For my TM speech tomorrow evening I have to present an object or process (demonstration speech). I decided I want to talk about making chocolate candy (but the same principle goes for fondue, so it doesn't really matter). I also decided I'll take some home-made candy with me so the people can try them. Starting to make the candy this evening I suddenly realized it's a lot better to just make pictures tonight, and drag only the projector with me tomorrow, instead of bringing cream, and chocolate, and whatnot. So I managed to get a decent series of photos to demonstrate the process (no human presence, but oh well). So, here they are.

Also, the fondue realization made me search for a nice pic to get the people in the club salivating :) I think I found the perfect one.

And last, but not least - I think it's about time I get my "Come over to the dark side, we have cake" t-shirt (courtesy of Ioani)... I should probably warn people about what I'll do to them *wicked grin*

At some point I realized I have a sort of non-caring relationship with music. I've never been one to willingly go and search for (or listen to) music. For a looong time I only listened to music while driving - because it keeps me awake. Especially if I can sing along. I also had a playlist full with ambient music - which I used when doing work that requires focused attention. I was able to concentrate better with ambient on, than in the quiet.

And then, Z-rock happened. I liked it enough to actually listen to the radio outside of my car. I actually started finding music because I've heard a song or two of a particular band on the radio and I liked it. I started going to concerts, even if I'm not a huge fan of the band (btw, Metallica and Iron Maiden may be classics, but they're not something I enjoy).

I think the changing point came this summer when I went to Paris for a week, alone. The music was there to keep me company, and it was really nice - just getting random songs from various artists you like.

Now I have lots and lots and LOTS of music. Stephanie Meyer (as I mentioned in a previous post) was an awesome source for new music. I actually love 3 or 4 of the bands she listed - including Collective Soul (yum!), Matchbox Twenty, Paramore. There's also a lot I got as a result of Z-Rock. So now I have the iPod in my ears _constantly_ - I think yesterday I turned it on when I got to work at 9 a.m., turned it off when I went to sleep, 11:30 p.m. I have it on "shuffle all songs", and it's awesome!

So somehow, unnoticed, music became a huge part of my life. I'm actually considering it rather disappointing I don't have a friend who sings or plays some instrument (except Milen, but he doesn't really count :) ).

I went to a gathering of my classmates from primary school (that would be ages 6 to 13) yesterday (Sunday) evening. There were myself, my class teacher in 4-7th grade and my teacher from 1-3 grade (who I didn't recognize and whose name I didn't remember...) and 7 of the guys. Most of the other people were abroad, and a few they couldn't find contacts for. All in all we had a good time, but I think a few things are worth mentioning:

- I was surprised how little I remember - especially compared to some of the other people. But we all seemed to remember the mischievous things we did, and not anything serious :) Also, people who were absent were being described through place of residence and one primary characteristic - how they used to fight, or who they hung out with, or what hair they had. And that worked in most of the cases.

- One thing in particular stood out. It's been 17 years since I've seen some of the people (yeah, I know, scary). Some of them I haven't seen or talked to for longer (because they switched schools or something). And we all got along great - the conversation was flowing smoothly (turns out we see things in surprisingly similar ways - esp. when it comes to politics it was rather shocking), everyone was enjoying themselves. And I had an overwhelming sense of belonging - no awkwardness or anything (except towards one person who I've never really liked). I guess there must be something there to make us feel so well together - even if we all do different things in life, have different habits, different family statuses, etc.

- Somewhat connected to the above is a realization I had around the end of the evening. There's this guy that came to our school in 1st and 2nd grade (that'd be 6 and 7 years old for both of us) - he then moved to Africa. When he came back to Bulgaria in 2001 he organized a gathering of the class - so an evening with him in a group of about 15 people. I see him yesterday, and it's like I'm seeing my best friend. I could understand what he meant with every gesture and half word. Which is more, it was really easy talking to him - and he also reacted to me as if we're long lost best friends - hugging, kissing, making plans to see each other again. I don't remember being close with him when we were in school together. He's had a very different life - he's half-colombian, lived for however many years in Africa, and is a very creative person (music)... and still we get along amazingly well. And now I wonder if we spend more time together, would we prove to be too different, or would the differences just be a spice, and not get in the way of a friendship.

Well, I'm now middle-aged, and suitably depressed (though the situation is starting to get back to normal, slowly).

I'm uncharacteristically obsessed with Twilight - both the movie and the books (and the soundtrack and score from the movie). Slightly worrying, though now I know the most probable reason why. Oh well, this too shall pass. One good thing coming from the obsession - S.M. posted playlists for every book on her site, and now I'm getting horrifying amounts of music in genres I like - mostly alternative. Yum.

Work is more or less OK,there are no immediate travel plans (for many reasons), so I can safely state that my life is decently boring, as usual.

Nice after-effect of the bday - I now have the _entire_ Munchkin game (plus Chibithulhu, yum yum) - thanks, Gregg! - and Jenga. I should organize a game weekend, once I get myself back to talking to people without biting their heads off for no serious reason.

