*History 304 (Nation Redefined) 1:00-2:15PM, Monday/Wednesday
*English 250 (Applied Writing) 6:00-8:45PM, Monday nights
*Social Work 402 (Child Welfare) 9:00-10:15AM, Tuesday/Thursday
*History 330 (Mississippi) 3:00-5:45PM, Tuesday evenings

Right now I'm sitting in the ICC Library, with a cold, waiting on my classes to start. Ugh, not only the first day of Ole Miss Tupelo classes, but sniffles as well. Insult added to injury. But most other things in life are going great, so I can't complain...and even if they weren't, I still shouldn't complain. I haven't wasted the morning. No. Haven't even visited YouTube yet. But I am starting to think about lunch. And while I'm on computer #8, surrounded by noisy students (one of them a rather obese fellow who keeps walking down the aisle and running in to my chair) this question pops into my head:

What's a bucket list? Well, it's supposedly a list of things you want to do before you kick the bucket, aka, die, aka, pass away...you get the picture.

I don't know what tomorrow holds. I don't know where the Lord may lead me round the next bend. But here's a little list of my own, which would be nice to do before I die, if the Lord so wills (hang on to your chair, Mr. Raincloud):

**My Bucket List:
*Follow Christ all the way in faithfulness
*Point others to the Altogether Lovely One
*Marry the love of my life
*Have and adopt some wonderful kids
*Help other people to adopt
*Become an aunt
*Homeschool my kids
*Help my husband in his work
*Write several books
*Travel on Route 66
*Visit NYC
*Live in a suburb or city for a while (though I'd like to raise my kids in the country)
*Learn Russian
*Double major at Ole Miss
*Skip out on College Algebra
*Skip out on college orientations (so far so good on these last two) ;)

**Some that have been on the list that are already accomplished/are being lived:
*Visit Washington, D.C.
*Participate in CHENM highschool graduation
*Have some really great friends
*Live in the country
*Find new really great books to read (can you believe that at one point, I thought I was running out of books?!!)
*Grow closer to my brother and sister

**Maybe it's not important to some. Most of the list isn't really necessary, for Christ is enough. As Gerhardt Tersteegen (a German Pietist, who lived from 1697-1769) wrote:

“Am I not enough, Mine own?
Enough, Mine own, for thee?
Hath the world its palace towers,
Garden glades of magic flowers,
Where thou fain wouldst be?
Fair things and false are there,
False things but fair.
All shalt thou find at last,
Only in Me.
Am I not enough, Mine own?
I, for ever and alone,
I, needing [or wanting] thee?”

Straying from the point aside, there's a bike-riding scene where the four girls are cycling along listening to the radio, and the song that plays is Knock Three Times. Just like Abba, it's all happy, it's deceptively happy in fact. At least when Sting sang Every Breath You Take there was no question over what he meant. Mr Tony Orlando completely couched his tendancies in nice sugary language....

Hey girl whatcha doin down there
dancing alone every night while I live right above you

Yes, because obviously it's pure ridiculous that she
hasn't thought to invite over the random occupant of
another apartment

i can hear your music playing

Ask her to turn it down

i can feel your body swaying

From a floor above? No you can't

one floor below me you don't even know me
I love you

I stalk

Oh my darlin
knock three times on the ceiling if you want me

How could she want you we've just established that she
doesn't know you

twice on the pipe if the answer is no

Also, that's a really inefficient method of communication.
Have you got a mobile?

oh my sweetness
*Knock knock knock*
means you'll meet me in the hallway

No, that would be the rattling of her terrified heart.
Stop shadowing the poor girl's every move.

twice on the pipe means you ain't gonna show

Twice on the pipe means she's humouring you out of terror

If you look out your window tonight
pulling the string with the note thats attached to my heart

Note = Barring Order

Read how many times I saw you
how in my silence i adored you

I'm psychotic. I actually watch CSI to get ideas.

and only in my dreams did that wall between us come apart

Yeah, I dream-sexed you. Mental rape, the only kind
they can't do you for. /small victory

and it will destroy the minds of your children.

