*Sigh*

I’ll take these simple pleasures whenever I can get them.

The stories of people living in such places are simply unbelievable. Scary.

Tent City 4 – in Seattle Area:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tent_City_4

http://www.ci.kirkland.wa.us/Community/tentcity.htm

Aerial image of the encampment: http://bit.ly/iiQKUQ

Also, search for Tent City on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=tent+city The picture is not pretty, and yet you don’t hear anything about these people on the news. It’s interesting how people here in the US focus on an earthquake in Haiti, or an oil spill somewhere, when right in their backyard people are living in tents and starving.

Turns up he now has a Facebook account, through which he shared a link to http://www.reverbnation.com where you can listen to many of his song. Check it out at: http://www.reverbnation.com/artist/artist_songs/1160045

Also, seems that he’s a DJ at KZMU (kzmu.org): http://www.kzmu.org/ShowProfile.cfm?id=117 You can pick up the show if you’re in Utah or online.

Enjoy

Well, wouldn’t you know it, he emailed me his 3 day itinerary this morning, and I nearly swallowed my tongue at how “Post-graduate Anatomy & Physiology” the coursework (for three days) seemed.  I mean, from Biomechanics to Psychology to Training Theory, I certainly wasn’t envious of his weekend activities.

But for as much as I was breathing a sigh of relief at not having to revisit the scientific side of my college experience, I immediately palmed my forehead when I realized how his absence would impact my weekend.

With my nephew’s weight lifting schedule, the big girl’s first basketball game of the season and the big boys wrestling match some  2 hours away from home (and lest we forget, the babychild’s proclivity for age-appropriate tyranny to the chagrin of his siblings), I am currently all but ready to pull out the brown bag and apply deep and calming breaths!

Then, as if my own work-home life (im)balance wasn’t enough, the throbbing menace behind my eyes that hasn’t manifested since October is once again rearing its mind-numbing head.

I figure though, that if I leave work early today (like now) and get straight in bed when I get home (my honey can effectively provide for our younglings until it is time for him to depart), I just might be able to get through this weekend without accosting someone or being strapped into that ever hideous white jacket with buckles that simply clashes with every piece of clothing in my wardrobe.

Just be prayerful saints!

If you ask me [and this is my own opinion] the approach is moronic. It’s like you have lung cancer, you want to get rid of it, but you don’t want to quit smoking. Not only that, but you look at your handsome, athletic neighbor and wish to have bigger muscles. If you act like that, you simply don’t get it. If you go outside Romania, see things you like and start bitching about how things are going in Romania, but don’t do anything about it you don’t get it.

The symbol of the Romanian Dream on the other hand, is f’n hilarious (picture in this post) or you can checkout Facebook for a full set of pictures: http://on.fb.me/fW6bJ9. The symbol is a suitcase from which, among other things, a pig and a dog pop out. To someone who doesn’t know or speak Romanian this must be an instant WTF. How does this represent the Romanian Dream? This is rooted in an Romanian expression “cu catel si purcel” which if translated literally, means “with dog and pig” but actually means “with everything [important] you have” when used in context of a move or a journey.

For those who don’t know today is Romania’s National Holiday.  Other interesting stuff that happened on this day: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_1.

Enjoy our ironic anthem: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kov-PvgtDaA [w/ English Subtitles]

http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=122551

Most powerful parts:

I remember the feeling of loneliness and the deep sorrow from being uprooted from everything and everyone I knew and loved; the helplessness from not being able to understand spoken English. There is a vivid memory, however, of me sitting on a bench in a beautiful park, watching airplanes in the sky above and thinking which one of them could be going home.

Meanwhile, through all this – I worked a number of part time jobs, especially in the beginning, to make ends meet, offer my child a decent life and support my parents in Bulgaria. I was also constantly attending college classes – first to get certified as a teacher, and then as a school administrator.

In Bulgaria, a friend is everything – someone you talk to several times a day, meet several times a week, a sounding board, a drinking and entertainment buddy and a shrink.

Friendship is different in America. People do not get that close; they do not socialize or confess to each other as much and that often. There are things you never talk about even with very close friends. But Americans are always there for each other. Bulgarians tend to take care only of their own; Americans take care of everyone in times of need. I remember people collecting money, cooking, offering a hand to acquaintances and even strangers, because they were in some kind of trouble…

Guess the ones that think about how lucky the emigrants who pack their bags and leave for brighter horizons never stop to think that these people are not robots. Doesn’t really matter where are you coming from. When you’re moving to a foreign country you are trading a part of yourself for, hopefully, a better living.

It’s actually Johnny Cash that did a cover after Nine Inch Nails(not the other way as you would one expect). Would have never guess this. The voice on the cover surpasses anything NIN could do with this song. It is simply amazing.

You can watch it all on Youtube (6 parts). Here is part 6/6:

Key points in the movie:
- use common sense and prefer logic over emotions
- if you want to get ahead of the others you need to do something different
- chasing sheep is a lot of fun

I personally found Moore’s movie more entertaining.

Take for example Black Friday, which is right after Thanksgiving. How exactly does these two go together?

