elenafilatova.com

the chernobyl disaster – one of the biggest nuclear accidents in history – took place 21 years ago (+3 days, because i’m a little late).

i was 15 months old at that time, and my parents still clearly remember the incident (and how little information the public – as in “everybody except the russian government” – received).

wikipedia (who else?) has lots of facts: [en] [de]

looking around for more information, i found the website of filatova elena vladimirovna, who has made impressive photo-reportages of the locked-down area, the latest one in spring 2007! elena also shares some interesting thoughts – her site is definitely worth visiting.

all i’m going to say is: never doubt what your fortune cookie tells you!

my new t-shirt helped, too. :-)

there are those who talk around the topic, hoping to give enough unasked-for information to satisfy their questioners, and there are those who just plainly admit not knowing the answer.
i have the greatest respect for those who have the courage to walk the second path.

being asked a very special question during discussion (following a presentation), one of the biologists at the entomology congress replied:

“i have no idea. i wish i could tell you, but we don’t know.”

after all, knowing what you don’t know (or can’t do) can be more important than knowing what you do know (can do).

on february 28th, my fortune cookie said this:

“you will have to bear less responsibility next month.”

we’ll see.

during a looong speech, recently, my mind drifted off (not my fault – it was 100% not-interesting). a few minutes later, though, the speaker caught my attention within an instant when i thought i heard the word “auslandsreise” (journey abroad).
then i realized he had just said “ausnahmsweise” (exceptionally)…

would you call that a passive freudian slip?

(by the way, german speaking folk: wanderlust is also an english term referring to “reiselust/fernweh”)

gotta post this as long as it’s fresh:

i’m just boldly assuming that you already know the free hugs video from sydney (thx caro).
my friend lisa saw it too, and she decided to start the same thing here in innsbruck…
 

it seems strangely …unreal and long ago now (just 12 hours later), but it was incredible.
i stopped by to take photos and enjoy some hugs myself, and the reactions that i witnessed were just amazing.
some people were just smiling and silently sneaked by, others were hesitant and seemed to think “i could give it a try”, and lots of them* just did it. there was so much positive energy!
* my general impression of tyroleans involves adjectives like stubborn and close-mouthed (relatively, of course), so i was REALLY surprised about how many passersby went for the free hugs.

[view photos: free hugs in innsbruck]

more photos will be posted here in the course of the day…

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