the cage - in or out? part one

As I promised, this is a post about the online game I was involved in between mid March 2008 until last Thursday.

The photos I'm going to use are completely unrelated. All were made in The Netherlands, and I'm using them on purpose to honor our great time with Bart - since our discussion involved the problem of addiction...this is a confession...

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The name of the game I leave unrevealed now. It is unimportant and I don't want to get any hits from random internet searchers.
It all started fine like any other computer game...A fun to spend my empty minutes with, a source of fun...
But it crept deeper. It wanted more. More of my time, my thoughts, my mind, my being.
I'm not being dramatic here. Okay, well, maybe a little bit.
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In this game the player has a village, builds resources of raw materials to get wood, clay, iron and wheat from and starts developing the inside of his village, too. During the course of the game the player establishes new villages of his own, conquers special oazises to get more raw materials; builds an army to defense his villages and/or to attack, destroy and/or conquer villages of other players, too.
Most people gather into clans to help each other and to defeat other players.
As I've said, it started like a little fun in March.
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Somewhere along May I realized that cared about the villages I built/conquered more than I should have.
In my pre-game era, I had thoughts and ideas running through my head. There were inspirational moments, which resulted in some pieces of writing. But as I found out in horror around late autumn to early fall, these moments of inspiration have almost completely gone. And I have begun to terribly miss them, yet I was unable to escape from the game to re-claim my fantasy and inspiration.
It's not the quality of my writings I think highly of. It's the fact that there were moments of inspiration, the fact that I used my creativity to reflect my thoughts.
Yet, I don't think the game stopped me completely from thinking or being creative or even inspirational...
I have created a circle of friends among some of the other players, and most of the time we stuck together. There were times when I was a leader of a clan. Most of the time I used my diplomatic senses either to get something or to smooth conflicts.
Furthermore, three of us got involved in writing a fiction about the game in Hungarian, set in medieval surroundings. I mentioned that in my other blog sometime October. I actually wrote three instalments titled 'The Amazon 1, 2 and 3'. These pieces received positive feedback. Perhaps I will translate them into English one day.
I enjoyed writing, I truly did.
Among the members of my clan, I have become (in)famous for my long and sometimes, emotionally stirring letters. I poured my attitude towards the game and my fellow-players into my letters. For my letters, my views I have both been praised by some and scowled away by some, too.
I learnt a lot about myself and about the human nature in general.
I found friends, I suppose. As for the length of such friendships and their durance once the game is over....that's another issue.
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And now the server is over as it is the nature of this one special game.
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My husband and family tolerated my playing quite well - although sometimes I became unhappy and even mourned over my virtual losses. Sometimes I would flee away from a family dinner because of a timing an important attack. Sometimes I would stay awake for the same purpose. Finding my virtual soldiers important involved switching the computer on being the very first action of the day so I could control my villages to avoid any loss due to a potential lack of wheat. For the same purpose, for most of the time the computer was the last thing I said goodnight, too. Sounds crazy, doesn't it?
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Last Thursday, when the server ended we opened up a bottle of wine with my husband to celebrate my return to the normal world - and he's right in seeing this game as an alternative world to the real one.
Not a really ground breaking idea to call an online game a world alternative to the real one, I know, I know.
But you see, understanding the concept of virtual vs. real is one thing and actually going through the whole thing is another.
I think there were moments when the virtual felt real and the real fell secondary. Perhaps, those moments would actually add up to days or even weeks. It is harsh to look upon the way I lived through these months like this.
Sometimes my husband would say that the garden is missing a good gardener. Sometimes he would say he would do the cooking. Sometimes he would say he would not be able to work on the renovations alone as he would need me nearby so the renovations would halt for a while. Until at least the battle was over. Or the village was conquered.
And for what?
Among the 10thousand something players playing simultaneously I finished in the top 500. I established 11 villages on my own, while conquered 8 from other players.
My enthusiasm inspired some other players. On one occasion I have been called 'the spirit of the clan' I was in.
But what are these advantages and disadvantages? Can I measure them up? By putting the successful battles and all the collective actions, the praise and acknowledgement gathered, all the friends I make in one hand … while putting all the windows left unclean, poems left unread and unwritten, the number of occasions the kids left unembraced and uncaressed in the other…?
Can anyone measure these?
Is there a punishment for all the things I missed actually doing, all because of being so deeply involved in a virtual world?
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My husband accuses me of running away into the virtual. He thinks this is more than a game for me, this is an escape from reality. Like a drug. Unfortunately I don't see any reason to call him wrong. Because he's right about that.
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Well, more on that, perhaps, later on,
Yours truly addicted *grins*,
SzF.

