the opposite of snob is your mother

A funny and enlightening talk about career crisis, about winners and losers, about how snobbery makes our lives much harder... Not the first speaker I hear say we, people should worship something else than ourselves. So true, at least for me. I am now discovering for myself what my Grandmother took for granted. The truths that were unquestionable to her are a real revelation now to me.

dancing on the ceiling

Can you imagine sleeping in front of the TV while VH1 play their top 50 party hits?

I was so very tired and scared of everything happening this week. Last night I needed to do something for relaxation after the long hours spent in hospital. So, I somehow discovered that the choice of TV shows is enormous. No wonder people spend so much time watching television. I found my perfect cure for the evening - VH1's countdown of top 50 party hits ever. This good old Lionel Richie song made me dance and jump in front of the TV. And then I said, "OK, and now let's take a breath." And the cat was obviously waiting for me to calm down and as long as I found myself on the sofa, he came rushing to me with his purring in my ear. The greatest nap I've recently had! I only woke up to find out that Billy Jean was No 2, and not No 1 as I was expecting.

post-holidays season

Four days off in a row, and three of them I spent in town. It could have been nice to travel somewhere but this time I was a bit lazy and preferred to spend the time at home.
OK, I had this short one-day trip to St Kirik's monastery that I really enjoyed. And for a change we did not travel by car but had to change a train and a bus to reach there. I felt as if I was in another country because I almost never take the public transport at home.
Apart from the monastery I was obviously impressed by the thick shadow of a walnut tree, which gave shelter to the long girls' talk...

questions, questions

I read recently a post in a blog, which posed the question, "Do you need to stay updated all the time? Do you need to get the latest news, follow tweeter, etc.?" Well, after reading those first lines I decided to leave it because I am not really one of those information junkies. Yes, I need to know what is going on, and I have a few favourite info sites and blogs I check almost daily. But that's it. So, I said, nothing for me.
And then my eyes stopped on the next question, "How does this make you happy?"
Huh, OK. I stayed like that for a moment and thought over it. A good question to apply to anything I do during the day, isn't it?
How does this make me happy?
In what way does it help me to create?
Does it make me a better person?

I believe I should be looking for the right answers more often...

Illustrators, don't miss this!

The TED talk I am currently translating.
I did not know Maira Kalman before but felt intrigued by her crazy style - the way she talks, no beginning, no end... somewhat difficult to follow, and yet interesting.

escape from a hot day in the city

We were invited to spend a day in a house high in the Rhodopi mountain. The name of the village is Manastir - allegedly the highest village on the Balkans. It is situated around 1500m above sea level, and is really really very beautiful. This was my second visit there. The first one was long ago - we were searching for a place to picnic with friends and finally ended up there.

Of course, we did not spend the day in the house. After collecting some herbs we decided to climb up the nearest hill to a very controversial Muslim monument - Enihan baba teke. They say Muslims respect Enihan baba as a preacher and healer, while most Bulgarians believe he brought Islam to Bulgaria.

Vihar - waiting for us to drive further.

Climbing up more than 600 stairs was worth it...

...to enjoy this magnificent view - a 360 degree panorama view of the Rhodopi mountains.
Incredible scenery indeed, more impressive than any monument to me.

early sun and sea

Back from a short vacation at the coast. Not very typical for me, this time I was early in the morning at the beach, missed my breakfast to be there as early as possible.
Could see the white-grayish colour of the sea changing to green-blue later in the afternoon.
Enjoyed the warm water with no people around, and the presence of the local dog - my only companion at the beach.