Naomi's back

No! Not this one...



This one...

So Naomi's back and since the success of No Logo she's back with a new book The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism and of course being Naomi Klein (Jewish, from Montreal) she is exposing the way the world works once again. Her books though political are not overly-so and makes for an interesting read. Check her out! The female Noam Chomsky!

The ex is gone...

My crazy ex wanted to meet up. I agreed because I was bored and knew she just wanted to meet up for one thing. Then I remembered that I found her repulsive and decided to cancel. But I said it in a way that made it sound that I want a relationship from her.

‘Dear Skunk-face. I would lto meet with you but only if you want a relationship. Love me!’

Then I press send!

I could feel her going crazy in her room all the way in Strovolo. 45 minutes later she replied: Your loss babe xx

So I did the mature thing of replying: Actually it’s your loss since you ended it xx.

Then she text something so rude I won’t even write here and I replied by saying: what’s your problem? Why are you behaving this way?

Of course she didn’t reply. I guess she used up her free texts!

But the truth was; she had to go. My friend Barb warned me to stay away and end it, which I did, but not completely. We still kept texting. This time, it needed to be a clean break. No text. No nothing.

I didn’t like her energy. I didn’t like her attitude. I didn’t like her family. I didn’t like her friends. So when it came down to it, I didn’t like her either. Plus, she ‘dated’ some really skanky guys and I’m the kind of person who judges you by your ex and what they were like.

Eleni Tsaligopoulou in Red

Who knew that Eleni Tsaligopoulou (ET) was so cool? I alwats she knew she was talented, otherwise I wouldn't have been a fan, but so see her in Red in Nicosia last week was a treat I couldn't have whipped up myself.

I was invited by chance by my friend and jumped at the opportunity. Red is located right on the green line. So in the free part of Cyprus you can find us listening to ET and on the other side we have 100s of Turkish soldiers' gun pointed at us! Still, we had a great time.

She performed with Tryfono and sang from 10.3o until 2am! Not an easy thinking considering. The crowd was a mixture of entechno people with some establishment. What left an impression on me was how fun the entechno people are - there was none of that pretense you get at some clubs in Nicosia. Everyone was chilled... and still stylish.

I got home around 3.30am and got up at 7.30 for work... you can imagine the pain I went through that day, being sleep deprived. Still it was worth it. It was for Eleni.

Ta Paidia Tou Dromou


Einai Enta3i Mazi Mou

The City I love (which one?)

People in Cyprus see me as AngloCypriot. This couldn’t be further from the facts. Although I speak and behave English, my looks and my home are in Cyprus. I never would have seen myself as AngloCypriot. I don’t dress like the, I don’t have any friends who are AngloCypriot and I don’t think like them (London ghetto meets 1950s Cyprus). I am a very modern person who either feels English or Cypriot. Yet, you are indirectly defined by how you are regarded. So, to the many Cypriots I seem to be AngloCypriot. When they tell me this, I can console myself with the fact that they have a limited world view, haven’t travelled and see only what they want to see.

But even more worrying is the constant squabbling between Limassol and Nicosia. On one hand I have the bombers and on the other I have the snobs, who bicker like children over who has the nicest city. Guys – get over yourselves. This is Cyprus – it’s the same thing and yet they are behaving like they are two countries at war. You think the Cyprus problem was bad, the Limassol/Nicosia one is even worse and even more ridiculous. People from both cities are slagging each other off as if they are bidding for the Olympics. This isn’t NYC and LA people. We are talking about a small European capital with traffic problems and a coastal town that owns its existence to foreign investment. But the way they moan about each other sounds like they aren’t cities with streets paved with gold. GIVE ME A BREAK.

Maybe I notice it more because I am from Limassol and live in Nicosia and seem to be the centre of the debate with people expecting me to join a side or at least get a reaction. I’ll admit I like both cities for different reasons. Nicosia is our nation’s capital and has great clubs. It is for me a wholly Cypriot city. Limassol is more affluent with beach life, albeit with violence. I am not choosing between the two just seeing them for what they are. But damn do people go on about it. And I’d really wish you’d stop.

Now. This part is not meant to offend anyone, and for this I will be impartial. For some reason Nicosians dislike to see that Limassol is doing well and cannot resist to add into the conversation how much they hate Limassol. Why? It’s still in the same country. They talk about how amazing Nicosia is and yet, the first opportunity the get, they run to Larnaca’s beaches. For me personally Protara is an extension of Nicosia.

On the other hand (which is pointing the middle finger) Lemesians (as I call them) insist that Limassol not only should be the capital of Cyprus but the centre of the world. Okaaaay…Whatevverrr! I know it’s more developed than the rest of the island but damn are some people trashy there! I know that LMS has done well, but that’s because of the Russians and Arabs and because of the beach, not because Lemesians decided to radically alter the image of the second-city. Maybe Lemesians feel smug that LMS looks nicer than Nicosia – but that’s not reason to knock Nicosia down. Nicosia, with some planning and investment could easily be the best city in Cyprus. Yet due to mismanagement, no tram or bus system and the division which divides the city means it falls behind.

