I am now a certified open water scuba diver. After five classes, five closed water dives in a swimming pool and a weekend trip for our final check dive, I can now rent equipment, get tanks filled and dive to a depth of 18 meters/60 feet.

It’s a very basic certification that opens the doors to other certifications. It’s similar to pilot ratings where you can get trained on twin engine, single engine sea, performance/variable pitch prop and instrument only flying (IFR). With diving, it’s advanced open water, which will let you dive in heavier currents and down to a depth of 40 meters/130 feet. There’s also wreck diving, cave diving and nitrox diving (higher concentration of oxygen). Unfortunately we won’t be able to do the wreck diving since we’re not certified but how cool would it be to fly around a ship like the Felipe Xicotencatl?

Like Flying, but Slower

Scuba diving is the closest to flying like Superman that you can get. We did our check dive at Lake Rawlings which has a sunken bus, car, plane, a paddy wagon and other random things. When you’re swimming around the bus you can swim over the top of it, down the side of it or however else you want to. The coolest thing was swimming inside the bus and just hovering between the bus’s floor and the ceiling. I rotated around on my back and watched my bubbles float up towards the top of the bus and then explode as they impacted with the roof and attempted to escape.

This YouTube video does a good job showing off some parts of Lake Rawlings (and the exploding bubbles on the roof of the bus). The fish really are that plentiful and friendly. When we were there, there were about 6 large groups of scuba diving classes, just like ours, that were there diving all day Saturday and Sunday. Being early November I can’t imagine how many more divers there would be in the summer! So the fish are very use to people. We even brought some popcorn balls down with us and fed the fish. Being in a school of fish is amazing as they dart past your head trying to get at the food. They’ll even come within arm’s reach of you and just stare at you as if asking, “Who do you think you are?” They really do look at you funny. It’s like being in an aquarium, without the glass.

We visited a plane that was sunk in 60 feet of water. Swimming along, the bottom was only about 15 feet deep and then there was a ledge that dropped straight off down to 60 feet. Swimming over the edge was a bit intimidating, as if you were going to fall off. But being in water, we just hovered over the darkness below and just like a flying super hero, slowly floated down to the depths below. As we got down to the bottom, it wasn’t as dark as it looked from above. Check out this YouTube video of some other divers exploring the plane. My smile was so big my regulator almost fell out of my mouth several times!

The most fun thing we did was play underwater basketball. They had two hoops set up under water and small basketballs filled with a little concrete to give them some mass. It was impossible to shoot a jump shot since no matter how hard I tried to throw it, it would only go a few feet into the “air.” So instead, from the free throw line, I launched myself toward the net and in Michael Jordan fashion made a slam dunk. The only difference was, I was in super slow motion and it took me about 20 seconds to actually reach the net, but it was freaking cool! We also did some ally-ops as the ball slowly floated toward the net from another diver floating five feet above the net.

I Need Dive Buddies!

I don’t say this about many things, but scuba diving is something everyone has to do in their lifetime. And for those lucky enough to live in Blacksburg, Virginia Tech has a scuba diving club that will certify you. It’s relatively inexpensive, extremely fun and very easy. Classes are closed for the semester but they’ll start up again for spring semester. I’ll try to remind people if anyone is interested.

Always Looking Forward

As for me, the next adventure is scuba diving in Cozumel! We’re staying there for 3 nights, which includes two two-tank dives (two trips, two dives each trip) and unlimited beach diving. Three meals a day are included and renting equipment is only around $30/day. The other 7 days will be spent in Cancún soaking up rays, drinking margaritas and hitting on the local girls. It’ll expensive still, but I’ve been saving up so I’m not going into debt, which is the most important thing.

So, I don’t usually talk about work on the public stage (Blog, Twitter, etc). A few things have changed recently (which I won’t be talking about right away), and so I’ve decided to make my professional life a tad bit more open but in the spirit of informing and to entertain.

