Checking in

[ishtar79]

It’s been pointed out to me that I’ve disappeared off the face of the Internet for an usual length of time, even for me. I do plan on doing a real post one of these days, not to mention catch up with all of you, but in meantime, some quick notes;

-Regardless of what you may have seen in the news, Greece is neither a)on fire b)on the brink of civil war. Yes, the economy’s in the shithole and yes, there are plenty of protests, but considering the number of worried enquiries from friends abroad I’ve had over the last few weeks, the media might be blowing stuff up a tad out of proportion.

-Funny story, actually, but the worst day of protests, I managed to be in arguably the worst possible place. I wanted to drop by my Uni for something, unaware that the building was closed for the day. As I got off the metro in the central Athens, I got a lungful of tear gas (sufficiently dissipated to walk around, but my nose and throat still stung like a motherfucker). Considering it business as usual, I took some side alleys in an effort to avoid main streets and some fires I saw burning in the distance. It’s only when I reached my Uni building that it became clear that the event was probably cancelled. The clues leading to that brilliant deduction were:
a)The congregation firetrucks assorted emergency services in front of the building.
b)The ladder leading into the building right next to the Uni with various firemen climbing it.
c)The fact that said building was ON FIRE.

So, after debating for all of two seconds getting nearer to confirm that my building was, indeed, closed (I decided against that after the I noticed the ‘GTFO, you crazy bitch!’ glares the firemen were throwing me), and walked instead the ten minute distance into the old area around the Parthenon, were tourists were walking around oblivious and all was business as usual. Gotta love Athens.

-In other news I quit smoking. Again. I don’t know why people say quitting is hard, I’ve done it like five times.

Har har. No but seriously, this had better be the last time. I’m on day three with withdrawal jitters kicking my ass: I’m lethargic, cranky and sort of artificially hungry, but I’m grinding my teeth and trying to stay hydrated. I know the drill: the physical withdrawal shall soon pass, and then it will come ‘climbing up the walls and being a massive bitch to everyone’, which is always a good time for all those involved.

-After realizing that I can get comic books the same way I get foreign TV shows, I went a little crazy catching up with my first ever fandom, the X-MEN. In the ‘reading about thirty years worth of canon’ way. I have about a billion thoughts on the subject, but before I share them, I should check whether any of you even read Marvel comics (and if you do, any recs for fics/sites/communities would be appreciated).

Comments

[blnchflr]

Your "funny story" indicates to me parts of Greece are indeed on fire :oP ! No, I hope your country makes it out of the financial crisis in good health.

Good on you for quitting smoking! I've tried to quit candy a number of times, but I've never even got to the point where I could claim I had actually quit it. Stupid candy, why must you be so delicious and comforting, *shakes fist*.

I read Marvel comics as a kid, as one does, but the only one I got into enough to recall more than general premise and main characters was The Phantom. (Oh, I remembered The Phantom being a Marvel comic, but according to Wikipedia, it has been published by both DC and Marvel, not to mention a slew of other publishers. Also according to Wikipedia, in 2006 the publisher Moonstone retconned his origins - wtf, do not want! La-la-la, basically anything after Sy Barry I pretend don't exist.)

I thought I had a couple of X-Men vid recs for you, though, and a short, but cute Kitty/Piotr fic that I dug up somewhere the last time I watched X-Men 3 and was awash with loff for Kitty Pryde (I loved her in the comics, I know, but again, wasn't heavily into them, haven't read since I was a kid, and pretty much remember nothing), but SHORT STORY LONG, I don't save shite, and have nothing. But now I want to find the Kitty fic again, boo, *goes searching*.

[ishtar79]

I doubt the economy here will ever recover, to be honest, not in my lifespan anyway. Oh, well!

I have a major sweet tooth too, though mainly for chocolate.

I read the X-MEN as a kid. I basically started with the Greek translations, and when I ran out of issues, started buying the English ones. It's how I learned the language. I collected until I was about 21, and then had to stop because my pocket couldn't support a comic book habit.

I'd love to read that Kitty fic if you find it.

[blnchflr]

Found the fic - it's not awesome writing or anything, and short, but it hit the spot when I was looking for Kitty/Piotr: Personal Space by jjtaylor

[anehan]

Good to hear from you! And good to hear that Greece is not in fire, even when it is.

