From Wikipedia: “…the art of making something difficult look easy”. Curiously, the same work done with effortless grace and visible hard effort is perceived differently. Add a pinch of complaining and the good job can turn into a nightmare without any other change in the visible … | Continue reading
Both pets have good sides and can make a home a better place. However, after having a cat for over 17 years, I don’t think I would have another any time soon. The final 1-2 years were tough. The photo above is not my cat. She’s just cute and looks like a tiger. | Continue reading
It blossoms in two different colors! This flower is called “Night Beauty” in Bulgarian, or Marvel of Peru in English. Someone planted it on the way to the bus stop. | Continue reading
Daily writing prompt List 10 things you know to be absolutely certain. View all responses The universe exists Math exists Math can exist without a universe Math can eventually explain the universe Everything that has a beginning has an end You can’t cross the same river twice Act … | Continue reading
The Fourth Monkey is a serial killer thriller where a psychopath avenges the past by murdering women. A team of dedicated police officers races with time to save a teenage girl who was kidnapped. Objectively, it’s a good serial killer horror thriller, although it’s unlikely that … | Continue reading
4 orphans are hired by a low-level Brooklyn crook and grow up under his wing to become his employees. One day he’s murdered, and the biggest misfit decides to go after the killer. The only issue is that our investigator has Tourette, OCD, and has severe problems interviewing witn … | Continue reading
Acne 🙂 Social pressure. As I age, I notice that more and more important milestones are behind me. There’s less and less that bothers the people who care. The classic fantasy and sci-fi from the 1950s to the early 1980s. The period where enough of the future was clear to r … | Continue reading
My goal is to sleep between 00:00 and 07:00. 7 hours of sleep per day keeps the doctor away. Overall, this works for now. I feel it’s getting harder to sleep long hours with age. | Continue reading
The Murderbot is after its murderous past and will be assisted by an intelligent spaceship. Its memory is lacking but it has plenty of time and is looking for clues. It’s a very tiny book, sub-2h reading. I think the format respects the lower attention span of the modern human-sm … | Continue reading
Press Enter is a novella by John Varley about a disabled war veteran who inherits his neighbor. The neighbor was a powerful hacker. So powerful that he could make money out of thin air. Another hacker comes to investigate. Unfortunately for all parties involved, the story is a ho … | Continue reading
I didn’t expect to see a cat on my way in the mountain today but here she is. It was hot today – the weather, the soup. I did well and feel fine. | Continue reading
An exploration spaceship returns from a distant star with a 200-year delay. They find the Earth and the Moon in shambles. Earth is inhabited by stupid people, and the Moon has a smart but unsustainable population, suffering from radiation, depression, and a shortage of oxygen. Za … | Continue reading
Some writers start with a bestseller, then it’s all downhill. You’re lucky to get the same bestseller repeated a few times with a slightly different plot. Others get better book after book. Michael Connely is in that group, and Janet Evanovich seems to be there as well. Takedown … | Continue reading
Daily writing prompt What strategies do you use to increase comfort in your daily life? View all responses Minimalism – my wife is a minimalist and I enjoy the simplicity of that concept, particularly about clothes, electronics, and furniture. I also apply it to books and only ke … | Continue reading
Do more chores than necessary and appreciate every kind gesture. Remember birthdays and family holidays. Pay attention and listen. Cheesecake. Nice writing prompt! Thanks for asking, Mr. Cronjob 🙂 | Continue reading
Best herb tea Bulgaria can offer. We call it “Mashterka”. Some rare herbs gained popularity but I always suspected it’s due to their rarity rather than taste. Mashterka isn’t rare and is delicious. PS. Jonathan Teatime is a villain from Hogfather. Couldn’t resist the temptation t … | Continue reading
I’m pretty sure this beauty was not done by the municipality. Near the National Palace of Culture in Sofia. | Continue reading
Best books for the month Thraxas Under Siege. It’s 5/5 and overall great. “Thraxas and the Ice Dragon” and “Thraxas and the Oracle” are not far behind. Turai is about to fall and Thraxas will have to help Lisutaris any way he can, which varies between failing miserably and saving … | Continue reading
I managed to crawl to the mountain top for the first time since the Covid. It was tough and not enjoyable. The bean soup was fine though 🙂 I took the shortest and easiest path that doesn’t involve lifts. It was about 5km one way. | Continue reading
30 years ago, the most common graffiti were y-Maria, READ THE BIBLE, and Vapski. Whoever drew the last tag clearly improved a lot. Y-Maria is also still around. Turned out she’s a driving instructor. Got my license with her. | Continue reading
It has to be my trip to Alaska, which took place in 2004 or 2005, when Bulgaria was not yet a member of the EU, and our passport strength was quite limited. At that time, I had never visited another country, and out of all the places in the world, I traveled to the USA, … Continu … | Continue reading
