sunscreen

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ’99

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft. Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.

Baz Luhrmann, Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)
The lyrics are taken from an essay written in 1997 by Mary Schmich, a columnist with the Chicago Tribune.

Dia de los Muertos 2009

naughty so naughty

I'm in dangerously crazy mood: Today I'm Monika that all of you love :)

beautiful by carol king

song for today


You've got to get up every morning with a smile on your face
And show the world all the love in your heart
Then people gonna treat you better
You're gonna find, yes, you will
That you're beautiful as you feel

Waiting at the station with a workday wind a-blowing
I've got nothing to do but watch the passers-by
Mirrored in their faces I see frustration growing
And they don't see it showing, why do I?

You've got to get up every morning with a smile on your face
And show the world all the love in your heart
Then people gonna treat you better
You're gonna find, yes, you will
That you're beautiful as you feel

I have often asked myself the reason for sadness
In a world where tears are just a lullaby
If there's any answer, maybe love can end the madness
Maybe not, oh, but we can only try

You've got to get up every morning with a smile on your face
And show the world all the love in your heart
Then people gonna treat you better
You're gonna find, yes, you will
That you're beautiful as you feel

love of my life

One of the most beautiful songs ever:


Love of my life - you've hurt me
You've broken my heart and now you leave me

Love of my life can't you see
Bring it back, bring it back
Don't take it away from me, because you don't know -
What it means to me

Love of my life don't leave me
You've taken my love, you now desert me

Love of my life can't you see
Bring it back, bring it back
Don't take it away from me, because you don't know -
What it means to me

You won't remember -
When this is blown over
And everything's all by the way -
When I get older
I will be there at your side to remind you
How I still love you - I still love you

Back - hurry back
Please bring it back home to me
Because you don't know what it means to me -

Love of my life
Love of my life

written and performed by Freddie Mercury and Brian May

Where the hell is Matt? Dancing 2008

Ania (from blue North Carolina) sent this very touching youtube video to me and I decided to share it with you, as it made me smile with my whole body :)

The Dresden Dolls - "Shores of California"

he's been trying with limited success
to get this girl to let him get into her pants
but every time he thinks he's getting close
she threatens death before he gets a chance

and that's the way it is in minnesota
and that's the way it is in oklahoma
that's the way it's been since protozoa
first climbed onto the shores of california

and she's been trying with limited success
to get him to turn out the lights and dance
cause like any girl all she really wants
that fickle little bitch romance
that fickle little bitch romance

and that is why a girl is called a tease
and that is why a guy is called a sleaze
and that's why god made escort agencies
one life to live and mace and GHB

and that's the way it is in minnesota
and that's the way it is in oklahoma
that's the way since the animals and noah
first climbed onto the shores of california

must not be too kind
stop thinking love is blind
clench your fists yeah write
“she's just not my type...”

why all these conflicting specifications
maybe to prevent overpopulation
all I know is that all around the nation
the girls are crying and the boys are masturbating

and that's the way it is in minnesota
and that's the way it is in oklahoma
that's the way Aristophanes and homer
wrote the iliad and lysistrata (not in that order...)

and that's the way it is in minnesota
and that's the way it is in oklahoma
that's the way it's been since protozoa
first climbed onto the shores of california

copyright 2005 amanda palmer

the one with the partner in crime

A friend is someone who would bail you out of jail, a best friend would be sitting beside you saying 'Damn that was fun'

The Boys of Summer by Don Henley

bobaraba craze

While females in Western countries use a variety of treatments to make their bottoms look skinny, women in certain parts of Africa use treatments that are supposed to have an opposite effect. All that thanks to a hit song Bobaraba, which means "big bottom" in the local Djoula language (see BBC story for details).

Of course the song is already on youtube:

Kulu Shaker Govinda

Govinda Jaya Jaya
Gopala Jaya Jaya
Radha-ramanahari
Govinda Jaya Jaya
Nrsingadeva Jaya Nrsingadeva
Gaura Gaura Gaura Hari
Prabhupada
Govindam

it was autumn

- Who are you actually?
- I wish I knew it myself.
- You talk sometimes like a poet, without sense, but it is so beautiful.
- Please tell me what you are doing in your life?
- I look for positive values.
- What does it mean?
- Nothing, I just said that like this.
- What's the point in saying things just like this?
- Aren't we here just for pleasure?
- That's true.

today I finished my 30th trip around the sun :)

and I plan on many more!

Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd, Blue Monika

So, so you think you can tell Heaven from Hell,
blue skies from pain.
Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?

I wish I could.



We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year...

It will never stop surprising me that nobody else can hurt us as much as we can hurt ourselves.

half a second of fame

Finally, the music video directed by Matthew Schroeder to the music by Bajzel is ready!
You can see me there, like for half a second ;-)

You can watch the video either at Matt's web page (better quality) or on youtube.

You can see me there several times for few milliseconds starting at around 2min 58sec:



If you live in Poznan, come to Dragon Pub (Zamkowa 3) on Monday (26th of November) evening (starting 8pm) - Bajzel will be playing there and I will be drinking a beer and maybe even dancing.

I should...

I have not been writing here regularly since some time. Mainly because I needed time to figure out my feelings and what I want right now from life (in the sense of relationships, not work or career).

