Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

and

Best Wishes for 2016! 

Happy Holidays!

Last year, I was whining about having the tiniest tree in our family history because we also had a kitten and we feared he (she at the time - long story, don't ask!) would destroy it.

This year, we have two kittens and two adult cats and a big tree! And everyone's happy. :)

Merry Christmas!

and

Best Wishes for 2015! 

Merry Christmas!

The tiniest tree in the whole Visan family's history, but the little guy is full of life and light.

Merry Christmas!

and

Best Wishes for 2014!

Free Webhost and Domain Registration

I've been delaying all summer the search for a new free webhost, knowing how frustrating and time consuming it can be. I'm quite happy with Zymic.com (6000 MB space, 50 GB bandwidth), but I already have four websites hosted there and I didn't want to push my luck.

My new discovery is Hostinger.ro. The free plan includes  2000 MB space, 100 GB bandwidth, FTP, PHP, MySQL, and bilingual control panel in both English and Romanian. There's a limit of 20,000 files, but other than that I didn't notice any restriction that might bother me. The upload went fine, and the sites are loading in a reasonable amount of time. I already moved three sites and I'm considering moving other four. It's too soon to tell if the promised uptime is real so I'll keep an eye on that.

For free domain names, I'm using dot.tk. Some keywords are flagged and reserved for the paid subscription, but it's easy to find a combination of words that still works. The maximum free subscription is 12 months, and it can be renewed.

Ebook Formatting Services for Indie Writers

I've been a self-published/indie writer for 18 months now, which means I'm in charge with the entire publishing process from the beginning to end. Some tasks I delegate, like editing, but the rest I pretty much do by myself, and this includes manuscript formatting before uploading to various platforms.

After 6 published titles (soon to be 7), it occurred to me that I had enough experience when it comes to ebook formatting and I could offer my services to other writers. Not everyone is ready to tackle everything, especially the technical part, but I never minded that. So after thinking about it for like 5 minutes, I decided to put the idea into practice and came up with this site: http://www.formattingforindies.tk (alternate URL http://ebookformatting.esy.es).

For now, I only offer formatting for Kindle (.mobi). My experience with .epub is restricted to formatting for Smashwords, and while I'm getting better at it, I still feel like it's a bit of a hit and miss at times. So no .epub, but possibly in the future it will be added to the list too. Mobi will do for now, and let's face it, everyone wants to be on Amazon, right?

Take a look at the site, and if you know anyone interested, send them my way. The prices are very low right now compared to what's out there. I'll increase them once I get more clients, so now it's your chance to get your Kindle ebooks formatted for cheap.

Shortcut Virus on Kindle

I wanted to upload a book to my Kindle last week, but Calibre refused to connect to the device. After the initial moment of panic, I opened the drive to see what was wrong. Instead of the usual directory structure, I found only shortcuts to the top folders and files, and they of course led nowhere.

It wasn't my first encounter with the shortcut virus, so I knew my files weren't lost but only hidden. I also knew how to fix it for a flash drive (backup the files + quick format), but I wasn't so sure it would work the same for a Kinde and I didn't want to risk and ruin it.

After wasting an entire weekend browsing the internet in search of a solution and finding only posts on how to unhide the files, I figured it out by myself and decided to write a blog post about it. Maybe this will help someone else too.

The Shortcut Virus

Source: It usually comes with an infected flash drive.

Behavior: Once your PC is infected, whenever you connect a flash drive, it infects the flash drive too. Shortcuts to the top folders and files are created, and the original files and folders are hidden. You can still access the files if you set Windows Explorer or Total Commander to show the hidden files, but it's annoying, and of course the flash drive is still infected.

Solution: At the time I'm writing this post, the only free online antivirus able to detect it is Karpesky. I tried four others and no luck.

