The Post Mortem

half a year later... non the wiser

2009-09-28T23:56:00.002+02:00

here, in lovely ireland, i lay in a hostel bed, surrounded by 2 friends and an australian, i found peace... somewhere between Sixmilebridge and Doolin, i stopped thinking of the future, worrying of whats to come, fearing my own destiny. i let go, and my mind flows with the greens of the fields, the subtle swaying of the trees by the wind, the smell of the wildlife as it fills all parts. i guess i really needed this trip more than i thought. it alll ends on wednesday though, i'll return to the stress, to the pushy lifestyle i've grown used to, to moronic bosses, to hecktic deadlines and empty days, but my smile will be genuine, pure and true, for my soul has been cleansed and my mind cleared, i have found my center, my cure, my drug... i'm sure i'll return to the shores of this great country once more, in time...

missed last year's passover greeting

2009-04-08T16:07:00.002+03:00

but happy Passover/Easter
have a great week!

i'm gonna try again...

2009-03-23T21:38:00.001+02:00

wish me luck...
hopefully things will turn out better the second time around.

sometimes i wonder

2009-01-24T21:44:00.002+02:00

i spent the better part of this weekend just watching Scrubs.
i really love this show... and i can relate to Dr. Cox most of all... then i took a test and surprise surprise:

Your result for The Which scrubs character are you Test...

Dr. Cox

Your the man (or at least so you believe) you tutor this little whiny brats because you have to not because you care. Its your way or the highway so people better get out of your way.

other things i did this weekend include:
- sleeping
- not repairing the car
- drinking
- studying

which is exactly what i planned on doing, except the not repairing the car thing... but it wasn't my fault - i got home and fell asleep and when i woke up the garage was closed.

all in all - things are pretty good so far - nearing the end term test marathon
i need a date.

better late than never...

2009-01-19T00:07:00.001+02:00

The Puppet Folk Revival!
or at least my 8 video clips :D

hexes, vexes, cold and heat...

2009-01-13T22:29:00.000+02:00

soup... hot soup.
cocoa and thick blankets... i love the winter... but i was unprepared today...
i had to re-assure a friend of mine, who had thoughts about dropping out of studies because her grades were low... and all the while i was thinking that i need to pick up slack on my end if i want to finish with good grades too... and suddenly the pressure dawned on me. combine that with my hectic work load and lack of sleep(left the university at 2:30 AM and got there at 8:00 AM) and some other things(so called "friends"). so i snapped a bit. collapsed under the pressure, and suddenly everything got to me. was mad at everything, everyone...
so i went a bit crazy... but i caught myself in time...
tomorrow Puppet Folk Revival!

i prefer writing when i'm mostly drunk...

2009-01-08T02:15:00.000+02:00

yeah, so i went to the Puppet Folk Revival show today...
no tickets.
so i ad lib'ed, claimed i was from the us, and that i know Pepper, who is the lead preformer, also from New York... and i got myself a ticket :D even sat with Micha's(one of the band preformers) parents.
awesome show... got pictures and video clips to upload... when i'm sober.
after the show i made an executive decision to go to a pub, near my house, and get very drunk there. so after 3 shots of johnny black(2 i paid, 1 on the bartender - cute girl) and 2 Guinness(or should i say Guinnii?), on an empty stomach, i got a great buzz going.
the music was terrific- grunge galore :D
so i had a buzz... i had to eat to get the buzz to a low minimum...
all in all great night, great buzz(which i'm still on) and a great show to start it all...

sometimes acting works great :D

that's all folks.

following the previous post

2009-01-06T22:23:00.000+02:00

and a few mishaps - i need to add something on that list:
* must love dogs.

i had a great week filled with going out every night, drinking, seeing very good old friends and basically being free.

tomorrow - Puppet Folk Revival, who's coming?

i need a Cosmic Bitchslap.

2009-01-02T01:39:00.000+02:00

well not really... but it's so easy to fall into your own self pity, to wallow and not do anything about it....
i almost fell into that dark abyss again.
no more of that i'm alone bullshit, no more of that whiny white boy blues.
i've got to start doing shit in my life and not crying about what i should've done.
that being said, the temptation to just let everyone give me a big ole ego stroke is very real and threatening, and i tend to slip into it now and again... so please, if you see me doing it - just give me a Cosmic bitchslap - tell me to suck it up and move on, thanks Gnome(Noam G.)
so i need to move on - i asked a girl i really liked for a long time, if she wanted to go out with me, and i got rejected, but you know something? i don't care - her loss.
i'm sick and tired of feeling sorry for myself every time i get turned down, it's not worth it, they don't want to date me? fine with me, i'll go find someone else.
thing is only upon talking to her i started asking myself "why do i want to date her, what's so special about her anyway" and then when she said no, i felt nothing, no sadness, no anger, nothing...
besides - i'm holding tryouts for my next girlfriend, following requirements needed:
- must be a girl(with fully functional parts!)
- must have a brain.
- shy and a bit nerdy.
- likes computers(but not too much).
- likes jigsaw puzzles and watching movies.
- redheads welcome
- glasses welcome
if you are or you know someone that fits that description send her over and i'll test her.

have a great night!

and like that... a fizzle, a war breaks out, i am alone once more

2008-12-27T21:21:00.000+02:00

it has ended, for good this time...
me and Tal, we had our last talk, as a couple.
we aired out everything, it was a normal common conversation.
we both felt like we weren't in a relationship anymore, not for a while anyway, we felt we had to keep the relationship going so that we don't lose each other, and not cause we wanted it.
we'll stay friends, good friends... she truly is my best friend, but not a couple, not anymore, no.

i loved her, i still do. i wanted more from the relationship so i put more into it. but i didn't get the same back.

i'm crushed, hurt, alone...
but i'll survive.
everyone does, so why should i think any different.
i really need a drink now.

Reason why my weekend was awesome #12 -

2008-11-08T23:12:00.000+02:00

I went Horse Riding for the very first time.
I didn't fall, didn't step in horse poo, didn't hurt my pelvic area and I had an awesome time :D
it's not something I'm gonna do every weekend, but once a month or two is sure sounding good to me...
oh well, got homework in Physics.
bah.

I dont cope well with these things

2008-10-29T00:42:00.001+02:00

yeah well...
i've been so busy with my life- pushing forward, work, starting the university, studying, living my own life...
i constantly forget that i'm not alone, that i have family, family that i neglect.
well i just got the news that my great aunt died.
she was a big part of my childhood, and took care of me and my cousins...
she was diagnosed with Alzheimer about a year ago, and i haven't visited her prior to that.
last time i saw her was at a family member's wedding.

i do this all the time, i constantly push aside my relatives, i keep telling myself there will be time for visiting, next weekend, next month, next year, when i get discharged, when i start studies, after the tests....
but she's one more person in my life that i'm not gonna be able to hear or see again.

it's a fucked up world where the most important thing doesn't even have a value, where family is great but relatives and 25 cents can only get you a cup of coffee.

i never got around to understanding it, maybe that's why i distance myself from my family? maybe i think that if i get too attached i wont be able to bear the pain? 2 of my friends have lost their dad, i couldn't even imagine being in their shoes, yet i hardly speak to my own father, my excuse is that he's far away, in the states.

i think it's time i stop waiting for the right time to visit, to call, to see. i think i should just go and see my family, or at least call them up.

The Funnel...

2008-10-13T02:20:00.003+02:00

My Latest Paper Creation...
around 700 pieces.
over 8 hours of work.
1 Led Candle

Origami - The Funnel

Driving around in my Automobile

2008-10-12T21:10:00.000+02:00

Scaring people with my brand new Guy Fawkes Mask :D
thanks to Hila, whom i owe a lot, specifically 11 lbs of luggage space, i received some cool stuff, including a Guy Fawkes mask and a 3/4 length jacket/coat.

loads of fun, i love the reaction i got from some people.

2 teens, around 16 years of age, walking around in the parking lot with bags of groceries...
out i come driving at around 40~60 Kmp"h, zooming past them, giving them just enough time to see the driver, masked as Guy Fawkes.
from there, i stop at the end of the parking lot, and slowly yet loudly turn around, noticing them looking at me and the car, then i start driving towards them fast, they run out of the way, but before i get to them, i turn and exit the parking lot.

it's a new hobby of mine - messing with people, playing on the actions that they aren't ready for...

a waiter, serves me lunch, i took a burger, now, just as he serves me the food, i ask him for directions to the restroom.
a few minutes later, as usual, while you're trying to take the first bite of the burger, the waiter comes up and asks if everything is okay... usual answer? yeah, thank you.
my answer - "You see... i've had this killer stomach virus, it's been doing havoc on me and the toilets i use... ooomph! i gotta go!!!!" and i run off to the bathroom.

from what i heard - the waiter was half laughing, half shocked.
i had great fun, and it was totally worth it :D

once a month,hmmm...

2008-09-28T21:47:00.000+03:00

maybe it's because of the first rain last night, or maybe its cause i felt nostalgic, or maybe because i got a weird comment on my blog from a post one year ago, or maybe it's because i had to share this pic of a (non edited!) piece of frozen Schnitzel i found in the pack of frozen Schnitzels i bought...

anyway - Rosh Ha-Shana is once again upon us...
but before that, usually my posts are a bit whiny(but i don't care) so i'm going to try and make this one as cheerful and as full of non negative things as i can :D
so lets start with the good news - I have a JOB! well almost, I'm starting next week!!!
its a programming job so it pays pretty well, and i make my own schedule so it wont bother with my studies(they want me there for 20~25 hours a week, and they have no problem with me working at nights).
the new season of 'heroes', 'my name is earl' and 'how i met your mother' started off pretty good as well as the newcomer 'The Fringe' - looks like there will be what to watch!!!
my new camera is awesome, i've started taking pictures of my aquarium, there'll be an album soon i think :D
oooh and i owe the Eilat pictures!!!

Eilat Vacation

these all come from the underwater sea observatory and it's so worth it to go there!

i'm trying out iTunes' Genius thingy, it's supposed to create a playlist from songs that are similar to what you choose... it's not the greatest thing in the world(pairing Natalie Imbruglia's Shiver with Cat Stevens' Father And Son and Spin Doctors' Two Princes...) but it's still fun, kinda like random proximity playlist.
oh and Duffy, to my surprise, is a great singer. She has this roughness in her voice that is amazing. it's nice to find good singers these days...

anyway - About the rain, i love rainy days, the winter in particular is fun - it gives me the opportunity to assemble puzzles, read good books and sleep late :D. Tal and I did some puzzles over the past few weeks, they turned out great so I'll upload pictures when i can.

so... Rosh Ha-Shana, the Jewish new year, i love this holiday.

I hope everyone has a great year, filled with happiness, fortune and good times!

Sometimes all it takes is one little thing

2008-09-09T20:57:00.001+03:00

Yeah... i'm a month free - a month of doing nothing, waking up whenever and looking for a job.
Apparently no one wants a programmer/QA/anything for a student job, cause i only had 1 interview... they called me after 3 weeks saying that they have no spots open but when they will - they'll call me, right.
meanwhile i'm going crazy, i hate not working, i hate being useless - so i did what i could - i went on vacation. 4 days in Eilat - the tourist capital of israel :) a great time was had, but i still felt empty - Me and Tal aren't going so well, she and i almost broke up yesterday - not with a fight, but rather by just talking about our relationship situation so far... we're still together, but barring any serious change on her part i don't really see this relationship lasting... i'd still love to be friends with her, but i really don't feel like we're a couple anymore.
and to top it all, i feel that most of my family and friends are taking advantage of me, and that it's my fault for not being able to say no to them(i gave up my camera to my brother because he needed one).
i dunno... i'm a bit confused, actually more than a bit. and now i'm going to sign unemployment for the cash.

i bought a new camera and it's quite fun actually, but my money situation is going critical.
i'm soo going to be a starving student(which might do me some good - i've gained a lot of weight).

