The near death of an iPodestrian

Whenever my husband and I walk around the city, we bear witness to any number of “close calls” – cars almost hitting other cars or pedestrians, pedestrians balancing so close to the edge of the sidewalk they almost get hit by passing buses, motorcycles risking dangerous maneuvers, etc.. It seems that even if a pedestrian has the right of way here, all bets are off, especially when it comes to taxis. Cross the street at your own peril – and many pedestrians often do. It is the only way to get anywhere in the city. Walking in the city wasn’t totally virgin territory to me, I did go to high school in the middle of downtown Nashville. But if I thought traffic was bad there, boy is it bad here. And Thessaloniki is nowhere near as bad as Athens.

So even though I was used to walking in city traffic, I was definitely not prepared for walking in Greek cities. At first I was a timid mouse, never wanting to cross the street unless I was absolutely sure nothing would hit me. But as I’ve gotten used to our Thessaloniki neighborhood I’ve picked up on some of the aggression of the locals. I know the traffic light patterns, I know when I can cross, and I know what to watch out for. I’m almost at the point of showing my aggression with a big smack on the back of the car when some asshat decides to turn onto Agia Sophia even though there is a throng of pedestrians crossing with the right of way, but so far, I’ve refrained.

Pedestrians here seem to be unusually skilled in walking while talking on cellphones. I can’t walk and talk at the same time. Well, that makes me sound like an idiot. I can walk and talk, but I can’t walk and make nice on a cellphone. Something about talking on a phone requires my complete attention, and since I never mastered the whole patting my head while rubbing my tummy thing (hey, at least I can tell time!), walking and using a cellphone is downright impossible. But most people in Greece seem to be able to make the most adept maneuvers while walking and talking, especially if they have one of those earplug attachments that makes me think we are living in a nation of absolute nutters until I see the wire hanging out of their ear.

Yet, others don’t quite seem to have the hang of walking and iPodestriating. While my husband and I were out the other night, we watched a young woman, totally absorbed in her iPod, step right out into the road in front of a vehicle. Luckily this particular vehicle wasn’t moving as quickly as vehicles usually do, and it waited while Miss iPod stood in the middle of the street, apparently distracted by the voices in her head, and decided, at the last minute, to turn back around and disappear back into the portal she stepped out of. She did finally notice the car as she turned around, but she was saved by the red light. Still, she remained completely unfazed, as if her alien commanders had forgotten to explain to her about cars and their function in this brave new world.

This young woman illustrated one of the reasons I hate distracting devices such as iPods. You just don’t pay attention well enough when you have shit in your ears. I have to have total awareness of my environment to feel comfortable – I don’t even like wearing headphones at home. But I am sure, after some time, Greeks will adapt themselves well to commuting with an iPod. Survival demands it.

A telltale sign

We know that spring has arrived here on our little bay in Greece because the swallows have arrived in force, and full of life. I love watching them, they move so fast and fly so high, and every once in awhile one will dive bomb me repeatedly when I hang the laundry, to my great delight. Sometimes I wonder what stories they have to tell of their winter travels - did they dance around the pyramids, fly up and down the Nile? Did they perch on the face of the sphinx? Did they bathe on the shores of Africa? They'll never tell, but it is fun to imagine. All I know is that their return in the spring is as predictable as the blooming flowers, and each year I look forward to seeing our happy little swallows again.

The wonderful world of animation

I thought I would share with the world a sampling of the work of a good friend of mine. I must warn you, however - I am proud to say it is highly offensive, somewhat immoral, and some of the best X-rated humor for twisted minds. It is most definitely not work safe, depending on where you work, of course. For those of you who still want to watch it, enjoy.


Poodle Tails: Strange Tales From The Pink Poodle

Add to My Profile | More Videos

Only a mother's love can sprout flowers from stone

Demeter shed giant tears of anger and sadness the day Hades stole her beloved daughter away from her fertile mountain home. The nymphs found their punishment as sirens, and the earth became barren while mother and daughter were apart. But the salty, wet grief of the earthen goddess planted magic seeds all over the world that would sprout flowers whether on soil, brick, or mortar as soon as Demeter and her chthonic daughter were again reunited. Dear Persephone, welcome back to the world of the living, where the land blooms again.

Death in America, an ode to siblings

It was a crisp, clear, bright autumn day, the kind of day you drink in with every essence of your being. I was sleepy, woken early by my parents for the drive from Nashville to Blacksburg. But I was excited. Not only were we attending a Virginia Tech football game, I was going to see my brother, a student at VT and horn player in the marching band. The campus was quiet, beautiful, almost idyllic, and I was overwhelmed by my first views of college life.

My brother attended Virginia Tech in the mid-80’s and graduated with a degree in nuclear engineering. His devotion to his alma mater has continued, as an alumnus and frequently attending football games. It isn’t surprising, the mood of the campus that day was intoxicating, and had I showed any inclination towards engineering, science or mathematics, I might have returned there for my own college education. Blacksburg itself was a village filled with charm and friendly people, hip hangouts and the best record store I had ever been in.

I am grieving the shootings at Virginia Tech, the shots that rang out across the peaceful campus, killing many, wounding others, and deafening the ears of college students that today learned one of the hardest lessons life can teach. I mourn the deaths with the families, friends, and teachers, and wish them all peace in the days and months ahead. But mostly I mourn for the siblings who, unlike me, will never again have the joy of seeing their brother or sister on campus after a sleepy drive through the fog laden mountains to that small college town that has lost so much today.

Irony is as irony does

Peaceful demonstrators in Moscow, out to protest what they claim to be Putin's trampling of democratic freedoms, were rounded up by Russian police and arrested to quash hopes of demonstrations against the Russian president.

And yet Mr. Putin denies trampling on democracy, and accuses the protesters of destabilizing Russia. Yes, demanding free elections does cause chaos in a country. You wouldn't want that.

I know Russia is supposed to be new and improved, but I'm having my doubts, between mysterious journalist deaths, radiation poisoning and let's not forget the Ukrainian president Victor Yushchenko's bout with poison.

I still think it isn't the Middle East we have to worry about. My greatest fear is Russia and China forming a strong alliance, and Russia kicking off all the oil supplies to Europe towards China instead. With their growing amiability, I wouldn't be surprised.

He must have been worshipped by Pharaohs

Because we don't want those old crappy 7 wonders anymore

I don't know who had the grand idea to do this, and I think I've blogged about it before, but time is quickly passing to vote for the NEW! 7 Wonders of the World, which will be announced on July 7th.
Everything up for voting has been built or discovered before the year 2000. The Greek government is really pushing a vote for the Acropolis, but I don't know if that is fair, since the Acropolis was on the Ancient Wonders list.