1. The first thing you need to do is clean your PC so download Karpersky Virus Removal Tool (it asks for your e-mail address, but other than that it's free) and run it. It's enough to do a scan of the C: drive. The virus (VBS/Kryptik.I trojan) is a vbs file and it hides in
C:\Documents and Settings\user\Local Settings\Temp\    
C:\Documents and Settings\user\Start Menu\Programs\
When the antivirus finds it, choose to delete it.

2. Do the same thing for all of the infected flash drives (it turned out we had three in the house, plus the Kindle).

3. Next, it's time to fix the directory structure of the flash drive.
Delete all shortcuts (extension lnk).
There's a DOS command for unhiding files (attrib -h -r -s /s /d drive_letter:\*.*), but I'm lazy and prefer to use Total Commander. The shareware version is perfectly functional, and it's a better file manager than Windows Explorer.
Set it to display hidden files (Configuration - Options - Display - Show hidden/system files).
Select all the files from the flash drive and unhide them (File - Change attributes - deselect Archive, Read-only, Hidden, System).

And ta-dah! You're done.

You're welcome. :)

35

It took me a whole ten years after finishing my studies to admit to myself that computer science was not what I wanted to do in life. As time passed and I drifted farther and father away from my line of work, I kept feeling guilty for not using the degree I had worked so hard to get in the beginning of this century.

Well, not anymore! Computers will always be a good distraction, but writing is the way to go for me and I'm well set on this path. I first got published exactly five years ago. Since then over 25 of my short stories found their home in various magazines, and I also contributed to 7 anthologies. I have two Romanian traditionally published books and three self-published English titles with another one on the way. I won a bunch of contests and awards, too. Yes, I think I'm doing all right.

So celebrate with me while I blow out the candles and pop the champagne. And if you buy one of my books and leave a review, you will make my day. No, you can't have any cake. But check this space because there will be an announcement later this week and possibly a cover reveal too. Cheers!

2012 Recap

It’s that time of the year again when we’re going through the past year’s accomplishments and list the highlights.

On the writing front:

16 short stories written + one novella

Stories published in 2012 available on-line:

•   "Periuţa, bat-o vina...", Gazeta SF, no. 18, June, 2012
•   "Afacerea secolului", Nautilus, no. 53, June, 2012
•   "Printre heliotropi şi zâmbete", Suspans, no. 24, May, 2012
•   "Seminţe de înţelepciune", Nautilus, no. 51, April, 2012
•   "O oră de iubire", Nautilus, no. 49, February, 2012
•   "Invazia", Moshul SF, January, 2012

One English story sold for EvolutionVol. 2, available as ebook as well as print edition.

One Romanian story included in "Cele 1001de scorneli  ale Mosului SF", editor Stefan Ghidoveanu, Millennium Books, November, 2012.

There was supposed to be one more anthology published this year, but it was delayed. And no, the zombie anthology is still not out. That’s all right, it means there’ll be three anthologies featuring my stories next year, if everything works well.

My own Romanian story collection was postponed for spring. Still no signed contract, so we’ll see.

There was one other project I sent texts for, but no idea what’s the status of that one.

To shake thing up a bit, I got into self-publishing and I’ve got two titles published already:

- an apocalyptic novella: Human Instincts, June, 2012

- a paranormal story collection: Blue Moon Café Series: Where Shifters Meet for Drinks, December, 2012

Next in line, it’s a vampire novella, The Impaler’s Revenge.

What I didn’t get to do is write a new draft for book 1 in Stolen Wings Prophecy series and finish book 2, but, well, there’s always next year.

And to brag a little, I was nominated in the Debut category at ROMCON 2012, won my second AtelierKult contest, and was awarded second prize at Helion contest. Hmm, does this make me an award-winning writer? I don’t know about that.

But enough about writing, let’s talk about reading. It takes less effort, and it’s just as fun.

87 books read this year out of which 54 read on e-reader.  My Kindle turned out to be a great investment. And I’m getting a little better at not finishing books I don’t enjoy reading. I put down about 5 with no intention to get back to them.