Or think of Valentine’s Day… One day to show your love. Don’t give a damn the rest of the year. You have to do one think at a time. Multitasking is for losers.

Or… the Day of Caring. Again you care one day, ‘live your life’ for the rest of the year. (although this is not technically a legal holiday, it’s still worth mentioning to make the point)

Or Earth Day: Let’s all turn the lights out like morons for one hour to show we care about the Earth. C’mon… Buy an energy efficient fridge or efficient light bulbs if you really care. Don’t buy crap you don’t need. Good for the Earth, good for you.

I’ll stop here and start enjoying the Turkey Slaughter Day. It’s a holiday after all. Does it really matter what we’re celebrating as long as we stuff ourselves and get drunk? Pretty sure that if the turkeys would have a Thanksgiving day, they would be thankful that it’s not our Thanksgiving.

Album link: http://mircea.smugmug.com/Public/public-20100912-R8-model/14805619_ZzzGr

If I’ve not said it before, let me going on record to proclaim Noggin as one of the best Children’s Programming Network for kids of the pre-kindergarten demographic.  Between their creative line of programming, their celebrity guests stars and musical interludes, I can always count on the babychild to learn something new and retain that knowledge.

Which brings me to one of my favorites songs in the whole world, courtesy of the babychild and Noggin.  No matter where he is in the house, all he has to do is hear that distinctive calypso beat to stop in his tracks and seek out the television and his daddy.

“Mom-ma, look! That is me and my da-dat. Watch us dance.”

The following minute and a half usually results in pure entertainment (for me) as the babychild sings an ode to his hero and their affinity for toddler appropriate choreography.

Check out the cuteness!

I, on the other hand, would like to turn the empathy switch on for all you insensitive selfish people who by chance also have to fly. This empathy switch is for the TSA employees. Before diving into that let’s take a look at some obesity statistics. 1 in 3 Americans is obese.

Now think about the poor TSA employees who have to either: look at you naked using the scanner OR give you a ‘detailed’ pat down. What is going through their heads? God, please let this fatso walk through the scanner so that at least I have the option to look away. God, I hope he fits through the scanner. Oh nooo… he has an attitude… he is refusing the scanner. I will spend my next 20 minutes petting him…

Now think about going through this experience over and over. What is the logical response when you see a normal, beautiful if you’re lucky, human being? You want to get the ugly and the fat out of your head. Suddenly the Can’t get you of my head song makes sense. You want to forget. Forget by pleasing your aesthetic sense. Maybe you’ll save a picture of the beautiful stranger to look at when the going gets tough. Or if you are lucky you get to pet her/him. If someone deserves special treatment and should have an attitude this is the right person. God… remember when you sent the hippos to the petting station? It’s time I get something in return…. Hahaha.

Now, that you’ve mentally been a TSA agent for a few minutes maybe you’ll show them more love the next time you encounter them. Be nice and they will treat you right. You’ll be touched in unexpected ways and your experience will be unforgettable. You’ll feel like flying.

Where:
Washington State Convention Center
7th Avenue and Pike Street, Seattle
Open seven days a week 7:00AM -> 10:00PM
2nd Level South Galleria – Free Admission

Here are the Washington State National Parks: http://www.nps.gov/state/wa/index.htm

Most of the photographs are focused on the Olympic Peninsula and Mount Rainer – no big surprise here.

My favorites: “Trees in Winter” & “Shi Shi Beach Sunset” both by Stephen Matera

Welp, my PBS iRant yesterday did it.

In the spirit of acknowledging the awesomeness that is real creative children’s programming, take a peek at this truly ground-breaking episode of Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood where he and his special guest Jermaine channel their inner Turbo and Ozone (shout out to Nichelle Pace aka one of my favorite cyber fashionista inspirations @Stylemom for tweeting about one of the best Mr. Roger’s segments “evah”).

During communism there was a shortage of about anything in Romania. People would gather and wait in line for hours, sometimes days to get some of the most basic foods. The quantity of food that you could get would be directly related to the size of your family. And what better way to check the size than to have every member of the family wait in line? I kid you not. As I child I had to wake up at 4-5 am to go wait for the milk truck. One of my parents would go at 2-3 am, and the other would bring me and my sister around the time the truck was supposed to arrive. Sometimes it arrived at 5:30, sometimes it arrived at 7:30. Life’s a bitch.

Anyway, the whole point of this digression is to how deeply rooted waiting in line is in the Romanian spirit. Stay there! Maybe you’ll get something. (Did I tell you that the probability of getting what you quietly waited for was pretty low to start with?)

20 glorious years after the fall of communism in Romania, the same behavioral pattern persists. People will get in line at the smallest sign that something is “happening”. Sometimes these people aren’t even 20 years old.

Latest incarnation I saw of this behavior was boarding the plane in Bucharest. Everyone realizes that everyone will eventually get on the plane, right? Is it really worth spending 20-25 minutes standing up, in a queue of course, just to get on board of the plane “faster”? Do you really have to do that and get really vocal about it?