Check out all the merchandising too. They are really going whole hog on this one. If this banner doesn't convince you to vote, nothing will.

The Seattle of the Balkans, a hexagon on Saturn, and Jesus is Lord Kirk

It hasn’t been a very good week. I’m always in a bit of funk around Easter, and to add insult to injury, my parents had to euthanize one of their cats who incidentally was my first cat. Yes, I abandoned her, because I moved to an apartment that didn’t allow cats at the time, and my parents took her in. But it doesn’t mean I’m not sad to see her go. She had kidney failure – not because of the pet food scandal, but because of old age (she was nearly 18). Meow, dear Isadora. You were a fine feline.

I’ve had headaches almost every night, probably because of the sudden return of meat and cheese to my diet. No, actually, I’m almost sure it is an allergy thing, what with the nice weather and having windows and doors open all the time.

At any rate, since I’m not in any shape to entertain, here are a few tidbits from around the web to titillate.

Firstly, there is this fabulous article about Thessaloniki in the New York Times by a fabulous journalist I had the pleasure of meeting a month or so ago. A slice:

Although Salonika, called Thessaloniki in Greece, often loses tourist-brochure headlines to Athens, its growing appeal as a youthful city with an intriguing multiethnic history and an arty counterculture is turning it into something of a Seattle of the Balkans.

Secondly, what the HELL is going on with the hexagon over the North Pole of Saturn? Sure, there are lots of geometric shapes occurring naturally in the universe, but a hexagon? What makes those angles???

And thirdly, the biggest showdown in the Nashville blogosphere since the gas guy was actually a girl, blogger Kat Coble has been threatened with a lawsuit by a business she reviewed honestly on her site. Here is her post detailing the initial response by JL Kirk and Associates, and her posts regarding the lawsuit. The blogsophere is exploding with posts about this, including this really funny one. Does freedom of speech include the right for a business to sue over a bad review? In this case, I don’t think so, because Ms. Coble’s post was opinion and commentary of her own experience, not libelous. Should she be forced to remove the posts? I don’t think so. Did the company in question shoot their own foot with this whole imbroglio? I’m thinking yes.

The "relatives" strike back!

Remember this post?

They have struck again! I brought the envelope up with me on my way home and then went into the kitchen or something. When I came back, Mel had the card displayed on my desk, an evil grin on her face.

Noooooooooooooooo!

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ

24 hours and counting

Well, my husband made his weird, very Christian Good Friday post. I'm not nearly as excited about the prospects of the resurrection, which is obviously difficult when I'm in doubt of the man's existence in the first place. Even so, the Greek Orthodoxites know how to celebrate this week, I'll give them that much. Beautiful services, melodious chants - the whole kit and caboodle. This piece (the 15th Antiphon) is my favorite of the holy week, although the version I linked to is in English (hubby came through with a nice Greek version that can be found here). My husband attended tonight's marathon 3 hour Epitaph ceremony, but I stayed home so I could watch the processionals from the comfort of our balcony, as you can see here:



More importantly, we have just under 24 hours to go in our fasting period. It has been a long 47 days, filled with some good and some bad vegan experiments. Still, I learned a lot, and it will be nice having all these recipes for Wednesdays, Fridays, the two-week fast in August and again at Christmas. I think we've learned how to cut back on our meat consumption, especially red meat, and will hopefully eat more responsibly from now on.

To the Orthodox, kali anastasi; to all other Christians, Happy Easter; to the Jews, Happy Passover and to everyone else, I'm sorry I don't know which holidays you might be celebrating right now so I'll just say be well.

Μεγάλη Παρασκευή

Well, we've done it. We have silenced that annoying jew. The Praetor is safe in his mansion and the Tetrarch can continue lulling our ears with comfortable lies. He's dead. Whipping, stinging, nails-to-the-wood, lance-to-the-side dead. Whew! For a minute there we thought we might have had to face some hard questions, but no. We can keep walking with our eyes closed, that annoying voice silenced forever.

Or is it.

Inventing vegan stromboli

Even though I’m not much of a cook, one thing I am known for is my stromboli. Stromboli is a mainstay of our diet here in the Greek-American household. Normally, however, I load it up with a gut busting amount of mozzarella, veggies, and meats, but that doesn’t exactly work when you are fasting. Earlier in the fasting period I tried making it with shredded soy cheese and veggies, but because soy cheese is so salty and seems to be in the same family as candle wax, I couldn’t use enough of it to really fill the stromboli.

After I made the lasagna last week I had an epiphany. I could use a similar filling, with a few minor changes, add the veggies and voilá! Nice, fat vegan stromboli.

Vegan Stromboli

Crust (this is actually the “New” Betty Crocker Pizza Crust recipe I think – it has been in my head so long I can’t be certain):

1 package yeast
1 C. warm water
2 ½ C. flour
1 t. sugar
1 t. salt
3 T. olive oil

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add flour, sugar, salt, olive oil, and mix well. I usually knead it for a bit, but it isn’t required. Let rise for an hour or until double in size.

Filling:

6 oz frozen spinach, thawed and ground in food processor
350 grams silken tofu
¼ pound grated soy cheese
1 t. oregano
½ t. basil
pinch of salt

Mash the tofu, then mix in the rest of the ingredients.

Chop vegetables as desired. I usually use green pepper, onion, and copious amounts of garlic, but mushrooms, olives, zucchini, and other veggies are good too. If you like your veggies pre-cooked, you might want to sauté them a bit, but I like them crunch so I don’t.

Heat oven to 400 (200 Celsius). Punch dough, separate into to four to six balls (depending on how big your want your stromboli – you can also make it into one or two large strombolis if you like, to be cut up and served). Flatten each ball against your palm and then spread out on greased pizza or cookie sheet. Spread filling on one side, add veggies, then roll the other side over the filling (in a half moon shape) and press the dough together to close. Cook for about 15 minutes or until browned. Serve with warmed pasta sauce, top with grated soy cheese if desired.

What the frak

You wouldn't know it from this picture, but Nala is actually a Cylon.



Actually, she's a NYLON!

Beer, bratwurst, and boot-scootin'

The lovely Dixie Peach enlightened us about a country music establishment in Magdeburg, Germany, called Nashville Saloon. I have to say I find the whole German fascination with all things country quite amusing. I’m not sure why, but of all the countries in Europe to have country music fans, Germany seems the least likely. But, if I think about it, the German predisposition for drinking copious amounts of real beer and drunken revelry kinda goes along with the whole country music scene (admittedly, this view of Germans comes solely from reports on Oktoberfest and from drunken German tourists we often ran into on Kos). But, since Magdeburg is an official sister city of Nashville, perhaps it all makes even more sense.

