Plus2/Minus2 Summer Edition! Part 2

Ships, ships, ships, only a pee away from shit.

I believe that I was one of the best customers of the shipping companies this summer. A normal person wouldn’t take more than 4, 5, a maximum of 6 ships during the summer. Not me. Hohoho, not me. Between mid-May and my trips to Athens for supporting Alexandra’s exams effort and mid-August and our return to Mytilini, I travelled in a grand total of 18 ships (not 18 unique ones). My rough estimation is that I spent a total of 156 hours of this time travelling at sea. That’s about a week’s worth of non-stop travelling!

The problem is that greek ships are, well, shippy. I mean shitty. Most of them are old, the new ones are too expensive, the food and drinks on board are ridiculously expensive, they go slower than what they claim to in order to save fuel… They treat passengers as if they’re worthless sheep. Even when some of the crew are trying to be polite, you know that the general company policy is “passengers are sheep, and you are the herders!” It’s just a huge industry of money-thirsty shippers. They are the ones who control the Aegean Sea. I really hate them all. What I hate the most is the spam with which they bomb you on board: the safety messages, the cheesy music (especially ANEK’s, although Hellenic Seaways is epic as fuck! Tan-taaaaaan, tan-tan-taaaaaan…), “passengers wishing to di(n)e are kindly requested to proceed to the self-service restaurant, “due to increased truck, the ship will delay”, I could go on forever! These can be a good source of amusement for the first few trips but after hundreds and hundreds of hours on board it gets kind of… annoying.

Anyway, it’s no wonder I find it ironic when people wish me a good journey before I hop on a boat for the umpteenth time; it’s become a second nature finding a comfy spot, laying my sleeping bag, watching One Piece or reading a book for tens of hours at a time, no matter how shippy the shits are! Oh, the joy of studying 12 hours worth of voyage away from your own, but also your girlfriend’s, home…

Destruction of small neighbouring house

Ever since I was knee-high to a grasshopper, I remember walking by a strange old house on my way to school and the neighbourhood mini-market. I could see this house from the heights of the balcony of my room for many years. It was a nice old abandoned house, with dense foliage and many cats living around. I never really knew if anyone did live there, apart from the cats. The guy owning it supposedly died at some point and his wife moved to another house.

A few months ago, to my great astonishment, mum told me that they had put up a sign in front of the house announcing that the house would be demolished and a brand new block of flats would be built in its place. Right then, I felt as if part of my childhood died.

The actual demolition only started in July. Hammers and bulldozers worked furiously every morning. The noise of course was too much to handle so me and Alex always had the balcony door closed, which led to extreme temperatures building up in my room. Mum warned me that during most demolitions swarms of cockroaches crawl out of the fresh ruins looking for new homes. Not really into the idea of hosting a dozen or ten cockroach clans, we decided that we shouldn’t leave the balcony door open even at night.

This went on for many weeks. Even when we left Athens a few weeks ago, terrible machines were still digging for the foundations. The hole was already abyss-like in depth.

In a few months from now, my once bright room will become dark and gloomy. This new apartment building will block all light coming to the back side. But it’s not only this. When certain things occur, it just hits you that you’ve grown old enough to see the world change. Nea Smyrni has sure changed in the 15 years that I remember it. The Alsos next to our home, the new parking, Nea Smyrni square, the tram… The city has even expanded during my lifetime. Places I remember as being just soil and nothingness (at the borders with Brahami) are now fully urbanised. Nea Smyrni has sure changed.

Recently, I found out that Nea Smyrni was originally meant to remain a lower density suburb. The height of apartment buildings used to be regulated everywhere in the city but along Syggrou Ave. Only after 1974 and the fall of the Junta were the regulations revised. Ever since, the number of small houses has fallen dramatically. I don’t think the surviving ones will be around for much either, unforunately…

Alexandra’s Dream

Quick question: What had Alex been doing the past year? I’ll let you think for a second. Yeeees…

If you haven’t remembered by now, allow me to remind you. She was studying for her Panellinies!

Yes, Panellinies. This little final exam that gets all 17-year-old nervous and their parents broke. This exam that’s stuck somewhere between the Middle Ages and the Paleolithic Age that forces teenagers to decide what they’ll do for a living within a matter of months. This incredible exam that works by somehow making mathematics, greek language and physics only slightly less important than special subjects when calculating points for entry in the university or school of choice. I could go on.

Alex had a strange experience last year. When we met, she was studying German so that she could go to Austria and become a better musician. Apparently though, she had a change of heart somewhere along the road and decided that she did not want to either leave me, her country, (the rest of) her loved ones ;P or all that. To just suddenly go and live abroad for almost 6 years. I agree, that would be a shock, even though shocks can be useful from time to time. All was good then. She didn’t have to leave and we could stay together. Here comes the strange experience though: she realised that she was already 22 and had not lived the life of a student, she hadn’t gone through this magical process of living on her own! Many times before had this change of scene been delayed and her not going to Austria was added to the list. What was she to do?! Oh the horror! I can still remember when we were talking on MSN and she was panicking about her future, or lack thereof, as it seemed at the time at least.

The answer came quickly. She did not have to move out of Greece to receive the musical education of her dreams. A bit of research later and along came Musical Studies Dept, Ionian University, Kerkyra (Corfu… silly name). It sounded like best thing since Geometry Wars. Indeed, all opinions agreed on how it was one of the best, if not the best, musical universities in Greece. The problem? She couldn’t just walk in and start lessons; she had to be admitted. And how do people get admitted to universities in this day and age? Exactly.

Panellinies was the name of the game and Alex was more than willing to play. She even travelled to Kerkyra to see for herself before doing anything rash. Typically, she fell in love with the town and student life. I was slightly depressed at the time; no matter how good and well it is in Mytilini, I will never forget my disappointment when I failed entering Audiovisual Arts in the Ionian University.

All this was around this time last year. Alex did play hard. Harder than I expected. I was telling her “you’re gonna get in, but only just. You’ll be too lazy to get a better score, but not lazy enough to fail”. This year we even met every weekend almost, much more often than last year. She’d have all the excuses in the world to not go very well. But she did. And it was awesome.

In May I watched her as she fought hard for her 6 compulsory subjects: greek, maths, biology (easy and hard mode), physics and chemistry. If you’re wondering what all that has to do with music, well… don’t ask! Her score was a very satisfying 14860, thousands of points above the previous year’s minimum. She hadn’t even begun with her music subjects yet! But that was the catch; one wrong step at that point and all would have been for nought as it’s necessay to have a score greater or equal to 10/20 in both music subjects to get into a university musial dept.

The harmony exam was a breeze, Alex got more than 18 in that one. Dication was a surprisingly cruelexam though. It was plain evil. Girls got out of the exam centres crying, everyone was pessimistic, it was a mess. Alex was on the positive side although not certain and got a 12 finally, thus securing her entry in the uni and ending a few weeks of nervous uncertainty for both of us.

A few weeks ago the official result were announced and as we all expected, Alex is among the people that will be studying Music in Kerkyra starting this year. She’ll probably be getting a laptop too for her superb results!

It’s been a happy story till now. But there is a darker side to it, as the most perceptive of you will have noticed.

Till now, our relationship with Alex has been mostly uncomplicated. I live in Mytilini, she lives in Athens. A big obstacle for some that we jumped over easily. As if it did not even exist. Only rarely has distance ever affected our relationship. Distance can also be refreshing for a relationship. As I said in my previous Plus/Minus, travelling 8-12 hours at a time is manageable, as is travelling twice a month to Athens and back. No big deal, right?

Right! But what about… 24 hours worth of travelling? Starting in a few weeks, Alex will live in Kerkyra. That will be her effective home. Consider this: Mytilini is on the border with Turkey; Kerkyra is on the border with Albania and the western-most island of Greece, only a few hours away from Italy. How will this ground-shaking change affect our relationship?

This past summer I’ve been thinking about all these things. Not just me, of course. Alex has been just as pondersome. This feeling that our days are numbered hung, and still hangs over us, affecting our emotions. The natural response is to try and make use of these remaining days the best way one can. This often backfires… The looming sensation that time is running out often makes one take even less advantage of what time really remains. But maybe it’s because deep down we refuse to believe, no, we refuse to make the “time is running out” a facet of our reality. I still do not feel as if it’s anywhere close to being over. On the contrary.

All that said, how does this imminent change (and its awaiting) strike me, in the end?

: Alexandra’s finally finding her career path. It is the change she’s been waiting for years. She’ll do what she loves most and get even better at it. I can’t even imagine what great music she will compose! She will find new friends in the ultimate artsy-cultural university city in Greece. I am really and sincerely happy, most of all, that she’s getting exactly what she fought for, she’s doing what she dreamed of doing. It is something a lot of us forget to do nowadays. We compromise. We think too much of what people will (or won’t) say or what people will or won’t do as a reaction to our actions. Alex is setting an example. An example of purity of intent. How difficult is it for us people to know exactly what we want to do and be sure that it is exactly what will make us happy? Besides: travelling to Corfu? Count me in!

: The distance between me and Alex will soon double. What will happen between us? Taking for granted that we will keep on seeing eachother no matter what, there are two scenarios within sight:

1. Distance only makes us realise how much in love we are with eachother. Our less frequent meetings are much more intense and we live happily ever after.

2. We’ve thought of giving eachother the freedom to experiment with random people if we so wish (now we’re yound and free etc) while still, in theory at least, remaining a couple. I can already imagine the clusterfucks such a scenario might produce, the jealousy and quarreling… but we will end up together in the end, and we’ll live happily ever after.

