Riga Fashion Week

This week is Fashion Week in Riga, and I'm tweeting all about it! (See left-hand side of blog)  I've already written about a few here, but now that Twitter has expanded my world, I can do a more full report on the whole week of fashion and what I loved.  So far I loooove Triinu Pungits as much as ever, but Janis Šnē totally gripped me with (what I will consider) icicle inspired designs, possibly origami inspired since they look like paper.  Plus, putting icicle-origami daggers where your eyebrows are is totally what I'm into.  Because, FASHION.  People who have no imagination hate on haute design because it's inaccessible, but people who understand flights of fancy and the power of image through clothing get it.  I love me some practical wear, but I love some crazy shit that I would never dare wear outside the house because I am a timid person.  It's fun to see clothing be a wearable piece of art instead of the boring reasons we all wear clothes.

So follow my handle for some more fashion updates before I do a round-up of my favorite Riga fashion moments. (I am really hoping mareunrols shows up because their stuff is BOMB, too)  If you need the lowdown on a few designers in CEE to fully appreciate my tweets, read up here.

To The Next Level

I finally got a Twitter handle.  I figured it was time to join the social networking side of things to expand my reach, my research, and sometimes it's easier to retweet a good article than to do a post for it.

Follow me @whysored!  I'll put it up in the sidebar so you can follow me and see what I do.  I'd love some feedback on who to follow.  I almost added Donald Tusk, but then I remembered I have no comprehension of Polish and that's a problem.  I added Viktor Orbán because I like to pretend I know enough Hungarian for it to make sense, but as for German politicians, I legitimately can read and understand.  Does following Orbán make me look bad?  I'm just intensely curious what politicians tweet about; best I can tell, Orbán's tweet was about bread and the Chain Bridge.  I knew those words, so I felt pretty proud of myself.

Follow me on Twitter.  If this goes well, I might expand to Facebook. ZOMG.

Belarusian Insight

The Independent published a rare interview with Lukashenko.  It's an intriguing read about a man that controls the last Soviet dictatorship.  A great Tuesday read.

Monday Book Review

Featuring: The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera.  This book is quite famous and the cover art is easily recognizable.  I was recommended this book by a friend a few years back, but I read it simply because I really loved The Joke, by the same author.  For the first time ever, I actually have mixed feelings on this book!  I wanted to love all of Kundera's work, particularly his most famous, but I ran into some trouble.  Simply put, I couldn't separate his work to stand alone.  I read this book with a constant mental reference to The Joke.  There are really similar themes running in both, but the comparison left one in better standing than the other.  I would have to recommend The Joke if someone wanted to read a Kundera novel.

Update! Czech Elections

All I have to say about current developments: I know that feeling.  My country's election feels just as polarized.  Not quite as interesting in a two party system, but polarizing nonetheless.

Srebrenica Update

Srebrenica victims are appealing a decision that absolved the Blue Helmets of responsibility for the massacre.  I'm curious how this will go after having read the Srebrenica report, which I wrote a short review about.  It brings up troubling questions: how culpable is the UN for standing by?  What is their responsibility for creating a task force that had no official ability to fight back? 

Monday Book Review!

IT'S BACK.  I have yet to review a book that made me go, "Eh."  Srebrenica wasn't exactly gripping writing, but it had a pretty awful true life story to make up for that.  So here I go again...I loved this book.  I read The Bridge on the Drina by Ivo Andrić at the suggestion of yet another friend, but this one was not European.  This won the Nobel prize in 1961 (well, technically speaking, all of his work did).  Guys, I helplessly wept at the end of this book.  I was standing there, waiting for the bus to get to work, and tears kept streaming down my face as I thought about the book.  I couldn't quell the welling emotions and plip plop went my hot tears.

Food for EU Thought

There has been a lot of austerity and general socio-political woes in Europe for the past year.  Economics and finances have been breaking the EU apart at the ideological seams.  As soon as someone messes up and the chips are down, it's no longer "Europe" but Greece, Germany, Spain, France, etc.  Understandable and human, but also not what the EU project is about.  So it's no wonder that Erasmus is getting the short shrift.  Times are tough and it's hard to keep lofty ideals floating with cash when that's hard to come by. 

Election Season!

It's election season, and how!  As America gears up for its presidential election, let's reflect on elections for our beloved former USSR satellites.

Let's do a quick round-up of recent elections: