Confessions of a medievalist...

гипнеротомахия Андрей Свислоцкий gypnerotomahia Svislotski

2010-08-16T07:13:00.000-07:00

Weebly

2009-12-18T12:19:00.000-08:00

I just discovered I can create my own website for free! :) So I will! I've already started, it'll be called the Dream Realm and it will be recording my research progress and info on dream narratives, especially Hypnerotomachia!

Plus, I just got published! My first academic article!
It's one of the few times I really feel proud of my work!

Life is becoming quite exciting these days in all aspects!

Well, life is also quite stressful leaving me not much time for blogging... So, Merry Christmas to whoever reads this blog of mine!

Down with a cold... :/

2009-12-07T02:05:00.000-08:00

I simply hate being sick. It spoils everything!..

It's a good thing I only got the cold in my last day in Glasgow and I had a sick-free graduation!

Graduation was an awesome ceremony!!! Mostly in latin, formal and ceremonial!!! It really made you feel part of the academic communities and proud of what you achieved! Litterarum Magistrum!

Now I'm back home, back at work, I'm on a diet and trying to recover from this awful cold. My nose is so red I must look like Rundolph! :p But I wont let it put me down! I will do my christmas present shopping and I will go wherever I want to go and my sick self has to deal with it!

Glasgow Reloaded

2009-11-24T23:41:00.000-08:00

In less than a week I'll be back in lovely and cold Glasgow! I've missed it! And I know exactly what I want to do and eat! :p
I want double chocolate muffins and brownies from the Research Club, lunch at Ketchup, dinners at Cafe Andaluz, Bothy, Stravaigin and Mother India, tea from the Willow Tearooms!
I want to see my friends, professors and take a walk around the university and the botanical gardens in the West End and of course shop at the Buchanan and Sauchiehall streets.
I want to go to a pub!
I want to visit Edinburgh, Edzell Castle if I manage and maybe, if the weather allows, an island in the West.
I want to party at Byblos or some place nice! :)
I hope I find the time for all these!

God willing.

Kultur

2009-11-11T01:07:00.000-08:00

This couple of months back home made me realise the beauty of Cypriot life for a culture freak like me. How easily things can happen! How little an economic crisis can influence the cultural life here, just because one needs not much to create and to share these creations with others! And there's so much going on! Not all good of course... but still, it is important that things ARE going on from many different voices, souls... professionals, amateurs, young, old, all kinds of groups and people create, perform, present!
And then you have the beauty of the land, its antiquity, its tradition and roots still embedded deep in the souls of modern people...
This is a place I gladly call home, where I feel confident, secure, full of energy, ready for action!
This is where I want to stay!
The island of Aphrodite has a never-ending charm on me!..

Overflowing excitement!

2009-11-03T02:45:00.000-08:00

One of the best feelings is when life exceeds your expectations.
That's how I feel these last few days... everything is falling into place and the universe is showing me the way! And like another alchemist, i'm called to take the journey, follow the path, make my choices...

I had glimpse of my dream job, great academic opportunities and romance coming my way...

Now, there's only one dilemma left: Cyprus and a bit of Glasgow or full-time Glasgow? I think I like the Cyprus option better! and who cares about prestige? If you're good, you're good! and anyway, Glasgow can't offer me the things Cyprus can... a boiling culture, mediterranean climate and money!

I just hope the people from Glasgow University will agree with the collaboration scheme...

Fascination

2009-09-03T12:18:00.000-07:00

Reading Foucault's Pendulum...

My mind is filled with the secrets of the universe, or to be fair with the illusion of these Secrets...

Why do we feel this need to connect everything? To uncover a secret plot? What is missing from our souls that prevents us to see the obvious?

I agree with Eco's Lia. It all starts from the body; symbolism, numerology, the occult and so on and so forth; the obsession with the great secret truth is an alienation from the obvious truth of the human body and its miracle; procreation.

...

2009-08-28T13:59:00.000-07:00

Μια κρύο, μια ζεστό...
Μια μ'ανεβάζεις και μια με ρίχνεις στο κενό...

Πώς να συμβιβάσω αυτά που νιώθω μ'αυτά που μου δίνονται;.. που είναι ελλιπή.

Και τώρα μες στη μοναξιά μου εχουνε μείνει μόνο τα Γιατί; για συντροφιά μου...

Not well today. Unable to fill the void. Depression.

Amsterdam moments

2009-08-06T03:46:00.000-07:00

Second chance?

2009-08-06T03:42:00.000-07:00

"You grabbed my hand and we fell into it, like a daydream or a fever"...

Birthday. Exceptions. Love. Confusion.

How am I supposed to act now?

