People never cease to amaze me. A girl of 27 , Thai, with a train-like name that means, roughly, “a cheerful ray of sunshine”. During vendor presentation she [very forward...that's simply not done!] asked for a quote for herself (electronic TV-enabled  bathroom mirror with LED underlights…”oh, for you, with designer’s discount, it’s about $1,200″ – [...]

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20.00

February 4th, 1992 a customs officer in JFK put an arrival seal on my entry visa. i look at my “white” [alien] card, at frightened eyes behind glasses on courageously “holding it together” young woman’s face, and can’t believe twenty Februaries that passed since. i even have a similar haircut…but no glasses. and no other [...]

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Матрица распадается всё быстрее

Я убежден что лет через семьдесят сегодняшняя “война с наркотиками” будет представляться такой же дикостью как смертная казнь для самоубийц, положенная законом в доброй старой Англии. Arpad Позвонил старый друг (о нём: здесь, здесь, здесь и здесь). Не говорили три месяца. За это время в его большой семье произошло много…событий.

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Confessions on a train bench

Couple of days ago I went to a Benefit Auction of a design association where I am a member. It was held in a brand-new furniture vendor’  showroom, all glass, stone, hard plastics: slate-gray, steel and fuchsia. Guests arrived bearing gifts (I had a peek into donation chart), dressed in their cocktail-hour best, wine was [...]

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Sunday musing

While the bells on Lutheran Church behind my window tolled for a morning service I lazied in front of the laptop surfing the waters of the Net. Starting from the bottom of my blogroll I finally came to the latest addition to dear Akaky Akakievich’ Collected Works and I couldn’t not leave a comment – [...]

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Sign

On a restaurant in my neighborhood, recently bought and remodeled: Grand Opening of Logan’s! Modern Latin Food and a Hukkah Lounge! Talk about “confused”…

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Козлу баян

Authors’  (John Burke and Simon Norfolk) caption: The swimming pool that crown Tepe Wazir Akhbar Khan, built by the Soviets in the 1970s and restored in recent times at great expense by USAID. It is uncertain if it will ever be used. Ну ОК, ОК, пусть без козла. Тогда попу – гармонь. Икону – папуасу. [...]

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Про имена

С пятницы работаю в очередной компании ( не поздравляйте: на короткий срок и фрилансером); водили знакомили с коллективом. Так вот: моего кагбЕ ментора зовут, натурально, Адонис. А тётку из HR, которая должна дать мне на подпись налоговые формы  (но ещё не) – Ryan. Ещё присутствуют Vermon, Ronaldo и  Michal (именно так: с M, O и [...]

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August 19

Russian-speaking bloggers are sharing their reminiscences about events on Moscow on August 19, 1991. Some were on Manezhnaya Square, on either side of the barricades, some celebrated their kid’s birthday, or mourned the loss of their first love, or cooked and distributed water for defenders of the [Russian] White House, or locked themselves home and [...]

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Hints

Sometimes I wake up at four am and ponder over the signs the Universe persistently sends to me. Every time I change TV channel I happen on some disturbing commercial, most often it is a “Suicide can be prevented!” Or another one, where they show sad people with dead eyes and propose that I consult [...]

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