Literary Section XVI - Stonetell

Well, I have not written here in months (since June in fact) and I am finding it difficult to delegate subjects and most importantly, find time to write in any of my three blogs. I do update them from time to time but the fact of the matter is that I am not writing nowhere near half of what I want.

At any rate, rummaging through my files I found a piece of poetry written during a more depressing time but still, halfway decent, so I decided to post it here and see what happens. If, at some point, I manage to organize my time and ideas in a more effective fashion, there is plenty to write about. Until then, enjoy (I hope). 

Stonetell

Always there,
going nowhere
There I lie
as hours, days and years go by

Down the path that's crooked
down the path that's just
down the path that's marked
or down the path you're lost

Always there,
going nowhere
There I lie
as hours, days and years go by

Stay a moment and upon me gaze
or in haste pass me by,
in happiness's rosy haze
or in sadness as you cry

Always there,
going nowhere
There I lie
as hours, days and years go by

Rest upon me smiling
or wash me in your tears
let me hear your laughter ring
or have me share in your fears.

Always there,
going nowhere
There I lie
as hours, days and years go by

  Remember or forget me,
here I lie unmoved
unless by another's hand removed
Roll as thunder or strike like lightning,
to silence I return
to wait at another road's turn
Love or hate me,
here I remain
to be well met or never again

Praise or scorn
little difference does it make
with each passing season's morn,
waiting for Death your life to take

Always there,
going nowhere
There I lie
as hours, days and years go by
for I am but a stone
that stands alone
as travelers come and go by
waiting for my own time to die.

Cheers,

Speedgrapher

A Life Carved in Music

I now I have not written for some time now and actually this is a poor excuse for a post but it's the best I have time for right now. Actually it was stolen from Ellie-imouto who something/somehow/somewhere also found it froma  different source, if I understood correctly.  

Choose only song names from ONE ARTIST to cleverly answer these questions. Try not to repeat a song title. It's a lot harder than you think!

Pick your Artist: Nightwish

Are you a male or female?: 10th Man Down
Describe yourself: Nemo
How do you feel?: Dead to the World
Describe where you currently live: Over the Hills and Far Away
If you could go anywhere, where would you go?: Away
What is your job?: The Escapist
Your favorite form of transportation: Walking in the Air
Your best friend was/is: Wishmaster
You and your friends are: Stargazers
What's the weather like?: Planet Hell 
Favorite time of day: Sleeping Sun
If your life was a TV show, what would it be called?: Sleepwalker 
What is life to you?: FantasMic
Your relationship: Ever Dream
Your Fear: End of All Hope 
What is the best advice you have to give?: While Your Lips Are Still Red 
Thought for the Day: I Wish I Had An Angel 
How I would like to die: Dead Gardens 
My soul's present condition: Dark Chest of Wonders 
My motto: Bless the Child


Favorite song by this artist: Ghost Love Score

If nothing else, at least I had an excuse to listen to all my old favorite songs and even check the far and few between of the new Nightwish that are worth it.

Cheers,

Speedgrapher

Timelines and Lifelines

This post was written on the 2nd of February, 2010, but after I had written it, it all suddenly seemed too real, too personal to share. It has now become a small tale and I feel comfortable relating it.


So... I DID go to "Makari" on Sunday and well I did, it seems... It's very peculiar, when the things you believe in and have somehow shoved to the very back of your head, seem to assert their presence, their reality and words seem to fail you - or if not, you stumble over them trying to say what you think and ending up sounding weird, at the very least...

I got there very early, at 20:00, when our three hostesses for the night would not be coming until 20:30 and the event scheduled to start at 21:00. I went inside to check anyway. I must confess, I had not gotten around to writing the story I was (at the time, only probably) going to tell in full. Sure, I had the outline, some specific phrases, characters and all that but still, I was nervous and not very focused on my surroundings. So I saw this - well, I am not sure "girl" is appropriate anymore - young woman who seemed somehow familiar and my twitching brain decided I must have seen here working there last time. So naturally I asked whether any of the Daughters had come by yet, to which she replied all naturally "no", so I thought my assumption was right. Then she begun to ask, I interrupted and the following dialog ensued:

"Do you have anything to do with..."

