Been a long time. The world keeps changing. Everyone is looking for Madeleine. Soon the UK will go to war with Portugal. I mean, it's so perfectly natural to leave your kids alone in a hotel room, then wear ribbons in your hair because one of them vanished, and expect the whole world to do the same. 2.5m pounds just for one little girl, while so many of them are dying. Oh I forgot, this little girl is British. And blond. And pretty. And her father is a surgeon. So I guess they really needed the money..
Am I being mean? Who cares?

Athens is sunny but no longer familiar. In your absence, places change, people grow older. They have built shopping malls were parks used to be. Friends are scattered all over the world. Teenagers sit in starbucks and internet cafes. Even the bus routes are different. It's only been a few months..Where am I?

On TV politicians, pop singers and businessmen scream at each other. They always find someone to blame. Tearing their own country to pieces for the foreign media to see. Everyone (including me) complaining about everything.

But still, the light is blinding in the morning, bakeries smell of childhood treats, I can see the mountains out of my window, and there are moments I feel I own the whole city, like it owns me.

Every day in the news people dying, wars, tragedies, real human suffering. You may feel sorry for them, but you just turn the page and it's all over. How is it then that the griefs and terrors and joys of fictional heroes in novels affect us as deeply, as truly, as our own?
Funny that "objective" "unbiased" writing can make even reality seem more distant and artificial than the worlds of fantasy...

Why cheap plasters are not a good idea..

Well, it's simple.
Because if, like me, you cut yourself for the second time in 10 minutes and have to rush to your room, while bleeding all over the place, you may have to spend an eternity trying to release a cheap Tesco plaster from its annoyingly stubborn package, destroying three because you cant use your right hand properly, for obvious reasons...

Then, finally, you return victoriously to the kitchen, only to discover that your lunch no longer resembles anything edible, and end up relying purely on your own blood as a source of protein, since you can't risk cutting more salad. So, better invest in a pack of expensive ones next time. They will probably last you a long long time anyway- unless you're like me, that is.

Ok it's been a long long time. But it went by so fast. This term is almost over and I still don't feel at all like a journalist. Interviews remain a source of extreme anxiety. The future is foreign territory, I don't even want to go nearer.
But we're ok I suppose, been through worse.

Think that's snow?

Seems like the winter is not over yet. But do you think the snow is real? It looks like snow and feels like snow but..the truth is its only another conspiracy. The Bush administration sent planes to carry snow all the way from Greenland, or maybe its just fake snow. You cant see the planes because they fly way above the clouds. Advanced technology- courtesy of NASA.
All this is part of a malicious plan to make us doubt the reality of global warming. I have my sources, you know.

Finally...I am more than pleased to announce that most of the winter is officially over. Don't be fooled by the cold. Summer is coming. Only four months left. Start counting. Days are getting longer. It's happening. We shall return to our only true home. We will be ourselves again. Away from this dark, miserable, wall-surrounded survival. Life is out there.

Greece 2007:
Male, 45, brings "magic potion" to his terminally ill brother, 50. Brother refuses to drink it. They start arguing. Third brother, 40, arrives. "Leave him alone" he insists. They start fighting. The youngest one kills his brother (the healthy one) with a knife.
Yes, this is a real story. Imagine..

Travelling is all about bringing down your prejudices, preoccupations, and cultural barriers one by one...only to replace them with new ones.

Lazy sunday morning.
They said it would be a sunny day.
Can I have my money back now please?
Who do you think you are? No getting out of here. We're trapped.

Sorry. It was meant to be a joke. The wind is making the clouds dissolve.
They said the wind is the result of climate change.
Global warming. Blogal warning. Abandon Ship NOW!

Humourless humour is not taking us anywhere.
But last night I saw a dream in colours. Been a long time.
Doesn't matter I was almost attacked by a rabbit. And a hedgehog. Seriously.

Why do we dream? Is it a byproduct? Or it has evolutionary significance?
Maybe waking consciousness is a byproduct.
See, this is getting out of control. Need to stop.
Stop.
Stop.

Why do we fear loneliness so much?
What's so scary about being without human company?

Maybe I'm just obsessed with the wrong things (again). But I've always longed for contact, and then avoided it as much as possible. Sometimes I feel lonelier among people than when I'm alone in my room. It's safe here. No hidden meanings. Days seem to last longer. No unnecessary waste of time.

When the night comes, it becomes harder. So many thoughts can't be put into words. Longing for something unknown, and anguish. Perhaps when we're alone we remember how fragile and ephemeral we are.

So we have to keep ourselves busy, our minds occupied. Staying in crowded rooms. "Socialising"with strangers. Listening to loud music. Chatting on the phone. Watching films or reading books that block reality out. Exercising. Wasting time on the internet. Getting drunk. Taking drugs. Anything to stop us from thinking the unthinkable: our own end, the eternal silence.