if i only knew...

Hungary joins the EU in 4 days

May 1st, 2004. For the last few years, this date was etched into our brains very deeply, but it was always a distant and blurry date. Even when we got to 2004 in January, it was still 4 months away. And now... it's only 4 days until my country, Hungary joins the European Union.

In the last two weeks i grew more and more excited. I always knew that it will be a very important day for the country and a very important day for my personal future as well, but the realisation that this day is now here, and happening, it's something really new and exciting to me.

It has always been a future date. The day that Hungary joins the EU. The day we become part of Europe again. The day we give up parts of our independence - this time by OUR CHOICE and not by being on the wrong side in a local or world wide war... All of this, in future tense. And now this future tense is getting slimmer and slimmer and will become a thing of the past in exactly 4 days.

Just 15 years ago, when i was 9 years old Hungary became a free country with the fall of the iron curtain. That time, i was too small to comprehend the implications and even though i knew the significance, and i saw my family's enthusiasm over the new Hungary, it wasn't really an event that shaped my thinking or my life in general. Of course it did - but it wasn't the kind of event you remember where you celebrated.

This day, May 1st, 2004, will be an event i will remember. I am now 24, old enough to understand, to know and to care about it. And old enough to not be angry with those who oppose the EU - we do have those in this country as well - but to be sorry for them. Because they are missing out on the party of their lives.

To celebrate the event, i am changing the blog's design to an EU colored one, just for fun.

Also, i will be taking photos abundantly on Friday and Saturday about all the parties and events that we celebrate here in Budapest and i will be posting them here.

Celebrate with me, celebrate with us, Hungarians! (And our 9 fellow new EU member countries!)

Mail art photography

Having participated in collaborative random travelling journaling via 1000journals as well as a miriad of other mail based activities at nervousness, i will be following the travelling cameras of Randompixel closely. Judging from the first returned camera, it will be lots of fun! (I like the commenting and the guessing of the context and location based only on the visual pointers on the photos.)

If you're new to this kind of mail fun:
"A camera, alone in the world. Each Randompixel camera was given to a stranger. Stickers on the camera instruct the recipient to take a few pictures and pass it along. When the camera is done, it is dropped in the mail, it returns home, and the pictures are posted here."
A new camera is posted each Tuesday. Yay!

Just a blog meme

Following Caterina:

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 23.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.

"When i first visited the workshop in 1994, most pieces were signed 'Manuel Jimenez.'"

From Crafting Tradition : The Making and Marketing of Oaxacan Wood Carvings
by Michael Chibnik

My two favourite famous people

Helena Christensen has been my favourite model ever since i first saw her in girlie mags when i was 11. She has the most beutiful face, full of character and not just the empty anorexic body that other supermodels sport.

Michael Stipe has been my favourite singer for ages. He has the best voice among current singers, rock, pop or any genre, really. Plus he is also a great personality. (But i don't have to tell you that, do i?)

Now, my favourite model (turned photographer, journalist) interviews my favourite singer:
The Observer: Helena Christensen meets Michael Stipe.

Sort of a chatartic reading experience. :)

Bonus: here is a photo of them together.

A letter to my future self

This is quite possibly the coolest link i ever posted in my blog: F u t u r e M e . o r g allows you to type up an email to yourself (or anyone else) that will be delivered on a future date that you specify.

I sent a letter to my future self to be delivered 6 months from now. I am making really important decisions right now about my future, so it was nice to be able to write down where i am right now, and what i hope to have accomplished by 6 months from now. I included a few reminders about my current motivation, so that i am reminded when i read the letter about where i started and why i am doing what i am doing in the first place. It will be interesting to read it and reflect on what has changes, what i accomplished, etc...

And a bonus cool fact: 6 months from now will be October 9th exactly. Which is my birthday.
I love the universe when it's playing tricks like this on me. :)

I am a night owl

Good article by the Seattle Times: How to rise and shine when you're nocturnal by nature. Apart from being an entertaining read it has usable advice on how to program your brain into getting up earlier than your natural sleep habits.

Plus:
"As soon as you wake up, get sunlight exposure for at least 15 to 30 minutes. Whether you take the time to walk the dog or drink your coffee on the patio, get outside." - one more terrific reason to get a dog, it helps with your sleep habits...

Google for lyrics search, my way and the API way

Ever since i started using search engines, i have been using them to find the titles of songs that i catch on the radio, MTV, or stuck in my head. You put the snippet from the lyrics that you remember, plus the word "lyrics" in the search engine and it gives you a whole bunch of sites with the full lyrics, artist names and all the related info.

Now there is a Google API application that simplifies this task and provides a cleaner results page: Search for Music by Lyrics.

(My problem with these little api applications are that they are brilliant, but i tend to forget or lose the URL and then i end up doing stuff the old way again, typing my stuff into google... In my dream world, google would buy all these applications and put it on their site so that we can access them more easily. :) )