It’s usually how a student handles a task/project that is given to him. It usually drills down to staying up the night before the project must be turned in, trying to make the impossible possible. Anything that seems to bring you closer to the goal is neither wrong nor prohibited. You cut corners, you oversimplify, you lie a bit and you pull in some extra help. Anything goes. You might even try go get an extension on the deadline. You act like you’re on steroids. A slight feeling of euphoria installs.

When you do turn in the project, what do you do? Did you learn anything from the experience? Or did this only reinforce your opinion that you have god-like powers when it comes to focusing and you’re convinced that you’ll pull it off again when needed? Most of the time, it’s the latter. You start daydreaming about the great things you could achieve if you were on turbo mode all the time.The problem with that is that you don’t really take into account the fact that the quality is abysmal. And you don’t really take into account that you cannot spend the rest of your life, for example, not sleeping.

At some point you’re no longer a student. You hopefully have a degree now that you can ecstatically hang on your wall. You work. You, a job, money. You are given a task and guess what? Although you are no longer a student, if you’ve got the syndrome, you still act like one.

Setting all these aside, the economic and political situations are very bleak. Even financially well positioned people are disappointed with the present and pessimist about the future. More and more people find out that they cannot afford to have a decent life. Do you have any idea what eating crappy food, at best, and not eating at all does to the human body long term? My general impression is that everybody is in a boat that’s both drifting and slowly sinking at the same time. The few that try to do something about it are almost immediately pulled back into the “melting pot” by the rest. The majority.

At some point in time, after the revolution in ’89, we had a prime minister that was justifying the tough measures that were taken by using the “light at the end of the tunnel” metaphor. People were told to hang in there because good times were sure to come. That’s basically the story of the economy from ’89 until now. It’s a freaking long tunnel. The sad part: as more time goes by, people are giving up hope that we’re ever going to reach the light. In fact, we’re not sure that there even is a light. It resembles a dead end or, why not, a maze.

When you see brilliant people not being sure about their future, when you see semi-illiterate people in the European Parliament and the hottest topic in the news is the size of the boobs of some confused young lady you start to question the sanity of this world. People are more and more holding protest rallies and are imperatively demanding a better life when they really don’t have a basic understanding of how an economy works.

I always thought that education (and by education I don’t necessarily mean the one you get in school) was an overrated thing, but in the light of the latest developments I would like to take that back. We probably have a long way to go, and the speed at which we are getting there is decreasing. Bring forward the people who are able to teach us how to get there.

Apart from these, in my current visit I see two types of businesses that seem to be booming at this point: pretzel stands and insulating block of flats with expanded polystyrene.

Pretzel stands are not something new, but seems that the business has grown considerably (to a point in which now there are pretzel stands chains!). Main selling points? Pretzel are cheap and always fresh – many times they are actually hot and you can see how they’re made in the same location they are sold. Quick snack, although they are not the ideal snack, nutritionally speaking.

Insulating with expanded polystyrene is something I never saw being done on our old gray block of flats. Seems that somebody thought of it, and managed to convince everybody that this will result in savings to the heating bill. It may indeed turn out to be the case, but does it really make sense to invest in insulating a building that is sometimes as old as 50 years? Do I need to add that if somebody doesn’t want or cannot afford to insulate his flat, it is left as is – talking about aesthetics!

So there you have it. Two booming businesses in a place where you wouldn’t expect them: pretzels and expanded polystyrene for everyone.

The dogs were photographed from behind to protect their identity. Pictures taken in a secret location. The dogs’s agent ensured me that this were 100% stray dogs and all income made from this photo session would go to buying new cardboard boxes for the dogs.

Also checkout: http://www.straydogs.ro/

To set the record straight, this is a scammer’s site. Apart from collecting your personal information, they actually expect you to pay for them to prepare your application. What they do (if they actually do it) is take the information that you fill out on their crappy site and submit it to the actual DV site. The cost for this: 95RON (roughly 30$). If you “trust” them they can even apply for more than one year. For an additional fee, of course.

So, if you want to apply for the DV visa the official site it:

http://www.dvlottery.state.gov/

Check out the section about scams and section about international scams.

A final word: While some will argue that this is borderline legal and you are paying for a service I still see it as a scam.

The main actor was a really cool tool called exiftool. The chronological order was obtained by renaming the files based on the create date & time stored in the photos EXIF.

Now, we have a slightly different situation in which the clock on your digital camera was set to a different time zone. (you are traveling across time zones and you want the pictures to have the correct date and time).

The simple solution is, of course, to set the clock before taking the pictures. If you instead forgot to do this and now you have the pictures you can use the neat little tool to achieve this.

Step 1) Download exiftool if you don’t have it yet.

Step 2) Copy all photos in a folder

Step 3) Copy exiftool.exe to the same folder

Step 4) Open a command prompt in the folder and issue the following command:

exiftool.exe “-CreateDate+=2” -overwrite_original *.jpg

This way you have added 2 hours to the creation time of the file. If you want to subtract you would write -= instead of += in command above. Knowing the time difference between you timezone and the time zone the camera was set for you can make the EXIF of your pictures behave. Just another cool use of the exiftool

If you want to do both the renaming and changing the time stamp steps, this step needs to be done first.