Best books read in 2012:

Among Others – Jo Walton

Mechanique – Genevieve Valentine

The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Leviathan Wakes – James S. A. Corey

Drowned Cities – Paolo Bacigalupi

Before They Are Hanged – Joe Abercrombie

Caliban’s War - James S. A. Corey

The Last Argument of the Kings – Joe Abercrombie

Consider Pheblas – Iain M. Banks

Dark Tower 4: Wizard and Glass – Stephen King

Wool 1-5 – Hugh Howey

Ready Player One – Ernest Cline

Mistborn. The Final Empire – Brandon Sanderson

Moving on to music…

Best music albums of 2012:

Leonard Cohen – Old Ideas

Garou – Rhythm and Blues

Matchbox 20 – North

Muse – The 2^nd Law

Les Miserables 2012 OST

Movies – Err, I’m drawing a blank here… I’ve seen tons of movies, but nothing memorable comes to mind. I miss movies with an intelligent dialogue, I haven’t seen one in too long. One thing is clear, 3D movies are still crap plot-wise. And The Dark Knight Rises was not as good as expected. Prometheus, Total Recall, John Carter, Bourne, Skyfall, The Hunger Games were all sort of disappointing too. But we loved Brave, which shows that we’re all kids at heart. Now I’m overly excited about Les Miserables and I can’t wait to see it.

There’s no news to report about work. Things are starting to pick up a little after the last slow year. No new website, but Absolute Skating is keeping me pretty busy.

Health wasn’t so great, unfortunately. I began the year with IV’s because of my stomach and then in the summer I had the worst bronchitis in the last ten years. I needed shots and three types of antibiotics to get over it. Whoever said that only geniuses catch cold during summer was terribly mistaken. You have to be an idiot to move from 35C to 15C and expect things to be just peachy.

The worst part of it is that it happened just before going away on vacation so I spent the first half of it still recovering and unable to fully enjoy the trip. But we spent two lovely weeks in Venice and Florence and, if we ignore my health condition, it was great.

Update on the mutant cacti: four of them are still alive, though only one kept the colored top on. Once we moved them on the windowsill to enjoy the sun, the red top one let its top die, while the purple top one spent the entire summer blooming like crazy. Go figure!

I’m still proud of my new bookshelves, even if they’re fully loaded with books and threatening to fall off the wall. I’m slowly plotting to have another set built next to them, but maybe next summer.

We were running a little late with the Christmas preparations, still in the end everything was fine and we’ve been having guests ever since. Fun. We’re also having lots of snow, which is a nice change even if it was really cold for a while.

And here we are. Happy New Year everyone!

Merry Christmas!

Palas - Iasi

After over two years of choking with dust and cursing the investors for ruining our city, Iasi has a new downtown. The official opening was on Friday, at the beginning of a four day long weekend. Luckily I missed it, but since then I’ve visited it three times, twice during the day and once at night to get a full impression of the place. Half of the works are not finished in the surrounding area and about a quarter of the palace is still undergoing repair work (no surprise there since this is Romania we’re talking about), but what’s done looks almost decent.

Let’s take it from the top. There’s again pavement on the alleys in front of the palace (I never thought I’d live to see the day!). Except for the main tower, the front façade is mostly done and while I can’t call it “the gray castle” anymore, once you get used to the new look it looks fine. The pavement leading to the Luceafarul Theatre has also been replaced. I hated the old one with a passion so this makes me very happy. Unfortunately, it’s already cracking in places and it’s only been four days. Still waiting for the second fountain to be rebuilt, but it’s nice to see some patches of grass even if I don’t care for the brown leaves trees. The esplanade could use more benches and the brown box in the middle of it has got to go (it has no business doing there and it’s ruining the view), but other than this I’m happy with it.

