Happy Holidays to everybody!

Have a Holiday that you'll remember and may your wishes come true for the new Year!

Season Greetings and don't forget to be grateful even if you're blue sometimes, Marialena

This Xmas please "Save a Child's Heart"!

http://www.klmholidaywishes.com/en/
Open this christmas card until January 8th, 2006, forward it to your friends and each time you do so, you help donating miles for the charity of "Save a Child's Heart".
It's worth the cause and I wish happy Holidays to everyone, near or far!

A super cool Christmas wish to all of you!

http://www.jacquielawson.com/viewcard.asp?code=0212320003

If you're in Athens on 12/17, please join us for a worth cause!

www.mazigiatopaidi.gr

Are you a fan of Greek cuisine? Here's some tips!

I just came accross an interesting site providing recipes and info about the famous dishes of the Greek cuisine in English plus many more useful features. So, if you feel like treating yourself with a Greek delicacy, here's the site for it: www.greek-recipe.com and enjoy cooking the Greek way!

6th Athens International Motor Show - part 2!

6th Athens International Motor Show

These and many more of the wonderful machines that provoke our dreams and desires can be seen from Nov. 5 to 13 2005, at Athens' Old East Airport, from 10 am to 10 pm, with the admition ticket costing 9 euros. You'll need around 3 hours to walk around the complete exhibition, but at the end no matter how exhausted you may be, you'll leave the premises with the sence that you've seen the best of the would's automobile manufacturers and you'll have the opportunity to test drive a variety of models on site as well!Enjoy the ride!

This is amazing !! --- we don't always see what we think we see!

http://www.patmedia.net/marklevinson/cool/cool_illusion.html

ASPRILEXI.COM

Αγαπητοί περιδιαβάτες του blog αυτού και φίλοι της ελληνικής γλώσσας,
σας έχω μιλήσει από τον Αυγούστο 2004, για την προσπάθεια που κάνει ένας ελληνικός διαδυκτιακός τόπος σχετικά με την διάδοση των ελληνικών ανά τον κόσμο και την καθημερινή ενημέρωση και γνωριμία με τις έννοιες και τα νοήματα που κάνουν την γλώσσα μας μοναδική ανά την υφήλιο και όλα αυτά χωρίς καμμία οικονομική υποχρέωση από τα μέλη του.

Αυτό το site λοιπόν είναι Η Ασπρη Λέξη ή αλλιώς www.asprilexi.com Σήμερα που έλαβα το ενημερωτικό δελτίο του Οκτωβρίου, είδα με μεγάλη μου έκπληξη ότι έχουν δημοσιεύσει το τελευταίο μου ποίημα στη στήλη των Λεξιλάγνων, που γράφτηκε με αφορμή το πρόσφατο ταξίδι μου στην μαγευτική Κάτω Ιταλία. Μακάρι οι εντυπώσεις που εντυπώθηκαν στους στίχους του "Ταξιδιού στο Χρόνο" να σας ταξιδέψουν όπως και μένα όταν βρέθηκα στη Μεγάλη Ελλάδα! www.asprilexi.com/lexilagnoi_sub.asp

The Moment of Glory! Eurobasket 2005

We Are The Champions!

Greece has done it again my friends! In 2004 except for hosting the Olympic Games in Athens, we became European Football Champions in Portugal, in May we won the European song contest Eurovision 2005 with Helena Paparizou performing "My Number One" mesmerising the audiences and on September the 25th, the National Basketball Team became Number One in Euro 2005 Basketball Championship in Belgrade, Serbia after 18 years of its previous victory in the same championship!

Outwinning Germany by 17 points in the finals and winning a breath-taking game against France in the semifinals, Greece has shown that it is a team with talent, tactics and a drive to excel in the game internationally. Note that the present coach Panaghiotis Giannakis, is the first and only person that has won two championships, the one in 1987 as a player of the Greek basketball team and now as the coach of the same team! The anthem of the Team is "The Final Countdown" sang by the rock band of Europe, that was a top hit back in 1986!

