Review: Off-Topic: The Story of an Internet Revolt

Off-Topic: The Story of an Internet RevoltOff-Topic: The Story of an Internet Revolt by G.R. Reader

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book was the first one I finished on my new Kindle, a fact which, in combination with its contents, makes me feel kind of tainted, like knowingly eating dolphin meat or something; posting a sincere review of it here after reading about Goodreads and what happened a few months ago feels in turn like I’m writing about my experience of eating dolphin meat while giving it a star rating. But I’ll go through with this, because it’s not dolphin meat.

I knew that Amazon acquired Goodreads last year from the moment it happened. From the first second I knew what it would mean for Goodreads as a website, as a social network, as a resource. But I didn’t budge. I’ve seen this happen so many times before: great websites or ideas turn “evil”, my beloved CouchSurfing being the most prominent example I can think of right now; I went on, for what could I have honestly done as a single person to stop things, change things, make the guys at the head of CouchSurfing or Goodreads realise that what they had done meant turning on their community, the people they owed all their success to? Should I have changed my profile and alerted people of the fact? Shold I have jumped ship?

I’m still very far from being sure about what the best course of action should be, the perfect balance between convenienve and idealism, both in my offline and online lives. I have wanted to join BeWelcome, the best alternative to CouchSurfing, for example, but I feel as if I have invested too much time to the latter to make a change like that. At the same time, CouchSurfing has become so bad that it has naturally lost me as a user, something Goodreads hasn’t achieved -yet-, but then I’m not a social user of the site and I’ve never felt part of any community in it, unlike most of the people who contributed to this book and were alerted to and alarmed by the changes mostly because of that involvement.

I wasn’t even aware of the censorship before I stumbled upon an abandoned “beacon” profile which had most of its details replaced with anti-Goodreads messages and promotion of Off-Topic. You could say that it was an efficient strategy, because the message eventually reached me, the oblivious user – or I should say, I reached the message.

Having now read the book, I realise I’m supposed to do something with this information, right? But is there anything I can do which would mean anything? Should I make my small revolt against Goodreads, when it was on myKindle where I read this book – complete with Amazon-powered Goodreads integration that doesn’t work as I had imagined it would? Should I move my reviews to BookLikes, like some people did? Why use a social network at all, if I’m ready to give up the convenience of the site for some vague ideology? And at the very end, if to enjoy a free service online, you become the commodity, can there be any escape at all from the sudden-death ToU?

I have sadly become cynical over the years, especially about online activism. I see a lot of people being very sensitive and idealistic on the web but with a seemingly loose grasp of reality. They think that because CS or GR seem friendly and tailored to their own needs – social networks are made to give this impression, after all – that they, alone, can make a difference, just by spreading the message. Often, but not always of course – because there are some people whose character is such that they react very strongly to things like that from all sides – cyber-activists can double as happy, obedient citizens/consumers with a straight face, which boggles my mind. When people get so worked up about these changes that they actively quit sites, I don’t know what to think. On the one hand, their determination and bullheadedness is admirable – it really is. On the other hand, I don’t see what kind of alternative they’re imagining and, most important of all, how they can make sure that their alternative can remain as pure, idealistic and humble as they imagine their perfect social network to be. How they can make sure that the new place will stay better than Goodreads before the natural moral entropy of the web forces them to find their new digital Zion.

But I’m grumpy today. A storm in a teacup can bring about good things and I’m grateful that there are people out there who don’t overanalyze themselves out of any sort of action, meaningful or not.

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Εκατό στόχοι μου μέχρι τα εικοσιπέντε

Λίστες των εκατό· ένας ωραίος τρόπος για να βάζεις σε τάξη τις σκέψεις και τις προτεραιότητες σου για οποιοδήποτε θέμα. Απαιτoύν συγκέντρωση και είναι τόσο αποτελεσματικές γιατί ακριβώς είναι τόσο πλουραλιστικές. Το εκατό ακούγεται πολύ μεγάλο και ακριβώς γι’αυτόν τον λόγο πιάνει: αφού γράψεις τα προφανή, αν αναγκάσεις τον εαυτό σου να φτάσεις στο 100, σου σκάνε σαν πυροτεχνήματα θαμμένα θέλω και ιδέες στα οποία μπορείς να φτάσεις μόνο αν κάτσεις εκεί για μερικές ώρες, χωρίς να αποσπαστείς, έχοντας μπει in the zone, έχοντας οιρμό.

Την πρώτη φορά το είχα κάνει για πράγματα που μου αρέσουν: είχα γράψει εκατό πράγματα που με κάνουν πραγματικά χαρούμενο, μια περίοδο που ένιωθα κενός, χωρίς ενδιαφέροντα και κυρίως χωρίς πάθη. Από τότε, το κάνω κάθε τόσο με εκατό στόχους. Μέχρι τώρα, καταφέρνω και εκπληρώνω λιγότερο από τους μισούς στους προκαθορισμένους μου χρόνους.

Αυτούς τους μήνες νιώθω ξανά ένα χάσιμο, μια στασιμότητα, αυτή την έλλειψη πάθους που νιώθεις όταν βλέπεις τη ζωή σου να κυλάει χωρίς να την πιάνεις από τα αρχίδια και να την κάνεις αυτό που θέλεις, γκρινιάζοντας ταυτόχρονα. Είναι ντροπή να έχω τόσες ανέσεις, τόσο χρόνο και τόσες δυνατότητες και να αναλώνομαι. Προσβλητικό για όσους δεν έχουν, για την ανθρώπινη μου υπόσταση, για τη ζωή (πωωω το έκανα πολύ έπικ). Κάτι τέτοιες στιγμές έρχεται η ώρα για τέτοιες λίστες.

