have fun this summer

Let me start by saying I am a Starbucks addict in recovery.

Nowadays I go there very rarely, usually in the company of my daughter, to hang around and chat. The tall non-fat capucchino with lots of cinnamon is just a pleasant prop.

We have some of our best chats there, with great music, the smell of coffee in the air, and no distractions (other than the sound of coffee grinding).

Sometime during the week I found a flier about a concert in our neighborhood on Saturday night.
Totally forgot about it, then found it Saturday evening AFTER we had made plans for going to the movies.

We decided to ditch our plans and go for it! (Both hubby and I like one of the singers very much!)

Well, it was a neighborhood thing. Old ladies in search of material to gossip about the next day, little kids running around bored then coming to their parents asking is it over yet?, the mayor pompous as always, youngsters more interested in the beer than the music. It was this summer’s hottest night and the sound was hideous! The gig was rock-oriented when the public was clearly not, and that led to some awkward moments.

But we had a fine time! GL is one of the best singers who came out of a musical talent show, and he can sing practically anything, but rock is his thing!

I woke up Sunday morning with the music still playing in my head. That was GOOD!

One morning every week I run errands, and this week I decided to make it all about me!

I headed downtown, and I:
- saw one exhibition with sketches by Federico Fellini here: http://www.breathtakingathens.com/node/5000596
This was the absolute highlight of the day, and I’m very very glad it was the first thing I did, and gave it my undivided attention!
- went to the Goethe Institute library, returned my book and got a good read for the summer
- went to the Hellenic American Union, checked out their library and discussed some issues about library membership and taking classes
- bought a hat
- saw an exhibition about Lotte Reiniger here: http://www.goethe.de/ins/gr/ath/kue/bku/de4520057v.htm
- looked around for a carry-on bag (but haven’t bought one yet)
- went for a stroll downtown, and looked around in old curiosity shops. Despite the extreme heat, it was a great way top slow down and relax
- got my favorite free-press while I was downtown: it’s often hard to find it in the suburbs
- got lots of material on German universisties, that will go with my other brain plasticity material

I love to play hide and seek with the sun on cloudy summer days.
I go out when the sky is heavily overcast, and then I walk until the sun looks about to re-emerge from behind the clouds.
It’s sheer perfection when the first rays appear as I walk into the garden door.

profoundly affceted by the David Byrne concert last Monday.
I read in a review here: http://www.davidbyrne.com/tours/reviews/06-08/VillageVoice_4_15_08_PaulSimon.php that DB has the joie de vivre of a five year old, and suddenly it was all clear to me:
It wasn’t JUST the magnificent music that made me so elated, but also the man’s incredible energy and… well.. his joie de vivre.
If I want to have it for myself, then I’ll have to make it happen!

I haven’t felt this kind of contentment for a long-long time. I don’t think there’s anything else I can do this summer that will top this feeling. Which is a good thing, because it takes the pressure out of “having fun”.

It’s been a while since I scribbled something here, and it’s not because I didn’t do things that might qualify as fun.
It’s just that I’ve been missing the element of fun for some time, and I’d rather not get into the medical terminology of it.

But last night I went to see David Byrne in concert (the songs of David Byrne and Brian Eno tour), and there’s just one word to describe the feeling: ecstatic!

If you get a chance, go see this man!
http://www.davidbyrne.com/tours/index.php
http://www.everythingthathappens.com/

I know that TV can take over my life if I let it, especially in the summer, with all those reruns of crappy shows.

If it wasn’t good enough to watch in the winter, it’s not good enough to watch it now either.

I am also limiting my viewing of episodes of House (my all-time favorite) to the ones I have missed for some reason. It’s not that many…

Summer is the time of year when our balcony takes up a life of its own.
We have this big table and chairs made of teak wood (so they can stay outside all year long), but come June we add some comfy cushions and are ready to have our dear friends over for dinner.

They have to be very dear friends, to put up with the pigeons from hell that are SO cheeky, and come over and shit on the balcony floor – lol

When the city becomes too hot to bear, I love to head up the mountain, to a place called Aghios Petros, where it’s always windy and the view over the sea is breathtaking.
Saturdays the place is packed; Sundays are perfect!

One of the things I adore about the summer is going to the beach.
This year things will be quite different, because my doctor has told me I need to stay away from the sun; so my sunbed needs to stay under the umbrella – lol.

Anyway, we went yesterday, and it was a chilly windy day, so the waves were huge and ocean-like (or as close to ocean-like you can get at a Mediterranean beach).

Hubby and I swam far away from the beach, but we could hear the kids screaming with excitement every time a huge wave arrived.
It was tiring and exhilerating!