Yesterday I rode my bike to the Sparrow Hills. The day was nice and sunny, not very warm though. I made my way to the university, sat on a bench on the square for a while calling some of my long-forgotten friends. Then I decided to descend to the picturesque Sparrow Quay and to ride alongside the river. I rode along Kosygina St all the way down to the Third Ring, where I hit the embankment.

What surprised me even then was a certain difficulty pedalling which was quite unusual for riding downhill, but I chose to ascribe it to the strong wind blowing unto my face. There was another uncommon thing, and that was swaying rear wheel. Soon I found the reason. I tried the tyre: it was completely flat! What the hell! I had had to pump it up at home as well, but it hadn't been that bad then. A little bit of pumping work, and here I go - the wheel is as firm as a stone.

It took me a few dozen feet's ride to understand how damned wrong I was. The tyre was flat again, as if I hadn't pumped it up at all. It became quite clear that any further riding was completely out of question, it would only harm the wheel and the tyre. OK, I don't mind walking either, at least in such a great natural environment as the Sparrow Hills Park. I grabbed the handlebar in my left hand and headed for home.

Odd enough, I covered an approx. 5-miles' distance in slightly more than an hour. At home, I took off the tyre, and examined the tube in the sink filled with water. The hole was apparent on the seam, it had obviously been caused by numerous Moscow's pavements which you inevitably have to jump on. You can lift your front wheel, but little can be done about the rear wheel which hits the corner of the pavement every freaking time.

Now I'll learn from my own experience and buy a couple of extra tubes to have them with me in my backpack in case shit happens again so that I wouldn't have to walk with my bike that long. It only shows how difficult it may be to foresee all possible contingencies. However, it doesn't seem that difficult to take them all into account and improve one's practices in view of experience.

Uhh... This was by far the least pleasant professional experience I've ever had. Two days in such a grim place are something which not everybody could withstand, oh trust me!

Yesterday and the day before were the days I will long remember, as I had to translate in a butchery. Yeah, too bad, no kidding, a real butchery where animals get killed to satisfy human needs in meet, sausages, cutlets , hot-dogs what not. You could hardly imagine a gloomier spot if you haven't been there yourself, I'm telling you! It smells like death, and even the food in the local canteen doesn't bring any delight, no matter how hungry I was after a day's work.

You could tell me it's necessary to kill bulls and swine to get meat. Yes, you're right. We need this deathly product, not everyone dares to become a vegan for life, not yet me. But if you once come to see a facility like this, your view of the issue will probably be changed. You'll see the eyes of those animals and make sure they understand everything, realize what will happen to them in a few minutes. Just don't look at them as a mass of stupid kettle, but try to pick out one animal and look into its eyes. You'll see a lot of silent grief and some weird kind of hopeless submission, I'm positive!

Actually I didn't see the process itself, I had to interpret for an Austrian guy of Bosnian descent who oversaw and directed the construction of a new conveyor. It all took place in the adjacent hall which wasn't yet finished. But yet it was in some way obvious that the whole facility was saturated with blood. Even the way to the canteen lay through the hall where the meat was cut. No, this isn't any kind of good thing to see animals who are driven to the "production" area and then see their bodies being prepared for slicing.

Again, I was extremely lucky in that I did NOT see the process of killing and dying itself; what I saw was just the gloomy faces of the people working there - you definitely have to belong to a certain sort of humans to be able to do a job like that, then the way animals were treated - like rubbish, like shit! They are living beings, and they have souls too, yes, why not? And they are innocent, they've never done any wrong to anyone in their short lives. In reward for that they receive only one right - to get killed with a long-before anticipation of the end.

The only funny thing was the boss of this facility - a man with a rather disgusting scarred face. He was incessantly followed by two armed fat boys who kept being three steps behind him wherever he went - like tails. When I worked with him, I looked into his eyes and saw a well-hidden fear. This guy who was the boss of a death factory - he was afraid - yes, afraid of his Tajik and Uzbek workers, competitors - who else? It had never occurred to me how true it might be that cruelty almost always goes hand in hand with weakness and fear, doesn't it in fact?

