30 June 2009

Angie's new best friend


Slawek and I were relaxing in a park the other day when we saw a little baby girl crawling on all fours towards Angie with a "I'm-gonna-get-you-you-big-fluffy-monster" kind of look on her face.


Angie is a really big dog and does not look like a puppy any more, so the baby's dad cautiously asked whether our dog has got an appetite for small children... :)




Amelia was sitting on the grass and was handing the tennis ball to Angie... Angie was lying right next to Amelia with her paw on the girl’s knees... she was gently taking the ball from Amelia’s hands only to give it back few seconds later... Amelia was ecstatically screaming with happiness and Angie was licking the girl’s face...





It was a really cute and funny scene :)



26 June 2009

The King is Dead...


Michael Jackson was such an inspiration to many people around the world... He was controversial... he was eccentric... he was unconventional... and yet people loved him for his artistry...

God gives people certain gifts and he was touched by a very special one... one that will never be forgotten... he could sing like nobody else... he could dance like nobody else...

For him not to be around is just surreal...

He was a genius... He was a legend... He was an incredible showman and a very unique talent...

His spirit and legend will live on...



Michael Jackson (1958 - 2009)

24 June 2009

Spain...


I have finally pulled myself together and processed some of the photos I took in Spain a week ago. I went there to visit my friend, Pati. She has lived in Spain for about 8 years and has just recently moved to Mataro - a nice, small town in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia.

We had a fantastic time together... below are few photos I took in Mataro and in Sitges, a coastal town famous for its gay and night life that we visited on Sunday... We had so much fun over there!

a beach in Sitges

a beach in Sitges

a beach in Sitges

sand sculpture



17th century church of Sant Bartomeu i Santa Tecla

one of many unusual terraces

this poem is in Catalan and I have no idea what it is about...

a street in Sitges

El Greco - a sculpture by Josep Reynés I Gurguí

street graffiti

stairs by the sea

morning coffee with Pati

11 June 2009

Men...

Emancipation... liberation of women... yes, it is what we wanted! We have struggled for so long to be treated on the same level as men... to be seen as not inferior to them, to be seen as not superior to them but to be seen as equal. And, thank God, we are slowly getting there. Not that long ago, men and only men held all the important positions, worked for government, were chief directors, doctors and lawyers. Not that long ago, women had only marginal roles, were men’s secretaries, receptionists and nurses, or simply stayed-at-home servants and housekeepers. It has all changed and today, more and more women are doctors and lawyers, many occupy significant managerial and government positions.

But has the situation changed for the better...?

I think we pay a high price for our emancipation... Yes, we want to be free. Yes, we want to be liberated and modern. Yes, we are hungry for the same opportunities men have got. But we didn’t say we wanted to be treated like dudes...

I think that women tolerate men’s rude behaviour to a great extent. They accept men who treat them badly, who do not take care of them, who treat them like dirt. Is a rude and offensive guy more manly and macho because he acts like an idiot? I don’t think so. I am sure many women (and I hope men as well) would agree with me when I say that ignorant, impolite and bad-mannered guys are not sexy at all. They are repulsive, unappealing and simply dull.

Where are all the gentlemen and nice guys gone? Why don’t men treat us like women anymore? We didn’t ask them to stop caring for us, taking care of us, loving us. We are still attracted to romantic guys. We are still attracted to men who open door for us, bring us flowers, offer us seats, take our coats... We still want some love, affection and romance... We still want to be admired, glorified and adored... Do we really want too much? Is this treating us like dudes a price we have to pay for wanting to be respected and appreciated on the same level as men?

Our society becomes more and more intolerant, narrow-minded and simply rude. I really do not expect men to offer me a seat in a tube. I am a young, healthy person and do not have to sit down wherever I go. What makes me mad, though, is when I see a visibly pregnant woman struggling to protect her belly from elbows of other passengers or an elderly lady who can barely stand on her own while a young, “cool” dude sits on the bus and pretends he does not see them. That is what really pisses me off.

I think this is a really big problem. Many people lack simple courtesy. And who is responsible for teaching them good manners? Parents. School. Society. We experience the world on our own but it is up to our parents and teachers to show us how to behave and conduct ourselves. They should be the ones who have formative effects on our minds. They should be the ones who influence our characters, values, ideas, principles and morals.