It seems the owners of the Nashville Saloon visited Nashville, and of course, the Wildhorse Saloon, to get ideas and inspiration (and probably kitsch) for their establishment. At the end of this page, they call Nashville “an elegant southern state metropolis where the future lives in the present”. Indeed. Maybe I should consider opening something similar here in Thessaloniki, thus contributing to the domination of the world by all things Nashville. Hey, if I can’t live in Nashville, I might as well bring Nashville to me!

There's no crying in baseball

Here we are again. Opening Day of the baseball season is upon us, and as I look through our satellite listings I see not one mention of baseball for the next month. I highly doubt I'll see any mention of baseball for the entire season, but a little hope goes a long way. Sure, I can pay $40 or whatever it is to watch games live over the internet, but since these games take place in the wee hours of the morning my time it doesn't really make much sense. Besides, baseball not watched in person or on a proper television is not baseball at all.

Instead of continuing to bitch and complain, I'll link to the Salem's Lots Opening Day post.

Batter up!

The way life should be

If only we would all grow old, be happy, and behave like the old people in my favorite video. I had to share this today, the song is beautiful, and the video always brings a smile to my face.

Learning not to forgive

March 31^st. It is my least favorite day of the year. It is the day of the year I dread the most. It was on this date in 1991 that I experienced the worst day of my life. Since that date happened to fall on Easter that year, Easter has become a holiday I despise. A holiday I resent. It is a holiday that brings so much hope to so many. Christ was resurrected. Nevermind the fact that I don’t believe it, the general focus of this holiday – faith, hope, rebirth – fills me with seething anger. All because I lost someone I loved on Easter. All because fate brought a drunk teenager barreling down the wrong side of the interstate, ending three lives including his own.

Last year, on this date, I talked about my inability to forgive. How I felt that despite it all, I should try to find a way to forgive. I know now not only that I can’t forgive, but I won’t. Only two weeks ago, I learned that a good friend of mine from high school and college, who I had unfortunately lost touch with, had been killed by a drunk driver four years ago. A drunk driver with a blood alcohol level of .38. A drunk driver who already had two DUI convictions before he found his drunken way onto the road and slammed into my friend. Luckily, this man is serving the maximum sentence of fifteen years for killing Sherri, and he was denied his first parole, thanks to a phalanx of family and friends, along with the support of Mothers Against Drunk Drivers. Still, it doesn’t seem like enough. No one has to drive drunk. And to think that there are people out there who have imbibed enough alcohol they can probably barely walk getting into their cars and driving away as if they are invincible. To think that there are people who do this repeatedly, get punished for it, and still don’t change their ways. I can’t forgive these people. I won’t. They don’t deserve my forgiveness. They have robbed the world of three young lives that were worth something, and for what? Simply because they have no common sense. I don’t judge them for being alcoholics. I judge them for driving while intoxicated. I wonder, would they change their ways if it was their son or daughter they had to identify, cold and dead on a metal table?

Perhaps I preach too much about this subject, but it is something that has permanently changed my life. It has changed my personality. Sixteen years have passed, and still it can seem like yesterday. The pain feels the same. The loss feels the same. Does the memory fade as the years pass? Of course. But I know I will never forget exactly what I felt on March 31^st, 1991.

This Easter, if you intend to give a little more, consider donating time and/or money to the efforts of Mothers Against Drunk Drivers. They are a tireless organization dedicated to eliminating drunk driving, and they assist grieving families in their fight to prosecute the drunk drivers who killed their loved ones.

In which I am getting the hang of vegan cooking

Thanks for everyone's wishes to get better, I am doing a bit better today. I still can't hear worth a damn but my tissue usage has been dramatically reduced.

Since we all know good food can make you feel better, I decided to make this vegan lasagna recipe today. It wasn't anywhere near as complicated as I thought it would be, and despite the fact that my husband thought the tofu looked like a big blob of goo, the lasagna was absolutely delicious. We still haven't found any nutritional yeast around these parts, so we just added some shredded soy cheese to the filling mixture. Our lasagna ended up not completely vegan, however, as we discovered that the brand of lasagna noodles we always use (Barilla) contains egg. Ah well. I'll be sure to find a non-eggy brand next time.

The presentation isn't so great, but I'm not as worried about how the food looks as how it tastes. And it tasted gooooood. I am totally in love with SusanV's Fatfree Vegan Kitchen blog. It has made this fasting period much better, that's for sure! Special thanks to DeviousDiva for turning me on to it!

You know you are having a bad day when...

You go into the kitchen to get a paper towel and find the roll is empty (my fault)

You go into the bathroom and are stranded without toilet paper (hubby’s fault)

You turn off the washing machine because you don’t hear it running anymore, and then you realize it hadn't finished the cycle – you just couldn’t hear it because your ears are too full of crap to hear anything

You cough for ten minutes without any relief and you still have that damn tickle in your throat

The outside of your nose is scratched and bleeding from blowing your nose 576 times a day for the past 4 days

The weather, despite it now being spring, is dreadful – cold and cloudy

You get your first mosquito bite of the season on your wrist

You realize they aren’t releasing the Region 2 version of Season 2 of Twin Peaks in one week. While you can buy and watch and enjoy the Region 1 version, you really don’t want the annoyance of too many Region 1 DVDs in your library

You realize that your bad day is nothing compared to the bad days of millions of people around the world who are sick, hungry, homeless, terrorized, brutalized and all the other bad crap that goes on in the world

Perhaps tomorrow will be a better day. One can hope.

Cultural heritage

The Acropolis has been named the first site of the brand spanking new European Cultural Heritage list, to the glee of many Greeks wearing suits. To its credit, I don't know if the Acropolis actually needs such acknowledgment, because it seems sort of obvious to me that it is an important part of European cultural heritage.

It is quite ironic that such a celebration would just now be held for the Acropolis, because it just so happens that the Parthenon in Nashville was recently named the first site of the brand spanking new Best Backdrop for Frisbee Golf list.

And thus, all was right with the world.

P.S. Remind me not to post when I'm jacked up on cold medicine

Ellas, you devil

Since I'm sick and can't think much or do much, I thought I'd put together the meme EllasDevil tagged me with. I'm far too out of it to think provocatively about TooManyTribbles' tag, so I'll stick with this one for now.

10 FAVORITES

Favorite Color: Purple
Favorite Food: Pizza (yes, I’m sad like that)
Favorite Month: October
Favorite Song: It is too hard to pick just one favorite. I love so many different kinds of music, and play according to my mood. If I use my mood today, my favorite song would be River by Joni Mitchell.
Favorite Movie: Again, one favorite? I can’t even narrow down a decent top ten. But I’ll say Annie Hall and make it simple
Favorite Sport: Baseball
Favorite Season: Autumn
Favorite Day: Thursday. Don’t ask me why. It could be ingrained from “Must See TV” Thursday nights on American television.
Favorite Ice Cream: Mint Chocolate Chip (its been a LONG time since I’ve had it though, since you can’t find it here)
Favorite Time of Day: In the spring, when the swallows start their evening play. In the summer, when the sun goes down and it isn’t quite as hot out. In the fall and winter, the hour leading up to twilight time. So basically, right around when it gets dark.

