Yaz Blog
Wed. July 28th 2010 11:14pm
3am update*
Tinsel korey made a new friend on set this morning. He has been following her ever since.
Also take a look at what I found in an office here
Today is my first day on set. Everyone is very friendly and quite alert for it being the middle of the night. I woke up at 4am this morning and could not fall back to sleep, so I stared at the ceiling and out my window for a few hours until breakfast was ready.
Here is an image of the moon still in the sky above my window.
And this is a shot a few hours later when the sun was coming up
My breakfast today was exactly the same as yesterday, amazing. I noticed that my server today was the same guy who brought me breakfast yesterday, opened my bottle of wine I had for lunch, and served me dinner last night. I asked him if he ever slept and he just smiled and asked if I needed anything else. When I ordered lunch, Rizzoto with truffle and celery, Shopska Salad, and ketchup chips it was the same guy again. Mind you I have been here a solid 48hours and he has been in uniform the whole time.
On a side note, I don't think there is one single bottle opener for sale in all of Bulgaria. I searched for several hours and many miles yesterday without success. I managed to find a store owner who said, "No English, yes Vino open". He even pulled it out from behind the counter and offered to open my bottle of wine, (a bottle the server had said was good) I explained and signed as best as I could that I wanted to buy, but he waved me off and told me, "Not for sale". Once back at the hotel I asked the server where I could buy one and he thought for a few seconds and said, I have one at home. I told him, if you bring it, I will pay to keep it here for a few weeks, and you can have it back. He smiled and liked the idea, so he said two days and walked away still smiling. It made me curious to know if he would be on the job for another two days.
In the two days I have had time to explore I noticed something while interacting with people here. First, there are many more English speaking people in the morning. Later in the day after lunch it is painfully difficult to find anyone willing to even try to communicate with you. So all of my shopping is done between 8am and 11am. Second, You can find anything you could possibly want here, for cheap, but none of the accessories or parts you need to go with them. It took me 4 hours to find a watch shop that could put a battery into my watch that died. The lady whom I asked if she could do it looked at me, grabbed my arm, took the watch off while squinting her face to keep the eye glass up to her eye for inspection. Looking around I saw that the battery cost 8 leva, or $6 US. She conducted her inspection of the time piece, smiled, said something to her husband who was behind a counter with the most massive magnifying glass I have ever seen. He nodded and she proceeded to replace the battery. When she finished she turned it over, set the correct time and said $30 Leva. With a smile on my face, trying to hold back the laughter I pointed at the battery and price and said, 10 leva. Her husband could not help but chuckle and say something to his wife and she kept her smile, winked and took the 10 leva bill.
There are tons of stores here that sell watches, but only one that I went to could replace batteries. Of the 40 or so sunglass shops I went to, none had a repair kit, or a screw that I needed to fix my sunglasses. I made sure to bring my sun glasses to physically show people because I felt I might be arrested if I continued to walk into sunglass stores letting people know I needed a screw.
Time to get back to snapping pictures and making memories. Have a great day everyone.
Yazzie
July 27th 2010
Sofia, Bulgaria. Day 1
I woke up today at 5am and could not fall back asleep. I watched the sun rise and opened my window to some fresh cool air. Once 8am rolled around I went down to the lobby to get breakfast. Breakfast was free like it is in some hotels, but as I walked in I saw the tables, the decor, food options, and had to ask just to be sure I was in the right place. With the hunger of a Midwest American pregnant woman I grabbed my first two plates.
The Bacon was easily the best I have ever had, and the eggs over toast were pretty epic as well. Once I accepted that this was one of the best breakfast's I have ever had I decided to get a little more adventurous. See my next few choices below.
I actually had to stop myself from finishing the food so I could take a picture. Everything was great, except the apple pie thing was a little unusual. Don't know what to say about it, but it wasn't the greatest.
After B'fast I went for a walk and embarrassed the people who were with me because I do not mind being seen as a tourist and was recording video of myself and snapping pictures. I love that they encourage me to blog and find so much entertainment in reading it, but I prefer to walk new places alone. It allows me to stop when I want to, go where I want, and meet people. When I travel with people from the States or North America I notice that we are almost completely unapproachable.
Here are some of the things I passed today, great things to see here.
