Constant Change

It's Friday afternoon.
I'm sitting at my apartment after shopping for some food: veggie hotdogs, corn schnitzel, and get this - veggie grilled chicken breast!?
It's been some time now from when I last baught food for the apartment, since I eat at my army base during the week, and for the last couple of months I've been going back home to Karmiel for the weekends (I think the last weekend here was at the New Years, and that was only a saturday night).

The reason for my migration north is that every week there's something interesting to do:
The nephews' birthdays or a trip with the "Mador" from the army. But the main reason is that I can go out with my friends there.
As you may or may not know, the north has very little to offer for lively young men and women - about three insteresting "clubs" at the kibutzes, and some pubs - and even though we don't do many interesting things during the weekend, it's still great fun to meet up with the guys and gals.
And of course the humus doesn't hurt...

Many things have changed since my last post:
On Febuary 2nd, I finally finished my Analysis course. Gee, it's good to be back at the office with the "Mador". Gad started and finished his Officers course. Some Karmielian friends took their SAT's (or Psychometric Tests, as they call it here in Israel). Veronica had joined the Army (so "Tze'ira"!). Omer and Ben got back from the United States. Shahar from Mike's Place went to Thailand. Gilad came back to play at Mike's. Frankie started "Keva" service at the army.
I got to know Veronica more closely since she enlisted, because her base is not that far from mine. She's has happily joined the Mike's-Place-Monday-Night-Brew-Crew tradition.
My drum playing has improved since I started playing two hours a day (when I get back from the base i play until 20:00 o'clock, so the neighbours won't go crazy), and I'm considering some offers to join a band.

In conclusion, during the last months so many great fun things have happened, and I get the feeling it's only the beginning. I sense things are only going to get more and more fun and interesting!
I get excited just thinking about it...

Have a great weekend!

Happy new year!

Hey, don't get fooled by the joyfull headline, I've yet to have any slight indication that this years is going to be better or happier than the previous one...
But I think somewhere there's a rule which states that you must be optimistic for a minimum of one week after something bad happens, and only then you're allowed to get depressed.

So, my 2006 new year's eve experience was quite wierd and baffeling. It involved an unexpected kiss, whole lotta alchohol, my IRiver, a surprisingly delicious Hanuka doughnut, and the two funkiest hitchhiking rides of my life.
The first day of 2006 greeted me with a splitting headache and a lecture about Quality Management.
Let me tell you that if the first day of a year is an indication for the rest of it, this one is going to be one hell of a confusing year!
Other than that, the rest of my week went relatively OK, and I sure hope this weekend will provide change in the spirit of events.
One thing I'm definitely going to do is have a great big bowl of humus this weekend, even two or more if I could help it!

Let me fill you in on some minor details I left out:
* Last friday night hosted a great outing with my Karmielian buddies (though the speedometer on my car decided to stop working, and I had to drive only by feel...). There were actually more people in my car when we came back than there were when we went out (the second car, driven by Amit, got stuck at the club and it's "contents" came back with me!).
* Also at the last weekend, I got some more great albums for my IRiver! Now I have almost every music I want at my fingertips! (but not this weekend, because I lent it to my sister, who wanted to tape the lectures she's taking...)
* This week, sadly, I did get to Mike's Place, and so I didn't get to see any of my friends there... I miss them (Frankie! You better be there this Monday!)...

That's enough of that for today!
Have fun, and drive carefully (operational speedometers are recommended...)!

Time flys when you're having fun

Hello there, again!

FIrst, I'll fill out the blanks concerning last week.
The course wasn't much fun, but it didn't bring me down as I expected it to do at the start of the week. I assume that the fact that I went out to Mike's Place during the helped out alot.
As I mentioned before, by the middle of the week I had planned out my weekend quite specifically, and most amazingly, it actually went according to that plan!
Thursday I hosted my buddy, Yoni, in my appartment, as we went out to see an evening dedicated to John Lennon. The evening featured video clips of The Beatles, the film "The first U.S. visit", a taping of the concert at Budokan, a taping of John and Yoko's last benefit concet, and the film about the making of "Imagine". The evening was arranged by DJ Moshel, who is arraging an evening featuring Led Zeppelin at December 22nd. Considering the fact that it's going to have free alcohol, you can definitely say I'll be there!
On Friday, not long after Yoni left, Jenie (female friend from Karmiel) arrived as scheduled.
We went out at night to the "HaMaymad HaHamishi" (The 5th Dimension) club at Tel Aviv. She had a good time, but I considered the night mediocre.
On Saturday evening, Jenie left and I went out to see my first "Parva Hama" concert.
"Parva Hama" (Hot Fur) is a cool Israeli progressive rock band, which Frankie introduced me to via MP3's. The MP3's were of their first album. By the time I was informed of their concert, their female vocalist (which I loved to hear) had quit the band, and the band included some new members: a trumpet player, a saxaphone player and a violinist. So I got to see a show much different than what I expected to see, but it was extremly good and fun!