The process of figuring it out was painful and led nowhere. So I decided to stop thinking and feeling guilty for the things that I have not even done yet.

So here I am. Not thinking, not knowing what I want, but at the same time very happy and letting somebody special spoil me a bit ;-)

EDIT:

This song (poem) fits perfectly here and now:



Podaruj mi cos czego nie
Zdobede sama
A wtedy ja szepne Ci
Mozesz mnie dotknac

Moze pozwole ci bys ze mna budzil sie
Moze powiem Ci jakie lubie wino
Moze pozwole Ci zapalic swieczke
Gdy w pewna zimowa noc
Zgasnie swiatlo

Polish Mafia in Dresden

A recipe for a good party: invite a critical mass of Polish people (depending on their characters it can be as little as 2), give them some alcohol (though it is not absolutely necessary) and ask them to sing any song they like.

Ewa, a newly hired Polish-French PI, was convinced by Tomek that it is her moral obligation to host a party for all Polish people working at the MPI. I think that she herself was a bit shocked with a direction that the party took...

On this video Agnieszka tries to "translate" one of the Polish cult songs ("Autobiography" by Perfect) to Jochen (one of very few not-Polish people attending the party):


Another cult song ("To be always where you are" by Lady Pank):

BTW: here is an original video clip of this song from the 80's..., shot in Chicago, I believe

And if this song is not sung then a party was clearly a failure ("Hey, Hawks!"):


As you could hear this song gives an excellent opportunity to join in singing even to non-Polish speakers. It is enough that you will occasionally shout "hey, hey" and you will not feel left out. This song is also a great song to sing on the streets of your city when you walk back home with your friends (or alone) as it is very dynamic and has a good, fast rhythm ideal to accompany your walk, but also because it will surely wake up everybody in the range of 500 meters letting them know how great time you just had.

Oh, yeah, I almost forgot to mention. This is Polish patriotic song about love to Ukraine... (We have also another very famous Polish epic poem that starts with words: "Lithuania, my country! You are as good health: how much one should prize you, he only can tell who has lost you". Moreover, action of this poem takes place in Soplicowo, which lies in contemporary Belarus...)
O, Yalta, o, Curzon.

Acid Drinkers live from Woodstock 2007

song: Acidofilia

remedium

Getting into a train, doesn't matter which
Not thinking about luggage
Not thinking about a ticket
Keeping the green stone in the hand
Looking at everything as it stays behind

(...)
That's a trip I want to take
But will I ever dare...



By Robert Gawlinski and Wilki

original Maryla Rodowicz version

Światem zaczęła rządzić jesień
Topi go w żółci i czerwieni
A ja tak pragnę czemu nie wiem
Uciec pociągiem od jesieni

Uciec pociągiem od przyjaciół
Wrogów, rachunków, telefonów
Nie trzeba długo się namyślać
Wystarczy tylko wybiec z domu

Ref.
Wsiąść do pociągu byle jakiego
Nie dbać o bagaż,
Nie dbać o bilet
Ściskając w ręku kamyk zielony
Patrzeć jak wszystko zostaje w tyle

W taką podróż chcę wyruszyć
Gdy podły nastrój i pogoda
Zostawić lóżko, Ciebie, szafę
Niczego mi nie będzie szkoda

Zegary staną niepotrzebne
Pogubię wszystkie kalendarze
W taką podróż chcę wyruszyć
Tylko czy kiedyś się odważę
Ref.

Wsiąść do pociągu ...

czwarta nad ranem

SDM Czarny blues o czwartej nad ranem

Czwarta nad ranem
Może sen przyjdzie
Może mnie odwiedzisz

Czwarta nad ranem
Może sen przyjdzie
Może mnie odwiedzisz

Czemu cię nie ma na odległość ręki?
Czemu mówimy do siebie listami?
Gdy ci to śpiewam - u mnie pełnia lata
Gdy to usłyszysz - będzie środek zimy

Czemu się budzę o czwartej nad ranem
I włosy twoje próbuję ugłaskać
Lecz nigdzie nie ma twoich włosów
Jest tylko blada nocna lampka
Łysa śpiewaczka

Śpiewamy bluesa, bo czwarta nad ranem
Tak cicho, by nie zbudzić sąsiadów
Czajnik z gwizdkiem świruje na gazie
Myślałby kto, że rodem z Manhattanu

Czwarta nad ranem...

Herbata czarna myśli rozjaśnia
A list twój sam się czyta
Że można go śpiewać za oknem mruczą bluesa
Topole z Krupniczej
I jeszcze strażak wszedł na solo
Ten z Mariackiej Wieży
Jego trąbka jak księżyc biegnie nad topolą
Nigdzie się jej nie spieszy

Już piąta
Może sen przyjdzie
Może mnie odwiedzisz


lyrics: Adam Ziemianin
music: Krzysztof Myszkowski

Grease-sing-a-long

Did I mention that I went to "Grease-sing-a-long" at The Castro with Anne and Sebastian few months ago? I just found a video from that evening:



We take the pressure and we throw away
Conventionality belongs to yesterday
There is a chance that we can make it so far
We start believing now that we can be who we are

Artist: Frankie Valli
Song: Grease