Tag: birthday

CUBILONE’S DIMENSION TURNED SEVEN

seven_001

Obligatory Cubilone’s Dimension birthday post. Cubilone’s Dimension turned seven yesterday. Hurray.

Obligatory musing on whether the person who started this blog counts as the same person who’s writing now. According to one of the latest VSauce episodes, the answer is no. Especially since it’s been seven years since that fateful night in Mytilini, no less, and every single atom of my body is allegedly different from its counterpart back then.

Obligatory confusion at the direction, lack of content and ideas as of late, as well as semi-long write-up on personal identity crisis that is reflected in blog, too.

Obligatory follow-up comment and notice that it’s not the lack of ideas, there’s always been plenty of those, in fact it’s the incredible soul-crushing plentitude of ideas and the inability to differentiate, my inability to resist distraction and simply devote myself, whether it be to an idea, as aforementioned, or a cause, or even people. In other words, I don’t put the work in and call it flexibility. It’s my personally most beloved and most hated characteristic. But could it be any other way? It’s all a matter of perspective, after all. Some people call me scatter-brained, some call me versatile or… an interesting person. In the most basic philosophical level at least, they’re not seeing a different qb.

Obligatory comment on how self-referential this all is. How post-modern of me.

Sometimes I want to see this place burn, the same way I’ve been having this urge lately to delete all of my photos. At the very best, remove Cubimension from the net, perhaps start over, perhaps not, tuck it away in some hard disk or USB stick next to the old MP notebooks, only for my own eyes to see and heart to recordar (to recordar, to remember in Spanish—maybe also Latin, I have no idea—is to pass through the heart again. That is what I feel happens when I truly remember, especially when *bleep*. Unless it’s a false memory, then it’s the brain’s vile work). At the very worst, simply delete all, forget all. Leave it to the Wayback Archive and the often surprisingly robust memories of friends and readers what shall remain of the past, my past, Cubilone’s past. Are we the same person anyway?

Obligatory reminder to not take myself too seriously. It’s not good for PR. Everybody’s taking themselves too seriously and I’m different, aren’t I. Or if I’m not, I know I can be. A unique voice that could, in the sea of unique voices that in unison is showing intelligence but the only signs of intelligence it’s showing is self-consciousness, while forgetting it’s a liquid, instead acting as a collection of vaguely connected assortments of molecules occupying space. That’s what gases are, aren’t they? They work kind of like liquids, but they’re, heh, farts in the wind. Remember, keep it light. Light but flammable, if possible.

If Cubilone’s Dimension was my child, it would be old enough to go to school

Happy birthday! 🙂 Check last year’s celebration if you’re looking for something special, I didn’t have the time had too many other priorities to prepare anything for this year. I wanted to change the theme, freshen up the place a little bit. Soon…

Hexagon_by_czardas // deviantArt
Hexagon_by_czardas // deviantArt

 

ΕΕΕΕΕ’

Στις 12 του μήνα, 510 δημοσιευμένα ποστία μετά, το Cubilone’s Dimension έκλεισε τα πέμπτα (Ε’) του γενέθλια. Δεν το γιόρτασα στην ώρα του και όπως θα έπρεπε. Αλλά πώς θα έπρεπε; Αποφάσισα πως ένας πρέπων φόρος τιμής θα ήταν να βάλω σε αυτό το ποστ τα highlights αυτών των τελευταίων χρόνων σε ένα ωραίο βολικό ποστίο: τα δικά μου αγαπημένα, με έμφαση στα μεγαλύτερα κείμενα. Άφησα μερικά ποστ που στιγμάτισαν σημεία της ζωής μου κι ας μην ήταν μεγάλα. Δεν έβαλα κριτικές βιβλίων και άφησα μόνο τα editorials ή αφιερώματα που έχω γράψει για το Game 2.0, βγάζοντας τα review.

Φαίνεται ξεκάθαρα η στροφή στο περιεχόμενο. Το 2007 έγραφα σχεδόν αποκλειστικά ημερολογιακά και τα περισσότερα μου μεγαλύτερα ποστία ήταν σχετικά με γκέιμς. Έγραφα μόνο στα αγγλικά και με πολλά λάθη. Με τα χρόνια και τις εμπειρίες (ήμουν σχεδόν 19, τώρα είμαι σχεδόν 24), το τι με ενδιαφέρει να γράψω και να μεταδώσω έχει αλλάξει σε σημείο αγνώριστο. Τώρα δεν γράφω πια σχεδόν καθόλου για γκέιμς και γράφω συχνότερα στα ελληνικά παρα στα αγγλικά, τα οποία έχουν βελτιωθεί με τόσο γράψιμο. Το στυλ έχει αλλάξει όσο έχουν αλλάξει και δοκιμές για θέματα που ήλθαν και παρήλθαν: αστείο, σοβαρό, ενδοσκοπικό, θέλω-να-καταλάβω-τον-κόσμο, κοιτάχτε-με-επιτέλους, και φυσικά με όλους τους πιθανούς συνδυασμούς. Ακόμα θέλω να τελειώσω το 99 things I hate, να γράψω περισσότερα άρθρα για Αστείες Λέξεις ή (ουάου!) να τελειώσω το αφιέρωμα στο Ν64 που άρχισα πριν 5 χρόνια.

Το ΕΕΕΕΕ όμως παραμένει. Τώρα τι;

Και όλα αυτά φέρνουν την ερώτηση: είμαι εγώ αυτός που ξεκίνησα αυτό το μπλογκ, ή κάποιος άλλος; Τι κοινό έχουν πραγματικά αυτά τα άρθρα; Ποια είναι η ταυτότητα αυτού του σάιτ;

Η υπαρξιακή μου κρίση προφανώς δεν περιορίζεται στη ζωή μου αλλά και στις δημιουργίες μου.

Τέλος πάντων. Σας παρουσιάζω, ό,τι κι αν αυτό συνιστά, συμπεριλαμβονομένης μιας βροχής κειμένων και σκέψεων που ως μόνο κοινό παρονομαστή έχουν ότι τις ξέρασα εγώ:

Το ανθολόγιο του Cubilone’s Dimension

2012

Αυτή μάλλον δεν είναι μια μούτζα — Όντας στο τώρα, στον ύπνο και στον ξύπνιο

On Taste: μάλλον σκόρπιες σκέψεις σχετικά με τα τα γούστα στο φαί και τη μουσική — Η υποκειμενικότητα στο φαί και στη μουσική έχουν μια κοινή ρίζα…

Το συντριβάνι σοκολάτας — Διήγημα-αλληγορία για γερά στομάχια

Εκατό στόχοι μου μέχρι τα εικοσιπέντε — Ο τίτλος τα λέει όλα

283 μέρες χωρίς σαμπουάν — Ένα πείραμα που ήρθε για να μείνει

Η παγίδα της περιεκτικότητας, ή: η αδικία του αν σου αρέσει να πίνεις, καλύτερα να είσαι κοντός, λεπτός και άντρας — Γραμμένο από έναν ψηλό

Αγαπημένα παιχνίδια παρέας — Προσοχή: εξαιρετικά εθιστικά

5 λόγοι για να καταραστείτε την εταιρεία καρτοκινητής σας — Τις μισώ.

Λοιπόν ναι, τέλειωσα με τη Μυτιλήνη. Ελπίζω να εμπνέω τον θαυμασμό. — Γιατί δεν έγραψα στο μπλογκ μου για το ότι τέλειωσα με τη σχολή;

Genealogical Mandala — Translation of Γενεαλογικά Μάνταλα

Deleting and rejecting friends from Facebook — It’s harder than it sounds (and it already sounds quite hard)

Γιατί δεν βγάζει κανείς τα παιδιά του έτσι; Ιδέες για αρχαιοελληνικά ονόματα — Μα γιατί;

Ask a biologist: My questions and her answers — The power of the internet!

Τρεις νύχτες Χίο, δύο Μυτιλήνη και δύο στα ανοιχτά του Αιγαίου — Το προτελευταίο κεφάλαιο του βιβλίου Μυτιλήνη θα μπορούσε να είναι και η σύνοψη

Γενεαλογικό Μάνταλα — Μια νέα ματιά στην προσωπική ιστορία

Μετεκλογικά, ή πώς ο Κανένας βρίσκεται στην εξουσία — Το απολιτίκ είναι τρε σικ

Facebook Timeline — Another rant on facebook.

