I successfully loaded the home modules and now I’m enjoying a darker coffee than usual, leafing through a book or another, the country is back on track with a government after some crazy months, piece seems to have settled. Anything left undone will resume process until the winter celebrations are over. Suddenly we are left with an enormous amount of time which will be spent on removing dust from shelves, on polishing crystal glasses for the feasts to come, on finding the decorations in the cold attic, on chopping the tree to fit the room, on wishing happiness to everyone, on looking through the window. It is quite surprising how fast one can get back on a long forgotten track. 
Probably forgotten is thus a wrong word. I would say left behind, but yet again behind would imply some sort of comparison or establishment of a hierarchy I am not willing to do, so maybe left aside describes this path better. There are people you seem to know forever, there are places that seem to never change, I guess there is a set of elements out there which are just custom-tailored for every one of us and which can accidentally be found from time to time. If we are lucky. Add a scent of cinnamon and orange to this story. It will not compile otherwise. The output should be an array of winter evenings, with glistening snow and stars, with sparkle in eyes, with flickering candles and warmth coming from the logs crackling under vivid flames of past, present and future.
First impressions from Home
December 22, 2009 at 21:34 (Stories, Today)
Tags: dragon, home, squirrel
The Dragon met the Squirrel’s Folks. And it’s awesome.
Dragon: “How many days have you been at home in the last 6 months?”
Squirrel: “Zero 
“
After a flight that seemed never to take off, after a gazillion hours spent on Romanian “highways”, I eventually made it home. I almost forgot how it looked like in the past half a year I was away. The wanna-be plants in front of my house turned into gigantic leaf-less trees, the once red front gate rusted a bit more, the apple tree has one frozen apple left, the grapes were not even collected, still hanging, turning into not edible raisins. And I have 3 gigantic cats. Seriously, they are huge. Only one of them knows me and was happy to see me, the other two are wild and unfamiliar. They don’t even match the pattern of cats we used to have. The dog is still the same. Unchanged. My room, awesome as usual. Very orange. New speakers, new TV set, mostly the things are as I left them. My city is almost like going back to the 19th century. I like it covered in snow, I like it covered in mud, I like it because it’s mine and I like it because it’s in the way. It’s good to be back, it’s good to tell and hear stories. I’m listening to new music, I’m watching the news, waiting to hear that the dragon made it safely and sound to his home and thinking how to make the best out of the days that shall follow.
Until then, however, I should finish the task I’ve been paid for this semester…
Load word, jump, go home!
December 19, 2009 at 20:29 (Today)
Tags: happy bear with wings
I was telling you in some older post of mine that in this elementary blues we are dancing each day, our well established routines might sometimes, under particular circumstances, be in trouble. With a bit of luck and call it divine intervention, things feel just right and the dance adjusts itself effortlessly. It’s amazing, I have to admit. After a bit of unspoken rehearsals, you decide that it’s a good time to share it with the world. Or at least some parts of the world that might not have great relevance. Quizzical looks study your movements. Some seem to like it and they press the button, most of the people just go by without noticing it. Or without admitting so. The easy part was done, some part of the world knows. Now you have to face your circle of influence and convince them that your new shared dance is really awesome. They noticed that gradually the I turned into a we every now and then and that some of the radical selfishness went away. They’ll ask, they’ll want to know everything until three generations before and ahead, they’ll debate when you’re not there, they’ll worry, they’ll be happy to worry again, but at the end of the day it’s all good. It’s all how it should be.
It’s time I went home. It’s time I played with snow. It’s time I put the dust away, I hid the worries in a cupboard and cut the time in two, lower and upper part, both going on different data paths. The control unit will take a break and all the instructions will fly freely around. I’ll fetch a variable cat and a crazy dog and I’ll sleep.
Happy Holidays to you all!
Another post about time
December 15, 2009 at 21:05 (Today, politics)
Tags: Lady Daffodil, stats
Sometimes it is just scary to think about time. The first thing I wrote on this blog was that time is an invention of the West and to some extent, all my thoughts deal with time one way or another. Sometimes we are at peace, sometime we struggle. I guess it’s the stem of all problems and all solutions. Now that the year is almost over, it’s a good moment to look back, to look forward. Looking back, it is rather frightening how my views changed in just half a year since I started this cute business. 86 posts and 7000 views later, I feel like everything is different. And broadly speaking, some things have changed, which is only natural.
