Nevienam nav noslēpums, ka internets šobrīd vidējā latvieša dzīvē aizņem pietiekami daudz laika. Un, kas viss šokējošākais, tad uzdodot aptaujas jautājumu – kas būtu tas maksājums no kura Jūs atteiktos kā no pēdējā? – uzvarēja tieši internets, apsteidzot televīziju.

Tomēr stāsta būtība ir par to, cik daudz internets ir sabojājis cilvēciskās attiecības. Arī es bieži vien brīžos kad uznāk kaut kāds slinkums izvēlos palikt mājās, nevis aiziet ar kādu satikties un jo visu taču pārrunāt var arī skaipā. Bet patiesībā tas ir paranormāli sekli. Mēs šādi degradējamies gan morāli, gan cilvēcīgi, jo, dodoties uz randiņu ar sievieti, pēkšņi aptveram, ka vairs nezinām kā uzvesties, kā parādīt savas emocijas un galu galā ko īsti vaiņai teikt. Jo skaipā taču viss ir vienkārši, tikai divi klaviatūras klikšķi un tu jau smejies, esi dusmīgs vai rādi mēli. Jo vairāk par šo domāju, jo vairāk tas ēd manas pelēkās šūnas.

Kapēc tas notiek? Iespējams, mūsu aizņemtības dēļ, bet ļoti iespējams, ka vēlamies savu dzīvi vienkāršot. Kapēc iet satikties ar kādu, ja tajā brīdī skype vai draugiem.lv vari vienlaicīgi virtuāli satikties un sarunāties ar vairākiem cilvēkiem, ar vienu aci vēl skatoties TV. Nožēlojam. Tas tiešām ir nožēlojami. Nesen skatījos raidījumi par Explorer, kur stāstīja par virtuālā seksa izplatību Amerikā. Liela daļa Amerikāņu tam nedēļā velta pat 30 h , par divu cilvēku nopietnām attiecībam pat aizmirstos. Ne velti web kameras ir izdomātas, pirmāmkārtām, tieši šādu netiklu mērķu un izvirtību īstenošanai.

Arī pats vēlos mainīties, bet ir vajadzīgs kāds dzinulis, lai to paveiktu. Jūs teiksiet, atrodi takš sev meiteni un viss mainīsies. Bet arī tas nav tik vienkārši, jo kā ar viņu man komunicēt dzīvē? Skype zinu bet dzīvē?

Nu varbūt jau, ka sabiezināju tās krāsas nedaudz, bet tomēr, šī nav lielākā problēma Latvijā, bet viena no. Daudzi sastrīdas draugos, salabst draugos, un sūta tur pašus neiedomājamākos stāstus…Nu nezinu, esmu smagi pret šo visu un manī ir tikai jautājums viens – Cik ilgi un cik tālu mēs šādi dzīvojot tiksim?

IETEIKT

Kā katru dienu, braucot Rīgas ielās, vēroju sev tik tīkamās skaistā dzimuma pārstāves. Jāatzīst, tās nav slimiskas tieksmes uz neķītru miesaskāres apmierināšanu publiskās vietās. Problēma, kas regulāri nodarbina manas visai jaudīgās smadzeņu puslodes, ir sekojoša – kapēc gan labi argumentētas, gan vnk piesaistošas būtnes bieži vien staigā ar tā saucamo liekto muguras sindromu?
Tik neizprotami ir tas, ka šīs sievietes ar vienas rokas mājienu aizvada nebūtībā pārējos efektus. Vai tiešām šī suga neizprot to, ka viss apburtais loks tiek pilnībā izjaukts, un nav svarīgi cik spēcīgi ir pārējie efekti, harmoniju un plūdlīnijas fasādē tas nekādā mērā neatjaunos…
Tapēc, lūk, vēlos vērst sieviešu uzmanību uz šo, tik būtisko faktoru – esiet tendētas taisni un ceļu būs iespējams atrast pat bez labas argumentētības…

IETEIKT

Image courtesy of brookes-bearnecessities.blogspot.com

Well!

