Envelope / Develope

  Photo by Mr Cup / Fabien Barral on Unsplash   I don't remember how I stumbled upon Azopan website but I do know being lost in memories of my childhood and of photographs taken on B&W films and only in late 80s on color films. It is a very interesting project and although I did not browsed the options of posting there, it seems to me that local history and family photos are amalgamated to transport you in pieces of life of a different time and place - Romanian mountains, seaside, Danube river, 1989 events, etc... The subjects and photos have the "family" feeling and rarely you  see an artistic photo. Most of them are about public events, families captured in candor moments, kids staring to the camera in a "I-know-you-take-a-picture" smile and many staged pictures. The surprise factor for me was the humanity and the raw emotions captured in people's look, events you forgot you participated just because their significance escaped you, the freedom to be ...

  Photo by Jessica Rockowitz on Unsplash Coming from a communist country I was always circumspect of people who were smiling all the time.  Life is hard and how can you be so radiant, how come events and people and years of living have been giving you that wide smile you brandish like in advertisements? Smiling was a proclamation of happiness in a regime known for oppressing and regimenting people in an universal mold. Laughing was questionable and at a certain point viewed as an act of opposition, underground fight. Then you read on many studies about the benefice of just "faking-till-you-making" - physiology winning over your mind and creating an overall well-being state. I was told by my mother that I was a curious kid, whenever it happened to be among people, looking intensely and scanning their gestures, talks and faces. I was probably absorbing life in its manifestation, interested to see how we interact, how we react, looking for fragments of life in people's fac...

Photo by davide ragusa on Unsplash The social distancing forced families to stay together and live confined for many hours in a row. Habits exposed at work were transferred in  the family setting and did not fit or led to conflict. The simple way of spending time revealed that suddenly when the time is lapsing slower than usually, people don't know how to stare or leave in contemplation. For unknown reasons: 1. what became obvious to everyone during the corona virus: people have time to think and question and fall on the same old theories - the gods are cheating on us, there is a large conspiracy of big pharma, the government is sold to big corporations, etc.. 2. when there is no skin in the game, there is no incentive to innovate - education, health, management of limited resources, cooperating among nations at safeguarding resources  3. there is no planning for all elected officials and there is no pay-back for the ones who really played the system - I ...

Photo by Kyle Head on Unsplash You probably heard that swimming in rough waters in life will reveal your own character and of all the people with you, caught in that moment. It is always unexpected and, exactly as in movies, it begins with a peaceful background and a monotone sound. Everything is unfolding slowly and without any clues that deep gaps will be revealed in any way. It is like a crack in someone's emotional fabric which becomes a wrecking ball for the characters caught in the event, for a short time span, sufficient to project them on a different life orbit, for good. Some people are calling those events "interventions", others fear them as "dark spots" where secrets are emerging as an iceberg unbalanced by some life event. The repercussions are deep and memorable and entail subsequent turmoils, like a burning lava which will flow down for many days to find a peaceful landscape to cool off. The characters are the same like in normal life ...

Photo by CDC on Unsplash   Detect immunity One of the numbers broadcasted every day is the number of COVID-19 patients who recovered. Instead of being fixed on detecting people with corona virus, we should be fixed on detecting the ones who had a mild version of corona virus or even were asymptomatic. Once we know they can freely move, socially mark them in a certain way (with a special certificate).  They could be the soldiers of opening closed businesses or helping important economic sectors. They are on the other side of the fear, all the COVID-19 restrictions should not apply to them. It is not known for how long is the immunity lasting, but at least, these people should come back and revive the industries and get the jobs and make the economy re-start. It is a small number, but they can propel some ideas for the ones in the isolation (see below). That should be the second most important decision of our governments - detect immunity, instead of just...

Photo by Krists Luhaers on Unsplash I just discovered Omeleto , a website gathering under one umbrella short movies from Sundance movie festival, independent producers or aspiring directors. The subjects are diverse, the genres are wide enough to catch your interest, but for me the reality blended with witty plots won me over. I really liked some of the movies - Reception, I got this , Custom love , Father figurine , At ease , Red curtains . If you like normal movies (without the Hollywood glitter, effects and having lots of human interaction) with interesting turns, funny plots, or even documentaries give it a try! P.S Why the long tail? Is the concept discussed in Chris Anderson's book - The Long Tail, where the content provider of obscure products can get enough revenue from a slew of distributors which will allow them to grown and be successful, even if they don't have a hit movie.