Για πρώτη φορά δημοσιεύω εδώ μία. Το κάνω για τρεις λόγους:

1) Δημοσιεύοντας κάτι κατα κάποιον τρόπο το επισημοποιείς, έχεις κάτι για το οποίο κάποιος μπορέι να σου πει «Επ! Είπες ότι θα έκανες αυτό και κάνεις το άλλο!» Και ναι, (και) αυτόν τον ρόλο θα ήθελα να πάρετε, αγαπητοί αναγνώστες, του ελεγκτή.
2) Διαβάζοντας τη νομίζω θα με μάθετε καλύτερα ή θα ανακαλύψετε κάτι που δεν ξέρατε για μένα — είναι σίγουρα κι αυτός ένας απ’τους λόγους για τους οποίους έχω αυτό το μπλογκ, ως διέξοδο για αυτά τα οποία δεν λέω σχεδόν ποτέ. Ως γνήσιος INFP [2] [3], η πρωταρχική μου γνωστική λειτουργία είναι εσωστρεφής και αόρατη σε όλους εκτός από εμένα. Σε αυτό το ποστ, δημοσιεύω και πράγματα για τα οποία μιλάω ακόμα σπανιότερα και σε άλλες περιπτώσεις μπορεί να έβρισκα άστοχο να γράψω ακόμα κι εδώ. Εν μέρει είναι απελευθερωτικό και απ’την άλλη… πραγματικά, σε αυτή τη φάση, δεν με νοιάζει τι θα σκεφτεί ο καθένας. Είμαι αυτός που είμαι και είμαι περήφανος — μόνο έτσι μπορώ να χαράξω τη δική μου πορεία, αυτό που πιστεύω ότι όλοι μας οφείλουμε στον εαυτό μας, αλλά και στον κόσμο, να κάνουμε.
3) Νιώθω ότι είναι κάτι καλό για να γράψω μετά από μια περίοδο θα έλεγα σχετικής αδράνειας στο Cubilone’s Dimension αλλά έντονης αόρατης εσωτερικής διεργασίας. Ελπίζω πως η παρακάτω λίστα θα φανεί και σε εσάς χρήσιμη· θα σας δώσει ιδέες για μια δική σας λίστα, ή στην καλύτερη περίπτωση, πραγματική έμπνευση και δύναμη για αλλαγή.

Τα παρακάτω είναι αντιγραμμένα κατευθείαν όπως τα έγραψα στο χαρτί χωρίς καμία αλλαγή ή βελτίωση.

Βράδυ της 20ης Νοεμβρίου 2012
Πορίνου 8, Ακρόπολη

Έξω βρέχει… απόλυτη ησυχία, εκτός από τον ήχο της βροχής και τη ζωή της γειτονιάς…
–@–

Λίστα με τα 100 πράγματα που θέλω να κάνω τα επόμενα… χμ… πόσο μεγάλο διάστημα να πω; ΟΚ: Μέχρι να κλείσω τα 25, τις 26 Φεβρουαρίου 2014 { είμαστε στο μέλλον! The dystopians were right… }

