Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Dear sLOVEnia

.


Dear sLOVEnia,



I suspect that given your lovely name and reverence for poets, you have received many letters such as this over the course of your 20 years as an independent nation. Thus, you will quickly recognize it for what it is. A love letter, to tell you how ardently and completely I admire and and love you.



From the moment I stepped off your quiet and beautifully colored Adria airlines, into your immaculately clean, granite-floored airport, took in your I Feel sLOVEnia welcome sign, and wondered what all those people were doing socializing in an airport waiting-terminal kava café, I knew that you were a unique country.



And yet, these superficial traits would prove to be only the beautiful wrapping for the true aim of my long-term affection for you. Because it is your people, (and your government’s policies), that make you so attractive as a country.



Our year together has helped me to understand that your people’s eyes possess a special magnetic attraction for other human eyes, their palettes possess a unique affinity for café kavas, ice cream and Lashko Darks, sipped slowly over a small table with other relaxed and often jubilant humans, along riversides, in grocery stores, parking lots, alleyways, and castles, and that their ears have an unusual aversion to cell phones.



These special characteristics, along with the priority you give to your pedestrians, your children’s education, the arts, your food, your forests, and your hair, make it clear that what truly separates you from other (corporate controlled) countries is that you still have a thriving human element in your heartland. You are a unique blend of Socialism and Capitalism, and have somehow managed to keep the social in Socialism, while driving out the capital from Capitalism. Your human element is surpassed only by your 54.9% tax rate on people earning more than $100,000 and your 60% tax rate on people earning more than $300,000. Like your people’s regard for their own country, your tax rate is the highest in the western world.



And when having the chance to meet your doctors and participate in your socialized medical care, I realize that somehow you have even managed to keep the care in healthcare , while asking only 1.2% of your citizens’ income for (as compared with 6% in the U.S.) for this modern world medical care.



Whether it’s the way your people’s hair matches your Krofi’s apricot filling, the way the grey color of your socialist buildings matches your politics, the way your rate of violence matches your tolerance for guns, or the way your blue skies match the waters in your 87 health spas, you are a beautiful country.



When I am with you sLOVEnia, in your cafes, reading your government’s website, looking your people in the eye, or breathing your greenhouse gas-free air, I feel alive, invigorated, human. And when I think of your giant sperm and egg light show on Preseren Square at Christmas-time, I brim with bodily excitement.



I realize ours is an unusual match. Countries don’t often pair off with people. But as Boethius would say (and your own laws do as well), Who would give a law to lovers? Love is unto itself a higher law.”



I hope that such high praise for you will not make you question my sincerity. Love of course, is best served by focusing on the positives rather than the negatives. A love letter which included problems such as a lover’s unnaturally orange hair, the frigidity of your winters, a propensity for horsemeat and cabbage, or an obsession with foot cleanliness, would hardly encourage requited love .



So, it is with great adoration and hope, that I ask you sLOVEnia, to return with me to the United States. Pack a bag with reckless abandon and throw caution to the wind.



Keep your luggage light, as America has most everything you will need. Diversity, courage, tolerance, a profound openness to new ideas – we have it all. Just throw in your sanity, a book of poems, your respect for the common good (over corporations), and your policy on greenhouse gases. Oh, and a dozen Krofi in your carry –on. And a maybe light bulb or two. We’re trying to outlaw those in our country.



And don’t worry about bringing any money. It’s much easier to get rich in the U.S., than it is in your country. We tax the poor instead of the rich. We rob from the common good, to make people rich. It’s a bit odd, but it all works out (for that top 5%) in the end.



All the money in America does come with a price tag of its own though. It makes it a bit harder to find those human elements, like economic safety, leisure time, and social connectedness – you know, things money can’t buy. But since you’re a country, I doubt you will even notice the lack of a human focus.



America is quagmired in the abyss of things money can buy. . . . . . and the 24 hour news cycle. Our children know Ronald, but not Orwell, they listen to Justin Bieber, but don’t have a voice of their own voice, they know their Facebook self, but not their self-potential, and they are fed violent video games, but don’t even wretch when eating McDonalds. Our COrPOraTions have used their C, two Os, P and a T, to co opt all that we hold sacred. Our health, our food, our leisure time, our government. Even our donuts. Unlike your one and ubiquitous Krofi, we have 43 different types of donuts. And we eat them, not in a kava café with friends, but while driving, with two legs on the coffee, one hand on the donut and the other on a cell phone.





And that’s where you come in sLOVEnia. In the U.S. we need your way of making policy based on the people’s needs, rather than the corporation’s greed. We need your 20-20 vision for a green, humanity-oriented and citizen-focused government agenda. Your mindful, disciplined, and long-term approach to the important things in life, like the future. Your 10 year, 20-20-20 plan (20% less energy usage, 20% reduction in greenhouse gases, 20% of energy from renewable sources) for economic, environmental, and national security, could serve as the model for an American 20 year, 50-50-50 plan --- 50% more kava cafés, and 50% more Krofis, in all 50 of our states. In the U.S. we know that money (and unfettered corporate power) is the root of our problems, and only the counterweight of human connectedness, via long hours in kava cafes, is the answer.



