Focus

Somebody said that "Concentration is the secret of strength". I don't give a f**k if it is, but i need it right now, since i am in front of my last two exams. not too far from today, on the 7th and 8th of september, there's a lot at stake.

so well, what does a person do to gain focus and overcome boredom? not much. i am basically trying to restrict myself from a few things and make myself concentrate on cost accounting studying, which is not the most exciting thing in the world.

So i quit smoking once again, i quit swimming for the next two weeks, unless i am really ahead schedule at some point with studying. i quit reading more books than i already have for now, and i am not going out, not until i go to thessaloniki for my exams, in exactly two weeks from now.

there's still probably a few more things that can get me out of schedule, like falling in love (bad timing for this one as well)...

and well, lets see if this works. there's a lot of things that have failed to make me do boring things in the past. but i have faith that this time is time to get things done.

book review: Che Guevara by Jean Cormier

two words: pure inspiration.

the story of Che, even if you do not agree with his ideas on how the wrld should look like, is one that provides a lot of inspiration. how a small group of people can create change in order to make a better world. how you can fight and still be human. how to create a vision and maintain it, and fight for it. how to cherish human relations.

am i sanctifying Che? no. he was human, he made mistakes, he even killed people. but i can't say i am not in awe reading this amazing story. it makes you think a lot about today's world and how we take our life for granted and keep on living a miserable life, without thinking that we could ever change all this to the better.

the book itself: i bought it years ago (the greek translation) and it must have been a new edition as there are a lot of mistakes in translation. But the story is rather complete. I don't know how this biography ranks among the myriads that have been written on Che, but i enjoyed reading it.

A must watch: Motorcycle Diaries, watched it a few months back and liked the story, especially cos it presents the non-political side of Che, and more or less how it all began.

tragedy on air

there's been a tragic plane crash outside Athens a few hours back, with 121 passengers and crew all unfortunately dead. the reasons of the crash are not clear as of now, but teh plane (coming from Nicosia, Cyprus to Athens) had lost touch with the airport at least half an hour before it crashed.

the pilots of the two fighter aircrafts that tried to escort it to the airport reported that both pilots had lost senses and there seemed to be no movement in the plane, which remained ungoverned for quite a while. A relative of one of the tragic passengers claims to have received two sms's from his relatie on the plane just before the crash: one mentioning that the pilot is dead and it;s extremely cold in the plane, the second one saying one final goodbye before the crash.

what has happened? noone know 100% as of now. the most common explanation seems to be some kind of mechanical failure which caused decompression in the cabin, with the result of most people dying on air, before the plane landed. the possibility of hijacking has been ruled out early in the process of reporting the news.

there's a lot of explanations to be given still and more details to come to light, but the bottomline is that 121 people died a tragic death today, and answers on why are needed. the relatives and the entire country is in grief.

the army like it's finished

i was thinking back on my blog postings for a while, and realised that i am not posting much on my experience in the army any more. I consider this as positive, since i have started thinking outside the army, although i still need 89 days to go before i become a citizen again.

i am indeed tired of being in the army. or maybe i am sick and tired, to be precise. but I’ve also seen it all by now and i have no interest in seeing more. i just do my job while i am there (i currently work in an office), stay in camp as many evenings a week i have to. the rest of the time i am out, going swimming, chatting with a couple of close friends, reading, planning my next steps. and that’s just about it. a have no reason of being distressed or angry or anything else at times. not with the army, that is.

i have been thinking a lot to the future lately, particularly trying to organise my thoughts and effort around job hunting, which should be starting soon. i have been thinking on how to resume the army experience, keeping touch with a few great people that i was lucky enough to meet along the way. getting back in touch with friends i havent talked to in a while, in greece or abroad. focusing my efforts on finishing off my final two subjects for my degree in the beginning of September (7th and 8th). more or less to my next steps in life, cos i am there already. action is the key word to all of these.

there's plenty to do, luckily. my brain (still) works fine. my mood is as good as ever. there’s still lots to do and achieve, and i am on my way there.

carpe diem.

rain

almost two months since i last saw rain, or maybe even more. finally after a week which included a day with 43 degrees, we are now down to 32 for a couple of days, and rain is finally here.

summer rain always feels good in its own way.

norah jones

i don't know how i came accross her music, no one else i know knows her here in Greece. But i love it.

[and this comes from a guy who actually enjoys heavy metal!]

do listen to her music. just great!

insomnia

Ever since i remember myself as a kid, i've always had a problem with sleep. I remember staying up all night and read, or just not being able to sleep. Insomnia? Call it what you want, but the story is that i just can't put my mind to rest easily, when i go to bed, no matter how tired i am. I can't get the few moments of tranquillity that actually put you to sleep.

I somehow learned to use this tendency of mine not being able to sleep at night throughout my life.

Later in my life i discovered how cool it was to watch the sunrise, so i did that as well. Listening to music all night and reading, or just having a drink with a friend and chat all night.

In University i passed most of my 52 subjects so far by studying the entire night before going to the exam. Same goes with my exams for going to university, both years.

In my AIESEC years I learned to work at night, when less people are around and i can have full control of the environment. it's both relaxing and efficient for me.

All in all through my life i have never had a stable program of sleeping and waking up hours. The result was that I can sleep 18 hours straight or go without sleep for 3 days easily. Or just sleep for 2 hours every 8. Or whatever.

I was hoping somehow that the army was my last opportunity in life to get used to have a standard sleeping and wake up schedule. I was wrong. Especially with guarding hours in the middle of the night, things got worse. Not that i didn't adapt. I did. But i adapted to an abnormal thing: learning how to sleep for 1 hour or two whenever i get the chance to, or just sleep for 2 hours, wake up for 3, and then sleep for another 1 before morning wake up call.

Lately things are even worse. For example the last few weeks, i feel tired, go to bed at 10, and end up sleeping at 2 or 3 am, with our wake up hour being at 6 in the morning. And most of the times i don't get the time to replace the sleep, cos we have like 40 degrees in GR in the summer and that doesn't make it easy to sleep in the afternoon in your spare time.

What next? My next opportunity is getting a regular schedule with my job after the army. Or just get used to it, over it and find more ways to enjoy it. And watch more sunrises.