Sleepily random. Whatever.

So, first of all! GIVEAWAY RESULTS! :D

Unfortunately, I only got like, 4 comments. Still, that's okay, because I decided I'll make a card for all four of you! So, Maria G., Magda and Natalie, please send me an e-mail at elviella@yahoo.com to give me your address and stuff so I can send these babies to you! :P
(I already know the fourth commenter's address)

Second: The posts about Christmas traditions will go on, don't think I've forgotten them. I just had a lot of studying to do the past week. Also! My blog is going to go through a massive facelift, so don't be surprised if you come back and can't really recognise it. :P

Alsooo. It was my birthday about 50 days ago! I'm telling this to you now because my family's gift for me just arrived! And dude, is it awesome! My mom was super secretive about it and had asked me to give her some of my favourite paintings/drawings so she could use it for my gift. Of course I gave it to her super late, so the gift itself was late but I don't care 'cause I LOVE it. Have a look!



Apparently she has a friend that makes custom bags/purses and they designed this beautiful thing and dude! It's so steampunk-ish and beautiful and practical and also MY MOM'S THE SWEETEST. Thanks a bunch. Although you'll probably never read this. :P

Anyway! Time to go! I'm anticipating your e-mails, girls, and Imma post again soon!

P.S. My cousins were here for one day before going to New York. Gaaah awesome times but I'm waiting for them to get back so we can have more awesome times!
P.P.S. There's no real PPS. I'm just sleepy and random (sleepily random?)

Real quick entry!

This is just to give you a thumbs up that I expanded the giveaway deadline to December 17th! Though, to be honest, I'm tempted to send a card to everyone who comments there. Anyway, that's all, folks!

Okay, okay, because this is too short, here:



Even though I'm not really into romantic comedies and stuff, I adore "Love Actually". I wanted to post the Hugh Grant dancing scene but I couldn't find a video with it that embedding is available. Have some awesome Bill Nighy instead!

So I wanted to put here something more serious and all, but I have already put the song I adore right now in that giveaway entry (REGINA SPEKTOR. DUDE. I LOVE HER.) Unfortunately I can't think of anything else so here you go:



I find this song ridiculously awesome and adorable, for various reasons. Plus, I love saying "thank you" in japanese accent. (saank youu! xD)

Randomness is over, I'm off to wash my hair. Don't forget the giveaway!

Christmas traditions Vol. 1

I'm one of these people who get ridiculously happy in the prospect of Christmas. I'm not really sure why is that, but I love how I gradually get into the holiday spirit as the weather becomes colder and the amount of days till the holidays grows shorter.

Also I must tell you that really, deep down, I'm a girl of tradition. Especially during Christmas, I want some things that completely say "holiday" to me, to be there. And as they make their appearance one by one and the spirit grows inside me, I decided I should count them here. With photos.

Christmas Tradition #1:



See this? It looks delicious, and it is. Tradition in my family has it so my grandfather is the one to bring home all the tasty Christmas food, starting with this beautiful thing called a panatone. (italian accent plz!) It's a really nice italian cake thingy that is eaten during the Christmas period and comes with caster sugar. I remember going with my grandpa and mom to buy these when I was little and eating them as breakfast every day during the holidays.

Damn! Now with the cold, I'm even more excited about Christmas!

PS. Don't forget the giveaway!

Something like a giveaway (?)

I find giveaways to be so much fun! That's why I decided to organise one, even though I don't even have that many followers.

What I'll be giving, you say?

Well... The three winners of this giveaway will get a Christmas card made with much love by me!

Yeah, I know it can't be worn or used or anything but I love making and writing cards for nice people. Shut up. :P

So, how to participate?

Write a comment here that will include one song you really like right now and three things you like about Christmas.

The giveaway is open internationally and even if I personally know you in real life! (though in that case I'm probably already making something for you). I'll draw the winners randomly and announce the results in December 17th.

Now hurry up and make these comments extra awesome! I'll be waiting for them!


PS. More posts are on the way! I have so many things to write it's not even funny.
PPS.


Regina Spektor is so amazing that that's not even funny either.
PPPS. I wanna read the rest of the Scott Pilgrim comics. Right now. D:
PPPPS. Damn! I wanted to add a picture but Blogger isn't co-operating!
PPPPPS. Writing PSs is becoming a rather weird habit.

skeletons in everyone's closets.

Skeleton in the cupboard, or closet, is a colloquial phrase used to describe an undisclosed fact about someone which, if revealed, would have a negative impact on perceptions of the person.

(~wikipedia)

I think everyone has skeletons in their closets.

Since I'm not a native english speaker, it's easier for me to use the phrase more freely.

I think people's skeletons aren't just huge, scary secrets.

People's skeletons sometimes are just even their almost everyday secrets; their weaknesses.

The things you can't say in public; the things you'll feel embarrassed if people knew. Some things that you feel you're not able to speak about and that weight on your back.

