Wednesday, August 27, 2008

All we need is love

©Eni Turkeshi “Sincere,naive love is the door to a peaceful heart” themed photo

One day as I was walking at the city, I stumbled upon this old door. With a bad writing , it was writen "i love you" in turkish.
Yet this was so beautiful in my eyes, I could imagine the person writing with his trembling hands.

I was truly touched.It was like I was hearing a poem , being mumbled by some hidden pilgrim lovers.
These words; aren't them so beautiful?
So simple & true.
These are words all of us want to hear .Nothing else matters when we hear them for real.
Nothing has any importance.
No more ambitions ,no more complexes ,no more intrigues.
And you suddenly feel like you were the richest person in the world.
Well as a matter of fact you are!
Because when you are aware of it , you become uninterested ,unaffected of every feeling that harms you, that gnaws your nerves.
This is wealth!So just enjoy it and rejoice as long as you'll be blessed with it!




Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Tribute to Migjeni


'Millosh Gjergj Nikolla
' (October 13, 1911 - August 26, 1938) (aka Miđoni/Migjeni, Miloš Đoka Nikolić) was born in Shkodër, Albania . He would become one of the leading figures in Albanian literature.

Migjeni attended elementary school in Shkodër at the Serbian language school there and later at St. John's Orthodox Seminary in Bitola (Bitolj/Manastir), then Kingdom of Serbia (now Republic of Macedonia). There he studied Russian, French Greek and Latin and read literature written in those languages. On his return to Albania, he gave up his intended career as a priest to become a school teacher in Vraka, a Serb village a few miles from Shkodër. He began writing verse and prose sketches in Albanian. Having contracted tuberculosis, which was then endemic in Albania, he went for treatment to Turin in northern Italy where his sister Olga was studying mathematics. After some time in a sanatorium there, he was transferred to the Waldensian Hospital in Torre Pellice where he died at the age of twenty-six.
During the 1930s, the position of the Serb minority deteriorated as Serb schools were closed down by King Zog. Thus, the author had to Albanize his name and chose the nom-de-plume Mi-Gje-Ni in order to preserve his heritage. The acrostic was formed by the first two letters each of his first name, patronymic (the Serbian equivalent 'đ/ђ' of Albanian 'gj' is one letter) and last name.
His slender volume of verse (thirty-five poems) entitled Vargjet e Lira (Free Verse) was printed by Gutenberg Press in Tiranë in 1936, but was banned by the authorities. The second edition, published in 1944, was missing two old poems Parathanja e parathanjeve (Preface of prefaces) and Blasfemi (Blasphemy) that were deemed offensive, but it did include eight new ones. The main theme of Migjeni was misery and suffering, a reflection of the life he saw and lived.
source: http://www.knowledgerush.com/kr/encyclopedia/Millosh_Gjergj_Nikolla/







Autumn in nature and autumn in my face
Autumn on parade

Autumn in nature and autumn in our faces.
The sultry breeze enfeebles, the glowering sun
Oppresses the ailing spirit in our breasts,
Shrivels the life trembling among the twigs of a poplar.
The yellow colours twirl in the final dance,
(A frantic desire of leaves dying one by one).
Our joys, passions, our ultimate desires
Fall and are trampled in the autumn mud.
An oak tree, reflected in the tears of heaven,
Tosses and bleeds in gigantic passion.
"To live! I want to live!" - it fights for breath,
Piercing the storm with cries of grief.
The horizon, drowned in fog, joins in
The lamentation. In prayer dejected fruit trees
Fold imploring branches - but in vain, they know.
Tomorrow they will die... Is there nowhere hope?
The eye is saddened. Saddened, too, the heart
At the hour of death, when silent fall the veins
And from the grave to the highest heavens soar
Despairing cries of long-unheeded pain.
Autumn in nature and autumn in our faces.
Moan, desires, offspring of poverty,
Groan in lamentation, bewail the corpses,
That adorn this autumn among the withered branches.
Great Translation by Robert Elsie

