alone in Birmingham (about honeypower)

okay, this post is many, many months late.  better late than never, right?

i live in Birmingham, Alabama.  i have lived here my whole life, except for a few years in Mobile, Alabama when i was in elementary school and 5 years in Springfield, Tennessee beginning in August of 2001.

i love to travel.  i’ve been to England 4 times, but i have yet to see the rest of Europe.  i hope to travel many places with Milan (analytik).

i take pictures.  i don’t make as much time for it as i should, but even when i don’t have a camera, i’m taking pictures in my mind.  on days when i am feeling particularly inspired, i see the world as though through my camera lens – i notice things that i didn’t before and find beauty in even the most ordinary of things.

i read books.  a lot of them.  the last book i read was Dune by Frank Herbert.  i decided to read this book after Milan read to me from it [i find his voice relaxing, so he reads to me when i need to be soothed].  it’s not the kind of book that i usually read; my favorite authors include, in no particular order:  Ayn Rand, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., Haruki Murakami, Alice Munro, etc.  although Dune was a deviation from my normal choice in books, i really liked it, and i look forward to seeing the movie for the first time when Milan visits.

i may be “artsy fartsy,” as Milan described me in an older post, but i’m not tech-smart like he is.  this is one of the differences between us that i like most, and i hope that we will be able to teach each other and work together.  this possibility is very exciting to me.

i am 32 years old, soon to be 33.  and while i know myself pretty well by now, i will always be changing and evolving.  i believe that if i am not, then i’m not living the best life that i can.

even though this blog is titled “Love In Prague,” one of us isn’t physically there yet.  but i am in mind and spirit.  my heart is definitely already there, as it belongs to my best friend and favorite person in the world – Milan.

Zero is quite warm, actually

When I raised my head from the last page of 9th chapter and looked into the darkness, I’ve realized I don’t know where I am. Sitting on a comfy, warm bus, I tried to look at my biological timer, and I’ve realized I don’t know how long I’ve been reading Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?. The configuration of lamps and turns the bus took didn’t help; and this new bus I’ve never used before didn’t have the usual clock nor display with the name of a next stop.

It didn’t take that long and I’ve seen a familiar sign, grocery store owned probably by some Vietnamese people. I don’t shop there, not because I wouldn’t like them, but because it’s 20 minutes by feet. However, because the bus started moving shortly before I saw the sign, I knew I’ve had two bus stops to walk back, and hoped it wouldn’t be too far.

When I got out, in a place I’ve never seen before, I felt slightly puzzled. I knew approximately where I was, and the place didn’t look hostile; still some kind of curious feeling accompanied me for a few minutes, a taste of quiet adventure and being lost, memories of laughing inside on my own mistakes. I think I enjoy getting lost, to a degree, it’s kind of an adrenaline sport to me.

I wasn’t lost. Even when I felt weird when I took turn in what I knew was an opposite direction, eventually it turned out the be the right way – a few necessary turns, and I was on my way home. The weather is nice. There are still remnants of snow, with an ice coating at this hour; it was probably slightly above zero for most of the day, and it wasn’t windy, so I found this weather very pleasant. It’s strange, because other days, I was felt cold even in temperatures around ten degrees Celsius. I guess I just feel good, warm and happy inside. It’s the first time I’ve had a successful relationship for over 6 months, after all.

a lock of hair

It’s not a lucky charm, but I’m lucky to have it; it makes me happy.

I am slightly obsessed with hair. When I pass women on street, I tend to notice those with long hair and long skirts. I’ve realized that a nice hair can cloud my judgment enough to notice woman that I would otherwise consider… not really pretty. Of course, I don’t notice other women now that I’m in a relationship. *cough*

Anyway, I’m slightly obsessed with hair. I love to play with it. It’s enough to keep me distracted for a long time. When I’ve heard that my love sent me a lock of her hair, I got excited. However, I haven’t taken it out of the protective packet it was in for almost two months. When I finally got to it earlier this week, when I saw a physical representation of her love, when I thought about what it symbolizes, when I could hold it, when I felt it against my skin and my face… it was just amazing.

OK, creepy, I know. But it’s not like I would play with a lifeless lock of hair daily. It reminds me of the love we have, and that’s most important. Some probably don’t understand, but it’s a real help when you’ve never touched someone you love so dearly.

I need to buy *some* rings on Monday.

my green friend

This morning, I’ve suddenly noticed an alien in my room. A medium-sized grasshopper was sitting on my plastic bear-shaped honey container. I got scared for half a second, but I calmed down immediately. I hate most insects, but grasshoppers are not among them. It was nice to see him. I just wonder how he could sneak into my room – it’s on the third floor, and I’ve opened the window just a few minutes back.

He got scared of me as I was watching him, and jumped into the wall and fell into the ground behind my table. I wanted to put him inside an empty core of paper towels, but he got scared again and jumped away. I stopped paying attention to him, and couldn’t find him a minute later, anyway.

After a while, I saw him slowly climbing vertically up my blue curtain. It was nice, because it felt like he was my roommate, and he didn’t bother me. Now? He’s standing upside-down on the pole that’s holding the curtains (inserts more appropriate word here). I’m going to keep him for a while longer and then let him to his freedom, if such opportunity will arise.

It’s nice to live near the forest, in a quiet village, yet reasonable near the Prague.