However thoroughly loathsome this experience might have been, I must admit that it's been valuable in a sense. It is not that I can't enjoy meat right now, and there's no certainty as to when I will be able to eat it like before - it's more of a moral change which such events bring into the souls of people. It may be that one day I finally once and forever decide on becoming a vegan - the reminiscence of this abhorrent place will add up to my decision, as it will undoubtedly influence my way of thinking some time in the future. After all, it's not comedies and fun that really instructs, right?

At first, I thought this truck had a machine gun on it, but let's be sincere: it looks more like an exhaust pipe. The ventilation pipe, as you can see, is also mounted above the engine.

Is it true that such trucks can float? :)))

It has long been my dream to buy an mp3 player. However, one thing is to dream and quite a different one is to go, pay money, and purchase. You start comparing options, finding deficiencies in all models, and eventually find yourself without any player at all. Plus, it is not always easy to spend money on yourself, making presents to your family may be much easier.

Finally, I found a model (COWON iAudio7 - 16 Gb) which suited me quite well, and ordered it at an online shop. Now I have it; it seems that this is the best one manufacturers have to offer as of today. Well, see for yourself:)))

It looks like nature will never cease to bestow unusually warm weather upon us this year. April has just come, and there's already no snow on the streets, and the sun is shining like it normally does in late May. On Sunday, the temperature topped at 19.2 C (68 F) beating a 30-years' high. Hopefully, mother nature is not planning to take a revenge and overwhelm us Russians with a heavy snowfall in May; otherwise it is great that spring is so early and cheerful.

On Saturday, I went to my dacha to spend a weekend in fresh air. In the morning of that day I had a headache - a little remnant of beer hangover which was the result of our party on the eve with my friend and colleague Dmitry. But as the day went on, I decided not to lose time and enjoy the nature in the country.

It so happened that I travelled to Zagoryanskoye (the village where my dacha is located) with a very interesting man, journalist, teacher, writer, what not; we had an exciting conversation which made the trip much shorter. But I'll get back to this later, and now let me tell you of some of my activities during this weekend.

First, I had to dismantle the metallic pipe which stretched along our fence for as long as I can remember. Last year I decided to use a hose instead of pipeline to deliver water to the outdoor sink. But then I had no time to really dissemble the pipeline, which now prevented from raking leaves and otherwise decorating the area. Most naturally, my first idea was to unscrew the pipe to divide it into several parts and then store it in the garage. One joint went well and fast; next junction was too old and rusty to surrender; I even broke the wrench)))

It is more likely to ascribe the fact to the wrench being made of crappy steel than to my unusual strength which my Mom immediately did. Actually, I flattened the pipe first, trying to grasp it firmly with the wrench, and only after that did the tool fall apart. I thought: "Thanks God it has broken under such circs, it would've been much worse had it been under pressure or incessant water flow. Now i will learn the lesson and see what I buy ".

Finally I took a circular electric saw and cut the pipeline into equal pieces and stored them properly; it will never compromise the look of our dacha any longer. Then I raked leaves and took them to the peet box; they'l need some time to become good peet. Doing this, I found an abandoned nest in the grass. Once again, it surprised me how ingenious and elaborate animals can be; they have no engineering degree but by some virtue make such cosy and practical homes that humans can only shrug. When I put my finger inside, it felt warm. I only asked myself if the warmth was purely physical, due to the smart design of the nest, or it was for the familial warmth which had been secured by the inmates of the nest and sustained the winter?

