wierzba

The time has been pretty hectic recently. I didn’t have time to check on this blog. Well, things are pretty the same here ;). Anyway, in this crazy times of ours, thank God, from time to time, you are able to get yourself out of the deadly routine, and do sth different. I visited my brother in Warsaw, and we went to the cinema to see Willow. It’s an old film by Ron Howard, a classic in my opinion, which has been an inspiration to many fantasy, or whatever they’re called, films since then. Anyway, the nicest part about the cinema excursion was the fact that I went to see this film with my brother when we were little kids, I mean 10 or 11 or something. And it was one of our favourites from our childhood, too. So I tell you, it felt really strange to sit there, in an almost empty cinema, watching Willow with my brother again. It was like a time travel. We haven’t changed that much I guess. We’re still little kids; and we’re not like little kids, we are little kids.

Describing probability

Here’s an article excerpt from the yahoo.co.uk website for you:

“Apple introduces iPhone

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Apple Computer Inc. on Tuesday unveiled an iPod mobile phone featuring a large, smooth colour screen, sending its shares up 8 percent as the company attempts to parlay its dominance in digital music players into new areas of growth.

Shaped like a thin deck of cards without the normal buttons or flip top on a mobile phone, Apple’s device features a 3.5 inch (8.9 cm) touch screen for navigating phone calls and playing songs and videos…”

Are you surprised? Do you think it is probable that our “normal” TP S.A. phones will soon completely disappear and we will use some other advanced technology to communicate with our friends? Write a few sentences expressing your views, pay attention especially to patterns concerning probability (The chances are…; It is likely/ unlikely… etc. – course book, page 43).

pros and cons

My summary of 2006:

pros:
1. got married
2. got married :)
3. moved out of the detested cramped block of flats and now have spacious rooms and fields and woods all around
4. got an Alsatian (our 3rd attempt at an Alsatian; hopefully this one is bound to survive)
5. started going swimming regularly

cons:
1. lost my temper too quickly on no particularly reasonable grounds, which led to some unnecessary arguments
2. read too few books
3. made another break in learning German

2006 – my pros & cons

Here’s my summary of 2006:

pros:

1. Moving back to Białystok – I finally get to spend time with my family.

2. I managed to write my MA thesis, which was not at all the easiest task. But still, I think it’s the best way to finish your studies.

3. After a few years of always planning and not fulfiling the plans, I spent my holiday break exactly the way I wanted to :).

cons

1. A few disappointments in Białystok, which not only is not a night city, but could be called a “very early afternoon city”. Empik closes at 18.30 and almost no German magazines are sold. In some aspects, I really do miss Warsaw enormously.

2. I needed to reorganize my life. What bothered me most, I think, was the social sphere – none of my friends from studies lives in Białystok :(.

3. A lame New Year’s Eve party – I should have stayed at home :)

But in essence, I think it was a good year for me. So I wish myself another one like this, maybe only slightly better ;).

2006 pros and cons

It’s mainly pros:
? To the amusement of some and frustration of others I stopped teaching groups. My first, albeit academic only, year without a string of teaching commitments, urged me to revise all my routines, which after all couldn’t take more radical changes. Still, a big leap towards what the predictable future holds.
? Goodbye teaching, welcome learning (no cynical undertones). Visited BachoTeX 06 conference for the first time and vowed to return. Those few days there made the mark-up languages learning curve much less steeper and completely erased the image of texnicians as fossilized computer geeks. They all were fantastically supportive.
? Re-discovered the unmistakable taste and quality of real produce. Frank Dubler, a Swiss running a farm near the place I used to live in my countryside days, makes every effort to ensure that a weekly supply of veg is truly, as they say elsewhere, organic, fresh and absolutely covered in soil.
? Got hooked on podcasts and walking. Radio at its best combined with the simplest form of exercise, both enjoyed together of course. Out of an array of BBC Radio 4′s shows Melvyn Bragg (In Our Time) and Andrew Marr (Start the Week) delivered weekly downloads to look forward to. Indispensable!

cons: Public shame and dismay. By and large 2006 was a grotesque, hypocritical debacle in politics, both at home and abroad.

2006 – pros and cons

The idea of summarizing a year in terms of all the good things and all the bad things is not new. December is the time when one’s constantly exposed to panels of experts, commentators and politicians on TV trying to figure out what the year has been like.

I’m neither an expert nor a poltician. However, I decided to give it a try as I’ve never really had enough guts to make any New Year’s resolutions. I like to treat this barometer as an alternative to them. Exactly the same. Just going backwards.

thumbs-up
*I managed to visit USA once again. Brought back lots of memories, some mementos, and a good mood. Now I know what it feels like when you wake up in the morning and see palm trees outside the window

* I’ve become a bit better, smarter and more experienced in everyday life

* I’ve met a few people I love and whom I haven’t seen for quite a while

thumbs-down
* I once again realized that Polish weather is horrible and I can’t stand it for an extended period of time

* I once again realized that Bialystok is not necessarily the best place to live in

* I once again realized that I have too little free time