Is there a better way to tell the world you're an asshole?

Supreme Court prosecutor Giorgos Sanidas moved yesterday to block the country’s first gay marriage after the mayor of the island of Tilos said he was willing to go ahead with the ceremony.

Sanidas intervened to stop the ceremony that has been planned to take place this summer by declaring same-sex marriages illegal.

“Marriage between gays is not provided in current legislation and the Constitution,” said Sanidas in a circular sent to prosecutors in Rhodes. The prosecutor also said the mayor of Tilos, Tassos Aliferis, would face criminal charges if he went ahead with the wedding.

I guess Greece isn't interested in staying in the E.U. Honestly, if a mostly Catholic country like Spain can allow gay marriages, an Orthodox country like Greece can do it too. And for those people who say that gays can take advantage of the system by getting married, plenty of heterosexual marriages are farces - maybe we should ban all marriage.

For a Phoenix that won't rise from the ashes

Here's to a safe landing for the Phoenix Mars Lander. I'll have my fingers crossed tonight.

I'm so ready to learn what Phoenix can tell us. Will Mars show signs of habitability? I really hope so!

UPDATE: First possible landing confirmation could come at 16:53 pacific time (02:53 Greek time).

UPDATE #2: Phoenix had a successful landing! Looks like Team Earth is finally going to tie the score!

Forget the minotaurs...who wants to see tourists?

Crete. It is an island that invokes intrigue amongst Greeks and foreigners alike with stories of the Cretan mafia, monstrous facial hair, the mystery of the disk of Phaestos, minotaurs, and Minoan castles. Yet, despite its deep cultural and historical roots, it is also an island ripe for tourism. The latter is the island we visited last week.

The travel agency arranging the conference booked us on two flights with two different airlines to get to Crete, which means that what amounted to about 85 minutes in the air took us about 7 hours, most of that time spent waiting in airports. You’d be surprised how tiring just sitting around an airport is, although my husband was quite delighted at the two hours we got to spend on the observation floor of the Athens airport (as evidenced by this photo, one of ten million he took of planes on this trip). We got to Iraklion around 11pm, and thankfully there was a nice comfy bus waiting to transport us to our hotel, which would take another thirty minutes of travel time. During that time we discovered something new about Crete – about every mile there was a Russian sable fur shop, and most of them were still open that late at night! Now, I try not to make assumptions as to what these shops are really about, but I’m still trying to figure out why someone on Crete would wear fur, considering it never gets that cold on the islands. All I could figure is maybe these are discounted prices aimed at Northern tourists on the island. Anyway, apparently Crete has a Russian population, which was news to us.

Our hotel was the Albatros Spa & Resort Hotel, located within walking distance of the conference center in the Hersonissos beach area. We weren’t quite sure what to expect, but we had a rather large room with a balcony overlooking the pool area and it was quite lovely. Various views from our balcony:

While my husband attended lectures all day, I either sat near the pool (but in the shade, of course) or on our balcony and read or listened to This American Life podcasts while spying on the activities poolside. Apparently, all the resort hotels in this area (maybe in all of Crete or Greece?) have something called “Animation events”, which is basically a euphemism for annoying activities that piss off old people. The “Animation team” at our hotel consisted of two guys who constantly bothered people by the pool to participate in yoga, darts, quizzes, dances, and other wacky activities while blasting a stereo to eleven with the most annoying music possible. One of the guys was rather interesting to spy on, as he was constantly flirting with the sparce population of single girls by the pool. We actually witnessed him going off with these girls, I’m sure it was easy for him this time of year when the majority of tourists seem to be older couples or people with families.

On Thursday night we went to a small village a few kilometers away to meet up with some of my husband’s colleagues at Taverna Sofas:

My husband and I considered going to the archeological museum and the aquarium in Iraklion (I wanted to see the palace at Knossos, but that was out of the question due to the sun and my disabilities – we weren’t sure if it was handicapped accessible or not), but we decided to just enjoy lunches in the shade by the pool at our hotel and strolling along the beach promenade in the evenings, which was gorgeous and quite relaxing.

View from cafe along the promenade

The promenade

As if we couldn't tell....

It was a never ending stream of people watching – and the tourists seemed to come from everywhere, so it was fun hearing a confluence of languages all around us. The tourists there seemed to prefer to not have a “Greek” experience – when it came to food they wanted steak, and most of the restaurants around the promenade catered to tourist tastes with menus that included steaks, pizza, and general types of foods, with very few Greek dishes. The Greek dishes they did have seemed to be “dumbed down” for the tourists, so when we got back home I was clamoring for dinner at a real Greek taverna. I do have to admit that the pizza I had at the “Il Camino” restaurant was quite good, and there was a café called “Dolce Vita” that had excellent homemade ice cream (mint chocolate chip – I was in heaven!). Basically, if you plan a trip to such a place, don’t expect traditional Greek fare. I’d hunt around for some locals to tell you good places to go for Greek food (Sofas was ok and had a Greek menu, but it still seemed a bit “touristy”).

I don’t think I’ve had such a relaxing vacation in a long time. It was nice not being concerned about museum closing times, where we would get a cab, how long it would take to get there, etc., so in a way I’m glad we didn’t plan to do those touristy things, even though I’d love to see the Phaestos disk in person, and I’m still bummed I didn’t catch sight of the minotaur. Maybe next time.

Vacation blues

There are a few reasons why I don’t like to travel. One of them is what I call post-holiday depression, a terrible low I go through after coming home from a nice vacation. It isn’t that I don’t like being home, quite the contrary. But when your travels have been enjoyable and you don’t often have the opportunity to go away, it is a bit of a letdown when it is over. I suppose it is stupid to use this feeling as a reason not to take a trip, but I’m really not sure if a couple of days of fun are worth a week or two of depression.

To add insult to injury, we were barely back from Crete for 36 hours before it was time for my parents to go home. I had initially thought that five weeks with my parents might be overkill for all of us, but I guess I’ve entered that stage of my life where I realize my parents are definitely not immortal, and the time I spend with them is measured in days and weeks instead of months and years. I miss them.

I promise a more entertaining (and less depressing) account of my trip to Crete along with pictures soon.

Cretan holiday

The hubby and I are headed to Crete tomorrow for a five-day sojourn. The main focus of the trip is so my husband can attend a psychiatric conference, but I plan on having fun despite being surrounded by every shrink in Greece.

Hopefully I'll have lots of pictures to share when we return.

My parents are stuck here to care for our cats. Wish them luck.