It's been a nice trip really! This is the first time I'm riding my bike in the year 2008! After making some adjustments and fixing a new fender, my bike was totally ready for the road. Having pumped my tires which had gone flat during the winter, I made my way out of the house to a bike shop where I reckoned to buy ankle belts and maybe some other stuff for my old two-wheeled buddy. Odd enough, the shop was not there despite being indicated on the map. No harm done, I headed for the Sparrow Hills, a good spot for enjoying sunrises in summer, and in some fifteen minutes I was there. On my way, I had called my Mum, as she enjoys walking in the Sparrow Hills Park near the Moscow University, and we argeed upon meeting on our usual spot. We had a half-an-hour's walk, as Mum felt cold, and the wind was rather strong; I was walking with my steel stallion in my left hand - a true friend must always be at your side.


After that, I rode to the same spot from which I had enjoyed sunrise last summer, and took a look around Moscow. True, the whole city looks from that place like a tiny toy town where you can move little cars, houses, and people just with your fingers. Most of Moscow's sights are visible from the Sparrow Hills.

This is the first ride after the winter, my body is a bit tired, however, tired enjoyably and pleasantly; hopefully, I'll ride more frequently this year then I did last year and the year before. After all, the beginning has been awesome!

My 24th birthday was on Monday, March 24, 2008. I had always had an idea that such numeral coincidence would bring something really peculiar, if not exciting. My anticipations, however weird for a practical man, turned out to be true: the day was very holiday-like.

In the morning, I decided to go somewhere by car with my Mum first. We considered some of Moscow's parks, among them Kuzminki and Kolomenskoye. Kuzminki was quite far from our house actually; Kolomenskoye was considerably nearer, and, to tell more, we hadn't been there for some ten years and were curious to see the park and historic buildings in it renovated. Thus, we decided upon the latter.

The weather was fine, however, not exactly sunny. It was neither chilly nor warm, the wind was somewhat sensitive, especially on the bank of the Moskva River. We walked along the paths and alleys of the park,
arm in arm, past old churches and palaces used previously by some of Russian tsars. The view of the river valley is superb; I really regret not having taken a picture of it; I'll take the chance next time definitely. If you look across the river, you won't believe you're not too far from the downtown of Moscow - but for some block houses left and right in the distance on the other bank.

We descended to the bank and strolled a mile or so along the river. It had really been a good idea to pave the embankment and to furnish benches at the side. Now people can enjoy walking along a picturesque alley with admirable views on both sides. We did not see the end of it, because it's quite a long road nowadays, which stretches probably to the outskirts of Moscow, haha)))

At home, I relaxed for an hour and a half, and went to the restaurant to revel on the occasion of my birthday. I had chosen The Old Mueller for the celebration and reserved it for seven o'clock.  My friend Nick was almost sharp on time, some other chaps came later exhausted by a soccer game. We had a hilarious party, ate Bavarian sausages, pommes frites, and drank beer and cognac. The Old Mueller is a German-style restaurant near the downtown of Moscow, its outer appearance gives an impression of a medieval fortress; the same can be said about the interior, although the designers could probably have done a better job)



There were two follow-up celebrations: one with my Mum on March 25 (when I came home on the evening  of my birthday, she had already fallen asleep), and the other one on March 27 with some other friends of mine. Well, not much for a party guy like me)))

Anyway, the day of March 24 was remarkable in all possible ways, the most important thing being that a lot of buddies congratulated me on the occasion, and someone did it a bit afterward, when we got to know each other more closely; and it all was so wonderful!!! Thanks to everyone, I really appreciate it!!!)))

On March 8, the International Women's Day, Mom and me decided to go to the Zoo. People normally visit there with kids, and who could imagine it might be such a big delight to watch animals with one's Mom! You know, animals seem so kind and tender and fluffy in the distance when only you don't contact them directly, because in reality they might be rather dangerous))) But in the zoo we looked at them, elephants, giraffes, wolves, monkeys, apes, birds, insects, snakes, walruses, and admired the nature which has created such cute species!:)




In the evening we dined together in the Chinese restaurant of China City on Koroviy Val Street, on the Garden Ring, Oktyabrskaya Subway Station. We had been there before on my parents' silver wedding. They offer a wide diversity of seafoods: prowns, mussels, algae, as well as meet with pancakes and Far Eastern deserts. The restaurant itself looks pretty much like a tower-temple from outside, and has a Chinese-style interior with dragons, candle lamps, pictures. If you'd ever like to taste Chinese cuisine, I strongly recommend that you go to China City!













