Yes, it's that one lyric from "42&6" song by Tool.

So, why do we have this pleasure some times to scratch old wounds, especially those sort of wounds that never got a closure. I'm talking about those wounds, things that happened or done to us that as much they seem to get a scab, thin or thick, doesn't matter, they never heal. They remain like long, sometimes bleeding, scratches on the skin of our souls. Yes, soul can have skin.

We let them there, these wounds, trying as much as to forget about them, lying to ourselves, persuading ourselves not to feel the pain anymore. Yet, in spite of all this effort of trying to overcome them, to ignore pain and consequences, sometimes we start scratching them and picking the scabs. Are we still hoping for a solution, for a closure? Are we doing that, going back there, in hope of finding the said solution, hoping that finally they would start to heal for real? This is what for are we re-living the pain and all those (horrible) memories, for that solution, or is only mere masochism?

I have a confession to make: I wear contact lenses. Not to change the color of my eyes, but because I'm narrow sighted. Partly vanity, cause I got sick of nick-names and getting my leg pulled about my glasses wearing, and partly practicality, because for my diopter the glasses used to be (now they have better technologies), very thick and heavy, and also, cannot have much physical activity when you always have to worry about your spectacles.

Contact lenses are of two kinds: those that they call "soft", and you change them once a month, and "yearly", those you change about once a year. I prefer the latter, for many reasons, and, whatever others would say, they are good and resistant, you can have them even for 2 years in a row, without any trouble. But, in the spirit of the "consumism" and of the last years when everything is made of a lesser quality so they would break quicker and people would buy more often, and manufacturers get richer... I guess this is why they came up with the idea for the "soft" lenses too. When people buy a pair only once a year, the business can go well, but imagine all those people buying few lenses every 3 months.... then you get stinking rich. And every time I went to get new contact lenses, I've been held this speech about how I should start using "soft" lenses instead of the "yearly" ones, because it's better to use them. Better how? This is still one of those enigmas needed to be solved.

Today I decided I should go get new lenses. I went to the shop and there this missy received me from the second I set the foot in. I told her I want to get some contact lenses. Yes, ok, we have. What diopter? I told her my diopter. Then I asked if I can get seen by a doc. Yes, I could, but it costs X. Which was one and half times more than the last year. Ok, but if I buy the lenses, do I still have to pay for the consultancy? Yes. Well, last time, when I bought my lenses, I didn't pay for the consult. Yes, but this was the last time. Bit maybe you can come tomorrow, we have this doctor, a specialist in contact lenses. (Is there a special school for that now, or what??) Ok, I will come tomorrow, but I would like to know how much the lenses cost now. Well, it costs X for a case of... three.

Eh? Three??? Are they for humans or for three-eyed aliens?

Reading the Bible (or its other counterparts), in spite of all that smoke and fire, God seems to be a non-smoker. But, in reality, there's no mention in Bible, at least, where smokers stand. Or, as a matter of fact, whether smoking is a sin or not. There's not "Thy shall not smoke" commandment. And God doesn't get pissed off on any smoker, drowning him/her in floods that last 40 days nor strikes him/her with the mighty lightning. One could say that God gave them smokers lung cancer, as a punishment, but this would be plainly dumb.

I smoked for 14 years, and quited and restarted several times, as any true smoker does, usually. Now, I consider myself as a non-smoker, since I've quit almost 3 years ago and haven't started again. But, as a non-smoker, I prefer not to lecture anyone about the evilness of this habit. Each of us has that thing called freedom of choice, and they should use it. But what I'm not clear about is how religion goes with smoking.

Yes, there's this part where we're required to take care of our bodies, because they are like temples. But how do we take care of them when we are putting in them all that fast-food, all the bio-food that grows or lives on more or less contaminated soil, when we breathe an air filled with all sort of exhaustion gases?

Only this question would lead to a long (and endless) debate, but this isn't what I wanted to start here. There's something else I wanted to get to, something that happened recently. Some of the people that used to work for our company still collaborate with us, from time to time. So is this guy, who is very religious, a gnostic. He used to ask for hours off so he could attend some of these religious meetings, not often, only from time to time. On his time off he did volunteer work for this orphanage with kids with different sort of behavioral troubles (violent, etc). When we had this client that wanted us to create a dating site for them, this guy asked not to be put to work for this project, because it was against his religious beliefs. He's the very quiet type, very conscious about his work, etc, listens to classical and choir music.

