kitchen?” It’s nothing, - I lied trying to get rid of a smelly, crackling frying pan. I pushed the voice owner from the doorway, closed the door and opened the window. In several minutes the mushrooms and potatoes were braising peacefully in another frying pan and I was making salad to “Surviver” song.

Soon the family were sitting at the table chatting gaily and eating the meals that I had cooked (rather well). Could be better of course, but I’m still proud of myself.

Chasseurs De Typhons

2008-12-09T11:31:00.006+02:00

I set my eye on “Chasseurs De Typhons” as the title promised a breathtaking story of brave pilots cutting through wild air currents, penetrating in the heart of it and fighting against typhoons. However the first several chapters were mostly about the causes of typhoons, its nature and disastrous consequences and reminded more of a lecture than of a fiction. The lecture spiced with funny tales and variety of adjectives is fun to read. SO little by little I’ve developed an interest in this drastically destructive, monstrous and brutal natural phenomenon.

(These adjectives sound much more frightening in French, but that’s an English blog, so I'm doing my best to translate)

The author, Pierre - Andre Molene, venerates typhoons so much that even his reader shivers with thrill of a coming disaster. He describes the destruction in an off-hand manner. He writes about a ship thrown on a hospital filled with its sailors, as if it were something usual. At the same time he is thrilled with variety of typhoons, their crushing head and primeval power. Pierre - Andre Molene is also amazed by the science that has created the precision instruments to investigate typhoons, therefore he describes excitedly the battle between the power of nature and the power of science.

The further I read the more I enjoy the book and feel the world spinning around as a whirlpool as if I were in the eye of the storm.

the pic was taken in the eye of typhoon Vera

give me an old fashioned Christmas

2008-12-08T10:58:00.006+02:00

It's snowy again on this side of the world! Holiday lights are shining in grey streets and on dark buildings and turning a gloomy city into an enchanted castle in the middle of the woods.

The citizens shivering with cold, are rushing down illuminated streets paying more attention to decorated shopwindows than to beautiful snow lying around and sparkling trees.

I'm one of those lucky people, who have already purchased presents and chosen an outfit for a party. Besides my dear artificial fir-tree is already decorated and is twinkling with hundred of colourful lights. This little fir-tree was created more than 60 years ago and has always decorated apartments we lived in.

Everytime I install it and unwrap wonderful decorations I remember my great grandmother's words on one of the New Year's Eve in my distant childhood. She was hanging a small blue glassball with golden snowflackes painted on it and suddenly said: "You know, dear, I may not be with you the next New Year, but the fir-tree and these glassballs will keep warm-hearted memories of today forever".

How right she was! I was unwrapping the toys yesterday, when my eyes misted over with tears and I saw a reflextion of great grandmother's smile in that very blue glassball. She was with me at that moment. She will always be.

"Thanks for the memories, grandma" I said, hanging the blue glassball on the firtree.

animal planet

2008-12-06T12:07:00.003+02:00

...forever friends

The Smile Stone Award

2008-12-05T09:26:00.008+02:00

The most weird thing about blogging is that I have time either to post or to read blogger-mates' posts. And I have to admit that reading appeals to me more, as your posts and comments bring joy and sunlight spots into my life. Thank you for all the witty and funny posts!

Maria, a beautiful blogger and a fantastic mother, has passed me "The Smile Stone Award". It is an award for bloggers,who show kindness and spreading happiness around, and Maria has shared ten things that make her smile.

These are mine:

1) my family puts a smile on my lips;
2) my friends are always there to have a good laugh;
3) my cat, because she's the craziest fluffy animal on the planet;
4) my students are the most fun-loving teenagers ever. I adore laughing with them;
5) the a-team, a great tv-show of the 80ies, is the best treatment from melancholy;
6) listening to music, as "music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life";
7) foretaste of reading a new book makes me smile;
8) the holidays are coming, carrying lots of fun and presents;
9) chocolate;
10) my amazing blogger-mates.

"The Smile Stone Award" goes to...

Diary Of a Polegirl, the most ispiring blog.
Vodka Mom, the most cheerful teacher I've ever met.
Southern Sage, love your hillbilly's stories.
Mrs Mojito, a very lively lady.
Iveta, a photographer, whose pictures are full of love.
Citizen of the Month, a sarcastic blogger, but I just love his posts.