Whichever of these 2 scenarios happens, increased solidarity is something that might help me concentrate on my last year on this island and all this might implicate…

: …but it’s all nice and good declaring beforehand that my last year in Mytilini will be be better if I concentrate on Mytilini-centric activities. How can I say that when I’ve been with Alexandra for more than 1.5 years already?! I may not have forgot how it was before her, but I sure don’t know how it’s going to be after her. They say that you only really appreciate something when you’ve lost it…

:…and even if I won’t have lost Alex, it will be harsh. It’s coming closer and closer, and the closer it comes, the harder it hits me. The day I’ll take the ship to Mytilini and she won’t follow me… and knowing that after a few days she’ll be in Kerkyra, in one of the most important moments of her life, and I won’t be there for her… and also knowing that being there would only make it worse for her… but definitely, I don’t wanna think about that day…

OK, OK. That last part was a bit emo. But you can’t help it. Most emos become emos over stuff like this. Now just let me look at the glass half-full again…

Done!

cubis_dilemma_alex

Αλεξάνδρα’s Big Mishtakey

Παράθεσα το πρώτο post του Big Mishtakey της Αlex και στο Cubilone’s Dimension. Είναι όμως παραγωγική τον τελευταίο καιρό — πιο πολύ απ’ότι εγώ, οπότε το να καρφιτσώνω όλα της τα ποστία θα ήταν μάλλον άσχημο. Αντίθετα, βάζω συνδέσμους εδώ, άντε μπας και σπρώξω καθόλου την κίνηση. ;D

Θίνγκς Αϊλ Σόρελυ Μις Νάμπερ Ουάν- Geometry Wars Retro Evolved Ίσως το καλύτερο ποστ ever σχετικά με ένα απο τα καλύτερα games ever. Απολαύστε τις εμπειρίες της Άλεξ σχετικά με το Geometry Wars – -ένα παιχνίδι αγάπης… και πολέμου.

Μπίτς & Πίσες Νάμπερ Ουάν Ποιός θα έγραφε για την αναρχία, τα κρουασάν και ένα παιχνίδι με ωραία ambient μουσική στο ίδιο ποστ; Μα ποιός άλλος;

Ποιά είναι η Πίξιγουίξι; Άραγε;

Plus2/Minus2 Summer Edition! Part 1

Kalo mina. It is September already, isn’t it. I’ve been writing up the following post for almost a month now. Day by day, hour by hour even, more and more stuff is added to this list. I can’t keep up anymore! Originally this was intended to be a complete ++– of my summer highlights… This is quickly becoming overwhelming, what with the summer not being over yet and bits and pieces of my life constanstly becoming potential highlights. I will post what I’d already written weeks now and see how it goes. Oh and I’ll start with the most recent ++, what took most of my time these days actually.

August.The cicadas are chirping, Taurus and Orion have just started to appear a few hours before dawn, summer is depressingly close to its end. Depressingly? This word is up for discussion. Yes, I do agree that summer is almost over and that that is generally considered a bad thing but no bad thing has ever come with no benefit; autumn is right around the corner and along with it comes everything that symbolises our hopes, plans and process of renewal. Everything flows, said Iraklitos (and the Book of Change).

Enough with this little introduction. What I want to share with this post is the good, the bad, the attrocious and the fantastic of this year’s summer, which (for good or bad, you decide in the end!) is over in a few weeks, at least theoretically (cause really, who knows till when the weather’s going to be happy this time around?) In short, I’m giving you another Plus*2/Minus*2. And this one is going to be loooong!

Flash, Grafistiki and September Exams

This year the comeback to Mytilini has come earlier than usual. I had long decided that this time I would stand 100% ready for the upcoming exams. I would study a lot, do all my projects in time etc. August 21st was the day we returned to the island. Happy Rock Band 2, Mordread’s birthday and Alex’s nameday aside, it hasn’t been all that fun for me! First thing I wanted to do was complete my Flash/Grafistiki project. A couple of bucketfuls of tears of *insert feeling here* later (including joy, frustration, achievement and despair) and stinking my chair from sitting in it for tens of hours, I can proudly say that today, just in time too, I presented my work to Myrsini. And it was good! It has got to be one of my most advanced works to date. It being in Flash makes it even more impressive of course. I invite you all to have a look and tell me what you think:

www.hallografik.ws/oldstuff/grafistiki

This, of course, is only a sign of things to come. I can stand proud, can’t I??

Today was special in another way as well. I sat for another two subjects, namely Java and Image Editing. Too much effort put into the Flash Project, of course I didn’t have the time to study them properly. Yet I didn’t do all that badly. I think it’s been a successful day… But I REALLY WANNA PLAY SOME GAMES! I MISS THEM. And even though Alexandra is around and has helped me considerably with housework, cooking, cleaning, relaxing, keeping in touch with the real world etc… I do not think we’re spending our time together as we should be. I mean…

…nah, this is another highlight in its own right.

Salonica: City of Ghosts, by Mark Mazower

I finished reading this book in June. I must have mentioned it before, or maybe it was Mazower’s “The Balkans”, a short introduction to the regional history, especially during Ottoman times. “Salonica” is similar. It takes you from the creation of the city in ancient times to what it is today, focusing on its multicultural identity during Ottoman rule (1430-1912) and until the Second World War and the jewish holocaust which killed a significant part of the population.

Did you know that Thessaloniki was only founded after the death of Alexander the Great? Kassandros, the guy who got in charge of the province of Macedonia after Alexander’s death, named this newly founded town after his wife Thessaloniki, daughter of Philip II and thus Alexander’s sister. So why the statue of Alexander in the centre of the city? Why has the city been so closely connected to Macedonia and indeed Alexander?

Did you know that in the 16th century thousands of sephardites, jews that were pursued out of Spain, emigrated into Salonica? They remained the majority (!) of the city, with muslims coming second and christians (greek and slav speaking) third. These jews really considered Salonica their home, they spoke a strange dialect of spanish changed throughout the years from their contact with turkish and greek. During the Second World War most were killed by Nazi Germany and their plan to eradicate the world’s jews (along with other unwanted elements).

Did you know that Salonica became a greek city in 1912? The greek revolution may have happened in 1821 but before 1912 the modern greek state’s borders had not yet changed into the form we know them today. Salonica, along with most of the Eastern Aegean islands and later Thrace, were conquered in the First and Second Balkan Wars by the Greek Army. Salonica wasn’t a particularly greek city before that. As I said, greeks were the minority. However, within 10 short years and after the Population Exchange that made all the muslims leave the city, Greece used the poor immigrants from Asia Minor, some of which did not even speak greek, to effectively “hellenize” its newly conquered territories with christians. Descendants of Macedonians? I don’t think so.

The rest is, as they say, history. Leaving 400 years of (mostly) peaceful and tolerant coexistance behind, the greeks swiftly destroyed everything that would remind them of “the dark ages”. A lot of the historical city centre was burnt in the Great Fire of 1917, however most buildings that had survived did not make it into contemporary, metropolitan Salonica. The “neogreeks” of course have dug up any roman or byzantine (to be fair, Thessaloniki was an important byzantine town, with Ayios Dimitrios and everything…) building that is possible to find, at the same time trying to hush-hush, forget and destroy history, situations and buildings much more relevant to the Greece of today and not the Greece we would like to once have existed.

“Salonica: City of Ghosts” tells a story you’re not likely to hear. It tells of Salonica’s cosmopolitan days, of when it was a crossroads of cultures. A true multi-culti gem. It was a book that gave me a brand new perspective on matters with superb research and excellent, gripping writing. It made me want to visit Thessaloniki, even if the Thessaloniki it desribes is long part of the past…I recommend it to anyone who might want to study revisionist greek history but also the history of the Balkans or the Ottoman Empire.

Did you know that the White Tower was an Ottoman prison?

salonica_2

June Exams

I can say that I was quite satisfied with my exam results. I did not sit for many subjects. In fact, 2 of them I sacrificed in order to have time to go to Rodos in mid-June. For those I did sit for, however, I could not have gone better! Stefanos and me, together with the –let’s face it– minor contribution of Anna and Vasilis, worked on a Flash application during May and June that represents the various kinds of relationships students have with Ermou St. in Mytilini. This was for Cultural Representation II. It gave us a straight 10, for all its misgivings (I’ll make sure to upload it in the main site as soon as possible!) This project’s design along with some personal graphic designs scored me another 10 in the respective subject.

Last but not least, I got another 10 at perhaps my favourite subject last term: Cutural Industries and Digital Culture. Despina Catapoti was our mentor, a great person and teacher! She turned the subject I failed one year ago into a fresh, postmodern-counterculture-philosophical experience! I got a 10 for my answers to the inspired, open-ended test. But I give her a 10 as well for her very interesting, knowledgeable lectures and her special way with the students. I can only say that I cannot wait to learn beside her once more come Spring.

I got a 2.5 at Montage and that thanks to the… interesting video Garret and me made one day at the lighthouse. 😛 Otherwise I would have got a 0. I’ll be quietly sitting for this one soon.

Counting Sheep, by Paul Martin

counting_sheep

Picking up books on random, fascinating subjects as I sometimes do, this summer I got a book on sleep called “Counting Sheep”. Alexandra used to mistakenly call it “Science of Sleep”, like the movie. I thought it was funny mixing the two names up! On a side note, we still haven’t watched “Science of Sleep” in its entirety.

