Recycle - home edition

 The more I become aware of my own and my family's 'environmental footprint', the more I freak out about the amount of waste we all must burden our world with...every single day. Starting from a single bread loaf that for some reason has to ALWAYS come in a plastic package of some sort these days (more sanitary, right?), going through all the old computers (please wait a couple of days and you'll see how much e-waste we captured back in Vegas one day), clothes and...furniture. Can you imagine the toll of one single person and one single household on our fragile world? And what about all of us? What about cars, fuel, and...whims. 'Honey, I don't like this couch any more. We should buy a new one.' Yes, sometimes you'll sell the old one off but often you might just toss it on the road-side and wait for the garbage truck to pick it up.

Well, coming to a whole new country, not only did we have a concern about how much money to spend on all the new stuff we had to buy, but also we were mindful of how much more garbage we were going to generate. Additionally, having spent a couple of years in the 'old world' and...losing some dear to us people from our ancestors, we came to appreciate older stuff that much more. Rarely nowadays does a 'modern home' emit as much warmth and home-y-ness as the history of the past. So I present to you some of our home, which we furnished from scratch for under $1000 (which includes a fridge and a washing machine). This is what we now call home...

Couches are $50 each. Table is a box for $5.
Small table is off the road-side with a wine box on top. Rug is a blanket/throw.

Table with chairs - $25 for all. Small table in the back is a vintage table off an oooold house - next to free.
Armchair as well. Stand on the left is $30-new.
Stereo is $30 from a total Australian white trash. Candle-holder is $3!
Tray with tea-pot was $10 from a garage sale. It's actually silver with a stamp! 

Kids' labour is free :)

I had to have this plate! It's awesome for serving sushi.

This stand is totally DIY made from pallets, purchased second-hand.

Sami's tent is new. The carpet we brought from the UK (crazy).
The fire-truck was $5 (new but reduced by mistake at the store).
And the $20 bed, alkA sanded down and re-painted.

This vase was super expensive but we loved it too much.

Balcony furniture was a gift.

Here's our exceptional late 1920's (top right sticker says 14-3-31)
French box-suitcase for which I talked a woman down from $50 to $10.
It has customs stamps from Canada, France, Alger, Scotland and...ended up in Australia.

Vases were next to free. The pot-holder ladder on the balcony was at the road-side.

Reuse! Reduce! Relove! Reenjoy!
Live with history!

Are we capable of making a difference in the world?

I spoke to Green Peace activists today. One of them - a girl - actually started crying. 'Nobody cares! I tried stopping and talking to so many people! I don't ask them for anything, just want them to know...the Great Barrier Reef could be devastated and nobody cares.'

I felt so bad. I was also in a hurry but could not believe that no one EVER seems to care about the important things in life. We are all digging deep in our own holes, looking down, and letting life pass us by while at the same time politicians do with us and our world whatever they want.

Well, I decided to try and make a difference. This here is my attempt to fight the world. So, join me! Prove to me that it's possible! That our voices CAN be heard!

Read through the links, watch the videos, sign my petition and spread the word! Let's make it happen! And if we lose this battle, I am ready to give up and denounce humanity one last time.

The Great Barrier Reef is in danger! Sign my petition here!

READ AND WATCH THIS

AND THIS

Is Your Diet...CRUEL?

Buried in problems, politics, poverty, disasters or mere oblivion we forget to look around and land a hand to those around us. What's left for the other inhabitants of our planet. NO time left! Everyone for himself.

I remember watching this film years ago, called Earthlings. It's narrated by none other than Joaquin Phoenix. I was devastated. But time goes by and we tend to forget. So here is a good reminder. I know I did what I could. I still learn and I still err. But I know one thing for sure. Doing nothing is not an option. So, dear friends, this is the painful truth. I loaded it to my dropbox especially for you. Watch it, think about it, spread the word and become less egocentric and more compassionate. It doesn't take much!

Watch or download the movie here!

Stay cruelty-free, positive, healthy and informed! And if you do want to be healthy and cruelty-free, here's a piece of information that can help you eat better.

 

My Birthday Surprise!

Overwhelmed by petty little tasks like finding a job, a place to live, a car, nursery for Sami and an entire household of furniture, I thought that there would be no energy left to spare for my 33rd birthday. Therefore, no excitement arose in my chest when I woke up this morning. I just expected a normal day without too much fuss.

My beautiful amazing wife, however, seemed to have something else in mind. Sami and her left me to sleep in and woke me up late with a beautiful birthday song and breakfast. This of course, wasn't all. Here's what happened at the birthday picnic, where alkA had planned to take us...

