I watch you ...

I watch you as you enter my life
bringing smile into my world.

I watch you being part of me
giving me your heart and soul.

I watch you as time passes by
watching me as well

I watch you getting older with me
having still that sparkle in your eye.

I watch you as you leave me
thinking how will I get by

I watch you as I join you there
at that special place beyond the time!

You know you live in the 21st century when:

1. you accidently type in password in your microwave
2. you haven't played pasians with real cards in ages
3. you have a list of 15 phone numbers in order to get to your 3 family members
4. you are sending an e-mail to a person sitting at the desk next to you
5. the only reason you don't keep in touch with family and friends is coz they don't have an e-mail
6. you have parked in front of your own house, taking out your cell phone and calling to see if there's anyone in the house to help u take out groceries from the car
7. every TV add has a web address at the bottom of the screen
8. leaving a house without your cell phone is a reason for panicing ( although u haven't had one for the first 10, 20, 30 ... years of your life) and a reson for you to come back home and take it
10. you get up in the morning and log on internet before having ur morning coffee
11. you start to turn ur head from left to right in order to laugh
12. you read this, nod your head and smile.
13. even worse, you know exactly who you will send this text to
14. you are so busy that you haven't noticed that number 9 from this list is missing!
15. you have stopped to check if number 9 is really missing :P

Now you laugh to yourself!

New Year has come .. what now?

Is it better to constantly post something on your blog just for the sake of it or should I just constrain myself until the time is right when I would actually have something smart to say!?

This thought has always been on my mind whenever I was going through my friend's blogs. Those people seem to have a whole time in the world to write and post. I kinda envy them.

For our mortals that don't have non stop strikes of inspiration, we blog from time to time. Only when we have something smart to say. Like now, hehe :) Yeah right, some would say ... what smart things has this blondie said in these last few lines!?

Well, New Year has started ... another 365 days of not knowing what you can expect from your life. You know, to be honest, I am totally not afraid of what life will bring to me. I try to embrase all the good and bad that happens. No point of freaking out and saying to yourself: oh why this happened to me, bla bla .... well it did ... so get over it and get out of it as much as u can ;)

I have read some of the New Year's resolutions some of friends wrote. Not bad ... gets me thinking whether I should do the same. Although knowing myself, those would change like zillion times before the year finishes:)

There are some things that may not be resolutions but some guidelines of what I should keep in mind for this year:
* visit at least 1 foreign country where I have my very good friends
* do not let laziness of some of my friends and their not wanting to go out keep my spirit down
* do not let my business life effect my personal life
* I know some people would want me to want to get married and have kids, right Hishem;) but I still wouldn't want to go that far .... maybe just to finally settle down with somebody .. dunno with who yet but I know when time comes, I will know.

Well ... I think this would be it. Maybe I would think of something else along the way. I don't want to make a huuuuuuuuge list and not do anything.

What are your resolutions? What do you want?

What am I to you ....

I reign the light as an angel bright

I reign the moon throughout the night.

I fly across the mountains high along with rulers of the sky

I swim through oceans deep and wide where nothing stops my star shine bright.

I stand on the peak of the world where nobody can reach me

I dine at the bottom of the ground where everybody comes around.

Sometimes I' here

sometimes I'm there

sometimes you miss me

sometimes you don't care

But one thing no one can't deny

And that is that you just can't hide

from my sight and from my voice

speaking to you in a sweet force

taking you along my side

showing you the world's delight

You know you are Croatian when:

I know it has been a while since I wrote anything on this blog .... no inspiration .... nothing wise to say .... whatever the reason was ... today I have found something really cool I want to post.
Many people have asked me how are Croatians ... what do we like, what pisses us off, what are our habits, etc.
I think that the following examples will give a quite honest and pretty ironic perspective of my people:) Enjoy

YOU KNOW YOU'RE CROATIAN WHEN:

All meals your parents have ever prepared contain one key ingredient "Vegeta"

You were still in elementary school the first time you got drunk

You are never ever allowed to sit by an open window for fear of catching pneumonia from the "propuh" (even in the middle of summer)

There is a bar in your church hall that contains a 2 year supply of Brandy

The use of vulgar language at home is unacceptable, unless it is Croatian

English words are acceptable if used with the ending "A-T-I" which makes them Croatian..."play-ati", "study-ati"

Your Dida mowes the lawn in knee high black socks and sandals

Your Dida has a shot of Rakija for breakfast

At least one family member makes his own wine

"Sljivovica" is used not only to celebrate at all occasions, but to cure illness and as a massage lotion as well

At the age of 13, you are allowed to go out of town with your friends for Croatian soccer tournaments, folklore festivals and dances

Your parents were at the function where you got drunk

The majority of your friends are also your relatives, even if they aren't your relatives, you refer to their parents as "Teta" and "Striko"

You are the only kid in your class who doesn't get to sleep in on Saturdays because of "Hrvatska Skola"

"Kuhace" are not only used for stirring when cooking...they are also used by Mama to beat you when there is no "siba" handy

At least once before you've told your parents that you'll call the police to report "child abuse" and your parents said "Samo probaj"

Mama beat you in public on at least one occasion

When leaving the house to go out, you always receive the same warnings(regardless of age): -"Pazi sta radis", "Pamet u glavu", "Nemoj me sramotit", "Nemoj da ja sta cujem"

Sadly, if something actually does happen, somehow Mama will know before you make it home
Mama gets pissed off at you for bringing home McDonalds saying, "sta ce ti taj junk?"