How tender!

The US presidential election, which is to be held on November 4, this year, has been drawing a seemingly unprecedented media attention for the past two or three months. And this is true not only for Russia, where we have our own "election" which will take place in less than a month, and the outcome of which was strictly predetermined by the president a couple of months ago (by overtly designating the successor). Almost all Western media publish extensive coverages of the 2008 election as well. What is the reason for that?

The USA is by far the world's largest economy, greatest military power, most advanced center of scientific research in all fields; in other words, it is the richest, strongest, and smartest democracy ever, and will certainly keep the status within the predictable future. Thus, any change in the policies of the hyperpower will influence the world's politics, markets, culture etc. No wonder that all countries follow the US primaries more attentively than elections of their governments, if there are any in fact.

Whom then should we support in those elections? There are currently three candidates with a chance for victory: Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton from the Democratic Party and Mr. McCain from the Republican Party. Let everyone make their own choice, the USA is a free democratic country without "successors" and "heirs to the throne". The outcome is uncertain, it will result from a fair contest between different candidates with different stances and programs.

In my opinion, the new president should be everything what the current one is not. The policies of the White House need to be seriously revised, and the profile of the country, somewhat damaged within the last eight years by the bullyish foreign policy, has to be restored. If we take Republicans, we can see that John McCain is the only candidate who stands a chance to win. But there are serious fears that he might resume Mr. Reagan's and Mr. Bush's cowboy policies: he has openly admired President Reagan and his aggressive ways, and he is known for his rigid views. It looks like the country needs to take a break from the Republican rule.

Among Democratic candidates there are two obvious leaders: Mrs. Hillary Clinton and Mr. Barack Obama. Both have a strong personality, good educational background, and a distinct plan. And here, I think, Mr. Obama is a better choice. He has never voted in favor of the war in Iraq unlike Mrs. Clinton, thus siding with the incumbent White House administration. He is not member of any major ruling clan in the US politics, but rather a self-made man-who-lives-next-door who has paved his career by education, talent, and performance. I'm sure Mr. Obama who has obtained a JD degree from Harvard is able to bring a positive change into the administration which is bogging down in internal and external problems. I don't think my stance matters much right now, but if you ask me whom I support in the presidential race, I will have no doubt answering: There's only one candidate whom I totally support, and that is Mr. Barack Obama.

I think Mr. Obama stands a good chance of becoming the 44th US president, but we shall see what happens in November. One of the most important aims of my LJ is to make predictions and then see if they match the reality or not. So, my prediction now will be: Mr. Obama will be elected president. However, it should be noted that the result of the election in the Land of the Free is almost always unpredictable, and the candidates have equal chances to prove their point in debate to gain voters' support, and win by narrow margin.

You can read more about Mr. Obama in Wikipedia and on his website. If you are interested in the most recent updates on the polls, please check out here.

I hope I'm not alone in my confidence that the greatest country in the world deserves an intelligent president. And so, our choice is Mr. Obama!!! YES, WE CAN!!!

Hi everyone,

I'm still here, although I've made a long break in my LJ postings. It might be a good idea to become a more accurate blogger in the coming year:)

Most days in our life are normally filled up with routine work in different kinds of fields which hardly deserves detailed description, but today's occasion in my own life undoubtedly calls for an entry.

Today I've worked with the renowned Ruud Gullit, an eminent Dutch soccer star of the late 1980's and early 1990's. Then he successfully played for HFC Harlem, Feyenoord, PSV Eindhoven, A.C. Milan et al, as well as for Dutch national football team. He has been awarded a number of honorable titles for his merits in soccer. After retiring from international football in 1993, he has been active as a coach ever since, working for acclaimed teams like Chelsea, at the time when the team had not yet experienced a huge influx of money from Mr. Abramovich. Currently he is employed as the manager of the Los Angeles Galaxy team in the USA.