LOLZ

From Kathimerini, May 9th Cartoon of the Day

Cold mountain

When my parents came to Greece five years ago for our wedding, they came at exactly the same time of year, so they kinda had an idea of what to expect weather wise. Since we were sweating to death by the wedding day and were grateful for any air conditioning we could get, they packed for a warm Greek late spring. I certainly didn’t tell them any different, since my experience living here has taught me that things are usually reasonably warm by May, and I actually worried that they might be too hot again like they were last time around.

Nope.

Instead we have had the coldest late April/early May temperatures I have experienced since living here, and I can almost guarantee with certainty I’ve never been this cold this time of year in my entire life. Yes, we are still running the heat, which I know is a first for me. In Nashville I was usually full blasting the A/C come May. My poor mother has nearly frozen to death, and my dad, who has spent his entire life being too hot (like me) has even complained about being cold.

Since this weather is completely anomalous for Greece and my parents have a history of perpetually rainy vacations, I think I’ll blame them for bringing this unseasonal weather. I hope bet I’ll be complaining about the heat as soon as they leave.

Five years?!?!

Today marks our 5th anniversary of wedded bless, but tomorrow will be our 6th anniversary. How do we manage that? Well, we got married in the U.S. a year before we got married here in Greece. Of course, our American (and thus, non-Orthodox) wedding doesn't really count in the eyes of my in-laws. Five years doesn't seem like very long when all these other people I know have been married 15+ years, but I guess it is a bit of an accomplishment for me, since I usually can't stand to be around people (even people I like) for more than a few hours.

We went to Litochoro for the day, accompanied by my parents. It is kinda weird having chaperones for an anniversary celebration, but since Thanos and I get plenty of time alone together, it was ok having my parents along. I was glad to show them my most favorite place in the world, and of course they were in awe of Mt. Olympus.


I'll be sappy now, and say that anniversaries are no more special than any other day I spend with my beloved. I am definitely blessed with the best (ok, although sometimes annoying) husband in the world for me (not to take away from all the other best husbands other women have).

Adaptation

My parents have been here for two weeks now and I think their visit is at least somewhat satisfactory. Last week was a whirlwind of museums and constant trips downtown, along with Easter celebrations in the heart of Thessaloniki. My in-laws had invited us to their house in Halkidiki for the holiday, but since my parents had already celebrated Easter there five years ago, I wanted them to experience the superb chanting at the Church of the Acheiropoietas, which is the only church I’ve ever gone in where I have actually felt something aside from the normal discomfort I usually feel in holy places (my short video of last year’s resurrection service can be found here). The chanters there are the best I’ve ever heard – even better than most CDs of Orthodox holy music. So, we booked a couple of hotel rooms at a downtown hotel for Saturday night and enjoyed a quiet Easter to ourselves.

All in all I think it is rather hard for my parents to adapt to life in Greece. They are in their 70’s and the convenience of things in America makes things here seem so much more complicated. Certainly there is some truth to that, but I’ve adapted to washing machines with more than just four basic settings, to hanging my clothes to dry, to shops being closed during hours that might be considered inconvenient, and to stepping around goat turds in my driveway. Of course, some things are our choices, like not having a dryer or a microwave and choosing wood floors instead of wall to wall carpeting. But I’ve adjusted, and in the end, things really don’t seem that much more difficult. Then again, it has been awhile since I’ve lived in the U.S. so maybe I’ve just forgotten.

As to the things they have adapted to, well, my dad has made friends with all the neighborhood dogs, and one of them likes to accompany him when he takes his walks. They’ve gotten to know one of the local shepherds (who apparently speaks just enough English for basic communication) and they’ve learned their way around our little village (my dad was even able to buy some things at the bakery without any assistance). The true test will be when my husband and I go to Crete for five days and my parents will be forced to make it on their own (with a little help from my brother-in-law). I think they can handle it.

I’m just happy to see them, even if my dad has taken over my computer.

File under: What were they thinking?

It isn't uncommon for stores and cafes here to have English names here, and sure, some of them really don't make any sense to native English speakers. However, most of them aren't scatological in nature, like this cafe my dad snapped a picture of while we were out driving around:




Kinda makes you wonder what exactly they put in their coffee.

Wuthering goats

My parents are here for a five week Greek adventure, and since my internet time has dropped to nearly nothing, I offer you goats. Goats that quite possibly won't be around after April 27th.

Absolut hypcrisy

Now let me get this straight. The U.S. supports F.Y.R.O.M.’s inclusion into the E.U., even though it is a country that teaches its citizens that the Macedonian region of Greece is “occupied” territory that actually belongs to them. Yet the U.S. gets all pissy about an Absolut ad campaign in Mexico that shows an early map of the United States – with all the territory Mexico once had.

I do love my country, but before the U.S. starts getting it’s panties in a wad about this, they should remember that most of the U.S. could be considered “occupied” territory, not just by Mexico, but by the American Indians and even by Britain. So I dare the United States to claim they don’t understand Greece’s objection to F.Y.R.O.M.’s NATO bid, when they can’t even accept an advertisement that depicts a historical map and the hopes of Mexicans who wish they had never ceded all that land.

Quirky meme

I've been tagged by Jay3gsm, EllasDevil, and Kat for this meme, when I’m tripled teamed it is hard not to comply.

These are the rules:
1. When tagged, place the name and URL of the tagger on your blog.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write 7 non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself?
4. Name 7 of your favorite blogs.
5. Send an email/comment on their blog letting them know they have been tagged.


Write 7 non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself:

1. I love disaster movies, especially circa. 1990’s made-for-TV ones. The worse the script and the acting, the better. I’m lucky I live in Greece because the Greek channels have managed to get hold of all these movies and play them on a regular basis.
2. I eat pie filling first, pie crust last (this applies to traditional U.S. type pies, not Greek pies)
3. When I’m scooping the litter box, I pretend it is a game of “find the treasure”, except the “treasure” is nothing you want to keep.
4. I love vacuum cleaners. We have two, and the AEG Vampyr is my favorite.
5. Whenever I eat anything with a wrapper, I fold the wrapper up into a tiny little square and sit on it until I get up to throw it away.
6. I am obsessed with weather details – wind speed, temperature, forecasts. Doppler radar makes me swoon.
7. I check the EMSC (European Mediterranean Seismological Center) site twenty times a day and try to find patterns from earthquakes that occur in Greece.

Name 7 of your favorite blogs (none of whom I am officially tagging, unless they wanna):

1. American in Athens (already tagged)

2. This is Not My Country (already tagged)

3. EllasDevil (already tagged)

4. Rice, Beans, and Pastichio (already tagged)

5. Nicole in London

6. The Vol Abroad (who has the cutest of the cute babies)

7. pitcherlady

Remembrance

O lost, and by the wind grieved – ghost, come back again.