“Counting Sheep” is the ultimate book on this 1/3 of our lives when we “go comatose while hallucinating vividly”. REM sleep, which is the scientific term for dreams, actually occurs for just 25% of sleep in adults. The rest is NREM (non-rapid eye movement) sleep. This is the wiki on NREM, pretty interesting. NREM is vastly different from REM in many aspects, in fact brainwaves during this state are much more characteristic than the respective REM ones (which are, unsurprisingly, similar to our waking state ones). Our sleep can thus be divided into two distinct states which leads to the conclusion that we go through three unique cycles, not just two: waking state, NREM and REM. Each cycle of sleep roughly comprises 90 minutes, going through the 4 stages of NREM sleep and finishing with REM. A typical night’s sleep will consist of 5-6 cycles…

…I can’t stop! Here I am typing scientific stuff about sleep from the top of my head. I could go on. But “Counting Sheep” is not just excellent explaining how sleep works. It goes through all kinds of culture that has been created around sleep, beds, caffeine, dreams, lucidity, sleep disorders, it tells tales of horrible sleep-deprivation and resulting torture, it outlines how sleep works in animals (every single living being, even bacteria, display some kind of low-activity cycle — dolphins sleep one brain hemisphere at a time!) and perhaps most important of all, it definitely proves that sleep is not only important, it is also a luxury and a pleasure unsung for – nevermind the ridiculous numbers of relevant William Shakespeare quotes.

“Counting Sheep” makes you want to rush to your bed, hug your pillow, rub your feet under the quilt, hang a hammock from the trees outside your door or in case you have no trees plant a couple for this very purpose. It makes you cherish your only pure and unfiltered existence and not feel guilty about that couple of extra hours under the blanket. This book proves that the world would be a much, much better place if only politicians, drivers and nuclear reactor operators took their40 winks more seriously. If you, like all too many of us these days, think that sleep is nothing but wasted time, you ought to make yourself a favour and read this!

Gytheio

Urk. Gytheio is supposedly the correct way of writing the greek town name in English. But you pronounce it “Yithio”!

Anyway, I went for 3 days and 2 nights to Gytheio to find Fanis and a couple of his friends who were camping there and stay with them. It was fantastic! I had only ever camped once in my life before (Bouka Beach Club! Savi, Tousis!) and it was great, not to mention 3 years ago. So I had a great, fantastic time camping again.

The beer was cheap, the friends’ friends I met there were pretty interesting and unique people (a 15-year-old bassoon-player rocker anime lover? A 17-year-old who was exactly like Garret in almost every way, except he liked One Piece and played the clarinet and was thus also musically inclined), everyone was relaxed but also cheerful and funny. I was at peace.

On the first night it was full moon. We made a fire on the beach, just like the second night. On the first one though we also went for a swimin the sea right in front of the fire. The moonlight was so bright and the sea so calm I could literally see the sandy bottom. But it wasn’t like looking at it under daylight. It was different, it was magic. I felt the sea different in spacial kind of way, as if I could really feel how deep it was or that I was actually floating in it at that point. It was truly something else.

Alina, another member of our charming little party, showed me her father’s camera. It was a Nikon F301 he’d had for almost 25 years! The sound of the shutter, the complete lack of electronics, the large viewfinder, the sturdy lens… It certainly didn’t take me a lot of messing around with it for me to realise that I NEEDED ONE OF THESE! So, oh what surprise, ever since I got back from Gytheio and that’s 11 days already, I’ve been hunting…

Camping is probably the best type of holiday. Not a care in the world, total relaxation, socialising, enjoying nature. Sleeping in a boiling tent just might be the highlight. I’m already looking forward to doing some more.

Deutsch

Dieser Sommer ich habe gedacht:”Ich hatte genug!” Danach habe ich mehr Deutsch studieren. Ich will das Zertifikat in Januar bekommen. Ehrlich gesagt hoffe ich, dass ich nicht zu faul bin… Mama ist aber eine gute Lehrerin!

KTEL

Buses have become, or have always been, I’m not really sure, the main means of transportation for those who want to go from one greek city to another. But they are so bad. The stations are dirty, the drivers are rude, the schedule is seriously strange, and the bastards have made it so that you can’t find out when your bus is leaving unless you call a high-cost helpline! They’ve even removed lists and schedules from the internet, at least from what I’ve seen.

Even more worrisome is the fact that there are no plans of expanding the train lines in any part of Greece. Actually, OSE announced during the summer that they are changing their routes so that only connections between the main cities are properly serviced. Where is the environmental planning? Where is ANY kind of planning at all? If you could go anywhere, anywhere at all, just by hopping on a bus, things would be different. If they weren’t so polluting or if the drivers were a bit more considerate about their clients music tastes, things would be different. But they aren’t. And as it is, people like me that object to owning a car have little choice. It’s depressing…

At least the tickets are relatively cheap. For now…

To be continued… with more amazing ‘s and even juicier ‘s!

Η δίαιτα της σούπας και το σωτήριο ρυζότο.

Δεν ήταν πως δεν είχα ξανακάνει ποτέ δίαιτα στη ζωή μου. Κάθε άλλο. Από τα 12 μου, που με θυμάμαι να κοιτάζω κριτικά το μέγεθος των γοφών μου μέσα στο πράσινο τζην παντελόνι μου, στο μεγάλο καθρέφτη που βρισκόταν στο σαλόνι οικογενειακών φίλων στη Ραφήνα, μέχρι και σήμερα, πάντα έκανα δίαιτα. Ακόμα κι αν δεν έκανα στ’αλήθεια. Τουτέστιν, άρχιζα τη μέρα μου κάνοντας δίαιτα, συνέχιζα τη μέρα μου λέγοντας πως την υπόλοιπη ημέρα θα κάνω δίαιτα, και τελείωνα τη μέρα μου ορκιζόμενη πως αύριο θα κάνω δίαιτα. Με λίγα λόγια, δίαιτα πραγματική έχω κάνει ελάχιστες φορές συγκριτικά με τις φορές που δήλωνα πως κάνω δίαιτα. Παρόλαυτα, η γνώσεις μου πάνω σε τεχνικές, διατροφικά μυστικά, θερμιδομετρήσεις και χημικούς συνδιασμούς, μεγάλωσαν εκθετικά με το καιρό, παράλληλα αλλά και ανεξάρτητα, με τις αμφιλεγόμενες επιχειρήσεις μου προς εφαρμογή τους. Ετσι λοιπόν, νομίζω πως είναι πλέον λογικό να θεωρώ τον εαυτό μου, αν όχι παλιά καραβάνα, τουλάχιστον ανεμοδαρμένη και ξεροψημένη στο θέμα της απώλιας βάρους.

Όπως έλεγα λοιπόν, ήταν η νιοστή φορά που δήλωσα το υψίστης βαρύτητας, καθοριστικό και βαρύτιμο “από σήμερα αρχίζω δίαιτα”. Όχι όμως όποια κι όποια δίαιτα. Τη δίατα της… σούπας! Όποιος τα έκανε σαλάτα με τη δίαιτα της σαλάτας, όποιος έκανε τη παπια με τη δίατα της πάπιας, με τη δίαιτα της σούπας, αποκλείεται να τα κάνει θάλασσα. Τουλάχιστον αυτό υποστήριζαν πλήστοι φορουμίτες στο ίντερνετ, οι οποίοι εγκωμίαζαν στα σχόλια τους τα χαρίσματα της μαγικής αυτής σούπας. Θύμα λοιπόν κι εγώ της εικόνας μου και των κοινωνικών προτύπων ομορφιάς, υπέκυψα στην υπόσχεση των “7 κιλών σε 7 μέρες!!!” .

“Ένα ολόκληρο λάχανο, 16 πράσινα κρεμμύδια, 1 μάτσο σέλινο, χυμός ντομάτας από 2 κονσέρβες, 2 πιπεριές, ζωμός κρεμμυδιού, αλάτι, πιπέρι- τσίλι”, ιδού η συνταγή της χαριποτέριας σούπας. Τη πίνετε για 7 μέρες (σίγουρα τη πίνουμε και δεν την κάνουμε κομπρέσες γιατί από αυτά που λέει δεν είμαι σίγουρη αν τρώγεται) με συνοδία διαφορετικής ομάδας οπωροκηπευτικών κάθε μέρα, γάλα και μπανάνες μία από αυτές, ελάχιστο κρεατάκι προς το τέλος, και αναποφλοίωτο ρύζι τη τελευταία μέρα.

Δεν είναι να απορεί κανείς που μεταξύ των εγκωμίων ύπηρχε ένας σεβαστός αριθμός σχολίων που μιλούσε για σκισμένα σώβρακα και παντελόνια απ’το κλανίδι, τα οποία όμως δεν αποθάρρυναν κανέναν πιστό να προσέλθει και να δηλώσει το ενθουσιώδες “την αρχίζω κι εγώ από αύριο!”. Έτσι κι εγώ. Ενθουσιώδης μπορεί να μην ήμουν, αλλά κάτι βουτυράτα μπινελίκια που είχα καταλανώσει λίγες ώρες πριν με έσπρωξαν την επομένη στο μανάβη, μαζί με έναν ταλαίπωρο Δημήτρη ο οποίος προσπαθούσε ακόμα να αποφασίσει αν ήθελε τελικά λαχανόσουπα για μεσημεριανό, αυγουστιάτικα.

Ψωνίσαμε λοιπόν το λάχανο, τα πράσινα κρεμμυδάκια, τις πιπεριές, το σέλινο και το πουμαρό για την απαραίτητη ντομάτα, με όνειρα εγώ για την επικείμενη ελαφράδα μου, με μια ξυνίλα στο στόμα ο Δημήτρης για την επικείμενη λαχανίλα- γενικότερα. Σημειωτέον πως τη συγκεκιριμένη δίαιτα, αν και δεν την είχα δοκιμάσει ποτέ μου, την είχα ξανακούσει από έναν οικογενειακό φίλο ο οποίος μας είχε πει τότε πως, παρόλο που η σούπα δουλεύει, η γεύση της είναι τόσο αποκρουστική που πραγματικά το αν αξίζει να τρως αυτή την αηδία για 7 μέρες , έστω κι αν κατά τη διάρκειά τους χάνεις 7 κιλά, είναι συζητήσιμο.