Sometimes people have heavier skeletons. These look like the less apparent; the more sensible you re about them, the better you keep them safe and secret.

And sometimes, you don't even know that some people had them. Or you suspected they did, but didn't know how heavy they are.

I don't even know.

Things like this make me realise what a big world the one we live in actually is.

Who knows how many of the people I've met in my life have skeletons huge, scary skeletons hidden inside them?


Now I'm going to put my shoes on and go to class, out in the world.

Most of the time, skeletons in the closets don't block people from trying to be good.







P.S. Yeah, I'm back from a month of not posting anything and now I go and post a ranty emo thing. Wow.
P.P.S. Last phrase. I'm such an optimist.
P.P.P.S. What better way to ruin the mood by writing random extras! I fail so much.

Soul Meeting

After reading Magda's post, I remembered a story I read sometime ago. It is part of a chapter in a fanfic written by ShatteredLyre, who's truly a marvelous writer, and who I hope won't mind me posting this. Knowing the characters doesn't matter for understanding the story, but, for your information, Pirika's a nurse and Redseb and Seyram are two kids she's supposed to be taking care of and who love the stories she tells them. The other people mentioned are characters in the story, where lots of things happen and that's why Pirika has to keep the kids calm.

No pictures 'cause the point of this is the actual story.

Characters from the Shaman King manga (c) Hiroyuki Takei, Shueisha, Viz media I guess.
Story (c) ShatteredLyre

----

"So once upon a time, when the gods first created the earth, they didn't create humans as we know them today. Instead, they created these scary, all powerful, domineering beasts that had two heads, four arms, and four legs."

Redseb and Seyram clung to each other. Nope, Pirika still wasn't sane yet. "Erm…Pirika?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you tell us something that isn't so freaky because you are definitely freaking us out."

Never again. Never again should I be asked to keep anyone calm, Pirika thought to herself.

"Al…right…" She paused and frowned, trying to think of a less "freaky" way of telling the story to the kids and still be conveying the same message. "Okay. So here we go. Once upon a time, when the gods first created the earth, they didn't create humans as we know them today. Instead, souls, these bright, pure souls that were made out of the essence of light with the clarity of crystals roamed the lands. The gods saw this and they were pleased that they had created things that were so beautiful."

"Those do sound beautiful," Redseb agreed while Seyram yawned contentedly and rested her head on her brother's shoulder.

"However, the gods, since they were so pleased with their creation, didn't stop with making them beautiful. They were so encouraged with the perfection of these souls that they gave them everything they could: intelligence, power, agility. And over time, the gods saw that this, their pride in thinking that they could concoct something so perfect, would be their downfall. They did indeed make the perfect being, so perfect that they were more powerful than the gods themselves. In fear, the gods enslaved the souls instead of peacefully coexisting with them and ordered that the souls praise the gods constantly. Gradually, the souls saw the fear of the gods, they saw that they were more powerful than the gods and began resenting why they are being treated so badly. Why, they asked, why should they be the ones to be enslaved? Why should the gods be the one receiving praise? Shouldn't the souls be getting praised since they are the perfect ones? The stronger, smarter ones? They rose up and began to revolt. However, seeing that they would fall from the heavens if they were overcome by the souls, the gods banded together in a last ditch attempt. While it was nighttime on earth, the gods snuck down and split all of the sleeping souls into two halves. That way, the souls would still be perfect but would each half would take half of the original soul's power, thus making them weaker than the gods. For their insolence, the gods banished these half complete souls to roam the earth who were constantly in search of their other half so that they could finally be—"

"Complete," Redseb breathed.

"Yup." She smiled.

"I think…I think I heard something like this before. But the person before said that the gods split the souls into two halves, one male and one female. How come you didn't say that?"

Pirika blinked, surprised that Redseb had picked up on a small detail like that. "W-Well… I'd like to think that whoever we find that makes us 'complete' isn't going to be limited by gender. And it isn't necessarily just romantic love. It can be love between friends, familial love, you know. And I'd like to think that my guy friends and my brother make me just as happy as my girl friends." She smiled. "Not to mention, romantic love doesn't have to be just between a male and female."

Redseb laughed and clapped his hands together. "You know, I actually like that explanation a ton more than the other one I heard. It's nice. It's like…like…breakin' boundaries and stuff."

"Since love is love is love, no matter what kind, it will transcend all differences, all conflicts and bring us together as a family." Pirika tucked the two kids in.

"Say, Pirika, who's your other half then?" Redseb asked innocently.

She was caught off guard yet again, never having been asked this question before. "I…ah…"

But before she could answer, Redseb cut in. "Is it that Ren guy?"

Pirika's jaw locked in place as she remembered her less than pleasant initial encounters, then getting a huge donation from him for the fundraiser, then getting to know Ren, then seeing him with that infant, then swimming in abandoned hotel pools with him, then with giving him advice, then realizing that he actually listened to the advice, then getting severely threatened by Tao Ran. "I don't…I don't…No," she said mechanically.

