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Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Yet another meme...
Tagged by Jade, dared by Haal…See, I;m no chicken!!!

10 years ago:
I was still in secondary school, completely and hopelessly in love with a guy 5 years older than me. I was writing novels, reading as much as I could and was still in touch with Mathematics which I loved. Was a bike maniac and almost broke my neck several times, still enjoyed climbing trees and playing football with the guys and loved to watch Cartoon Network as it was the only English-only channel besides news channels. I stopped liking Cartoon Network and other similar TV channels a few years ago when they started translating everything.

5 years ago:
I was eighteen, after my incredible trip to Italy (for a Latin international contest), after an incredible birthday party and had just started the whole ET thing. His sister, Oana. Mishu, Alex and Diana were my all-time best friends. All that was left some time ago was bad memories. And Oana and Mishu…I also managed to recently recover Alexandra.
During this period I was also still writing, reading and still kind of in my genius phase.

1 year ago:
I had just started working for the company I left three weeks ago. I was still picking up the pieces after a messy spring and making new friends. I had decided then I wasn’t that keen on journalism after all and first started thinking of going to a second University.

Tomorrow:
I have no idea how I’ll get through tomorrow with K leaving the country for a while. As for “tomorrow” seen as near future, I’m focused on my new job, my new school, my old school, learning new things…And K, of course!

5 snacks I enjoy:
BigMac menus, pizza, fruit (any kind), sweet snacks(any time), Scooby Snacks (I actually have no idea how that tastes)

5 bands/artist that I know the lyrics to most of their songs:
Depeche Mode, Maroon 5, Queen, Morandi, Shakira

5 things I’d do with $100,000,000:
Travel, buy a car, buy an apartment, buy stuff for the people I love, get a dog

5 locations I’d like to run away to:
Bora Bora, Roma, Paris, Los Angeles, some desert

5 bad habits I have:
Talking way too much, demanding to much from everybody me included, not writing anymore, drinking Coca-Cola, drinking too much Coffee

5 things I like doing:
Reading, dancing, rollerblading, blogging, writing still…

5 things I will never wear:
Weird hats, weird shoes, clown suits, playmate suits, depressing outfits (never again, I swear!)

5 TV shows I like:
The Gilmore Girls, Friends, Mash, Profiler, Mutant X

5 movies I like:
Being Julia, Madagascar, Sweet November, Love Actually, Serendipity (as they are too many, this is from what I have recently seen/seen again)

5 biggest joys at the moment:
K, my job, the friends I still have, my books, Coca-Cola :))

5 favorite toys:
My cell, remote-controlled cars, miniature cars, little colored animal toys, digital cameras

People I’m tagging – anyone who wants to do it!
posted by Alina @ 2:00 PM   6 comments
Randomized thoughts
I’m in a very weird state. Would like to shout out everything that’s weighing on my heart but I cannot. Something, some shield in my brain stops me! Like there’s some voice inside saying to me “You cannot say that! It is not something they want to hear from you! Shut your mouth!” At a certain moment I could practically feel my heart aching. It felt extremely heavy and I could felt it touching, pressing against the surrounding areas of my body. Silent tears that I could not stop yet could not cry either. It hurt but nothing or no one actually hurt me. Or did they? Does this whole state of being situation trouble me? Yes it does!

My life is my own, true! But to what extent? You also have your life A., remember that! Well I wasn’t aware there are separate parts of my life to manage.
posted by Alina @ 12:03 PM   8 comments
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
The meme LouLou required!
Three names I go by:
Artemis
Kayla
Sadi

Three screen names you have had:
Kayla Vincent
Elena Cristian (for those receiving emails from me, yeah it’s a alias, my writer alias, actually)
Xena, Warrior Princess :))

Three parts of your heritage:
Western – English-based mostly with a touch of French culture
Roman
Oriental

Three things that you don’t like:
PEPSI CO. products
Liars
Stupidity (my own the most)

Three of your everyday essentials:
Coca-Cola
A book – to carry it at least :)
Talking to other people, lots of that…

Three things you are wearing right now:
My glasses
Blue jeans
My pierces

Two truths and a lie:
I am funny
I am good at what I do
I am perfect

Three non-physical things about the opposite sex that appeal to you:
Self-confidence
Sense of humor
Having a slight clue about what they’ll do about the important issues in their life

Three physical things about the opposite sex that appeal to you:
Eyes
Smile
Cute ass :))

Three things you just can’t do:
Be around insects such as spiders and bugs for more then 2 seconds..
Say I can’t do something without trying it (I’d feel guilty afterwards).
Stop giving people too much credit.

