Back To Kremnica :)

I will be going back to Kremnica this weekend. I can't wait, even with a weather forecast calling for cooler temperatures and rain all weekend, I don't care. This means most likely I will not take many photos this weekend but you never know, it is still early and the forecast can and does change. A positive outlook is always better than a negative one. (That's Today's Lesson - so learn it, live it, love it.)

RANDOM VIDEO INSERT
Currently watching this as I am writing. (She is my Muse today)
Hit the HQ button then Full Screen for the full effect.
I think my Friends Jacob and Char where at this show but I am not positive. (Jake - Comment Please)


So back to writing. My plan is to speak with a few locals my friend Joey knows in Kremnica about finding a cottage for me to buy in the area. I figured out the feeling of the place and I now know why I love the area so much. It has the same positive energy I feel when I am at camp and a few other select places around the globe. It is a quick two and a half hour drive, 15 minutes less if you time it right to avoid the "Rush Hour" (/sarcasm) of Bratislava, Nitra and other bottle necks on the road. The terrain and climate is very similar to Vermont or New Hampshire which I think it appeals to me so much. The town itself is very pretty, especially at night, at least for me. There is a ski mountain less than 15 minutes away for winter fun, the large natural mineral springs feed pools around the area open up to beat the heat in the summer. A few in the area are thermal spa's so year around relaxing in the pools if you want.

According to Martina the cottage is a mess because everything had to be moved in order for Joey to lay the tile floor last weekend. So first order of business will be cleaning but after that it's time to relax. I will keep you updated, well as updated as is normal for me. There is order in chaos.

Facebook - A Necessary Evil

It kills me because I hate the new layout so much. But the truth is, everyone I know has moved to using Facebook for instant messages, so if I want to be able to stay in contact with certain friends I have to use Facebook chat. The one thing I have been able to do is use Digsby as a IM client on my PC that lets me login to Facebook chat without having to go onto Facebook's page. (Now I have setup lists and things but it is the layout more than anything that has driven me away with such fear and loathing.) But because of this people still think I am on Facebook all the time I still get requests and other crap I don't care about. But for some it is the only way they know how to contact me. The best way is always come here and look on the right side of the page for the Digsby Client and see if I am available to chat. I try and keep my status current so you know when I really am in front of the computer.

On the positive side, Facebook is a great contact book. And that's all I am going to say about that.

Of course most of you came here because of my status update on Facebook, yeah sorry about the obvious hypocrisy involved, but a necessary evil I guess.

Enjoy and Bookmark the page for an easy return. New changes coming soon.

So Let Me Catch You Up, Sort of.....

Sorry for the lack of posts lately but I have been busy the last few weeks with teaching and spending the last 2 weekends in Kremnica. I have a slideshow done but I am having some upload issues with it that I am working on now. YouTube is being a pain about the music in it (sure it is copy-written music but what about fair use?) so I am trying a few other sites to see which will give me the best quality.

Kremnica - What can I say except I love hanging out in the cottage with everyone. Over the 13 days I have spent 7 in Kremnica just chillin', eating, smoking, chatting, drinking, shooting photos and spending time with some super friends. My friends Martina and Joey's cottage is (my Muse has left me and I am lacking the words to even begin to describe the energy about the place and the people I get to spend time with. I am about to try an old trick to see if I can summon her back. Until then I got the video to upload so enjoy.)

Amsterdam Slideshow

Back to Kremnica for the Weekend

So I will be offline for a few days.

I Am Back From A Great Weekend!

I had such a great time hanging out with old friends and making new ones this weekend. I would like to thank Joey and Martina for having me this weekend. I took about 400 photos and will post some of the good ones when I get a chance. I also have an idea for a post about: Perception is it in fact, reality? But more on that later. Time to eat while the photos load in to my laptop.

More stuff soon, I promise.

I Am Dropping Off the Grid For 3 Days

I am spending the weekend in Kremnica with friends and will have no power or internet until I return home Sunday. I should have some nice photos to share when I return.

Cau

Sean is tired and going to take a nap.

