Stepping out of paranoia

Today at 16.30 I am exiting the online medium, shutting down my mobile phones (yeah there's more than one) and heading off to the mountains to chill. Can't wait to be up there; I'll have more to write about when I'm back.

Before leaving for Brasov I checked to see where I would be heading (the power of the Internet age :P) and here is the advertising for Poiana I found (in Romanian, but there are EN links):
"Poiana Brasov este recomandata in tratamentul nevrozei astenice, pentru stari de epuizare si surmenaj fizic si intelectual, pentru anemii secundare si boli endocrine (hipertiroidie benigna), pentru boli ale aparatului respirator (sechele ale pleureziei sau sechele virale sau ale pneumoniei bacteriene, pentru anumite forme de astm bronsic si de bronsita astmatiforma cronica). "

I think I'm heading to the right place :)

Melody of the day: Pink Floyd - On the Turning Away
On the turning away
From the pale and downtrodden
And the words they say
Which we won’t understand
Don’t accept that what’s happening
Is just a case of others’ suffering
Or you’ll find that you’re joining in
The turning awayIt’s a sin that somehow
Light is changing to shadow
And casting it’s shroud
Over all we have known

Mail for you (but I'm right here behind you)

There is something non-working people can't ever understand: the frustration of getting an email from the person sitting right next to you, saying something like "See a movie tonight?" Aaaargh! Or the endless email series disputing the topic of a 50-word phrase to be rephrased, or of a red ppt triangle to be turned blue... Or the daily SMS saying nothing which can be replaced by a get together. Or the e-card sent on a friend's birthday instead of real flowers... It's alienating, makes me call my laptop 'my best friend' and raise an ode to my mobile modem...

It really helps to talk to other people, connect to them and smile. It's usually called life.

When you can spare 5 minutes, listen to The Cardigans' "Communication" song, might enlighten some things. Here's an excerpt from the lyrics:

But that’s not an invitation
That’s all I get
If this is communication
I disconnect
I’ve seen you, I know you
But I don’t know
How to connect, so I disconnect...

A "High Hopes" chill helps a lot afterwards :)

Off topic: for when you truly need a musical refresh, I heartily recommend Mihai's Musicblog. Simply stunning.

Business meets academia... (so what?)

Funny how we all speak the same language and yet cannot understand one another... It ocurred to me tonight, while listening to a speech given by a well-respected Romanian economist in front of a 100% business audience. Though he was tackling current world economic developments, nobody seemed to give a damn. I suppose most were thinking of tomorrow's day at work or the night's promise. Anyway, they seemed obtuse, had another sandwich when he left and continued their networking unabated.

The point is that what we lack in the Romanian businesses is vision. Most of the people in business today are carefully focusing on their footsteps and fail to lift their look to the horizon. They prefer to chew every day like it was any day and simply ignore anything that gets them to think beyond the year's turnover. It's the same with us "mortals" (aka "sclavi pe plantatie"): we keep dragging on each day thinking only of the next step (or automatically taking it). Looking at the horizon and pondering how the future may look, taking a breath of fresh air and enjoying it... Doing this more often might feeble the rows of the grey people.

Paranoid Android

It has taken me quite a while to finally start a blog. I preferred to listen around, check out other blogs, wonder on how this thing really works and what it is good for... (btw, you'll find this article on the matter quite interesting). Now with the first *real* post, I have just realised there are a lot of things to say (and damn little time to do this but what the heck...)

Yesterday I was talking to a friend about the working life each of us is leading, he being a freelancer and I being a paranoid android trapped in an office life of my own device, which at times I had the impression of really desiring. There were good points and weak points about the life each of us is leading, most notable weakness from my side being that I'm missing one :). So, this blog is meant to inspire other "androids" to a life, show little things that matter and mix the knowledge and rationality our age brings with the bohemian fashion and music that life contains.

I hope this works :)