9 CURRENTS

Current Mood: Sickly
Current Taste: Coughing up phlegm. You do the math.
Current Clothes: Purple housedress
Current Desktop: Hubby’s pic of Olympus from our house on Hortiati
Current Toenail Color: I don’t color my toenails or my fingernails
Current Time: 17:27
Current Surroundings: a room filled with multimedia
Current Thoughts: how much longer will I be coughing and blowing my nose

8 FIRSTS

First Best Friend: So sad, I don’t remember. The first best friend I do remember was a girl named Amy from 4^th to 6^th grade, before I moved to Nashville.
First Kiss: I was five or six years old, I took my school friend Craig around to the side of the school and planted a big one on him, to his dismay.
First Screen Name: melusina, always has been, always will be
First Pet: a goldfish named Punkin. That damn fish lived way too long, and survived a move from North Carolina to Tennessee.
First Piercings: have never, will never. I don’t like the idea of infection.
First Crush: I’ve had so many crushes, going so far back, I’m not really sure. It was probably Tony Randall or Peter Sellers, I can’t remember which one came first.
First CD: I have no clue. Once I got a CD player I started buying them in droves.

7 LASTS

Last Cigarette: A clove cigarette, probably two years ago
Last Drink: If you mean alcohol, I had a little bit of wine a couple of weeks ago
Last Car Ride: A month ago? Hell, I don’t remember. We walk everywhere here in the city.
Last Kiss: Uh, my husband. Today.
Last Movie Seen: Jesus Camp
Last Phone Call: My mother-in-law
Last CD Played: The Cure – Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me

6 HAVE YOU EVERS

Have You Ever Dated One Of Your Best Friends: Nope
Have You Ever Broken the Law: Uh, yea. But not lately, unfortunately.
Have You Ever Been Arrested: Nope. But I once had a lot of cop friends.
Have You Ever Skinny Dipped: Nope. I don’t swim. Drowning naked doesn’t appeal to me.
Have You Ever Been on TV: Yea, on a couple of occasions. When I was little they did a news story on living with Lupus.
Have You Ever Kissed Someone You Didn't Know: Ewww, no.

5 THINGS

Thing You're Wearing: my celtic runes wedding ring
Thing You've Done Today: coughed up an enormous amount of phlegm
Thing You Can Hear Right Now: the garbage men
Thing You Can't Live Without: my computer
Thing You Do When You're Bored: watch a favorite series on DVD

4 PLACES YOU'VE BEEN TODAY

The kitchen
The bathroom
The bedroom
The front room

3 PEOPLE YOU CAN TELL ANYTHING TO

My husband

My best friend Risa

My friend Allen

2 CHOICES

Black or White: Black
Hot or Cold: Neither, in between!

1 THING YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE

See the aurora borealis

Playground of the gods

I'm sick with the flu today, so I thought I'd share with you the view from our house outside Thessaloniki. That is Mt. Olympus, across the bay. I hope everyone has a better weekend than I am having!

9th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival: Jesus Camp

Today we saw the Academy Award nominated film Jesus Camp at the documentary festival. I’d been wanting to see it for months, so I was quite pleased when I saw it listed in the program schedule. The movie follows a group of kids as they attend the “Kids on Fire Summer Camp” as well as providing insight into the world of evangelical Christians in America, and how they are recruiting children.

The Greek audience seemed to appreciate some ironies in the film (the area where the camp is held is called Devil’s Lake, for example), and at first I was afraid that it would come across as another “look at the crazy Americans” movie to European eyes. But the documentary was surprisingly fair, not only to the evangelicals portrayed but to the Americans who don’t agree with such extremist ideologies. I suppose the most disturbing thing about the movie was the acknowledgment by the adults involved that they were shaping the minds of children intentionally – that children up to nine years old were the best to indoctrinate with the evangelical “cause” – hoping to imprint their doctrines on them forever. My brother-in-law acknowledged that such fundamentalism exists all over the world, among all religions and in many ways (he mentioned Hitler’s youth, by example). It seems to be very easy for the world to exploit its youth for whatever purpose adults desire, and I feel very fortunate to have been raised by parents who insisted on teaching me all points of view and letting me decide for myself what to believe. But I don’t think the adults in this movie meant to do harm to the children they were teaching, I honestly feel like they felt they were doing the right thing in the eyes of God, other evangelicals, and the world.

The tragedy here is that the kids the film focused on were all very bright, thoughtful individuals who no doubt could offer the world any number of things if given the opportunity. I suppose it is a boon to the evangelicals to have such children among them, although I can’t help but hope that the future opens their eyes beyond the small world they were brought up in.

Jesus Camp is showing again at the Olympion Theatre on Aristotelous Friday night, so if you are in town, I recommend it.

Peace, love, and Pepsi

My husband and I had the pleasure of seeing another Barbara Kopple film at the 9^th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival today. It was entitled My Generation, a documentary focusing on the three Woodstocks of 1969, 1994, and 1999. It was an honest look at the differences between the generations of Woodstockers, and the inner workings (from promotion, advertising, corporate sponsorship, etc.) of the 1994 festival. Unfortunately, the film hasn’t been screened by audiences at large, because Kopple could not find distribution for it, and aside from a few film festivals and the Starz Encore cable channel, the film has hardly been seen at all.

It is a terrible shame that this documentary hasn’t found an audience, because it deserves one. Kopple is very good at honest filmmaking, and she does a brilliant job at portraying the sense of community at each Woodstock. Yet the picture she paints is clear: we can never relive the first Woodstock, each festival belongs to its own generation. There is a lot of exploration in the film about why and how Generation X is so different, mostly from the youth themselves. While watching the movie one can’t help but think of the burdens capitalism has placed on society – Woodstock ’94 was bursting with corporate sponsorship and marketing tools, something that I think couldn’t have happened in ’69 without a lot of backlash. Woodstock isn’t just peace and love anymore – it is peace, love, and Pepsi, among other things. Corporate America is so full of brand names it has branded its own nostalgia. Is that one of the reasons the Woodstockers of ’99 were so full of rage? Yet we all allow it, as consumers we embrace it. We fit their demography, we fall in line, worshipping under the temple of the golden arches (or put your favorite corporate symbol here) as if it were some kind of god. We are addicted to Coke, mesmerized by Sony, titillated by Starbucks. We love it, we hate it, we want to rebel, but it owns us. And as one Italian audience member said in the question and answer session after the show – she doesn’t want corporate America to overtake Europe. Yet she can’t escape it - she finds herself drinking Coke and eating at McDonald’s.