You can read more about Ruudy in an article about him in Wikipedia, I'd rather share my own experience of working with him.

The day began with a press conference, which had been scheduled for 10.30. As usual, I came a bit earlier, at 10.15 approximately, to get acquainted with Ruudy. He was tall, swarthy (he's of mixed Dutch-Surinamese background), and very joyful! Later I found out that he was 45, but he doesn't really look his age, like most Europeans who prefer healthy lifestyle and do not indulge into bad habits too much. I have also been told that Ruudy is sometimes being harsh on journalists, and that surprised me a lot. He has been very nice today at least, and we all know that some of media guys can make everyone wild when they are jumping with their cameras around you all the time like monkeys.

The press conference was rather short, and most interesting questions remained probably yet to be put. Ruudy said he was very optimistic about Russian national team and its prospects at the coming championships. He remembered his years as Chelsea's coach and noticed that despite lack of financing at that time, the team had other advantages such as high morale. All in all Ruudy turned out to be a very smart, diplomatic, and profoundly thinking guy which is not deemed to be a typical feature of sportsmen.

After that, Ruudy moved on to the training session. He gave young boys of 14-15, coming stars of Russian and probably world football, a lesson of soccer tricks and dummies. He did that brilliantly despite having had a surgery on his left knee just a month ago. At the press conference, Ruudy expressed an opinion that working as a coach with children is quite different from adult training. Kids have yet to master the tactical aspects of the game, dummies, dribbling etc. Adult coaching is rather focused on strategic aspects, as the players do not have to learn how to control the ball already.

There were roughly 20 kids, and Ruudy divided them into 4 groups of 5. Each group went to a different corner of the stadium, and they rotated after every 15 minutes. In such manner, it took Ruudy an hour to cover all the boys. He said he viewed it as a proper way of training, because if you work with all 20 at a time within an hour, it means you don't work with anyone, since you don't have an opportunity to give a proper portion of your attention to each of the players, and the whole thing ends up in a mess.

Ruudy put cones within a distance of 3 feet from one another and asked the young players to do several exercises on dribbling, passing, and cheating the opponent player. The boys were so delighted to be coached by their idol! I'm positive they'll remember this day for a long time!

After the training session, we sat in a local cafeteria for a cup of coffee and tea and had a small talk. Ruudy was again very nice and joyful. We talked about careers, weather, Russia, United States, soccer, girls and so on. We joked and made a lot of fun! Thank you, Ruudy, for such a great experience!!!

Here are some other picks of the Red Square:





These two photos were taken the other day from a standpoint on the Manezhka Square. The History Museum is on the left side, the Kremlin to the right, both in the evening shade already. But St. Basil's Cathedral and the Spasskaya Tower with the clock are still basking in the sunlight.



And this image was captured yesterday from the corner of the History Museum. It shows the Main Shopping Mall (the GUM, pronounced "goom"), elaborately ornated with garlands, and St. Basil in the distance. The time is half past ten or so. The Red Square is still crowded with tourists from abroad: we spotted Germans, Spaniards, and Swedes trying to see the heart of Russia in the twilight. It looks awesome at any time of the day, doesn't it?

An important event which has taken place lately has been improperly neglected in my Journal. I'm talking about diploma presentation on July 6, when we all became professional translators de jure. The president of our University couldn't come for some reason as she usually does, and the diplomas were presented by the dean.

Several professors gave brilliant speeches, for instance, Dr. Fomitschowa, Head of German Translation Department who recited a poem of her own. Her great hobby is the translation of German poetry, but she also does other kinds of translation because unfortunately this doesn't pay off well enough to live. Then I would emphasize the speech by Dr. Baturina, Head of German Department with whom we had had a really enjoyable time in our junior year. She said that those who begin their life with studying German are courageous students, because German is a tough language to learn and makes its learners overcome a number of difficulties. Frankly speaking, this was one of the main reasons for me when a few years ago I fell in love with German and made up my mind to master it.