Some New Features

I have added a live chat feature to the blog, now you can chastise me in real time for not updating often enough. I am also going to add a online poll feature again. But I am checking into which service I want to use. Also it is time for me to update the look of the blog. So I am asking for your input, let me know changes you would like to see. Or if you have a site you like already send me the link, if I like it I will steal it for my page, that's the great thing about the net.

If you are going to use the chat please change your nickname so I know who I am chatting with.

Don't Just Color Outside the Lines...

In fact don't accept the coloring book that was given to you. With it you will always feel like you have to color inside the lines. Do the smart thing find a blank coloring book and define your own lines, that is how dreams come true. Plus it is more fun to look at. (for those with a lower than average IQ, Coloring book = your life.)

P.S. For those in the know, I have pulled that batteries on the clock again and don't plan on returning them for a few days. ;) It's springtime and maybe "the bean" will grow again.

If that P.S. made no sense to you, don't worry it is a very targeted message.

For That Moment

After clicking the play button, click on the HQ button on the bottom right for a better version.
Then click the Full Screen button next to HQ.

The Words I Promised Days Ago

All I can say is this, the last 20 days have been non stop for me. I have been either on the go or trying to recover from being on the go. The Jet Lag coming back killed me, even with all the measures taken. I need to figure out a better system for returning home to Bratislava from the US. So I have been spending the last 8 days restoring order to my universe, at least the part of it I control. I have also been taking care of a lot of things I have been putting off that needed to get done since I have returned.

So for my trip to America. I had a great time and got to spend so much of my time with friends and family. I was not able to see everyone as I only visited Richmond and New Jersey and some of my family where in other places. I also got to see so old friends from high school who I had not seen in years. It was all so seamless in the way I was able to see people, one right after the other. While in Richmond I was driving a ton and loving that, It had been about 5 months since I had driven. I was trying to get so many things done so I can get my visa for Slovakia, finally. The last documents I needed showed up yesterday in Virginia and our on there way here now. I hope by July 1st everything will be done, if not sooner, I have hope. I also hit all the places I wanted to eat when I was in Richmond except Dot's Back Inn. I never heard from my friend Carol Ann and with out her it is not worth going. (next time girl.) But most of all I enjoyed telling my stories about Slovakia and my job teaching. I really do love being in Slovakia. And teaching is the frosting on the cake. It was the thing I looked forward to returning so I could tell me students my stories about my trip. (which I have done some of, but just scratched the surface.) After 4 days I headed north back to New Jersey, with a quick stop in Washington DC to get a new passport. (Which turned out to be a surprisingly painless process.) I then spent the next 3 days hanging out with my dad and step mom and taking care of electronics issues I was having with the SlingBox. I also took care of some electronics upgrades for my dads entertainment system. I ended up installing a new HD SlingBox and a new HD TIVO for my dad. I now have access to almost unlimited programing choices now. I then headed towards the beach for the last few days of my trip. I meet up with friends at the beach house in Bay Head for three days of drinking, smoking, eating, and hard core UNO card games. This was the 15th year that Jake (and his wife Char), Alex, Clem and myself have gotten together for our version St. Patrick's Day. (if doesn't have to be March 17th for it to be S.P.D.) I have known the three of them since I meet them on my Outward Bound trip 16 years ago. Those 3 guys have changed my life in so many great ways I wish we could see more of each other. So after 3 great days I headed back to my dads house for a ride to the airport for my flight home.