  1. Μου αρέσει αυτή η προσοχή που δίνω σε αυτό το χαρτί, στη διαδικασία. Μπορώ να εξασκήσω τη συγκέντρωση μου; Ήσυχα μέρη, χωρίς διακοπές και distractions. Να μπορώ να εξασφαλίζω πάντα στον ευατό μου τέτοιες στιγμές, τις έχω περισσότερη ανάγκη απ’ότι νομίζω.
  2. Να αποφεύγω λάθη όπως το παραπάνω. Αλήθεια, έχω κάποιας μορφής διάσπαση προσοχής; Focus, attention! Και ας βρω αν έχω.
  3. Να μπορώ να είμαι αλήθινος και δοτικός στους ανθρώπους που έχουν σημασία.
  4. Να καταλάβω ότι χρειάζονται επιλογές και στους ανθρώπους, αν και αυτό δεν σημαίνει ότι δεν μπορώ να είμαι αληθινός σε όλους.
  5. Να μη σταματήσω να προκαλώ τα όρια μου, να μην επαναπαυθώ σε καμιά περίπτωση. Καλά τα πάμε μέχρι τώρα, αλλά μπορώ και καλύτερα, ε;
  6. Να μάθω να οραματίζομαι. Να μπορώ να φτιάξω το μέλλον μου σαν αποτέλεσμα των άπειρων επιλογών και των πραγματικών μου επιθυμιών. Alan Watts: what would you do if money didn’t count? Kyle Cease: you can make money doing what you love…
  7. Άλλο από Kyle Cease: οραματίσου αυτό που σε αγχώνει, αυτό που θέλεις, λες και έχει ήδη γίνει. Έτσι κάνεις τον εγκέφαλο σου αφ’ενός να απομυθοποιήσει τη διαδικασία, αφ’εταίρου να δημιουργήσει τον τρόπο (για να δικαιολογήσει την ασυνέχεια «πραγματικότητας» και «φαντασίας») τον οποίο θα χρησιμοποιήσεις για να κάνεις πραγματικότητα αυτό που φοβάσαι/ονειρεύεσαι. Ενδιαφέρον που αυτά τα δύο πάνε μαζί… Αν κάποιος σε πίεζε να κάνεις αυτά που ονειρεύεσαι, τότε θα φοβόσουν. Απλά πρέπει να κάνεις αυτά που φοβάσαι όνειρα.
  8. Να εξερευνήσω τη σεξουαλικότητα μου. Φοβάμαι το σεξ; Το έχω συνδεδεμένο, βαθιά μέσα μου, με κάτι το λάθος ή άξεστο, ακόμα κι αν πνευματικά έχω ριζοσπαστικές απόψεις πάνω στο θέμα; Μήπως η επιλεκτικότητα μου εκφράζει μια τελειομανία και η τελειομανία, με τη σειρά της, κάποιο κόλλημα ή μπλοκάρισμα;
  9. Σε αυτό βοηθάει το NoFap. 47 απ’την τελευταία φορά (αυτό είναι το τρίτο reboot), πρέπει να αντέξω άλλες 43. Κι ελπίζω μέχρι τα 25 (λέμε τώρα) να το συνεχίζω και να με βάλει σε μια διαδικασία απαγκίστρωσης και απελευθέρωσης (όπως και κάνει).
  10. Έγραψα «ελπίζω». Όχι. Ι shall do or I shall not do. If there is no try, much less is there a hope. Όπως λένε και οι Minimalists: make  your have-tos into need-tos (και want-tos, φυσικά, ως αντίστροφη προέκταση του «δεν υπάρχει δεν μπορώ, υπάρχει δεν θέλω»).
  11. Metroidvanias. Mου αρέσουν αυτά τα games… Πρέπει (θέλω!) να βρω περισσότερα του είδους, εμπνέουν.
  12. Θέλω να γίνω καλός στο σχέδιο. Δεν θέλω να ζωγραφίζω ρεαλιστικά — θέλω να καταφέρω το χρώμα, το μελάνι και όποιο άλλο μέσο, να είναι προέκταση της εγκλωβισμένης μου φαντασίας. Για να μπορώ να απεικονίζω ότι η φωτογραφία δεν μπορεί αλλά και ούτε θα ήθελα να μπορεί… Να αιχμαλωτίζω μια αισθητηριακή στιγμή και η δίοδος πνεύμα → μυαλό → χέρι να είναι αποσυμφορημένη από χοληστερίνη πεζής αηδίας και δημιουργικών μπαμπούλων και ανασφαλειών.
  13. Ποιοι είναι αυτοί οι μπαμπούλες, αυτές οι ανασφάλειες; Τι έχασα από τότε που ήμουν παιδί που χάνουμε όλοι μας (και όσο περνάνε τα χρόνια νιώθω να χάνω περισσότερο); Δεν μπορώ να αφήνω την κριτική των άλλων να με φοβίζει ή να με σταματάει. Η δημιουργικότητα είναι κάτι το πολύ ανθρώπινο και αν το καταπιέσουμε, σίγουρα έχουμε χάσει όχι μόνο ένα κομμάτι του εαυτού μας αλλά και ένα μέρος του τι μας κάνει ανθρώπους, όχι αυτόματα. Οπότε: να σταματήσω να αφήνω τη δημιουργικότητα μου να κατυεθυνέται από τον φόβο της απόρριψης που μου καλλιεργήθηκε από τότε που ήμουν παιδί.
  14. Σε εκείνη την ομάδα δραματοθεραπείας, είχα «δημιουργήσει» όταν είχα ξεχάσει πως με κοίταζαν, ότι ήμουν κάτω απ’το μάτι της κρίσης. Άφησα τον εαυτό μου ελεύθερο όταν ήμουν η τυφλόμυγα και έψαχνα τους άλλους. Η Δώρα μου είπε ότι όσο δεν ένιωθα ότι με κοίταζαν, κινούμουν σαν να χόρευα. Μου πρότεινε να κάνω χορό — σύγχρονο, κάτι χωρίς κανόνες, γιατί η αλήθεια είναι πως φοβάμαι τους κανόνες. Άλλη ιστορία αυτή. Να δοκιμάσω χορό λοιπόν.
  15. Να κάνω γιόγκα. Μπορεί έτσι μια μέρα να ξαναδώ την Κωνσταντίνα. (:Ρ)
  16. Εδώ και λίγες μέρες τρέχω στο άλσος και κάνω γυμναστική. Σίγουρα θέλω να το συνεχίσω και να φροντίζω το σώμα μου από πλευράς άθλησης. Short-term: να πηγαίνω κάθε μέρα. Ρεαλιστικά, σε βάθος χρόνου, το λιγότερο 3 φορές τη βδομάδα!
  17. Να κάνω αναρρίχηση. Γι’αυτό είναι απαραίτητο να μπορώ να σηκώνω το βάρος μου άνετα.
  18. Να έχω κάνει λίγη τουλάχιστον ιστιοπλοΐα. Τι το έχω το δίπλωμα;
  19. Οι μεγάλες πεζοπορίες παραμένουν μεγάλο όνειρο… Camino de Santiago, κάποια μεγάλη ευρωπαϊκή διαδρομή.. Υπάρχει αυτό που συνδέει την Ελλάδα με το Nordkapp και ξεκινάει νομίζω από τη Σαμοθράκη. Να κάνω μια ΜΕΓΑΛΗ ΔΙΑΔΡΟΜΗ. Διόρθωση: αυτό το μονοπάτι είναι το Ε6, το οποίο τελειώνει στη Φινλανδία, και όχι στο Nordkapp. Δεν υπάρχει ευρωπαϊκό μονοπατί που να φτάνει μέχρι εκεί.
  20. Το ίδιο αλλά σε ποδήλατο. Και τώρα που το σκέφτομαι, γιατί όχι όλον τον κόσμο και να περιοριστώ Ευρώπη; Αυτό ίσως μετά τα 25 (όχι! Μην σου βάζεις νοητούς φραγμούς!)
  21. Ωτοστόπ. Ή να κάνω carpooling, και αυτό λέει.
  22. Μετά από την πρώτη εμπειρία ελεύθερου camping στη Γαύδο, θέλω να το ξανακάνω τουλάχιστον άλλη μια φορά. Αλλά για 2 βδομάδες.
  23. CELTA. Σημαντικό, όχι;
  24. C1 Γερμανικά.
  25. C1 Ισπανικά.
  26. Μια περίεργη μη-ευρωπαϊκή γλώσσα σε κάποιο βασικό επίπεδο. Αραβικά, ίσως;
  27. Βόρειο Σέλας. Ναι, για άλλη μια φορά, πρωτοστατεί στις λίστες μου. Το θυμάμαι ήδη απ’το 43 Things που είχα κάνει στην Γ’ Λυκείου (πάνω από 6 χρόνια πριν).
  28. Να στέλνω περισσότερα γράμματα, γραμμένα με κέφι. Δεν θέλω να ξαναγίνει ό,τι έγινε με την Κίρσι. Πόσο με πειράζει αν «δεν έχω να γράψω τίποτα σημαντικό»;
  29. Να καλλιεργήσω μανιτάρια. Για φαί ντε, για ποιον με περάσατε; :Ρ
  30. Να κάνω δικό μου ανακυκλωμένο χαρτί.
  31. Να κάνω δικό μου αλκοόλ.
  32. Να έχω και να προσέχω φυτά. Γιατί όχι και καλλιέργειες!
  33. Λες να μπορώ να γίνω νέος αγρότης, όπως αυτόι στους Πρωταγωνιστές και αυτοί με τους οποίους ασχολείται η Καρίνα; Δύσκολο… αλλά απίστευτη εμπειρία και το έχω ανάγκη να δουλέψω με τα χέρια μου.