Top 5 in most viewed posts, apart from my About Lady Daffodil page:
- Love, music and the passing of time
- Moldova
- I like Băse
- The Dragon and the Squirrel
- The Role of Opposition
Clearly, politics and love make most of the traffic. And I don’t blame anyone, I am interested in exactly the same things about the others. A bit of gossip, a bit of tea while the time passes by. Most views came from Facebook, which is where I flood people with my random thoughts. The search words that brought most people on my blog are ballerina, sunflower, daffodil, lady, circles, ribbons and color. This is such a girlish blog, maybe too girlish at times, maybe it compensates for all the times I’m just wearing jeans and sneakers. August was by far the best month for blogging, somewhere in the middle of this half of year. I definitely had the time, the mood and the drive. And a bit of audience. (Even though we all claim that we don’t write to be read… well… there’s always a message behind the lines that should reach someone out there). I told you that my dad reads my blog and that my blog has been mentioned at internship dinners, parties, lunch, random chats and other situations.Pretty cool and fun 
.
All in all, it’s been a good year for business. I am pleased. And tired for that matter. I don’t even want to think that I haven’t seen my home for half a year now. My cats, my dog, my orange room. But no need to cry, in a couple of days I’ll go back to the place I’m trying to portray most of the times in a language that will never be able to encompass the reality I know, the reality I used to know, the reality I’m sometimes dreaming of and most of the times forgetting.
A song, a dress and no thoughts
December 8, 2009 at 23:22 (Today)
Tags: Nicu Alifantis, Oscar de la Renta
Oscar de la Renta
At the end of a long day, I found, among others, a very nice song and an enchanting dress, one I hear, one I see. A bit of color, a bit of melody, a bit of this, a bit of that. For one hour, time will be slow and thoughtless.
Ribbons of Color
December 7, 2009 at 14:44 (Music, Tomorrow, politics)
Tags: 2009, elections, orange, president, Romania, Traian Basescu
In the land of three colors, the people chose their leader.
The orange squirrel convinced her green dragon to fly to the
kingdom of a thousand bridges to send their thoughts for the sailor.
My naive and without doubt choice for Traian Băsescu started a long time ago, mostly as a family influence, as the ladies that shaped my existence are both involved in changing the system one way or the other (I always thought that politics and gods are a very lady like business). So I won’t deny the fact that the propensity for orange people runs into my genes. As you might have noticed, I am fairly proud of my beliefs and I am not exactly keen into hiding them. Nevertheless, this is the general setup. I liked Băse from the days he ran for Mayor of Bucharest. He actually competed with the current wanna-be president. He defeated him without doubt. The winner takes it all, this is a fact, but Base was the first politician I was able to understand literally. What he said made sense, even for a teenager like I was back in the days. In 2007 I gained the right to vote and I probably took part in the most beautiful campaign in Romania’s history. It was quite similar in shape and size with the one now. The Parliament tried to basically get rid of our choice, thus the country was all to some extent united with a common goal, keep Base in office.
I could sense bits and pieces of that campaign now, but being away from home made things more difficult. I watched all shows with Base, I posted a gazillion articles everywhere on the web, I shared my enthusiasm and my fascination with the world. I showed in my small circle of influence that it is actually possible to have an opinion, to like someone, to clearly state what your expectations are and what you want. The days of “they are all the same” are gone and I hope they are not coming back. In the past month I was the proudest Romanian in this small campus, I felt good about my country, my background. I couldn’t imagine Romania and my next 5 years without Base, without his show, without his speeches, without his laughter, jokes and without his way of seeing things. Of course, I don’t expect him to change my future, I’m dealing with that each day, but there are people around you who simply make you feel good. It is a natural choice to keep and want them closer.
Having said all this, you can imagine how yesterday was for me, how I felt it, how bad it hurt at times, how red my eyes and nose were. Yesterday the orange dream seemed over. The reds were already victorious and on top of things, the orange guys were left without power, no one broadcasting anything. I seriously felt like my bridge towards home is being pulled over, all the things I like and hold dear were vanishing, were going away. The future for the most beautiful movement in recent history seemed to have ended too fast. I was telling myself that this can’t be the end for Base. At least I wasn’t alone and somehow me and my friend concluded that we’ll get past this. There must be a solution.
