Tuesday, 16 February 2010
Saturday, 13 February 2010
Kiev trip
Hi there!!
Wow! I feel like this winter is going to last for another 5-6 months!! I don't know but this is a very special winter indeed... It is very instructive and educational (I am not afraid of these "big" words). It teaches me a lot of patience. And patience seems to be the lesson I still need to learn for I lack it so much and I am a complete failure when it comes to exercising my patience on a daily basis.
Well, I will skip numerous details and parts of this rather long patience lesson which involve unstable internet connection, wireless which I just cannot fix, slipping on the ice, getting a cold, etc., and get to the Kiev trip about which I was going to write. By the way, here is another patience thing. I left home to go to the bus station to catch a bus to Kiev and guess what??? Half way through I realize that both of my mobile phones are left at home!! So I run back and then start off again. A poor guard of the local supermarket who just happened to be outside smoking must have had a deja vu for I ran past him several times!!
So we get on a bus and off we go!!! Kiev was great as always!! Huge, crowded, "cosmopolitan", multicolored, extremely versatile and what not! I must say that I had never used metro so much in my life. A friend of mine who went with me had to deliver some envelopes to some remote places in the city and so we spent quite a bit of time underground... Lots of people everywhere and I began to feel tired.
When I was a kid I dreamt of living in Kiev and I was very upset when I found out that I could not study in Kiev simply because my family could not afford Kiev. I though that my life was lost forever... But I was wrong!!
The more I have to go to Kiev (and I love the city a lot for its diversity and "life"), the more I realize that I cannot be there for more than 1 day. One day is perfectly enough for me and afterwards I usually feel really tired! So I was happy to catch a bus back home and in 3 hours find myself again in my quite town!!
Here is some wisdom out of all this: From contentment with little things comes happiness (African proverb). I think sometimes we just fail to notice those little things that we ought to appreciate, which make us really happy. Things like being able to walk to work or get home for lunch and get back to work within 2 hours! And I felt blessed and thankful to God for "planting" me here!
Love from a really snowy place!
Alf
Wow! I feel like this winter is going to last for another 5-6 months!! I don't know but this is a very special winter indeed... It is very instructive and educational (I am not afraid of these "big" words). It teaches me a lot of patience. And patience seems to be the lesson I still need to learn for I lack it so much and I am a complete failure when it comes to exercising my patience on a daily basis.
Well, I will skip numerous details and parts of this rather long patience lesson which involve unstable internet connection, wireless which I just cannot fix, slipping on the ice, getting a cold, etc., and get to the Kiev trip about which I was going to write. By the way, here is another patience thing. I left home to go to the bus station to catch a bus to Kiev and guess what??? Half way through I realize that both of my mobile phones are left at home!! So I run back and then start off again. A poor guard of the local supermarket who just happened to be outside smoking must have had a deja vu for I ran past him several times!!
So we get on a bus and off we go!!! Kiev was great as always!! Huge, crowded, "cosmopolitan", multicolored, extremely versatile and what not! I must say that I had never used metro so much in my life. A friend of mine who went with me had to deliver some envelopes to some remote places in the city and so we spent quite a bit of time underground... Lots of people everywhere and I began to feel tired.
When I was a kid I dreamt of living in Kiev and I was very upset when I found out that I could not study in Kiev simply because my family could not afford Kiev. I though that my life was lost forever... But I was wrong!!
The more I have to go to Kiev (and I love the city a lot for its diversity and "life"), the more I realize that I cannot be there for more than 1 day. One day is perfectly enough for me and afterwards I usually feel really tired! So I was happy to catch a bus back home and in 3 hours find myself again in my quite town!!
Here is some wisdom out of all this: From contentment with little things comes happiness (African proverb). I think sometimes we just fail to notice those little things that we ought to appreciate, which make us really happy. Things like being able to walk to work or get home for lunch and get back to work within 2 hours! And I felt blessed and thankful to God for "planting" me here!