Do you think that your little pudding-pie-daughter is going to be a genius because she ties her own shoes and can almost always color in the lines at only 7 months old? Then please. i am begging you, do not ruin her career as a biochemist.

For all that is holy and good in this world, do not let her see this movie about 4 30 year olds women playing 16 year old girls who share a pair of pants and recite lines from a script that closely resembles the Chicken Soup For the Teenage Soul series.

besides....

this one was better.

     “Yield now and be at peace with Him; thereby good will come to you.
Please receive instruction from His mouth, and establish His words in your heart.
If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored; if you remove unrighteousness far from your tent,
And place your gold in the dust, and the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks,
Then the Almighty will be your gold and choice silver to you.
For then you will delight in the Almighty, and lift up your face to God.
You will pray to Him, and He will hear you; and you will pay your vows.
You will also decree a thing, and it will be established for you; and light will shine on your ways.
When you are cast down, you will speak with confidence and the humble person He will save.
He will deliver one who is not innocent, and he will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands”
(Job 22:21-30, NASV).     The Lord has been speaking to me through this passage this week. I find that I like this particular translation for this passage, as it seems more accurate, at least on this point.

     Tuesday night I went to my first Baseball game (Memphis Redbirds vs. Portland Beavers) with 12 of my friends. It was great! A cool breeze blew from the Mississippi River. We had more fun talking amongst ourselves and watching the little kids roll down the hill (as we sat on the grassy bluff) than we saw of the game. I had to ask one of the others who won (Portland, at 6-3). :D But it was really enjoyable. Tonight we are planning on another Frisbee game. I cannot imagine the beginning of the semester, and with it the possible ending of the Frisbee games and priceless fellowship. We may not even have tonight. We are not promised tomorrow...but I am thankful for today, and for all the past mercies of my God.

     It seems that I will be going to Ole Miss this Fall, and probably to the Tupelo campus. Although I love the Oxford campus, this just seems to be the best thing to do right now. Transportation issues would probably be the main reason for the choice, so I can ride with Caleb and Julie as they go to ICC. Maybe I can get some classes that I need, before they all fill up. Now just to wait for the Orientation Day at Oxford on August 21st. I can't register for classes until then, unfortunately. Yet the Lord is working things out. I get confused, deciding on life's issues. I struggle, wanting my own way, not knowing where to turn. But the Lord always works things out perfectly. :D

     So we'll see what I major in, what I take, when I take it, and every detail that happens over the next few months. They will be stormy months for many of us, but they will be glorious--because of Christ and because He is working His perfect will, sanctifying His people and calling a generation that does not yet know Him. I can't see the often-frightening future, but I can look back at the past, and at all the present around me, and I can say, 'it is well--it is perfect--God is so wise!' Truly, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee; because he trusteth in Thee" (Isaiah 26:3).

On Thursday evening, I went for a run with my brother, Luke, and sister, Amanda. We hit the trails in Schenley Park and had a fun, albeit sweaty, time. It was hot! I had a bit of trouble breathing the thick air, -- even at 6:30 it was still in the high 80s -- but made it through the 40-minute workout anyway. Luke is training for soccer and Amanda is gearing up for a marathon, so I was traveling with quite the athletically-inclined pair!

Thank goodness for Anthony, my sister's boyfriend, who greeted us at the end of the trail with water bottles and Edy's Whole Fruit popsicles. Yay, for Anthony!

After our run, we hit the Squirrel Hill sidewalk sales where I got a cute sleeveless shirt for $1.00 (Yes, $1.00!!) at Avalon and a used copy of one of my favorite movies, Now and Then, at the Exchange. Both stores are places where you can trade clothing and accessories (Avalon), or DVDs, CDs and records (the Exchange) for money or items of equal value. You can also go in and check out the many items that people have traded in, purchasing them at a much lesser cost than you would if you were to purchase them new. I love the idea of reusing everyday items, and the sidewalk sale fulfilled my recycling dreams! (;

While we browsed, I had a honey green tea with tapioca pearls (boba) in the bottom. If you have never had these babies before, they are quite tasty. They are also pretty high-calorie, --about 100 calories every seven -- so I do not drink boba tea often. I did not finish this one because the tea was a bit too fragrant for me.