I'll just go with the flow I guess, follow the signs and pray for the best.

Que sera, sera!

Research in beautiful Amsterdam!

2009-08-06T03:25:00.000-07:00

For the past four days I went to Amsterdam to study early printed books and modern editions on Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, Rosicrucians and alchemy at the BHP (Bibliotheca Hermetica Philosophica), mostly known as the Ritman library!

I really did not expect the city of Amsterdam to be so amazing... your mind clears (and that's not only when someone gets high...), limited pollution, art everywhere, creativity at every corner and good food and drinks!

I didn't visit the big museums and galleries because of limited time and money. Rather Ifi and I preferred to visit the more peculiar sites and have unique experiences. So, we went to the House of Bols, the best museum in the world if you ask me! Lucas Bols is a renaissance businessman, dealing with gins and cocktails. The "museum" was experiential, you got to smell and touch different ingredients and flavours and on top of it you got free cocktail and shots from the unique Bols recipes!!! It was interesting and delicious! :) And I got a bit tipsy.

We also went to the Red Light District to see what the fuzz was about... didnt really impress me though, i found it rather sad. And we had our space cake in one of those special "coffee shops"... there was barely any effect from the drug, though the warnings on the box were quite clear that "inexperienced marijuana users" should not try it... nonsense!

Another thing we saw was the xtracold lounge icebar! A bar made of ice, felt like north pole, and again we got free cocktails in ice!!! Though I must say the ads for the bar were promising a lot more than was given... Oh well...

Amsterdam is definitely one of the best cities I've seen! With its canals, its curious shops and restaurants, its numerous galleries, its freedom, the cheese, the beers, the pancakes, the beautiful houses, the diversity in lifestyles... maybe I should consider it for my further studies... or not... the language is a big barrier and I'm not interested in learning Dutch to overcome that obstacle... oh well, I will surely visit again though!

Compromise

2009-07-19T11:22:00.000-07:00

There and back again... went to Cyprus for a fortnight, had a blast, got a lot of positive energy, made plans for my gap year, and now i'm back in Glasgow to finish my thesis!.. A bit difficult with all the changes; inside and out. Change of flatmates, constant change of weather, loss and emotional compromise. Waiting for a miracle to happen...

Collapse

2009-06-28T12:40:00.000-07:00

I feel like a dagger went through my heart
Like the universe collapsed
Like nothing is going to be the same again
Like there's a conspiracy against my love life

Damn the third authority!
Distance, time and most of all the third person and the "unsuitable" circumstances...

Where has romance gone? And going to lengths for the one you love?
Where is that place in ourselves which makes us see that everything is possible and that we decide our destiny, we make it happen?

And why, oh why, didn't I dare to do the things I wanted to do, say the things I wanted to say, show how much love I had inside me earlier on when it mattered???

May I learn from this...
And come out of it a new person...
And may we find what was lost or fill what was lacking... the gap that brought about the collapse
And may for once what feels right and what should have been, to be regardless of the circumstances!

God be our guide.

Isle of Cumbrae

2009-06-07T05:11:00.000-07:00

Friday morning and five girls squeezed in one dorm room are trying to wake up...
This day has a lot to offer! A lot of adventure! that is if they manage to get up, get ready and walk out the door on time... and they do!!!
After a lot of searching maps and train timetables, they settle on a destination; the western isle of Cumbrae, the nearest smallest scottish isle, which promises adventurous trails and an unforgettable day!

This is how more or less we began our day, and then we took the subway, the train, the ferry and the bus and we were there! The excitement was indescribable! It was the perfect place to let go... hakuna matata!

We saw the fairytalish Cathedral of the Isles, the smallest cathedral in Europe surrounded by dense woods and accessed by a lovely arched gate, which gave the impression you entered another world!
We saw rocks shaped as a lion and a crocodile, nature's art!

And we walked.... and walked... walked through the trail... the Target's walk, through road, field, mountain, seaside, everything... we were lost and found, gathered seashell treasures, saw cows and white horses, sang, laughed, fell of a wrong step, got hungry, were tired and finally we
reached civilization again only on time to catch the bus back and the ferry. Reached the opposite port, ate, gambled, ate some more and finally took the train and the subway back home.

It was a day to remember forever!

England excursion

2009-05-19T14:43:00.000-07:00

So, here's the update on Birmingham-London trip!

Friday, 8th of May, my flatmate and I began on our long expected journey down to England with the National Express coach 536 from Glasgow to Birmingham!

The ride was fine but long and we got to see the beautiful british landscapes, full of green and red-brick houses!!!

