Wednesday, August 29, 2007

For Evdokija

Last night I dreamed a red Mini Cooper or Suzuki Swift. I somehow realized that it had an oven instead of seats inside which didn't stop me - I just thought I needed to 'fix' it. Something like putting the pieces of puzzle together. After I managed to do that I entered the car to find it quite small for me - I occupied more than half of the front while K sat on the side without any complaints. I was wondering where would dogs fit in but totally happy that car was moving and I could use it to at least get to another stop.

Later today
Just now I heard from my sister that Evdokija Sitarica died in car accident. I experience shock at the moment, thoughts are triggering reasons to cry - not cry, remember - move on... Her name meant 'good will' in Greek. She carried her name with her own signature. My mother's best friend... I know she will miss her.

My dream comes to my mind. I chose to share it while others remain unspoken of (I originally posted it on the August 25-29 blog). I imagine their car heating like an oven. Her husband, the driver, survived.

Today happened

Absolutely amazing that records for August 29th date as far as 708. As far as my life goes, today is Wednesday, I am taking it easy and glad I learned old name for Belgrade.

There are no ordinary moments:D

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Don't Stop Believing - and enjoy the Journey!

I had a week of low lull. My body was weak, giving up to cold and quite negative thinking. I felt stuck in perception that I will never 'make it', that my efforts are fruitless and I should tame my hopes into realistic thinking how to survive urban jungle, hot weather, ignorant people and many other things. There is no limit in depth of negative thinking once it strikes its serve. Unlike positive thinking (so difficult to imagine and live according to 'the sky is the limit' maxim) I experience downward spiral of negative thinking with most amazing ease. Mind storms with questions What if? and the hell ride follows.

Still, each time the ride to hell and back is shorter and shorter. With some kind of intrinsic awareness I learned to remain open to messages despite how 'realistic' my 'what if' scenarios were. This time message came in form of CD that K brought from Canada. She overheard me talk about childhood tunes that used to get me going, the ones I couldn't stop listening over and over again while dancing in my study back home in Belgrade. At first I couldn't even see what the title of CD was when she handed it to me but once I managed to read the artistic sign the time machine took me right back to the moment of innocence and ultimate hope, belief that I am on the journey of exploring life with a smile and a tune in my ears.

I am back on track!




Just a small town girl, livin' in a lonely world
She took the midnight train goin' anywhere
Just a city boy, born and raised in south Detroit
He took the midnight train goin' anywhere

A singer in a smokey room
A smell of wine and cheap perfume
For a smile they can share the night
It goes on and on and on and on

Strangers waiting, up and down the boulevard
Their shadows searching in the night
Streetlights people, living just to find emotion
Hiding, somewhere in the night

Working hard to get my fill,
everybody wants a thrill
Payin' anything to roll the dice,
just one more time
Some will win, some will lose
Some were born to sing the blues
Oh, the movie never ends
It goes on and on and on and on


Monday, August 20, 2007

Numb3rs, hand gestures and meanings



These are Chinese number gestures. Nothing odd or strange happens from 1-5, easy to guess what is going on. Little tricks start happening from 6-10 and, trust me, there is a logic in it (written language simulation). The reason why use one hand gestures for numbers resides with beginnings for the trade in China, the lowest profession of all - as considered at that time. Traders were regarded as unstable, they usually had to travel a lot and therefore couldn't take care of family at home. Hence, the trade was conducted somewhat secretly, using long and wide sleeves of their robes to hide hands that were working to negotiate the price. Here are numbers from 6-10:



Additionally 10 can also be expressed as:



Depending on the negotiation scale one hand gesture, let's say for 7, could mean 7, 70 or 700. If 7 was followed by 2 it would mean 720 or 7200 etc.

These gestures are still used in daily life.

Meanings of numbers are often related to the words that sound similar as their numeral value except for 1 and 2.

One (yi), means unity
Two (er) is related to 'double' meaning that all good things come in pairs (double happiness)
Three (san), means to disperse, release
Four (si), sounds like word for death and is therefore unlucky number. Often buildings would not have fourth floor, people would avoid having number four in their phone number or even apartments with number four would be of a cheaper value than same size apartment with number 8, for example. Some believe that two numbers 4 would mean cancellation of the meaning death and then it would be regarded as a lucky number
Five (wu), can mean me, self or nothing. Nothing in this case can have a positive meaning, related to the daoist concept wu wei (non action)
Six (liu), smooth, constant, to flow. 66 or 666 is considered to be a lucky number since it means 'all goes smoothly'
Seven (qi) to raise, elevate, together
Eight (ba), sounds similar to character that means to prosper (fa) and is hence the luckiest number. Olympics in Beijing are scheduled to start on 08.08.2008. at 8:08:08p.m. Telephone number 8888-8888 was sold for $270,723 in Chengdu, China.
Nine (jiu), longevity or long lasting

Even nowadays, when bargaining for a price, many wouldn't accept price of 250rmb because the meaning is double nothing, while 260 can mean double flow (of income) and is therefore much more acceptable.

Have fun while negotiating!

Monday, August 13, 2007

Olympics 2007 or 2008?

As we (who live in China) know - August brought us to a speedy countdown - less than a year to Beijing Olympics, 2007 thus officially becomes a grand rehearsal.

Beijing yesterday announced a drill to test the effectiveness of the Olympic host city's efforts to improve air quality and ease traffic congestion.

From August 17 to 20, about 1.3 million vehicles - nearly half of the total 3 million in the city - will be ordered off the roads as part of pre-Olympic tests, according to the capital city's environmental and traffic authorities. Deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Traffic Management Bureau said the drill will test the city's public transport.

