Reinventing The Wheel

It so does happen that I constantly find myself snickering, like any other respectable picky person.

Today, Google tried to entice me into visiting an online clothing store. It’s true. I am fond of dresses. It pushed the necessary button. Only the name of the clothing item made me stop from clicking and I started to laugh – a bridesmaid dress.

Well, I can say with all confidence, that we are all set now!

Soon, they will include in their collections the godmother dress (for the hair, everything is clear by now; that cabbage roll-like hairstyle will always be in fashion) or for the mother-in-law dress (in Romania, we have two types of mothers-in-law – the small one, for the mother of the bride and the big one for the groom).

Faced with such discoveries as the one from today, I often find myself blocked and, normally, I go to dear ones for support and explanations. So that they can reassure me that I have not gone crazy.

I haven’t laughed so hard since the day I discovered that they had invented girlfriend jeans. Let’s be clear, these jeans are meant for women. It must have been that this item of clothing was invented after an experience where a girl spent the night at her friend’s and, in the morning, she must have grabbed by mistake (or not) the jeans of the hostess. Don’t you think so?!

I say, it’s better to keep your jeans safe. And to pay attention to whom you invite in your homes. If things carry on in the same manner, I’m afraid we’ll see an ad for a new item of clothing called the cousin’s waistcoat.

I was nice and warned you, don’t say I didn’t!

Music instead of words

Let There Be Peace!

I watched yesterday while they were demolishing an old house nearby. And it all got into unsettling dimensions since before this, I watched videos and seen pictures of what is going on in Ukraine.

I can’t stop thinking that this cannot be possible, but the suffering is real and the danger even so.

When I wrote the novella ‘I am a Veteran! (in Romanian - Sunt Veteran!)’, my focus was on what had my grandfather experienced while fighting in the World War II, and also wishing that the history will not repeat itself and that all of us learn from the past. Wars are never fought for the wellbeing and prosperity of simple people, especially since simple people are the ones losing their lives in the battle.

 

I just hope that this wish for peace and tranquility will come true as soon as possible:

‘….

I still remember that bitter taste that could not be washed with water or bread. It was the taste of fear. At a certain point, we did not know anymore of what we were afraid. Of death, of hunger, of thirst, of losing our limbs, of lice?! I had never seen robots, but I had heard they existed. And in the smut that surrounded us, while on the battlefield, we all seemed like robots marching forward. We were scared but we still went forward. Some of us were in such a state of shock that they had lost their weapons and were moving forward because the others next to me were doing that. I remember that once I tried to say a prayer, but the loud noise and the sizzling of the bullets passing us hindered me from uttering more than ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, …’ . Boom! Boom! And so I forgot the line of the prayer I was uttering and started again than ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, …’ . Boom!

We kept walking. And walking. We did not even know to where. As if us going forward meant that this land marked out with our blood would end and we could be saved of the horror of dying, of the pain wails around us, of the open eyes so still and ominous of the fallen bodies, of the smell of the burned air. Maybe some of us were dreaming of clean sheets. But I just wanted to get to a quiet place, a place where one could only hear the birds sing and the land was dry, and not swamping with blood.‘

(paragraph from the novella din nuvela ‘I am a Veteran!' (in Romanian - Sunt Veteran!)

Reality check

For a while now (ever since I lived and worked in the town of Cluj-Napoca in an office with people that were at least ten years younger than me), I started using for me the appellation mother.

Nothing unusual in this, since I have also started saying 'back in my day'. And it's good that things evolve and change, but I often find myself speechless in front of things or actions that make me ponder on me being normal or not.

As when it comes to music, more and more often I feel I have to make a reality check. Here it is the most recent expression of music that made me succumb to hearing something humanlike, Bruce Springsteen's music, for example.

To Stand One's Ground

I have met some strong people in my life. But I also met people that misjudged hysteria as a sign of strong character (this reminds me of the famous line in a Denzel's movie - the weakest one in the room is the loudest one in the room).

I rewatched the series 'The Wonder Years' 1988 and I remembered what it means to actually stand one's ground:

'You're lucky to have opposition. That's how life is. It's easy to take a stand on something if there is no risk involved.'

Compulsory cinematography– Miracle, 2021

A young woman sneaks out of a monastery one morning and takes a cab to the hospital in a small Romanian town. Things get complicated and out of hand and a police inspector appears to zealously investigate why the young woman did not return to the monastery.

I liked how the film director played with some sets, sounds and panoramic shooting, but also the circularity of the film. I can only divulge this, water is an essential element and you will be surprised, maybe at the end of the movie, to find out clues or changes that were particularly marked by this element.

Also, some words in a couple of dialogues seem to reveal what is to come in the story. A fact that makes one wonder, am I interpreting this realistically or mystically?! The script is really well written and the action keeps the viewer dedicated to wanting to find out more, especially since not all the details are given from the beginning, but the truth is unfolded little by little. The main actors beautifully play their roles.

I dearly recommend you go watching the movie Miracle, 2021.

The Rom-English Language

For a while now, I have been gathering words that do not exist in the Romanian language and that appeared in our vocabulary due to our constant use of the English one. Thus, the Rom-English Language appeared, characterized mostly by the butchering of the Romanian language.

The Rom-English is mainly used in corporations, but it can be found elsewhere too. My vigilant friends sent me this link to show that the English native speakers also deal with a similar problem.