Upon arrival, we were welcome by my lovely cousin and host, went for a lovely walk to one of the most beautiful universities I've seen, that of Birmingham with its magnificent Byzantine character! I also bought some oriental and cypriot delicacies from a store meant to sell these kind of stuff. I tried puck (arabic version of la vache qui rit) for the first time and it was excellent!

Then, when we joined forces with the second cousin, we finally went to Frankie & Bennie's and have a splendid dinner there!!! It was simply yummy! :)

Ending the day with nice chat, we woke up early next morning to visit Sarehole Mill and the Birmingham Art Gallery and Museum. Sarehole Mill is one of those places any Tolkien fan SHOULD visit! It is where he spend an important part of his childhood, feeding his imagination with material that he would later use in the Hobbit and his other stories. A beautiful and very interesting location... I also got to see some photos of him and his wife very rare indeed!

Later on, we went to the Museum, where once more I was delighted to admire the Burne-Jones painting (The Perseus Project). I just love pre-raphaelite artists!

Next day, we took the first bus to London, at 7 in the morning, checked in the Hotel Meridiana and had breakfast. Then the sightseeing marathon started, with my flatmate's friend as a guide. We went to the Tate Modern, the London Eye, St. Paul's cathedral, Westminster, London Tower and Tower bridge, Chinatown and Leicester square, we cruised along the Thames, had lovely Chinese dinner with Haagen Dazs dessert and then just collapsed in out hotel room beds, tired and excited for next day! Highlight of the Day: Thanks to an interactive activity in a medieval exhibition about warfare, I was qualified as a Yeoman Archer! :p

Monday: Museum day! We went to the Victoria and Albert, British Museum and the Royal Academy of Arts for the Kuniyoshi exhibition... oh and also we took a look at the Buckingham palace, by which time I was exhausted and not interested at all in the Queen or her fancy palace... The museums were huuuuge and needed a lot of patience, walking and time. We didn't manage to finish the British museum, but at least we saw the Parthenon marbles, the Egyptian mummies and the Assyrian sculpture!

The day ended splendindly with Haagen Dazs again (and again they were out of waffles... which I cannot understand or explain) and my first musical experience: Les Miserables, the longest running musical, which was mindbogglingly good! Favorite song: "Do you hear the people sing, singing the song of angry men, it is the music of the people who wil not be slaves again..."

Tuesday: Shakespeare Day! Yes, we went to the Globe and did the tour, finally! Lovely experience, I wish I could attend a performance there... We also finished with the gallery by visiting Trafalqar Square and the National Gallery; amazing collection of paintings! Some of my favorites were the Lucas Cranach the Elder's paintings. I was disappointed that I didn't find Garofalo's pagan sacrifice painting, it was supposed to be in that gallery... oh well...

8 o'clock in the afternoon we left London to spend the night in Birmingham and leave for Glasgow in the morning to actually arrive there late in the afternoon and again collapse in our bedrooms asleep.

I love travelling but it can be very tiring if you are me, who likes to go everywhere and don't relax at all. Well, I like to explore, what can i do? :)

May

2009-04-30T10:29:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, the last stage of my masters degree commences...
I have settled on a thesis idea, established its originality and I'm ready to move on, working on it in detail. Basic elements: Alchemy, emblematic culture, romance.
Hypnerotomachia Poliphili and the Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz: tracing the missing links that might connect the two.
I'm exceedingly excited about it... can't wait to plunge into the world of alchemical lore, Rosicrucians and the fascinating aspects of the Hypnerotomachia.
Hypnerotomachia Poliphili can indeed cast spells upon its readers... of fascination, obsession and an urge to know more and more and look deeper and deeper...

Apart from all these academic endeavours, I will take a vacation (that I didn't enjoy over the easter break) and go to Birmingham and London. I hope I manage to see all of the things I'm planning to see: the Sareholl Mill in Birmingham, the British Library and the Kuniyoshi exhibition in London; also hopefully the V&A Museum and Westminster!

Can't wait!!! May is going to be an exciting month! Ending with the very interesting conference on art, fantary and surrealism! And also everyone will be liberated for a bit by the end of it, from their exams and essays and I'll have the chance to spend some quality time with all of them...

Joy!

2009-04-11T14:39:00.000-07:00

Easter is getting closer and closer and, though I'm feeling a bit homesick, I'm also feeling very happy! All is well, work is moving ahead, I found my inspiration, my inquisitive spirit and I'm relaxed and confident about everything, or most things at least...
There's this feeling of harmony and tranquil joy inside me!
I'm feeling cleansed in a weird way... lacking all my previous fears and negative thoughts...
I'm one with the universe, I have peace...
A bit of spirituality never hurt anyone, I'm glad I went and talked to Him, he always helps.

Ouf...

