2007 in pictures

This is sort of what 2007 looked like for the Professor and me.



It was a pretty good year.

On a quest

When we walked into Flannagan's tonight, the blonde waitress got a huge grin on her face. She seated us and asked if we would want to get something to drink. I asked if we could have two Bloody Mary's please. Yes, she said, and this time we'll put some vodka in them too.

See, the first time we tried to get Bloody Mary's at Flannagan's, it was Election Day and they were not allowed to serve alcohol so we drank Virgin Bloody Mary's. The second time we tried to get Bloody Mary's at Flannagan's we drank Virgin Bloody Mary's AGAIN.

It was the second round of the election.

The K-G's at 1.

Today we turn 1 year old.

It's been a blast.

***
Photo by Nasko.

A day in the life of...

My first week at Netage was extremely confusing for a whole range of reasons but mostly because every other guy seemed to be named one of 5 names. There were two Krassi's (Little Krassi and Big Krassi), two Tsetso's (Little Tsetso and Big Tsetso), two Joro's (Joro Ivanov and Joro Var) and two Momchil's (Bulgarian Momchil and American Momchil).

This week I am realizing that I am not the only one who's being confused by this rather humorous name situation:

Little Krassi: I received an email from a client that was meant for Big Krassi.
Petya: What did you do?
Little Krassi: I emailed the client back and told them: You sent me an email that was meant for Big Krassi.
Petya: What did the client say?
Little Krassi: The client said, Oh! I thought that Big Krassi left Netage.
Petya: What did you say to that?
Little Krassi: I said, No! Big Krassi is still here. Little Tsetso left Bulgaria.
Petya: What did the client say?
Little Krassi: He said, I am happy that at least I sent the email to the correct company.

Entre-pre-nerd

entre·pre·nerd [ahn-truh-pruh-nurd]
noun

1. A person who derives significant visceral joy from the discussion of minor technical business nuances.
2. An intelligent but single-minded person obsessed with the idea that they can learn the magic behind the curtain called business by reading just one more book, going to one more seminar and talking to one last massively successful person.
3. A technician struck by an entrepreneurial seizure
4. A principal who performs sensationally socially silly acts, as wearing a name tag for 7 years or biting off the head of a rubber chicken (sorry no picture), to build up his brand and reputation.

Do you know anyone who fits that description?

via Shane and Peter

Jens Lekman, as suspected, is a nice guy

Prof. Grady is doing a 12-Days-of-Christmas thing where each day he writes about a 2007 record that he's especially enjoyed. The first one he talked about was Jens Lekman's Night Falls Over Kortedala.

Earlier today:

Petya Kirilova: petya.kirilova [at] gmail [dot] com
to: jens [at] srvice [dot] com,
date: Dec 16, 2007 10:14 PM
subject: two of your songs and a mistake


Hi,

My husband and I were just talking about you today. We both have put a song by you on our Best of 2007 lists. His favorite is The Opposite of Hallelujah and mine is Black Cat. Which, turns out, is actually called Black Cab. And here I am telling you about it like I wasn't embarrassed enough.

Have a great day,

Petya
Sofia, Bulgaria

AND:

Jens Lekman: jens [at] srvice [dot] com
to: Petya Kirilova petya.kirilova [at] gmail [dot] com>
date: Dec 16, 2007 10:31 PM
subject: Re: two of your songs and a mistake


Ha ha !
sweet.
/ Jens


The K-G's are smitten.

About a dog

Our local grocery store is a smallish establishment that is pretty crowded most of the day but really just BURSTING at the seams around dinner time. People come and go and return to get the stuff they forgot. And then send their kids to pick up some beer.

People tie their dogs up by a little telephone booth right by the door of the store. The dogs are usually pretty good about it. They sit there patiently and don't mind sharing the booth with other canines. Just sit and wait. Except for the little ones that get impatient and try to get rid of their leash and do little funny barks at people who look at them and then look away.

The other night, on my way back from work I walked past the store and saw a little dachshund standing under the telephone booth. His leash was lying in a muddy puddle right next to her and her owner was nowhere to be seen. I thought that she'd tied the puppy to the telephone booth and went into the grocery store to buy some food. Then I thought that maybe the owner had lost the dog and the dog had come to the grocery store to look for them and that, I thought, was both terribly sweet but also just terrible because it meant that the dog could have been lost. So I walked up to the puppy, grabbed the leash and stood there waiting for someone to come claim her.

I stood and waited, stood and waited. Lots of people smiled at me because I had a cute dog. A couple of guys laughed at me for having dressed the puppy in a little puppy sweater. It's not my dog, I wanted to say, but I really like her sweater so I didn't say anything. I stood there for fifteen minutes.

Finally, the owner came out of the store, grabbed the leash right out of my hand and said Oh, the leash came untied. Then walked off. I wished I'd stolen the dog and brought it home to my husband. He would have loved it more.

Make up and make out.

Var got a new toy: a little LEGO truck with a little LEGO man.
Somebody gave him a Bionicle too.
I had a miniature Eiffel Tower on my desk.