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Pushimet ideale

 silentium

E shtyre nga mikja ime Tena, vendosa te shkruaj rreth idese sime per pushimet ideale,teme qe me pare nuk e kisha menduar me thene te drejten.
Ne fakt mendoj se nuk ka diçka te caktuar per kete gje.
Kur them kete nenkuptoj dhe faktin se çdo gje eshte aq e shumellojshme, me shume alternativa, deri diku e arritshme saqe duam s'duam edhe mendjet dhe preferencat tona pesojne te njejtat ndryshime duke ndjekur sigurisht rastet me te favorshme.
Rastet me te favorshme dhe qe jane bere shume te modes kohet e fundit jane pushimet neper vende turistike ku çdo gje eshte e perfshire brenda nje çmimi pakete.

A me terheqin mua te tilla lloj pushimesh? Jooo
Nuk me pelqen idea e planifikimit perfekt te çdo levizjeje times ne pushime.
Dua diçka me spontane.
Nuk eshte ndonje gje shume e paarrtishme ajo qe dua.Nuk eshte diçka shume e egzagjeruar.
Si rrjedhoje e semundjes (fotomania) qe me ka kapur qysh prej 2 vjetesh ne menyre te pasherueshme;) per mua pushimet ideale jane vendet qe se pari do te gjeja nje prehje shpirterore dhe me tej nje begati vizuale.
Ne fakt kjo puna e begatise vizuale , ka lidhje me teper me hapjen e dyerve te mia te perceptimit dhe shikimit,ndaj ky term ketu eshte relativ.
E shoh se nuk po flas shume hapur.Ja po shpjegohem me me kokrra;)

Disa gjera i kam te qarta ne mendje sa i perket pushimeve:

1.Do doja te mos kisha fare probleme me vizat dhe te mund te vizitoja çdo vend.Nese do te mundja, do te vizitoja sakaq Evropen dhe shume vendje ne Lindjen e Larget.(ne fakt shume vende te Lindjes se Larget nuk jane dhe aq problematike tek vizat ,por Evropa po).
2.Do preferoja vende te fresketa dhe jo me shume diell.3.Nuk me pelqen te ngulem shume ne nje vend.Mbase udhetimi me tren (vdes per trenat) apo nje mjet tjeter me terheq tej mase.
4.Nuk dua te eksploroj vetem vende por edhe njerez gjate pushimeve.Madje ata me teper se çdo gje.Vertet qe eshte shume e kenaqshme te mesosh kultura te reja ,por e bukura eshte ti shohesh per se afermi keto kultura,rite dhe zakone dhe jo vetem sa per kulture te pergjithshme.Se po te besh vetem kete te fundit, i bie sikur te hash vetem qershine siper tortes dhe jo te tere torten;)
5.Nja 3 here ne vit ,ose se paku 2 duhen marre pushime 1-2 javore.Mendoj se eshte me e kendshme ti marresh keshtu sesa te tera pernjehere.Kjo te jep dhe mundesi e shkas per te pare dhe vizituar me shume vende ,apo per te pasur eksperienca dhe perjetime te ndryshme,sepse fundja nuk dalim perhere me udhetime sa here kemi pushime,por se paku edhe kur nuk largohemi nga vendi qe jetojme mund ti krijojme vetes mundesi te ndryshme per argetim,meditim apo çfare gjeje tjeter mund te kerkojme nga pushimet.
6.Sido,kudo dhe kurdo te behen keto pushime,rendesi ka qe te te shkepusin vertet nga rutina e perditshme.



Enormity and child...