2009-04-04T16:10:00.000-07:00

I am about to burst... all these negative feelings growing inside me to a point I can barely remain sane... fear of losing, absurd fear of unwanted things, anger, disappointment, anxiety, impatience, the torturing question "why?"...
I want to break free, I want everything to be solved or dissolved...
Where is the light?.. There.... in the distance.....

"Ό,τι αξίζει πονάει κι είναι δύσκολο"

Birmingham and what followed...

2009-03-23T12:44:00.000-07:00

On the 6th of March I woke up early in the morning, made myself a nice sandwich and set off for the Buchanan Bus Station, where I was to take the bus to Birmingham at 11 o'clock. The ride was for 6 hours approximately, 6 long hours, sleepy hours, hungry hours, not that tiring though...
Finally, I arrived at Birmingham station at about 6 and took the taxi to my cousins' flat at her university halls. What followed was of course, excitement, hugs, loudness and many happy things. That night we went at a lovely place that looked as if it was taken out of a 19th century novel. We ate at a lovely French restaurant with amazing menus in Art Nouveau style, which is simply adorable (see a sample below).
Then at around midnight, after much plotting and secretly conversing with my cousin's godmother, the big surprise from Cyprus arrived... more family!!! and souvlakia!!!! :p And then of course we had to squeeze in my cousin's little bedroom to get some sleep, but that was fun!
Next day started off quite ambitiously but ended with less activities than i hoped for. Nevertheless, I did get to see the purple Cadbury World and shop lots and lots of chocolates, including the biggest box of Cadbury Chocolate Fingers ever!!! I also visited the lovely Birmingham Art Gallery and Museum with the magnificent Perseus cycle paintings and many more (see pic above for a taste).
On Sunday it was departure day, so i woke up early again, took a taxi, went to the station, grabbed some food and then it was more or less the same journey as before though vice versa.
Coming back to Glasgow, all my academic obligations appeared in my thoughts....
I had a presentation, now over and done with! and also I had to start on my second big essay, which goes pretty well, it's even more exciting than i imagined it would be!
Now, I just finished my outline and I need to get some reading done... Books are piling up again in my flat and I have to read them all in the next 3 weeks.
And I hope I manage... without going crazy or neglecting my social life...

New chapter and a minor escape...

2009-03-05T05:32:00.001-08:00

Tomorrow I'll be heading for Birmingham for a small escape from Glasgow. See friends and family, go to the Chocolate Factory and perhaps the zoo, take photos, have fun for three days and two nights.

And then, back to work, my second essay is due in 6 weeks or so... i'll better get started asap!

Again i'll be dealing with reception theory (on my way to become a receptionist :p)... 16th/17th-20th/21st centuries parallels concerning text and image interaction. On one hand, Hypnerotomachia Poliphili and on the other mystery novels and comic strips. Pagan dreams, surrealism, secret societies, mysticism, love, death, fantasy, history... A whole new world of concepts and ideas for me to discover/uncover/invent... Exciting and fascinating!

Mental freedom!

2009-02-27T09:49:00.001-08:00

The marathon is over, along with the essay... who knows of the result though...
It's annoying when all the little details you've forgotten come to you right after you give it in...
What can you do?
At least now I can breath freely, without worrying about words and books and not found entries... And have fun without guilt. Party like an animal!!!
At least for a week...

Composition

2009-02-12T18:03:00.000-08:00

It is very difficult to maintain a blog when researching, as I have discovered lately... especially if it's on something I am passionate in, like the history of sexuality.
Thus, heavy schedule and deep thinking and stress caused me to abstain for a while from this blogging business.
Nevertheless, now I'm back and I'll try and make time for it because it really gives me inspiration to write in general, and that's what I've been lacking these days.
The essay is due in exactly two weeks! I've done most of my reading, of course, but the synthesizing and composing part is very difficult and it makes me anxious really, because I feel the responsibility of doing a damn good job since it's something I really like and want to succeed in it. And I know what I want to write, I know my material, my arguments, I just have difficulty with words. Maybe it was lack of good organisation as well, so I worked a bit on that and now I finally see some light in the darkness, or rather some clarity in a blurr. Now the problem is how to I fit in 2000 words all that I want to say... I'm feeling rather positive today, I'll get some rest and hopefully tomorrow would be a successfull writing day!
It really helped that my magazine is now online!!!! Made my day yesterday, felt good about myself in a way, because my wishes seem to materialise one by one! :D

May God bless us all!

"Guste del fruit!"

2009-01-28T08:43:00.000-08:00

Room full of books to read...

Mind full of things to think...

Time lacking time...

Space lacking certain entities...

"Taste the fruit", said the serpent to Eve.