4 fresh windows installations, 3 boot sectors ruined, 2 hd full of data lost, 1 CD That saved my ass

2008-08-02T17:44:00.001+03:00

That's exactly what i've been up to...
could have changed it to 3 days of computer work, but i thought it more fitting...
when this week started i bought new parts for my computer(quite a major upgrade - around $1500 worth of equipment), and it took me 3 days to get the system working, along which - i accidentally ruined around 400 GB of data spanning over 2 hd's... luckily Hiren's Boot CD Saved my ass...
Windows XP is a pain, but Vista is far far far worse.

anyway... i've been looking around for an apartment, finally... my price range is somewhat limited, and i desperately need to find a new job once i get released, but on Friday i did see the perfect place for me - it's a 4 room house with a huge front and back yard, right now there are 3 girls living there and one is moving out so if i can land that place i'll get her room, what more there's enough room for Nyuki to come with me too so that's good... now i have to wait and see if i get the place, i'm not stopping the hunt for a different house though, chances are i won't get that place.

that's it...

Last Chance To See...

2008-07-20T19:46:00.001+03:00

well not really but:

look at it... watch all 3 episodes before they come offline tonight!
i'm gonna buy the dvd.

other than that - i'm being Discharged!!!!
07/08/08(could've been 08/08/08 but that's a friday).

Yeah well... erm. here...

2008-07-17T22:33:00.000+03:00

this feels so foriegn to me now... i haven't posted in a long time... too much has happened.
i'm seriously fatigued, mentally.
all of the puppies have been given away. after a stressful period...
lets see - it started i think 3 weeks ago...
my sister was evicted from her house because of her ex, who filed an appeal and won back the house. this forced me to find a place for the 2 remaining puppies, and i had about 3 days to do so... fun.
but somehow i managed... thanks to Tal.
she took the puppy she wanted, and thanks to my brother i have a home for Nyuki... at least for now.

i'm getting very anxious towards the discharge... if all goes as planned i'll be a civilian again starting next month. today i actually finished all my obligations and only small unimportant things remain.. i seriously don't know what I'll do for the next 2 weeks.
i do know that i'm gonna start studying... i have to learn Chemistry and Physics by myself and to refresh my memory on Math and Trigonometry.

all this comes with even bigger problems - i have no job and my financial status is mediocre. i've got to look for a job, part time.

my birthday sucked, i people who i thought cared about me, who i thought liked me... stabbed me in the back... presents, the little i got, sucked. i guess its time to face it...
and just then my insomnia returns... as if a friendly visitor from the past...
and i slowly collapse... into myself, into darkness...

this headache, it doesn't stop.
it just gets stronger, a lot more furious...
sometimes i just wanna pop, just let loose the screaming, the mass of hate, loathing.
set free my anger, yet i cant, i am unable...
the thought of hurting someone else, is unbearable.
so i stow it inside, keep it locked away, secret.
hidden from the world, protected, safe.
the world is too dangerous for it... it wouldn't last a chance.
so i take care of it... leave it sheltered from the outside.

what i really need is a vacation, somewhere to let my mind drift. a beach, sun and maybe a few drinks.

2008-05-29T21:12:00.002+03:00

Well - i've finally got my Psychometry score!
i got more than enough for Animal Life Science, and so this year i'm gonna start :)

Finally taking the plunge.

2008-04-15T22:26:00.000+03:00

Well there's no postponing it now, I'm on my way...
i mean tomorrow i have the retarded Psychometry test and already i've registered for Animal Science studies at the Hebrew University. it's all going so fast. By October I'll be released from the army(if not sooner - looks like around August I'll be discharged) and on my way towards the Veterinary Degree - sure it's 7 years, and sure they wont be easy but i don't care - it's what i want to do.

today my brain received a break from reality - i went to play with the puppies and for the past 3 hours i've been watching nothing but crappy "American Pie"'esc movies... and i really feel relaxed.

Rest In Peace Runt

2008-04-08T11:09:00.000+03:00

Last night my sister told me that Runt, the smallest puppy from the litter was hospitalized.
he had anemia and his heart & lungs were stressed.

the doctor said that he might have a chance to live, but the treatment would be expensive - i didn't care.
even though i knew i was probably not going to keep him, i couldn't sit back and let him die, i told the vet to do whatever he needed to do in order to heal Runt.

this morning i got a phone call from the vet, Runt didn't survive the treatment.

Bloody English Wanker...

2008-04-07T00:30:00.000+03:00

I recently ran across Zero Punctuation and it's a damned funny thing.
what is it you ask?

"...Zero Punctuation is The Escapist's groundbreaking video review series starring Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw. Every Wednesday Zero Punctuation picks apart the games so you don't have to. ..."

basically - a very fast talking, British guy reviewing games, without stoping for any punctuation marks at all...

highly recommended :D

Still Alive... Still Alive... Still Alive!

2008-04-02T23:33:00.001+03:00

God... i suck... 4 posts in 3 months...
yeah well i've been spending all my free time either with Tal or doing the Psychometry Studying...
it'll end soon though - the test is in 2 weeks :D
last night i did the first simulation(which is about 2 levels higher than the real test) and got 658, my instructor says that it's equivalent to around 700~720(out of 800). to get into biology i'll need around 650 so it's great :D

still no time for myself, 419 unread emails, not including spam :D
oh and in the rare occasions that i do have some breathing time - Crisis Core... DAMN YOU Squaresoft!!! Why'd you go and release it now????
ooooh i promised something!!! puppies!!!

The Puppies

so, how have i been? well it's not easy, relationships... i'm not used to them, most of my old "girlfriends" were a 1 or 2 date thing, usually ending before the 3 week period. it takes some working, but it's going really good, i love her... hope she feels the same about me :)
other than that things are fine, i got a little light of hope from my commander this week - they are working on releasing me in August instead of November which is awesome cause as of now i'm basically unemployed(no team, no work, no reason to wake up and get to work).

i've just spent an hour cleaning my room(havent done so in too long, couldn't see the floor at one point). and found some cool shit on the floor :D.

i'll try to update more, i promise. oh well time to clean the mailbox too :D

First Photo Dump :D

2008-03-15T00:59:00.000+02:00

Finally after 2 months, i've finally found some free time(1:30 AM!) and uploaded all the us pictures...
they can be found here:

New York 2007

AMNH 2008

MoCCA

New Years Eve - 2007 New York - Dresden Dolls

Florida 2008

Seaworld Florida - 2008

hopefully i find some time tomorrow and upload the Nyuki and Puppies Photos and write about... umm... stuff.
:)

Aint Got Time....

2008-03-04T00:28:00.000+02:00

Work + Psychos + Girlfriend + No Life = 0 Posts!
i have no time for myself.
and the sad part is that i don't miss it all too much.

i need to post news!!!

so Nyuki Gave Birth to 4 puppies! 3 males and a female...
pictures soon, as well as all the us that i owe you faithful yet unsatisfied readers :)

208

2008-02-11T14:59:00.000+02:00

208 unread mail items, not including the spam of course...
i think unread emails should be considered as a time measurement...
"so Umm bob, when is the report gonna be finished?"
"oh i think in 50~55 emails, Jim, maybe 70 if i proofread it."
it works!
anyway, still alive...
valentines is coming up and i've got something special in store for Tal... so i don't want to ruin it by publishing it here...
i'm will post more when i have more time :D

I LIVE!

2008-01-24T22:32:00.001+02:00

well almost, i'm sick... first time i've been sick in 14 years.
not fun.
i ran a fever of 38.9º C(102º F) and was shaking so bad i felt i was gonna fall apart.
i got 2 days of rest from the doctor, and he said that i might need more.

but i'm feeling better now. much better.

still i guess i'm too lazy - didn't even copy the pictures to my pc, let alone upload them...
will do in the near future, promise.

oh and by the way - me and Tal are dating! w00t!

it's been a long time...

2007-12-29T19:52:00.000+02:00

but before i update - here's the tattoo - finally uploaded it :)

so umm... yeah.
as i said, a friend of mine joined my trip, and i've been going places with him, it's nice although it's not my cup of tea, i like to take things slow and mellow out, while he wants to accomplish everything as soon as possible, so come days like today, when he went out to see some museums and i just stayed at home, resting, sleeping more, my style of vacationing.
i'm more of a lie on the beach, in the shade(cause i burn easily) all day, and just mellow out to the sound of the ocean.

anyway so we did accomplish a lot during this past week -
* Bodies...The Exhibition - That was a real mind blower - not for the weak(nothing brutal just real bodies displayed), it shows you exactly what your body is made of, bones, veins, arteries, skin, organs... the works. it's really a great way to get to know your own amazing body :D
* American Museum of Natural History - one of my favorite places, the place is huge!!!! plus we went to 2 exhibitions there - H2O & Mythical Creatures. it was fun, at least for me :) i just enjoy viewing the displays + the mythical creatures was really cool.
* Madame Tussauds - my second time there, it's still nice, they had some new things(mainly they added a goatee to Sam Jackson :)) but it's the same wax museum :)
* Ripley's Believe it Or Not... - some fun to be had there, it's interesting, fake mostly... but somethings are nice there, i preferred the Dean Caine TV Show :)
* Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art - set inside a studio apartment, it's a real small display, but has a lot to offer, i spent an hour and a half in there, just reading about the history and evolution of comic and cartoon art :D.
and of course :
* Avenue Q - i love this show, it's the 4'th time i've seen it! this time however - it came especially good, i sat in the front row, right in the middle(well 2 seats from the middle, but you know...), i won 2 seats through the lottery they have(they raffle 12 front row seats for 21.50 each instead of 120+ dollars), they choose 6~7 names from the bag and those people win the tickets, and out of the 100 people there i was chosen 3'rd out of 6 :D. you know you've seen the show a lot once you start singing each song with the actors.

i've also met up with a few friends of mine, and while one meeting didn't go as good, the other was pretty good, i had fun, we had more to talk about, and overall i enjoyed the time spent.

anyway, that's my dry update... pictures will be uploaded when i return to israel.
i'll try to update more "meaty" stories when i have the muse for it.

for all we know, she could be holding the fate of the world...

2007-12-22T07:59:00.000+02:00

my feet hurt... my will still strong, looking for that ever elusive trenchcoat... but i will find it.
Faith, as she calls herself, she's a woman, seems in her late 30's/early 40's, very nice, a bit too talkative...
she's here to save the war between England and the US... given a special item by the Gypsies, which she rather not show us, but instead carries it around wrapped in what seemed to be leather pants, with Ankhs on them... she told us that the government took her family jewels and sent her to the states... she said it all with confidence in her voice, and a sense of inner righteousness that makes you hope she's really on that quest...
i wonder if people go crazy by choice, do they just stop wanting the world to be as it is, and would rather deny the basic laws and fit in some of their own? i know i feel that way, seeing the world as it is today, saddens me most days, i sometimes have urges to do something unconventional, break the rules of society, live in fantasy a bit... is that wrong? to go outside of the conventional borders, into uncharted territory? maybe, just maybe that territory is too vast and to wonderful to ever succeed in finding ones way back. maybe the truth, the real wonders of this world lie there, and maybe, the crazy people have it right... well just maybe.
all this from a 10 minutes conversation, with a woman who undoubtedly a bit touched in the head, in a starshmucks coffee place(yea, i do hate the chain - i'm sorry but a Tall frappachinno? what the hell is that? ice coffee, that's what!).

i bought a Jack Skellington Figurine, complete with 12 changing heads :)
jack stands tall at about 40 c"ms and i found him fitting to my collection.
it's been a good day.

on a sadder note - i miss Tal, and these 40+ minute conversations are'nt helping me at all...

Who Needs Protection?

