9 days

My, how time flies. 33% of my break is already a part of the past. Oh well; I think that my mind is in enough turmoil at this moment that it could sprout a fine post.

So, a couple things that three months in Edinburgh changed, off the top of my head.

--The coffee isn't as good as I remembered it and hungered for, during the cold days up in scotland. It's more like "Frappe? It's ok I guess but I do miss the mocha from Beanscene to be perfectly frank." Now, that's blasphemy. And I should know, if frappe was a religion I'd be its Pontifex Maximus.

--For a moment I thought I was getting shortsighted. Then I figured I was descending into a paranormal scenario where everybody's face was getting blurry. And then it struck me. The law against smoking in Greek cafes was lifted. Needless to say, you need headlights to move around in crowded cafes. A foghorn would also come in handy.

--After familiarizing with a country where cars drive differently, I'm now in the state where all cars go in the wrong direction. Whenever I have to cross a road like the proverbial chicken, my mind goes into reboot. Do they come from right to left? Left to right? Left to left? (is that even possible?) I constantly have to be with someone so they can kick me in the head (it functions as a ctrl-alt-del).

--Everybody's jealous of my Edinburgh hoodie. And by everybody I mean you, Kalpaki :-p

--I'd forgotten how disgustingly degradingly decadently comfortable my bedroom's armchair is. Drop a marblestone over that baby and let me Rest In Peace on it when I croak it.

-I find myself hating my motorcycle, loathing my helmet and detesting the fact that I can't walk wherever I want, in contrast with the city centre in Edina.

--Healthy Advice got even better while I was missing. Go over there and eat a sandwich, in the centre of Thessaloniki. I said it before and I'll say it again: If there was a country called Sandwichland, their cheesebread would be on the one-dollar bill.

--They say "Change is inevitable". Clearly they never heard of the ticket dispensers in the city buses. As you can guess, the first 0.30 ticket I bought costed me 1 euro.

--I fell in love with Scotland. It had me at "Welcome to Edinburgh". But Greece is something else. It's home. It's people shouting and cars honking and beautiful eyes that say "I'm happy you are here".

That's it for now. A recap when I get back.

Consta... "Computo ergo sum" ...ntine

For Shame!

Now, I know that I've been MIA for a couple weeks but there are so many things going on that logging them too would kill off what little free time I've got. I'm starting a new book tomorrow (yes, AGAIN, bite me) and I'm trying to focus my energy there. I'll just feel solace in the fact that none cares that this blog gets updated less often than the Farmer's Almanac.

Yesterday, I felt like I was 13 again. No, I'm not talking about pimples or hair in weird places, I'm talking about the infinite shame that one feels when asked something from his tutor and catches himself not paying attention.
I mean, when I was a teacher last year, I kept catching wee ones not paying attention then went on to ask them WHY weren't they paying attention.

Mental note to self. DON'T DO IT.
Or at least do it and be as cool as Kevin was yesterday about it.

So, we are writing an excercise, a short story centered on dialogue. We've got 45 minutes to write it.
Long story short, the tutor says "aight, pencils down please" and summarily asks one of the postgrads to read her own. I must admit, I was half paying attention to her words, half-looking at the end of my story which needed just two more lines that i HAD to write before they were flushed down the void of "Shit-I-forgot-it-land".

I wrote the two lines then went back to listening to Kirsty. Obviously I had no idea what she was talking about, apart from her eloquent and composed writing.
So, then, she stops and the tutor summarily aims the proverbial gun at me.
"Dinos what did you think of Kirstie's story?"
This must have been the longest silence in the history of my years since junior high school.

Maybe 8 seconds of vocal Erevos.

2 choices. Talk bullshit about how the subtext is percolating in the female character's voice and the conflict between the two characters is perceived throughout by the subtle hints of their interaction.
I mean that was the point of the exercise and I am positive that Kirstie did a good job as she always does.
(Damn, I should have said something like that in retrospect.)

I was honest though, so I bit the bullet.

I went on to say "I'm so sorry but I've only heard the 2nd part because I just wanted to finish my piece before I lost it. I'm so sorry." (I think I said I'm so sorry about 6 times, and also thought about it a few hundreds more.)
At least, the tutor and the others laughed about it and gave me some credit for being honest (to be frank, I wasn't the only one trying to finish my piece at the time) but I felt so bad for my colleague. It wasn't deliberate.

Damn, this post looks like a livejournal entry. I should end it with a joke. Meh, maybe next time.

Consta... "phasing in and out of the timespace continuum" ...ntine

The road less travelled - or street less walked?

Greetings and hairetismata to you all, (and by all, I mean George who is the sole follower, thanks George!)

Well, I just left the library, having failed to meet with a mate (that place is enormous!) and I was on the way home. Now, there is a straight line that gets me from George Square (where the school is) to my flat.
And yet I decided for no particular reason to go back via another street, right next to my usual route. Why would I do that? The result was a few minutes of additional walking.
The answer probably is: "Because you live in the greatest city of Europe, dumbass, who knows what that other street may hold?"

Unsurprisingly (?), there were the following:
-A second-hand bookshop there (sweet!),
-A chinese supermarket (PASS- there was this skinny cat right outside and it was staring right at my crotch for no particular reason)
-A Western-Union spot (noted for the future)
-A church that could be called brand-new (if you lived in the 1600s)

-A closed coffeeshop that was really bland but had a really witty name... damnit, now I forgot it! (-0-) *

-A big fat restaurant that was probably too pricey for us lowly students (I have never seen a restaurant with purple seats that wasn't really expensive. Think about it.)

-A donut shop (must...stay...away... Also, don't you love it when they describe chocolate as "decadent"? Out of all the adjectives in the Anglosaxon... Decadent? I concur! :-) )

For a guy who once got lost while actually standing still, this sidetracking was a huge step towards making this place feel like home. Robert Frost would be proud.

Consta... "Master Tracker" ...ntine

* [since I didn't have anything to say about the closed coffee-shop but I like these guys a lot "( )", I decided to just make a Tie-Fighter from StarWars]