Wednesday 25 May 2011

day off...

I know, I know... pretty obvious that a day off is a good thing, right? OK, but don't dismiss its "betterthanshoes-ness" just yet as if exaggerated... No, let me explain and you'll see :)

I woke up this morning, before the alarm went off,  and the sun was shinning in the blue, clear sky, a sky without the slightest bit of clouds! Yes it is a Wednesday, yes I had to work (not to mention to get out of the house early as the nice lady who takes care of my apartment and me was coming) and yes I do have to be conscious with my holidays as they are not unlimited... but... the sun was shinning and the forecast for tomorrow is for rain! Surely work could wait for a day, right? ;)

So I sent an email to my boss informing I would be absent, took a quick shower and hit the road... or, more accurately, the rails! Took the train to Amsterdam and got there before the crowds (just on  time to snatch those fabulous Givenchy sandals with the most attractive 30%off... who did ever say that "better than shoes" things don't combine marvelously with shoes?? :), did my shopping and lots more browsing and then had a relaxed lunch reading a magazine!

Simple pleasures? Absolutely!! But pleasures nonetheless! I did enjoy every minute of my "personal day" and remembered how good a time I have just by myself! Merely the feeling of playing hookie was enough to lift my spirit and combined with the brilliant, warm weather and the train trip it was a pure bliss! Yeah, yeah, sure, the new shoes too, but I would have had just as much fun without them, word of honor! 

Wednesday 18 May 2011

mission accomplished...

... and it feels better than a new pair of Prada pumps!!!

I have had a task to do for the last 6 months... Now, I am not at all proud of it (and I don't usually avoid work like this) but the fact of the matter is that for the last half a year it has been haunting my life, sitting at the top of my desk, waiting patiently to be dealt with while I have been procrastinating like a pro! Yep, a lot has to do with it being a tough one... the difficulty of it being that I had not done this before and mixed up with the fear that I was not going to be able to actually do it... fear, yes... and stress... lots of it...

But this past Monday, though struggling with a headache (perhaps because of the promise I had secretly given to myself that I was going to at least start it this week) I did start it... And did finish it today!! OK, it still needs some work, mostly involving my colleagues, but the first part, the most difficult one, the one I had to do on my own, is done. And though this past few days I have been feeling under the weather, for reasons other than work, finishing this damn thing has helped substantially to improve the mood.

Still two days to go for the weekend, the weather being gloomy and depressing, but I do feel better than yesterday! I will focus on this one positive thing and will get it through the rest of the week and into the break! And, though I have not won the Nobel peace prize, merely I finished a long delayed work related task, I do indeed feel better about myself! And, this is better than shoes, isn't it?  ;)


Tuesday 10 May 2011

families...

... are not as such better than shoes. At least not in the strict sense. But my definition of family is not the strict one and according to my definition, families are better than shoes! Will explain: I do not believe that my family is only the people that I am related to by blood. My best friend and I have been friends for almost 27 years now... Doesn't she qualify as family??!! You bet it does!! My other oldest friend is also my cousin, but in all honesty it is the meeting of hearts and minds which brought (and keeps) us together, not the blood. And in my life time I have been privileged enough to meet more wonderful people who are no forming what I call my family.

On the other hand, my immediate, blood, family is small... we can have a Christmas (or Easter...) meal all together normally without needing a fourth chair... And I do sometimes miss experiencing this type of big gatherings with parents, aunts, cousins, grandparents, children, just like I see it in the movies... the loud meals, the different generations, the heated discussions... I do miss the normality of it all, the comfort of the support group... But, as I said, I have been lucky enough to be part part of many families in my life and I choose to focus on this...

This past weekend was all about that: a family gathering! More than 20 people, cousins, wives, husbands, girlfriends, kids, all together for two days in a beautiful scenery, for the sheer pleasure of getting together! The jokes, the games, the fun, the food (oh, so much food once again... I really need to stop eating...) the teasing, all of it was perfect! No, not even the rain (which fell in abundance...) managed to spoil the mood, not even the cold rooms! It was better than shoes... And I was lucky enough to be part of it! :)

Thursday 5 May 2011

my new computer is awesome!!!