But the speech I loved most was the one by Dr. Stephan Walter, the German DAAD Lecturer who had been working for five years at our University, and is now leaving back for Germany. We all liked him and his lessons of German translation. He contributed most to the development of our Sprachgefuehl (sense of language) in German. We've been lucky to be the last Jahrgang (course) to have been lectured by him. No wonder, he was superb in his farewell speech as well. He recited a poem by Heinrich Heine in German with a remarkable Russian translation. This was touching, and I hope to see Dr. Walter some time in future!

Then the diplomas were presented to us, beginning with those cum laude, and those whose first language is English. This was followed by a party of champagne and sandwiches in our canteen. We were all wearing gowns and rectangular caps: the academic tradition must be duly observed, and it all added to the solemn momentousness of the ceremony.

After that we went to party at the Pelican bar near the Sukharevskaya Subway Station. We drank cocktails and cognac, smoked hookah, sang karaoke, and danced in the bar. We enjoyed our freedom at full extent!

The bar closed around midnight, and we proceeded to the Cosmic Club near the Park Kultury Subway Station. We played pool, table tennis, and danced a lot there as well. The party ended about 4 am. The dawn which was already starting, marked the morning of our new life. May this life lead us to new achievements and breathtaking prospects!

The inscription reads: "Mrs. Pogorelaya is in charge of the fire safety in this building. In case of emergency call 01". This tablet hangs at the entrance into one office building in Moscow. The funny part of it all is that the surname of this person responsible for fire prevention, Mrs. Pogorelaya, is the Russian for "victim of a fire". Her ancestors must have passed their sorrowful experience on to subsequent generations, thus pre-destining them to pursue a fire-fighting career. Or is it just mere coincidence?

There's a post about sunset in my journal already. So it would be unfair to sunrise to leave it without due notice. But of course, this was not my primary goal when I went to take pictures of dawn this morning.

We decided to have a supper at the Planeta Sushi restaurant on Manezhka Square with my friend Nick on Thursday evening. We tasted sushi with prowns, caviar, and fish, and enjoyed Japanese lime tee. We had nowhere to hurry, and we could chat as much as we wanted. That was exactly what we were doing for a couple of hours. After that I drove Nick home, having taken a ride around Moscow: I'm a fan of driving at night when there are no traffic jams, almost no other cars and no people. When I got home myself, it was around three. I looked at the sky: in the north-east it wasn't exactly black already. The new day is coming, I thought, and made up my mind to drive to Sparrow Hills (Vorobyovy Gory) to see the advent of the morning.

Sparrow Hills is by far the best place in Moscow to watch summer sunrise: the observation area faces north-east, the direction from which the Sun comes in summer. I got there in minutes: the streets were almost completely deserted and I was lucky not to stop at traffic lights. When I came, the whole sky wasn't black, but it was yet too early to call it morning: it was four.

Some guy who came there by bike told me that the sunrise would take place at 5:02 am. Yes, it looked pretty much that way: the sky became less dark every minute, and the Moscow State university which loomed just opposite the sunrise, became increasingly visible.

First you could see an imaginary vague line over the horizon between the light blue-to-blue dawn and the black night sky. The line was slowly moving up all the time, giving way to other colors: yellow, purple, orange. The clouds in the sky were the first lucky ones to watch the sun which painted them in rose and purple. The air was remarkably warm at night, though it felt a little bit cooler just before sunset which is normally the coldest point of the day.

The line had disappeared unnoticeably, and the whole sky was light blue now, but for a cloud to the south which was purple already. There was some kind of fog above the horizon, as is usual in Moscow, and the Sun was hardly visible when it turned up in the form of a scarlet disc. You could comfortably look at it: its rays weren't yet strong enough to dazzle. Its shine filled the air not earlier than it rose above the fog. But eventually the Sun, the beautiful Sun left the stripe of fog and shone above the horizon. Friday had come!!!

