An acquired taste: photography

"Sing for your lover
Like blood from a stone."

Now that the summer is, in most books, over and done for, I can finally grant myself the right to draw some conclusions. The kind that are drawn at 2 am, in the blinding light of a screen and with a backdrop of nameless tv programmes, that ensue without any consequence to my life, other than that of being midnight companions/figurative&inanimate substitutes. So here it goes, the magical words of wisdom of an insomniac:

1. Although I am by no means a cliché fan, this summer I was, most definitely, repeatedly bitch-slapped by a slew of bumpersticker tags and mass favourites, such as: "Never say never", "If life gives you lemons, make lemonade", "Never judge a book by its covers" etc. Personal favourites out of the folk lore chest: "Polished brass will pass upon more people than rough gold", "In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is King", "You can't get blood out of a stone", "Those who live in glass houses, shouldn't throw stones". They are pretty much true, I can testify.

2. Bursting one's comfort zone bubble and venturing out into the real world can be a humbling experience. After I got my first job ever this summer, I realized just how much hard work it is surviving in the work environment, not to mention figuring out the hierarchical dynamics. Interacting with hundreds of people each day has offered me a whole different approach towards the psychology of the masses and while we're at it, a creator meets minions attitude. Modest of me, isn't it?

3. Mentally belittling people with the purpose of nihilating their existence from the database doesn't always have the expected result. Quite the opposite, actually.

4. Sleeping/lying sedated on the ground, with drum 'n' bass booming in your ears and near negative temperatures rotting into your scantily clad body is perfectly doable and tested.

5. The internet is a double-edged sword: whilst being the best platform for individuality, it is also a weapon of mass enslavement. What a clever assessment, right?

6. The mountain can come to Mohammed.

7. I now love Bucharest more than ever after the four days spent there this summer. Its hustle and bustle is the perfect fit for my personality. Stray dogs as many as they may be, who cares? "Bucharest calling" is the new hot tune in my store.

8. I most definitely have a shoe fetish. No doubt about that. It's too bad I spend hundreds on outlandish pairs and only wear them a couple of times a month, because I'm too much of a slouch and I mostly tend to wear flats. Everyone is in total awe at how big of a Jeffrey Campbell fan I am and how much of my time is dedicated to stalking his shoes online and drooling over them. Thankfully, next week I will be finally getting my much coveted Litas. (UPDATE: got them! The babies are fucking gorgeous!) Might just get an extra pillow for them.

9. One of the most beautiful displays of affection is that of someone instinctively reaching out after your hand in bed, after they've fallen asleep. ❤

10. Contradictory urges and feelings can only end in rupture.

11. My soul breathes classical and romanian folk music. Without them, I am nothing.

The shock is not as great as you'd think. I didn't see any women in chains. No extremists took me hostage while I was there. I might have seen an occassional 1001 Nights scene here and there, but that only added to the charm. Overall, Turkey chanted to my soul and awed me in a way I couldn't have forseen.

For a sheltered, little european, my first encounter with the oriental world was as spiritual as can be. And pretty stereotypical, while we're at it: pungent smells of spices and perfumes, volatile faith and imposing mosques, exotic sounds and babeled tongues- what you'd, by design, expect from a muslim country with a rich historical past. What I didn't see coming was the great level of european urbanization, which is most obvious in Istanbul, a modern city most deserving of the title of successor of greatness. In this respect, Turkey, an asian country with an european twist gives us, "the white people", a lesson of civilization.