... and needless to say, better than shoes! OK, it cost me sliiiiiightly more than an exquisite pair of Louboutins but it is worth every cent I paid for it! First of all, the old one was reeeeeeally old, so old that every time I was trying to google chat with my friends, after every sentence I wrote I had to wait 5 minutes for it to appear in the chat! Yep, old, poor thing... I could not have it work for more than 20 minutes if not plugged in, the battery was so ruined... oooops, I should not talk about it as if it was dead, should I?!...

Anyway, I have been promising to myself (and other interested parties...) that I was going to buy a new computer since almost two years now... and every time I would just spend the money in something else, may that be traveling, clothes or... you guessed right, shoes! Simply because hi tech stuff are not my priority, in the sense that If I can do what I want with what I have, normally I will not buy new equipment. So, in this case, I really had to stop being able to do what I want in order to actually get a new machine! But boy am I glad I did!

Featherlight, small, easy to use as this is a guarantee of the fruity brand (no, they don't pay me nor give me discounts so I will just imply their name...) and pretty much the state of the art! For someone who only uses it to blog, browse shoes, book tickets and order take away food, it's more than I could ever dreamed of! And as it is so easy to carry, I can really take it everywhere! Which is great news since this way I will be able to write down and share with you all the good things I come across :) Only bad thing, from time to time I will be thinking of all the shoes I could have bought for the same money.. LOL

PS. yes, this is the first post written in my new computer ;)

Wednesday 4 May 2011

NOT bullshitting people...

...is better than shoes! And I am fully aware that the term "bullshitting" will have some of you raise an eyebrow but I am using it intentionally and consciously as I believe it really is the appropriate one! Now, I know that I hardly ever write about politics in this blog and this is not because I am an apolitical being, quite the contrary. I do it because I very seldom have something positive to say in this topic... sadly... But I cannot resist myself today, in the midst of cries of joy of people who believe a "war" was finally over, people who have lost loved ones in this "war", people who are gullible (to say the least and with all due respect...) and nice in their majority, I cannot resit myself from shouting "stop bullshitting us"!!!

No, I do not believe that any infamous terrorist was killed in these past few days, I do not believe that any "war" has been won... in the wonderful words of  Sting, "there's no such thing as a winnable war, it's a lie we don't believe any more"! I do not believe in good news which come very, very conveniently at a moment when they are most needed (to serve their purpose in maintaining a dubious status quo) and without any (available to the people) shred of evidence as to the truth in them.... I do not believe in manipulating people to maintain one's immoral privileges, I do not believe that any good can ever come from death...  then again I am not religious... perhaps this is the reason for my disbelief...

Honesty and politics do not go together... even if they did when democracy was born in my home land, thousands of years ago, for sure they do not go together now and this, in my view, is a universal truth... But there is a line separating what constitutes a political lie and what constitutes pure "bullshitting"...  and in my opinion this line was crossed this time... And that's what made me share this with you... your comments are, as always, most welcome.

Monday 2 May 2011

home sweet home...

Waking up at home is better than shoes! After almost ten days of, admittedly, great holidays in home country I realized yesterday that all I wanted was to be home! My home! My sofa, my bed, my bathroom, my kitchen... As fate has it, my home is not in my home country. And this very often creates a confusion in my head, I say "I'm going home" when I mean "I'm going to Greece" and in all honesty I do feel like I'm going home every time I'm there, no doubt. But then I'm there and I miss "my home" which means my apartment here in "the lower lands"... and I want to come back!

Though the weather this time was surprising, to say the least, I had a great time "back home"! Family, friends, great (and ohhhhhh so much...) food, going out for drinks, watching football on a big screen TV out in a terrace while having a beer, shopping, chatting, all that was super! And then, at about a week after I got there, it started... this bug in me which made me miss home... the other home... Not that it stopped me from having a good time, no! But I just wanted to sleep in my bed and take my clothes out of my closet and brush my teeth in my bathroom... weird? mmmmm... dunno...

And today, sitting on my sofa, writing this, while having my coffee and trying to find the courage to go to work, again I have a mixed feeling... I wish I was still in Greece and I wish I was always at home... ok, does this simply mean that I wish my home was in my home country?... not exactly! It is not what I actually wish! And I don't know what I actually wish... home is where the heart is and my heart has been divided for more than ten years now and though this means that sometimes I get sad missing my "other" home, I guess I also have the privilege to just have more than one homes! And be at home in many places... which is, as said, better than shoes ;)