Travel Log: Apologies

As I said, I wished to post a blog a day about my time in Greece. However, my laptop broke last week and will hopefully be up and running soon.

Regard,

Jon

Travel Log #3 - Mt. Kyllini (August '12)

Hercules, Hercules!

Sorry mythology lovers, but whenever I hear Hercules I picture this first:

So when I returned from Santorini alone and my friend John asked me if I wanted to follow the footsteps of Hercules, you must forgive me for picturing Eddie Murphy clapping in drag at a rotund slab of a boy flexing his flabby muscles.

Foolishness aside, John interested in his Greek heritage had been busying himself visiting historical sites that he had studied in the past and Lake Stymfalia, the site where Hercules was fabled to have slain the almighty hydra, was on his checklist. I didn't really need asking, though. Of course I would accompany him. So, in a quaint little rental car, we set out to visit a site of a legendary Labour of Hercules.

Lake Stymfalia is somewhere amidst a great mountain range containing Mount Kyllini. We scoured Mount Kyllini for hours, witnessing its beautiful green gorges and winding roads clinging to the mountainside.

Me, going for the pensive explorer look.
Just before me was a sheer drop and an amazing view.

After hours of searching we decided we were out of luck and made our way slowly out of the labyrinthine mountains and journey back home along the coast. 

The amazing view.

It was a beautiful outing to say the least.

We say no hydra...only goats. You want proof? Here are your goats! And my awful drawling Black Country accent.

If you enjoyed this, here are some of the Travel Logs:

Travel Log #1 - Vrahati
Travel Log #2 - Santorini


More snaps for y'all:

Beautiful flower arrangements at a mountainside cafe

Goat-works ahead...

...estimated waiting time 30 minutes.

The picturesque view of mountains enclosing a beautiful valley.

A bit of open road for you thrill seekers.

A bit more open road...

Johnny the adventurer.

Travel Log #2 - Santorini (August '12)

To start with, I during August I visited Zakynthos, too. However, I do not wish to dedicate a post to it seeing as I was completely disappointed with the British presence there. Not only was I disgusted by the behaviour of the youth pouring onto the streets in a drunken sex-mad frenzy, but also by the way the tourist industry on the island catered for this from the seedy nightclubs to the hepatitis beaches.

In one quick collage, this is how I saw Zakynthos...

Yeah, because people go on holiday for such vulgarity and Sainsbury's.

In contrast, this is Santorini:

The sunset at Oia taken from the ruins of the castle.

Notice the difference? I ruddy well hope so!

Santorini is a fairly small island. You can travel from North to South, I'd say, in just an hour or two. Sure, the island has its tourism, but it is nothing like that of Zakynthos. All of the souvenirs on the island are traditional trinkets like charms necklaces made from the rock of the volcano on the island.

If asked to describe Santorini in one word I would say 'quaint'. Bear in mind that this is quaint in the best possible way.

Tourorising Santorini.

My friend Lily and I rented out a moped, for a very reasonable price, and razzed around the island. One of the most awe-inspiring feature of this island are that is coastlines are quite mountainous, which not deter the island dwellers who built their houses into steep cliffs. It is such a beautiful sight to look upon. Santorini is the most picturesque place I have visited in my short time on this Earth.

A view of Santorini's coastal capital, Fira.

Another fine feature lending itself to the island's fame is the beaches. Due to there being a volcano off shore, Santorini has a beautiful sea and beautiful beaches, some of which are famously red and black. That's right! Red and black beaches! For any soul-seeking, body nurturers out there, I am sure that these sands hold spiritual minerals that let you absorb solace through the spaces between your toes or something like that.

A beach that bleeds out into the sea.

I captured Lily capturing the sunset. Riveting stuff.

Santorini's most famous trademarks are its sunset and sunrise; they are classed as one of the most beautiful of their kind in the world. I had the privilege to witness one. It was breathtaking, definitely romantic. I watched a couple getting married with the gold, purple sky as a backdrop.


Every day we passed a Mexican restaurant on a cliff top. One day we caved - thank God we did!

Me and Lily at the Mexican restaurant atop a cliff.

