Because it's always nice to know (zombie bite)

Created by Oatmeal

Random questions and thoughts of the day

1. I was more affected from the shutdown of the Google Reader than I expected. In the past, I had my igoogle home page with my unread blog posts and a Google Reader app on my phone. The app died already and the igoogle home page will soon follow. It doesn't work for the blog posts already anyway. So, I need to come up with an alternative. 

What do you guys use? For the time being I’m checking ‘Feedly’. Since I didn't register to it before the downfall of Google Reader, I wasn't able to automatically link accounts. So, I had to manually enter urls to set it up. It’s not that difficult, only time consuming. Unfortunately, for some weird reasons, it doesn't like Erik. I’m not sure if he’s done something to them or not, but his website is not apparently a website... Go figure…     

 

Closed for business 

2. During last Saturday’s bbq, I had a discussion with my housemate concerning music and movies. She mentioned that there are no more famous songs that are also from a movie. For example Celine Dion’s Titanic song was a huge success in the charts (even if I never liked it). However, recently, like in the last 5 years, there is no successful original song that is linked to a successful movie. When she mentioned that, I had to prove her wrong (for the argument’s sake), but I couldn’t. Maybe, it was the overload of pork chops, the heat or the alcohol, but I couldn’t for the life of me remember a song from a recent movie... Can you?

Who doesn't know this song?

OK, these were my two questions of the day. I can now change the subject.

3.I’m counting down to a week till my summer holidays. I know I was in Greece for my brother's wedding just two weeks ago, but that doesn't mean that I’m not looking forward to it. I’m taking ‘JJ’ to almost 3 weeks of resting, enjoying the sun, the sea and everything else the islands we’ll be visiting can offer. Last time we were on big holidays, we went to South Africa. Our vacations there were truly amazing as you can read here, but they were a bit tiring as well. There were so many places to visit and things to do. JJ was driving so much. So, this time we’ll do the opposite, just rest.
We’ll be visiting first the island called Paros and then Mykonos. Both islands are quite popular with the latter being quite popular specially with the gay community. I've been to Paros for holidays many years ago and to Mykonos for only one afternoon while island hopping also more than a decade ago. It will be nice to see them both again.

That beauty was created with marble from Paros

Inspiration

Mark from behrblather asked me, not so long ago, where do I find the motivation and go and do my runs. Although I mentioned something on my reply then, I’d like to elaborate a bit more.

Recently, I’ve been having a newfound interest in getting fitter and doing beneficial physical things, for me. It hasn’t always been easy and I definitely have a long way to go still. However, I believe that I’m in a good place at the moment with a good momentum, which I hope to keep for some time yet. I try to get motivation on things I read and check online. I managed to find some inspirational videos and blogs online close to the period of time I retrieved my running shoes and I haven’t looked back since.

Finding very good looking and fit people, who might or might not be celebrities, does nothing to me. It’s not inspiring. Jason Stratham for example shows off his 6pack on the cover of ‘Men’s Health’. That photo to me might be really nice but it remains so alien. It will not make me do more core exercises to look similar. I know it can never happen. He lives a very different life to mine and gets paid just to look like he does. I can’t compare myself to him. So, reading about his exercise regime and diet is really and utterly irrelevant.

On the other hand, there are lots of people online who share their stories which I can relate to. They are people with everyday jobs, social life, ups and downs, like every other normal human being. These (mostly) success stories are truly inspirational and help me get through tough periods.


The first one I’ll mention is BendoesLife. Ben has been writing a blog for some years now. He started off as an obese youngster, depressed and miserable. At the beginning he couldn’t run almost at all, but through the years he managed to complete marathons, a triathlon and an Ironman. Recently he got married and looks so happy. Going through his blog, you can see the before and after pictures, respect his honesty, enjoy his humour and even see some of the mistakes he made and his lows. I accept the fact that he’s trying to commercialise his blog success with ‘doeslife’ merchandise and book, but I still like what he stands for. There is optimism in what he says. I think there's also a youtube video with his story.

Through the people commenting on his blog, I read some more success stories of everyday people who managed to turn their lives around for the better. If you really look for them in tumlr, wordpress or blogger, you will be able to find them, in lots of places like here or here or here.

