about life: About Beatles... Sort Of...
- 07/08/10 08:39 PM
1970. Saransk. USSR.
I am a second year student at the University. I am actively involved with a faculty band, spending more time on playing guitar than on studies…
There was a competition between the departments, each preparing a performance, and I am putting together amplifiers, trying to find speakers, wires, microphones… anything. It is the era, when we already heard the Beatles, The Rolling Stones… the new era, and we were sort of at the forefront of it. And why not us? 100 or so students of the Foreign Languages department of the State University…
My dream was to get … (17 comments)
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about life: Comparing Apples to Apples... Oh My...
- 07/07/10 05:55 PM
In Miami Herald’s online edition today there was an article by Hanna Sampson about the new ship Epic (image courtesy of Miami Herald), which came to Miami port today. It is a so called superliner, one of less than a handful biggest cruise ships in the industry. I am sure this is a very impressive vessel, offering in addition to what other cruise ship offer, an ice bar, cabins for solo travelers and performances by the hip Blue Man Group.
You can go to the article and read about all the innovations on the ship, and the expectations that the cruise … (23 comments)
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about life: Quality Control. A Weird Story
- 07/02/10 07:50 PM
It was 1976 when in search of better pay we moved to this frozen city 100 miles above the Arctic Circle. My wife with great difficulty got a job in school, and I filled a manager position in a bookstore. It was expanding, and for several months we were working in one side of the store while drilling, hammering, painting was continuing on the other side. I soon befriended the workers. They were 20-something, typical construction workers. Poorly trained, even more poorly equipped, they were good-natured guys and we went along just fine. They were fast and sloppy. The construction materials were … (26 comments)
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about life: 3 Hours Before The War
- 06/21/10 06:10 PM
I am looking at the calendar and it shows: 6/22/2010.
June 22. It is 1 A.M. now.
On June 22, 1941 at 1 A.M. my then 22- year old mom was sleeping in a small town on the Ukrainian border. She was on a summer internship at a local hospital. She just finished her 4th year in Medical School and had one year ahead.
She still had 3 hours before the life has changed for her, for her family, for her country... There were 3 more hours before the howling whistling sounds of falling bombs would awake the town, and she, who … (36 comments)
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about life: Passing the Torch
- 06/21/10 03:48 PM
I was walking barefoot on our wonderful beach from the office to home. It is now my routine, as I need exercise, and I am too lazy to go to the gym or to the pool. The family decided that an hour and a half of brisk walk (about 4.5 miles) would be good for me.
They forgot to ask me whether I share their confidence, but I have no objection to walking on the sand along the water and enjoying the most beautiful scenery.
It was about 6 PM and I noticed the moon in the light blue sky. The … (82 comments)
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about life: The Light Is There... Even If We Do Not See It
- 06/13/10 10:52 AM
Sometimes I venture to the sites about the places where I used to live back in the USSR. That’s what I was doing a couple of days ago when I ran into this photo taken in the arctic city of Vorkuta. It is Aurora. In my time there it was considered one of the miracles that you couldn't take a photo of, pretty much the same way you could not take a photo of a lightning and to do the lightning, we used a sharp pin to scratch the film (negative. Digital changed everything…
Now there are plenty of photos of … (19 comments)
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about life: 'Take A Good Look, America'
- 05/24/10 12:10 AM
We Are All Different
I have not written any purely political posts lately. So here is one coming. This is about the art of hearing each other. I am afraid that with time we move in the opposite directions, while both sides claim they are moving in the 'right' direction.
It is difficult, and that’s why it is called the ‘Art’. So, why don’t we check how it is done in nature, and I guarantee that you would be pleasantly surprised. If they can, why can’t we?
Watch this video.
… (22 comments)
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about life: Suicide Bridge of Hope?
- 04/18/10 01:01 PM
“EVERY person who tried to kill themselves by jumping off the Golden gate bridge changed their mind on the way down” (From the comment on my post The Signs of Love? The Signs of Life? A good blog, BTW, about love, not death – sorry for shamelessly patting myself on the back)
Besides a funny thought that it is a bit late to change your mind if you are already on your way down, I thought that it would be interesting to see if there is such phenomenon as suicide bridge.
Turned out that yes, and as luck would have it, … (12 comments)
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about life: The Signs of Love? The Signs of Life?
- 04/04/10 03:35 AM
The Signs Of Love. The Signs Of Life?
Last month (and feels like eternity on AR) I posted About Love.... I love that blog, it still with me, not like many others when you put it in words and they relieve you, not this one, but then, it is about love, and love is with us for as long as we are on the face of this earth.
And it is not that we need it less when we get older, that's where many people are wrong, as they confuse sex and love... And in our later years we need it … (14 comments)
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about life: Speed Limit: Not Faster Than Your Angel's
- 04/03/10 08:37 AM
If there is anything that I read every day, this would be AR blogs. There is some risk involved. If you venture from the names you know, it is very unpredictable. Which is the beauty and the curse of AR. So, I venture with caution...
I am not sure one can find a better example of the times, than by following AR. 100 years ago people were receiving long winded letters sprinkled with eau de cologne from the ones we loved. Letters would be read and reread and kept under the pillow. And for fun we read 800-pages War & Peace by Leo Tolstoy.
Times … (10 comments)
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about life: Circle of Life In Real Estate. Demolition. Real (Estate) Short Story.
- 03/26/10 11:55 AM
Circle of Life In Real Estate. Demolition. Real (Estate) Short Story.
My client is buying an Intracoastal-front home. He thinks that he wants a boat. He is a medical doctor, always on the phone, always ready to put the gloves on and get the scalpel.
He is yet to find out that the happiest day for a man is when he sells his expensive boat.
Right now he still thinks that the happiest day in man's life is when he buys it. In reality when you buy it, it is the second happiest day, the first is when you sell, they just happen in life not in the … (15 comments)
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about life: Love Is In The Air
- 03/20/10 07:24 PM
Did you ever hear "Love is in the air?" I heard it many times, especially in spring... but I did not expect to see it in its sort of literal form.
We are driving A1A (do not confuse with the steak sauce, please), which is our scenic highway going right along the Atlantic Ocean.
We are on our way to the alligator farm. I go every time when we have visitors. This time it is my wife's sister from Moscow. This is her first visit to US, and she is careful in the street as she knows that we have alligators.
Flagler … (14 comments)
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about life: About Love...
- 03/20/10 02:11 PM
Last July my wife and I went to New York and met with old friends. One of them (let us call her Natasha) worked for over 10 years as a home attendant, then retired, but is still working, now privately.
She is cute nice lady, very organized and responsible... Worked with this family in suburban New York area for several years. The lady died. The husband, who is in his 90s, but is still physically and mentally fit, asked her to stay on the same terms. She did. She is more of a helper/companion, and looks like this is very important … (20 comments)
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about life: Where's My $25 Mil?
- 03/19/10 07:45 PM
Stewart Penn posted Real Estate Blogger Sued for $25 Million
I remember when the story broke. Here in Florida it was everywhere. I felt bad for the guy, and hoped that they would let him off the hook. It was nice to get the update (thanks Lana and Katerina), and know that it is over for Lucas. In a good way...
However, I again started thinking about this small detail, that bugged me then, and is bugging me now.
The agent was sued for $25 Mil. I am writing controversial blogs, and often my only source is word of mouth. … (15 comments)
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about life: Per Aspera Ad Annus
- 03/16/10 02:34 AM
Ralph Gorgoglione posted I know Great Americans who are fighting daily to save the US from the Liberal Left. Are YOU?
Ralph is unhappy with Alice Linahan. He is upset that she is, according to him, inciting hatred in Americans, when there are tensions, and in his opinion tensions is the last thing we need now. One of the problems that he sees is in wealth disparity. I commented to him that covering tensions, keeping them at bay ends up in social explosions and wars, like in former Yugoslavia, when the restraints of socialism were taken off, causing a ferocious fight between the brotherly … (27 comments)
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about life: Get A License... Or Get Lost
- 03/15/10 04:12 PM
We have submitted an offer on a condo-hotel unit in Plaza Resort & Spa in Daytona Beach on behalf of our anxious Buyer.
The listing agent is out of the area. The price shows that they do not really know the market, as they greatly undervalued their listing. But this is an opportunity for my buyer.
We knew that there could be more offers than one, we explained it to the Buyer and suggested that our buyer goes just a little bit over the asking price to win it. We hoped that if we move fast enough, we can get the Seller sign … (35 comments)
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about life: Stray Thought
- 03/06/10 10:09 AM
Any activity you take, there is a history of success and failures. And it is always that for a lot of failures there are few successes. That's why they fascinate us.
Of course, we all are successful in something. Even when it is something that is making people to say "Wow", like being a great dad or a terrific mom...
But before we became even mildly successful in anything, how many things were there where we failed? And how many times we failed even trying to replicate where others prospered?
Pretty much we all know that... with one exception:
How many … (16 comments)
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about life: Would Have Been So Cool If it Were Not So Shocking
- 03/03/10 02:50 PM
Change takes time, and often we get used to every increment and we do not really notice the magnitude of the change, the magnitude of the effect... And if we compress the time, then we are stunned with it. We know, but we are not shocked ... until we compress the time, and the shock is here.
This would have been a very cool show... if it were not so shocking. Just follow the link below, click on play when it opens, position it on your screen so that you see the changing date above the map and... try to enjoy
http://cohort11.americanobserver.net/latoyaegwuekwe/multimediafinal.html
… (19 comments)
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about life: Know Your Limitations... Or Get Pregnant
- 02/16/10 03:38 PM
I was 22, it was my last year at the University, and I already was married and had a baby. And I had to work to feed the family.
I worked at a plant, where we were assembling excavators. Huge plant, with thousands and thousands of workers. The job was very physically challenging, and my back was hurting as if I was an old fart. I soon ended up working the bridge crane, those large cranes gliding under the roof.
Safety first was the slogan only, and risks were unjustifiable and plenty. People did not care about others, and did not … (20 comments)
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about life: An Episode in Relativity
- 02/07/10 03:45 PM
It was when we still lived in the Bronx shortly after arriving to US. Canada was so close, that by the time we started driving around and actively contribute to US economy responsibly buying on yard sales in lower Westchester County on weekends, our eyes were set on Canada.
We just needed a good reason to go. Well, it came. Our friends' daughter was getting married to a Canadian, and we were invited to the wedding in Toronto. It was a justification of going on a spending spree in the form of gas and other unexpected things.
On the way back … (16 comments)
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1970. Saransk. USSR. 
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