Three of your favorite hobbies:
Reading
Rollerblading
Listening to music and dancing, eventually

Three things you want to do really badly right now:
See K
Have a long walk
Spend more than 30 minutes reading

Three places you want to go on vacation:
Bora Bora
Dutch Antilles
Any place in the world I haven’t been to

Three things you want to do before you die:
Learn more languages
See more of this world
Have children

Three ways I am stereotypically a woman:
I actually believe women can do everything better
I like going to the toilet accompanied
The attention I pay to details

Three ways I am stereotypically a man:
I am a karate, football, Formula 1 etc addict
The importance my work/career has
My driving skills :))

This is the last meme, at least for a while! I should really get back to my usual posts...
posted by Alina @ 1:03 PM   11 comments
Monday, August 29, 2005
Books...A meme
I've been tagged with this by Boks, so here goes:
What’s in a book?

Mircea Cartarescu says (in the second part of his Journal) that you know you’re reading a good book when you realize you haven’t seen a letter in a long while.

I think you can find practically anything in books: joy, sadness, comfort, despair, advice, advice on what not to do…The part I like best is finding a situation or a state I’ve been through that is described better than I ever could imagine describing it…

What else? Oh, yeah, a dream of mine…To actually write a book and see it in a book store :))

Number of books on the shelves:

Actually, my mom has an impressive collection: more than 2000 books! I’ve added about a hundred in my four years of University, without counting the books I needed for school purposes. I worship the books I bought, but I still have this weird-pleasant feeling when holding one of the older books. They have this specific smell that has always mesmerized me…

Those that I own or bought:

Well, I have a number of favorite books. The ones I bought and the ones bought by my parents that I made my own :)) are included here…I think naming the authors is better: Mihai Eminescu, Mircea Cartarescu, John Fowels, Alexandre Dumas, father and son, Mircea Eliade, Karl May, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Shakespeare, Dan Brown…the order is really not important and the list is not complete…

Last few books that I bought:

The Universe in a Nutshell
Journal II
Children of Dune

Book that I’m reading now:

Mircea Cartarescu – Journal II

Last few books that I read:

The Dune Messiah
Children of Dune
The Universe in a Nutshell
Well, I tag anyone that is interested in the subject. Feel free to answer in a comment or on your own blog.
posted by Alina @ 3:50 PM   9 comments
Monday, August 22, 2005
Coca-Cola addicted!
I forgot to mention that my new colleagues consider me a Coca-Cola addicted person! Proud to be one, actually! But I do have a stronger brand new addiction: K! Not afraid to say it, to him or to others anymore! And thanks to some thoughts shared by LouLou, I don't care about justifying or explaining it anymore! To no one...

I miss blogging on a daily basis more than you guys can imagine and I hope to get back to it in no time. But most important, get back to reading my favorite blogs! Which are those? Well, check the "Blogs I read" section!
posted by Alina @ 7:10 PM   19 comments
The famous team building
Well guys, the team building was truly amazing! Mountains, nature, cool people, playing games that my team won :), sleeping a lot, stuff like that! First of all, the villa we stayed in was amazing. It is called Casa Tisaru and it's located in a pretty private end of Lepsa, near the Putna river.

Places we visited: the Putna Cascade, not very spectacular, but beautiful and making you feel a bit dizzy. Second, the Cheile Tisitei reservation which was really breathtaking! Can scare a lot of people away, if not because of the heights, because of the large predators ad!