Afterall, Greece may be a small country in Europe, but has proven that it is lionhearted once more in terms of athletic achievements!

A tip on visiting Athens, Greece!

For those who include a visit to Athens for their holiday plans, I'd suggest visiting a useful web link for enjoying more of the beauties the capital of Greece has to offer. It has been issued by the municipality of Athens and can be found at http://athensattica.com Enjoy your stay and don't stick to the historic centre around Acropolis. Try to get to know more of our city, old and new!

HURRICANE DENNIS

A dear friend of mine who lives in Hattiesburg, Mississippi sent me a note about the way he is preparing to face the rage of Dennis, when the hurricane will pass through his hometown: Besides the personal contact, I found his writing a quite interesting account of what is going to happen in the Gulf area. Here's the note:

..."I don't guess you have been following the story, but Hurricane Dennis is on his way and he is a "doozy". Will hit the coast with probable winds of over 145miles per hour!We are likely to be without electrical power for several days. I hope not, butsuch hope is a faint one.I am in the process, as soon as I get off the computer of installing "hurricaneties" on my roof system. This ties the roof rafters to the top plate at the topof the walls to prevent the roof from being torn off of the whole structure. Itlooks like my "handywork" is about to receive the maximum test.The eye of the storm will pass so close to Hattiesburg, that I believe we willreceive the full force of the storm. It is likely we will receive gusts of over100 miles per hour eventhough we are 75 miles inland.So, if you don't hear from me for several days, you won't have to wonderwhy....My power and phone will probably be out."

I definitely hope that everyone who may be affected by Dennis, will make it through at the end.

Pluses and minuses!

Hi! I haven't been much of a poster nowadays but today I felt like dropping my thoughts on the line. I have just returned from a quite interesting 4 days getaway in the beautiful island of Lesvos in Northeastern Aegean Sea and my mind is pretty much filled up with the images I have depicted from sightseeing the beauties of the 3rd largest island in Greece, (Crete and Evia are the first ones). Greece doesn't stop to amaze me in each and every new place I visit.

I left Athens with one thought in mind though. My holiday plans for August are propably screwed up for the moment, since the partnership with a couple of friends tends to fall off... Shit! Being 30 something and single is always a challenge for the holiday planning, don't you agree?
I have to talk with them to find out why they ended up changing their mind and I hope it will be for the better.

My latest article at Escape Artist.com has been released on June 16. It's about traveling to Northwestern Greece in the territory of Macedonia. I was glad to see earlier today that it was posted to the webpage. Care to travel there or to read it? You may find it at:
http://www.escapeartist.com/efam/71/Travels_To_Greece.html Hope you find it interesting!

I am also revising my poetry so far, for a friend of mine wants to forward it to a knowledgeable person to evaluate my piece of writing. I will submit them tomorrow and I hope to hear from them when the time's right! Wish me luck!

Greece's My Number One is the winner of the European Song Contest of 2005!

The Eurovision Song Contest has just ended broadcasting live from Kiev the capital of Ucraine! The winner is Helena Paparizou singing the song "My number one" representing Greece, winning with an unmatched victory of 230 points and 48 points difference from the second country! Wow, you can't imagine our pride and joy for our country's victory for the first time ever in the Eurovision contest throughout the 31 yrs of Greece's participation!

Thanks the Greeks all over the globe who voted for Helena, thank you all the people who liked the song and casted their vote to GREECE, thanx for the unique moments we are now living!!!

See you all in one year's time from now in the capital of Greece, Athens and until then don't forget who's Number One in Europe for 2005's Eurovision Song Contest! Well done Helena!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elena_Paparizou (the winner's bio and more)
http://eurosongonline.com/esc-info/ (information about the Eurovision song contest)

This one goes for the 30+ graduates of Xanthos' High School in Athens!

