15th of May is the Blogger Unite for Human Rights Day organized by Amnesty International USA office. Join the Facebook event here!
“Bloggers Unite for Human Rights” challenges bloggers to draw attention to urgent human rights issues facing our world today and encourage their readers to take simple actions through Amnesty International’s online action center.
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BLOGGERS TAKE PART!
CHOOSE YOUR TOPIC. Write about a topic close to your heart or focus on one of the three issues below. Remember to include a link to a relevant online action.
1. CENSORSHIP IN CHINA ► China currently has the largest recorded number of imprisoned journalists and cyber-dissidents in the world. Learn more at http://www.amnestyusa.org/countries/china
► ► Blog about censorship in China and ask readers to sign the action asking Yahoo not to violate human rights in China: http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/siteapps/advocacy/index.aspx?c=jhKPIXPCIoE&b=2590179&template=x.ascx&action=5433
2. ILLEGAL DETENTIONS AT GUANTANAMO BAY ► The U.S. detention facility at Guantánamo has become a global symbol of U.S. human rights violations, including illegal detention, denial of fundamental legal rights, and torture. Learn more at http://www.tearitdown.org.
► ► Blog about Guantanamo Bay and ask readers to sign the tearitdown.org pledge.
3. CRISIS IN DARFUR ► The conflict in Darfur, Sudan, has led to some of the worst human rights abuses imaginable, including murder, rape, abduction and displacement. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been killed and over 2.5 million civilians have been displaced. Learn more about the crisis at http://www.amnestyusa.org/darfur
► ► Blog about the crisis in Darfur and ask readers to take action: http://www.amnestyusa.org/darfur/action/page.do?id=YCA0052148000E&n1=3&n2=52
Invite your friends and use the power of your worlds to change something!
Wednesday, 30 April 2008
15th fo May - Bloggers Unite for Human Rights
Tuesday, 29 April 2008
Love or Control?
Just listening to Charlie (my new gadget - radio/cd/record player - on this later) to Graham's Late Night Love and I hope to get a call back from them, but in the meantime...here is a poll from their website:
Funny...check this out...from a scientific source..
And for those who stil think it is not an issue or those victims, who think 'IT IS NOT HAPPENING TO ME' before you go to check if you are a victim of domestic violence look at this:
Apologies, the snag-its are shit, still...I am waiting to see the final results of the poll...Graham's Show is brilliant btw!
(Jack, thx for being around tonight!:)
Blogged with the Flock Browser
Italy or Hungary...
credits to Igor Spirin - I really miss you and I miss Hungary!
Friday, 25 April 2008
Technorati
I have claimed my blog on Technorati last night, but I am not sure if I did it all right. I am struggling witht he widget there and Blogger seems to make it more difficult than needed. But it might be just the fact that I am blond:/
Well, work begins now, so I will continue later on tonight...
Thursday, 24 April 2008
Quotes from a written book
'Ultimately becoming something weaker, disemboweled and lifeless, and that is the reason why we moved to Micronesia, why this last outpost of sanity in a world rampant with self-obsessed madness, with this idea of Celebrity, is now our home.”
I would like to think of myself this way...really! I live in a place where people easily misjudge my capabilities simply because I DECIDED to simplify my life - one day, at the university, when one of my teachers made my CLASSIFY E.A. Poe as someone he himself probably never wanted to be (established of American Gothic literature or simply an oversensitive literary critique who was able to plan the Crow to the extend of basing the title on the need for a talking bird!!!! ah!!!come on!). I gave up searching...
..I started living my life, enjoying every precious minute of it, measuring every single decision filtering it through the self-consciousness of my mind, body and soul. And art, naturally..
The zen, the 'here and now' in its purest form, practices in its multiple meanings and visualizations.
As with any idea, this one would only work if we could only move to the new 'promised land' and be brave enough to step back, sit down and stare into the setting sun. Oh, well....
Challenge
Yes, I think it will be, but it is a part of a larger picture...
Moved by One Fat Man 08's and Nathan's commitment to their goals and by the atmosphere of London Marathon I have decided to do combine the two. Triggered also by the latest Amnesty International newsletter and 'Stop Violence Against Women' campaign on (if you haven't already, it is worth thinking about donating few pounds a month for this brave organization), with my own story at the back of my head I have entered the London's Adidas Womens Challenge 2008.
I thought I will be happy, maybe even proud of myself.
I am scared!
I thought I will change my lifestyle - eat properly, meditate again, swim and run every single day.