Games we played: a lot of whist! I actually won one game, but wasn't really proud of it because I only win at this game when my life really sucks. Well, it wasn't the case and I hope it won't be in the near future! Then a game that turned out better than expected - we were divided into three teams, each representing a TV station. The task was to write news about the start of the other TV stations, impersonated by our colleagues. My team won a bottle of whiskey. I didn't even tasted it, as I hate whiskey...Never mind that! For the last game, each department had to build the perfect colleague. I participated by drawing the Linux penguin :)).

The food: really, really heavy! Which was bad, especially considering the fact that our minibus driver had his mind set on making all of us feel sick. Extra treat: watching The Fast and The Furious on the way back, starring the one and only Vin Diesel!

We were 25 employees on this team building and I enjoyed meeting each one of them! They are all fun and great and I still feel really dumb! But hey, I am actually supporting people by replying their emails! And no one swore because of my replies! So I'll just keep up the good work, I hope!

They gave me a red company T-shirt and the access card! You know, I'm a sucker for corporate stuff! And I really am learning something new and great each day! That takes up most of my time and what's left is mainly dedicated to K. So I am sorry guys for not being around that much anymore! Will get back as soon as I can handle 5 emails without asking my colleagues what to do! :))

Till then, stay close by cause this great team building will be illustrated on Views of a Broken Mirror as soon as possible!
posted by Alina @ 6:52 PM   2 comments
Monday, August 15, 2005
First day
Well, I am still alive! And I got employed just in time not to miss a team building mountain trip! Sounds amazing, right? It is...If I forget all about installing Windows XP twice in a day and reading so much stuff about antivirus software! I still feel like I'm not good enough to do that, but come one, it's been the first day of my training! I should be more indulgent with myself!

Other than that, my weekend was great, most of it spend with K and including a very fun clubbin' Saturday night!

By the way, not having IM and a lot of time for your blog sucks! Really...Actually it's just hard to get used to it. So see you around, as much as I can!
posted by Alina @ 9:13 PM   25 comments
Friday, August 12, 2005
Last moment thoughts
It’s been pretty quiet for my last day here! Not that much action, I just wrote and signed all the remaining documents, took care of some other minor details and am just hanging around for the moment!

I feel better than expected, if I don’t mind the cold I have and which is getting worse instead of just getting out of my system. I’m looking forward to getting home and spending some time with my mom and maybe see my dad.

I’m supposed to go to a little club on Saturday, along with K, Cristina and a friend of K. We’re going to Pub 24, which is actually my favorite place to dance in Regie, mostly because it’s not large as other clubs and feels a bit more intimate.

What is very important is the fact that they finished repairing the sidewalks. I had lost all hope to see them completed in the near future, but I was wrong. It took them forever, but it’s ok now! Fewer idiots making stupid comments!

The campaign to gather funds for the floods victims is still floating in the river. Yet people hardly notice it anymore. Those who pass by don’t even look in that direction anymore. I guess they were counting on a more powerful reaction, like people being shocked every time they walked by. But it seems we have the ability to get used to horrifying things!

This morning I was walking by the river on my way to the subway. The sun was shinning and every thing looked so bright. Sometimes the beauty of this city strikes me. Other times it just seems dull. Today it looked great though…
posted by Alina @ 1:05 PM   7 comments
Thursday, August 11, 2005
Close to the end
Our office was deprived of its Internet connection for about 24 hours, so we were all in mourning. Not much to do without it! Today we finally solved the problem! Which was…our ex IT manager did his job so well that he didn’t tell us the contract expired. He kept saying it was paid in advance for one year until September. Well, guess what, it was only until June! Anyway…

Other than that I’ve been contacted several companies, letting them know I’m leaving so I won’t be the contact person anymore. Moreover, I’ve been cleaning my desk, reviewing all my files, projects, documents, offers…It hurts, really! Each little paper has a story of its own. Cristina’s not being here anymore helped my melancholic state, so…

I don’t know how it all got to this. How the perfect job and perfect employer and perfect everything suddenly changed into a get-away-while-you-can situation! So many dreams we all shared! The Happy Familly of A.K.! WHATEVER!!!

At least I met some wonderful people that I will keep in touch with, hopefully! What is weird is that most of us - the ones leaving - found a new job somehow related to the IT&C field. Strange coincidence!