2007-12-19T00:23:00.000+02:00

it's a small world... really small, tiny insiginficant and weird.
i was at the Queens Mall today, buying some stuff, you know, enjoying the town life.
i was stopped by not 1, not 3, but 6 israelis who sell stuff(dead sea and other spa merchendise/clothing/jewelry), every time - talking to me in english, then me asking are you from israel, in hebrew, then them naturally answering the question in english, and after that realizing that i speak hebrew and asking what i'm doing here.
but that's not the issue, i like that i'm surrounded by jews.

some girl named Dorit came to me to sell me some crap(so called star rocks) i did the routine with her, and then she asked where i serve/served in the army... now here comes the weird part:
a) 2 girls who work with her(twin sisters) were at my base during my time and know me from the army mail.
b) Dorit's friend works at my base and i know him.

what's fun about people knowing you is that i saw something nice from their cart and i wanted to buy it - so they gave me it for 5$ instead of 30 :)

lack of updates

2007-12-18T15:10:00.000+02:00

it's strange, the more changes that happened to me, the less i had the strength to write about them. but sitting here, in the U.S.(finally) recovering from a case of very mild jetlag(went to sleep at 10, woke up at 5,7,8) i find that there's time to share some stuff with you.
i won't be posting pictures, well at least not now...

so where to start...
my tattoo is healing nicely, i wanted to post a picture of it asap but it has all these marks on it, as the skin peels off, so i will wait a week because it's gonna look better.

Julia... she came over last tuesday and we had a fun day, it included going to a themepark(superland in israel) and eating out(including going to Max Brenner). when the day was through i talked to her, explained that i had used to have feelings for her, but the more we grew as friends the more i was scared to act on them, not wanting to ruin our friendship, and that i had made up my mind and chose her as a friend only, she was real happy to hear that, and said taht she prefered me as a friend as well which was taken good(meaning i didn't see it as a rejection or something). that's one of my problems solved :)

in a weird state of things - one of my friends decided to join me here, and so tomorrow night i'm picking him up and we're gonna be traveling for the next 2 weeks together, it's nice although him staying at my dad's house will be kind of weird, even though my dad is okay with it. i'm hoping Eva(my fathers wife) will be okay with it too... we're probably gonna go to Orlando and see some themeparks while there.

the flight here was good, i was put in the very last row of the plane, near the window, which was awesome because there was only one other chair that blocked the way to the isle, so i was practically free :) they also aired Stardust and Ratatouille. and as always the food was good(am i the only one that likes airplane food?).

now i need to find me a long coat here.

so that's that for me now... more news to post when i have them.

just a sneak preview...

2007-12-14T00:18:00.000+02:00

yes, that is permanent ink on me :)
more news to come...

I'm an Idiot.

2007-12-06T22:41:00.000+02:00

Had a car incident.
not an accident, just sheer stupidity.
it was raining, took a turn too fast, and swiveled.
luckily for me it reacted correctly and the only thing i hit was the front bumper on the railing(after my car did a 180).
the plastic cover of the lights came off in one piece and i'm gonna probably glue it back on.
i was real lucky, and it's nothing i'm gonna do/try/want to experience ever again.
i usually pride myself with the fact that i can drive, but today, my pride received a massive blow.

regarding the tattoo - i'm gonna go to the parlor next week and get it done, right before my flight to the u.s.
Tal drew the Tattoo again, this time bigger and in color:

that's all for tonight.

of drawings, tattoos and new people

2007-11-28T22:56:00.000+02:00

it's weird to meet someone for the first time, and just click, it's just weird.
but I've met a girl, no she isn't going to be my girlfriend.
she has herself a man already, and has had so for the past 3 years. but still, we just get along great, we're both damaged in our own sweet way... we mew.

I've known her for barely a week, yet I find it easy to talk to her, she slept here last night and we just spent time together either talking or mewing or just sitting there and laughing till 3 am. then we went to sleep together, my arm around her(because she asked me to).

I've been wanting to get a tattoo for 4 years already, and I've known exactly what I wanted since the beginning:

and i've thought of 2 places to put it, either the traditional (right or left) triceps area or the part neck, part back, part shoulder, part ribs area(which would make it full sized and not shrunken). so she drew it on me, just so i could get a better feel on how it would look:

(yeah - my arm is a bit hairy :( )
she only did the outline last time, but next week she'll do the full color drawing.
so i've decided to do the triceps area, because it looks good, and it's less skin to take off before burying me when i die(Jewish burying tradition - think of it like if someone lends you a new car and you put a sticker on it - you're gonna have to remove that sticker before returning the car to him, no?)

she also made me remember how i liked to draw and sculpt and that i should really return to that :)

on a sadder note - I've been informed today that my team will be closed by the end of the first quarter of next year, which means that i'm gonna be thrown to a crappy team for the last 6 months of my service, which sucks, but is a story for a whole other post.
but other than that things are definitely going good for me :)
oh and only 19 more days till i'm in the states! yay!

ahhh... memories :)

2007-11-19T21:27:00.000+02:00

just spent the last hour or so flipping through my digital photo album and printing some pictures.
i've had some good times this past year :) here's hoping for a better one(or at least the same :))

One Month to go...

2007-11-17T21:25:00.000+02:00

yep, today's the 17'th - that means that in a month, i'll be on the plane to the US. finally... i need this vacation :)
this also means that soon i'm gonna stop working :) i gotta start passing on my knowledge else they'll have a hard time while i'm in on vacation...

i've visited Nyuki today, she's just the cutest as can be :)

it's reassuring to see that she's doing good :) i've really missed her, and a month without her has had it's toll on me.

i've promised pictures from the Dig last week and here they are -
this is my pickaxe, after i was done with it :)

this was taken from inside the prison that we dug in:

this was from a different window:

this was a sticker on a wall in Jaffa and i kinda liked it:

and this was just a cool boat i saw in the docks:

there are pictures of me somewhere so i'll post them as soon as i get them :)

on a final note - my brother has started collecting my photos, he's gonna start showing them around and maybe gonna publish some... i've found this very amusing :)

What i learnt today...

2007-11-14T00:21:00.000+02:00

a) Giving me a pickaxe isn't the most cleverest idea.
b) Giving me a 10 pound hammer isn't either.
c) disregarding previous points - putting me next to a wall and telling me to destroy it - good idea :)
d) archeology can be a lot of fun, if you're in it for the wanton destruction.
e) hummus poisoning is not a lot of fun.

pictures will be up as soon as i have time.

in a world where a movie costs 9 dollars.

2007-11-12T00:12:00.001+02:00

now i'm not sure how much it costs in the states, but here it's around 9 dollars for a movie going experience.
now why do i mention it? simply because today, i ordered Sam and Max Season 2.
** erm... what? how is that connected to anything??? **
well it's pretty simple, in my own mind:
the season costs about 35 dollars, which is a pretty solid price. now i got the first chapter and played it, and it amused me as heck for around 3 hours(a short but very humorist game). it comes down to a chapter costing 7 dollars, and giving me roughly the same entertainment as a movie does.
what does it all mean? get Sam & Max, it's a great game, worth the few dollars(Season 1 was great, except the first 2 chapters) oh, and if you don't believe me - play the 4'th chapter for free!

after getting that out of my system...
i've had a very fun weekend, there was a house warming for 2 friends of mine, it was pretty good, lots of people whom i've never seen before, but other than that, pretty decent... they had sushi, which i don't usually eat, seeing as i don't eat fish and stuff... but they had a platter of Vegetarian sushi, and it was surprisingly good :) there were also some strange, strange, strange pictures:

(none of these were edited, all are 100% originals :|)
the rest of the madness can be found here:

Gabel and Ilya's housewarming

on saturday i spent the whole day in haifa, and it was great, i hung out with good friends and had a long talk with Alina, whom i've missed a lot since her releasement.
and i've made up plans on what to do for my releasement, but that's for another post :)

Home Grown...

2007-11-03T23:45:00.000+02:00

**Note - this is just some late night random babble...

I do believe in Karma, i do good things to others, never wanting anything in return, well not usually :) i usually cant say no to people when i know they're genuinely asking for help with something, despite knowing that I'm being used for exactly because of that. I'm mostly nice to people i know, and am usually an asshole when it comes to strangers(and sometimes friends) - working on that :) why am i saying this? because i can't understand how most people, and don't give the story about every person wanting to be good, but certain things are forcing him to do x and y... i can't understand how someone else can't be considerate to others, and i'm not talking about big stuff, i like to use the parking example, in my building there are 8 apartments and about 10 parking spaces... somehow the same asshole keeps blocking 3 parking spots with his car(not to mention the passage, making my and other tenants' life a wee bit more harder on the reverse side). i confronted him and he stopped parking there, for 2 days... then he returned, will confront him again.
another thing that really irritates me is that people have gotten used to having to bargain to get someone to help them, i hate the "you scratch my back i'll scratch yours" world... why can't people just help people for the sake of helping? it's not hard, and you do feel better about yourself. anyway this rant is starting to repeat itself, so lets play random topics:
my movie list - the 5 movies i wanted to see since the beginning of the year? well i saw 4 out of 5 movies in 2 weeks after a long 10 months of nothing - i'd call that an accomplishment! Pan's Labyrinth was amazing, structureless as it may be, i liked it. I also saw The Pick of Destiny today, which like putting your brain on hold for an hour or so, not good nor bad, just a way to pass time.
the high price of mock ink - i bought some fake ink cartridges for my printer about 2 months ago - they recently blew up(i shit you not - the printer was covered in ink) and i had to clean the whole compartment, luckily it didn't damage any critical part and after cleaning and buying the originals the printer was as good as new...but it did get me thinking - i saved about 25 dollars on ink by buying fakes, but in the end the fake ink did less prints than the originals and it took me almost a whole day to fix the mess(and i still have ink stains on my hands and floor).
next time i'm sticking to originals.
Home Grown... and twice as tasty - i've started to grow some of my own vegetables. I have Chives, Mints, Lemon Grass, Onions and Basil. it took a few months but finally i can start adding them into food i make, and i have to say, it does taste better when it's home grown... i'm gonna start a tomato plant in a month and after that - cucumbers :) i've always had this green thumb(its green now because of the ink, but think metaphorically) and finally i have a chance to grow stuff, it's wonderful :)

well i'm happy to get this off my mind, now i can probably sleep better :) night all

Halloween, Beer, Lasers and Me :)

2007-11-01T23:26:00.000+02:00

Halloween was awesome :)
sure it isn't a Jewish holiday, but that doesn't mean that our Irish bars won't celebrate it :)
so after working till 8:50 pm, i got ready, got into my car, and picked up some girls for the pub:

(Idit, Racheli and Noga)
And we went to the pub :) The Temple Bar, one of my favorite pubs in Israel :)

So we got there - about 10 people or so, and more people kept on flowing in... i think it was the first time my army friends met my home friends... it went pretty good :) we had lots of fun, people got real happy and all in all the night was great :)

anyway - more pictures can be found here :

HalloweeNESS 2007

they had some party favors, namely a Glass and horns:

and i got myself a Glass(well, i haggled one out of Aviv, who won it by getting himself shocked).
for those not familiar with my glass collection:

i had a great time :)

this past week was pretty good, it went by so fast, i really think i'm doing better... it's funny actually, giving up on trying to find something, just letting go - flowing with the current, i'm currently just living day by day. i've also caught up with the list, and saw Man of the Year on sunday... i'm also gonna see Pan's Labyrinth tomorrow. i also got this wicked Sky laser(a green point laser able to reach about 5 km distance, it's great for pointing to stars and just playing with in general :)). oh and a recommendation! Reaper is a great TV Show, Ray Wise Does a great Devil.

So... Ummm, Yeah.

2007-10-28T00:37:00.000+02:00

This weekend has been a real eye opener for me...
i'm gonna stop waiting for things to happen and become more assertive about these things. I'm also gonna try to stop worrying about stupid things. i've really been efficient this weekend - i enlisted for a Course for my next Psycho's, and this time i'll do it proper. i've also played a lot of basketball, which is great, i pushed myself farther than i usually could(i played 8 games straight today :))so i'm happy... i also went to see Nyuki at my sister's house, and was relieved to see that she's doing great, she has good friends now, and she's playing a lot. my sister's been taking good care of her, and i'm feeling better about her taking care of my little doggy :) ooh and this week Halloween's coming up - And with it comes HalloweeNESS(a Guinness event) which means beer, costumes and presents! so that's gonna be good.

i think i'm snapping out of my depression, lets hope this good feeling lasts :)

Not Lost in Translation.