Rush hour services of the bus and metro systems will be extended to three hours, 6:30 am to 9:30 am, from the usual two hours, 7 am to 9 am.

Civic servants are supposed to arrive in office half an hour earlier at 8 am, and shopping malls will open doors one hour later at 10 am.

Currently, the public transit system carries 31 percent of the traveling public and is the most popular means of transport after walking.

Below - a view of how Olympic mascots relate to Beijing 2007 reality. FYI today's pollution level is devilish 66, skies are clear - only sign of last night's storm and hale are trees that gave up to the strong winds and decided to rest in peace.


Thursday, August 09, 2007

How lucky I am!

Occasionally I check my junk mail and read through the titles - sometimes there is an odd valid email that gets misplaced...

Today I learned that I missed so many opportunities of winning lottery, amazing business deals and just for the fun of it: I neglected helping people in need - those who want to flee their countries and need MY bank account to transfer millions of pounds.

If I was quick enough to reply to 42 messages by now I would have had $154,057,790USD and £45,250,000GBP

Regardless of missed opportunities I have to admit that I recognize that the Secret works! I am getting more than I asked for.

I am grateful to Robert Zulugan, Dr Princewill, David Scott, Rev Phillip Osun, James Okoye, Lady Rebecca Thatcher, Mrs. Debra Martins, Yamaha Lottery Promo, John Emeka, Yahoo/MSN Lottery, Ribady Nuhu, William Ben, UK National Lottery, Bill Smith, Kevin Armstrong, Emma Eze, PepsiCo company, Terry Belicek, Captain James Morgan, Primus Household Company, Powerball Online Promotion Program, Norton Finance Investment, Julian Brooks Associates, Barr. Yusuf Haji, Coca Cola Lottery, Bong Dixon, Gerald Whitley, Halifax Security Department, Gary Hilton, Joyce Williams, Barr. Francis Hanna, Mr. Sonam Khandu, Stephen Mensah, Mr. Brian Anderson, Mrs Hanah Jack Williams.

Why is today such a great day?

It started in early moments of human history, by some odd coincidence:

9.8.1173 - Construction of the Tower of Pisa begins, and it takes two centuries to complete
9.8.1483 - Opening of the Sistine Chapel
9.8.1892 - Thomas Edison receives a patent for a two-way telegraph
9.8.1930 - Betty Boop premiered in her first cartoon, Dizzy Dishes
9.8.1986 - Knebworth Park, Stevenage, UK sees the final live performance of rock band Queen with lead singer Freddie Mercury.
9.8.2007 - Two of Australia's largest regional banks, the Bendigo Bank and the Adelaide Bank agree to merge

It is so important that we can play clairvoyant predictions
9.8.2008 - After amazing opening ceremony , the first day of Beijing Olympics competition begins.

Today in Beijing, skies are clear, after yesterday's blue 88 on pollution scale i am intrigued of the number significance: 8.8. - 88, the number related to prosperity understandable only to those who relate to local (Chinese) culture.

May you have a prosperous day, the day after

Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Blackle - news from Gimundo

'Blackle' Saves Electricity on Internet Searches

In January, a blogger named Mark Ontkush wrote in his blog EcoIron that an all-black Google home page would save 750 megawatt-hours of electricity a year. What does that mean? We looked it up.

Turns out 750 megawatt-hours can power for an entire year:

-- 77 North American homes

-- 150 European homes

-- 268 African homes

-- 536 Asian or South American homes

-- 3,750 homes in Afghanistan

-- 6,000 televisions

-- 800 microwaves

Ontkush pointed out that an all-white Web page requires about 74 watts to display, where a black page requires only 59 watts.

In response, an Australian company called Heap Media created a Google-powered site called blackle.com. The site keeps a running total of the number of watts saved to date. At press time, that number was nearly 135 million watt-hours.

There's something oddly attractive about the Blackle homepage. We find it calming - both in look and the fact that we're saving energy.

Click here to find out more, including instructions on how to make Blackle your home page.

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

August 7

Nature is changing its cycles
Hot season turns into a cool one
Occasional rains turn into showers.

Chinese lunar calendar is based on season change, following the moon cycles and fantastically accurate although lately I wonder if some spirited mind should create new age lunar calendar incorporating global warming too.

We are now, as of today, starting Liqiu, autumn. It is a rainy day, skies are gray, yesterday's pollution level was yellow 107 (out of 500). After last night's rain the marks on the cars outside are visible dirty spots. According to the pollution calendar we are approaching another rise - how far will it go?

Tomorrow is the exact one year before the Olympics in Beijing, 1 million vehicles are removed from the streets for 3 weeks. Good news is that bright skies are on the horizon, and sun will shine tomorrow too. Celebrate!

August 7th 1991 - World Wide Web debuts as a publicly available service on the Internet.

Thursday, August 02, 2007

Some old news

Did you know that the first transcontinental phone call was made in 1915?
Did you know that first transatlantic flight was made 1919?
First research on 8-hour workday was made in 1920 and women were given the right to vote.
First television picture broadcast was in 1925
Amelia Earhart was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic in 1928
Introduction of first commercial mainframe computers was in 1950-1951
Introduction of personal computer was in 1970
Today is August 2nd, 2007
Beijing rated green 26 on the pollution scale (out of 500) for July 31st, 2007, yellow 52 on August 1st. Skies are clear, after rain cars are not dirty but clean which I like a lot. Today we are on the green 46 scale.
Enjoy!