The idea is going to be, talk about what I do, and explain my experiences, what I’ve learned and what I’d do differently. Since I have such a wide range of things I do, hopefully some of this will be interesting to you.

Lightroom 2

I recently acquired Lightroom 2 for my photo workflow. I’ve been using Lightroom 1 for a few years and it’s been a blast using it on my PowerMac G5. However, it was a bit slow and it was slowing up my workflow. Lightroom 2 has tremendously sped up the processing of my photos (perceptually twice as fast). Before I was waiting on the computer, now I can mostly just work and not have to sit there while the computer processes the changes I just asked for.

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So Gábor and I just bought our tickets to Budapest. We’re flying out of North Carolina on the 17th of December and will be returning to the States on the 19th of January. That’s roughly 32 days in Europe.

Combined with my trip to Cancun, which is 9 days, I’ll be out of the States for roughly 41 days. When I plan trips, I go all out, don’t I? We’ll be mostly spending time with friends and family that live there so that will help tremendously with costs of hotels/hostels.

The only thing I know for sure is that we’re going to Budapest, spending Christmas in Slovakia, and then spending 3 days in London before our flight back to the States. The stuff in between might range from a trip to Erdély (Transylvania), Cracow, Prague and maybe some other similar places. We might also go skiing in the Tatra mountains, which borders Poland and Slovakia. We have plenty of time to decide and plenty of time to do with what we decide.

In case any of you didn’t know, it’s not a very good idea to book so close to Christmas time. I knew, but there’s nothing we can do about that. Prices have jumped up tremendously. I’ve never actually travelled during the holidays like this, so here’s hoping everything goes as smoothly as possible.

Life Goal #5 is to learn to SCUBA dive. It’s something that I’ve always wanted to do for as long as I can remember. It seems so amazing to me to swim around under water and still be able to breathe. Add tropical fish, exotic reefs and potential shark attacks and you have yourself an adventure.

Opportunity at First Sight

My friend László mentioned last Wednesday that he’s going on a trip to Cancun, Mexico in December and if any of us would like to join. He’s been talking about this trip for a while now. He submitted a research paper a few months ago to be accepted to this conference that’s being held there. Because his research is awesome (in the area of autonomous aerospace engineering), his paper got accepted and now he gets to go for 5 days on the department’s dime.

I told him I’d love to go, but I’m going to Europe that same month and money would be really tight. Then I started thinking: when is the next time I’ll be able to go to Mexico and SCUBA dive? Probably, quite literally, never. And being Life Goal #5, it was something I had to do. Luckily I have time to save up enough money to go and pay for it all in cash (rather than sticking it all on the credit card and wondering how I’m going to pay for it later). I’m going to be hurting financially for a while, but really, it’s just money and I’m not going into debt to achieve it, so I can in good conscience take this trip.

We’re planning to leave Sunday, the 7th of December. László’s conference is that week, but when he’s done we’re planning on a package deal of at least 3 days of SCUBA diving.

SCUBA School

So, before they let you go SCUBA diving, you have to get certified. Come to find out, Virginia Tech has a SCUBA diving club. Actually the school is so large they have a club for anything you can probably think of but I never thought to get certified here. So László looked into it for us last week and saw that there were three spots left, in the last class of the semester. He checked again on Tuesday and there were only two left. They were accepting applications between 5-6pm, but not on Wednesdays because they had a club meeting. Except we showed up at War Memorial Gym where they were accepting the applications and saw they were closed.

We had just gotten to the doors when a guy walked by in a hurry then stopped and asked us if we were looking for the SCUBA club. He said they’re not open because of the meeting but that he was heading there now. Crazy thing is, I guess he was the treasurer because he had a cashbox, took our checks, used a stamp to endorse them and took out a sheet with two empty slots on it to write our names down. Then he handed us our receipts. I don’t think we could have run into a better person. 30 seconds sooner or later and we would have missed him.

