March 2010
1 post
Final Thoughts
It’s been a few months…
Greece didn’t change my life. But it did give me the latitude to see that I can change it, and how I’m going to do that. The next step: farming in the tropics. Until then.
January 2010
6 posts
Done.
Back in Jacksonville. I’ll do a final write up soon.
In the air! On the way to JFK.
hooray for queing posts!
End of Days
No, not the Schwarzenegger movie…
Yep, this is really the last day of Greece. I leave tomorrow morning. Yeah, I’m kinda sad.
2nd to last day
Spent a loooong time on the tram/metro. Went to Kifisia, came back. Now for Castello’s Pizza.
December 2009
25 posts
Six More Days
Katie left this morning, and I’ve less than a week. Looking forward to being home.
A Non-theist for Christmas
It is strange during this time of the year, when people wish ‘Καλα Χριστουγεννα’ and ‘Merry Christmas,’ to issue a slightly fake smile in return when those phrases are smiled towards me. This is my first Christmas as an atheist. I don’t quite know what to say, so I’ve just decided to return the sayings or just say thanks. To my family in Greece at least,...
Ummm.
I am in Unidici Cafe in Kalamaki, and two women had me search for a Greek plastic surgeon on the computer. Wow. That was really weird but also fairly entertaining.
Updated Reading List
Currently working on Seven Years in Tibet by Heinrich Harrer.
I’ve finished these:
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortensen
Envy by Sandra Brown
Papillon by Henri Charriere
The Wayward Bus by John Steinbeck (who, by the way, is THE MAN)
Nietzsche: A Graphic Guide by Laurence Gane and Piero
The Crucible by Arthur Miller
The Stranger by Albert Camus
Entering the Stream edited by Samuel...
Back in Athens
Well I’m back in Athens. Not much to do, hence the quotes by Mitch. Football game’s on. Fun. Thinking of ideas for a book or short story. It’s cold here and I’m wearing my peacoat. It is attractive.
More Mitch Hedburg
Whenever I go to shave, I assume there’s someone else on the planet shaving, so I say, “I’m gonna go shave, too.”
My friend said to me, “I think the weather’s trippy.” I said, “No, man, it’s not the weather that’s trippy, perhaps it is the way that we perceive it that is indeed trippy.” Then I thought, “Man, I should’ve...
“A severed foot is the ultimate stocking stuffer.”
– Mitch Hedburg.
Gift ideas from my favorite comedian. :)
Watch
Recognition of the Cretan Beauties
I am back in Chania, having spent around 10 days in Agia Galini and 4 or 5 days elsewhere. I camped all but 3 of those evenings and met wonderful people along the way. I’d like to list them:
Ioannis and Kanella for your hospitality; Stella, for hosting me on your couch; lady for going out of her way to give me a ride to Zoniana; mafia in Zoniana, for giving me ‘herbal’ tea and...
November 2009
37 posts
I woke up this morning
terribly hung over from a night out with a wily bunch of Brits at Cosmo’s which was bloody fantastic. Steve is cancerous but dealing well with the chemotherapy and the general stress of having cancer. He’s the one who picked me up when I was trying to hitch a ride outside of Kapariana. In fact, a lot of people here have cancer or used to, including Francesca, who is a kind woman and...
Words of Wisdom: Thich Nhat Hanh
How can you be alive when only your body is there and your mind still wanders in the past or in the future? You are not really alive. You are not available to you. You are not available to your beloved ones. So come home to yourself in the here and the now; be fully alive and your true presence profits yourself and profits your beloved ones.
~Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh
comment: ahh, this is...
the weather has turned
and it’s cloudy and rainy today. Not a bad change, but it’s certainly making me lazy. That and the fact that I’ve been here for well over a week now. There is a bazaar tomorrow to raise money to feed the wild cats in the village, so I will ‘donate’ my money there and hopefully pick up some things for myself and my family and friends. I think now is about the time...
Highly Sensitive People and the Church (reblog)
In the spirit of finding myself, I want to post this article I just read on exfundy.wordpress.com . I relate to basically everything Lorena is saying here about HSPs and the Church. It is relieving to find that there is some explanation for why most people never seemed as upset by God issues as I was, or so obsessed by them. Hurrah for self-exploration! The final frontier!
Highly Sensitive...
WatchThis is really serious, guys.
the curse of Αγια Γαληνη
It has been a while since I’ve posted. I’ll try to briefly recall some of the things I’ve been doing over the last few days, and I’ll give you a more complete report when I don’t have to pay for the internet:
Left Iraklio to Anogeia, hitchhiked to Zoniana.
Camped outside of Zoniana, woke up to sheep bells and the flock a few feet away.
Drank ‘herbal’...
oh yeah, I
marched in a protest. The Polytechnic Uprising Celebration. There were rocks, fire, police with shields and gas-masks, loudspeakers, and a guy with a trident (let the reader understand). It was neat but I think I got some teargas in my eyes before I joined in. The police started running at one point because they lighted some flames in a square and the adrenaline really got pumping. I was...
iraklio and mountain villages
I arrived in Iraklio yesterday and walked around for a bit. The backpack I have is really uncomfortable (although Dad, I’m thankful for you buying it anyway) and I was not happy having to walk up and down hills with it. I found a nice military backpack today, so I think I’ll buy it. It’s not that expensive and I think I’ll be happier in the long run. I took a trip out...
a thought to a friend
From correspondence with a friend.
i do like your point about rhetoric. you’ve always felt that way although even you can’t avoid using it. it is what language is which is why i like zen because it says language is limiting and just don’t use it for the big stuff. well maybe that’s unavoidable so they counter it with koans and throwing shit like teaboxes at you and...
dammit to hell, beavis!
okay i’ve posted this damn thing twice and tried to put an image up and it froze and then i copied my shit just in case but then i can’t paste it cause i had to shut down firefox and damnit well i am not tired and its almost 4am. i’m going to exchange some sheep-leather gloves today and then go to iraklio to surf a couch and play with some cats.
Words of Wisdom: John Wesley
I learned today that John Wesley, the famous Methodist preacher, was a great fan of natural remedies. Here’s one that struck my interest:
For consumption, or TB as we would call it now, his highest priority cure is ‘cold bathing’. Then he advised patents to drink nothing but water and eat nothing but white bread. If that fails, drink milk and sugar candy, or boiled sorrel. Then try milk...
Words of Wisdom: Siddhartha
Love yourself and be awake-
Today, tomorrow, always.
~Dhammapada
The whole world we travel with our thoughts,
Finding nowhere anyone as precious as one’s own self.
Since each and every person is so precious to themselves,
Let the self-respecting harm no other being.
~Samyutta Nikaya
. .
i had a title for this but i changed it and it's...
I walked from the city south to the village of Mournies and a church perched on the mountains. The grey rocky outcroppings stepped up the sides of the heap and hung over the abyss. Mountain goats jumped to the peaks, the bells around their necks clanging magically in the distance. An ex-pat I met earlier, Karen, told me how the ancient Cretans named their land as literally the...