Your parents insist that you'll end up a nobody if you don't graduate from "fakultet"

Lunch on Sundays has more courses than Americans have for Christmas or Thanksgiving dinner

You know that in addition to fruit flavoured Jello, that gelatin can also be prepared with pigs feet

You love "pasteta", but don't like bringing it to school or work for lunch because you'd be embarassed if someone asked you what it was

There is a slab of fat in your fridge called SLANINA

Your mother washes the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher

Vegetarianism is not a concept your parents understand

You have at least one short-wave radio in your house

You smell garlic on the old man's breath behind you sitting on the bench in church on Sunday mornings

You live with your parents until you are married

Mama thinks that whenever you get sick it's because you didn't eat enough

When upset, it isn't unusual for Tata to send you "u pizdu materinu"

Baba and Dida wear at least 3 layers of clothing in all seasons

Dida and/or Baka spits into a napkin at the dinner table

Your parents turn the channel when there is a kissing scene

Dida & Baka insist you are quiet while he watches the news even though he doesn't understand a single word they're saying. Regardless of the fact he doesn't understand what they're saying, he knows more about what's going on in the world than you do

You never got the "Birds and the Bees" talk from Mama and Tata as you were growing up

Whenever your parents said "vidit cemo" you knew that it meant "NO!"

Your cousin in Croatia who calls you to send him money had a cell phone before you and wears only name brand clothing

Your relatives in Croatia think it's strange if you are not married by the age of 18

You are only allowed to vacation in the homeland

You have 17 consenants in your name and only 2 vowels

Your 13 yr old sister can outdrink any American

You cringe when you hear the word BATINE and hide

Your parents still prefer buying cassete's over cd's

No one can pronounce your last name and every kid on the block has a nickname for it

A CROATIAN wedding consists of a minimum of 1000 people, 2/3 of which you dont even know

......You're still laughing your ass off cause u know every single one of these are true!!!!!

Les Fleurs du Mal

One of my favourite poets all times definitely has to be Charles Baudelaire and his unevitable "Les Fleurs du Mal". I already have 1 of his songs on my blog and now I would like to share with you another one that I like:

Exotic parfume

" When with closed eyes in autumn's eves of gold

I breathe the burning odours of your breast,

Before my eyes the hills of happy rest

Bathed in the sun's monotonous fires, unfold.

Islands of Lethe where exotic boughs

Bend with their burden of strange fruit bowed down,

Where men are upright, maids have never grown

Unkind, but bear a light upon their brows.

Led by that perfume to these lands of ease,

I see a port where many ships have flown

With sails outwearied of the wandering seas;

While the faint odours from green tamarisks blown,

Float to my soul and in my senses throng,

And mingle vaguely with the sailor's song. "

The Daffodils

I have had many professors throughout my life but only few of them have left a mark on me ... good mark that is ;) I guess it takes a lot from a person to impress me and make me realize how little I know. If you have ever experienced Croatian teaching methods, you will know what I'm talking about.

One of those professors who tought me a big deal was my highschool English teacher. I adored that woman. Sure, she was dressed as an English lady from the 60s with her English horse teeth and cockney accent and everybody hated her ... but me, I thought and still think she was one of the best professors I have ever had. Unlike other teachers (esp those in foreign languages), she was always teaching us other things to better understand the language, like making us read their literature, English history, English food and customs, etc.

I remember how much she was pushing us to read Shakespeare and other famous English poets. Just imagine a situation where you have people in the class that can barely understand the language itself and having to read old English (Shakespearean English) at the same time. Really funny, hillarious moreover.

There were many poems and novels she was making us read but the most memorable one is this poem from William Wodsworth which we had to learn by heart and I remember that on the last English class as a farewell present, whole class reciteled this poem and made our teacher cry out of happiness.

Funny thing is that if you now ask me to tell you this poem, I'd still probably know it by heart ;)

Let's see why this song made such big impression on me:

The Daffodils

" I wondered lonely as a cloud

that floats high over vailey and hills

When all at once I saw a crowd

a host of golden daffodils.

Beside the lake, beneath the trees

fluterring and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

and twinkle on the Milky Way

They stretch in neverending line

along the margin of a bay.

Ten thousand saw I at a glance

tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced

but theys outdid the sparkling waves in glee.

A poet could not but be gay

in such a jocund company.

I gazed and gazed but little thought

what wealth the joy to me had brought.

For oft when on my coach I lie

in vacant or in pensive mood

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude.

And then my heart with pleasure fills

and dances with the daffodils."

William Wodsworth

Things that really go on my nerves

- people that have graduated before me only coz they paid for their diploma and now are doing their masters and pretending to be important businessmen

- 4 identical girlfriends look alike (e.g. J Lo style) walking one next to another on Osijek promenade and then say it was only an accident that all 4 wore exactly that evening pink t shirt, washed jeans and jeans jacket, pink shoes and pink bag and extremely pink make up .. yeah right ... totally accidently :P

- people who are only your friends when they are single and when they have somebody, they don't have time for you anymore

- guys that check out my boobs in a way I notice that or when they give such stupid comments that make me feel sorry for their taking away the breathing space on this small planet

- people who pass you by and whisperly say HI. Either u say HI like a normal person so I can hear you or shut up and pretend you don't know me

- when I really want to talk to somebody and nobody's there and when I need my peace, everybody's talking to me

- fact that I don't listen to my 1st impression instinct when I meet a guy. It always turns out to be the right one but then again ... how the hell could I've known that then!?

- people that have 1 brand outfit and then are wearing it all the time until I can smell them from mile away

- when people don't want to admit they listen to folk music and then I see them going out of the club where only folk music is being played OR folk music is heared from their car ... just be true to yourselves!

- when all my relatives (esp old ones) ask me when I'll get married! I mean do I ask you when your funeral will be!? Find another excuse of occasion to eat and drink for free!

I can't think of anything else for now ....