Then, to make it an even better story, his last name is Gyorgy, or György (which is actually a first name and if you’ve already guessed, yes it’s Hungarian). In Hungarian “first names” come last, and “last names” come first. For example: Szabó Péter means Tailor Peter. “Last names” are titles and titles come before the name, so that’s the explanation for that. And who’s surprised I linked SCUBA diving with something Hungarian?

Chichen Itzan Mayan Ruins

Apparently Mexico has ruins. It’s a $100 trip to see these ruins. If I wanted to see buildings in ruin, I’d go to Budapest (now I’ve linked the Mayan civilization with something Hungarian. I think I have a problem). In all seriousness, it’s going to be awesome. One of my favorite subjects in photography is architectural photography, so this is going to be an amazing trip for me.

Fun in the Sun

While László’s in the conference I get to head out and explore Cancun (only for 5 of the 9 days we’re there). I’ll perhaps meet some nice young ladies to hang out with and invite diving with us. I might just hang out at the beach, sipping margaritas and finish my tan for the summer. Of course I could sit in my hotel room with my laptop and watch YouTube videos all day. How awesome would that be?

Literally, the day after I return from tropical, beachy Cancun, I’ll be flying to Europe and freezing off the cojones (ah, see? I’m learning some useful Spanish words). It’ll be an extreme like I’ve never felt before. And it will be awesome.

Eastern Europe get its charm and character from being behind the Iron Curtain for over 40 years. It was difficult for any person behind the Curtain to socialize with the Western World.

In Berlin where East met West in very intimate settings, both sides build up buildings along the Wall to show the other side they were doing just fine and dandy, and didn’t you wish you were on *this* side? The Soviet Union under this communist system was simply all about show.

Today, remnants can be seen of the Russian industry and it’s effects on the former satellite nations for the past 50 years. Only recently have nations, formerly under the rule of communist Russia, been able to prosper under a more realistic capitalist system. However, because western influence was limited, much of the original culture still remains and is an important part of these countries still today.

Reasons to Avoid Western Europe

The myths about Europeans hating Americans is over stated. Europeans don’t *hate* Americans. They just sometimes think what America is doing in the world is stupid. They realize that not all Americans are like the ones they see on U.S. television shows, but they do pass around funny YouTube clips and joke about how stupid Americans are. But it’s only what they see. You never hear about the quiet American who speaks fluent Spanish because they tend to blend in more. You always hear about the obnoxious American tourist in the restaurant, speaking loudly and complaining about how Europe is so far behind the times and if this restaurant was in the States, it’d go out of business in a week. They’re not hard to pick out and so their visibility makes up the perception Europeans have about Americans. Americans in Europe are like Sikhs in America, you can spot them from three blocks away. So Europeans don’t hate Americans, they are just easy to pick on.

In fact, it seems, until a few years ago, they all wanted to be like Americans. In Hungary, it was considered a wonderful date (don’t tell any of my girlfriends this) if you were to take your girl to the local McDonalds. It was a bit more expensive and it was also kind of exotic for Hungarians.

This mentality is more prominent in Western Europe as it’s had a lot longer to fester. One reason to avoid Western Europe is because it’s too westernized and doesn’t provide a large contrast with the States. If you’re looking for something different (and you might not be), Eastern Europe is your best bet and will still fit within your comfort zone.

Most Americans go to London, Paris, Rome and maybe Berlin. I highly recommend Berlin because there is a stark contrast between the East and the West that’s directly evident when you stand on a street where you can see both East Berlin and West Berlin. Those other places are super touristy and they are extremely indifferent to tourists since they get literally millions every year. It’s like the difference between going to a Wal-Mart and going to a mom and pop shop in your city’s downtown. The products and experiences are worlds apart. Unless of course you’re just looking for a cheap, hollow experience for the sake of telling your friends you went to Europe.

I’m all about embracing different cultures. It opens your eyes to so many new and different ideas; ideas you would otherwise never have gotten. It’s similar to an artist looking at other artists’ works. If he or she only looks at works done by artists in the same town, the ideas become stagnant and inbred. The greatest artists in history were influenced by foreign influences. This is why different cultures are so important to me.

