a view from my hospital room
I disappeared for a while and my stay at a hospital was the reason for that . I went there to get a surgery, which was totally planned (had to fix myself to be able run more efficient). The part that was unplanned – were “after surgery” complications which kept me there for 8 and not 3 (as initially planned) days/nights. I m still not 100% fit, still not able to run … but well I really hope that everything will return to normal soon. I really cannot wait till I get to run.
On the other hand, even though I felt not good and i suffered a bit, I have to admitt there was really nothing to complain as I received much “love and support” from my friends and family. Beginning on providing me with vegan catering (100% of my food had to be delivered to me “from the outside”, as I decided on not eating anything from the hospital kitchen) during all my stay in the hospital, ending with number of calls, emails and texts from all over the world. Also, my hospital stay was kind of a self-reminder about how happy and fortunate I am. After seeing so much of misery, human suffering and drama there, I feel I have no moral right to complain abt anything what is happening in my life. The End.
And the best thing was that my nurses were wearing a Dickies uniforms 
*EDIT:
I just remembered that while laying at the hospital’s bed, I heard some funny quotes that came from nurses who were talking to someone in other room. Here ’re my two favourite:
“Madam, you should eat cheese. Cheese is good for your bones.”
“Lady!!! Where are you going???!!! Your legs are broken!!!!!”
I really think that it is cool to have a white winter (this is the way it should be on that side of the world) but I m starting to be really tired of that coldness. It has been over a month now, when the temperature is always below 0C. And we re not talking just abt 0 degrees. It goes deep towards -20 sometimes. Seriously, i praise my wisdom and the fact that i bought few pairs of some serious winter shoes from the “Vegetarian Shoes”, a year or two ago. It would be hard without them!
Today we held funeral of my grandmother . She passed away on the 30th of December. I miss her so much.
This is the video clip that was shoot during our running session that we held on the second day of Christmas. Discovering running and gaining strength from it was definitely one of the highlights of 2009. My return trip to Asia in August was another blast. The trip was amazing and it was great to find out that I have still so many good friends over there!
Only 3 hrs more and this year is gone. Actually, I m happy abt this and I look forward to 2010. For me personally, this year ends with the tragic news that i received last night and which I m not ready to share with you yet. It has overshadowed everything good what happened in 2009.
Happy New Year to Everyone!
I planned to visit a gym on my way home tonight. Then, I found I forgot the gym card. Because of the weather I really did not feel like taking the outdoor jog today, however the urge for running was so strong that after returning home I just jumped into my running uniform and I was out, ready for my first winter cruise. The run was fantastic. I took the Nowy Swiat street down to the Old Town square, then returned towards the city center. It was snowing a lot, I mean really snowing and the temperature was about -10C. I finally managed to see this year Warsaw’s X mas illumination in its full effect! I felt soooo damn good!!! I wish I could share some pics with you.
here is the playlist that made my run even more pleasant:
Break Even – Trouble Maker dead prez – NYPD (Feat. Johnny Polygon) Eldo – ulice przeklęte Bane – Swan Song
Mos Def – The Embassy
Battery – You Can’t Win
Morrissey – I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris
Raised Fist – Friends And Traitors
dead prez – Summer Time
The Gaslight Anthem – The ‘59 Sound
dead prez – I Have a Dream, Too
Break Even – November 18th
Promoe – These Walls Don’t Lie Ignite – Three Years
The Get Up Kids – Ten Minutes
Veil – A Place To Be
H2O – Unconditional
As Friends Rust – The First Song On The Tape You Make
and one more thing:
picture stolen from xcursedx
Today is my brother’s birthday. There was no way we could see each other today and it sucks. He knows I wish him all the best and he has my eternal support in whatever he does! Happy Birthday Bro! All the best. Sto Lat!
We held first, official training of our Broloppet Run team, today morning. It was rather light running session(4×400 intervals) and have to say that I really enjoyed this. What a great weekend intro!:) The team includes RM, JM, KK, TM (who took this photo) and myself. I m confident that our goal will be reached and we will rock Denmark and Sweden upcoming June!
I went to the gym (I ve been going there since 2 months now) and used the treadmill (I usually use bike to warm up , then do a workout and then again do the 25-30 min bike session at the end of my gym session) earlier today. I have to say I m very disappointed with my performance. I can see how much work and effort I need to make (more than I thought) to fix my running ability. As the time is running, I will to go to an athletic stadium tomorrow morning and start running an open air sessions. Hope it will bring some hope to my soul that I can finish Broloppet run and survive:)
all photos courtesy of the mighty www. image.google.com
Ok, so here is a serious goal (the biggest physical challenge of my life so far) for the upcoming 7 months. I decided to do something crazy (in my own “craziness scale”) and I signed up for the Broloppet 2010, my first half marathon ever. It must be highlighted that I have never done such a thing, I don’t like to run at all and I m not sure that I could run more than 6 km now days. Anyway, I was asked to join the team of 4 (including myself) that has been created at my work. Made my mind in maybe 30 seconds ..then filled the form, paid 40 (or was it 60) euro fee….and here we ‘re! (funny that I have not receive any email comfirmation…however the right amount has been reserved on my credit card, so I assume everything is ok). Our main goal is to survive the run, have fun and to beat the team of our main market competition (read => the other TV station 
) that will also take part in that bridge run.