Eκκλησίες: χρήσεις για την μετα-χριστιανική εποχή — Μα τι σκατά θα κάνουμε με τόσες εκκλησίες στο άθεο κόσμο στον οποίο οδεύουμε;

Ρέμα Πικροδάφνης: μια ζούγκλα καλαμιών στην γειτονιά μας — με οδηγό τον Cubilone

Deatchment, Part Two — Τι είναι ένα σκουπίδι;

Σκέψεις για γενέθλια, Facebook και ευχές  — Οι ευχές μέσω φβ είναι σάπιες.

H ύπαρξη μας ως κύτταρα της Γης // Quotes ~ Αποφθέγματα ΧΙΙI — Όλα είναι ένα, μαν.

BABEL: from the Biblical story to the González Iñárritu film — In a world of perfect communication, would lies still exist?

Κοσμολόγοι: τραγικές φιγούρες — Έχουν την ατελείωτη κατανόηση και συμπόνοια μου

Danish Diaries #15: Finale (?) and some thoughts on blogging in general — Why write anything at all? Who do I think I am?

Αναλογία έτους – ημέρας ή: πώς περάσατε τις ώρες σας σήμερα; — Ψάχνοντας συνδέσεις, τις βρίσκεις στα πιο προφανή μέρη

2011

Περι γούστου και ομορφιάς — Επανέλαβε μετά απο μένα: όχι είναι ωραία αλλά μου αρέσει!

Νέος Εθνικός Ύμνος — Ο άλλος μας πάλιωσε

Why? — A small collection of annoyances

Λυχνάρι Στο Άπειρο — Ένα ταξίδι

Danish Diaries #13 — Christmas-flavoured rant on Denmark

Danish Diaries #12 + Quotes ~ Αποφθέγματα IX — Τσιτσίδι σε μια σάουνα

Danish Diaries #10 — Η κοινώ γνώμη των Βορείων για την κατάσταση στην Ελλάδα

Hyperborea — Interrailing Scandinavia with Ana and Cedric

Ψιλαίνοντας τα δίχτυα — Οι προθέσεις των ψαράδων. Τώρα πια βέβαια δενέχουν δίχτυα αλλά δυναμίτη.

Danish Diaries #6: Skagen & Råbjerg Mile — Ταξιδεύοντας στην κορυφής της Δανίας

Higher Education, Lower Expectations — Comparing free education systems in Denmark and Greece

Danish Diaries #4 — Some more impressions from Denmark (øl øl øl!)

Danish Diaries #3 — Learning Danish and staying in Skolhøjkollegiet

Danish Diaries #2 — First unfortunate and sweet days in Aarhus

Kούρεμα! — Πού πήγε το μαλλί;

Danish Diaries #1 — Very first Erasmus post.

Push on, pack in and move out — Moving out of Mytilini and into a new life

Roger Waters: The Wall Live in Athens 9/7/2011 — Η εμπειρία του να βλέπεις τον Waters live.

The Kitty Incident — Ποτέ δεν ξέρεις από πού θα σου έρθει ένα θρίλερ…

8ο Πανελλήνιο Φεστιβάλ Φοιτητικών Θεατρικών Ομάδων — Και η γνώμη μου για την τέχνη του θεάτρου

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs — How any movie can pleasantly surprise

Game 2.0: In the land of Hyrule, there echoes a legend… 25 χρόνια Zelda — Το μεγάλο αφιέρωμα

99 Things I HATE! ~ Part 2 — Speaks for itself.

Η ψευδαίσθηση του χρόνου στον κόσμο των ονείρων — Πραγματικά μυστήρια πράγματα

Δυο Θάνατοι Καμιά Κηδεία — Είμαστε τόσο σπισιστές (ίου, τι λέξη)

Flow — My attempt at poetry

Ταυτότητες — Είμαι όλα αυτά.

Tο απόλυτο smilie — :ω

What’s This? Περίεργες Γραμμές Στο Νερό — Μια εμπειρία στα όρια του μεταφυσικού

Υμηττός Revisited — Περπατώντας στο χιονισμένο δάσος 10 χρόνια μετά

Haiku #5

Hexagram 22 — Για τα 22α μου γενέθλια, άνοιξα το I Ching

Αστείες Λέξεις #3 — Επισκεπτόμαστε την λόρδα και το τούμπανο

One Man’s Trash Is Another Man’s Sega — Σκουπίδια, σου λέει μετά.