So sLOVEnia, that is my best argument as to why you, as a country, should come away to America with me, a human. With your strong government-for-the-people, I would never again have to worry about Archer Daniel Midlands at my breakfast table, tanned Congressmen with hidden global warming agendas, or those pedophile-looking Koch brothers preying on children and their teachers.



Countries and humans can have loving and long-term relationships, living long and peaceful lives together. I see it every day . . . . . . right here in sLOVEnia.



With reverence for you, sLOVEnia,


and for all countries that work to brighten the future of humanity.



Silence















Tuesday, March 1, 2011

HOLIDAYS MADE FOR sLOVEnia

Preseren's work





Slovenia takes the problem of extended winter grey and cold by the horns. February is a big month for celebrating and merrymaking. Februray 14th, Valentine’s Day, is of course celebrated in sLOVEnia, and winter carnival, a week of pure fun and games, is in late February or early March (a Slovene version of Mardi Gras without all the beads and ETOH). But there is another big February holiday, called “cultural day” or Preseren Day. It is February 8th , was established in 1944, and is the day Slovene’s remember their great poet France Preseren, born December 3, 1800, died February 8, 1849. And since this country takes it culture very seriously, they take this holiday very seriously. What Shakespeare is to the English, Racine to the French, Dante to the Italians, Goethe to the Germans, Pushkin to the Russians, and Mickiewicz to the Poles, Preseren is to the Slovenes.” This is how Josip Stritar described Preseren’s place in Slovene literature in 1866, and this view still holds today.

Preseren Day is marked by roses at the feet of the many poets that grace the city squares, being a “work-free” day throughout the country, lots of activity and socializing in the city centre, film festivals, ballets and plays, fireworks, and a Ljubljanski Grad light show.

France Preseren wrote of love, and Slovene nationalism. His political poem “A Toast” (Zdrayljica) is one of his best known. It was written in 1844 during the period of tight censorship in the former Austrian monarchy of which Slovenia was a part. The poem was initially censored, thus was not published until after the fall of Metternich’s absolutism and the removal of censorship in 1848.

The poem’s utility has been timeless though, and it was also important during the 1941-1945 Italian, then German, occupation, as well as in during the history of the formation of an independent Slovenia in 1991-1992,, and as an EU country in 2004. This timelessness made it the natural choice for the Slovene National Anthem in 1991. The seventh verse serves as the Slovene National Anthem.

Spet trte so rodile,

The vintage, friends, is over,

prijat'li, vince nam sladkó,

And here sweet wine makes, once again,

ki nam oživlja žile,

Sad eyes and hearts recover

srce razjásni in oko,

Puts fire into every vein.

ki utopi

Drowns dull care

vse skrbi,

Everywhere

v potrtih prsih up budi!

And summons hope out of despair.

Komú narpred veselo

To whom with acclamation

zdravico, bratje! čmo zapét'?

And song shall we our first toast give?

Bog našo nam deželo,

God save our land and nation

Bog živi ves slovenski svet,

And all Slovenes where'er they live,

brate vse,

Who own the same

kar nas je

Blood and name,

sinov sloveče matere!

And who one glorious Mother claim.

V sovražnike 'z oblakov

Let thunder out of heaven

rodú naj naš'ga trešči gróm,

Strike down and smite our wanton foe!

prost, ko je bil očakov,

Now, as it once had thriven,

naprej naj bo Slovencov dom;

May our dear realm in freedom grow.

naj zdrobé

May fall the last

njih roké

Chains of the past

si spone, ki jim še težé!

Which bind us still and hold us fast!

Edinost, sreča, sprava

Let peace, glad conciliation,

k nam naj nazaj se vrnejo;

Come back to us throughout the land!

otrók, kar ima Slava,

Towards their destination

vsi naj si v róke sežejo,

Let Slavs henceforth go hand-in-hand!

de oblast

Thus again

in z njo čast,

Will honour reign

ko préd, spet naša bode last!

To justice pledged in our domain.

Bog žívi vas Slovenke,

To you, our pride past measure,

prelepe, žlahtne rožice;

Our girls! Your beauty, charm and grace!

ni take je mladenke,

There surely is no treasure

ko naše je krvi dekle;

To equal maidens of such race.

naj sinóv

Sons you'll bear,

zarod nov

Who will dare

iz vas bo strah sovražnikov!

Defy our foe no matter where.

Mladenči, zdaj se pije

Our hope now, our to-morrow -

zdravica vaša, vi naš up;

The youths - we toast and toast with joy.

ljubezni domačije

No poisonous blight or sorrow

noben naj vam ne usmŕti strup;

Your love of homeland shall destroy.

ker po nas

With us indeed

bode vas

You're called to heed

jo sŕčno bránit klical čas!

Its summons in this hour of need.