Last night, in K.’s car, discussing about this end line. He asked if I was going to cry. And I answered I would, maybe Friday night, when I’d be at my mom’s…Yeah, I probably will! But not for long, as I have more important things to worry about. Like my new job, or getting better at Spanish and doing a serious French revision, which would help as well to get better results.

This year I really need to focus on school as well, to get involved in as many projects as possible to wipe out the feeling of complete waste of time that I have when looking back on the year I spent here. I know I actually did learn a lot and did meet interesting people, but still feel it was not worth screwing my final exams at the University, nor delaying them as I did.

Speaking of new projects, a friend of mine – movie director to be – asked me if I was interested in writing movie scripts. Of course I said yes. And I am going to try it, just for fun. Besides, it would really not hurt my career as a writer (if that is ever going to happen). So he sent me a script that I’ll look at and try to write an even better one! So wish me luck on this as well…

About how I feel lately, I found this Sonique song that says it way better than me:

You are the sun
You are the breeze
You’re the only one I want to please

You are the one
You are for me
You are the only one I want to please
posted by Alina @ 2:13 PM   5 comments
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Late update
I finally updated the pictures I promised from my amazing weekend to the mountains. So you can all see them here.
posted by Alina @ 12:49 PM   8 comments
Coca-Cola crisis update
When the crisis was finally over – yesterday on my way home I noticed the fridges of all the shops were filled with my beloved bottle – I still couldn’t get on with my Coca-Cola mornings…Why? Oh, well! Since yesterday afternoon I started having problems swallowing…And this morning I woke up with a voice that really didn’t sound as my own, with a sour throat and basically feeling as if I had been hit by a train. I can hardly eat anything, so having something ice-cold to drink is really not an option. And warm Coke, get real!
posted by Alina @ 10:34 AM   4 comments
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
New job on the way
It seems that all those interviews eventually paid off. I got the job I wanted! I’ll start Monday morning and I am completely terrified! I must be crazy thinking I can learn that much about computers, but hey, we all should really try something completely insane once in a while! So, here’s where I’ll be trying to do my best.

Tomorrow we’re supposed to get together and “celebrate” the fact that Cris and I are leaving the company. No matter how happy I am for the new job, leaving still saddens me! I’ve been here for a whole year and these are the people with whom I spent most of my time…But that’s just life!
posted by Alina @ 3:56 PM   7 comments
Protest against stupid Coca-Cola Co. policy
I have this habit that feels me with pleasure every morning – I have a 1 liter bottle of Coca-Cola on my way to work! It is a simple pleasure, it shouldn’t be so hard to keep doing it every morning. What’s the problem? The problem is that the Coca-Cola Company distribution department has hidden – for God knows what reason – the regular Coca-Cola 1 liter bottles. I can’t have the light drink for a simple reason, the sweetener makes me feel sick…So this is an official protest coming from a Coca-Cola fanatic! BRING THE DAMN 1 LITER BOTTLES BACK ON THE MARKET!!! I would threaten I’ll change sides and join the Pepsi army, but I really cannot stand that drink…So please, pretty please, with a cherry on top and everything…HELP!
posted by Alina @ 1:32 PM   7 comments
Oana's birthday party
Last night we celebrated Oana’s birthday. A highlight of the year in itself, her birthday was also the perfect moment for K. to meet my friends. A lot of them actually - Cris, Oana and her boyfriend and Batty. As you can guess it was a very interesting evening. What you don’t know is that it went better than I expected!

I wasn’t really sure K. was going to make it, because he has been really busy lately, unlike me…So I was pretty happy when we talked on the phone and he said he’d be there. Cris wasn’t feeling very well, but we started laughing the moment we tried to choose clothes to wear. As we both had lost weight, our clothes looked really funny on us.

We first left without Oana’s present because we were so self-absorbed making sure our clothes were not falling off. But at least we felt good about our looks! K. was supposed to pick us up at a traffic light near Carrefour where we had a little problem with some wise guys imagining it was Christmas and we were dropped there to please them! Luckily, K. finally arrived and we got to the restaurant were the others were waiting for us.