I received an invitation the other day from a friend of mine who's still in the third grade of junior high, notifying me of the closing ceremony that will be held today in the evening, at the premices of my old high school in my suburb in Athens. Her class is performing Shakespeare's "Midnight Summer Dream" and Catherine (or Micro-T) wanted me to come and watch the play she's in. So, 16 yrs after my graduation I'll be back tonight for the fiesta! In my times, we used to perform in front of the audience, acts of gymnastics, popular dances choreographed, singing in choir or playing instruments and then showing to our proud parents and family what we hand crafted in the arts class, throughout the school year. Don't get me wrong, but these were exciting times for me. Having spent quite some time rehearsing the presentations, having made the costumes, choosing what artcraft to present at the exhibition, are things that I remember with nostalgia. The ugly concequences were that shortly afterwards, we needed to study even harded in order to pass the grades' exams at the end of each school year and it was stressful as hell, studying night and day over and over again!

Last night I called up a couple of old fellow students in high school, to let them know of what's going to happen tonight. If we could go together it would be much fun, but if not, I will tell them all about the grumpy old high school professors of ours! Calling them by nick names when they weren't around was a common practice and laughing at their traits, was the talk of the breaks! Our school master had decided to run a girls' school only so, we followed that practice until the end of junior high. At high school the first boys came along, but to me they seemed like endengered species at the time... The poor guys where outnumbered by us girls, especially in my high school years!

I need to mention that I was quite shy as an adolescent and my heart pumped hard everytime I was exposed to public then, but feeling akward was I guess part of been a teenager!
Ever since the repertoire has expanded at the closing ceremony in the high school. I've heard that the pupils have also played ancient Greek tragedy and they have performed in student competitions. This has even been published on line at www.xanthos.gr/Theatro_2003.htm I am looking forward to see how's gonna be tonight and I will tell you again soon!

Can you tell what the song is in the background?

http://viral.lycos.co.uk/attachments/2710/classic.auto.mpa

I'd really like to tell me if the song is familiar to you somehow! Pay close attention and I am sure you will come up with something, he,he! Enjoy, M.

Γιατρέ μου έχω τάσεις φυγής τη Μ. Τετάρτη! Πειράζει?

Λοιπόν γιατρέ μου, τ' αποφάσισα! Κλείνω τον υπολογιστή στο γραφείο, λέω αντίο στη ρουτίνα της εργασιακής καθημερινότητας και ΦΕΥΓΩ για αλλού... Είναι κι αυτή η διαβολεμένη η άνοιξη που με ξεμιαλίζει γιατρέ μου, μην επιμένετε, δεν μένω λεπτό εντός των τειχών... ΦΕΥΓΩ για διακοπές!!! Πού? Μα θέλει και ρώτημα? Καστοριά λέει το πρόγραμμα με επίσκεψη στη Φλώρινα και Πρέσπες. Πώς? Οδικώς με τ' αμαξάκι μου και με καλή παρέα 2 ακόμη φίλες. Πότε? Απ' αύριο το πρωί με τα cd παρέα, καλή διάθεση και δρόμο παίρνω, δρόμο αφήνω να φτάσουμε στα σύνορα. Το μόνο που βαριέμαι είναι οι ετοιμασίες, τα μικροπράγματα που δεν θέλω (γυναίκα γαρ) ν' αφήσω πίσω, μήπως μου λείψουν! Ναι καλά, το less is more φαίνεται, πως δεν είναι τρόπος ζωής μου! Ευτυχώς το αμάξι έχει ευρύχωρο χώρο αποσκευών, αλλά και το πολύ τζιρτζιμίλι βλάπτει!!! Ξέρετε γιατρέ μου τι θα θελα να χω μαζί μου (τώρα που είμαι στην απέξω τα λέω η άτιμη). My sweetheart, γιατρέ μου αλλά καλύτερα να μην το θίξουμε το ζήτημα πασχαλιάτικα και βρεθεί κανένας σουβλισμένος σαν τον ένδοξο τον Θανασάκη το Διάκο!!!

Θα σας τα πω αναλυτικά όταν γυρίσω με το καλό και μέχρι τότε σκοπεύω να ρουφήξω κάθε εικόνα και κάθε αίσθηση που θα μου κάνει εντύπωση. Δε πιστεύω να μουντρουχλιάσετε γιατρούλη μου, χρονιάρες μέρες, ε? Καλά να πάμε, καλά να περάσουμε και καλά να γυρίσουμε όλοι μας! ΚΑΛΟ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΟ ΠΑΣΧΑ, See you all soon, M.