Άρχισα το μαγείρεμα μετά τη κατανάλωση σταφυλιού και πεπονού- τη πρώτη μέρα η δίαιτα έλεγε να φας τη σούπα και όσα φρούτα θες- αποφεύγοντας στρατηγικά να σκεφτώ τα όσα μας είχε πει αυτός ο φίλος περί της γεύσης αυτού του παρασκευάσματος. Νταξει, λέω, θα βρω και ένα μούλτι να περάσω τα λαχανικά και θα γίνει βελουτέ η σουπίτσα, δεν θα αναγκαστούμε να φάμε νεροζούμι, καλό θα βγει. Ξεφύλλιασα το λάχανο, έκοψα τις πιπεριές κομματάκια, έπλυνα το σέλινο, τα έβαλα όλα αυτά μέσα στη τεως-κατσαρόλα-του-Γκάρετ-νυν-κατσαρόλα-του-Δημήτρη και τα περιέλουσα με το ντοματοπολτό, το αλάτι, τη κανέλα και… ένα τόνο πιπέρι (όπως αποδείχθηκε εκ των υστέρων). Το παρασκεύασμα άρχισε νε παίρνει μορφή και…μυρωδιά. Η αλήθεια είναι πως δεν μύριζε και τόσο άσχημα. Και ήμουν σχετικά αισιόδοξη μέχρι και για τη γεύση έως ότου συνειδητοποίησα ότι πουθενά στη γειτονιά (στο σπίτι και στο σπίτι του Μόρντρεντ δηλαδή) δεν υπήρχε ένα καταραμένο μούλτι να αλλέσω όλη αυτή τη πρασινάδα που επέπλε στη κατσαρόλα. Η προοπτική μιας πραγματικής σουπας, ενός ζουμιού με λίγα λόγια του οποίου την υδαρότητα την καμουφλάριζαν ανεπιτυχώς μερικές μόνο μάζες ημι-πολτοποιημένων λαχανικών, μου φανηκε μελανή..για να μη πω λαχανί. Ε, λοιπόν δεν θα είχε σημασία. Μπρος τα κάλη τί είναι ο πόνος.

Λίγο σερφάρισμα στο ίντερνετ κι έναν σύντομο ύπνο μετά, η σούπα ήταν έτοιμη. Το σερβίρισμα συνόδευε και μια προσευχή -μια για κάθε πιάτο, (το πιάτο του Δημήτρη συνόδευαν και δυο ψαλμοί με μορφή ψωμοτυριού, το δικό μου ένας εξάψαλμος- που μου θες και ψωμοτύρι!). Να μη τα πολυλογώ, η δυνατότητας βρώσης της σούπας αποδείχθηκε αναλόγως αντίστροφη με το χρόνο. Σε αυτό συντέλεσε όχι τόσο η αυτή καθ’αυτή γεύση της πρασινάδας, όσο ο προαναφερθής τόνος πιπεριού που περιείχε. Μέχρι να καταφέρω να ρουφήξω -έστω- το ζουμί, το στομάχι μου είχε παρει φωτιά. Ο Δημήτρης αν και φαινομενικά πολύ πιο χαλαρός από μένα δεν τόλμησε να πάρει δεύτερη μερίδα, γεγονός εξαιρετικά ύποπτο εαν λάβουμε υπόψην μας πως όλη μέρα στεκόταν με ένα καφέ και δυο ρόγες σταφύλι.

Από κείνη τη στιγμή κι έπειτα, η κάθοδος ήταν ιλιγγιώδης. Καλοπερασάκιας απ’τη φύση μου, ήταν αρκετή μια ματιά στην αντανάκλασή μου στο τζάμι της μπαλκονόπορτας αγκαζέ με την ενθύμηση της λαχανένιας πύρινης γεύσης για να τρέξω να δροσίσω το λαρύγγι μου με λίγο γάλα και μούσλι. Δεν βαριέσαι, τί 63 κιλά τί 58. Και τώρα μια χαρά είμαι, όχι που θα κάτσω να τρώω λαχανόζουμα για 168 ωρες!

Είπα και το έκανα. Με αρχή τα μούσλι και συνέχεια έναν σούπερ καφέ με λικέρ και γρανίτα σοκολάτα μέσα, η λαχανόζουπα θα μπορούσε να έχει ξεχαστεί ριζικά και αμετάκλητα εαν δεν υπήρχε ένας τόσος δα μικρούλης αστάθμητος παράγοντας. Στη κουζίνα του Δημήτρη υπήρχε μία χύτρα λαχανόπλασμα αρκετό να ταίσει ένα λόχο, και ταυτόχρονα στις τσέπες μας αρκετά λεφτά για να ταίσουμε δυόμιση σπουργίτια. Καθόλου βολικός συνδιασμός δηλαδή. Συνδιασμός ο οποίος οδηγούσε λογικά στο συμπέρασμα πως με τον ένα ή με τον άλλο τρόπο, με το καλό ή το άσχημο, η σούπα έπρεπε οπωσδήποτε να φαγωθεί. Ε, ρε μπελάς…

Ε λοιπόν, καλύτερα μπελάς με ρύζι παρά μπελάς ον δε ροκς. Με τις σπουργιτίσιες μας δεκάρες, τσιμπήσαμε ένα πακέτο ρύζι και δυο γιαούρτια προς εκ νέου παρασκευήν εξωτικού εδέσματος ( ή έτσι έλεγα στον εαυτό μου μπας και πίστέψω πως υπάρχουν ελπίδες να μαγειρευτει κάτι, το οποίο τουλάχιστον να τρωγεται χωρίς πυροσβεστήρα στο πλάι). Σκέφτηκα λοιπόν, πως εαν ψιλόκοβα τα λαχανικά, τα περνούσα με λαδάκι και έβαζα και το ρύζι μέσα, το φαί που θα έβγαινε θα ήταν ουσιασικά έμα ρυζότο, φαί καθ’όλα βρώσιμο. Κι αν ακόμα κι εκεί υπήρχε πρόβλημα με τα καυτερά συστατικά, λίγο γιαούρτι θα έσωζε τους συνδαιτημόνες και τον σεφ.

Το σχέδιο μπήκε σε εφαρμογή έπειτα από εξόντωση κατσαρίδας τύπου long vehicle, από το πάγκο της κουζίνας, με χρήση πυρ και αεροζολ. Το σπίτι, ευτυχώς δεν κάηκε, κάηκε όμως το φαί το οποίο ξέχασα πάνω στο μάτι με δυνατή φωτιά. Ευτυχώς η αφηρημάδα μου δεν ήταν αρκετή για να καεί όλη η χύτρα. Το αποτέλεσμα ήταν ο τσουρουφλησμένος πάτος να δώσει κάποιες νότες φλαμπέ στο ρυζότο μου (ναι, τώρα το λέμε ρυζότο- πρόβλημα?).

Ο Δημήτρης δεν φάνηκε πολύ πρόθυμος να δοκιμάσει τη νέα γαστριμαργική δημιουργία μου, την οποία επιπροπσθέτως έσβησα με λίγο γάλα πριν την τελευταία βράση. Παρόλαυτά, και μόνο η ιδέα να τρώει για τις επόμενες μέρες το ίδιο δυνητικά απαίσιο φαί χωρίς να ξέρει αυτοστιγμί στ’αλήθεια πόσο απαίσιο είναι, ήταν αρκετή για να με στείλει στη κουζίνα να περιποιηθώ ένα δοκιμαστικό πιάτο. Το εν λογω πιάτο εκτός από το αμφιλεγόμενο ρυζότο, περιείχε ακόμα γάλα εβαπορέ, τυρί γούντα και μια καλή δόση γιαούρτι, πρόβειο, μυτηλινιό.

Το κάναμε να. Ήταν νοστιμότατο και βάλαμε και δεύτερη μερίδα.Σοβαρά! Τρελή επιτυχία! Και αν σκεφτεί κανείς από τι κατάπλασμα βγήκε αυτό το ωραιότατο φαγάκι. Οπότε ούτε τα λεφτά μας κλάψαμε, ούτε χρειαζόμαστε από δω και πέρα συνοδευτικά μανταλάκια για τη μύτη μας την ώρα του φαγητού.

Όσοι κατάφεραν να κάνουν τη δίαιτα της σούπας αποτελούν πλέον κατά τη γνώμη μου ηρωικά πρόσωπα άξια του θαυμασμού μας. Παρόλαυτά δεν το μετανιώνω και πολύ που δεν είμαι ένα από αυτά. Και είμαι σίγουρη πως την ώρα του φαγητού , δεν θα το μετανιώσω ακόμα περισσότερο!

Συμπέρασμα : μάλλον καταλάβατε, πως το παρόν κείμενο δεν έχει κάποιο ουσιαστικό λόγο ύπαρξης, δεν είναι προιόν ιδιαίτερης πνευματικής εργασίας, ναι, γράφτηκε σε στιγμές βαρεμάρας και ναι, ίσως να ήταν πιο χρήσιμο και παραγωγικό αν είχατε αξιοποιήσει κάπως αλλιώς αυτά τα λεπτά της ζωής σας. Την επόμενη φορά να προσέχετε περισσότερο.

http://pixieweexie.wordpress.com

alex-argh

Japanese for snow

I love anniversaries and birthdays. Their meaning transcends human social constructions: they come in intervals of 365 days, the number of days the earth takes to draw a full circle (or eclipse) around the sun and arrive at the same relative spot in space from which it began. So birthdays, anniversaries and other annual events are good opportunities to look back at how things were when the earth’s position was last the same. Just as the circle comes to its closure (and a new one opens every single day).