Anyway, after few months, he's here again, helping us with a project. But... surprise, surprise: he's started smoking!!! Of course, I didn't comment anything (I'm sure many others comment on him about that, and I'm certain that it annoys him even if he doesn't show it), but I really wonder how does this goes with his religious beliefs.

Labels: religion, smoking

There's this stupid newspaper here, a tabloid, which is famous for coming up with the worthless shit, but today they made it, really big. They have there, on their first page "WE CAUGHT THEM HAVING SEX ON THE ROOF OF THE BUILDING!!!" *oh, wow, OMG, faints!*

When you read such stuff, you think that it's about someone really famous, like some football player or such. When you read "THEM" in a title you think they caught David Beckham having sex with someone else than his wife or so... But no, no one famous. *disappointed pout* Just an ordinary couple, a guy and a girl that wanted to sun bath on the top of their building, and, in the heat of the moment, started doing it. So "THEM" were just some fella with his gf.

But then there's this "CAUGHT". OMG Jail, handcuffs, anti-terrorists squad... Noooooooooo, not the police caught them. The brave reporter had. Yes, the reporter, or the reporters. How? Well, beats me, but who the hell in their right minds would go searching on the top of the buildings (mind you these are 4 or 10 story buildings, so it's not easy...) and then watch and take pics of two people doing it? I assume the reporter wanked a bit too, while watching the whole scene. Because he/she/it is a human too... And because only a wanker would come up with such a story, and print it on the first page of a national newspaper. And by the tone of the "news", I assume the reporter had either A) never had sex or, more likely, barely heard of such a thing called sex, and usually in a very, very bad context; or B) knows what's that sex, never has any, because he/she/it is just a freak no one would get laid with, not even for a mercy-fuck.

On a more serious and close analysis, I assume it's all made up. The couple was paid or did it even for free, just to get notoriety *rolls eyes*, because if you watch the pictures (YES, there are pictures too!!!!) you can see that the girl is rather posing, than being busy with her stuff and unaware of that wanker snapping pictures of them doing it. Guess the cam is now a bit sticky too.

Anyway, here's the gem, if you understand the language, if you don't, you can look at those, otherwise very small, pictures. (The reaction of the readers is worth 1 mill. also). First class journalism, what else can I say?!

Labels: article, libertatea, media, newspaper, sex, stupid

I need to have on my high-school and my Uni diplomas some apostilles applied. An apostille is a stamp applied on a document that you intend to use in a different country that the one that issued the respective document. It's an international certification. Some enlightened minds realized that it's no fun wasting time with all the bureaucracy, running from place to place; and also not fun for the institutions that collected papers after papers from each person that needed a document to be recognized. So they came up with this thing called "apostille". Why? To make things simpler. Simpler.

But how easy is it to get this apostille applied on your documents? At least in a country like, say... Romania? In Romania, to get this apostille applied you need first some other sort of stamps applied on your document. If it's a Uni diploma, then you have to go to this department in the Ministry of Education, and there they put their mark on, to authenticate it. Seems rather easy. (It used to be more complicated, a real hell, but after some media scandals...) If it's a high-school diploma, things get more complicated. First you have to go to your high-school (walk on the memory lane) to get a paper that states that your high-school diploma is genuine. With that paper, and the diploma, you go to this institution that applies a stamp on your diploma, and only after that you can go get your apostille. Simple, right? Wrong.

