Monday, September 29, 2008

The Quiet Life... and my bald head.

Okay, let me just say first of all that the quiet life is great. Now that I’m out of work it’s time for a holiday. I’m really enjoying being a hermit and all I do is read and write, go to the beach and exercise. But, when you have so much time on your hands one tends to have crazy thoughts... I know that I’m gonna get a lot of flack for this, but I feel that I have a responsibility to report the following:

Have you ever wondered what you would look like completely bald? I have. And so, given that I spend most of time alone here on my balcony-world, I thought it would be the perfect to opportunity to see for myself.

I had to get drunk in order to follow through with it, and I’m still embarrassed to go into town at certain times when I’ll see people that I know. Mostly, I just don’t want to go through the ‘shock process’ which is inevitable, I suppose. By the end of it I was pretty pissed (drunk) and don’t really remember going to sleep, but one thing I didn’t intend that I guess I did, was shave part of my right eyebrow. This is something my friend Steven used to do, or Vanilla Ice if you wanna bring it there. I didn’t intend it. I don’t like it. It’s a little too hardcore for me, but oh well. I have time to grow everything back and look normal again. In the meantime, I can continue on with my book and all the latter.

I took a few pictures and made a few videos of the process, posted below. Well, the connection here is too shady for the videos so I gave up. Enjoy, and be kind…




My drunk ass had to go and shave part of my eyebrow, sheesh.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Rainy Days

After a summer full of hot and sweaty days here on Ios my prayers have finally been answered. I was just telling my parents the other day how much I’d give for a rainy day, curled up in blankets with a cup of coffee and my book. It was fantastic.

The last few days have been cloudy, cool and calm. All the people are gone now and I’ve only a few more days at Piperri. I’ve only been working a few hours each day and that’s mostly spent cleaning the kitchen, wiping the grease and grime or just twiddling my thumbs. The end is nigh.

It was the closing night at Slammers Bar last night, only two bars left! So, I swung by and had a beer with my old boss from 69 and a famous Slammer shot- had to try one: you put on a bike helmet, down a shot of Cuervo with tonic water and then take a fire extinguisher to the head via the bartender. Really, all it did was give me a slight headache. I just wish I’d brought my camera.

I spend most of my days now working out, reading and writing. It’s nice to feel back in shape, which didn’t take long without drinking and a healthier diet (than gyros). The writing is going well. My second chapter proved to be hard one, but the third is flowing again just like the first. Gotta push through that shit!

Not much else really. Life is good. It’ll be interesting to see what happens once I’m completely finished working. How long can I stand the life of a hermit? So much free time. Well, only time can tell..

Friday, September 5, 2008

From the Absent Prof

Hey guys, it’s been a long time. I know. Not much happening here, just two jobs working many hours without respite. I got a new job washing dishes at restaurant called Piperri. The work is hard but it feels good. I get better money than 69 and a meal to boot. The staff are interesting but I like them: a snotty little Greek girl, two bitchy English girls (are they all bitchy?) and a flamboyant but apparently not gay English owner. Being from London, their accents are very strong and I hear all kinds of cockney that makes no fucking sense unless explained. The owner Mark always calls me different names, sometimes similar to ‘Clint’ and other times way off; so I do the same to him. The music is classy and eclectic, stuff like Dean Martin and Sinatra until the end of the night where it’s English ska and Amy Winehouse. None of them like hip hop. Hanging in the back with the Greek cook, I’ve learned to count to ten in Greek and all kinds of random shit.

After getting off at Piperri, I throw on my 69 shirt and head to work and a night of drinking, flirting, all that Jazz. Then, I go home and sleep and do it again. So, as you can see I’ve been as busy as a malaka, but things are winding down now. The crowds have tapered off and all the clubs are closing. I finished at 69 a few days ago and have about two more weeks at Piperri.

What now? My friends are all gone and I feel like the only one left. Even my asshole Albanian neighbors are gone. Once more I can wake up and walk out on my balcony, nude as the day I was born… I’ve managed to save a lot more money here that I thought. I’ve so many options ahead. But the truth is that I like it here. It’s quiet again just like it was back at the beginning and it’s so nice. I’ve had my fun partying, met some cool people and shared good times but now it’s time collect myself. I can live here for months cheaply, something I might do. Or, I might move on. I’ve started writing again, my old novel from back in the day. I’m reading a lot and working out again, eating healthy. Shit, I haven’t even had a drink for two days and after nearly three months at 69 drinking every night I’m sure my liver hates me. Time to detox.

As soon I finish at the restaurant I’m gonna live like a hermit, not sure how long really. I miss all you guys and sorry for being the absent professor, but I’m back now and hopefully I still have some readers left.