Friday, July 06, 2007

Big Brother is watching me!

I'm doing a little experiment. Click the picture to read the explanation ...

Big brother is watching you, and he can see you're not working!

Posted at 7:12 pm by turukhtan
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Mum and Ainur were visiting

Ainur acting cool in the Tacheles staircase

From these seven hectic and very fun days, there are a couple of more pictures.

Posted at 7:03 pm by turukhtan
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Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Spectacle spectacles

The lens surface of my Carl Bildt partnerlook glasses has crackled up to the point that it disturbs my vision. It's probably because of my bad habit of wiping them with a normal dish cloth (clean), and not a microfibre cloth. It happened to my old glasses, too, but only after about 6 years and many rough rides. To my cheap Carl Bildt glasses it happened already after 1,5 years.

I remembered that I still had the other pair of glasses that I got in the "two for one" deal with my old glasses. Back then I thought they didn't suit me at all, and I never wore them. But now, they suddenly look pretty good on me ...

Posted at 8:11 pm by turukhtan
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Friday, June 15, 2007

The Year of Death

Today it has been one year since my little princess Mitsu died. Since then, within this one year, also my little baby Sergei and my grandma Liisa have died.

Mitsu died of cancer, but at an old age, and I think she had led a full life, and that it was a good time for her to die. Sergei, on the other hand, died before he got all that old. He got ill with kidney stones, and as there was no way he could ever be operated, we had to put him down. But I couldn't be there when he died. I couldn't get there fast enough.

Since Sergei's death I've been kind of numb. When mum told me the day before yesterday that grandma had died, my reaction was pretty much "oh, okay". I wasn't sad at all and I didn't miss her. She had a very quick and peaceful death through a heart attack, after having been in bed for about ten years since she got cerebral haemorrhage that left half of her body paralysed.

I was much more sad ten years ago. Because after that, her personality changed completely, and as I didn't have much contact with her anyway, I felt like I didn't know her anymore. She always made my mother cry because she kept saying cruel things that mum took too seriously.
I don't miss that "version" of her at all. I had never felt like there was anything I could give her, or get from her, anyway, even if we had kept up some sort of contact.

Today I saw some old photos of grandma that Ainur posted on Flickr. They made me remember how she used to be. For instance, once when we were little, I ate too much sweets and puked on her bed. I couldn't stop crying because I was so sorry and embarrassed, but she wasn't angry at all.

And that, finally, made me cry again. So, I guess I'm still human, after all ...

Posted at 9:36 am by turukhtan
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Saturday, June 09, 2007

Sunny Saturday

Today I went to take new photos of the Rosenstrasse street signs, because my editor is not satisfied with my book cover proposals after all.

At the monument, there was a small Israeli tourist group, and the guide was telling the story about the protests and the general history of Jews in Berlin (in the space of the park and the monument, an old synagogue used to stand).
After taking some pictures, I sat down on a bench nearby and looked through my photos while listening to the guide. It was nice to hear some Hebrew again, and surprising how much I still understood (probably because I knew what he was talking about, so I could fill in the blanks).

Also, during my walk there and back, some hot guys checked me out, so the day didn't feel completely meaningless, after all. :oD

Anyway, I realised that the old dairy on Choriner Strasse has been thoroughly renovated, but not quite as ruthlessly as I had feared:

The following picture, the view from my window towards Zionskirche, is from a couple of weeks ago, after yet another thunderstorm:

(Completely irrelevant information: As I was retouching the photo above a bit in PhotoShop, I felt a sneeze coming. As I pulled in air, I felt one of the buttons of my top pop open. For some reason, that distracted me to the point that I didn't feel like sneezing anymore ...)

Posted at 4:04 pm by turukhtan
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Friday, June 08, 2007

Pannukahvi!!!

What Type Of Coffee Are You? A Goldenbird Quiz

You are PANNUKAHVI.The legendary "cowboy coffee" is simply a pot filled with coarse coffee grounds boiled with water. This primitive brew suits farm hands, lumberjacks, Scandinavians, factory workers & other men & women of action. In your simple kitchen, you indulge in steamy gossip & political agitation. Your perseverance & crude taste help you to survive on chickory and dandelion roots during crises.
Take this quiz!

Quizilla | Join | Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code

Posted at 8:02 pm by turukhtan
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Thursday, June 07, 2007

The Battle Royale Strategy test!