Thomas Wolfe
Look Homeward, Angel

In loving memory of Jeff, Drew, and Sherri, and others all over the world who have had their precious lives cut short at the hands of drunk drivers.

Please, don’t drink and drive.

It's a start...

...but let's hope it isn't just for show and we get some results, and that they will actually invite some people from the gay and lesbian community in Greece to work on this committee.

From Kathimerini:

The Justice Ministry has pledged to establish a working group on the rights of gay couples living together, following a request by the National Commission for Human Rights. The ministry said it would set up a working group, with the help of the commission, “to analyze all aspects of the issue, international practice and the existing domestic legal and social framework.”

Fasting? Why suffer?

Last night I had the strangest dream. In it, I was eating the most moist, delicious chocolate cake I had ever had. In the middle of the cake was a thick layer of chocolate cream. I could taste every fabulous bite, and it was so good I didn’t want to wake up.

Nothing lets you know you’ve been fasting too long than dreaming about cake. I never dream about food, so I know it was a side-effect of an extreme lack of chocolate. Of course, the first thing I did online today was search for vegan chocolate cake recipes. I found one that had a high rating, and decided to try it. It may just be the dessert recipe that saves this fasting period. It definitely deserves the four and a half star rating, and it is easy enough to make I’ll probably make it instead of traditional cake even when we aren’t fasting.

God bless the internet. I've found so many delicious vegan recipes, fasting has become a fun way to try new things that become a regular part of our diet.

Happy Indepedence Day Ellada!*

Your freedom from the Ottoman Empire was a long time coming, so the start of the revolution in 1821 was a shining moment for Greece.

ΖΗΤΩ Η ΕΛΛΑΣ!!!




*For anyone who doesn't know much about the history of the War of Independence against Ottoman rule, go to EllasDevil's post about it here.

Go Bruins!

Well, my alma mater's basketball team has once again made it to the NCAA tournament (college basketball, for those who don't know). They are going against Duke tonight, which is a hard team to beat. Still, win or lose, they've done Belmont proud.

GO BRUINS!!

EDIT: Final score, 71-70 Duke. Must have been an exciting game! The Bruins had the win in their sights, and gave Duke a run for their money.

Happy Ostara (Vernal Equinox)!

The first day of spring has finally arrived after an ingloriously cold winter. Unfortunately, the weather up here on the mountain is 40 degrees (5 degrees Celsius), rainy, and foggy.

Still, we caught our first glimpse of the newborn sheep the other day, as they made their way with unsure steps up the mountain to graze. Still a little wobbly, most of them clung to their mothers, but several showed their playful sides. I was too mesmerized by all the cuteness to think to take a picture.

Here's hoping for a Spring full of bloom, peace, and wellbeing.

Greek bloggers against discrimination

As soon as I was old enough to understand the concept of sexuality and homosexuality, I was a proponent of gay rights. I had enough homosexual and lesbian friends to recognize that they were treated unfairly by the majority of society. We can hope the times have changed, but in Greece homosexuality seems to be dirtiest of dirty words, thanks to ignorance and religion.

Currently there is a lot of buzz in Greece about a domestic partnership law that would give certain rights to unmarried couples living together, however, it explicitly discounts same-sex couples. Greece is way behind in the European Union when it comes to rights for same-sex partnerships, and it is about time all these voices are heard.

From gaysuperhero and Devious Diva:

(English translation follows)

Στην Ελλάδα οι γκέι, οι λεσβίες και οι τρανσέξουαλ γνωρίζουν από διακρίσεις. Τις αντιμετωπίζουν καθημερινά στην οικογένεια, την κοινωνική ζωή και τον επαγγελματικό στίβο.

Καμιά φορά όμως φτάνει μια σταγόνα για να ξεχειλίσει το ποτήρι.

Σύμφωνα με δημοσιεύματα του τύπου το Υπουργείο Δικαιοσύνης ετοιμάζεται να καθιερώσει ένα "συμβόλαιο συμβίωσης" ΑΠΟΚΛΕΙΣΤΙΚΑ για τα ετερόφυλα ζευγάρια. Δεν θεωρούμε ότι ένα απλό "συμβόλαιο" μπορεί να λύσει τα ζητήματα των ζευγαριών ίδιου φύλου, ούτε να εξασφαλίσει την ισότιμη μεταχείρισή τους. Πιστεύουμε όμως ότι η προτεινόμενη διάκριση είναι κατάφωρα αντίθετη τόσο με το ελληνικό Σύνταγμα όσο και με τις ευρωπαϊκές συνθήκες για τα δικαιώματα του ανθρώπου. Πόσο μάλλον όταν 18 ευρωπαϊκές χώρες ήδη παρέχουν νομική κατοχύρωση στα ζευγάρια ίδιου φύλου.

Σκοπός αυτής της πρωτοβουλίας είναι να ενημερωθούν σχετικά οι ευρωπαϊκοί θεσμοί, οι οργανώσεις για τα ανθρώπινα δικαιώματα, ιστοσελίδες και ιστολόγια σε όλο τον κόσμο. Αυτό που ζητάμε είναι ίσα δικαιώματα για όλους. Τίποτα παραπάνω, τίποτα λιγότερο.

Αυτή τη φορά δεν θα μείνουμε σιωπηλοί. Αυτή τη φορά δεν θα κάτσουμε με σταυρωμένα χέρια.

ΕΛΛΗΝΕΣ ΜΠΛΟΓΚΕΡ ΕΝΑΝΤΙΟΝ ΤΩΝ ΔΙΑΚΡΙΣΕΩΝ

In Greece gays, lesbians and transexuals know about discrimination. They face it daily from their families, in their social lives and in the professional field.

But sometimes, all it takes is a single straw to break the camel's back.

According to press reports, the greek government is preparing to introduce a domestic partnership "contract" EXCLUSIVELY for unmarried heterosexual couples. We do not believe that a mere "contract" can resolve the issues same-sex couples face or ensure their fair treatment under the law. However this discriminatory proposal is a direct contravention of the greek Constitution, as well as european human rights treaties. Especially since same-sex couples already enjoy legal rights in 18 european nations.

The aim of this intervention is to make sure that european institutions, human rights organisations, websites and weblogs from around the world learn about these proposals. What we ask for is equal rights for all. Nothing more and nothing less.

This time around we will not sit idly by. This time around we will not keep silent.

GREEK BLOGGERS AGAINST DISCRIMINATION

...................................................................................