Živé naj vsi naródi,

God's blessing on all nations,

ki hrepené dočakat dan,

Who long and work for that bright day,

da, koder sonce hodi,

When o'er earth's habitations

prepir iz svéta bo pregnan,

No war, no strife shall hold its sway;

da rojak

Who long to see

prost bo vsak,

That all men free,

ne vrag, le sosed bo mejak!

No more shall foes, but neighbours be.

Nazadnje še, prijatlji,

At last to our reunion -

kozarce zase vzdignimo,

To us the toast! Let it resound,

ki smo zato se zbrat'li,

Since in this great communion

ker dobro v srcu mislimo;

By thoughts of brotherhood we're bound

dókaj dni

May joyful cheer

naj živí

Ne'er disappear

vsak, kar nas dobrih je ljudi!

From all good hearts now gathered here







Preseren and his Muse,
with roses at their feet



Maximarket Holiday Chocolates
( The real reason behind the "I Feel sLOVEnia" tourist slogan)


Bread is the staff of life







Atop the Posta sLOVEnija







February in the Ljubljana market






Winter in a bin







Winter skies




Saturday, December 25, 2010

CHRISTMAS DINNER, virtually







Love came down on Christmas



Love all lovely, love Divine;



Love came down on Christmas



Star and Angel gave the sign.


--Christine Rosetti



Star

Angel

'Mom, I finished “The Moral landscape" (by Sam Harris ) and all I can say is the church is going to go hell for sure. "

"Moomm, tell him not to say that on Christmas."



"Why can't I say that? The world is too small now for all those religion lines. The earth is my religion. Besides, We’re all going down together when the arctic melts. It’s like the Titanic. We’re fighting over religion just like they did over lifeboats -- all while entire countries are sinking."



"Oh my god, you are so grim. It’s Christmas. Moooooom, telllllllll him to be quiet."


"Just ignore him, teenagers talk like that. Just focus on the Christmas story. It is nice. It is about coming home to what’s in your heart, and beginning anew, and spending time in those sacred places of joy and hope, and laughing, and courage, and empathy. We all have those things in our heart, and so every moment you can come home to those sacred places inside of you, you'll be happy, and be a peaceful force in the world.



So, what is an event calendar?

I’m sorry? An event calendar? We were talking about the meaning of Christmas.

Yeah, I know, Grammy sent us one for Christmas.

You mean an ADVENT calendar.

Oh.

I bet I know. Everyday Joseph would give Mary a gift. COUNTDOWN to the big day. You know, the birth.

""Well, something like that."

"Why was Joseph so nice if it wasn’t even his child? Has anyone ever thought about that?"



"Does the pope wear those red shoes at Christmas? It would be Christmas-y with his white robe. I love those shoes . If I were the Pope I would wear those shoes and that robe and have a Boston Terrier named Holy."



"Who is the Pope exactly?"



"He is a sort of religious emperor, and he looks just like emperor Palpatine. "



"Son, no, he is not."



"You can google it. I saw it on Youtube. They look just alike."



"Who is Palpatine?"



"Wasn’t Tito the emperor here in Slovenia?"



"He wasn’t an emperor, he was a dictator of sort, when Slovenia was part of communist Yugoslavia. He was the leader for the second half of the 20th century. He was a partisan leader during WWII, leading the resistance against fascist Germany. People still have a lot of respect for him here. Remember in the city museum? and at Franje Partisan Hospital?"



"Tito? I thought his name was Taco."





"Taco? Wouldn’t that be funny if the Buddha’s mother had her birthday and her baby Buddha’s birthday on Thanksgiving. That would be quite a celebration. That means two parties and a dinner. Wow. That would be a lot of work for you mom."



"What is she talking about?"



"She's only five. I think it's OK."



"Well, can you tell me about Adam and Eve? Do they have anything to do with Christmas? I've always wondered."



"Why couldn’t they have named them something interesting like, Aspen and Hyphae? "



"SStoppppp. You are so weird."



"Well, they are a man and a women in the book of Genesis, the first book in the bible. They ate this fruit that was forbidden to them, you know, they weren’t supposed to eat it, and so were kicked out of Eden by God. It’s complex, and only a metaphor. It has to do with original sin, and women as temptresses, and God as somewhat of a punishing God. I’m not sure it has any moral value or really has anything to do with any truth. "


"Truth or consequences maybe."


"What’s a temptress? Is that like women trading diamonds for sex. Like, Isn’t that what "girls trade diamonds for sex means?"



"What? What are you talking about? Where did you see that?"



"In the bookstore yesterday on Slovenska Cesta, in the English section; they had a book of everyday sayings and what they really mean.



There is this saying “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend”. Have you heard that? It said that what it really means is that girls will trade sex for diamonds. "


"Is that why you don’t wear your wedding ring anymore mom?"



"Hush. You will confuse your sister. I think what they are trying to say is ……. . . . . . . ."



"I mean, Men get dogs as their best friend, and what, we get diamonds? That hardly seems fair."



"Ok, Ok, let’s get back on target here."



"Let's just leave it at this, Christmas is about love."



And Love, is the only rational act.