Friday morning and afternoon was work, work, work and then, pack, pack, pack. I cannot believe we are already moving this Sunday! After many hours spent with the computer and boxes, Dan and I decided to take a short walk (about a 1/2 mile) and do some quick shopping at Whole Foods. We also sat down at one of the tables indoors, cooled off and ate some sushi. Mmmm ... this was so yummy.

Saturday was another exercise session on the trails. This time my sister and I walked, and my brother, Isaac rode his bike along side of us. We made a plan to meet on the trails, but completely forgot there was a grand prix this weekend. The event caused some major blockage of the entrances to the trails, and it took about an hour for me to finally get to my brother and sister. I was on the trail and they were not allowed access it. So, I walked by myself until they found me. It was frustrating, but also quite humorous when my sister told me she feigned tears to woo a security guard into letting her on the trail -- it didn't work. (Giggle.) Oh, Amanda! Once I met up with them, we walked for about 45 minutes. My bum was a little sore after almost 2 hours of walking!

Sunday was more packing. I packed the entire closet! I also got rid of a lot of clothing that I haven't worn in ages and it felt good to purge. Later that night, Dan and I made our way over to my parents' house for our traditional Sunday night dinner. After dinner, we geared up for a new Shannon family tradition -- wiffle ball! I have been a cheerleader the last few times, but this time I joined in and, boy, did I work up a sweat. I typically completely stink at all sports involving a ball, so I was completely surprised when I actually hit the ball! I even made a few runs into home plate. Go me! (Sorry for the dark picture.)

I wanted to focus this post on fitness because I promised to show you more of what I do for exercise. I used to be a hardcore exerciser and, while I am still pretty adamant about it, I have learned a few lessons along the way. One being that it is OK to slow down every now and then. When I was younger, exercise had to be my way or it didn't count. Now, I have learned that it is OK to not always take fitness so seriously and have some fun à la a wiffle ball game!

I am curious: What is your favorite way to exercise? Has your philosophy changed over the years?

Reunions can be fun, don't get me wrong. But it is exactly that, a reunion; an exchanging of present lives, remembrance of past events. You exchange numbers, promising to keep in touch. You email once or twice a week, with promises of having another get together. Time goes by. It will happen again, eventually. Someone is now married. Another with child. One got fat. One skinny.

Sometimes people from the past do become key players of your present. A person enters your life as if no beat was ever skipped. Secrets revealed all over. Maybe it was just a loss of communication, an immature fight.

I'm big on memories and remembering. I've probably passed up creating new memories because I was too busy remembering old ones. Thanks to sites like Myspace I've reunited with a lot of old friends, made up with a lot of old "enemies" and recieved that apology from an old flame, realizing boys really do take longer to mature. But I've had the disappointments. The once friends, trying to hit on me, despite the fact that he has kids and a girl. The friends who you hang out with and expect things to be like they once were, before the kids, before the man. It's amazing when you realize you have the past and the now sitting in one room together. But it can be complicated. I've dredged up a whole lot of skeletens. I've fallen for an old friend, only complicating my already complicated situation more. I've tried to forget, and I've realized I can't.

There's a line lingering around somewhere when it comes to trying have the past and future meet. I've been playing around the line for quite some time now, and as exciting as it is, it seems so dangerous.

“O Lord, enlarge our scanty thought,

To know the wonders Thou hast wrought;

Unloose our stammering tongues to tell

Thy love immense, unsearchable.”