This time last year, when the summer seemed close and all, something very important happened: a young white felis catus, a.k.a kitten, came into my life. It was a sunny morning. I was walking down the street close to Mousiko Kafeneio, not at all aware of what was about to happen, when I saw Oliva sitting there holding a kitten. It was grey and white. She told me she got it from a veterinarian right next to the post office. I went to have a look and there they were: two white kittens, the one with splashes of black (or was it black with splashes of white?) Myrsini, the vet, told me that someone’s cat had given birth and they’d brought the kittens to her so that she could give them away. Me and Mario did take both away, not sure yet who and if we’d keep them. My initial thought was actually to keep both kitties but Mario offered to adopt one. We paraded up Ermou street, big new expensive cat toilet in hand and kitties on shoulder all the way to Mario’s place. It didn’t take long for Mario to realise that having a kitten around that generally doesn’t know where the right place to poop is was a bit too much. Eventually Mordread tried to keep the B&W one. He couldn’t keep her either though so he returned her to the vet. I, however, had fallen in love with the white one before we had even stepped out of the vet’s.

I remember once telling Ines that if I ever had a white cat, I’d call her Yuki, which is japanese for snow. I’ll admit that I did sit and think about the white kitty’s name for a while but it didn’t take me more than a few hours to naturally start calling the little bright-coloured storm Yuki. I will never forget our first night together. I prepared a nice little bed for her lining my fruit basket with a red shirt and a dirty pair of jeans and invited her to join me into the world of dreams. Though reluctantly, she stepped into the comfy-looking bowl and eventually called it a night. The next morning I woke up and saw her curled up and sleeping peacefully.

All wasn’t well, however. When I said that kittens don’t know where to poop, I really meant it. Yuki was barely 3 months old when I first got her and she couldn’t properly climb into her toilet so a lot of the time she’d just poo and piss wherever. I remember somehow “feeling” that she’d gotta go and I’d promptly pick her up and put her in the toilet. When she would indeed relieve herself, I felt genuinely happy and satisfied with myself. But the first week had a lot of waking up in the middle of the night because Yuki would have a nice case of diarroea under my bed. It seems that during the first week diarroea was the only thing that would come out of her little feline bottom. Thankfully that soon stopped.

One of the hardest decisions I had to take in September when I had her neutered. I was anxious she’d leave and get ran over or something. Or she may have had litters of kitties every few months. I still question my decision when I think that I’ll never see Yuki-kittens or my cat will never have sex, but I guess this is human thinking in the end.

What I really like about my cat is that she’s genuinely good. And I mean good as in lawful good. She’ll never attack out of spite or hate. On the contrary she loves attacking just for fun or when she wants to play. I also love it when she comes and sits in my lap whenever I’m on the computer. She loves climbing to the highest (and often silliest) spot in the apartment. She’s perfect with strangers. When she was little, I often used to leave her care to friends when I was away from home for whatever reason. She’s also grown used to travelling which is always good. Most funnily of all, my little feline lacks any grace cats are generally known for. As we often say with Alex, Yuki has all the elegance of a happy-go-lucky dog. As they say, pets become like their owners…

In the end, I really love my cat. Even one year later and now she’s no longer a kitten but a proud full grown adult cat, even against all odds and expectations from others and even myself that my lifestyle wouldn’t allow taking care of an animal, I can see us maturing together.

My first day with Yuki was May 6th 2008.

Plus2/Minus2

I’m reading a book written by a spectacularly honest frenchman titled “How to talk about books you haven’t read”. In this book, among many other things, he says that a lot of authors refer to books they might have skimmed through or even not read at all. He uses a system within his own book that puts a certain tag next to each book he refers to, ranging from. He also uses a rating system from ++ to — to express his opinion on the particular book.

In detail, ++ is extremely positive opinion, + is positive opinion. – and — are negative and extremely negative opinions respectively. I think this system is perfect for sharing your disposition to something without having to use a 1-10 or 1-100 system. I hate it when people ask me to rate a girl, game, movie, or just about anything from 1 to 10. What’s a 1? Even more importantly, what’s a 10? Can you rate anything with a 10 without having any doubts about whether anything will surpass it, ever? Everything in life is experiences, including all the above, and experiences are rating-proof! By the way, before any of you say it: Yes, since the YRS (Yummers Rating System) is a 1-10 deal, I have concluded that it too is incomplete and needs revision.

I like the ++ to – – so much that I’ll use just it to describe what’s going on in my life at the moment by how much I like it!

++

Paradox Interactive. These guys are one of the best studio/publisher around. I’m seriously hooked with Europa Universalis III and Victoria. Hearts of Iron looks like a thing to check out soon (what am I saying, I already own two copies! I’m not going into detail with that, I want to forget…)

CouchSurfing. I just hosted an Italian guy, his name is Duan. 2 nights it was. I had almost forgot how nice and cozy hosting makes you feel, especially when it’s people you’d easily make friends with but will probably never appearin your life again.

SPACED!! After Hot Fuzz and Dawn of the Dead (I mean, um, a couple of years before those), comes Spaced. It’s awesome, pure awesome, and I recommend it to anyone who has a thing for cleverly stupid humour. Anger, Pain, Fear, Aggression…

Jose Saramago. This guy is quickly, and I mean quickly, becoming my favourite writer. Period. I couldn’t resist and gave ~100 euros to get 5 of his books together (along with the book I mentioned first and 1984). Which brings me to…

1984, by George Orwell. It shocked me. A masterpiece of 20th century literature. I may write something on it one day…

+

Soon I’ll be translating and subbing eco films, and not for free! I am excited for what may be my first paid job.

The Balkans, by Mark Mazower. An excellent read on the real side of “European Turkey”.

I’m entering a Guitar Hero contest. Yay?!

I’m learning Japanese… And want to learn Turkish. I want to communicate with the world! Is it normal that I’m only learning the languages of the… “bad guys” (plus german)?

We dressed up as vampires with Alex. It had been so long since I had done something like that…

In January we made a little cut-out animation for uni. It’s not completely ready yet so don’t expect to have a look if you haven’t already! 😛 It did turn out well though…

–

My money is running low much faster than would be desirable, even if we eat everyday at the Uni with Mario!

I still think I have no certain purpose or goals. That I’m not really good at anything but only mediocre in lots of things. Same applies to everything. Is this good or bad in the end?

Nationalistic idiots annoy me.

Pop songs that use Beethoven’s 9th also annoy me.

Waking up early to catch those pesky morning lectures is always a problem… So it is now!

No time for everyone that I would like to have more of in my life… You know who you are.

– –

Keeping my house clean is a nightmare.

Rain and cold. Cold and rain. And no central heating This pretty much sums up 2009’s weather up till now. And for the past week, it’s extreme rain and cold. Where’s summer? Where’s the sun?! I seriously don’t believe I’m uttering these words…

Every time it rains, my second room gets flooded. Argh! How can people be so stupid they mess up a balcony this much?

I hate the announcements in the ships. All of them. Lissos, Mytilini especially. I want to kick the (taped) announcers to death. Yes, that’s how much I hate them.

AK: Automatic Kalashnikov, Αιώνιο Κοτόπουλο, Αλεξάνδρα Κομνηνού

Το πρώτο ποστ μου για το 2009 (Happy New Year yaaaay, πάει ο παλιός ο χρόνος κτλ!), αν και θα ήθελα να το έχω ετοιμάσει χρονικά πιο κοντά στην αλλαγή του χρόνου, ήρθαν έτσι τα πράγματα που το γράφω σε μια καθ’όλα ιδιαίτερη μέρα. Έτσι, πριν αρχίσω να γράφω αυτάρεσκες αηδίες σχετικά με στόχους μου για αυτόν αλλά και τον χρόνο που πέρασε, θα παραθέσω ένα link:

http://hallografik.ws/archive/?p=31

Πριν ένα χρόνο ακριβώς βγήκαμε πρώτη φορά με την Αλεξάνδρα. Είχαμε ήδη γνωριστεί τα Χριστούγεννα του 2007 αλλά 5 Ιανουαριού του 2008 (ή τις πρώτες πρωινές ώρες της 6ης Ιανουαρίου) η μοίρα μας έφερε κοντά και… έέέ θέλω να πω… οκ λαϊκιστί τα φτιάξαμε, αν και θα έλεγα ότι η σχέση μας απο τότε δεν μπορεί απλά να περιγραφεί με αυτή την έκφραση — ακόμα και αν αρκετές φορές η αίσθηση μαζί της θα μπορούσε να παρομοιαστεί με κάποιο ψυχοτρόπο “φτιάξιμο!” Ναι, σήμερα είναι η 1η μας επέτειος απο εκείνη την συναρπαστική και αναπάντεχη βραδιά.

Αλεξάνδρα Αγγελική Κομνηνού. Γεννηθείσα τις 27 Ιουνίου του 1986, κάτοικος Νέας Σμύρνης. Αγαπαει την τέχνη όσο τίποτα άλλο στον κόσμο — με πιθανές, αν και αμφιλεγόμενες, εξαιρέσεις την ψυχολογία και την σοκολάτα! –ιδιαίτερα την μουσική στις περισσότερες, αν όχι όλες της τις μορφές. Είναι δεινή πιανίστα, όπως λέει ότι αποκαλούνται οι γυναίκες πιανίστες (ερρρμ) αλλά οι πρόσφατες τάσεις της δείχνουν ότι σκοπεύει να πλοηγηθεί στα μαγικά ύδατα της μουσικής σύνθεσης, επιλέγοντας να αγνοήσει ένα αναμφίβολα λαμπρό μέλλον σαν ερμηνεύτρια ή μουσική παιδαγωγός. Με στόχο την εισαγωγή της στον κόσμο της βαθύτερης μουσικής κατανόησης, γνώσης και εναρμόνησης, θέλει να εισαχθεί στο Τμήμα Μουσικολογίας του Ιονίου Πανεπιστημίου ξαναδίνοντας στις Πανελλαδικές Εξετάσεις του 2009. Μέχρι τώρα, βέβαια, η τόσο αξιαγάπητη και χαρακτηριστική της ανεμελιά η οποία αγγίζει τα όρια της τεμπελιάς δεν της έχει επιτρέψει να δουλέψει και τόσο σκληρά για την επίτευξη του στόχου αλλά ελπίζουμε ακόμα!

