roots...

Imagine a sky so blue, so blue, a sky that made Nobel Price winner poet Odysseas Elytis write "my God, the amount of blue that you spend so we don't see you"... and under this blue, warmed from a sun that looks as if has nothing else to do but keep her warm, the Acropolis... and Parthenon so white that shines in the sunlight and combines with the blue of the sky in the most harmonious image... and imagine being there, close to it, able to see it and witness the beauty with your own two eyes...

Yes, I was in Athens recently... and yes, when I'm there my heart is filled with such joy that I usually cannot describe... it's not just because there I meet long loved friends, friends that are nearly (or sometimes better than...) family, friends I cannot but miss when we are apart... And it's not just because when there I always savour the tastes of Greece in little taverns, sitting outside and watching the people pass by... and it's not just because there I can enjoy the sound of (certainly one of...) the most beautiful language in the world... a language that sound nice even when people are saying bad things to one another (and yes, I can be as much biased as I very well please, thank you)...

No, it's all those and one thing more... it's this feeling of being there and doing exactly what people were doing at the same space 2500 years ago and then some! It's this amazing feeling of roots, of belonging to a place even if it's this little corner of an immense universe, of becoming one with it... and this is the feeling of security for me... whenever I'm in Athens, I look up and see the Acropolis, still standing there after wars, fires, looting, earthquakes and more wars, defying time and wrath and greed and the elements of nature and just... still standing!

And this is the most amazing feeling for me... better that slipping my foot into the most precious shoe, the most comfortable, the most valuable and the most beautiful... It's better and it is always there to feel my heart... and it's all I need to reassure myself that things are going to be fine, that no matter what happens, we will still be standing... like those "stones"... ;)

ps. the above stands even in times that my souvenir from Athens is a major flu.. still...

about concerts...

Live concerts (as such) cannot, in my opinion, be classified in the "better than shoes" category of things... We all have dreadful experiences to share of that time that the girlfriend of the brother of our boyfriend (or something of that sort of relation...) said "Let's go see "roasted potatoes" playing, they are awesome!!!!"
... and we went... and they were not... In fact they were horrible, the music was crap, the sound worse and that tall guy in front of us failed to hide them from our sight the whole time... which would be a blessing as the singer, the bass player and the lead guitar were f-ugly... and that was the whole band...

So, now, a generalization is not appropriate... But sometimes, even in this part of the world, we find ourselves attending one of the good ones... One of those concerts that you know and love the band (or the artist) and you know the songs and you are there with a bunch of like-minded friends, who also know the band and sing the songs along, and you end up dancing and laughing and applauding like crazy and shouting "more, more" and it's great!!! It's like being a teenager for a while again... Or at least I guess it is like that as I did not go to too many concerts as a teenager... I do compensate now though :)

The other night I went to see Pixies playing live in Amsterdam... And though I can't say that I new a lot about their music (ashamed to admit that I though all their songs are like "Here comes your man"... more or less as bad as believing that all song by The Cure is like "Friday I'm in love"...) I knew a bit and in any case at the end it didn't matter!!! I was with a great group of people, in fact met a new neighbor who's super cool, and I was dancing and singing (the ones I knew the lyrics...) and laughing and I hag a blast!! And yes, as the totally wasted guy next to me said (repeatedly...) "whoa, Pixies, man... how cool is this..."!

Though I was just wearing a pair of running shoes (that matched perfectly the rest of my... well, shall we say, "casual" outfit and leave it there...) and did not see anything more interesting shoe-ways then Doc Martins at the concert, no, Prada was not present, I kid you not, the whole deal was better than shoes! And I would do it again... in fact, I will do it again :) And so should you! I promise you you won't regret it :)

PS. and in the improbable case that a band called "roasted potatoes" really does exist: I'm not referring to you, I have never been to one of your concerts and I'm sure you are really awesome and incredibly handsome!

sunshine :)

It's a truth universally acknowledged... you don't know what you've got 'till it's gone! And yes, the song was a big hit too, but I tend to believe that the truth came first... Anyway, I lived for 26 years of my life in a country where the sun shines continuously from April to October and then again in February for a couple of weeks and certainly about 3-4 days a week for the rest of the year... which is goooood! Because, human beings, like plants, need the sun to survive (goodness, this is very scientific...) and when we don't have it we become gloomy like the weather...

Then, I came to The Netherlands... where the sun, normally, doesn't shine... feel free to make the connection with all the other places where the sun doesn't shine... Mind you, this past summer has been a one-off thing and for those of you having come recently here, well, enjoy the exception while it lasts, dudes, because an exception it is! My experience, after 9 years, is that when it starts raining here, it forgets to stop... and there have been many summers spent carrying an umbrella and wearing wool cardigans and shawls and boots... usually Ugg boots in light camel and... oooops, lost track of my thoughts, sorry :)

And then winter comes and it's worse... dark and wet and depressing and cold and... not nice! So, yes, what I missed in these 9 years is the sun. And I did regret bitterly all the times I complained (back in my old life) about the heat and the sun burning and the long summer season that tired me... I guess I had to lose it to appreciate it... thank you Universe!

But every now and then, recently more often admittedly due to the exception I was telling you (or global warming... ) I wake up in the morning and the sun begins to shine (this is a song as well, aint'it... ) and everything looks marvellous! The colours, the people, the city, everything is better! The mood is good, dressing up not having to worry about mud and rain is a bliss, taking out those old sun glasses from their case (where they have been sleeping peacefully for, oh, very long) and putting them on to go out in the bright sunshine is... yes, it is better than shoes! And not only it is better, but it combines greatly with shoes as well!! Because it is on those days that one takes out of the box that pair of Chloé suede-and-leather pumps and wears them with pride...