Category: General

Today was a lovely day filled with beautiful weather and new experiences for our last Sunday here in Warsaw.  For lunch today we had intended to go to a favorite pierogarnia of ours in the Old Town but finding it too busy, we ended up at Stacja Rynek just a block away.  What a beautiful place!  A walk down into a cellar, the place very much surprised me with its elegance and design.  Our meal was fantastic: for Lisa a lovely salad and for myself a very nice zurek soup and beautiful salad that reminded me very much of San Francisco cuisine.

After the meal we did a little shopping and made our way down to the Cafe Bristol at the Hotel Bristol for one last time.  Not that we were regulars as it’s a bit expensive, but it was a place we enjoyed taking guests to and rather much enjoyed when we could.  Today we had ourselves some coffee and shared a wonderful ice cream sundae (vanilla and strawberry ice cream and peach sorbet, surrounded by black currants and strawberries in a sauce, topped with whip cream, some meringue and a cookie… delicious!).  While sitting there a pianist started playing and played one of my favorite tunes, C’est si bon.  Just delightful!

After the Cafe we made our way to BUW (Biblioteka Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, the library of the University of Warsaw).  Lisa had some photocopying to do so I spent my time at the Coffee Heaven there on my laptop to catch up on a bit of work.  Afterwards we went out the back and made our way to the garden on the roof.  Now, I had been down to BUW before but never knew that there was such an amazing garden on top of the building.  What a surprise it was to wander around above the library, looking off into the distance across the river and around town, walking all around the roof and looking into the library.  It was quite nice to have gotten to see all of that and to have such a nice experience in before we leave.

Only a couple of days now here, we’ll pack tomorrow to prepare to leave on Tuesday evening.  It’s an amazing chapter of our lives that is coming to a close and I find myself looking back at the time here very fondly.  Already I am realizing all of the simple everyday things which I will miss, but I am also beginning to look very forward to returning to California.   I’m sure I will be thinking back to life here in Warsaw for some time to come…

Today I was going to the Biblioteka Naradowa to meet Lisa who was doing a bit of rearch there.  Leaving the Pole Mokotowskie metro stop, I walked through the lovely park that neighbors the library.   The park has a sense of being kept up but left alone to be itself as well, and walking through there it reminded me of walking through the forest when I was in my youth…

The wind is breezy and cool, the sky as deep a very rich and deep blue with clouds moving along like a herd.  The light today is brilliant in a way that I will always associate as a San Francisco light as it was there that I really came to know such a quality of light. (The colors are vibrant and every small detail is visible…) It’s a day to walk slowly, to quiet the mind and observe the phenomenal experiences, and to simply breathe in the world…

Less than two weeks now here in Warsaw, I noticed looking out the window at the common garden shared by the apartments here how lovely all the trees and plants are, now well on their way to full bloom.  I was thinking back to the time when we arrived in the Summer, moving through Fall, Winter, and now Spring, remembering the way the courtyard looked as the seasons changed.  When John was here I was thinking that when Lisa and I leave Warsaw, counting the times I stayed in Krakow, I’ll have lived over full year of my life here in Poland…

Although I want to go around see everything in Warsaw “just one more time” in the little time we have left here, and although I am already thinking of all the things I will miss when we leave here, my mind is now moving on its way from here and to life back in the States.  It’s a strange sense not so much of anticipation but curiosity, of simply letting time go by and seeing what happens more than anything.  So many lessons from living life here, it’ll be interesting to see what happens when we get back to California.  Until then, I guess I’ll just take it a day at time and see how it all goes…

One of my closest friends John Leonard visited here in Warsaw last week, the only one from the States that has had the opportunity to come visit while we’ve been here. It was great to see him here as we really haven’t been able to spend any significant time together in years. As in the old days we got to play a number of games of chess and had ample time to chat about all manor of topics from politics to life in general. It was also quite nice for me to show someone I know a bit of my life here in Poland, to show all the places which I enjoy as well as to share stories and experiences that have happened here.