I knew it. Of course I knew it. But somewhere along the line it slipped from my awareness again.

And yet, there it is once more, confronting me with such glory and such delight that it dizzies me.

Do you want to know?

Here it is:

Food enjoyed – and I mean, really enjoyed, with that close-your-eyes-and-experience-the-taste-to-the-full kind of intensity – almost a Capital Letter Enjoyed! – oh, such food is how one should eat most of the time. That’s not the principal discovery, though.

It is this:

When food is truly Enjoyed like this, you need only a little to satisfy you completely.

This week I lunched at a restaurant and had an aubergine vegetarian stack: aubergine, tomato, feta, mozzarella and … hmmmmm! basil pesto – and I swooned with pleasure. I ate both little stacks on my plate, but afterwards realized just one would have sufficed. So little!

There are probably tons of research about this phenomenon, but I don’t need research to figure that when you enjoy food with all your senses, your brain just gets that message so much more completely that you are actually nourished.

This is the second time in as many weeks it has happened to me, and I realize that contrary to my normal belief, I really enjoy eating truly good food.

I used to have my nose in the air about haute cuisine. All those large plates with tiny morsels on them, surrounded by curlicues of some sauce, I said. Served in seven courses combining to less than a full plate of homecooked food, I said. How pretentious! I said.

And then, one single time in my life, I enjoyed such a meal. And I learned, much to my surprise and my eternal delight, that eating small, beautifully prepared portions enabled me to really appreciate what was on my plate. To fully experience the food with all my senses! It was one of the times in my life I felt the most nourished, the most replete.

It made me pause.

After this week’s experience, I’m converted.

Do you realize the implications? What would happen if ALL our food was served beautifully, delighting the eye and the nose as much as the palate? What if ALL our food was a wonderful combination of complementing fragrances and tastes?

I dare say we would have a world full of thin, healthy, happy people.

Could anything be more wonderful than really enjoying food the way you really enjoy moving your body or drinking in a breathtaking view? They’re all the same. They speak of living with passion. They speak of LIFE.

It needs to be fully enjoyed.

Oh, and I do!

Hi folks, while many of you are having your Thanksgiving dinner, perhaps wearing overalls ?, and before some of you, perhaps not many, but many of your fellow citizens are going crazy on black Friday, I will take the freedom to come up with some general thoughts after having read several comments on our first overalls day here on this blog and other blogs and facebook etc.. I really begin to think that overalls are not just a fantastic clothing item, but also a symbol for a way of thinking and living !
I was young in the late 60ties and early 70ties and there was a lot of fun going on and one of the big things was the liberation of women, demanding equal rights for both women and men, fine of course no problem, but….. one of the problematic things at least viewed from my angle, was that very often men and women went to separate gatherings and in a way developed two different cultures ending up with our current situation, where in some way you have equal rights, but there are also a quite strong system of different roles affiliated with each gender, on what is masculine and feminine behavior and outfit ! Well, I know it might not be a much out in the countryside, but in cities and in many, many communities worldwide, there are quite strong gender roles determining what you are expected to do and to look like ! And now I come to the overalls ! One of the qualities for males as wells as for females by wearing overalls is that you can choose to be fancy, to take a scarf and become a little chick or work hard in either kitchen, garden, in the factory and even teach your students ! You don’t need to decide whether you want to follow general female roles or male roles, but you can be a whole overall being taking into account that we all have some of both cells and develop some kind of more flexible ways of living. If you are a man in a biological sense and want to knit, make cookies as well as sail or go hunting etc. you can do all the things at different time! So in other words, let’s open up the fixed gender roles and have a more diverse and colorful way of life. Another characteristic dimension in the 60ties/70ties, especially among the hippies, was to recycle clothes, to patch the clothes etc. not to always buy new clothes, special brands etc. This has also dwindled quite a lot, so nowadays you are usually expected to follow the main clothing culture, more or less buying clothes all the time ! I know it might not be as much the case in the countryside as in urban culture, but I am reading very often that it is a painful process for many of you, going to something, where you need to dress up, often in some tight outfit, limiting your capacity of breathing all the way down from top to toe!
So in addition to improving organic food, more vegetables etc. as many of you are working with, I would be so happy if we could start moving into a social climate for flexible gender roles and making old worn out clothes cool, I would be really happy and I am sure that it would also help to make the world more peaceful ! Now I stop and I would be happy to get comments, both supportive and critical comments are of course welcome and I finish with two shots of my scones and a view from our window watching the colors in this dark afternoon of the North. LOL from your bibprofessor and happy continued holidays