--Hymn 107, by N.L. von Zinzendorf

     Some of the young people from Church had a great Ultimate Frisbee game at Ballard Park yesterday. Then we had a delicious supper and went to see a Softball game in New Albany. I’ve never been much of a sports person. I’ve only played Ultimate three times now. I can only run three miles in 35 minutes…sometimes. But I’m realizing that these games are much more worthwhile than watching TV. There’s exercise, fellowship, conversations, fun. I like to veg-out on good movies sometimes, but I watch far too much of them. I have resolved (not so much decided or determined, because those are too wishy-washy, impossible, changing--but I have resolved, I shall say) to fellowship with my fellow humans, and especially with my beloved family and extended family in Christ, rather than wasting so much time on things that don’t last. Good books and board games are much to be preferred, too, along with the more active games. And I wish the studies and prayer meetings would start back soon!

     Life is brief. I used to wish that I could live forever on earth. Now I long for the coming of Christ. “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night” (I Thessalonians 5:2). Many of our loved ones are already with the Lord and unless He returns soon, many of us will lose more loved ones and will die ourselves within 70-100 years if not before. Perhaps tomorrow may be our last day. Some friends die. Others move away. But for those who are in Christ, we have comfort and hope, for

“There is a spot where spirits blend,
Where friend holds fellowship with friend;
Though sundered far; by faith they meet
Around one common mercy-seat.”

--Hymn 382, by H. Stowell

     And so my prayer joins with those of long ago (It needs some re-writing, probably. I wrote it without the help of caffeine. No, wait. Come to think of it, I didn’t. ;) I think this is my first complete poem since that horrible poetry class I dropped in January.):

Let Our Circle Be Unbroken

“Oh, the circle of sweet fellowship

That the saints forever have,

With each other ‘round the throne

Of our God in Heaven above.

We will sing of His great power;

We will sing of His great love;

We will worship Him for giving

Perfect fellowship above.

Let our circle be unbroken,

In the day--without a night,

When we waken to that Morning,

When we see Christ’s perfect light.

Let our circle stay unbroken,

While we sing on earth below;

While we fellowship and work,

May we on together go.

Through all the toils and pains,

The joys of love will shine,

While we walk on through the fire,

Yea, the fire meant to refine.

And we realize, though not enough

How our life below is brief;

Yet the joys we’ll know above

Will make up for all earth’s grief.

Yea, we’ll fellowship together

Now on earth and then above,

And we rest in the assurance,

God will keep us in His love.

And the circle shall be unbroken

On the land and on the sea,

Both now and in the future,

Yea, through eternity.”

First up, we have a game that I’ve revisited in one form or another since I first bought the original way back when. The game in question is Dungeon Siege. As I recall, I got it at about the same time I picked up NOLF 2 and Weezer’s Green Album and Cake’s “Motorcade of Generosity.” I really can’t separate these in my memory; I remember blasting through endless Ice Caverns listening to Photograph, Island in the Sun and the rest, and escaping from the Russian research facility while listening to “Satan is my Motor.” Not only does that make me sound like a dork, it makes me feel and sound old. Yes!

Dungeon Siege was viewed (rightfully so) as Baldur’s Gate + Diablo. It had a large party like BG, but it was much more of a click-fest with action RPG elements, like Diablo. It’s main selling point (bizarrely) was the ability to load everything seamlessly. You could enter a building and the roof would melt a way, or enter a tomb, take an elevator 10 stories down, then take a flight of stairs down even deeper into the ground. And this was really exciting back in 2002. Bare with me for a minute, because that probably sounds really dumb.

To be honest, I was just excited for a big group RPG, especially one that featured big environments and area continuity. I was tired of Diablo II. The fact that the game looked fantastic was a bonus. I was, however, put off by the leveling technique, whereby only used skills leveled (think Oblivion). It really restricted character construction, and meant that all multi-class characters were hideously weak.

Still, there were cool weapons cool spells, cool armor, cool enemies, donkeys (to carry stuff! What a revolution), and a beautiful world to explore. I played all the way through, saw the stupid plot to its end, and even played their rather interesting multiplayer offering (a whole new world to explore, a rather cool idea for multiplayer). Anyway, it was fun, and long, and I rather enjoyed it.

But that’s not all. Later, I picked up the original game and its expansion, thinking I could hop back in. Unfortunately, I had to start from the beginning, and I never could get the will up to get to the jungle-themed expansion.