  34. Να κάνω χειρονακτικό εθελοντισμό.
  35. Και άλλου είδους, γιατί όχι; Μόνο μη μου δώσετε παιδιά!
  36. Κάπου κάπως έλεγα ότι θα μαγείρευα μόλις γύρισα από τη Δανία. Τι απέγινε αυτό; Ποιος θα κερδίσει, η ευκολία ή η απόλαυση; Ψηφίζω κουνουπίδι με κάρυ!
  37. Να δοκιμάσω για έναν μήνα τη διατροφή/δίαιτα με τους χυμούς. Είναι όσο καλή λένε, τόσο αποτοξινωτική, πορωτική και δυναμωτική;
  38. Σκάλες όπου έχει σκάλες! Το’χουμε;
  39. Αστρική προβολή και lucid dreams. Άλλο ένα στανταράκι. Μπορώ να έχω ΟΒΕ μέχρι το 2014 και να έχω φτάσει στο σημείο να έχω τουλάχιστον ένα lucid dream κάθε τρεις μέρες;
  40. Να κάνω ένα πετυχημένο one-night-stand.
  41. Να έχω ξεφορτωθεί τουλάχιστον τα μισά μου υλικά αγαθά.
  42. Ξέρω στ’αλήθεια πο είναι όλα τα second-hand; Μπορώ να βρω σίγουρα και περισσότερα…
  43. Να έχω συμμετάσχει σε φεστιβάλ animation με δύο φιλμάκια.
  44. Να γίνω καλύτερος στις γυμνές φωτογραφίσεις.
  45. Να έχω πια μια κάποια εμπειρία στην εκτύπωση φιλμ.
  46. Να πάω στην Ισπανία.
  47. Να πάω στην Αμερική — Καναδάς, ΗΠΑ, Μεξικό, Αργεντινή, Περού, Κολομβία, Χιλή, Εκουαδόρ… Μα τι τα μαθαίνουμε τα ισπανικά; Πολύ ακριβό, αλλά I’m thinking big.
  48. Το Μουσείο Κινηματογράφου στη Θεσ/νίκη με είχε μαγέψει… Θέλω να έχω δει μερικές παλιές ελληνικές ταινίες του ποιοτικού, και όχι και τόσο, κινηματογράφου.
  49. Να μπορώ να διαβάζω μεγάλα βιβλία, όχι όπως τώρα.
  50. Να βρω πώς θα μπορώ να κάνω τη χρήση Η/Υ όσο το δυνατόν πιο παραγωγική και χρήσιμη γίνεται. Θέσπιση ορίου χρήσης καθημερικά και μέσα στη βδομάδα.
  51. Να έχω μια υδρόγειο να χαζεύω. Όπως εκείνη στο Oslo… ^^P
  52. Να δουλέψω σερβιτόρος για την εμπειρία, όχι επειδή δεν θα υπάρχει τίποτα άλλο που θα μπορώ να κάνω (αυτό θα σημαίνει ότι δεν προσπαθώ αρκετά).
  53. Να αλλάξω το Cubilone’s Dimension σε κάτι πιο αντιπροσωπευτικό, προσωπικό και δημιουργικό. Στο πνεύμα του Corkboard αλλά πιο ελαφρύ και εύχρηστο.
  54. Να κάνω free hugs.
  55. Να βρω τρόπο να ξαναέχω επαφή με το CouchSurfing, εκτός κι αν…
  56. Να έχω έστω για κάποιο χρονικό διάστημα ζήσει ξανα μόνος ή με συγκατοίκους.
  57. Να παίρνω τους άλλους πρώτος τηλέφωνο, κάτι στο οποίο είμαι τόσο κακός τώρα… Να λαμβάνω πρωτοβουλίες στις σχέσεις μου.
  58. Να είμαι σε μια σχέση ισότητας και αλληλοεκπλήρωσης, δηλαδή ο ένας να βοηθάει στην εκπλήρωση, όχι στη συμπλήρωση, του άλλου. Να μην βρω το άλλο μου μισό αλλά αυτήν η οποία θα με θέλει ολόκληρο για να την ζήσω ολόκληρη.
  59. Να έχω βρει την οικογενειακή μου ιστορία, ό,τι πιο κοντά σε αυτή τέλος πάντων.
  60. Να κάνω βιντεάκια στο youtube όπου θα μιλάω, για να συνηθίσω να προβάλλω τις ιδέες μου συγκροτημένα και στον προφορικό λόγο!
  61. Να πίνω περισσότερο τσάι απ’ότι καφέ.
    ———————————————-
    Νυστάζω πολύ οπότε η συνέχεια σύντομα, αν και αυτό πρέπει να γίνεται με τη μία αλλιώς χάνει το νόημα του… Θα κάνουμε μια εξαίρεση!Η συνέχεια… τώρα στο χαρτί μου!
    ———————————————-
  62. Να μάθω καλύτερα το ΜΒΤΙ.
  63. Να διαβάσω περισσότερο για αστρολογία, κυρίως τους συμβολισμούς.
  64. Να εξασκώ το μυαλό μου με γρίφους όπως του κ. Smullyan.
  65. Να τραγουδήσω σε χωρωδία.
  66. Θέλω να μάθω και να παίξω μουσική!
  67. Να αυξήσω το awareness και την παρατηρητικότητα μου.
  68. Να φτιάξω σκοινί από πλαστικές σακούλες.
  69. Να έχω βελτιωθεί στη φωτογραφία· κάδρο και εκθέσεις, κυρίως.
  70. Θα δοκιμάσω τελικά εκείνο το extreme haircut;
  71. Να πηγαίνω στα Λουτρά πιο συχνά.
  72. …Ίσως να μην είναι η καλύτερη περίοδος να μάθεις να οδηγείς, ε;
  73. Τουλάχιστον, κάτι γίνεται με ένα ποδήλατο.
  74. Αν ξαναέχω ποδήλατο θα πρέπει όμως να μάθω να το περιποιούμαι. Βλέπε: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.
  75. Να ανάβω περισσότερα κεριά. Αφού lyser er så sød!
  76. Να μάθω καλύτερα Processing και να κάνω κάτι ωραίο.
  77. Να φτιάξω έστω μια dystopia/alt-reality ιστορία.
  78. Να βρω κάτι δημιουργικό να κάνω with all this stuff!!
  79. Nα τελειώσω ένα μεγάλο RPG στα γερμανικά και ένα στα ισπανικά.
  80. Τι μπορώ να κάνω για να είμαι πιο ανεξάρτητος γενικά; Τα 25 είναι νομίζω μια καλή ηλικία για να είναι κανείς πιο ανεξάρτητος. Εννοώ, τελείως.
  81. Να βρω περισσότερα επιτραπέζια και προφορικά παιχνίδια, όπως το Catan και το Contact.
  82. Να μην διστάζω να γράφω και χαζομάρες στο blog μου.
  83. Πώς μπορώ να προσφέρω στους γύρω μου καλύτερα;
  84. Να δοκιμάσω Linux για άλλη μια φορά. Ubuntu this time?
  85. ΒοοkCross more. Aυτό θέλει και να διαβάζεις πιο γρήγορα.
  86. Μπορώ μέχρι τότε να έχω τακτοποιήσει τα αρχεία μου;
  87. Να κάνω μια έκθεση φωτογραφίας.
  88. Να πηγαίνω περισσότερο στην Αίγινα.
  89. Να κάνω κάτι που δεν θα έκανα κανονικά: piercing ή τατουάζ;
  90. Να γίνω early riser, a lark instead of an owl.
  91. Να εξερευνήσω τους θησαυρούς του progarchives.com, του prog not frog και άλλων τέτοιων.
  92. Να μάθω να λέω cheers σε 25 γλώσσες.
  93. Κάποτε, η Charisse μoυ είχε πει ότι όντας τόσο υδάτινος, χρειάζομαι περισσότερη φωτιά στη ζωή μου. Να προσθέσω αυτή τη φωτιά.
  94. Να πηγαίνω σε ακόμα περισσότερα free stuff όπως είναι ο ΠΟΦΠΑ, είναι ωραία εκεί.
  95. Να βρω πιο χρωματιστά ρούχα. Βαρέθηκα τα μαύρα και τα σκούρα μπλε.
  96. Να βελτιώσω τα αγγλικά μου. Κάνω χαζά λάθη και ακόμα υπάρχουν πράγματα που δεν μπορώ να κάνω (να δω κάποιες ταινίες χωρίς υποτίτλους, να καταλάβω τι λένε τα τραγούδια. Αν και, ούτως ή άλλως, δεν ακούω τους στίχους). Επίσης, θέλω να μάθω περισσότερες και πιο εξειδικευμένες, λογοτεχνικές λέξεις.
  97. Να μην παίρνω τον εαυτό μου υπερβολικά στα σοβαρά — το φυσικό μου είναι το χαλαρό, το αστείο, το παράλογο.
  98. Να κάνω περισσότερο σκι (βγαίνει και φτηνά τώρα με την κρίση).
  99. Να συγκεντρωθώ στο να γράφω καλύτερα.
  100. Να επιζήσω το 2012. :Ρ Και μετά το ’13 θα έχει ενδιαφέρον όταν όλοι συνειδητοποιήσουν ότι υπάρχει και ένα αύριο το οποίο θα είναι στ’αλήθεια άσχημο αν δεν ύπαρχει μια μαζική αφύπνιση σε όλο τον κόσμο. Να είμαι μέρος αυτής της αφύπνισης, ώστε το 2012, αν τίποτα άλλο, να είναι μια αυτοεκπληρούμενη προφητεία (προς το καλό).

