Earth Hour

Since this is my first post for 2010, I decided to start with something meaningful not just for me, but for all of us. Words are unnecessary, just watch the video.

2009

Another year has passed. A year of struggles, with good and bad, with joy and sorrow, with achievements and disappointments, but in the end it's just another year.
2009 will always remain in the course of history as the year marked by the economic crisis, as the year of the first US black president, but most of all as the year of change. Change wasn't a choice, but more of a consequence. Overall, it was a necessity.
With the exception of a few, we all had to change. We had to change the way we think, the way we see things and overall the way we live. What has been the main trait of the last 2-3 years, namely overspending and extravaganza has now become obsolete. We had to rethink the basics, we had to adapt to a new world, but in the end we proved that we have the capacity to do it. We realized that we don't NEED that many things in order to be happy, that money does not guarantee happiness and that in the end, we have only ourselves and the ones we care for.
Personally, I consider 2009 the year of profound changes. The experiences of this year just made me stronger, more mature and maybe overall a better person, but that's not for me to say. Overall I consider it a good year that despite its ups and downs, taught me more valuable things than most of the other years.
I am now looking forward to 2010 with more confidence and with the belief that I will be able to capitalize on 2009's teachings.
Happy New Year to all of you out there!

Prostia, Circul si Romania (PCR)

Dupa o luna petrecuta in Praga, ma regasesc in aeroport, sorbind pe indelete o cafea si urmarind curios ceea ce se intampla la urnele de vot. Asa cum era de asteptat primele exit poll-uri (care oficial nu ar fi trebuit sa apara pana la ora 21.00) indica un rezultat la care ne asteptam cu totii: Geoana presedinte!
Ar fi insuficient sa spun ca este un rezultat trist, pentru mine, pentru voi si pentru Romania. Cred ca cel mai potrivit cuvant pentru a descrie acest rezultat este DEZASTRU.
Trecand peste momentul de depresie care m-a cuprins cand am vazut acest rezultat, ma regasesc in fata realitatii de zi cu zi din Romania, si anume ca PROSTIA este la putere.
Cand te uiti la el prima data, iti spui ca nu are cum sa aiba atata putere, mai adaugi putin mustar langa si o felie de paine si deodata ai castigat un vot. Da, despre el vorbesc, despre "mititelul" nostru cel de toate zilele si aliatul PSD in toate alegerile de pana acum. Cu toate ca acest CIRC (ia mititelul neamule) se petrece la orice tip de alegeri (locale, parlamentare, prezidentiale) este uimitor totusi cat de creduli sunt romanii, cum pot ei sa creada ca peste noapte o vor duce mai bine, vor avea pensii de 1000 de ori mai mari, alimentele vor fi gratis, iar cainii vor umbla cu covrigi in coada. Sistemele de irigatii vor aparea peste noapte, motorina va fi gratis, NORMA se va face inzecit, vacile vor da de 10 ori mai mult lapte, purceii vor fi de 10 ori mai grasi, etc.
Daca in Timisoara oamenii au iesit in strada, strigand din toti ranunchii ca nu mai vor comunistii la putere, in Moldova poza lui Geoana probabil va aparea in orice birt in urmatoarea luna, dar va fi data jos dupa 2 luni cand oamenii vor vedea ca nu se intampla nici unul din lucrurile mentionate mai sus. Si cum 4 ani sunt suficient sa iti lingi ranile, sa uiti ce ti-a fost promis acum si sa incepi sa speri din nou, noi sa fim sanatosi ca belele vin singure.
Nu voi incheia spunand ca "ne meritam soarta" pentru ca eu si voi nu ne-o meritam. Ne aflam intr-o tara in care, cu cateva exceptii PROSTIA este la puterea, iar noi nu avem nici un fel de arme pentru a lupta impotriva ei. Asa ca, VA MERITATI soarta, voi cei care va bucurati de un mititel o data la patru ani.