Even animals have principles. It is really sad that people, equipped with an indispensable skill such as logical and coherent thinking, still lack certain commonsense standards.


8 June 2009

It is official now...

After reading Peter's post about the bunny and the fox, I realised that I have got a bunny at home too... well... not a real bunny-rabbit type of animal but... my dog...

Many websites describe typical characteristics of a pet rabbit and Angie unquestionably falls under several depicted categories:
  
- she can be kept indoors and outdoors...
- she is equipped with enrichment activities such as sticks, balls and other toys...
- she is a very social animal and, like a rabbit, finds her companionship with a variety of creatures, including humans, dogs and other living creatures...
- she is very alert...
- just like a rabbit, she uses her cunning to outwit me whenever she has got a chance...
- she grazes on grass and leafy weeds...
- she jumps in high grass like a bunny...
- she loves carrots...
- she has got really big ears...


Now that I think about it, Angie may not be entirely normal either...
- she drinks while laying down...
- she eats while laying down...
- she always drops all of her toys in a bowl full of water...
- she lets me clean her teeth with a toothbrush...
- I don't have to force my hand down her throat when she is on medication because she loves taking tablets and has no problems eating them whatsoever...
- she would dance on two legs for a piece of carrot...
- she loves taking baths and we cannot leave the bathroom door open because she would jump in and sit in a bathtub patiently waiting for a bath...


I can now officially announce: MY DOG IS CRAZY... 

but it shouldn't really surprise me much... 
all in all... like master, like dog... :))

4 June 2009

It could happen to you :)))


- Honey, what would you like for dinner tonight?
- Anything. I'll eat whatever you make.
- What do you mean anything? Don't you know what you want to eat?
- I'll have pork chops and fried potatoes.
- Yeah, right! Do you think that I don't have anything better to do?! You come back home from work at 7pm! I've already done laundry and homework with the kids! Tell me what you want for dinner!
- But I've just told you I want pork chops...
- Listen, I'm not in the mood to play games with you! Couldn't you eat something like a normal person?
- Ok. Make me potato pancakes, please.
- At 7.30pm?! Are you freaking mad?! Besides, we don't have any potatoes. Why didn't you buy any on your way back home?!
- If you told me, I could have bought some on my way back from work. The market is open until 9pm. 
- Why would you want to buy potatoes in the first place since I've been doing it my whole life?! And by the way, we had potatoes last night. We're not going to eat them every day.
- Baby, you've asked me what I would eat so I told you.
- Oh, just stop with this "I've asked you". I'm asking you for the last time, what do you want for dinner?
- What can I have?
- It's so typical of you! I'm asking what you want and you're answering with a question!
- ... ok... maybe toasts?
- I know you would eat all my toasts knowing that I don't eat any other bread! I'll make spaghetti for dinner... or warm up some frozen meat sauce. Decide already!!!
- Ok... I'll have... meat sauce... I haven't had it for a long time...
- Sauce? Don't you want spaghetti?
- Ok, I'll have spaghetti.
- Finally! Getting something out of you is a real struggle... Do you want some grated parmezan on top?
- You know I don't eat spaghetti with cheese.
- Great! I wake up early in the morning and go to the store to get that damn cheese so you can put it on top of spaghetti and you're telling me now that you don't eat cheese?! Since when?!
- I haven't eaten cheese for 10 years...
- Ok. I'll make you spaghetti... at 8pm.! I'm not going to eat it, neither are the kids. You'll eat it alone! Like you couldn't just eat that frozen meat sauce...
- Of course I can, baby, warm it up for me please.
- Couldn't you have said it before?! Do I really have to drag everything out of you?!
- ...
- Here's your sauce... I'm wondering what I should do with this cheese...?

1 June 2009

the list...


I know that posting stuff like ‘100 things you didn’t know about me’ was popular some time ago and is not very original any more. But there are few reasons why I wanted to write such a list. Firstly, I like making lists of things. Secondly, as a relatively new blogger, I thought a list like that would help me to introduce myself to you, my dearest readers. Thirdly, as a person who doesn’t really like talking about herself and who always thought that writing about herself would be really hard, I just wanted to challenge myself and see how many things I could come up with.

