longimanus's PhotoBlog

Reading minds

2009-12-21T18:26:02Z

sometimes, I can.

Where the wild things are

2009-12-21T18:22:51Z

for example, at the hungarian embassy in bern

For everything they have missed

2009-12-21T18:18:58Z

"They have gained something else... They missed love and gained Each, a hole in the soul  An infinity of loss Never to be filled..."

A làngos story

2009-12-16T19:13:41Z

Lángos (hungarian word, means approx. flame) is a Hungarian food speciality, a deep fried flat bread made of a dough with flour and water, yeast and salt. It is delicious, especially topped with sour cream and grated cheese, rubbed with garlic or garlic butter... not only its taste but the warm memories, nostalgic feelings it arouses in most hungarians that made us – me, my family and about ten another hungarian friends living in switzerland – want to drive 80 kms and meet up front of the balaton imbiss at the chrismas market in Konstanz (germany). the làngos was smaller and more expensive than last year, but what really put me off my appetite is the grumpiness, sullenness of the imbiss owners, a hungarian couple living in germany. I felt i have to give utterance to my disapproval and took a roughly treated customer under my wings. soon later a friend of mine told me, that the làngos-imbiss couple have lost their only daughter a year ago. she died while giving birth to her first child. shame flushed my cheeks... living in a country and generally in the western culture where everyone pretends his life was perfect and the expression of unpleasant feelings like sadness, anger is unwelcome, undesirable, the situation was unusual and stirred my thoughts (even though I`ve remained true to the principles of my hungarian genes and scream when angry, cry laud when sad). according to norms and expectations we should be happy and strive for happiness, and not being happy means we have failed to achieve our life`s goals, we are losers. always smiling and smiling, even if on the verge of tears. we learn that it is indecent to cry while sitting in a streetcar, and so we hold in our tears even when we are in the shower. we know that anger does not win us friends, and over time we lose our ability to express anger in solitude. we extinguish our anxiety, fear, and anger for the sake of being pleasant, nice to be around—and in the process of getting others to accept us, we reject ourselves. of course we do not need to scream while walking in public, or shout at our boss who makes us angry, but when possible, we should provide a channel for the expression of our emotions. sometimes, when it feels necessary, we should allow ourselves to shed a tear of sorrow, in solitude or even in public. I`m sorry... I`ll keep in mind next time I see a grumpy, sad face that maybe these belong to the very few people who are not able or not willing to wear a mask of perfect life... because life is not only about happy moments, joy and pleasure... even behind oblivious smiles in a christmas market crowd there sometimes are personal tragedies, problems are hiding. we all should have the right and permission to feel and if necessery, to express it.

Rays of light

2009-12-16T19:05:37Z

the same topic but different perspectives and cameras... and behind the viewfinders different brains, yet they have one goal: to capture the sunlight`s dance through the water. one of the three images is made by me. can you tell me which one? and which one of them you like most, and why?

Tourists block the view anywhere i go

2009-12-16T19:00:28Z

how annoying... ;-)))

Where there is a sea there are pirates

2009-12-14T09:59:52Z

the party must go on...

Four

2009-12-08T21:15:05Z

whom have i actually given birth to, among the millions of people on earth? a speck, a stalk of straw, a nothing… so vulnerable that even a bacterium - which is so tiny that it appears as insignificant dot also when thousandfold magnified - can kill it. but this little nothing is flesh and blood brother of the seawaves, of the storms and thunder, of the sun and the milky way… of the grass and oak, of the rainbow, of the sunflowers, of the seagulls and dolphins, of lion whelps. there is something in him that feels, percieves, investigates, suffers and endures, desires, loves, trusts, hates, believes, doubts, attracts and repulses… this tiny speck of dust embraces and grasps everything with its thoughts: the stars and the oceans, the mountains and fields… and what would be the sense of soul if not the entire universe?