Although, the experience for me was not a romantic one as such, I must say that this would be perfect for any lovebirds. Imagine being around 200 metres in the air, overlooking the ocean as the sun goes down AND THEN a waitress bring you the first of your gutbuster BBQ ribs challenge! Pure bliss. I went through 2 and a half racks of ribs for about £12. Bargain!

Simply wonderful.

One down!

Bargain for blokes and dreamy view for the madams. Everybody's happy! No tears; relationship bolstered.

I couldn't recommend Santorini enough as a relaxing and fulfilling getaway- especially if you aren't interested in your typical drug-addled Ibiza rave or the Marbella lounge-by-the-pool-athon.

Thanks for reading.

Click here for Travel Log #1 - Vrahati

Some more holiday snaps:

Can this selfie be excused? I guess some may consider me young and hip.

My father would love this van. I think I was addressed as 'Bullshitter' more than Jon growing up.
'You can't bullshit a bullshitter!' he would tell me. Never a truer word...

'I give you the end of a golden string'. Do something different. Grab that chalice.

Travel Log #1 - Vrahati (July-September '12)

A standard night relaxing and singing Bon Jovi together. We were half way there.

As corny as it may sound, my spiritual journey began in a small village in the Peloponnese called Vrahati, where I studied a month long TEFL course and lived with five other students and the teacher. It was such a rewarding experience for me I am glad I packed up my old life and embarked on this one.

Over the month I stayed here, I lived with 6 such different and wonderful people, whom I still hold I high regard for. I will always have a fond memory of these people and will always cherish the experience and moments we shared together.

Hannah never had the time for my incessant photographic needs.

I will never forget falling asleep whilst watching Fight Club with the carefree Hannah and the times when she played me foreign music and told me interesting bus stories.





Never will I forget the times when I swam in the sea with fun-loving Louise and Ruth, treading water with a smile when in reality I was, pretty much, close to 'surpassing' myself for fear of the sea.

John and I sitting on our shared patio,
basking in the sun

Then there was the engimatic, John, historian turned actor turned writer turned farmhand turned teacher; forever a student of life. Our relationship was philosophical. He taught me a lot about the way America worked and showed me just how complexed the human situation could be, that you should always be quizzical and question exactly what you want from life.

Lily, being a tourist in front of grapes.

The person I spent the most time with was an American called Lily. I will fondly remember cooking fried aubergines in breadcrumb and our countless bike rides - including a 9km ride to a McDonalds so she could move closer to completing her dream of eating McDonalds in every country. I will also never forget the time we swam about 200 metres out into the sea and, after a few minutes floating on our backs, we found ourselves in the presence of large jellyfish.

There was also my teacher Sherrie. Admittedly, she was younger than me and by far more mature. She is fluent in more languages than I know. She has taught all over the world with the ambition to open her own school one day. From this I took the notion that whatever you do one day can open up to the next. Life should progress, not hinder.

I came to Greece mentally exhausted and completely bored of my life in England. My month in Vrahati amongst such excellent company was the detox I needed. It was just what the doctor ordered. It kickstarted the process I felt I needed. I wanted to find a better self. A not so bitter - better me.

TEFL Class of 2012:
From left to right: Sherrie, Colonel Strumpet, Hannah, Ruth, John
Lily and Louise.

 Other Pictures from Vrahati

A melon is the future...

Nice bit of green for ya.

Road to the beach.

A place to sit by the sea.

Just learning the ropes with my new camera.

Another bench by the sea.

Disused railway track that runs for miles along the coast.

This ain't Blackpool. It's Vrahati's funfair.

Greek beer. γεια μας!

Concept photograph. Old pipes pushing water.

A sunset splits between skeleton leaves.

Lily wielding her camera.

Me, being a tourist in front of acres of vineyard.

Today I... THE FINAL COUNTDOWN

Doo doo doo doo d-loo doo doo doo d-loo doo D-loo doo doo doo DOO DOO D-LOO DOO D-LOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!






Yes, indeedy! I can almost count my remaining days in my hometown of Arta on my fingers and toes, and - for your information - I do have the normal amount.