Στην πρωτουβουλία ΕΛΛΗΝΕΣ ΜΠΛΟΓΚΕΡ ΕΝΑΝΤΙΟΝ ΤΩΝ ΔΙΑΚΡΙΣΕΩΝ συμμετέχουν το εξής ιστολόγια / the following weblogs participate in this initiative:

http://abravanel.wordpress.com/

http://adultmagicpotions.blogspot.com/
http://alloparmenos.blogspot.com/

http://alximist.blogspot.com/

http://a-mpa.blogspot.com/

http://www.amvro.blogspot.com/

http://anamorfosh.blogspot.com/

http://angela-lucy.blogspot.com/

http://anilikos.blogspot.com/

http://www.blog.anti.gr/

http://aphroditescomments.blogspot.com/

http://apsoy.blogspot.com/

http://aratepylas.blogspot.com/

http://asheets.blogspot.com/

http://aster-oid.blogspot.com/

http://athens.indymedia.org/

http://athinakisdimitris.wordpress.com/

http://athlieskores.blogspot.com/

http://atix.psfiles.com/

http://www.bajoelsignodelibra.blogspot.com/

http://bewleybros.blogspot.com/

http://billzk.blogspot.com/

http://www.blog-o-friends.blogspot.com/

http://blog.teleologikos.eu/

http://celsius33.blogspot.com/

http://changegreecenow.blogspot.com/

http://cineparmenhkaiskula.blogspot.com/

http://cookiebashing.blogspot.com/

http://darkenlight.wordpress.com/

http://deadend-mind.blogspot.com/

http://defactobar.blogspot.com/

http://deilogos.wordpress.com/

http://deviousdiva.com/

http://dreamsgr.blogspot.com/

http://dustroad.blogspot.com/

http://elel.wordpress.com/

http://enteka.blogspot.com/

http://erisabetsu.blogspot.com/

http://erimosiparalia.blogspot.com/

http://e-roosters.blogspot.com/

http://equilibrium-chaos.blogspot.com/

http://etalon-etalon.blogspot.com/

http://ethanandthecity.wordpress.com/

http://elementstv.blogspot.com/

http://elerran-tessera.blogspot.com/

http://ellontia.pblogs.gr/

http://emmones-idees.blogspot.com/

http://en-maimounoskala.blogspot.com/

http://epidemios.blogspot.com/

http://erimosiparalia.blogspot.com/

http://etsieinaihzwh.blogspot.com/

http://exiledinberlin.wordpress.com/

http://fiddleofthepan.blogspot.com/

http://fileleytheros.wordpress.com/

http://floga-gr.pblogs.gr/

http://athensvoice.gr/blogs/froutadiko/

http://www.folkefiende.blogspot.com/

http://freedomineed.blogspot.com/

http://freedomisland.wordpress.com/

http://gatti-squared.blogspot.com/

http://www.gaynewsingreek.blogspot.com/

http://www.gayrightsgreece.blogspot.com/

http://gazakas.wordpress.com/

http://gerasimos-memoryland.blogspot.com/

http://giaskepsou.blogspot.com/

http://gordongr.blogspot.com/

http://greatanubis.blogspot.com/

http://greecerella.blogspot.com/

http://www.greek-lolita.blogspot.com/

http://greektrans.blogspot.com/

http://gremiii.blogspot.com/

http://gsus-saved.blogspot.com/

http://gxmas.easyjournal.com/

http://harrytsopanos.blogspot.com/

http://hfaistiwnas.blogspot.com/

http://hommesweethomme.wordpress.com/

http://hotel-iris.blogspot.com/

http://j-jimmy-rose.blogspot.com/

http://jigiart.blogspot.com/

http://ifigeneia.blogspot.com/

http://iknow.sanddigital.com/wordpress/

http://incontinentia-luchalibre.blogspot.com/

http://inout.sanddigital.com/

http://imarias.wordpress.com/

http://imikriollandeza.blogspot.com/

http://impressedguy.wordpress.com/

http://indictos.wordpress.com/

http://isimeria.blogspot.com/

http://istherelifeafterbirth.blogspot.com/

http://iphimedea.blogspot.com/

http://j-jimmy-rose.blogspot.com/

http://jigiart.blogspot.com/

http://katwvolta.blogspot.com/

http://kalapas.blogspot.com/

http://keen-on-boys.blogspot.com/

http://keipi.blogspot.com/

http://knight-of-cups.blogspot.com/

http://koblopoulos.blogspot.com/

http://kousouri.blogspot.com/

http://lalunaoscura.blogcindario.com/

http://www.lastnightidreamtthatsomebodylovedme.com/

http://legallyblonde78.blogspot.com/

http://lianokladi01.blogspot.com/

http://like-a-movie.blogspot.com/

http://lolitasequel.blogspot.com/

http://luclebelge.skynetblogs.be/

http://lyssis.blogspot.com/

http://mahler76.blogspot.com/

http://megalokopela.blogspot.com/

http://melaxroinimarmarigi.blogspot.com/

http://merawen.blogspot.com/

http://metanoeiste.wordpress.com/

http://mhulotsnothingdays.blogspot.com/

http://miaarkoudapouthneleganbetty.blogspot.com/

http://mikroanalogo.blogspot.com/

http://moodygirlland.blogspot.com/

http://motherfuckin-bitch.pblogs.gr/

http://mourlopedo.blogspot.com/

http://mpaknana.blogspot.com/

http://www.musenol.blogspot.com/

http://my-greece.blogspot.com/

http://www.nanakos.blogspot.com/

http://www.naterradosdeuses.blogspot.com/

http://naftilos.blogspot.com/

http://naya-dreamthrum.blogspot.com/

http://naytilostoydiadiktyoy.blogspot.com/

http://neverlandean.blogspot.com/

http://nicholas-manie-edge.blogspot.com/

http://nikospdj.blogspot.com/

http://nocturnegr.blogspot.com/

http://novideodoni.wordpress.com/

http://novito.blogspot.com/

http://okaloslykos.blogspot.com/

http://omadag.blogspot.com/

http://onceyougochub.blogspot.com/

http://onebigdj.blogspot.com/

http://oneiros.gr/blog

http://orestiss.blogspot.com/

http://paolofuego.blogspot.com/

http://panoptis.blogspot.com/

http://parafyada.blogspot.com/

http://www.parkyourdots.com/

http://5zoes.blogspot.com/

http://pethamenofeggari.blogspot.com/

http://www.lifoland.gr/blogs/pink_fish/index.html

http://pitsirikos.blogspot.com/

http://pliats.blogspot.com/

http://poontangdee.wordpress.com/

http://potepote.blogspot.com/

http://povofag.blogspot.com/

http://prezatv.blogspot.com/

http://provatos.blogspot.com/

http://pyrroulas.blogspot.com/

http://quelmarth.blogspot.com/

http://raptusr.blogspot.com/

http://raresteak.wordpress.com/

http://respirarsilencio.blogspot.com/

http://revqueer.blogspot.com/

http://rodiat7.blogspot.com/

http://roides.wordpress.com/

http://salepi.blogspot.com/

http://sandman-chronicles.blogspot.com/

http://sensualmonk.blogspot.com/

http://sevenfilmgallery.blogspot.com/

http://sexinanothercity.blogspot.com/

http://simplethoughtssimplewords.wordpress.com/

http://www.skylesthslyssas.blogspot.com/

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Όποια ή όποιος δεν βλέπει το ιστολόγιό του στη λίστα παρακαλώ ας επικοινωνήσει μαζί μας!

