Walking in Pantelimon today, I saw a square body Moskvitch 1500 for the first time. A slightly mismatched paint job and mal-aligned engine hood revealed to the careful onlooker that the car had once been wrecked.

I walked around it a few times, noting its’ detail and pinpointing flaws while three meters away a short little man well into his seventies cast his eagle eyes upon the behavioral details and my unusual pause.

Only after I felt I was being I watched did I really take note of him. Before that moment, he had been merely an anonymous shape in the unfocused landscape. Leaning back against a metal fence and whiling away the time with not a single task to attend to. One seemingly unconsequential blur from a myriad of cinematic extras populating the şoseaua that served as set.

I looked up and our eyes met. His were twinkling with an amusement over my curiosity.

“Ti-place maşina asta?”

“Da. Cred ca e rar.”

And our sudden conservation began with him sharing the details of when he had first purchased the car…

I expect to be in Braşov this weekend and in Sibiu early next week.

There’s been a few readers from amandoua of those beautiful places which I’ve missed foarte much. Deci, if any of you folks there wanted to meet up, then shoot me o mesaj and we’ll put ceva together.

brasov09@romerican.com or sibiu09@romerican.com

Merci mult de tot.

I cannot claim to have seen Jesus in a Cheeto or discovered the Christ tangled in spaghetti.

But tonight, while making tocaniţa for dinner, I can report I’ve found love in a potato.

And it winked at me.

A friend of mine had a birthday party last night.

I met several wonderful people and had interesting conversations. It was my pleasure to explain to very entertaining staff of Interbelic how one makes a proper Harvey Wallbanger, which ultimately turned out fantastic.

And, of course, prietenii mei, we lived like rockstars in a porn flick.

Here’s a brief 4 minute glimpse into the depravity and debauchery which raged for over six hours.

About the Video Quality: It was dark. I was being pushed. Alcohol was raining down on me. I had already been drinking for several hours when this particular incident took place. And the video was captured using Cycorder on my iPhone.

Mulţumesc pentru invitaţie şi la mulţi ani, Tic!

Last I remember, the days when we all slowed down our busy little lives to purchase forgiveness from Sol Invictus was traditionally marked by the twirling rainbow goats in Braşov.

I may begin to spin new regionalist theories on anthropomorphism as relates to modern Romanian culture, because the east central area of Bucureşti appears to be represented by the famous Christmas bear.

Apparently, in his early 20s, Jesus hired a few singing bears to lead the sideshow component of his magic performances.  Later, these pets turned into ticket salesmen then alms collectors.   Hence, their relevancy.