This is the beginning of a challenge to myself. I will post a small blog every day containing things that exemplifies an aspect of my two years living and teaching in Greece. That's right, folks, my first travel blogging this year. For those who particularly enjoy my traveling accounts, you will be in luck as it will be a chronological account starting from the summer of 2012 onwards.

The first installment is to come in an hour or so! I hope it brings some enjoyment.

Best wishes and thanks for the readership (especially to my American readers),

Jon.

Real Talk: Again...

Well then... here we are! Another piece of inspired writing by yours truly - jacked up on music.

Yeah, one of those tiresome, pretentious pieces!

Just close this if you don't want to read another strongly worded 'how to live better' articles like this, this, this, and this. If not, I hope you find something worthwhile.

Kids In Glass Houses stand as an inspiration to me.

Don't you just love revisiting music that you haven't listened to for a long time. Two days ago I discovered that one of my favourite bands, Kids in Glass Houses, are soon to disband. I am fully aware that many people have a strong dislike for this artist in particular, but, for me, they stand as a firm inspiration. Let me tell you why!

In my opinion, Kids in Glass Houses produce honest music which has a lot of character. The music is not extravagantly composed - there are no face-melting solos for example. The majority of their music is non-offensive upbeat stuff. If truth be told, I have found the vocals to be an acquired taste, but the way in which Aled Phillips pours his heart and soul into every word such as Annie May, more than compensates for this. Their stuff has heart, and you can feel it, wholeheartedly.

The reason why I find this music so inspirational is that in my eyes their success if based on their talent in songwriting, not sex appeal and not having perfect vocals or by saturating their music with anything in particular. There is a certain brilliance to be found in imperfection, a raw passion; the real stuff. As mentioned countless times before, I see myself as a songwriter; it's what I love doing. However, I do not possess a voice touched by an angel. It is more of a voice likened to a hippopotamus' squashed bollock. But I can live with this, because the music I create brings me happiness and one day I hope to share this happiness and the sentiments with others in a similar way as the likes of Kids in Glass Houses have. Don't get me wrong, I know that success is unlikely, I am merely stating that I hope to make music that people will reflect upon and be inspired. If one person is inspired, then the mission is complete.

As well as being a musical inspiration to me, I draw strength from Aled's lyrics. For instance:

'Stop wishing for the sunshine; start living in the rain.' - Sunshine.

This is a lyric to live by. I know that, generally, I intend to. Stop wishing for the sunshine; start living in the rain! What inspirational words! I interpret these words as telling people to stop waiting for opportunity to come by chance and take the hard route to success; just dig deep and make it for yourself. 

I take these words to heart. I know that I am not a person with extreme talent, but I do find that I improve, as a person, through creativity. I will never rise to the top and become the next Freddie Mercury, but nobody can tell me what my passion is and what I want to do with it.

Every success was once a goal.

As Kids in Glass Houses would say, The Best is Yet to Come...but only if you are willing to make sacrifices for it to do so!

Today I... I Just Don't Know What to Say

Today I came across a video on Youtube advertised at inspirational. It was of a young man of 26 who is a sufferer of Down's Syndrome and his quest to become an MMA fighter and show that he was not a 'sufferer' at all. After a few exhibition fights where he fought against opponents who would not hit back, the young man went on to compete in his first real bout. With a stunted reaction brought on by his ailment he found the fight difficult taking blow after blow. However, he did give a good fight, connecting with a few good punches and executing some takedowns of his own. The documentary was simple and did pretty much what it said on the tin.

His father had faced alienation from family and friends after supporting his son's decision to be involved in the violent sport. On the night of the bout he took further abuse and criticism to let his son be in such a position. But when the referee raised both competitors' hands at the end, they audience changed its tune.

I say kudos to them both.

Kudos to the son for not letting himself be beaten and doing something pretty much unimaginable. Kudos to the father for giving his son the support that he so sorely deserved. It takes unique individuals to allow themselves to be inspired and to try and inspire others.

The MMA fighter now works with other individuals with the same condition, giving them much-needed strength and motivation.

This kind of story puts the majority of us to shame.

