indie_v

Sat, 23 Jun 2007 07:48:57 GMT

6. The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory
7. The Council of Florence by J. Gill (not a novel, one of my PhD books)
8. The Subtle serpent: a sister Fidelma mystery by Peter Tremayne (If you like murder mysteries and medieval history this series is the one!)
9. Turning Angel by Greg Iles (reading it for a book club but haven't finished it yet.)

Ok, it's pretty pathetic 1. that I haven't update my journal since January and 2. that I've only read 4 books since then. Granted, I'm not going to bore you with a list of all the books I've read for my studies, I just added that one in there so they look more! Maybe if I speed up a bit I'll manage to read 50 by the end of the year...

I really don't know what else to say, except I'm sick and tired of this weather already. Anyone from the UK reading my journal will know exactly what I mean. Seriously, what is wrong with this weather?? Rain and low temperatures in June?? And I have my mother complaining about burning in Greece (it's 41 - 43 Celcius!)
Now that I got that out of my system, I'm off to uni. I suppose that with my workload, I should be happy that it's not nice and sunny outside. Oh well.

updates

Thu, 25 Jan 2007 08:12:26 GMT

This week was a good one. I lost a couple of pounds, finally started getting back on track with everything at school and... bought my first car!! Well, not exactly mine, since I can't drive yet (don't ask...), but within my reach anyway :) Now all I need to do is start those lessons... which I've been saying I'll do since I was 18 and that was...um... 10 years ago.

Anyway, on another note, I started reading a new book. That would be:
5. The Perfume
It seemed that I was the only person on earth that hasn't read it yet by the time the movie came out, so I finally decided to give it a go. And guess what, it really is as amazing as the say. wow.
Also, I couldn't finish 'My name is Red'. This hasn't happened to me in years, and I have to admit I was in a weird mood when I started reading it, but I just couldn't get into it at all. I'll give it a try again in a couple of months because I just *hate* leaving books unfinished.

new beginnings

Sun, 07 Jan 2007 12:14:32 GMT

Does anyone even remember a looong time ago when I was doing this 50 book challenge? I think I stopped counting at about 10 or something. So I figured, why not, it's a new year so let's start again. Only this time I'm going to include my PhD books, since some times they're all I read! Some of them are pretty good as well *dodges rotten veg*. OK, I said good, not overly interesting and exciting... lol.

My list is pathetically short so far, but hey, it's only 7 days into the new year and i'm a relatively slow reader. And this time, I have to remember not to stop the challenge half way. There's a nice New Year resolution :)

1. The favoured child by Philippa Gregory.
Ok, so I needed some light reading! And it provided exactly that. It wasn't worth of a Nobel prize or anything but it was well written, the story was decent and it provided good entertainment. I might even read the sequel. It's supposed to be part of a trilogy, apparently.

2. My name is Red by Orhan Pamouk.
Well, I'm kind of cheating with this one because I only just started reading it. It's good so far though.

3. Constantinople and the Latins by Aggeliki Laiou.
One of my PhD books, on the foreign policy of the Byzantine Emperor, Andronikos II (14th century). Interesting, but a bit outdated.

In the 50bookchallenge community, I also found two links for 2 sites, where you can swap books by post. I haven't checked them out yet but it's an interesting concept! I'm already compiling a mental list of all the books I could give up. I'm not very good at this though cause I'm pretty attached to my books. Even the ones I didn't like... Oh well, we'll see.
Here are the links:
www.paperbackswap.com
bookmooch.com

another ticker

Sun, 24 Dec 2006 11:27:59 GMT

I just realised that I should have another weight loss ticker in pounds, instead of kilos. This can get really confusing. Well, here it is. Nothing much has changed since last week, but I think I should put this on hold till after the holidays. IT doesn't seem to be working very well. There are just too many distractions around, even in a snack-free/candy-free house like mine. Not to mention friends dropping by all the time with a bottle of wine or some other calory-filled alcoholic drink!! Anyway. I just have to keep my mouth shut (literally) and try not to get too carried away...