Moving on. The next stop is the Palas Mall. Well, it’s big. It has a big opening in the middle fit for all kind of events (way to loud, though!). I still haven’t figured out the geography of the place, and we had to take three elevators to get to the ground floor, so something isn’t quite right there, and the staff is too new to be of any help yet. Regarding the stores, I only saw them from outside (I didn’t have the patience to check every one of them) and I wasn’t impressed. They look like something put together in a hurry and with no much thought given to the style. The one clothe store I entered, C & A, left me quite disappointed with the quality of the clothes. As for prices in general, I kept thinking “I could buy this many books instead.”

But let’s move to the stores that really matter. No, I haven’t checked the jewelry stores yet. I’m talking about the bookstores. Yes! So, there’s a Carturesti on the top floor. It seems bigger than the one in Iulius Mall, but it doesn’t have more books and they’re arranged a bit at random. Maybe they’ll get better organized in time. I couldn’t help it and bought something before walking out. Nemira is on the middle floor. It’s not a store, it’s a stand so I almost missed it. They have a 2+1 promotion and 35% discount for students (little brother better make it into college!), but dunno how long this will last. Librarium is on the ground floor, reasonably sized, well lit, and with high shelves. If I hadn’t had an eReader I would have probably ended up buying some English books. There’s supposed to be a Litera store too, but I haven’t seen it.

Okay, out again. I won’t stop at the supermarket, it’s just food so not interesting (I can’t wait for mom to send dad to get bred from there in the evening, teehee!) Let’s move to the park. Yes, that big park they promised us. The truth is that it’s rather small, crowded in between the surrounding buildings. Four alleys, a lake, two fountains, one tent, two gazebos, a merry-go-round and an open space meant to become skating rink in the winter (it’s not a joke, I’m afraid. European ice rink my foot!). That’s about all, plus the restaurants and cafes on the sides, and don’t get me started on the stairs leading up to the palace. They’re the ugliest thing I have ever seen, especially the railings!

For now, the place was crowded by people of all ages, curious to see the newest world wonder. Hopefully, the curiosity will wear down in a couple of days/weeks and it will become less crowded. I don’t think we’re getting rid of the kids, though. Sigh. I do hope the security will become tighter and they will prevent people from stepping on the grass or that place doesn’t stand a chance. I also hope people get better manners and stop leaving litter behind. Well, yes, I’m a sci fi writer, that’s what I do.

In conclusion, it’s better than the mud and dirty water that used to be there, but it also could have been much better. If only people hadn’t been greedy and erected less buildings on the area that should have been the park. The way it is now, it’s too small for a downtown, given the size of our city. On the other hand, I’ve seen the original blueprints and if dad hadn’t had a word to say in it I don’t want to imagine how it would have ended up looking like. I’m not that much of a good write.

So Palas is open and it’s here to stay. I’ve been told it looks better at night with the lights on. I don’t know, when I saw it on Sunday the number of lights had been already reduced. Well, it’s Romania, we do everything by half if we can get away with it. It doesn’t look like the mentality will change too soon. Until then, see you at the Palas. If it’s sunny outside you might find me there. Or not.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter!

Happy Women's Day

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

P.S. Yes, there are no presents under the tree. We'll bring them out tonight just before opening them, otherwise they wouldn't stand a chance. :))

And a bonus pic:

2011 Recap

I don’t make New Year's resolutions. Ever. They’re just bound to make you feel like a failure at the end of the next year. Life is unpredictable, you can’t control it. So why bother?

I will, however, list some of the highlights of this past year:

16 short stories written + one longer text

11 stories published (9 on-line, 2 in print)

On-line stories:
• "Camouflage” – one of my favorite stories and very easy to write
• "Navigating Through Fog” – another easy and fun write
• "Colors and Shades” – inspired by the recent trip to Prague
• "Unhinged Reality” - my first sell for the English market. *beams proudly*
• "Hearts of Stone” – an oldie, started two years before being finished and then put on hold.
• "Chasing a Ray of Sunshine” – developed from a two lines story idea.
• "Meet You at the End of the Road” – another oldie from the same time period.
• "Giants” – written while I was working on “Miss Vu’s Morning Ride”.
• "Rustle of Angels” – this story was exactly one year old by the time it was published.

