Back to Life.. At Last

Finally, it seems like I've got my life back. I can go out with friends, go on small trips around the country, hang out, sleep and eat well (at least, as much as I can eat, that is), and.. just have fun with the people I know and love. Nothing beyond the weekly routine I was used to before, but I guess I kinda lost it in the last few months.
Not that I have even the slightest chance of regret about the work I gave in these last months (and that's a whole topic by itself, saved for a separated future-post), but it's certainly good to be back to normal.

Since the ceasefire in the north of Israel, it's all safe to travel across the country again. Or at least, so they say. I just love that part of the country so much.. great place to travel in, and too bad it takes such a long ride to get to it. Still, it defiantly worths it.
So I went there twice during the last month, each time for a one-day trip. Was really fun, with some really good friends and lots of flora all around.
You can see some of the pics, from the last trip, here (thanks to Pinky), and another funny photo I took - right here below (click on photo for full view) :

Terms of Conflicts

Just a few weeks after Microsoft announced their final version of MSN Windows Live Messenger 8.0 (and the beta of the 8.1 version), ICQ finally got their own all-shiny more-feature-loaded and heavier-than-ever new version.

So where's the catch? Well, the ICQ Terms of Service page about using passwords says:

"The ICQ staff will NEVER ask for your password"

but now, it seems that if you wanna sign up for the new beta version of ICQ 6, you must give it away:

So, what can you do now? As sad as it is, I can fairly say that unlike old times, I just don't care about it that much. It doesn't seem like they really improved anything. Once, they used to be the leaders of all the IM applications everywhere, but now ICQ are way behind their own competitors.
But I guess that's a story for some other time..

Go, Israeli Disco!

Last weekend (which means, a week ago, actually) I went with a couple of girl friends of mine, to the Dorbanim concert.
I've been looking for their performance for over a year now, and finally it got to town (or at least, the town near by). It was the first, or one of the first ones, performance since they realeased their second album, Levi, about 2 months ago.
Even though the crowd was filled with young kids, I still enjoyed the performance - mostly thanks to the people who came with me. I even fell into the old merchandising trap, and bought a T-Shirt with their logo on it- I just couldn't hold myself. Plus, their lead singer, Ido Ofek, signed his name on it. Oh, the shame.

So finally, I did something different on Friday night. Wasn't extreme, but sure was fun!
Next stop: Metropolin's concert (hopefully, if it won't come down).

Weird Spam

And I wonder.. is that some kind of extreme sex?

Switcing to New Blogger Beta

Though officially it's still in beta stage, the new blogger seems to be rather good.
The new features (at least as far as I can tell) are mostly for the blogger account itself - such as new and better templates, a web-based interface for editing them (instead of editing the template's HTML/CSS in a plain text editor, a-la notepad), google-style spell checker, and merging the blogger account with the google account. Also, they finally added tags ("labels") for each post!
As for now, the only features I still miss in blogger are per-post links to web2.0 sites like digg and technorati, and a side-list of all the blog's tags.
Well done, Google..

update (24.11.2006, 00:25):
It seems they do have this labels-list thingy, so I added it to the panel on the right side. Not sure if I didn't notice it before, or they've just recently added it..

Suddenly

Things which you don't expect them to happen, may come out the most powerful or exciting events in your life.

To know someone is suffering through a period that isn't measured in days, nor weeks, neither months - but years - that's a really terrible situation. But you can't be shocked when he (or she) goes away. I really do believe that death is preferred on suffering without a cause or a realistic option to get cured.
On the other hand, things which you don't expect them to happen - and such things can be caused by many reasons (if you were busy with something else, didn't really expect someone to behave the way they did, didn't ask for a reward for your doings, etc) - these can really make me shiver.

The course, which I've been commanding and instructing in the last 3 or 4 months, is over now. I put so much effort into it - not because I wanted someone to thanks me, but only because I really truly believed it's for a good cause. For the future kids, you might say.
My grandma, my father's mom, died last month. She's been sick since young age, and was barely capable of communicating with the world in the last couple of years. Rest in peace.

You figure it out.

Clean Colon - The Do-It-Yourself Version

So it appears some people actually pay to get their own guts clean, or whatever this "kit" does.
Why would they do such a thing? Well, I just don't know, but you have been warned - it ain't no fun!
(got it from gmail's ad-sense: "This site guarantees to remove really gross stuff from your gut.")

Healthy?

- "Are you a healthy person?"
- "Yes! Err... wait. maybe. hmm... no?"
(from my yearly visit to the dentist, about a week ago. He got a new dental hygienist)

It's been a while since anyone questioned me about my health. Actually, I can't really recall when was the last time I had to explain to a doctor about my Chron's. All the doctors I visit these days are already familiar with my disease, so I don't have to explain it all over again each time I go through regular health-related procedures.

So, it made me wonder. Do I consider myself healthy? Or even, does it really matter?
Obviously, I'm not the same as I was before it all began, two years ago. I have to take my pills after each meal, and I have to be careful about the types and amounts of the foods I eat, every day. And that's without even mentioning the psychological projections of this whole story.
On the other hand.. well, that's about it, at least for now. Unlike many others, and in contrast to my physical condition when the disease erupted, right now I have almost no physical affects (pain, injuries, exhaustion , etc.) caused by the Chron's.
I feel fine, and sleep very well. I go to work, go out with friends, and I can even do whatever sport I'd like to (just have to get in shape first..)

So.. Is that healthy enough for you, punk?