Truth & Energy

I consider one of my positive characteristics to be my honesty.  If you know me well, you might be aware of my inability to lie.  My honesty brings along two additional characteristics: quietness and bluntness.  When you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.  From this simplicity stems my quietness.  When I do feel the need to open my mouth about a topic, the unfiltered truth tends to spill out.  Hence, my bluntness.  These byproducts of honesty may initially seem far from appealing, but I can assure you that their level of truth are absolutely beneficial to the universe.

Too many people in this world spend too much time beating around the bush and sugar coating their ideas and feelings for reasons that remain unknown to me.  Doing these things makes life more complex and chaotic by lessening the level of truth at which these ideas calibrate.  Veering from absolute truth correlates with negative energy (or inhibition of positive energy) in the universe.  We need positive energy to make good in the universe.

I am aware that my ideas may seem too abstract to initially grasp.  But trust me, it's science - maybe something that I can get into another time.

BA-out

Hungarian word of the day is...

Húszonhárom - Twenty-three (23)

A birthday is a day out of the year for you to collect attention, greetings, gifts, and possibly a hangover.  I don't like attention.  Greetings, I've learned should be abundant each and every day.  I have been blessed throughout my life with an abundance of gifts.  So this year, I'll just take a little hangover.

 With absinthe came a blur.

Life keeps on getting sweeter and sweeter, each year infinitely surpassing the prior in all aspects.  With myself in the drivers seat cruising along in existence, thats the way it shall remain.

 

BA-out

I need to go buy some sunscreen.

Its about the process.

Because "Life is what happens to you when you're busy making other plans." - Lennon

Thanks, Blaire Wulff... I dig it.

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Let me live my American dream

I almost forgot... When I was in Romania, I heard this new hip hop song a few times.  I'm not a fan of the song in the slightest bit, but its sort of interesting to listen to what the "American dream" means to eastern European culture.  And Romanian is a pretty cool language, too...



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Trance-ill-vein-yuh

Well, I got just about all I could expect out of a solo trip to the middle of Romania for the day.  It started by me nearly causing a riot in the Debrecen train station and ended with me nearly getting thrown off of a train in the middle of vampire infested Transylvania... both are long stories and slightly connected, but I don't feel like getting into either.

So, for the good stuff.  I got off the train bright and early Saturday morning in Brasov, Romania and was greeted by an angel named Nicolas (or maybe Nicolas was greeted by an angel named Ben).  Either way Nicolas was a tour guide/driver who wanted to take me to a couple destinations outside of the city (destinations that just so happened to be reasons for me visiting this particular Romanian city).  I was hesitant, but this guy seemed cool and he was willing to drive me around and let me do my thing for 4-5 hours for $20 so we saddled up in his rickety ride.

We went to Bran Castle, also known as "Dracula's Castle."  The story of Dracula written by Bram Stoker was based on Vlad the Impaler who used to stay here.

This castle is now a museum, but I was the first (and for a while, only) person in the place and it as quite creepy.

It was a pretty cloudy and misty morning, but views of the mountains are supposedly pretty spectacular around here.

 Next, we went to the citadel in Rasnov.

Built ca. 13th century.

Rolling hills of Transylvania.

Then, after returning to Hollywood... I mean Brasov.... I was left to fend for myself.

Clock strikes noon at Black Church

 A little hike up Tampa Hill to see the city, BRA.

The city.

 A chess lesson in the park.

State park.

The beautiful St. Nicholas Cathedral built in the 15th century.

Sunset stroll through the graveyard.

Full moon in Vampireville.

I got home Sunday morning and realized that the clothes which I put on before work Friday morning hadn't been removed from my dirty body.  My weekend sleep consisted of a hundred or so brief 1-10 minute 'naps' interrupted by a whole slew of events.  It feels good to be home in D-town, safe and sound from Dracula, vampires, and train station junkies.

BA-out

He's the man, man.

When I grow up, I want to be like Dr. Hyman.  We see eye to eye.



BA - out

AHhh, Kosice!

The following post contains personal information that could be offensive or even horrifying.  Viewer/reader discretion is advised.


Until very recently (ca. one week ago), underwear has played a negligible role in my life.  I owned it, but never felt the need to utilize it.  In fact, when I packed up my life and migrated to Europe, I didn't even bother to stick a pair in my bag.

You would think and hope that a $200 pair of denim would have a fairly decent lifespan.  I guess that is simply not the case when you've got junk in the drunk such as I, and you are bumpin' and grindin' it all over the place.  When my favorite jeans (those that replaced my slasher incident) began to slowly deteriorate (mainly in the crotch/bum region) after about 9 months of almost continuous wear, I decided to invest in some Hungarian undies to keep myself shielded.

As I was pedaling down to catch the train out of town this morning to embark on a Slovakian adventure to Kosice (pronounced kah-shitz, in Hungarian), the brisk air seemed a little more nippy in my midsection, even with my newly purchased garments.  I dismounted my bike at the train station, felt my backside, and realized that I had a good sized slit in my toosh region.  It muse have been the result from getting snagged on the saddle or something.  I wasn't about to let some torn denim come between me and Slovakia, despite my abrupt accumulation of stares due to my nearly exposed bum.  I was actually excited... now I could have something to do/look for (new denim) in this foreign town I was headed to.

The train slowly, and I mean slowwwwwly, rolled into Miskolc where I had 8 minutes to catch my connecting train.  It was a little toooo slowly for my liking.  We crawled along the tracks, making the train arrive...oh, about 8 minutes late.  As I looked out the window, I saw another train rolling away as we were coming to a stop.  Ahhhhh KAH-SHITZ!  Yep, missed the train, the only one heading to Kosice today.  My exposed backside hopped on the next train in the opposite direction, back to good ol' Debrecen.

As I hung my head, gazing out the window heading 'home,' I got to thinking.  If some ripped pants and a missed train make for a 'bad day,' life is pretty darn good.  I don't have much to complain about in this world, and most likely neither do you.  When you put on your undies, smile.  There's no reason that smile should lose luster as your day progresses.

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esopurPurpose

The trees are just about completely naked.  Leafless.  I collected a few good ones from the branches before the wind stole them away.  Put them in a notebook, flattened them, now what do I do with them?

As the seasons change, my mind evolves.

I believe that everyone has a purpose; a reason for why they were put on the earth.  Most people spend the majority of their lives searching for this purpose.  This is sad since nobody's true purpose is to purpose search.  Our purpose should become clear at some point in our lives.  Maybe you realized it at a young age, when you were looking into the night sky at the stars and figured out your purpose was to build a rocket ship to send people to explore the universe.  Or maybe like the majority of people, you take some path in life unsure if it is your true purpose, just to fit in with humanity.

I read somewhere that in order to find your purpose, a good exercise is to list things on a piece of paper.  Careers, goals, whatever.  When you write down your purpose, you will begin to cry.  Sure, maybe determining your purpose will draw some sort of emotional reaction from you, but who is going to sit themselves down and carry out this exercise - not me.

My purpose? - I thought I knew it.  I wanted to know it.  I didn't know it.

I told everyone I wanted to be a doctor when I was in high school and college, so I had to become a doctor, right.  In the last year or so, I admitted to myself (and to others) my ignorance of my purpose.  My uncertainty in the path of life.  I was pretty sure, but not sure enough.  The thought of helping people with conventional medicine didn't bring 'tears to my eyes,' or any other strong emotion for that matter.  

Now, my purpose is crystalizing.  Still no tears, but passion indeed.  Don't worry, Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa... I still want to be a doctor.  Though helping people by traditional standards doesn't bring much passion to me, changing lives by implementing lifestyle changes, dietary changes, and using a 'functional' approach does vibrate my soul.

I have read a bit from Dr. Hyman, a leader in the current medical revolution.  I am excited to be a part of the reformation.

BA-out

Does daylight stealing time affect universal expansion?

I am not understanding this concept new to me known as daylight savings time...


As you may know, I experienced it for the first time a few days ago in Vienna.  Sure, it was fun at the time... I mean the bars stayed open an extra hour.  But after giving it a little more thought, I am not a fan at all.

If daylight were being 'saved', shouldn't it be an hour later right now instead of an hour earlier... instead of the sun setting at its normal time of ~17:20 for this time of year, the sun now sets at ~16:20.  If you ask me no daylight has been saved, but an hour of warm sunshine has been stolen.  Who cares about the AM hours.  People who are up before dawn are weirdos regardless of when the sun rises.


Sorry for my Arizonan ignorance.  


In other news, I am a huge fan of the current book that I am reading - The Grand Design by Stephen Hawking.


I am forced to read this book excruciatingly slowly, as if it were another research paper on FRET.  It isn't necessarily the complexity that forces me to read it slowly, but my desire to completely understand what Hawking is trying to explain to us imbeciles.  Well, yea the science is more complex than even he can explain, but it is explained in such a pathetically elementary way that I am sure even YOU can understand.

This picture doesn't seem very special, but to some it may mean a lot.  A temperature map of our infinitely expanding space showing fluctuations which prove (for now) the occurrence of the 'big bang' to have happened ~13.2 billion years ago.  You, me, that deer, those beers, your favorite bar, and all of the stars originated from one tiny piece of infinitely dense matter.  It was as if a dime inflated to the size of the milky way galaxy instantaneously.  Quantum interactions within this piece of matter at the time of the inflation caused asymmetrical expansion which ultimately allowed for masses to form which we know as stars, one of which became our lovely sun, gentle enough to allow life on one spec of orbiting dust.  


So have a nice day, and remember that your universe is expanding at about 77km/s per 3.26 million light years.


Questions?


BA-out

Requiem of a Wien

If you read the dramatic start (or ending, if Quentin Terantino films aren't your style) then you know that I have safely made it home from a great weekend away.  204 pictures say 204,000 words, but hopefully this will be a tad more brief.

I heard a lot of great things about Vienna, so I gave it a go over the long Halloween/All Saints Day weekend.  Having arrived Friday night, I thought I should waste no time before checking out the scene.

I quickly learned of a concert that night in the city hall.  

(not my photo)

14 € didn't seem to bad for some electronic music, strobe lights, and Austrian culture within some big gothic arches.

I was up bright and early the next day despite countless drinks until 4AM given to me from a group of guys, whom looking back on it were likely gay.  Or just really nice.  Or both.  That morning I met Piero, a super cool Italian dude studying in Prague, also traveling solo.  We thought two heads might be better than one when it came to map reading and exploring a city new to both of us.

"Where are we? Where should we go?"
"O, you guys should go up there, to that nature park!"

Coooooool... alright, lets go somewhere else.

Stadt Park

Cool graffiti along Donau Kanal

Just another amazing structure, but sadly, I can't tell you its name.

About 8 hours of walking pretty much nonstop, it was time to throw the feet up for a few minutes before catching the Mozart Requiem at Stephansdom.

And then, another night out on the town.  Thanks to Piero the social smoker, asking for a lighter was always a good conversation starter with the local ladies.

Fast forward to 2:59AM - the most exhilarating moment of my life.  Instead of 3:00AM, the clock struck 2:00AM.  I watched the tic of the clock on my iPhone.  Wow.  Living in AZ my entire life, this was my first experience of daylight savings time in action.  Don't laugh... I thought it was awesome.  PLUS, that meant tonight we had an extra hour to parrrrrttttyyyyyyy!

Byyyeee Denise (Little did I know I would see her Monday for a tour of her hometown on my last day in Vienna)
Annnnd, up bright and early the next morning.  Ready for another 20K more of seeing the sights, smelling the scents, tasting the food, and getting lost.

Parliament.

Piero in front of his future employer, the United Nations.

The Hundert Wasser Haus - One amazing piece of art.

Piero was gone, and I was once again solo.  I strapped on the walkin' shoes again and did what I do best in new places; people watch.  Being Halloween, there were plenty of intoxicated Austrians in costume to provide all the entertainment I needed.

My final day in Vienna was spent with Denise, who I met Saturday.  As we all know, the only way to really experience a city is with the guidance of a local.

Schönbrunn Palace.

Gloriette.

OOPS.

 Belvedere Garten.

And, I guess I should take a pic of Stephansdom.

I had a wonderful few days here and really think that despite being lost about half of the time, each waking minute of each day was thoroughly enjoyed.  I hope to return soon.  I hear its beautiful in the weeks before Christmas...

BA-out

Let's Terantino this...

I have 34 minutes to make my way across Budapest to the other train station to catch my train back to Debrecen.  That should be enough time if I make my way through through the metro system... If I don't make a wrong turn in the process, stand on the wrong platform, or miss my connecting metro at the city center.  Ya, thats a lot of "ifs," but I've got the one thing I need, confidence and a little juice left in the 'ol walkin' shoes.

But wait... dun.dun.DUN...

My train into Budapest is running late.  Those 34 minutes slowly dwindled down to 22 minutes with each tick of the clock.  Shoot, shoot, SHOOOOOT!  The last thing I want to do is sit in the station and wait 2 hours for the next train, putting me home after midnight, especially after a weekend like that.  So, as the train rolled in from the west, I mustered up a little tenacity to go with the confidence.

Twisting and turning I made my down the street, through the crowd, and underground, only to find myself at the back of a line to purchase a metro ticket.

Tic...toc...tic...toc...

Back into the crowd and onto metro number one.

Time to change to metro number 2! - Boom. Done. Like a local.

Tic...toc...tic...toc... about 4 minutes left.

Now the decision... Get out on street corner A?... Or B?...... Or C?......... Or D???

B - GO!

Screw escalator, thats where the crowd is.  Up the stairs, GO!

Correct! - Way to trust your instinct, Ben.

Shut up, LEGS!

"One to Debrecen, Please!"

Tic...toc...

Platform 9... perfect.

Hop on.  Door close.  Rolling eastward.

And here, I sit.  Sipping chamomile. Reminiscing on the weekend.  All thanks to a short lesson on where a little perseverance, confidence, and disregard for sore muscles can get you. Ahhhh...


Maybe those people rushing through the city, desperately looking at their watches might have a justified reason for their rudeness...

Stay tuned.

BA-OUT