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Checking in
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).
-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).
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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*.
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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.)
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of course
I hope all is well w/you (regardless of Greece's own problems).
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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
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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?)
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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.
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