While most people avoid streets that have graffiti, I find it to be the most awesome stuff. Show me street art, and I'll show you a happy Yazzie. Kanye girl was pretty amazing looking. I want to photograph a model in front of it. Hope I have a chance to make that happen.
Lunch was Pizza Hut. Doesn't sound interesting until you realize I had to order in Bulgarian. Fail. Many hand signs and only $5
later I got my pizza and came back to entertain you. Time for a nap, so happy they fixed my A/C today. Last night was just cool enough to pass, but I like a cold nights sleep. Ok, see you soon, time to haggle with street venders.
PS, tons of Nazi stuff here, pretty weird, but interesting at the same time when you hear some of the stories.
Oh yeah, there are tons of stray cats here. I counted 8 and snapped this pic. they are hard to see, but they are there. Also the stray dogs are pretty cool too, maybe they will model for me. Here puppy, who likes BACON?
Found a familiar face.
LA bums got nothing on the ones here. This hut is Gangster! Front door swings open and everything.
More street art
Here are a few of those strays I was talking about. They were laying right in everyones path during rush hour. haha
This last shot was of a guy who was posted near the markets asking for handouts. Seemed to be deformed, but I don't know for sure since many people here sit and lounge like they are yoga instructors in a pose off.
July 25th 2010
I am currently sitting in the Lounge at LAX waiting for my flight to Frankfurt. From there I am on another flight to Bulgaria and I will be there for three weeks. If you haven't read it before or don't know me very well I will say it once again, I love my life.
More when I have a chance to post.
Yaz
April 6th 2010
Shopping. Most men will tell you they hate to shop, and they are not lying. I enjoy buying new things for myself, but I hate to spend the time and money. It does not bother me enough to keep me from going out to buy new things, but recently I have found it almost impossible.
Lets start with the clothes. That! I want that shirt, it looks awesome....on the Mannequin. It is fitted, wrinkle-free, bright, and has so much personality. All of these are true for the Mannequin, but not for me. Allow me to explain why. Mr. Plastic over there is wearing a Medium shirt. I wear a medium shirt, so it should fit me as well right? Wrong. The shirt on Mr. P is pinned behind his back and his Plastic boyfriend behind him is hiding all of that. So even though it fits his arms and he is about my size, its more of a maternity shirt since people in this country resemble third trimester preggo chicks. Medium shirts fit my shoulders and chest, but I can't roll the sleeves up because I'll look like a Pirate. What machine in what third world country thought this amount of material was needed for sleeves?
So my option is to try a small. They love to call them athletic fit here in the states. I find that offensive since I do not know any athletes who do not have any muscle. Small shirts will fit my waist, but as soon as I bring my arms down I hear thread break, and look like I am attempting to reinact a scene from Tommy Boy. Also, when I go to scratch my head the bottom of the shirt, which is the right length when my arms are down comes up over my jeans and makes me look like a Girls Gone Wild commercial.
Now lets talk about colors. 90% of the shirts I have seen on a Mannequin come in some fluorescent variation that only looks good if your skin looks like this.
I'm sorry, but as much as your V-Neck salmon colored shirt appeals to me, I don't fit the criteria to wear such a shirt because my wrists are not limp. If I have to argue that my shirt was made for men it wasn't.
So here we come to Tailored clothes. Your options are to buy things you like and have them altered to fit you, or to order clothes that are ready made for your body. Not only is it expensive, and time consuming, it also makes most guys give up and shop at walmart.
Here are some images I found while looked for Tailored clothes
I don't think I am being picky when I say that none of these things appeal to me
Jeans
Where I grew up, there was only one type of jean for guys. They were Wrangler Cowboy cut jeans and they came with a Lifetime warranty. The cost something like $35 and are the official jeans of the PBR (Pro Bull Riders)
Sure every trendy loser is wearing skinny jeans or a pair he borrowed from his girlfriend, but many guys are different from them. For one, we have what was once know as Testicles. Along with that comes our penis, I know its hard to believe that these things still exist today, but its not a myth. Knowing that, one would assume a designer would make jeans with the proper amount of room. No.
Also, any guy who has ever played a sport or has done manual labor also has what is known as his Gluteus Maximus, or ass if you will. Throw that into the equation and you will find that straight leg, or slim jeans = death to your manhood. Not to mention when you put a pair of those jeans on you risk being arrested for public indecency for looking like you are smuggling a banana in one pocket and plums in the other. if you choose to wear these jeans we will never be friends because chances are you are wearing a small shirt and will wave to me and I'll see your pubes. No thanks, shave your shit and stop shopping at baby gap.