Yesterday I went to the Warhol’s exhibition ‘Mr. Amèrica’, in Malba, with my friend exo. It was pretty good, with a lot of the polaroid series, his pop paintings (Marilyn, Mao, the Cow..) and more stuff, like movies.. that bothered me, because they showed them without sound, and, I understand it, because they wanted to display them as a ‘piece of art’, as another painting, but in that way I think something has been lost.
(What I really like was the quotes in each painting/photo, I should have like to write some.. but, the museum doesn’t allow me to being with my bag, and I completely forgot to take paper and pen).

So, I bought postcards:

And then, had a nice nocturne walk around Recoleta (a lot of glamour, my god! I feel like a country girl, fortunately for me I hadn’t braids on..)

God bless Burger King and the coupons (quick dinner, he!)

(my english is very rusty, I hope that using this weblog changes that).

I thought I’d share  my top twelve favorite things about Autumn in a short post.

So, here they are, in no particular order.

Turning leaves

Crisp air

Golden fields

Walks, with friends and animal companions

Pumpkins

Road trips with girl friends and family

Camping adventures

Mud-splashing

Football….High-school and Collage…

Cider

Scented candles

Thanksgiving

And so I’ll leave you with one of my favorite fall photos…..Happy Thanksgiving!

Woes befall us, if our iPod headphone gives the tiniest crackle, or gas prices go up a few cents.  We cannot do without an afternoon of internet disruption.  How can we get less affected by recession and other external environmental crests and troughs? A small jolt hurts us so bad.  It seems the more we depend on money and materialistic stuff, the more we get tethered to them firmly.  Our happiness solely depends on …well…stuff…

National Geographic carries a story about the Hadza tribe in Tanzania. They have no personal possessions, don’t grow crops, have no sense of time or calendars. They live by the day, hunt, eat and live happily and healthily. No change from 10,000 years ago.  Has the recession affected them?  While we hum and haw about layoffs and pay cuts, the Hadza are busy hunting for the night’s meal, nothing’s changed.

Gandhi did 2 things to live happily and create a revolution– he gave up materialistic possessions and started walking.  He became a vegetarian in his teens.  He got his power of conviction and inner strength from these sacrifices.  He lived life simple.  Remember, Gandhi took up walking and with his Dandi march started the Quit India movement that led to the end of the British rule in India.  He died a private man without wealth, without property, without official title or office.  Millions came to his funeral procession.

A recent editorial in Forbes or Fortune magazine said that the economy is not in anyone’s control anyway, take up walking and “walk” out of the economic recession.  The editorial recommended that Tim Geithner start walking since he cannot do much anyway to walk the economy out of recession.  Not much is in his control.  Not a bad idea.  After all Einstein discovered gravity probably while walking and resting under an apple tree….  Walking would probably give our economic gurus some new ideas to stir up the economy!

