Aquarium and my favorite fish

Found photos of my recent trip to Turkey, including that of my favorite fish - favorite to look at, of course, I wouldn't like to meet it in the water.

And another photo show tiny creatures we're not used to see... alive. Guess what those are.

...

* * *

The year is nearing its end and it seems that there's been no progress whatsoever in my life... 

I always feel this way when I have to think about the past year.

* * *

It seems that we'll be having a rainy New Year after all. Even though we had about 20cm of snow some two weeks ago... A bummer.

I'm one of those who likes snow and -5-10C better than rainy and humid +5C.

Yes, today I was drenched by heavy rain that suddenly fell in the evening... and it's 20th of December... 

* * *

I have to make plans for NY without any desire to do anything. It's a bit of a drag each year. Hard to find something to do if you're not in for drinking the whole night. 

about physicians (MD)

Is it just me and my luck, or most physicians are extremely touchy and don't tolerate any doubt in their 'diagnosis'?

I always thought that it's the most obvious thing to ask questions 'why' a physician came to a conclusion you have to undergo a certain procedure and 'what negative after-effects' are possible. 

Yet, most physicians I've met in recent years become offended when you hint you have doubts in the diagnosis and would like an in-depths examination, OR ask to explain the prescription. 

Yesterday I had a discussion with one medical worker about it (the discussion was quite accidental in nature), and after a long conversation she asked: 'why do you mistrust physicians?'

I gave her the easiest explanation and the first example that popped into my mind, how when I was a pre-teen a certain physician misdiagnosed my issue completely, gave me treatment opposite to what was really required and by doing this aggravated the issue.

She (that medical worker from above) replied:

'Oh well, why do you take it so badly? Most children of that age have the opposite issue and require the opposite treatment, so it's no wonder your physician thought you needed it too. Your case was an exception'

Sweet, isn't it?

A physician who goes by numbers and doesn't even consider a possibility of 'exceptions' is no big deal?

A medical worker, a physician-in-the-making, thinks that people should take such physicians and their failures 'easy'. It's no big deal. But you should trust your physician, yes, you should. He knows best.

I'm afraid it's medical culture in general that produces such attitudes and results.

Avatar: the Last Airbender / Legend of Korra and real life

I've been watching Avatar: Legend of Korra recently, because let's be honest, this year's TV series aren't that good (to say the least).

[Be warned, I'm going to talk spoilers here]

Several years ago I've stumbled on Avatar: the Last Airbender cartoon, and even though it's supposed to be children's story, I liked it. Interesting characters are rare these days.

The Last Airbender follows a story of Aang, young Avatar (a wielder of all four elements of magic), who was supposed to uphold the balance of the fantasy world, but who was frozen in ice for a hundred of years, while the war waged by Nation of Fire ravaged the said world. Being extracted from ice, Aang starts on a journey to master all four elements of magic to be able to fight the Lord of Fire and stop the war. Such is the simplified plot.

The trailer below gives pretty good idea of the show, I guess.

The Last Airbender speaks of people's desire for power, their insecurities, their life paths.
Friends become enemies, enemies become friends.

...I wouldn't say it's meant for children only, because in my opinion if grown-ups can't find children's stories appealing, they're no good.

Seasons of the show tell us how Aang travels the world learning the elements and - subsequently - fights Nation of Fire. It ends with balance and peace restored (spoiler).

Legend of Korra begins 50 (or more) years forward in time, when avatar Aang is already dead and his power has passed down to a girl from Nation of Water named Korra.

Generally, I find Legend of Korra less interesting than story of Aang.
First of all, the world in Legend of Korra is a combination of magic and technology, a mix that is hard to pull off, and it hasn't been pulled off.
Secondly, Korra isn't as interesting as Aang. She's your typical over-confident teenager, a commonplace hero of commonplace cartoons. If Aang was wise and cunning by nature, Korra is impulsive and stubborn. Side characters also lack in charisma and uniqueness.