Cine Κεραμεικός ρεζίλι!

Αυτό το σχόλιο θα σας το πω στα ελληνικά για να μην το γράψω στα ξένα και ρεζιλευτούμε διεθνώς! Η ιστορία μου αρχίζει το περασμένο Σάββατο 16 Απριλίου, που μαζί με την παρέα μου ξεκινήσαμε να πάμε στο μαζαγί που τραγουδούσε ο Κότσιρας να τον ακούσουμε. Το κέντρο που εμφανίζεται στην Αθήνα είναι το Cine Κεραμεικός και εκεί παίχτηκε το όλο κόλπο!
Εχοντας κάνει τη κράτησή μας για περισσότερο από ένα μήνα πριν, το απόγευμα του Σαββάτου μας πήραν τηλέφωνο από το κέντρο να μας πουν ότι ήταν γεμάτοι και γι' αυτό άμα θέλαμε να πηγαίναμε το επόμενο Σάββατο καλύτερα! Gong! Επειδή στο παρά πέντε τέτοια πράγματα δεν γίνονται, πήγαμε χωρίς συζήτηση εκείνη τη βραδυά. Αφού μαζευτήκαμε και οι δέκα στο τραπέζι, ο άνδρας της παρέας ανέλαβε να παραγγείλει για όλους μας αυτά που νομίζαμε ότι δικαιούμαστε ανά τέσσερα άτομα. Όταν μετά από κάποια ώρα μια εκ της παρέας αποφάσισε να φύγει γιατί δεν ένιωθε καλά, οπότε ζητήσαμε το λογαριασμό. Με μεγάλη έκπληξη διαπιστώσαμε ότι αντί του προβλεπόμενου 40 ευρώ κατ' άτομο, μας χρέωσαν 58!!! άκουσον άκουσον! Η δικαιολογία τους ήταν ότι μας έβαλαν δέκα μερίδες ήταν το λιγότερο απίστευτη! Δέκα μερίδες από ξηρούς καρπούς και φρούτα που χωράνε σε μια πιατέλα, αυτό δεν το είχα ξανακούσει...

Με τα πολλά, μετά από έναν έντονο διαπληκτισμό με τους "υπευθύνους" μας έκαναν τη χάρη να μας μειώσουν το ποσό σε 450 ευρώ τελικά αλλά όπως είπε και ένας τους "όχι γιατί πρέπει". Λυπάμαι πολύ κύριοι του Κεραμεικού, αλλά αν νομίζετε ότι έτσι θα ξανάρθουμε στην επιχείρησή σας, πλανάσθε πλάνην οικτράν, κατά πως λέγανε και οι Αρχαίοι Ελληνες.
Λυπάμαι επίσης, που για να απολαύσουμε τους αγαπημένους μας καλλιτέχνες, πέφτουμε στη παγίδα της μεγάλης πίστας με όλα τα συνεπακόλουθα. Τελικά συναυλία και πάλι συναυλία και να ναι καλά και τα cd.

Ωραίο πράγμα τα κυκλώματα της νύχτας, για μερικούς όλοι κοροϊδα είμαστε! Αμ, δε!!!

Happy B-day to me!!!

Hm, it's one of those days today isnt' it? One of those that nothing seems ordinary and yet everything is as usual. It' s a working day today for me, and I woke up to my parents wishes. Nice of them to come in with a b-day kiss. I returned the nice gesture presenting them with some sweets I had bought the day before as a surprise for them! My bro obviously didn't remember them, but I love him so much to hold any grudge against him! A few friends of mine remembered me also, sending me some cute txt msgs at my mobile. Was I glad to hear from them, especially today. Even Vodafone send me a txt msg providing me with ten free msgs to spare today for my B-day! I hadn't seen that before, thanx guys! Finally my ex-boyfriend sent me a heart-breaking e-card that I read a few minutes ago. Boy, that hurts!