My Favorite Cities So Far

I haven’t been to a lot of cities in Europe, so I’m by far not an expert, but here’s my interpretation of the greatest cities in Europe and why:

Budapest - I might be bias with this one, but I honestly think this is the greatest city in Europe. Everyone speaks Hungarian, which is an obvious plus, but it also has the most interesting sites to see in the smallest area and public transportation is one of the easiest to navigate. The history is amazing from World War 2, uprisings against the Soviet Union and the ‘56 water polo match against the Russians, one of the best soccer players who ever lived, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and before that, the Kingdom of Hungary. Hungary had a huge influence on the shaping of European history (as evidenced by the start of the First World War).

Berlin - In no other city can you see the difference between western capitalism and eastern communism and what effects it had on a nation. Berlin is probably the most historic city I’ve ever been to and I can’t imagine any other city with more history (sad and terrible as it may be at times). There is so much to do there and so many great sites to see that it is a must see for anyone. And who doesn’t love German beer and food?!

Vienna - Vienna is simply just a beautiful city with beautiful buildings and gorgeous palaces, churches, streets and architecture. Austrians are definitely a different breed of people and don’t make the mistake of comparing them to Germans, even though they speak a similar language. They love the Hungarians but the Hungarians have a slightly different view of their Austrian neighbors which makes for an interesting cultural difference. Vienna was another city full of things to do, places to see and was just a clean, pleasant city.

Prague - Prague is like Budapest, but richer, cleaner but not as many sites to see. This was actually the first county I’ve ever been to where I didn’t speak the language and it was great. Since I don’t speak Czech it was slightly more difficult to get around and the public transportation wasn’t as good as what I was use to. We walked everywhere, which is fine, but it takes time away from actually learning about the city. Everyone goes to Prague and everyone loves it. I too highly recommend it.

How to do it Cheaply and Have the Most Fun

First off, travel light. I can’t stress this enough. You should only travel with one bag. Not only do airlines charge you more for multiple bags of luggage, you also have to wait to get your bags from the luggage return. If all you have is a carry on, you can just walk straight out of the airport. Make sure you read www.onebag.com before you go on your next trip, be it Europe or just a road trip.

So now that you’re traveling light, travel in small groups. With larger groups, and especially tour groups, it’s a lot harder to see the things you want to see. There are just too many people to appease. There are hostels set up (and you should be staying in a hostel if you can) explicitly for single travelers and groups of no more than three people. These hostels are amazing and really allow you to meet fellow travelers a lot easier than if it was a hotel-style hostel. I travelled alone for two weeks and met heaps of people also traveling alone. We ended up traveling together and going our separate ways later, but it definitely adds to the experience like nothing else.

When it comes time to refuel, instead of eating out, which we all know can be extremely expensive, go to the grocery store. Not only is this orders of magnitudes cheaper, it’ll also expose you to different country’s grocery stores and the foods they eat. Most hostels have kitchens in them anyway, but if you can go without hot food, make yourself a sandwich or something and eat it on a hill over looking the city, in a park on a bench, next to a statue or water fountain in the town’s center or just on a nice street corner where you can observe the city, the people, and all that makes up the city. Trust me, it’s a lot better than sitting in a dark restaurant with snooty waiters and getting ripped off because you didn’t know the restaurant is in the touristy section of town.

Finally, when it comes to actual commuting between cities it depends on how many cities you wish to see. If it’s only a few cities that you’re certain about, I’d recommend flying since its fast and easy. You can get one-way tickets across Europe for as little as $30 (Budapest to Dublin anyone?). You can plan your trips around the best airfares and save time and save money. Mostly all airports in Europe have either a train station or a bus station within walking distance so getting to and from the airport is a non-issue.