At first, the conversation was a bit stiff. Then it got ok, once we solved translation issues such as K. not speaking enough Romanian (he's actually doing great in learning Romanian actually, but still needs practice) and Batty not knowing enough English (Oana summarized his knowledge as follows: “He knows all the expressions containing the word ‘fuck’”. He actually knows more, but still…).

I decided to have beer, and Oana thought she’d ask me to get drunk. They all of course started to make fun of me cause it took me two hours to drink one beer and because I usually got very dizzy when drinking more than one. Oh, well, nothing new…I drank more than one beer, did get a bit dizzy. But hey, we were all kinda dizzy, except K. who was driving and Cris, who wasn’t feeling very well.

Conclusions of the evening – I think they liked each other, K. didn’t get that much sleep last night, so I feel guilty, we all had a great time, Cris forgot about not feeling that hot for a while, Oana liked her present (I hope!) and she has some very nice green jewelry, service sucked at times (Yeah, I am a maniac in what that subject is concerned) and last but not least, it was freezing cold and we were on a terrace half of the time.
posted by Alina @ 1:30 PM   6 comments
Monday, August 08, 2005
Weekend gossip
“I don’t want the world to see me
Cause I don’t think that they’d understand
When everything’s meant to be broken
I want you to know who I am”

Sometimes nothing seems to just happen, to come out of the blue, having no reason at all. At times like these, everything seems closely connected, no mistakes, just actions bound to be chosen. And every piece fits its place, slowly building a bigger puzzle that takes your breath away and amazes you beyond any imagination…

It was a perfect weekend, lightly deep, quiet, but not silent, refreshing and basically taking my mind of office issues. K. had an important part in that. He seems to be very good at making me forget about all my problems when I’m with him.

Sunday evening we were walking around the University Plaza. As it had rained, the sewerage was again overwhelmed, thus flooding the sidewalk. Some reporter started asking me questions (fist two were ok, she was making me talk, the following were plain stupid – Is it normal? No!). When this happens, my first instinct is not to answer. Then I remember how hard it used to be to get people to talk when needing to complete a school assignment. And I stop, improvise and try to help. I remember thinking she was kinda lame as a reporter, but at least she was pretty…I was a little mean!

Today, on our way to work, Cris and I saw some dummies in the river. They’re used in a “Help the victims of the floods” campaign, but the idea seems pretty scary to me. They probably counted on the powerful effect this might have (if you’re not close enough, you think there are people in danger). Still, it’s scary, especially one dummy that’s holding a rope, impersonating someone who cannot swim.
posted by Alina @ 3:33 PM   8 comments
Friday, August 05, 2005
Reply to who knows what
People sometimes find a way to show you that you’ve been wrong when trusting them. Luckily this time it’s not someone close. But Cris and I are facing some people who disappoint us more and more everyday! No matter how great this company might get to be in the future, now I am certain we are so smart in going away! I really cannot stand the divide and conquer strategy…I need a stimulating working environment, but a battlefield is a bit too much for me!

Went to see Mada last night. She somehow made me feel great about my life. I liked my life before. Now I love it. I cannot understand where she gets the energy to be so positive about everything, especially after getting to the emergency room twice in two weeks! The first time she actually fainted in a bank! The second time she discovered she has some severe kidney problems and that she hurt her back really bad when fainting. But she’s still happy and she tries to enjoy everything! I admit it was a good lesson…

I also saw Oana who was upset, really upset…Tried to make her feel better, tried to tell her to take it easy but didn’t really succeed. I guess sometimes you just have to be upset on everything and just let it all out, no matter how aggressive you might get. The others around it will take it easy anyway. Or not, depends. But sometimes you should just stop thinking of what others might say or do. I will try that the next time I have a bad day, see what happens.

I discovered some of my anonymous readers and commenters think my life is a total mess, that I am a week person and all that…Again, the feeling people can’t really see me, they see just a hologram of who I am, a ghost! But you can see through ghosts and the things in the background seem like parts of the ghost. Well, they’re not! Pay more attention the next time, else expect some more genuinely acid replies!

Actually, last night I had a feeling I really am great at handling problems! I started handling problems at a very young age. I was seven when my parents divorced and had been dealing with having two families that really didn’t like each other that much. Other than that, although my parents didn’t allow me to do a lot of things (like clubbing and such) during high-school, I still had to face all the temptations on my own! (I am a pretty good liar, when I want) And thank God I had enough brains to stay on the right track, unless other girls and boys from split up or normal families, who chose the easier and more fun way! Party all the way, never mind the consequences, mummy has enough money to pay for your high-school finals!

But let’s forget about my high-school past, my moment of absolute glory (when some believed I was a geek, but how can one party like I did, when others thought I was an absolute whore, but how can one be the fist in their class, when I was consumed by being a genius/child prodigy issues) and return to my present!

Another moment of glory: I was the best employee on what press monitoring is concerned (no one ever handled as much work as I did!). But that cost a lot! My sensors got numb and I was totally taken off guard by a breaking up issue…Then another moment of glory – I felt so good when my best friends, Cris, Mishu and Oana (the order is not important BTW) told me I did great, considering…So I got on my feet, got a new job, had short periods of facing more idiots, and got up again…My job was all I ever wanted at times and it totally sucks right now. So I have to get ready for a new challenge again.

In what guys are concerned, this blog surprised me in a way I could’ve never imagined. I met K…But that story deserves it’s own post which will not come as soon as you would want it! Just want to keep this one just for me for a little longer! So stay tuned if you’re really interested! : ))

To end this incredibly long post, here are some lyrics for you, a motto of mine at times, along with “Pain always goes away”:

Empty spaces -
what are we living for
Abandoned places -
I guess we know the score
On and on,
does anybody know
what we are looking for...
Another hero,
another mindless crime
Behind the curtain,
in the pantomime
Hold the line,
does anybody want
to take it anymore
The show must go on,
The show must go on
Inside my heart is breaking
My make-up may be flaking
But my smile still stays on.

Whatever happens,
I’ll leave it all to chance
Another heartache,
another failed romance
On and on,
does anybody know
what we are living for?
I guess I’m learning,
I must be warmer now
I’ll soon be turning,
round the corner now
Outside the dawn is breaking
But inside in the dark
I’m aching to be free
The show must go on
The show must go on
Inside my heart is breaking
My make-up may be flaking
But my smile still stays on
My soul is painted
like the wings of butterflies
Fairytales of yesterday
will grow but never die
I can fly - my friends
The show must go on
The show must go on
I’ll face it with a grin
I’m never giving in
On - with the show -
I’ll top the bill, I’ll overkill
I have to find the will to carry on
On with the -
On with the show -
The show must go on...

The bolded parts are my favorite...


posted by Alina @ 1:51 PM   17 comments
Thursday, August 04, 2005
No specific topic, as usual...
I finally had a good night sleep last night! A simple recipe, if you’re wondering: a nice little message after a really light outing with two girlfriends. So, no anonymous, I am not pregnant! The world can take a deep breath as there won’t be two of my kind running around that soon! I plan for it to happen, eventually, but I still have some problems taking care of my own.

About my outing…Cris and I wanted to go get something to eat (I hadn’t eaten anything the whole day) when her friend Iza called, telling her she was waiting at the University Plaza. Cris had totally forgotten about that meeting, so we met Iza somewhere in the campus. Then went to this nice terrace and had some salad and drank still mineral water with a twist! My Romanian friends can notice the similarity with the Zapp Mobile advertisement “The group of the top models that only drink still mineral water with a twist salutes Zapp!” The truth is none of us was in the mood for something else…

Two guys Iza knew joined us for a short while. Cris and I didn’t like them that much, they were too much for the quiet get-together we had in mind…But, as Cristina concluded “they left quickly, we kind of ignored them and one of them actually told us some cool jokes”. The truth was I really didn’t fancy meeting new people, I would have preferred a different company. My anti-social moments are rare, but still they exist.

The three of us, girls, stayed a little longer and then we all went our separate ways. Just before saying good-bye to Iza, the text I was talking about completely changed my mood.