Participation to two printed anthologies:
"Miss Vu’s Morning Ride” in “Steampunk: The Second Revolution”,
editor Adrian Craciun, Millennium Books, March, 2011
"The Truth in Their Sights” in “Venus – Erotic Science Fiction Stories”,
compiler Antuza Genescu, Eagle House Publishing, December, 2011
Fancy cover arts as bonus.

Participation to upcoming anthologies edited by owners of Scifientland and Moshulsf blogs that will appear next year.

For those who keep asking me, yes, I did submit a text for the zombie anthology, but I never heard back from them and it’s been half a year so… *shrug*

Finished the first draft of a fantasy novel, the first book of a trilogy actually. No specific plans for it, but I do know that I will finish it. My fingers are itching to start on the sequel. *grins*

70 books read. I don’t know if that’s little or much, but it’s a nice round number and more than half were worth reading so no regrets there.

Finally had bookshelves built for the above mentioned books. They’re full already, but at least there are no more piles of books laying on the floor anymore. Wondering how long things will stay like this.

Bought Kindle to save on books and bookshelves. If I had waited three more months, I would have gotten it considerably cheaper, but let’s not dwell on that, shall we? After 25 books read on it, I declare myself happy with my purchase, even if the search function could be better.

Three new web sites designed and put online, moving away a little from the skating area, but still sticking with the arts and sport, like painting, sculpture and golf. Working on a personal web site, nearly done, only one important part still missing so it should be ready soon. :)

One wonderful week spent in Prague this summer. The weather was on our side, mostly. Always important!

Huge Mucha poster bought while being there and after two months I managed to have it framed and hung. Hopefully, it will last longer than the cacti bought in Amsterdam two years ago.

Update on the cacti: out of six only four survived, two of which as regular cacti while the other two are still of the mutant type. We tried grafting and it didn’t work. I think I started writing a story about it once, it might be time to finish it.

New flower pots rack. Number of flower pots surrounding my desk still too big.

Five new small trees on the terrace, including two birch trees so far still alive.

The cat surviving a stroke after getting into a fight with a stray male cat. Who needs a dog? :P

Living room furniture changed, currently shuffled around to make room for the Christmas tree.

Big beautiful Christmas tree decorated three full days before Christmas. Victory! :)

Look, Mom, I'm on Facebook!

I've been doing some research on social networking for writers lately, and it appears that the general opinion is that you just have to be well represented on Facebook for people to even know that you exist.

Now I've had a Facebook account for a few years, but my friends can testify that I'm hardly ever there and I mainly use it to post links to my blog posts. With regret I must announce that today I gave in to the social pressure and created a Facebook page dedicated to my writing activities:

https://www.facebook.com/AuthorIoanaVisan

25 people better Like it fast so I can change the URL to something more manageable, because there's no chance in hell anyone will ever remember that link the way it is now!

My usual ramblings will still go here, on the blog, though. The page is strictly reserved for writing related topics. Of course, right now the page looks more organized than the blog, which irks me a little, but well, one can't have it all.

Apparently you also must have a Twitter in your own name so this is where I draw the line. Maybe when my first novel gets published on paper I'll change it, but until then I'm keeping my @weirdvision account. There.

Scandal in culise/Noises Off – Theater à la Braila style

EuroArt theater festival took place in the city last week. Because I started looking for tickets rather late, I only found tickets to one play out of three that I was really interested in. So on Friday evening we went to Students’ House of Culture to see “Backstage Scandal” (“Noises Off” in original). It’s a British play written by Michael Fray, and it won several awards in the early 80’s, one reason why I wanted to see it, but also because I was in the mood for a comedy. And comedy it was.