Τα θερμά μου συγχαρητήρια σε όλες και όλους! Είστε απλά ανεπανάληπτοι!

Για την πρωτοβουλία μας και την αντίστοιχη πρωτοβουλία της οργάνωσης ΟΛΚΕ για τον πολιτικό γάμο έχουν ενημερωθεί (με την πολύτιμη βοήθεια του Πολύχρωμου Πλανήτη) οι εξής οργανώσεις και ιστοσελίδες του εξωτερικού:

Human Rights Watch

Ilga-Europe

OutRage!

International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission

Inter-LGBT

All Different All Equal

The Task Force

Washington Blade

GLAAD

COC Nederland

Gay Middle East

PinkNews.co.uk

365gay.com

lesbian.org

expressgaynews.com

afterellen.com

afterelton.com

247gay.com

Επίσης τα περιοδικά Advocate, Tetu, Gay Times και Gay City News, το Υπουργείο Δικαιοσύνης, όλες οι μεγάλες ελληνικές εφημερίδες και όλοι οι βουλευτές του ευρωκοινοβουλίου.

'Οποια ή όποιος έχει κάποια άλλη πρόταση για οργανώσεις ή ιστοσελίδες, ας επικοινωνήσει (υπάρχει τυποποιημένο κείμενο επιστολής).

The entertainer

On Sunday I am fixing my first official meal for my in-laws (hmm, at least I didn’t mistakenly type “of” instead of “for”). It seems like a long time – five years – to invite them over for dinner, but I’ve had pretty good excuses until now, including not living in Thessaloniki and not having a proper eating area. Finally, we have dining and living room furniture, so I can actually play hostess again.

What was my mother-in-law’s initial response to the invitation? “I don’t want to have you cooking for so many people, let’s just go out somewhere” (the number of people will be 8 if my brother-in-law and his wife come). Yes, of course, after we’ve spent some money on an eight seater dining room table our intent is to invite people over to go out to dinner. I like cooking, and I think I’m relatively good at it (as long as I pay attention and don’t use twice as much butter as a recipe calls for), so I’m thrilled to finally be able to fix a good meal for my in-laws, especially after countless delicious dinners at their house. It will be a bit more challenging to come up with an interesting menu, since we are all fasting, but I figure you can’t go wrong with tofu lasagna.

As for the house, all we really need now is a couple of rugs for the living and dining room floors (ok, that dark African wood is gorgeous, but even the cleanest foot leaves a print and drives me crazy) and curtains (the rods are being installed this week). We haven’t gotten furniture for the guest bedroom yet, but that is something that can be accomplished relatively quickly at IKEA. After that, it is all cosmetic, putting up pictures, combing through boxes, organizing storage closets, etc.

I’m finally home. And I’m loving it (crap, I hope McDonald’s doesn’t sue me for stealing their slogan there).

One week down, six more to go

see more crazy cat pics

Got blackmail? Apparently, it works!

I don’t pretend to know as much about strike action as Europeans do because, let’s face it, I’m American. However, I do have some concept about what constitutes mistreatment of labor and what is right. Yes, the pension system in Greece is all kinds of effed up. Yes, a big part of the blame is on the government, but in my mind it is because they didn’t adopt a single system of benefits for pensions years ago. But striking for weeks, causing consistent power outages throughout the country, letting trash pile up on the streets – not because you want the government to do what is right, but because you just don’t want them to mess with YOUR stash - is pretty messed up. To add to it, striking workers are throwing trash at police, making filthy streets even filthier, and I have to wonder if the human race isn’t devolving a bit here. Greeks have a wonderful propensity for giving when tragedies occur, but when it comes to working rights and pensions (and the workings of the government in general), they seem to be very egocentric.

And so, in the thick of this political quagmire, the government is caving and looking at reforms. Hey, people might be able to retire after 37 years on the job even if they haven’t yet reached the ripe, entirely useless to society age of 57. Fifty-seven. If only hard working Americans could retire at such a young age. When people can retire so young, no wonder money is running out in some pension accounts! God forbid workers strike for golden toilets, feather beds, and houses made of cheese, they might just get it. When you hold the country hostage, the government has to comply to your demands.

I do think people should have the right to strike, but holding out on crucial services, putting your country at risk of a blackout, or a public health hazard – basically keeping other hard working people from living and enjoying their lives – is nothing but cold hard blackmail. These unions won’t even offer an alternative solution to the pension reforms the government is proposing. That is because these unions want what they want with no compromises. Greece is never going to get anywhere when people have this kind of attitude. If your pay is below poverty level and you haven’t had a raise in two years – then strike. If you aren’t allowed any breaks in an eight hour shift – then strike. If you are forced to work overtime with no extra pay – then strike.

God bless Greece. I hope she comes out of this alive.

One time only

My husband actually changed the bag in the bathroom trash can.

Life is good.

Bye, bye cheese

Today is “Clean Monday”, which means everyone in Greece goes out and flies kites into power lines. Unfortunately, it also means the start of the 48 day very strict fasting period before Easter. We’ll be going vegan again, and the first day is always the hardest. I’m grumpy, I’m sad, and I’m going to miss my beloved cheese. In honor of my depression, I’m stealing EllasDevil’s monthly meme, since I’m too sore to talk about anything else.

