about me
my name is Andrei Botesteanu, i have always lived in bucharest (Romania) and i’m keeping this blog for 2 years now (i’ve named a virtual street after myself – in the header; if you read into that, please send me an email so i can check it out too). i desperately try to keep in touch with my inner child, fearing i would become strangers if i allow myself to grow up. however, it happens.
having still not settled on a career path, i started work recently as a qualitative researcher. this builds on my sociology diploma that i’ve earned in 2007, right about the time i moved by myself in my grandmother’s apartment. i have a kind of passion for design, identity, branding and all kinds of things that are not yet art but grant expression, a passion that i struggle to pursue with no result. yet.
previously i have been involved with stuff that either helped financially, or has educated me to grow into the person i am now. older now, i have become somewhat skilled at things which include: english to romanian translations, vice versa, social research & studying online behavior (a graduation thesis based on a travian community case study), coffeshop development (parted with lente after roughly a year) and writing (here). i have poorly developed freehand drawing skills, which i need to improve soon.
although my personal life is rather public (most of what i write is heavily influenced by life in my twenties), things are complicated and i would prefer not updating this section for the sake of romantic accuracy.
the people i have met while online make me glad i keep publishing. i do it for the lack of a good listener, to keep my afterthoughts in line and not least to improve the way i express myself in writing. i would love to get published in print, though i don’t have the confidence or financial comfort to pursue this ambition.
critical thinking and self-reflection have made me chronically insecure (if this is a genuine affliction, then you should read ‘constantly looking for positive feedback’ into the term)
there are strong odds that i’ll review this section and only come up with a final form on the day i have no more time to care for botesteanu.nu. kindly join me in holding up until then.
BIO (6th draft, as of january 2010)
i`ve tinkered with this for quite some time. it’s not perfect and i think i’ll add/delete/rephrase stuff.
1985: born at 10:30 pm (i hear), on February 9th. Saturday, in Bucharest
1986: baby steps; also Chernobyl which had to have some effect on all us babies at the time (i have yet to discover my superpower)
1987: baby talk; Hungarian kindergarten – learned a language which i entirely forgot afterwards; banged my head against a wall while sliding on the hardwood floor (earliest recollection of anything)
1988: my parents got divorced, i stayed with my mom
1989: i remember gunshots from bringing down ceausescu; people got panicked, but i just scratched the walls with scribbles
1990:
1991: moved closer to school; first classmates
1992: piano lessons; solved the Rubik cube by peeling off the stickers and matching the colors (i still think this is good thinking out of the box for that age, i shouldn’t have been spanked for it)
1993: cello lessons; boy scouting did not catch on
1994: the mumps; cartoon network on cable tv; made the better class in grade school (this meant better teachers and more English courses than others);
1995: first computer, a 486 computer for my uncle (i kept showing up at his place, mostly to play Sid Meier’s civilization, and assist him with vector graphics and computer assisted design as a second option)
1996: lost the weight that earned me nicknames
1997: basketball
1998: went to France (paid basketball tournament); first kiss; got my current chicken-pops scars; stood up for myself in an argument with mom, never got hit since
1999: high-school, last to be accepted to an experimental social science class; awkward kiss at freshman prom; basketball team and quite popular
2000: good friends
2001: good school results with very little effort (whole story in a nutshell)
2002: first love; quit the basketball team; mom stopped leaving for morocco to spend time with new husband
2003: sex; unversity and a short academic rush; active member in the student association
2004: first field research made me choose sociology; first blog
2005: heart-broken, tongue pierced
2006: part time job translating
2007: graduated with a study on travian addiction; gained weight; grandma died; got mom to move with me; started a master in anthropology;
2008: lost weight; fell in love; started the coffeshop; broke up; started blogging
2009: we got back together; left the cofeeshop; postponed my masters graduation; first job, after searching for months
2010: thoughts of renovating my apt (kept on nu31.tumblr.com)
stuff i remember but don’t know where to place:
- getting lost as a child (standing in line for rations)
- swimming lessons
- walking in on mom having sex
- being a jerk to classmates
- entertaining as an elephant mascot on occasion
