our ship has come in...

literally! 2 pallets at the port of athens... and later this week, i'll have my kitchen stuff, our computer (insteddo this biddy laptop) every reference book i miss so dearly, and my artwork, so's i can try to trick sombody in athens to give me a show (god i just gotta have one here y'kno) --

INCIDENTALYYY......ya take notes... especially if you are in paris, or will be in paris or know somebody else in paris, or know somebody else who will be in paris by the end of april. just spread the word, k?

bethany art show
april 22, 2005, 8pm
20, blvd. du montparnasse
paris france

tell you what

I just dropped my dad & mimi off at the airport, and I have a quiet afternoon of laundry to catch up with my house and myself. we had a terrific time showing them Athens and spending time together. to top it off, the weather was/is PERFECT too – 60F with blue skies and puffy white clouds. Hard to believe it was snowy and rainy and cold justa week or so ago.

My mimi really impressed us, I will not divulge her age because that’s impolite, so let’s just say she has a cookie sheet that’s older than you … and she took the public transportation and walked everywhere with us .. including the walk up to the acropolis, which is not a small hill!

We have some other friends (erwan & natalie from rennes) visiting this week as well. we had them over for dinner Saturday night after they arrived & they caught a ferry to santorini on Sunday, and will be back wednesday thru Sunday with us. It’s so nice to have these back2back-partiallyoverlapped visits of family and friends, and get a little distracted from daily stuffs.

I just got a text msg from our little german friend julia in halkida, looks like she’ll join us this weekend too!

preggy update, our little wiggler is moving around all over the place these days, it’s so neat… I think he’s getting philippe’s long legs.

the 80s fashionistas in athens

i found these fine specimens all within one visit to monastiraki... !

winter at the observatory

this is what philippe looks at while he's working... well, from his boss' window anyway ;)

whee-haw!

we're net-connected at home now! watch out world.... i get 10 hours for 5 euros & use it like a phone card - funny huh?

she's crafty, she gets around...

i know im lucky.. especially to have girlfriends like yall... norma mari cathy & mom.. i do have a COUPLE of things to keep me busy during this winter,,,

as for being creative, ive talked extensively with mari baout this,, and we've determined that the reason my brain is relatively devoid of interesting stuff is thst i'm in the big middle of a whole other kind of creative process. -- without a studio to get messy in, or the capapbility of lifting found objects, or the money for art supplies (of course i alerady bought 3 brushes and the primaries, i mean puh-lease) and tools (coming by boat soonfully) - i have turned to craft projects.

right now im making a japanese screen with 3 panels i found and (shouldnt have carried) home.. dreamin up what kinda colors/motif/design i should do on it - or leave it the simple off white i t is already. and also i'm attempting a VERY simple, found-chair renovation (removing the gross old fabric from the arms to sand and paint instead) and washing the cushion covers - but debating new fabric entirely.. (the resto the chair is wood). i'm also mending every piece of torn clothing we own, replacing buttons, darning socks and such ... and cutting up past copies of physics today for fun and visual stimulation. i carefuylly spread these priojects over weeks so as to not overdo it and also to savor the flabvor of "doing something" (hehe) anngs, id when i'm not doing these things i';m trying to write a pictorial book on my doodlebugs wanderings, and reading everything in sight..incidentally, i just thought of susan when i read the "quantity theory of insanity" by will self. pretty interesting fiction, if a bit heady.

just found out my mimi's got a bad head cold and may not come, but dad's still coming this thursday.! SO - when are YOU coming to visit?? cat has threatend to come, bring it on! we got a (recently deflated!) air mattress with our guests' name on it. my dad says tix are around 650 RT on discount these days during the low season (not summer) ... mari & zo? normy? mama? just waiting on my doorbell to ring!

morning commute

inspired by a squid, and a pool.. hmmm.
i wake up, roll out of bed, drag a comb across my head.. oh wait that's the beatles' tune. hehe..

i slip on some dorky slippers to negotiate my cold tile floors all the way to the kitchen, where i heat up some water in a pot for a splash of OJ waiting to be warmed in my mug. i pour a delicious multigrain cereal in milk and heap golden raisins on top. i open the curtains, and go back to the bedroom (the only warm room in the house) until about 11 am when i decide what sort of "activity" i can find for myself to staybusy. usually a trip to the grocery store with my dorky market buggy.. or a quick trip to the internet cafe in downtown halandri.. if it's cold or i did too much walking the day before, i read or write or make mail.. or clean the house.. today is errands, tomorrow is mop the floors and LAUNDRY.. oh i know, try not to be overwhelmed... i just described my whole week in a short paragraph. next week will be different, with my mimi and dad visiting, i'm going to be an athens tourist and hostess.

daxi daxi daxi !