Εκτός της μερικές φορές πολύ εκνευριστικής της τάσης να αργεί, η οποία τάση φαίνεται να έχει άμεση σχέση με την προαναφερθείσα ανεμελιά και χαλαρότητα της, είναι πολύ γλυκιά(τζου), χαρούμενη, κυκλοθυμική, μερικές φορές ανυπόφορα εκνευριστική όταν έχει βάλει σαν στόχο να σε εκνευρίσει (το οποίο μπορεί να μεταφραστεί και ως “πετυχαίνει τις περισσότερες φορές αυτό που θέλει”), είναι πολύ (πολύ!) ζηλιάρα, έχει μια παράξενη σχέση αγάπης-μίσους με το φαγητό αλλά παρ’όλ’αυτά δείχνει πάντα το μέρος της αγάπης όταν πρόκειται για γαστρονομίκες ιδέες και δημιουργίες (μιαμ!), είναι εθισμένη με το να είναι ερωτευμένη, της αρέσει πολύ ο ναργιλές, ξοδεύει υπερβολικά μεγάλες ποσότητες χαρτιού τουαλέτας, έχει ειδικά σκυλο-ραντάρ τα οποία ανιχνεύουν σκύλο σε απόσταση 200 μέτρων (τελευταία βέβαια τα ραντάρ έχουν πάθει βλάβη απο την υπερβολική δόση λευκής γάτας), είναι τρελά φίλθι χόρτα και ας μην της φαίνεται εκ πρώτης όψης ΚΑΙ εκνευρίζεται με το να δίνει την εντύπωση καλού παιδιού (οσο και να το κρύβει…), μεθάει με μισό ποτήρι μπύρα — ή τουλάχιστον έτσι υπαινίσεται –, είναι παιχνιδιάρα και εξοργιστικά καλή στην στα περισσότερα: οι αγαπημένοι της τρόποι εκνευρισμού, εκμηδένισης και ταπείνωσης είναι το Scrabble, το Go και άμα λάχει κανένα Trivial Pursuit. Στο σκάκι η μέθοδος της δεν έχει τελειοποιηθεί αλλά βρίσκεται σε αίσιο δρόμο… Έχει αίσθηση προσανατολισμού που θα έκανε τον Zorro να αισθάνεται σαν τον James Cook, ταυτόχρονα όμως συχνά ξαφνιάζει με την ικανότητα της να βρίσκει λύσεις σε προβλήματα όταν οι άλλοι ακόμα εγκεφαλοκαταιγιδιάζουν, μεταξύ αυτών και προσανατολισμού, ο οποίος είναι και ο λόγος που ανέφερα το απο πάνω!

Έχει ένα απο τα καλύτερα γούστα που έχω δει όσον αφορά τα ρούχα αλλά και την εμφάνιση γενικότερα. Αυτό είναι απολύτως φυσιολογικό αφού παρά το χαλαρό της προφίλ πολλές φορές δίνει την εντύπωση ότι δίνει μεγάλη σημασία στην εμφάνιση και το στυλ. Και για αυτό έχει πολλά να πει αφού πάντα έχει κάτι καινούργιο να συνδυάσει, να φορέσει, να προτείνει και να αλλάξει (και να χαζεύει σε βιτρίνες μπότες και εντυπωσιακά αλλά ταυτόχρονα λιτά, ξέωμα και ξώπλατα κόκκινα φορέματα λέγοντας ότι μια μέρα θα καταφέρει να ξετσιγκουνευτεί και να αποφασίσει πως ό,τι αγοράσει αξίζει τα χρήματα που κέρδισε με αίμα και ιδρώτα και τότε όλοι οι θνητοί και ένα σεβαστό ποσοστό απο ημίθεους και πάνω θα προσκυνάνε! Με τέτοια σωματάρα, εννοείται!) Το ότι έχει εντυπωσιακά μάλλια τα οποία της αρέσει να τα περιποιείται πολύ αλλά και να τα μεταμορφώνει ανα τακτικές περιόδους είτε σε χρώμα είτε σε σχήμα και πάντα να καταφέρνει να είναι όμορφα είναι άλλο ένα χαρακτηριστικό της.

Το πάθος της με την εντυπωσιακή εμφάνιση σχετίζεται φυσικά με το πάθος της για την τέχνη και την καλαισθησία, ένα απο τα μεγαλύτερα της χαρίσματα. Εκτός απο το να συνδυάζει τις αγάπες της μόδας με την τέχνη φτιάχνοντας δικά της ιδαίτερα ρούχα, το πράγμα πάει και αλλού: της αρέσει να φτιάχνει πήλινα μπιχλιμπίδια και κοσμήματα, να τραβάει ιμπρεσιονιστικές, αισθησιακές, ασυνήθιστες φωτογραφίες, να ζωγραφίζει υπέροχους πίνακες με ζωηρά χρώματα — ω ναι, τα χρώματα! Τέλειο γούστο ΚΑΙ στα χρώματα, σίγουρη πρόταση ακόμα και για βαψίματα τοίχων!! — και γενικά να φτιάχνει δικά της αντικείμενα. Οσον αφορά την εκτίμηση τέχνης, της αρέσουν πολύ οι ταινίες, τόσο οι βαριές, που όπως λέει είναι “κοινωνικού περιεχομένου με περίεργη σκηνοθεσία” όσο και οι ελαφρές και χαρούμενες και οι φαντασίας, που καταλαβαίνεις τα παντα με την μία! Ακόμα και αν δεν καταλαβαίνει τίποτα, αν δεν έχει χάσει τον χρόνο της ή έχει κερδίσει κάτι βλέποντας την ταινία, θα της αρέσει… Είναι αξιοπερίεργο πως η παιχνιδιάρικη της διάθεση και η όρεξη για καινούργια πράγματα δεν την έχει φέρει κοντά στα games, όμως το παλεύει και αυτό. Για την μουσική τα πράγματα είναι σχεδόν αυτονόητα: παίζει και ακούει φανατικά. Πάντως το ρεπερτόριο της όσον αφορά τα κομμάτια που παίζει δεν θα μαρτυρούσαν στον αδαή την τρέλα της: Bach, Beethoven, Chopin είναι μόνο ένα δείγμα των συνθετών που την μαγεύουν…

Θα μπορούσα να γράψω άλλο τόσο, αν δεν έπρεπε να φύγω για να ετοιμαστώ… Σε λίγο θα βγούμε για να το γιορτάσουμε: σήμερα, κλείνουμε έναν χρόνο με το θαύμα αυτό της φύσης και της κοινωνίας. Τελικά, είμαι πολύ τυχερός! Όχι, όπως θα έλεγε η Αλεξάνδρα. Είμαι ευτυχισμένος…

Τελικά, αφοσιώθηκα τόσο στο να μιλάω για την Αλεξάνδρα που όχι μόνο ξέχασα με τι είχα στο μυαλό μου όταν άρχισα να γράφω, δεν έγραψα τίποτα και για την Πρωτοχρόνια. Ουφ! Σύντομα και αυτό! Μέχρι τότε ανδ βευόνδ, ας απολαύσουμε όλοι την αγάπη…

Σκέψεις νοσταλγίας

Αυτά τα Χριστούγεννα είναι διαφορετικά.

“Old satellite image is old. Η διαδρομή που έχω κάνει με τις τσάντες γεμάτες βιβλία στα χέρια πολλές πολλές φορές αυτές τις μέρες.

Βρίσκουν εμένα και την μαμ σε κατάσταση μετακόμισης και αναμπουμπούλας… Οι περασμένες μέρες μου στην Αθήνα κύλισαν με μένα να μην έχω ένα σταθερό σπίτι, κοιμώντας στο σπίτι της Αλεξάνδρας, στο “παλιό” σπίτι (εκεί που μέναμε απο το 2003 έως τώρα) στο “καινούργιο” σπίτι” (το οποίο είναι αυτό στο οποίο ουσιαστικά γεννήθηκα και μεγάλωσα μέχρι τον θάνατο της γιαγιάς μου το ’98, οπότε και το νοικιάσαμε. Απο τότε και μετά έμενα μόνο στον 3ο όροφο της πολυκατοικίας, στο διαμέρισμα της μαμ, το οποίο και πουλήσαμε όταν πήγαμε στο “παλιό” σπίτι). Ενώ το παλιό σπίτι είναι άνω κάτω και σχεδόν στοιχειωμένο μετά τις συνθήκες τις οποίες προκάλεσαν την ανάγκη για μετακόμιση (ναι, η μαμ και ο άντρας της χώρισαν και αυτός είναι ο κύριος λόγος), το καινούργιο (παλιό) σπίτι είναι αναζωογωνητικό με την προσωρινή αδειανότητα του και εκτός απο τις 2-3 πρώτες φορές που πήγα, σχεδόν ξεχνάω ότι εκεί μέσα πέρασα το μεγαλύτερο μέρος των 9 πρώτων μου χρόνων…