And, just for the record, I hate magic candles.

It's been ages since I wrote here... about a month, to be precise. Not much has happened in the meantime (at least nothing of great importance), so here's a few minor things:

I've been baking more recently. The rule of 20 C lower temp that what the recipe specifies works a charm, as the "cut the sugar in half". I've been making cakes (торти _и_ кексове), meringues (small yummy ones), cookies and I'm thinking I should find a few recipes for salty cakes as I'm trying to reduce my sugar intake as much as possible.

I got my camera fixed - it got ill around New Years. Guy at the repair shop (very fast and reasonably priced) said it was due to something sweet spilled - but the important thing is it's working again, yay!

I'm now ill at home. So is my dad, our cleaning lady (she's staying at her home, not ours, LOL), and my designers were on the verge of getting ill today - so we all went home around noon. I hope we get better soon - not only we have lots of work, I have plans to travel during the weekend (Kalofer, nothing special, but still).

I'm planning on delivering my next speech on the topic of friendships. I've been thinking about that a lot recently. And btw, something of great importance did happen recently - I started chatting with Gregg extensively. And it's a bit weird how two people of very different backgrounds can have so much in common behaviour-wise, and think in synch as much as we do. Oh well, life works in mysterious ways :)

Also, I'm obsessed with the movie Twilight I saw on Monday. I can't wait to see it again. But in the meantime I ordered 2 of the 3 books (the third was out of stock), I hope i like them as well!

Once again it's been a looong time since I posted, so here go a few things I did / realized / stumbled upon in the meantime, not in the order they happened:

1. I like dancing, but only when doing it with someone else (i.e. - couple). I don't do group or solitary dancing, seems stupid to me.

2. I had two major NY resolutions for this year - to get more girlfriends and to learn German. I didn't learn German, but made up my mind to start with French, probably in the beginning of next year. Might turn out to be fun. The girlfriends part was... well, partly a success, partly a fiasco - I now take far more care in who I trust, but the bottom line is I sort of have 3 new female friends, even if we're not really close.

3. Getting new friends works weird in my life. Generally it's a question of someone I know deciding they want to be friends with me (or vice versa), and suddenly we're very close. That happened... well, at least 4 times this year.

4. I think I might be cursed. It's not normal to be that unlucky with guys. And no, I don't mean the curse part seriously, but really, by now it's a bit too much.

5. One thing I did do this year is get into cooking more seriously - partly because I got an iPod and discovered the wonder that are free cooking techniques podcasts, and partly because I found 2 great stores with professional equipment. This weekend is under the theme of Christmas cookies - will post some pics when I'm done.

6. Went to a swing concert yesterday evening. Was major fun (except for one of the Bulgarian warm-up bands), and it's surprising how many people knew about this concert - there were about 800 of us, and that's on the concert of a swing band from somewhere in the States... I guess the fact that both rock radios in Bulgaria (Z-Rock and Tangra Mega Rock) were dealing with the promos played its role. The people there definitely looked like rock/metal fans.

7. When I feel one of my friends is in distress, my first response is to figuratively rush to the rescue - mostly by trying to talk to them. I value my friends and don't want to see them miserable. I just hope at least some of them feel that way about me.

8. I discovered stand-up. It's amuzing, but I feel I watch it with a critical eye - probably because of all the articles on stand-up in the Toastmasters magazine. It's interesting how many different styles there are - starting from different behaviour on the stage and finishing with what (or who) the jokes are about. The scariest stand-up I've seen was a group of black comedians doing stand-up in front of an entirely black audience (except for one white guy)...

I guess that's enough for now :) might write some more later if I feel like it.

Today I went to the bank to pick up my new Visa Electron (they had to re-issue the card, because they had doubt its number was stolen and someone else tried to use it). Turns out someone (most probably a moronic operator somewhere) misspelled my name, even though it was spelled correctly in the form. So now I have to wait a further week until I get my new card. Drat!

Guess this gives me the time to figure out whether I really want to order some stuff online, but it's still annoying. Especially if the delay means I won't get the stuff before Christmas.

Going to Blagoevgrad tomorrow for the most idiotic reunion ever (read: 1 day event, with current students there, with registration from 8 to 10, if you make it - fine, if not, screw you). Still trying to figure out travel arrangements, as my initial plan fell through (gah, uncertainty, gah).

Have a new, supposedly very fashionable hair cut (to me it looks more or less the same, but it does look nice).

Wrote a sort of article for the benefit of our Toasmasters club members, should also post it on the site. It's fun to write articles, I should figure a way to do it more often.

Came up with cool brand names for 2 types of coffee, now let's hope the client likes them.

Have a nice millefeuille recipe, now I have to find time to do it (it's complicated and LONG).

Next week the expo madness is starting (we are visiting one HUGE expo, participating in a second one through another company, and showcasing our products in a third, with the first two overlapping, and the third one directly after them). I hope I survive without screaming at too many people.