Every day I walk by the sea and enjoy the view of the always different, blue infinity. On the tenth day of December, I started with my brother, towards the coast. We were just talking about how we are at the age when we should see everything that happens to us "with Gandhian calmness", to avoid people who don't like us, to not get annoyed by the trivialities of life, when there is only one of us, a boy, reclining in the seat , near the Health Center, "bathed" from head to toe with dirty water from a puddle next to the sidewalk. We cursed at the same time. Then, angry and powerless as we were, we asked ourselves what would have happened if the person behind the wheel had heard us and stopped the vehicle. It could have been something square, plump, with a short haircut... "Nothing - I said - we would ask him: how are you at home and, if necessary, apologize for disturbing him."
Of course, nothing came of the walk, we had to go back and change.
* * *
They say all roads lead to Rome.
All my (health) roads first lead to the Bar Hospital...
With all the possible medical errors (which have yet to be definitively confirmed or denied by the authorities) and complaints about the inadequate behavior of some of the staff in white and with the understandable and justified indignation of families who were left without loved ones or suffered severe trauma, this much, primarily media , the hunt for the local hospital, leads to nothing.
If it continues, how do we think that, in the future, her doctors will provide us with adequate health care under such stress and in such psychosis?
* * *
Whenever someone cheats us when we buy something, it's true, it doesn't happen that often, we call the Consumer Protection Center for help. That appeal usually bears fruit, and even if nothing happens - it helps. It convinces you that you're not stupid, but it happens to others, and it's nice to know that you're not alone "when someone wants to fuck you all the way".
I believe that many people in Montenegro do not even know that there is a Center for Consumer Protection.
* * *
To myself, these days, I resemble that Bosnian who, at the beginning of his life as a refugee in Canada, was delighted by the idyllic whiteness of the snow and the grace of the deer, and as time went on, the snow grew and the deer multiplied, his enthusiasm dwindled. When he got blisters from shoveling snow every morning and hit a deer with his car and did $3.000 in damage, he couldn't see snow or deer anymore. He moved to Florida.
One lovely boy, blond with a gentle complexion and clear eyes, moved with his parents somewhere in our neighborhood. And everything would be OK, if his stampede around the apartment didn't start every afternoon. And I don't like him (that much) anymore.
And Florida is far from me...
* * *
I watched "Gladiator 2". Although there was a lot of blood and brutal scenes and everything was irresistibly reminiscent of the previous "Gladiator", with Russell Crowe, the film fulfilled my expectations: in two hours and 20 minutes, reclining in a comfortable seat in the almost empty hall of the House of Culture, I didn't even think about what but about the events on the screen. That's the essence of being in the cinema, isn't it?
Of course, I was not visited by gentle, subtle thoughts and sadness like recently when I watched "The Lady with the Camellias" on the TV screen again, with one of the most beautiful women who ever walked this planet, Greta Garbo, rightly called "divine". She was 85 years old when she died in New York in 1990. At the age of 36, in 1941, she retired from films forever and never appeared publicly again. "Beauty is a spiritual dimension", says Vladan Desnica, but judging by the life of the mysterious and inscrutable Swedish woman, beauty is also courage...
* * *
For more than 13 years, I have been working with Neša, a printer from Podgorica. And that to, one might say, mutual satisfaction. We only communicated by phone. We never saw each other until the other day. Nash's character has nothing to do with what I imagined based on his voice. And the strangest thing: when we talk on the phone, I still visualize him as before, regardless of the fact that, in the meantime, I have seen what the man really looks like.
* * *
I write, therefore I read. In the last thirty days, I have read three (relatively) short novels: "Zavod" by Goran Marković, "Levels of Life" by Žulijus Brans and "Vienna Roman" by Dragan Velikić. All three are not to be put down once you take them in your hands and I recommend them with both hands for the New Year's holidays.
* * *
Fifteen days before the New Year, the terror of firecrackers began. True, they still growl sporadically, but the dogs are already terrified. We will have it sometime around the Catholic Christmas or a few days later.
Although they are prohibited, firecrackers are most often in the hands of children who are not even aware of the danger that this "game" brings. The hands and fingers are most often affected, often the eyes, face and ears.
It's time for parents to become real parents to their children and ban firecrackers, but also for the police to activate the traditional "Firecracker" action, which in previous years was known to be effective. It usually started on St. Nicholas Day and lasted until mid-January.
* * *
Here are some tips from Duško Radović for the New Year:
If a button, a lace, a bow, a seam, if any little thing can spoil your mood, listen to us: give up the reception.
Don't welcome the New Year in new shoes. Blisters have spoiled many great celebrations!
Don't enter the New Year on all fours. You won't get very far.
Stick to the old order: before going to bed, return to your home.
Setite se nekogo koga se niko neće setiti ako ga se vi ne setite.
Mother has not expected that from you for a long time. That's why, come up with something to make her happy too. Something convenient and cheap, like for mothers.
Whoever didn't have time to be a dad all year should at least be Santa Claus for the New Year. Children who persistently believe that there is a father will also believe in Santa Claus.
Bonus video:
