My Spot

Pink

2008-10-12T11:17:00.001-07:00

Pretty in Pink
Originally uploaded by Cobra_11

Today was such a wonderful day. It was warm and sunny and I spent the whole afternoon sitting in the back yard, reading a book (funny enough, it was a book about blogs for a paper that I have to write) and just enjoying the sun! On my way back in I took the shot of this lovely pink rose.

Tomorrow, I'm invited to a family friend for roasted chestnuts! I can't wait to eat them for the first itme this year! :-)

I wish you all a pleasant start of the week! :-)

The Springs of Life

2008-10-10T02:27:00.001-07:00

Rivers
Originally uploaded by Cobra_11

We had some rain this morning. When it stopped, I decided to go on a little "hunt" for the beautiful patterns that water can make. I found such delicate details on the leaves of some plants in the garden and I made some shots.

This one made me think about how precious water is... These little rivers are the springs of life! Every drop of water is important. It can give life to a living being. Many people around the world have no access to clean drinking water... Farms can't exist where there's no water... Life dies out if this precious liquid dries out...

We all use water every day, but never think how valuable it really is... It's becoming extremely scarce in some parts of the world, so those of us who have it in abundance, should learn to appreciate it more!

Autumn is here

2008-10-02T11:25:00.001-07:00

Waking up
Originally uploaded by Cobra_11

It's my favourite time of the year again! There's more than one reason for my love of autumn. First of all, the weather. I love the so called Indian summer! There's nothing mor beautiful than a long walk in the woods on a cold, but sunny autumn day. You can feast your eyes on such beautiful colours...

Then, there are the pumpkins :-) You'll probably laugh at my fondness of these round, orange fruits, but I can't help it! To cut out a scary face and then to put a candle into the pumpkin and light it up in the evening is simply magical :-)

Of course, there's my passion for photography. Autumn is such a lovely time to take shots. The sun has this warm light that, if you know how to use it to your advantage, can give the photos a special, soft touch. The effect of the sunlight coming through the colourful leaves of various trees is another favourite motive of mine :-)

And, last but no least, there's my birthday :-))) Yes, it's coming up very soon and I'm already all excited about it! But, there's still some time until THE day, so until then enjoy the photo of the horse chestnut I took earlier today and posted on my Flickr site.

26th September: The European Day of Languages

2008-09-26T09:49:00.001-07:00

The European Day of Languages
Originally uploaded by Cobra_11

I think that, since I'm an English teacher by profession, it is suitable that I post something for the European Day of Languages. I won't start writing about the history of the Day (you have the Wikipedia link for that), but I'll say a few words about my point of view on this Day.

I've always loved languages and learning new ones has been a hobby of mine ever since I can remember. I try to pick up as much as I can from as many different languages as I can from TV and the Internet (well, at least bits and pieces, phrases,...) and I think it's wonderful that we have the European Day of Languages. This way, people learn about the importance of learning new languages and about the diversity of languages around the world!

Nowadays there is a growing tendency around the world to learn the so called "little languages", i.e. langugages who have a relatively small number of native speakers. However, at the same time, exactly these native speakers often aren't aware of how precious their languages are... And I speak from experience here. Let me take Slovene as an example. It has about 2 million native speakers, who, instead of being proud of their language, try their hardest not to use our wonderful language! The names of shops, pubs, etc. are English, young people use wierd derivatives from English (I am fluent in English, but sometimes I have real problems understanding some of the words I hear in the street!!) and to top it all off, the language of the Internet chatrooms and SMS messages is taking over! Why is all this happening? Because it's "cooler" to use all those "LOLs", "BRBs" we're surrounded with in our everyday life than to use beautiful words we have in Slovene!

Another problem for such languages as Slovene is that there is usually a large number of immigrants among their speakers. Again, I speak from experience. I know Slovenes who moved to America. They speak Slovene, but don't teach their kids the language of their ancestors! Why? So that the kids would fit better into the new society! That is such a load of rubbish! In today's world, knowing a language such as Slovene could be a huge advantage, not a drawback!

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for learning new languages, but we should always be proud of our mother tongue and use it proudly and properly!

Environmentally friendly!!

2008-09-22T10:23:00.001-07:00

A Day Without a Car
Originally uploaded by Cobra_11

How environmentally aware are we really? Well, I'd say we're quite enthusiastic and active on that area... on paper, at least. Hmmm... I suppose we have to start somewhere... Anyway, when it comes to practice, we're so far behind the whole save-the-planet-eco-green-environmentally-friendly plan that we would have to be dragged on by a herd of horses if we are to contribute to the cause of reducing the gass emissions and saving our planet eventually.

Last week was "Mobility Week" in Ljubljana. The rides on the city buses were free, which was absolutely fabulous! There was a bit less traffic in the city AND I saved about 5 € on the bus tokens. The city centre was a bit cleaner and a walk in the streets was quite pleasant. So, I guess I could say that the Mobility-Week project was successful. We were ready to enter the next eco-level.

So, to top off the "Mobility Week", we had "A Day Without a Car" in our capital today. But was it really a day WITHOUT a car? This shot was taken at about 8 o'clock in the morning. There was hardly a square inch of the road that was car-free!! WITHOUT a car? Come on... (And for those of you wondering whether I was sitting in my car in this metal mess: NO, I was travelling by bus today - and I think we all know why, right?)

So, let me conclude with these words: let's keep on being "environmentally friendly" and drive around in cars - one person pro car, if possible!

Peace

2008-09-21T08:56:00.001-07:00

Peace
Originally uploaded by Cobra_11

21s September is the International Day of Peace. We all live on this beautiful planet called Earth and we could all have a splended time doing so, but we obviously don't feel like it. So, instead of making friends and living in peace and harmony, we do the one thing that is absolutely unnecessary: we fight and spend our time making wars and enemies, even killing ourselves.

I've been present on the Web for about 2 years now. I started on Blogger and now I have a Flickr site, too. During this time, I've made some great friends from all over the world. Lovely friendships, created just by talking to others! I've realized that we, the young people of the world, should be the world leaders! If that was the case, then the world would be a kind and warm place to live in! I do hope that that becomes reality one day!

Peace to the World!

Click it, scroll it, zip it, lock it

2008-08-25T10:17:00.000-07:00

This is my absolute favourite song at the moment ;-)

A Big Bowl of Plumcots

2008-08-02T02:14:00.000-07:00

These are plumcots (as the name suggests, a plumcot is a cross between a plum and an apricot). We picked them at our friend's yesterday. They are delicious! Their sweet-sour taste is very refreshing in the summer heat - especially if you chill them in the fridge first! These are not that big - somewhere between a cherry and a small plum - so, just enough for a bite :-) Delicious!

Growing Brain

2008-07-28T05:13:00.001-07:00

Today, I was reading Reader's Digest (Slovene edition) and I came accross a very interesting article about juggling. It said that juggling is supposed to increase the volume of your brain and sharpen the ability to memorize pictures and process the data about moving objects. Since I love photography and cars, I could do with a little "brain-expanding"! ;-)

So, I got out my "juggling kit" and now I'm off to "renew" my juggling skills! Wish me luck!

(The photo is also posted on my Flickr site.)

The Unknown Deck

2008-07-27T05:05:00.001-07:00

This is a deck of cards I bought some years ago. It's been lying around the appartment for years. Initially, I bought these cards because they were so different - unlike any cards I had seen before. Eventually, I put the deck away and forgot all about it. Recently, I re-discovered it and I started studying them. However, I have no idea how to play the game with this deck! All I know is the name of the game in Slovene: "briškula" (brishkula). On the box there are 2 more names: "triestine" and "triplex". The game is very popular in Italy and Istria. Perhaps it's played somewhere else, too? :-)

Well, I would love to learn to play it, so if any of you out there know the rules, you're welcome to comment this post and explain the game! I will be very grateful! :-)

The photo is also posted on my Flickr page.

Family Treasure

2008-07-27T00:36:00.001-07:00

A couple of days ago I was "exploring" one of our cupboards and I "discovered" the Symphonion. I decided to take some photos (which can also be seen on my Flickr site). This little music box is more than a hundred years old (from the middle of the 19th century) and it belonged to my great great grandma. When my mum was a kid, they would take it out every Christmas and the whole family would sit around and listen to the sweet music coming from it. Later on, the box was handed down to my mum, so it ended up in our family. The Christmas tradition was continued when I was a kid. I could also play the records whenever I was sick and lying in bed - just to take the pain away and keep me busy. Getting it out after all this time brought back all those beautiful memories...

Silver / Gümüş yılan ;-)

2008-07-02T09:57:00.000-07:00

It's been quite a while since I posted anything on my blog, but I had a reason for my "pause": my exams. I've been learning like crazy for the past 4 months or so, putting everything on hold, and today I passed another one of my exams. I only have one more to go and then I'll be able to enjoy my holidays!! Until then, I've decided to post the leading shot on my Flickr page. So far, it's got 324 views and the number is growing :-) Quite an achievement, don't you think?

For crying out loud! - Part 4

2008-05-25T02:40:00.000-07:00

Well, the finals of the Eurosong competition are over. I stayed up last night all the way to the end, contributing my fair share of votes, of course, so I decided to write one final word on the subject today.

Once again I must say: Belgrade, absolutely brilliant organization! The scenery, the hosts, the way things were going,... Immaculate!! Well done!!

And now back to the singers. I haven't changed my opinion since my last post. In fact, I have a few more remarks to make. The guy who came on stage in a glofcart? The toy-pink-guitar guy?! Too much is too much!! And Russia winning? If you ask me, it wasn't for the song, but for the "co-actors" Plushenko and the violin player. Europeans, you forgot the point of Eurosong -you're supposed to vote for the songs, not the theatrical show...

Well, unfortunately my favourites, Mor ve Ötesi, ended up 7th. My votes didn't help much... Let's hope for a 1st place next year!!! :-)

For crying out loud! - Part 3

2008-05-23T12:59:00.000-07:00

Soon after I started writing my blog, I wrote 2 articles about the Eurosong competition (that was the year the Finnish group Lordi won). Well, 2 years have passed since then and, after thinking long and hard whether to "indulge" myself in writing on this subject once more or not, I decided that I simply have to get it out of my system - again!

I watched both "pre-finals" and I would like to begin with something positive. I must say that the organization in Belgrade was absolutey amazing! The scenery was beautiful - I especially liked the glass stage - and everything went smoothly. Well done, Belgrade!

What scared me half to death were the singers! Already in my 2006 article I talked about the horrors of having to watch terrible correographies and listen to bad songs and screaming singers. Well, 2 years have passed since then and, let me tell you, the whole thig has become even worse. Pirates and chickens on stage?! Come on!! Is this a singing competition or a bad theatre?! There was only a handful of real professionals - the rest was the kind of material you find in the lowest nightclubs (those without any audience in them!). If it was up to me, only 6 countries would qualify for the finals: Iceland, Sweden, Denmark, Hungary, Slovenia and - since I'm a huge rock fan - my favourite of all, Turkey! Now, those are professionals!! Immaculate performance, professional singers with good voices, and nobody was making a clown of themselves on the stage! Only 4 of them got into the finals, though (Slovenia and Hungary are out), so let's wait until tomorrow, when the big night comes! Let's not forget what the point of this competition is (EuroSONG!) and vote with that in our minds!

Not only people love Heineken...

2008-05-01T10:34:00.000-07:00

Taken on 1st May 2008.

Also posted on my Flickr site.

Doğru Sorun'un Altını Çizin (= "Understand the problem")

2008-04-12T10:30:00.000-07:00

Olmak ya da olmamak,
Bilmek ya da bilmemek,
Sevmek ya da sevmemek,
Anlamak ya da anlamamak,
Gülmek ya da gülmemek,
Ölmek ya da ölmemek,
Alışmak ya da alışmamak.

This is a short poem, which came up as a text I had to work with in my Turkish workbook. I like it, so I decided to post it here on my blog. It's in the style of "to be or not to be". For those of you, who don't know any Turkish - here's a short dictionary:
ya da = or,
olmak = to be, olmamak = not to be (this is the same with the other verbs: the first form is the affirmative one and the second one is the negative one, so I'll just write the first forms here),
bilmek = to know,
sevmek = to love,
anlamak = to understand,
gülmek = to laugh,
ölmek = to die,
alışmak = to get used to something.

:-)))

2008-03-25T14:28:00.000-07:00

During my Youtube-ing, I found this little guy! Check it out - and watch to the end (the best part comes last)!! :-)

Easter Bread / Osterbrot

2008-03-24T04:37:00.000-07:00

My mum and I decided to make bread this morning. We "built" the loaf out of 8 little buns. This way, it's easier to break a piece off (no cutting needed) and it looks more decorative and festive than usual loaves. From the top, the loaf looks like a flower :-) Help yourself! It's still warm and crispy!

Easter Eggs / Ostereier / Paskalya yumurtası

2008-03-22T08:33:00.000-07:00

It's Eastertime! Every year, I make Easter eggs and every year I try to make them with a different technique. These are this year's products. I coloured them by cooking them together with red-onion leaves and some grated carrots. That's how they got their "suntan". Colouring the eggs this way is an ancient technique in Slovenia. You can get different colours by cooking different vegetables together with the eggs: red beetroot colours the eggs pink, red onions brown, carrots orange.