Looking for better ways to jog and to find local running events, I joined runnersforum.co.uk. One of the threads published there is titled: ‘Before and after weightloss pics’. That thread contains so many inspirational stories from people of various background, sex or age. Take a look at a random example:

 andydw before

after
 

In the same forum, there are lots of beginners. It’s not that hard to start and there is lots of advice on offer. You can simply start by doing brisk walks and then advance to short runs and see how it goes. Lots of people also used apps like C25k, or even the new ones where zombies try to catch you.

I went for a run yesterday evening. I’ve been listening to Stephen King’s ‘The shinning’. That was one of his books I hadn’t read, but always liked to. It’s been an interesting read while running.

Weekend cooking

Or the reason I'll never lose weight... lol...
I'm on the same subject, as my previous post, of food. In most occasions, during the week, JJ does most of the cooking in the house. It's more convenient since he normally finishes work in a reasonable time and he can cook till I'm back from mine. During these days I do the dishes. We have an understanding of splitting these chores. However, I do like cooking and I occasionally spend time in the kitchen, making stuff, that are sometimes edible...

Feta & Spinach pie

Last weekend was a similar occasion. I spent time yesterday making a feta and spinach pie with filo pastry. 'JJ' liked it more than I did, although I have to admit it's not that bad. Today, he was working, so I had lots of time to prepare something. I made a lemon drizzle cake and lamb 'giouvetsi'. That's my favorite ever Greek dish. My mother used to make it as a treat on Sunday family dinners. They both turned up quite well I have to admit. We happily stuffed ourselves (again)

Giouvetsi

I'm quite happy with myself to be honest. I made a mistake of adding extra flour to the mixture making it dry and tough but I managed to fix it with adding an extra egg. This kind of solutions means I'm starting to understand the basics in cooking. I'm not that great as a cook to be honest, but I can create a decent meal and I do enjoy it. What I fear I lack is a little bit of creativity. As you can see from my pictures, my food doesn't look that amazing. I can't decorate cakes or dishes the way my old housemate or 'JJ' can. I'm not complaining though. I haven't food poisoned anyone...

Lemon Drizzle cake

What I came across online is the following website. It's called 'Beautiful Pictures of Healthy Food'. The site has clickable pictures with the recipes of healthy dishes. I haven't really gone through it properly, but some of the pictures there look really tasty. I like how healthy food can look amazing, colorful and appealing. If only there was a representative for healthy eating and salads could be advertised like the mcdonalds...

World Penis Size Map

I found this somewhere online at some blog and I couldn't stop laughing... Talking about weird science! It would be interested to see how they do collect data...

Click the image to see it bigger(no pun intended)

So, where are you off to on vacation next?
You can find the whole thing here

Lost in translation.

You know these meaningless emails that circulate around, most of which are simply just boring. Once in a while, something interesting appears, like Engrish. Engrish is a website dedicated to promoting good English and funny pictures seen around the world. It categorises pictures from 1996 till date. Take a look at these:











Speaking of 'Tourism' I went online yesterday on Octopus Travel to find an hotel in Edinburgh. I was SO lucky to find the following offer while browsing through available hotels. Talking about major discounts:

Changing projects…

I received yesterday through post my letter of rejection for the London Marathon. Boo…

I wanted to do that next year

I tried to enter the London Marathon through the ballot which selects people randomly. You can also enter by implying for a position with a charity but they demand to raise so much money these days. It would be so difficult training for the actual run and also trying to raise around £2000 ($3100) through recession! I can’t ask from friends, relatives and co-workers so much money. I don’t think I’ll be able to do it. I know people last year that had to add the remaining £300 to £400 on their own to complete the amount.

So, my plan A to run a London Marathon the year I turn 30 is not going to happen. I now have to find a plan B by finding another event to enter or another challenge to accomplish. I will look for a half marathon in spring or marathon in summer (to have more time to train) in a nice place. A colleague is doing in two weeks the Venice Marathon. I would really love to do that. However, because I am a wuss, I’ll try to get JJ’s support first. I don’t mind running alone, but I don’t want to travel alone to a different country, place and run. I need the support.

So, I’d better start looking… Anyone else interested?

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On a different kind of projects, since I don’t have enough on my plate to do (Java, work, studying, social life, running, gym etc) I’ve decided to start something completely new! Yay! This will be something fun though, to work on my free (?) time.