Redseb cocked his head to the side and studied her. "Are you sure?"

"I honestly don't know but I do know someone who is my other half for sure," she said confidently.

"Really? Who is it?" he asked, bouncing up and down in his bed, ready to get some gossip.

She pointed at him.

He looked at her in confusion. "Me?"

She nodded and then pointed at Seyram.

"Seyram too?"

"Yup and Yoh and Anna and my brother and Lyserg and Jeanne and even Dr. Tao and Tamao and just about everyone here."

"But I thought that the gods split the souls in half…"

"I think…I-I think that more than one person can make us feel complete. That more than person can make us feel happy. How saddening would it be if only one person existed that could complete us, that could make us feel whole? I feel like a whole person around you guys and everyone in the hospital. Everyone in my home. Yes, I just called the hospital my home but you know what, it's totally true despite how lame and sad and cheesy it is. I love coming here. I love working here. I love everything about everyone, even if it is bad or good."

"It's not cheesy," Redseb declared. "I like it!"

She smiled. "That's good." Before leaving the two kids to sleep for the night, she said one last thing to him. "You know why it's important that the original souls were pure and beautiful?"

Redseb thought about it and then shook his head.

"It's because when we're rejoined with people who make us feel complete and whole and wonderful and happy and break down all the awkward, angry barriers that we might have erected during our isolation and sadness and then they make us feel like everything and nothing at the same time and the only thing we're sure of is that it feels absolutely right…then it's as beautiful and pure as the souls." She stopped by the door before opening it and going outside.

"Then it's perfect."

---------

Birthday Countdown: 1 day

Why I have been absent this week.

I know. I actually promised I would post this week, that I would make one or two or even three of my traditional, long, with photos posts... Yet I didn't post anything from my list. Add my general absence to that, and you have every right to scream at me:

"WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN, ELVIELLA?!?"
I'll tell you.

Actually, this week, I barely studied, to be honest.

And why?

Because FullMetal Alchemist totally took over my life for the past week.



Seriously. I love this manga. I've read manga before, but really? TAKE NOTES, NARUTO, 'CAUSE FMA CAN KICK YOUR ASS!

...Really, I don't know how many people will actually comment on this. This post is to show you another side of me: that of the comicbook/manga fangirl.
Anyway.

I started reading the FullMetal Alchemist series back in January, but since I was too much into Shaman King and Death Note at the time, I read about six or seven chapters before forgetting about it. Then, in June, I read a couple chapters more on a spare hour I had. Then I went to vacations and completely didn't have the time or the internet connection or the mood to continue... And then, a week ago... I decided to go on from where I had stopped. Two days later I had read 45 chapters (the big ones, that have 35-45 pages) and now I have officially read it all. I stayed up till midnight last night to finish it, and then I went to write a mini essay for school.

So, if you like manga/comics and have the time... pick this story up! It's freakin' awesome, people!



Even though it's a shounen (boy) manga, the author, Arakawa Hiromu, is female. The fact that one of the best boy manga is written by a woman is very interesting, in my opinion.

The story is that of Edward and Alphonse Elric, two young alchemists who, while trying to resurrect their beloved dead mother, lose one of them his arm and leg, and the other his whole body. We follow them in their journey to get their bodies back, and as they find out that, in reality, there is something much larger endangering their country, in their trying to find out the truth and save their country.

10 Reasons to read it:

1. Great story, without plotholes and very tight and engaging in reading. Also, there's a lot of thought and research into it.
2. Very good and realistic characters with unexpected backstories and actions, that you are able to relate to and get to love and be worried about. I hadn't feel such relief for years as the one I fel during the last chapter. Extremely interesting villains, too, not just plain evil-ridden bad guys.
3. 3 words: Kickass. Female. Characters. If you've read any manga, you will know that, really, most female characters don't stand a chance in front of the male ones. They are too stereotyped, or weak, or annoying. In this one, they just KICK ASS. Oh, and they have variety.
4. Really touching in parts without being overly angst-ridden or sappy. The moments that are touching made me want to cry, but I never felt they were too pulling it too far.
5. Creepiest kid ever. Scary demon kiddies are just not enough when you've seen...no I won't tell you.
6. The romance. Not too little, not to much. And, mostly, nicely built. The ending sequence with the two main romatically involved characters was the best. Arakawa can do romance, believe me.
7. THE ART. When I first started to read it, the art style seemed a bit off to me. Maybe I got used to it, but I really enjoy it now. The backgrounds especially, are excellent.
8. PRETTY PRETTY INKING. D: It's just so nice and clean and effectiiiive.
9. The humor. Some moments are downright hilarious.
10. The meanings! I think it had some really nice messages, especially what it came to what makes you human and what it means to be one.