Season 1 of Legend of Korra tells us how a group of people plans a revolution to overturn the world order and destroy magic, so that non-magic-users would be as powerful as magic-users.

Season 2 of Legend of Korra tells us how certain group of people (you're getting a drift, yeah?) wants to gain power and rule the world by releasing the spirit of Evil imprisoned for centuries.

Season 3 of Legend of Korra revolves around a group of people (I guess you're not surprised by now), who want to reach 'ultimate freedom' by destroying all leaders of the world and thus making all people free and 'equal'.

This last concept of ultimate freedom was funny, because no one ever told us how that oh-so-secret organization would ensure that after a brief period of anarchy new rulers wouldn't take over the lands where leaders were destroyed. It didn't even look like main antagonists were power-hungry themselves, which would be a viable case, because they seemed so basking in the idea of chaos and anarchy and thought it was the only way humanity could live... So, they just 'knew' it would be for the best.

I guess you would agree with me, that humanity can't live without leaders. I'm not arguing that our present - or past, for that matter, - leaders are great and wise. I'm just saying that only rare individuals are able to live without so-called 'guidance', decide for themselves and take responsibility for those decisions. After all, responsibility is the most feared thing in the world. If big countries were to disappear, there would form smaller ones, or even groups of people living together, but there would always be a thing called 'leader'. Ultimate freedom may exist somewhere in Tibetan mountains among hermit monks, but humans as species are closer to 'herd' animals than we like to think.

Such stories remind me of our current political situation.

In the Last Airbender Nation of Fire started a war because it - or rather its ruler - wanted to rule the world, because... well... he thought Nation of Fire was the strongest, and the strongest must rule, it's their right.
And just because 'strong' think they are endowed to power, no 'ultimate freedom' is possible.

Halloween

my thoughts exactly...

A girl - my painting

I've been learning how to paint portraits in soft pastels.

Here's my first attempt - still unfinished, as it always happens - with pastel pencils to scale.

Someday when I'm brave enough, I'm gonna fix some issues in this painting. And that'd be a great test of how to fix errors in pastel pencils.

Below is a photo made from another angle (and at earlier stage of painting), but it shows the real tone of the painting. My phone tends to make everything look cooler than it is.

Tahtali 2365m

People had talked me into visiting a 2365m point - or rather a mountain - lately.
What can I say? Actually, it's rather boring to be at that platform as a tourist. The view is good, but after initial 30 minutes of awe you settle down and start to think 'what am I| going to do here for another hour?'.
And - worst of all - there's no place to sit down outside the restaurants. Therefore you're waiting for the cable-car down as a way to deal with boredom.

...

I haven't been writing here for a long time,
but lots of things have happened.

Still true to promise to myself not to talk politics if possible, I'd try to find other things to talk about.

Flight 17

I heard about Flight 17, it was around 6pm local time.

Now it's past 1:30am and I still can't calm down enough to go to sleep.

Maybe tomorrow I'll sort my thoughts and write something intelligible here about it...
for now...
let me say that at times like that I'd like to believe in karma.

something about doctors in Ukraine

Some time ago I had a scuffle with Ukrainian healthcare system. It's very illustrative, if anything.

It was Friday, I remember it well, and it was after noon when I felt stinging in one of my eyes, followed by redness and general discomfort, plus photophobia. Since before that I had mild inflammation of both eyes, I thought it'd pass after I cleaned my eyes. But several hours later (about 4pm) I thought I'd better have professional opinion about it, week-end approaching and all. 

I tried getting an appointment with a specialist I usually visited, only to find out he's moved out of Ukraine recently. I tried getting an appointment with another specialist of the same clinic, only to be told "oh well, it's Friday afternoon, we're booked and have no space for new appointments, maybe you'd like to come tomorrow or Monday morning?". 

I tried several another private clinics (that I had at least some faith in via word of mouth), though got the same answer. It's Friday, you know, and we're so busy we can't see you. Even if it's an emergency. And if it's an emergency, go to the ER. 

After 5th phone call I gave up on private clinics. 