Recently, I bought Dungeon Siege 2, which was a little better (it had way more options for character customization and leveling), but still almost the same game as the original. I got pretty far in that, but was eventually bored. The story was just as bad as before (they claimed that they had spent more time on it. How exactly did they spend that time?), the graphics look ancient, and the game is basically a 2002 game remade for present times. Linear, uninventive, and almost completely lacking in any redeeming qualities.

Normally I can tolerate old games (hopefully I’ll prove that to you in later posts), but in this case, the game was never that good to begin with. It’s sad, because many of the ideas that Chris Taylor and company espouse interest me. However, their new game Space Siege, really just looks like Dungeon Siege in Space. Which will not be impressive.

All in all, Dungeon Siege was even more boring the second time round, and the third time round. Even its sequel was boring, and basically was a remake of the first game. Oh well. Next time, I think I’ll pick something more fun, like NOLF 2 or F.E.A.R.

Now
I don’t get dirt in my eyes.
I don’t miss the ball.
I don’t get hit by the ball.
I don’t fall down.
I don’t hit my head.
I don’t go the wrong way.
I don’t stare at people now.
I have my own jersey.

By Randolphus, age 6
[photo by Kelthortum via Flickr]

video = 53 seconds long

Μερικοί έγιναν σύμμαχοι με τον χρόνο, άλλοι πάλι εχθροί!

Angelina Jolie

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Πως ξεφουσκώνει ο άνθρωπος...

Teri Hatcher                                                                            Brand Pitt

Καλέ στην πρώτη φωτο είναι φτυστή η Lety η άσχημη!!!

Katherine Zeta Jones                                                             Madonna

Kylie Minogue                                                                                        Sarah Jessica Parker

Καλά μιλάμε η Kylie αγνώριστη είναι πιτσιρίκα!                                                                                    Μην μου πείτε πως                                                                                                                                          θα  πιστεύατε αυτό το κοριτσάκι (φώτο 1980)                                                                                                        ότι θα έπαιζε στο   sex  and the city?

κ

Michael Jackson

* * *

Romek, 28-year-old from Poland, goes on a personal quest to Germany to talk to soldiers fighting against the 1944 Warsaw Uprising and hear their story.

28-year-old Romuald lives with his parents near Opole. He's a children's stories' author and gets his works published by a small literary publishing house. On weekends he works part-time in a delivery firm, handling larger parcels.
In 2004 his girlfriend gave him the Chronicle of the Warsaw Uprising as a present. He had never been in Warsaw before. The book gripped him.
'But what it was missing was the story as Germans see it. I searched in libraries and in internet - but I haven't found anything. Then I thought - since historians didn't find anything - I will' , says Romek. 'Why? I don't know why. I just wanted to know'.

In 1989 a small Munich publishing house issued 'Warschauer Aufstand', containing a list of German soldiers fighting the 1944 Warsaw Uprising, together with their military rank and, where applicable, date of death. The low circulation publication received much attention from historians, who alarmed that there were many inconsistencies and errors. Germans protested too. Some of those included in the book have never been to Warsaw. Some were declared dead by the book, while they still were alive and well. Under the threat of court action, publisher withdrew the 3000 copies from bookshops.

Romek managed to find the publication with help of a friend in Berlin. Another friend, IT specialist, searched the internet to find out who, from that list, is still alive. In Germany personal information is not protected. After ruling out those who passed away, 42 people were left.

Romek contacted them last summer holiday: six agreed to meet with him. On weekends, as Romek was busy with work on weekdays.

However, he shouldn’t have bothered visiting three of the six.
Johann said he’s never been to Poland. Joseph's been in Poland twice - to do shopping in a border-town. Heinrich, on the other hand, was talking about the fights on Warsaw's Triple Crosses Square like he was reciting a story learned by heart. He received Romek in his entrance hall and wouldn't even let him ask the firt question. 'I regret I agreed for this meeting. In your country this rising is a national myth, and whatever I'd say your Polish propaganda will transform my words so that Germans seem like pigs. That's how you do it', he said, asking Romek to leave.