And this is my favourite cover ever! It's the one of the second to last chapter... Seeing all these characters together and spotting the little details made me feel very warm in the inside!
Birthday countdown: 1 week, 2 days

TEASER

The next two months, on Nieve y Lluvia:

-Elviella's projects! Comics and more!
-To steal or not to steal: a copyright issue.
-Tribute to a summer that has passed for good.
-The librarian's tale: a short comic I drew over the summer.
-Why I love this movie or A review on [500] Days of Summer.

-Artists I admire/adore/am envious of pt. 2

-Friends are not forever: bits I've come to understand about human relationships lately.

Starting tomorrow with "Nice things and where to find them"

P.S.: Sorry for not being super active lately, I'm trying to get into a schedule here. Thank you so much for following me! 21 followers, YAY! I'll thank each of you personally once I have the time. :3

Birthday countdown: 2 weeks and 2 days.

It's Friday and I'm...baking.

It's the first Friday of the new school year!

How cool is that? I love being able to say "YAY it's Friday!" and do my happy Friday dance.

The not really cool thing is that I'm a little bit sick, but I don't mind too much because I can stay home, paint, or watch a film and, maybe, cook!

...For now, I'll just answer Magda's questions, because she tagged me last week, and I had kinda forgot to do it, amidst school starting and trying to get some sleep.

1) How would you spend your day if it was your last one on Earth?

Saying everyone that I love them, laughing randomly, and trying to see and do as many things possible. Oh, and eating awesome food.

2) In which movie would you like to star?

Seriously? I'm all for artistic, less famous movies, but where I'd like to play? Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, or Inception.

3) If you were an object in your room, what would that be?

My bookcase, I think. I have a great love for books. :)

4) Describe a random dream you've seen in your sleep.

Two days (nights?) ago, I dreamt I could perform magic. So could my mom, and I think my sister, too. Yeah, ubiquitous, I know, but it was freakin' awesome, and extremely realistic!

5) Do you believe in past lives?

Nah, not really. I mean, it sounds very interesting, but you've got one very sceptic person right here (me!).

6) Do you read a book these days? Which one?

Just finished the amazing graphic novel "Blankets" by Craig Thomson (who is amazing, too). I'm not sure what I'm going to read next, but I'm open to suggestions!

7) Do you cook? Your specialty?

Hell yeah I do! I worked in a kitchen this summer, for those of you who don't already know! My specialty? Hard to say, but everyone says I have a particular skill in baking cakes. Oh, and spring rolls. (you won't get that last part if you're not Valassia)

8) Which is your worst house chore? (And no, I don't take "All" as an answer!)

I know most people say it's washing the dishes, but for me it is the cleaning the kitchen table after lunch.


Also, since I was talking about cooking, I need all of you nice people out there to do me a favour. Tomorrow we'll go visit my uncles and my cousin who's about to give birth and her husband whose birthday is today, and I really want to make a dessert for them. Problem is, I don't know what to make! So, if you have a nice dessert in mind and can share the recipe, BRING IT ON!

So I bid you farewell for now, as my delicious cookies are in the oven (yeah, at some point of the post I left to go make cookies. I'm that devoted to making this post). I can't wait to read your suggestions for the dessert, and I generally can't wait to hear from all of you. I'm going to make a more detailed post about school starting and stuff like that some other time. I gotta go look at cookbooks now.

Of tags, art, and an announcement

HALLO THAR. :D

I'm in a completely random mood - must be the hours I spent cleaning my room up.

Anyway!

I was tagged by the lovely Annie ♥ to answer the following eight questions.


1. If you were a cupcake, what would you be?

Hmm, actually I'm embarrassed to say that I don't know this much about cupcakes and decorations and flavours. Well, I think I'd make a good banana cupcake with chocolate frosting.


2. Which is your quotation?

Quotation, huh? I think I have two:

Always forgive your enemies - nothing annoys them so much.
~Oscar Wilde

and

Never lend books, for no one ever returns them; the only books I have in my library are books that other folks have left me.
~ Anatole France

...If they can be considered my quotations.


3. Which is your favourite item of clothing?

My violet Doc Martens, and a very nice dress from a store called Heel, which is too complicated to describe.


4. Your favourite word?

I'm sure that "nieve" and "lluvia" (=snow and rain) are my favourite spanish words... But other than that, I can't think of my favourite word right now. :

5. Which is your favourite song right now?

"She's got you high" by Mumm-Ra and "I'm on my way" by the Proclaimers.


6. If you could slap one celebrity on the face, who would you choose?

Sarah Palin. She annoys the hell out of me. And she's the only thing close to a celebrity I could think off.


