This song kicks all kinds of ass. Alex first told me about it many years ago, when she first started hanging out with prog-metalheads in Kerkyra.
Tag: kerkyra
Review: Το κομμάτι που λείπει συναντά το Μεγάλο Ο
Το κομμάτι που λείπει συναντά το Μεγάλο Ο by Shel Silverstein
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Some books just meet your life like passing comets. You can’t possibly predict their coming or the respective impact they’re going to have on you, but there they go, shooting across the night-sky of your life. Spectacularly… It’s almost as if they become so important for you precisely because they come out of nowhere.
It was the same with this little book. It was a nice day in Kerkyra a few weeks ago. Me and a couple of newly-met friends wanted to go somewhere for a “coffee” (raki with honey as it later turned out!). This fateful place was to be Cafe Del Art, a little cafe bar hidden in some typically quaint obscure little Corfu sidestreet I would have never found on my own.
“Oh, it’s a shame. They have such beautiful lighting here normally. Maybe it’s too early”, said Danai as we were sitting at a table next to the window. “Oooh! That book! Do you know it? I love it!”, she added, eyeing a book sitting in a corner of the little shop and handing it to me. It was, of course, the book I’m writing this “review” about.
Yes, it’s a picture book. Inconspicuous, right? One could easily dismiss it at first sight as merely a children’s book. Heh. Another strong message one could get from it is that judging a book from its cover is seldom wise. This book can talk on fantastically different levels to people of different ages. Don’t they say, after all, that if one knows her stuff she’ll be able to explain it to a child? I don’t know about the children that read this book, but I Understood. And I urge everyone to experience how inspirationally and masterfully just a few simple shapes and sentences can carry a profoundly deep message on the meaning of the human condition. Things we all know are true deep inside; we’ve only been looking away for too long.
Blue Moon
Last December had two full moons. Popularly, a second full moon in a single month is called a blue moon, even if that is not the correct definition (check here for more details). This moon rose on December 31st and set on January 1st. It was a full moon that connected two years. Or should I say, it connected two decades? I find it strangely symbolic that the last day of the year and decade just happened to be a full moon day… It was surreal going out to see the fireworks and having the huge light in the sky illuminating everything.
I will not treat the turn of the decade as time to contemplate change, look back or act as if starting today the world’s going to be different in some sort of way. It is still too early for us to even be able to say what the decade we just left behind us will be remembered for, let alone compare it with the fresh new one that’s just a signle day old. I will thus spare with the retrospective craze about how the past decade changed our lives. All I have to say on that is that every change made during this decade was sort of transitional… We ain’t seen nothing yet (sic).
My refusal to look back in sets of tens does not mean that I do not want to see what last year brought, however. It was certainly a full and interesting year for me. I’d like to take you to a sort of new year’s resolution I wrote last year, “More and Less of 2009”. This year’s “More and Less” will consist of all that I did not manage to do during 2009. I’ll give it a go:
More movies, more games, more languages, more activities, more biking, more photography, more people, more travelling, more new experiences, more love, more animals, more beauty, more cooking, more reading, more knowledge, more stars, more planets, more cleaning, more housekeeping, more real working, more specialisation, more subtitles, more cubimension, more music, more peace, more awareness, more spirituality, more science, more history, more dreams, more thoughts, more tea, more vegetables, more cake, more e-mails, more writing, more art, more friendliness, more phone calls, more letters, more enjoying the moment in the right way.
Less procrastinating, less shyness, less lazyness, less internet idleness, less msn, less stupid spending, less sleeping till the afternoon, less caffeine, less absent-mindedness.
These are my personal wishes for 2009.
Alex: You forgot more sex. And more anime. You forgot less facebook too. Less flies too! Yiek!Enloying the moment in a right way eh?..Dunno if you wishing this to yourself ooor you’re trying to tell me something…
More movies: I guess this is kind of a pass. I’m doing the whole kinimatografiki thing together with Garret, I’ve watched my fair share of movies in the past year… There’s definitely a lot more in my”want to see” list on Flixster, but is there anything out there really for which this can’t be said? I mean… not on my “want to see” list on Flixster, generally speaking…
Honourable mentions: Kubrick Month, District 9, Dogtooth, Some Like It Hot, The Shawshank Redemption, Inglourious Basterds
More games: Hmmm… my overall “games played” meter in 2009 is fairly similar to, if not lower than 2008’s. I did sign up for Game 2.0, which is good, but I feel that I haven’t played enough games that I’ve been aching to play. I’m up to the neck in music games, if that’s any development. I even got more of an acquired taste in strategies!