new duties

Dear all,
these days we are still waiting for the exam results and once we have them the next step of the application starts. As I have informed you my son is trying to get into a secondary school. Final results are to be expected sometime mid April.
He is either accepted - in which case he would probably need more help from us with learning. This is a tough school, you know.
But if his results are low and he stays out, we should try the same thing next year, as we were advised.
If that were the case (=no admission for the year 09/10) he would either be homeschooled OR enrolled into another (Catholic) school. Only to try the entrance exams to the same school in January 2010 once again.
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In the meantime we are waiting, keeping his mind occupied...
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Some of you might recall the long post I wrote about the local women's club last March. Here's the link for those who wish to care...
Well, I did not quit but restricted my activities to the minimum.
In fact, I withdrew from the management completely and turned my attention towards other activities the club took.
One of them was making mosaics.
Here's my first ever job.
A number plate for our house, displayed on the kitchen floor.

Also, being the member involved attending a film club, where once in a month we watched and discussed a non-mainstream film. One of them was Friends and crocodiles, more on the later on...
So, time has passed, the organization has changed again, for the better this time...and there I'm back again....

I've been given the task of writing articles for the monthly online magazine the group wishes to publish. Lifestlyle, traditions, gardening, herbs, environmental issues are my main areas of writing here, but I am there also as a watchdog to make sure feminism does not get carried away to the extremes...
Well, this is a title I gave myself, but I'm not doing it secretly. I'm open about being an advocate of diversity among the members of the group. As you know they used to speak diversity, but used to act the opposite.
We'll just see how it works out.

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The online game I mentioned a couple of times here, has ended yesterday. I was sad and happy at the same time. More on that later on, too.
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In the meantime, we are still working on our house... This is my husband and a friend laying the tiles in the kitchen.

last week

I'm only too happy to have a small piece of brain to take a look at my world around me...
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While trying to get our son ready to get into his next type of education smoothly he was caught by some sort of a viral disease. Not only he stayed at home, he had visions and felt dizzy and had a bad cough. Once he started mocking his little sister again we knew he was on the way to health again. He's not over it yet, but chances are high that he'll be able to write his exam this Thursday.
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My daughter was sick last weekend - literally, she was in bed all day, with a small bucket at hand, yes, to gather all that exited her mouth. And she did behave so orderly, the poor girl.
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Taking a heartful look at last week's events, I have to reckon with the troubled conversation I had on skype with someone I met through the online game I play.
I did something carelessly (as it later turned out) he highly disapproved and his sudden lack of trust towards me shocked me more than I had ever expected. We talked for more than two hours to make things clear. Don't worry - I'm not going to bore wou with details and such, but...
I've learned a lot and I owe a great deal to him to still have our friendship. He gave me a great lesson about acceptance and generousity.
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So the renovations are going on slowly...
My husband has taken on a new path in his (non paid) career - perhaps more to come on that later on...
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I do follow your blogs, commenting less often than I should...
only to find Vesper's two nice and thought provoking poems today: and here's my response - take it as a moral, if you please:
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do not fear the shadows
for when there is none, the light is gone
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our everyday

I dare you to eat me - or else...

-Photo and its subject was made on 14 January by me-

contest time at Jason's

I suggest you heading over to Jason's blog.