7. Describe an amazing evening for you.

It MUST include: friends, good food, a place with a nice view, probably alcohol, laughter, and then I can go home happy and draw for hours listening to my music. Perfect. :)


8. What would your favourite breakfast include?

English breakfast! Eggs and bacon and bread, colourful jam, cake, fruit yogurt, milk...and croissants. <3>

So now I tag:

Valasia from Colours, photos and chocolate
Andreas from My Beautiful Disaster
Natalie from Nakedtile
Kat from My Life is a Mess


My questions are the following:

1. Which movie/book/comic character can you relate the most with?
2. Which is the physical characteristic that you always pay attention to when you see people? (e.g. I ALWAYS remember what people's hands look like)
3. Three things that annoy you to no end?
4. Who is your favourite band/singer currently?
5. Which is the first thing you do when you get in the internet?
6. Which is the latest film you've watched?
7. Something you really are looking forward to?
8. A thing you really have to do that you've been neglecting?

(you are allowed to tag me back, but please make these questions interesting. <3)

----------

Also! Remember that comic I told you I'd send to a contest? THE RESULTS ARE OUT TOMORROW. I'm anxious. Info here.

So if your parents happen to buy the newspaper... I don't know if I have won anything, but if you see a story with a librarian made by some Georgia girl, THAT'S ME.

I'M SO ANXIOUS LIKE YOU WON'T BELIEVE IT.

---EDIT: Just got the newspaper - I didn't win anything. I passed, however, the preliminaries. Well. I really, really hoped I would do well, but it's okay. I'm glad I at least passed the first round. Good thing is - you get to read the comic here. C:

---------


To close this the best way, I have some art to show you! Recently I was asked to post some more of my art (which I found very flattering), so I decided I should show you some of the stuff I did for art class this year (because I only got them yesterday), their colours kindly butchered by my camera.

(click on the pictures for larger version)

(unfinished)

KAT I CHALLENGE YOU TO POST YOUR STUFF TOO.

xD

*giggle*

Yeah. This is SO pointless but...



...but I just couldn't resist. We're supposed to share nice things. xD

In short:

-I'm back for good.
-I watched Inception and I love it - I'm SO going to watch it again.
-Joseph Gordon-Levitt is amazing and the funny thing is that I never get celebrity crushes - no kidding!
-I'm drawing. A lot.
-I have a ton of things to post but I'm not in a serious mood right now.
-I'll try posting A LOT this month. :)

-Until later,
Elv.

THANKS.

...to:

-Makis for being such a great teacher and so funny.
-the Chef for hiring us in the first place and for giving us jokes material.*coughthesexaholiccough*
-Thodoris A' for being the older brother figure and for giving me work to do when Maria wouldn't.
-Thodoris B' for all the Naruto recaps and for being funny too.
-Sergey for being the goodie of the place and for the nice singing.
-Litsa for yelling at everyone but us, therefore making us laugh.
-Mrs. Despoina for all the juice and the coffee and the tea and for everything.
-Maria, for all the breaks and for being so nice.
-Christina for being such a good friend.
-Christos for providing me with chocolate pie all season long and even for pulling a long face at us.
-Ahmet because he's awesome and hilarious (and for the fishing dough).
-Ivan for saying hello to me only.
-Erina for the biscuits and for being the kindest person down there.
-Elena for teaching me how to cut salmon for sushi.
-Jerry for all the beautiful photos and being almost as crazy as us.
-George for tolerating with us when we would be too hyper for everyone else.
-Prodromos for the ham and the eggs and because I would laugh at Valassia when she'd say he looked scary.
-Mr. Manolis for the bread.
-Mr. Nikos for the cooking tips.
-Mr. Ilias for the old stories about our grandmothers.
-Raphael for giving us small talk material without even talking.
-Markos even though I barely know him.
-Christina from Room Service for the water and the small talk and the capoeira courses.
-Mr. Tasos for the other old stories.
-George from the other restaurant for being eye candy for Valassia and, thus, laughing material for me.
-Vassilis for his disagreements with Valassia and Christina.
-Eugene and Alexander an Antonis for being so nice (and funny).
-Thanos for the cholesterol jokes.
-Sakis for all the other jokes, and for being polite (always).
...and, last (and kinda least)
-Arsen and Alejandro because even though they were annoying, they gave us stuff to talk (and be mean about).

C:

PS.: Yeah. I stopped working and I'm leaving tomorrow, so, uh, I feel weird and sappy.

Artists I admire/adore/am envious of pt. 1

Hello there!

I decided to start making blog posts about some of my favourite artists and why they are in my favourites list, starting from Jen Wang, who was actually the one to inspire this idea anyway. I definitely wanted to do a post about her, and then I decided I should make that a series of posts about different artists.

You'll ask, of course. Why do you want to dedicate a post to this Jen Wang lady?

Has it ever happened to you to be really, really fascinated by a work of art? Truly, utterly fascinated by it? In a way that makes you want to just stare at it and take in all the details and understand why it looks like this?

That's what Jen Wang's art does to me.

Yes, her art is beautiful. Her style is lovely, and she uses her techniques well.

But, at least to me, there's so much more in it.