Have You Ever…(everything in bold is something I have done)

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said 'I love you' and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped.
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise (ok, I do this ALL THE TIME)
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa (the damn thing was being worked on when I was there! Not that I would have climbed the stairs anyway)
17. Grown and eaten my own vegetables (ok, well, my parents were the official growers)
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby's diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than I could afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as I possibly could
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking.
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about my life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for my computer (um, I do now…)
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk.
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip.
48. Gone rock climbing.
49. Taken a midnight walk on the beach.
50. Gone sky diving.
51. Visited Ireland.
52. Been heartbroken longer then I was actually in love with the person.
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them.
54. Visited Japan.
55. Milked a cow.
56. Alphabetized my CDs.
57. Pretended to be a superhero.
58. Sung karaoke.
59. Lounged around in bed all day.
60. Posed nude in front of strangers.
61. Gone scuba diving.
62. Kissed in the rain.
63. Played in the mud.
64. Played in the rain.
65. Gone to a drive-in theater.
66. Visited the Great Wall of China.
67. Started a business.
68. Fallen in love with someone and not had my heart broken.
69. Toured ancient sites.
70. Taken a martial arts class.
71. Played D&D for more than six hours straight.
72. Gotten married.
73. Been in a movie.
74. Crashed a party.
75. Gotten divorced.
76. Gone without food for 5 days.
77. Made cookies from scratch.
78. Won first prize in a costume contest.
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice.
80. Gotten a tattoo.
81. Rafted the Snake River.
82. Been on a television news program.
83. Received flowers for no reason.
84. Performed on stage.
85. Been to Las Vegas.
86. Recorded music.
87. Eaten shark.
88. Had a one-night stand.
89. Gone to Thailand.
90. Bought a house.
91. Been in a combat zone.
92. Buried one of my parents.
93. Been on a cruise ship.
94. Spoken more than one language fluently.
95. Performed in Rocky Horror Picture Show.
96. Raised children.
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour. (well, they didn’t really have a tour, per se, and I went more for moral support than anything else)
98. Created and named my own constellation of stars.
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country.
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over.
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge.
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when I knew someone was looking.
103. Had plastic surgery.
104. Survived an illness that I shouldn't have survived.
105. Written articles for a large publication.
106. Lost over 100 pounds.
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback.
108. Piloted an airplane.
109. Petted a stingray.
110. Broken someone's heart.
111. Helped an animal give birth.
112. Won money on a T.V. game show.
113. Broken a bone.
114. Gone on an African photo safari.
115. Had a body part of mine below the neck pierced.
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun or pistol.
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild.
118. Ridden a horse.
119. Had major surgery.
120. Had a snake as a pet.
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon.
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours.
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states.
124. Visited all 7 continents.
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days.
126. Eaten kangaroo meat.
127. Eaten sushi.
128. Had my picture in the newspaper.
129. Changed someone's mind about something I care deeply about.
130. Gone back to school.
131. Parasailed.
132. Petted a cockroach.
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes.
134. Read The Iliad.
135. Selected one "important" author who I missed in school, and read.
136. Killed and prepared and animal for eating.
137. Skipped all my school reunions.
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language.
139. Been elected to public office.
140. Written my own computer language.
141. Thought to myself that I'm living my dream.
142. Had to put someone I love into hospice care.
143. Built my own PC from parts. (ok, well sort of, in that the actual building was done by whatever man happened to be in my life at the time)
144. Sold my own artwork to someone who didn't know me.
145. Had a booth at a street fair.
146: Dyed my hair.
147: Been a DJ.
148: Shaved my head. (Not quite shaved, but as short as it could possibly be without shaving, since I was losing my hair)
149: Caused a car accident.
150: Saved someone's life.

Always after I'm gone

Anyone who lives anywhere remotely close to Tennessee who doesn't attend Bonnaroo on June 14th just to hear Sigur Rós live doesn't know what they are missing. Why does everything good happen in a place after I leave?

Have a stamp?

Barney's stories are frequently told on Pitcherlady's blog. His health is failing, but he always loves to get a postcard. Check the details, and make his day.

Morning coffee

The view I enjoy with my morning coffee.

Dogs in the 'hood

Villages in Greece tend to be either dog villages or cat villages. While that doesn’t mean that you won’t find a cat or two in a dog village (or vice versa), it does mean that one or the other is obviously the dominant animal of that particular hamlet.

When we lived on Kos, our little village of Pyli belonged to the felines. Cats were the queens of the tavernas, where they were always assured a few treats. Up here, dogs rule – and there are several different factions of doggy gangs constantly at war with one another. On our street there are four or five dogs that take up guard duties. The dogs around here are basically good dogs, they obey people, don’t get in too much trouble, and are very grateful for any scraps you can send their way. You get attached quite easily, and I’ve even named our neighborhood dogs: Jack, Joe, Fat Boy, Scruffy, and Barcley. Jack and Joe appear to be brothers - mostly black with some white patches, Labrador-esque dogs –and they are the rulers of the ‘hood, taking turns sitting at strategic points along the road watching out for their main rivals, the shepherd dogs.

Now I realize that the shepherd dogs are working stiffs, and messing with our dogs is probably the only fun they get to have, but these dogs are the biggest assholes. The herd is rather large, so there are a lot of dogs, maybe a dozen or so, and they come up here even when the flock is way down the road and start aggravating our gang. Thankfully it is usually just a barking match and almost never devolves into fisticuffs, but it seems to cause some major stress among the local boys, and the incessant noise irritates our cats to no end, causing them to turn to me with a look as if to say “are those Neanderthals ever going to shut up?” It usually doesn’t take too long before the shepherd dogs have to go back to work, but if those jerks ever injure one of our ‘hood dogs, I’ll have to have a few words with the shepherd.

Further down in the village there are a variety of Very Weird Dogs™. There is one who barks at headlights – he gets in front of cars and goes mad with rage at the devil rays, to the point that you have to turn your headlights off if you actually want to get anywhere without running over the freak. Then there are a couple of dogs who seem to think lying in the middle of the road is the best place to be, and stubbornly refuse to move even when a car is bearing down on them. I’ve seen people actually get out of their cars and physically pick up the dogs and move them out of the way, and the dogs don’t really seem to mind this, as long as they don’t have to move themselves. Of course, five seconds later they always decide they want to go somewhere else, but for those few moments it is dog’s will against man.

Despite the extreme distaste our cats have for dogs, I like living in a dog village. I’ve always wanted a dog but the responsibility seems too much, so having such friendly dogs around the house now and then is a pleasure. I can’t pet them or let them too close though, because if the cats were to smell dog on me I can’t imagine the consequences. But to say hello and get a happily wagging tail in response puts a smile on my face.

I do not like them, Sam-I-am

Reality is just strange as fiction - even Dr. Seuss' fiction. Who knew there was some truth to the popular Green Eggs and Ham?

From Kathimerini:

A veterinarian in Trikala, central Greece, became the talk of the town yesterday when he put on display two green eggs laid by the hen of a friend. Animal doctor Nikos Pallas said that the eggs were probably green because of something that the hen ate.

Absolutely fabulous

I'm sure a sunset so beautiful is the result of some deadly toxins in the air, but such things still take my breath away.