Erich in Thuringia, next on the list, told Romek he'd arrived in Warsaw after the end of the uprising - on October 4th 1944. We was eighteen. 'We worked in a brigade, which for seven-eight hours a day walked around with flamethrowers and burned down the ruins', he recalls.

He was surprised they were ordered to burn what was already burned. The petrol they were supposed to use wasn't the right quality either. Townhouses woldn't burn easily. After work they went back to Mokotów district, where they lived several soldiers in one room. They felt safe there: the gates to German-controlled part of the city were guarded by 50 German soldiers.

Yet everyday they drank spirit. One friend of his couldn't cope with this work. He poured petrol over himself and set himself on fire.

When Erich watched Polanski's Pianist on tv, things came back to him. 'It wasn't at all as showed in this movie. Many people lived in ruins - not only Szpilman. Several hundred at least', he convinced. 'They walked out at night. I saw them, when we went out to the ruins, driven by curiosity, once. We saw how they pull burned potatoes from cellars. There were no orders to shoot at these people'.

Today he is ashamed of what he then called a good fun, 'We razed a city to ruins. I'm sorry', he says, 'would you like more tea'?

'First day each month at 10 we received our soldier's pay. August the 1st wasn't therefore the best time for an attack, as by 5 pm we were at least a bit drunk' - says Romek's next interlocutor - Dieter. Romek visited him on the outskirts of Berlin. He didn't want to say much though. He was a marksman near Teatralny Square. He wouldn't say how many times his shot was well-aimed, but there are diplomas for marksmanship, he received before the war, hanging on the wall. Dieter is not making an effort to be polite, he murmurs... maybe because partisans killed seven of his colleagues? - 'Eight of us walked, and then these people approached us wearing German uniforms. They started shooting when we were very close. I ran away. I survived this war'.

When Romek wants to know whether Dieter has any souvenirs from Warsaw, Dieter browses through his drawers nervously. Some papers fall on the floor. 'When you fight for your life you don't think about souvenirs', he says nervously, holding postcards in his hands. 'Have them, take them for historical documentation, it has no worth to me. There were twelve in that series, but I've sent four to friends. Good bye', he cuts the chat short.

Eight postcards feature ruins of Warsaw: Krasiński Square, Królewska St., Piłsudskiego St., Nowy Świat, Krakowskie Przedmieście and Wierzbowa St. Ruins and cinders. One postcard signed "famine" features people in the street, bending over a dead horse's body trying cut out some meat. This is the only postcard series with ruins of Warsaw issued during the war.
- 'I don't think this German man wanted to pay some historical debt giving me these postcards. He just wanted to get rid of me quick', - Romek was unimpressed.

Romek had been meeting up with Germans fighting the Warsaw Uprising for six consecutive weekends. The last meeting was to take place in Munich. He drove there without faith, with the feeling of senseless of what he was doing. 'No one really wanted to talk. I had met elderly men blundered between memories. Jürgen was the oldest, he was 102, therefore I didn't expect him to tell me anything of historical value or emotional weight. That he'd help me understand those Germans. And my meeting with him was so surreal. I felt like I found myself within that poem about SS-soldier sipping tea from the last cup left in once piece in Dresden'.
Jürgen received him in his library with oak parquet flooring. Mahogany bar in one corner, samovar with orange-flavoured tea in other. Bookcase covering the whole wall hosting pre-war editions of Goethe, Schiller and atlases. Massive desk stands next to the window. Jürgen, wearing a shirt and a waistcoat, is not sitting behind it - but in an armchair next to the steaming samovar. Romek feels a bit out of place with his T-shirt in this bourgeois interior. He's comforted when he notices Jürgen's old fluffy slippers.

Jürgen says he'd been in Warsaw several times. He used to spend his days-off there. He was stationed in Poznan, his friends used to go to the seaside. But he travelled to Warsaw and walked around with a camera.