Walking stimulates the brain, generates ideas, reduces costs and helps keep the environment green and reduces the terrible dependency on oil.  I found a nice site http://www.walkscore.com that gives you a measure of Walkability of any city. I typed in Shrewsbury, MA, where I live. It is not so great at 51/100.  That means I need to drive to buy any groceries or have a cup of coffee.  There is not even a pedestrian crossing to cross the state highway at the traffic lights. Boston is classified as a Walkers Paradise with a score of 98/100.  Bangalore – 80/100 very walkable.  Interesting!

And then after deeply ruminating over walking and living simply like the Hadza folks, I realize if marketing and advertising is what actually has led us away from a simple life to the awful dependence on stuff.  I remember the Lexus ad tagline “A strong desire is a justifiable need”.  So we buy more and more stuff today, tomorrow and more stuff on Black Friday.   But that’s what runs the economy and keeps the world going around, doesn’t it?

Latviešiem ir tāds skaists un tēlains kādas izjūtas apzīmējums, kas pārņem noraugoties uz bagātākiem (visās jomās) cilvēkiem – skaudība! Jā, tieši skaudība ir īstais vārds kā es raksturotu pie Ministru ministru kabineta šodien notikušo motopeļu salidojumu. Pasākuma ideja cēla, piekrītu, tiek palielināts nodoklis par 30%, kas nebūt nav maz, bet nu tomēr, man tas atgādina zemnieku streiku, kur katrs traktors bija tāda kārtīga Aston Martin cenā. Piedodiet man par nopēlumu, bet šaubos vai kāds no tiem divriteņu spēkratu īpašniekiem, kuri bija sapulcējušies pie godāto tautas kalpu kabineta, ir tik maksātnespējīgs, vismaz spriežot pēc šo spēkratu cenām, kas tomēr, manuprāt, nav tās mazākās.  Ja mazliet padarbojamies ar matemātiku, tad sanāk maksāt nodoklī, apmēram, 100 Ls gadā, piekrītu, ka tas nav maz, bet izdalot ar 12 taču tie ir tikai 8-9 Ls mēnesī un neticu, ka nedēļas nogalē dzelzs jātnieki šādu summiņu nenotrulina kādā ēstuvē/dzertuvē.  Ja neapmierina nodoklis, tad ej ar kājām, tev taču paliek izvēles brīvība. Ko tad lai saka pensionāri, kuriem nav šādas izvēles un katru mēnesi pensija tiek saņemta par saviem 10 Ls mazāka, nemaz nerunājot par tās regulāru kavēšanos?

Ar šo tikai vēlos vērst jūsu uzmanību, mani dārgie, faktam, ka ir grūti būt jaunam, jo jaunības maksimālismu nespēj ierobežot nekas, nerunājot nemaz par zināmām neērtībām.

Bunģis ir cilvēks kam ir dziļa sirds un kupla galvas sega. Viņš reti cenšas sevi uzlabot, uzskatot, ka dzīve jānodzīvo tādam, kādu tas pats augstākais viņu ir radījis. Šajā it kā nopietnajā, bet tajā pat laika viegli neķītrajā interneta novietnē Bunģis būs skarbs, bet tajā pat laikā gatavs iesaistīties diskusijās un veicināt dialogu.

Bunģis pārsvarā apgrozās vidējā vai augstākajā sabiedrībā, cenšoties kā mazs bērns izprast tur notiekošo.

Vakar bija tā iespēja pavērot 8,3 tūkstošus Latvijas iedzīvotājus vienuviet. Izskatījāmies patiešām ļoti cienīgi un es pat teiktu patriotiski, apliecinot sen zināmo patiesību – alkohols pirmdienās nav nekas neparasts priekš kārtīga latvieša. Bet stāsts ir par to, ka tipiskais latvietis, kurš ir skaudīgs un ļoti bieži neapmierināts ar citu cilvēku darbībām ir spējīgs mainīties. Un tas viss sākot par nieka 7 latiem. Par šādu niecīgu summu ir iespējams nopirkt patiešām lieliskas emocijas, kopības sajūtu un savu deva patriotisma vismaz vairākām dienām. Dārgi? Nebūt ne. Piemetot klāt vēl 5 latiņus kādam alkoholiskam dzērienam kopā ar draugu pie arēnas tuvējā krūmājā, pasākums sanāk kā no labākajām mācību grāmatām.

