Feel good recipe

I’ve caught a cold. And, like most people with a runny nose and an itchy throat I just sit around and do nothing all day long. Well, almost nothing. I’ve been thinking a lot. And because I’m not feeling so well my thoughts haven’t been the happiest ones. Past mistakes, rivalries and insecurities came to mind. But just when my dark thoughts were reaching their highest rescue came…in the unlikely form of a Facebook message. Knowing that somewhere in the world there’s somebody who loves you and can’t wait to see you is guaranteed to put the smile back on your face. Then, a note from someone who only spent with you a couple of hours but feels they know you enough to want to be your friends and keep in touch with you is one of the most reassuring things ever. And, last but not least, a phone call from someone at the other end of the world who calls just to make sure you’re ok banishes all negativity. I even think my sneezing stopped. Thanks!

Mean Girl

“If someone punches you, punch them back! If someone kicks you, kick their ass! Never let yourself trampled over!” This was the advice I received from my dad when I first got bullied as a kindergarten kid. He’s an ex-marine after all, so that might explain his not so “conventional” advice. And boy, did his advice work. It was a matter of days before I become some sort of tiny queen bee, with a clique and people to bully. And my attitude stayed with me all the following years-giving me popularity, attracting fear but also getting me into a lot of trouble, much to my mum’s chagrin. But somehow, I’ve been thinking of changing. Too much snark really affects your self confidence. And six facial fractures and a couple of days in intensive care make one wonder whether my attitude really isn’t too much. (though in the fracture case I was indeed attacked by a damn psycho but that’s another story).

Anyway, I’ve been making really big efforts to tone it down. But, life isn’t always that easy. So, today the old mean girl got her chance again. One of the general executives from the media corporation I work for annoyed me. ( I am a humble writer for the News TV, this lady is head of the News Agency and of our struggling – and incredibly bad- Women’s channel) She just seems to have a stick up her ass all the time and is really mean to people. Today, she snapped at me. I didn’t react on the spot- my “mean” reflexes must have been rusty. But 5 minutes later I was discussing her appearance with the entire redaction. She isn’t a very attractive woman. And I just happened to point out her strange,wiry hair. And suggest it looks a bit like she has pubic hair on her head. But that wasn’t enough. Even though everybody was laughing at her. When she passed me by I stood up and said “Look, it’s that obnoxious lady from ….channel. God, look at her face! And her hair: it looks like she stuck a carpet to her scalp!” She heard me. Didn’t say a word and left with a really offended face after the looks and the laughs intensified.

Childish, mean and utterly stupid. I know. Yet I felt strangely relieved. The old feeling of power I had in high school came back. Then the guilt hit me. It’s not that I fear loosing my job ( I am taking one month off anyway). But I fear this sort of behavior might only do me damage. I’ve lost friends and was hurt in the past because someone had out-bitched me just by pointing out my bitchiness. And loosing tastes terrible. Now I’m lost. People say my “mean” side is part of my personality and it makes me fun. So, should I give it up or just tone it down a notch?

Have a very schtroumpf day!

This year the smurfs or the schtroumpfs, as I called them when I was a kid, turn 50! Hmm, I’m pretty certain Schtroumpfette and Schtroumpf Vaniteux have had some work done but what the hell, if it keeps them looking good Schtroumpf ahead!

In the end, a clip from Donnie Darko where Donnie discusses the “existential nature” of the Smurfs/Schtroumpfs. Don’t tell me you never wondered about it!

Strumfanie inainte! ))))

Surreal measures

I had just pulled the comforter over my head when I heard the doorbell ring. Argh, so much for sleep! My mum answered and I overheard a male voice saying something about Nato, summit and inhabitants of my apartment. I then heard the guy scream and my mum shout “Come back, you bastard!” For a second I pictured my mum kicking the shit out of some secret agent who had come to arrest us. I even had a tiny script in my head: Some evil woman had set us up and pressed some fake charges against us because she was jealous. Jealous of what? Uhmmm, I don’t have the vaguest idea, I didn’t have time to finish off my “script”. And if you’re wondering how I could even think that a 50 year old woman could over power a James Bond type, well, obviously you haven’t seen my mum since her current weight gain.

But, no. The action movie in my brain was cut short. The bastard my mum was shouting at was the cat, who’s always been some sort of escape artist. And even now, when he’s not bursting with hormones anymore, he had decided to seize the opportunity and make a dash for the fifth floor. The shout was comming from the neighbourhood policeman, shocked at the spitting furball who had knocked into him.

So, yeah, after recovering Sasha aka Feline Houdini from attempting to pee in front of my neighbour’s door(old habits die hard!) the policeman finally broke the news to us.

