I'm confused

I was reading BBC this morning, and came across this:

Bush chides Russia in UN speech

George W Bush has accused Russia of violating the UN's charter by invading Georgia, in his final speech to the world body as US president.

Mr Bush urged world leaders gathered at UN in New York to "stand united in our support of the people of Georgia".

Referring to Russia's recent military action in Georgia, he said: "We must stand united in our support of the people of Georgia... The United Nations charter sets forth the equal rights of nations large and small. Russia's invasion of Georgia was a violation of those words."

And blah blah blah

And now I'm confused

Is this the same George W. Bush, US president, who completely ignored the UN's calls and charter and invaded a foreing country? Using a justification that only proved to be a fabrication?

I'm probably thinking of someone else

First things first

Karin did this, Erin did this (oh... all -rin's... I wonder if this means something!), so I'll do it too
Please, be patient

1. Who was your FIRST prom date?
I'm greek, we don't have proms. Plus, most of us are not really allowed to date before we turn 30, which means that we do it in secret. So, all this american hype about dating, corsages and the stuff, that means absolutely nothing to Greeks. Nothing! And we don't date for parties either.
If you're asking me who my first real boyfriend was, that was Chris. I was 13, so was he, he was the funniest guy ever! I really liked him, and I think he really liked me too. We stayed friends for many years after we broke up (well, duh! we were 13, we broke up cause the wind blew from South to North or sthg!!). Actually, we stayed friends until 1997, when he was killed. He was 22! I still think about him sometimes.

2. Who did you FIRST play Doctors and Nurses with? OK, kids actually play this? I grew up with boys, I knew a lot about boys and girls, I didn't need to play that!

3. Do you still talk to your FIRST love? A couple of issues here. As I said, Chris was my first real boyfriend, and I'd have a beautiful room with an ocean view at a mental institution if I still talked to him (you know, cause he died. Although, my sister's husband has an aunt who claims she can talk to spirits, and I'll pay her a visit one of those days). But Angelo was my real first love. I was head over heels, and for many years too. It was an unbelievable story between the two of us, which doesn't belong here, or in a blog. But we don't really talk now. I see him sometimes, but we don't talk. We just stare at each other from a distance.
4. What was your FIRST alcoholic drink? "> Ouzo... When I was little, I'd always drink out of my dad's glass... So one day, when I was about 3, he was drinking ouzo, and I grabbed the glass and drank it. It was horrible, and I hated it, and only managed to drink ouzo again after many many many many years!

5. Who was your first kiss? George. We were playing Spin The Bottle, but not with real kisses. When the bottle showed me, he grabbed me, and ... well... the rest belong to camping history

6. Who was the FIRST person to tell you they loved you? My parents.

7. Who is the FIRST person you thought of this morning? Panos, cause he's not here, and his cat has been busting my balls at nights, meowing endlessly at the door, waiting for him to come. I will cook his cat before he returns (notice how NOW it's his cat, when usually it's my or our cat?)

8. Who was your FIRST grade teacher? Ah! Mrs. Thomai! A saint! Oh, the hell I put that poor woman through! Because I knew how to read and write for a couple of years before first grade, I found it extremely boring, and would get off my seat and sway on the desks, or run around the classroom, and she was always so nice! She was the best

9. Whose heart did you break for the FIRST time? I think it must have been Chris'. But I was really young, so I don't know if it counts. If I was to think of a serious heartbreak I caused, that would probably be Angelo's. You guessed it: I regretted doing it.

10. Who was your FIRST best friend and are you still friends with them? Eleni (my sister), Katerina and Sofia were my first best friends. The four of us grew up together (our fathers had been best friends in High School and then University, and then after that), so I've known them forever. I'm still very close to Eleni and Sofia to this very day. Katerina had better keep away from me!

11. What was your FIRST sport played? Sport? I was chubby but pretty athletic growing up. I'd have to say the first real sport I did was gymnastics. After that, when I was about 11, I started playing volleyball, and it stuck.