Eclipsed

I’m probably the only dorkus in this part of the world who stayed up to watch the lunar eclipse (it peaked at 5:01 am our time), but this is the first time in a really long while that I’ve had such spectacular views of the sky from my own place of residence, and I couldn’t resist it. I was hoping to get some halfway decent pictures and video of it, but our camera is not really eclipse quality, so the moon, which was as big as life to my naked eye, looked like a tiny little dot through the camera, and once the eclipse peaked all you could see through the camera was darkness. Of course I had to drag my husband out of bed once I realized the pictures wouldn’t be so good, because honestly, how often in life do circumstances come together so perfectly for you to view such an event? He actually didn’t mind, and came out to the balcony with me quite willingly.

Normally the moon lights up our balcony quite brightly, so much so that the street lights are rather inconsequential, but when I went out a few minutes before the peak of the eclipse the darkness took me a bit by surprise. I had a few minutes of unnecessary panic early on when I wondered if it was indeed ok to look at a lunar eclipse directly (because if it wasn’t surely I would be blind any second), but then I thought to myself, “you can look at the moon, dummy, why can’t you look at a lunar eclipse?” That is just one example of the mindless drama that goes through my head on an hourly basis.

For what it’s worth, I did take a couple of pictures and here is the video I took of different stages of the eclipse. Just don’t expect anything spectacular.

The devil wears mithril

Remind me never to bitch about anything here on the blog again, because it seems as soon as I do, things just get worse. We just had the coldest weekend yet - I don’t think it ever got above freezing. Somehow we managed to miss all the snow the rest of the country endured, which is a miracle, because it seems we always have snow up here when no one else does. But the cold was bad enough, and the one time we ventured out every swear word known to man involuntarily poured out of my mouth as some kind of defense against the sub-freezing wind (it didn't work).

Just as well, though, because it gave us the perfect excuse to stay inside all weekend and finally try Lord of the Rings Online, which we got for Christmas but couldn’t play because dialup and MMORPGs just don’t mix. My husband and I are both quite fond of computer games of all types, but we have a weakness for the role playing variety. We both beta-tested Everquest way back in the day, and continued to play for quite a few years, until World of Warcraft took all its players away. We eventually caved in and played WoW ourselves, but it didn’t last, and so we continued our search for the perfect MMORPG. We beta-tested Everquest 2 and Vanguard, and while both had some strong points, they just didn’t have that lasting quality we were looking for. So we finally decided that, as fans of Tolkien and MMORPGs, we should try out LOTRO.

So far, I think we’re hooked. Now, we’ll never give as much time to a game as we did in our peak EQ days, but LOTRO is fun, easy to play, and has beautiful graphics. I’m not sure how strong the community is, which was one of the best things about EQ, but we’ll see. The quest storyline seems to lead down a Tolkienesque road, and the world is filled with lots of places in Middle Earth we know and love. What more can a geek ask for?

So if I disappear for long periods of time, it is probably because I am in Middle Earth, doing my best to protect the world from the evil Sauron. Or something like that.

Dog's breath

My life in Greece has included what I consider to be mild winters. Not that it was never cold wherever we happened to be living, but it wasn’t usually sub-freezing, witch’s tittie cold. Sure, we had snow, but it never really felt that cold. In fact, I am almost sure that I never encountered temperatures low enough to make my breath visible – until this winter. It doesn’t help that our little mountain village seems to invite frostier temperatures than the city by the sea – even in the four miles between Panorama and our home the thermometer can drop as much as five degrees Celsius, which can sometimes be the difference between cold and losing feeling in your extremities cold – but I think even Thessaloniki proper has been colder than normal, or at least colder than the two previous winters I’ve spent here. We’ve had honest to goodness, stick to everything snow here four times, which surpasses the one or two crappy snowfalls I’ve seen (ok, we did have a really good snow when we lived in Litochoro, but only one), but when we tell city folk we are snowed in, they inform us it is only raining where they are.

I’ve always been one of those people who is too hot (in fact I think my first words involved a complaint about the heat), but here in our new house I find myself constantly freezing (even with our heat set to an over generous 21 degrees Celsius – sorry environment). Every once in awhile even my husband is cold (and he shares my overheated sensibilities), but usually he is sweating while I am still chilled to the bone. It is getting a bit tiresome, because sometimes even a nice blanket and a couple of cats can’t warm me up fast enough, and honestly, for someone with a rheumatoid illness being cold all the time does not help with joint pain one little bit. But the pain isn’t really the issue – the problem is that I have actually become one of those people I used to mock, those perpetually frozen, shawl bound people that constantly complain about the temperature. This behavior must stop, and so for the first time I find myself longing for the summer when I can swelter miserably in an air conditioner-less house, and the breath of the neighborhood dogs no longer bursts forth in strong foggy puffs when they bark.

Finally...we have ADSL!!!

Apparently we've had it for a few days but our ISP never bothered to notify us. Stupid us, I guess we should have been plugging the stupid modem in daily to check, but we were expecting line noise to tip us off (our old ADSL line had horrible noise without a filter).

In celebration, here is a picture of a sunset as taken from our balcony. Our camera isn't anywhere near as good as our old one that was - ahem - lost when my husband went to Wales, but you get the idea.


Now I get to catch up on blogs and download every stupid viral video that has caught my eye over the past four months. I think I'll be busy for awhile.

Suburban life

Not having ADSL is bad enough, but this week we endured five days of (mostly) no running water. By mostly I mean we had it for brief periods, usually overnight, and without much water pressure. Calls to the water company promised a fix on Wednesday, but the water cut off at nine in the morning Thursday and did not come on again until five this afternoon. Unfortunately, our usage of bottled water shot to all time highs (hey, you gotta wash somehow). Since we can’t flush toilet paper and I’m one of those “if it’s yellow, let it mellow” types, I thought maybe we could survive without flushing, but it seems that too much yellow over too long a time leaves a not so mellow smell. Honestly, I don’t think hell smells so bad.

Sure, I sound like a bit of a princess who can’t deal without steady running water for five days. But there are reasons developed countries no longer have widespread cases of certain diseases, and one of those reasons is running water and the resulting improvement in hygiene. It did make me appreciate the water all the more when it came back on, but it also made me realize how hard it must be for people in third world countries who don’t even have an expectation of running water – people who don’t have the luxury of buying bottle water to do their washing up and cleaning. I guess an argument I’ve heard is “they don’t even know what they are missing since they’ve never had running water” but I don’t really think that matters. What matters is the ignominy of living in a 21^st century world where there are plenty of countries that have the means of providing third world countries with the infrastructure to get water to villages that have none, but because it is an expensive and unprofitable venture, it doesn’t happen.

Anyway, it is good to have the water back again. I’ll try not to take it for granted anymore.