According to the Vegan Reich myspace page “Vegan Reich are writing and rehearsing for new record.” This is really awesome news for today’s World Vegan Day!
I converted to Mac. It was a quick jump into (almost) unknown and because of that step, I m discovering a new level of using personal computer. Totally awesome feeling . Well, I have to admit I m not so new to Apple as I used to use those machines at my first work and then during my studies in downunder (the whole Curtin Univ is dedicated to Macs). Ok. I m off to work now.
Make yourself a favour and listen to Captive Nation Rising.
The hardest kids still put an X by their names!
Happy Edge Day!!!
Those last 3 days were very, very hard to cope with and made me feel just like the weather in Warsaw ( Jesus, why is that snowing ? It is not a time yet, it is OCTOBER, damn u weather). Surprisingly, everything turned out to be ok at the end. On a positive side of all this story I just have to tell you that I found I can count on many, many ppl, who are willing to help me selflessly. Also, pls just note that the whole situation was not directly connected to me, but to the person who is very important to me. But you all know how much it hurts when someone hurts someone u love.
Due to this terrible weather, I finally got to wear “the most ugly shoes” in the world It is a souvenir from my friend who traveled to France and noticed those “synthetic leather”, vegan (I should rather say animal friendly) shoes and bought it for me.
I thought today will be a good day, but at the end of it, it all really turned into something nasty. To make things worse, I trust, tomorrow wont be any better. shit.
My Obama’s action figure said he won’t accept the Nobel Peace Prize.
For various reasons.
Spent 4 days in Gdynia. It was about the time to go there as I have not visited my home town since almost 5 months. The stay was like always amazing and helped me forgetting abt alll those “small things” i left behind me in Warsaw. It was great to hang out with my family and friends, eat a lot of great food and explore its local “gym” scene .
My brother took me to the Poland’s premiership soccer game. Our beloved Arka Gdynia played vs. Lech Poznan. We were among around 10.000 ppl who watched this game. It was a good game, almost won by Arka. End up with a 1:1 score. Had a really good time, shouted a lot.
Drove to the Gdynia’s seaside straight after the game. The weather was just perfect and sea was so calm. I simply love that scenery and it just brings me a lot calmness and help realize how good my life is. I m sure I dont deserve it.
On the way to Warsaw, we just had to stop by Sopot, for already famous, the Gelati Giuseppe ice cream shop. This is the first ever 100% vegan ice cream place. I am telling you, that place is a true heaven for all ice cream lovers (and not only vegans). Giuseppe, the shop owner who moved to Poland from Italy, is really dedicated to the art of ice cream and a cruelty free lifestyle. I hope he can received a huge support for his business. Poland definitely deserve for shop like this. I just hope that one day his business will grow and the shop like this could be established in Warsaw.
The other thing, worth of mentioning is the fact that ppl tend to think that vegan/vegetarian food is always more expensive then “normal”, mainstream food. Giuseppe ’s shop is a “living prove” that this way of thinking is a myth. His top quality, organic, hand made ice creams are way cheaper than any of those that can be purchased in major ice cream shop chains.
Giuseppe offers all kind of flavours – from fruit based to a chocolate, vanilla and “nutella”, ending with a vegetable ones …like pumpkin and a beetroot;)
Woke up to the beautiful sun. What a shame that I had to drive back to Warsaw within next few hours. The time in Gdynia has been a blast (like it always is) and I will write/post abt this soon.
…and yesterday was probably the last day when I was able to wear shorts in 2009 and I m not yet sure how will I survive through cold seasons.
On the other news, Sunny Day Real Estate are BACK (what perfect autumn reunion, right?)
their new, yet untitled song.
And this is a movie I simply cannot wait till I watch it. Along with “The Road”
One of my fav magazines, The Monocle has finally mentioned vegan straight edge culture, placing in its recent Singapore Survey, the Straits Records shop in the “Art Overview” part. I visited the Straits Record shop few years ago and I can say that this place is pretty good.
You might feel that Monocle is way too posh and totally not related to what I like. But it is not truth. To be honest it is somehow one of the few magazines I buy on issue to issue basis. What I like abt this magazine is that they keep on sending journalists to really “un covered” areas. It gives you really nice perspective to read about, for example, architecture/design from Russian’s Kallingrad, Peru, and then some fancy New York or Tokyo style – all in one issue. I really enjoy reading their city guides as well as I like their cafe and small bookstores fascination. They write abt politics and international relations too. It is like a perfect mix of the Wallpaper and The Economist.
And the best thing abt Monocle is that it’s actually in print and not limited to the online version only.
What I dont like about Monocle is that they write about guns and arms way too often.