12. Where was your FIRST sleep over? Katerina's, for sure. We'd sleep over at one another's place all the time.

13. Who was the FIRST person you talked to today? Person? My mom, she called me to tell me that a girl on TV was wearing my red lipstick. She was right too! Non-person? The cat! I was yelling at him all night

14. Whose wedding were you in for the FIRST time? I have no idea, sorry! It could have been Vaggelitsa's the girl that was living with my aunt - the one that raised my dad, long story - but I'm not sure. You think that was my First Big Fat Greek Wedding? I'll have to ask my mom!

15. What was the FIRST thing you did this morning? Peed. Then showered. Then made myself breakfast. Then let the cat out of the closet.

16. What was the FIRST concert you ever went to? Hmmmm... I THINK it was Dimitra Galani but I'm not sure.

17. FIRST tattoo or piercing? Why would I be any different? Ears!

18. FIRST foreign country you went to for vacation? Italy. Italy when my mom was pregnant with me, Italy when I was born, Italy later. I visited many countries, but Italy most of all!

19. What was your FIRST run in with the law? I don't think I've had one so far! I'm so boring

20. When was your FIRST detention? We don't have that in Greece, so never. We got reported when doing something wrong, and my first time was when I was 14, for talking during the test. The truth is, I never spoke, the girl sitting next to me was, but she was a greek parliament representative's daughter and the teacher had to punish someone.

21. What was the FIRST state you lived in? New York, since I've only been to the States once, and that was in New York.

22. Who was the FIRST person to break your heart? Angelo. No doubt there. He broke my heart and then broke it again! And still does, every time I see him.

23. Who was your FIRST roommate? LENA! Oh, what a person! Our moms knew each other, and Lena had a secret boyfriend in Athens, where we were staying, and her dad would often visit and she wouldn't be there, so to justify her absence, she told her mom that I was doing drugs in the apartment, and I was always wasted and my friends were dangerous and she didn't want to be around for that! And her mom told my mom, and my mom told her "I trust my daughter, so if you think something is going on, you should wonder why Lena need to lie to you that way!". And I heard about this from my sister, to this day my mom has never said anything to me! That was in 1994.

24. Where did you go on your FIRST roller coaster ride? Poseidonio. It was really small and unimportant. Haven't had one since.

25. Who will be the FIRST to repost this? Who knows?

Karma Heaven

In greek we say something that roughly translates to this: “God loves the thief, being His child and all, but he also loves the good guy!”.
About a week ago, I came to find out why we say this, and why it is so true.
Let me tell you this story

You all remember about my ex-friend, that truly religious girl, whose brain is never in the gutter, who always protests when someone utters a curse word, who always goes to church, and who also, very easily and with no hesitation, lies, gossips, manipulates and makes up rumors.
Yes, the very same one who waited until she was 20 to lose her virginity to the right man...
The right man, of course, being a D-list bouzoukia singer. Did I mention the right place? His dressing room, I guess.

Anyways.

This ex-friend of mine is still dating this guy. According to her, he is the love of her life, the man she is going to marry.
That would be all merry and dandy, if the truth wasn't so far away from it.
Mr. Right lives in Athens, they meet twice a year, when he allows her to visit, months have gone by without him calling her, he doesn't even know when her birthday is, and, this year, while we were still on speaking terms (remember? when I thought she was a nice person!), he was in town for two months, they met twice, after that never even spoke on the phone, and of course he missed her 30th birthday.
Back then, we were all telling her to break up with him. “You may be serious about him, but obviously, he's not serious about you!”, I told her, and I think that was the beginning of the end for me.
Now? Now I'm glad she's dating him, cause, frankly, I don't think she deserves any better, and if there's decent guys out there, I wish a decent girl will find them. Let her stay with him.

Anyways.