Honourable mentions: Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts&Bolts, Victoria, The Longest Journey, Modern Warfare 2, Peggle Nights, Luxor, StarCraft
More languages: My go at learning Japanese crashed and burned and I’ve made little progress with German…next question!! :/
More activities: That’s a check in many different ways.Theatriki, Kinimatografiki, Fotografiki, being out a lot, I have the distinct impression I’ve been pretty active, thank you!
More biking: um… R.I.P.
More photography: That’s a check as well! Just have a look at my Flickr for the results! :}
More people: Yes, met many new people this year but got to know few. This one’s up in the air as is always has and always will be I guess.
More travelling: Turkey, Peloponnese, Kerkyra, Rodos… Good, but I don’t think it can compare to 2008 in any way, many plans died out or haven’t been realised yet. But there’s much hope for 2010, I’ll tell you that.
More new experiences: Always on the lookout! Many experiences I shall cherish forever.
More love: That’s a tough one. I’ll say check, even though I’m not sure if everything I have in mind is aspects of love or something else entirely.
More animals: Does the army of cats on the watch outside my apartment count? 😛
More beauty: Just like new experiences, always looking for more!
More cooking: FAIL UNLIMITED! 🙁
More reading: Hmmm… I give this one a hearty check. In the past 12 months I read many books that I’ll remember for years to come. Coming in contact with Saramago, Gaarder and Mazower are no small matters.
More knowledge: Yes! I I owe this largely to Despina Catapoti for being the best prof ever and leading me to planes of gnosis I always wanted to visit but I wasn’t aware of. Cultural studies, postmodernism, philosophy were all redefined in my head. I feel like my mind has opened even more.
More stars: I don’t have a telescope… yet… but it’s been a fine astronomical year with many a starry sky and gazing alone or in good company.
More planets: If this is astrology (I don’t remember), I’m now feeling a bit mixed on the issue.
More cleaning/housekeeping: This has reached an all time low… For shame.
More real working: I made my first real money in 2009, which is great. Game 2.0 or my EAA Museum and other uni projects also count and I stand proud!
More specialisation: …hm… nah.
More subtitles: Yes indeed, I did some and I was paid for it. Moar plz.
More cubimension: Another healthy check and it’s getting better!
More music: Not many new bands came into my attention this year, but I’ve been listening to music, yay! 😛 Buying The Incident in Special Edition is something I’m not sure I regret yet.
More peace: No, I wasn’t in peace for much of last year. Good or bad? I cannot tell.
More awareness: Not very successsful, many a time did I let my wandering thoughts cloud my perception of the present. Not a good thing.
More spirituality: I’ve been trying to delve into the secrets of eastern philosophy… Tao and Physics is an excellent book on the subject, but Tao is so deep and mistifying I’m confused and left in awe at the same time. Somewhat healthy.
More science: Web Science Conference?! Hehe, well I’ve been reading some pop science books, if that counts…
More history: Yes yes! Playing Victoria, reading Mazower and looking into alternate histories, listening to Despina talk…
More dreams: After “Counting Sheep”, my take on sleep was briefly something completely different and new. Now I’ve somewhat subconsciously returned to my bad old take of “sleep cuts away from your waking time”… I must make it a point to follow some online lucid dreaming classes.
More thoughts: I’ve been thinking…
More tea: I got this huge bag of tea from Ayvalik (which cops mistook for half a kilo of weed…) and I still haven’t made any of it. Maybe I’m still recovering from the tea overload in Turkey. Or maybe my boiler is kaput. No wait, it is.
More vegetables: uh, I don’t think I’ve been eating any more or any less… I shoud make a habit of making salads a la mama though, they’re downright awesome.
More cake: fail. Or is it?
More e-mails: And all to the same handful of special someones as last year. Pah, no good. 😛
More writing: Judging from my surge of cubimension interest, that’s a positive.
More art: I’ve done my part. That collage for Alex and a lot of digital art tidbits… I know I can do better though.
More friendliness: I think I might be going well with this. Might.
More phone calls: and to whom, I wonder… But you know that I dislike phones!
More letters: I don’t think I wrote a signle one.
More enjoying the moment in the right way: I… think I got that one. Or maybe not. Or maybe both. Or maybe it’s too hard to tell as a rule. Or maybe I’m still trying to do it.
Less procrastinating: No one ever entirely gets away from this one… But it is the goal.
Less shyness: I’ve seen myself be very shy and very not shy. Soooo…
Less lazyness: I think I’m less lazy than usual. Yes.
Less internet idleness: Working on that one but I think I’ve made some progress.
Less MSN: Considerably.
Less stupid spending: …yes, but I still turn out with less money than I calculated. Maybe the definition of stupid has simply jumped around.