Upon one single photo a wide variety of prose emerges. It always amazes me how different the reactrion of different people to one single photo are.

For earlier contests, see the right-handed coloumn on Jason's site.

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I don't think I'm joining the contest this time as a writer, but with the deadline being 14 January.... Anything might happen.

Happy 2009!

...this is a short post to welcome the new year..
I told you it was short.
This short.
Cheers,
SzF.

a Hungarian Christmas

Here are some photos of our Christmas. Traditional dishes, fun and family members are seen.

All questions are welcomed.
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Photo #1.

The first day of Chirstmas is spent within the smallest family possible. The second and third days of Christmas however, are great occassions to gather a larger chunk of the larger family together. In this photo, my kids (2) and almost all the kids of my husband's sister are seen in the flat of my husband's mother. One kid, a boy is missing from the photo.

Photo#2.

Chicken, stuffed with minced goods, fresh from the oven. For garnishment, baked potatoes and sauteéd red cabbage are served. A hearty meat, a warmful companion for the harsh winter weather outside.

Photo#3.

This is our small Christmas tree on Christmas eve. We keep it in the large container outside throughout the year and bring it inside for the festivity. This means the plant lives as a normal container-raired tree except for the period between 24 December and 6 January.

Photo#4.

Our advent ring in the background, with a corn salad in the front. This was part of our Christmas lunch, not really traditional at all - but hey, everyone loves the way I make it.

Photo#5.

Traditional cookies. Some are made with poppyseed, walnut cream, the tree and the flower shaped ones are gingerbreads. Our neighbour, an old lady made them for her family and gave us some as a present.

our house

Renovation and buidling of our house have been going on nicely and efficiently these weeks.

In the last two weeks of November, a new tiled oven was built and almost all the walls of the new section of the house were plastered from the inside. Due to the new oven and the chimney now we have heating there, which means no more 6 degrees centigrade in the bathroom anymore in the winter.

Here are some photos I share to illustrate how things are going on these times over here. Questions are welcomed.

Photo #1.

These are the foundations of the new oven. The hole in the wall that looks like a door is not a door. That is a hole in the wall between the kitchen and the bathroom so that the new stove can heat both rooms. The man squatting in the left corner built the oven for us. We had some hard time to decide upon who would be the builder, but upon having met this particular man, we decided for him. Not only was he a great technician, he was a great person, too.

Photo #2.

The oven is built level by level. The round hole in the right side will serve as a removeable hole for cleaning.

Photo #3.

Now three levels are ready. The lower rectangular holes are where the ash can be cleaned out, once the oven is in use, the upper ones are doors to the actual fireplaces. Our oven is a complicated one, this is how we wanted it and this is why we kept on searching for a suitable man to make it.

Photo #4.

My husband and a friend plastering the inner walls of our bathroom. Yep, it's a messy job. No, we don't have a spare bathroom, neither a separate toilet - this is and average house of an average family in Hungary.

Photo #5.

This photo was made from the bathroom. The oven is nearly ready, with only a few levels of tiles. The grey thing within the stove is a built-in iron box for baking. I told you it was complicated. The door in the upper right corner of the photo is the main entrance to our house.

Photo #6.

Same phase of building, opposite angle. Note the iron door to the iron box. Note how small the hole that leads to the bathroom now is, as compared to photo #1.

Photo #7.
The end product, our mighty stove. Admire.
I hope you liked this guided tour... :)

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in other news, I feel the strong urge to return to the blogosphere again. Just today I resigned from an important (imaginary) post in the online MMRPG that took me in a few months ago. More about that, perhaps, later. Or never. Whatever. It's great to be here again.

The 99-meme

This I stole from Aine, who in turn, stole it from Vesper, who...I don't know.

See my version here.

The rules are simple: bold the things you've done. Explanations are optional. Fun is guaranteed.

