2013 has turned into quite an eventful year already. Political upheaval in the Middle East, the Maghreb and West Africa; the abdication of the Papal Seat and replacement with a Jesuit (of all people!), the rumors of war with Iran, North Korea and their client states, and a whole lot of good new music to monitor. It’s felt like 3 interesting years in three solid months. I can’t wait to see what else happens.

After the completion of a project, I hope to return back to my second home in Skopje, Macedonia, and then to scope out new possibilities for projects throughout the year. Top on the list is Estonia, with visits to Romania, Bulgaria and maybe Turkey and the Caucasus, if peaceful conditions hold.

It will be good to see my old friends. Many of you rank near family to me, and I appreciate your kindness and hospitality. I look forward to repaying it and enjoying the rest of this year in the company of good friends, as well as my family here in SoCal.

Thanks to trying to fiddle with my WordPress blog on my own, I managed to damage the database, so I get to start fresh.  Hopefully this install runs a lot smoother!

With beautiful weather (okay, a bit crisp for California, but a bit more tolerable than trudging in snow and rain as I did in Europe last year), a good (and surprisingly short) liturgy, and the prospect of good news on two projects, 2013 seems to be off to a raring start!

I will begin posting more regularly here again, opining on anything and everything that interests me. I will be mirroring the posts at my Tumblr Site, the Facebook Fan Page, my Google+ and LinkedIn accounts. I will continue blogging on religious topics at Oiketerion, and I plan on developing A Miscellany of Tasteful…, my blog dedicated to music, arts, culture and the Humanities, a lot more, organizing thousands of links into something which I plan as a legacy of interesting things for friends and students to peruse at their leisure.

I have no idea what else this year holds in store for me personally, except to say that I will be attending the Without Borders Music Conference and Festival in Varna, Bulgaria, again this year (I attended in 2003 and 2011). With good fortune, work will place me back into Central or Eastern Europe, and I can continue working on helping artists whenever and however possible.

Ideas for collaborative efforts are always welcome, and I look forward to working with many interesting artists this year in both music and film.

May we all have a wonderful 2013!

I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to say that 2012 was not the greatest year either I or any of my colleagues experienced. Between experiencing personal misfortune and observing political upheaval both here and in Europe, suffering through a weak economy and enduring poor employment options, this year is best forgotten about (and quickly, I hope!).

Still, although next year may well deal out more of the same, it is good to be prepared for it, and I hope for what may turn out to be a pleasant surprise.

May all of you enjoy Christmas, Hanukkah, Eid, or just a pleasant day off. We earned it. May 2013 turn out to be better for all of us.

From 2003 to 2007, I blogged actively on culture, politics, religion and sports. I stopped out of sheer exhaustion after 2010, which was too bad as I had attracted a rather sizable following (as well as a few weirdos and stalkers).

Though I am posting daily on religion at Oiketerion, and have my music and humanities interests being posted at A Miscellany of Tasteful…, I thought I’d start posting again on politics, economics and military events from all around the world. Watching a bunch of kids and twenty-somethings posting some rather intelligent views about the world around them, and doing an admirable job countering the rubbish and attacks hurled at them, I thought I might lend my voice to the fray.

The plan will be to select several articles I read throughout the day, place links to them and post a short commentary, so that you know what to expect.

Today is Election Day. No matter what happens, things are about to change for this country, and drastically so. It would be interesting to share ideas (in a tactful manner) with friends and colleagues as to what these changes will entail.

I’ve switched over to WPMU. As I convalesce, I’ll be learning what I can do with the program.