For the Uni diploma, first you have to make a call and make some sort of reservation. When you call, at the phone answers this guy that holds you a long lecture about how to get directly to the point, so we wouldn't waste time on the phone, and also seems to do his best to make people not come to get their diplomas stamped. First time I called he told me that for the country I want to go usually it's not required any stamps. So I had to have this checked. Of course I need those stamps. So I called again:
Me: "Hello, I need my diploma authenticated"
The guy: "For what country."
Me: "... (insert name of the country"
The guy: "Usually they don't require that, so you don't need any stamps. See, it was so easy, we don't need to talk a lot, just straight to the point, etc, etc"
Me: "Yes, I need that stamp, I was told I need it. Do you put that stamp for high-school diplomas too?"
The guy: "No, for this go to this place (names place), etc, etc. See, it was easy" (and I felt him about to turn off the phone.
Me: "But I need stamp on my Uni diploma too."
And then I got scheduled. For Monday.

For the high-school diploma, I called my old high-school in the morning. I asked when I can come for that paper, and due to the circumstances I could only come on Monday too, sometimes close to the time I was scheduled for in the other place. I rushed up to my high-school. When I got there, I went to the secretary. I entered this room with 4 offices, but there was only one secretary. She was reading and typing something at the computer. I stopped in front of her desk and I said "Hello!" (Romanian has a more official formula for this salute). But the woman didn't even turn the head at me. She didn't even say "hello" without turning her head. She did nothing. Just continued to stare at her piece of paper, as if she was still alone in the room. She was completely ignoring me.

Lucky me, though, one of the phones there rang, so she had to stand up, come near me to the desk on which was the respective phone and answer. Only after that she seemed to acknowledge me. She didn't ask anything, just looked at me. So I told her what I came there for. To this she barked: "You need copies of your diploma, your ID card, and you have to write a formal request." Ok, why couldn't they tell me all that on the phone? Maybe I would have made the copies before coming there. But, to my luck, there was a shop in the near with a copying machine and white pieces of paper for me to write that request. (And lucky me I brought with myself something to write with).

After I got my papers copied, I went back and sat on the edge of a fence and wrote the request placing the paper on my knees. Yes, right in the street there, because there was no other place for me to do that. Then, I went back to the secretary. In the room there were 2 others, while the initial one was gone. Those two others were chatting one sitting at her desk and gluing pictures of the fresh graduates on their diplomas, while the other one just stood in front of the desk. Again, they were ignoring me completely, as I stood there and looked at them chatting. When I could seize the moment (since the first secretary wasn't coming), I told the one sitting what I was there for. To this, she turns to the other one and says: "See?? Why do they all decided tp come only now?? They decided that they want to go out the country just now! I have another one who came exactly for the first thing, etc, etc".

She received my documents, though, but told me she's very busy. To that I said I can come back in another day (which is true, I wasn't doing her any favors or anything), mainly because I was in a hurry, and my mind was only on the 2 hours program they have at the other place, for my Uni diploma. So I told her I'll come in a different day to pick that paper and out I was.

I stopped only at that department that put the stamps on my Uni diploma. There... in the big entry hallway, there were couple of other guys waiting. It was long past opening hours for that department, but we were told that they hadn't start their activity yet, for the day. So we waited a bit, until we were told to go inside to the room where they put those stamps. At that room, two other people waiting for their turn too. When the first person got in, the girl that was the one checking the documents and applying the stamps stood up and left. Just like that. She came back, after 10 minutes or so, but that first person really got pissed off about this and she started to make some scandal. But, in the end it went pretty fast (mind you they ask to what country are you going, what are you doing there, as in what school you intend to go to there - but since I don't know yet, and I need it mainly to get employed, I was told that those stamps are put "only for academic reasons") and at least half of the problem is solved. I'm waiting for that paper in order to get my high-school diploma stamped, which, I assume it will be another adventure.

Labels: apostille, bureaucracy, diploma, institution, ministry of education, official, Romania, stamp

Delikatessen" - gorgeous French movie. The images look like vintage color photos. The plot? In a building owned by a butcher, where he also had his shop; the butcher killed people and he with the others inhabitants of the building eat the human flesh. He would hire a helper in the house, like a guy that can do all the job, fixing electric wiring, plumbing, etc., and at one point he would butcher him. But the butcher has a daughter, that wears glasses, is blonde, and plays cello. One day a guy answers his add in the paper for hiring a help; he's used to work in a circus, as a clown and had a partner (that proves later to have been an ape) named Livingstone. And, of course he and the butcher daughter fall for each other. She tries to save him, so she goes for help to these "troglodites" - people that lived in the sewage underground system of that town. And, of course, after a hard struggle, the 2 manage to escape the butcher and his knives. The butcher dies, and the couple live happily ever after.

