Young Man's Chronicles

First pictures from MAFIA Party

>> Monday, October 25, 2010

Yesterday I was hosting the annual IEC party - this year it was MAFIA theme, so we were all dressed in gangster style. First pics for now, more to come soon)

Regina, Natasha, Bek and me

True gangsters - Me and Bek

MAFIA crew

Get-together with friends

>> Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Pasha, Artem, Katya, Leyla and me

Kostya, Katya and me

What kind of entertainment are you?

As for me, this past weekend I chose a roleplay game.
Me and my friends met a bunch of new people at an art-cafe to play a role game where we had to solve a murder-mystery while actively communicating with each other. I was playing the role of a murderer, and unfortunately, in the end of the game the rest of the actors did find out that it was me.
I would never think it is possible to keep 17 people (who just met each other) in one room for 3 hours and keep them all entertained at the same time. Turns out it is.

Updated view of the living-room

>> Friday, October 15, 2010

Late late wake-ups

>> Wednesday, October 13, 2010

We've got the first snow in Moscow today!
I guess, the global freezing is coming indeed.
Meanwhile, I am working on the new apartment at the moment, and it's becoming more and more comfortable every day. I'll post some updated pics soon.
The best feature of my new place so far, however, is how wonderfully close it is to my office. My work starts at 11am, and it only takes me 7 minutes to get to the office. Yesterday I woke up only at 10am, and today my wake-up shifted to 10.15 am.
I guess I'll experiment a little more with it, and we'll see what happens if I set the alarm for 10-30.

My new apartment in Moscow!

>> Sunday, October 03, 2010

After 3,5 weeks of exhausting search for a place to rent, today I finally moved into a new apartment. It is fortunately located right in the downtown of Moscow near metro Krasnopresnenskaya, only 7 minutes away from my office, so it's extremely convenient. A little renovation will be done in couple weeks - the walls will be re-painted in white, and some of the furniture will be added - then it will be totally perfect.

Spacious kitchen. Walls will be re-painted in white.

Bathroom

View from the front hall. Kitchen to the right, living-room and wardrobe room to the left.

Walls in the living room will be re-painted into white. The couch will be replaced with a better looking white couch, there will be added a few posters on the walls and a coffee-table.

Door to the wardrobe room. A lot of stuff can fit in there.

Doors to bathroom and restroom

Inapplicable and Irreplaceable

>> Friday, September 17, 2010

Apartment status: Still NOT Found.
After a morning ride on Moscow subway today I once again realized that fashion and style in this city have to be brought to a whole new level, but the question is - can it be done without destroying some of the old mentalities?
As a person who loves outstanding styles and travels a bit, I of course notice that most of today's fashion cries out loud for sex appeal and catching a public eye, but the most important thing is to mix those two in right proportions and still keep in mind that there is a very clear distinction between being vulgar and being fashionable.
It seems though that most of Moscow population still lives within the boundaries of Soviet mentalities - therefore, very few people can tell the difference between fashion and vulgarism and tend to put anything that is unusual for their eye into the latter category. The word "fashionable" I believe is unfortunately still INAPPLICABLE, when you describe an average Russian citizen.
I noticed a lot of odd and judgemental looks today that were on me, simply because I was wearing a t-shirt with a deep v-neck - meaning there was some skin showing, yet nothing inappropriate. So do I go back home and change into something dull and dark, or do I keep making my way around wearing what I choose to wear?
I guess you know my answer.
Yet, don't you think that everyday life would be so much more fun, if it wouldn't be just me and few others who would be dressing in a bright contemporary manner (and not so much dressing as THINKING in a contemporary manner)?
Once again, you know the answer.
Still the question is - what can be done (if anyhting at all?) to break some of the old mentalities that Russian people seem to be obsessed with and encourage them to view the world with an open futuristic mind? Or is this old mentality IRREPLACEABLE for a time being?

Search for apartment

>> Thursday, September 16, 2010

I've been looking for a good-looking apartment in Moscow for a week now, and all with no success. Most of the places are either extremely expensive or ultra-ugly. If you ever plan to move here, keep in mind that housing is ridiculously overpriced. And on top of that, working with estate agents is a pain.

The summer of 14 states

>> Thursday, September 09, 2010

After all my crazy summer adventures tomorrow I am flying back to Moscow, and this weekend will be dedicated to finding a new apartment for me to live in! Hopefully 2-3 days will be enough)
PS. If I counted correctly, it seems like during this summer I have visited 14 different states)

Visit to Portland

>> Tuesday, September 07, 2010

Today is a Labor Day Holiday here in the States, so yesterday we got into a horrible holiday traffic on the way from Seattle to California. Instead of wasting time on highway, we stopped in Portland, Oregon for a while. Very funky city.