Just what Hello Kitty needs

An assault rifle! Usually I'm loathe to load pages with heavy images on it these days, but this one was totally worth the 15 minute wait.

I think the U.S. military should overhaul all their weapons and equipment in a similar manner.

I knew that some day Hello Kitty would rule the world.

Still crazy after all these months

So life continues here without ADSL (for the record, we’ve been waiting four months). Our ISP claims that they have done everything and the ball is in OTE’s court, and for that, we could wait months more. The irony is that if we had chosen an ISDN line we would have had ADSL already, but we kept thinking that since everything was filed already, changing the line to ISDN might have screwed it all up. But ISDN has its own inconveniences (like the ability to only use one phone jack) so I guess it doesn’t matter now.

The good thing about not having ADSL is I can’t use the internet as a means of procrastination. When it was there, always on, always ready, I could say to myself “oh, I just want to look this one thing up…” and then end up spending two or three hours online instead of doing myriad tasks I needed to do. Now I look around futilely for excuses to procrastinate and find none, so things actually get done, which I suppose is a good thing when you’ve moved house and there are a million things to do.

We now have furniture in the living room, all it needs is a nice rug and a coffee table, so our house is slowly coming together. Our next big purchase will be dining room furniture – I’ve seen a few things I like already. The problem is all the boxes that are still in the dining room (ok, I mean, I can still procrastinate, obviously). These boxes contain items that moved to Greece with me that we chose to keep packed and stored up here while we gallivanted around the country for four years. To be completely honest, all these boxes probably could have disappeared and I never would have missed all the crap that is in them, aside from my grandmother’s china. Moving so often has completely cured me of my propensity towards rat packishness, and I keep unpacking boxes thinking “why the hell did I keep that?” Ah well, live and learn.

For fun, my husband and I have been playing a lot of Scrabble lately (English version, he won’t play the Greek version with me because it would take too long). He always beats me, except for once when I got the tiles of my dreams. It is ironic – for someone that loves language, I never could do very well at word scrambles. We also played Stratego – my first time – and I got all pissy when I realized I couldn’t win. I can be a sore loser sometimes.

Despite the lack of high speed internet, life up here on the mountain is pretty damn good. I spend way more time just looking at the view than I probably should, but I’ve never actually lived in a place with a real view before. We can so much of the area around us – the entire bay and all the areas of the Thessaloniki prefecture that surround it. I feel like a giant up here, but I am also greatly humbled by the sheer beauty of it. The Earth has done some good work, I just hope we don’t ruin it.

And so the wait goes on. I must apologize to all my blogging friends for not stopping by, I don’t even bother to log in but maybe once a week, and just to check email. I miss all of you and can’t wait to catch up. Here’s hoping it will be soon.

I'm dreaming of a white New Year's

Here we are toe deep in the new year and we are still without an ADSL connection. Now, I can be a patient person but I don’t have patience in unlimited quantities, and I think my husband is going to drive me insane if we don’t get high speed internet soon (he got Lord of the Rings online for Christmas, big mistake).

Christmas was uneventful but filled with family and good times, as it should be. My in-laws got us living room furniture for Christmas - a couch, loveseat, and two chairs in classic leather style. Finally, a place to sit downstairs! I found a dining room set I liked, so if the hubby likes it too we’ll be well on our way to a fully furnished house (except for the basement rooms and guest bedroom).

New Year’s Day we were greeted with a surprise snowstorm in the evening. Within a couple of hours it snowed at least two inches, maybe more (it looked like two inches on the gate, but seemed a bit deeper than that as we walked through it). Unfortunately, my brother-in-law was planning a name day party, and most of his guests had to turn back well before they reached our mountain compound. At least we live next door, so the party wasn’t a complete bust. Three days later the roads are *almost* fully cleared, but the snow still blankets everything. I guess this is what mountain winters are going to be like.

I hope that everyone had a great holiday season. Here’s to a spectacular 2008 for everyone (and hoping that we get ADSL in 2008!).


Only one picture uploaded this time. I’m not a masochist!

First snow

Friday night we had our first snowfall at the new house. We hunkered down for a Lord of the Rings DVD marathon. It snowed again last night (apparently, this second snowfall was confined to the mountain), but most of it melted during the day.

I suffered with dialup* to upload these pictures of the snow to my Flickr account, so you better enjoy them!

*ADSL update: Our ISP requested the ADSL line from OTE on November 12^th. As we figured, OTE is going to take their sweet time.

Only in baseball

An auctioneer of sporting memorabilia turned up this document from 1898* listing some general rules of conduct for baseball players, especially regarding use of bad words. It had come to the attention of the powers that be that the players had been using some quite unsavory language on the field, and they felt they should put a stop to it.

What is remarkable about this is not so much the document itself, but the examples that are put forth – language that I thought had been refined by late 20^th century man. Who knew that George Carlin’s seven dirty words had been in use for over a century?

It is nice to know that some things never change, especially when it comes to baseball.

*WARNING: the language might be considered extreme to some people, so if you elect to view the documents provided at the link, be prepared

Turkey, goats, and Christmas cheer

Nope, still no ADSL. We had a rare occasion when we were downtown last week so we stopped into OTE to request a phone bill, but they wanted us to fill out of a form and come back a couple days later. Well, that didn’t work for us, because we couldn’t go back a couple days later. Why the hell they can’t just print out a bill and give it to us is beyond me. I’m not sure I even care anymore. There is so much to do around the house these days having ADSL would just give me too many reasons to procrastinate. Besides, when it does come, it will be all the better because we have been so long without it. I’m two months behind on reading most of my favorite blogs and that is the only thing I really miss.

We had a nice Thanksgiving dinner the Sunday after Thanksgiving. We actually found frozen turkeys with pop-up timers at our grocery store, so we were able to go all out with turkey, stuffing, mashed taters and gravy, homemade rolls and pumpkin pie (and yes, we did have some salad too, it wasn’t ALL carbohydrates). I’m no expert at cooking turkeys and while I thought it was terrible and too dry, my husband, my brother-in-law and his wife all seemed to really like it. But then again, I don’t really like turkey that much anyway – it is the results of the turkey (stuffing, gravy) that I like.

We are now preparing for our first Christmas in the new house, and it is nice to finally be able to go through the boxes of Christmas ornaments and decorations we’ve had stored up here for five years. We still won’t have a big tree since we aren’t downstairs except for the kitchen, but we’ll put a little one in our computer/T.V. room upstairs and hope it doesn’t get knocked down by mischievous cats this time.

Speaking of mischief, the Gavle Goat cam is up and running for 2007. Here’s hoping the citizens of Gavle get another fire free year.