Κάθε μετακόμιση είναι μερικές φορές σημείο καμπής απο ψυχολογικής άποψης αλλά απο υλικής είναι πάντα, αφού ο υλικός και ζωτικός χώρος αλλάζει τελείως και είναι μοναδική στιγμή για ξεκαθάρισμα και φρέσκα ξεκινήματα. Έτσι κι εγώ τις τελευταίες μέρες άνοιγα συρτάρια, ντουλάπια, τετράδια, περιοδικά, βιβλία, έβρισκα γράμματα, μικρο- και μεγαλομπιχλιμπίδια που πάγωσαν στον χρόνο… Τεύχη απο Τα Σαϊνια, την σειρά Δεινόσαυροι, Αστερίξ, Κόμιξ, Ντόναλντ, Focus, τις παρτιτούρες του κλαρινέτου μου, μια παλιά φωτογραφική μηχανή, ένα discman, διάφορα καλώδια, 6 πράσινους αντάπτορες USB to PS/2, βιβλία γερμανικών και αγγλικών και τετράδια με 2-3 γραμμένες σελίδες. Όλα αυτά επιβίωσαν απο άλλα, παλιότερα ξεκαθαρίσματα. Τότε προφανώς ήθελα να τα κρατήσω και όσα επέζησαν είχα κρίνει ότι στο μέλλον θα τα χρειαζόμουν. Τα χρειάστηκα όμως; Όχι βέβαια. Ο σημαντικότερος λόγος που και εγώ αλλά και όλοι κρατάμε κάποτε χρηστικά αντικείμενα είναι η νοσταλγία, το τι συμβολίζουν αυτά τα αντικείμενα απο το παρελθόν μας, είναι κατα κάποιο τρόπο αποδείξεις των εμπειριών μας. Πάντα νοιώθω ότι κρατώντας κάτι θα μπορώ εκτός απο το να το βλέπω και να θυμάμαι καλές αλλά και κακές εμπειρίες, θα μπορώ με τα αντίστοιχα αντικείμενα να διηγούμαι στα παιδιά μου τις ιστορίες τους ή απλά για να κρατάω αναμνηστικά του παρελθόντος, χαρακτηριστικά του πνεύματος των καιρών κάθε εποχής . Ακόμα και σήμερα έχει μια μαγεία το να κρατάς κάτι το οποίο αναγράφει ΑΠΡΙΛΙΟΣ 1994, πόσο μάλλον σε 20 χρόνια.

Το πρόβλημα με την νοσταλγία είναι ότι δεσμεύει. Οι άνθρωποι είναι φτιαγμένοι για να εξελίσσονται συνεχώς. Κάτι το οποίο τους ενώνει με μια συγκεκριμένη χρονική στιγμή κρατάει ένα κομμάτι τους αιχμάλωτο του παρελθόντος. Εκτός αυτού, το να θέλει να δείξει κάποιος το τι έχει ζήσει στα παιδιά του είναι αρκετά εγωιστικό και αυτάρεσκο. Πώς είμαι τόσο σίγουρος ότι τα παιδιά μου θα θέλουν να δουν τις κονσόλες μου για να βλέπουν τι έπαιζε ο μπαμπάς τους μικρός, γιατί να θέλει το παιδί μου να δει την απόδειξη των εισητηρίων του interrail ή ένα γράμμα μιας μυστηριώδους ολλανδέζας; Θα θέλει να ανοίξει το τεύχος 51 του “Δεινόσαυροι” ή μήπως δεν θα μπορεί καν να διαβάσει ελληνικά; Πάντως, κακά τα ψέμματα, η μεγαλύτερη δέσμευση έχει φυσική υπόσταση. Αν μπορούσαμε να έχουμε όσο χώρο θέλουμε ο οποίος θα τακτοποιούταν αυτόματα, τότε το να κρατάμε οτιδήποτε μας είχε ανήκει σε οποιαδήποτε στιγμή θα είχε κάποιο νόημα. Όμως απο την στιγμή που ο χώρος ο οποίος αναλογεί στον καθένα μας είναι περιορισμένος αυτό σημαίνει ότι πρέπει να υπάρχει μια προσεκτική και χρηστική διαρρύθμιση του χώρου στον οποίου η οποία περιστρέφεται γύρω απο το παρόν και όχι απο το παρελθόν. Ακόμα και αν υπήρχε ο χώρος για κάτι τέτοιο πάντως, ο χρόνος και η ενέργεια την οποία θα απαιτούσε το να έχεις στο σπίτι σου ΤΑ ΠΑΝΤΑ τα οποία μπορεί να σου θυμίσουν κάτι, απο το να τα δεις και να χαθείς στις αναμνήσεις μέχρι να τα τακτοποιήσεις (συν το ότι κάθε μέρα προστίθονταν σε αυτά καινούργια αντικείμενα)… Κάτι τέτοιο σίγουρα θα σου έκοβε κατα πολύ τις εξελικτικές δυνατότητες αφού συνεχώς θα σε απασχολούσε το παρελθόν και όχι το μέλλον.

Πριν λίγες μέρες, στο δικό μου νοσταλγικό ξεσκαρτάρισμα, πέταξα όλα μου τα FOCUS στην ανακύκλωση. Κάποτε, είχαν γλιτώσει απο αυτή την μοίρα, όχι όμως αυτή την φορά. Το τι γλιτώνει και τι όχι αλλάζει ανάλογα με την ωριμότητα του ατόμου. Αν και κάνω μερικές χαλαρές συλλογές (βιβλία, ηλεκτρονικά και επιτραπέζια παιχνίδια, EDGE) δεν είμαι σίγουρος κατα πόσο έχουν διαφορετική ρίζα και αφορμή απο τον λόγο που κρατάω τις παλιές μου μπλούζες. Δεν μπορώ παρ’όλ’αυτά να βάλω τα παλιά βιβλία σε διαφορετική μοίρα απο παλιά μπιχλιμπίδια ακόμα και αν τα έχω διαβάσει. Δεν έχουν πρακτική αξία παρα να δείχνουν την βιβλιοθήκη πιο γεμάτη: δεν με βλέπω να τα (ξανα)διαβάζω εκτός απο εξαιρέσεις, και μόνο και μόνο το εξώφυλο ενός βιβλίου αρκεί για να σε κάνει να θυμηθείς πόσο ωραία ήταν όταν το διάβαζες…

Την επόμενη φορά που θα κάνω ενα ξεσκαρτάρισμα μπορεί να απαγκιστρωθώ απο πράγματα τα οποία ποτέ δεν θα άφηνα σήμερα. Είναι αυτό καλό; Θα είναι δείγμα εξέλιξης ή απλά θα μετακομίζω σε καινούργιο διαμέρισμα στο μέγεθος γκαράζ; Ακόμα δεν μπορώ να πω με σιγουριά, πάντως ελπίζω όντως τα παιδιά μου να ενδιαφέρονται για ό,τι κρατάω σήμερα. Αλλιώς, πόση αξία θα έχει για μένα; Αν δεν έχει για μένα όμως, αξίζει να τα κρατάω για τα παιδιά μου; Αλλά αν τα παιδιά μου δεν ενδ…

ΟΚ ΟΚ. Καλά Χριστούγεννα! Να χαιρόμαστε τους δικούς μας ανθρώπους, τώρα που αυτές τις μέρες μπορούμε να είμαστε κοντά τους (εμείς οι τυχεροί-άτυχοι, κατα τους γνωστούς-αγνώστους, που σπουδάζουμε εκτός Ελλάδος! :P)

Cultural Aspects of Today vol. 1

Cultural Aspects of Today, CATs for short, is my new way to present and discuss what I read, play, watch, listen to and generally enjoy these days. We are now in the era of Postmodernism according to which, very roughly, anything goes. At the same time the word “culture” can be used to describe a very broad selection of productive human activity just as well as the word “art”: cinema, video games, books, paintings, music, local traditions, Pop Art, High Culture… What falls under which category is not as apparent as it once may have been and the older norms, along with this fact, have all merged into Postmodernism, the movement of blending seams… I’m going to use this to present many different aspects of life, art (controversially or not), knowledge, products and ideas as parts of the Cultural Aspects of Today.

~

Ratatou-E

I watched Wall-E and Ratatouille 2 weeks apart. I first saw Wall-E, which was already hyped by pretty much everybody on IMDB along with a super user rating and a super review from Athinorama (an impressive 4 stars if I remember correctly). I could not help but be intrigued by the futuristic looks and alleged environmentalistic themes. My impressions?

The postapocalyptic backdrop for the first half of the movie was just spectacular. All the different items that Wall-E (the little robot) collects that represent parts of humanity’s cultural heritage were both emotionally powerful and conceptually brilliant. The feeling of solitude this half of the film gives off is noteworthy. The mega-corporation depicted in the movie which is the evolution of the capitalist tendencies of today is wonderfully and poetically pepresented, both by its name and its significance. BNL, Buy N Large.

The second half is not as good. The very subtle comedy of the first half is compromised and the film reverts to a style more similar to other Pixar films. The whole veil of mystery over the supposed future of humanity is lifted and, despite the unexpected plot twist (two words: steering wheel), the ending is very disappointing, destroying any kind of environmentalist tone the rest of the film had. (SPOILERS! READ FURTHER AT OWN RISK: Very “it’s-ok-guys, pollute-as-much-as-you-want-it’s-going-to-be-ok-even-if-it-takes-us-700-years!” Didn’t like that part… Overall, I think it wasn’t as good as hyped although it was enjoyable and had very sweet moments. Wall-E and EVA are perhaps the best robotic couple in the history of animation!

Ratatouille on the other hand… I had heard it was very good from different people but it managed to surpass my already high expectations. It was very funny and the characters were brilliant. Me and Alexandra especially liked the restaurant critic, Anton Ego (word goes around the internet that this guy was actually homosexual. I find that strange but whatever) I personally also liked Emile, Remy’s brother. I felt Ratatouille was very down to earth and appreciative to love for the simple things in life. Made me want to cook and eat the best meal in the world! The ending was very very satisfying and it left us with a very cheery feeling.