Photo by Kyle Glenn on Unsplash It probably happened to you, when getting in a place where you have this uncomfortable feeling you don't belong to, all things are not common to your life and people have the easiness which seemed cultivated to you. Joining a group or conversation and, poof (as my daughter says) someone is bludgeoning you with a question which splits the audience in two: - Have you read ... (and put here the title of a book in the top of the lists from a prestigious newspaper)? The polite answer would be to tell the truth, listen to a glorious summary of the book, or to bend the truth and play noob. Many times, although, when I have the feeling that people are just flashing their "cultivated" image, I want to pull them in a "social bloody" embarrassment by luring them in the waters they might not comfortable with. My strategy is to pick on the display of the ideas in the book and then pull together references from  other books and ...

Photo by Rob Schreckhise on Unsplash In times like this I wonder if the people with their hand on the power lever have second thoughts - about handling the major problems instead of wasting our money and their life time in petty quarrels or egocentric show offs. They can be in a hospital fighting for their life or looking at someone close to them separated by a thick glass. If you are a doctor, sick on a hospital bed, will you relinquish a ventilator for a younger bum? Is any doctor going to apply the same rule, the younger have priority over a ventilator? Or, if you are a famous basketball player, are you going to make that gesture? Yes, I know that at this moment nobody wants to think about it, but how about doing more that just staying put within your four walls? Is this crisis going to move a few marbles and change your view on life and what you will do from now on? You probably may understand there are more barriers the wealthy and the powerful are putting betwe...

Photo by HH E on Unsplash Today, 16th of March 2020, I saw again a stock market in free fall - almost 12% down. Friday, 13th of March, the whole market was up because of the fiscal stimulus released by US government. The funny thing is that I just finished a discussion with a friend who is telling me she is waiting for the signal to get back in the market. I almost laughed, because there is no signal, the market is on uncharted territory and inevitably that is not a strategy for investments, maybe for daily traders, but I would not do that in the current market. Yes, we are in the COVID-19 craziness, self isolated and looking to Italy with increased anxiety. It is not their fault (Italians, Koreans), dear readers. It is the laissez-faire of an entire political class, an entire generation in power which cannot comprehend simple mathematical models and technical prognosis about the possible quick exits for mankind. We can blame the bat-eaters in China, or the travelers ...

Photo by Debby Hudson on Unsplash I reached this conclusion, influenced by one of my dates. She was an attractive grand-mother I met through some friends and in one of our dates she mentioned that, through life, she always wanted to celebrate small events in her life: kids managing to ride a bike first place in a school competition for kids learning something new and applying it (first time) successfully in life  getting the first client in a business moving to a new place working hard and failing successfully and learning the hard way something I was not that type of person, but having a daughter and "suffering" with her through failures and small victories, I understood in the monotone rhythm of life there are not many "grand" celebrations and we should punctuate our existence, enjoying small victories. Sometimes, life is not giving you many big victories and you have to have the next prize on the horizon to keep you going. And here I am, ...

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash If I ask my friends who are married, why should you date, the answer is mostly "you don't want to be alone". All other reasons they got together in the first place, are almost forgotten. The loneliness reason is a cinematographic scenario which plays in my head with a few variations. I imagine the daily routine when you are coming back from work and open the door of your home and nobody is there. It's like entering a deserted town, you being the only inhabitant. The door is the threshold between social and loneliness, you wave on crossing it, with life subduing its noise, far away. you warm up your meal and there is only one plate on the table. Maybe that is the only plate ever used in the house. Sometimes is the frozen, cardboard wrap hanging around somewhere like an abstract animal sacrificed in the ritual called "dinner". you feed your pet (dog, cat, fish...) and then pause to remember what is next, lik...

Here in Toronto, there is an intermittent radio show called "White coat, black art" about being a doctor nowadays or the dilemmas of the health system in Canada. The whole accent is about how difficult is to navigate the current medical problems when in fact, almost everyone is more interested about the ethical questions, economic factors (why some procedures are supported or not) and obviously the transparency of the personal skills of the medical staff. The public services are served as a "block" for everyone when the reality is that it counts on whose hands are you under medical care. What is not touched in any way (the guest making the show is a doctor) are conflictual and controversial views about doctors. The show is mostly about raising big questions, not touching constant slippage of the system and the self-empowerment of the job due to the social contract of how the doctors and the medical system are provisioned in Canada's economy. In this post I...

Photo by Mariah Ashby on Unsplash Last night, 24th of December 2019, we came home from a party with friends. My daughter was excited to see the presents received from Santa and rushed, after she entered our home, to discover the gifts. She paused a little and then stopped looking at a stack of wrapped boxes placed under the Christmas tree. Suddenly she started to cry. "There are just a few presents for me. What did I do wrong, daddy?" She was sobbing and I was a little flabbergasted; my effort to buy some interesting presents for her (some of them failed to be delivered but were still bought but not under the tree, due to unforeseen circumstances) seems to be dashed from a simple glance to a pile of boxes. She was expecting a deluge of boxes under the tree and the five/six wrapped boxes were not enough to fill-up her expectations. I just sat down in a chair and was chewing my kid's ungratefulness. She unwrapped one of the presents and discovered was a piano b...