Din parc

Afara este o zi de toamna superba, una din acele zile pe care e pacat sa le irosesti stand intre 4 pereti de beton, una din acele zile care te fac sa iti doresti sa fii afara, sa alergi prin iarba, sa dormi la umbra unui copac uitand de griji si de tot ceea ce te inconjoara, sa fii printre oameni dar singur, doar tu cu tine si eventual micile ganganii care nu iti dau pace, dar al caror joc nevinovat nu te deranjeaza absolut deloc.
Am ales sa fac un lucru, atipic pentru romani, si anume sa stau sa scriu, sa citesc, sa gandesc, tolanit in iarba, in parc. Spun atipic pentru ca traim intr-o tara in care pana si calcatul pe iarba era interzis pana acum mai putin de un an, unde notiunea de iesit la iarba verde se confunda cu urcatul in masina, bineinteles dupa ce iti faci bagajul minim - gratar, lemne, carbuni si carne, un drum de o ora, facut focul, mancat friptura eventual pe ritm de manele, udat totul cu bere la PET din belsug, dupa care hop inapoi in masina si destinatia micul tau palat comunist de la etajul 10 al unui bloc gri.
Azi nu am ales sa fiu rupt de realitate, ci am ales sa iau cu mine laptopul, sa vorbesc cu oameni dragi si sa scriu. Am micul meu coltisor de 2 metri patrati unde zgomotele masinilor parca nu patrund, tipetele celor care protesteaza in fata palatului parlamentului nu razbat, unde se aud doar gandurile mele, freamatul si fosnetul lor generat de procesul de asezare si rearanjare a lor. Totul se transforma, nimic nu se pierde.

Simplicity and happiness

What do you need to be happy? The answer to this question is a perennial one, because as soon as you answer it becomes outdated, because you'll discover something else that you will believe it will make you even happier. Let's call these the traps of the modern world -the things that will make you most of the times forget about the basics of happiness.
Just to make everything clear, we are talking here about happiness and not about euphoria, the state of mind that precedes happiness but is only sustainable on short term. The reason I decided to make the aforementioned remark, is because most of the people I've met are sometimes failing to make a difference between happiness and euphoria, considering themselves happy only when in an euphoric state.
What's simplicity has to do with it, you may ask. Well, it plays an important role. Why? Well, because most of the times, the people that deep down have the capacity to remain simple, regardless of their position in the society, how high up in the corporation's hierarchy they may find themselves in or plainly just how rich they are, will be the happiest. And by simple I mean, humble, down to earth, with a very well defined and simple set of moral values and most of all true to themselves.
Now let's look at another side of simplicity. I will define simplicity from another angle, that of intellectual capacity. Are the "simpler" people happier than the more complex ones? Or, in another way to put it,are smarter people less happy than the less smart people? In bulk, most of the times yes, because the more complex will always try to better understand what happiness is and what will make them happy, they will try to define for themselves the basic things of their existence without which they will not be happy, while the simpler ones will just take for granted the common definition of happiness: grow-up, have a house, a good wife, kids and the basics for your existence.
I am not a common definition nor am I willing to take it for granted, but I discovered that sometimes we can make our lives less happy because we decide to treat simple things in complex ways, looking for complex solutions, while the solution is staring you in the face.
Sometimes simpler equals happier, no matter how complex you may be.

The God Father of all knowledge

On numerous occasions I have seen experienced people treating the less experienced ones with a sense of superiority that was way out of proportions. This is not applicable only in a corporate environment but also in the father/mother - son/daughter, husband - wife relationship. I will chose to focus on the latter.
In most of the cases the "experienced one" states that he does the things he does (nervous reactions, correcting you in an irritating way for insignificant mistakes, etc.) out of love and because is trying to make you not to make mistakes, without realizing that his/her angry tone, the lack of patience, the posting in God Father of all knowledge will just induce a nervous state to the so called "apprentice". One other thing that they do not understand is that one of the most important aspects they have to focus on is represented by helping the other to build his/her self confidence. And how do you do that? Well, definitely not like the way presented above. Constant encouragement is needed even in the case of small mishaps, a friendly and understanding look and maybe even a pat on the shoulder stating "it's fine, you learned your lesson, let's move on now".
It's like when you have a small child that is just learning its first steps. Of course that he will not manage to do it from his first, second or third attempt, but if you scream at him not only that he will not manage to do it from his tenth attempt but, in time, his self confidence will suffer and he will constantly position himself as inferior compared to others.
The behaviour of such "experienced people" just demonstrates a sort of arrogance, a non-existent state of superiority and most of all a lack of judgement and incapacity to understand the human nature, that will eventually cause more harm than good. Don't be one of THEM!

The Herbaliser - what a nice and pleasant surprise

You go to a concert where you know what's going to happen: meet some friends that you haven't seen for quite some time now, have some beer, enjoy the music (as much as possible for someone that is not particularly into rock music) and relax. You don't expect anything to surprise you.
At 8 pm a band appears on the stage, you look at the program without too much interest and you see a name: The Herbaliser. Hmmm... who the f*** are they? You turn your back to the stage, they start singing, you start to move (you like it but just don't know it yet), you turn to the stage still dancing, start clapping and you think: don't know who the f*** they are but I surely like them. Enjoy!