My worldview of certain things has been changed even more the last few weeks while researching for my essay. New knowledge brought new doubts. A man's word can indeed change the world. Imagine then the impact of many men's words in the world, their social and political implications. We, women, have been repeatedly victimized by men's propaganda. And it all starts with Genesis... which, in fact, is comprised by two parts, separated originally, probably of different dates and authors, and in my personal view, contradictory to each other...

I can't wait to read the Apocrypha and see what new revelations will take place!

..............

Scream

2009-01-12T00:22:00.001-08:00

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA....!!!!!@#%!@#@%

A day of extraordinary events.

2009-01-05T00:30:00.000-08:00

As the Saturday's morning sun crawled in my bedroom, my whole body began to awake with its touch and my instinct told me that this would be an exciting day! Afterall, the circumstances were such that it would be strange if the day turned out to be insignificant...
So I got up, packed the essentials and set off for an adventure with the gang... (and I am afraid this entry of the blog will only make sense to the gang...)
We were all assembled at the headquarters right after lunchtime, starving and craving for adventurous deeds. After we had a bit of food, we dressed up as all kinds of strange creatures, found ourserves a name (Premium Wanderers), "rode" our automobiles and went to ye olde towne to find ourselves an audience and a scenery for our film! And we were quite a spectacle for all the passers-by! Received good comments, scorn, bewildered looks, excited looks... One could say this could work as a psychological experiment on the reactions of random people towards extraordinary unexpected events which intrude their daily, sometimes boring, lives!
This day was also unique, because it became quite evident that everything do indeed happen for a reason. Nothing is random really, nothing is chance, there are no coincidences (though many things are disguised as such to the unsuspected). Our choices, even for the most seemingly insignificant thing, shape the course of things, the course of life. For example, the choice of three of us to walk rather than squeeze into the car with the others, led us to an amazing discovery... a favorite band was performing that night in a bar near by, a band that we also saw live exactly a year before (on the 3rd of January) in another city, a band that I happened to mention earlier that day when I saw the ticket from their previous concert! For us, this was fulfilment for the rest of the day, the cherry on the cake!
So we returned home, change into our usual selves, had dinner and then went to the concert, had a wonderful time there, went to our lodging place, sat around the fireplace, ate sausages and cheese, marshmallowes and other goodies, drank sangria, exchange presents and slept in bliss!

May we have more days like this one to come!

Back...

2008-12-22T13:47:00.000-08:00

I am back in Cyprus finally. Time to get some rest (not a lot, but some), see family and friends, have fun in the cypriot way, eat great food...

Celebrate life and yet ponder upon its end... "pulvis et umbrae sumus"...
I hope I find the courage to face reality, I really need to these days and there's no alternative, no option.
_

Aa' menealle nauva calen ar'malta...: May your ways be green and golden... wherever your soul might be, you'll always live on in our hearts!

Cultural walks around Glasgow...

2008-12-13T11:42:00.000-08:00

Almost the end of semester... 3 months have passed since I stepped on Glaswegian ground! I can't believe it... It's like time flew...

But I'm grateful that I was able to fill this time with unique experiences! Time wasn't empty of life, but overflowing with it!

The things I've learnt, seen, heard, felt...

I'm very happy that I came here for my postgraduate studies, because it is a city full of life and things to do every night! Especially when it comes to culture; museums and galleries, concerts, ballet, theatre, dance, and so on and so on...

Too bad I didn't get to see all of the events that I had in mind, but a student has to study, or so they say, thus I had to prioritize some things over certain others to make it through the semester...

Nonetheless, I did go to some good happenings!

October 9th... A night at the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra! An amazing concert entitled "The storytellers I" with music that created stories indeed; the story of the dreadful Noonday witch and of the beautiful and inteligent storyteller Scheherazade. It was simply breathtaking!

October 25th... After half and hour walk searching for the Venue, eventually we found Tramway, where we went to watch "The persecution and assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as performed by the inmates of the asylum of Charenton under the direction of the Marquis de Sade". What a performance! I hadn't read Marat/Sade before, but I didn't need to know the story beforehand either. I was stunned! The performing was excellent (and I was amazed that they actually used actors and actresses with disabilities, giving a more than realistic image of an asylum), the setting of the stage was ideal, with many levels and taking the audience as a prior consideration. The audience became a part of the performance itself. It wasn't just a play within a play, but we also were spectators of both plays, thus in the play within we were participants, the ex-revolutionists that have compromised, the upper middle-class that stopped the revolution where it felt convenient. The music was to the point and the visual arts that they incorporated was unbelievably functional for the performance's purposes. I could go on forever discussing this but there's more to say on other things, so i'll stop here.