 

Review: H τέχνη του να γίνεσαι βαρετός με τις ταξιδιωτικές σου αφηγήσεις

H τέχνη του να γίνεσαι βαρετός με τις ταξιδιωτικές σου αφηγήσεις
H τέχνη του να γίνεσαι βαρετός με τις ταξιδιωτικές σου αφηγήσεις by Matthias Debureaux

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Βρίσκεται στη βιβλιοθηκούλα του Υπερωκεάνιου, όπου το ρούφηξα μαζί με τον καφέ μου σήμερα. Είναι ενδιαφέρον το ότι αυτό το μικρό βιβλιαράκι των 50 σελίδων και της μίας ώρας το έχει γράψει ένας Γάλλος που δουλειά του είναι να γράφει για ταξιδιωτικά περιοδικά! Ποτέ δεν ξέρεις αν τις συμβουλές που σου δίνει στις δίνει επειδή τον ενοχλούν συνάδελφα βαρετά ταξιδιαρο-ποζέρια -δηλαδή είναι το απόσταγμα πολυετούς εμπειρίας και μεγάλης βαρεμάρας- ή απλά περιγράφει το τί ο ίδιος συνηθίζει να κάνει (εμπνέοντας χασμουρητά στους γύρω του από άλλη μια δόση εξωτικού λογυδρίου και αντίστοιχης υποχρεωτικής παρουσίασης πολυάριθμων και όχι και τόσο ενδιαφέροντων φωτογραφιών) και θέλει πολύ απλά να εξιλεωθεί, βγάζοντας τα από μέσα του και αναγάγοντας σε τέχνη το χαρακτηριστικό του που περισσότερο τον κάνει κάπως ανεπιθύμητο σε φιλικά πάρτι.

Το βιβλίο μου θύμισε, για άλλη μια φορά, κάτι που κάποτε είχα διαβάσει στο Matador: 6 ways to not be a holier-than-thou traveller. Βέβαια, την ανάγνωση αυτού του άρθρου το οποίο μόλις ανέσυρα από τα έγκατα της μάλλον πρόσφατης μνήμης μου θα την πρότεινα μόνο σε κάποιον που έχει σκοπό το ακριβώς αντίθετο από αυτό που πραγματεύεται το βιβλίο αυτό: να ΑΠΟΦΥΓΕΙ να κουράσει το ακροατήριο του με τις περιπέτειες που είναι ενδιαφέρουσες μόνο σε εκείνον. Χμ. Κάποιον αστείο παραλληλισμό ήθελα να κάνω αλλά μπερδεύτηκα μέσα στην ίδια μου την ειρωνεία. Ας είναι.

«Αν τυχόν έχετε ταξιδέψει, αποφεύγετεε να το αναφέρετε κάθε τρεις και λίγο· οποιοσδήποτε με χρήματα και ελεύθερο χρόνο έχει τη δυνατότητα να ταξιδέψει», έλεγε κάποιο βικτωριανό περιοδικό για ευγενείς κυρίους και παραθέτει με τη σειρά του το βιβλίο. Ας θυμόμαστε όλοι τα σοφά αυτά λόγια την επόμενη φορά που θέλουμε να μοιραστούμε τις φωτογραφίες μας από το Λονδίνο, το Παρίσι ή την Νέα Υόρκη, τις οποίες παρουσιάζουμε λες και δεν απεικονιζόμαστε σε μέρη τα οποία επισκέπτονται εκατομμύρια άνθρωποι τον χρόνο, ή το πόσο ΓΑΜΑΤΟ ήταν εκείνο το ζευγάρι με το οποίο κάναμε CouchSurfing στο Ανατολικό Τιμόρ και πόσο μας έδειξαν όλες τις μαγευτικές μεριές του νησιού που αλλιώς ποτέ δεν θα ανακαλύπταμε και πόσο οι ρυθμοί εκεί είναι τόόόσο πιο ήρεμοι, μέσα στο τροπικό δάσος της Ινδονησίας, εκεί που τα χρήματα δεν έχουν σημασία και οι άνθρωποι είναι μακριά από τον δυτικό τρόπο ζωής…

View all my reviews

Hyperborea

I can’t remember for how long it’s been a dream of mine to see the Northern Lights. To be overwhelmed by their sheer other-worldliness, to lose myself in this phantasmagoria, the proof that magic is nothing supernatural, nothing more “super” than nature at its very best.

This dream of mine was never closer to being fulfilled than now. From the moment I learned that I would be coming to Denmark I started planning my Great Pilgrimage to Hyperborea. The cheapest, if by far the most time-consuming, way to get as close to the Arctic Circle as possible was, I soon found out, to InterRail all the way up from Denmark to Northern Norway. It was not hard to find two other people that shared my dream and felt like joining me. These are some of our stories, of three travellers hungry for adventure, out to see the magic of the world and finding it. Even if not exactly as we expected it when we first set off…

Ana and me woke up early on the 13th day of October. We had a train to catch — the first of many. We packed our bags full of food like bread, carrots, apples, La Vache Qui Rit-type cheese, baked beans… we had heard legends of people going to Norway and dying of starvation because supermarkets were too expensive. We definitely did not want to suffer the same fate. After we made sure that our bags would weigh less than half as much on our way back, we set off. We saw the sun rise over the lazy cow-dotted plains of Jutland, passed to Fyn and before we knew it we had already crossed Zealand and were in Copenhagen Central Station. This was our rendezvous point with Cedric. We didn’t have difficulty spotting him coming out from the train from Hamburg, he was sporting a backpack almost one and a half times larger than my own. If my own bag contained roughly equal parts clothes and food, Cedric’s was almost bursting at the seems from the weight of several tins of ravioli, bottles of wine and beer. We would soon be very thankful he had been extra mindful when it came to food… And so it began.