Kopple beautifully splices together some performances from the same people in ’69 and ’94, and uses modern music (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rage Against the Machine, Nine Inch Nails) to help tell the story. In the end it seems to be more than just another documentary about Woodstock – it is a film about my generation, the generation before me, and what is left for the generations to come.

And when Dubya spoke, they all laughed

My husband and I had the pleasure of attending the Opening Ceremony of the 9^th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival at the Olympion Theatre last night. We were lucky we could get an invitation at the last minute, because it was the only screening of Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing we would be able to go to. There were a few dignitaries present, including the American Consul (otherwise known as the woman who didn’t want to speak to me in English), the guy who hosts Cinemania on ET3, the mayor of Thessaloniki, and Barbara Kopple, the woman responsible for Shut Up and Sing (and also one of the documentary film makers being honored at the festival).

We were first entertained by a host of humdrum public speakers, people responsible for the festival who did not seem comfortable speaking in front of a crowd. The mayor of Thessaloniki dared to speak, to the jeers of the Greek audience, which was surprising considering he was recently re-elected by the good people of this city. His speech was met with much rudeness among the crowd – people talking, quite loudly, and one person who thought it would be a good moment to cycle through all their ringtones. It might have been better had they had the civility to shut up and listen. I understand perfectly the resentment of a public official who was elected despite my own wishes, but it doesn’t mean I’m going to behave rudely in their presence. If anything, I prefer to listen to what they have to say, lest they declare themselves king, or something.

Finally, Ms. Kopple gave us a brief introduction to her movie, and all I can say is she really looks good for 60. The movie was entertaining, interesting, and presented with a light edge, but far more fascinating than the picture itself was the reaction of the Greek and European audience. In the early part of the movie, when they showed Bush briefly, talking about going to war with Iraq, the crowd broke out in insane laughter. When Natalie Maines turned to the camera and called Bush a dumb fuck, the entire theatre erupted into cheers and applause.

Such movies cause antipodal reactions for me. On the one hand, it is a factual account of the backlash and ridiculousness of the reaction against Maines’ “anti-Bush” comment, and I appreciate such documentaries. On the other hand, it helps to feed the foreign stereotype about America and Americans - what we believe, how we feel about what is going on, our hatred, our ignorance, whatever. While obviously the film did give a true representation of some Americans, it certainly didn’t represent the whole. Europeans seem to see Americans as simply pro-Bush, completely and unequivocally devoted to the government – and even for pro-Bush Americans, this isn’t what their lives are all about. America, and Americans, are a lot more than the sum of their government. We love, we have pain, we struggle to make ends meet, we worry, we live our lives as best as we can. We may be right, we may be wrong, but we believe in what we believe. Some agree with Bush, some support the war in Iraq, and some don’t.

By the end of the movie it was clear that many opinions had changed about Maines’ comment (and the war in Iraq), but I think the stigma was still there, at least in the minds of any foreigners watching the movie. These movies that so brilliantly point out to Americans what is wrong with their country also present that side of America to the world. While the problems in America might be overwhelming and real, there are still bright spots in America’s present, and hopefully, the future. At least there is still hope.

Temptations in the forest

While wandering around the city yesterday, hubby and I discovered that the promised T.G.I. Friday's had opened on Aristotelous Square. Despite the extreme temptation (and the fact that it would be the perfect place to have dinner before going to the Film Festival tonight) we are resigned to our fasting. But on April 10th, we are there, baby!

It is nice that we now have a real variety of "American" cuisine to choose from when I am really missing home, with T.G.I. Friday's, Ruby Tuesday, and Applebee's all in our neighborhood.

The vegan cornbread acid test

I’m a southern girl, and in true southern girl fashion, I loves me some cornbread. One problem I’ve always had with cornbread recipes is they are either too salty or too sweet, and the search for vegan cornbread recipes has pretty much turned up the same results. So I took a recipe that had the general consistency I liked, and modified it slightly to my own taste. It turned out to be the perfect cornbread recipe for me (a blend of salty and sweet), but if you like sweet cornbread, you might want to try the original recipe.

Vegan Cornbread (not too salty, not too sweet)

1 ¼ cup all purpose flour
1 ¼ cup corn meal
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup sugar
1 ½ cups soy milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 400 F (around 200 C). Grease square pan, 8x8. Mix dry ingredients in one bowl, blend milk and vegetable oil in another bowl and add to dry ingredients. Stir until moist, pour into pan and bake about 25 mins, until knife or toothpick inserted in center comes out dry.

Sadly, I think I like this vegan recipe better than the "regular" recipe I've been using all this time!

Passing exams is hard, so hard, you shouldn't have to

While going through my daily news sites today, I found this gem from Kathimerini:

Some 20 students at the Athens Law School staged a sit-in protest at the offices of the Athens Bar Association, demanding that graduates should not be forced to pass exams to become members. The students argued that it was unfair that 40 graduates failed the latest round of exams.

You know, I really want a lawyer who didn't pass his exams to represent me, because I think in order to aim high you really gotta go low. But really, what kind of expectations does the Athens Bar Association have when they require law school graduates to pass the bar? I think a simple requirement of breathing should be enough, although that might be difficult, since most lawyers are undead.

Because if you can't buy alcohol on Sunday, you can't sin

I used to have friends that worked at the Circle K (a convenience store, sort of the American version of a periptero only bigger) on Belmont Boulevard, and I was a frequent customer there myself. One thing you could guarantee was a rush of beer sales around 1am Sunday morning - an hour before all alcoholic beverages were forbidden, by archaic Bible Belt law, to be sold.

Now I would have expected as a sign of new, improved, modern times, that the bill presented in the Tennessee State Legislature to allow alcohol sales on Sunday might have passed. But it didn't. It didn't even make it past the Senate. Thank goodness the Tennessee Senate has the perspicacity to keep people from buying alcohol on Sundays. Otherwise the state would devolve into some sort of modern day Sodom and Gomoroh.

Spicy black bean goodness

One thing you must understand about me is I don’t take a fancy to cooking dishes that require more than a couple of steps to make. If we get down to cooking, dicing, slicing, grinding, and mashing different ingredients to make the whole I get bored real quick (not to mention, I get turned off by all the dishes dirtied in the process, since we don’t have a dishwasher besides my own two hands). I don’t just get bored, I usually end up screwing up along the way somewhere, because I’ll look at a recipe once before I start and then hold on to a tenuous belief that my memory is a lot better than it actually is. Sure, there are some recipes that are correctly burned into my memory, but these are recipes that I’ve been making since I was an inch high to a june bug so they don’t really count.