November 6th... A completely new experience for me... South Indian traditional theatre from Kerala, the so-called Kathakali and their version of Snow-White or as the company would say "Hima Sundari". Basically, Kathakali means "story play" and is a same-sex (all-men) performance, where they use a 4000 year old ancient sign language called "mudras" to express and communicate. Vital to the performance is the make-up as it is obvious in this picture, which differs according to the characters and shows their personalities. The characters are standard, sort of like Commedia dell' Arte, and they adapt to each storyline; the evil guy, the evil woman, the lady, the prince, red beard, black beard, white beard and so on. The play I watched was accompanied by live music and song, narrating the events. Of course, I couldn't understand the lyrics, because they were in their native language, so I had to rely on the visual. It was an interesting experience, I must say!

December 6th... Another performance in Tramway (which we found quite easily this time), entitled "Spectacular". Their little description says everything: "A lone performer takes to the stage, explaining that the show we're watching is somehow different tonight. The atmosphere is different, his entrance was off, the lights are wrong, some scenery is missing, some performers are absent. The tone is all wrong. The audience reaction, our protagonist says, is not quite what he expected. Perhaps the fact that he is dressed as a skeleton has something to do with it. Intimate and comical, Spectacular slowly and seductively winds the audience into the world of a missing performance. Our skeleton host seems relaxed about it, cracking jokes, staying chatty and amiable. But still something's wrong. The fact that the next performer who comes on-stage is caught up in some long, melodramatic and agonised death scene may also explain the shift in tone. Between the skeleton's meandering monologue and the actress's absurd histrionics, lurks the trembling edge of laughter, possibility and invention. Spectacular is about death and playing dead, about the strange contact between two performers on-stage and an audience caught between what they are watching and what they are being told". My own comments: Hilarious, absurd, simple and yet unexpectebly and unbelievably spectacular in its own terms.

December 13th... The very first time I've ever watched a ballet performance! "The sleeping beauty". It was just beautiful! Except for the ending though, where out of nowhere the prince also rescued Belle, Snow-white, Cinderella and an adult Red Riding-Hood, who all marry to the sleeping princes/previous consorts of the sleeping beauty... And as if that wasn't enough shock, we had to see them all dancing over and over again at the wedding reception scene for 15 minutes (I actually slept at that point!)... Oh well, apart from that it was a worthwhile experience.

Well, that's all I've seen till now....

buru buru...

2008-12-04T15:32:00.000-08:00

Eve and Pandora...
Judith, Salome and Charlotte Corday...
Medea, Medusa and Clytemnestra...
Delilah...
Fortuna/Tyche...
Cleopatra...
Melusine, Morgana and Guenevere...

Where's the link???

Le femme fatale!

Fate... fatal... evil?.. or not?

A male construction for demonizing the female? The always feared-by-men all-powerful archetypal female... the Mother-Goddess... Nature suppressed in narrative by the later imposed patriarchal society... a christian male-dominated society against the ancient religions, "sophisticated" and artificial vs. primitive and mysterious...

Adam vs. Eve - the war against sexuality
Jason vs. Medea - a cultural conflict with social dimensions
Holofernes vs. Judith- decapitating the male... a sort of revolution on a private level... a heroine... a latent eroticism

Cleopatra - the downfall of men in power

Melusine, Morgana - the metaphysical aspect... with fatal consequences...

Guenevere - the Other, the dominatrix of a mazochistic contract with Lancelot

How did the medieval mind portray these women in their writing and their art?
And then we also have the Specula Feminarum of the Renaissance... what changes then?
What about the modern world?

Ταξιδεύοντας με Αλκίνοο...

2008-11-30T11:19:00.000-08:00

"Ο κόσμος μας μεγάλος και απέραντος
Χανόμαστε στα βάθη του σύμπαντος

Μα εγώ θα κάνω ταξίδι τη ζωή μου
Αγάπη ακριβή μου για να 'ρθω να σε βρω
Μέσα στ' αστέρια σαν φως θα ταξιδέψω
Σαν άστρο θα πέσω για να 'ρθω να σε βρω"

Και λίγο Θηβαίο...

