Loredana recommends „Când ești mic, ești fantastíc” ('When you're little, you are fantastic)

In her latest video, Loredana Bookinista08 talks about my new children's book.

I was very happy to find out that she liked the stories with magical realism. The other day, Nepot (my nephew) confessed to me that he was so impressed by the story "The Laughter That Skipped a Couple of Haircuts" that he now looks more carefully at people when they laugh; he even caught himself waiting to meet his own Laughter. If you are curious to learn about your own Laughter, you can order the book here.


And if you want to listen to Loredana's entire review, please watch from minute 9:41 to 12:12.

Let’s remain fantastic!

Why?

Every action has a motivation behind it.

The motivation behind writing the book “What Shall We Do About Health (?/!)” is simple. I want people to make informed decisions, to ask for at least a second medical opinion, and to beware of jobber-doctors (money-grubbers) and lackadaisical-doctors (bland, uncaring).

Free ebook about unpleasant experiences at the doctor's

The Romanian society has reached a crossroads in terms of medical services. And contrary to what is being said, the problem is not only the large number of doctors who emigrate. There have been many jobber-doctors (money-grubbers) and lackadaisical-doctors (bland, uncaring). And this has a negative impact on the health of the population. With an increasingly aging population, we cannot allow the situation to degenerate.

 

Have you had unpleasant experiences at the doctor's? Me too. And others also. I've gathered them in a book, so we don't feel alone and stay alert when receiving recommendations about treatment plans.

 

Why did I write this book?

• to encourage people to at least ask for a second medical opinion when it comes to a treatment plan.

• to raise awareness regarding some doctors that do not have the best intentions when recommending certain treatment plans.

 

The book in PDF format is available for free starting today. In both Romanian and English.

 

The structure of the book is as follows:

1. global and European Union statistics on the medical specialties described in the book.

2. medical specialties – definitions and statistics from Romania, followed by case examples – of which I mention a few, dentistry, medical rehabilitation, obstetrics and gynecology, urology, endocrinology, ophthalmology, but also private clinics (subscription for employees).

3. bibliography – websites consulted.

 

Important!

This book does not provide medical advice for any of the specialties mentioned.

It is also not a treatment guide for similar health problems that readers may have.

 

Click below to download your free copy.

In English - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OlW8uFvcbh7LEGCHEJwWlyJla0OBzO8x/view?usp=sharing

In Romanian - https://drive.google.com/file/d/14pyKzVXNoBUyojqODcPaXzSrbQMJHZhe/view?usp=sharing

I hope you’ll find it useful!

Laughter

In season 4, episode 7, Brenda from the series ‘Young Sheldon’ talks about her son Billy’s first day at school - ‘every time the Spanish teacher said sí, Billy asked see what?.’

And to this she concluded – ‘I know, but if I don’t laugh about it, I’ll cry!’

 

And so it is, or so I discovered that things are. In life, plenty of things can go wrong or incredibly sideways. When you feel powerless or don’t know what to do, better to start laughing at the situation than cry about it. 

Anyway, we cannot control everything, but we can laugh. And laughter gives us strength to go on, to try once more, to not give up, to not give into despair or depression. I remember having read this somewhere about depression and I liked it:

‘How do you steer away from depression?’

‘I laugh. When depression wants to kick in and sees me laughing, it thinks I’m stupid, so it moves on to the next fellow.’

Time

A line I heard in the series Dark (2017-2020) keeps lingering on my mind.

‘Why do people say that? We still have time. How can one say one has time when it’s clear that the time has one?”

Prints In The Snow

People say nothing lasts forever. And maybe so it is, what do I know?!

But we can try. Exactly like someone tried to leave their handprint in the snow that covered the trunk of a tree. A futile attempt, for the snow would soon melt and nothing will remain of it. But this picture will. Surely not an eternity, but it can continue the handprint’s existence, even though under another shape.

Exactly like a memory my dad has just given me, and still under another shape than initially. My dad remembered that while I was 3 or 4 years old, all four of us (mom, dad, my sis and I) could fit on a wooden sleigh. Now, I will also be one of the keepers of this memory, although I don’t remember it at all, being too young. I stored it safely, next to another dear memory of us four – at the cinema, watching the Mrs. Doubtfire movie, that started my pure love for Robbin Williams.

Let’s leave prints!

 

P.S. Darling, thank you for this print.

Books I've read in 2025 and I dearly recommend them

Of the books I read in 2025, the ones below delighted me, and you may want to consider them if you are looking for "something good to read."

Where eagles rest – Gabriel Chifu

The crazy desire to dance – Elie Wiesel

Free – Lea Ypi

Elif Shafak – There are Rivers in the Sky 

‘Return to myself’ and ‘Remain to me’ - Alex Andronic

The Door - Magda Szabó

Visiting a man's house in the absence of his wife – Adriana Bittel

The loneliness of a woman - Ileana Vulpescu

The Return – Gabriela Dumitriu

The End of Whispers – Ruta Sepetys

So late in the day – Claire Keegan

The Crime Seller – Fani Țurakova

Life has unlimited transport network season ticket – Diana Popescu

More than the past – Ana Blandiana

The Bilingual Brain – Albert Costa

Seven Virtues and a Sinful Death – Alexandru Lamba

Life Without Fear – Bertrand Russell

The Power of Bad: How the Negativity Effect Rules Us and How We Can Rule It – John Tierney 

TheMan Who Forgot His Wife – John O’Farrell

Catch the Rabbit – Lana Bastasic

Ex Igni Natus – Alex Andronic

How to Stop Time – Matt Haig 

Geniului 10 – Mircea Ignat, Florin Hălălău

The Barbarian Chronicle – Ana-Maria Negrilă

Dance of the Happy Shades – Alice Munro

First, there's the silence – Ioana Maria Stăncescu 

The Plath Earth – Anca Zaharia

8 Stories from the Mosilor Avenue – Adina Popescu

Pulse - Julian Barnes

After the End - Adrian Sângeorzan

Retroversions. Anthology of prose written by women – coordinated Cristina Ispas

Sister – Rosamund Lupton

A Natural Novel – Georgi Gospodinov

All rivers flow into the sea / ... And the sea is never full – Elie Wiesel

The road is long, the heat is intense – Radu Aldulescu

The conspiracy of the sheets – Jan Cornelius

Rock Paper Scissors – Alice Feeney

Life, life, tied with thread – Ileana Vulpescu

The body of the soul – Ludmila Ulițkaia

A panic attack – Ionuț Șendroiu

On Stand-By –Adina Popescu

The Kiss Before Death – Ira Levin

Parrot trills – Luminița Rusu

Diary at the End of the World, vol. II – Vasile Ernu

Orange – Anda Simion

The Forest Girl – Otilia Țeposu

Skylight – José Saramago

Feminist Writings – Laura Sandu

A mother's diary – Anemari-Helen Necșulescu

Restless legs syndrome – Ioana Unk

A Therapeutic Journey – Alain de Botton 

The Twilight Realm – Therese Bohman

My life in 1984 – Gelu Diaconu

Three women, with me, four – Hanna Bota

Don't look back – Tudor Călin Zarojanu

The challenge of a life – Nina Marcu 

From Trauma to Healing – The School of Life (Alain de Botton)

Zgârcă’ - Nicoleta Cătălina Gal