If you’re unsure about which cities you want to see, or you want to live on the edge of uncertainty, I recommend the Eurail-Pass. They have different passes so you’ll have to choose the appropriate one for your situation, but it can save you loads of money and leave your schedule flexible. If you want to stay in a city an extra day or so because you really want to see that opera in the Berlin State Opera, you can since most trains run several times a day to your next city of choice. Trains take longer than planes, but they’re more flexible, you can see more of the country-side between cities and it’s easier to meet people (if for any reason because they’re coming from and traveling to the same cities as you).

I mentioned not traveling with tour groups. Tours themselves are great but going on structured tours across Europe is a waste of your time. It’s similar to sitting in a movie theater and watching a movie about Europe rather than actually being there since you see most of the city via a tour bus. Do however, take a free walking tour in the city the first thing you do when you get to a city. These tours are amazing. The tour guides work off of tips (so make sure you bring a little cash), which makes these the most amazing people you’re bound to meet on your trip. The tour guides are all very friendly, outgoing and extremely funny, not to mention extremely knowledgeable about their chosen city. These tours will give you a great opportunity to see the city first thing so that you can later go on and spend more time at the places that interest you the most. And of course, you can always ask your tour guide at the end of the tour what’s the best bars to hit up and the coolest clubs to go to, because I can guarantee you that all those tour guides are extremely cool like that.

Jó Utat Kívánok!

Have a nice trip! As you travel, make sure you keep a journal of some sort. Don’t just write about where you went, write about what you thought! Years later when you go back and read it, your first impressions will be startling to you as you realize how naïve you were. It’s a great feeling and puts your trip into perspective and gives you something more than just photos and vague memories.

I’m thinking about spending Christmas in Budapest again this year. Last time was in 2006, so while it hasn’t been that long, it’s been a while. I promised everyone I’d go back last summer, but I had just started a new job and I didn’t have the money to do it. So I promised to return this summer so I could to the Sziget festival, watch the Red Bull Air Races (highlights) and see the fireworks for one of Hungary’s holidays in August. However, I forgot about the fact that since my job involves toys, we’re totally swamped with projects for the holiday season all summer up until October. Christmas in July! and August! and September!

Christmas gives me a great opportunity to leave as we get a week off anyway and then I can use some paid time off (PTO) to extend that vacation. So I’m thinking of taking a week and a half off before and after that Christmas holiday and make my vacation 4 weeks long.

My roommate Gabe’s parents live just north of the Hungarian border in a small Hungarian town in Slovakia. It’s only a few hours train ride to Budapest. We might also stay over in Dublin on our way back to Hungary since he has friends there he wants to see and because I’ve never been to Dublin or Ireland for that matter. And yes, the Guinness factory will be on the list of places to visit. I hear it tastes better than in the U.S.

Also, my Russian friend Elena, who I went to school with at Corvinus might be in Prague in December, so I guess I *have* to go to Prague and see her. Oh darn, Prague. Last time I was there, I went with my friend Tristan and Izzi and had such an awesome time. Gabe hasn’t been in a while so he’s excited about coming with me.

I definitely want to spend a few days in Budapest and see my friend Kriszi and that gang, Tristan, my old advisor Krisztina and others who I haven’t seen since I left. I also want to pick up some Corvinus college t-shirts and maybe a sweatshirt. The thought never occurred to me to buy any university swag while I was there, probably because I was a poor college student who had just enough money to eat. Now I’m rich (even though I’m still paying off the tuition from Corvinus AND Virginia Tech).

Traveling in Europe

I just wanted to mention, that traveling in Europe is so much easier than in the US. I never want to travel here. In Europe, it’s almost effortless (at least for me it is). I like to fly fapados (lit. wooden bench) airlines and all airports have train stations within walking distance and those will take you into the city or anywhere else for that matter. From there, mostly all cities have a great network of buses, trains, subways and street trams. You honestly don’t need a car, as long as you don’t mind having to walk your fair share. Having a car would be more of a hassle than anything else.