Ukraine proclaims it has 'free' healthcare. Ok, we know it's not 'actually 'free', you have to pay for stuff. But usually you can visit your regional doctor for free, if you get through the queues. I knew where my 'assigned' regional healthcare unit was, I knew our 'family doctor' by sight, even though I never visited an ophthalmologist there. 

On Friday afternoon, though, I thought I'd have trouble getting 'free' visit without hurry.

So I hurried, and was in the queue at 16:45. The doctor was out (as customary here) and at least 5 other people were in front of me in the queue. 

A plate on ophthalmologist's door notified me she's working till 18:00 on Friday. 

As we waited for her to return and continue seeing patients (about 35 minutes), more people showed up, including a very old woman. When the 'doctor' appeared (40-something woman), instead of going into her office, she looked at the queue and started asking what each of us wanted. Her tone wasn't what you'd call 'polite'. 

When the 'doctor' saw the old woman, she told her: 'I'm not going to see you today, it will take too much time. Go home". 

The woman answered: "But you told me to come at 5pm today". 

"Oh I don't have time for you," was the answer. 

The old lady went away obediently. 

Another person was told 'to wait and see if he makes it in time to be examined".

Then the good doctor turned her eye on me, asking me who I was and why am I here.

I told her there's something wrong with one of my eyes, including reasons why I think it's important to get medical attention. She looked at me and said: "I don't know you, have you been here before?".

I said no, I haven't been to her office before (at least not in last 5-7 years), but I have the right because it's my assigned healthcare office. 

She said it might be my assigned office, but she's not going to see me unless I bring her a paper that my family doctor thinks I should see an ophthalmologist. Just so you'd know, family doctor's office is situated 10 minutes' walk away from ophthalmologist's office. Meaning just to get there and back would mean spending 20 minutes. And heavy redness of my eye is a proof enough that there's something wrong with it.

I understood her intention from the start, still had to ask: "If I go to get that paper, even in the best circumstances, there being no queue and such, it'll be around 6pm when I return".

She laughed and said: "Even better, you won't be here in time for my shift".

People in queue turned away, silent.

"Can I take it that you're unwilling to help me?" I asked.

She said: "I don't care about helping you, if you have not the paper from your family doctor, I don't owe you anything," and then she disappeared in her office. 

People in the queue said not a word, keen on keeping eyes off me. I looked at them, pitied them, and said I won't need any help from a person like that. I left.

It was around 17:30.

In the end I asked around and went to the ER that had an ophthalmologist, it took me around 20 minutes to get there by car. 

Ophthalmology ER staff was very bored. They were very nice to me, listened to my story, why I thought it might be urgent, told me I was right to come because it could have been urgent; then they called two doctors from the Hospital where ER was situated to examine me... everything was quiet and civil. 

It turned out to be a bad case of bacterial inflammation, I had multiple eye drops prescribed and scolded for not taking care of it earlier, before it's gotten so bad. 

One of the doctors asked me why I didn't go to my regional office (they knew which one it was, because I had to give them my home address), because the ophthalmologist there is said to be 'not bad'. 

I told them I was turned away just now by that ophthalmologist, and they told me "she has a temper, but she's not that bad when she's in the good mood". 

Apparently, her 'temper' is quite well-known in medical circles, but such behavior is tolerated. 

I decided not to get involved with such 'professional', if I have a choice. 

end on June, 2014

Lots of things changed since I've written here last
and again I have the urge to break a promise to myself and talk about politics...

Politics...
situation in our country is getting graver.

People do not understand the course that our newly-appointed 'leader' took...

The outrage is starting to form... angry talks in the streets, accusing government of doing nothing but playing into "enemy's" hands...

I understand people that call our 'leader' "Пётр I" (Peter the Great in English), because it seems that his ambition lies in titles, not actual deeds...

I fear how it all might end.

elections in Ukraine, 2014

voting today in Ukraine seems like an epic waste of time to me... I spent more than 4 hours on it (!), but nevertheless nothing changed because ... well... lots of people voted for mr. X 'because everyone will vote for mr. X" or 'because we need to get this things with elections over fast'.