There’s gonna be a Nato Summit in Romania (mainly Bucharest and a Bush- Base meeting in Constanta) from April 2 to April 4. And the authorities are taking extreme measures. Yesterday they banned some Germans from crossing the border because they were carrying leaflets!!!! How can some leaflets on “keeping the earth green” can ever be considered subversive? So, keeping up with this general level of paranoia, all people who live in downtown Bucharest have to get special cards. Cards, that, well…atest they live in downtown Bucharest because id-s stating the same just weren’t enough. So, starting from next Monday I’ll have to flash this special card and my id to the patrols stationed everywhere. Booo, this is stupid! Not to mention that since receiving my public transport violation card last week ( a reminder never to board the express buses while carrying just a regular bus card) my wallet is simply bursting. If only all these cards were bank deposit cards filled with money….A girl can dream, can’t she?

Exploring the Andes from the editing room

“At last, my greatest creation! It is compleeeete!”- anyone remember Dexter’s Lab? Yep, that’s me right now. I finally wraped up the Andes documentary! And it took me three whole weeks! No finals have ever made me so tired as editing this documentary. Whoever thought a documentary only requires some people willing to travel and a guy handy with a camera was wrong. Yeah, we were lucky enough the lovely members of Explorer Club gave us the tapes (more than 12 hours of recording) of their trek over the Andes for free. But after all the time I spent in the editing room I think I could get a job as an Andean guide if I ever fail at journalism. Why was I given this task? Well, my boss thought I am some sort of expert on Latin America since I talk non stop of my adoptive Chilean family and of my plans to reach Chile and Argentina one day. Anyway, in spite of my Chilean and Argentinian connections viewing 12 hours of footage, re-writting the scenario of the documentary over and over again, choosing the best scenes, picking the right music and deciding which moments to cut or minimize so everything would fit into 26 minutes wasn’t easy. In fact, it was one of the hardest thing I’ve ever done but, after seeing the final results, I couldn’t be any prouder! Sure, I’ve been finishing work at 10:30 pm, going to bed at 11 pm(unheard of before), fighting with the editors, the producer and the graphic designers but in the end I think it was worth it. Besides, I had a pretty neat excuse to cut classes.

My final thought on the Andes, Chile and Argentina? Well, I’m gonna repeat it : Can’t wait to get there!!! Saying the scenery was breathtaking would be an understatement. And I already knew the people are great. I did find out the difference between llamas, alpacas and vicunas. And decided newborn alpacas are the cutest creatures ever! I enlarged my culinary Chilenismos with lomo a lo pobre, sopa de mariscos and beer in a pitcher(amazing sollution for serving alcohol). I am certain now that Argentinian guys are the hotness! And, after, seeing that kid from the human orchestra dance in Santiago de Chile I remembered dear Marnie’s demonstration on Chilean vs US dancing. It’s all in the chest- hips coordination, baby!

PS: I got the pictures from the expedition from explorer.org.ro

High school forever

Maybe it’s the day I spent with my best friend since high school, Virginia, just relaxing and chatting as if we had no care in the world. Maybe it’s all the old classmates, acquaintances, boyfriends, etc. from high school I keep bumping into so often lately. Or my recent infatuation with the Gossip Girl series. Or the fact that I’m about to finish University and take the final plunge into adulthood (gosh, that sounds so dramatic and pretentious). I also remembered a friend’s comment from a year ago: “This is high school! Even though all these people are in their 20s they’re all fighting for the titles of most popular, nice girl who is admired by guys, party queens and kings, jocks and cool nerds!”

I’ve been overcome with a sort of nostalgia for my teenage years. The excitement, the feuds, the “clans” (bisericute in Romanian), the class trips, the crazy parties, the bitchiness. And then I realized that people outgrow their teen years but don’t necessarily outgrow all their adolescent habits. Show me a so called grown up who doesn’t bitch, binge drink or eat, go all adventurous from time to time and, sadly, who doesn’t back stab or try to undermine you by stealing something you value (idea, job, clothes, boyfriend, group of friends, so on). This is life. And I guess it’s those emotional and insecure teen years when life is at it’s most earnest.

So, in celebration of those stranger than fiction high school days I give you some illustrations from the book “Dear New Girl or Whatever Your Name Is”, a teacher’s collection of the notes students exchange in class. I’m also posting a brilliant stop motion animation, proof that the book really tickled a lot of creative nerves.

http://media.npr.org/books/holiday2005/dearnewgirl/lion_lg.jpg

http://media.npr.org/books/holiday2005/dearnewgirl/tomorrow_lg.jpg

http://www.fecalface.com/content/IMG_3521.jpg

http://www.fecalface.com/content/IMG_3522.jpg

http://www.fecalface.com/content/IMG_3524.jpg