2 minutes, 5 seconds

just a little while ago, i was sitting in front of my laptop doing my homework. after i pondered and logged each accounting journal entry, i looked at Gmail to see if my sweetheart was signed in. time after time, no such luck.
to explain:
Milan went out with coworkers for drinks after work. we would usually have our “Friday Night Date,” but tonight, he had plans. and i was glad that he would have a good time out, but i was a little worried about him getting home okay. he lives a good ways out of the city, and it’s not that i don’t think he can take care of himself, it’s that i love him and care about his safety.
it was 4.43pm [11.43pm his time]. just as i was looking up from my journal, wondering where he was and if he was okay, my phone rang. i never imagined that when i answered, i would hear his voice on the line! sweetly and slightly tipsy, he told me that he was waiting for the bus, and he would be home in a little less than an hour to talk to me. i was so relieved and excited to hear from him!
i listened carefully to his voice, so clear from half way around the globe. i could hear the city noise, and i imagined him there, waiting in the night and talking to me. i was hearing his sweet voice on my phone. for some reason, it wasn’t the same as on Skype. it was new and lovely.
the fact that he even thought of calling me to let me know where he was and how he was doing, almost ignoring the horrific charges he would surely see on his next cell phone bill, speaks volumes about him and his sense of caring.
the call lasted 2min 5sec. it was the most meaningful 2min 5sec phone call i have ever received in my life.

artsy fartsy

I never was. She is, and it’s one of many things I love about her.

Her home-made postcards? Pure awesome. No, really. You’d have to see them to understand. Wait, no. Even if you’d see them you wouldn’t understand the depth of it. The details, the respect, the admiration, the love, the attention, the… the… I can’t even name all the qualities that she put into it, and which she puts into our relationship every day.

And the fact is that I never will be able to give her these kinds of presents. And I know she doesn’t expect it, but still… I wish I could give her some thoughtful presents, not just present thoughts. I will come up with something.

But yeah. I’m pretty sure that long distance relationships can work.

the greatest gift

i so enjoy doing things for Milan to show him how much i love and care for him: sending postcards and packages filled with love letters/ gifts and emails that tell him how much i adore him.
few things fill my heart with such joy as making him happy.
i hope i will always be the person in his life to make him smile [and what a gorgeous smile he has!].
i want to be his best friend, his love, his support – always.

i am thankful every day for the love that he gives to me. it truly is the greatest gift.

a matter of taste

it has become obvious to me that one of our biggest challenges as a couple will be food. the question, “what should we have for [insert mealtime here]?” is likely to be met with differing opinions. this is not mainly because of cultural differences, as one would guess, but because my love has some really disgusting taste in food! not everything he likes is in conflict with my taste, but we have enough differences in the food department to keep things interesting. for instance, today he ate some sort of pudding type thing [he called it "wet floor," if i heard him correctly (he meant "wheat flour")] made with vanilla soymilk and topped with cocoa. actually, that doesn’t sound too bad. but later, he made French toast with salami slices topped with mustard. i think i saw some onion on his plate as well. he called this “exotic food,” which i found hilarious. and to use his own words from ages ago, he “likes mustard more than the average guy who likes mustard,” which illustrates just how much mustard he ate.
we have had an entire discussion about French toast – twice, even. i like my French toast with butter [and a little syrup, if i'm feeling adventurous]. he would never eat it that way, and he has never even had syrup. i think French toast is to be served sweet, he obviously believes it is savory.
plus, he’s either told me about, or i have seen him eating by webcam, other meals of questionable taste. he definitely eats like a young, single guy. eggs cooked in the microwave with oil? that sounds terrible to me.
figuring this out is going to be fun! i look forward to cooking meals for him.
but you know what? his weird food choices is one of the many, many, many things that i love about him. i wouldn’t change him for anything.

Alone in Prague (about analytik)

What? Five months? No way.

Well, “yes way.” It doesn’t feel like it, but it’s been five months since I moved here, to Prague. I actually live near Prague, it takes cca 45 minutes to get from my place to my workplace, and I don’t mind it much, because there’s a forest outside of my window (I like forests), and it’s calm and quiet here. Except when kids are playing outside on weekends (I don’t like kids) or when ice cream truck passes by to bring up some childhood memories.

I am never bored. (Except when I am too tired to do anything and can’t fall asleep.) I am slightly bipolar. (Except when I’m not.) I like the BrE (en-UK) pronunciation of “can’t” and few other words. I originally preferred British way of spelling and pronouncing, but I got used to spelling with “-ize”. I still can’t get over how awful “zee” instead of “zet” sounds. (“Whoa. Coach Zed. That’s way cooler. I’m gonna start calling him that too, and maybe he won’t suck so bad!”) I like HomestarRunner.com and few other web comics. I listen to music a lot. I like onions and The Onion. I don’t trust Wikipedia too much, even when I use it pretty often. Google is my best software/service friend. I love my Brita. I don’t like insects.

I’ve been seen doing several things at once. Chatting [online] with multiple people at once massively distracts and confuses me. Sometimes I play two games at once. Sometimes I have a magazine or a book ready while I’m playing, reading it while the game loads or plays boring unskippable cutscenes. (I like to experiment, and not just in games.) I am actually now eating a bit, reading an email from my honey and cleaning up the place. (I am totally not the obsessively perfectionist handyman; my room is usually a mess, but I have those “that’s it!” moments like today.) I love both Merriam-Webster and OALD. I actually purchase software now and then. I don’t think there’s any software by Apple for PC that’s usable. Safari isn’t bad, but nowhere as great as Firefox 3.1.

I love Brooke, and I hope that one day, we’ll be together. And by “one day,” I mean “forever.”

distance

for me, it’s not really Love In Prague … yet.  i am in the United States, and analytik, my true love, is in Prague.  if things go as planned, it will be Love In Prague when i move there next year.  

until then, we will maintain this blog together.  this blog is described as being about life and love, and judging from our personality types, analytik will probably post more about life, while i will probably post more about love.  but that is just a guess, and i could be completely wrong.  

i am so curious to see how this project will progress.