Love from a really snowy place!
Alf
Wednesday, 10 February 2010
Spider's Web
I had been listening to this song for months never really paying much attention to the lyrics and only today while going to Kiev along really bumpy snow covered roads I listened to the LYRICS... And I did a lot of thinking... What is actually right and what is wrong? How do we tell? How do we decide? And sometimes the line seems very thin...
So I am sharing the song and the LYRICS with you!
Love,
Alf
Katie MELUA - Spider's Web
If a black man is racist, is it okay
If it's the white man's racism that made him that way
'cause the bully is the victim they say
By some sense they're all the same
'cause the line between
Wrong and right
Is the width of a thread from a spider's web
The piano keys are black and white
But they sound like a million colours in your mind
I could tell you to go to war
Or I could march for peace and fighting no more
How do I know which is right
And I hope he does when he sends you to fight
'cause the line between wrong and right
Is the width of a thread from a spider's web
The piano keys are black and white
But they sound like a million colours in your mind
Should we act on our blame
Or should we chase the moments away
Should we live
Should we give
Remember forever the guns and the feathers in time
'cause the line between wrong and right
Is the width of a thread from a spider's web
The piano keys are black and white
But they sound like a million colours in your mind
The piano keys are black and white
But they sound like a million colours in your mind
They sound like a million colours in your mind
So I am sharing the song and the LYRICS with you!
Love,
Alf
Katie MELUA - Spider's Web
If a black man is racist, is it okay
If it's the white man's racism that made him that way
'cause the bully is the victim they say
By some sense they're all the same
'cause the line between
Wrong and right
Is the width of a thread from a spider's web
The piano keys are black and white
But they sound like a million colours in your mind
I could tell you to go to war
Or I could march for peace and fighting no more
How do I know which is right
And I hope he does when he sends you to fight
'cause the line between wrong and right
Is the width of a thread from a spider's web
The piano keys are black and white
But they sound like a million colours in your mind
Should we act on our blame
Or should we chase the moments away
Should we live
Should we give
Remember forever the guns and the feathers in time
'cause the line between wrong and right
Is the width of a thread from a spider's web
The piano keys are black and white
But they sound like a million colours in your mind
The piano keys are black and white
But they sound like a million colours in your mind
They sound like a million colours in your mind
Monday, 8 February 2010
Time after time (a musical greeting with a bit of frost)
Good time of the day to you all,
It always amazes me how much songs can tell us. I first heard of Eva many years ago but it took me quite a bit of time to fall in love with her voice. And this song... Time after time it is moving, inspiring and so meaningful to me... So, I am sending you this musical greeting with a little bit of cold frosty air hoping for warm days which are soon to come! "If you fall I will catch you, I'll be waiting". How important it is to always have someone following behind ready to catch us when we fall...
Love you,
Alfred
Привет моим русскоязычным друзьям,
Простите, что английского здесь все-таки больше, однако я очень надеюсь, что это видео не оставит вас равнодушными. Я влюблен в Иву Кессиди очень давно. Ее голос, словно, пробуждает меня ото сна. Она как будто чувствовала, что не будет жить долго. В каждой ее песне столько грусти... Мессидж песни прост: "Оглянись и ты найдешь меня с нова и снова. Если ты упадешь, я поймаю тебя, я буду рядом снова и снова...". Как важно, чтобы всегда был тот, кто поймает, когда мы падаем!!
Люблю вас,
А.
Sunday, 7 February 2010
Winter thoughts...
Yo friends,
Just got back home with my mouth absolutely frozen and almost unable to speak (for those of you who know me really well - that's really upsetting!!!). Thinking of winter I bumped into this absolutely fantastic poem by my very-very-very beloved Bella Akhmadulina (sorry to those of you who don't read Russian). The poem is called "December" and it is about love of course, but how well written! Having said this, may be I should attempt to translate it... Hummmm....
