The conversation thing

- Heb jij die dag genoten? De hele ochtend en middag heb je op het strand doorgebracht…
- Het was geweldig! Hedurende vier uur, heb ik niet de stilte van de golven gebroken, en aan de horizon gekeken.
- Vier uur, en jij bent niet gedaan? ze heeft zoet gelachen. Je moet maar even schrijven al deze..
- Ik zal… , na een minuut stitle heb ik gezegd
Dan, hebben we over het nieuwe werk van La Chapelle besproken.
Al snel, hebben we aan de verhadering team punt aangekomen. Zij heeft wachtten we voor hen op een bankje in de zon aangeboden.
- Laten we gaan, heb ik gezegd.

following the last two year’s tradition, here is a list of things I did for the first time in my life, during 2010. Enjoy!

1) was a paranymph at my fiancee’s doctoral defense at VU Amsterdam.
2) witnessed a full ceremony doctoral defense at Vrije Universiteit
3) was asked and got the ring on the Zeedijk bridge in Amsterdam
4) locked the love lock on the Hohenzollern bridge in Cologne

5) got married in Bucharest’s Town Hall with all my dearest friends and family and had a great party afterwards
6) helped organised my fiancee’s doctoral party and enjoyed the first official party in Amsterdam
7) got invited to an interview in Amsterdam
had my first Europe adventure when the volcano exploded
9) appeared on bbc.co.uk with my europe travel story
10) met Dr Calin Fabian Romanian ambassador in the Netherlands at Andrei’s doctoral defense
11) had my biggest so far extensive illustration animation job.
12) my team extended its reach from EMEA to Global.
13) created a new team in Guadalajara and met very interesting young designers there
14) had a personal business record of 186 email communications in one day with teams from around the world spanning across different timezones
15) fired the first team member from my people management team
16) accepted a new job offer in another city
17) had my first relocation to another city, and another country
18) got residence from another country
19) traveled to the Boston, United States
20) traveled to Stockholm, Sweden
21) traveled to London, UK
22) got our first neighbor party invitation
23) rented our first apartment with a rent of over 1000 eur/month
24) live on a small island 8 minutes close to the city centrum
25) visited Delft
26) were invited to the Romanian embassy in den Hague for the Romanian National Day party
27) traveled to Paris, France
28) got married in Church in Amsterdam in a Russian Orthodox church by a Dutch converted priest
29) had our friends and family fly over and enjoy the ceremony with us
30) bought our first real bed
31) had a lovely honeynight in a 4 star one-of-a-kind hotel on Keizergracht in Amsterdam
32) woke up to a lovely morning and left the hotel with the water taxi to our home
33) ran barefoot in the airport
34) had my first transatlantic flight
35) ran with Amir Kahn at 6:30 in the morning on a 5 miles track
36) ran 4 km on Sunday mornings with Andrei
37) discovered the marvel of Fallopian tubes
38) bought my first city fancy bike
39) had my first fall off the bike and sprinkle my left ankle
40) rented our first luxury car
41) had our first Christmas in Amsterdam
42) had our first guests to stay over at our place
43) bought my first Nude shoes
44) bought my first blue cocktail dress
45) had 3 hair coloring in a 7 days period - not good, I can tell you that
46) had a professional make-up artist session
47) got awarded at worldwide HP CIRCLE Awards for a digital marketing project with a ROI of over 130 times the investments
48) managed my first 6 figures budget
49) rented my first 1920’s theater costumes
50) designed and published my first professional book cover
51) got a 10 year visa for the US
52) I met for the first time Sint Niklaas, full ceremony
53) made my first pickles
54) painted my first series of portraits
55) lived more than one month in a business hotel
56) went to my first Sail festival
57) sailed with a sail vessel for 5 hours
58) went to the AC\DC 2010 tour concert in Bucharest
59) skied for the first time on the Varfu cu dor peak in Bucegi
60) visited the Vienna Art History museum

One of the venues in Biennal of Sydney is Revolution online a postmodern collection of artworks from 1920s Dada… to this year’s interactive work. Check it out!

Haven’t got the time to write my ideas lately, but could not help to share this incredible movie.

It’s a nice list of things i’ve found on Alina’s blog couple of weekes ago. Got a little time now, so here it is my list. The bold ones are already done, the italic ones are next in line…

01) Bought everyone in the pub a drink
02) Swam with wild dolphins
03) Climbed a mountain
04) Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05) Been inside the Great Pyramid
06) Held a tarantula.
07) Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08) Said ‘I love you’ and meant it
09) Hugged a tree
10) Done a striptease
11) Bungee jumped
12) Visited Paris
13) Watched a lightning storm at sea
14) Stayed up all night long, and watch the sun rise
15) Seen the Northern Lights
16) Gone to a huge sports game
17) Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
18) Grown and eaten your own vegetables
19) Touched an iceberg
20) Slept under the stars
21) Changed a baby’s diaper
22) Taken a trip in a hot air balloon Continue reading »

Two more days till I start my new job It’s a rewinding time. I love it. Here is a drawing I just made.

Pure fun, no serious intentions whatsoever. I like yellow and blue so much, I think it reflects the spring that is almost here. Have fun.

Today it marks the end of a long relationship. It’s been five years, one master’s degree, two love stories, two business awards, three art exhibitions, five locations, four teams I’ve worked with, two management styles, 5 bright minds I am glad I’ve met and made my friends.

It was one hell of a job , but now it’s my time to move on.

And I love my future.

P.S. Remember the time?

Today I have learnt one very good lesson in life: if I happen to have an insight on my own near future, and I don’t like what I see, than… instead of accepting the despair , I can actually change my future!

It didn’t occur to me to this day that this is why we all have insights so that we can actually do something with them… doh!

illustration by EBEN

Of course I applied this rule on various times in my personal history, but I rarely used it in very important decision I took. I usually made major decisions by accomodating myself to the environment, never by triyng to abruptly change the environment. If I eventually changed it, it was after a very long while, and by almost invisible steps… Today I learnt that I don’t need to wait for so long to make a change for myself.