Last week, last Sunday, to be exact, my friend, Kalouda, was meeting her other friend, Dimitri, for coffee. She was late, but Dimitri was even more late (never be on time when you go out with a Greek. We're always late), so Kalouda had to sit on a bench and wait for him.
At the bench right next to hers, there was a guy sitting, and a girl was standing right in front of him. The girl was on the phone, talking to another friend of hers, about her boyfriend. She was nagging, and Kalouda was afraid she would have to sit all through the whole ugliness of some lady nagging about her boyfriend... and how he didn't call her the day before... and how all he could do was send her sms's... and what was really wrong with the network, and she couldn't really understand why he couldn't call her... And yes, she knows that being he has a lot of responsibilities... what with his record coming out soon and all... ... but he should have called... ... but before she had the chance, the friend they had been waiting for came, and they left.

We were giggling about this all week long. You see, this is a girl that made us doubt ourselves. Then she started lying about us. Saying this and that, left and right, information that kept coming right back at us, hitting us from all sides. Lies that we couldn't rebut, simply because noone cared enough to ask us if they were true.
Now, all the people she thought she had won over, are slowly coming back. Her “best friend” from work is constantly talking to me on MSN. He tells me stuff she thinks I don't know (I can see how she reacts when she realizes I know) and even tells me stuff and asks me not to tell her. That is causing her grief, and I can see it every day...
And then... This happens.
And I think...
The world is trully a miraculously small place.
Nothing can stay hidden for too long under the sun.
The Gods sure have a sense of justice. And humor.

I think I'm going to like this life.

My fear

I am watching SATC. It's the one where Samantha's hair starts falling off from chemo, and Smith shaves his head with her.

Sickness scares me. It scares me a lot. The thought of something going wrong in my body terrifies me, it petrifies me, it scares me to a point where I avoid going to the doctors, simply because I don't want to know.
My father is an oncologist, and a lot of my parents' friends have had to go through his hands. I remember Lena, my mom's best friend, they lived at the appartment below ours for ever, ever since I was born. When I was about 18, Lena was diagnosed with colon cancer. She had to go through an operation, and horrible chemotherapy. Her hair fell off and she was in awful pain.
Lena eventually got better, and it's been 14 years since then. She's been cancer free and I hope she stays that way.
That wasn't the case with Mr. Nikos. Mr. Nikos was my friend Sofia's father. I've known Sofia for ever, we grew up together. Of course, since my father and her father went to Junior High toghether, and then High School, and then they were roommates in University, and then stayed friends their whole lives. Actually, Mr. Nikos' whole life. In January 1996, Mr. Nikos was diagnosed with lung cancer. He died exactly one year later - six months after Kosta.
My father also treated his other University roommate - my godfather's brother. He, too, had cancer, and he, too, died. That was actually the first time I saw my father absolutely break down and cry like a baby.
Through all the people that died, how can I forget about Tina. She had been sick her whole life -mediterranean anaemia did the trick. She was in pain, she was always weak, and died aged 28.

Tina used to say that we shouldn't be afraid of anything. And that we should live our every moment like it was our last. Coming from anyone else, that would be just another little poem on a piece of paper baked inside a fortune cookie. But with Tina, you knew she meant it: her every moment could be her last one.

I grew up with an unprecedented fear of death. Ever since I was a little kid, my aunt would scare me with stories of all her dead brothers and sisters, who would come back to haunt the house she lived in, saints would come knocking on her door, and a huge hallway filled with photos of the dead.
I remember being 2 and afraid to open the front door, because I thought I'd see a dead guy staring at me, asking why he had to die before his time. How would I know, I was 2!
I remember the first day I went to school. All dressed up, holding my little bag, with a Merenda sandwich, juice and an apple for the teacher, waiting for the bus to come, I turned to my mom and said: "I guess now real trouble starts". My mom thought I was talking about school and all the work. To this day I can still hear my thoughts in my head: "I am one step closer to dying now". I was 4.