Μια Χαϊντεγκεριανή Προσέγγιση των Χαϊκού — Εξακολουθεί να είναι από τις αγαπημένες μου εργασίες

Haiku #4

Ας μιλήσουμε για την Αραβική Άνοιξη — من مظاهرات يوم الغضب – شاب شجاع جدا

Uakti — Αφιέρωμα στους βραζιλιάνους κρουστούς που τόσο γουστάρω

99 Things I HATE! ~ Part 1 — Nothing more to add

Insurgentes And Our Relationship With Music — I ♥ Steven Wilson

Αστείες Λέξεις #2 — Η αλεπού και το τσουτσούνι, ο ξεχασμένος μύθος του Αισώπου

Αστείες Λέξεις #1 — Αρκούδα κουράδα, τι υπέροχη φράση!

2010

Detachment, Part One — Πώς και γιατί λέει κανείς αντίο στη συλλογή παιχνιδιών του για το GameCube;

The Nightmare Before The Nightmare Before Christmas — Μια μέρα στην Κινηματογραφική

Γαστροπαιχτική Λέσχη — Ναι, εκεί τρώγαμε κάποτε

Αεικίνηση — Η ιστορία πίσω από το βίντεο

Haiku #3

Halloween Fun with Shae & Whitney — If this won’t convince you to try couchsurfing, few things might

Ρε Hall! — Η ιστορία ευγκαντεμιάς που με έκανε πρωτοσέλιδο

Haiku #2

Smilies using greek letters/Φατσούλες με ελληνικά γράμματα — Φτιαγμένες με τα χεράκια μου

Humans and Computers: closer than a designer apart? — Nature and nurture strike again. Only this time, it’s digital

Θέα από ψηλά — Να τι γίνεται όταν με πιάνει η αισιοδοξία μου

Four Years of Exploration, Two Years of Remembrance — 4 years of Mytilini

Πρέσπα, 4 μΚ. — Μετα-αποκαλυπτικό διήγημα στις Πρέσπες

Game 2.0 — Σπάζοντας τους ορισμούς — Τι εστί gamer;

Ενάλια Παράκρουση — Γιατί μερικές φορές απλά δεν αντέχεις άλλο με τα γαμημένα καράβια

Porcupine Tree Live in Athens at Technopolis, 09/09/2010 — Impressions! — Nuff said

Το χιόνι έλιωσε, το καλοκαίρι τέλειωσε — …

Σκισμένες ζαρτιέρες — Πού να’ξερα

1η Σεπτεμβρίου, Λαβυρίνθου 1 — Μετακομίζοντας στο απέναντι σπίτι

Σκουπίδι με ονοματεπώνυμο — Ναι, το σκεφτόμουν να μη δηλώσω το κινητό μου. Να γιατί.

Shesmovedon (Reprise) — Γιατί όταν σε αφήνουν εκείνες, δεν μπορείς να μην κολλήσεις.

Pokemon TCG Cards for sale! (Looking Back Part 0.1) — Κάρτες Πόκεμον!

Looking Back (part 0) — Όταν τα υπαρξιακά έκαναν την πρώτη τους εμφάνιση

Πάσχα στην Αίγινα και άλλες ιστορίες — Note to self: δεν θα ρωτάω τους ανθρώπους τι κάνουν για δουλειά

Volcanic Ashes — Πώς η στάχτη είναι το καλύτερο λίπασμα

Between a rock and a dutch place. — Ταξιδεύοντας στην Ολλανδία με τη Νένη

After — Super-emo mode on

Locked Within A Significant Other — Προφητικό με τόσους τρόπους!

Cubilone’s Dimension 3.0 — The Corkboard — Πάρτε κι άλλο flash!

Αναμνήσεις απο ταξίδια σε πέντε αγαπημένες πόλεις — Πάρτε flash!

Blue Moon — Did I fulfill my 2009 New Year’s resolutions?