A few days ago, I decided to have a look at her site again. I was just looking for eye-candy, but I ended up looking at everything she has uploaded there and sitting in the same way for about two hours. And I don't usually do that.

I was sucked into the world of her paintings, savouring the colours and the atmosphere, staring at her works, trying to see fully into them. Somehow, they manage to really move me. They manage to evoke my feelings in a very strong way, that not many artists get to achieve. I immediately want to discover all the details, to try to find a story behind it. I don't care if her paintings are in a website and not a museum, or if the style is cartoony. They seem more real to me than a lot of things in the real world. Or, rather, some of them do. Others just look like from another world.

I know that you might not feel like this - after all, each person sees and feels different things, especially when it comes to art - but you can't deny it, it's plain good art, isn't it?

:)

Links:

blog
site

PS.: I WANT TO BUY "KOKO BE GOOD" SO F**CKING MUCH.

All works of art in this blog posts (c) Jen Wang.

July already!

Hello wonderful people out there!

I'm sitting right outside my front door in Rhodes - the only place in the house I can connect to the net. It's slightly uncomfortable and quite hot, but I love the sun on my legs and the electric blue tiles. :)

So here you go, the Notes from the Toothfairy game, from yours truly, Elviella, because I love doing this thing.

On July...

...I like: so many things! the sun. the sea. just walking around. working! (more about this one later) not getting enough sleep but not being tired. lemon sorbet. Rhodes' old town. my hair growing longer. my hair becoming a tad more golden. sunny songs. the beach. doing stupid things in the beach. white t-shirts.

...I don't like: the hairs on my legs. and the pain necessary to get rid of them.

...I want you to know: that I think that I should seriously write more here and that I hope to do that.

...I've planned: a short comic! :D It's for a contest in 9 magazine, and I'm really into it now. It's about a librarian. And some other things.

...I want to say to someone special: Good God, I SO miss you, Sherlock. And you should speak louder in the phone, most of the times I can't hear half of the things you say.

(I really wanted to have a picture here but I haven't any pictures in my sister's computer! I do promise some in the next post. C: )

Okay, now I'll explain the "working" thing. As some of you already know, last summer I worked for some time in a hotel, in the kitchen. Good times, really! So this year me and my dearest cousin are repeating that and I've already worked 8 days. We are planning of getting pictures and writing about our work, so you'll learn more about that. Most important thing is, I'm having fun, and I really hope you are, too. :D

Yayyyy!!

Hello there, Elv and Vls here!

Yeah, long time no post, we know, but this one will be a quick one. Because...

WE'RE GOING TO WATCH AEROSMITH LIVE TONIGHT!

Oh yes. We know. It's freakin' AWESOME. Oh God. We would be SO excited if our little siblings weren't so godsmackin' ANNOYING. Dammit. Little bit of a soundtrack, and we promise to post more stuff. But only after tomorrow.

Summer's knocking on our doors.

On June...

...I like: sneaking in my sister's room, borrowing her netbook, "stealing" other people's internet connections and surfing on the net by myself, in peace and quiet, in my bedroom. (my computer is in the living room -.-). And my pink transparent trainers.

...I don't like: that the last day of my exams I'm having an exam on ALGEBRA of all things.

...I want you to know: that blogging and receiving comments on my posts make me happy!

...I've planned: going out A LOT, getting a haircut, and painting more.

...I want to say to someone special: that no matter how much I used to love you, and how sad I am about all the things that have happened between us, I DON'T CARE ANYMORE. I'm not willing to continue feeling like shit because you are angry or annoyed or whatever. Get some sense and then we'll talk.

(I'm doing the game from Notes from the Toothfairy :3)

Some music before going, because tonight Kat, Ion and I are going to the Maraveyas Ilegal concert. :D

This is a post about donuts.

...or just happy things.

I had thought about THREE very serious business things to write about (one about friendship, a review about 500 days of Summer that is stack in my head days now, and another thing about something I'm making). Still, I'm posting something that has to do with donuts and songs. Because, for no apparent reason, I feel HAPPY. I was just here in front of my screen, thinking of what I should do later and reading something over at livejournal - and then, I felt so happy I wanted to scream it out loud or something!

Instead, to save my neighbours' ears, I decided to share it here.

Here you go:


AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHHHHHiuoahrgv9woaehge24g920983r9y8uhyzix75ed12brl;egk=-03hiu-45hnbioryg3[4ytj -insert scream of happiness-

Why I'm happy? NO IDEA. I...I just suddenly felt such a huge inspiration inside me, and it was such a over-fulfilling, wonderful thing! I'm in the mood to do practically anything, and I'm so happy about it! Even if I don't really do something special, I'll be happy just for getting this feeling!

Anyway, I said this thing is about donuts.