Jet Lag and my attempts to combat it have been an ongoing struggle for the last few years. Flying to the US is easy since I gain 6 hours when I land in New York, as long as I can stay awake the first night until 9:30 p.m. east coast time, 3:30 a.m. SK time I am fine. I will wake up early that first day but that is the only real effect I get, I do go to bed earlier than I would if i was home but I also get up earlier and doing a lot so I am tired. But when I return I loose 6 hours. My flight leave around 6:00 p.m. and land 8 hours later, if I am flying directly to Vienna. So when I land it is 8:00 a.m but my body feels like it is 2:00 am. Now if I can sleep on the plane this helps. If for whatever reason I get little or no sleep I am screwed but if I can get 5.5 to 6 hours that helps a lot. This trip was not a direct flight but included a 3 hour layover in London. So I knew sleep on that 6.5 hour leg of the trip was the key to my success or failure to beat the jet lag. I was prepped and ready to go. I had with me 2 bagels with cream cheese, 3 mg of Melatonin, 2 mg of Valium and .5 a liter of water, an extra pillow, the worlds greatest eye shades, and Bose noise canceling headphones connected to my ipod to listen to the flight sleep mix. Now here are the keys you need to make all of this work. When you get on the politely ask a flight attendant for an extra pillow if they have one. Next get yourself prepped for comfort and arrange the things you have to help for the flight. As soon as everything is pulled out of my carry on and I have stowed everything else in the overhead bin. You will want the legroom so don't leave stuff under the seat. Once the shoes are off and I have everything arranged I start eating the bagels. You need to carbo load as soon as you can. This will induce food coma in about 45 minutes, about the same time you reach 10000 ft. Now you wait until the plane begins to push back from the gate and watch the safety demonstration. Remember, Safety is No Accident. As soon as the pilot tells the flight attendants to sit for take off this is when you take the pills. If you take them before you run the risk of having to return to the gate all loopy if there is a problem with the plane before take off. As soon as you take off pop on the headphones and the eyeshades and wait 5 minutes and recline your seat back and start the Pink Floyd Playlist. My 45 minute playlist is just 3 songs, Dogs, Shine On You Crazy Diamond parts 1-7 and Shine On you Crazy Diamond parts 8-12 set to repeat. The combination of high carbs, melatonin, valium and music combine to put you quickly into a blissful slumber. If you are lucky you will sleep for the whole flight. I only woke up once about an hour and a half into the flight for about 20 minutes. I missed the meal service but did not care, it's airplane food and unless you are in business class you are not missing much. I woke up about 40 minutes before we landed in London. So part one of the battle was won. I then spent the next few hours walking around and shopping in the duty free area while I waited for my flight to Vienna. I was not too tired as boarded the next flight but was able to sleep for 1.5 of the 2 hour flight using the same methods as before minus the pills and the bagels. Stage 2 won. I cleared passport control without a word, just a smile and stamp. I collected my bags and cleared customs. (Customs in Vienna: they don't really have customs, there are a few agents near by but in the dozen or so times I have been through Vienna I have never seen them stop anyone. This accounts for the reason I went to America with 22 kg of stuff and returned with an additional 23 kg of cloths, electronics, cameras, perfumes and 7 cartons of smokes.) I then meet my taxi driver John and we headed home. The only thing I had to do was stay awake until about 10:30 p.m. and I would wake up fine and back on schedule having defeated the Jet Lag. I made one error in my plan. I did not give much thought to what I would eat when I returned. So about 2 p.m. I had a big sandwich, french fries and a chocolate milk. Huge mistake by 4 p.m. I was feeling the effects of the heavy carbs beginning to put me into food coma, requiring a nap. So at around 4:25 I decided that since Kate would be coming home from work in about a half hour and wake me up it would be OK to sleep for about 30 minutes. I did not set a backup alarm incase she came later, mistake number 2. I slept until about 6:20 when she did return. This is how I lost the final battle and ultimately the war with Jet Lag. I was not able to get to sleep until about 5:00 a.m. Tuesday morning. I then spent the next 4 days trying to slowly work my body clock forward. By Friday I felt back to normal.

Since I have been back I have gotten a lot of things done that I have been wanting to do but never got the chance. I came back with 10 poster size prints of some of my favorite photos to hang up in the flat. Fixed a bunch of little things around the flat that needed attention. Put together the Pond Cottage video below. And of course, taught. I missed teaching more than anything while I was away. I could not wait to get back to all of my classes. So durning my breaks instead of smoking I would go visit the other classes I teach but didn't have that night just to say hello and catch up with everyone and show a few photos to some of them. Let me say it again, I love teaching and enjoy every class I get to teach, I feel so great after each class even on the Thursdays when my day starts at 7:00 am and I teach until 9:00 p.m. with only a 2 hour break where I am at home between my morning and afternoon classes. So to my students who might read this, thanks and keep up your hard work, it will pay off for you.