2009

Is it really Christmas? — Cubi vs. Χριστούγεννα

Είναι όντως οι μπάτσοι τα γουρούνια; — Ή μήπως πρέπει όλη η αναρχοαριστερή φιλολογία να αλλάξει;

November — A break-up in 5 parts with Kubrick playing in the background

Random music for a random application for a random project. — That’s life

Μουσικά μπουντρούμια — Στα υπόγεια του Μουσικών Σπουδών

Awesomest thing in the history of the known and unknown multiverse. —Simple.

Abandoning the System — The beginning of polemics against Facebook

Αεροπλάνα και βαπόρια — ή γιατί χτες ήταν απλά μία πολύ περίεργη μέρα — Μια ιστορία αγάπης (;)

Πολιτισμική σχέση Ελλάδας και Τουρκίας — Ιστορικό υπόβαθρο — Οι προσπάθειες μου να πείσω αυτούς που δεν θα πειστούν ποτέ

Plus*2/Minus*2 Summer Edition! Part 2 — Τι ήταν χιτ και τι όχι το καλοκαίρι του 2009, μέρος 2

Plus*2/Minus*2 Summer Edition! Part 1 — Τι ήταν χιτ και τι όχι το καλοκαίρι του 2009, μέρος 1

Game 2.0 — Ευρώπη και music games: Μια προβληματική σχέση — Όταν ακόμα ήταν στη μόδα

Japanese for snow — For Yuki

Plus*2/Minus*2 — Ένα νέο σύστημα αξιολόγησης

Game 2.0 debut — downloadable games. — Πόσο μπροστά ήμουν δεν μπορούσα να το φανταστώ

AK: Automatic Kalashnikov, Αιώνιο Κοτόπουλο, Αλεξάνδρα Κομνηνού — Ένας χρόνος με την Άλεξ

2008

Σκέψεις νοσταλγίας — Πώς και γιατί να αφήσεις πίσω πράγματα και σκέψεις

A blow of the Future — Cubimension is a year old!

Cultural Aspects of Today vol. 1 — First and only CAT

Astronomy in games: does a realistic sky make a difference? — Fallout 3 has a crappy night sky. Why?

September 26th 2006-8 — 2 years of Mytilini

Pink Dawn — A moment in time in 2008

On studies — Sometimes we forget that it had always looked kind of hopeless

2ο Μεσαιωνικό Φεστιβάλ Ρόδου — Ο τίτλος για άλλη μια φορά τα λέει όλα

Hobo for a day! Also, Rodos. — Vagabonding

Uncommon Ways: A Subjective Look At Rare’s Ventures On The Xbox 360 — I was young and naive

Περι σπατάλης — Πόσο χαίρομαι που έγραφα τέτοια πράγματα στα 19 μου

Yummers! — A food rating system for all to enjoy!

Is more less? — 5 years of experience says yes

A little piece of February — What was I doing back then?

Distractable! — Some things never change

10 years since Christmas 1997 – A N64 Tribute (Part 3) — #11-#13

World of Nylon — I, hate, plastic

A tribute to Bubble Bobble and my first steps in gaming — My first blog post ever

730–23 — Meeting Alexandra

2007

What is the opposite of “New Year’s Resolution”? — Click to find out!!!

All I want for Christmas is a time machine — Holidays 2007

Greek βέρσους Αγγλικά — Δε κόνφλικτ ρημέινς

10 years since Christmas 1997 – A N64 Tribute (Part 2) — #14-16

10 years since Christmas 1997 – A N64 Tribute (Part 1) — #17-20

And we think 24 hours are not enough — We’re stupid

May the people cheer and the Prosecco flow! — Welcome to Cubilone’s Dimension

 

Hexagram 22

BÌ
Beauty, Grace, Adornment

艮 Gèn, Mountain
☶

離 Lí, Fire
☲

Εξάγραμμο 22
Στολισμός

Πρώτη Γραμμή Γιανγκ: στολίζει τα πόδια του. Αφήνει το αμάξι του και περπατάει.
Προχώρησε με τις δικές σου προσπάθειες αντί να βασίζεσαι σε άλλους.

Δεύτερη Γραμμή Γιν: στολίζει τα γένια του.
Δίνει σημασία στην εμφάνιση.

