Alexandra Soroca 🎹 @SeventhMagpie@mastodon.art

Revised #introduction to reflect the state of my languages. 😋

I'm an amateur classical #pianist. Started learning properly at 34 and still going strong. Love Frédéric #Chopin. Admire Arthur #Rubinstein and Emil #Gilels, and am trying to model my playing on them (arrogant, I know 😅).

I love #cats and am enslaved to two of them. Love #sea, #sailing ships & books about sea adventures. #NaNoWriMo & fountain pens enthusiast.

I speak #Russian, #English, some #Romanian, and now study #Italian.

Dear neighbours. Anyone else, operating phrases like "Russian trolls", "kremlinbots" and other general dehumanising concepts, please step forward, so I could block you. Thank you in advance and sorry for the inconvenience. I'm not having this shit again here. There's Twitter for that.

Some people seem to think that if I'm generally quiet and try to avoid conflict, then it must mean that I'm weak.

These people are severely mistaken.

Sometimes I wish that I could've stayed at somewhere around 32-35 years old, and then lived for about hundred years till the end of my life without getting any older. :)

I could've gone places and lived elsewhere, could've met people and fallen in love, and generally enjoyed the life. I would've had time.

It's so sad that people get old. All our society is built around youth, it's turned it into a cult. And it often seems that there is less and less place for you while you're getting older.

I. says she considers taking up playing drums for a hobby. :)

It might have been a mistake on my part to respond with: "That's sexy as hell!" 😅

Today I came across a brilliant definition of privacy vs. anonymity. 😆 Can't help but share, sorry. 😂

Privacy is when government knows that you've been jacking off, but doesn't know to what kind of porn.

Anonymity is when government knows that somebody's been jacking off, but doesn't know who.

I really hate it when a user calls and starts shouting right away.

I get it that you might be experiencing a frustrating problem. But shouting at me will not get it resolved, and will not make me want to help you, either.

Not to mention that I can't troubleshoot anything if all you're doing is screeching and not telling anything about your issue.

Sanitizer dispenser in Yamaha office. :)

This year there is not even an outdoor rink near the local school. I have not put skates on since last February. :(

Russian Post has lost one of my New Year postcards in an exceptionally perverted way.

Sometimes Mastodon is worse than Twitter, I swear. :/

My portable Logitech keyboard has arrived. :) Very easy to set up and rather comfortable to type on despite weird buttons (they are round instead of square).

Hopefully, it will allow me to write more than I do now. :)

Me with my mother, in a weird (and I do mean weird: she doesn't care about classical music) slip to discussing Chopin's Premier Concerto.

Me: "So, you know Emil Gilels..."
She: "Of course I do. He's from my time. But how do *you* know him?!"

Don't you love being casually invalidated by your relatives. :)

Yeah, indeed. How do I know one of the best pianists in history. Who could've thought. *gg*

And that's how it has always been, all my life. She just doesn't care.

This year I decided that I will be drinking only Italian wines the New Year's night, for it to work like a superstition belief, kind of. :)

Nothing fancy, of course (don't have that kind of money to spend 😅). But still, this spumante was good, and we enjoyed this small home celebration. 🍾

2020 is finally over! 🍾

She is so stubborn. 🙁

The worst part about the holiday season is being forced to spend more time with the family than is healthy.

I have one last nerve left, and fucking Outlook is getting on it. 🤬

Airmail costs four times more than ordinary mail. It's expected to be fast. So wtf my expensive letter has been sitting in Sheremetyevo airport for over a day instead of, you know, being sent further?

Even though I have been here for somewhat close to two years, I have to admit that I still do not feel entirely comfortable on Mastodon.

Looks like the keyboard for my tablet won't arrive until after the New Year. Arrghh! If only it occurred to me to look at Ali sooner.

Thing is, Logitech has this small keyboard in two layouts. Ugly British with weird buttons and normal American. Guess which one they are selling in Russia. 😠

Not having Russian letters on a keyboard is okay. Not having normal Shift and Enter is not. Logitech, what were you thinking, really.