Now days you will even come across places like Abercrombie who make "Proof jeans" which are made to make your junk look bigger. The only person I ever knew who bought them called himself "tic-tac". Enough said.
With all that being said I buy most of my clothes in Canada or Europe. Their sizes are true and you are buying clothes, not an advertisement. I am a 32" waist in every country other than the US and most places in Asia. In the US I am a 30 because Americans like to lie to themselves, and in Asia I am a size Morbidly Obese / Tall. If I shop anywhere in the States I look for a few things. What is it made of, because I don't want my jeans to rip because I was walking and not swaying and sashaying. And I don't want to pull my shirt out of the dryer to have it shrink small enough to fit an infant. I also look to see where it is made. If its not made in the US its over priced, so I don't buy it unless its on sale. If it is made in the US I check the seams because the quality can often be crap.
This is what I have learned shopping so far
Small = Shoulders should be non-existent
medium = Maternity shirts for Pirates
Tailored = Too much time, money, patience
You are probably wondering what I bought.
first is a pair of SPerry Top Siders on sale for $65.
Craftsmanship was top notch, price was right, and you can't beat the comfort. old man shoes, ugly? yeah, maybe, but I can't hear you from the Yacht, sorry you weren't invited...not really
Also got a pair of these
Mine are actually a chocolate color, but you get the idea
I did find several button ups I liked, as well as a classic pink polo, some shorts, a pair of pants and some T-shirts. It took me two days, and three malls to get these items, and after all of that I am looking back at it thinking, why? Why did that have to be so difficult and who are these designers who think men have a crotch like a Ken doll? I also want to know why your jeans are $450 and shred when a man passes gas when I can buy a pair of wranglers that come with a lifetime warranty for $35? And nobody can tell me its because they fit better or look cooler, unless you are trying to impress another dude. I'm not buying any of it.
Oh and sorry I don't have a comments section, but I have no idea how to add it, and I'm far too lazy to figure it out.
Yazzie
3am update*
Tinsel korey made a new friend on set this morning. He has been following her ever since.
Also take a look at what I found in an office here
Today is my first day on set. Everyone is very friendly and quite alert for it being the middle of the night. I woke up at 4am this morning and could not fall back to sleep, so I stared at the ceiling and out my window for a few hours until breakfast was ready.
Here is an image of the moon still in the sky above my window.
And this is a shot a few hours later when the sun was coming up
My breakfast today was exactly the same as yesterday, amazing. I noticed that my server today was the same guy who brought me breakfast yesterday, opened my bottle of wine I had for lunch, and served me dinner last night. I asked him if he ever slept and he just smiled and asked if I needed anything else. When I ordered lunch, Rizzoto with truffle and celery, Shopska Salad, and ketchup chips it was the same guy again. Mind you I have been here a solid 48hours and he has been in uniform the whole time.
On a side note, I don't think there is one single bottle opener for sale in all of Bulgaria. I searched for several hours and many miles yesterday without success. I managed to find a store owner who said, "No English, yes Vino open". He even pulled it out from behind the counter and offered to open my bottle of wine, (a bottle the server had said was good) I explained and signed as best as I could that I wanted to buy, but he waved me off and told me, "Not for sale". Once back at the hotel I asked the server where I could buy one and he thought for a few seconds and said, I have one at home. I told him, if you bring it, I will pay to keep it here for a few weeks, and you can have it back. He smiled and liked the idea, so he said two days and walked away still smiling. It made me curious to know if he would be on the job for another two days.
In the two days I have had time to explore I noticed something while interacting with people here. First, there are many more English speaking people in the morning. Later in the day after lunch it is painfully difficult to find anyone willing to even try to communicate with you. So all of my shopping is done between 8am and 11am. Second, You can find anything you could possibly want here, for cheap, but none of the accessories or parts you need to go with them. It took me 4 hours to find a watch shop that could put a battery into my watch that died. The lady whom I asked if she could do it looked at me, grabbed my arm, took the watch off while squinting her face to keep the eye glass up to her eye for inspection. Looking around I saw that the battery cost 8 leva, or $6 US. She conducted her inspection of the time piece, smiled, said something to her husband who was behind a counter with the most massive magnifying glass I have ever seen. He nodded and she proceeded to replace the battery. When she finished she turned it over, set the correct time and said $30 Leva. With a smile on my face, trying to hold back the laughter I pointed at the battery and price and said, 10 leva. Her husband could not help but chuckle and say something to his wife and she kept her smile, winked and took the 10 leva bill.
