grandpa died today, after a long, painful battle. he was a good man, a man of the land. i hope he’s in peace now, and that wherever he is, there are plenty of grapevines to prune and vegetables to plant. i know he’d be happy there.
Category: just life
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onto the new year
2011 was good year, for the most part. it was the year we took a good look at our health and decided to change things. we ate different, we moved more. we also moved to a new country in april, starting a new adventure. we’ve seen old friends and made new ones. and we’ve tried lots of new things.
but the year ended in a more sour note, with both this never-ending crisis and sickness affecting our families in a cruel way. as for 2012, i only wish to have the strength to make this a good year, no matter what life throws at us.
i was thinking about this yesterday, while watching the pyrotechnic pitched battle taking place in front of the brandenburg tor. we were a bit far to see the actual city fireworks, but the display that surrounded us was equally dramatic and much more nerve-wracking. here’s what it looked like, straight from the boy’s phone (starts a bit before midnight):
new year in berlin from ana campos on Vimeo.
happy new year!
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a little burnt around the edges
german classes, christmas markets and mittens warmed up by cups of glühwein, lunch concerts at the philarmonie, baking, christmas parties, daytrips outside berlin… it feels good to be busy, always on the run, but right now i wish life would slow down a little bit, just enough for me to process it all.
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busy days
coming back home after some weeks in a whirlwind of constant excitement and perpetual sugar rushes. it’s all so quiet…
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swab your cheeks!
amit gupta, the founder of photojojo (with who postcrossing had a long lasting partnership) found out some weeks ago that he had acute leukemia. it’s a very serious condition, and he needs a bone marrow transplant. problem is, amit is south asian, and south asians are severely under-represented in the bone marrow pool. he has little time left to find a donor.
so, i want to ask you to get tested. if you’re in germany, register here and get a free kit. if you’re in portugal, read this or visit your local hospital (might be faster). if you’re in the netherlands, go here. people in other places, please see this post. registering only takes a couple of minutes, and even if you’re not south asian, or amit’s match, you might help save some kid’s life.
i will send a thank you postcard to any person who does get tested. do it and then leave a comment below – or better yet, share it with your friends! but please do it fast, because time is running out for amit, and others out there!
ps – if you need further incentive to stop stalling, seth godin is offering a $10k reward to the donor that matches amit.