The movie is absolutely charming, with all that macabre and dark humor. And greatly done. A symphony made of the noises created during daily activities - a girl playing her cello, a couple having sex on a squeaky bed (the butcher and the slut of the building), a work shop creating stuff for telephone receivers, an old woman knitting, and former clown doing some repair, another guy blowing condoms - I think he was trying to recycle them or something, etc, and he was checking to see if they inflate without breaking. Or a wonderful duo of cello and saw. Or the guy that lived in a flooded apartment with frogs, toads and slugs and listening loud to fanfare music. Or the two kids that did kids stuff, like stealing lace undies of the building's tramp, or trying to steal toads from the guy that lived in the flooded apartment, or pouring nitro-glicerine in the gun of the post-man that was coming to their building daily, bringing parcels sent by the butcher to his daughter, and also having a crush on that girl.

What time this take place? By the way they dress, it looks like in the '50s, but there's this period of economic low, people don't use money anymore, they exchange goods like in the last years of WW2 and first years of its aftermath, but they have TV sets, with a full TV programm, and also walkie-talkies, which, as far as I know, have been widely spread in the 1980s.

"The Hunger" - book by Knut Hamsun. I discovering the Norwegian literature, and it's a great one. A hidden gem really. Hamsun was awarded the Nobel Prize for "Hunger", but... now he's almost forgotten because he sympathized with the Nazis and was friends with Hitler and admired him. But he's an awesome writer. "The Hunger" is a detailed presentation of what goes through this really poor guy, a diagnosis and a description of the symptoms of his "illness" - the hunger. He's almost homeless, a vagrant, but in the same time he has this pride, he wouldn't beg for money, for example. He does a lot of silly and foolish stuff, in exchange. He almost loses his mind because of the hunger, ending up doing all the crazy things, from talking to himself, to giving away his only money to random strangers. The story has some sort of happy ending, because he gets a job on a ship going to Liverpool.

And I'm currently reading "La Pelle", "The Skin", by Curzio Malaparte, a story placed in WW2, in a Neapole "freed" by the Americans and their allies debarked in 1943 to free Europe of the German occupation. Malaparte wrote against Mussolini and Hitler, and done some jail time because of this, time during he started writing. After the war he even joined the Italian Communist Party. I'll talk more about this book when I'll be done reading it. For now I'll say only that I'm very much into his style of writing. He combines sarcasm, irony, with this very rich description, almost dreamy. The misery of a conquered town and of people drove to do the most atrocious things out of poverty, are turned into this very beautiful drawn image, in the best colors, with magnificent metaphors.

Labels: books, curzio malaparte, delikatessen, film, France, Italy, knut hamsun, Norway, reading, WW2

Did you read this? So, basically some US Navy barracks built in the 1960s when not many were able to fly above and see it, are placed in such a manner that they form a Swastika. Funny, a bit. But in these days, with Google Map and satellites, practically can be seen by anyone, and some even noticed. Some were amused. Others (many) even filed complaints about this. Complaints? Complaints! WTF??? The world is in such a deep shit pit and suddenly the worst thing is that some barracks form a lousy Swastika. I'm sure that that's the reason of AIDS, famine, wars, ass warts, hair falling and women's sterility. C'mon now!

But, when you say that there can't be bigger idiots, life rushes up to prove you wrong. US Navy is actually investing money to fix the problem. I'm sure all the other problems that needed financing have been solved, so they should put some money into fixing this problem now too.

I have a suggestion to them. They should arrange those barracks following this pattern:

......................... /´¯/)
......................,/¯ ..//
...................../... ./ /
............./´¯/'...'/´¯ ¯`·¸
........../'/.../..../... ..../¨¯\
........('(...´(..´...... ,~/'...')
.........\............... ..\/..../
..........''...\......... . _.·´
............\............ ..(
..............\.......... ...\

Currently listening: Saul Williams - Coded Language

Labels: Army, news, Swastika, USA Navy