I don't know where this fear comes from. Maybe it's because I'm missing out on life. Maybe it's because I should be doing things, and I'm not, and I feel that my life is being wasted away. But every time I think about sickness, I get that same feeling in my stomach, and I can't breathe.
- Same thing when I get on a plane! The take-off and the landing... You'd better be nowhere around me at that time! -

Panos came in through the door this afternoon and said to me: "How would you feel if we sold everything here and went somewhere else, like the US, or England, or Ireland, go study at some University and live there? Do things?"

I said "I'd absolutely love that"
What I meant to say was "I feel like we're taking a step away from dying".

That right there...

...is me and my iPhone
right there
enjoy me!!

I "bought" my iPhone -which doesn't have a name yet, but will soon - a couple of days ago...
Having a cute gadget kind of changes your life for a split second, and this time I figured out the big Y! ...the big "why", that is!

So, trying hard to hide but really show off my newly acquired gadget, i strutted in my office. iPhone being in my front left pocket, I did a pirhouette going in, like I dropped a nickel or sthg, like "oh... what... where is that?", turning left and right, until the right person spotted it.

"You got it!!", he exclaimed!
"Huh? what do you mean? ooooh, thaaaaaaaaat", I said casually... "yes, yes, i got it", I answered, very successfully (and academy award deserving-ly) hiding my excitement.
"Letmeseeitletmeseeitletmeseeit!", he started singing. Him. Who, up until the day before was afraid to talk to me, in case my ex-friend-who-has-befriended-him-selling-him-lies-about-me-and-a-basketball-team-and-whipped-cream-in-weird-places finds out he's friendly with me and stops talking to him to.

I went up to him and placed it in his hands. It's white, it's shiny, it's gorgeous, and his eyes were shining. "Was it awfully expensive?", he asked, and I could see a drop of drool at the corner of his mouth.
"Nah", I replied, oh so casually. "As a matter of fact, I paid nothing for it, it was included in my dad's programme".

He played with it a little and never even noticed her coming in. She turned her head away from us and said goodmorning to everyone else. I was on top of the world and pretended not to notice.
I'm pretending not to notice a lot of things lately. That has become a second nature to me.

Anyway!
The day passes and everyone has a nice word to say about Snow White -oh! I just named my iPhone! Cute! - and I'm quite proud. But, guess what.. my split second is not even here yet!

Close to the end of the day, I was sitting alone with our photo editor, discussing things. Suddenly, the discussion -of course- turns to Snow White. "Can I play with it?", she said. "Sure" I said, "Go ahead!".
So she took it in her hands and looked at it right, and looked at it left and looked at it lovingly and admiringly...
And then she came in

My lying-through-her-teeth-all-year-long-and-then-spreading-rumors-about-me-like-i-was-a-piece-of-sh*t-she-just-happened-to-step-on-and-carry-around-on-her-shoe finally, after a whole day of everyone talking about it, caught on.

"Oh my GOD!", she shrieked, and the tone was so high pitch i swear it broke a window. "Is that an iPhone? Is it yours?", she squealed.

I blinked

"Uh... yeah?"

"ohgodohgodohgod can I hold it?", she squeaked.

I blinked

"Uh... ok?"

"It is sooooo gorgeous I love it, oh wow, it is absolutely gorgeous, i love it love it love it, and now i hate my phone!", she exploded. "You are so lucky, it is amazing, great for you"

I blinked

"Uh... uh -huh..."

Then gave it to me and then left trashing her phone

I immediately called Kalouda and said "Please... do that magic you do about the evil eye... I have a feeling my phone will break today".

Well, it didn't break. But I got a pretty good idea of what a masked person is all about!