'The city was in psychosis. People were terrified of the Germans. They didn't want to pose to the pictures. When I started making photos, suddenly all people around me were gone. Just a building and nothing more. It was different in Kraków, there was no fear. People made me pictures when I asked them', Jürgen recalls.

The photos from Kraków were gone. Out of twenty suitcases he packed, only four survived the chaos of war. He's also lost the photographs he'd made in Warsaw's ghetto, in Gdynia, Gdańsk and Łódź. Romek finds it hard to sympathise with this high Wehrmacht officer's, loss. And when he's asked to pass a beige photoalbum entitled "Reise nach Warschau", Romek notices "Mein Kampf" from 1939 on a bookshelf.

'I felt shivers going down my spine when I saw it', says Romek, 'then I froze in my armchair'.

Jürgen opened the diary documenting his first stay in Warsaw in August 1st/2nd 1941. Each photo is described, some with personal notes.

Leafing through page by page.. the bridges, Saski Palace, main train station, his portrait with Wierzbowa St. in the background, then some photos from the ghetto - at the sight of which Jürgen raises his voice:

'Jews perceive themselves as victims of war - but they are not victims, they are perpetrators!' - he says irritated, and goes on telling a story of how a Jew cheated his father before the war in a real-estate transaction.
Jürgen is so loud, his grandson shows up at the door to check what's happening. And stays there leaning against door frame, to listen to the rest of the story.

Romek tries to change the subject. They return to uprising. Jürgen was in Warsaw in the moment of outbreak and worked in an administrative building on Krakowskie Przedmieście - and during the three weeks he spent in Warsaw only once he saw young people with white and red armbands.

'I never walked out in uniform, although it was forbidden. And I never carried weapon. Therefore no one paid attention to me. Because I was afraid. But not when I heard gunshots somewhere - then I knew that since the fights are there, I am safe where I am', he says.

'But Poles were barbarians. My friend's son died during the uprising. His body was found naked, completely naked! How could they deprive him of intimacy like that?' - Jürgen raises his voice again, while Romek is thinking about the people in Auchwitz and Jews transported from his home-town Opole to Czech Terezin.
'Romek explains: 'I didn't want to engage in discussion. I didn't want to persuade him, to convert him. Because this man lived for 102 years and it was unlikely he'd change at the end of his way', says Romek.

He asked for more tea. Jürgen's hand was firm, and there was not a sign of shaking. He stood up, and came to the window smoking his pipe. Grandson stood at the door. Romek broke the silence asking if he could buy this photo-album. He was able to pay 250 euro - for which Jürgen agreed, although his grandson thought the photographs are worth 400.

Then he opened a desk drawer and took out a full pack of Warsaw's gingerbread cookies from 1941, a German eagle with a sign in German "Souvenir from Warsaw", and five menus from Warsaw's restaurants. 'I'd go back to Warsaw for the food - it was absolutely superb'. We talked for three hours, and then he said he was tired.

* * *

Please note that the pictures used in this blog to illustrate this topic are not the ones made by Jurgen.

Interested in Warsaw Uprising? Here are some links
CNN Presents Classroom Edition: Forgotten Soldiers
warsawuprising.com
The Warsaw Rising Museum
Norman Davies Rising '44

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If you enjoyed this post why not visit Polandian, a collaborative blog on Poland.

Now we have: mobile phones, TV, smartboards, PSP, pizza and a bathroom.

8.00, Arrange Me a Marriage, BBC2
NEW SERIES Professional matchmaker Aneela Rahman uses the principles of arranged marriage, using the experience and advice of friends and family, to help singletons find love. It’s all much more sedate than TV shows like E4’s current Age of Love, which turns women into pack animals, or Beauty and the Geek, with its cardboard characters. Still, romantic viewers will find little appeal in Aneela’s methods.

9.00, Brucie's Generation Game: Now and Then, UKTV Gold
NEW SERIES The Now and Then treatment worked a charm for Wogan and Jim’ll Fix It, and now Bruce Forsyth's manic game show gets in on the act, with classic clips of families getting in a pickle over quirky tasks.Good game, good game!