I want to create a web page for JJ, and his paintings. I don’t want to create something extremely fancy with many videos or animations, but I’d like to do a website with information, news for upcoming events, his portfolio etc. I don’t think I can add online selling yet. I think it will be too complicated and a hustle for an inexperienced user like me, even by using PayPal or something similar.


It’s about time he a web site. Painting for him is something to do on his free time. He never thought of becoming a professional painter and sell his paintings for an extra income. Of course as an artist, he doesn’t really appreciate his work. He has in the past just given away his work for free to strangers on the street! However, I see some potential there and there is no harm trying!


I’ve never created a website before. I had some courses in ‘Flash’ back in the university. It was called ‘Macromedia’ back then, now it’s called ‘Adobe Flash’. I’m hoping to find some tutorials and set a simple website using a template I can find online and modify. I don’t believe using ‘HTML’ is so difficult. I’ve been slightly playing around with it for this blog anyway.

I also want it to be a surprise for JJ. I was checking online and I found some websites that sell art on line. They work with commission or annual membership. He could do something like that as well, but having his own website is always good and it doesn’t cost that much. I now have to find a domain and a host (after I finish programming the damn thing).

Under surveillance

You must all be familiar with facebook. I don’t believe that someone who knows what a blog is (reading or writing one) has never heard of facebook. I know some people that refuse to create a profile (good for them), but at least they know what it is.

Anyway, I’m not a great user of facebook. I don’t have a farm, I don’t play games, and I don’t have a collection of fanpages or applications. I use it mostly to upload pictures so that my friends in Greece can see them, to keep in touch with people around the world and to be reminded of their birthdays. The only application I do use is the virtual bookself where I write some book reviews and read what other people have to say on books I’d like to buy. Of course, occasionally I do spend time on it, checking other people’s profiles, pictures and comments. I will no deny that.

However, I try to be discreet at the information I put online. I have never mentioned about my personal life, relationship status etc. I believe that unless you are married or something, it’s not very wise to do so. Also (unfortunately) some relatives and simple acquaintances of mine are now my friends in facebook which really spoils the fun of it. There are things I don’t want them to know. Of course I have them in a ‘limited profile’ category, but still…


The last ‘blow’ came two days ago when my mother send me an invitation on ‘facebook’! Yes, my mother!!!! When I first saw it, I couldn’t believe it! OK, my parents are quite technologically literate and I always feared that this day would come. However, I was always trying to keep them in check. We’re not using msn or skype to chat. I know if I told them more about them, they would constantly try to get me online. Now, I know that msn would have been much safer than facebook! What was I supposed to do? I couldn’t simply not accept the invitation! I think she would notice that one of her children isn’t one of her friends!

So, what happens now? I have to be careful not to put ‘bad’ words on my statuses! Try not to upload pictures that might upset her? Never mention again that I go out partying and drinking until early in the morning? (I don’t do drugs anyway). I already know that she found out about my scuba diving from the photos I’ve uploaded. I ‘forgot’ to mention it to her, since I know she’s terrified of scuba diving because members of her family suffered from the diver’s syndrome (thirty years ago). It’s not like she’ll forbid me of doing something, but sometimes I can’t stand her whining / worrying / complaints on the phone.

My only chance is for the whole thing to just blow away. That at some point, she might get bored of it and not spy on me and my brother on the internet (yeah, right)! What are the chances of that happening?

Explorations…

I came upon the following image while browsing between some blogs that made me chuckle. I can’t remember where exactly I saw, so I cannot caption it properly. Sorry


On a different matter I have to admit that I’ve been hooked on a web page called www.comicvine.com. It’s all about comic books, graphic novels, sci-fi movies and everything related. They have an amazingly vast database of characters, teams, publications, creators and movies. They also cover the most important comic conventions and they provide news like no other. I have to thank Gecko Echo for this, since he was the one that introduced the site to me when he mentioned the creation of a new series called ‘Uncanny X-force’ some months ago. What’s quite fun is the fact that when you register, you create a profile whose level of experience increases by completing certain online quests. For nerds and geeks (like me) it can be fun…


Speaking of which (from xkcd.com):


Yes, if you haven’t noticed today’s post does not make much sense. I can’t focus on anything. I can only think about packing tonight and flying on Friday after work. (I can’t pack tomorrow since I have a session with my personal trainer)

Ugliest Tattoos

What really made me laugh yesterday was a website of ugly tattoos that Erik posted! It’s a website of such ugly tattoos, you’ll be amazed. I really can’t see what people were thinking when doing them. Most of them are amazingly big and last forever.

It made me remember two people that I saw on the street with tattoos that where never meant to be made. The first one was a huge tattoo of Johnny Depp dressed like ‘Mad Hatter’ from ‘Alice in Wonderland’. That guy had Johnny’s face tattoo to cover his whole arm. It was very big and very ugly. Unfortunately, this particular tattoo is popular since I saw it in the ugly tattoos website as well!

The second one was from a guy I saw in the tube. He had a Greek word made on his leg. Unfortunately he misspelled it! He wanted to write the word ‘love’ in Greek but instead of writing it as ‘αγάπη’ he had it done as ‘άγαπη’. It might not seem such a big difference but that word does not mean anything and is read quite differently. The thing is that it’s a tattoo. You have to double check that you’ve spelled it right before doing it. It will be there for a long time. From his accent I thought he sounded American. I was thinking of going there and speaking to him but I decided not to. Most likely he already knows. If not, it’s better never to learn…

I leave you for now with some nice pictures of hideous tattoos:

Wolverine on 'My little Pony'! I have no words...

On your face...

The big crack

No words...

Oh, why?

music taste...

Speechless yet again

I think the unicorn is high....

Last but not least... Simple Class

Various news…

There are some things happening around the globe that caught my attention the last few days. I’m going to start with something not that important, proceed to a very serious event and finish with a weird one.First of all, have you seen the new Olympics 2012 mascots? No? Meet Wenlock and Mandeville:

Munch Wenlock is considered to be the birthplace of modern Olympics where Baron Pierre de Coubertin visited the town in 1890 and took inspiration from the annual Games that were taking place there. Stoke Mandeville was where the Paralympics movement began.

I believe they look quite cute. Although I am not sure how they will look like in stuffed toys. They reminded me of the one-eyed monster in ‘Monsters Inc’. Was he called Mike Wazowski or something? I don’t know why they made them like Cyclopes? Maybe they seem cuter like that.

Funnily enough I think that they look similar to the Greek mascots if you cut out the enormous legs. They have the same colours, hairstyle and posture. Maybe it’s just me… I wasn’t very fond of Phevos and Athena anyway… I liked the idea that originated them though. What do you think?

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On a far more serious matter, two homosexuals were convicted in Malawi to spend 14 years in jail for being gay.

They were both adults, celebrating their engagement on December when they got arrested. Judge Nyakwawa Usiwa-Usiwa told the pair: "I will give you a scaring sentence so that the public be protected from people like you, so that we are not tempted to emulate this horrendous example."


What I find quite scary is that in a country where the 40% of the development budget comes from donors, BBC reporters say the government has come under pressure from Western donors over the issue.

I can’t help but wonder what kind of influence do these donors apply? Is this not pure blackmail over developing countries?

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I will finish my news update with Nicolas Cage aka ‘Big Daddy’. Yes, him:


I don’t know what people do in Hollywood? Do they stay too long under the sun? Are they exposed to radiation or something? Or are they simply high all the time?

Mr. Cage stated that he eats food according to the way the animal procreates.
"I actually choose the way I eat according to the way animals have sex,""I think [they] are very dignified with sex.”
"But pigs, not so much. So I don't eat pig meat or things like that. I eat fish and fowl."

OK, I had to google it. How do pigs have sex?

What is weird about pigs is that the pig’s penis looks like a corkscrew and is 2 foot long. (That sounds funny, not undignified.) The board inserts the penis into the vulva and locks for about 15 minutes. After he finishes, he dismounts and usually goes to find a mudhole if available and relaxes being very satisfied with himself (good for him). Some are very aggressive and grunt and run the fence looking for a boar in reproduction season (humans do that as well). If all was successful they will have pigs 114 days later and hopefully have 9-15 good lively piglets that weigh 1-2 pounds.

I’m sorry but I do not see something undignified in that! How is that different to the way Nicolas is having sex? As far as I know fish (some of them at least) only lay eggs and the male just releases sperm over them! That means that technically the male just ejaculates in front of everybody over some eggs. How is that more noble?

Also, if you are not eating pork, you are missing stuff like that:


Ok, what to expect from a guy who named his son "Kal-El"?

Beginning of summer?