We did have a nice opportunity to take a train down to Krakow to visit Wawel, the Main Market Square, a walk around the Planty, as well as just wander all around the town hitting most of the cafes and restaurants that I have enjoyed in the past.  We also went to see Auschwitz-Birkenau: it was my second time there and it was just as horrifying an experience as the first time. The first time I went it was dark and gray and raining, this time the weather bright and even beautiful.  I think the experience this time was in some ways even more insane as I could imagine such a weather must have happened when the camps were in operation, highlighting in my mind even more the senselessness of it all.  That such a beautiful world could exist yet such horrors could occur…

Coming back to Warsaw after Krakow, I was somewhat surprised to realize that I found myself much more interested in life in Warsaw now than Krakow, as my past experiences in Krakow were so nice.  I noticed Warsaw has a much more urban feel to it in terms of lifestyle and the people seem somewhat kinder here (which may not seem to be the case at first glance as people generally wear a somewhat colder expression as a baseline here, but beyond it is generally a genuinely warm person I’ve found).

It was nice to spend a good amount of time with John which only highlighted how little time we’ve gotten to spend visiting each other.  Just how life goes I guess when people move to different parts of the country and the world.  It’d be nice to get to see more of my friends more often, so perhaps some plans will have to be made to make trips to visit each other more regularly.

I returned on Saturday from my second trip to the Philippines which lasted about two weeks.  It was nice to be back, working again with the company and seeing all the people who worked there, as well just being in the city with all of its energy.  It was interesting to leave as springtime was starting here in Warsaw and to return once again to a blooming spring, though jumping 60 degrees F from here to there and back has been a bit taxing on the body.  Beyond the work, the guys there were great in taking care of me and showing me around and introducing me to people. Some of the highlights of the trip were:

• High Rollers – We went to the casinos a couple of times while I was there, mostly for business purposes.  It was really interesting to see first-hand some high rollers brining in serious cash to play with.  Perhaps what I found most curious was that the guys who played with a lot of money often dressed in really expensive clothes and sort of advertised their wealth a bit, while the guys who REALLY had a lot of money were very down to earth and generally relaxed and having a good time.
• Philippine Fashion Week – We had an opportunity to go to a model party as well as the grand finale show (sitting front row in front of the catwalk!).  Very interesting to meet some models and fashion people as well as to see the fashion world really upfront like that.  I have to say that world seemed very foreign to me, though I found it interesting to see what models do and what a fashion show is like in person.
• Training at a Boxing Gym – The guys at the company regularly train at a boxing gym and invited me to go along and give it a try.  Strangely enough, although I’m rather a quiet person in general, I have long enjoyed watching boxing (even though I recognize it is an incredibly brutal sport).  It was neat then to actually go to a gym and work with a trainer and get to learn a bit about boxing and to train.  I had expected it to be quite tough and sure enough it was some very difficult work!  I’ve been a little out of shape and so had to stop before the other guys, but it was really neat to have the experience of training at a boxing gym.
• Embassy -We had a chance to go clubbing at Embassy at Fort Bonifiacio a couple of times.  The second time we went we were all in the VIP section and it was a great night of hip hop music, especially a treat with DJ Shortkut from the Invisible Scratch Pickles there spinning that night. Good music, great sound system, and lots of fun!
• Bulocan -As it was holy week and a vacation time for everyone, we took a trip to a resort in Bulocan with a some guys from the company as well as friends of theirs.  It was a nice time with a good group of people with drinks, cards, karaoke and more.  The second day there we went out to the markets to get some fish for grilling and it was quite interesting to see what a market is like in The Philippines, as well just in general seeing a what a city and life is like outside of Manila.

It was nice to get to see the people I met last time once again and really nice for all the non-work experiences there as well.  The Philippines is such a very curious and interesting place.  As much as I enjoyed the trip, I’m also very glad to be back to the quieter life. Some great memories, I’m sure I’ll be thinking about the experiences for quite some time.

It was a real joy to finally attend the Linux Audio Conference after wanting to attend for years.  Berlin was as wonderful city to see and explore as it was the first time, the conference held many interesting papers and demonstrations, and perhaps most of all it was a delight and joy to see old acquaintances as well as to meet people in person whom I have corresponded for years now online.  It was also quite nice to meet new people and to get to know more about them and their work.  All in all a very nice event and one in which I would love to attend again in the future.  Many thanks to the team at the Technical University Berlin for hosting a wonderful conference!