Tue, 19 Dec 2006 11:06:21 GMT

Shamelessly 'borrowing' another idea from browneydweasley, I finally posted my weight loss ticker. I figured, if I go public with it, maybe I'll be embarrassed to fail this time! So, wish me luck. It's not easy beginning a diet a week before Christmas. It's a recipe for disaster, that's what it is!!

update

Mon, 23 Oct 2006 14:24:12 GMT

I haven't written anything for ages, I know!! For some reason, I felt that I didn't have anything exciting to share with you. However, I have to give credit to my great friend browneydweasley for giving me a great day!! I can't even begin to tell you how amazing it was to finally meet her in person after chatting online for quite a while. Especially since we live so far apart! Hopefully, this will be repeated since Equus is coming out in theatres this spring and I know it's something she wouldn't miss for the world. So, thanx girl, I owe you one!!!

Thu, 07 Sep 2006 16:00:14 GMT

I passed!!! I passed!!!
*calms down a bit* A few days ago I took the test in Perfect Imagination to become an accredited beta reader and guess what?? I passed!!! I scored 91% as well!!! How cool is that??? Anyway, I just wanted to share my excitement with everyone *grins broadly*

I was trying to find a way to share the image with everyone but for the life of me I can figure it out. So, if anyone wants to see it, here's the link:

http://www.perfectimagination.co.uk/modules.php?mod=Accreditation

My code number is PI:0045701525

Tue, 05 Sep 2006 21:26:09 GMT

wow... it feels like ages since I posted anything. Well, it is ages since I've been away for more than a month. So, holidays are over, my tan is gone and I've returned to my studies. Not that I can complain though because it means I get to talk to everyone in HP fandom again *wink*. So here's a little quiz that I again *eh hem* 'borrowed' from browneydweasley. A really cool one too.

Thu, 15 Jun 2006 13:58:32 GMT

You Are an Orange Margarita

At first glance, you are very unique - but deep down you are still quite a traditionalist.
A margarita may be "too fancy" for you, but you'll never turn a free one down.

What Flavor Margarita Are You?

another update on films

Thu, 15 Jun 2006 13:48:46 GMT

My boyfriend and I decided to take on the huge task of categorising all our dvds. Ok, not huge, but it was quite a challenge. So far we've done about 1/3 and decided to start watching them in order, since there are about 50 or 60 of them that we've never seen. There was this time that we were just collecting all the movies we could find but never had time to actually watching. So, after this update, don't be surprised if you see any weird titles in here. We're not allowed to pass any up.
So, here's a quick update. I barely made it to #18, so I'm not sure if I'll make my goal date of 5th July.

14. East is East (1999, Damien O'Donnell)

15. La cage aux folles (1978, Edouard Molinaro)
Haven't seen this in a while so it was the perfect choice after a very tiring day. Excellent film! I recommend it to anyone - as long as you're not easily offended that is *wink*

16. Bridget Jones' Diary (2001, Sharon Maguire)
What can I say? I was tired, I was alone because my bf was out watching football... I needed Mr Darcy!

17. 1900 (1976, Bernardo Bertolucci)
The first film from our collection. I've seen it before but I was too young to understand it completely the first time. Gerard Depardieu is just amazing in this film. Well, Robert de Niro is not too bad either ;o)

18. Spy Game (2001, Tony Scott)
It was on TV last night. I was expecting something completely different so I was pleasantly surprised but I must admit, the storyline was a bit too much for me to follow after a long day.

50 film challenge

Sun, 28 May 2006 08:33:05 GMT

Here's an update on the movie challenge. I have to watch all 50 films till July 5th. Just letting everyone know ;o)

10. The DaVinci Code (Ron Howard, 2006): I have to admit, I was really frightened by all the reviews. It turned out ok, though. Not a masterpiece, but then again, the book wasn't one either. It just happened to have a very catchy story. So, I sat back and enjoyed it. DOn't think I'll see it again though ;o)

11. Swordfish (Dominic Sena, 2001): For some reason I haven't seen this before. Brilliant!!

12. Est - Ouest (Régis Wargnier, 1999): Russian / French movie. It follows the life of a family (french mother, russian father and their son) that decide to return to Soviet Russia in 1946, after believing Stalin's promises for amnesty. I certainly recommend this movie. It's very powerful and very true, without exaggerations about Stalin's regime or the democracy of the Western world. Catherine Deneuve makes an appearance and is fabulous as ever.