The most shameful thing, though - what inspired me to write this blog - was another example of sub-humanity. The restlessly cruel Internet struck back.

A comment on the video, which I do not wish to repeat, was completely vulgar and I cannot put my disappointment into words. I can't imagine anybody even thinking such a dreadful thing.

Cut a long rant short, I think that free speech should be policed more effectively.

Claimed to be the forefront of our progression, it is surely setting many of us back by giving them power to say whatever grotesque thing comes to mind and for no reason at all. Fines should be issued, online restrictions to the offenders at least.

'But Big Brother will rise!' you may cry. I am no fan of being controlled more than the next atheist, yet until we show that we can deal with control such as passing comment with germane civility, then we, as 'the greater species' (or more specifically the callous, cowardly individuals amongst us), should not have the entitlement to such power.

The Internet should not be used as a tool to vent belligerence. When people suggest things in the virtual world that they dare not in the real world for fear of retribution should surely come with virtual retribution at least.

Today I... Begin to Bring an End

Today I begin to bring an end to a chapter of enlightenment and discovery. My time teaching in Greece is coming to an end. Two long years of unbridled beauty will soon become but a memory.

Dougal.
If you don't get the reference, it's OK. You won't be judged

At times, I believe myself to be somewhat of a person. As somewhat of a person, I like to think deeply about each experience; the ups, the downs and the magic roundabouts. In most cases, I envisage my life as a story, choosing to see each it as chapters in a book - admittedly, not exactly a page-turner. Who would want to read about the highlights of my general day-to-day life? For instance, yesterday my greatest victory was skimming 50 cents of a cold chocolate because I swore blind that it was 1,50€ and not 2€. As a read, such a hard-fought battle would bore folk to tears. Besides this is not the general purport of my remarks. I don't evaluate my life in the minutest detail, if I did I would most likely not feel the need to express myself through blogging.

We tend to evaluate our performance as humans when faced with a major change in our lives, be the change in question our choice or not. This is when my self-taught book analogy seeps into prevalence. When something life-altering happens - mostly when you hit a low point - its the end of a chapter. A gutting low tends to follow a high period in your life making the sting worse. You sit and mope, comparing the past glory with the current situation and you get nowhere. Fair enough, we are all entitled to our emotions. Misery is something to be embraced. Our emotions, our sentiments are said to be highly developed and attuned responses of human nature and, for this reason, in no way should they be ignored. Some of the greatest pieces of art have come from the lowest points in the lives of some of the most fortunate human beings alive. How can you truly feel pain if you haven't experience true pleasure? And through my book analogy, if you have experience true pleasure, surely it can be realised again? It is only a state of mind.

When I am faced with a big change in life I look back on my life since the last big change. I look back at the chapter. All the highs. All the lows. It bring me happiness and closure. All of the things that I experienced over this period, all of the people I met, all of the things that I had learned, how much I had grown, how much I had receded, all contributing to the man who is closing the chapter. Leaving always brings a sense of sorrow. Even just saying goodbye to a friend is a shade glum. It means that your socialising with them on that occasion has come to an end, never to be re-lived. Your thoughts and feelings from those moments, pictures etched in memory.

Then I look forward to the next chapter. I imagine what changes they will bring. What adventures will the next chapter bring? What challenges? What hardships? The idea excites me no end. I turn my sorrow into excitement and euphoria. The faces of the past, bolstering my future.

Misery into marvel.






Song of the moment:

Real Talk: Is there too much news?

Seriously, I can't keep up with anything these days. Trying to find time outside of work to socialise, write my book, music, this incessant blog is too exhausting. Filtering out necessary information from articles has simply become a task so impossible that I literally have no idea what's happening anymore - even in my own life. On some nights I return home, put my feet up and ask myself, 'what did I do today?' and try to list things off.

'Well, my dear,' I say to myself affectionately, 'you probably woke up.' This is a given. 'Soon after, you made yourself cereal, the indicator being the bowl next to the sink in the kitchen, which also evidence that you didn't wash up. And apart from work, I guess that you did little else but drink tea and what you believe to be writing.' Thus failing to make arse nor tail of my day. This confusion is furthered by the fact that I fail to make arse nor tail of the World's day.

