I thought I’d share some data and some links on the issue of swine flu, since everybody is talking but people know relatively little about it. You can find more information on:

- the New Scientist website, everything from characteristics of the virus, possible remedies and the FAQ. My article is a short, summarized version of these.

- up-to-date article on Wikipedia, here 

- official up to date statistics & more on cdc.gov.

(mai mult…)

Everybody thinks they’re special. Of course we do. It’s one of the tricks that get us through the day because we  n e e d  to differentiate ourselves from others. Oh, look at this guy, he’s spitting seeds on the ground; this woman doesn’t have a mirror at home, she’s dressed like a hooker – we don’t want to think we’re on the same level as them, perhaps the people we label as “average”.

If you tell someone to their face that they are average, they will most probably smack you. You wouldn’t like to be called that, now would you? You’re special because you have a degree, you have a skill that surpasses others’, you speak 3 or 4 languages, you’ve travelled a lot, your friends definitely say you’re smart and funny (sometimes this is a compliment for them as well), maybe at some point your teachers thought you were bright but wasting your (god given) skills/talent/beauty. 

I don’t know about you, but people have told me some of these things over time, and my perception of myself shifted from insecure-and-shy to (relatively) confident and arrogant – “I am something else” and somehow this idea infiltrated deep enough into my processes that I sort of included it in my plans. As in, “it’s ok, no rush, I’m good, I can do this [project] in one night before the deadline and I’ll be just fine”. How’s that for arrogance going nowhere.

I’ve begun to decline with this attitude. When I was younger, between the ages 13 and 16 I guess, I took assignments seriously and prepared thoroughly – that’s the thinking my family induced. I never perceived it as an effort, I enjoyed parts of it and almost neglected the ones I disliked but still did well. After that age I started lagging, I didn’t care that much. When University began I still felt comfortable taking it easy. So I became limited and sufficient. This is the only self-destructive non-action I’ve taken in years but it’s a big one :)

The logical line of thought is “thinking you’re special makes you average“. Everyone thinks they’re special but not that many people live up to the expectations placed on them by others and by themselves. I think we’re entitled to actually believe we’re special only after we’ve done something pretty awesome with our lives. We’ll always be special to our parents because we’re, you know, their flesh and blood; to our friends, because otherwise they wouldn’t still be around us; and occasionally we’ll find people who share the same belief just because they feel kind that day. We believe these people because we trust them, but especially because that’s what we like   want  love to hear. We are programmed to keep our ears open for praise, not for criticism.

Ultimately, we only have ourselves. You know the saying, deep down everybody’s alone. We cannot run from ourselves, nor can we lie to ourselves. What we believe is entirely up to us. We can take other’s bullshit, make up our own or just do what the hell we’ve got to do and BE special, not just believe it and ACT as if we were.

So what’s the cure for this? Motivation, goals, some medium-term plan. I have my graduation thesis in two months that should be enough, but so far it’s done nothing for me :) 5 minutes ago I realized short-term plans never worked for me, because I always look for what’s beyond that “critical moment”. In the 12th grade, my friend and I made many plans for after the exam, small plans but they kept our imaginations busy and helped us relax. It was the little things, like having a big drinking session after it was all over, that made us think of the treats and not what we then perceived as the “ordeal”. Maybe it’s actually the small rewards we care about more, because they bring immediate, visible satisfaction. Because we’re used to that – gratification society…

Articolul asta e si pe Blogoree. Daca n-ai ce face, ia si voteaza aici. 

Sezonul in care infloresc lepseleee :) Asta e de la Catalin, care nu a putut-o  lua in serios pentru ca atenta la masculinitate si deci de imaginea de candidat la RBF 2010 :) Si in acelasi timp de la copilAndra . Si pentru ca nu prea primesc de la 2 persoane aceeasi leapsa, o sa fac o parte serioasa si una neserioasa… here goes:

If I were a month, I would be 
August, warm and warm:D | January because i’d depress everyone >:)
If I were a day of the week, I would be 
Friday, when nobody really expects anything from you / Sunday evening, when everybody’s cursing and bringing up body parts
If I were a time of day, I would be
 6 AM because I would be asleep./ 6 AM when the alarm goes off
If I were a sea animal, I would be 
a tortoise, because I’d definitely look like I didn’t belong there / An electric eel, for obvious coolness reasons
If I were a direction, I would be 
North-East, aka arrow pointing forward and up / right round baby right round, like a record baby right round round round – aka going nowhere
If I were a virtue, I would be 
beauty, because it’d be totally vain./ diplomacy :)) (it is too a virtue!)
If I were a historical figure I would be 
Gandhi. / Alexander the Great, did he kick some ass or what
If I were a planet, I would be 
Saturn (duuude, the rings) / Earth, because I am a masochist
If I were a liquid, I would be 
orange juice. Or some sort of booze./ saltwater. take THAT, cars
If I were a stone, I would be
 marble (shiny!) / a big one in the middle of the road.
If I were a bird, I would be 
a colibri, people would be fascinated by me and I could slap them in an 8-shape :)) / a dodo bird – big, stupid and extinct

If I were a flower/plant, I would be
a magnolia / some weird mushroom you wouldn’t like to touch
If I were a kind of weather, I would be
hot, sunny and rainy :) / munsoon season on your holiday.
If I were a musical instrument, I would be 
a violin or  a piano…Can’t decide, how ’bout a combination ?:)) / bongos.

If I were an emotion, I would be 
insecurity? / annoyance
If I were a sound, I would be 
the sound of raindrops hitting… [anything but metal] / nails on the blackboard. Classic
If I were an element, I would be 
water   /  Chuck Norris

If I were a song, I would be
 this one (sooo relaxing)  /  Love and Marriage (Sinatra)
If I were a movie, I would be 
Magnolia./ Napoleon Dynamite, sooo annoying and stupid
If I were a tv-series, I would be 
Seinfeld, obviously, except I’d have the length of “Days of our lives”:)) / Days of our lives, ’cause all the original fans die before I do
If I were a book, I would stay away from 
dusty book cases. I’d much rather travel and be in many people’s hands and minds./ the toilet… better safe than…you know.
If I were a fictional character, I would be 
Superman! / George Costanza or Groundskeeper Willie

If I were a food, I would be 
chocolate or mayonnaise – so  loved, so loathed :)) / ditto, get fat ya fat bastards
If I were a city, I would be 
Paris – too pretty… / Cuca Macaii sau Cucuietii din deal, the most famous cities evah.
If I were a taste, I would be 
sweet&sour / hot, chilli-hot
If I were a scent, I would be 
fresh, a little fruity, a little flowery, and spicy. / oh, you don’t want to know :)
If I were a colour, I would be 
green (this year) / peach, or champagne or something
If I were a fabric, I would be 
silk (love it) / wool. itchy.

If I were a word, I would be 
“I” (mu-ha-haaa) / mu-ha-haa.
If I were a body part, I would be 
a (green) eye :))  / that finger.
If I were a facial expression, I would be 
arrogance / yeah, arrogance, perfect
If I were a subject in school, I would be
some-language-class / math, chemistry and physics. combined.
If I were a cartoon character, I would be 
Lisa Simpson / Bart, duh.
If I were a shape, I would be 
round, like a bubble. / pointy
If I were a number, I would be 
1. / ∞
If I were a car, I would be a
 Lexus Hybrid (Ha!) / Dacia 1310, tuned.  Street Menace
If I were an item of clothing, I would be 
a guy’s striped, casual shirt. (what?!)  / sock. ONE sock.

Mai departe catre Misses Parker, Andrei (pentru ca-s curioasa, de-aia :P) si lista ramane deschisa, as always :) Cu caracter optional si fara limita de timp, desigur. (Voi scrieti numai cate un raspuns la fiecare, asa e jucaria originala)

For those of you who are patient and interested in insights… – Hectic and emotion-driven  post

My fascination with Sweden began when I was about 15 and starting to understand the surrounding realities. The bits of information I had were scarce and my access to the Internet was…limited, at best (year 2001-ish) but the general image that began to take shape in my mind included the concept of  better. Better wages, better services, better respect for others, better past, better economy, better people (you know, nice, tall and blond?) It’s a common Romanian belief that any other country is better than ours – not getting into details now. 