Siç e shihni s'e kam krijuar ende paketen "all included" per llojin e pushimeve te mia ideale.Edhe ajo eshte e ndryshueshme, e lekundshme si çdo gje tjeter qe na rrethon.Por pikat e mesiperme ju japin disa idera rreth perzgjdhjeve te mundshme te pushimeve qe une dua.
Nderkohe mund te them me bindje se pushimet qe kalova ne Kapadokja dhe Mardin (per te cilat do ju flas me gjere ne ditet ne vijim) , kaluan shume bukur sepse i plotesuan pak a shume kriteret e mesiperme;)
Po per juve miq ,si eshte ideja e pushimeve ideale?Pres komentimet tuaja.
Pushime te mbara atyre qe jane duke i shijuar nderkohe;)

Monday, August 18, 2008

Colorful Albania cities

urban geometry charm
Each time I visit my country , I'm amazed by the very differently designed and dyed colorful buildings,doors,windows.
Special urban geometry elements catch my eye all the time.
Tirana and many other Albanian cities , are very colorful and a real treasure for color and texture freaks like me:)
I'm surprised to find many different and never seen goodies in my small Tirana.It's so very exciting!
What's more eye-catching, is seeing old buildings,doors or other objects , dyed in very minimalistic or modern styles!All of it looks so surreal!
I'm sure that one of the reasons that I look forward to visit my country is capturing these weird,one of a kind gems:)

Friday, August 15, 2008

Stairway to heaven

stairway to heaven!

this is a late tribute to my friend , Sarah who passed away 5 months ago.i just learned about it and i'm so sad to hear.
I had noticed her absence , but always thought she was in one of her trips taking her cool photos:(
So i was devastated to read this:(
I thought to make a tribute to her with such a photo of mine as she loved everything about colors and textures!She had a great approaching eye and heart!
Rest in peace dear Sarah.You won't be forgotten!

for more infos and to have a look at her lovely photos you may check her blog too:
http://sarahunderhillphotography.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

istanbul's old,narrow,secret streets



 istanbul diaries XXVI

photo (c) Eni Turkeshi

 If there's a thing I loveeeeeeeee about Istanbul , a detail that makes me addicted to thic city and I miss whenever I'm not there are the old,narrow,hidden streets of this big city.
They are always gravid with surprises.

In one of them you can find a cozy cafe , in another some avantgarde garment shops.In some others book sellers with their very special old books or tzigans selling flowers.In some other streets , especially the ones in Beyoglu (one of the biggest,most popular areas in Istanbul) ,you can run across to some very special antiquarian shops.

The cafes are especially good.Their decoration is very cozy and the general atmosphere is very cool.The music played is different though.You can find jazz cafes, pop cafes or cafes playing just turkish folk music.The pop cafes are well known for their turkish coffe service ,because of their bonus fortune telling;)

Some other streets are so narrow that you can hardly walk from there, but I don't like them less.
On the contrary , you can enjoy here the nice feeling of nostalgia of the old surrounding Pera palaces and the weird sense of a little isolation:)

It's 10 years I'm living here and I still have so many streets , so many places to discover .Just this idea makes you eager to live in this city and to get amazed every new day!
If you ever visit Istanbul nowadays , don't forget to try to visit as many as these lovely , secret streets..You'll get your excitement reward for sure;)

p.s: this is the link of a book named "101 streets of Istanbul" written by different turkish artists.strongly recommended!
http://www.haber34.com/101-yazardan-istanbulun-100-sokagi-3089-haberi.html

Monday, August 11, 2008

Ebru-like reflections


Ebru or "abroo" (which means the water face) is the name given to the turkic art of paper marbling .Classic ebru is performed using aqueous natural pigments mixed with oax-gall and a rectangular trough filled with a mucilaginous mixture traditionally prepared using gum tragacanth.
Colors are sprinkled using brushes made of rose stalks and horsehair on the surface of the mucilaginous solution in trough.The floatting pattern is taken off to paper either as it is of after being reshaped and retouched using pins,needles ,combs or things alike.
Ebrus were once admired as calligraphy media,as borders for inscriptions or as endpapers for fine bindings.
The earliest sample of ebru is reconized to be "Anfi!s book " of Guy-i Çevgan .This one is dated to be done in 1539 and can now be found at Topkapi Palace Museum in Istanbul,Turkey.(info from : www.ebrusanati.com).