Nonsense aside, with such collosal news stories as the Crimean disrepute, the Malaysian airline mystery and the Alan Pardew crisis* churning out mountains of information from speculated facts to fabrication passed down the grapevine - let alone completely unrelated splooge - it is difficult to get an idea as to where to begin reading. Give me facts not a load of spruced up coincidence, convincing at a stretch!

Could you possibly imagine the news as told by
Gary Linekerwith special guest analyst Paul
Gascoigne? Compelling to say the least...

For this reason, I propose a news service that sifts through it all - every story, plausible opinion, comment, remark, youtube autotune parody - and just give us squirming trogs a quick summary of what the hell is happening. A bit like a Match of the Day, only for news. A play-by-play of the day's happenings that cuts the crap and gives us digestible chunks of intelligible, tasty mouthfuls of fact. In my naivety, I am guessing that this service already exists somewhere (logically, it must) and, in my juvenile haste, have overlooked it. If so, I urge that you not read on and humour me for I do not need the encouragement.

In summary, with the mass media being more vast than ever, and showing no signs of decreasing its rate of expansion, there should be a more condensed and convenient service for those too lazy to read through the swamp of news that, nearly literally, relates every issue of every day to everything that has ever happened. The Internet is becoming too big and invaluable for its own good - and I am too lazy to use it properly.




Song of the moment:



*This is really not worth knowing about. The less you know, the better.

Today I... Question Love

Love doesn't exist everywhere in the world. Did you know this? I bet you didn't. Its a Western construct that is spreading with globalisation. The Beatles were wrong, as history dictates, many people live without love. Some civilisations actually survive on a healthy mental diet of respect and life-saving water.

No, no, no! This is not one of those heart-broken, forlorn examples of someone whose expectations have fell short and have taken to the keyboard to confront an injustice bestowed upon them by someone who, once a ray of sunshine, turned out to be devoid of a heart. This it is not. It is, however a rant about 'Lurve' and 'Harleywould' derived from the sheer abundance of content that passes by without scrutiny. So, here is another petty blog. Enjoy!

American Hollywood romance creates unrealistic expectations for the rest of us brainless specks. Jude Law is nothing more than a marionette, a prop. Real men are addictive creatures who are afraid or pretty much feckless when it comes to showing a shadow of their true feelings. I couldn't tell you how many times I have been in a situation where I couldn't put words to my deepest, most inner desires; moments when overused, worn out phrases just don't cut it. 'I love you' and the ideology of 'forever' seem to be the easy way out and a segway to an impersonal relationship.

'I love you' or 'I am in love with you' should be savoured and cherished, not a time-filler when you are entangled with your love of 9 months, struggling to find something to say about their eyes, bodies, personality, taste in clothes, style, impact on your life, hot mother, cooking, good graces, similar choice in literature, and so on, that you have not said before. Don't get me wrong or distort my message to produce an argument of your own, because I know how easy it is to 'troll' by deflecting an argument and take a holier-than-thou approach, but I feel love is losing its value.

Love in itself is a magnificent concept; the idea that a bond between two people can make life more meaningful, adding to it what words do not dare begin to explain. It is something of fairy tales and has often been reflected and reproduced beautifully with grace and splendour in classic literature. I just feel that today, it has lost some of its sheen. It has been over-exposed, tailored into a manufactured, promotable product embraced by the media, aimed specifically at the consumer serial sharers amongst us. You know the type, the 'selfie tweetagrammers'.

What initially fuelled me to write this blog was something that someone shared on Facebook that infuriated me. It wreaked with banality. The old same old, same old. It was an image consisting of two frames of a film. The first had a man, looking as forlorn and disappointed; wrinkled forehead - the works. The caption with the first image read, 'Don't go.' The second frame was that of a woman by a door, looking back into the room all forlorn and upset, the very image of the sorrowful goodbye. The accompanying annotation: 'Don't let me.' And you know what? This really got on my nerves, and I can't explain exactly why. This also got on my nerves. I can only go over my train of thought. Which went something like this:

'Dont' go!'
Don't let me!'