...

Just saw not-so-unknown writer rant on Twitter that…

… if people want him to write something ‘not overly commercialized’, they should buy at least 2 or 3 copies of his ‘commercialized’ work so he’d have time for something else.

 ‘Buy more of my #### now and I pinky swear I’ll write something good’

Should it really be that way?

almost May

Despite it being almost May, some kind of a virus is rampaging in our city: I constantly hear from people who'd fallen sick like me. Our symptoms match (mostly), like in any respiratory virus outbreak...

I couldn't sleep today because of severe discomfort in my sore throat... and medicine helps only for a short while. Hope it will pass soon, because it's tiring and annoying.

...

"George goes to sleep at a bank from ten to four each day, except Saturdays, when they wake him up and put him outside at two"

I hope you guessed what book I'm re-reading now :)

Ladies' room sign in one of the Kyiv restaurants

Mildly offensive or humorous?

old and new - old "commercial" district of Kyiv

To the left - building of the high end and modern business center, right in front of you - remnants of "old" city of Kyiv.

abandoned kindergarten building in Kyiv

This abandoned building stands in one of the central districts of Kyiv.

...

Why do you usually come down with flu precisely on weekends?
Why not, say, Monday morning instead, you wake up, feel terrible and stay home?

Seaside (pastels painting) - unfinished

Here's something that's been sitting on my desk (or rather on my pastels folder) for some time, waiting for inspiration and idea to be finished.

I haven't decided what to do to the sky here. When I'm positive I know what I want, I'll do it and this piece would be complete.
Before that, folder life.

Another year has passed

Well, I'm officially one year older.

It's not that it's my BD or something. no. I've had my BD some time ago, just had the time to reflect upon it.

What did the past year bring?

What will the new one bring?

Accomplishments of the past year aren't that great by any standards, but I guess even surviving counts nowadays :)

Of course, I've learned something new, that counts too. I've learned a lot of new things, actually. But my accomplishments always seem minuscule if compared to quite a lot of people I know. Then again, money isn't the only things that matters in this world.

Or so I'm inclined to think :)

Then again, money come and go, and come easily if you're lucky. While I could never call myself lucky.

Rather, my latest adventures prove that small troubles seem to be attracted to me, or at least there're times in my life when they just can't pass me by and find someone else to bother.

That didn't change even as I grew older.

Eh...

after fur (painting)

some time ago I mentioned a picture my cat decided to re-factor by sleeping on it.
here is the finished version of the same picture - with some re-factoring done by me.

my pastels don't look quite the same when I make photos of them, and this one had to be cropped because the photo wasn't well aligned. but I guess the main idea is clear.

April and its 1st day

we've made it to April, somehow.

and thankfully the 1st of April is over. yeah, I simply hate this day. young (and not so young) children think that it's a day when they can do whatever they want and won't get punished for it.
a horrible mindset.

on friends and opinions

Recently I've been thinking about the very definition of the word 'friend'.

definition aside,
philosophic entity aside,
each of us sees friendship and friends differently, that is a given.

I've been re-reading 'Thee men in a boat' some time ago, and caught myself thinking that I admire friendship described there.

That gave me a thought...

as far as I can see, lots of people view 'friends' as people that say what they like to hear. People make friends with people who they're comfortable with, that's ok, but too many of us want our 'friends' to agree with all our decisions and 'offer support' on every occasion. They ask your opinion, and only one answer is accepted.
Other individuals think that everyone they drank beer \ went out with at least once is a 'friend'. Others count friends by Facebook (and such) numbers.

All groups described above would probably never want to hear your real opinion. Or, more importantly, a conflicting opinion. 'Friends' that are there only for entertainment aren't supposed to create negativity or 'impose' on your personal opinions. Though if you can't share opinions freely with someone, can that person qualify as a 'friend'?
 

