Computer time-off week

I can't say I planned it on purpose, but I had to spend a week away from computer.  Family vacation, traveling, etc.
This is not the first time I break from my email/twitter/blog/facebook routine. Every time something like this happens I am amazed at how fast computer life becomes so unnatural and forced.
Just a week ago an idea of writing a blog that is not meant for anybody to read sounded really normal and natural.  Now I look at this pretty website and thinking if those posts are diagnostically significant proof that I need someone to check my head.
Funny thing is that I know that pretty soon the web will pull me back in its, yes, web and I will forget things.
I will forget how powerful a real sunset is and how easily it beats any digital art image.
I will forget how raw and exciting it feels to get lost in a dark unknown place and will get back to believing that discovering a new cool website is "an adventure".
I will forget how much I can learn about a person by just looking at how they bite into their burgers and will get back to "talking" to online people I will never meet.
I will forget that people who can't type even exist.
I will forget that someone can want to look at my body.
I will forget that a stupid person can be interesting and attractive if they just look right.
I will come back to what is my life.

Every spy should smell like this

It usually starts like this:
"Alina, I hate bothering you again, but could you watch my plant while I am out of town? I need to go...<include some boring details about a baby shower for one of her friends relatives> Only two days"
And she puts a huge pot in my hands before I manage to come up with a word.

Then, three weeks later she comes back to pick up her plant (without explaining the delay).  She picks up the flower and talks to it in that annoying baby voice as if I am not even around:
"Here is your Mommy! did you miss Mommy? oh Mommy missed her little boy sooo much!"
Is it me or it is creepy when people talk to flowers as if they were their kids? with gender and all...
"Oh you look so week and tired.  Did she water you? No, she didn't? Oh,  mommy is sorry! I will spank her right now - what a bad bad lady"  and she winks inviting me to be part of the fun and pretends spanking me. 
"What are you saying? she said THAT to you? oh Mommy is sorry you had to hear that.  Mommy brought you a gift! shhh... I will show you at home.  Come to me, lets go home"
And they proceed to the door where she turns back to me and winks again.
When I pass her balcony I often hear her talking to her flowers.  It is not the usual "let me water this flower" thinking out-loud many lonely people do.  It is a full bloom conversation!  Apparently the plants have very strong opinions about talk shows and soap characters.
Today I was walking by and heard how she was scolding a poor plant for rooting for the wrong gal in the Bachelor Pad.  I wonder if sending a flower to my bad house is a punishment for talking back to Momma?  Or maybe she sends them to me to spy on me?

Anyway, I wish I could take her to Shanghai and show her this sculpture.  If she finds what to talk about with her boring ivies I wonder what those huge beauties might tell her.

Look at my dog, no LOOK at him!

I try to walk at least a mile every morning.  It feels good!  This morning during my walk I had a pleasure to encounter my other creepy neighbor - I will call him O'K (since he is a fat middle-age Irish guy who is always very happy and loud).
By himself, O'K is not that creepy. But he has a dog - a huge mastiff, I think.  I like believing that the dog is friendly (since he lives next door and doesn't plan to move out and I have no choice but pass by every day).  One special thing about the dog - he is not fixed.  And he often gets "excited" when he sniffs things outside.
When that happens O'K makes sure you see it.  He will drag your attention to that exact place especially if you try to pretend that you don't notice the foot long red thingy.
So, obviously, I suspect he has some problems in that area - may be a size or a function? who knows..

And that reminded me about this cool art work. art It was shown by Gillie and Marc Shattner in The Dog In Us All exhibition at Linton and Kay Contemporary gallery and I believe caused tons of protests.  I can see why.  But, somehow it totally makes sense when I look at O'Ks dog.

Just created a twitter account

http://twitter.com/AlinaJournal 

If you are scared of a kid, what does it tell about the parents?

I would be friends with the Pongs (using a similar name).  They are a nice couple - he is a technician at a local hospital and she runs all kind of strange (I suspect not exactly totally legit) businesses.  When I ask her what she is doing, she would look through me and start talking about TV shows or mutual friends.  I am quite curious actually, but I guess it is better not to know some things about your neighbors.

So occasionally they invite me to join them for a tea and a round of poker.
She makes really good tea, but serves some fake home-made desert.
I know it is fake because: a) it tastes exactly like that pound cake from Lucky; b) I was helping to clean dishes once and actually found one of those clear boxes in her garbage can.
But it is ok - the way she reheats it and pulls out of the oven is kind of adorable.  I don't think her husband knows she fakes cooking.

But they also have a kid.  His name starts with S and it becomes him.  He reminds me of some scary character from a horror movie who keeps saying "SssssSSSsss...".  Ok, I am making it up - I don't know such a character, but if it existed I know how it would look like..

He is always sitting on a sofa, holding some game device and playing it almost without looking.  He is 10, but looks much younger, very thin, pale.
I don't know why he hates me, really.   Maybe because when I saw him for the first time I tried talking to him.  And I guess I interrupted some important shooting session.  But he always stares at me when I am around - without blinking, heavy, angry look.  Almost as if he wished he could do to me what he does to those inside his game.
And how can you tell parents that you don't want to come over because you think their kid wants to kill you.  (not him on a pic, of course - just somewhat similar)

When you don't know where you going

..any place will take you there. 

from http://www.flowers.vg/

Sitting on a shaky uncomfortable foldable patio chair, drinking homemade turkish coffee...  It is Monday, warn and sunny.  Looks like everybody is busy doing something - working, talking, playing with kids.  Even flowers next to my patio appear to know what they are doing.
I can spend whole day all by myself, I think.  I can watch TV, read magazines, read blogs, news, watch youtube.  Actually I can spend a year like that, or two. And I will have fun doing it while doing it.
But then one morning, a few years later, I will sit on a patio and feel guilty that flowers have more to do than I do.
I need to get out of here.. 

Lets free that head of mine!

Yes, that is the purpose of this journal.  To put some of my thoughts (even silly ones), dreams (even not real), ideas (mostly crazy) out of my head.  Ideally it should free extra space for doing something productive, right?
Worth trying at least..