I am sitting in front of Bob, my laptop and blogging!
I thought I will spread the news...subscribed to FriendFeed and Blogged, planning to open a few other accounts...
I have not mentioned a single word to anyone apart from few very close friends:/
Well, in May I will celebrate the first anniversary of a very brave deed myself, so I think I need to pull myself together and ..well at least cook proper dinner tonight;) By September the 7th I will be running...oh, God, what have I done!!!!
Sunday, 20 April 2008
SeaLand 2
I need to learn to love my pictures just as J. loves his paintings - with passion, with maternal love, with obligation and with sacrifice...I am sending them now to get them developed and as I work out the framing I start to see what has become of them. I was making them just to keep the moments alive - like a way of writing them down, a diary of new kind.
Today they seem to exist on their own.
I have given away all pictures form my first exhibition and I hear lovely stories about their present owners. Jack is happier whenever he looks at 'Rage', Anna's only flowers in her tiny room currently are 'Tulips', I see 'Corruption' still on Klara's shelf every time I visit her.
I am happy they have found new homes. And even though I am just as flexible about my work as any other blogger, I do find some printouts magical - simply because they carry a story - each one of them a different message and different past, presence and future.'A rose is a rose is a rose' - quoting someone great and famous;)
China is getting ready
Amnesty International once again picked up on an important issue so please check their site, Google it for blogs or go to this site. I find the work of MUW on this project stunning! Believe me, the one above is still a 'light' photo message!
“In the name of ensuring stability and harmony in the country during the 2008 Olympic Games, the Chinese Government continues to detain and harass political activists, journalists, lawyers and human rights workers. Get involved: www.amnesty.sk”
Check the Color Orange campaign for UK as well...
Let me know what you think!
'Everything comes in it's time' Hush The Many
I don't know how to write about music.All I can do it to write down what I think of the message, because the quality is obviously very good - smooth, vibrant and very sensual at once...and very British of course (I will try to no use this adjective too much though). Something about this music reminds me of Via Lactea by Zoe.
The band themselves look very enigmatic on the stage (see YouTube for more), and I would love to see them live, just to get more of the sensuality I feel in their music...
'Revolve' seems a little bit decadent to me, mainly because the message of the unavoidable is quite sadly and truly visualized in the clip...
Still, we do see it all around - time is killing our dreams, money is killing our soul, and all we can do is run circles, take a later bus just to stop for a sec and do the extraordinary - THINK!
I am happy the boys are getting lot's of promotion done around it! And I love the fact they are playing for Rock Against Racism!
(I love the clip by the way!)
Saturday, 19 April 2008
more gadgets
Finally managed to get my new eee pc sorted.
I got one week ago, but the key board was faulty. Boys from PC World proved to be very helpful and exchanged my fist buy to a new, baby-blue computer while my dear son convinced the security guard that he has to take him on his knees and let him play with all the CCTV systems installed in the store (do not ask how...). I left the shop loved for being patient and for having a charming son....and headed off to the neighboring military shop (have a long, also genetically coded passion to militarism and need to check the shop out again) where I managed to find a small laptop case made by Web-Tex with great care and perfect quality, only for £12!!!
Anyway, ASUS is perfect for my needs - I can type and save my writings wherever I am (with battery lasting up to 3 hrs!), preview my fresh pictures directly from the SD card; browse the web, check mail and organize my tasks and plan the week at and outside of work. Yes, it is a well developed organizer, but if you are stubborn and really want to use Microsoft on it, get the 4GB and install it! I am not sure if I will be able to use my 3 mobile broadband on it, but there is no need. For traveling the wireless is picked up easily, at home I work on my Packard Bell anyway. The main idea was to have a small pc, and I think it is not too big. not much larger, than my wallet...
I have found two quality blogs on the device. One is mentioning new release of SDK for ASUS (great news!) and other development options, as well as news. The other one delivers world wide news about it and makes me sad i do not live in Hong Kong...yet;)
I bet there is more, this was a quick Google search.
I have no name for it yet. Any suggestions? Sam is too good, need something more down-to-earth...
low blood pressure
It is used to be a stupid joke of my husband but gets f@ serious! I have extremely low blood pressure and I managed to identify three standard reasons for it:
1. Genetic
2. irregular eating
3. stress
So...what we need to do is: increase the intake of salt (I hate salty food), continue with 4 cups of coffee a day (wow! I am allowed), drink 8 glasses of water/day and at least glass of red wine/week, massage my feet int he morning and meditate int he evenings, swim as much as possible, take long walks after work (helps to relax, by no means) and drink ginger tea...last one is going to be challenging due to the fact that as a tea lover I am just in the middle of my 'rose tea' period, and it will be difficult to give up on it:/
But I will motivate myself with bits of chocolate from Costa Rica brought kindly by Siobhan. I really appreciate the thought!:)
To get rid of the headaches I need to do the new set of glasses - pc screens are killing me! I feel literary sick!
