We now interrupt these posts for a Kalo Mina meme from our sponsor, EllasDevil.

“Back in the day!” - 5 Shows You Loved as a Kid
1. Sesame Street (back when Cookie Monster ate cookies)
2. Happy Days
3. Family Ties (before Michael J. Fox had Parkinson’s)
4. The Cosby Show
5. Wings

“Who would you do?” - 5 Characters You Would (Well…)
1. No
2. one.
3. They’re
4. not
5. real.

“What?!?! No, No, I Don’t Watch That!” - 5 Guilty Pleasure Shows
1. Sex and the City
2. JAG
3. One Tree Hill (It’s one of the only things on Greek TV I haven’t seen)
4. Arrested Development
5. Bosom Buddies (vintage Tom Hanks)

Wow! - 5 TV Moments You Still Remember
1. Who Shot J.R.? (Dallas)
2. Marsha broke her nose (Brady Bunch)
3. Krystle and Alexis cat fight (Dynasty)
4. Hugh Grant apologizes on Jay Leno’s show after being caught with a hooker
5. Rita and Chris get married, then Chris dies (Silk Stalkings)

“Tossed Salads & Scrambled Eggs” - 5 TV Themes You Know By Heart
1. “Where Everybody Knows Your Name” - Cheers
2. “Fame”
3. “Love and Marriage” - Married with Children (It’s Sinatra, after all)
4. “I’ll Be There for You” - Friends
5. And of course, “Tossed Salads & Scrambled Eggs” - Frasier

“Eh?” - 5 Shows You Can’t Get Into
1. Lost
2. Any “Reality” Show
3. Knight Rider, Baywatch or anything else with David Hasselhoff
4. Any soap opera
5. Any Greek show, especially those with fake tavernas
6. Black Adder, Fools and Horses
7. Martha Stewart
8. Grey’s Anatomy
9. Heroes
10. 24
11. Scrubs
12. House
13. The Office
14. Seinfeld
15. My Name is Earl… Oop! Got carried away.

“The Starting Line Up” - Top 5 Channels You Watch
1. CNN
2. Star (For American shows)
3. There is nothing else
4. Seriously
5. I’m not kidding

“Gimme More” - 5 Shows You Can’t Get Enough Of
1. Everybody Loves Raymond
2. Frasier
3. CSI Miami
4. Law and Order, pick one, any one
5. South Park

I tag mono DIO and Mausi this month.

See “More windows on TV than in my house” for more about Greek TV.

And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming…

Today is also Groundhog’s Day, and Punxatawney Phil saw his shadow, so that means 6 more weeks of winter.

Photo from AP

For related posts, see “Silly stuff.”

We both don’t smoke. The majority of our friends don’t smoke and, if they do, they usually go out on the balcony.

So what am I talking about?

The apartment has a fireplace, which my fiancé used as a selling point to move here. Even our landlords downstairs told me they wished THEY had a fireplace like ours. I didn’t like this house and was skeptical of all the enthusiasm.

For starters, the fireplace is painted orange. But the kicker is the flue doesn’t close; it’s not even an option because there isn’t one. As a result, there’s a light but steady breeze blowing through the living room most days; on windy days, it’s worse. My observations were duly noted, but ignored.

My fiancé was convinced it would be warmer and more economical than petrol if we burned some wood so, after stating my objection to burning trees, I humored him and watched him start a fire. For a man who last built a fire in the army more than a decade ago, I was impressed with his flair for fotia. But kudos quickly turned to complaint as the house filled with smoke and sent me gasping for air. The smoke wasn’t going up the chimney, the wind was blowing it back into the house!

I ran through the house to close off the bedroom doors, kitchen and bathroom, while my fiancé hoped the smoke would dissipate and leave us in cozy comfort. I could see the look of determination on his face…or was it stubborn pride? Pleas to put out the fire were (you guessed it) duly noted, but ignored. It was going to be warm, dammit!

After three hours of futility in which I sat silent, we were no warmer, although the smell of burnt wood lasted a good four or five days during which I froze my a$$ off to air out the house, then washed every linen and shred of clothing.

The fireplace is now sealed off and retired, but if I ever want to feel like a smoked salmon again, at least I know I have that option.