What is told about Ebru is that is the art of patience.It helps you to win a creative eye and to express your feelings and ideas very delicately over water.It is a very sensitive form of art.And because is applied over water is very hard and very relaxing at the same time.
I so very much enjoy all of ebru works and that's the reason I was so suprised and marvelled to catch this picture in Cappadocia.An amazing ebru-like reflection of the rocks of Ihlara Valley has admirably taken some brilliant floating shapes and nuances ,so that I couldn't help thinking this looked so much like Ebru...Nature is a generous artist;)

Friday, August 08, 2008

The pilgrim - from the turkish group Replikas


The Pilgrim lyrics:

I'm pilgrim in this world
I became a vagrant because of your love
I traveled in many countries
just because of you
Many bottles overturned in honor of your love
I remained soaked under the rain of love
I kept thinking of you all time all alone

I can't do it without you
I can't live without you
This rain of love
doesn't bring you to me


I became a vagrant
When I first listened to this song, I was so impressed of this heartwarming, naive song and of the video shot in the same style.It was very popular many years ago and I can say that this is the song i love best from this group.You may find the words a bit arabesque, but believe me it looks and feels very much different in turkish.Don't know why but i find this one very close to us albanians as well.What do you albos think?
Hopeall of you will enjoy it.

Some infos on the group:

Replikas is a post-rock, experimental rock band from Istanbul, Turkey.

Their debut album, Köledoyuran was released in 2000 and the band set its place in Turkish rock scene with their unique sound which combines western and eastern music. Their second album, Dadaruhi followed in 2002. Apart from these albums, Replikas had several soudtrack attempts for Turkish movies.

With their unique sound, Replikas was recognized by some foreign record companies. After getting signed to Doublemoon record label, their third studio album, Avaz was released in 2005. The album was produced by Wharton Tiers, a world-known producer who also worked with bands like Sonic Youth, a great influence on Replikas' work.

Replikas' members being big fans of Sonic Youth, the band opened for Sonic Youth on their first Turkish concert in May 2005.

Repilkas provided the soundtrack for the film İki Genç Kız. The band was also featured in Fatih Akın's 2005 documentary on the Istanbul music scene, Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul, performing the song "Şahar Dağı." (info from wikipedia)

Other news from the press: The group is recording their new album , which is said to be launched this September.They are recording it out of studio , to get the best of acoustic sounds.After prolonged researches in Turkey,the band has decided to use the old half open air jail of Gokceada .

for more infos- www.replikas.com

Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Plants are good listeners:)

Aren't them?
I guess all of us have done it ourselves or at least have seen our moms,grandmas,aunts doing this:)
I can't say the same thing for my male relatives:) I don't think that men are very used to do this..They're not so used to caress the plants,talk to them,smile at them..
I used to laugh while watching my mom doing this, but I don't do it any longer.
Because plants are good listeners:)Yeah it may seem funny,but they truly are.
They are quiet,confident,relaxing...And I bet that they grow up faster and healthier if you talk to them,it's not just me who's saying this..It must be something studied or prooved..
And even if it's not ,who cares.I think its because of the special synergy that comes out between human beings & plants while caressing or taking care of them.

p.s:This has not much to do with the above text.I read from a site at web that plants communicate between each other using some special communication net dispatcher.But they could seriously get viruses from this.

Monday, August 04, 2008

Silent Exclamation of Abandonment


 Photobucket

There's something special about the abandoned places.Besides their looking so gloomy,lonely and sometimes scary , what mostly catches my attention is the spooky silence of them.

Or should I say , screaming silence?Because even if you can't hear this sound, your ears feel like echoing different voices, thousand sounds and so much melodies.
And it has the same effect on your eyes as well.There's a transparent visuality coming in sight there.It's maybe very weird , but your mind indispersed to so many alternatives.

This can't come out just because of our imagination.It can't be just mere fantasy.Or a wisdom caprice.
I think it's the unique blend of perception and the genuine force of memories and the melancholy for what has been truelife and now abandoned.

I shot this photo in Muriqan,Shkoder,very close to the political borderline between Albania and Montenegro.That's what I thought while taking this photo.

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