Um......you asked who is the greatest SIGNER.... Perhaps Thomas Jefferson?? Benjamin Franklin??? John Quincy Adams had a lovely signature, if I recall.
Sorry....just teasing. Couldn't resist. Greatest singer is certainly subjective, particularly when you say "of all time".
I am single. I am happy. I am not happy BECAUSE I am single; I am happy because I have a good life and I have family and friends who love me...and because I am able to experience so many things in my life that many only dream of. I feel rich, though I am not wealthy. I feel alive and vibrant and I treasure each day. So, yes, I am happy. I only wish I had someone to share my joys with....and my sorrows. I only wish I could wake up next to someone who wanted nothing more than to do the same with me. I only wish that I could love again...and be loved in return. I remember how it feels, and I miss it. I won't deny it. I miss it. But I am still happy. It's possible to do both....to be happy with what we have and who we are and our life in general, but to also have an empty place that needs to be filled.
I live in Greece. I've been here a number of years at various stages of my life and have dated various men over the years here. I've gone out with men named Socrates, Hercules, Leonidas, Odysseus, Dionyssos (yes, Ambrose...I drank wine with Dionyssos!), and Adonis, among others with great names. So, I am curious.....to what degree do we associate a name with a pre-conceived image? Just how much are we shaped by our names? I didn't truly expect Hercules or Leonidas to be powerful, strong, or brave....nor did I expect great words of wisdom from Socrates. Adonis was indeed handsome....but would he have been mercilessly ridiculed had he been homely? My name is Jeffrey and I have had any possible reaction you could possibly imagine through the years....I have even had people outright laugh when I tell them my name. Think about this....you tell someone your name and they laugh at you. Unbelievably rude, but that was their first reaction. Like "A Boy Named Sue", I think my name put "gravel in my guts and spit in my eye". I can't say that I will ever really LIKE my name, but I have gotten used to it and I wouldn't consider changing it for anything. I might as well have been named Popeye, for I yam what I yam and that's all I ever shall be. But, I digress. Names. Does your name fit with who you are? Do you like your name or do you wish it was different? Do people have certain expectations of you based on pre-conceived ideas because of your name? And, finally, if someone set you up on a blind date with someone who had a name that you disliked tremendously, what would you do (assuming you would be interested if the name hadn't been mentioned)?
Add the words "bless his heart" or "bless her heart" to any insult, and it sounds so endearing. Example: "He hasn't got the brains God gave a flea, bless his heart." or "She's the homeliest thing I ever laid eyes on, bless her heart."
JYEET - a question. Usage: "Howdy, Bubba. You're lookin' mighty pekid. The Mrs. jus' whipped up a mess o' greens, cornbread, an' some fried chicken. Jyeet yet?"
(Being from the South originally, I am entitled to say this!)
The smell of chocolate chip cookies baking in the oven....or home-made bread, warm and comforting. The smell of baby powder on a just-bathed infant's bum. The smell of a heavy rain on a spring day. The smell of a can of coffee, just opened. The smell of a new car. The smell of a favorite old book. The smell of a fresh-cut rose. The smell of a wood-burning fireplace. The smell of a steak on a grill. The smell of a his pillow.
Police yesterday expressed concern about the possible reappearance of a radical leftist terror group after bomb disposal experts detonated a large homemade explosive device that had been planted outside the headquarters of a foreign oil company in a coastal suburb of Athens.
Police were alerted early yesterday morning by an anonymous caller who said a bomb had been planted outside the offices of Royal Dutch Shell in Palaio Faliron but could not determine when it was due to go off. Bomb disposal experts rushed to the scene and destroyed the device, causing minor damage to adjacent buildings but no injuries.
The device, which comprised 3 kilos of dynamite and a timer inside a plastic toolbox, would have caused a massive blast had it detonated as planned, officers said.
It was the composition of the bomb that made police think of the group Revolutionary Struggle, which has not claimed any attacks for several months. According to officers from the police’s counterterrorism unit, the group in question used almost exactly the same materials in several blasts in central Athens over the past few years – on a branch of Citibank in the Athens district of Ambelokipi, the Economy Ministry offices in central Syntagma Square, the Labor Ministry offices on Pireos Street and a riot police van on Petrou Ralli Street.
(NOTE.....Revolutionary Struggle is the group that claimed responsibility for the rocket attack on our Embassy (where I work) last year. That rocket hit our building less than 8 feet from where I sit every day.)
I will tell her (well, she will probably read this and will be able to send her own response...but I will be sure she knows). Nice to see you again, too!
Yesterday I had the great pleasure of meeting everyone's favorite CS-er, Claire. She is visiting Athens now and we met for coffee (this is a several-hour-long social event here, not just a pop into a Starbuck's for a to-go cup!). Upon meeting, we greeted each other with warm hugs. She then told me she was supposed to also give me a hug from Manos (does he still post here?) and from Harry in Canada. Thanks, guys....hugs received and greatly appreciated. As for Claire herself.... What a lovely woman she is! Of course, nobody would expect any less. She is exactly as I imagined she would be...warm and friendly and down-to-earth. I look forward to our next get-together. She's delightful.
This is the beauty of this site...I have now met 2 people from the forums, neither of which were based on any sort of romantic interest (sorry, Claire...I love you, but you're just not my type! hehe). The world continues to shrink....an Englishwoman meets an American in Greece and the American woman also met an American man while she was in Malta....each having connected here.
All the best to each of you...and I hope that you, too, have the pleasure of one day meeting some of the other great people here.
It was 16, Mastic, but 6 , 16, 66, 166....it's all tragic. I am particularly sensitive to these things because I work at an Embassy...one that was hit by an RPG in January of last year....an RPG that entered the Embassy less than 6 feet from where my desk is now. I am sensitive to it because I know how many of our Embassies have been attacked over the past 10 years or so. And I am sensitive because I have known some people who have died and some who have been wounded in such attacks. I don't expect these things to have the same impact on the rest of the world, but on our very own news stations...I am appalled whenever I see how little we care about things such as these attacks, and how much we care about absolute and utter crap. A United States Embassy is the strongest symbolic representation of America abroad. When we are bombed, overrun, attacked, demonstrated against, threatened, etc., it is another attack on our country...not just on some building thousands of miles away. As I said earlier, I don't expect other nations to have the same sympathies and concerns that we should have (we Americans, specifically)....I just am appalled at how little our nation cares or recognizes that these attacks are not just directed at me or my colleagues at other embassies....they are directed at YOU and YOUR families and YOUR loved ones, even if only through symbolism. Anyway, I have had my rant. It is morning now and I must get ready to go to work...to my Ambassador and my Embassy, both of which I serve proudly. I leave the rest of the U.S. (though not personally directed to anyone, this is purely a general statement) to carry on with their fascination with Paris Hilton and O.J. Simpson and Angelina Jolie and....well, with all such truly important topics.
Another U.S. Embassy was attacked today and what takes the lead story on the U.S. news program that I am now watching via satellite??? O.J. Simpson. I not only shake my head in wonder, but I hang it in sorrow as well.
I make my travel plans according to the destination....I have to have a desire to see a place more than a person, really. I haven't actually ever traveled abroad to meet anyone, and I can't see myself ever doing so. But, if I want to go somewhere anyway and could possibly arrange to meet someone that I had been chatting with, then I would certainly do that. If we don't hit it off at all, nobody really loses. I would still see the place that I wanted to see, he would not have invested more than a couple of hours or so over a coffee or a drink with me, and nobody would feel either stuck in an uncomfortable situation or financially burdened. And I particularly do NOT want someone to make such a trip to come to see me in Greece, unless they have an interest in seeing the country. I don't want that responsibility, for it would be huge.
LOL. Was meant as a joke, although I realized after the fact that there's no way anyone would know that. Young boys???
There's a sign that some shopkeepers post around fragile items in their stores....it says "Lovely to look at, delightful to hold.....but if it gets broken, consider it sold."
So, regarding the young 'uns, I say.... "Lovely to look at, delightful to hold But alas, though they're gorgeous, I'm too F***ing old!"
Thanks, Cristina! Won't be here much for a little while still, though. Vacation starts tomorrow, finally! Skiathos, here I come....mothers, bring your handsome young (adult age!) Greek sons inside for a week and keep them there!
Just came back from Malta on Friday after 2 weeks there for work. While I was there, I had the pleasure of meeting another CSer, Sparky55. He came into my office, introduced himself, we talked a bit, and he was most friendly and kind. I was staying in an apartment rather than a hotel and I didn't have food or basic needs (coffee, soft drinks, paper products, snacks, etc.). Sparky55 offered to take me to a grocery store after work and I took him up on it. The following week, I had the pleasure of attending his retirement ceremony, during which he was presented with a number of mementos and he gave a very nice speech, sharing thoughts and reflecting on his years of service. Sparky....if you read this...thanks so much for your kindness. You went out of your way to assist a stranger, and that, my friend, is the mark of a truly good man! Many thanks and I wish you all the best in your retirement (such as it is...I know you'll be working in the civilian sector), but... congrats on your retirement and thanks for your years of service! Jeffrey
Just getting back to this and I just saw your message, Sparky. Very cool. No doubt we will see each other at work and I appreciate your kind offer to help if I need anything. Small world, eh? Cheers!
As mentioned, I was away but am back now.... Re: taxi drivers....I have been in many cabs in many countries and I view them often as car salesmen: I KNOW I will get screwed; the only unknown is HOW BADLY I will get screwed. I will be on guard. No city info?? Anyone?? Oh, well. I will find my fun, then. Thanks to those that answered. Christina....Luscious...nice to see you both again! Diogenes...always a pleasure.
Just found out I am off to Malta for 2 weeks, leaving this weekend. It's a business trip and I will be in Valetta. As I understand it, I will be in an apartment building in an area called Sylimie (or something like that), apparently close to the sea and close to restaurants and such. Anyway...I thought I would throw this out here, given the fact that there are a number of people here who live in Malta, if memory serves me correctly. I would love suggestions for places to go, good restaurants in the area where I will be staying (I won't have a car, so will need to either walk or take a taxi), and any other info you could pass my way. I would love to hear from you, if you are in Malta and can give me some pointers about where to go and things to do. Feel free to send me an email, or post here. Thanks very much in advance! Jeffrey
p.s.....I am stepping out for a bit, so if you post something that asks me a question and I don't reply for awhile, please bear with me. I will check back here in a few hours.
My initials and my son's birthday (June of 1984). Should change it to a name, probably, but since my real name is Jeffrey....weeeeelllllll..... suffice it to say that I deal with "the name thang" on a daily basis! Using initials and numbers just seemed easier!
Adoption would be fine for him, I'm sure. But the simple fact of the matter is that I am 53 years old; my maternal instincts that I mentioned were in the past. I really couldn't start over again at this stage of my life, raising another child. But, time will tell what will transpire. You never know, sometimes, what life has in store.
Mano...you're in Cyprus...if you pass through Athens sometime soon, you must let me know. Would love to buy you a freddo by the sea!
Thalassa Forum Posts (2,410)
to you, too! 
RE: who is the greatest signer of all time
Um......you asked who is the greatest SIGNER....Perhaps Thomas Jefferson?? Benjamin Franklin??? John Quincy Adams had a lovely signature, if I recall.
Sorry....just teasing. Couldn't resist.
Greatest singer is certainly subjective, particularly when you say "of all time".