However, before cooking the eggs, I put on as many rubber bands on each egg as I could - and into the boiling water they went! That's how the stripes were created. It would be even better if I had wider rubber bands, but I quite like them the way they are.

And, to add the final touch, I polished each egg with a cloth dipped in salad oil - this gave the Easter eggs their shine. Instead of salad oil you can also use a thin piece of bacon and rub the eggs in it (for all those bacon-lovers out there - don't worry, the bacon is not wasted: you can eat it afterwards, because the colouring of the eggs is natural and "sterile" after boiling the eggs for a quarter of an hour). How do you like the design? :-)

Merhaba! (Learning Turkish)

2008-03-22T08:25:00.001-07:00

At the moment, I'm busy studying for my exams (I'm a post-graduate student now :-) ) and in the middle of all my work, I decided I needed a new hobby. You know, something to help me "unwind" from all the exam-work. Since I like learning languages very much, I decided that that's what I'm going to do for relaxation. So, because I have many Turkish friends on Flickr and because I find the language very interesting, I decided to learn Turkish. And so far it's going great! :-)

Kozolec

2008-02-25T12:19:00.000-08:00

I went for a walk again today and I took a photo of this marvelous "kozolec". Those of you, who have never been to Slovenia, have probably never seen one of these before, so let me explain what it is.

The only (and official) name for this structure is "kozolec" and it's a wooden structure used by the farmers to dry hay on. As you can see, it has vertical and horizontal poles (which are quite thick - so the structure is not as fragile as it looks) and a mini-roof. The hay is stacked between the horizontal poles (beams, I think, would be a much better expression) and left to dry in the sun. The tradition of "kozolci" (=the plural of the word) is quite an old one. Every meadow in Slovenia has at least one.

The one you can see here is a so-called single "kozolec", and it's quite a long one, too. Usually, they are shorter. You see, the size and the length of the "kozolec" depends on the size of the farm - the bigger the farm, the longer the "kozolec". There is another kind - the double one - which is called "toplar". I'll take a photo of a "toplar", too, and post it on my blog so that you can compare the two.

A Long Afternoon Walk

2008-02-24T07:00:00.000-08:00

I decided to go for a walk this afternoon. I took one of my cameras with me - just in case I found something interesting to take a photo of. As I stepped out of the house, I found this family of yellow crocuses on our flower bed.

So, off I went. After quite a long way, I decided to have a rest in the woods. Just as I sat down on a rock, I noticed the primroses, sunbathing in the afternoon sun.

On my way back, I found this fellow looking up at me. It's a green Christmas flower. They are quite common in our woods. We have the white kind, as well, but you can't find them anymore - their season is around Christmas only, so now there're just the green ones left.

The final touch to my walk was making the panorama shot. It's my first panorama shot ever, so don't be too critical of the photo. I know the light is all wrong, but blame it on the sun - it was very bright today. Just enjoy looking at the magnifiscent nature instead :-)

The Crocus Family

2008-02-09T10:18:00.000-08:00

Today, we had a sunny day. The sunshine woke up some flowers, including the Crocus family. If you look 4 posts back (to my flower collection), you'll see that I posted a photo of a bud of one of the family members. Well, this afternoon, I took the photo of the whole family! Mum Crocus, Dad Crocus and Baby Crocus, still on its way from beneath, are on the photo on the right. On the left, you can see a close-up of one of the flowers. Beautiful, isn't it? :-)

I Got a Reward!!!

2008-02-09T03:00:00.000-08:00

A friend and fellow blogger, Dancin' Fool, has awarded me this "Treasured Blogger" badge!! Yeepeee! My first on-line award ever!! I'm so proud of it, especially because it was given to me by such an expert! Thank you so much, Dancin' Fool!

The Hawfinch

2008-02-09T02:46:00.000-08:00

A few minutes ago I managed to take this photo of a hawfinch in my seed bowl. These birds are extremely beautiful - they even have some feathers at the end of their wings (near the tail) that are of very unusual shapes, and which I have never seen on any other bird before. Hawfinches usually come to my feeder during the winter. A couple of years ago I counted more than 20 every day! This year, however, there's just one bird that drops by for a bite every now and then. It was extremely difficult to make this photo. Hawfinches are among the most paranoid birds I know! They move and twitch all the time and they fly away at the slightest move they notice! This one usually panics and flies away even before I manage to take my camera out of the box, but this time, hunger was bigger than fear and he stayed just long enough for me to take this shot! :-)