And once again I need to see the GP.
Getting old sucks...
Monday, 14 April 2008
long weekend, full of sport and gadgets
Since I was going for eee pc, I managed to budget for this too, and I have no regrets. So eee pc is left in the corner of my desk, waiting...I managed to try it out on the bus from London to check my photos from London Marathon...
...and must admit - I didn't realize and we were back in Oxford! So for now I know one - eee pc is a great tool for a photographer working with digital cam.
All right, nightnight, I need to get some rest before the new week. (not that I haven't worked tonight, but this just for the peace of mind;))
Friday, 11 April 2008
Sea Land
...is the title of my part of the exhibition in Appleton.
Why? Sea Land is the state of my soul currently - also a place in England somewhere:) - where there is no border lien between the land and the water, everything is liquid, constantly changing form and distance...there is sometimes stability, but most of the time flow after a flow. So I guess it suits the project too...
So here it is. It started with...I guess the very fact I hated that place and didn't want to move there! I was trapped and very lonely there...I felt abandoned, alienated...but quickly I was asked to join the community, and met few good and very interesting people...
After I separated from my husband I stayed there to gather my thoughts.
I met Kristina, who is a good friend now.
In the meantime I was invited to take part in Oxford Artweeks together with other artists from the village - simple note in my postbox!
I met Jo.
Now I need to gather my thoughts again. What do I want to say with this one? Last one was called signs and it was opened few days after my horrible marriage ended. I know now that SIGNS meant those I have seen...of the ending, of re-birth.
Today all I can say is that I have lived my last year - yes, slowly a year! - very close to the nature. i spent every single free minute of my life in the gardens of Wantage, Oxford, London...purely meditating and searching for the old self and a new path.
What I can say is that I have found it all - my old self, new country, new life and new role. I have made peace with my past and blind choices. I have forgiven myself. I enjoy life again, fully.
So here it is - twenty titles:
Tulips, 'spring flowers'
Ticloy, 'house of stone'
Lymm, 'noisy stream'
Doonaha, 'ford of the ford'
Ashendon, 'hill overgrown with ash-trees'
Loftus, 'house with a loft'
See Grave, 'grove'
Annagassan, 'ford of the paths'
Dornoch, 'place of the first stones'
Hoy, 'high island'
Briska, 'brittle land'
Ahakista, 'ford of the box'
Huish, 'measure of land that would support family'
Zeal, 'hall'
Doo, 'black lake'
Ahalia, 'lake of the salt water'
Kilbaha, 'church of birches'
Saval, 'barn'
Boola, 'milking place'
Hammoon, 'enclosure or land in a riverbed'
All of them found in a dictionary of English names (note: some of them are actually Irish). All of them on the map. I have found most of them already and I plan to visit them with Kristina during next 12 months. it was her idea to use this book (she is a writer and brilliant person!). It was my colleagues and their language obsessions that pushed me to find names that sound interesting to my ear.
So basically first were the titles. Later their meaning and real places. Only then (actually today) have I finished adding the titles to previously chosen photographs. How? Based on how they sound and what I see in the picture - so randomly, and not;)
To make it more post-modern I will try to put up a map of those places somewhere during the exhibition.
Afterwards I will start blogging about those places and see, how really could I connect them to the chosen photo.
So, lot's of work for the next year, hihi..
Thursday, 10 April 2008
tonight
...I was on my own and loved it! I spend all evening taking photos in my new photobox....
Answered few questions on the phone - in interview for Oxford Times on the upcoming exhibition (I was worried about it, but the lady proved to be very kind, so my first interview was luckily, smooth and quite motivating too...
Played around with my newest book - finally managed to find all works of Van Gogh in one, small and very well prized book.
I am...