1. Started your own blog (this one's the stupidiest on the list :)

2. Slept under the stars

3. Played in a band

4. Visited Hawaii

5. Watched a meteor shower

6. Given more than you can afford to charity

7. Been to Disneyland/world

8. Climbed a mountain

9. Held a praying mantis

10. Sang a solo (Last time I sang a birthday song over the phone to my stepfather. He was more than happy about it)

11. Bungee jumped

12. Visited Paris

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch

15. Adopted a child

16. Had food poisoning (Got it from ground poppy seed. Got sick with my husband-to-be and puked all night. I'm glad now the whole world knows about it.)

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty

18. Grown your own vegetables (and had photos of them in my blog, too.)

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France (the one who invented this meme must be either French or partial to the French I guess. You'll just wait and see.)

20. Slept on an overnight train (I went to Turkey that way.)

21. Had a pillow fight

22. Hitch hiked (back in my university yearsm hitch hiking was not considered dangerous. I used it to get to my hometown and back to the campus. I think I quitted once a driver showed me where he kept the money for *those* kind of girls he picked up. As in case, you never know what girls you pick up - he said. He did not molested me at all, but you bet I was happy to leave his car...Ew.)

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping

27. Run a Marathon

28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice (not really, but I rode one of those electric gondolas)

29. Seen a total eclipse ( It was in the High Tatras in 1999 in a small pool of water. It lasted for a couple of minutes.)

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset

31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise (not on a boat, though, it took place in a station wagon - does that count?)
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight (I even entered the sea at night. Back then I feared water. The experience was a bit frightening)

46. Been transported in an ambulance (A sad story indeed, but I think by now I am nearly completely accepted and digested the events...)

47. Had your portrait painted

48. Gone deep sea fishing

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business

58. Taken a martial arts class (My whole family has taken up Baranta, which is a combination of defensive martial art, folk dance and other traditions)

59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Gotten flowers for no reason (I don't even get them for reason - okay, that was a lie. But I don't get flowers as often as I'd like to)
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book (well, the time might come...just kidding here!)
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper (no, but my son had)
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (we have chicken, remember?)
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

The Holland Trip - Part Two: Köln II.

This is Part Two to the series where I share my photos and memories I had when I was in The Netherlands in mid-October.
As for blogging, I lurk everywhere - only I do not find the time to write a proper post here.

Renovations and buildings have taken a quickened pace these days and I hope to post som pictures of it in the foreseeable future, too.

Until that, here are some of the photos I made in Köln (Cologne of course, as Ropi pointed out, and as you probably all know - but...it's a German city in Germany, so I kept its name.)

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Now, the photos:

This is one of the ugly modern buildings that are placed within a 300m radius of the Dome. On the bottom corner there's a shop that sells the famous Cologne Water with the number.

An inside view of the Dome. No tripods were harmed in making this, or any other photo I made within the Dome. See the arched ceiling and the minute window-work on the side.
A close up of another window.

Inside, with a view to the main altar.

Stone sculptures on one of the outside walls.

A close up of one of the gates. Iron, or bronze-work.

A side view.

The Holland Trip - Part One: Köln

The bus left my town around 4 PM and arrived to our destination in Holland 4PM the next day.

We spent the night while it was moving. I slept on the little row that was between the seats. Well, it was not really comfortable, but at least my legs were streched out and I was in a horizontal position.

The first photo was made in Köln (Cologne, Germany). It was foggy and a bit cold. We parked the bus on the bank of River Rheine and walked into the heart of the city to see the famous Dome.

The Dome was built in the center, or was it that all the rest of the city was built around the church, later on? The view from the river reveals that the Dome is jammed in among modern buildings. Some might find fascination in the meeting of the old and the new - but for me...it's rather sad. There is not enough room for the otherwise great building to show itself. It is prisoned in between a railway station, a modern music hall of some sort and other, rather ugly buildings.

And when I said the railway station was near, I meant it. See that red line of a train...?

And when you get really close to the Dome, there's another blasphemous act, this time by a shop that sells cameras, films and stuff like that.

I'll be back with less rambling and whining about, but with more interesting stuff...just wait and see...