I woke up this morning and realized it had been all just a bad dream. Our imagination playing tricks on us, nothing more. For couple of hours we all saw in front of our eyes what it would be like without our orange sailor. We were all scared and the morning brought a relief. It was all just a bad dream. With glistening eyes, we can go on with our common lives and enjoy the sun, the god weather, the upcoming winter celebrations. We made it again. Clearly the orange thread is getting thinner and thinner, but this just wasn’t the moment for a rupture. We are not ready.
Nothing Else Matters
December 5, 2009 at 09:19 (Contrasts, Music, Tomorrow, politics)
Tags: choice, Metallica, Nothing Else Matters, orange, politics, S&M, Traian Basescu, vote
For some reason I was hoping this morning to see snow when I turned the blinds. The smell of winter is definitely here and almost the temperatures. My plan for today is to frantically listen to Metallica. I haven’t played their songs in a long long while, because I had gotten tired of them. It seems like now it’s a good day for the Four Horsemen. Apart from that, there are still some pending tasks I have to tackle, as tomorrow I won’t be in town for most of the day.
We all know what’s happening tomorrow. It’s THE day. I cried, I laughed, I cheered, I hoped, now it’s almost over. Everyone made his/her decision. There is nothing left to change. We will paint 5 years of Romania with our choice tomorrow. And don’t you dare tell me it’s the same no matter the outcome. More than ever we have two choices, two halves, two directions. West vs. East, noise vs. silence, right vs. left, modern vs. old, us vs. them. I am not implying that the two directions are radical and have no connections with each other, far from being true, but looking at the big picture, the ideas are quite different.
The orange guy I’m voting for tomorrow makes me feel terribly proud for being Romanian. My home, my country, my values. And you know, it’s all about the attitude. Nothing else matters.
The Dragon and the Squirrel
November 28, 2009 at 10:54 (Tomorrow, Words, politics)
Tags: Absolventenkongress, Traian Basescu
A green dragon and an orange squirrel met on a pink
window pane and they watch the world from above.
You’re out of phase for a moment these days and the world turns 180 degrees around. Seriously. These are not times to be away from the news streams. Basically, what happened, I was away for two days in Köln for Absolventenkongress and in the mean time, the Romanian oil mob were putting into scene this incredible play against the guy I want to be president for Romania for the next 5 years. Now that the things chilled on all sides, it’s time to put down some impressions.
The day before the congress I was asking myself why I’m going to the congress. My friend on the window pane was emphasizing the obvious, I had an excuse to skip a quiz (which is always a good reason) and to have a 2-day break. I looked over the companies there, more or less interesting, but nevertheless, it’s always cool to talk to people. I like social events, I like crowded places, I like shaking hands in formal, business like contexts. And at the end of the day, putting on my pumps and my black suit is always a very good reason. It gives you a different perspective upon life. At least in the beginning. I shall not comment upon the views after a gazillion hours of walking on heels.
My first impression on the bus was, though, that the President’s List was very underrepresented. Don’t these guys need jobs or internships? That’s something I asked myself, but I couldn’t find a proper answer in the 5 hour journey. First day at the congress was spent chatting with this and that, Dell sent me to Russia or India, in Germany they need only salesmen, IBM was kinda bored, Philips were very enthusiastic, but by the end of the day I had found my call, I had found the real reason why I was there: pens! OMG! The congress was the heaven of pens. I suddenly remembered that this thing is actually similar in format with the ones my mum attends, from which she brought me all the time the coolest pens in all sizes, colors and shapes. Second day I dropped the pumps, put on some sneakers and started raiding. It was FUN! If you ever need a pen, do drop by .