So here are the few things you didn’t know about me:

1. I am addicted to chocolate and can eat a jar of Nutella in one go.

2. While sitting in the back of the class in high school, I drank wine with a few friends of mine (naughty me...)

3. I was 11 when I first smoked a cigarette with my friend, Justyna. I became a regular smoker at the age of 16 and stopped on the 21st May 2001. If it wasn’t for Slawek, I would probably start smoking again.

4. I believe that aliens exist and that there is life outside our Solar System. Unfortunately, I have never experienced any close encounters of the third kind but I am patiently waiting for some UFO action.

5. I am seriously considering entering the X Factor competition. Even though I only sing along to songs I like (and not only in a bathtub) and Slawek usually finds it horrendous and pretty funny, I still think I have really good chances of winning the show ;)

6. I have got few good friends and only one Best Friend.

7. Despite being rather short (5’3’’), I was in a basketball team in a primary and high school.

8. Most of my dogs have had surprisingly big ears.

9. I love doing big jigsaw puzzles (by ‘big’ I meant puzzles that have at least 1000 pieces).

10. I can’t stand messy people.

11. I do not trust people I have just met.

12. I love driving and speeding. I have been pulled over by the police probably 15 times and only got 2 tickets for speeding. 1st time because the police officer was very official and formal and would not let me invite him for a cup of coffee instead of giving me the ticket (I must have not been his type... hahaha...). 2nd time, because the police officer was so ugly, I couldn’t even be bothered to try and invite him for a cup of coffee.

13. I am forever thankful for legalizing the use of speed camera detectors.

14. I enjoy playing badminton.

15. If I won a lot of money, I would take my mom for a crazy shopping spree and luxury holidays in the Caribbeans (because she deserves it); I would buy my dad a Mustang (because it’s his favourite car); I would buy my best friend a nice house in Spain, close to the beach (because that’s her dream); I would buy a huge land and build an animal shelter where all the stray, abandoned dogs would live happy lives (because I can’t stand unhappy souls); and I would travel around the world (because it’s my dream).

16. I can be very lazy but I can also be a perfectionist.

17. I love exploring caves and grottos.

18. I like jumping on a bed.

19. I experience déjà vu quite often.

20. I posed nude.

21. Black is my favourite colour.

22. I love listening to Depeche Mode and Metallica – equally.

23. I like watching deep, ‘heavy’ and intense dramas and cry while watching them. I actually cry every time I see or hear something touching. But I don’t consider myself a cry-baby. I can be tough. Really.

24. I took the 2nd place in a pistol shooting competition.

25. I get frustrated very easily.

26. My beloved grandma is suffering from an Alzheimer disease.

27. When I was a teenager, I had two nicknames: Baśka (which is short for Barbara in Polish) and Bartek. I really don’t remember now why I was called Baśka as it is not even my middle name and I certainly have no idea why my friends called me Bartek as it is a boy’s name... :O

28. I love three movies directed by Alejandro Gonzales Innaritu: Amores Perros, 21 Grams and Babel.

29. 21 Grams made a huge impact on me. I left the cinema really pissed off, sad and depressed. It was a strange roller-coaster of emotions.

30. I drank a bottle of Tequila with a guy once. I don’t remember how the evening ended...

31. I became addicted to Big Brother 3 years ago... and I can’t believe I have just admitted it publicly...

32. I think Toy Story and Shrek are hilarious.

33. According to numerology, 9 is my lucky number. I’ve always thought it was number 7...

34. I like classical music with a modern kick. I like rock music with a classical kick.

35. Even though it has been several years, I still remember the taste of chocolate from the Chocolate Heaven store on the Pier 39 in the San Francisco Bay.

36. I can solve a Rubik’s cube in 3 minutes.

37. I like veggie sushi.

38. I wish my parents pushed me more to do many different things when I was a kid.

39. I have seen Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake 4 times.

40. I am not patient at all and don’t like waiting.

41. I have lots of grey hair and have to dye it every 3 weeks.

42. I hate running.

43. Even though I spent 4 years in high school and 6 months in a private school trying to learn German, I cannot speak this language at all.