What will stay with me from this trip:

• We did not see the Northern Lights. Mission failed. All of our nights north of the Arctic Circle were beautifully overcast. But even if they hadn’t been, people told us that it wasn’t a good time of the year to see them. “The aurora is at its most impressive after a big drop in temperature… The best time is in January or February, when it’s really cold and there aren’t so many clouds”. Then why do so many sites say that October is a good time? As far as the Lights go, this is indeed our theme song for the trip.

Play us off Keyboard Cat!

• Cedric’s cool. Riding from Malmö to Göteborg, the city in which, in a parallel universe, we would have changed trains for Oslo, Cedric realised that something was missing from his otherwise stuffed backpack. It was his wallet. Of all places, it had to be Sweden where we would find our pick-pocket. How many of us think of Sweden when we hear about pick-pocketing? I’m beginning to get tired of Nordic nimble fingers. Of course we couldn’t just leave Göteborg and ride into the unknown before Cedric had exhausted all possibilities regarding the whereabouts of his wallet and, most importantly, its contents. He had lost his money, his bank card and his ID. What would you, dear reader, do if this had happened to you on the first day of a long-awaited trip? Ana and I agreed that, for one, we would be freaking out badly. Cedric, however, kept his characteristic cool during all stages of grief. “I’ll get by, I’ll survive. I’m just annoyed that we had to miss the train to Oslo and our plans got messed up”. The next day, in Oslo, when the German embassy told him that at least he could take the next train back home, he didn’t hesitate even for a minute to follow us through. Again, “what’s the worst thing they can do to me? At most they’ll just send me back to Germany. It’s where I’m going eventually anyway.”

• Jan. He was our host in Bodø, the small town we stayed the longest in Norway. He took us to lots of very Norwegian places around the town in his car (including Saltstraumen, even though it was at high tide and wasn’t at all impressive), showed us some new for us electronic music (he was a big fan!) and some documentaries about Life, the Universe and Everything with him, one of them he had made himself. W even talked a little bit about video games.

He helped us a lot by taking us to Fauske where we begun our…

• Hitch-hiking. On the 5th day, we had to hitch-hike from Fauske to Narvik (οur CouchHost Jan was so good as to drive us from Bodø to Fauske. In retrospect, if he hadn’t done so we might not have made it through to Narvik at all). With good spirits we prepared our cardboard sign. On one side it read “NARVIK” and on the other “N↑”. For hours we tried and tried on the side of the E6, aka the Arctic Highway — a name that makes it sound much more majestic than it really is. We jumped around at incoming cars, thumbs outstretched, our best smiles as bright as tiny flashlights in the afternoon light.

Hitching a moose

Tens, hundreds of cars passed us by, few drivers gave us any kind of sign, let alone stopped. Later, we realised that the reason was probably because no-one wanted, or had enough space to carry three extra passengers. We were in the middle of nowhere, 100klm north of the Arctic Circle, moose crossing signs around us, Narvik was 250klm away. Disappointment set in. We began to make our way back to Fauske where we would make our way back to Bodø by train, our ultimate Plan B. And then the unexpected, the unreal happened. A car stopped in front of us after we had already started walking back. A big man in a blue sweater came out.

“Do you want to go to Narvik?”

“Yes!”, I said. This was strange. We were going to the opposite direction, with Narvik facing our backsides and already half-empty backpacks. How did he know that we wanted to go there?

“We will take you there. We will take you to Narvik!”

I froze. I did not know what to make of it. These two people — this man and his wife — were obviously not going to Narvik. However, they wanted to make a detour, a 10-hour one both ways at that, to help us out. In my mind appeared a pair of scales. Weighing down the one side was fear, disbelief, the kind of feeling that would never let you hitch-hike, the feeling people transmit to you when they tell you that in every CouchSurfer lies a hidden serial killer just waiting to kill you in the most tortuous of ways; on the other side there was trust, willingness, adventure, the sense that everything can happen if you just give it a chance. It didn’t take long at all for the latter side to win this recurring internal battle.

Enter Lisbeth and Finn-Ove. They saw us trying to hitch a ride while they were going back home after shopping. “I feel sorry for them”, said Finn-Ove. “How sorry?”, asked Lisbeth. They turned around, picked us up, filled the tanks in Fauske and stopped home to leave the stuff they had just bought before setting out for the road trip. What they had just went out to shop were huge boxes of kitty litter. Turned out that Lisbeth and Finn-Ove are professional cat-breeders. My cat-loving side went a little awry at the thought (mind: it’s the same side that feeds my distaste for small dogs) but once I saw the care they put into their pocket felines, my heart melted. Their house was situated in a small Norwegian village under craggy mountains, over delicious fjords and next to deep forest that serves as a home for curious moose… AND a houseful of beautiful and tame cats, a large home cinema and a fresh box-set of Star Wars in Blu-ray (Finn-Ove’s been a fan “ever since he saw the films on Norwegian TV”). What else might a man want?

Happy-Go-Catty II   Happy-Go-Catty

The next five hours we spent in their car, talking about life, hitch-hiking, cats and their group hierarchy (“fertile females are the leaders”), Star Wars and Norway while outside the windows, fantastic mountains, forests and fjords (and a few moose we stopped to see) were being greeted by the Arctic October dusk that slowly but surely painted the skies black…

Finn-Ove and Lisbeth saved us out of nowhere. We hitched a ride with them for over 250klm of Norwegian countryside. They were an inspiration and a delight to meet and helped me add another experience to fight my fearful and cynic side, a much-needed one: semi long-distance hitch-hiking.

• Betty and her Brain Balancing. Day 7 found us in Stockholm. As usual, nowhere to stay, hey, at least we had a train station to fall back to if all else failed, or at least we hoped that a train station in a capital city would stay open through the night. We sent out an SOS to the world, aka a Last Minute CouchRequest. And voila, one hour later Betty sent us a message telling us she can host us. Off we went to meet this lady that was to be our host in Stockholm, a city which from the two nights we spent there I can say that I loved. It’s a city made of bridges connecting its many islands, with parks and cliffs right next to the river/lake/sea in between. And would you imagine? We saw deer grazing in Betty’s backyard in the morning. Stockholm: breath-taking to walk around in, both at night and during the day.

