γεια!

γεια! είμαι ζωντανή.

πράγματα που πρέπει να ξέρετε για μένα:

-είμαι κακή μπλόγκερ.
-έδωσα πανελλήνιες. τελείωσα. πέρασα.
-έχω ένα κάψιμο στο πόδι μου αυτή τη στιγμή, από εξάτμιση μοτοσυκλέτας.
-μου αρέσει να λέω μοτοσυκλέτα.
-στο κάψιμο έβαλα μπεπανθόλ, αλλά ο θείος μου που είναι φαρμακοποιός είπε ότι κάνει και η κονσερβοποιημένη σάλτσα ντομάτα, κατευθείαν από το ψυγείο.
-σήμερα διάβασα το 1/10 ενός βιβλίου ενώ ήμουν στο βιβλιοπωλείο. ήταν α) πολύ συναρπαστικό, β) πολύ ακριβό.
-η χωρίστρα μου ήταν εδω και 10 χρόνια στην δεξιά πλευρά του κεφαλιού μου. τώρα είναι στην αριστερή.
-δεν ξέρω γιατί κάνω αυτό το ποστ. ή μαλλον ξέρω: απλά ήθελα να κάνω ένα ποστ. οπότε γράφω ό,τι μου έρχεται στο κεφάλι, όπως μου έρχεται.
-αύριο πάω διακοπές! θα έπρεπε να μαζεύω. όπως καταλαβαίνετε, δεν το κάνω.

Έρχονται Χριστούγεννα και θα πάμε πενταήμερη* και ο κόσμος είναι ωραίος ξανάααα








(*για μένα θα είναι πάντα πενταήμερη και όχι πενθήμερη. όπως ΣΤΙΣ μία η ώρα.)

I'm back.

It's home.

I've got things to do.


(I've posted this song before. I don't care.)

What I do.

Exams have been taking their toll on me. I remember the times in middle school, when it was all easy to study and take breaks like a normal person and sleep at a logical hour.

There are so many things I want to do instead of studying.

There are films I want to watch and comics I want to buy and stuff I feel like writing and paintings I want to paint and food to cook and places, places to be and walk and sunbathe in.

Instead, I'm at home. I plaid my hair. I open the fridge's door, I close it. I switch the computer on, I switch it off. I should study, and the internet is delicious. IshouldstudyIshouldstudyIshouldstudy.

I hear people talking about the exams - "I studied for one hour. Come on, what was there to study?" "I studied for two hours, but really did it all" "I was out with this person and that person, but then I studied and I was okay."

I studied for a whole day, and I took breaks every five minutes, and then I woke up in the middle of the night because I had a weird dream that involved Latin and Lost (yeah, the tv show and the subject I was supposed to study). My mom, forever the insomniac, was in the living room watching the bonus features in the Lost dvds. I studied for a bit because I had only read each text once and then slept and then my alarm clock didn't ring.

I am alive, but I feel like my breaths are not well spent.

Now this is really great!

It might be old news to you, but I was excited to hear that the Grammy prize for Best Album went to Arcade Fire's the Suburbs.

So excited that I started to dance around, in fact.

I mean, I was leafing through a magazine and there was a section about celebrities or whatever, mentioning how Lady Gaga dressed in the event and saying that she got the Best Pop Album prize, but nor her nor any of the others "big names" got the Best Album because it went to an indie rock Canadian band... Arcade Fire.

GUYS, I CAN'T EVEN -- This band is my favourite the last few months and they have beautiful, brilliant music and this just made me so happy!

ksajfnkhsdf;jsadflkjdlfjks;lfja;ldjfd;asjf;sljdf



Now I will proceed to linking you some of my favourite songs by Arcade Fire. Just because.

Crown of Love
Wake Up
Neighbourhood #1 (Tunnels)
Une Annee Sans Lumiere
Ocean of Noise
(Antichrist Television Blues)
The Suburbs
Modern Man
City With No Children
Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)

(Sometime I will need to stop tagging almost everything I write as "randomness")

'Tis a quick post

Family Man - a webcomic by Dylan Meconis

This thing. Read it. Read iiiiit. It's one of my favourite webcomics! Very nice art, lovely dialogue, and it's oh-so-very-dorky. (I mean, it's about a 18th century university and a dorky guy and an awesome librarian lady and it has mystery!) God, my love for all things dorky.

Also Dylan Meconis is seriously brilliant.

(Yes. I will eventually make a post that doesn't have to do with comics and/or my enormous dorkiness and be highly poetic and touching. Yeah. Eventually.)

TO-DO LIST!

-Catch up in reading every blog followed! D: (I've been neglecting that... a lot)

-Reply to all comments and thank people following and COMMUNICATE, DAMMIT.

-Post more! D:

-Get some sleep and work out more!

Love, Elv.

(First school week of 2011, Monday to Friday. Oh yeah.)

Everything is going to be fine.

I really do believe that.

Sincerely.

Not in a flamboyantly optimistic sort of way.

In a honest way.

I am mostly an optimist (and quite an idealist), but it hasn't got to do with it.

It has to do with the mere fact that things change.

No matter what you do, they change.

No matter how fucked up you think everything is.

No matter the fact you can't find a solution to the equation.

No matter how weird you think everything is.

Things will change. It will be different.

And in one or more ways, it's gonna be better.

Even if you know you haven't done well in an exam, you still are relieved. You wrote, it's over.

Even when you lose a friend, you feel better - no more pressure; maybe a strong bond with someone else.

And sometimes, it's just plain fine!

I honestly believe it when I say it, even if I can't see light at the moment, that everything is going to be fine.

Because it's going to be different. And you can see the good side of things. Or things will be good by themselves.

And goodness, just because!

PS. This is dedicated to A. You are stupid and awesome and very lovable.
PPS. My way to say "Happy New Year!!", I guess? May it be a awesome one!
PPPS. Blogger is stupid for not allowing exclamation marks in tags.
PPPPS. Cards are sent! I hope they don't arrive too late, but you know how the post is.
PPPPPS. My love of the day is exclamation marks, really!
PPPPPPS. I was reading someone's tumblr page and I saw this: "That awkward moment when you feel an actual physical ache in your chest because of the romance of two fictional characters. " Oh goodness. Story of my life. If you can relate, be nerdy with me about it! I'd love to hear.

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!

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

*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.

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!