So imagine my surprise when I attempted this totally vegan, totally nistisimo Black Bean Burger recipe, and did not get bored. Yea, I was busy. Yea, there were a ton of dishes to be washed, and yea, there was a brown rice explosion that required pulling out the vacuum (never a good sign when you are cooking). But I ground, mashed, cooked, sautéed, and reattached a spinal cord without blinking an eye. And at the end of it all I discovered a yummy new recipe to make brighter these days of fasting.

(Yes, that black bean burger is resting on a Winnie the Pooh plate)

9th Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival

The 9th Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival will be held March 16th through 25th at various venues in the city center. The opening night includes a screening of Dixie Chicks: Shut up and Sing which I have been dying to see, and there will also be a couple of screenings of Jesus Camp, what appears to be a disturbing look at young "soldiers for Christ" in America, which was up against An Inconvenient Truth for best documentary at the Academy Awards.

Interesting documentaries from a variety of countries abound at the festival - for a complete schedule, follow the link.

Leonidas

For the first time ever*, a U.S. motion picture is opening in Greece before it opens in the U.S. Ok, a day before, but still before. Usually, we have to wait months before U.S. movies hit Greek screens. 300 has gotten a lot of buzz here in Greece for obvious reasons, and I hope it isn’t as much of a disappointment to Greeks as Troy and Alexander ended up being. Of course, it is a very different kind of movie, so it might be hard to be disappointed.

There was a special Greek premiere of it in Sparta last night, but I haven’t heard anything about it. It may just be the impetus to send my husband and I to the movie theater in the next week. We shall see.

*Ok, I realize this probably isn’t the first time ever, but still…

Update: Reaction from the mayor of Sparta, who claims the film has no historical inaccuracies.

Photo from Kathimerini

Nistisimi brownies, or how I found the love of my Lent

We are now just over two weeks into the six week Lenten fasting period, and hubby and I are doing fairly well. We have experimented with vegan recipes, scoured the city for vegan ingredients (flax seed, soy products, tofu, black beans) and been fairly satisfied with our new all-vegan nistisimi (fasting) diet.

One big problem, however, is that my husband is a confirmed chocoholic, and while I don't consider myself as such, I do have my chocolate cravings now and then, especially for brownies. Alas, my super special Betty Crocker Brownie Mix is far from vegan, so I searched the net to find an acceptable brownie recipe. I found one that I endeavored to change a bit to my taste, and thus have found the vegan brownie of my dreams.

Nistisimi Brownies

2 cups all-purpose flour 1 3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup water 1/2 cup soy milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil (for gooey and less cake-like brownies, omit the milk and use 1 cup oil)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350° (175° C). Lightly grease a 9x13 baking pan with a light vegetable oil spray or other vegetable based shortening (like Crisco).
In a large bowl, stir together dry ingredients. Pour in water, soy milk, oil and vanilla; mix until well blended.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until top springs back and toothpick or knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting.

Sure, it isn't quite as good as a non vegan brownie, but it is pretty delicious for a vegan delicacy. It will certainly serve the cravings for now.

Big pimpin'

I realize the show Extreme Makeover has been on and off the air in America for some time now. It hadn't yet made it on air before I moved to Greece, so when it started coming on late nights on one of the local Greek channels, my husband and I have had occasion to watch it now and then.

Being a doctor, my husband is more interested in the surgery part, which doesn't get much airplay on this show (unlike Dr. 90210, which is more surgery than I want to see, thankyouverymuch). Still, we both have a fascination with the reveal and the before and after pictures. Some of these people get MAJOR work done, and look like totally different people in the end. And that seems weird to me, especially the people who have children. If my mom or dad had gone through major face-altering surgery I don't think I could have accepted it - I wouldn't even let my dad shave his beard for goodness' sake.

After last night's episode, which showed some extremely extreme makeovers, my husband turned to me and said "You know what? This show is just like Pimp My Ride!"

Indeed. But I think we need to quit watching so many reality shows.

You got your explosives in my peanut butter!

In the realm of what appears to be recently declassified information, a Greek newspaper has disclosed that Greek and U.S. authorities discovered and seized a large cache of explosives from the basement of the Iraqi Embassy in Athens in March 2003. Among the items found were car bombs, detonators, guns and several rounds of ammunition. To their credit, I don’t think a certain number of guns and ammo is that unusual for the protection of an embassy, however, I certainly question the presence of explosive devices. Apparently, this was all done discreetly prior to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, and a suggestion has been made that there might have been plans to stage some sort of attacks during the 2004 Olympics.

Ironically, this occurred at the same time as the deportation of the number two Iraqi diplomat from Greece. The two incidents are surely connected.

In no way do I think this could even in part help to justify the war against Iraq, however, the incident is of course quite suspicious. No embassy needs a cache of explosives for its own protection. Guns and ammo, yes. Explosives, no. Yet most diplomats have their own agendas, whether they represent their home country or not, so it is entirely possible that this had nothing to do with the Iraqi government, and only the diplomat that was expelled, otherwise I would think the whole embassy might have been closed.

Who knows. All I can say is I am glad they discovered it when they did and prevented something awful from happening on Greek soil.

Oddities abound in advertising

As my husband and I enjoyed our new found supply of Dr. Pepper, we noticed the can contained what appeared to be the U.K. slogan for Dr. Pepper. There have been a lot of famous slogans for this popular soft drink over the years, including the one closest to my heart - "wouldn't you like to be a Pepper too?" - but this one takes the cake. It is even weirder than the past Mr. Pibb slogan of "put it in your head".


Honestly, if the best they can come up with is "what's the worst that could happen?" they either need a new advertising agency or they've simply decided they don't need catchy phrases to sell Dr. Pepper anymore. Because the worst that can happen can range from being eaten by a roving pack of wild pigs to global nuclear war to finding maggots in your can of Dr. Pepper, so I really don't think they want to go there. Perhaps next year the slogan can be something along the lines of "better than getting rug burn on your bum".

Dr. Pepper. Indeed, it makes the world taste better.

Blood moon

Should Saturday night prove to have clear skies, a total lunar eclipse will be visible to Greece, along with the rest of Europe, Africa, and Western Asia.

The eclipsian (ok, that's not a word) time table from NASA is as follows (UT is the same as GMT):

• Penumbral Eclipse Begins: 20:18:11 UT

• Partial Eclipse Begins:  21:30:22 UT
  

• Total Eclipse Begins:  22:44:13 UT
  

• Greatest Eclipse:  23:20:56 UT
  

• Total Eclipse Ends:      23:57:37 UT
  

• Partial Eclipse Ends:  01:11:28 UT

• Penumbral Eclipse Ends:  02:23:44 UT
  

For Greeks, the eclipse will pass between 2230 and 0430, with the peak of the eclipse between 0100 - 0200. North and South America will be able to view part of the eclipse at moon rise, and Eastern Asia, Australia, and New Zealand at moon set.