- on schooling

Dear all,

yes, I'm back.

In fact I returned on October 13, but I was either too damn busy or too lazy to write a proper post, enhanced with photographs about my trip, or both. You decide. And I'm sorry. At the same time the fact that I have so many (paid) jobs to do makes me feel right somehow.

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At this moment I don't envisage blogging as a regular activity, due to my duties, which, beside my normal job as a translator, at these months are and will be:

1-helping in building and renovating our house

2-pushing my son into a high-school.

He's in the sixth grade now and it's time to move on to a secondary form of education. According to the Hungarian educational system, elementary schools are for either 4, 6 or 8 years.

My son might stay here for another two years, but some recent events forced me to think otherwise.

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As some of you might remember, my son has quite an experience in schooling. By the 4th grade he's been in three institutions, four classes and homeschooled.

When he entered this school he's in now, I thought he would stay for as long as he can - to have some rest, so to say.

But.

But.

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He finds the lessons boring, but in another way. His classes are not challenging enough. He needs some more mental feed now. Unfortunately the level of education is set to the intelligence level of the least capable person in the class. Which is a fine thing if 80% of the class is around that particular level - which is, unfortunately the case.

I'm not saying my son is a genius, but...his mates definitely do not match him.

Teachers are forced to keep the level of education low, by laws.

So off we go.

The school we are heaading for is the second best in town.

Keep your fingers crossed.

-

More to come soon, with photos I made in The Netherlands.

High cheers to Bart, whom yes, I did meet!

See the proof below. Me and Bart in the Main Square of Amsterdam.

Reflections of a summer

Dear all, before I disappear into The Netherlands between 8-13 October, I finally managed to upload our photos to our computer. Here they are, I hope you enjoy them.

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First of all, we had lots of chicken.

We found tha many of our young hens wished to have their own litter so they started brooding. Modern technologies de-select this ability and those unfortunate little chicken all hatch in incubators, without a caring mother. But there are many people, who keep animals the traditional way. It's their choice and ours as well. It does matter where and what you buy.

Older and non-purebreed varieties however, do tend to lay a certain number of eggs and then start sitting over the eggs. Below are two of our Japanese-mixed brooding hens with their respective little flock/litter (?)

The black one (called Korom) is the dominant. She and her chicks are being fed from a plate. The barred one (Pincebogár) approaches, and notices the food.

Pincebogár keeps coming closer but she is afraid. She's mimicking a fake attack, with wings streched out, she wishes to appear bigger than she really is. Korom does not seem to care about her at all. She is relaxed, she has absolutely no fear of the other hen.
Below is a close ups of the feeding. They are given hard-boiled eggs, for the protein replacement.

Baby chicken are extremely fragile. Their legs are like threads. From time to time, they fall asleep in the middle of any activity, as this one, while standing on the plate. This is normal.

Summer also meant the continuation of the renovations in and around the house. I am standing here below in our kitchen-to-be, and mark where the electric outlets should be. Yes, those are arrows stuck into the ground. Those are supposed to mark where the sink, kitchen cabinets, and other utilities should be. We were playing a plan-a-kitchen, you know :). Practically speaking, I'm standing stand where the dishwasher will stand.

This is my DH, plastering the wall beside the front door, from the inside of the house. Note the ceiling. It's all hand made and wooden.

As for social activities, I had my 20 year high school class reunion. This photo was made in the restaurant. I am not on the photo. We had a nice quiet evening. It started with everyone telling his/her story of the past 20 years. Only classmates and former teachers were invited. Many of the class lives abroad, and one of them was here via a webcam from NYC. Zsuzsa was my best girlfriend in high school and now her husband (also Hungarian) is working at the Columbia University. She also studied and became a PhD in chemistry (was is physics?), but what with four kids...She's now an assistant to his husband. I miss her.

This is a close up of the dinner table - an all you can eat, partly supplied by us.

That's all for now.

Tomorrow 4PM our bus's heading North.