I finished this monumental work by Rebecca Yarros and have mixed feelings. I considered not writing a review but at the same time the book is is divisive and engaging. So here are my thoughts. Let’s start with the good. It’s readable and I read it! The magic system is not good an … | Continue reading
It’s good to be outside. Played some football instead of watching and took my first flower photo in over 10 days. The grass is turning yellow already. | Continue reading
Here’s a rough list of things I would tag with “sustainability” | Continue reading
My test is negative and I’m free to go out. I did over 10K steps today. It felt like 50K. It’s nice to be back outside. | Continue reading
I was an expert worrier. However, the sense of worry got severed somehow and I absolutely don’t want it back. It’s like losing the sense of smell when you’re in a poorly-smelling toilet. Imagine living in the Bog of Eternal Stench. It smells awful but you can get used to it. The … | Continue reading
The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled. — Plutarch Looking back to what my math teacher did, she would come to class, give the new material, and then give us the hardest task from the book for this new material. We had to learn how to solve … Continue rea … | Continue reading
For a word to be spoken, there has to be silence. Before and after. (Ursula Le Guin) I’ll prepare a conference talk one day that’s made entirely out of fantasy and sci-fi quotes. I’m sure it will be a lot of fun for myself 😀 | Continue reading
Naomi Novik is one of my favorite authors, and The Scholomance Series is hands down the best thing I’ve read from her so far. El is a murderous evil witch by birth who can destroy cities with minimal effort but has trouble doing basic spells. She’s trying to help and not be wicke … | Continue reading
The name in my language translates as Chinese Bubbler because of its bubble-looking fruit. The photo was taken in Blagoevgrad last week. | Continue reading
Dear Google, I have no TV in the room where I self-isolated, help me watch the game! Here, 1710.38 GBP. | Continue reading
I think Greece is at the top of my list of vacation destinations. Hard to beat the endless beaches and the taverns with fresh fish stands. From the countries I’ve never visited, I’d like to see Japan and experience the Japanese food from the source. | Continue reading
I got COVID-19 for a second time. Locked myself in a room and opened the windows. Watched all 3 games of Euro 2024 for the day. I hope nobody else gets it at home. | Continue reading
This is Bruce Wang from Netflix with his inspiring talk about Technical Debt. I enjoyed his talk and wanted to write about it but as it turns out, I’m opinionated on the subject and would like to share my thoughts rather than his. Bruce says Technical Debt is the delta between th … | Continue reading
I watched another musical. It was fantastic, the singing was out of this world. If anything, try getting a more central seat. The speakers in the corner can be loud. Also, wear a mask. It was packed. | Continue reading
I have a list of posts I’d like to write, inspired by the LeadDev conference but they’ll take time. Meanwhile, here’s a flower for you. If there’s anything superior in my city compared to London, it’s the nature. Sweet Woodruff or Lazarkinya. | Continue reading
Barbican Centre is a collection of concrete high-rises and old blocks in the City of London I’ve never paid attention to. I watched a talk by Nickolas Means on Day 1 of LeadDev about the history of it, who designed it, how it was built, who built it, and the how, and whys behind … | Continue reading
Some speakers are worried about AI (AI skills threat as defined by Cat Hicks) and shared how they deal with it. The quote of the day is this – “I skate to where the puck is going, not where it has been” (Wayne Gretsky, shared by Lena Reinhard). However, given that all the tech vi … | Continue reading
I don’t want to retire. My plan is to follow in my mom’s footsteps. She works in her 70s and I admire her for that. I believe a person needs a reason to leave the bed in the morning, and working is a good reason to be awake, especially if you work on something you … Continue read … | Continue reading
I managed to repeat my hiking success from last week. I had more water, a chocolate bar, and long pants to keep me from the flies but it was harder because the weather was hot. Took me 20-30 minutes longer to complete the path (5h 20m), and I feel now like I was run by … Continue … | Continue reading
Tomorrow is the election time in Europe and double election time in Bulgaria. We’ll vote for a national parliament on top of the EU one. Elections bring political discussions into daily life and expose the divisions we have. I’m unsure about the proper way to handle that. My coun … | Continue reading
Last week I somehow saved a post instead of publishing it and my 4-month blogging streak ended. A couple of days later, I published the missing post with a date from the past, and the blogging streak resumed a day later. This sounds more like a bug than a feature but it worked fo … | Continue reading
It’s a pretty flower but the area where it grows has lots of bugs. The Bulgarian name translates as swampy, marsh. | Continue reading
The advancement of AI in translation tools makes my blogging more difficult. I get strange results when trying to find a word and get a clear reminder that I should not overly rely on this tech. The Bulgarian word for “Cleaver” is translated as “Satyr” because of the proximity in … | Continue reading