Привет друзья,
прочтите и полюбите это стихотворение. Прочувствуйте его и подарите друг другу улыбку...
Белла Ахмадулина - ДЕКАБРЬ
Мы соблюдаем правила зимы.
Играем мы, не уступая смеху,
и, придавая очертанья снегу,
приподнимаем белый снег с земли.
И, будто бы предчувствуя беду,
прохожие толпятся у забора,
снедает их тяжелая, забота:
а что с тобой имеем мы в виду.
Мы бабу лепим, только и всего.
О, это торжество и удивленье,
когда и высота и удлиненье
зависят от движенья твоего.
Ты говоришь:-Смотри, как я леплю.-
Действительно, как хорошо ты лепишь
и форму от бесформенности лечишь.
Я говорю: - Смотри, как я люблю.
Снег уточняет все свои черты
и слушается нашего приказа.
И вдруг я замечаю, как прекрасно
лицо, что к снегу обращаешь ты.
Проходим мы по белому двору,
мимо прохожих, с выраженьем дерзким.
С лицом таким же пристальным и детским,
любимый мой, всегда играй в игру.
Поддайся его долгому труду,
о моего любимого работа!
Даруй ему удачливость ребенка,
рисующего домик и трубу.
Greetings on the Elections Day !!
Yo people,
It's Alfred here and welcome to my new blog! As I am blogging this morning and looking out of the window I am getting really impatient and excited about the coming spring. This year, because of all the snow and ice and frost and endless short days (sorry - I am not really trying to make it sound that bad) I have made a resolution never to complanin about the summer heat anymore! I mean, I always did! Whenever summer came I naturally dropped couple of compaints and felt good about it. This time - okay - time for a change and NO more complains!! I am really tired of winter though I know that there is still couple of weeks to go before things begin to change!
Well, another major reason why I am here this morning is to let you know that today we are voting for a new president that hopefully is going to change something in this country (does the change ever come??) It is the second round of the National Presidential Elections. The campaigns are finaly over (at last) and people are going to make a decision today. As I thought of the coming election day yesterday I really thought about our lives too - aren't they a set of decisions we constantly make? Some major, some minor, significant, insignificant... We choose what to say and who to befriend on Facebook. Whether to go to a meeting or stay home... Whether to vote or to stay aside and watch... Life is all about choices we make. And I think we cannot really blame circumstances for things that happen because WE choose to respond to them. And our response determines the final outcome.
So this morning (or wherever the clock is in your place) I want to encourage you to make every choice carefully and respond to life situations adequately that later there will be no regrets about things undone or unsaid!
Have a great day people.
Alfred
It's Alfred here and welcome to my new blog! As I am blogging this morning and looking out of the window I am getting really impatient and excited about the coming spring. This year, because of all the snow and ice and frost and endless short days (sorry - I am not really trying to make it sound that bad) I have made a resolution never to complanin about the summer heat anymore! I mean, I always did! Whenever summer came I naturally dropped couple of compaints and felt good about it. This time - okay - time for a change and NO more complains!! I am really tired of winter though I know that there is still couple of weeks to go before things begin to change!
Well, another major reason why I am here this morning is to let you know that today we are voting for a new president that hopefully is going to change something in this country (does the change ever come??) It is the second round of the National Presidential Elections. The campaigns are finaly over (at last) and people are going to make a decision today. As I thought of the coming election day yesterday I really thought about our lives too - aren't they a set of decisions we constantly make? Some major, some minor, significant, insignificant... We choose what to say and who to befriend on Facebook. Whether to go to a meeting or stay home... Whether to vote or to stay aside and watch... Life is all about choices we make. And I think we cannot really blame circumstances for things that happen because WE choose to respond to them. And our response determines the final outcome.
So this morning (or wherever the clock is in your place) I want to encourage you to make every choice carefully and respond to life situations adequately that later there will be no regrets about things undone or unsaid!
Have a great day people.
Alfred
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