O.K. is an acronym. (no duh beth, but for what?).. it stands for Ola Kala.. that’s greek and it means literally “all good”. Well, this is very useful information, not only can I say OK in greek and they’ll understand, but I learned ola means all.. and that that “endaxi” (what I THOUGHT meant okay) actually means, “alright already” -- like in the sense of ‘shut up you’re boring me, I got it I got it’.. which I will do now. But before I do, I will point out that most people here say “daxi daxi daxi” which is a shortened version of the latter. I had wondered why the greeks laugh and smile real big at me when I say it.. now I know.

And the other good news is that I found a big recycling bin near my house and also now understand what the gibberish on it says. “metallo, harti, plastiki, guali” which means aluminum, cartons, plastic, glass..it also said “parakalo ohi skoupidia” which I was relieved to find out means “please no trash”

cafe clatch

well yesterday i said goodbye to our only friend here in halandri.. she is on her way back to Iceland and back to her house and dogs and fiancee after working here in Athens for 4 months.. We had several good times visiting together and we also met her good friend Julia who lives an hours’ train ride north from here and we have had lots of fun getting to know each other too.. so I think we’ll be visiting her when the weather is a little nicer..

But later on the same day, we met up with 2 new friends for coffee! Her name is evvangelia, and her boyfriend is named evvangelios.. isn’t it too funny? I enjoyed that part too, some of you know how difficult names can be for me (my own for one!) and I like that it means “the good word” we swapped name stories (both biblical) and we were off! Evvangelios and philippe sat mystified as me and my new girlfriend solved all the world’s problems! she’s a 27-year-old graphic designing Gemini.. I really felt like I met somebody great.. almost immediately after meeting we were talking about etymology, greek culture, american culture and …. The best story of the night was definitely the origin of “OK”.. because learning new things is always fun, but especially when you have relevant application!!!

On the way home it was snowing, which I thought was so neat and rare… sigh…philippe thought it was no big deal.. I guess the old saying is true, “You can take the girl out of houston, but you cant take the houston out of the girl.”

athens news and stirfry

Here lately we have had some interesting news, maybe you’ve heard about it.. but probably not…

first of all, and MOST importantly, my dad and mimi are coming for a visit in mid-feb.. i am just toooo excited!

The cotton farmers of thessaloniki and/or makedonia are blocking interstate traffic with their tractors everyday, in protest of their loss of major govt subsidies.. And the Soccer fans here are nutso.

But the BIG news here is this church scandal. This priest has had several lawsuits brought against him over the past decade or so, and has managed to get off scot-free every time.. surprise, surprise he’s been bribing judges! The story’s really pretty incredible really. His name is Iakovos Giosakis, if anyone wants to look it up.. the article I read is in www.athensnews.gr.. They called him Greece’s Rasputin, hehe/.

Okay enough news. Let’s get back to real life… in houston I had a can of soup and a piece of toast for lunch virtually everyday for YEARS (I am a huge soup fan in case you didn’t know already)… but sadly they don’t sell cans of soup here, I did find a couple of flavors of soup-in-envelopes by the bullions and sauces that are okay, but in the end, I’m making lunch for one more often. Turkey sandwich with avocado and cheese is up there… but my new discovery is pad-thai.. it’s not REAL pad-thai …but it’s much easier to make! Hehe.

Here it is: boil rice vermicelli (with any bullion cube) for 5 mins…
In a saucepan melt a hunka butter with a glob of chunky peanutbutter..
Pour on top of drained noodles, garnish with bean sprouts if you got’em.
Eat with chopsticks… very important… ;)

While we’er on the subject of asian food (a craving for me lately).. I made up a great sauce for stir fry vegetables. As a side note, every week I simmer down a big pkg of chicken breasts until they’re guud and juicy, and shred easily with a wooden spoon.. I keep it in the fridge for use through the week, reheating it when needed.

Bb sauce for stir fry
(for stirfry itself I like chicken, babycorn, bambooshoots, red bell peppers, carrots and broccoli)

In a saucepan over med-low heat
Melt A hunka butter (that’s about 3-4 tablespoons)
Add a small chopped onion (or half of a normal -sized one)
Add a chopped clove of garlic (or more!)
Add a bullion cube, it will melt
Add a generous knifeful of mustard (we like Maille Dijon)
Add a small can of mushrooms

Stir & Cook until mushrooms are warm, or until garlic’s soft, or whatev… it should be kindof warm, brown & lumpy. then Add 2 small spoons of flour, STIR WELL.. if you’re not sure, stir more.

Then add about a cup of water – a little at a time… give it a minute to soak up the flour before you add more . keep stirring, adding water until you like the consistency. ----WHATEVER YOU DO--- DO NOT ADD FLOUR AGAIN AFTER YOU PUT IN THE WATER!!!! It will feel like sand in your mouth. If you made it too thin, cook & stir it a little longer, so some water can evaporate out.