'I am neither, I am both. I took my path, I took my cards, I tore at them, unflinching, and moved onward, and upward. I decide to make decisions that are already predetermined. How can I have this. My path had been set out, I had no choice but to follow it, but there was always hope, there was always a belief, a speck of doubt about it all, that made me...me. I am torn." His mind's eye had calmed, he was beginning to come to terms with the unknown, his past as it had been before the crash, his being, his absolute self belief in himself, and how he was a product of his own decisions which he was free to make as he chose. And after the crash, his coping mechanism that gave the whole thing purpose and clarity, there was a reason behind his pain, he was on a path and he would strive along, that path to kill everyRiRithing he hated, it had been decided for him and it freed him from the responsibility for the murders'
What do you think? To see my responses, click on the links in the text or posts below. To read more about this novel, check Richard Galbraith's blog.
I am very interested to see the progress of his writing on the blog, but also read the comments of other fans.
In some points I do not agree with Richard (I am a post-modernist), but generally speaking I agree that one can be so self-defined that everything can be justified - it's human nature. Luckily some of us have strength to choose stronger, more difficult paths and educated enough to see through lies.
I think the truth is in between - in the harmony between the pre-defined and the chosen. At least that is how it works for me.
survival
Survival is based on ability to adjust. Human nature needs explanations to be able to cope with the unknown. When I had a car accident I had no time to live my death experience fully, so I became disorientated and hypersensitive for months afterwards. I was told I had to digest the death sooner or later somehow. When the car hit me I was peaceful. I came to realize - oh, how painfully - that I am ready for it any second of my life. Why? Well, sometime at the age of 17 I read a vampire chronicle (Anne Rice) and grasped the unfairness of life given to us, and taken whenever planned/wanted. The pots, the music, instruments themselves will stay and I will have to walk away into the dark. Some of us leave names. Some of us smolder away. All the organs we grow, demolish and misuse, ignore and not know of suddenly stop and refuse the service. There is no fairness, no sense and no justification in that. So we look for alternatives. We create. We shout. We protest. We give up. We gave birth. We kill.
With all this I feel hopeless, so all I can do is to live every single moment of my life based on zen philosophy, i.e. HERE AND NOW. As if it were the last one, but not to the extremes. Just thoughtfully. If I rest I do nothing. I am scared, I tremble. If I am angry, I throw things around. If I am happy I dance. If I love, I stop breathing. If I listen, I make notes. If I speak, I know people do not always listen. I take ordinary risks from the moment I open my eyes.
So no matter where I am, with whom, how old or rich...I see myself in the mirror and smile.
broken words
I am not a product, nor a subject. I am the spear moment between two words, the unspoken truth. The harder I try to define myself, the clearer it becomes that the final stop is a play of signs, a constant movement, an association. I am cultivating all the symbols, names and their meanings, tattoo. The 'I' enriches the mosaic of my self-portrait by measurement of the color of my eyes - the scale from dark green to yellow. I am not definite, nor defined. 'You soy un flow' (Orishas)
The choices I make I measure in terms of actions and reactions. Every action evokes a reaction. There are good and bad people, but there is no good nor bad deeds. Only mistakes. Wrong action means painful, destructive, dangerous reaction.
I choose based on self awareness and logic. Faith has nothing to do with it. Faith helps to sustain the flow.
I
I always start with myself. I am the center of this universe. I speak those words, so I must be right! When did this world begin?
Since I can remember. I stand for my values, because I was the one who choose them form all that is given. I choose my
favourites, my clothes, my tears, my colors. I am the creator and the observer. The reality changes in MY eyes, eyes of the
beholder. I command my muscles to make the gesture. I allow myself to have an orgasm. And sometimes...sometimes it is I who lets
it all out.
I decide to be happy, to make myself one if needed be.
I never take drugs, since my 'I' is wild enough.
I begin with myself.
I end with self destruction.
I am reborn out of my own ashes.
They are an appendix.
I start each sentence with myself. I is just a letter, representing the endlessness of my mind
Wednesday, 9 April 2008
Ed Hills
Just reading an article about new photographic media - photospheres. It is really cool! Just extremely time consuming!
Ed Hills loves it and his works are available to view in Greenwich. I am impressed by his scientific aproach to photography and great business mind. It makes everyone's life easier to exhibit local content (photospheres of London while exhibiting in the capital,etc), helps sell, but most or all - establishes the sense of classicism for this very new wave. 
I hope to be able to check them out next time I'm in London.
on beauty
I spent late evening last night watching 'Stealing beauty' by Bertolucci, who really discovered Liv Tyler. 
I must admit that this film is very, very close to changing my '3 the best' list! I need to watch it few more times - tomorrow with someone, who's opinion really matters to me.
I find it fascinating how theatrical and how gentle the story is! 