2007-10-24T22:56:00.000+02:00

If you aren't familiar with Avenue Q then Shame on You!
I won't go into the play itself, but you have to see it, wherever you are...
what i will say is this:
after seeing the Hebrew Version i have to say that even though they changed 2 characters, and totally translated the songs, keeping the original music, they did a brilliant job in bringing an American show to the Israeli audience.
the show was perfect(even though there were technical problems in the beginning) the actors were amazing, Michal Yannai took on a very big role, and did so with great skill and humor that had me laughing a lot.
After seeing Avenue Q on Broadway and in Israel, i have to say that both versions, al be it different, Are great!
if you're in Israel now(HINT HINT Hila!) go see it!

well almost a year after....

2007-10-20T23:46:00.000+02:00

on 19/01/2007(it was a Friday) i said that i must see the following movies:

Pan's Labyrinth
Man of the Year
Children of Men
Babel
Night at the Museum

i ain't keeping up with myself.
but i did see Children of Men today, it's a great movie, very post apocalyptic, great camera work(realistic as heck) and Clive Owen did a great job. i seriously recommend it.

how am i? i'm a wreck.

Certain Things you come to expect...

2007-10-20T03:48:00.000+02:00

I just arrived home, after a long day... half expecting to be jumped by a cute, 10 month old dog... however, i came home and no dog greeted me... for this morning i was forced to take Nyuki to my sisters house - my mom doesn't want her in the house anymore.
so now she's with my sister, and some habits that i've gotten used to are gone...

this time it's final...

2007-10-13T09:44:00.000+02:00

after i return home from the states, i'm moving out.

Start Spreading the News!

2007-10-12T17:02:00.000+02:00

I've bought my ticket today -
17/12/07~17/01/08
I'll be all over the states(starting in New York of course!)
so mark your calenders and get ready for a call from me :)

only one thing to show :)

2007-10-10T00:10:00.000+02:00

taken from the Nightwish video i posted:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aSzxSJn_ME
this is from now -
Honors for This Video:
#13 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music
#84 - Top Rated (Today) - Music

I Wish i had an Angel

2007-10-08T22:51:00.000+02:00

Oh what a show :)
Nightwish had an awesome show with some great songs, and even though Anette couldn't come close to Tarja she was still amazing...

i even caught her in some funny poses:

the rest can be found here:

From Nightwish in ...

the holidays messed me up, i have even less will to work now :|
especially after today - i spent half the day carrying servers and installing them, and that isn't even in my job description. on the plus side, i have something planned for each week until the end of the month(party this Thursday, beer next week, Avenue Q translated in 2 weeks :D )
Ohh and i finally made good use of my YouTube Account, go ahead, take a look!
have a great night, y'all.

What a holiday :)

2007-10-06T10:30:00.000+02:00

Mostly Restful, Lots of things done :)
I saw the Closed Mossad, which turned out to be as funny as people told me it would be. i even got a chance to play some basketball(twice even :)) which is always awesome.
Wednesday i went to see The Puppet Folk Revival show, and it was awesome - i think that everything that could've gone wrong in the show did - it started with the stagehands not dimming the lights/playing the videos when they should have, then the guitar's battery died out, then main puppet's arm became detached and finally the marionette's head went a bit too much to the left got stuck there. I really feel bad for them, because despite it all, they held a great performance, and i think they felt bad because everything went down wrong...
i took 2 full length videos(the second one has the marionette's problems and you can see that the puppet's arm is outside the shirt):

after that I stayed for Hipoptam's First Congress which kinda felt cheap to me - it had about 30 minutes of film from their site, almost all of the on stage was a remake of the opening show(with some of the words changed), the only new stuff was a documentary about the cast that was filmed in 2000, some lost videos and a sketch that they forgot half the lines to(which was funny) - also almost all the questions asked were replied with - we'll see. but all in all it was funny so it was good.
i got home at 3 am, after dropping off a couple of friends, and fell to sleep - woke up thursday at around 12, and was in a crystal daze :) i got up, got clothed and went down with Nyuki for her daily routine... suddenly i remembered that i had to drive to Haifa(i promised some friends that i would) so i quickly returned home, ate some quick lunch and drove to Haifa(a 2 hour drive). a highlight of the drive there - the speed limit is 100kmph, i was doing 120kmph, suddenly this cop was on my tail and pointed me to go to the right lane(i was on the left), i kinda/sorta ignored him and he just went to the right, passed me and started driving at about 150(he zoomed past me so fast, that's what i think he was doing).
I spent the day with Julia, and she showed me pictures of her trip to Canada/wedding of her cousin. it was pretty fun at her place, and in the end she cooked me dinner, we ate and i left...
I met up with Alina afterwards, and we went for a walk around the town, she showed me some nice spots near Lewis' promenade. we sat and talked for hours there, and it was very relaxing, i almost didn't want to return home. one of the nicer places we saw was above the Bahá'í World Centre
i took some pictures from there:

(haifa over the Bahá'í Gardens)

(Haifa at night)

(The Bahá'í Gardens entrance)
I had great time, and at around 1:20 i started my way back home, tired as can be.
lemme tell you the secret for a safe drive when you're tired - Chocolate bar with Pop rock Candy in it... you take a cube every 10 minutes or so - it keeps you alert for the whole trip :)
i got home at 3~3:30 and crashed... yesterday was pretty uneventful. and tonight, tonight i'm gonna go see Nightwish :)
have a great week everyone!

God Dammit, Leeroy!

2007-10-03T00:10:00.000+02:00

oh god, this is so fucking funny.
for those who are too lazy, don't be, click on the link, and if you don't get the joke look at this video.
trust me, it's worth it...

regarding facebook - it's nice, can't see the addiction factor yet... got 42 friends which is decent :)
tomorrow Puppet folk Revival! w0000t!

night night

well it might not be of my own will but it's done....

2007-10-01T23:44:00.000+02:00

Someone, and i'm not going to name names, E., has opened a Facebook account in my name, and changed the email to my email.
so now i'm stuck with a facebook account, and i've decided to keep it...

in other news - i've got the tickets to Puppet Folk Revival and to The Closed Mossad, which is an israeli satire movie made by the guys from Hipopotam :)

that's all. E - i hate you!

ICon Festival 2007. You will never find a more nerdy hive of Geeks and Roleplayers.

2007-09-29T23:48:00.001+02:00

Actually the opening ceremony was pretty nice, Hipopotam(a group of radio broadcasters/parody/nonsense dealers) did the sketches, and were quite good. the Guest this year is Carol Berg, whom I've never heard about before, but some say she's good(a math teacher and computer engineer?). all in all it looks like it's gonna be a good Festival.

one thing that i did see - a few months back, i was at my brothers place on Saturday, i was walking down the street and i saw this group of 3 people with puppets, singing old American folk songs, it was nice, but i forgot about it... apparently they are a group called "Puppet Folk Revival". they are really good and you should see their performance of For What it's Worth. anyway they have a show in ICon this Wednesday and i'm gonna go watch it. should be good, and for 7 dollars it's not a bad price...

I met with Noa, i've missed her a lot and am happy she's back :) + i love the shirt she got me :)
other than that i've met some people that i've missed as well - namely Hila, Chai and a few others, as well as some people that i could care less about, namely N.

on the plus side, i've finally hooked up the surround speakers in my room, finally music sounds good.

night night :)

Yesterday, well it was weird...

2007-09-29T16:02:00.000+02:00

a few things first -
* passion fruit + wild berry ice cream is awesome.
* the correct answer for "how are you doing?" should never be "i wanna stab your colon".
* no matter how hard you try/mark/test/re-mark/simulate or practice - a shelf will always be crooked.
with that said - let me tell you something about me and Russian food... we don't mix too well.
last night my uncle invited the family for dinner at this Russian/Romanian restaurant for my grandfather's birthday. it was a dinner and a show kind of thing. firstly - most of the plates were with pork or a combination of meat and cheeses or fish(with an exception to one of the only things i could eat - a salad consisting of pineapple and apples).
for those who don't know - i don't eat anything that comes from the sea/mushrooms/eggplants, and i eat only kosher food.
so i sat there, as almost everyone ate - with an empty plate... the only things i could eat over there were a big old plate of grapes, the pineapple/apple thingie, green green salads and a Romanian dish named Mămăligă.
we also had a main dish, but i was in a hurry and had to leave before they served it(who serves a main dish at 11:30???). The show part of the evening started quite hilarious - 2 Russian girls, in a what can only be described as some sort of aquatic costume, dancing, that is to say moving to the rhythm of, Era's Ameno. from there it continued to a Russian band playing Sting's Englishman in New York to a pretty nice violin tune. from there it took a turn for the worse, at some point there was an authentic Slav dance which was nice and that's where i left, hungry and feeling bad(i ate a lot of grapes, a LOT).
I went to see Shoot 'em up with some friends, and i have to say, this movie, with an excuse of a plot really was fucking hilarious, the actors were great(both Clive Owen and Paul Giamatti were great, and Monica Bellucci was terrific as always). it's like someone took all the great ideas for brain dead action movies, put them all in one movie and used a very loose plot to hold it all in. i liked it, a lot :).

today i finally made a list of threadless shirts i want to buy next time there's a sale.
here they are:
Treasure Map, Teddy Band, The Sound of Silents, Emo Bear.
and tonight i'm going to Icon(a Sci-Fi convention of sorts here in Israel, it's pretty good, lots of freaks to laugh at :) also Neil Gaiman was there last year). I'm going to finally see Noa again, and maybe, if there are any tickets, see Stardust :)

well that's all i have to say for now... i wish i was abroad, but i'm not doing too bad here.

Happy Sukot!

2007-09-28T01:28:00.001+02:00

yep, another Hebrew holiday, another few days off, i like it :)
workwise - i'm so behind on my job, i guess i don't care anymore, my commander, he's a dope, his attitude towards the army is so anal, it makes me sick most of the time, and his commander(who used to be my commander, not so long ago) he's trying to convince me to stay some more years in service... meanwhile i did my calculations, and i have a year left at the army, out of that year, i have 3 months of vacation, that leaves 9 months... take out the holidays and the weekends and i'm left with about 180 days that i have to be in the base. that aint so bad... and i'm not gonna sign on more years.

tuesday i felt like my ears were being raped when Kuperstein forced me to listen to a cover of Jamiroquai's "Cosmic Girl" performed in Hebrew(!) by a third rate Mediterranean signer. the experience itself left my ears still in pain.

all of a sudden everyone has a facebook, i don't know why people are so in to that, but it's driving me crazy, i'm getting too many people telling me that i should open an account, could someone please explain this phenomenon to me?

oh and today me and some friends went to play pool, like we usually do... but tonight something illogical happened - i accidentally got a ball to bounce from the table, into the garbage hole of a combined garbage and ash tray that looks like this:

(the gray area being the garbage hole and the yellow area being the removable ash tray)
that in itself is pretty nice, but the truly amazing part was that the ball flew out of the ash tray part. we were all looking at that and just started laughing uncontrollably, it was simply unbelievable, the weirdest thing is that nothing could have caused it to fly out from above, the only explanation is that the ball's speed caused it to climb up when it hit the back wall of the garbage container.

tomorrow is a fun filled day full of drilling in walls(i have to install my shelves + a night light for my mom + the 3 surround speakers in my room + a curtain in my sister's home + a towel rack in my sister's home), celebrating my grandfather's birthday(at a restaurant) and going to see Shoot 'Em Up.
oh and by the way - Breaking Benjamin, great band :D

It was Inevitable...

2007-09-22T23:41:00.000+02:00

I found out something about myself... something disturbing...
i find happiness in other's sadness, it's not that i feel better because they don't, it's more like, arg, i'm sitting here for 15 minutes trying to explain this to myself, without success... yet, i know this - i'm not happy out of another's misfortune, i'm happy that someone is sharing thier misfortune with me...
if that even made sense... i dunno anymore...

the Yom Kippur Fast went by rather smoothly... i slept a whole bunch and finally finished reading The Gaiman Death Series, they are really great, really :)

oh well tomorrow's back to work... have a good one

Avast Me Harties!