We can expect some cool color changes on the shadowed moon, but don't be too superstitious, because lunar eclipses happen up to three times a year.

R.I.P. Ronald

I’m really glad that Prince Charles has enlightened nutritionists by telling them that banning McDonald’s is the “key” to controlling the problem of obesity in children in the U.K. Because McDonald’s is the only food that will make you fat and obviously all fat people eat at McDonald’s. All this from a man who watched his young, beautiful wife destroy herself with bulimia.

I know McDonald’s isn’t the healthiest choice on the block, but I think telling people they can’t have something is the absolute worst way to go about fighting obesity or teaching people in general how to eat healthier. Since I have problems with my kidneys thanks to SLE, I have had professional advice in the past on how to cut back on saltier foods. At the time, Taco Bell was my favorite food (yes, I was a teenager then), which seems like it wouldn’t be a good place to eat if you were trying to avoid salty food. Yet the nutritionist, armed with the nutrition information on Taco Bell foods, went over the list with me and told me how I could eat a reasonable meal there, by doing things like not eating the shell of the taco salad, not adding the taco sauce, etc. She didn’t say “don’t ever eat there”, but of course she told me I shouldn’t eat there often. Still, she took a lot of time and energy teaching me how to make smart choices even while eating out, and that kind of advice actually sunk in.

“Big” government these days seems to be awfully keen on simply banning things that might hurt us (except for cigarettes of course) instead of spending money on helping to teach people to be responsible. Sure, it won’t work with everyone (I’m not doing so well watching my salt these days, unfortunately), but a little bit of nutritional knowledge can go a long way to helping people make better choices in their diets, instead of prohibiting certain things and doing what seems to boil down to a criminalization of obesity. In the end, it is better to have a nation of overweight people who are making healthier choices most of the time, and getting exercise on a regular basis, than have a bunch of unhappy, lethargic obese citizens. Simply telling people “you’re too fat, you can’t eat at McDonald’s” isn’t going to change one damn thing, unless you strap them to a treadmill and force feed them tiny bits of salad and fruit three times a day. But I wouldn’t want to give anyone any ideas.

We give alcoholics, drug addicts, cigarette smokers and sex addicts the tools they need to improve themselves in a world filled with temptations, you’d think the world could give the same consideration to anyone with a weight problem, no matter how much of a problem it is.

You can't miss the bear

Last night was another fun night with my husband's colleagues - and they brought their wives/girlfriends this time. Generally speaking I wouldn't dare fraternize with doctors, but I think the psychiatric specialists are more entertaining than their colleagues who choose "hands on" specialties, probably because psychiatry lies close to the fields of study of the humanities. Yes, I'm a snob like that. It isn't that I have anything against doctors, they have saved my life on a couple of occasions. But I've been poked and prodded enough by them to not really take a shine to fraternizing with them, if you know what I mean.

The taverna chosen for our gathering just so happened to be in the village where we are finishing our new house, a small mountain hamlet with some dramatic history and all the character you can possibly imagine for such a tiny place. The restaurant had a typical mountain hunter theme, and of course featured a wide variety of fowl and beast on the menu (perfect for fasting!) - including kangaroo, ostrich, wild boar, and woodcock (is that really a creature? I've heard of woodchuck, but not woodcock). Adorning the walls and ceiling were stuffed animals of all sorts, including an owl swooping overhead. There was even an arrow shot into the ceiling. Those mountain types take their hunting themes seriously. (Yes, I really wish we had taken the camera with us, although no doubt we'll be going back there)

Still, the environment held a certain charm, and in an odd way added to the festive atmosphere of the evening. We were chatting away, enjoying our food, and suddenly, behind us appeared a giant, lop eared bunny. Ok, not GIANT giant, but giant compared to most bunnies I've seen. It hopped around, enjoying itself, oblivious of the fact that the remains of his family and friends were lying on our table. Putting aside the obvious health code violations of having a rabbit hopping around a restaurant, it certainly added to the entertainment of the evening, although honestly, I can't say I ever expected to see such a thing.

Just when I think I've seen it all something else always comes hopping along to surprise me.

We don't speak English here

I went to the U.S. Consulate today to pay them money for a service that would be free if I was a Greek citizen (because believe it or not, the Greek government hasn't yet discovered that they can squeeze every blood sucking penny out of their citizens for mundane tasks). I spoke in English, and ironically, they kept responding to me in Greek. Even the Consul apparently had some problem replying to me in English, because she kept speaking Greek.

I appreciate that they need to know and speak Greek fluently to work at a consulate here in Greece, but it is the one place I expect to be answered, and spoken to, in English. They knew I was American, they could tell I was speaking in English. I'd hate to think what would happen to an American who didn't know much Greek should they need consular support in Thessaloniki.

I'll chalk it up to the fact that they probably deal with more Greeks than Americans, and hope the next time I have to pay them money for nothing, they'll do me the courtesy of speaking in English.

If I had live blogged the Oscars

3am - Oh, crap. The ceremony starts at 3:30, not 3. I'll never be able to make it through the whole thing

3:05 - My husband is snoring really loud, I can't hear the T.V. Hopefully he'll quiet down before the show

3:25 - I love, love, LOVE Reese Witherspoon's dress, of course, I'm a sucker for purple. My second favorite was Cate Blanchett, who always looks divine.

3:35 - Bored already

3:43 - Ellen is rockin' on the jokes

3:50 - Hubby still snoring too loud. Will poke him.

3:51 - Hubby ignoring the poke.

4:13 - Sound effects choir pretty cool

4:15 - Hubby stopped snoring, yay! I hope he is still breathing. Maybe I should poke him.

4:16 - Hubby still breathing.

4:20 - I'd like to thank people for putting me to sleep by thanking people. I think your thanks and gratitude is understood, besides, you can do it better in person. I know it makes people moist to be thanked on international T.V. but honestly, none of us give a frak.

4:25 - Yay for Alan Arkin! But seriously starting to drift off...

4:30 - If I have to see the robot Johnnie Walker commercial one more time I'm going to fall aslee...zzzzz

5:00 - Zzzzzz

5:30 - Stupid T.V. woke me up. Click. Zzzzz.

6:00 - Zzzzzz

And no, I have no idea who the big winners are. I'm going to try to prevent myself from finding out until I watch the rerun tonight. I better quit browsing the web, then.