The play stared the actors of Maria Filotti Theater from Braila: Bujor Macrin, Mihaela Trofimov, Valentin Terente, Alin Florea, Catalina Nedelea, Liviu Pintileasa, Adrian Stefan, Corina Bors, Alexanda Poiana. A young cast with only one actor past his 30’s – quite a bit of eye candy which didn’t hurt – and I couldn’t help notice that over half of them have done their theatre studies in Iasi.

The script is phenomenal, there is no doubt about it. I recommend it to anyone in need of a good laugh. This particular production wasn’t too bad either. I dare say that whoever chose this particular play to put on stage with this cast and director bit a little more than they could chew. One reason more to congratulate the cast for their enthusiasm and courage to take on such difficult play. Sure, there was some shouting, some line could have had their potential better exploited, but their comedic timing was spot on, great entrances and exits.

In the beginning, I was grumbling because the audience wasn’t allowed inside the room before 7 PM sharp, the time when the play was announced to start. Of course, it took another twenty minutes for everyone to settle in after that, but there was a very good reason for the doors to be kept closed until the very last moment. You’ll have to watch the play to figure out why, but it was worth it.

So maybe it wasn’t a Tony award deserving performance, still it was entertaining as hell, and the last act it was almost non-stop laughter, even if the previous two were more solid from a plot point of view. In conclusion, it was one fine theater night, especially considering how cheap the tickets were.

Over the weekend, I watched the movie made after the play, staring Michael Caine, Carol Burnett, late Christopher Reeve and Marilu Henner. The movie had its good moments, like the backstage almost-pantomime during act two, but I couldn’t help feeling that some parts were miscast. And while it was okay, this needs to be seen on stage. I can’t stress it hard enough!

Straini in noapte/Strangers in the Night – A night at the theater

About two years ago, when I heard “Strangers in the Night” was coming to Iasi, I went through a lot of trouble and stressed a lot of people to get tickets, and in the end I failed. This spring, I saw an on-line ad for the play, but the date was set in February and it was April already. I was miffed I had missed it again, still when I looked better I realized the date had been moved to April. Since it was supposed to be the upcoming week, not a particularly good day for me and also so soon, I thought there was no way there would still be tickets available. I called to inquire about the tickets anyway, and guess what? Yes, they had tickets, and the play had been postponed once again to May. Erm, okay, this worked even better for me, especially since it was just across the street. So I got the ticket and then waited a whole month to see the damn play.

Now what’s so special about “Strangers in the Night”? It’s a play written by Eric Assous (original title “Les montagnes russes” – very fitting!) and performed during 2004-2005 by Alain Delon and Astrid Veillon. The word goes that Radu Beligan saw it performed in Paris, and then he decided to translate and direct it himself. Unfortunately, we’re still waiting for a time travel device to be invented and since you can’t get Alain Delon to come to Romania to do a play, we have to settle for Florin Piersic and Co. First time around his stage partner was Emilia Popescu, this time he stared along younger actress Medeea Marinescu. I had seen her in “Je vous trouve tres beau” French movie and I had found her all right so I wasn’t too bothered by the change of the female lead. Everyone knows Mr. Piersic so no need for introduction there.

We arrived at Luceafarul Theater on time and waited for half an hour past the announced time of the show for the room to fill. It’s a theater mainly for children plays and since it’s been a while since the last time I had been there, I had almost forgotten how small that hall really was. I mean it’s a monster of a building my dad helped design 25 years ago, but the rooms are really small. I suppose one would go crazy with that many kids gathered in one place, however there were few kids there last night. It was nice to see all the seats were occupied, even those in second row were fashionably late, and most part of the audience was fairly young. There were extra seats added to the end of each row, all reserved, of course, so it was crowded and the people in charge with the placing were in it way over their heads, but we managed.

Finally, Mr. Piersic came out on the stage carrying a bouquet of white roses and… started with a speech. Hmm, okay. I haven’t been to the theater in a while so maybe the customs have changed. He had a long list of people to thank to, some of them were in the audience, and he threw in a few more or less appropriated jokes, only to get to the point twenty minutes later and ask the audience to turn off their cell phone. Ah, okay. I fully support his request, only it would have been more efficient if someone from the management had done it in advance and we wouldn’t have been left to boil in our own sweat for a whole hour. I forgot to mention it was awfully hot and stuffy inside. Next time I’m going, I’ll be the one wearing a bathing suit. Moving on.