Myself in the meantime I spend time on very down o earth activities - taking my son to GP (luckily his horrible cough means getting better:/), ironing, cleaning - even having an afternoon nap! Actually this made me think a little. I haven't been eating well recently so I am quite weak but today I had no power to lift up my son,nor my own arms:( I had to realize that there is no way for me to live on tea instead of coffee (my last weekend), because my body switches off! (no wonder if one has 90/60 blood pressure!).
So here is one good thought! Tomorrow I am going back to work - something to pump my blood with;) And a lovely evening a the fireplace, not alone, to look forward to.
(Promised to few people map for my exhibition, so I will try to do it this week)
Monday, 7 April 2008
And on a less serious note...shopping!
I cannot believe I did it, but well, too late now. Due to the fact I was stuck at home for three days now I had to much time to browse and look for shoes (my discreet hobby). So, ladies and gentlemen, two years after the arrival to this country I got those:
Not one, two...and I am still not sure if I will wear them, but I love the design.
No more sitting in front of my pc and thinking about shopping, done enough for this month!
Which reminds me - I have received the ordered first copy of Photoicon, the only digestible Photo magazine in the UK.
..the only place where I have seen all the current crucial exhibitions mentioned, together with Mediastorm. Good stuff, pity that it's a quarterly..
65%
I would like to think it is not happening...
Please do not watch it if you don't have strong nerves...still, if you haven't watch the documentary on BBC, I think you should at least make it though those few minutes...just to know, because they obviously make statements.
Nature
Although...if I think about it more....I will end up taking more industrial photos 'in the box'.
Nature has its own, wonderful backgrounds...
And there is no costs included;)
I wonder, will I ever have enough of those? OK, it's girly, but I don't care...humanity spent ages to reconstruct those colors, and they are just there, outside the windows...
Forced to sit in front of pc...actually did something useful...
meaning I managed to find a place where I can get photographic equipment so cheap, that it's unbelievable! Ebay, of course. So here is a shy attempt to do more of still life this month:
It's called photobox, and it helps to gain lovely one-colored backgrounds for still life or add photos. It is actually just a box, so paying £40 for it sound a bit strange, but for £6 it already gains on value and it's good aspects - easy to carry (so I can go to the garden, pick a flower, put the box in the sunshine and still create a cool effect!), made of material which allows to use the lightening from sides or from behind (even more fun) and with backgrounds available in four colors! Ah, I am so happy! Cannot wait to try it out!:)
Such a tiny thing can make a blondie's day!:P
Thursday, 3 April 2008
Manda, welcome:)
In desperation for a cat I installed one of the most popular widgets of our times - Maukie cat - but I call her Manda. Actually that is how my son calls her, so let it be.
Follows the mouse, no wonder.
If you rub her tummy, she will purr.
If you touch her head she will miau.
Never ever asks for food.
Does not need pet insurance.
That is the only way a cat works for us at the moment:/
Alcopop!
Once again I discover the pure talent in my fellow bloggers!
I have been given a link to this charming blog of a label promoting very good music, so do check it out!
Google office?
Few days ago someone very important;) sent me photos of this office
I would love to work in a place full of magic, like this! I don;t know how about Zurich, but I wouldn't mind working for Google. Hm, I like what I do now, so I guess that's out of the question;)
By the way, pix taken from here.
Time and the like
yes, it has been a while since my last post. Simply because I was busy catching up with my work after two large projects aside of my regular work. One of them got back to normal, another one - I got involved into too much and now I feel the pain of disappointment - so I need to backup a bit.
Anyway. In the meantime my ex is leaving company. Well, you guess...
Dawid is enjoying the fact he can fall out of his bed - since I took of the cot part and now he has a bed for 'big boys':) He ends up sleeping with me, but I trust it will change.
Time is healing his willingness to stay with me all day - he likes going to the nursery again, the freshly painted heaven full of girls (Catherina!) and friendly boys (Thomas, Charlie) whom he is so charming to introduce to me every single morning, again and again:)
Tonight I am taking time off - I need to do some writing and finish Coelho. There are ten new books on my shelf waiting to be read. Jummy! Just to make myself feel better after I didn't make it to Ben Okri during Oxford Literary Festival. Well, next year;)
I am listening to Ruarri's 'Tales...' (CD I finally managed to find time to order!), ate full bawl of ice-cream and just about to enjoy my new Chinese rose tea, hmmm...
Talking about time, I have found a cool screen saver. Pity, it's not for free - I don't see the point of paying for gadgets in general, this one might be tempting though...
Nightnight!
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