Instead of bitching about each other, just admit that each one offers different things and are great in their own way. LMS has a great beach front that will get better but nothing can compare the feeling of walking in Nicosia. You feel that it’s the capital and the nightlife is great. Cyprus is a tiny place in the world – it’s a great thing to be able to say how diverse our island it; we have the city-life, the beach-life, the mountains, the resorts, etc. The only other place in such a small space is Tel Aviv/Jerusalem… if you go there, you’ll understand what I mean.

So get over yourselves and your ego and stop going on about how much you hate each other’s city. Understand that diversity is a good thing. Support each others’ development and realise that together we are stronger. And stop telling me about it because I’m from Limassol/live in Nicosia. I really don’t care what you think. If you intend on pointing out where I’m from/where I live I will gladly point out the cave in the village where you came from… and where you should return to sooner than later.

Oh… and one more thing – if you don’t like Nicosia/Limassol, then don’t go there. Don’t drive up/down for an afternoon, have your frappe and then bitch about it to your friends and to people of that city. It’s really annoying – and by bitching, it just shows that you went to the bad part of town and don’t know that particular city well. I on the other hand love both cities so I go wherever I want. Maybe it’s because, like some of you said, I’m AngloCypriot/English/Martian/whatever and I enjoy Cyprus as it is without feeling the need to bitch about the good places in order to make them look bad.

Now… let’s talk about the Israel/Palestine conflict…

Organising the year ahead

I was looking at my filofax the other day and was wondering what I had to do. Not what I had to do for this coming week but what I had to do for the whole year. And suddenly I panicked. Although I am busy with ‘stuff’ I have no anchors. Last year throughout the year I had things planned the whole year. Carnival in Feb; Visit from H in March. Laverne and M coming in May, and Easter/Passover. Friend coming to visit me in Nicosia in June. Long weekend in Paphos with friends in July. Back-packing in the Balkans with Laverne in August. Moving house in Sept. Big party in December. And that’s not including the countless coffees, nights out, days by the pool that packed my year. As 2008 was so full I expected to open my agenda and find it all filled out with lunches and dates lined up for me. Of course a new year means an empty agenda which you are meant to fill. And that’s the tricky part, arranging your year. It makes your whole outlook for the year a lot more pleasant if you know that you will be doing something new or exotic or if a good friend would come and visit you that year. It gives you something to look forward to amongst ‘to do lists’ and obligations. The secret is to plan your year as soon as possible but the problem with that is dealing with people who are not as organised as you and have no intention of being so. The other alternative is to order lots of things from eBay and hope that after 9 days of bidding for something you didn’t really need (like a Burberry scarf or a pair of fluffy pillows) they arrive on time

Already Feb 2009?

Previous on Desperate Housewives...
>>Obama became the 44th president of the USA
>>Israel had another war, this time in Gaza
>>Cypriots, and in particular the Nicosia Housewife, are still as materialistic as ever
>>and BabyBusinessMan's love life is like an episode of Bold and the Beautiful (excpet that it's not dubbed in Greek)

Isn’t it scary how time goes by? How it moves so slyly without us realising it. Already we are in February. Where did January go? The last time I look back it was December, people were rushing around to finish their deadlines, to finish the Christmas shopping and to wrap-up the loose ends of 2008. Then we stumbled drunkenly into 2009, with a couple of days off at the start of the year and now we have stepped into February. I find it scary how time just moves to quickly yet at the same time we feel it’s not moving at all. It seems that we are so stuck in the moment with whatever we are doing that we don’t look at the bigger picture; the world, our life and how times goes by. It comes to show that you must do as much as you can and be the best you can be and make the most of the time you have. (I mean I was so busy in Jan that I submitted hardly 200 words for the whole month. Even the pictures are bigger than the post. So I will try and be more organised).

Also, when there’s a new song that you like, you listen to it constantly. And then you stop, maybe because a new song came along or because you got bored of it. And then you hear it a few months later and it takes you back to that time in your life; you know, the song becomes yours and it carries the memories of the time you listened to it. I love stuff like that. I guess music really is the soundtrack to our life with different tracks representing different time periods.

Right now my fave tracks are: Living in a world without you by the Rasmus; Breaking Up her Heart by Good Charlotte. That song from the Cadbury’s advert called ‘wouldn’t it be nice’ you know, one of those oldies but goodies. And I also came across ‘Laura non c’e’ on youtube, which is an Italian song by Nek with 1000 different version is about 28 languages, which is so Euro-pop marketing-let’s-make-money-attitude, but it’s a good song and currently top 2 on my Ipod!

This is what I miss about Britain

My friend emailed me and told me to youtube the T-mobile ad. Which I did and loved! It's set in Liverpool Street Station and basically had people dancing in the station randomly to see the reaction of others. It's proved to be so popular that now it's an advert and everyone cannot stop talking about it. That is what I love about the UK. Maybe one day in Cyprus we can lighten up do something like this... watch the vid and see...