Bart, here I come.

Cheers,

SzF.

October forecast

Dear all,

as you have probably noticed, I do frequent your blogs. In fact I visit yours more often than I do mine.

The reason?

Yours are more interesting :)))

Chris for example entertains us with a brilliant photo. In fact, I did laugh out loud for a couple of minutes after having enlarged it to its full and pure brilliance.

Aine has a blog. That should speak for itself. I command anyone interested in the human soul and the beauty of life go and see for himself.

The ever-witful Bernita has a debate on the presence and likelihood of ghosts. Worth a trip, as usual.

Ewen has a new photo-blog. He's definitely got the eye. Or, rather, two. His photos are better than my puns.

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And I am sorry for the rest I left out intentionally yes, because the list would have been endless.

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And now some words about the state of events at this side of the world. We renovate, build and do some more of the same thing. At the same time we desperately seek to earn some money to back up our fancy of having a comfortable house.

We keep raising chicken as per ususal. In fact we have now as many chicken we lost count.

Kids are fine.

Weather is so not fine.

It's cold and raining.

Blah.

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And finally, some good news!!!

I'm going to The Netherlands between 8-13 October, to meet Bart.

No, not really, I'm on an official trip, but I might have the chance to meet my fellow blogger.

*keep fingers crossed*

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Cheers to all,

SzF.

Bon appetit

This is a meme about food.

I borrowed it from HERE - thanks for the idea, but yes, I did spice it up by changing the directions, which now are the following:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.

2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten, or are planning to eat in the foreseeable future.

3) Italicize any items that you would never consider eating.

4) Add a special treat at the end by adding 1-2 more to the list that you think probably NOONE ELSE has ever tasted in your circle of friends. Put them at the bottom of your list and mark them with ***s.

5) Mark with a special color those you have prepared at least once at home.

6) Return the f(l)avour by letting me know about you doing this fun meme.

1. Venison

2. Nettle tea (one of my favourite herb tea)

3. Huevos rancheros (it's almost like a normal ham and eggs)

4. Steak tartare

5. Crocodile

6. Black pudding (AKA Blood Sausage)

7. Cheese fondue

8. Carp

9. Borscht

10. Baba ghanoush

11. Calamari - no, but I have tasted shrimps. *shudders*

12. Pho (c'mon, it's broth with veggies!)

13. PB&J sandwich

14. Aloo gobi (basically it's potatoes with cauliflower, topped with cheese and baked in an oven. I'm sure to have made something similar.)

15. Hot dog from a street cart

16. Epoisses (we call them camambert cheese)

17. Black truffle

18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes

19. Steamed pork buns

20. Pistachio ice cream

21. Heirloom tomatoes (what's the big deal?)

22. Fresh wild berries (anyone has not picked and tasted wild berries in the wild is definitely missing something)

23. Foie gras (a.k.a. goose liver paté. It is traditional in Hungary.)

24. Rice and beans (what? why? why not?)

25. Brawn, or head cheese (again, this is traditional over here)

26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper

27. Dulce de leche (it's definitely on my to-do list)

28. Oysters

29. Baklava

30. Bagna cauda (as in #27. I love garlic)

31. Wasabi peas

32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl (one of my favourite when in a restaurant)

33. Salted lassi

34. Sauerkraut (a tradition for winter)

35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea

38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O (why do these nasty things accummulate - 4 of them nasties in a row?)

39. Gumbo

40. Oxtail (it makes a brilliant soup)

41. Curried goat (goatmeat smells, I'm sorry)

42. Whole insects (whoa! Hell no!)

43. Phaal - I have not yet tasted it, but I'm not a fan of really hot dishes.

44. Goat’s milk

45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more

46. Fugu

47. Chicken tikka masala (as in #27)

48. Eel

49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut

50. Sea urchin

51. Prickly pear (see also No. 27. Unfortunately it is not grown in Hungary.)

52. Umeboshi (As with any other, formerly unknown food I did some google search. Uhm...thanks, I'd rather not.)

53. Abalone

54. Paneer

55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal

56. Spaetzle

57. Dirty gin martini (I think I had a gulp or two like ages ago. That was all)

58. Beer above 8% ABV

59. Poutine (as in No.21)

60. Carob chips

61. S’mores (the result of my google search made my stomach ache. Pffft.)

62. Sweetbreads (Ouch. I do eat liver, testicles, but this is waaay too much)

63. Kaolin (The one who put kaolin on the list of food was surely kidding. It's like saying:lime powder. Or ground bricks.)