13. America's Sweethearts (Joe Roth, 2001): It was on TV last night and I couldn't resist. This movie is hilarious!!

Sat, 27 May 2006 14:05:42 GMT

Shamelessly borrowed from browneyedweasley 's journal :o)

How to make a Indie

Ingredients:

3 parts pride

1 part crazyiness

3 parts ego

Method:
Stir together in a glass tumbler with a salted rim. Add a little cocktail umbrella and a dash of sadness

Personality cocktail
From Go-Quiz.com

Sat, 27 May 2006 14:03:05 GMT

Ok, I was sort of expecting it...

be sorted @ nimbo.net

50 movies challenge

Thu, 18 May 2006 16:37:07 GMT

Same concept as the 50 books one. I'm posting the list in my journal as well, but if you like movies you should definitely check out this community. Lots and lots of suggestions in there. Here are mine (for now):

1. Un long dimanche de fiancailles (A very long engagement) [2004, Jean-Pierre Geunet]: like everything with Audrey Tautou in it, this movie is absolutely wonderful. Has anyone noticed the colour sequence in Geunet's films? Delicatessen is Green, Amelie is Red and this one is yellow. Ok, I know I'm weird... ;o)

2. Rebel without a cause [1955, Nicholas Ray]

3. Sid and Nancy [1986, Alex Cox]: not bad, since it has Gary Oldman in it, but not very flattering for poor old Sid. A little one - sided I thought.

4. Howl's moving castle [2004, Hayao Miyazaki]: everyone should see this movie. It's the sweetest thing ever!! Christian Bale is doing a great job lending his voice to the main character as well.

5. Politiki Kouzina (A touch of spice) [2003, Tassos Boulmetis]: greek movie, probably the only one in a while that got a little bit of an international or at least european fame. Even though I think a little bit of knowledge of greek history is required in order to get it completely, it's still wonderful. It has some beautiful shots of Istanbul and some really yummy foods shown in there.

6. Love Actually [2003, Richard Curtis]: ok, don't blame me... we were having a girl's night. Hence the next two movies on the list ;o)

7. Pride and Prejudice [BBC series, 1995, Simon Langton]: words can't describe how great this mini series is, so I won't even try. Just think Colin Firth in the lake ;o)

8. Notting Hill [1999, Roger Michell]: can't say this is the best movie ever but it has a very special meaning for me so I watch it now and then... I've already said I'm weird ;o)

9. Fiorile [1993, Paolo & Vittorio Taviani]: wonderful italian movie that tells the story of a family curse starting from the 18th century up to the 1990s. Really amazing.

50 book challenge update

Thu, 18 May 2006 16:11:31 GMT

Here's an update of my reading list:

10. Angela's Ashes (Frank McCourt): Found this at a coffee shop in Birmingham. It's a travelling book so I'm supposed to read it and and set it free again. I'm nearly done and I must say, it's not nearly as depressing as the movie!

11. Seeing (Jose Saramago): sequel to an oldest novel 'Blindness'. It's quite a scandal how spot on he can be with his writing, whatever the topic. I highly recommend both of the books (all of his books for that matter).

Sat, 13 May 2006 14:29:09 GMT

Check out this page!! I didn't even know this thing existed till my boyfriend found one of the books at his work and brought it home!