As the nature was waking up, I drove home along empty streets: I drove home to sleep!

This account would be less vivid without pictures. Here I go:


Can you see the vague line? :)))




The line's moving up slowly!


Purple cloud


The Sun in the fog


The Sun is rising above the Luzhniki Sports Stadium


Moscow State University at dawn


6 am. I'm driving home on desolate streets. In a couple of hours the city will be flooded with cars!

In fact there are not many things which you can take absolutely gratis in our world of profit and gain. Our luck is that we have Mother Nature. It provides us with millions of everyday pleasures, if only you are keen enough to take in what it presents us with. If only you aren't too single-minded on your businesses nor too down-to-earth you will definitely make a great fan of nature. You will like trees, sky, rivers, deserts, mountains... and all this will make you different, trust me, it'll bring a light of happiness into your daily routine, it'll add a new fresh purpose to your life! Just make an effort and try to take advantage of it!!!

Look how it all works. This evening I went out to do some shopping: I had nearly nothing for dinner, and I was in fact rather hungry. I thought it might be a good idea to drive and get something to eat. When I was near the Rio supermarket, it was about ten already. The sunset was just beginning, and it really struck my eye, I totally forgot my hunger!!! At such times I most regret I haven't ever studied painting. Interestingly, a sunset loses most of its beauty and charm if the sky is clear or vice versa if it is firmly clouded. Luckily, today neither was the case. There was exactly as much cloud in the sky as it is necessary to make a gorgeous sunset! The last rays of the evening sun which are no longer seen on the ground, caressed the clouds and paint them in a whole bunch of colors: red, purple, pink, orange, crimson, yellow, gold... And there's no regularity in the pattern of these stripes and spots, as if some abstractionist painter had left just random strokes on the canvas. This, exactly this is what attracts us, urban rats, in the Nature! Its haphazardness is what we lack in!!! So let's enjoy it as much as we can, let's take most of it, let's rejoice in every moment of our contact with the marvelous!

The camera could not render even 20 per cent of what human eye has been able to see, I must say!

And here's the sunset in its almost final phase. No variety of colors, no play of sun, just grey stains of clouds in the twilight sky. It is not that wonderful, but still rather attractive!

Sorry for the poor quality of these images, modern cellphone cameras can't do any better. The latter one pick has been taken while driving on a highway, so please don't be too hard on my photography skills. Just enjoy!

Today we had a party again! We had had no design to arrange for it, it just happened the way it usually does: unexpectedly. I joined Dimon and Vlad near Proletarka Subway Station, and we had a round of beer, 1 bottle each, then another one in a tiny park about a quarter of a mile from the station itself. We had a nice talk about our plans and prospects for the future.

In the end when I came home at 11 Mom attacked me almost with a shout: "You drink TOO often!!!" It looked like if she was my spouse enraged with her husband's long-term drunken behavior! Actually, I drink alcohol quite far from any noticeable regularity. It might happen more frequently than it did a month ago, but next month it may as well turn out to be a lot more seldom. Mom is just getting through one of her usual "fits of love and affection" to me when she is eager to "save my soul" from some imaginary threat (drinking problems in this case - after 1 liter (roughly 28 oz.) of beer!!!) It's time I joined the AA's! :))) Really me? Why? Look at this:





These are Dimon and Vlad respectively: my drinking mates. As for me, there's no proof that I've drunk beer today. Only Mom can feel it some way :)))))

In earnest, I'd like to wholeheartedly thank these two awesome guys for a wonderful evening and for our fantastic friendship!

As for Mom... I'm positive she means well; all parents of grown-up children try to catch up with what they think they've missed in educating their kids years before. But I'm not 12 or 15 years old any longer, and I'll soon have to rent a separate apartment so that no one could tell me what to do. I never feel like obeying!