2007-09-20T00:18:00.000+02:00

(this mail was written on 19/9 and posted later as a result of a server error)
For today be special... not for me, nay cap'n, but for all pirates alike, Yarr!
today be International Talk Like a Pirate Day!
those who be not familiar should view this:

today also be the Saucy Wench Juliet's Birthday, Harrr....

i suddenly have fits of rage, like today for instance - i got so pissed off at my fan that i accidently broke it... it's all fixed now :|
i might be taking a long weekend abroad...
i can't stand being here any more, i need a vacation so me and some buddies are planning a trip either to Turkey, Greece or Cyprus next weekend for 5 days.
Arrr, I gonna be plundering some booty, Yarrr!

have a good one!

Don't feel that hot....

2007-09-17T00:38:00.000+02:00

have this sudden depression... no apparent reason. just depressed... started to feel depressed as soon as i got closer to the base. also had no will to work today, just stared at the screen for hours...

in other news, i've been wanting to post this image for a while now, and today seems fitting:

in other other news -
Maria, a friend of mine from Greece(met her when i went to see Pearl Jam) sent me a great Internet radio link, it's a Greek station, with barely any commecials, and it plays great music from the 80's 90's and good 2000's, most of the time("The Killers - Mr. Brightside" is on right now)...
you can find it here(just click on the listen now at the top left, no need to understand Greek).
what else - i "bought"(Kuper bought, i owe him the money) tickets for Nightwish on October 6'th... that's good news i think...

night people...

Happy Rosh-Hashana!

2007-09-13T14:40:00.000+03:00

Shana Tova!
for those playing the English version - it's the Jewish new year!

(for those who are paranoid, the Hebrew greeting is the same as the English one, almost :D)

last night's feast was great, we did things traditionally(my sister and her husband are quite religious so for them we did a very traditional Holiday)

Have a great year, filled with success, love, peace, good fortune and of course happiness!

Beer, BBQ, Bachelor Party and Lord of the Flies...

2007-09-08T21:54:00.000+03:00

This weekend was awesome...
Omer, a friend of mine, is getting married on the 17'th. so we threw him a Bachelor's Party of some sort... we went to the Kinneret(The Sea Of Galilee).
from the get go there were problems -
about 2 hours after we hit the road(3 cars) we were informed that someone forgot to buy the Pita bread(it's a must if you're having a BBQ). so every car started looking for any place that's still open(it was right before the sunset, on a friday - everything is closed)... we(and by we i mean the car that forgot to buy it in the first place...) found somewhere to buy the Pita, and then we realized another problem - the Grill wasn't in any car - we forgot it back home... so we(again, by we i mean the car with the idiots) found a place to buy a cheap Grill.
while they were busy replacing the forgotten goods, we decided to take some pictures along the way:

we weren't that unlucky though - the entrance was about 25 dollars per car... but the person who collected the money was a schoolfriend of one of my friends so we entered for free :D.
we finally arrived and made camp:

we started goofing around, setting up the Grill, and of course - drinking :)

it was all good fun, we played some drinking games, had some good meat and got pissed drunk :)
in case you were wondering - this is the Groom to be:

Aviv - another friend of mine, and the closest to Omer, got so drunk that he drank anything... including this shot of Olive Oil:

which of course he spat out right after drinking, and then chased the guy in the picture and spilled a whole bottle of cola on him and himself :).
all in great fun, as i say :D

i stupidly brought a sleeping bag without checking it first(my sister assured me it was fine, she slept in it not long ago), and paid for it - the sleeping bag was like half my height (my sister is shorter than me, so i should have known). so i spent my night on the grass with the sleeping bag as my blanket and my backpack as the pillow, it wasn't that terrible really - the people with the tents died of heat - it was a sauna in there.
what else am i forgetting?
oh of course, the Flies.
around 6 am, i'm awakened by a friend of mine saying this line - "did you see that fly? it was fucking huge". after that exact sentence - hundreds of flies attacked the grass field, causing everyone that was there and not in tents to wake up, i'm talking hundreds of people waking up to the stampede of flies. it was so terrible that we ran to the water, just to escape the onslaught. then the sun finally went up and the flies retreated...
while packing up i took this picture :

and of course - the group photo!

the rest of the pictures can be found right here:

From Omer's Bachel...

blah...

2007-09-05T00:44:00.000+03:00

Yet again i get screwed in pay. it's sickening...
so i started an Italian Strike. that's all i have to say about it.

i also saw that there are new people reading this blog, so i'd like to say hey :) how are ya?

my days now include like 1 hour on the computer, tops... i spend the rest either at work or on the road or helping my mother... so i don't even keep up with emails(seriously - i have like 20 unread mails that are personal).
i've started planning my trip to the u.s. - so far it includes n.y. and the area(boston, philly, n.j.) then i go up towards Canada, and from there either i go to Las Vegas(my aunt and uncle decided to get re-married there and i'm invited to the wedding) and after that to Florida, or straight to Florida. it's gonna be a big budget trip :) i've also called my father after about 3 weeks(i couldn't find the time :( ) he's finally reaching a settlement with the person who hit him and after that he'll get a settlement from Workers Comp.
Things are getting hectic towards the holiday here, and we've done a lot of the shopping today, i'm really excited - i miss our family dinners.

and to close this rather empty update i got to say that i've recaptured my love for A Capella after hearing Rockapella( :) ) again, they really are amazing

alright - this is just amazing!

2007-08-30T00:40:00.000+03:00

thank you Nati!

The Real Life Is Hard...

2007-08-30T00:32:00.001+03:00

i can't put it better than that...
i got offered a service program today. 2 more years of service for a rank(pay upgrade) and $15,000 signing bonus. in all sense of the word - i need the money.
but i can't do it... i've had my fill of the army so far, it's been 6 years almost, and it isn't getting easier. i'm getting older, i need to set my life in track, especially if i want to become a vet. there are great advantages to staying in the army(where else will i get learning hours and 25 days of vacation(+2 no hassle sick days)). other than that - we talked about me signing a half year regardless- and i said that if i ain't gonna take the service program - i'm not signing the half year. he said something about the fact that they can force me to sign, and i said that if it comes to that - it won't be a pleasant period for the army.

in funner news - we're organizing a StreetWars game. for those who don't know or are too lazy to read - it's a massive multiplayer game where each person is an assassin and a target(of another person). the main concept is to assassinate your target(and take his target) using any water means you can think of(being precise as possible) and try to survive the others until you're the last man standing. it's really cool, me and 3 others are managing the whole game, i'm hoping it's gonna help lift my spirits.

Ironic? well not Alanis'

2007-08-25T15:04:00.000+03:00

Taken(without permission) from www.IllWillPress.com (Neurotically Yours) and www.TaintedInk.com (Contemplation REiKO):

if you still don't get it: The ASPCA right under the comic itself should be evidence enough :D

Well i guess this is a start...

2007-08-24T01:17:00.001+03:00

I'm back... got settled in the new apartment.
it's actually nice, although it takes some getting used to.
i bought the LCD :) it's an LG 32", the newest model, and a friend fixed me up with a great price for it :D
there was erm... an event today:
a friend of mine informed me that there was a kitten stuck between a building and a tree while i was at lunch, so i rushed with her to the building and saw the kitten really struggling to just stay put... it was around the third floor of the building.
so i called the Base Commander and got him to come and see what he can do(i really didn't expect him to do anything, but was hoping) and he brought a lift to the rescue, i was really satisfied with him, he's really a great guy. while waiting for the lift, we actually saw the cat climb a near 90° angle up, which was very impressive; the other thing that happened was that the cat got anxious and peed from about 15 meters up, sprayed me and other people that gathered :). anyway, when the lift got there the kitten was so freaked out that he climbed the rest of the building and got to the roof... then he jumped off it from the 4'th floor and landed in a staircase, didn't even hurt anything... i called him the cat who lived :)

anyway, will post more when i get the time... have fun people :)

last post at this apartment

2007-08-18T09:11:00.000+03:00

Yeah... pretty much everything else's packed up...
now it's time to close the computer and pack it up...
i already dismantled the speaker system. no more music.
i'll post back after i settle down in the new place.
P.S - good news! i'm buying a LCD T.V. :)

Got the keys.

2007-08-16T00:02:00.001+03:00

yeah, today was the big day, we got the keys to the new apartment... started moving our stuff there...
Nyuki even got her own private couch :)

today someone(a Major) succeeded in pissing me off...
because of certain events i had to sign a day off from work and still work there...
so i didn't wear my uniform, i figured if i'm working on a day off, the least i could get away with is wearing civilian cloths... i thought wrong - this Major came up to me 3 times today and ordered me to wear the uniform, when i said i was on my day off he said that either i go home or i work with my uniform, i gave this a thought and said no.
now i find out that he's planing on giving me a complaint and i'm gonna have a hearing because i refused an order.
now this is total bullshit. i know that i wont get anything, i'll file a counter complaint on the fact that he is a dick.
just got me pissed off...

in other news - can anyone explain this Garfield strip to me?

have a great day, methinks beddybye time for me.

God, i've wanted to do a post like this for a while...

2007-08-12T22:29:00.000+03:00

No News!
just after Beer silliness :D
some videos i found and kept, wanting to post them for a while now :)
Alanis - My Humps:

Mementos:

Facebook Off:

Minesweeper, The Movie:

Daft Punk - Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger:

Packing...

2007-08-11T23:32:00.000+03:00

i own too much stuff :)
some of the things i found today:
* a ball(about 10 c"m diameter) made entirely out of rubber bands.
* a florescent black light+ painting(yeah yeah, i'm a 70's guy, i love black light art and i love black velvet art).
* an SNES+Genesis(in mint condition!) and some games...
* all sorts of cables and connectors.
* old photos of me from boot camp.
* more cd's than i ever thought i could have...

yeah well it's not that fun to pack up.
my stuff is all in boxes, all i have left is my pc and speakers...
next sunday i'll be in the new apartment.
g'night :)

Sufficiently Drunk

2007-08-08T00:52:00.000+03:00

that's what i am right now... not too drunk, nor sober for that matter...
i drank my share of Johnny Walker Black... about 5~6 small glasses of it(i don't remember if the spilled one was the sixth or seventh...).
me and 3 other friends drank some tonight, it was fun, i learnt some stuff about the others that i didn't know before... i think that's why i like our organized alcohol nights, besides - it keeps me from being an alcoholic, cause i never drink alone :)

Zvi isn't moving in with us, that's the latest from today - after a series of very silly arguments today(one involving the his spot on the bed and the other a newspaper) my mom finally had enough and it's official - he's not moving in with us...

i need to sleep... night all!

A year Past...

2007-08-06T21:10:00.000+03:00

one year ago yesterday,
i started my blog...
one of my first comments ever:

<eran>: r u actually gonna update ur blog
<me>: yeah
<me>: probably
<eran>: most il bloggers quit after a few months. :-/
<eran>: unlike blogs in the us, uk

so yeah, i kept on updating my blog, and it's really funny, i sat today reading my old posts, things i couldn't remember, things i wanted to forget, all down there on my digital journal.
happy memories, bad experiences, weird feelings and mostly all the between the line meanings got me very very surprised at myself, i have changed, not a lot, but bit by bit(insert geek joke here)... i can easily say that my shyness from people has improved, not by much but still, i feel more comfortable talking to complete strangers about my life than i did before... i guess letting go and knowing that some of your deepest thoughts are available to anyone who just does a simple search has helped me :)
i forgot to say that i went to a Buffy Themed party this past Thursday, i never understood how this series got elevated to cult status, but it did, and i went to said party, but i didn't enjoy myself, i guess it's partly because i preferred the Movie to the Series.

Nyuki ate my Cellphone antenna again, it's gotta be like the 6th+ time she did that, i think she wants cancer...

I've been asked if Zvi is moving in with us at the new apartment - the answer is yes. it's a long story but to sum it up - my mom feels sorry for him, and she hasn't got the strength to start dating again... so he's moving in, but she's hoping that he'll move out of his own decision...

i finally got a/c in my car(w00t)!!!

now i need to start packing :| i have too much stuff, between my books, my dvd collections and my discs i have over 10 boxes...

Baaah....