For related stories, see “Silly stuff.”

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* If RB is reading this post, may I coax you to tell your fireplace story? Cheryl also has a post called, “Asphyxiation by fireplace”; everyone can find her on my Blog Worship list.

Every year, the Greek National Tourism Organization releases a new commercial to promote Greece as the ultimate destination. Past campaigns have included overly smiley people with happy feet…

and the “Explore your…” series.

See which ones didn’t make the cut for 2008.

* Warning: If you have no sense of humor, look away now.

Smoke Your Myth in Greece

Swim Your Myth in Greece

Syrtaki Your Myth in Greece

The challenge with being an American in Athens is sometimes people don’t know whether you celebrate American holidays, Greek holidays or both.

Those familiar with Greece know that people tend to put more emphasis on name days than birthdays, as many are named after saints and martyrs, and all have their respective days on the Orthodox calendar. This is common in many countries.

In a way, I find this easier to remember than birthdays because if you know someone’s name (and hopefully you do!), a radio DJ, newspaper or someone you know usually reminds you if it’s a particular day. I also find it more meaningful because it takes you back to the origins of a name and bonds people as a collective — including family members who often share the same name — instead of only celebrating the individual. Never mind that I’m broke on Nikos’ name day due to knowing a baker’s dozen (13)!

Name days are also great at deflecting the question, “how old are you?” Age is unimportant, unlike a birthday that could have your cake looking like an angry fireball if you’ve got smart ass friends (like I do), who light a candle for each one of your years.

The majority of people I know celebrate both their birthday and name day since, as Graffic mentioned recently, it meets the basic “any reason for a party.”

If you have a name that corresponds to a saint, it works out quite nicely. But if you’re not of Greek origin, people haven’t a clue whether you celebrate or not, so either they call and ask or simply stay away, especially if there’s been a recent death, illness or other hardship in the family.

I had that mixed situation yesterday.

Some called and wished me “Chronia polla” without hesitation, many stayed away, some called and almost apologetically asked if I celebrate. Some said it didn’t matter if I did or not because they wanted to talk to me (mostly women) or take the opportunity to wish me well regardless (thanks Vasili).

I can understand the confusion. On one hand, I’ve been in Greece for 10 years and always call and wish people “chronia polla” on their name days and birthdays, even if I’m in the middle of an Egyptian desert or tea plantation in India. On the other hand, I’m not Orthodox Christian and have stopped clubbing and throwing parties at my house to celebrate in advance of travel plans.

So what I got was something I like to call, “chronic pollo,” a mixed greeting invented by an adorable boy in Astoria, New York named Philippo, which roughly translates to persisting chicken. He couldn’t say, “chronia polla.”

For related name links, try “Name days” or “Name that Dimitri.”

Photo from equinoxio.org

Seeing as the meme king is occupied with working overtime and missed Kalo Mina, I’ve agreed to be meme queen for November. It’s a short one, but you’ll have to boot up your memory archives.

30 years ago, I was…singing songs and making a turkey from a paper cutout of my hand. (The one pictured is much better than mine, I assure you.)

20 years ago, I was…taking driver’s training, reading poetry from the Romantic period and learning to roll sushi at my weekend job.

15 years ago, I was…at college, double majoring in chemistry/psychology and wondering why.

10 years ago, I was…getting off a one-way flight to Belgium, about to speak really bad French and eat mussels in Brussels.

5 years ago, I was…in New York and counting down the days to snorkeling in Cancun and Cozumel.

2 years ago, I was…preparing to fulfill the last dream on my original list: See the Pyramids.

1 year ago, I was…bitterly moving house, with 5 weeks in India only 5 days away!

Yesterday, I was…a working, writing, cooking and cleaning sleepless fool.

Today, I am…thinking about how bored I am with this site’s theme and plotting its metamorphosis.

Tomorrow, I will…again go to work after hopefully getting some sleep tonight, although it’s 2 a.m and I’m answering a meme.

How I long for simpler days…

I tag:

1. EllasDevil, who promised to partake (done)
2. DeviousDiva, to assist on her journey of one blog per day in November (done)
3. Stathis, just because I think he’s fun (done)
4. AntigoneSis, if she has time (done)

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Photo from safesitter.org