I travelled alone for 2 weeks once, from Hungary, to Germany, to Switzerland, to Slovakia and back to Budapest and never once had a problem with transportation or wish I had a car. I actually enjoyed it since in Europe, people actually talk to each other on public transportation and I would always meet a ton of people just randomly. Which is why, I suppose, I get kind of upset when people here won’t even return a ‘hello’ or my favorite: “howdy.” So anti-social!

It says a lot about a culture when you have large areas within your city where cars aren’t even allowed to go. It’s amazing how nice it is to be able to walk around a city and not have to cross any streets or worry about getting hit by cars. In NYC you have to cross a street every 100 feet or so. There’s a stark contrast in attitudes and it’s obvious in the construction of a city.

So I encourage everyone to just brave it and travel Europe (again if you have already). I keep telling myself I don’t have time to go back, but when will I have time? I’m still young and stupid and so now is as great a time as any to just take off like I don’t have a care in the world.

It’s been a long road and the end is not yet in sight. But the story is now able to continue today, as I received my pilot’s certificate! Actually, I should say I had it renewed, but after about 8 years of it being expired, it’s like new again. There was a lot of trouble this time in getting it, and the fact they kept shipping my papers to an old address in New Jersey didn’t help expedite the situation.

The Story so Far…

It all started when I was 15 years old starting my flight training at a little airport in New Jersey. I got my first certificate when I was 16. In Jersey, at the time, the age to get your license was 17 (now it’s 18). You can only have gotten your permit at 16, so I was soloing airplanes before I was even allowed to drive a car (even supervised driving). What sense that makes, I know it not.

I took a short break from flying after my flight instructor got a better job flying private jets. I started it up again when I moved down to Virginia to attend school at Virginia Tech for my bachelor’s degree. Virginia Tech actually has an airport on campus, so it was very convenient. However, my new flight instructor wasn’t very friendly and on a student’s salary I couldn’t afford it.

Fast-forward six years and here I am now, with a newly issued certificate and ready to pick up where I left off on my training. Except now, gas prices are 50% more than what they were and I have to train in Cessnas (which are ugly airplanes). My home airport is not the Virginia Tech airport anymore but instead it’s the New River Valley (NRV) Regional Airport (PSK), which is about 30 minutes south of Blacksburg (near the NRV Community College, if you know where that is). It might take me another 10 years to get my license, but I’ll eventually get it!

So, now on to the cross country flights and studying all my flight text books again! I should have my actual license by this time next summer if all goes well.

Keep the blue side up!

I have a little project doing and I am curious to find out a few things from people: If you moved to a country of your choice (not in North America), where would you go, why, and what are at least five things you would miss most about your country and town/city that you live in now? Or if you want, what are at least five things you’d miss about the country you’re from.

I’ll go first:

1. Family - Is seeing family 1-2 times per a year enough? That’s as much as I see my family. I need to take advantage of telecommunications technologies more (video chat, etc), but does that replace physical presence?
2. Friends - I have friends scattered all over the world already, so I know what it means to miss friends you’re close with and deal with the fact you may never see them in person again. Thank god for e-mail and Facebook!
3. Shopping - This is a bit superficial, I admit. However, when you live in a country where you can’t find your usual comfort foods from back home, for example, it adds to the stress of living abroad. For example, there’s no Hershey’s chocolate in Hungary (I know, how backwards of them!) and there’s no Túró Rudi in the U.S. (Americans don’t like cottage cheese chocolate bars?! SOO DELICIOUS!). Also, with store names like Tesco and Profi, you wonder if those can match up with the Wal-Marts and Krogers you’re use to in America.
4. Language - We all have only one mother tongue (ok, some of us have a father tongue too), but if you move to a country where they don’t speak your native language, communication (one of the most fundamental requirements of society) becomes hampered. In America, everyone expects demands you speak English. In other countries they are thrilled beyond belief if you attempt to speak their language. Think about that for a moment.
5. The little things - In the end, isn’t it all about the little things? Things such as hand gestures, street signs, restaurant etiquette, using services such as postal mail or absentee voting, and television you don’t really think about until you move abroad. Simply put, all the little things and the object they add up to.