And so I move on to this week.
This week, the course was rather slow and had alot of free time, time which I spent at the office.
Monday I went again to Mike's Place with Asi (the "kid"), and there we met Frankie (of course), Adi, Rotem and also Sigal (which is from Karmiel and was introduced to me by Jenie).
I had a great time, though the crowd wasn't very lively...
I signed my second time for the Brew Crew extravaganza (sign three Monday nights, and get a free T-shirt which grants you a free shot of alcohol each Monday you wear it). Can't wait for next week! Hehehe...
Today I will also go to Mike's Place, just because it's such a fun place and I get to see Frankie perform.
Tommorow I'll go back to Karmiel for the weekend. I really miss Gad (which is my closest friend), since I haven't seen him for 3 whole weeks. We just have to go out and drink something good together!

In conclusion of this post, time flys by much faster when you're having fun, and you have alot more fun when you go out alot (be it through planning ahead, or just spotaneously) during the week, as well as the weekend. I've also noticed that when I'm busy planning how I will have fun, I don't even have time to get bummed out! It's great! There are just no disadvantages...
Of course I wish the same (and more) fun for you, too!
Bye!

Quickly-weekly update

Hey there again!

Just wanted to pop by and ease your worried minds: The week's not going that bad after all!
The course is a bit boring, considering I already know most of this week material.
But other than that, I'm actually having fun!

Last night I took the new "kid" from the office out to Mike's Place, since he had never been there. When we got to Tel Aviv, he discovered that he left his wallet at home (and his driver's license and money in it, of course). We walked over to Mike's Place, and there we met Frankie, Yoni and another dude Frankie forgot to introduce. The waitress takes our order, and then the "kid" finds out he now forgot his cell phone at the car! LOL!
Anyways, a great mid-week night. Before I rented the appartment, I stayed at a hostel in Tel Aviv and it was right near all the hot spots and I would go out sometimes during the week (especially at Mondays when Frankie was playing, or Tuesdays when I could play).
But when I moved to Ramat Gan, I only got to Tel Aviv at the weekends, and so I missed alot of Frankie's performances. I hope that in the coming months I will resume my mid-week night-time activities. They're so much fun!

And in conclusion, I'm expecting to have a wonderfull fun-packed weekend, since I've had far more suggestions than I can attend...
Wishing the same for you all,
Ronnie.

I hate Sundays!

Hey there,
Today I'm in some kind of a bad mood.
"Why", you ask?
Because it's another one of those god damned Sundays.
No. Actually, it's the worst Sunday I've had for some time now.

I spent a nice weekend at Karmiel.
Yesterday, I slept only two hours and then got up at 5 AM.
40 minutes to get ready to leave, another half hour being driven to the Akko train station.
Then, the horrible two hour train ride. The weather outside was chilli, but that didn't stop the train people from freezing my ass off with the air conditioning. The entire ride was a blurry attempt to fall asleep, in order to not deal with the cold.
I got to the base in time for my 9 o'clock lesson. Then the lecturer starts off by stating that we are starting a week "that is, according to past experience, going to be annoying and frustrating".
Let me tell you, I just couldn't wait for this prophecy to fulfill itself...

OK, now that I've got that out of the way, I'd like to talk a little about my weekend.
It started on Thursday evening, when I arrived at Karmiel. I was just walking inside my home, when I realised that I wouldn't be able to go to the party I was planning to go to for the previous three days. But just as fast, my friends suggest I come with them to a dance bar.
Half a Guinness, chaser of Absinthe, a couple of silly dances and some delicious thai noodles pretty much sum up that lovely outing.
Friday noon - A lousy try at shopping and then... Hummus! Yummmmmmm...
Friday night I decide to take the car (it's a kind of a van, the largest car in our group) and take the friends out to a party. When we discover we have been misinformed (there was no party), we go to the nearest small club and salvage (just barely) the night.
Saturday noon - Hummus! Yummy yumm...
Saturday night we go out to the "Franklin's", the Karmieli pub. Wrap up the weekend at 3 AM.

