a thought

as i move about in my daily life noticing social changes, snapping bits of npr while a baby sleeps in the car, catching bits of news, holding on to interrupted thoughts, following yesterday's conversation, i attempt to construct a sound and logical argument. but then i stay up too late, lose track, procrastinate, get fired up and everything starts appearing related to everything else... so this will have to remain an entry in progress.

a lack of consistency is a big problem for me in the current republican doctrine. These people are self admittedly fervently christian, but they find it ok to despise, promote hatred, speak of the unforgivable whilst christianity is simply all about understanding and forgiveness. Sara Palin is unequivocally pro-life, no exceptions - but yet it's ok to walk around with a semi-automatic and shoot defenceless animals for kicks. They may not be human babies, but they were created by the same omnipotence according to their belief - how could it be ok to kill anything? As well as, to a staunch pro-lifer how could initiating a war be an acceptable policy... the same question troubled me with Mike Huckabee.
how can a conservative republican be in support of any of george bush's policies, such as patriot act and warrant-less wire tapping? if the conservative aim is to reduce the size of government and get it out of the private lives of the citizens, hasn't george bush's administration worked directly against those? by the same token, it's unclear how child bearing and rearing - this most private of matters for individuals and families, has ended up at the forefront of that party's agenda.

Brugmansia

I

I bought a white bottom facing brugmansia a few years ago with the intention of wintering it over in the sunroom. Alas, I could not make it happy and it withered by late February. Never doing that again, thought I. However, in late spring its offspring popped up all over the garden and by late June giant plants flooded a rather tame mostly indigenous garden. Except the flowers this time around were facing up, plants themselves not too beautiful, obviously self seeded in less than optimal conditions. This year I tried transplanting the rogues to the front garden and leaving them to their own devices for a month while traveling.

Presentation - Презентация

Viktor Gindilis in 1974 as filmed by E. Ananiev

A new book "Episodes from the Soviet era" by Viktor M. Gindilis was published by ОГИ in Moscow and presented in cafe Bilingua on August 27th 2008. Family, friends, colleagues and many others came to hear about the author and the publication of the book and share their memories. It was a heartfelt evening featuring many of those mentioned in the book. A worthy tribute to the author, collectively missed on that evening by all present.

many more photos from the presentation at
http://picasaweb.google.com/tgindilis/Presentation#

москва

Никола Звонарь на Рождественке

the frog

before the transfer

we found him on the shores of the lake in rosedale park and brought him home. fedia was told that it was his birthday present and he was happy. after the transfer by our pond.

summer ends

inevitably it does and we are left with a glory of memories and experiences... and in my case close to 900 photos. we went to Moscow this summer and had a great great time. the kids loved it, though from wealth of experiences and impressions they got used to catching and snooze wherever possible. Moscow has morphed back into a self-aware, beautifully tended city of history, business and vibrant daily life. There are flowers, displays and restored gems everywhere. There are playgrounds for kids in every courtyard and there is a multitude of parks all over the city with imaginative floral displays and activities for the kids.park of the 50th anniversary of the victory in the 2nd world war. it's very close to our apartment but we took a tramway and metro to get there, which was also a tonn of fun.