To be honest, I really only miss #1 and #2. I see #3, #4 and #5 as differences, not necessarily bad. Just because it’s different doesn’t make it bad (contrary to the thoughts of many people of a certain nationality). I personally love differences and do all I can to meet different people, do different things, eat different foods and experience the different in life. That’s why I’ve lived/live where I have. Growing up and living in the same place is fine for some people, but I’m built a little differently.

Blacksburg has been great to me. It’s been different enough for me to keep me happy. I found a community of Hungarians (including my roommate) to hang out with. I have good friends from Germany, Italy, Iran, Turkey and a number of other countries. Only in America (in select parts) can all those nationalities be friends (and date in some instances). Think about that. How truly wonderful is that? It’s like world peace in our little piece of Virginia called Blacksburg.

If we all lived, learned and enjoyed the differences of others what would we have to hate? I know, it’s corny. But if you ever wanted to know my motivation behind anything I do, it’s to live differently and experience as much as I can.

My Project

So my little project is this: What is holding people back from experiencing what they really want to do in life?

I hear people say, I want a motorcycle, I want to learn to fly, I want to go sky diving, I want to go to Europe, I want to learn a foreign language, I want to… So what’s holding you back? Money isn’t the issue. You have most of your life to save up for it. You don’t have to do it right now. Make a list of things you want to do and go for it; have a plan. Besides, what’s a life without dreams?

So if you could help me out in my little project, leave a comment below with your chosen country and at least five things that’s holding you back from uprooting and moving abroad to that country. If you want to share other thoughts having to do with what I’ve mentioned above I’d love to hear them and you’d be helping me out a great deal.

Thanks! Köszi! Danke!

My friend from Iran just finished his PhD. To celebrate, his wife threw him a party. Looking for any reason to cook, I wanted to try a Turkish dish and bring it to the party.

The original recipe was called Stuffed Eggplants (Karniyarik, which means “split belly” in Turkish). Unfortunately it needed several tiny eggplants and here in America, there are only American eggplants, which are of course, American sized. Also, the recipe called for ground meat. I neglected to buy any and I don’t usually have any in stock anyway, so we altered the recipe.

Another friend from Iran came and helped me with it and she was a big help. It’s nice to cook with someone who actually knows what they’re doing. You can look up the recipe for Karniyarik, so I’ll provide the one we made up here. It might have a name, I can’t imagine this combination hasn’t been tried before. If not, I’d like to dub it a Turkish/Iranian/Hungarian dish.

Open Faced Eggplant Cutlets

2 Large American Eggplants
Mild cheddar cheese, shredded
Parmesan cheese
1 White onion cubed
Parsley (fresh is best)
1 tomato, diced
1 tomato, sliced into thin half moons
Green banana peppers (one or two should do it)
Ground Pepper/Sea Salt
Olive Oil

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I recorded this song just to capture some music I had in my head. It’s not meant to be a final version, but more of a “stream of thought” in terms of music (though edited). I still need to go back and gather those thoughts into a comprehensible “song” that has all those melodies and harmonies that makes music so structured, or not.

The recording goes along with its own first draft lyrics which were also created from stream of thought writing, which is inherently unstructured and mostly incomprehensible. So, you won’t get to hear the lyrics anytime soon (because I can’t sing).

This is probably as far as I’m going to go with this particular song. I just threw it together because people often ask what songs I’m playing when I play my guitar. I’m just making junk up as I go along, and this is the junk I came up with so I thought I’d share.

I hope you like it, feel free to critique it as I’m always trying to improve! Oh, and I know the timing is a bit off. I need to invest in a metronome.

I present:

Michael Ziray - Perfect is the Enemy of Great

Aside: The title comes from a Voltaire quote (my translation): ”Le mieux est l’ennemi du bien.” The song’s lyrics are actually about a girl and knowing that perfection is the goal, but by no means the finish line.