There is a choice here? They have a choice? Why the sad faces then? Surely there should be a third frame!


'Don't go!
Don't let me!
Ok, then.'
 
If he wants her to stay, she will? And he wants her to stay? So, what's the problem? Unless, in reality, he doesn't really want her to stay. He is just saying what he thinks he wants her to hear. Ease her pain and his guilty conscious for not caring enough. That's it. The selfish bastard! What a poor woman having to invest her emotions into such a man let alone have it witnessed by millions of viewers then shared by some fool on Facebook who believes it to be a true act of romance.

I know! I know! I may be being a tad bit petty here but can't we relate the concept of love to something a little less trivially contrived than this? Please? Can't we just? Please?


If this article gets enough recognition I will post a second one about being 'in love'.

In the meantime...enjoy my song of the moment

Real Talk: Grab that Chalice

'Wealth is not pocket deep.' - Me, just now.

I was shaken over the Summer by a friend who professed a revelation in character that he had discovered within himself.  Amidst a year-long period of deep thought and contemplation he came to realise something new about his character: that money meant a lot to him.

Making money was his prerogative in life.  He went on to explain to me how this was the result in certain behaviour choices which led into our physical and mental distancing as friends.  Over a year ago, I regarded him as a close life friend and could see us being brother fo' life.  Alas, the elements of drama fell into place as expectation fell short of reality.  Alas squared, the idea of making money was not following an exciting career path with prospects, yet simply to work a job that I left due to the lack of prospect and/or personal satisfaction/challenge.

In general, one must respect the decision another makes in life, as it is theirs to make and theirs to live.  From this, I decided to step away from this friend.  Change is good, after all.  That part of my life has dwindled and flickered into a frame - forever a memory.

This example moves me onto my point: Ambition.  Such a misunderstood word.  'Ambition' (contemporarily) seems to mean 'dreaming' and 'being an individual with an outlandish opinion' seems to mean 'I found an interesting post on the Internet, so I staple it to my virtual forehead and say I agree or disagree'.  And that's it.  That's all we got now!  That's all we know as a way of defining ourselves in the majority of cases.

When people step further afield, making a risk to try and do something different, the same response befalls them:

'You're brave!'

'I wish I could do that!'

'I respect you for it.'

And you will find the people that make these comments sitting in the same bar every Friday with the same crowd talking about the same things.  Complacency is good for some.  There is a key to adequacy.  It's just some people have adjusted views of the World around them.  Unusual priorities.  It's no secret that materialism is at an all time high, and, although we moan about the lack of money, we still pay more attention to our phones than we do the evolving world around us.

A very nice cake, eh? An Annie Grace Bakery original!

Local businesses need to have faith in themselves as entrepreneurs and individuals with talent and strength.  They need to market, fight and elevate themselves to a level where they can be seen amongst much more powerful tycoons.

One of these is the Annie Grace Bakery.  OK, so this is not going to fully grab the interests of readers from outside of the West Midlands/Staffordshire area in England but it's the idea that should grab attentions.  Constantly striving to improve themselves with intricate designs and beautiful cakes, they are a great local business that DESERVES recognition for their craft.  Unfortunately, it is like swimming against the tide in most situations.

Most advertising falls on deaf ears, despite social networks - in essence - being  prolific tools.  They are just saturated with gibberish and statuses about something unimportant.  Similar to a scrapbook blog.  It's a real shame that one thing that should make it a lot easier, can't be utilised to its full potential.


Stand Tall is another example of a company that should be reviled.  It's another strain of DIY clothing company.  They are popping up left, right and centre these days.  I cannot say that this one is any different from the others as of yet, however, its founder is one of my best friends - so I must say that it is.