It was about time I wrote a new post. I couldn’t have Baldwin’s picture as my latest post any longer! I saw it in a friend’s and follower’s website as my latest post and I was shocked. It’s so distasteful it’s not funny more. I just hope you all donated some money to a good cause, making a good Christian wealthy again… No? Shame on you! Lol…

I’m in quite a good mood today (which will probably be ruined in the next few hours at work but anyway). After gym I was able to enjoy a nice cup of coffee as I normally do before work. What was really interesting was the fact that I had my coffee OUTSIDE, without wearing a jacket! During this year’s London, doing something like that is remarkable! We had a couple of weeks or sunny spells but it was quickly followed by more rain and cold. It even snowed in the north beginning of May. But we’re expecting the temperature to get better and we might be seeing the Sun more! It might (of course) rain a bit the next few days, but they promised a sunny warm weekend. OK, I know. Most of the times they don’t know what they’re talking about, but it would be so nice…


Unfortunately, since it is the beginning of summer I’m starting again my treatments to get rid of some of the excessive hair I do have (all over my body). Since I don’t want to be the only Chewbacca of the beach, without being too picky about it, I booked an appointment to have my back and shoulders cleaned. Fortunately, ‘JJ’ doesn’t mind a bit but it is something I want to do for myself. For those of you out there who do not know the ‘pleasures’ of waxing, sugaring or laser, YOU ARE SO LUCKY!!!! It is SO much fun spending almost an hour on the bed of pain and also paying quite some money for it…


On a happier note I can’t wait for my boyfriend to get back. He’s been gone for a week and will be gone for a week more. I miss him. I’m thinking of taking some time off work and either go to pick him up from the airport or find one of his roommates to sneak me in his bedroom to wait for him. Probably the latter seems nicer, but I can’t trust his housemate that I’ve found through facebook to keep it quite. I also don’t know if he’ll be at home or working. I don’t really like him that much (that’s my boyfriend’s housemate, not my boyfriend)…

Restore What?

Ok, I didn't know about it.

I was shocked when I found out though...

There is a website to donate money to Stephen Baldwin.

Yes, him:

Why?

Because he was just a good Christian and he refused to play in movies that included sex or violence. So, now he declared bankruptcy and is poor...

So, come on. Give him money. You can do it through paypal!!!

Here:

http://www.restorestephenbaldwin.org/index.html

Check the FAQ section if you have any queries.

I especially like the part:

Q- Why does Stephen need personal wealth?
A- Stephen’s influence is in Hollywood. Hollywood worships money and without it you are seen as a loser and cannot be an effective influence to this group.

Web sites

I came across a web site that I think is something that Paige would show and Juz would like. I don’t know if you know it but it’s called ‘Texts From Last Night’ and it’s about just that, text messages. Some of them are indeed really funny, some of them not so much… Their humour reminds me of the cheap college humour presented in ‘American Pie’ that sometimes works sometimes doesn’t.
Anyway, I’m giving you some examples:


Literally just stood in the shower and forgot what to do. That hungover.


i got kicked out of Barns and Nobles cuz i put all the bibles in the fiction section


-he said he didn't have a condom.
-and you said?
-that that's fine cause i was ready to be a mom. yeah - he magically had a condom he forgot about after that.

The stoners next door have their couch on the sidewalk again, shirtless, soaking their feet in a baby pool and listening to loud ukulele music. I want their life.


So I think I just got a job offer from the guy I used to blow. See, networking pays off.


-the red head has a bf -just because there's a goalie doesn't mean u can't score


seriously iPhone. stop autocorrecting all my fucks into ducks. you're making all my strong worded texts look harmless and adorable.

So, when he came he screamed MORTAL KOMBAT!!!! at the top of his lungs and all of his roomates yelled back FINISH HER!!!!.....yeah kinda akward


She had a group on her phone called "great fucks". I was in it. It's almost like making the forbes list

-I'm watching CSI, they found semen in the woman's ear. -Guess she heard her killer coming


Dude you can't like a status about me getting hit by a car


-I want to fuck you on the side of the bed tonight.
-babe, don't say it like that!
-I'm sorry, I want to penetrate you on the edge of our sleeping quarters this evening.


Learn some fucking English or leave me alone! "Your" is for something that belongs to you, like 'your herpes'. And "you're" is a contraction for "you are", like "you're not sleeping with me".


We must be getting old. All of our friends are having kids and they aren't illegitimate.


I'm also leaving you with this: