More Photos From 1st Snow

Shapes

















Wooden Skis For Sale












My Favorite Car












Market is Open

















Snow on the Head

















Slippin', Slidin' and Spinnin'












Snow Covered Branches












Perfect Pitch

















Penalty Shot













Winter Wonderland

Happy First Snow

Hard to imagine that someone, at the age of 33, has not experienced a first snow. Well, the time has finally come - yesterday Sofia experienced its first true snowstorm, and it was quite impressive: various reports of four to five inches of snow fell. I have never lived somewhere where the snow falls and stays for more than ten minutes. My cat (his first snow too) and I sat at the window and enjoyed Mother Nature's beauty.
















For a few hours the cityscape was transformed, and the white blanket that covered the cement blocks, the garbage, and the grey tinge of winter provided a new perspective in which we could appreciate our home.












Unfortunately, in the city, the beauty of the snow fades fairly quickly into nasty ice, brown slush, and mild chaos as drivers and pedestrians alike try to negotiate the various challenges.









However, the ACS campus was a joy. As ACS is closer to the mountain, it seemed as if a few more inches of snow fell out there. I wanted to frolic and shoot pics all afternoon, but was inside talking with parents on a Saturday for the second four-hour stint of conferences.












Oh well, I was able to get some good shots from my window, and a few as I made my way to a friend's Lada to get a ride home.



















Main Walking Path at ACS













The Garden at ACS

Just Like Home

Tw0 earthquakes hit Sofia in the last 24 hours.

The first, a 4.0, hit at 10 pm - but I was bobbin' my head at the Buddha Bar and did not feel it. The second, a baby 3.5, hit at 7 in the morning and shook me awake. I thought it was the cat, but he was sound asleep on the bed.

Made me feel right at home.

Going back to Cali...

Koprivshtitsa

Last weekend, a number of us from ACS, including Kate and I, took a one day trip to the small Bulgarian village of Koprivshtitsa. It was just another in a series of beautiful, traditional villages that we've had the chance to visit. Koprivshtitsa is famous for its 19th century home architecture, and offers a visitor the chance to see seven or eight museum houses offering a glimpse into the life of Bulgarians during that time. I was particularly impressed by the color that the town celebrates - blues, greens, yellows, and more paint the town. It was a treat to get out and shoot this place early Sunday morning, when the sun was just coming up over the hills and a heavy mist saluted the early morning rituals of its inhabitants.

The following is my impression through images of this wonderful spot:

Koprivshtitsa Town Square

Dawn

Our Hotel

View From the Porch

Morning Fire

Morning Dew

For Sale

Morning Sun




The Dead

Work

Tradition

Shade and Shadow

Lada

The Morning Road

Remembering

Playground

The Hills

Sunday

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From Riches to Rags - Halloween 2008

Seeking to take advantage of some media event dominating the news in the past few months, Kate and I set out to find the best costume for Halloween.

McCain and Palin - no way, too obvious.

Batman and the Joker - we knew this would be popular

Barack and Michelle Obama - we weren't going to go there

It didn't take long to find something that would allow us to work as a team, and that we thought would be both relevant and funny: one infamous Fannie Mae and one infamous Freddie Mac. Bingo.

Once two young, wealthy entrepreneurs who had fallen on very, very hard times.

First we created the original, well-to-do versions of both characters:


These were our company id badges. Here we are in our prime, making a ton of cash selling houses to good people.

Then came the real fun. We transformed both Fanny and Freddie into two individuals who have hit rock bottom.

Fanny has turned to the oldest profession in the world - prostitution - to try and regain some of her financial stability. She is working the streets as a way to pay the rent.

Freddie has turned to the bottle and has been wandering the streets and getting into fights. He has a couple of black eyes, hit clothes are torn to shreds, and he can't seem to find his left shoe.


While we thought this would be a great costume, we failed to consider that the costumes would lose much of their gusto at our Halloween party ... in Bulgaria. When we made our grand entrance, confronted by a room full of our Bulgarian colleagues, their friends and family, and we shouted, "Fannie and Freddy...Hey!" we were greeted back by many a blank stares. Most people didn't get the costume. Although those few who did get it were much appreciated. Many just thought I was a drunk. Kate was told by more than a few people that she looked really good dressed up like that and that she should dress this way normally.

There were many other great costumes at the party - a microscope, a shwarma/kebab, a great Joker, white trash, and others. We enjoyed ourselves and had a lot of fun with the costumes. We hope that Freddy and Fannie do find a path to economic salvation before they end up six feet under.

YES WE DID!!

Yes we did
Yes we did: wake up at 12:45 am to watch the first results
Yes we did: make tea, eat twix and wafers too
Yes we did: all vote for Obama
Yes we did: fret and worry and fear the worst
Yes we did: slowly but surely realize that he would win
Yes we did: do victory laps and high fives for every state called for Obama
Yes we did: jump and scream in euphoria when he won
Yes we did: do a victory jog around campus at about six am
Yes we did: have a glass of victory vino
Yes we did: share a special, historic event
Yes we did: shed a tear or two
Yes we did: shake our heads and smile
Yes we did: believe
Yes we did: Obama
Yes we did