There are tons of stores here that sell watches, but only one that I went to could replace batteries. Of the 40 or so sunglass shops I went to, none had a repair kit, or a screw that I needed to fix my sunglasses. I made sure to bring my sun glasses to physically show people because I felt I might be arrested if I continued to walk into sunglass stores letting people know I needed a screw.
Time to get back to snapping pictures and making memories. Have a great day everyone.
Yazzie
July 27th 2010
Sofia, Bulgaria. Day 1
I woke up today at 5am and could not fall back asleep. I watched the sun rise and opened my window to some fresh cool air. Once 8am rolled around I went down to the lobby to get breakfast. Breakfast was free like it is in some hotels, but as I walked in I saw the tables, the decor, food options, and had to ask just to be sure I was in the right place. With the hunger of a Midwest American pregnant woman I grabbed my first two plates.
The Bacon was easily the best I have ever had, and the eggs over toast were pretty epic as well. Once I accepted that this was one of the best breakfast's I have ever had I decided to get a little more adventurous. See my next few choices below.
I actually had to stop myself from finishing the food so I could take a picture. Everything was great, except the apple pie thing was a little unusual. Don't know what to say about it, but it wasn't the greatest.
After B'fast I went for a walk and embarrassed the people who were with me because I do not mind being seen as a tourist and was recording video of myself and snapping pictures. I love that they encourage me to blog and find so much entertainment in reading it, but I prefer to walk new places alone. It allows me to stop when I want to, go where I want, and meet people. When I travel with people from the States or North America I notice that we are almost completely unapproachable.
Here are some of the things I passed today, great things to see here.
While most people avoid streets that have graffiti, I find it to be the most awesome stuff. Show me street art, and I'll show you a happy Yazzie. Kanye girl was pretty amazing looking. I want to photograph a model in front of it. Hope I have a chance to make that happen.
Lunch was Pizza Hut. Doesn't sound interesting until you realize I had to order in Bulgarian. Fail. Many hand signs and only $5
later I got my pizza and came back to entertain you. Time for a nap, so happy they fixed my A/C today. Last night was just cool enough to pass, but I like a cold nights sleep. Ok, see you soon, time to haggle with street venders.
PS, tons of Nazi stuff here, pretty weird, but interesting at the same time when you hear some of the stories.
Oh yeah, there are tons of stray cats here. I counted 8 and snapped this pic. they are hard to see, but they are there. Also the stray dogs are pretty cool too, maybe they will model for me. Here puppy, who likes BACON?
Found a familiar face.
LA bums got nothing on the ones here. This hut is Gangster! Front door swings open and everything.
More street art
Here are a few of those strays I was talking about. They were laying right in everyones path during rush hour. haha
This last shot was of a guy who was posted near the markets asking for handouts. Seemed to be deformed, but I don't know for sure since many people here sit and lounge like they are yoga instructors in a pose off.
July 25th 2010
I am currently sitting in the Lounge at LAX waiting for my flight to Frankfurt. From there I am on another flight to Bulgaria and I will be there for three weeks. If you haven't read it before or don't know me very well I will say it once again, I love my life.
More when I have a chance to post.
Yaz
April 6th 2010
Shopping. Most men will tell you they hate to shop, and they are not lying. I enjoy buying new things for myself, but I hate to spend the time and money. It does not bother me enough to keep me from going out to buy new things, but recently I have found it almost impossible.
Lets start with the clothes. That! I want that shirt, it looks awesome....on the Mannequin. It is fitted, wrinkle-free, bright, and has so much personality. All of these are true for the Mannequin, but not for me. Allow me to explain why. Mr. Plastic over there is wearing a Medium shirt. I wear a medium shirt, so it should fit me as well right? Wrong. The shirt on Mr. P is pinned behind his back and his Plastic boyfriend behind him is hiding all of that. So even though it fits his arms and he is about my size, its more of a maternity shirt since people in this country resemble third trimester preggo chicks. Medium shirts fit my shoulders and chest, but I can't roll the sleeves up because I'll look like a Pirate. What machine in what third world country thought this amount of material was needed for sleeves?