2008-11-29T05:06:00.000-08:00

Η αγάπη είναι μια τράπουλα σημαδεμένη
μονάχα ό,τι ξόδεψες σε προστατεύει
αν ήμουνα παιχνίδι θα 'χες κερδίσει
αν είχα φαντασία θα σ' είχα ζωγραφίσει
σε φύλλα γυάλινα να τα κάνεις κομμάτια
κι αλίμονο αν είχα ένα μαχαίρι αντί για μάτια
ας μην μπορούσα να αρνηθώ ποτέ μου
πως αν ήμουνα γωνιά, θα σ' είχα αποκοιμίσει
αν ήμουνα βροχή θα σ' είχα ποτίσει
αν ήμουνα σκιά θα σ' είχα κρύψει
αν ταξίδευα στ' αλήθεια θα σε συναντούσα
σε κάθε σταυροδρόμι χίλιες φορές θα σε φιλούσα
αν ήμουν όπλο θα σ' είχα προστατέψει
και στην καρδιά το χρόνο θα 'χα σημαδέψει
αν ήμουνα ιερέας σαν προσευχή
με τη γλώσσα μες στα δόντια μου θα σε φορούσα
αν ήμουνα πιστός θα ήσουνα ο ψαλμός μου
με τα δάχτυλα στα χείλια θα σε τραγουδούσα

Αν ήμουνα αγκαλιά θα σε είχα πείσει
με χείλια ματωμένα θα σ' είχα νικήσει
αν μου έφτανε η ανάσα θα σε ξεδιψούσα
αν είχα εύκολα τα λόγια θα σε σταματούσα
σε κάθε σταυροδρόμι θα σε σταματούσα
μα αν ήμουν σταυρός θα σε καρφώναν ακόμα
κι όμως σαν το κλέφτη, σαν το δολοφόνο
κρύβομαι στο φως της διαδρομής σου
για να κλέψω τα βήματα, την όμορφη σκιά σου
να αγαπήσω το σκοτάδι, φτάνει να 'μαι κοντά σου
να σε κάνω δικιά μου ατέλειωτες ώρες
τόσο δικιά μου που να μπορώ να σε σκοτώσω
πριν με δεις να φεύγω μόλις ξημερώσει
κι εγώ να σου χρωστάω που ζω, να σου χρωστάω
γιατί η αγάπη είναι μια τράπουλα σημαδεμένη
κι όλοι εμείς στα νύχια της βαφτισμένοι
κι αν η αγάπη είναι γεμάτη σημάδια να μαντέψω
συγχώρα με αν δεν προλαβαίνω πάντα να τα δω
συγχώρα με που προλαβαίνω πάντα ν’ αμυνθώ...

Seizing the day...

2008-11-26T06:46:00.000-08:00

8:45 My alarm goes off... I don't care...

9:00 My alarm goes off again... yeah, i know, i've got a morning class, i'll be up in a sec...

And I was...

I had coffee and was on my way!

I've reached the university a bit earlier, so I thought I spend some time in the bookshop there. And I did! I even bought a book on offer. Actually, this book I wanted to buy since I first saw it in Cyprus (and of course the greek hardback edition was quite expensive, as always...) but for some reason I never did. So there it was, a nice hardback edition for 11 pounds. A dream! By the way, the book is entitled WOMEN Who READ Are DANGEROUS, which is quite a coincidence, considering that just yesterday I was presenting in my History of Renaissance Reading seminar about a woman reader of the early 17th century!

Anyway, after my bookshop experience, it was finally time to go to class. And what do you know? It was cancelled, and so was the afternoon class i had with the same professor! Why, oh, why don't I always check my emails before leaving my flat?! I was quite disappointed at first, because I was thinking of all the hours of extra sleep I've missed and of all the walking to and from my flat...

But then, I saw an opportunity in all this!

I could spend my day pondering and researching on my essay! Visit the museums I haven't seen yet! What a lovely idea!

So, I decided to pay a visit to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum and, on my way, I also discovered the university's Zoology Museum, so I thought I'll see that as well... Bad idea... It was CREEPY!!! I'm sure not everyone shares this feeling of mine when visiting a place like that but the only impression it gave me was a picture of death, frozen in time, stillness... mummified animals... and the only ones that were alive were creepy reptiles... my hair stood on edge and I left quickly from there.

And then I went to the Kelvingrove. Nice Museum, lots of things to see (even creepy mummified animals, which, apparently, I really don't like as an image!), interactive exhibitions, nice paintings (my favourites being the Fairy Queene, Salome with the head of John the Baptist and of course the May Queen - see picture - and the Wassail by the Mackintosh couple which is AMAZING) and a great building really!

And that was the end of my cultural walk. After that, I was so tired and hungry that I just returned home...

Fascinating, overwhelming, inspiring...

2008-11-12T14:50:00.000-08:00

Today I finally got to see the book I've been craving to see and touch and read since I've read the Rule of Four about a year ago... Hypnerotomachia Poliphili! Though not the manuscript referred in the novel, it was still a unique experience for me... We're talking for a 1499 printed book with tons of fascinating illustrations, enigmas, riddles, intertextual references... my ideal research project!!!

Nostalgia...

2008-11-07T07:45:00.000-08:00

Sleep doesn't seem to be one of my priorities these days.

Insomnia... that's what is called. Though perhaps it is too strong a word for my experience...

I simply can't go to sleep before 3 or 4 in the morning, which is not that late an hour but on a daily basis it can really drain away a lot of your morning energy...

But I can't help it! After midnight is my most productive hours for study, mostly because I'm a last minute person....

Also, I seem to remember all the things I want to check out on the net... Ridiculous things sometimes. Like the other day, I got nostalgic and wanted to find all my childhood's cartoons on youtube, 80s stuff you know, remember their names, see if they are actually as I remember them (and usually discover the creative potential of a child's mind that tends to distort everything, look at things very differently...), cartoons like Masters of the Universe and She-ra, Sailor Moon, the Glo Friends, Candy Candy and the Potato Heads... :p

And then I feel so fortunate to have been born in an era of really good children's movies and series, compared to what kids watch nowadays, images full of violence and grotesques... Not that there's no good films at all, there are quite a lot, but they're not as promoted as all the other rubbish. It's like we've moved from a period of mind cultivation to mind contamination... Especially contamination of language and emphasis on disturbing images. My personal least favorite of these junk is (not a cartoon though) Smackdown, alias stupid american monster-men who beat each other up in staged boxing fights... disgusting... and, guess what, it's a kids' favorite!

............

Oh well, don't want to be pessimistic so i'll just stop thinking about this :p and go for another walk down memory lane...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quzY7ONePM4

Remember, remember the 5th of November...

2008-11-04T11:03:00.000-08:00

Halloween has come and gone, the 5th of November is almost here and the writer is here and there. So, after specifying, or not, the locus, let us pay our tribute to next day's anniversary by quoting my favorite movie quote ever:

"Voila! in View, a humble VaudeVillian Veteran, cast Vicariously as both Victim and Villain by the Vicissitudes of fate. this Visage, no mere Veneer of Vanity, is a Vestige of the Vox populi, now Vacant, Vanished. however, this Valorous Visitation of a by gone Vexation, stands ViVified and has Vowed to Vanguish these Venal and Virulent Vermin Van guarding Vice and Vouchsafing the Violently Vicious and Voracious Violation of Volition. the only Verdict is Vengeance; a Vendetta held as a VotiVe, not in Vain, for the Value and Veracity of such shall one day Vindicate the Vigilant and the Virtuous. Verily, this Vichyssoise of Verbiage Veers most Verbose, so let me simply add that it's my Very good honor to meet you and you may call me V."

2008-10-27T15:40:00.000-07:00

Urqhart castle
by Loch Ness

The other Nessie Poem...

argargarggarggarga
blumblamblimblomblem
akjahgauakjjakhkakjahakka
ejbgvkehkejAKAGHAJHKD
uuuughrsfioasgkhaskdfjjnjcnkuejjbkca

arghopnbeksjuo

London here I come!!!

2008-10-24T14:15:00.000-07:00

It's final! It's definite! It's purely exciting!

I've just changed my flights and there's no turning back. I'll be in London for 3.5 days, enjoying the medieval gender conference, the byzantine exhibition, the museums and hopefully a musical (fingers crossed that LOTR is still on!!!)...

It's amazing how the most incredible things that I put my mind into, actually happen. I mean it's like the magazine, it was just a dream, a fantasy, something i thought impossible for a small group of students to achieve and a year after that idea popped into my head, there it was, MUSAE, the university's cultural magazine! Only because i said, "why not?"

And not only the magazine, the most amazing things in my life are the decisions i took in an instant, the inspirations that came to me by chance, random stuff that i randomly chased...

And that's one of them. I saw an announcement, instantly visualised the idea of being in London for a conference as if in a dream and then said "why not?"

And here i go, organising the whole thing...

Hopefully all will be well, no problems, no obstacles and in less than 3 months I'll be there, along with my fellow medievalists and we'll have a blast!

In the beginning there was... the blog!

2008-10-23T16:14:00.000-07:00

And it happened one day that I decided to start a blog... so here it is!

My Blog

But first let us define its components...

What is a blog?

Wikipedia informs us that "A blog (a contraction of the term "Web log") is a Web site, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog."

What or maybe even who is a My?

Wikipedia does not inform us about that, nor does any other search engine, encyclopedia, dictionary etc. etc. etc. Or rather they might inform us as to the definition of the word grammatically and linguistically, yet there's no information whatsoever concerning the specific substance of this particular being, for it is a being having the intelligence to create something of its own. But let us not ponder much on this, since it is a quite unanswerable question.

...

Only one thing is certain; there's a blog and it belongs to a being, and the blog exist to document this being's thoughts and experiences.

And thus it begins...