All Cannons on Traian Băsescu
Happy to have gotten back on my pink window pane and enjoying some home-backed cookies from our far far away land, the news hits me. Some clip is all over the place with our current and future president presumably hitting a kid in the face. The twitter buddies already had decided to stay home and not go for the next round of elections (which are crucial, least to say!), my first thought was okey, how do we repair this? Some ask themselves if Base did it or not, but honestly I wish I had been in that kid’s shoes. Dude, can you imagine?? The President touched you! I would boast around to all my friends. I would put the picture in a frame on my wall. How cool is that? I’m the one . On the other hand, only in Romania it’s possible to be that close to the president. Imagine a random kid being close to Obama. You can’t, can you? So yes, the whole plot was brought under the spot light by our billionaire friends that apparently cannot sustain their fortune without the direct implication of the state. This scene proves their stupidity double fold. First of all, this is the best they could come up with, some crappy 30 second clip from 2004 and second of all, they cannot function in a capitalistic, monopoly free, democratic environment. And there is one more thing: if this is ALL they could come up with after 5 years of Base being the president, can you imagine how COOL Base actually is? And pretty clean in the end.
Having said that, I am now even more convinced (if that is possible) to vote for Base next week and hope for the best. It’s us vs. them yet again. But from my window pane things look sunny. Sunny on all sides, planes, angles and perspectives.
Yesterday
November 23, 2009 at 13:47 (politics)
Tags: elections, politic, president, Traian Basescu
Yesterday all my troubles seemed so far away…
Yesterday most of us felt really caught in the magical air of making a choice for us, for our country. Either we went voting for our favorite candidate, or against a particular person we don’t like, or because we just want to trigger change, fact is that more than half of the people with voting rights cast yesterday their choice. It was amazing. It felt like we care, like we want to be part of our future, like we are all somehow together, no matter the result, no matter the opinion.
Most of the times we are very individualistic and we don’t think too much about home, about our country, about who we are at a basic, root level. It takes a November day to realize how far away we are from everything that we hold dear, how different our lives have become and how deeply we miss all the warm, worry – less places back home. Inter-cultural leaders of tomorrow and whatever this profoundly Americanized society is selling us is just dust and in a day like yesterday you may come to realize that this dust can easily vanish and beneath it you see just emptiness.
That was just a side comment, a sort of feeling I have after yesterday’s election and events. As I told you before, I went to support Traian Basescu and the results were relieving. It was reassuring to some extent, given the entire media pressure in the last days. For the last round, the 2004 story is reiterated, as left and right meet again. To some extent it looks fair, two big parties, two powerful candidates, it’s the competition Basescu was striving for and I’d say that now he has it. I think he’ll easily win these elections, but you never know what future holds in store.
At the end of the day, what is left after yesterday is a warm feeling that we are on the map so to say. The first generation 
to have seen the democratic day light voted for a first time, we learn to express our political opinions and to stick to our decisions. And now that I’m not alone on this orange side of mine anymore, the prospects get brighter and brighter. With a very emphatic orange shade, of course. Btw, for all Romanians in NW Germany, you have to try the Romanian restaurant in Hamburg. It is simply amazing, home far away from home .
Simple Things
November 19, 2009 at 16:18 (Stories, Tomorrow)
Tags: hourglass, time
In some older post of mine I was telling you why I actually started this blog, which was a sort of challenge, say the least. Couple of months later, I think I definitely won the challenge and I believe my proof ended spectacularly about the time I decided to make peace. Looking at the statistics, I noticed that this month is very underrepresented as compared to the others and I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily because I had many things to do, or more than the usual, but it’s probably because whatever triggered this process is now blooming in reverse.
As I was telling you in that older post, I started with an anger to open all the doors out there, but the door problem is the following: you can open as many doors as you want, but once you move away from a door, your rejection won’t 
allow you to return, unless, of course, you are willing to do a compromise that in the end will not be worth it. You can only catch a glimpse of what’s behind each door and your judgment is rather subjective, being relative to what you have seen before. The idea is to step through the door that best matches your interests, your thoughts, your expected value, because there’s no turning back. The doors open in one direction only. There might be loops, but that’s a different story. The literature says that, if you know how many doors you are faced with, then you have a chance of about 37% to find the best one. I guess our existence is more general than that and we don’t really know when to call off the search. But that’s when something interesting happens. In a sunny day, all of a sudden, you open this door you’ve actually seen before, but which didn’t really catch your attention until now. You throw a glance inside and you see something that you really like. The odds are rather against you and at some point you’ll have to decide if you step on or through, but you can’t help feeling mesmerized of all the simple things behind it. Simple things that fall into a puzzle that actually makes sense and somehow the initial idea of finding ‘the best’ becomes rather irrelevant. The hourglass will do its job, while you are looking at your mirror image through the door and there’s yet time, all the time in world.
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