I apologize

2009-12-02T11:39:07Z

You`ve probably read about it, that Swiss voters last Sunday adopted a referendum banning the construction of minarets and so switzerland became the first country in Europe to vote to curb the religious practices of Muslims. This happened in a country which in its constitution guarantees freedom of religion and equality before the law. I feel ashamed. For being a citizen – since soon a year - of a country that is so proud of its constitution based on its human values - liberty and democracy, independence and peace in solidarity and openness towards the world etc... - but seemingly does not practice what he preaches. I feel ashamed, because I havent been there last Sunday to give my vote against this nonsense. I`ve been too busy with living and digesting the meaningful episodes of my unsignificant life including being hours long outside with my son, playing football and enjoying the landscape around my home, the last time without snow. If my vote would have made a difference? I doubt so. Or maybe did? But I`m not the only one who thought so... till the last moment I truly believed that this schocking initiative about banning of building of minarets will be rejected by majority of votes. Even according to last surveys it was expected that only approx. 34% of the swiss population will vote for this scandalous initiative. Therefore, most of its opponents were rather occupied with the question, which lession could be learned from this stupid idea. Instead of voting against it. The test of courage comes when we are in the minority and the test of tolerance comes when we are in the majority. And in majority our test of tolerance failed... This initiative might seem as an insignificant detail but is a meaningful symbol of a deeply rooted conflict, and it is important to see behind these symbols, to understand, what really happens in europe, especially in switzerland; as a result of a real and serious identity crisis of european countries and of its citizens, the presence of Muslimes is problematic and terrifying, as anger and intolerance are the twin enemies of understanding and acceptance. On the above images are some of my friends. They are all muslims. i had the best time of my life in their country. Wonderful people as well as their families and so many other millions of muslims around the world who disapprove and condemd –just like you and me - those acts of violence, ignorance, hate and aggresion that is practiced by fanatic individuals or groups which misuse the islam. Most Muslims have nothing to do with the ones you read about in the newspaper or see on television. How this all could have happened? Obviously because a power-greedy party - Swiss People's Party (SVP) – has misused and taken advantage of the fear and mistrust of the swiss population of the islamic presence in the country that was roused and fed by the controversies - violence, extremism, liberty of opinion, discrimination of sexes, forced marriage etc… - the islam was connected with in the past 20 years. and as collective fear stimulates herd instinct, it tends to produce ferocity toward those who are not regarded as members of the herd. Grrr... thoughts that dont lead anywhere but to a neverending argument... allow me to dismiss the incident`s political precedents and circumstances, the endless discussion about pros and contras... and let me just speak about tolerance. The price of living in democracy is the acceptance and appreciation of people`s differences, which is not solely tolerable but is the essence of a rewarding human experience. you have all the right to think for your self, but let also others enjoy the priviledge to do so, as tolerance is giving to every other human being every right that we claim for ourselves; as each of us claim our freedom as a matter of right, the freedom we accord to other men is a matter of toleration. What would you say if an islamic country would allow the practice of all religions and religious buildings but would ban alone christian church steeples. Only these. Imagine, wouldnt it be revolting and discriminating? and now, we are transmitting exactly these signals toward the world. We have told all countries of the world, that switzerland practices religious discrimination. what makes me utterly sad is that even in most european countries the results were warmly welcomed. yes, there are muslim countries where christian churches are prohibited but in the practice of tolerance, our opposer can be the best teacher... you can learn kindness from the unkind, silence from the talkative and tolerance from the intolerant... and so rising above the situation and so setting a good example... otherwise, with which arguments would we want to demand religious tolerance in arabic countries? We are all formed of frailty and error; we should forgive reciprocally each other's mistakes. Switzerland claims to be tolerant, democratic, neutral... but you cant be tolerant in just segments, but entirely or not at all, you can follow the good path or the false one. Nothing works more destructive against peace and development than a world divided along religious, ethnic or cultural lines. For me the rationality in solving problems lies in values like fairness, kindness, generosity, tolerance Tolerance is a wonderful human effort to understand another's beliefs, practices, and habits without necessarily sharing or accepting them; it is the greatest gift of the mind, which does not require more effort of the brain than that it takes to balance yourself on a bicycle. Tolerance - mutual understanding and mutual respect - is the best religion.

It is all about waiting

2009-12-01T12:48:07Z

...waiting for the the right moment, when all components of the scenery converged into a harmonic unity. sometimes we must let go of the ideal picture we had in mind, so as to accept the new opportunity that presents itself. (big big thanks for my wonderful divebuddy and model too, for his endless patience :-)