Quitting is easy. *nods* I've quit eating sugar and grains at least that five times. Maybe I should do it again. Then we could compare withdrawal symptoms. (Though I fear you would win.)

[ishtar79]

From what I hear, sugar withdrawal symptoms can be fairly brutal too. The last time I quit, I made the mistake to skip on coffee the first day (because cigs and coffee go together). I soon realised the stupidity of that plan, and drinking a cup took care of the massive splitting headache.

Give up all grains? Even whole grains? Do you mind me asking why?

[anehan]

Because I feel better when I don't eat grains. Mainly my intestinal tract is in better condition (though I don't have coeliac disease), but there are other benefits as well. Besides, restricting my grain consumption is the only way I've ever been able to lose weight. Low-carb diet is the only diet I can actually stay on, even though the beginning is hell. But once the cravings pass, I can actually lose weight without feeling hungry at all.

[embers-log.livejournal.com]

Hi! I'm thrilled to see you alive & kicking! As you might notice (if you notice my lj) I'm in NYC this month... I've gotten to see a lot of talimama and biffsbabe and skadowkat67; we've had some fun but liluv is jealous...
of course liluv REALLY wants you to visit us at Friends of Vampires... but we all know you are probably swamped catching up here, at facebook, and twitter! lol

I hope all is well w/you (regardless of Greece's own problems).

[ishtar79.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear you're having such a good time in NYC. And now I'm jealous too. Tell Leena I'll try to check fov after the weeekend (I have Uni this weekend).

Heh, I've practically given up on fb/twitter.

[embers-log.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you haven't given up on lj even though you have given up on fb & twitter....

I forgot to ask if you've been following other comics (BtVS S8 is freaking people out, and I adore Felicia Day's origin comic of The Guild)? And what you think of the 11th Doctor?
I'm really enjoying Merlin lately, having Uther (Tony Head) marry the troll was genius, and I'm seriously into Glee: next Tuesday's Glee is the one Joss Whedon directed w/Neil Patrick Harris on as guest star.

I'm way too into TV, huh? Oh well I'm into a lot of movies too: I got to see Ironman2 on opening day in IMAX... and I loved it.

I recommend all of the above as a good distraction from nicotine jitters!

[kryptyd.livejournal.com]

Good to see you!

Greece's riot dog is a big hit in British press. Of course as a bit of a punk I've heard of him before he got big...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2010/may/06/greece-protest

[ishtar79.livejournal.com]

ZOMG, how did I miss riot!dog?

What I find hilarious is that when protest pics are put up in the Greek indimedia, the dogs' faces are also pixellated.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Good to hear you are safe - the media has been blowing it out of proportion, but what is new? They've been going nuts over a car bomb that did not go off in Time's Square for about three weeks now.

And Tourists apparently are oblivious no matter where they are...must be a tourist thing? Noticed this in NYC too.

Where did you read the X-men? They are available online now? (More motivation to just trash my comic collection or set them out for free on the street tomorrow during the stoop sales...)I read the things up to 2001, and then read Whedon's arc (which was surprisingly better than his attempt to do Buffy as a comic series, not sure why that is - I'm guessing maybe because X-Men didn't start as a tv series first?)

[ishtar79.livejournal.com]

The media loves their scaremongering, that's for sure.

I downloaded the X-MEN from torrent files. If you're interested, tell me and I'll send you the links and recommend a comic reader software. It's great, I got all X-MEN from the late seventies onwards, as well as all other X-titles.


And yes, Joss' run in Astonishing was sheer genius. I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a comic book so much. He's a fanboy of the X-MEN too, and it shows-some of the references he drops are obscure.

[jollityfarm.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you're okay and all. News often does blow such things out of proportion, as I well know from this country's politics - which have themselves been odd of late, although not actually on fire, yet.

I'm sure the smoking thing will get better, although there's not much you can do but weather the storm right now. My father, of course, had to give up recently after his heart attack. It's probably for the best if you can give up before it gets that far.

[ishtar79.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry to hear about your dad.

And yeah, at this stage, I can only wait for the withdrawal jitters to pass.