So my option is to try a small. They love to call them athletic fit here in the states. I find that offensive since I do not know any athletes who do not have any muscle. Small shirts will fit my waist, but as soon as I bring my arms down I hear thread break, and look like I am attempting to reinact a scene from Tommy Boy. Also, when I go to scratch my head the bottom of the shirt, which is the right length when my arms are down comes up over my jeans and makes me look like a Girls Gone Wild commercial.
Now lets talk about colors. 90% of the shirts I have seen on a Mannequin come in some fluorescent variation that only looks good if your skin looks like this.
I'm sorry, but as much as your V-Neck salmon colored shirt appeals to me, I don't fit the criteria to wear such a shirt because my wrists are not limp. If I have to argue that my shirt was made for men it wasn't.
So here we come to Tailored clothes. Your options are to buy things you like and have them altered to fit you, or to order clothes that are ready made for your body. Not only is it expensive, and time consuming, it also makes most guys give up and shop at walmart.
Here are some images I found while looked for Tailored clothes
I don't think I am being picky when I say that none of these things appeal to me
Jeans
Where I grew up, there was only one type of jean for guys. They were Wrangler Cowboy cut jeans and they came with a Lifetime warranty. The cost something like $35 and are the official jeans of the PBR (Pro Bull Riders)
Sure every trendy loser is wearing skinny jeans or a pair he borrowed from his girlfriend, but many guys are different from them. For one, we have what was once know as Testicles. Along with that comes our penis, I know its hard to believe that these things still exist today, but its not a myth. Knowing that, one would assume a designer would make jeans with the proper amount of room. No.
Also, any guy who has ever played a sport or has done manual labor also has what is known as his Gluteus Maximus, or ass if you will. Throw that into the equation and you will find that straight leg, or slim jeans = death to your manhood. Not to mention when you put a pair of those jeans on you risk being arrested for public indecency for looking like you are smuggling a banana in one pocket and plums in the other. if you choose to wear these jeans we will never be friends because chances are you are wearing a small shirt and will wave to me and I'll see your pubes. No thanks, shave your shit and stop shopping at baby gap.
Now days you will even come across places like Abercrombie who make "Proof jeans" which are made to make your junk look bigger. The only person I ever knew who bought them called himself "tic-tac". Enough said.
With all that being said I buy most of my clothes in Canada or Europe. Their sizes are true and you are buying clothes, not an advertisement. I am a 32" waist in every country other than the US and most places in Asia. In the US I am a 30 because Americans like to lie to themselves, and in Asia I am a size Morbidly Obese / Tall. If I shop anywhere in the States I look for a few things. What is it made of, because I don't want my jeans to rip because I was walking and not swaying and sashaying. And I don't want to pull my shirt out of the dryer to have it shrink small enough to fit an infant. I also look to see where it is made. If its not made in the US its over priced, so I don't buy it unless its on sale. If it is made in the US I check the seams because the quality can often be crap.
This is what I have learned shopping so far
Small = Shoulders should be non-existent
medium = Maternity shirts for Pirates
Tailored = Too much time, money, patience
You are probably wondering what I bought.
first is a pair of SPerry Top Siders on sale for $65.
Craftsmanship was top notch, price was right, and you can't beat the comfort. old man shoes, ugly? yeah, maybe, but I can't hear you from the Yacht, sorry you weren't invited...not really
Also got a pair of these
Mine are actually a chocolate color, but you get the idea
I did find several button ups I liked, as well as a classic pink polo, some shorts, a pair of pants and some T-shirts. It took me two days, and three malls to get these items, and after all of that I am looking back at it thinking, why? Why did that have to be so difficult and who are these designers who think men have a crotch like a Ken doll? I also want to know why your jeans are $450 and shred when a man passes gas when I can buy a pair of wranglers that come with a lifetime warranty for $35? And nobody can tell me its because they fit better or look cooler, unless you are trying to impress another dude. I'm not buying any of it.
Oh and sorry I don't have a comments section, but I have no idea how to add it, and I'm far too lazy to figure it out.
Yazzie