Τρίτη Γραμμή Γιανγκ: Στολισμένος και εκθαμβωτικός, θα είναι τυχερός αν μείνει σταθερός και αληθινός.
Δώσε μεγαλύτερη σημασία στην ουσία παρά στην μορφή.

Τέταρτη Γραμμή Γιν: στολισμένος αλλά απλός. Ένα λευκό άλογο έρχεται γρήγορα.
Ο απλός μα ενάρετος είναι προτιμότερος από τον πομπώδη και έκφυλο.

Πέμπτη Γραμμή Γιν: αν και στολισμένος σαν κήπος, τα ρούχα που προσφέρει είναι λίγα. Οι δυσκολίες του θα καταλήξουν σε καλή τύχη.
Τα εσωτερικά αισθήματα και η ειλικρίνεια έχουν σημασία, όχι τα στολίδια και η επίδειξη πλούτου.

Κορυφαία Γραμμή Γιανγκ: ο απλός στολισμός είναι ανεπίληπτος. Το κακό αποτρέπεται.
Απαρνήσου το τεχνητό και γύρισε στην απλότητα.

Από την μετάφραση και ερμηνεία: “Ι Τζινγκ: Ένας εικονογραφημένος οδηγός για την αρχαία Κινέζικη μαντική τέχνη”. Εκδόσεις Κέδρος

☶
☲

“Hexagram 21 is Biting Through; Hexagram 22 is Beauty – only I tend to think of it these days more as Making Beautiful. (In much the same way, Hexagram 13 seems to be more to do with ‘creating harmony between people’ than just finding it already there, a fait accompli.)

So you Bite Through obstacles and illusions. You reach the essence of the thing – of the person, of the relationship, perhaps – and you ‘take this in’, make it part of your self. It really works, now, at a deep level.

What now? Now, that essence wants to find expression. It wants to grow, from seed to plant – it wants to flower, to connect with other people. Making Beautiful is all about finding a form that will do justice to the seed. The suitor (who shows up in the moving line texts) wants to show his true, his very best self. Or looking at it from a larger perspective – as the Image does – there must be ways of governing and living that express people’s inner awareness.

I think perhaps the key here is that there must be ways. Not just The Way. Different ways of life are the right expression for different people at different times. The face the suitor shows to his prospective bride can’t be the same one he shows next morning in the office. Even plants take very different forms through the seasons. (As I discovered to my cost many winters ago, when I happily accepted an offer from the neighbour to rotovate our entire patch. That summer, I discovered that all those little finely chopped white roots were very, very viable bindweed.)

And so in Making Beautiful, there is ’small harvest in having a direction to go’. The essence could go anywhere, be anything. But there is this desire to be something for someone, and this provides the ‘direction to go’ so that there can be a harvest. We think ‘I’m a teacher!’ or ‘I’m a great cook!’ – and this is how we get results.

Yet this isn’t the whole harvest at once – it isn’t the only expression there could ever be. A direction to go is also a way to explore, something to experiment with. Maybe it would be truer to think, ‘I can play teachers!’

I’ve an idea that if we arrive at Hexagram 23, and there’s a need for Stripping Away, this can be because we’ve confused that beautiful expression with the essence itself. Looking at the trigrams – Beauty is fire below the mountain, the spark of living awareness shining upward and illuminating the form. And in Stripping Away the fire has gone out. Now there’s just earth below the mountain, and it’s time for the mountain itself to be turned back to earth, to make space for something new.”

Source

Other interpretations:

[1] [2]

Pink Floyd – Speak to Me/Breathe

I was out today and I saw a poster for Easy Star All-Stars’ live at Fuzz Club. They’ll be playing on my birthday! Wouldn’t it be nice if I could go? But who would ever go there with me? }:{

Coming in earthly contact with that poster brought Dark Side Of The Moon rushing to my head, something not all that uncommon. There I was, standing in a packed tram, quietly singing Time, Money, Brain Damage, Eclipse…

…and Breathe. One of my favourite songs hands down. But it’s a bit redundant picking out just one of the tracks off DSOTM. It’s like having to pick out a single scene off Star Wars. Or Spaced. Or Lola Rennt. The lyrics, oh the lyrics take me, and have always taken me, places. This is beauty.