64. Currywurst (see also Sweetbread. Plus, my father used to work in a meat factory. He used to tell me stories about how this kind of stuff is made to look acceptable. Trust me. This is not food. Real muscles and eggs, bacon and all - those can't deceive you. But a wurst is a potentially dangerous mix in disguise.)

65. Durian (Have not. Why not?)

66. Frogs’ legs

67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake (I felt google just puked a picture of it onto my monitor. Blah. I'd rather stay hungry)

68. Haggis (Have not. Why not - a home-made real haggis can not be bad, after all.)

69. Fried plantain (I thought bananas were made sweet...)

70. Chitterlings, or andouillette (hmmmm....unsure. Some days I'd say yes.

71. Gazpacho (the best soup for a hot summer day)

72. Caviar and blini

73. Louche absinthe

74. Gjetost, or brunost (This is yet to come, but I'd love to meet a specimen along my life. I like old cheese.)

75. Roadkill

76. Baijiu

77. Hostess Fruit Pie

78. Snail

79. Lapsang souchong

80. Bellini

81. Tom yum (I don't think I have tried it, but...why not?)

82. Eggs Benedict (another item aspiring for *the silliest item on the list* award)

83. Pocky (I mean...are those edible?)

84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant

85. Kobe beef (No, to my greatest sorrow. I'd love to, yes, yes!)

86. Hare

87. Goulash (mwah-hah-hah. I'm from Hungary, remember? But I bet there are many types of goulashes all over the world. And in Hungary, there are as many types as households. Even the goulashes I make are different from one another)

88. Flowers

89. Horse (horse meat is put into sausages, so, it's far too obvious again)

90. Criollo chocolate (I have not tried, but I'm a fan of pure chocolates)

91. Spam (uhm... are those edible?)

92. Soft shell crab

93. Rose harissa (looks/sounds like fun)

94. Catfish

95. Mole poblano (No encounters here as well, but the pictures look yummy)

96. Bagel and lox

97. Lobster Thermidor

98. Polenta

99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee

100. Snake

101. Cleansed intestines of a chicken in a soup. ***

102. Blackbird.***

Quiz

The above photo is a Spanish-language ad for tourists.
Do you have any comment on it?

eternal

as the last letter turns itself off the branch

and meets Earth to return

to survive

and to feel the glory of life again;

my hands feel yours and my eyes sink into yours

for all the times

.

.

.

breathe in / breathe out

.

.

.

as the light fades off to the darkness of night

that never really comes

lest it turns into light again

my mind wonders no further away for

it found the rest, the final, the one

within you

.
.

.
breathe in / breathe out
.
.
.

I see that one final door opening

I feel no pain

words have no meanings

I have lost them all

to gain peace

Floating high above, sinking beneath all

we are here

and there

within all quietness

.

.

.

breathe in / breathe out

.

.

.

update with photos

We've returned from this event almost a month ago - but I've been absent from the blogosphere. Now I'm catching up: visiting your blogs, trying to recollect my thoughts, gathering my old self; where there is a new one, too.

It shall be a peaceful merge, I know.

-

Last weekend we had our 20th High School Reunion Evening. This is an event when former classmates meet and inform each other about their fate since highschool years. This time the evening went well beyond a shallow informative meeting. Those who cared to visit the bittersweet rejoice, had a great time together.

We refreshed some of the old events, but we also peeked into each other's present-day soul.