Lisa and I arrived back to Warsaw last night after a wonderful trip to Ireland this past weekend.  We started very early on Thursday morning on a 6:30AM flight to Frankfurt, then a couple hours before another flight to Dublin.  It was around 12:00PM by the time we left the airport and took a bus to city center, and since we were supposed to be in Maynooth for a sound check by 4:00PM, we didn’t have too much time to explore that day.  We ended up having a nice sandwich at an O’Brian’s (I think it’s a chain) and then went to see the Book of Kells exhibit at Trinity College, which was as lovely as ever to experience. After the exhibit we found our way to the train station and then headed off to Maynooth.

After a soundcheck and chatting a bit, evening came and with it an EAR Ensemble concert of music for cello and tape, which I was very fortunate to be invited to take part in.  My piece was first on the concert and I think because I was so anxious over the piece and also the presentation the next day that I had a hard time really listening and enjoying the piece that night.  (It didn’t help that we hadn’t slept much the night before and that I was freezing from the damp weather which I didn’t quite prepare myself enough for).  The rest of the concert was quite nice with a good variety of music, and I left the concert as impressed as ever with the EAR Ensemble and their work.  Dinner that evening and afterwards a short time at a pub with other professors and students was quite nice and the warmth of both was quite welcome.

Friday was a bit of a blur for me as I was a bit nervous about giving the presentation I had prepared, but I think in the end, it went quite well and I was pleased with how it turned out.  I think that I was supposed to talk for 40-45 minutes but I ended up going and going until I finished and realized I had spoken for 1 hour and 30 minutes!  It was nice to really discuss the design and ideas behind blue as well as to discuss music software design in general. If things go as well in Berlin in a couple of weeks I think I will be quite happy.

On Saturday, Lisa and I were able to walk around Dublin and see the sites.  We walked from St. Stephen’s Greene, through the Temple Bar area, then a tour of Christ Church, a walk around St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and finally ended up at the Guiness Storehouse (which we got to tour very quickly as we did not have too much time, but did manage to get in the yummy Guiness at the end in the Gravity Bar while looking out at the city on a beautiful day).

Victor was amazing in his hospitality and we also managed to have a couple of wonderful conversations at the pub on Friday and Saturday.  I was quite impressed with Irish pub culture and how casual drinking was in Irish culture.  The pub had a very nice feeling of community and a sense of just a nice place to relax a bit and enjoy good conversation.  Definitely something unique and favorable about the pub experience compared to bar cultures I had experienced elsewhere.

By the time we got to the airport on Sunday, the whole trip felt as if it was just too short, though at the same time it felt quite full, rich, and memorable.  The weather that morning was as dynamic as it had been the days before, sometimes gray, sometimes blue, sometimes incredibly windy and sometimes not, and just a couple hours later we were off into the skies and heading back to Warsaw.

After arriving back to the apartment complex, I had that wonderful feeling while walking towards the apartment of looking around at everything and seeing the old things in a new light, everything fresh once again.  Such a great trip and fond memories…

The past few days have been wonderful: waking up to the sounds of little birds chirping away, a different quality of light greeting us to the day, a noticeable difference in energy in the air. There seems to be more people out and about and flowers are beginning to stretch and wake up from their winter sleep. Waking up early this morning and going down to the local Społem to get rolls for breakfast, I had a complete sense of satisfaction to walk outside to a gorgeous sky, the first really sunny day in quite some time.

I had grown up mostly on the East Coast in the States and while the changing of seasons is familiar, I think having lived in San Francisco the four years before coming to Warsaw last Summer has made the changing of seasons here be a very fresh experience. Though perhaps it’s not only refreshing but nostalgic too, as imagery of past experiences of seasons changing are slowly making their way back to me…

It’s amazing how the experience of every season change has such a unique character. By now I certainly have experienced Winter turning to Spring a number of times, but the changes never cease to amaze me…

I’m happy to announce to two upcoming events:

On Friday, March 9th, I will be presenting a lecture at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth entitled “On the design of blue”, a presentation on my music software blue, demonstrating the software as well as discussing the ideas and thoughts that influenced its design. More information is available here.

On Thursday, March 22nd, from 3:30pm-4:15pm, I will be presenting a demonstration of my music software blue at the 5th International Linux Audio Conference in Berlin. More information about the demonstration is available here.

If you are in the area and will be attending either presentation, I will be looking forward to meeting you!

Thanks,
Steven