Yes, we're supposed to be conscious about other people's shortcomings and 'sensitivities' and don't aggravate matters. But when someone asks for your advice or opinion, and then gets offended because it wasn't what he\she wanted to hear, I think it's not the problem of the one answering. 
Just like in 'Three men in a boat', if you didn't want to hear my opinion, why did you ask?

Let's be honest here,
most probably you didn't want my opinion, you just wanted a confirmation of your thoughts, that you've done something right or about to do a right thing.
And offensive reaction only highlights the hidden doubt. Maybe it's not right after all. How can't it be right?..
Would you rather 'confirm' whatever there is just to avoid possible hurt feelings?
Isn't it a no-win situation, being set up like that? A person expects only one answer, yet if you truly believe you must answer differently even though it wouldn't be pleasant for the one asking , what would you do?
It depends on so many things, it makes me wanna live in a deep black hole sometimes.

First of all, we must know our issue.
In most cases, if we talk about trivial matters, like choosing clothes or looks, we're used to white lies. If person had bought a piece of clothing you don't find utterly complimenting, you're still inclined to compliment. After all, tastes are different, and it's so trivial no one needs to fight over it. On the other hand if you went shopping with a gf and she was about to buy an ugly dress, you'd most probably express your opinion before purchase.
When we talk about more serious matters, it gets less - and more - complicated. Would you tell a person in distress eating that 3rd plate of comfort food isn't good for health? What if you knew it would trigger allergic reaction? Would you let the same person drink a lot?
Would you advice your friend against dating someone who you know has criminal ties?   Would you tell your friend about his\her cheating spouse? Would you advice against investing in risky business? Would you support a divorce, even though you know both parties are being idiotic and most likely will regret it?

The higher the stakes, the more 'damage' your action or lack of action may cause, the harder it is to find 'the right answer'. It's a no-win, like I've mentioned before. Whatever you do, you're screwed.
However, I agree that married couples and divorces are exceptions we all can learn from. Usually, it's better to stay out of disputes of married couples and avoid giving any opinion. Usually, but not always... sometimes someone must be a mediator between two idiots...
and sometimes you can easily tell when you only need to listen.

But I got carried away.

Thankfully, most people I consider 'friends' don't get offended easily. Some people value honesty, and I'm glad I know such people.

After all, it's always you, not someone else, who's making a decision. Trying to silence your own doubts by asking for confirmation from other people is... counterproductive.
If you don't want someone's opinion, don't ask for it.
People aren't mind readers and they don't know each damned time what's on your mind and why you're asking what you're asking. Be ready that people will act according to their own free will, not your expectations.

And if you're looking for consolation, not discussion, make it evident from the beginning, it will make life easier for everyone. I'm perfectly capable of staying by person that is feeling terrible and needs someone to talk to, to be cheered up.

Maybe it's a peril of social networks that makes people so self-conscious and used only to positive responses. After all, you're not supposed to 'dislike' something in (most) social networks. Silence or approval, no disapproval. Constant flow (and exchange) of white lies and blatant lies that nurture the worst in us. Who needs the truth when lies make us feel better?

 

 That thought is a matter in itself...

life that stopped

I'm going to break a promise to myself here, only a little bit...

I swore to myself I won't be talking about politics here. That I'll cut down time spent on ruminating about it. It's bad for my cardiovascular system. 

Though earlier today I stumbled upon an article written about relatives of MH370, you know, the missing Malaysian aircraft. The emotions described there correlated with my own... and not only my own. Millions of people in Ukraine and Russia are living like this now... 

Please don't think that I somehow devalue the hardships relatives of the passengers of the missing plane face: it's just horrible to be in their position, to lose loved ones this way, always scouting for every new clue, doubting everything and having hopes high at every puny possibility. 

Still, life in Ukraine has stopped in a similar way.

Surrounded by uncertainty in tomorrow, it's hard to function. You tell yourself you won't read news, you won't talk about, because if you did you'd get absorbed in reading or discussing it or just fall into such bad mood that no work is possible. You can't work or rest properly, because every spare minute you have to fight the desire to read news. Futile hope that something will work out for the better. Or at least that we all will die in a huge nuclear explosion...

Indeed, ignorance is a bliss.

As you move around the city, you see it everywhere. Not only offices and homes with internet access have stopped their usual lives. Shop assistants and street merchants are discussing political news - among themselves or with customers; public transportation drivers are discussing politics with passengers close at hand; bartenders and servers are talking in their small circles whenever they have free time; political talk and frustration are everywhere. You hear strangers discussing something eagerly at the bus stop; you hear couples talking about it when you walk by, you see elderly people gathered in the yards near benches, some getting very loud in their eagerness. Construction workers are discussing chances that Ukraine can win in a war against Russia while having their lunch. And when you meet your friends, it's only a matter of time until you start talking about IT. 

What's more, some people are descending into half-hysterical (or hysterical) state. Some are getting more and more aggressive. In my case, I'm getting plagues by half-hysterical relatives. The sort of people you can't just ignore, no matter how much you wish you could.  

I don't know what will happen tomorrow. Or the day after tomorrow, for that matter. 

It's unnerving and painful almost on a tangible level. 

"May you live in interesting times", heh?

It's supposed to be a curse and it is. 

something about food... and fish

Today on the spur of the moment I decided to buy some fresh fish. 

This fact isn't worthy to be celebrated in written form by itself, I know...

it's just that while I was removing scales, I thought about peculiarities of our current time. 

I've used fish fillet for frying; tails and heads transformed into fish stew. 

Wait, what, I didn't throw out fish heads? ... Yeah.

Most people nowadays think that only 'good' parts of something are made for eating. 'Good' meaning things like fish fillet, fish steaks. Fish heads, throw them away or feed them to your dog. I actually had several (young) women telling me 'why are you eating creepy things like this?'. Sorry, people had been using fish heads, tails, bones, flippers, chicken hearts, liver and stomachs as foods for hundreds of years. People in poor countries eat even 'more gross' food items. Yet I know people who could retch if you showed them raw chicken heart or would tell you that 'sausage is for those who can't afford real meat'. . 

When did people become this picky? Reports indicate developed countries are wasting tons of food each year, food that's not considered 'creepy'. [not that I think chicken stomachs are creepy... ofc I would probably hesitate if you asked me to eat a fried spider, I confess]

I guess it all comes down to personal experience and 'cultural beliefs'. When people were always fed fish fillet and 'best' parts of everything, you're not gonna convince them to try something 'low class'. Ewww, take this away from me, right? 

Those who experienced shortage of food and were very happy to be able to eat 'low class' food aren't that picky, generally. 

In most cases when I find out my acquaintance is a 'picky' eater, most often it's because they had never worried about getting food on their plate and always 'had a choice' of meals. The question is, are parents doing the right thing when they're making sure their child has nothing to worry about whatsoever?..

...

now when we're under threat of war,
it seems there's nothing meaningful left to say.

pastels vs fur

I've been training with my newly-acquired box of soft pastels. Some time ago I've changed my tastes and started painting mainly with soft pastels, chalk and pencils. Well, pencils have always been there. After I've decided I like the medium (soft pastels) and found the brand I liked by trial and error, I've traded my small box for big set. Not the *most* expensive pastels, I can assure you, But so far they behave decently. 

Then again, I forgot that I have an animal in the house. With watercolors or pencils, there's no immediate danger for the painting after you've finished a painting session - I always dry my watercolors before leaving them alone. As for pastels... My cat decided it'd be fun to sleep on one of my sketches and wiped quite a bit of pigment with fur. I had to dust my cat and repair the sketch.

This photo shows the 'recovery' effort, not the finished painting. Had no time at that point to do better setup.

domestic help

I hope makers of women's lingerie would realize that nowadays most women don't employ domestic help. 

Which means there's no one to help you to *get into* that cool and hot corset with lots of tiny iron hooks (getting out is another thing). It'd be really nice if you could put one on without getting all sweaty right after taking a shower. And it'd be super neat if those little iron bastards - hooks - weren't ruining your nail polish as you work them. 