I don't know about you people, but for me my B-day is a rather bizarre day ever since I have recollections about myself. It often falls within the Holly week so, that's an excuse to leave them behind without throwing a party. Nowadays it's not the case, but all I want to do is to think more positively about my future. Over the time I have developed a greater awareness about myself and I see that I have put a lot of strain to me, in order to fullfill or not my self steaming prophecies. My body is undertaking a great deal of pressure and is giving me a very profound signal of not corner it so much! Yeah, tell me about it! So Happy 34 of me, growing to an age where I'm still a young person (with an even younger mentality), but maturing and realizing things about my life (and that's the beauty of growing up, I guess for me). I rode my scooter today to work and I was thinking of what to wish myself for the occassion: The essentials such as letting love grow more inside of me, feel more, live in an earthly manner as a whole mind, body and soul! Let's see if my wishes aren't wishfull thinking but my life stance from now on...

Happy Birthday to me, happy birthday to me, may I live well with myself and in accordance of who I really am! Happy Birthday to all Aries who are born on April 12 as well! Cheers, M.

Trying to stay awake but in a good mood!

It's mid-day in Athens, in a rather sunny yet lukewarm afternoon. My bed was so uncomfortably not warm last night, that deprived me from a good night's sleep, but there's a good three hours to go before I leave work today, so I have to stay awake no matter what! Siesta seems like the thing I wanted to do most, only if I were in Mexico rightnow!

For the past couple of days, I've been dealing with the Orthodox Easter plans of getting away. For those who may be surprised from reading about Easter, since the Catholic one took place in March 25, the Greek Orthodox Easter will be on May 1st this year. For the different dates, pls bare in mind the different methods of calculations each church uses for Easter, but now it's not a problem of ours to deal with, anyway! So, back on Monday I was talking to a colleague of mine about travelling to Greek natural points of interest (my previous note was about that issue, as well) and we came up with the common liking about travelling to a couple of places we've been meaning to. Luckily a friend of mine called me up the next day and said she is available also for spending the Easter holidays together and voila! here are the three of us setting up plans for going by car, to the beautiful town of Kastoria, Lakes Prespes and Florina in southwest Greece, nearby the borders of Albania & FYROM for 5 good days! Today we booked the hotel in Kastoria, which is on the lakeshore just outside the city and with the travel guide handy, I'm becoming even more interested in learning more about that part of Greece.

My horizons are expanding socially and culturally speaking and I just hope I will keep that feeling as long as I feel like receiving positivity out of the whole thing. My life doesn't suck after all! ;-D That's why last night before I went to bed, I wrote a small poem about the influence of spring to me (inwards speaking) and it turned out to be cute. When blue or in a challenging situation, the inspiration is more readily available, but life isn't always like that. How about giving thanx for being alive, how about sensing the improtance of each moment that passes day in & day out, how about a thousand other reasons we can come up with for putting a smile to our face... Just think of it for a while!

A break from kicking my ass!

My weekend was indeed quiet (sleeping and cocooning most of the time!) Again sentimental thoughts came in and out of my head, but if it hadn't been for my friend David from the States, who called me up last evening, my mood would have been different, I guess. I was thinking of him a lot the past few days and boom! he called me to say "hi" and chit-chat for a while! This phonecall was as if he read my mind lately. Having somebody to feel at ease and talk as you please, feeling good about the communication, is what I have in mind when I think of him as a friend. God bless you David for the initiative!

On Friday I came by Arkoudos' blog and sent him an introductory msg, just to initiate contact and send a friendly "hello" his way. He responded to me and guess what; on Saturday I came by an article on Greek bloggers and Arkoudos was part of the article...! Well done, my fellow blogger, keep on spreading the word about blogging in Greece!

Earlier today, Antigoni from Paramythoupoli blog sent me a responding e-mail. I was looking for a song in Google and among other things, there was her site, with a beautiful romantic song playing on the background. I posted a comment to her page and she got back at me today, saying she will give a try writing music for some of my lyrics. Hola!!! I just feel complemented by her gesture!