2007-08-04T10:11:00.000+03:00

haven't written in a long time... almost 2 weeks... so whats new?

i saw the Simpsons movie with Shelly, a co-worker(so to say...) and it was very
enjoyable - the movie is fantastic, although i'm not sure i'd pay for it.

i also finished the 7th harry potter, and it was pretty nice, i quite enjoyed it, even though it was very kitschy.

work is killing me, i'm staying late, working weekends, and barely finishing projects. it's a phase that'll end pretty soon, but it's still bothering me.
a whole lot of events happened - Idit's Birthday party, where i met Racheli:

she's a great girl, who's taken :(
we get along great together, i actually found someone that i can really talk to at work and that's awesome, she also promised to hook me up with her friends :D
we went to see harry potter and the order of the phoenix together - the movie was good, but wasn't at all like the book, as usual - the actor who played Harry sucked ass, but the casting for Luna was incredible.

2 friends of mine celebrated their birthday a week afterwards, Shlomit and Hila...
Shlomit was a bit of a downer when i met her, but now, she seems happier, and i'm glad... someone who studies with her told me that she had changed after she started dating her new girlfriend.
Hila:

well she's Hila, she's the only person i'm truly afraid of...

last monday our Sect had a 2 day trip north(kinda like a school field trip) which i wasn't looking forward to, usually they end up crappy at best. but this one was a bit different, i actually had a great time. i was given a task of being in charge of dinner, so me and 5 other people set up a BBQ for 120 people(in less than 2 hours!), the dinner was a huge success and i got praises from my commanders which is always nice :) we also got great fleece jackets(which you can see most were wearing :)):

The day i returned from the Trip my mom informed me that we were yet again moving to a new apartment. the trouble with Gypsy genes is the constant need to move from place to place, never staying in one spot for more than 3 years, it's been like this throughout all my life. i can't say i don't like it, it's just harder for me go get attached to some things this way.
the new apartment looks just like the old one, probably built using the same blueprint. but the area is quieter and the rent is lower so its good... we're moving in a week and a half... i'm thinking of throwing a big party in the old house(i still need to throw a decent birthday party, haven't done so yet).

anyway, that's my post, hopefully i'll have time to write some more this week, it's supposed to be a good one, or so i hope :)

Woohoo!

2007-07-24T20:24:00.000+03:00

I got Prescreening Tickets to The Simpsons!
(My sister is so cool with the powers of film and ticket getting :))

now all i needs me is a date :)

Why?

2007-07-23T07:12:00.000+03:00

Why are the great girls taken already?
HP7 isn't that great so far... only to chapter 5 though...
tired, slept for 3 hours barely, but beer is good :)
i'mma gonna be productive at work today... right.

I Be Foolish...

2007-07-15T22:44:00.000+03:00

broke a window with my fist
blood was spilled
hurts a bit

but now i know this to be true,
pounding on glass gets to you.

to make a long story short:
there was a door, it was the emergency door in my building, its made of 2 glass sections surrounded by a metal frame. it has an annoying auto lock mechanism, that shouldn't be there... me and Füer were on the wrong end, so i tried pulling on the door, nothing budged.. so i decided to knock on the glass, get some attention so that someone will open it for me... i proceed to knock and upon first contact with my fist, the glass pane broke and scattered, leaving me shocked.
i have a few cuts here and there, one looks serious and the rest are simple scratches...

can i get that to go?

2007-07-14T22:46:00.000+03:00

well first of all, i did say i'd do something last post and i do keep my word mostly:
this is the impossible parking space that had Zvi annoyed -

(my car is the gray Daewoo Racer, his is the Fiat Uno)
it really is impossible to park :)
my week was intense - I've learnt a lot about the project i'm in, and how much of an important part i get to play in it, no pressure :).
then, on thursday - at 8:30 there was a conference about my center, it lasted till 1:20, at which time i left towards haifa, in what can only be described as cattle carts as a cheap substitute for a train cart. it was horrible - riding 2 hours on a slow jam packed train, and then exchanging that for a packed bus for an hour when i could've done the same in an hour and change driving in my car... but it was worth it, i spent the rest of the day with Julia, we saw a movie(Shrek the Third) and had fun, she even cooked dinner(pasta :))... her mom was very nice to me, a lot more than usual, it was semi strange, she was very glad to see me... we aren't dating, yet i dunno what our status is, all i know is that i don't want to rush things with her, because usually it turns out very very bad. i'm gonna see this one through :)
then i had the same 3 hours drive back because i wanted to go to a party a friend of mine was throwing, it was so-so, not much of a party, partly because i was driving and couldn't drink, partly because it ended like an hour and a half after i arrived and partly because it didn't compare to the day i had... but i did get to see a lot of people whom i haven't seen in a long time. it felt nice to catch up with them...

sometimes i feel that i don't fit in with the crowd i hang out with... i'm 24, yet i hang around with 19~20 year olds mostly, and i sometimes watch from the side, pondering if this is the place i really want to be, i mean it's only 5 years a gap, but it is a huge cultural difference for me, usually i ponder until i do something that i know my regular(same aged) friends wouldn't normally do, and enjoy it. Friday was one of those days :)
Water Wars 3 in Rabin Square, Tel Aviv...
it was a hot Friday, i wasn't really sure i wanted to go, so i started making excuses why i couldn't come, then it hit me, i had nothing better to do so why the fuck was i cowering? i went, hesitant at first, then i gave up to myself, and went all for it... i was surprised to see people i knew, some of which a bit older(26) getting ready for the fight... all armed with super soakers. i had so much fun :)

more pictures can be found here.
then this reporter came into view, she's the Nana(a web portal in Israel). she's annoying, she isn't that funny and she covers every event resembling this one...

i always wanted to abuse her a bit :) that day i finally did it, i flipped her, literally, turned her upside down, it was very funny - and the camera crew got it on film, so i'll link it when it airs, and also Asaf took a picture of me, so when the #$%@#$ uploads the picture :)
*** Update!!! the flip! ***

then at night i went to watch Transformers, it wasn't that bad, i actually enjoyed it much. it's been a great weekend so far.
That's about it for today...
have a great week!

i seriously cant take it anymore

2007-07-10T00:00:00.000+03:00

The whole situation with Zvi has evolved into a new level of insanity:
today, i got home, tired after a long day's work, to find the apartment committee outside talking... the head of the committee comes up to me and says that where i park isn't good because it disturbs the other tenants in the building, and that i should park in our apartment's parking space(it's a double space so 2 cars can park without any problems...) i told the head that i don't think it'll be a good idea because Zvi won't like it(he likes to park diagonal) and he said that he'll talk to Zvi about the issue...
Meanwhile - i park where they wanted, i go up, say hello to my sister(who came over - She's pregnant W00t!) and i lay to rest for a while...
then he comes up and demands that i move my car, claiming that it was impossible for him to park because it's too cramped.
keep in mind and i will probably upload a picture of the space tomorrow that he now has approx. a meter(a yard and change) between himself and my car, and another between the other side and the pillar.
a lot of yelling and insane babbling afterwards and the time is midnight... i wanted to train Nyuki for a bit, her training is going extremely well, she's almost obedient :), i don't even need to raise my voice! anyway, i start training her, and he comes up to me and says that its bothering him that i'm training her now(my mom was in the other room and didn't even know i was training her) and that i'm making too much noise.
then he claims that i have a conspiracy against him and that i'm doing all of this on purpose, deliberately causing Nyuki to look at him and follow him, and that the parking was my idea.

he's totally lost it, something is fucked up with his mind.
and the worst part about it, is that me and my mom are suffering, it's daily yelling and shouting. arguments till late at night, even when you try to ignore him, he still talks as if he's the victim and he's an angel, claiming what did i do? i never did anything, he doesn't understand that that's exactly the problem, he might not have started the problem but his unwillingness to help is the problem itself.

i dunno how much i can live with this, and my mom has also had enough, we're still looking for apartments in the area... without him.

You are what you read...

2007-07-07T23:34:00.000+03:00

god, the tv shows are getting dumber by the second -
a new competitive game show which checks if you're smarter than a 6'th grader.

this weekend wasn't that great... i had great plans but nothing came through.
i saw Die Hard 4.0, it wasn't bad, it was action packed and funny to boot. what really made me laugh was the credits -
Assistant to Mr. Willis.
Mr. Willis' Driver.
Mr. Willis' Chef.

what has this world come to? an actor, al be it a good one, needs to get a driver and a personal chef?

i planned to go visit a couple of friends in Haifa today, but alas, no go...
Nyuki is in heat, it's her first time and she's acting all sorts of crazy, she started playing with other dogs, and i had to physically push off a male dog that tried to mount her, at least she's clean and doesn't leave stains.

i really want to fly to the states already, i need the vacation and a month away from Israel will do me good, guess i'll have to stay strong until December.

the new team is hard, a lot to learn, and i have to be operational by August.

i guess this really isn't that big of an update, but it's been a slow month...
have a good one :|

Rejected...

2007-07-02T22:48:00.000+03:00

this is something that happened a while back -
a friend of mine, Tal Shiri, showed me a video clip called Rejected, you can see it here:

anyway it's very hallucinatory and i enjoyed it...
now a week ago(on the day of the Evanescence concert) Tal, me, Kuperstein and Noga went to eat out.
well Tal showed Noga the Rejected video and i took pictures of her reactions.
you can see them here.

very funny :D

Before i go Beddy By - This weekend's Deductions...

2007-07-01T00:27:00.000+03:00

I Like Pie...
no wait, that's an issue for some other day...
Tarentino and Robert Rodriguez, They's Genii(plural of genius...)! i saw Deathproof and Planet Terror over the weekend and i laughed, i gasped and i laughed some more!
they truly did capture the golden era of Thriller/Horror flicks of the 70~80s. down to the burnt film!

oh! and i've uploaded the Evanescence Pictures!!!

take a look here!

a day of fun/one man was feared

2007-06-27T21:45:00.000+03:00

today i spent my whole day on vacation!
that's right, no work for me :)
Julia, a friend of mine came over from Tel-Aviv(although she lives in Haifa - useless info i guess) and we just hung out all day, we went walking around Rishon, then went to Tel-Aviv, walked around some more, had fun along the way, until evening came, then we went to the pillow fight, it was so much fun...

I was feared by tens :)
Alone, working alone, i entered the arena, sweating bullets, not knowing who i was about to face, i Entered...
I feared no man, nor woman, nor child... walking alone, looking for the first hit, knowing i wouldn't be the one to start the fighting, but would be the last standing... then it came, a surprise attack from the left, a small boy, not even 12, laughing, i forgave, i grunted, he ran.

all of a sudden, 2 post-teens attacked me, i dodged, and retaliated, leaving both stunned... then carnage ensued... i was in the middle of a battle scene, jumping, dodging, hitting, running, adrenaline pumping all at once, people avoided hitting me, afraid... it was amazing. i wandered about, then i saw them, a group of teens, must've been about 30,with red bandannas, running towards the battlefield, thinking of an ambush. i ran to them, broke their lines and made half of them retreat cowardly, their leader, yelling don't fear the Reaper... he was next, i locked pillows with him, fighting as hard as i could, dodging his team as they circled me, all my tactics gone, i went berserk... distant flashes are all i remember, but the outcome was easy to spot, none stood but yours truly, all retreated and regathered. feeling weak i retired, i am powerful yet i am old.
pictures:

oh and this is me and Julia:

all pictures here.
i had a great time with the pillow fight, it helped me relieve some stress that i had on me and i recommend it to anyone who has time to organize such an event :D
oh and just something from Evanescence last night:

OH Fucking Wow!

2007-06-27T00:26:00.000+03:00

Amy Lee, Erm... Evanescence Rocked!
the show was amazingly phenomenal! too bad she lost her voice and couldn't play more!
pictures in due time, i have like 430 pictures to choose from/ delete the blurry/missed shots(i've already skimmed through and they are amazing, i'll have about 100+ great pictures!).

tomorrow is Pillow Fight Club! expect Pictures from that too!

Holy Burning Bus Batman!