Vakar bija sajūta, ka Rīgas Dinamo ir kāda sekta, kas spējīga arī slikti spēlējot apvienot tik daudz cilvēku bļaujot pašus banālākos saukļus – Uzvara, Uzvara

No rīta pamodos. Nēspēju neko saprast. Uzvarīju kafiju. Aizmigu ar to rokās. Aplējos. Viss.

….I am not Mrs. Beeton or Martha Stewart.

If I were, then the title of this post would be something like “How to make and apply Milk-paint.” But since I am not it would warrant a title more like “What NOT to do on a Saturday”. I do not stay at home because I’m some domestic goddess. I stay home to learn the so-called “easy” secrets to homemaking and educating. Almost three years of it might make you think I have it covered, but I don’t.  As my grandmother once said, “If there’s [anything] to trip on around, you’d be the one to find it.” (and no, she did not tell me this when I was a tot, or a clumsy adolescent, but just two months ago.).

So, let me enlighten you on last weekends “Milk-paint Project.”

I’ve had four crates which I have been meaning to paint and use. I heard of a milk-paint recipe which is supposedly cheaper and more eco-friendly. And really, how could I pass up the opportunity of making my own paint? Martha wouldn’t.

And so, I purchase the colors and the milk. And the Friday night before last I set the milk out to sour, step one. A bit of lemon juice was to help with this task. It was imperative that it be used within a twenty-four hour period, so I was unable to go four hours south with my sister to pick up her new “kids”.

The next step was to “strain the curdles from the whey”  (Immediately I was reminded of Miss Muffet….I’ve never seen ‘curdles’ or ‘whey’ before)

Ok, so I strained it through. Where are the curdles? Where’s Martha when you need her? A sudden thought, it probably doesn’t matter, so just skip that step….on to the paint mixing.

Step 3: stir in a few drops of color pigment, or acrylic paint (where we live pigment isn’t found)

I chose yellow, a nice sunny color for the winter.

“Drops” of acrylic paint, she said? Try over half a tube. Still not too yellowish, but it’ll do.

Next comes applying the paint.

Smells sour, but go figure…it’s sour milk.

It went on thinner than I anticipated. Time to do it my own way and just apply the acrylic straight to the crate.

And then, while it the first coat dries, I decided that a little art on the side of it would be just the thing.

So I head inside to check on stencils.

Then there’s the last step, step five: Poison your brother’s dog.

See that little bugger? You’ve heard of him from this post, his name is Strider.

Dark and mysterious, he also is the head honcho as of July. And that means he gets first dibs on everything.

So, I come out of the house from looking for stencils (none to be found, by-the-way) to find him finishing up my milk. That is, my milk paint. Though there was a thick layer of acrylic on the bottom of the bucket (no wonder it wasn’t that yellow!).

I called Mom and of course her advice is to call Dad and the vet. I called Dad, who confirmed that I had, indeed, poisoned the dog. On my way to call the vet I broke the news to my brother.
He took it surprisingly well…all things considered…

No vet would answer (super!) and that dog just ran around, extremely pleased with himself. I began to doubt he’d die, I mean, just like him to spite us all and live. But then the guilt set in, just over a year ago my brother paid big bucks to keep that dog alive.

And so I did what any normal, nervous home-maker-want-to-be would do. I began chopping up supper. With a big knife..not very therapeutic.  Then our vet student came to our (and to the dinner’s) rescue , and called us. He told us what to do, much to my relief.

And so that was it with the painting. I got one thin coat on ONE of my crates and fed the rest to the dog. I could kill him for all the time it took….then again, I almost DID kill him.