In all honesty, it is different.  The company is based in China and alongside selling their clothing range they are attempting to set up mirroring initiatives.  Alongside band endorsements and competitions, Stand Tall Clothing are going to set up the 'Stand Tall Foundation', which is aimed at creating, funding and developing arts projects within their area in China.  I am guessing in foresight, if this hits the ground running the initiative will spread further afield and we will have a new Bob Geldof without such leathery features


Over the Summer, I tried to set up my own business to build arts-awareness in my local area to no avail.  I could pin the blame on a lack of funding, or the lack of interest by the local art-loving community, but that contradicts my belief that anything is achievable by the willing individual.  The human spirit is far stronger than we think, yet is dulled by sullen routine and petty comforts.  Don't just want more, be more.  I can't bear to see talent wasted and youthful dreams stuck behind a counter, earning enough to enjoy their weekends and to cover their contract on their widget-filled phones.

Step up, people.  Grab that chalice.  You know deep inside you want something more, and - by 'something more' - I don't mean a car or bigger breasts, I mean something more for the soul.

Ask yourself one question... Is there more I can give?  If so, then do something about it.

New Sneer's Resolution

It's a new what? What? Year?  A new year, you say?  What makes it new?  There is nothing new to me.  I haven't shed my skin like a snake, revealing a clean, raw layer of myself all fresh and pristine.  No.  I still have to wipe off the rim on most mornings. It is the same.  If you want a change this year you have to do things drastically.

Live in moderation as there is a key to adequacy.  If you really appreciate the simple details that you have in your life - those morsels of comfort bestowed upon you by the quality your life holds - then when something extravagant arises you will be able to truly appreciate it.  Try not to live in the shadow of someone that seems to be living a greater life than yourself, it can turn you bitter  Advice is not really my strong point as I don't feel I have my own life in check.  My winter holiday has mainly been in recluse.

I really hope that Britain isn't exposed to some God-awful whirlwind craze this year.  I hope that we don't just jump on some train of fashion, but shoot any trend-phrases like 'reem' dead in the water.  This will lead to a better quality of life.  Trash the trash and absorb the brilliance.  People should find fame for good reasons not for numbing the mind of couch-dwelling muppets.  The sad thing is that is this kind of person that holds consumer power in this country; buying into the new thang with a nice picture and  '#yolo'.  Yeah, you only live once, so why waste your time on Jersey Shore and its 7 British spin-offs.  If you want to watch this 'docu-tainment' (dare I call it that) series, just go to your local town centre and watch the goings-on of the local yout'.  If, after doing this, you aren't overwhelmed with depression and the desire to turn society on its head and gut it like a fish, then just go to Starbucks and buy a moco-choco-strawberry sprinkle gateau latte because chances are, that is all you can do.

Personally, my only aims for the year are to finish my book and record my music.  Potentially both of these could be done in the first quarter of the year.  Then what?  To be a better me?  It is difficult for me to define myself so I have no real grasp on this kind of thing.  I believe I am within the state of Moratorium, which I find comforting. Uncertainty is interesting.

All in all, the only thing we have to look forward to is the next variety  of Gangnam fever to give our hatred and adulation a new form.  Here's to 2014; another nothing year.

Merry Christmas

I know that out of everyone who follows this blog, it is my parents and family who keep their eye on it the most.  At the risk of sounding cliché, if it wasn't for my family's support I would not have been able to live so freely as an adult nor would I have been able to have such a unique experience as living abroad.  I am indebted to them for a life well raised.

If you hadn't guessed this is one of those Christmas blogs mainly aimed at my family because this is the first time I will be away from my family during the holiday season.  So...the rest is a personal message from me to my family.

I can't be with you at home over Christmas, so let this be a homage to the experiences that I have been blessed with and my addition to the seasonal spirits...

 

Me, the education provider (playing pinball on the PC during my break)

Little Evans.  Bright kid.

Preparing for Christmas.

The little ones.  Jim and Alex are such attention seekers.

Dimitra, Billy Boy and Alex.

Me and the boys.

Alex was tired...

George and I - post-coffee by the sea.

Timos in the studio.

Marianna, George, Me, Venia and Helen.  The younger ones all took exams, so fingers crossed!

Menidi... my favourite place.

The 'Epiphany' Class.

The not-so-angelic angels.

Petro and Maria.

Vasoula and Marianthi

 

Helen and I.

Me, Alex and Billy Boy (from last year)

Chris, Timos, Me and Venia (before their exams)