Sat, 13 May 2006 14:16:11 GMT

Hello, hello!
Sorry to anyone that's reading my LJ that I disappeared the last few days. Real life is really hard on me right now. I booked my ticket to go back home to Greece in July though, so I'm not complaining. Only one month to go!!
Just wanted to share the wonderful banner my friend Bee Black made for me. Actually, she made quite a few but I'm going to use them in turns. So, here it is:

50 books challenge

Thu, 04 May 2006 11:45:02 GMT

Ok, so I already posted the link to this fantastic new community I discovered. If any of its members is reading my LJ, thank you all so much for the amazing response to my post! I didn't think I'd get so many comments!! I feel absolutely honoured!
Anyway, I decided to post my list of books here on my journal as well, so that anyone else not on the community can comment on it, if they want.
I wanted to make a link to it, so it doesn't appear directly on this post (I'm not sure if I'm describing this correctly, I hope you guys know what I mean) but i have no idea how to do that... help? please?
So, for now... here's the list. I'll try and update it asap.

1. Harry Potter and the HBP: Ok, I'm cheating a bit with this one, since I read it back in the summer when it first came out and then re-read it on January. Whoever hasn't read it yet, you don't know what you're missing!

2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen): I was going through a phase and started focusing on Miss Austen. I hate to say that I love her stories, characters, settings and everything but her writing style is just killing me!! I'm almost falling asleep!! No offense to anyone that likes her of course. Nor will that stop me from reading all her other books.

3. Northanger Abbey (Jane Austen): this book made me change my mind about the above comment just a tiny bit, so if anyone is thinking of venturing into Miss Austen's work, better start from that one.

4. The Closed Circle (Jonathan Coe, 2004): Sequel to "The Rotters' Club", which follows the life of a group of friends growing up in Birmingham, UK during the '70s. The sequel shows their lives as grown - ups. Watching the transformation of the city itself is - for me at least - equally fascinating.

5. Goodbye Colombus (Philip Roth)

6.The Gospel according to Jesus Christ (Jose Saramago): don't read if you're easily offended. If you do though, you'll be blown away. His writing style is one of the most powerful I've ever seen!

7. The Double (Jose Saramago): his newest book - in Greece at least, since that's where I bought it. Watching a rented video, Tertuliano M-ximo Afonso is shocked to notice that one of the actors is identical to him in every physical detail. He embarks on a secret quest to find his double, and sets in motion a train of events that he cannot control. (review from imdb)

8. A greek book called 'Albatross' (Soti Triantafyllou): it takes place in end of 19th century London and explores the political changes, women's rights, social classes in Great Britain. I think an english translation by the author in on the way since half of the year she lives and works in New York.

9. Another greek book 'Deep, silent waters' (Rea Galanaki): I really wish I could share this one with everyone. The author defines it as a 'chronicle', not a novel and it tells the true story of a 'kidnapping' (for lack of better word) that happened in Crete, Greece almost 50 years ago. A young man, a IInd WW hero and famous in Crete fell in love with the daughter of his political adversary and 'stole' her in order to marry her without the consent of her father. This practice was (and still is) very common in Crete and is accepted by the unwritten local laws and traditions. However, a simple love affair turned into a full blown vendetta between the two families, the greek government and the army got involved, 5 constitutional laws were lifted in order to put Crete under seige and capture the fleeing couple and the story made it in newspapers around the world.

Thu, 04 May 2006 09:48:23 GMT

For anyone that hasn't already seen it on my friends list, check out this really great community I found, thanks to one of my new friends!
It's called 50bookchallenge and it's absolute heaven for anyone that likes to read!!!

Oh and of course there's a similar one for movies. Check that out as well :o)

Thu, 04 May 2006 08:54:20 GMT

Ok, it's been ages since I've written anything in here. Mainly because I really don't know what to write, without feeling really strange, as if I'm talking to myself out loud while walking in the street! Creepy.
Anyway, going past that, I decided it was high time I put something in here, since I've got 5 new friends from mctabby 's Friending Frenzy!!! Yay!!! So, welcome everyone!!

I've been snooping around my new friends' journals and I feel really guilty for not having anything on here. But really, what can a person who doesn't write fanfic or knows anything about fanart put in their Live Journal. Well, if anyone is to blame about me starting this thing and boring you all to death is browneydweasly! She's the one who introduced me to LJ and got me hooked!!