I cannot compare the two films. I don’t have the skills necessary and it would be pointless anyway as they are different films with a different goal and a different touch. What I can say though is that Wall-E promised a lot and underdelivered in a memorable and affectionate way while Ratatouille overdelivered in every possible way. Both films remain however as good examples to why Pixar is the leading mainstream 3D animation studio; they still haven’t made a film that I didn’t enjoy.

PS: Pixar are also well known for their shorts and we all love them. “Presto”, “Your Friend The Rat”, “Lifted” are all great recent examples, I recommend you watch them if you haven’t along with the feature films.

Braid/Castle Crashers

Braid and Castle Crashers were the summer’s greatest hits for the now-favourite Xbox Live Arcade service. Two distinct games with different gameplay styles and approaches that however have three things in common: 1) They are 2D. 2) They developed a cult fanbase even before they were released. High levels of anticipation then. 3) They are pricey games indeed.

I had the luck to be able to buy them both close to a month ago. First, Braid. Braid was a novel idea based on the platformer teaching of ye olde. That is, it was like playing a Mario game with some new mechanics. These mechanics took the “platformer” out of its name and turned it into something that’s closer to “puzzle”. Tim, the hero, must collect jigsaw pieces through various levels controlling time and various items and behaviours that manipulate time on their own as well in order to save the “princess”. The result is some very difficult puzzles but a genuine sense of accomplishment. What made the game stand out even more was the very open-to-debate story. What the “princess” is in the end is a very good question, but I won’t spoil it for you! I can’t not mention the jaw-dropping ending, one of the most fitting endings Jonathan Blow could think of! Oh yes, Jonathan Blow is the designer of this game. People call Braid “indie”, cause apart from the game’s art, Blow made the rest of the game all on his own. What is less well known is that it cost him approximately $180,000, production values quite higher than what people would call “indie”. Still, Braid has its own distinct feel and it was well worth the 1200MS Points if only to get to experience such a, how should I put it, classy and rounded game experience.

Castle Crashers is a lot different. Developed by The Behemoth (by Newgrounds.com creator Tom Fulp and flash artist Dan Paladin) and a lot more of course hit the gaming scene as a tribute to old 16-bit beat-em-ups set in fantasty settings, complete with knights, dragons, princesses, magic etc. I hear it’s very similar to Golden Axe but I haven’t personally played the game. Castle Crashers has excellent 2-D graphics (which just like the developer’s previous game, Alien Hominid, want to give off the Flash game feeling), cheery and sometimes hilarious humour and some addictive hack & slash gameplay, especially multiplayer. I’ve lost count of just how many people have come to my place, played a bit of Castle Crashers and then played the night away (with me or without me…) Not a huge game by any standards but I can see how me and 3 more friends will sometime come back to live the complete 4-player experience.

Go

Just a few days ago me and Alex had the chance to at last play Go together. It was just as good a game as I remembered it, having only played it once before. Thank you again Cies for introducing me to a game that takes one go (pun intended) to learn and two lifetimes to master.

Go is apparently the oldest known board game, much older than chess or even backgammon. Its roots are oriental and more specifically Chinese. From there it has spread over the centuries to Japan and other asian countries where it’s now possibly the most widespread game, played in tournaments, special clubs and between friends. Oddly, it’s not that well known in Europe, especially not in Greece. I’ve only seen it twice and under totally random circumstances. Since Chess is king over here I doubt we’ll be seeing people play it more but you never know, chinese expansion could also mean cultural expansion? Hmm…

The board is empty once players start off. The players take turns placing one stone on the intersections of the board, forming groups. If the other player surrounds the entire group with her own stones then the surrounded stones are captured and removed from the game. And… that’s basically it. Every other rule derives from this simple principle. The winner is the player who controls the largest part of the board with her stones at the end of the game, point which is declared by both players passing consecutively.

These simple rules define a game of strategy, deception, intrigue, loss, amazement, fulfilment and active rivalry between the players. Never before have I seen a game so noble: one rule suggests that players say “atari” when a move of theirs will capture enemy stones in the next move so that they can react accordingly. Thus the point automatically becomes cornering the opponent and making her not be able to do anything to save herself as opposed to taking advantage of a miscalculation or a careless move which is a norm in chess. Indeed, never before have I seen a game so fair: two players of extremely different skill can fruitfully play together by having a handicap for the stronger player: the weaker one starts off with as many stones already on the board as the difference of skill indicates.

Alexandra has beat me every time we’ve played together save 2. I will strive to get better and one day, as the mighty yet harmonious Go spirit commands, I just might achieve the perfect balance of spirit and wit, become one with the universe… *floats*

Deception Point, by Dan Brown

I first got to know of Dan Brown through his most famous work, that is none other than “The Da Vinci Code”. It’s his latest work out of a total of 4 books he has written within the past 12 or so years. I read Angels and Demons, The Da Vinci Code and Digital Fortress all roughly 2 years ago and Deception Point just now and I’m genuinely impressed by his consistency in showing the world how skillful he is in grabbing his readers by the balls. However, The Da Vinci Code is surely Brown’s most overestimated work, another proof of why the best-seller isn’t always the best-in-general (the rest of his books it turn became best-sellers after the success of The Da Vinci Code). Angels and Demons, which was very similar in its religious and “secret cults” themes to the former, I enjoyed much more. “Deception Point” has a plotline that has more to do with politics, scandals, secret government agencies, NASA, a huge conpiracy… A lot more like Digital Fortress.

This book didn’t just have twists. Its twists were the evolution of the twists of the original twists that I thought were good twists. Yes, it was twisty. The characters felt alive if a bit contived (like the nerd astrophysicist or the always sexy front couple), the action never stopped, the good guys turned bad and then good again within a matter of pages (before they turn out bad at the end of the b… oh, another twist. They’re good), the little pieces of actual real-world scientific aspects, like the fossils and meteorite and the futuristic gadgets (always part of Brown’s stories) also gave it a nice tw… edge. Yes, I liked this book. Seemingly complex but ultimately quite easy to grasp and FUN! You just can’t help but smile when the bad guys fire bullets made of ice. Recommended.

PS: I regret to say I’ve read all of the books mentioned above in greek. They may be even better in english.

September 26th 2006-8

September 26th, 2006. This was the day that was to change some of the most superficial (but important at the same time) aspects of my life. Some days ago it was 2 years since that fateful day so I decided to write a little something about it all.

Summer 2006, shortly after my final exams. My university plans were changing every week or so because of my: 1. Subsequent low exam scores 2. Failure at drawing subjects 3. Entry score boost of the school I wanted to get in (Audiovisual Arts in Ionian University, Corfu). Cultural Technology, Mytilini, had been my second option but the one I ultimately followed. Many discussions later and after having fought urges of preparing for another round of exams just to avoid the move to Mytilini, September 26th was, in the end, the day I took my first ship to Mytilini. It was Nissos Mykonos, leaving at 12:30. I’ve kept the ticket.

I was very scared while making that very first trip. That Mario person I had found through the nintendo.gr forums sounded really friendly and had offered to host me till I actually found a more permanent place to stay, but alone and unaware, I was heading to that strange town (which I still thought was closer to a village than a town). Turned out Mario and his part-friend-part-roomie HouseMaster were cool people. First night with them they introduced me to what still is the largest souvlaki I’ve ever seen or eaten. I repaid the favour by teaching them what Katamari On The Rock feels like! Important note: inside my very first baggage were my GC and PS2 along with all of my games for them: Mario had specifically asked me to bring them along so he could try some GC games he never had the chance to play. In the end, a night with them was enough for me to trust them. Ready they were, not only to show me the whereabouts, meet me to people, help me integrate over the course of mere days, we had great fun while at it! Plus, they helped me find my old place on Gravias 1. My hat’s off to you guys!

Left ro right: HouseMaster, Mario, me. October 3rd, 2006

Fast-forward to September 26th 2008. What has changed now then?

I’ve been living alone for 2 years. Before coming to Myt the idea alone seemed awkward.
Distance, physical and mental, has shown me who my real friends in Athens are. One of them now lives in Chios, another in Canada. Before coming to Mytilini I had contact with a lot more people. Now my real friends from Nea Smyrni can be counted on the fingers of one hand.
My love life has certainly improved a millionfold, although this took a while to occur. Most of my first year I was a proud pink glasses wearer. Now I have what I always wanted: a girlfriend I can trust, have fun with, dream about and love.
My life was touched and changed by CouchSurfing. In turn, travelling has become a major aspect of my existence.
As far as my actual university career goes, my end of 2nd year sees 17 subjects passed and 11 I’ve got to repeat. Cultural Technology has made me look at both culture and technology from a whole new perspective. Their combination definitely feels promising.
I’ve actually cooked some things.
I realised my plan to take up bass guitar. Let’s rock!
German language skills have certainly improved.
I met Mordread and Garret, two unique people to say the least. With them, I got to know many new things and broaden my horizons, especially with Garret. Mordread has been more of a (invaluable) all-around lover of fun. Though we have had many discussions, watched many movies, played many games, even teamed up for university, it’s been 2 years and I still feel I’ve hardly got to know these 2 any better.
My taste in games has changed. I no longer am the huge Nintendo fan I was when I first came here. I try to play many different types of games and by many developers. This became much more evident since I bought my Xbox 360. My Wii’s been gathering dust…
May old values I had have just crumbled to dust. One does change in the span of 2 years, especially between the ages of less-than-18 and less-than-20.
I’ve been reading books like crazy for almost a year now. Can’t say I’m complaining!
I launched Cubimension! But it’s still largely undeveloped… 🙂
I took up astronomy and astrology. The mysteries of the sky are no longer a silent interest of mine.
When I first came here, I was unsure what to think of it. It didn’t take me more than a few days to start liking it, and now I admit. I love living in Mytilini. It is so much better than student life in Athens although we do have some problems here, namely places to go out and variety of entertainment. But it all gets sorted out in the end.