Blasphemous rumors

“I don’t want to start any blasphemous rumors
But I think that God’s got a sick sense of humor
And when I die I expect to find him laughing”

I don’t remember when this song came out, because, contrary to general belief, I was pretty young in 1984. But in later years, I learnt and read about the commotion that was caused by it. And, even though I wasn’t really in the epicenter of things, in order to have a clear view of the reactions, I can see them in front of my eyes as clear as the skies in a Greek August morning.

“An abomination” they must have called it. “A direct insult to God”, or “proof that this generation will be the last one, because God’s anger will smite us with fire and sulfur. And it will be the result of thoughts and provocations like this song”.

I loved this song from the very first time I heard it. Or, to be more exact, from the very first time I read it, since I read the lyrics in the notebook of a classmate of mine. It depicts, with accuracy that shocks me, the feelings and the thoughts that go through one’s head when life happens.

When a 28 year-old girl dies a few months before a cure to the illness that has been torturing her, her whole life, or a medicine to prolong and better her life is found. When a 17-year-old boy dies on the asphalt, killed by a car that shouldn’t be driven, by a 19-year-old boy who, before starting the car, thought to himself: “I don’t really want to go, I’d rather stay at home. But I’ll go now that I’m in the car”.

The song tells the story of a 16-year-old girl, who wants to die and tries to commit suicide, by slashing her wrists. God takes pity on her and she doesn’t succeed. Two years later, the girl is a happy person. She finds her lost love for life and also finds Jesus. But that doesn't last long, since a car hits her and sends her to the hospital on life support. A while later she dies.

“I don’t want to start any blasphemous rumors
But I think that God’s got a sick sense of humor
And when I die I expect to find him laughing”

I find it so ironic that people – humans, people like us – take it upon their hands to interpret other people’s actions, other people’s thoughts, and their beliefs and their words. And they take it upon themselves to interpret God’s will, and how God – any God, this is not an attack on Christians – would interpret something, and if He would take offense and be angry.

I remember when Harry Potter was first published, how all the Church people gathered in various places of the planet and started big fires burning the books. That took us all back to the time when the Nazis burned books and, along with the books, free thought and expression. Or even further back, when they would burn “witches”, women who used their heads, or helped their fellow men, or were simply a bit more beautiful than the establishment could handle.

I wonder if these people know how they are insulting God themselves. If this is the God we think it is, then I doubt he wouldn’t mind people talking trash about other people’s free thoughts. I doubt that he wouldn’t mind the hate that is born when someone goes out and publicly accuses someone else of even the smallest thing. I doubt he wouldn’t mind the blocking free transmission of ideas, because some preacher or priest or simply some self-righteous self-proclaimed savior of the world has so decided.

But, most of all, I wonder if these people know how they are insulting their own intelligence. I know they are insulting ours, and, unfortunately, they are right to think of a fairly large part of the population as idiots – or, strike out the word “idiots”, I’ll just call them “people who have decided not to use their brain, but to only use other people’s brain, in order to not waste calories”. If, when they say something, people jump right on that wagon and agree, then why not say something all the time and serve their personal interests and goals? But in doing so, they are also insulting their intelligence. Being the leader of a group of morons does not say much about you, does it? Go out there and do something great for your generation, you coward. Don’t just try to manipulate others. Greatness doesn’t work that way.

I was going to say that we have lost our humanity. But, come to think of it, I don’t know where the word “humanity” came from, because there aren’t all that many examples of it existing in our history books. Maybe it was simply a goal that was set ages ago. I just hope one day we find it.

You will ALL do this, or else!!

on Thursday, August 7th, everyone must light a candle and leave it by their window, to remind this planet that there's such an issue, as the issue of Tibet, that has remained unsolved throughout the 20th century and must be resolved immediately.
Otherwise, we have no right to be called a lawful community

The World's Greatest Light Protest for Tibet grows even greater

All out light for Tibet in the 24 hours preceding the Olympic Games.

Sad Smoky Mountains & Skyscrapers join Candle for Tibet campaign. Will ignite red smoke on hundreds of mountain tops, and on several skyscrapers and landmarks in major cities.