-

The photos below were made during the Kurultaj (see the post right below):

There were vendors allowed in the area. This is a picture of a cake made especially for the occassion.

There were horsemen of various kinds. These are short-legged smaller horses. Neither saddles, nor any other instruments are used.

Yurts under the mighty August sky.

photos about Kurultaj

For a while my computer played a game of not beng able to display any of my August photos. It seems that some of those are lost forever. But since ALL my Kurultaj photos are still on my camera, I re-loaded them to my PC.

Above is one of those.

It depicts my son, aged 12, playing with a paper aeroplane he made.

This photo sums up what effect the event had on us.

For it was natural, easy-going, made-by-us, and most of all, uplifting.

See his feet, some inches off the ground?

- - -

to be continued...

Kurultaj

Dear all,

this weekend we are taking part in an event that is supposed to be a large-scale celebration in honor of our long lost relatives, who are coming to the Carpathian basin for this occassion. People of this nation call themselves madjars. The name, pronounced, resembles magyar, ie: Hungarians. These people are coming from Kazakhstan, where they are a minority. They do not look like present-day Hungarians, but their closest genetical cousins are the Hungarians, a recent study revealed.

Their myths and old folk tales are not unlike those of ours.

Only a few of Hungarians have heard of this relationship, but now it's time to meet and join together for the second time. The first meeting was held in their homeland, now we are the hosts. I have already written a post about this event: HERE.

Events of the weekend will include a ceremonial greating, a special 'Feast of the Magyars', a display of traditional arts and crafts, and also of traditional martial arts. There will be lots of singing and drumming. Various authors and researchers will hold lectures on ancient values in folk art and religion. There will be a special yurt, where ancient methods of healing will be explained and shown. One of the evenings will climax in a special ceremony that is called "walking on the fire".

All information I used are from the official site of the event.

We are going wild!!!

I'll be back with photos!

- - -

And now some explanation about my not really being present here:

This is the new door of the bathroom - as you see, it's not completely installed:

This is an earlier photo of my husband doing the wall between the bathroom and the kitchen. My daughter is helping him by handing bricks up. There is a gap between the wall-in-the-making and the chimney where my daughter waits. That place is reserved for the oven, which is yet to be built.

Chris and her team blog HERE is featuring a campaign at the end of August that supports making reading more easy and available for kids. This is a program of her homeland, and she wants to do a small research on what kind of books would kids love to WRITE.

I'll be interviewing my kids and will be sending the answer via email directly to Chris. I'm asking you to do the same: ask kids and support this movement.

For details, go over to Chris's blog at HERE.
- - -
In the meantime, we (me and husband) are working on our house. DH is building the chimney and various inner walls, and also he's laying the floor on the second floor of the house.

I have just finished treating the wooden planks with a special, copper-based natural liquid against fungal infection and damn, my eyes hurt...Not only that liquid smells putrid and acid, it stings your eyes, nose and whatnot.

But it turns wood into a nice greenish-blue :)

- - -

My kids are having their holiday with their maternal grandparents. They booked an apartment for a week beside Lake Balaton and I bet they are having more fun than we do at home.

Once the kids are back home again, they'll be helping us again.

Their help involves cleaning the bricks, helping out with the chicken, harvesting tomatoes, cucumbers, parsley leaves, basil, and making salad. My son has learned using the pancake machine and has twice made a complete dinner for four people.

- - -

Here are some more photos of our canoe trip. I hope you enjoy them.

This is what we see from the inside of our newest tent. Yes, we have more than one. Actually, we have three. Putting up this one only takes a minute.

My son and my daughter rowing in front of me. By the end of the third day, they both rowed quite well and sufficiently. My son is stronger, but if you take a closer look, it is my daughter who rows regularly. She likes to keep the rules :)

This photo was made in Sárospatak by my daugher.

The only time we had lunch in a restaurant. This is celeriac cream soup with croutons.
And yes, this is a family, too. White storks: landmarks of the Hungarian countryside.