D&G now and then. Look at the fresh and soft 2007 look, and the almost vulgar look of Fall 2001.

I think designers all over the world are improving a lot. They're designing more wearable clothing, and just.. well better clothes. Of course trends change, and that's maybe why I don't like the old designs, but don't you like the looks of 2007 better?

Photo: style.com

All my efforts to remember the dream went in vain, so I wrote this in attempt to picture what my contemporary conversation with Salaheddin would’ve been like:

صلاح الدين: من أنت وأين أنا؟
أنا حسين ... وانت في دبي يا أيها القائد صلاح الدين.
صلاح الدين: دبي؟ ما هذه؟ وفي أي عام أنا؟
دبي هي مدينة من مدن الإمارات العربية المتحدة ... وإنت في العام 2007 ميلادي.
صلاح الدين: أحمدك وأشكرك يا رب! لقد أتممت رسالتي ... واتحد العرب أجمع! شكراً لك يا رب!
يا صلاح الدين ... الإمارات العربية المتحدة هي دولة وحدة من الدول العربية التلاتة وعشرينNot Really
صلاح الدين: إذاً فكيف تقول أن الإمارات العربية قد اتحدت؟
والله ما أظن إنه هالفكرة ممكن تصير أبداً!
صلاح الدين: وما ذاك الذي أراه؟ من هن تلك العاريات الكاسيات؟
هدول سكان المدينة يا صلاح الدين.
صلاح الدين: مستحيل! قد أكون في بلاد الهند أو في بلاد الإفرنجة، لكنني لن أصدق أبداً أنني في دولة عربية!
صلاح الدين: أرني طريق مسقط رأسي يا حسين ... العراق.
والله العراق يا سيدي حالها مش أفضل من حال أي دولة عربية، استلموها الأمريكان بحجة تحريرها، وأسقطوا حاكمها السابق، اللي على فكرة كان تكريتي زيّك بالزبط!
صلاح الدين: ما الهذيان الذي تتفوه به يا فتى؟ إلهي أعني على ما أثقله على كاهلي هذا الأحمق!!
صلاح الدين: حسنٌ، حسنٌ ... فلنذهب إلى مملكة السماء ... القدس ... وستعود الأمور إلى مجرياتها بإذن الله.
والله يا صلاح الدين مش عارف شو بدي أحكيلك عن القدس بالذات ... بس كمان القدس بطلت إلنا. صارت لليهود خلص ... والعرب اللي ساكنين في فلسطين ماكلين هوا، وعم بقاتلوا بعض. :(
صلاح الدين: اخرس يا رجل!!! إنتبه لما تقول ... وإلا والذي نفسي بيده لاجتزيت رأسك على الفور ...القدس لنا يا هذا ... وقد حررتها بيدي هاتين !!! ن
We’re doing fine … Reallyبقى قبل يا سيدي، الوضع اختلف الآن، العرب متفرقين ... والوضع زي ما إنت شايف يعني ... بس الحمد لله ...
صلاح الدين: يو أر دوينج فاين؟! قبّح الله وجهك يا رجل! ... تكالبت عليكم الأمم، واستولى الأعداء على القدس وبغداد ... وتقول لي: يو آر دوينج فاين؟! واحسرتاه ... أغرب عن وجهي أيها البغيض!!
طول بالك علينا شوي يا زلمة، يعني زي كإنك محملني ذنب الأمة العربية كلها.
صلاح الدين: يا زلما؟ إذاً دلني على أي مكان على هذه الأرض لأحشد جيشاً جباراً لتحرير بلاد العرب!
والله يا صلاح ما أظن في بكل هالعالم هادا المحل اللي بتحكي عنه.
صلاح الدين: ما ... وأ ... جب ... جب ...

This is the part where Saladin gets a severe heart attack while he was struggling to utter the word "COWARDS!", and where I don’t try to help because he and I know that he doesn’t belong to this time.

This time is ours … the time of the cowards.

Anyway, I just installed the new Wordpress.com stats on my site and give it a try. If it owns, I need to use it instead of the heavy-weight Google-Analytics.