The taxi boat  for Saleccia beach was a retirees business, a pair which found a new way to stretch their money. If you were a fan of the Netflix movies showing Brits moving down south, that would be a perfect example.    We arrived one hour earlier just to stroll San Florent (San Firenzu) and visit the stores close to central plaza. I ordered an artisan gelato for Emma while I was tasting some Corsican peaches. I don't know why the hype with the beach, maybe because the color of the water and the gentle entry, no rocks and many boats anchored not far from the shore. The boat ride was speedy and bumpy (they wanted to carry as much people to the beach). I was concerned because Emma was the only kid in the group and everyone was grabbing the bars in order to keep their balance. No hats or flying scarfs were allowed and Emma's hair was getting a blow, which she liked it. Reaching the shore we jumped in the water and walked to the beach.Just from the visit to Carrefour, ...

After a memorable drive to reach Col du Prato, I was looking for a board sign telling me the starting point for one of the nice peaks of Corsica. There are in fact two starting points: one is a parking lot before the small village, on the right side, bordering a sheep ground. There is a path crossing the sheep ground and joining a gravel road. The real path starts across the church, besides a restaurant. It is marked with an orange band. Following the road, pay close attention because it splits at some point and you have to follow the right side. I followed the left side and managed to wander for 3 kilometers before correcting my mistake. The good part of the hike has a slow slope and is mostly through a forest, keeping you a cool temperature and shade. You may encounter cows or pigs or goats or sheep herds. It is not a strenuous hike with the exception of the last 30 minutes. Pay attention to the orange band, the path is well marked. Although we passed close to a few streams (...

Photo by Yohann LIBOT on Unsplash Nu stiu cum am ajuns la website ( www.teleleu.eu ), probabil am citit un articol pe unul din site-urile ziarelor din Romania. Este povestea a doi oameni care au avut curajul sa spuna lucrurile asa cum le-au vazut, lucruri pe care le auzim dar nimeni nu prea le aduce in fata, si cum mai toate proiectele lor necesitau multe zile "pe teren" s-au mutat intr-o rulota si au inceput sa colinde Europa (in special). Am citit majoritatea posturilor intr-o singura zi, cu lacomia celui care ar visa sa faca asemenea "nebunii" dar poate nu are destule motive, sau se teme "de gura lumii", sau pur si simplu este prins in angrenajul vietii ca o povara. Ce este interesant despre reportajele lor? Varietatea, tonul care nu judeca ci doar trasnmite mai departe ce personajele lor spun, din cind in cind observind comportamente si gesturi. Nu este nici o interpretare ci simplu documentare pentru un subiect. Majoritatea sunt oameni ca...

Milan, 14th of Aug 2019 I just arrived and was confused about how to find the hotel. Although it was close to the train station, somebody just helped me to find the right directions. In hindsight I should have used Here for pedestrians.   The hotel (Soperga, ranked three stars, yes I don't splurge on lodging) looked very neat and the room was larger than what we've seen previously in Italy (2017). I got out with Emma and dined to a nearby restaurant with owners from Middle East. I got a mussel soup, Dorado fried fish and salad. More than I usually eat for dinner. Emma got shrimp, langostino and fries. I even tried their house wine but the fermentation was spoiling it.   The whole experience was not bad and the prices were decent. I was surprised by the richness of the mussel soup. Emma ate at least half of the mussels from my appetizer. It was a nice restaurant with table cloth, men servers and people smiling when talking to you. Romania has a long way to go in that rega...

Photo by Olivia Spink on Unsplash Open up to "unconnected life" Or Meet-up on hidden dating I was using Meet-up app to find "birds-of-the-same-feather", people interested to do the same things, enjoying the same events or just willing to spend time in the same activity (hiking, dancing,  entrepreneurship, etc..). It was a big eye-opener, and with each group I had some period of accommodation: looking around and trying to understand why all those people are there, what is the reason they are coming and what they were looking for to be happening.You don't have to be a mind reader, the gazes of people are telling more than they will recognize. I will tell the story of my first meet-up with a dancing group/singles group. Friday is my tennis night and coming back with Emma from the courts I tried to see if I can arrange a baby-sitter for her in order to go to that event: a dancing night for singles (or not only). I was anxious because it was...