Your Score: Hiroki Sugimura
35 killer instinct, 92 independence, 44 sociability, and 76 rationality

Hiroki is an athlete and martial arts expert who doesn't like fighting and has a reputation as a loner. His weapon is a tracking device and he spends the duration of the game searching for his best friend, Takako Chigusa and his crush, Kayoko Kotohiki. Hiroki comforts Takako as she dies and then seeks out Kayoko. However, Kotohiki is unaware of the feelings he has for her, and when he approaches, she shoots him. He confesses his love for her as he dies.

What do your scores mean? - Your strategy
You are more rational than intuitive, and very independent. You don't get along with people too well, but don't want to take part in the killing. You are probably capable of taking care of yourself, but to win, you'd need to be more aggressive. Imagine what could've happened if Takako had survived and joined forces with Hiroki? You're going to need a friend like that. Unless you think you can escape, of course. Of all people, you'd probably be most likely to escape alone, but escaping is still far from an easy thing to do.
Chance of survival: 35%

Your complete opposite is Tatsumichi Oki. You are similar to Yukie Utsumi and Shinji Mimura.

I'd really appreciate your feedback, so please rate this test! Feel free to send me a message as well, especially if you have ideas to make the test better.

Hint: If you'd like to know which character real people think you're most like, you should check out this awesome Livejournal rating community!

Link: The Battle Royale Strategy Test written by red_ashes on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

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However, when I took the test again, and changed a couple of answers (actually, I was trying to manipulate it to become more like Shogo Kawada, while still being as honest as possible), I got ...

Your Score: Kazuo Kiriyama
64 killer instinct, 100 independence, 28 sociability, and 76 rationality

Kazuo is sociopathic killer who supposedly signed up for the program for fun. (In the novel he belongs to the class, but is a sociopath and a dengerous delinquent nonetheless.) He is a merciless bastard who kills almost as many as everyone else together and would proably have won the game if it wasn't for Shinji Mimura's bomb which blinds him.

What do your scores mean? - Your strategy
You are a rational, independent, cold-blooded killer. Or at least, capable of turning into one under the circumstances. The fact the you are not practically sociable could be a weakness if your other attribues wouldn't more than make up for it. You are likely to have a clear plan, a good amount of determination and a cool head. You will probably do what Kiriyama did and go alone killing everything that crosses your path without stopping for meaningless chit-chat.
Chance of survival: 80%

Your complete opposite is Yukiko Kitano. You are similar to Takako Chigusa and Shogo Kawada.

I'd really appreciate your feedback, so please rate this test! Feel free to send me a message as well, especially if you have ideas to make the test better.

Hint: If you'd like to know which character real people think you're most like, you should check out this awesome Livejournal rating community!

Link: The Battle Royale Strategy Test written by red_ashes on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Well, maybe the way Kiriyama was in the film version, but not really the comic version (with his Incredible Levitating Jacket) ... :oD

Posted at 8:08 pm by turukhtan
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Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Yay!

Today is the first anniversary of my freedom and independence since I got out of one hell of a fucked up relationship.

I haven't made any attempts at any new serious relationships since then, either because I haven't been "ready" yet, or because my threshold has gotten considerably higher after I learned the hard way that it's nowhere near enough when someone just says he loves you.

I guess it takes a very special kind of person to be in a relationship with me and not treat me like shit, and I just havent' met anyone like that yet.

Posted at 12:49 pm by turukhtan
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Saturday, June 02, 2007

The G8 summit harms the climate.

One of the main themes at the G8 summit in Heiligendamm is climate change. According to a study made for Der Spiegel, the summit itself will have a negative impact on the climate:
The transport and accomodation of everyone involved (delegates, demonstrators, police officers, journalists etc), as well as the construction and transport of the 12 km long safety barrier will produce about 30,000 tons of carbon dioxide - a third of what thefootball World championship caused. "And these are still conservative estimates", says study administrator Moritz Lehmkuhl.

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More environment-friendly alternatives for conferences include video conferences over the Internet.
Anyway, these people must know, on some level, that they are doing something wrong, if they are so afraid that they have to hide behind a massive safety barrier.

As for poverty, another topic that will be touched at the summit, the delegates could easily start fighting poverty in their own respective countries if they would cut down their own astronomical wages and channel that money into social welfare (child and housing allowance, higher state subventions for healthcare, etc.).

Posted at 10:50 pm by turukhtan
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Sunday, May 20, 2007

Link of the day:

The Manual Project - the personalities of hands by Bill Westheimer.

Posted at 11:21 pm by turukhtan
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Your Score: Kazuo Kiriyama64 killer instinct, 100 independence, 28 sociability, and 76 rationality

Your Score: Kazuo Kiriyama
64 killer instinct, 100 independence, 28 sociability, and 76 rationality