Dedicated to… oh! You know who you are. 🙂

Lyrics
Breathe, breathe in the air
Don’t be afraid to care
Leave but don’t leave me
Look around and chose your own ground
For long you live and high you fly
And smiles you’ll give and tears you’ll cry
And all you touch and all you see
Is all your life will ever be
Run, run rabbit run
Dig that hole, forget the sun,
And when at last the work is done
Don’t sit down it’s time to dig another one
For long you live and high you fly
But only if you ride the tide
And balanced on the biggest wave
You race toward an early grave.



EDIT: The Easy Stars All-Stars cover *sigh*:


Cubilone’s Dimension Turns Two!

Just like Garret and Necro (Stefanos), this here blog has its birthday today!

…but this post is two days late! So yeah. Happy birthday Cubimension, and may you see another full year of posts and much much more that is in store for you! 🙂

two

Japanese for snow

White Felis Catus

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.

A blow of the Future

It has finally come to pass: Cubilone’s Dimension is 1 year old today. It’s been a strange year, full of changes and magic. I’ve been reflecting upon these changes by reading my older posts… You may spot these differences if you look up my first posts yourself. This time last year I was waking up early with no aid of alarm clock and feeling happy, really eager to write all about it! This initial, powerful enthusiasm has sadly worn off. That is not to say however that Cubilone’s Dimension isn’t alive. On the contrary: I’m even planning to turn it into something a bit more ambitious! I will say no more however. One year is not a lot of time and this place still has not matured all that much. In fact it has not even reached puberty. What may the Future hold?

Dreams, hopes and nightmares are nothing but floating specs of dust to Its eye. With one lazy movement of its hand, the Future plays with them in the sunlight. No spec is better than the other; afterall, they’re all just dust. Strangely though, they seem to all be floating towards the same direction. It fixes Its eye upon a single spec. “The spec’s weightlessness is a gift but also a burden”, the Future ponders. “Even if it can fly, it can only fly following the wind’s wishes… and when the wind wishes of nothing, then the spec will gently fall. Its stop will only be brief however for any wind can still do with it as it likes…” The Future thought that listening to the wind was a small price to pay for flying.

It watched the spec making its way to the floor, finally touching it with a sound even It could not discern. Feeling mischievous, the Future took a deep breath and blew at the spec. Listening to the wind, it and the other specs scatteringly took to the sky once more.

Is more less?

A few days now I’ve returned to Mytilini. Leaving Athens was strange… 17 days wasn’t quite enough to enjoy. I wanted more! But if I had stayed any more I would have missed my uni registration renewal! So eh. Highlights of my last days around were my and Alex’s second visit to the Planetarium, going to the theatre to watch a great play called “Η Κατσαρίδα” and of course my birthday. My birthday! Not only was it a great night with 6 of my close and very close people, I got great presents! Yes, presents! Do you really expect me to be tactful and not mention them? Hah! Fat chance. Alexandra gave me a HUUUGE scarf -a bit more than 3 metres in length- she knitted for me herself, and that on its own is one of the sweetest, most thoughtful and overall best presents ever. It’s a bit difficult to wear in everyday situations, and I do look a queerer than usual wearing it but I know it’s going to be great for stragazing nights for two… George got me a Super Nintendo with 2 games, Super Mario All Stars and Donkey Kong Country, which is great. I lost my old Super Nintendo at an unspecified time, so it’s fantastic that once again I can feel how it was… And even buy games I didn’t own! Thank you George for taking me back to the past… Nefeli got me a soundtrack of a movie I’ve wanted to watch for some time, that is “2046”. I still haven’t listened to the album or watched the movie, but once I do I’ll listen to the OST as well. The guys in Mytilini got me Pikmin 2, a rare game that I’ve wanted for a long time. A big thank you to them as well. And the last present was…

img_1979.jpg

In association with mum, Martin, dad and Vasso, each (including myself) chipping in €100, we got me a present the way I’ve never had a present before. Everybody co-operated, and in the end I was able to get my hands on my new wonderful Olympus E-510. I got it from a guy who got it as a prize in a competition but didn’t want it so he was selling it cheap, almost €150 less than retail. I couldn’t miss it: An 18-42mm lens, a 50-150 one, and an extra expense for carrying bag, mini tripod and ultra-fast 1GB CF card. Owning a DSLR just like this is no easy task, especially when my only previous experience is from compact cameras. But I’ll work hard and learn how to use it well! Expect good pictures. *vanity*