2007-06-25T23:08:00.000+03:00

today was hot... how hot? extremely.
i felt like i was melting, really...
it got so bad, that on the way back, on the freeway, a bus's engine overheated and the bus driver had to pull over and get everyone out, the bus just went up in flames, think i'm joking?

there are more pictures here.
when i first saw it i thought it was a terrorist attack, so i phoned friends and family to check it out... but then as i got closer i saw that the bus was parked on the side of the road and that no one was hurt/injured... i learned a valuable lesson about checking the engine's heat levels... also no a/c in car is bad...
in other non related news, tomorrow at this time i will be either at the end or after the Evanescence Live Performance, Here in Israel!!!
i promise to take as many pictures as i will be allowed! i'm charging my cameras and getting everything ready...
till tomorrow, night people!!!

Cleaning and Preparing

2007-06-23T22:14:00.000+03:00

there's a date - July first, thats when i officially move to my new job :)
till then, i officially do nothing, i help my replacement get his footing in the role. but unofficially, i'm going to lectures, learning the problems to which i will provide solutions, it's exciting...

My new Section had a "fun day" Thursday, and of course i joined in, we went to clean a part of a ridge near a beach, the place was filthy, it's almost hard to believe that people can be so careless with their trash...
i took this beautiful picture:

(if anyone wants the original, it's a really better + you can see the sailboat in the back :))
which is going to be my wallpaper for now :D
all the pictures can be found here.
so far this week was good, there was beer and stuff, next week is the Evanescence concert and i'm so looking forward to that! more to come on Tuesday/Wednesday!

that's about it for today...

One of my better days

2007-06-19T23:34:00.000+03:00

Or so it turned out to be...
it started all wrong.. i didn't sleep a wink last night, Nyuki was upset from the fact that she was closed in a room all night, so she barked and whined. i was half dazed when i woke up, seriously in no condition to drive, but i did anyway, and without noticing it at all, ran a red light, by sheer luck and stupidity the intersection was empty...

today i informed my soldiers of my leave, explained it to them so that they could understand my side, and told them that i am not abandoning them, and that if they ever need something from me, i'm just a minute's walk away from them.
Now it's time for me to study about my new system, and what part i take in it...

We had a team night out, me and my 3 soldiers... it was very relaxing, we went to see a play(an israeli adaptation of Francis Veber's script, i think it was Tais-toi!). it was very good! i forgot how much i loved to watch plays.
i'm reminded now of Commedia_dell'arte which has to be the best form of plays i can think of...
i bought a subscription for 4 more tickets to plays and i intend on using them :)
oh well, this has turned out to be a good day, and now it's time for me to sleep...

I Forgive you Stupid People!

2007-06-16T21:24:00.000+03:00

my family is bugging me,
my brother wants me to start dating seriously, my mom wants me to get married.
my sister turned religious on us and my other sister doesn't even talk to me...
my father in all this? well he hasn't called me since about a month ago(forgot my birthday...)
now there's thoughts about buying a studio apartment, for around $60K, meaning i have to take a mortgage of about $40K, and close it within 5 years.
everything is moving way too fast for me, i'm still a kid, i don't want to grow up yet.
with that said - i know it's the smart thing to do since this investment pays about 6% of it's value a year, and after 5 years i'll own my very own piece of land.
i'm really confused.

we're moving, again... my Romanian Gypsy Genes(RGG for short) are kicking in. we haven't been able to stay in one place for more than 4 years.

Friday was nice - i went to a friend's house where she invited a few people to bring food and have dinner with, it was really nice, good cooked food(some bought - Füer: house cake). my onion casserole was a great success, second time i tried that recipe.

I discontinued my gym membership - i figured the services provided weren't worth the price paid, so now they better cancel it before i pay for another month.

tomorrow i return to reality, i have to face my soldiers face to face, and tell them that i'm abandoning them, as much as it pains me to say it, i know that no matter how i put it, that's how they'll see it - abandonment.

if anyone of you has time - go listen so some Amiram Inc.. they're really good once you give them a chance(watch the clips from their site).

i gotta start reading more.

if things went my way, why should i be sad?

2007-06-13T22:57:00.000+03:00

after 3 weeks, i was informed that i am moving to a different team.
all my hard work to leave my current job for another have paid off, i did it.
i'm moving on, to a better position, to a better job. why do i feel sad?
i'm leaving my soldiers behind, it's funny, i'm their boss, but i'm a lot more, or so i hope, to them - or rather they are to me.
i've seen them progress through time, they've changed, i'd like to think i changed them, made them better people, who knows?
but i am leaving them behind, after almost 2 years, i was their teammate, co-worker, boss, commander, friend.
it's hard... i feel as though i'm letting them down somehow, as if i should stay, just for them, but i know that i have to think about myself and bettering myself also.
they still don't know it yet, almost no one does, i'm trying to keep it all secret, waiting for the right moment, thinking of how to break the news to them, it's not gonna be easy especially towards a certain soldier who is very disgruntled and wanted to leave the team, and i forced him to stay, he's gonna be very mad :(
its funny, i never thought that i'd feel like this, it's strange, i guess the responsibility for my soldiers, even though absent on the surface, is still deep inside, i am more of a boss to them, i'm their Commander.

in other unrelated news - i couldn't get the tickets for Iggy Pop's performance and my new camera is malfunctioning - the zoom axis isn't responding. my brother and his friends are still going to the Iggy Pop show.

and i wonder how i stay sane...

2007-06-09T13:39:00.000+03:00

This is my daily routine:
Weekdays:
i get up at around 5:30... walk the dog, go to the gym.
return home at around 7:45, return to the yelling in the house, and the arguments...
walk the dog again and leave for work at 8:30...
arrive at work at around 9:20, do my job, which i ain't satisfied in, and return home at around 7:30... i walk the dog again, and feed her, then train her for a bit and walk her again. after that ritual i'm left at around 10 pm, where i read e-mails and catch up on global events, whilst ignoring the arguments around me once more, until 11:30, then i fall asleep and so on and so forth...
Weekends:
i get up to the sound of my mom's voice yelling at me to get up and take care of the dog... then do some chores around the house, and try to dodge my mom and Zvi until it's time for bed.

all in all my life is pretty hectic and i seriously don't know how much more of this i can handle.. i'm seriously planning on moving out in the next 3 months or so.

but that's my normal day to day schedule, let me tell you about my extra special weekend:
a friend's father passed away thursday, i went to visit his family, and i get home to the yelling of my mom telling me that i didn't take care of the dog and she shat in the living room. friday my computer chair broke: i'm sitting on my bed right now, it isn't that comfortable as they claim it is. and we went out to play pool friday night(some pics :)).
today i woke up to the yelling and couldn't take it anymore, i just took Nyuki on her leash and i drove to the sand dunes near my city... i just let her off her leash and let her run as far and as long as she wanted... after about an hour or so in the sun she calmed down and we played for a bit... then i had to return home, but it was much quieter...
right now i'm clearing out a lot of my old stuff...throwing everything i don't need to the trash(i've gathered a lot of useless stuff over the years)...

next Wednesday(the 20'th) is the army's deadline for their plans with me... if i don't get an answer by then i'm starting an Italian strike(come, do nothing, go home).

ooh, i might be taking a cruise to Cyprus, Napa Islands and Turkey(5 days) it's really cheap and i do need the vacation.

i've started to cook for myself lately, it's very satisfying, not to mention a very important skill i'll need when i move out.

that's all for now, more updates in a few days.

Ahh the fun times...

2007-06-04T23:43:00.000+03:00

I got a hair cut... my usual...
the barber says to me - your hair, it is thinning out... you're getting bald...
fun fun... not what i wanted to hear.
my father's bald, he lost most of his hair back when he was 18'ish. i still have my hair, but not for long i think, might be bald by 30.
my birthday was pretty fun. i got a shirt from my sister and a globe puzzle from my friends(it's really cool!) and i bought myself a new camera- the Panasonic DMC FX-50, i really like this camera, it's pretty slim and compact, and it has a massive 3 inch screen, hopefully it'll do its job right :)
as far as the weekend went, it was nice, my niece enjoyed her birthday party and the food... i enjoyed the lack of attention towards me, all in all it was good.
i've started cooking my own lunch to work(instead of eating the army food) and i gotta say, i'm a darn good cook :)

i started thinking about my life again, that never goes well... seems i can't hold in a relationship with girls for more than 2~3 weeks, a month and a half tops, there was one that lasted 3 months but that's it... but i do think i'm ready for a serious relationship now, i've had my fill of one nighters...

Saturday night was a weird time for me - 4 years go i had a crush on this girl, Maya... she finished her service and i never got a chance to ask her out... about 2 weeks ago i saw her at the base again and she told me she's back for another 3 months. Thursday she e-mails me at work and invites me to her birthday party in Jerusalem, i jump on the opportunity and say yes, now it's Saturday night, and i'm driving on a road i never drove before, all for this girl, who i have no idea how she feels about me. i took a wrong turn and ended up in a (semi)hostile Arab village... scared for my life i find the first possible U-turn and head back, but i finally found the place the party was at... i go in, and there were like 50 of her friends. somehow i successfully got to talk to her alone outside.
i tried asking her out, but couldn't find the words... just as i was about to ask her finally, she gets a call, from her boyfriend... her ex-ex-boyfriend, they made up that day. that was not a pleasant moment for me.

oooh and Nyuki has started her training lessons, she had her first lesson on sunday and today i did the homework, she's studying sit, lay down, stop and don't touch... she is very stubborn but i'm getting through to her :)

It's been a crazy day...

2007-05-29T22:43:00.000+03:00

between losing my cellphone, doubting my existence, going to the beach, finding a trainer for my dog, Gym+the last episode of heroes and loads of other things, i've had a very mixed day.
i even brought Nyuki to the base today, all in all it's been one of my better days so i guess i'll tell you Sunday's embarrassment:
Saturday evening i downloaded the last Heroes Episode... all goes well and i uploaded it to the IPod(without looking at it first) i get up on Sunday morning, take my IPod, grab my clothes and head for the gym. i get to the gym, my trainer is there and wants to watch me run... i setup the IPod on the shelf, max the volume, program my run into the machine, and start running, then i pushed play.
now, i don't know why people do this but instead of my Heroes Episode, i get a porno movie, and no, not from the beginning... oh no, that would've been safer, i get it smack dab in the middle, with various grunts and bodily sounds booming out of the headphones, needless to say that it attracted a crowd very fast, and the comment i got from my trainer was pretty funny(i guess everyone has his own inspiration :))
when i realized what had happened, like 10 seconds for my brain to actually calculate what my eyes saw and what my ears heard... i just stopped the running track and fell down laughing my head off.... it took me 5 minutes to be able to start running again :D

oh well, have a great night/afternoon!

and it seemed like a great day...

2007-05-28T22:58:00.000+03:00

yet ugliness reared its head once more...
i worked today, i really did, i somehow got the wind back in my sails, i enjoyed myself, but then i got home, as soon as i set my foot in the house, well even before it happened, i wanted to park, but no, some cock sucking asshole decided to park his van like a whore, in the middle of the drive way, blocking some cars(and my parking spot) so i very calmly left him a note... i was in a good mood.
i got home, and my mom started yelling at me, she wanted the dog out, she's had enough, and she was serious...
as much as i love Nyuki i love my mom even more, and i prefer her happiness to mine, i was about to either give up the dog or move out... both options were harsh, after some talking and yelling about irrelevant issues, and a council with my sister and brother, we reached an agreement to get the dog properly trained(with a personal trainer no less). that was the big argument, the little one was about an hour afterwards, i went out with Nyuki and left the light on in my room(we're talking about an halogen light, an hour's use is like 10 cents), and Zvi comes to me, while my sister and her husband are visiting, and says "i don't usually do this, but this is the 9'th time you've left the light on in your room this month". i just lost it, i couldn't even take that seriously, he forgets the light/tv/boiler on for hours and he complains that i left a fucking light? i just let him have it then and there. told him how much of a pretentious self righteous jerkoff he was, how he had the gull to even talk to me about that, when my family was here. he then said something that pissed me off so much i just lost it - he told me that he has the right to do that, because he pays half the bills, and claims he pays part of my usage, and that I'm living there on charity. i couldn't take it anymore, i told him that his electrical usage is at least the same as mine and my mother's combined, since we're home like 10 hours a day and he's there 24/7(he's retired and too fucking lazy to find a job). i told him that in a whim i could pay his part of the bill and kick him the fuck out of the house, that my mother doesn't need anyone who stays most of his day sitting in an half room, glued to the news and the internet(and his various supply of porn sites, ewww). anyway i continued to tell him that its sad he feels inadequate around me, and needs to reassure himself that he's better than me, a 59 year old intimidated by a 24 year old.
anyway, we're not on speaking terms beginning today, yay!

i got my Evanescence tickets today, the show is in a month, and i'm gonna so fucking enjoy it!

so tomorrow we're seeing the trainer, and we'll see how things go from there.

i'm not in the mood for fun stuff, although i have a great embarrassing story, which will have to wait.
g'night

one week, 7 days...