On Friday, my younger cousin came to visit (from Rhodes, haha. He and my aunt came here for some celebration), and we were a bit bored, so we decided to bake something! Yes, we are the kind of people that bake/cook things when they're bored. Actually, we both love creating things in a kitchen - and for a 11 year old boy, my cousin is wonderful at doing that. He even wanted us to make something on our own with whatever we would find, but I protested because if we messed up, everyone would blame it on me. Or not. I just wasn't in the mood for gastronomic experiments. So I came up with this:



It's DONUTS, baby! :D A thing I've, like, NEVER made before and that is a bit difficult to make right. But who cares?

So we got the stuff we needed and did what the recipe said. The mixture was very, very thick, and very, very hard to blend nicely, but we did it! Then we spread the dough on the table and cut our nice, round donuts, and by that point I was really happy, really hungry, and tired after all the blending.


And then, I realised I had to fry them in very, very hot oil and all. How lovely. It was very relieving that my dad came home and that my sister and cousin convinced him to do it. (He held a grudge to me because I hadn't done the laundry xD)


Then he offered to help with the frosting, which came out very smooth and tasty, and was too much for the donuts, actually, so we ate the spare (yay! :3)



So here is the result of the next morning (after some hours in the fridge):




Yes, they tasted GREAT. :)

I also said I'd write about songs, but now I don't really have something to say. I'm not listening to anything right now, because I like the birds chirping outside and the sounds of the neighbourhood. They really make me feel like it's summer. C:

But here is a part of my summertime playlist:

Mungo Jerry - In the Summer Time
SEAMO - My Answer (a Naruto ending - the animated video is very nice and carefree!)
KT Tunstall - Suddenly I See
The Magic Numbers - Forever Lost
The Black Eyed Peas - I gotta feeling (it's funny 'cause I don't like the band nor the style, but the song makes me feel very happy, and, in my opinion, it has a very summery mood)
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros - Home
Train - Hey Soul Sister
Coldplay - Strawberry Swing

I will complete my list of favourite summer songs and then I'm thinking of making a picture for each one of them. What do you think? C:

Closing, I'll make a list of things I feel inspired to do now:

-Cook/Bake something
-Watch a film (suggestions?)
-Draw!
-Write some story or something
-Tidy and organise the monster of a bookcase I have (a lovely monster, but a monster nonetheless)

Well, I might not do anything and read more blogs :P

Until later! <3

(some more donuts just to make you jealous! :P)

PS.: thanks for the comments and follows! :)
PPS.: If you want the donuts recipe, just ask! <3

A generation of stolen dreams.

Hello there, people.

It's Thursday afternoon, and I should be studying. Yet, this thing I want to tell you about hasn't stop buggering me since the morning.

My friends and I were out, eating ice cream, after sitting our exam. We were just chit-chatting, talking about people we know, about the latest flirt (not mine!), about ice cream. I have no idea how the economic recession and the political situation came up.

And then, all hell broke loose.

We are living under very difficult conditions. The mother of one of my friends is unemployed. Another one, had 500 euros cut off her salary. Another one's father hasn't been paid for months. Everyday, we hear about all the things the working people will have to go through. Worse than that - we don't know what conditions we are going to work and live under. If this country will be a place where we will be able to live freely and have children, if we will work and be paid. Every right the working people have seems to be taken away. And then - we feel that something else is taken away from us - from the kids, the young people. Our dreams.

When J. talks to her mother about what she wants to do in the future - be an actress, or a teacher, and travel, and have kids - her mother tells her that it's very possible she won't be able to do any of these. That she will have to work without knowing if she will be paid for her work, since the employer will be able to give her the money he wants to give her, not the ones her work is worth of. Her mother hasn't got a real job the past few months, and she has probably stopped believing that she will get one soon.

A. says that her parents tell her to leave, go to Europe or America and live there. Her parents didn't even considered letting her live by herself while in University until two months ago. She doesn't know what to do. The way she views life is the most realistic out of us four, but now reality scares her - she can't think straight about her future.

V. may not talk a lot - but I'm pretty sure she's thinking the same.

And we all realise. Of all the people in our school - we are some of the very few that seem to be concerned about all these. Of course - we don't know what other people have in their heads. But I know for sure that no-one talks about it.

Are we so numb? Are we so engrossed in what's on the TV or on our computer screen? Are we afraid to talk? Yes, these are not things we talk easily about. But not one mention? Not one? Are we scared of talking, unsure of what to say? Are we unable to put our thoughts into words?

I...I don't know.

J. said today what we our dreams are taken away. Stolen. They prohibit us from dreaming, saying we will never manage to do all we want. Saying we will have to take care of ourselves - find the way to survive. If surviving means I have to stop dreaming, I'd rather die, thank you very much.

Actually... I'm not sure. I don't know what to believe. I don't want to believe that us young people don't dream anymore. I don't want to believe that we are numb. I think that all we need is a reason to wake up, and dream with eyes open. But, will we do it? The reason is given, but we are afraid. So many things happen, we see our parents so worried, we hear about all those economic stuff we can't really understand. We can't fully realise what's in order, or how we can stop it.