For the first time in some months, these days I’ve been feeling kind of… anxious. Restless. I feel like I have so many things I want to do but there’s so little time in my disposal. I’ll take a detailed look at what I want to achieve in the near future (maybe it will help me relax):

German! It’s come to a point now that it’s almost shameful that I don’t know the german language fluently. Last year, I started learning on my own… I got distracted in less than 2 months, and haven’t much got involved since. I’m now trying to revise what I hope I haven’t forgot during this past short year. My goal is to have finished the first half of Themen 2 by summer.
Bass Clef April 2007. I got my Bass Guitar then, aiming to finally learn how to play this instrument that I so love. I also aspired to learn a bit of music theory on the way, if I could. Today, almost a year leater, I haven’t progressed much. I have a good book and the internet in my disposal though, and I want to have the foundations clear first. My realistic goal is to be able to read sheet music for the bass guitar by summer. This is a bit confusing because I can read sheet music on the treble clef since I was little and played flute/clarinet. I’ll have to avoid adjusting my knowledge by learning the Bass clef through the Treble Clef and learn it as a completely seperate entity. It can’t be that hard, can it? Also I want my technique to improve, of course.
Flash This semester in the Cultural Tec waters seems particularly demanding. Creating a Flash movie that’s to be used by a mobile device for touring in an archeological site from scratch, learning how to use Premiere again (4 years ago I made Krama using it), keeping in touch with all the subjects and making sure that I can do all the projects and essays. I feel it can be kinda difficult because my only availabe partners in group projects are Garret and Mordread. Garret is keen but lazy and Mordread is lazy period. I’m lazy too but that’s the thing, I want to get myself involved! Will I make it? Last semester was a huge success, but only for the subjects that I did sit for. That is, around half of the lot.
Lost Odyssey A huge piece of work, just like all other japanese RPGs, Lost Odyssey just begs for some more of my time. And the moral question of how much it should have is still unanswered. I’m still extremely early in the game.
Viva Pinata There are some people out there that are ready to beat me up because I prefer Viva Pinata over Lost Odyssey at this point. I can give them four reasons for this: Rare, Grant Kirkhope, Sandbox game, addictive-as-crack game. I won’t count ultra-cutesy as an argument cause that will scarcely save me any beating. I’m joining the ranks of gamers that are so ashamed of liking this it drives their love for it hotter.
My daemon His Dark Materials. Only through rereading it can I understand how grand this trilogy really is. I first read it in greek about 5 years ago. I recently got all three books in english in a single hardcover tome and I want to finish it as soon as possible, while at the same time savouring it. Right now I’ve almost finished Northern Lights, yes the one that was recently turned to a pretty blah christmas blockbuster under the name of The Golden Compass. Also, check My Space and see if you agree that my daemon should be a snow leopard. It’s cool and appropriate, right? Hurry, you’ve got 10 days left!
Heroes! This series is great. I want to watch more! And I will!
Black Adder Alex gave me the complete Black Adder saga and I can’t wait to see it all! I’ve only watched 2 eps but I liked ’em and it’s obvious that the best is yet to come!
my.aegean.gr For the next week or so, students from the rest of the Aegean Uni islands will be coming to Mytilini. There’s a community site for students of the Aegean Uni, that is my.aegean.gr. Its goal is to unify the different depts and parts of the university. One of them will stay at my place for a few days. I have no idea when he’ll be coming and what we’ll be doing with the rest of the team, but I expect it’s going to be all good. The only problem is that it’s going to throw me a bit off from all the above.

That’s about it. There’s loads of other things I still have in mind, like how I’m going to get by with my purposefully lowered monthly allowance or what other games, movies or outtings I can fit in all this mess. Not to mention more mundane obligations, like housekeeping, bills etc. If lifepoints came with such “achievements”, how many points would each feat get?

In the words of the Angry Video Game Nerd:

So much shit, so much shit, here we go!

Postscripts: Listen to Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 II. Allegretto and Sylvan’s Artificial Paradise. Musical masterpieces in their own right.