Why can’t I manage to get those “simple” things done right?

And just in case you didn’t catch it, the dog is fine and well. The cheeky little blighter!

]]> http://nevainiba.lv/2009/11/23/123/ Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:44:11 +0000 bunģis http://nevainiba.lv/2009/11/23/123/

Hey!

Un atkal es meklēju  – šoreiz četras meitenes, kurām dzīvē nav bijušas lielas traģēdijas, kuras ir atvērtas vai noslēgtas – pozitīvas vai negatīvas, galvenais, lai vēlās piedalīties kādā visai interesantā, īslaicīgā projektā – viendienītī!

I promised to give you the details about the green craft project I did during my Staycation, so here you go. I first saw the idea of using toilet paper tubes to make art on the Growing Up Creative Blog. You’re not going to believe what a pretty decoration you can make from such humble materials!

This heart is made from about 8 empty rolls, each flattened and cut in 6 pieces: 

To make your creation, just lay out the little leaf-shaped pieces until you come up with a design you like and glue them together. Paper clips can help hold the pieces together if they don’t want to stick.

To finish the heart, I picked a few sprigs of dead grass and dried flowers from the garden, taped them together and glued the little bundles to the top of the piece. I hung it on clear push pins that are lightly tacked into the wall.

If you get inspired to make a creation from something recycled or discarded, you know we’d all LOVE to hear from you and see what you come up with.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

Whew.

TiddlyWiki seems to be quite hard to understand..I don’t know.. :s

But.. EtherPad’s cool! LOL :p

It was my first time, or i guess even my groupmates’ first time to use that site. :p

Less than 15 mins til Sir Erik’s class ends. I still have one more to attend. Geez.. Late class really sucks.

And.I’m.Hungry.

Today morning wake up, 9am. ten am start my revision for F.M.

nap at 1pm.

wake up at 4pm.

out to clementi, then SP.

then back home.

Went alot of things happening ard me.

Orientation still on.

another month or few weeks to go.

Then it’s going to be another negotiation discussion with HR, i guess.

lol

STRESS with all the projects and studies.

me always kiasu de.

but this time my project are done at the 11th hours,

submission late, deadline over.

HAIZ.

well i can just say, i bump into shitty pp for group again.

then last min, i decide to jump off the boat, and swim to the end myself.

well shipping is a profession.

so many technical terms.

they can just ask me any questions, and even though i in for abt 2 months liao, i cant answer.

They have 20 yrs experiences, and another one….

i think i am such a noob!!!!

I gave my first time, got drunk when not at home to Company DnD.

GOODBYE

Now that I know what I have been waiting for. What is the next step?

Confused. Heartache.

Good morning everybody, it was a fantastic experience yesterday to have such much fun with all you overalls fans, but actually as Lille mentioned, I also think there are more into this experience than just funny crazy things around a clothing item ! it is about life overall ! making an accidentally day into something special is not new, one of the most famous and best novels is James Joyce: Ulysses, about one day, it could have been November 20 ! and unexpected things for good and worse can happen every day as many of you know and also have experienced in these days. In that case it is important to be open and able to relax and breathe as much as possible in order to be ready for what each single day brings you of joy and sorrow, and for that overalls are not bad a thing to wear !:) and as Shara mention the fantastic thing about overalls is that it goes across male and female, all the discussions of gender roles, you can do what you like to do, no matter who you are ! be creative overall, and be ready for party by taking a scarf or red bowtie on or splashing your paint on them while you are making art ! and I think it all boils down to some kind of way of living, living in an frugal artistic way, leading my to last point, that I really hope that we at some point can meet each other on one site, giving a lot of hugs, sharing joy and grief, showing our art, knitting, cookies, newish overalls, patches, poetry or good recipes and make some good coffee and food and music and songs !:) so even if the sun disappears up here for 2 months, I know from you that the sun shines overall ! warm hugs from bibprofessor