So that brings you up to date, I have a few more things I am working on and will post as soon as I can. I am getting into doing more videos of my images these days and you will see them as I do them. Thanks again for reading my ramblings.

Pond Cottage

After clicking the play button, click on the HQ button on the bottom right for a better version.
Then click the Full Screen button next to HQ.

Jet Lag Sucks

4:38 am and I am still up. But I promise you a big blog entry before Thursday night. I am going to try and see if i can sleep.

Sean is starting to get ready for his trip to visit friends and family in America.

I leave on the 8th and return on the 20th. I will see if I can get some photos of Washington D.C. and the cherry blossoms and maybe yell at a few politians while I am there.

Sean is going to finishing cleaning the flat on this great spring day. :-)

Sean is chilling out and considering if I should write tonight.

I Wish George Was Still Alive

- NSFW - Strong Language

I Enjoyed This Fine Spring Day With a New Kite

The wind was blowing nicely today so after my haircut I stopped at the hobby shop and bought a new stunt kite. I love being a kid.

Sean is going to enjoy this fine Spring day inside getting a haircut. :-)

Music from one of my favorite episodes of Scrubs.

Sean had another great day teaching. I love my job! I have great students.

Extreme Sheep Hearding

Light-Up Sheep Art - Watch more Funny Videos

This is a great video that is really an advertisement for Samsung TV's. Viral marketing at it's best.

Sean is excited about Spring and the change it will bring.

Sean is happy to be done with facebook.

For My Facebook Friends

I hated the new layout so much I couldn't take it anymore and since FB doesn't want to listen to there users I removed everything but my friends and a few bits of info to find me here.

And to be honest I am somewhat of a narcissist to begin with and FB only feeds that more and I don't like that about me so back to the blog.

What to Write?

Again I am at a place where I feel as if I have something to say but am not sure exactly what. So I will just start to write and see what falls out.

I really don't know where I should begin, so many different things floating in my soup (read brain) right now that there is no cohesion yet to the flotsam and jetsam because they run the gambit from the world economy to my needing a new flatmate, with lots of fun stuff in between. So I am hoping that by stirring the soup I can get some cohesion and ladle out some wisdom. (The missing cohesion ingredient may be some nicotine, I will see what happens, back in 5 min with the results.)Yup, as always, that did the trick, but it took two to do it.

So topics to be covered will include the following:
Why I live in Slovakia and plan to stay here.
My thoughts on current events in The United States.
My plans for my new blogging style, to give you more updates.
and other random crap that will come out, like turn ashes into ice cream.

A Stranger in a Strange Land.
I love this feeling. I will do my best to explain why. If you have the U2 album October listen to the song. But really it is about the fact that I am doing things and interacting with people in a language and culture that are not my own. The challenges I face everyday from the simple things like what bus to I need to take to, is the cashier going to ask me something in Slovak I will not understand? I enjoy meeting people and even if they don't understand English well we both still try and communicate. I am a true believer in you never know what lessons you may learn from the random people that drift into and out of one's life. I do still get asked questions by people at the bus stops in Slovak, which means I don't look like a complete foreigner but I still feel like I stick out but most of that is in my head. I love that I don't have a car here. Sure there are a few weekends it would be nice to get out of the city for the weekend but a rental car does the trick when needed. I have a bus pass now and can get just about anywhere I need in the city in less than 35-40 minutes. Some mornings I get on my bus for work and I can get a seat no problem, other days the same bus I am like a sardine two stops after mine for the next 10 minutes. I like to people watch and a bus is a great place to do it. And because of bus only lanes the buses are faster than driving a car during rush hour. The other advantage of not having a car is I walk so much more now and feel I am in the best shape of my life now. Even with the smoking. I also think that is one reason people here are skinny and in such good shape, everyone walks a lot. Which brings me to another reason I love it here. The women are amazing, plain and simple. For me they are the best looking women I have ever seen, and I have traveled the world looking. But if I had to narrow it down to one major reason it would be this, I am doing something that so many people wish they could but either don't have the opportunity or they are to scared to take the chance and live their life. All I can say is, if it is the first reason I understand but the second reason is weak, fear should never stop you from living the life you want. The other reasons will be covered in the next topic.

It is Easier to Watch a Train Wreck from a Distance.
And in this case it is doing so in slow motion, thus making it harder to watch. To say that only "W" started us down the wrong path is incorrect, to say he sped things up maybe more accurate. We have been on the wrong track for years and I will explain why. The United States Congress, that's why. And they are the reason the country is in the shape it is in. Until we throw them out on the street things will only get worse. Trust me, they know that the party is over and Rome is burning but they want to keep pretending like not only can they keep the party going they can make it better for everyone. I could explain this in much greater detail but I won't. Those of you who know what the words "bicameral legislature" already know what I am talking about and those who don't know what it means would most likely be confused no matter what I write. (if you know the meaning then you most likely stay more current with what happens in D.C, then what is on E.T. and Hollywood insider.) I am sorry but I don't see how to solve our national debt and credit issues by going deeper into debt and making credit easy to get again. To me it is the same as saying, take more heroin to get over your addiction to heroin. That kind of logic works in the addicts brain but not in the brains of rational people. And since I love the idea of The United States of America but hate what 545 individuals in D.C. are doing to it so I left and don't plan on returning. Remember how a bunch of celebrities where going to leave the country if "W" got re-elected, well they where all pussies. I did something about it. Not because the "O" got elected but because the stupidity that is so ingrained into the average american I just could not take it anymore. The stereotype of fat, lazy and stupid is only a stereotype because it is true. They know more about Brangelina than they do about there own country and that makes me sad. As for the fat part, it is simple stop putting so much food into your pie hole and you will lose weight. I lost 90 pounds that way so do tell me it's genetics because that is bullshit for all but about 3% of the fat people population. The rest just eat too much food and are too lazy to do anything about it. Enough of this rant, moving on.

New Blogging Style
The main reason that I have been so lame about posting things here is because of Facebook. I started to use it about 6 months ago and really enjoyed the ease in which I could write something quick or upload a photo or two and share it with friends. But facebook has made some design changes that have made me decide that I need to go back to my roots and the people who have been faithful readers. So I will try and make the blog a little like facebook was for me. I will post status messages like I would on FB and anything else I would share on FB I will just share here. The other reason for this change is simple. I think I am somewhat of a narcissist to begin with and with FB one projects that out to all there friends, so my friends are forced to see what I am doing. If I do it on the blog then they have to come here to read about me because they want to not because I want them to.

As for ashes to ice cream, that I will save for another post as I am tired and don't feel much like writing anymore.

Thunder-Snow on St. Patrick's Day in Bratislava

I am experiencing Thunder-Snow for the first time. It is 7c (45f) and snowing. The snow is more like a fetal hail stone that did not have enough time to freeze. I did only see lightning once and the thunder that followed it.

Just another cool experience for me. It was a great day today but I will not celebrate S.P.D. until I get together with my friends in mid April. We understand that S.P.D. is a feeling not a date on the calender.

I hope you all enjoyed you S.P.D.

erin go braless

The Slacker is Back

It's been awhile, I know. Sorry about that, my only defense is I am lazy. It's not a good defense, just my only defense so I pin my hopes for forgiveness on it.

The Past:
I love teaching, I enjoy it so much I am doing much more of it than I thought I would like to. Right now I am working about 16 hours per week, which I find to be the right amount of hours. Anymore than that and I am very tired, any less and I have a really strange broken up week that makes it hard for me to get on a set schedule. I know you are thinking, what teaching more than 16 hours per week makes you tired? Yes, it does, any teacher will agree with me, it is not easy work. After a two hour class I am mentally tired. It is hard to explain but because I have to read exactly what is in the book to the students, I must also remember to speak as clearly and concisely as I can. It is important that the students hear the separation in the words. Then listen to each word they say and correct the pronunciation when needed, etc. It is funny because when I am speaking with them after class I tend to turn that part of my brain off and go back to my old habits of speaking faster and "eating my words" as they like to say.