Less sleeping till the afternoon: …to which I’ll add: less going to sleep after dawn!
Less caffeine: HAH! Good one!
Less absent-mindedness: Hmmm. Yes.
More sex: Quantity-wise or quality-wise? It makes all the difference in the world.
Less Facebook: I managed to deactivate it. TOTAL SUCCESS!
More anime: Yeah, I’ve seen a lot of One Piece. But where’s my Cowboy Bebop?
Less flies: Less flies, I agree. And less cockroaches please!
~~
November
It all began when They realised Their time together meant less and less. They loved eachother, that much was obvious. But was it enough? Could it be that their passion was in danger? “I love you” was so easy to say, so truthful, it meant so much but implied so little. Even when they bridged Their physical distance and met again, armed with what They thought were new experiences that would bring balance to everything, it made matters worse; nothing had changed. They could not let Their relationship rot away due to routine and perfectly fulfilled expectations… Something had to be done to stir things up a bit. And when, after they separated, each headed to their own little island She told him of how She had already taken the step. She had mentioned it while They were Together, but He had not managed to feel it into His skin at the time. But then She told him of the step that had left everything behind and at the same time preluded infinity. From now on They were truly free to do as They wished with anyone, as long as They kept Their own relationship intact. And this is how It started.
Before learning of Her step he had observed and contemplated, but the new developments had made the plan clear in His head and had blown confidence, power and decisiveness into Him. Decisiveness to execute the plan and get the girl, despite all odds. He thought that if he went according to his honest wishes, everything would go according to this plan. And thus He set it into action and He did carry it out flawlessly. Or at least everything pointed towards that at first. Little did He or anyone know that The Killing would be the result of this grand scheme… And he was happy and satisfied in His success, just as He would love the thrill of rushing down a speeding river right before the waterfall.
Even before all of this had even begun to form, He had promised to visit Her in Her new life. And so He did. Together They practiced ultra-romance, bringing a supposedly known type of human interaction to unknown extremes. Many thought of what They did Together as sick, inhuman, not the result of pure love but a twisted, self-conscious kind of thing. But how can an act of pure feeling survive in a society where the sick, inhuman and twisted acts are frowned upon unless done underground? Under “special occasion”? When anybody indulges in these acts out in the open, it is natural for them to become a target, a scapegoat… This ultra-romance was not, consequently, a stable situation. Warnings had been given by the rest of society about how it would ultimately bring Them down. Twice They survived almost-fatal internal strife, which in turn brought Their peak of ultra-romance. He, in the end, would end up getting caught in the devastating whirlpool of social reconciliation, easily influenced as He is. Now everybody else was to teach Him a lesson and teach it to Him for good.
It is always the unpredictable factor that takes anything stable to brutal instability. Just as it takes only the push of a single button for two huge nuclear arsenals to destroy the world. His new-found love interest did not enjoy this ultra-romance bullshit, nor did she like the fact that she was part of a grander scheme or a plot, even when she was cherished through it. “I’m never going to get used to it! I don’t want to hear a single thing about Her!” With a single move of breaking ties and flipping the finger, she would set up the scene for the End War to take place. He would not let go, He did not want to let go; it could not be that His plan had gone so awfully wrong, His ultra-romance been this misguided and worse still, misguiding. It could not be that society had been right… but right about what? He could not make it out. He decided to end it with a bang, to take the chance, to go all out for what He desired. Just like taking a chance with a nuclear war… like saying: “Is MAD (Mutual Assured Destruction) really the only possible outcome”? Could it be possible that He might win something by making the move? Surely, it’d be true that he would not have faltered, he would not have cowered in fear when the time to take the risk did come. He took the seemingly brave step. He took the plunge riding His proud atom bomb all the way to hell. The result?
We’ll meet again, don’t know where, don’t know when,
But I know we’ll meet again, some sunny day.
Keep smiling through, just like you always do,
‘Til the blue skies drive the dark clouds far away.
What did He expect? To win a nuclear war just because He struck first? He lost everything, He won nothing. Everything lay in ruins, nuclear fallout everywhere. The idea of the goal, of Vicktory, so forcefully spitting in His face, and His image of Her just as destroyed in His eyes as His own in Hers. He had ridden the bomb, taking the chance and risking the world… And He was shot down in a million mushroom clouds. The idiocy of such a war, the whimsical, spontaneous decision to consciously destroy everything that matters… Yet…
Can it be true that He won nothing?