Back to Betty. Born in Sweden by Hungarian parents, had a daughter (our age) with a man from The Gambia. And I thought I was a child of multi-culturalism… After a much-needed dinner consisting of bread, butter, raspberry jam and Nugatti (read: Norwegian Nutella, only like 10 times better than Nutella), Betty revealed her current profession to us. She is a Brain Balancer. “A psychologist?”, ready to ask was I, but she was quick to add: “Literally, what I do is balance brains. Every brain is to some extent unbalanced. What I do is let the brain listen to its own brainwaves and correct itself in order to move out of ruts and behavioural vicious cycles that activate in situations of stress and fear. This balancing will not alter your personality whatsoever, just open up your possibilities and allow you to step back from your own behaviour in order to be able to observe and modify it.” She invited us to try it ourselves. There is a system monitoring and recording your brainwaves and playing tones into earphones that create a feedback loop for the brain. It is actually very hard to put into words but from what Betty described and from what I can see it looks like a mighty interesting idea. It might sound completely crazy but if I had the money I would try it (ten 90-minute sessions that should be enough to have a permanent effect carry a price tag of close to €2000). I asked her if there is a way to obtain the same results for free and without the brain balancer. She answered that if I purposefully observe myself in weird or dangerous situations and the way I react in order to first be able to witness behaviours programmed into me (do I freeze or go into fight and flight mode?), with some meditation and inner silence I should be able to create the same effects as brain balancing would. Read more here. The interesting thing is that Betty found about this a few years ago through a CouchSurfer of hers and was obviously thrilled. Before that she was a textile designer. Now we learned about this also through CouchSurfing… Around, goes the world.

• Karlstad and Narvik. Two of the nights in the North we had nowhere to stay. No Couchhosts, no money, nothing. I can tell you this: Sweden and Norway are NOT good places to try your life as a homeless person — even though I think that if you have no home, in Denmark at least, the state provides you with shelter. So, in this respect and for a few hours we were far worse off than any Nordic homeless would be. Train stations locked tight, shops and bars closing early, even MacDonald’s providing only temporary shelter and franchise coffee until midnight. A bit of Cinderella magic there. These town were public spaces that after 11PM became non-spaces… In both cases we were outside until the early hours, walking around the city, having our usual incredibly long, deep and often pointless discussions with Cedric (to Ana’s probable annoyance), playing football with plastic coffee cups or trying to sleep at temperatures very close or under 0 °C. Layering clothes didn’t help much to keep warm, nor did running around on the brightly lit but oh, so cold and inhospitable station platforms — the appearance of a semi-friendly fox in Karlstad station, though, at least cheered us up a lot.

Visitor

But let me tell you, for all the shivering and biting cold, the moments of salvation more than made up for it. When our train from Karlstad to Oslo arrived, all warm and cozy inside, or when the station master in Narvik opened the doors half an hour earlier than we expected, at 6:30 instead of 7AM… It was happiness, the same kind of lizard-brain happiness you see in your dog’s or cat’s face when they lie curled up at your feet.

In Lizbeth’s and Finn-Ove’s car, I told Cedric: “When we get to Narvik, we have nowhere to stay…” -“I know…”, he replied, “I look forward to it.”

In Oslo, outside the central train station, we asked some police people (how would you call a police man together with a police woman?) where we could find the police station. They kindly drove us there in their police van, putting us in the little cage they have in the trunk reserved for criminals, hand-cuffs and all. We went crazy. Made me want to steal something so that I could travel in this thing again. Guaranteed nice views.

• I had an amazing time with Cedric and Ana. I had never travelled for so long with anyone I had not been romantically involved with before. Many laughs, similar, relaxed and happy attitudes to things going very wrong. It’s true that travelling with people is the ultimate test of friendship and even though I’ve only been friends with these guys a few months I think we passed the test with flying colours.

• Avoid relying on trains if you want to take in the scenery. You will fall asleep more than you would like. You will also read much less than you expect.

• Most of our expenses in this trip were not for food or alcohol, but for coffee (thank you, Seven Eleven). If you plan to take it cheap (or free), be sure to be able to find or make cheap coffee. We spent €0 on accommodation, if you exclude two of the nights we spent in trains. 5 days of travel in 10 cost us €169 each.

• If you want to go to Scandinavia to drink, you are probably much better off in every way in your own country.

Catching trains while having a hangover at the same time is very possibly the definition of Not Fun.

• Who’s up for the next travel to Hyperborea? This time to really see the Lights?

InterRail Hyperborea Path III
Hyperborea InterRail Path II
Hyperborea InterRail Path I

Halloween Fun with Shae & Whitney

CouchSurfing is great. Halloween can be fun. Shae & Whitney are a couple (my first one!) from the US I had the good luck to host for 3 nights. They left on Sunday — Halloween — when we did a really memorable thing right outside my place. I’ll let Shae do the talking, since she does it so much better than me. It has to do with scary vegetables though, just so you know! And here’s the reference I left them, just as a testament to the real wonder that is CS:

I hosted Shae and Whitney for 4 days. When I met them, I immediately felt like I could trust them completely. They were the first couple I hosted, so I felt the karmic need to return all the great hospitality I had received when travelling together with a loved one. That came out naturally very quickly. Shae and Whitney were excellent, considerate, interesting and interested travellers, passive (in the good sense), open to different suggestions and very relaxed, ready to get to know and take part in Mytilinian student every-day life. I’m pleased that they had a genuinely good time staying with me in this corner of the world! Most of all, I feel this was a more meaningful encounter and that we’ll keep in touch!

Shae’s Blog

Plus*2/Minus*2

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.

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.

Hobo for a day! Also, Rodos.

I’m sitting at a net cafe in Rodos. The past 2 days I’ve slept a total of ~6 hours. I’m watching Eurovision and I wasn’t cheap about it; 6 hours cost 10 euros (that’s what I got ><) and LAN parties here cost around 3 times as much as they do in Mytilini. I mean, ****! (insert favourite 4-letter swear word here). 4 hours of LAN-partying cost  4 euros. And I plan on staying all night here. How did I get myself in such a position? Well, here goes.