I teach classes on Tuesdays at 8:15 - 9:00 then catch a bus for the 30 min ride to my next class at 10:00 -11:30. Thursdays at 8:15 - 9:00 bus ride home or to the mall to hang out and chill for about an hour then back out for a 12:00 - 13:30 class. My early class is four adults and I have so much fun with them. My later class is teaching to young woman at a small company, I have had just a few classes with them and also enjoy teaching them. This class is not the "Callan Method" like my others but is a more free form, in the sprit of Spinal Tap Mark II. I do have a book we use for vocabulary and some basic conversation but we are trying out different ideas until we find a combination that works for them. That is why I prefer my morning classes to the night ones.

My night classes are good as well but because the "Callan Method" wants the students to have the chance to hear different teachers to help improve their pronunciation I don't get to teach the same students as much as I would like. This makes it harder to get to know them and their individual level of English. My night class schedule changes every week but I teach most weeks, Monday nights from 17:00 - 21:00, Tuesday nights from 17:00 - 19:00 and the same Wednesdays. Most of my night classes are small 3 - 5 students which is nice because I can focus on them more than with my larger classes. 10 is the most I teach at one time and have only had that once. I do have one class I get to teach at least once per week that I enjoy for two simple reasons. The first is the fact it is just 4 woman who are all at a high intermediate level and they understand 90% of what I say to them. The second is I have a student, who can only be described as, the most beautiful woman I have ever met. She comes to class as if she was about to step onto the set of a movie or TV show. Her hair, makeup and clothes are perfect and the latest fashion. That is the only 2 hour class that seems to take 20 minutes.

The weather in Bratislava has been typical for the winter and not to cold. Other than the almost absolute lack of sun light over the last few months, spring is in the air and my winter mood is lifting and my summer mood is arriving. The lack of sun light sucks but it is not as bad as last year. I think the longest I went with out seeing the sun this year was about 14 days. I went 2 months without seeing the moon which was a shock when I did see it, I had forgotten it was up there, it was a strange feeling that night. We had a nice covering of snow for most of January and February which always makes the an city look better. Right now we are in the ugly phase of the transformation from winter to spring, a lot of rain and mud.

I have been working on my Slovak and I now know the alphabet which is half the battle with pronunciation. Trust me, it's not easy. My flatmate Eva has been helping me learn. I also use the vocabulary from my teaching books to make flash cards for me to learn basic words and phrases, on my laptop. I feel like I am about make a big step in my language skills. I just need to study more.

The Present:
now, well it was.

The Future:
I would like to see if I can pick up a few more hours teaching at companies in the mornings. I would like to get a few classes on Mondays and Wednesday's mornings and then just teach one 2 hour class, Monday through Wednesday nights. I will see if it happen

Maria and Eva have decided to move out of the flat at the end of the month and get a new place with two of there friends. Katka and I are now looking to find a replacement flatmate. We have decided to only have three of us living here, it is a 75m (800 sq. ft.) flat and three is a good number. I am not worried, I think we will find someone we know to move in

I return to the US on the April 8th and will be home for 11 days total. I arrive in to Newark on the 8th and will stay the night at my dad's in NJ. The 9th - 12th I will be in Richmond at my mom's for Easter. I plan on visiting a friend in DC for a night before returning to NJ for a few days in Bay Head with friends. I fly back to Slovakia on the 19th. As the trip gets closer and I have a better idea of my time frame I will try and make plans to see as many people as I can.

As for driving this year at camp, I will not go back this summer. I am sad about this but I need to stay here for the summer, work and make sure I get my visa paperwork done. And it doesn't make sense to get a 1 year visa and spend the first 2 months not in the country. Not after what I am going through to get the visa. I have every intention on returning to camp next summer.

Thanks for your patience with me and my lack of posts. Spring is coming which means more pictures and more stories. Stick around, I will try and keep you entertained.

Who is John Galt?

You better find out.

If you understand why people end up at Galt's Gulch you will understand what is going to happen to America over the next few years.

Ayn was before her time.

Enjoy.