Finally the circle of good things coming my way today, has been completed by the proposal of a fellow colleague who suggested to take a trip to the nothern borders of Greece in a couple of months from now by car, in order to go visit the beautiful natural park of Lake Kerkini and the nearby areas of Serres. It sounds like an interesting trip to take, if only we could come up with a couple of more willing friends of ours (especially drivers) in order to share the driving to and forth the village of Agistron where we want to stay. Agistro has the best bysantine hot spas in the area and luckily it also has an informative link to get to know more of the natural beauties there. Check it out at http://www.agistro.gr and you'll see another side of ecological travel.

I need to get off my wandering mind in a while. Antigoni, I am in the mood for writing some verses lately, so keep in mind for updates in the "Write Stuff" page of mine.
Have a good day everybody! M.

April Fools Day!

I just scrolled down a few of the blogs that follow mine & much to my surprise, almost everybody had put down a comment about this very day! Hm... I wonder why! The weather today doesn't resemble springtime in Athens. It's cold, windy and cloudy out there! Feels much like cocooning to me for the rest of the evening. Thankfully the day was uneventfull at work, even a little bit boring but T.G.I.F and it feels OK to think of the weekend ahead. I, personally will dog-sit my pet Artemis for the coming couple of days, which doesn't sound bad for the time being. If the weather improves, I'll take her for a walk to some nearby parks at my neighbourhood and I'll enjoy of the scenery as much as I can, if we happen to go.
I still have some unresolved issues with myself, in terms with breaking up with my boyfriend a couple of weeks ago. I miss the proximity we shared, but I feel like staying in accordance with my decision about moving on. The lessons I've learned from our interaction are priceless, but when things go wrong, it's better to let go of the relationship. Boy, it hurts, but it's for the better!
Perhaps, I'll indulge myself with some music on the background, even do some dance to let out some compressed energy, but above all I think I will spend weekend in a peaceful mode...aha!

So, keep on pranking till the day's over for it's April Fools Day but don't develop it into a habit...alright; Keep the faith for a better life! Cheers, M.

A Moroccan night out in Athens!

When an editorial about a new all day spot called "Morosko" caught my attention, I couldn't imagine of the great night out I would seldom experience at the premices. Situated in the heart of the marketplace in downtown Athens, Morosko unravelled the atmosphere of the "Thousand & one nights" at the fairytales of Halimah. Decorated as the patio of a mansion in Nothern Africa, the colours that prevailed were deep red, brown and gold, creating a cozy stylish atmosphere. We sat at the comfortable leather lounges and began to drift in the rhythm of the music playing from the decks. The crowd was varying from the 20something to 40+ and as time passed, the place began to fill up with people. Past midnight a group of oriental dancers showed up, making us stare and wait for more to come. Then the dj took charge, making us step into the carpets and dance till the morning with international dance and oriental songs alike. Some of us even climbed into the couch, dancing at a crazy beat (and jumping like school age kids is not common when you're in your 30's, but what the heck!) The drinks were original and the service was discreet and kind from the waiters. We finally left Morosko at 5 am, all happy and with the desire to go back for more oriental clubbing soon! How about you?

Traveling to Constantinople: Article for the Escape from America.com magazine!

When I returned from my latest excursion to the neighbouring country of Turkey, my mind was filled with the charm of the 4000 years old city of Istanbul. So, it didn't take me long to decide to put down to paper (or hard disk if you prefer!), my impressions of the time spent there. I submitted the article to the website of the Escape from America magazine and I just found out about the link to the article on line:
www.escapeartist.com/efam/67/Travel_To_Turkey.html

If you feel like reading a Greek's perspective in travelling to oriental Turkey, please be my guest!

Body works!

Hi everybody! First posting of 2005 for me and I was wondering what's going to be like...

So, have you ever noticed how we observe the human body while walking? Different walks for different strokes, as the saying goes! Here's an interesting link to a university study in Germany about the modifications of movement in humans.

http://www.bml.psy.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/Demos/BMLwalker.html

Enjoy the concept, Marialena