So around 2002 I made up my mind: I wanted to go to Sweden. I had no idea when that was going to happen and made no real plan concerning the visit, it was just wishful thinking at the time. In the meantime I kind of grew up and snapped my fingers and I ended up in Copenhagen. This was actually my first time out of the country, I’d never been abroad before so I really had no real perception about what I would find or whether I could cope with all-new surroundings or not. It’s one thing to know the theory about culture shock but in a real life situation it’s just you and the unknown.

Just a few days before coming to Copenhagen, my feelings were mixed. Excitement seemed to dominate me, but there were also fear, insecurity and a lot of question marks tossed into the mix. Eventually I just decided to be positive: should something go wrong, there was always the way home – but that would have been labeled as a failure. Sometimes, even months before leaving, I would dream about walking around Copenhagen, taking pictures and enjoying every minute, but then I”d wake up and think to myself: “Where the hell am I going?! I’ll be alone in a strange country, among strangers speaking crazy words that mean nothing to me. What if I get lost? How will I get by? Is this fo’ real??” 

my first picture of CPH

When I got here I was disoriented. I mean, I was trying to find an exit from the airpot to get a bus, instead I ended up taking the metro, and surfaced in a crowded street, full of people, cars and an unlimited number of bikes, old buildings, something that looked like a station, buses coming from directions I could not identify. I panicked for about 20 seconds and then took a cab to the hostel – big suitcase, tired, no good map, no orientation skills. After checking into the hostel, I left my big suitcase is the room, took a small(er) bag with me and just headed out. Out where? I had NO idea. Just OUT. I’d seen a big, brown-and-green building on the way so I thought I’d go see what that was. My excitement was so great that I didn’t care that it was dark, cloudy, almost raining, humid and extremely windy and that my bag was very heavy and hurting my back.

I left with just a general direction I wanted to follow in my mind. I found the big building, with its big square, a weird fountain, a nice terrace and a lot of people swarming around them, most of them tourists. The thought that I was here to stay longer than most of them made me smile and I suddenly realized the discovery moments are unique: I’d never see these places for the first time again. I started walking along the pedestrian streets in the old part of the city, checking the map every now and then to see whether I was still in Denmark :) I strolled for hours, discovering buildings, streets and canals, the old and the new combined in harmony – I’d never seen that before. As for all the water in the city – well, that was about the greatest thrill of all! I love everything that involves water, from fountains to rivers and seas. As I grew up in a city surrounded my mountains and hundreds of miles away from the sea, it was only natural that I would love what I did not have access to – that’s actually a great part of my personality and, whether I like it or not, this “principle” has steered many of my actions.

I’ve been living in Copenhagen for almost 5 months now, and the city still fascinates me. Somehow I always discover new things even around familiar places. I know the center of the city well enough to forget my map and not get lost. Today I passed by the hostel where I spent my first few days and remembered my first walk along the street, Hans Christian Andersen’s Boulevard, where I also took my first picture. The first building to impress me was the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, an art museum “guarded” by lion statues.  The simple, stupid fact that I can now name the places and buildings I saw back then amazes me and I feel like a kid who’s learned something new and beautiful that has changed his universe. To this day there are big areas of the city I haven’t seen, or that I’ve only crossed to get to some other place, but I believe it’s far more important to get the feel of a place and to enjoy it rather than be concerned about not missing anything. 

I’m sure I won’t remember to visit everything I ever thought of, but I won’t let that stress me out in my last days here. I have 8 more days to spend in Copenhagen and I’m already missing it. The other 3 days left until the 31st are dedicated to Stockholm – which brings me back to the beginning of this “story.” Sweden becomes a dream come true for me, although in the past years I stopped obsessing over it ;)) I only realized that two days ago, when I was on the train. To Sweden. The city of Malmo, to be exact, which is across the Oresund Bridge from Copenhagen, a ride which takes about 40 minutes. I’ve been planning to go there for months, but somehow never got round to it.

Why? Because people tend to take things for granted – myself included. The idea that I could see it whenever I wanted made me postpone it indefinitely, and made my last two weeks here full. Which is not bad, actually. I think I’ll remember this as one of the happiest times of my life so far. My stay here as well as the travelling I have done exceed the expectations I had. It could have been better and it could have been worse.

But it’s been wonderful.