This morning I actually ate something at around 9 am. That’s like the first time in a week that I don’t have only one quick meal at about 6 pm. I guess I’m getting used to the heat…

People are actually swimming in the Dambovita river! How can they, the water is so dirty? One day, while walking home, I saw this homeless teenagers bathing in the river. They were two guys and a girl. The girl frightened me a little – topless in the middle of the city…No matter how fashionable that may be on the Romanian seaside (yes, a lot of girls like it around here!), it seemed wrong in the middle of the city. Most of these girls end up pregnant and give birth to homeless children. And I do have to wonder, what chance to a normal life do these children have? Someone should do something about it! Help them somehow…Someone? That should include me, I guess! Do something for a change, stop expecting others to do it! I probably should look for some organization and volunteer or something…Or at least write posts about these organizations or articles or something…

I feel very useless, socially speaking. I’ve never really gotten involved in something like that. I thought about it, once I was really close to go offer my help to a shelter for children, but changed my mind because I knew nothing about how I should act around them. No one is born wise, we all learn…

The only useful thing I did was writing a paper on feminist organizations in Romania. I discovered they do pretty amazing things, like building shelters for abused women and children. Then I monitored the papers. There are no daily national newspapers focusing on their work. Maybe it’s time I did more!
posted by Alina @ 1:42 PM   13 comments
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Sleepless or kind of
I have been having troubles falling asleep these past two nights. I just stare at the walls, thinking of a lot of things and then have a hard time getting up in the morning. I don’t know what exactly is playing with my mind. I usually have a lot on my mind, it’s a general state, but I had no problems sleeping before. Or maybe there’s just something missing or something I miss…Who knows?

Yesterday after work I met Oana at Carrefour. We both had stuff to buy and as we were hungry we first stopped at the McDonald’s. She was pretty upset and I couldn’t really do much to help her. But at least she found this great job within a huge company. It doesn’t compensate everything, but it’s a good start for her.

On the way home (a 10-15 minutes walk) all I could think about was to get out of those stupid high-heel shoes! They totally killed me! Cris was watching “Being Julia” when I arrived. And as I love the movie, I postponed my urgent shower for 20 minutes to see this wonderful performance. I still think Julia was an Oscar part, but I have no power over these decisions…Yet!

While I was reading Eve’s blog, I suddenly remembered the embarrassing conversation I had with Oana about her birthday. She has to take certain people out separately. I really wouldn’t want to be around ET! It’s not that it hurts, it’s not that I can’t handle it! It’s just that I simply don’t want to see him or his sister anymore. I am pretty tired of this pretend friendship! No, things didn’t end nicely, I got really hurt and felt really betrayed. No, we didn’t stay friends and we will never be friends. No, I’m not buying the “Really missed you, just didn’t care if you were alive though” attitude!

Things look pretty good in my life right now. I am surrounded by wonderful people so I really wouldn’t see one reason to expose myself to those that don’t really matter, regardless of their role in my past. The past is gone, after all…I do wish things were different in the past so that this segregation wouldn’t affect Oana’s choice in how to celebrate her birthday. But what happened cannot be undone.

I was thinking yesterday about how far I got, how much stronger I become during the year that passed. I started out totally depending on ET in what my computer was concerned and almost flunked an exam because he didn’t find the time to take care of the viruses in my computer. Thanks again, Cristina, you were a life-saver. Then got to installing my operating system on my own, starting to learn HTML and now I’m seriously interested in doing corporate support for an IT&C company, on their antivirus department! How funny is that? But I have to tell you I am proud of how I learned to manage on my own in so many hard situations!

In January I even started this blog. To get things off my chest, to let it all out! And it did more than that for me. I met a lot of wonderful persons and found out a lot of interesting things. Some of that people area really quite amazing in real life as well! Some of the people I knew in real life turned out to be amazing on the blogosphere. Moreover, I did practice writing and did eventually re-started writing novels.
posted by Alina @ 11:56 AM   13 comments
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
More interviews

Another interviewing day – two more interviews at the same company, actually. One with the department manager and one with an HR young lady that was actually very fun to talk with. I will have a final answer on the 15th, so if I don’t somehow get a better offer by then and they accept me, I will be their new corporate supporter. By the way, I never thought installing an operating system on my PC (which actually gave me a lot of headache) will count for something. It looks like it does!