This is exactly what I prefer to call my way of life as it is now. Well, we all feel the sweet and intoxicating taste of freedom after graduation, but in my instance it has grown to be more or less annoying. I'm living rather randomly, without clear aims and definite purposes. I'm walking somewhere just because I'm feeling inclined to walk at the very moment, trying in vain to flee from solitude and thoughtfulness. I'm not part of anything significant which takes away and subdues the whole life. I have no schedule at all: get up at 11-12, have brunch, tackle minor household problems, browse in the Net most of the time, then have dinner and go to the downtown - most commonly to the Manezhka square to see my friends or to a restaurant to eat out with them. I'm positive I can't stay at home in the evening. I got used to these people all around, to small talks with my buddies, to beer, cocktails, and even stronger drinks, and, of course!, to picking up and dating girls. I'm hardly ever back at home before 1 am. I haven't worked for just 4-5 days I guess, but it looks like I've been idle for a year.

What I need is a radical change! I'll try to travel somewhere, e.g. to St. Petersburg for a weekend, and once I'm back, I'll change my ways. Or I might think about getting a permanent job which would bring order into my irregular life. Or maybe even join the Army? No, this is what I won't definitely do!!! I'll better find a job and earn 3-4 times more than for serving in a god-forsaken garrison in Siberia. Or maybe just let things be as they are, but simply add a little sense to my life?

Yep, ten long weeks have passed since I last posted here. It was a rough time - exams, diploma, work, and all the rest of it. It began in the middle of April when we had our finals - four exams within four days - Monday through Thursday - all of them being written translations. Then there was a couple of other exams - History of English Literature and oral translations in both languages. All this was followed by two state exams and the diploma defense. The latter marked the end of my college life on June 5. It looks like I'm going to get a diploma with honors - I got re-examined in Theoretical Grammar; this cost me no effort but paid back excellently - I had it easier during the state exams and the defense. They are normally being quite easy on those who are to obtain a diploma with honors :)))

Other than that, I worked at Hochland more or less regularly, I had fun with my friends in different bars and restaurants, I swam in swimming pools, I went in for sports, I tanned, I went places a lot, I helped my Mom, I read good books, and I loved someone who in the long run appeared to be unworthy of my Feeling. But this is quite a different story which deserves a thick novel.

Fortunately, most of this seems to be all gone now. I have a strong feeling that I'm standing on a sort of watershed now, being about to turn a page in my life and plunge into a totally new phase of it.

The time was real tough, and I hope to learn lessons from it. All that comes the hard way, instructs. You can't become a hero lying on a sofa after all, HEROES ARE BORN IN A FIGHT!!!

I had to have some entertainment in the middle of writing my diploma. Eventually I've come across a funny test which indicates your ideal European nationality. I had to answer 54 questions each of which had 3 options: yes, no, and don't care. Then there was a tie-breaking question of two options. I tried to be as honest as I could answering all of them. In the end it came out that there's only a 38-per-cent probability that I could be born as a Russian. :))) Actually, Belgium and Denmark shared their lost opportunity of having me among their citizens. Thus they astonished me a great deal, unlike Spain which held the third place. At least I know a little Spanish and admire the culture. )))

Here are the results:

You scored as Belgian. </td> Danish 100% Belgian 100% Spanish 75% German 75% Swiss 63% French 63% Irish 50% Italian 50% Turkish 50% Russian 38% British 38% Polish 38% Molvanian 25% Dutch 25% Which European nationality should you have created with QuizFarm.com

The snow melted back in March, I guess even before my birthday. Now the weather is quite warm and sunny, however this is not gonna last long. They say it's likely to snow again this week. It won't linger probably and perhaps will melt down as it reaches the ground. Of course, it's frustrating to have a cold April after a warm March, but anyways it is better than a chilly May. Hopefully the weather manager will hear me! :)))

My life is just happy, but for the diploma paper which is going damnedly slowly. It is due on May 10 and I still have slightly less than 10 pages out of the required 30-35. I don't really feel like writing it, this is not my kind of work. Now I'm waging a psychological war against myself to sit down and write. The success is mine with a narrow margin. :)))