Seen around town...

From a group called "Fed up with it!"

Recently I've cut back on taking photos around town, switching instead to jotting interesting things down on a tiny notepad from the grocery store. A lot of the things I've noticed have been on the metro which means a blurry, grainy photo anyway, so a notepad works just as well.

An ad for a wallpaper store:   

"Anti-crisis measures! All wallpaper now at 2013 prices!"

A tour agency's blue-and-yellow-swathed poster: "Rest from politics!" followed by prices for 7 days in Egypt, Greece, Poland,...

A placard from Comfy, a major electronics store, promises "Low prices will unite the country."

What first seemed to be a recruitment ad- a picture of a soldier with the words "The chance to serve your country has appeared"-

- has turned out to be a major campaign sponsored by a group called the Ukraine Crisis Media Center. The solider poster was just the first of many. There's since been:

• The doctor: "The chance to build a healthy society has appeared."
• The miner: "The chance to lift up your country has appeared."
• The student: "The chance to pass a test and not a bribe has appeared."
• The grandparent: "The chance to raise your grandchildren in an affluent Ukraine has appeared."

Grandparent ad in the background, purple ad partially blocked by the marshrutka.

I don't know that many doctors, miners, or grandparents, but I do know a lot of students and they've made no secret about the fact that a little extra cash is often required as they progress through their studies. As for soldiers, it used to be that I only knew one, but now more and more acquaintances are getting surprise phone calls and then leaving to serve.

I hope that the future does bring affluence, health, and stability for the country.