when less means so much more

Mr. Mujica is a 78-year-old Uruguayan man, living on a small farm in the outskirts of Montevideo, the capital of the South American country. he drives his 1987 VW Beetle, even if that only happens during the weekends, enjoys drinking mata, a traditional tea in his state, drives a tractor to find relaxation, takes care of his three-legged dog, Manuela, and sells beautiful chrysantemums for a living, alongside Lucia, his wife and owner of the house they live in. 
nothing extremely peculiar so far, one would say, and I would undeniably agree. that is if Jose Mujica were not the president of Uruguay, having been in service since 2010.
because he considers that his wife, a senator of the same country, makes enough for them both to have the life they want to and even a little something to put in the bank for the future, he gives 90 percent of his salary to charity, "like a housing project for unmarried mothers". he does not call this a sacrifice, a means to gain trust or a way to be put in a good light in front of his fellow people, but his outmost duty. Mr. Mujica, as if the above mentioned were not enough to catch the international attention, caused a stir at the last UN general assembly denouncing excess and frivolity in today's 'modern' world and went on to have everyone's eyes and ears widely open when he decided to make Uruguay the first state in the world with a regulated consumption of marijuana, legalising the purchase of the famously banned narcotic in the rest of the world in his small Latin American state in an attempt to combat drug trafficking and addiction.
because, as we find out from his own words, every addiction in the world is bad, including here drugs, marijuana, cigarettes or alcohol. "The only good addiction that is good is love. Forget anything else."
even if he now describes himself as a man of the land and a true pacifist, there is no secret in the fact that he acted in the 70s as an urban guerrilla fighter against the then-in-place government, ending up shot many a time by the military forces he was protesting against, and being imprisoned, spending 11 years in solitary confinement.
since he became president, he has already legalised abortion and gay marriage and with a somehow shocking honesty, given the deeply religious country he governs, declares himself to be an atheist, yet stating that he has a great deal of respect for the new Pope, calling him to be "quite a character". he also calls for an immediate stop to the waste of resources and urges rich communities around the globe to start feeding the hungry and building houses, schools and hospitals for the ones in need, instead of yet another madly expensive sports car, but keeps in touch with the reality mentioning that people would most-certainly kill him if he made them live the way he decided to do.
they called him the world's poorest president. I think he is amongst the richest ones. because humanity, humbleness and love for people, freedom and truth are treasures no one could ever possibly take away from Mr. Mujica.

foto credit: oocupy.com

spreading the word

to stay free try to be the best you you could ever be

it is nice to be important,
but it is more important to be nice

grow them well and teach them to travel 

just a piece of advice from the not-so-mighty mice 

 and live to bring them to life

ci vediamo li, prima o poi 

open your mind before opening your mouth 

the strictest law sometimes becomes the severest injustice - Benjamin Franklin 

 one of those times when words are simply not enough

 keep on learning

love letter

geometrie în spațiu

mă încercuiesc idei cu corp de himeră,
legat, ca triunghiul înscris în sferă,
sunt o linie uitată la un capăt de punct,
văd în unghi drept timpul defunct.

odihnesc porniri icariene de zbor,
visez pătrate de zi și jumătăți de nor,
cade în mine nisip fin de clepsidră,
trăiesc în secunde cu capete de hidră.

sub straturi de dragoste

Florența îi vorbea. Pietrele îi vorbeau. Simțea însușirile lor, felul divers al alcătuirilor lor, forța straturilor lor îndesate. Ce minunat era să te afli din nou acolo unde pietra serena era considerată material de arhitectură. Pentru unii oameni, piatra era moartă; „tare ca piatra”, „rece ca piatra”, ziceau ei. Pentru el, în timp ce-și plimba din nou degetele de-a lungul contururilor ei, piatra era cea mai vie substanță de pe lume, plină de ritm; sensibilă, supusă, caldă, mlădioasă, plină de colorit și de freamăt. Era îndrăgostit de piatră.

fragment din romanul agonie și extaz de Irving Stone

life matters

what goes around, comes around

the house with many famous faces

 breaking the most important rule of hide and seek :)

basketball: changing lives since 1891

 dai, compratevi un libro, per carità!

be the rainbow. touch the rainbow.

când citești cărți atât de bune încât nu te poți despărți de ele oriunde ai merge

încet-încet, dispare tot confortul...

finally something you can trust will always be there in this ever-changing world 

soon to be changed into the drink and get drunk. 

simply the best.

his name is Jon Gnarr and he is the Mayor of Reykjavik. and I can only smile thinking how completely ORÐLAUS the rest of his opponents were when it was made official that he had won the election. why, you say? let me try and show you why.

well, maybe the loudly coloured suit alone would not stand as a sufficient reason. thus, allow me introduce mr. Gnarr, or Jón Gunnar Kristinsson as his passport used to say until 2005 when he officially changed his family name, to you a little bit better. before running for Mayor in 2010, he used to be a rather well-known actor and stand up comedian in Iceland. that after having worked as a taxi driver and having been part of a punk band entitled Runny Nose.
and now one may come forward and ask: why would a person like that go for such a position? apparently he was approached by other parties which wanted him as a member, but he refused and decided to start his own one, as a joke, and may I say a very vey good one, and entitle it Besti Flokkurin - The Best Party. that after having ditched The Cool Party name. members? a group of artists, comedians and punk rockers, none of whom have had any prior experience in city-planning or politics, but who helped him record the party's campaign song, an Icelandic version of Tina Turner's famous hit simply the best. simple, yet brilliant and very catchy. therefore effective.

as you can see in their promotional video, the party was making promises like free entrance (and towels) for everyone into the capital's swimming-pools, sustainable transparency, a Disneyworld outside Reykjavik, a polar bear in the city's zoo or a drug-free Parliament by 2020. and, of course, breaking all those promises.
nonetheless, with 37,4% of the votes, Jon Gnarr became Mayor and has been in place for the last 4 years. he is an avid supporter of equality for all and of all kinds, famously dressing up in drag and taking part in Gay Pride parades, although he is happily married to a woman and has a daughter. he is also being called a ‘hands-on’ politician while making changes to the city. 'I have become this weird guy picking up rubbish on daily walks,' as he writes in one of his statuses on Facebook. and in another quite recent one (4th february this year) he says:' Today we talked about peace in city council. I want to make Reykjavik a military free zone. Some say it is irresponsible talk. I don't agree. And I'm also childish and naive. Some are afraid this might offend some bigger nations. I don't want military or military related aircrafts in the Reykjavik airport. I don't want military ships in the harbour. Why can't we try and make one city in the world a military free zone? What harm could it possible do? Would some NATO general break down crying because of it? Just imagine the symbolic meaning of it? What would be the social and economical effects? Imagine! Studies. Research. Conferences. Would other cities follow? I think it is a great idea, not naive but brave because we all know peace can be a risky business and not stupid but creative and clever. We have beautiful songs about peace and love but love is not a feeling. It is action. It's worth the try. I think. What do you think?'
I do not know what others may think, but my thoughts are that you, mr. Gnarr, are one very cool man and I wish there were a lot of places in this world that had more leaders like you in decision-making and taking positions. my country to start off with. 

copilării

caut echilibrul într-un picior,
pe marginea prăpastiei dintre două secunde,
trag de mine, încerc să cobor
de pe piscuri înmugurite din ideea de munte.

sunt pregătit zi de zi să urc
trepte care duc abrupt spre speranțe de adulți;
mă împiedic des și le încurc
cu ulițe neasfaltate pe care mă jucam desculț.