So if I work there, I’ll have to learn a lot of technical details that will probably help me one day. Anyway, I like the field, it’s IT&C, the field of all opportunities! And I really need a challenging job to start using my brains again! The harder it is to get to be great at it, the better…

Did I mention I had these high-heels shoes on? Well I did…A pleasure, always! I can’t wait to get home and change! Funny, today is my one year anniversary here…I got very nostalgic all of the sudden. Cris was thinking about leaving anyway, and now Gaby, who came here the very same day as I did, said she is leaving too. I will miss this office, I am sure, better said the people here, but it really is time to move on!

posted by Alina @ 3:23 PM   8 comments
Monday, August 01, 2005
Anti-Mubarak protesters violently beaten by police
This information was the cloud of shadow during my weekend. As I tried to stay far from the TV for a change, I only saw a few images and had no idea what had happened. I found out the details today, reading Mohamed's post on this subject. For further information, check here and here (Links provided by Zoss).
posted by Alina @ 3:19 PM   5 comments
Can somebody help me with this?
There's an unknown country listed on my NeoCounter. As I am extremely curious by nature, I would love to know what country that is. So, if any of the five visitors from that country happens to come back and reads this request, please tell me which it is!
posted by Alina @ 2:45 PM   5 comments
Great blogosphere knowledge
D. Keith Robinson, "is a writer, designer, etc. in Seattle, Washington", thought of a list of things he learned from blogging. All of it true. I found this interesting post via Shirazi's blog.
posted by Alina @ 2:27 PM   3 comments
Those who've had a great weekend, please raise your hand!
You’re probably wondering about my weekend…Well, it was AMAZING! Yeah, that’s the word, and I do feel like bragging about it!

Saturday afternoon I left Bucharest along with K., heading to the mountains. Yes, the mountains!!! You heard me right, I did get to spend some times close to nature, breathing fresh air and basically having a great time. On the way there and back, I was the designated photographer and I took hundreds of pictures, not all of them very good, but it really doesn’t matter, I had fun taking them! The best part about this road pictures is that K. has a dolphin in his car, so I am pretty sure these are the only mountain-view pictures featuring a dolphin! Yay, a Pulitzer prize for me, please!

We got to Poiana Brasov at about 9 PM and started looking for a hotel to stay in. Our quest was very difficult: we staid at the first hotel we entered! We rested for about an hour and went to get something to eat at a very nice looking restaurant that totally messed our order, but what can I say, the words “impeccable service” do not apply to Romania that much!

We then headed to a club and danced for two or three hours on great and stupid music as well. I haven’t been dancing for that long since my birthday, I think, and although I didn’t feel the lack of exercise then, my muscle pain reminds me of it right now…

Sunday morning we wanted to get a cable car ride but it wasn’t working! It was under repair…There wasn’t even a hand written note saying when it will work, but hey, who cares about potential customers anyway! So we climbed a little on the sky slope took some more pictures but really weren’t interested in a longer mountain hike because none of us was an expert in what the routes are concerned.

Later on, we went to visit Brasov. My friend Alexandra would kill me if she knew I went there without letting her know (she lives there), but maybe she’ll forgive me! We had ice-cream at this cool looking terrace (bad service, still) and then headed to Sinaia to check if the local cable car was working. Well, it wasn’t. It is however functional starting today…I thought about going there on foot – the mountain-style way – but it was already too late. So we enjoyed the resort, seeing everything there was to see, taking some more pictures, and then headed back to Bucharest.

When I got out of the car, the only thing I was thinking about was “SLEEEEP!!!” although it was 7 PM. But our room was too hot to stay in for some reason, although it rained a bit, so Cris and I went to have a cold drink. With this delay and all, I still fell asleep at about 9 PM and barely got up at 8 this morning.

Soon after I got up, a friend of mine called me from the seaside telling me how much fun they had these past few days. Probably, but not more than I did!

Well, that’s about it, in short anyway! I promise to post some pictures soon, so that you all can be really envious of me!
posted by Alina @ 2:20 PM   8 comments
About Me

Name: Alina
Home: Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania
About Me: "This is my church. This is where I heal my hurts". It's also where I feel free and my preferred means of expression.
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