Candle for Tibet asks people to put the candle in their windows, desks, or anywhere else where other people will see it and hopefully do the same. Many will participate in candle vigils throughout the world.

CFT is calling on All Light artists in the world to create light shows for freedom.

CFT calls the people of the world to take part by lighting candles, flash lights, lighters, car headlights and any other light source.

CFT calls for all those who plan to attend the opening ceremony in Beijing to light a candle, flash light, a lighter or even a cell phone during the ceremony.

Tel Aviv, July 21 2008

Candle for Tibet, the world's biggest campaign for freedom in Tibet, was joined by Sad Smoky Mountains & Skyscrapers to create an even greater light protest for freedom in Tibet.

The Light Protest for freedom.

On Thursday August 7th at 9:00 p.m. local time at least 100,000,000 people, from every corner of earth, will light candles in hundreds of planned candle-lit vigils, with their friends or at their homes. They will call for freedom in Tibet. (All details can be founds at CFT's press room)

SSM&S will send on the day following CFT 's candle action hundreds of mountain climbers and volunteers to ignite red smoke flares on Skyscrapers roofs in NY, Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam and other major cities around the world, and on over 100 mountain tops in 3 continents. The smoke ignition will coincide with the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing.

"We are now ready to instruct hundreds of red smoke flares in cities all over the world" says artist Alberto Peruffo, the project's creator. "We will flare up the skies red from buildings, monuments and palaces"

SSM&S has already proven record. On May 11th hundreds of mountaineers climbed to the summits of over 100 mountains in Europe, Asia, North and South America, where they flared up the sky red calling for a free Tibet (Link to images at the bottom)

"This is very exciting development" says David Califa, CFT's creator and organizer, "SSM&S values fit ours like a glove, our whole campaign is built on unity, solidarity and sharing. It's a fantastic artistic action for freedom. We are calling on every light artist in the world to join us. We are also calling on all freedom lovers in the world to drive with their cars' headlights on, in the 24 hours preceding the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games on August 8th."

CFT is endorsed and supported by the International Tibet Support Network (ITSN), the global coalition of Tibet-related non-governmental organizations, almost all other major International Tibet support group, and several local support groups.

"We are calling on all human rights organizations to join this beautiful manifestation of solidarity for freedom. In the next few days we will also call on hundreds of performing artists, athletes and celebrities to light a candle for Tibet" says Califa "We don't expect that many will turn us down".



Candle for Tibet main web site:
http://www.candle4tibet.org

CFT Social Network:
http://candle4tibet.ning.com/

CFT Press Room:
http://www.erichopr.com/releases/c4t.htm

Contact:
David Califa
+972 544 730 090
Email: info@candle4tibet.org

Sad Smoky Mountains web site:
http://www.sadsmokymountains.net/

SSM&S YouTube page:
http://it.youtube.com/user/sadsmokymountains
Images from the May 11th Ignition:
http://www.antersass.it/sadsmokymountains/first_ignition_photos.htm


Contact:
Alberto Peruffo
Email: alberto.peruffo@antersass.it
Tel: +39 444 695140






Very partial list of targeted mountains for August 8 2008 (Urban locations will be revealed to the media before the Light Protest starts)

All heights in meters

MATTERHORN 4478 m (Alps, Switzerland)
MONTE ROSA 4634 m (Alps, Italy)
MONTE BIANCO 4810 m (Alps, France)
DOLOMITI 3300 m (Alps, Italy)

VOLCANO SAJAMA 6530 (Andes, Bolivia)
ALPAMAYO 5947 m (Andes, Peru)
HUASCARUN SUR 6768 m (Andes, Perù)
CHOPICALQUI 6354 m (Andes, Perù)
NORTH TABLE MOUNTAIN (Colorado, USA)

STOK KANGRI 6137 (Himalaya, India)