44. I like people who have something interesting to say.

45. I like the smell of rain and freshly cut grass.

46. I hate being late. People who are constantly late get on my nerves.

47. When I was 14, a friend of mine sprayed me in the face with a pepper spray. He is no longer my friend.

48. I love taking photographs. Good ones. The bad ones too.

49. I cannot saw even though this is what I was supposed to learn during 4 years I spent in high school.

 50. I love animals but spiders and big bees terrify me. I will kill every single one of them bastards whenever I have a chance.

51. My best friend lives far away from me. Too far away...

52. I have got a tattoo on my lower back. I want to get another one. On my upper back.

53. I don’t like people who drop litter on the ground even though a rubbish bin is right next to them. And, most of all, I don’t like people who don’t clean after their dogs.

54. I like Southern Comfort, Drambuie, Martini Bianco with orange juice and Cherry Vodka.

55. As a typical chocolate addict, I love brownies.

56. I don’t know how to make vapour-cooked yeast dumplings. My grandma is the only one in my family who does.

57. I once had 7 earrings in my left ear and 1 in my nose.

58. I used to paint and draw. I don’t anymore. I don’t know why I’ve stopped.

59. I don’t understand how electricity works. Slawek has patiently tried to explain it to me so many times but all I heard was blah, blah, blah... Physics has never been my favourite subject.

60. I had snails baked in garlic butter in a fancy French restaurant. They were DELICIOUS!

61. I once washed my robe... but I forgot that my mobile phone was in its pocket...

62. I love high-heel shoes.

63. I like going to bed naked.

64. I like silly TV programmes and live shows. Actually, I like them too much.

65. I love dancing.

66. I love taking long baths with Slawek.

67. My best friend and I won a 5-day trip to Dublin in 1996. We didn’t actually win it, but because we were rather frequent visitors at the Irish Pub in Lodz, Poland, the owner of the pub made sure we ‘won’ the Guinness competition... as a ‘thank you’ I guess.

68. I like flying kites.

69. I often chuckle when I see this number ;)

70. I can sense when someone lies. But I often don’t say anything.

71. I prefer listening than speaking.

72. I felt embarrassed as a teenager because I thought my breasts were too big. Now I wish they were bigger.

73. I like playing cards.

74. Instead of wine, I once ordered 7UP in a very fancy restaurant. What a faux pas...

75. I would love to attend ceramics classes and learn how to make pottery.

76. I hate mice and I am totally disgusted by them. I had mice in my house once (and not because it was filthy or cluttered). When one got caught in a trap and Slawek had to kill it off, I felt really sorry for it and cried for half an hour.

77. I don’t like speaking in public. It terrifies me.

78. I have got all 10 seasons of Friends and watch all of the 227 episodes every 6 months.

79. I cannot live without coffee with milk.

80. I don’t like junk food but I go to McDonalds once per year. I always order a traditional hamburger and medium fries.

81. I do not like cooked or fried onions but cannot imagine cooking without them.

82. I can be too humble. I can be too confident.

83. Slawek and I wanted to go to China this summer. Unfortunately, it is not going to happen.

84. I can whistle really loudly using my two fingers.

85. I love nature and outdoors; but somehow, I have always lived in big metropolitan areas.

86. I prefer giving than receiving gifts.

87. My leg was badly burned by a very hot tea.

88. I don’t like wearing skirts.

89. I like erotic novels.

90. A friend from my teenage years died from a drug overdose. She was 16 years old.

91. I swear a lot when driving.

92. I chose the subject of photography and voyeurism when writing my dissertation for a BA degree in Media Studies. I have no idea what my MA thesis is going to be about.

93. I sometimes take things too seriously and let small details bother me.

94. I believe that everything happens for a reason.

95. I like empty churches.

96. I smoked weed.

97. I absolutely love roller-coasters.

98. I would like to go to the army... but only for a week.

99. There are several features in a man that I like: eyes, hands and a nice butt.

100. I have found writing this list about myself rather narcissistic.