I’m in Rodos for two reasons: First, today and tomorrow is the 2nd (now annual) Medieval Festival in the Old Castle Town. I was here last year as well for the very same reason and even wrote a little something for the occasion. Back then of course I hadn’t even thought of such a place as a “cubimension” but it’s on my MySpace blog if you want to read it that badly. Anyway, the second reason I’m here is because my uni’s cultural week (πολιτιστική εβδομάδα) starts on the 27th and goes on till the 31st. During it, groups from all over the uni islands present what they’ve prepared the past year and it’s generally considered a time of meetings, parties and Aegean University students getting together. Basically, what MyAegean stands for. And guess what: I’m taking part as a Mytilini MyAegean representative. That means that I’m staying for free and going home for free! Of course, the university isn’t paying for my fascination for castles and knights so basically till the 27th I have to find somewhere to stay.

Luckily, I’ve found a CouchHost. But he’ll only be able to host me starting tomorrow. And yes, I have no place to stay for tonight. I’m a hobo for a day! I’ve been walking aaaall day long around the town, looking for somewhere to spend the night and generally exploring. I’m exhausted, my legs and back hurt (good thing I’m only carrying around 3 bags… travelling light yes?) and I’m now wondering how I’m going to cope in a couple of months, when me and Alex will be walking this much close to every day! The first day of the Medieval Festival was really good – beer, food with no forks, great medieval music, happenings, swords ‘n’ stuff –  I ended up using Housemaster’s idea: I’m spending the night at a net cafe. But it’s EXPENSIVE!

So Eurovision ended and Greece didn’t win. Thankfully! The Russian song that did, however sucks just as bad as the greek one if not more. ICELAND should have won ;D. Anyway, I’ll try to go to sleep now. I hope the net cafe guys don’t have a problem with that…

What is the opposite of “New Year’s Resolution”?

It is New Year’s Eve. I’m in Aegina at my dad’s and Vasso’s (his wife) new house here. OK, it’s not exactly new, they’ve been living in it for more than a year now, but every time I come here there’s something different about it. I’ve been here since Friday (today it’s Monday) with the owners of the place and Ines, Karina (who unfortunately left for Canada yesterday) and their parents, Nejib and Iro. Lots of names, hooray!

 Right now, Ines is sleeping, and I am sitting at my father’s laptop, thinking… 2007 is over. To be precise, there are about 12 hours left of it. Remember the old song “Πάει ο παλιός ο χρόνος”? The part which went “Γέρε χρόνε φύγε τώρα, πάει η δική σου η σειρά, ήρθε ο νέος με τα δώρα, με τραγούδια με χαρά!”? Every time I hear this part I imagine the year past as an old bearded man who’s about to die. And every time, I can’t help but feel bad for the poor grandpa. He’s dying, but nobody cares. Instead, we’re celebrating about some baby that could very well turn out to be far worse a person than the old man ever was. At this point, I’d like to switch from “pessimistic bastard” mode to something more cheerful:

May 2008 be the best sum of 366 days of our lives. May it be an enlighting, happy, productive and lucky year. Even though they always say something about that February 29th…

Instead of thinking out new year’s resolutions I’ll do last year’s highlights. What exactly made 2007 an even better year than 2006?

2007 Highlights! (highlights below not actually 2007)

  • Trip to Holland: My 10-day adventure in this beautiful country. A trip loaded with suspense, exploration, excitement, self-discovery, and realising just how important friends can be. Wow sounds like some movie tagline.
  • Bass Guitar: After years of patience, finally I took the plunge in April. My progress isn’t exceptional but I’m hopeful!
  • Going strong with Uni: 11 out of 14 1st Year subjects passed. I got the best mark in my year in Interactive Multimedia, several 10ers in the exams and also a 14/14 for the webpage I made for Web-based Multimedia, Synaesthesia.
  • CouchSurfing: A wonderful site I signed up to on my 18th birthday. Ever since, I’ve been looking at travelling from a different point of view. Hosting Charisse and staying with Cies were great moments and I regret that Cies in the end didn’t pass through Mytilini for his world tour.
  • Cubilone’s Dimension: December saw me getting all interested in blogging all of a sudden. The result of this strange interest lies before you.
  • Astronomy and Astrology: Charisse showed me www.astro.com, a good site that details Astrology and its practices. After doing a bit of research, I found out that astrological readings and practices really have some base and that at least character interpretation can be variably accurate. In September I suddenly got very worked up with Astronomy, stargazing and constellations, so my interest in Astrology came back with a vengeance. Now I can proudly say that I’m abolutely captivated by both sides of the same coin, the scientific side and the mystic side. Isn’t it even more awe-inspiring that these two contemporary mortal enemies once were one and the same?
  • Xbox 360: The details of this you can find in the post right below. What a day the 19th was! Crazy… Got to get Xbox Live! soon.
  • Great games discovered/played: Phoenix Wright, Daigasso Band Brothers, Europa Universalis III, Galactic Civilizations II (too hard at parts though), Hexic, Super Metroid, The Orange Box, Super Mario Galaxy, Final Fantasy VI (playing it right now), and others.
  • Shows: I got to watch such wonderful shows as: Samurai Champloo, Fullmetal Alchemist, Firefly (not anime but great nonetheless, must watch!), Death Note, Elfen Lied, and One Piece, which is an AWIP (anime watching in progress, I’m up to episode 62 as of 31/12/07)
  • 1st Medieval Rose: The Medieval Festival which took place in Rodos and which I participated in. There’s going to be another one next Spring, I’m not missing it!
  • Focusing: More and more I get the feeling that I know what I like and what I don’t like in everything… Slowly but steadily, I’m forming a less flexible character that knows, however, what it seeks. That’s both a good and a bad thing, as my general flexibility is one of my strengths… A stable character nonethelss has its own set of benefits. Going into detail about my greater inner change would be too lengthy and theoretical even for me.

OK, that seems about right… What about the year’s disappointments?

  • I’ll only say this: Internet love has potential. Whenever it is not realised, results are mostly tragic. ¬¬
  • I started teaching myself german, complete with book and CD. Unfortunately, I wasn’t consistent enough.
  • I was planning to go on a Eurotrip with friends in summer. It never happened.
  • Still single. Still looking.
  • Still can’t cook properly, with the exception of lentils which are edible. Only by me.
  • The world is not looking all that good at the moment. Especially Greece with hit with many disasters and misfortunes the past year, like the huge fires and Karamanlis’ re-election.

 I’d write a lot more but I’m being distracted all the time! Ines wants us to watch Midori no Hibi and we also have to write to the finnish national park we’re going to volunteer for in the summer…

“Γιατί ο χρόνος δεν υπάρχει
γιατί ο χρόνος είσαι εσύ και οι άλλοι
και κανείς δε γνωρίζει η ζωή που θα βγάλει
κι όλο αυτό είναι μια μεγάλη γιορτή
Κι όποιος είπε “και του χρόνου”
θα εννοεί πως δεν τελειώσαμε φέτος
Ευτυχές και στο χέρι μας το νέο έτος
και πες το μου κι εσύ.”