To draw on a wall, or not to draw on a wall?

It was saturday today! (Still is actually, but the sun has set by now.) What is saturday in my neighbourhood? Market day! Being sick the past couple of weeks, it had been ages since I last went. Did you know it's artichoke season? Which creates the question: should I try cooking fresh artichokes, even though cleaning them is a drag, or should I just stick to frozen ones?

On my way there, I passed through an underpass (because I live near central main roads, bleurgh!) and was hit by the smell, not of car fumes, no, but of spray paint. You know what I mean, sort of sickly sweet and a bit ozony. On the other side of the underpass (near the council housing - or worker's housing as we call it - because I live in a working class neighbourhood, yay!) I came across the youngest taggers I have ever seen (at two o'clock midday!). I think the oldest must have been eleven or barely twelve and the youngest seven or eight. Or maybe they were just all very short and young looking...

So tagging, yeah. What do you think of it? I'm all for graffiti and street art. It greatly improves the dreary dirty grey walls of my city and there are a number of good graffiti/street artists active in Athens.


Case in point:





But tagging? Not so much. It's uninspired, messy and has no discernible aesthetic merit.

Not all days are good

So I'm still sick. I thought I was over it, but today I started feeling awful again. I don't have anything serious enough to stay home and lay in bed all day (doesn't that sound wonderful?), it just bad enough for me to drag myself through the motions of day while lost in an uncomfortable fuzzy headed exhausted daze and collapse into a catatonic heap once at home.

Today was a weird, inauspicious day. It was colder than usual (2C-9C! for us that's cold!), and I had to drag myself out of bed earlier than usual to give in my VAT at the Tax Office (once there, I found myself trapped in an incredible snail-like queue - both in pace and shape -, but that's another story).

On the ridiculously long and winding bus ride there, I passed by a school at the time all the kids were arriving, only to see police cars with flashing lights, an ambulance and a empty stretcher being wheeled out it. You know, the sort of thing that gives you a shock and a strange clenching feeling. I never found out what happened, but my guess is that a kid was hit by car, seeing as the school is right on top of a big busy road.

Later on in the office, as I was trying to overcome the ringing in my head and get some work slowly done, the boss arrives and the first thing he says is "Guess what? So-and-so is dead." Now that was hit straight to the solar plexus! The guy was the architect and head of the Voula town planning office. In other words a man I saw pretty often, had talked to numerous times and who for some strange reason always remember my face and greeted me when he saw me. He was also very good friends with my boss.

Ok, he was practically a stranger to me personally, but yet he wasn't old (in his early fifties), in good health and always in good spirits. A rather handsome pleasant man for his age. He lived alone and it took them two days to find his body. My first reaction to the news was "How did it happen?", our secretary asked "Did they off him?", while our civil engineer said "Did he commit suicide?". That last shocked me even more.

So, um, I'm feeling strangely raw and upset by the death of this man I hardly knew.

Staying in

Yesterday I was thinking of this song on my way home from work.

"I travelled the world for years, you just stayed in your room."

That's me. I feel like I'm spending all my days alone in my room, and it's getting me down.

But not today. Today is a warm sunny day, and once I get the food shopping done, I'm going for a walk. Most probably to look at some shops.

Crossing the Isthmus

I went on a day trip on Sunday! After spending most of my christmas holidays lazing about at home in the dark, it was about time I got some fresh air. And what a lot of fresh air there was to be had!

A friend of a friend had organised a trip to Ancient Corinth with some friends (are you confused yet?), and somehow I got asked along. Never one to turn down an opportunity to travel (especially if someone else is driving!) I decided to accept the invitation.

This friend's friend is an architect (as am I, by chance), and as you should know architects frequently travel in packs. Out of the twelve people on the trip, eight of us were architects! So it was quite enjoyable. The company was good and so was Ancient Corinth.

To be completely accurate, we didn't actually go to Ancient Corinth, we just passed through. Our actual destination was Acrocorinth, the ancient and medieval castle on the very tip of the mountain that looms over Corinth. It was a beautiful big place, with long walls, impressive views and completely overrun with greenery.

Being typical Greeks, once we walked our fill of the huge acropolis, we went to eat. And eat we did, with gusto and plenty of appetite. (There is something very satisfying about ordering large amounts of food, don't you think?)

The only downside of the whole outing, was that it became painfully obvious from the very beginning that everybody else besides me and my friend were couples. Why oh why is everyone my age in a couple? How are singletons like myself ever going to meet anyone, if everyone is already paired off? At least I was saved from the pitying looks couples give us singles, by the fact most of them seemed to be under the erroneous impression my friend and I were together (a rather hilarious misconception that never-the-less is quite a common occurrence).

The holidays are over

Today was Theophania, or Epiphany I think it's called in English, the Fete of the Lights. And the official end of the christmas holiday season.

So how about some Christmas cats?

The art of rioting

I was going to post something light-hearted, but then I heard we once more have rioting in Athens.



It seems the greek police are steadfast in their habit of killing children. A couple of years ago one of them shot a fifteen-year old from the suburbs for no good reason. Tonight a motorcycle cop, collided with a seven year old roma girl who had gone carol singing. They say he pulled her along for at least 150 metres before stopping. Way to go, police! And then you wonder why you're universally reviled...

So, yeah, I'm not in the mood for light-hearted any more. More often than not lately, I feel really embarrassed about my country.

2011 is here.

It's almost eight in the morning of the first day of 2011!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

I hope you all had fun on New Year's Eve and drunk just enough to have a good time!

All my guests have gone home (I had a little gathering at home to see the new year in), the mess has been cleaned up, the left overs are in the fridge, the washing up has been done, the kitchen is full of bottles and the sun has risen!

I am off for bed.

But before that, I would like to post the first art of the year!

Beware of Who you might find under the mistletoe!



Why yes, I'm a geek!