Mr. Piersic made a personal enemy when out of all people sitting in the front row he picked little brother to ask him if he had a cell phone and if it was turned off. It was. He also asked where he kept it, and when the answer was “In my pocket,” he retorted, “I don’t see any pockets, it’s in your pants.” Little brother who is very polite and well-mannered did not reply “No, there’s something else I keep in there,” but he did swear never to go see Mr. Piersic on stage again. So there.

On to the play. At first sight, the subject is pretty simple: a middle age married man picks up a girl in a bar and brings her home while his wife and kid are away on vacation. The trick is that the girl is not exactly who she claims to be and only in the end we find out what’s the deal with her, hence the rollercoaster. Mr. Piersic was a little out of breath in the beginning, should have saved his strength with the speech, just saying, but he overcome that little issue. A little more distracting was the amount of paper towels spread all over the place that he used to wipe his face. I think the audience was a little envious, he should have shared them with the rest of us, the clean ones I mean.

When he’s not over acting, which he kind of does at times, Mr. Piersic’s persona often comes out from underneath all of the character’s layers. This could be a problem for those who are not keen on the man, but personally I didn’t mind. The story was compelling enough to keep me interested without letting minor things put me off. I did notice, though, that he has a habit of mumbling the words at some points. I had no problem hearing them giving that I was sitting in the front row, but I did wonder about the ones in the back.

For as long as I can remember there was a problem with the sound system in that room, it was set too loud. Slightly annoying if it was just music playing, it became more than a little bothering if the actors had to speak in the same time. Luckily, there weren’t many moments like these.

There was love at first sight between Ms. Marinescu’s red high heels and I. I can’t say the same about the skin color bra that peeked on the side of her black satin nighty/cocktail dress. People in the back might not have been able to see it, but a bunch of us sure did. For the life of me I can’t understand her fashion choice, but that’s just me and it’s not really important.

Ms. Marinescu seemed a little agitated, or maybe that was part of the stage directions, and her voice reached some high notes. It made me wonder if that was her normal voice or perhaps the dryness in the air was affecting her. I dare to say that her part is more demanding than Mr. Piersic’s, because she gets to play five characters, sort of. She had a really moving scene at the end, even if the final reveal was predictable and a bit of a cliché. But this is not the actors’ fault, and except for the ending, which deserved a little more excitement, the rest of the script was highly entertaining and well-written.

In spite of the good chemistry between actors - let’s just ignore the huge age gap, OK? - I couldn’t help wondering how was Emilia Popescu’s Juliette. Mrs. Popescu being a more mature and experienced actress, I imagine her portray of the character had to be quite different, but like I said above no time travel device so I guess I’ll never know…

At the end of the show, the actors got a standing ovation and were called for a second bow, but oddly enough, no flowers were offered. And to add insult to the injury, there were still cell phones ringing during the performance. Some people have no shame.

Oh, Christmas Tree...

Our Christmas trees over the years:

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

Merry Christmas!

To be superstitious or not

I just sent an offer to a possible client and only then realised today it's Tuesday the 13th. To those who believe in superstitious it can't get worse than that. Oh well... if it doesn't work out at least I'll have August free.

Update: I didn't get a straight out no answer... so things are looking promising so far.

SF Signal - Official Sci-Fi Geek T-Shirt

Here's a funny thing...

I've entered my share of contests in my life, some I've won and some I haven't, but whenever I did I had to work for it. I've never won a contest finalized with a random draw.

Unlike me, little brother is an ace of random draw contests, he wins them more often than not. He just won an Official Sci-Fi Geek t-shirt from SF Signal. All he had to do was enter his name.

Now this is what I call luck!