2007-05-26T23:03:00.000+03:00

That's how long i have, until this 23rd year is over... on Saturday, June 2nd, i'm gonna celebrate my 24th Birthday...

a lot of things happened to me this past year, good and bad.
it's a funny thing, you always remember the bad stuff that happen, but the good stuff are always a distant fading memory. this year had some lasting impressions on me, it's funny to think that such a mundane year(23rd birthday isn't that special, unlike 21 or 18...) really shaped my life differently than i had viewed it before.
But I am gonna make the most out of the rest of my 23rd year - i'm gonna recall all the good things that happened to me and around me :)
these aren't in any particular order and one thought isn't better than the other...

Today's Happy Memory has to be - Greece and Pearl Jam:

looking for a Camera...

2007-05-23T22:19:00.000+03:00

and here's where you all come in,
i'm looking for a decent point and shoot camera, my demands are quite simple:

small and pocket sized(for those who haven't seen my camera, it's big and not really built for instant pictures).
at least x4 optical zoom, i prefer x6 and higher but x4 is good also.
something along the 200~350$ price range.

advice is welcomed :)

A Familiar Plot...

2007-05-22T23:46:00.001+03:00

this week is sure off to an interesting start...
I Talked with my Section Leader on Sunday, told him i was unhappy, told him where i think he did wrong, asked to be fired. i can't quit, i wont get the benefits, so i asked to be fired. he denied my request, said that if he let me quit, it would mean him admitting failure, something he's too proud to do.
so i asked for a new job, away from the current one, somewhere that might interest me more. after about 20 minutes of talking he told me that in 4 weeks he'll have answers for me, on places that i could go, but there's a catch, i might be required to sign on even more time. it's a deal i can live with especially if i get a good job(which is the main condition for the whole story anyway).
now i patiently wait the verdict...

Last night my brother(Gil) got married, and i wasn't as drunk as when my sister got married. i didn't bring a camera to his wedding so pictures will take some time, but there are great ones.
their wedding was in a place viewing the sea, and was done magnificently, my uncle's band played(yes my uncle has a wedding band) and after that my brother's friend d.j.'ed the younger(30+) crowd. all in all it was a great wedding, my brother got so drunk he started doing silly things, such as trying to dance with a glass on his head, and even going into the sea to cool off, eventually the security guard walked the newly wed to their home(which was a 5 minute walk from the wedding hall), all the while guarding the bag with the checks. at the end my brother wanted to give him the bag with the checks but was talked into his senses by his new wife(Limor). they made out with a nice profit from the wedding, about $15,000.
To my dismay, now every one of my siblings has had a wedding, guess who they'll pick on now?

on a sad note - my sunglasses passed away last night, fell from the 3'rd floor and the lens shattered. i'll have to buy some this week.

i just remembered that i haven't given the 3 key quotes from the Taglit-Birthright trip as spoken by Ran, so here they are:
in third place-
(talking about the fence that divides the west bank from israel)
Ran(the tour Guide):once this fence was a regular fence, but israel had to build a Solid concrete fence because the arabs kept shitting over the fence.

Ran:shooting, not shitting!

second place-
(while swimming in the david stream, some girl was cut from a crab)
Girl: i cut myself, what is it???
Ran: oh it's probably cancer(the hebrew word for crab is also the word for cancer).

Ran: erm, Crab, Not cancer, yet.

and the first place goes to:
(while eating dinner on the last night)
Michelle(an american): do people always hook up on these trips? because my cousin was on this trip a year ago and only 2 people hooked up.
Ran: No, this is a regular whorehouse.

i've been thinking of my life for now - i'm gonna try my luck and gonna sign up to study to be a Guide, the type that shows people around israel, it's pricey, but it's something i've always wanted to do, it's a year of studying, and i'm checking if i can do it while in the army, that way it wont bother with my dreams to become a vet :D
that's all for now, have a great Shavuot! eat plenty of cheese!!!

Time to Talk of Taglit and of merry Things

2007-05-20T00:24:00.000+03:00

the past 2 weeks, starting tuesday may 8'th and up until tonight were part of the best thing that happened to me this year...

i didn't know what i stepped into when i signed up for this, yeah it was a vacation, 5 days, payed vacation. but it was very intense, i dealt with real people, some older than me(25+) this group was a 22+ group, most of them were after college, some were engaged, 2 married. we had doctors and lawyers, cashiers and druggies, every person filled with a rich life story, everyone more interesting than the other, non of them had a fixed impression on Israel, most didn't know what to expect, but they all came in with an open mind, and there i was, one of the 8 soldiers that had to give this group of 40 people our look on Israel, to them we were representatives of the army, we had the answers to those burning questions, the recent war, Israel's policies, the attacks on Palestinians and much much more... but here we were, a couple of 21 year olds(i was the exception 24) it seemed surreal, disconnected from the world, the whole ordeal. amongst that i found a girl, Nicole, she was great, she and i had a great time. we all spent 5 great days all around Israel, starting from the dead sea and working our way through Tel-Aviv and the Golan Heights and finally finishing our journey near Jerusalem. that was Saturday night, when most of them returned home, back to the states, but a few stayed... 5 people. Vladimir, Steve, Ruth, Jeremy And Nicole. I had to go back to work, Sunday, i didn't know how to handle it, returning to the life that i had gotten used to, i couldn't just yet, i took out some sick days, for Sunday and Monday. i lied about being sick, just so i could get some more days with those people, people who i've only known for less than a week, yet felt responsible for their stay here, felt that i need to share with them a bit more. i wanted to be near them, i enjoyed so much my brief time speaking English only, living a free life. Ruth and Nicole flew Monday night, i saw them to the airport. i hung out with Jeremy and Vladimir the rest of the week, and today i saw them too to the airport, with their flight, left the last reason for me not to return to work, left me to return to my old ways, but i still defy it, i don't want to return just yet. this year i'm flying to the us, for longer, i'm gonna see more parts of the us, visit my new friends. this week is gonna be a short one - with my brother's wedding on Monday and Tuesday/Wednesday being a holiday.things will go better, i hope.
there are pictures of course:
here and here.

i'm rambling on i guess so i'll stop, have a great week y'all.

I Wish...

2007-05-16T21:25:00.000+03:00

i wish i could tell you all about the wonderful time i had in Taglit-Birthright,
i really do, because i did have a great time... but all that seems as a distant memory.
i couldn't even return to work anymore, couldn't concentrate.
i didn't want the vacation to end, i couldn't stand going back, back to a crappy job, back to everything i finally forgot... just came back again, unwillingly i made my way back to the office, the same office i always went to.
things are changing, i'm being de-promoted... a new position doing something i can't even connect to...
so i got bitter. and i complained, and i yelled at the bosses, gave them a piece of my mind.
only after that did i get noticed... only after that did the human resource lady notice me, ask how i was, initiate a meeting with me, that meeting was today, i explained how much i suffered in my job, how hard it was to do what i do, for the period of time i did, how i got stepped on at every turn, yet managed to make the best out of it, how i had to motivate my subordinates 2~3 times a week... but mostly on how tired i was, mentally & physically. that talk probably didn't do any good, the place is set in it's ways and i can't do anything but play the pawn in this cursed game of chess. i will be meeting with the head of the section soon, he apparently wants to hear what i have to say, which is pretty funny because i have a lot of things he needs to hear.
all this goes on in the army front, but what of at home? is there any salvation there?
what do i ask for? some quiet time when i return home, a chance to rest my ears from the chaos that ensues my life, but what do i get the first second i get home? yells, more yells, complaints, you aren't this, you shouldn't that, blah blah blah... i seriously thought about moving out, just leaving and starting on my own...
it isn't that easy so it seems.
Then again - were it easy, would it be worth it?

i tried staying away from my friends this past week, just trying to clear my thoughts, think clearly, what i found was that i miss them, they are a part of me and i need them close.
i might post my experience with the Taglit-Birthright this weekend...

Ba Hah hah hah ha!!!

2007-05-07T22:42:00.000+03:00

this is just too funny :)

Sufficiently Manly

Nice going, hot stuff! You're Sufficiently Manly. You've got a nice balance of rugged manliness and tender sweetness that drives girls crazy. You're manly enough to take on the best of them, but you're not quite the image of the REAL man. But who cares? If I'm using a picture of Brad Pitt to describe your category, you can't be that bad off. ;)

My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 99% on manliness

Link: The Are You a REAL Man? Test written by spinderela on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

blink blink :D

The Second Explosion

2007-05-07T21:14:00.000+03:00

Been meaning to write an entry for a while now, but nothing compelled me to do so until tonight...
but before i continue to the main event, let's take a look at what my life's been like for the last week or so -
I got transferred, or rather a pro-demotion(got promoted to a suckier job...)
got shafted on my paycheck(for the past half year i've received a lower paycheck than i should have) went to the party at Noa's, and said something foolish there, and i am sorry Noa :(. i've decided to distance myself from my friends, trying to concentrate on myself only(no luck there), got shat on again by my bosses, going through the phases of suing the army for breach of contract.
ooh and there were highlights! got to test certain people for the birthright project(i tested their English skills - one word about mine and i'll come to your house and beat you :D) and tomorrow i go to the birthright project - 5 days of rest, relaxation and English - oooh and girls :)...

soo what of this new explosion i mentioned?

today Zvi called me saying he's had it up to here(points to forehead) with the dog and he has to do something about it... i ignore his pleas, partly because they are blank, partly because i was at work.
i come back home - he starts lecturing me, but today i'm happy, i've got no mood for this :) so i say, you do what you want to do, and we'll see of the consequences later, he goes on to tell me that he talked to his lawyer(FTW???) who said that since i didn't own the dog prior to him moving in with us, he has legal right to kick the dog out... i found that as total bull so i played along with it - i said you do whatever you feel is right. then he said that the lease on this apartment doesn't allow dogs and he'll call the owner, who will force the dog out. i knew that to be total and udder bullshit since the owner lived here with a dog prior to our moving here and from the contract that i saw there was no mention of no animals allowed, so i confronted him to his lie, and he said that he only thought it was like that because the last apt we were in had the no pets clause.
anyway i told him he has 3 options:
1) he learns to live with the dog, and i am willing to make compromises.
2) he takes the dog away, and i go with the dog.
3) he leaves.
to that he said that he'll talk to my mom about the ultimatum and he added that i'm putting my mom in a hard place having to choose either him or me, so i said, that had he chosen to compromise things would've been different, so he has no right to blame me on the situation...

meanwhile i talked to my mom who's on my side(naturally) and we'll see how this thing plays out... meanwhile i'm gonna be away for 5 days and the dog is going to live with my sister in her villa.

all in all i'm pretty dazed.
need to finish packing for tomorrow :D

I == Fail

2007-05-04T12:54:00.000+03:00

i didn't get the minimum score i needed on the Psychometry test in order to get accepted.

My Life's Boring

2007-04-30T23:48:00.000+03:00

I really need to get drunk...
I'm in that perfect mood, the one where you know you need the drink.
Tuesday(next week) I'm gonna be off with some 40 20+ y/o's from America to a trip around Israel's fair landscape... 5 days of Rest and Relaxation, with me being who i am, and not who i act.
I'm looking forward to it :D

i need to get intoxicated, soon.