Modern women would appreciate that, thank you...

foods

lately I've been sick with flu and had to stay home most of the time. 

I felt so sleepy at times, that had to take showers in the middle of the day so that I won't sleep on my keyboard. 

strangely, cooking also helped to maintain awareness. I've cooked many things, mostly easy-to-do ofc. like roasted chicken, pilau, chilli, fried noodles, omelets... yes, those are easy-to-do in my book, and I love chilli and pilau - not only for flavor, but also because you can leave them be and they'll practically cook themselves. 

this later transformed into a meal: 

I'm a fan of spicy food and in our company I can tolerate the most hot pepper. even though I've been treated (with tablets) for early stages of appendicitis several years ago. figures, my appendicitis doesn't like seeds of strawberries and other such things, but doesn't mind spices. at least not as much as it minds strawberry seeds. 

an island

It's a sketch - or a doodle - I've made one day, while talking to my friend.We were discussing what to put in here... 

What's peculiar about this pic, is that it started innocent with woods and crystal clear water.

Then somehow the volcano came to be. Then ocean made land into an island. Then beach and waves.

And last touch of idiocy - alien-egg-shaped boulder on the beach. An example what strange things collective mind can create :)

Labyrinth

also I must confess I've just discovered this game for myself:

been playing it quite excessively. excessively like 'several matches' each day.

the game isn't popular here. to tell the truth, I've never heard of it before I saw it on Google play. and I've just checked - retailers don't stock it here. a waste, really, I could buy a set to play with friends on Saturdays.

Sochi 2014

on the other hand, 

I've been laughing hard today, reading reports from Sochi Olympics. 

Oh wait, the games haven't even started, but the fun is here. 

When I say 'fun', I mean the incompetence surrounding the whole affair. 

Twitter, for example, is buzzing with tweets from journalists arriving for the games. Their story are horrid - and believable. Believable for someone who knows firsthand how things work in countries like the one in question. 

I encourage you to read some coverages about misfortunes of journalists in Sochi. Broadens your perspective. This article is only a tiny bit of information floating around: http://t.co/Cs0ZiQPxON 

Yes, I laughed. 

But it's not a laughable matter when a huge, enormous country is sinking in corruption and incompetence. Open manholes on sidewalks isn't a laughable matter. Capitalism at its best. What has it to do with capitalism, you may ask. Nothing and everything. 

And yet another thought - why don't they build ONE Olympic park and host games there. Ok, maybe 4-5 locations around the world. Why this charade every 4 years? Who's benefiting from it, besides those who get 'returns' and are able to buy nth sports car?

we said our farewell to January... and?

people keep asking me 'how are you?', 'what's going on there?'.

I prefer answering 'I'm fine, thanks' and  'read the news'... 

neither statement will help you understand, though. 

everything - even such commonplace word as 'fine' - depends on your point of view. 

if I were to say sth about our current political situation, I'd say that I'm tired. tired of it, tired of reading news, tired of people discussing the news while maintaining their routine lives. 

it feels like a madhouse governed by fellow madmen with doctors coming in from outside every now and then offering insincere 'advice' .

yeah... can you trust a madman to run a madhouse? 

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

As a part of week-end walk, actually in the end of it, I've watched a movie called 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty'.

I could provide a review for the movie, but I don't think it's that important. After all, this version is quite different than older versions.

What I wanted to say is...

there are movies that you shouldn't watch in the movie theater. For me, a part of charm of today's movie was lost due to youngsters that were drinking beer, eating popcorn and commenting the whole movie right behind my back. They comments mostly amounted to 'this man [main hero] must be on drugs' and as movie progressed, their ways of expressing their opinions became more and more profane.

As for movie itself...

I walked out of the theater with a strong impression that I could just go, find some beautiful place, lie down and die there.

You can take it as you wish,

but that's how I felt.

And the movie is good. At least worth watching, more than Hobbit 2 (the desolation of Smaug). At least for me.