Now, the last thing I wanted to say is that this weekend something special happened:
I told a couple of my friends one of my best kept secrets. This perticular secret was serval years old. I never told it to anyone, until now. I was planning on forgeting it altogether, but now these friends claim I must purge myself of it, and tell it to one of the people it concerns.
I really don't think this secret is eating me up inside or anything like that, but I think I will tell it to that person and just put it behind me.
I perdict some interesting results. I'll keep you updated if my prediction will be fulfilled...

Well, I'll just go crash on my bed now... I'm still tired from the bloody train... Goodnight!

Music

I'm sitting here, listening to Michael Jackson's 'Blood On The Dance Floor'.
I wouldn't consider this album one of my favorites, but still for some reason I suddenly wanted to listen to it.
MJ makes pop. That's what he always did, that's what he's good at. Among real musicians, pop is considered a four-letter word (it only has three, though), but MJ is a genius of pop, and when you're a musical genius at any genre, people listen.

But that isn't what I wanted to write. I wanted to write about music, and try to explain why I love it so much, explain what's so great about it. But that's almost impossible. Still I will write some of my thoughts about the subject.

I have quite an exclusive taste in music. I prefer listening to very complex and virtuoso ("technical" is popular term these days) music to pop, anytime. But still I recognise the musical value of a simple techno beat, and even the value of a Kiley Minouge song!
Sometimes even a simple chord progression on a synthisizer on top of a nice drum-machine loop can be beautyfull in my eyes (or ears).
Don't take me wrong: most of the time I despise the usual simple, mindless music you hear everywhere you go. Most of the time I do my best to educate people to raise their musical standarts. But when I stop and think about it, I know that everything musical - every note, every unique sound, every rhytmic pattern - makes me feel happy to be alive.
I know it sounds like I'm speaking metaphorically, but I really believe that. I really wouldn't like to live in a world that has no music. This belief is the basis of my 'open-mindness', which is crucial for my music appreciation.
And speaking of music appreciation and open minds, I think it's a crying shame that somehow the majority of society does not pay music its due respect, and just neglects music appreciation.

Now I will put open-mindness aside and start raving about how it's important to always progress in your listening. Look, it's popular to claim that music is a matter of taste (and it also saves hours on pointless arguing), but it's just not true.
Now, what do I mean by that? Of course there's a matter of taste in music. For instance, one person may claim that Mozart is the best and another person may claim that about Bach. These people have different taste. But when someone claims that Britney Spears is better than Beethoven, well, that someone is wrong. There are two factors that can make that claim half true: 1. Mood. 2. Purpose (dancing, listening, backround music and such...).

In conclusion, Music is great. If you don't believe me, just listen to the first bars of Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" played on a piano. Think about it: the air around you moves a little different, and you just want to bust out crying.

The third week

Yesterday I have started another week of the analysis course, which is the third out of 14. Most of the course's hours are dedicated to work on the team project, but we can take these hours off if we make good progress. My team is progressing nicely, so I have some free time for myself.
The free time is spent mostly on a pet project of mine - a ASP.Net calendar with Javascript.
I know, kind of geeky, but it's fun for me.
I'm making myself spend more of my free time, though, on important arrangements that always get pushed aside as well.
For instance, I'm trying to switch banks, for better commisions. This task requires opening a new bank account, getting a new credit card, setteling the old credit cards bill for the last month (can be done only at the start of the month), closing the old credit card account and finally closing the old bank account (which requires me to first cancel an automatic savings order, and that has to be done on a specific day of the month)!
And I didn't even mention all the paperwork involved. I hate bureaucracy. I even hate the word bureaucracy.
Handling all these new "chores" is very new to me because I would usually avoid these things, or put them off until further notice.
I can actually feel my responsability muscles getting firm.

And that reminds me: I am also dedicating some time to start getting in shape. You know, running around the block, doing some sit-ups and pull-ups and stuff. I should really keep it up until I will make a habit of it.

Oh, how I miss the old times when one could just be a lazy computer potatoe and be anything but grown-up...