I feel she is right about us being prohibited from dreaming - the television stops us from dreaming; our parents are worried and tell us not to dream because our wants won't come true; the teachers don't talk to us about anything but the lesson; between ourselves, we are trying to seem loose and carefree, or we are loose and carefree and not preoccupied about anything. Welcome to life people, after the 700 euros generation, the 0 euros and no dreams generation.

Damn. I'm sounding far too pessimistic. I'm trying to talk about what I worry about and can't seem to be coherent. Mostly, I'm trying to tell you what we were talking about today, mostly what my friends said.

I don't want my dreams taken away, and I don't want to be a part of a generation that has no dreams. And I'm not willing to give up on them, nor are my friends.

WE ARE THE ROBIN HOODS OF THE DREAMS.

Here, I said it. I'm discouraged by what I hear (or don't hear), worried about the future, angry about what's happening... Yet, earlier I wrote a list of 101 things that make me happy, and yesterday I was counting my possible future occupations.

I want to be an animator.

Or an illustrator.

I want to own an arty cafe.


...or a bookstore.


I want to travel.



To draw, to listen to music, to create whatever comes to my mind.

I want to make my house the way I want it.

(I couldn't find a nice picture for that ;___;)

I want to have fun, to be with friends, to see new places, read more books, taste new things.


As my mother says, difficult times are ahead, but this doesn't mean we will stop living. We'll try to make the best out of everything, we'll need the best out of ourselves, our ideology, our values. And what we need will always be other people. People need to be together, especially in difficult times. They need each other, and they also need their dreams.



PS.: Okay. Enough rambling and sappiness for now. I think I want to bake something.
PPS.: I don't own any of the images used. I know for sure that the artist behind the last one is the wonderful Rebecca Dautremer. The others belong to their respective creators.
PPPS.: What do YOU dream of? What do you want out of life?

How (not) to study Ancient Greek.

Hey there! Remember my last post? Well, I didn't come back to say if I finished, but I did finish and in fact I think I did very well in the exam. So here's a presentation of my studying method (note, not a very dependable method that is)

How (not) to study Ancient Greek

First off - Gather anything necessary.


1. Dossier with notes from class
2. Ancient Greek schoolbook
3. Helping book, part 1
4. Helping book, part 2
5. Notebook for anything that might occur
6. Ancient Greek grammar (nyaaah -.-)
7. Pens and pencils
8. Beverage of your choice (mine is lemonade, but that day it was coffee because I was far too sleepy - it is VERY important by the way, the spoon becomes a lovely distraction device once you get bored.
9. Clock - so you know what progress you have done, or rather, how much time there's left til you freak out.


Secondly - Get organised.

Before you decide to start studying, organise your books, so that you know which part of a book corresponds to what part of another one. This is probably the only thing that you will do that you will be very devoted and determined to finish, so do it well!

See the colourful little papers? I wrote on them what chapter of the book it is in that page, and with the same colour, there's the same chapter in the helping book. I only had two colours of post-it notes, so I used one for Xenophon and one for Thucydides.


Thirdly - Make a studying plan!! (which you won't keep)

(Sorry, forgot to take photos. It's not necessary anyway - No-one ever manages to follow their studying plan)

Then - Start studying!

You studying for like...what, half an hour? Hmm, maybe some more? Of course you're bored! It's time to KILL SOME TIME DOING RANDOM THINGS! -everyone's favourite hour!-

One of the best and most usual ways to do that is to shoot random photographs (going out for a walk, having a bubble bath, or going to hunt lions aren't as practical - your parents will figure out easily and, plus, you'll need preparations)

The worst quality the photographs have, the best! :D















See? Told ya you'd need the cups!










(The only excuse is that toes look cool. :B )

What else to photograph? Look around! Everything can provide an interesting subject. And by interesting, I mean random.














Okay, okay! Enough stupidity! I gotta study again. Fuck.

...But what can I do? I study, until boredom strikes again (after a little bit more than half an hour - small attacks of boredom in between don't count).

Bored of photos? Let's doze off for a bit - you don't even have to change position (my "dozing off" record is 45 minutes)


But - it's photo time again. There we go! Markers!














And shoes!

Once again - start studying! Time is running out! D:

Okay, this time some real studying happens - but then...

...I spot my mp3 player nearby. Now this is a temptation no-one can resist. D:

And since I like to draw while listening to music...















Oh, great. It's lunch time. And the exam is tomorrow? Oh, lovely. At least, that will make me study.

Indeed, now I get to study a lot. Still, not enough - I end up studying irregular verbs at 10 o' clock p.m.


...



Gah. At least it's over....


ENDING CREDITS - a collection of completely stupid self-photographs, because everyone does that. I prefer to take ridiculous rather than pretty photographs, and you'll see that.



































...Now I have Physics. Great.

-THE END-

I'm off to go make BANANA PANCAKES now. YAY!