JCC The [again] New and Improved Post a Pic of Yourself Thread

They say they're gonna fix his brain, alleviate his suffering and his pain. But by the time they fix his head, mentally he'll be dead.

 

You SERIOUSLY have the coolest family ever. I aspire to have one half this awesome.

 

I'm sure you already do, but that's getting rubber stamped very soon

And you better post pics!

 

Awww thanks!! And I will. Not too far away now too.

 

Yes... that's a Hatsune Miku poster in the back.

 

Drunkenly impromptu watching SNL selfie

 

From yesterday.



Excuse the hair quality. I had a bit of confetti in it thanks to some cascarones.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I547 using Tapatalk

 

Some old pics, including some VERY old pics now lol

Me as a baby, top with paternal grandparents, Olga and Nikolai, bottom with parents

Grandpa even put on his Red Army general uniform and all his WWII and other medals, for the occasion...

Also me as a little kid with parents, somewhere


Another one


Our first vacay in Egypt

God, I am making a horrible face there. I forgot my sunglasses at the hotel, and the damn sun was right in my bloody eyes lol

Traveling was huge back then, in 1990s Russia. In Soviet Union, people weren't allowed to go anywhere outside the country, except to a few other Communist countries in Warsaw Pact (and some lucky bigwigs got to vacation in Cuba, that was a real treat, and not for mere mortals; even grandpa, a God darn general, could not get his hands on a Cuba ticket!) So, in 90s, with all this sudden freedom of movement, people rushed out to see the world, anyone who could afford to fly somewhere, did so. And my parents were kinda rich, then, they had their own, relatively successful, business. So, we traveled a lot, to all kinds of places. This Egypt trip was our very first time abroad though, I believe.

Strolling and shopping for jewelry with mom


On the beach, and later, at dinner at the hotel with dad

That, btw, was my first taste of Pepsi lmao

Later that year, in winter, at our dacha, with mom and dad and mom's ancient friend Larisa

Mom and Larisa grew up together, I believe. They've been super close friends as long as I can remember. Larisa works, to this very day, as a dentist at a special clinic affiliated with the tax police, which treats their employees. She is the head doctor now, I believe. I gather she used her connection with high ranking tax men to help my parents settle problems with their business on occasion, back in those days lol Even today, whenever my parents go back to Moscow to take care of whatever things back there, and they don't have a place of their own to stay (they sold off our old apartment years ago), they never have needed a hotel or anything, always they stay with Auntie Larisa at her home... Talk about a loyal friend...

Moving on, second trip to Egypt

My parents had MORE money, at this point, so we were in a much nicer hotel this time lol

Riding camels when we went to visit a Bedouin tribe

I remember I was amazed that the camel attendant, you can see him right next to my beast there, was a kid just about my own age...

At the ancient ruins

We went to the pyramids and such also, but I can't find those pics right now, to my irritation.

Me and mom on the plane home later


Later, at home, dad cooking at the kitchen (the fact that we already had a microwave back then is another indication that we were f-n rich haha) and me with my grandmas, Olga and Katya from mom's side

It strikes me, now, they bother loved me and spoiled the hell out of me, and I never thought about differences between them. Yet these two women were as different as it gets, from two totally different backgrounds. Olga was a daughter of high ranking Ukrainian Communists, later married to a Red Army general. All she had known in much of her life was (by Soviet standards) luxury and privilege. When grandpa was still in his high position in the military, they had an armored limo with a soldier chauffeuring them around everywhere; a maid; a cook; and a third woman who took care of their laundry! During WWII, her parents and herself were evacuated to Siberia, like many bigwigs, and spent the war there, safe and comfortable and provided with everything. Grandma Katya, on the other hand, came up from poverty and misery. Ironically, she descended from Russian NOBILITY. Much of her relatives were killed or locked up by the Bolsheviks after the Revolution. She survived with her mother and three brothers in a hellish communal apartment with three dozen other poor families. Two of her brothers were killed in battle in WWII, third returned with no legs, and later took his own life. She herself was a civil defense volunteer during the war, ran around Moscow rooftops with a bunch of other young girls, and they put out firebombs the Germans were dropping on the city! Later, worked in a sewing factory. Grandpa Teodor, mom's dad, I am not really sure how they met. He was a brilliant engineer, but was greatly restricted, in career and in life, by his Jewish name and heritage. Because of it, he was not allowed to travel at all, even to other Warsaw Pact nations; and if Stalin did not die when he did, Grandpa Teodor would likely have been executed as a saboteur, spy, and "enemy of the people": there was an accident at a power plant he helped design, an explosion, a worker was killed. They were gonna blame him, Grandpa. We learned this from archives, many years later. Grandma Katya, I believe, always hated the Communists. And did not like mom marrying into such as "red" family as dad's... While Grandma Olga equally resented dad marrying this... trash from the slums of Moscow. They never did like each other, my grandmas. But, for my sake, never let this show, at least in front of me...

Anyway, later on, in Thailand


Here is one of my faves from that one lol

I knew the elephants were gonna lift me up, but still, it was before I expected it, I was startled, and, there you have it haha

Some temples or whatever, in Bangkok




At the beach


I am now also looking for our old albums from Spain, Scandinavia, Czechia, and Cyprus. When find them, will scan and post here too.

Here is me already in Canada, with parents, and my sister and niece and nephew (sister and her husband had moved to Israel back in the 90s and were already here and made us the invitations to come here too)


And with parents at my high school graduation, back in 2008


Enjoy lol

 

This picture will be studied for years to come.

 

Found the pyramid pics


It was in a box under my bed the whole time lol

Great trip that was... I never got to go inside the pyramid though. Me and dad wanted to, but mom was scared of all those supposed curses lol Such a superstitious woman...

 

Not me, but one of our 20lb Pugs who was mauled by a neighbours two 100lb+ Pit Bulls. After numerous vet visits, he has the cone of shame and we are feeding him with a giant syringe into a tube going directly into his neck for the next few weeks.

So glad our neighbour didn't replace that $3.50 slat in his fence.

 

I hope you've openly declared war on the neighbor in question.

 

Before you say anything, I checked the translation - it means "fashionable"

 

At the March for Science rally in Chicago:

 

THOSE SHADES! I NEED THEM!

 

May the 4th be with you!

 

Picture is from 2012

 

lol Found this among other old pics on my Moscow school's website today

That's yours truly, in green/blue T-shirt, with the ball. Grade 8. 2002. Shortly before I left for Canada...

And here

The girl in that little black top there, looking gorgeous as usual, that's my girlfriend at the time, Galia. She was actually the worst player on that volleyball squad lol But she compensated for it by also being the hottest of them lmao And plus, her dad bought them that net. And a new ball too. So, they had to keep her around Oh, my god, our school was so f-n poor back then... Even my own parents were kinda poor by then, because they lost a load of money in the 1998 Default... Everyone was poor. That's why many Russians still love Putin. You guys have no idea, he really did save the nation back then...

 

Wow, your girlfriend is really... umm... cute...