To create is to destroy. But what you create is, thankfully, not dependent on what you destroy… Sometimes, radical changes have to be made for something new, productive, better to emerge. This fact is what all revolutions are based on. The initial result might have been devastating, heart-breaking… but, as it goes:
Everything is more complicated than you think. You only see a tenth of what is true. There are a million little strings attached to every choice you make; you can destroy your life every time you choose. But maybe you won’t know for twenty years. And you may never ever trace it to its source. And you only get one chance to play it out. Just try and figure out your own divorce. And they say there is no fate, but there is: it’s what you create. And even though the world goes on for eons and eons, you are only here for a fraction of a fraction of a second. Most of your time is spent being dead or not yet born. But while alive, you wait in vain, wasting years, for a phone call or a letter or a look from someone or something to make it all right. And it never comes or it seems to but it doesn’t really. And so you spend your time in vague regret or vaguer hope that something good will come along. Something to make you feel connected, something to make you feel whole, something to make you feel loved. And the truth is I feel so angry, and the truth is I feel so fucking sad, and the truth is I’ve felt so fucking hurt for so fucking long and for just as long I’ve been pretending I’m OK, just to get along, just for, I don’t know why, maybe because no one wants to hear about my misery, because they have their own. Well, fuck everybody. Amen.”
Source (note: He played this monologue last week for the uni Theatre Group).
He has seen the possibilities of the blank canvas.This canvas is not white though. It is a radioactive shade of gray. It’s still blank, however. Blank and ready to draw on. His memories of the time when the world was beautiful, the things that really count, are all intact. He can recreate it, if He wishes. He can make it even better now, the experience having made Him richer. He can make a whole different kind of world. It all depends on Him now. What woeful glee!
What are the chances of a post-apocalyptic world reaching a transgressive state of being?
They can’t be too slim.
Μουσικά μπουντρούμια
Αν διαβάσετε το τελευταίο post της Άλεξ θα δείτε ότι το έγραφε απο το εργαστήριο υπολογιστών του ΤΜΣ. Αυτές τις γραμμές τις γράφω αυτή την στιγμή υπο τις ίδιες ακριβώς συνθήκες, μπορεί ίσως και απο τον ίδιο υπολογιστή! Είμαι βλέπετε και εγώ τώρα στα έγκατα του κόσμου της μουσικής… Και αυτη την στιγμή ακούω ντουέτο ντραμς και γυναικείο τραγούδι (σαν… σοπράνο είναι;) και επίσης ένα φλάουτο! Τώρα δεν ξέρω αν είναι το ίδιο φλάουτο που εκνέυριζε την Άλεξ πριν έναν περίπου μήνα…
Είμαι εδώ ψάχνοντας για υλικό για τις ΠΑΡΑ πολλές εργασίες μου για την σχολή: διαγράμματα ροής για πολιτιστική αναπαράσταση, οδηγίες για draggable backgrounds στο flash, ιδέες για animation… Τα πράγματα έχουν σφίξει και δεν χαλαρώνουν ακόμα και όταν έρχομαι επιτέλους στην Κέρκυρα! Τέταρτο έτος όμως είναι αυτό πλέον… Academia, όχι αστεία.
Και με αυτά τα λόγια, συνεχίζω, όσο προλαβαίνω με το λιγοστό ίντερνετ που έχω στην διάθεση μου απο αυτές τις ωραίες μέρες που είμαι εδώ, την αναζήτηση προς την γνώση.
Η σκέψη ότι ψάχνω, εδώ, σε ένα κτίριο του Ιονίου Πανεπιστημίου, υλικό για εργασίες που έχω απο το Πανεπιστήμιο Αιγαίου, στην άλλη άκρη της Ελλάδας, ενώ γύρω μου σε διάφορες αίθουσες μουσικοί κάνουν ακριβώς το ίδιο πράγμα αλλά με άλλο αντικείμενο, με γεμίζει με μια παράξενη αίσθηση… ολότητας.
Ποιός να μου το έλεγε πριν τρία χρόνια ότι εδώ θα ξαναεπέστρεφα…
BTW και κλείνω: Η ΛΕΣΧΗ ΤΗΣ ΚΕΡΚΥΡΑΣ ΕΙΝΑΙ ΑΠΙΣΤΕΥΤΟΤΑΤΗ και είναι πολλά επίπεδα πάνω απο τα χάλια της Μυτιλήνης. Εδώ σαν εξω-πανεπιστημιακός δίνω 1,20 ευρώ για κάθε γεύμα όμως τουλάχιστον το ευχαριστιέμαι! Δεν θα είχα κανένα απολύτως πρόβλημα να δίνω αυτά τα χρήματα και στην Μυτιλήνη για την ίδια γεύση, ποιότητα, ποικιλία, ευκολία και ΣΑΛΑΤΕΣ!
Plus*2/Minus*2 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…
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!
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…