Well, since I can't think of anything interesting to say, I'll share my RL stuff with you guys. I guess I could introduce myself: I'm Vera, 26, from Greece. I currently live in Birmingham, UK, where I'm a 2nd year PhD student in Byzantine Studies. If anyone's wondering what the hell Byzantine is... well, you know Medieval? Hold that thought and move to the east, where modern Greece and Turkey are. That's the Byzantine Empire. Please don't ask me why I find that interesting... right now Í'm beginning to have doubts as well.
I'm supposed to be reading a book about geography and climate in the mediterranean sea, which basically talks about the currents going through the mediterranean and how they affected commerce! What???? I have 5 unknown words in every sentence and I seriously think I'll pass out from boredom before I get the chance to look them up in the dictionary.

Add to that the fact that after 3 years I decided it was time I got some exercise. So I went to the gym. Biiig mistake! Now, of course, I can barely move and the only part of my body that isn't completely sore are my fingers - which comes in handy since all I can do is type!!! ;o)

Let's see... what else? Dave Matthews is coming for a concert here in Birmingham next week. Anyone else excited? I've been trying to buy tickets but his name keeps appearing and disappearing from the official site of the venue. It's really scary, I'm telling you.

Ok, I'm going to stop that now before I scare you all away. If anyone has a good idea on how we can all get to know each other, please post it. I'm off to look into your LJ some more. Again, welcome everybody. I promise that from tomorrow I'll go back to being the ray of sunshine I usually am :o) No more whining!

Thu, 13 Apr 2006 09:02:38 GMT

Check out this cool site that a friend sent me. It's pretty funny what it come up with:
http://www.namedecoder.com/

(I know the link probably doesn't work, because I have no idea how to do that! Sorry about that)

And look at that:

And that:

It's really amazing what you can find when you have way too much time in your hands... lol

Sun, 09 Apr 2006 15:16:31 GMT

Here's another one. Not bad, huh?

You Are Aphrodite!

A total shining star with a ton of admirers
And no wonder: you live life to the fullest!
When things get bad, you can easily take off to a happier place
But occasionally, you need to deal with problems head on

What Goddess Are You?

Sun, 09 Apr 2006 15:03:45 GMT

Um... I'm not sure how to start here. A friend invited me to join LJ and I did, but now I need to figure out how it works! You wouldn't think that's very hard, but see... it is! So, I decided to just start babbling a bit about everything and anything in here, just to see what will happen.

Here's a quiz that I did, after seeing it in my friend's browneyedweasley's LJ:

You scored as Ron Weasley. If you went to Hogwarts you would be screwing Ron Weasley. Now don't let the fact that he's Harry Potter's side kick discourage you, there is a lot more to Ron than meets the eye. And thats what you love about him. He's sweet, sensitive, quirky, and not to mention a firey red head. You know what that means? It means he'll fuck your brains out if you let him! He had you on your back the second you heard he stole a car!
So go head girl go head get down.

</td>

Ron Weasley

70%

Harry Potter

65%

Cedric Diggory

60%

Fred and George Weasley

50%

Draco Malfoy

50%

Percy Weasley

45%

Victor Krum

25%

No one, your a prude

WHO ARE YOU SCREWING AT HOGWARTS??
created with QuizFarm.com

Not sure how I feel about that one. Nothing against Ron, of course, he is quite yummy. I always just thought of myself as a bit more of a Harry Potter girl. Even a Remus Lupin or Sirius Black on, if you want to be really technical and take the age restrictions into account. But they're not even on the list... oh well.

You've been kissed by a Harry Potter actor.. by hailme
Name
Random #
He..	touches your shoulder to get your attention
and..	pulls you towards him
then he..	softly covers your lips with his
and..	looks away, embarassed of being so forward
Then he says..	Nothing, he just tries to gauge your reaction.
And you say..	"Oh.. my.."
Then he..	kisses you again
Who kissed you:	Daniel Radcliffe