A new adventure

Dear English speaking friends,

you may not know that my dear, awesome, beloved, amazing wife has won a one-in-the-whole-world scholarship, to study a PhD in Brisbane, Australia. As a result, we all packed up from rainy, muddy, mouldy Manchester and went on a nearly two-month 'vacation' to Bulgaria (the quotations are here as Bulgaria is almost always a bag of bad surprises, rather than a vacation).

As of yesterday, we are all in a new reality. Tropical winter of 22 Celsius, walks along botanical gardens, iguanas, ibises and sheer beauty and pure wonder of what this is and what's to come.

Stay tuned, as I plan to quickly sneak out of reality and report to you what in the world is going on in this new world. But be advised: it's going to be amazing!

Love,

S.

Father's day

For father's day I had amazing presents from my loved ones!

My dear alkA wrote me this:

'All I would want to say is that you amaze me with the greatest devotion, the nonchalant and easy-going fathering you are providing for Sami. Keep dropping him when on the slides, this only comes to show that you are always there with him! Keep forgetting to feed him dinner on time, only because you are playing a game with him and you two are so totally lost in the moment, that my heart just melts (and my ovaries just go into somersaults)! Keep bringing him home with his brand-new pair of jeans ripped open and a bruised forehead, after skateboarding in the park for hours! His proud smile says it all…'

and those words mean the world to me! I never really thought I was doing too well as a dad. Now I know I must be doing something right :)

And my Sami gave me the biggest hug and the best happiness smiles! Here is my Monchichi of Happiness:

The good life...

Going back to basics. Slowing down the pace. Enjoyong the simple things. Focusing on here and now. Forgetting anger and anguish from the past. Abandoning planning and anticipation. Being honest with ourselves. Doing a little something as simple as a beer in a pub with the one you love.

THIS REALLY HELPS YOU REALIZE. IT'S NOW! IT'S HERE! THIS IS THE GOOD LIFE!

LIVE IT!

8 Март

Момичета, жени, майки, баби, сестри, лели, принцеси!

Честит празник!

Пожелавам ви да имате любов в живота си, да бъдете уважавани, почитани, подкрепяни, двъхновени и силни!

И дано някой да ви глези...а ако не - поглезете се вие! Заслужавате го!

Searching

In these times of constant mental anguish and turmoil, fueled by the fear of what's to come, I again am in a desperate need and search of sources of serenity.

In myself I have only found one answer to the riddle of self-blame and desperation - creativity.

 I wish to myself and to you new inspirations, new ideas and the bliss of attaining fulfillment through creativity. The more I experience, the more I realize that this, along with love is the only true meaning of life and happiness.

Finish > > > > > > > > > > > Start

The sleep is a kid,

The washes are dished,

The cleaned is house,

The done is laundry.

It’s time about

I feet my lifts up

And ask:

Why feel it does

That we things always do

In order the wrong?

We jobs had,

Then we school to went.

We money had,

Then we school to went.

We baby a had,

Then we school to went.

We home a had,

Then we rent to went.

We cars had,

We feeted them for our switch.

We  security had,

For switched we madness it.

Our wiser is kid than us!

!snottuBnimajneBerAeWknihTI

!rehtOhcaEdevoLeWerofeBrehtOhcaEdevoLeWtsaeLtA

My 2011 Gratitude List

Gratitude is a major key to one of the locks of the seemingly impenetrable door to happiness.
Therefore, alkA and I urged each-other to focus on the positives of the past year in order to appreciate life a bit more in the cold, short, rainy, even lonely winter Manchester days.

So, here's what defines 2011 for me:

I am now a Master of Research in Psychology - albeit a boring-sounding degree, I am very proud of it as well as of my Merit award of the course. Now I feel that I can finally be a bit more appreciated for what I know and what I do and not merely for how well I bow and kiss ass as it was with my U.S. job.

I have fallen deeper and deeper in love with my family core! - the three of us are the absolute heart of my life. No job, no band, no place in the world, no reward is ever more important than US. However difficult it may be for me to remember it in times of hardship, this is the ultimate truth. I would absolutely and without a doubt give my life for my alkA and Sami. And even though that's not just been true for this year, it has now solidified with yet another year.

We traveled and than traveled some more. This year alone we have been in a total of 5 countries! And it still feels like it wasn't enough. I realized that traveling is absolutely my favorite occupation. If I could travel and write, that would be it for me!
So, we were in Bulgaria twice;
in the UK we explored Liverpool, York, London and even the amazing Lake District, for which I will soon write you more.
In September we went to Spain, France and Monaco and I have been writing about those experiences since.

I had amazing, blissful moments of reconnecting with my wife and with my son. Multiple moments where I could stop my mind from always racing and enjoy the MOMENT - the look in my wife's beautiful eyes, the excitement in Sami's...

I found wonderful, honest ways of making money without being devoted to a 9-5 job.

My band - BFH - recorded our best, according to me, album ever, called Bits oF Humanity. I am mega excited about it and cannot wait to be able to share some of the songs with you,

We had a concert again! Being front-stage is an amazing feeling and sharing the intense energy with another 300 people felt like an out-worldly experience.

I mastered my diet a lot by reducing all dairy and learning to cook delicious healthy vegan meals. I found true joy in cooking.

I learned that I am capable of writing such a daunting thing as a dissertation and even enjoyed it.

I started volunteering for Manchester Drug Services and found out that I can experience true joy of going to work for the well-being of others even without being paid.

I worked quite a bit on my blog and developed its design to what I find a more eye-pleasing and interesting layout.

I found out about mindfulness and acceptance and opened the door to a new world of conscious living.

I saw my favorite bands live - Roger Waters from Pink Floyd - The wall and The Ocean. I even got to hang out with The Ocean and even had the displeasure of explaining to them that I would not be able to have them sleep in my tiny apartment.

I made a few (but very few) great friends.

I skateboarded with my son many many many times and experienced the joy of skating in a half-pipe myself.

and then...

I loved, I made love and I was loved back! And this is really what made it all feel like a LIFE and not merely like existence.

THIS CHRISTMAS...

Please BUY NOTHING! Please, buy no gifts! Please, if it means anything spiritual to you, then do something spiritual for somebody else. Don't perpetuate the corporate and political machine of turning yourself into a mindless gift-shopping zombie! Ignore the herd! Ignore the stigma, put forward by commercial interests and perpetuated by idiots! If you love somebody, simply do something for them! Or give them a symbol of your love for them. Nobody needs to store crap they don't need, purchased with money you do not have! FREE YOUR MIND! BUY NOTHING!

Putting Yourself in Another's B-Day Shoes

happy b-day, alkA!

I so know the feeling of un-excitement when your birthday approaches. It is so easy to prefer giving up and spending special moments on the mundane train. It's just too much to even summon the energy to move a finger. We let problems amass over out heads like the Manchester clouds and allow them to shrink us down to mere existence.

But there's no way I'd let this feeling ruin MY fun! As I've found out that the joy of a birthday may well be the joy of those around you, who remember to do something for you.

So, please forgive my egoism, but I just had to make the most out of the special day(s).

I learned to make a cake - my favorite type - no sponge layers of syroped bread-like crap. Just the real deal - coco, sugar, eggs, and secrets.

Then, rather irritated by pre-printed, pre-addressed and un-personalized ready-to-give cards, wrote all over a photograph, where you can see her happiness in every detail, stuck it on a piece of paper and wrote all of the generic b-day wishes I could think of. Now that's personal :).

Then, just as I nearly ran out of ideas, she came up with the best one: why don't we go, risk our lives and reputation and learn to do some ice-skating. Even take the little shit along! Turns out, he's the only one who had something to complain about, as his little butt got seriously wet and we had to dry it by butt-slapping.

And then, the few Mancunian friends that we've made in a year chipped in in the celebration and excitement by organizing a surprise party themselves! One would think that surprises two years in a row don't work, but alkA still seems to be pretty gullible!

Cheers to you, my dear!
NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF A BIRTHDAY!

It all boils down to this...

The hardest thing in my life is this:
Growing up.

As a kid and a teenager I've always been fascinated with a million things. Be it music, camping, fixing things, making things, writing poetry or hiking with the scouts.

So what happened? To this day I am constantly struggling to find what I would really like to do!

Happened to you?

If not, then may be you should give yourself a pat on the back and brag to your friends that you have found your way. But if you are like me, then keep on reading.

I know that if you've read previous posts, you may have read that our ethics professor at Sofia Uni once said: 'The tragedy of the human life is that from many possibilities, we are only forced to chose ONE path!'

And so we are doomed!? Why can't we be more than a somebody? Why can't we be MANYbodies? That's what I've been stuck with all this time. And until I know which one I will be, am I doomed to grope in the dark like a blind man?

I choose the opposite!

I will be whatever I LOVE, and let it come in whatever shapes and sizes it wants to. I know that what makes me happiest is to GIVE, to CREATE, to EXPLORE, to LAUGH, to SEE and most importantly - to LOVE!

So, my friend, if you have your list of things to love, may be it's time you put them all together and see what 'job' description they fit!

Be inspired! Believe! Love!

PS: and if you know of a job that fits my favourites, let me know :)