At first, the Bionicle kicked little LEGO-man's ass.


But then, they made up.

And made out.


The end.

Bulgaria's children

Back in September, BBC aired Bulgaria’s Abandoned Children—a documentary about Mogilino, a Bulgarian social institution for children that have been abandoned by their parents.

I have been silent about this for several reasons. First, the horror of what I saw has mostly left me short of words. Second, many people who know more about the issue have written about it. Third, I am hopeless to ever be able to do anything that could in some way impact the lives of those children. Today I realized that’s all bullshit. So, RIGHT NOW.

1. I would like to ask you all to watch the film. The full version of the documentary is available through google video.
2. I would like you to please read as much as you can about it:
- The Mogilino case timeline
- The Mogilino blog (in Bulgarian)
3. I would like to ask you to get involved in a way you feel comfortable with:
- The Campaign for BULGARIA'S ABANDONED CHILDREN lists a variety of ways in which you could get involved: donate, fundraise, volunteer
- Join the Bulgaria’s Abandoned Children group on Facebook
- Write to:

Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev
Council of Ministers
1 Dondukov Blvd
1194 Sofia, Bulgaria
fax: +3592 981 8170
Salutation: Dear Prime Minister

Minister of Labour and Social Policy Emilia Maslarova
2 Triaditsa Street
1051 Sofia, Bulgaria
fax: +3592 988 4405, +3592 986 1318
email: mlsp@mlsp.government.bg, inter.coop@mlsp.government.bg
Salutation: Dear Minister

Minister of Healthcare Radoslav Gaidarski
5 Sveta Nedelya Square
1000 Sofia, Bulsgaria
tel./fax: +3592 981 1830
email: press@mh.government.bg
Salutation: Dear Minister

Prosecutor General Boris Velchev
2 Vitosha Blvd
1000 Sofia, Bulgaria
fax: +3592 989 0110
Salutation: Dear Prosecutor General

4. I would like to ask you to please sign the petition: in Bulgarian
5. I would like to ask you to please sign the petition: in English
6. I would like you to express your support for reporters and activists covering the issue in Bulgaria:
- Slavka Kukova, Bulgarian Helsinki Committee
- Yana Buhrer Tavanier and all social reporters at Capital Weekly who have done a fantastic job covering the case here in Bulgaria
- Julian Popov, Bulgarian journalist who's written about Mogilino from the UK

There MUST be a way we could bring an end to this. If you do choose to get involved in any way, please document your contributions here. I think it helps to know what others are doing.

I realize that this is a little bit rushed, I promise to keep posting on the topic. Please promise you will get involved. PLEASE!

Our pets

Kyle and I live in a teeny-tiny place. We hardly have enough room for our stuff what with my extensive shoe collection and Kyle’s ever expanding biblioteque. So, even though we would really really really like to have a pet, we cannot do that yet. So we just talk about it as if it is an actual possibility.

We talk about the pets we would love to get and how we would name them and what their personalities would be. For example, I’ve got my heart set on a little French bulldog named Alice that Kyle found for me on flickr. I LOVE Alice. I think she is a little bit precious and craves attention but I also think she would make a great pet, because she is a little bit lazy (like me) and would prefer staying inside to taking long walks outside. Kyle, on the other hand, wants to get 8 dachshunds. He would name all 8 of them Captain and would have them march in formation. They would all take turns leading the formation and whoever is at the very front would wear a little captain cap.

Last night Kyle said that if we ever got a mule, he would name him Bertholomule.
If we got a donkey, we decided, we would name him Donkey Hottie.

Got any imaginary pet stories?

It's Saint Nikolay's Day Today

And my husband, Nikolaycho, is celebrating his first name day ever.


In his honor, I'd like to ask you all to skip meat for dinner tonight.

Money tips and tricks. Seriously.

I have a nasty habit. I am an over-spender!!! I don’t buy big things. I buy hair-clips and sunglasses I never wear and cute little pig figurines because Kyle likes pigs. Elephants too. I also buy more food than I usually need and multiple snacks because I just can’t decide what I would be in the mood for when I actually need a little bite to eat mid-afternoon. I spend a lot on clothes and shoes too. That last part, however, I do not consider a bad habit.

What’s the big deal, you’d ask, you are not buying things you can’t afford. Well…THAT precisely seems to be the problem. I think that if I WERE buying BIG EXPENSIVE EXTRAVAGENT things it would be a bit easier to be in control of myself. But I don’t. I buy a lot of little things that cost close to nothing but eventually do add up. I wouldn’t worry too much about it if I didn’t know better. It’s not that I’m bankrupting myself. I am just WASTING money that I could spend on things that really are important like, say, more shoes.

So I thought I’d ask you guys if you got any personal finance tips and tricks you would be willing to share here. What do you think is the best way to keep track of what goes in and out of your pocket? And how to make the money coming in last…like…longer? And, if it’s not too much to ask…make it become more while it’s still in? That last one sounded a little dirty, but you know what I mean.

Bansko, according to the NYTimes

In case you didn't see it just yet: an interesting article about Bansko in today's issue of the New York Times.

What do you think?