Oscar night blues

Tonight marks the famous Academy Awards ceremony, and I'm not sure if it is worth staying up til 6am to see the same people win the same awards they have won at the last three major awards ceremonies (Golden Globes, Actor's Guild, BAFTA). I don't know if there was always this much consistency amongst award ceremonies, and I just never never noticed, but it seems to me the Oscars, at least when I was little, used to have an air of uncertainty about it. Now it appears to be entirely predictable, with the exception of Best Picture, which seems to pick its winner depending on the country and style of the award ceremony.

Of course, I could be wrong, and tonight's show could totally blow my mind. But I doubt it. The only thing that makes it remotely interesting is the host, since Ellen Degeneres has been known to be funny in the past. Then again, I can watch the rerun here tomorrow at a reasonable hour if all I care about are the jokes.

At least I know my habitual insomnia will have some television company should I find myself awake and alert still at 3am.

The true meaning of multimedia

I was never a fan of the T.V. show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, partially due to the fact that I never took the time to watch it. I did see the movie and enjoyed it for what it was worth, but I can't say it is one of my favorites or that if it came on late-night Greek T.V. I would watch it.

Still, I find it fascinating that Season 8 of the series is being released in comic book form. This will no doubt thrill die hard Buffistas, but it is also a gleaming tribute to the multimedia world we now live in. We have a chance to pull out all the stops as far as creativity goes, in any format, anywhere. Sure, we'll no doubt be exposed to a lot of sheer crap because of it, but that is part of life.

Beware, vampires. She that owns the multimedia market wins.

Wouldn't you like to be a pepper too?

Today, as we ventured forth to Kosmas Delicatessen (the place in Thessaloniki for a wide variety of Asian, Mexican, British and American foods) to search for tofu, we found a pleasant surprise.

Most of my friends back home know of my insane love affair with Mr. Pibb (which apparently has been whored down to a brand new flavor as Pibb Xtra, I'm sad to say). But, it was unavailable in Nashville for most of the time I was living there, except towards the last few years when it started showing up in restaurants. There was a brief time that I had worked out a "deal" with the Coke bottling plant to send a couple of dozen Mr. Pibbs to Compton's on 21st (when Compton's was Compton's and not Harris-Teeter) for me now and then, and every once in awhile a friend who frequently went home to Virginia would come back and leave a couple of cases on my porch unexpectedly - so I had a supply. But it didn't last forever. So, grudgingly, I had to make do with Dr. Pepper. I can't really explain exactly what made Mr. Pibb taste better than Dr. Pepper, because they were quite similar, but I liked it better.

Of course, there is no Dr. Pepper in Greece. There are hardly any soft drink choices at all, compared to the U.S., which is probably a good thing. But at this point I've been so long without my dark, sugary master I'd settle for diet Dr. Pepper. Since I think diet soft drinks come directly from Satan's saliva, that is saying something.

Kosmas Delicatessan is pretty much a crap shoot each time we visit. Some things are standard, it seems (condiments, teas, Asian and Mexican goods), but some things aren't. Sometimes they have graham crackers, sometimes they don't. Sometimes they have Pop Tarts, sometimes they don't. You just never know what you might find there, so we try to go once a month, just in case.

Today as we were walking through I asked my husband to go back and check their mottled drink selections. They've had root beer and ginger ale before, and I kept hoping that some day they would get Dr. Pepper. I was actually approaching the point where I might have asked for it, but to my delight, today they had four cans of it! FOUR WHOLE CANS OF DR. PEPPER. My life is now complete. And they had a couple of cases of Dr. Pepper Zero for when I need to switch to the dark side.

Now, if only they would get some Cap'n Crunch, I would be a happy, happy woman.

How to be a vegan in 47 days

Yesterday began another season of fasting for Greek Orthodoxites, which means forty-seven days of trying to figure out what the hell to eat in our little Greek American household. I have written before about my attempts to support my Greek Orthodox husband in his quest for faith by fasting on Fridays. Since then, we have managed to sometimes fast on Wednesdays as well, and we managed two weeks of fasting during the forty day period before Christmas. The priest was not surprised that my husband had succumbed to the temptation of “the meat”, but the reality is that he succumbed more to the temptation of cheese and chocolate.

For these longer fasting periods I’ve had to get creative, since there are maybe five vegetables in the known universe that my husband and I will both eat. Greece, ironically, does not have a plethora of vegan products available readily like they do in America. We have to hunt for whatever we can find, which has so far boiled down to soy milk and soy meat product. If we can find soy cheese, it will be a windfall. I’m lukewarm to soy milk, but it can be used as a milk substitute in some recipes so that works. The soy meat product is by far one of the weirdest edible substances I have ever met. In the bag it looks like cereal, once cooked it resembles something a dog would throw up and then eat again. Still, we managed to make vegan chili with it relatively successfully, so it’ll do. It certainly expands our eating choices, as we can make soy burgers and tacos and such with it. I tell you, you really gotta love your husband to agree to eat dog vomit for seven weeks, but I don’t really have a good reason not to, so there you go.

Will we make it until April 8^th? God only knows. We are certainly going to try. Since I’m almost assuredly going to hell anyway, it doesn’t matter if I break the fast. But I know it is important to my husband, so I’ll do my best to help him stick with it, cheese and chocolate be damned.

Ode to a Grecian Strawberry

Thou still unravish’d berry of Spring,
Thou fruit of farmers and slow labor,
Sylvan consumer, who canst thus bring
A sugary odor as sweet as its flavor:
What succulent recipes emerge from thy flesh
Of shortcakes or cobblers, or of both.
In kitchens across the expanse of Hellas?
What cakes or pies are these? What sweets?
What mad temptation? What struggle to resist?
What sighs and moans? What taste of heaven?

- Taken with inspiration from John Keats’ famous ode

I hate to say it, but...

I was never a fan, but I'm starting to feel really bad for Britney Spears. She has emerged from a bad relationship broken, obviously, and everything about her life is public. I can't imagine going through such a thing in the public eye.

I really hope she gets the help she needs. Hell, I hope she understands she needs help, and more than just a rehab type situation.

Dorian Gray has nothing on me

Signs I am getting old:

On TV someone was playing with one of those hand-held gaming devices. I pointed to it and asked my husband if it was one of those new PCPs.

I can't eat anything the least bit spicy or acidic without taking a generous dose of antacid, lest I choke to death on mini-vomit. But I'm not so old to refuse eating spicy or acidic foods. Yet.

Sometimes when I stand up, I groan. Even worse, it happens sometimes upon sitting down.

I can't listen to The Cure (pre-Disintegration era) without falling into intense feelings of nostalgia.

I don't get young people. Of course, I didn't get young people when I was one, so maybe that doesn't count.

Sometimes, when listening to music, I find it to be too loud. Good thing the volume doesn't go to 11, I can't even make it to 6 anymore.

I threw away a fork while I was looking right at it.

Every youngish actor and actress on TV or in the movies is younger than I am. Even the ones that look older than I do.