"The Daughters? Well, I watched their show here last time and Vassilia--"

"No, no. I was going to ask, did we go to school together?"

I am now convinced my mind is hard-wired like a file-storage (which is kind of scary, if you think about it carefully), since her face was placed in a completely different context within moments, breaths. I hadn't seen her in... 10 years? No, wait... we bumped into each other once 8 years ago, somewhere around my neighborhood, but that was it. Her name popped into my head. I uttered it; tentatively. She reciprocated. We were both dumbstruck. She asked if I was staying for the show, I said I was, but I would return when the Daughters arrived and then promptly rushed out.


Only much later did I realize in how much shock I had been. I am not sure why. Sure, we shared a bit of history but just a bit: mostly common friends with whom I was in the school Acting Club, common anecdotes, a few events that became anecdotes over the years or were completely forgotten by most and swept away like so much dust by the winds of time. Truth be told, at times, when I sift through my old papers, letters, memorabilia, photos, I bring to mind the people I have known, sometimes connected with - or not - and I always get this image of lifelines, threads of each person's history, forming a mess of patterns, a network which, more often than not, leaves me watching at the lives diverge, extend into the distance, presumably, maybe, never to intersect again. I remember thinking, once, maybe 5 or 6 years ago, that I would probably never see many of these people, who I still remembered as children - barely teenagers though they may have been 18 the last time I saw them - and they, over time, would probably forget we had ever met. She was among them.

But somehow, one of those threads I had watched disappear into the distance, as well as my own, intersected with so many others, took so many turns, twisted in so many different shapes, that in a roundabout, unexpected, unforeseeable way, they intersected again in the most unlikely (from a pragmatic standpoint) and yet most fitting manner: in a place where tales are told... And she had not forgotten we had ever met; and for no reason at all - none that I know how to put into words, certainly - I was deeply moved by that meeting, moved into a state of shock, so much that I simply had to get out of there, collect my thoughts, try to put them in order between having to tell a decent tale and... and... making sense of that strange feeling that time and happenstance are things we really understand so very little about.


As to the gathering itself, nothing I say will do justice to the good mood of the congregation, the beautiful tales of the Daughters, the warm reception of my own, strangely (given the events I just described) a tale having to do with time and how it treats us like we treat it, the amazing tale and storytelling of Mr. George, who took us from Kypseli to Harun Al-Rashid'd Baghdad and back again in one fell swoop, as well as my old friend from school and one of her band-mates singing at the very end.

It was a night to remember and for all the reasons I don't seem to be able to put it into words, a night to be grateful for.

Perchance to dream,

Speedgrapher

The Daughters Strike Again

Hey there people: long time no see again, in either blog and sadly this is not about to change soon, since I have finally swamped myself beyond all (forthcoming) hope. However, I am popping in to inform you about a couple of things, before retreating back to my cave.

First-off, though it might be not anything sensational, my short story - titled "The Gift of Mordor" - for the Greek Tolkien Society contest, came in second (and that was almost 3 weeks ago but I thought I' d show off anyway).


Secondly and more importantly, remember The Daughters of Fable storytelling group? Well, they are back with another show, at the same location (Makari Music Scene - 125, Zoodohou Pigis St., Exarheia, Athens - easier access from Alexandras Ave.), this Sunday the 31st of January. Furthermore, they will suffer me to join in the storytelling, which makes me a little nervous but I hope I will be able to provide some small measure of entertainment.

Yours truly,

Speedgrapher

The Cat's Predilection [#2]

Since the last post was a bit grim and possibly disheartening for many, I am posting the second gastronomical entry, after a very long time (5 months in fact). This concerns a series of beverages which I have seen called 6th Sense or Sappe. It's a large variety of transparent liquids, artificially flavored with all sorts of ersatz fruit, like apple, green apple, grapes, coconut and cranberry (or black currant). The main feature of this drink is its containing little cubes of aloe vera plant, which you consume as you imbibe it (note: no, the cubes do not show inside the bottle as on the site's page).


I first came across this drink with Ergo Proxy (remember, once co-author of this blog?) and our mutual friend Cavu, while gathering a few supplies for an excursion to Katsimidi (an area near Mt. Parnitha) on My 23rd 2009. That first time, it was apple and grapes, with the apple tasting great and the grapes being a little too sweet for my tastes.


It would seem that the original two tastes were put out by Sappanan General Food and the 6th Sense ones (all the others) by A-1 Produce. Although the bottles are almost identical, the labels differ and as both companies are Thai in origin, I suspect product infringement. As further testimony to this, although the 6th Sense ones have the company's name in miniscule letters on the label, the site actually makes no mention of them. Best to stay away from those: they taste horribly anyway. However, if you do come across the original apple one, pictured here, give it a try.

As a final note, no, I do not know what the Hell they were thinking when they decided on the bottle shape...

On New Year Resolutions

Hello dear readers, assuming you are out there somewhere and not having some decent fun before the working days strike back. I have been... away, on many levels, both from the internet (well, except for the occasional announcement here and there) and my usual haunts in real life and there are many, complex and rather murky reasons for this, so I will refrain from busting your chops with them.

I see that most, if not all of the blogs I read have pitched some wishes, a Christmas post and so on and so forth. I did not, not only because of my recent mood, but because I have experienced quite a bit of death during Christmas vacation over the last 15 years (yes, my memory from when I was 12 is still sharp - mixed blessings I guess), so this celebration is not as magic as it used to be for me. Don't take me wrong, I do wish for my friends and loved ones (well, myself too but I know it will take more than wishful thinking) to have a good year and certainly a better one that 2009 was (it was rather good for me in fact but I know it wasn't for many, much less so for our poor - and currently almost officially - backwater country), but I don't really get into the festive mood as such.

It was a rather good Christmas for me, as far as the last decade goes, which translates into nothing more than having my family mostly healthy, getting together with some good friends more often than usual and playing board games late into the night and early into the morning: believe me, it's richer than it sounds, much richer but impossible to understand until you have felt it as I have.

One of the things I find extremely amusing and terribly ridiculous, at the same time, are "New Year's Resolutions". Before I go on, let me tell you that my own resolution, as such, was to get a new bookcase before January 1st, which I did on the 31st of December and had half-built by the time we went out for our New Year's dinner. The second step was to rearrange everything in my room to get more space, which I also finished today. Therefore, I have achieved what I resolved to do for 2010! I sense impending mix of sneer, disbelief and "oh, come on, don't be like that!". Well, let me tell you something: statistically speaking (for there will always be exceptions, totally insignificant in the larger picture), those fabled resolutions are nothing more than ritual, in both senses. Culturally, they are part of the Christmas "ceremony", which includes caroling, each country's Christmas sweets, adorning the tree and eating pudding (over here it's "Vassilopita"), among others. Psychologically, it's something people do to reassure themselves that they will have goals, improve their lives and "make everything better" (much like people suffering from OCD).

Truth of the matter is, those resolutions are almost 100% bollocks or, if you like, simply wishful thinking. Resolving to get thinner, get a girlfriend, find true love, get laid, married or reach the top of the [insert cultural reference here, or don't] world, almost invariably has nothing to do with the events in your life for the following year, except perhaps until Valentine's day, when one of the more popular resolutions crumbles down (see here and here). So stop "resolving" and making bold statements, to yourself or others. Dreaming and hoping is all good, but once every while you should just get your head down from the clouds, take a long, hard look at your world as it truly is and not as you wish it to be, and then keep moving until you get to a better place. That's all there is to it.

Here's to having a good year, to all of you,

Speedgrapher