A bit lightheaded

1. Day 228/365 - Unfocused, 2. The Whole Truth, 3. The Trouble With Sleeping, 4. Untitled

Almost forgot about the flickr favorites, I've been a bit under the weather. My sleeping habits are so off, it's been exhausting staying awake during the day. So I'm a bit unfocused and tired, hopefully I'll be back to normal by the end of the week...
More flickr favorites at Artmind's blog right here!

A new beginning

1. Love affair (365/174), 2. pink toes, 3. hold on, (225/365), 4. week three: We Are The World Tag Along [Explore #50!]

First flickr favorites of this year and it's about 2011 and what I'd like it to be!
I want to take more photos and read books about photography, a new hobby that I feel pretty passionate about,
I'd like to play more with my nephew, he is now three and a half and says the most awesome things,
I'd like to remain balanced for the entire year. I have lots of plans and ideas, new things to try and the thought of this huge list of things to do makes my mind spin
and finally I hope this year is all about balloons and floating in the air for everyone :-)

It's so nice to have Mitsy back in blogland, so if you'd like to see more flickr favorites you can do that right here!

Stars

1. Thars Stars Up Thar, 2. Lucky stars, 3. hbw | happy (custom) bokeh wednesday, 4. Dark Skies in Owyhee Country

in the street of the sky night walks scattering poems. That's my favorite line from my favorite poet e.e. cummings, I was going to doodle it to enter the doodlers anonymous showcase but I got sidetracked and missed the deadline. You can see the showcase here, I wish I had taken part it's so awesome!
A bit of sad news as Solomon Burke passed away on Monday, such a great loss to music. This song is my most favorite but there are so many more...
See more at Artmind's blog here!

Faint

1. made of scars, 2. World Blood donor day 140610, 3. Blood Nose, 4. Blood Is Thicker Than Water.

Well it's Tuesday the time for a flickr favorite, this time a themed one too! Something that touches your senses, gives you goosebumps, makes you all gooey inside...
I am quite faint hearted when it's time to have a blood test. I have fainted a few times, my most memorable was when I actually passed out for quite a while and the microbiologist had to slap me pretty hard to wake me up. I even remember that I dreamed too, a very vivid dream with bright lights. Coming around I saw my mother and see was pale as a ghost. Since then I always have someone with me for blood tests and although I haven't passed out again I feel so drained after.
The smell of disinfectant makes me queasy, the sight of the needle makes my knees weak, I am a mess before the needle touches my skin. It is kind of an assault to my senses and not a happy one...
See more at Mitsy's blog here!

Block

1. so.. I've been tagged.. again.., 2. Cookie Splash II, 3. Broken Tip 1, 4. fall away

It's definitely autumn now, the days are shorter and the rain comes more often. I don't know if it's the season but I feel so lazy, I have been spending my time reading books and watching movies. I haven't been able to find my rhythm, instead I tell myself tomorrow will be the day when I'll start creating and crafting again but I seem to break my own promises. I'm hoping it will come to me again, my desire to make things.

Go to Mitsy's blog here for more flickr favorites!

Offline

1. "Someone Left that Phone", 2. internet not bitten you yet?, 3. 076 : Select : Offline Shoot 02, 4. It says here that there is a wild grizzly bear on the loose...

I've been away these couple of weeks, up in the Peloponnese mountains with no internet connection at first. Then my sister bought this magic stick you plug into the laptop and voila you are connected! Hey great I thought, now I'll keep up with everything but boy was I wrong. It was then that the satellites decided they hated me. Every time I was trying to get on line something would go wrong: I got a blue screen error and lost the connection a couple of times before I finally gave up. It was pretty funny that my sister had no problems, surfing the web with perfect 3G connection and when I would sit near her it would go all crazy.
Well now I'm back and thank God the adsl lines love me as much as I love them!
See more at Artmind's blog right here!

Mental travel

1. Longtail at "The Beach", Thailand, 2. Little scissors on the beach, 3. Hong Island, near Krabi, Thailand, 4. Classic Andaman | Trang (Sikao), Thailand

Since I didn't get to go on holiday this summer I reread one of my favorite books: The beach by Alex Garland. I love the book, a quest for Eden, a beach unspoiled by the thousands of tourists roaming Thailand. I did see the movie when it came out and although I fell in love with the stunning locations the differences from the book put me off. Quite honestly I was hoping for Ewan McGregor to play the lead, the movies by the Trainspotting trio (Danny Boyle, John Hodge and Andrew MacDonald) had never let me down until then.
Visit Artmind's blog for more flickr favorites!

Summer boredom

1. 137, 2. soft bell, 3. Herbstaster_01, 4. Purple Power

Another heatwave has me counting days until autumn, I feel so drained with no desire to do anything. Tomorrow I will have to brave the heat and go out, really not looking forward to that. The good thing is that everybody else is on vacation that means that the streets are empty, no traffic and empty buses, that's Athens in August.
I have been taking photos of stuff for a while, mostly flowers and some from my village in the Peloponnese. I have nearly 2000 photos in my hard drive but I think only a few are really good.
The first photo is mine, a lilac flower in our country house. I love taking photos of flowers, unfortunately summer in Greece is too hot for any kind of flower to bloom. I joined this group recently, it's so colorful!

Play along at Artmind's blog here!

Hamlet

1. Poison Vial/Dagger, 2. ghost, 3. Drowning Ophelia, 4. Flirt with Hades

My knowledge of Shakespeare's plays is largely based on movie adaptations of his plays: I have seen and loved Baz Luhrmann's Romeo and Juliet, The merchant of Venice, where I was blown away by all the performances, Richard the III, with an amazing Ian Mckellen, A midsummer night's dream, a funny one but not in my favorite movie's list, Much ado about nothing, where I loved the playfulness between Branagh and Emma Thomson and finally Titus, a beautiful violent film with Anthony Hopkins.
Last night I saw Hamlet, I liked the idea of the play being set in modern New York but it made me realize that the most beautiful thing about the movie was the words they said. Line after line I was struck by the beauty of Shakespeare's play. I have to admit that reading his plays seems like a daunting task, I have only read Othello and that was from a greek translation. I do believe that a lot is lost in the translation but until now I hadn't decided to try reading one of his plays from the original text. So next time I go book hunting I will be definitely looking for some Shakespeare!
Also this has been a favorite painting of mine for a very long time!
To play along or just see what others are loving today visit Artmind's blog here.

Tokyo

1. Shinjuku at Dusk, 2. sweetest thing, 3. Fosqueja a Asakusa / Dusk in Asakusa, 4. spring in gotokuji 1, 5. smile : maiko (geisha apprentices) kyoto, japan / canon 7d 　　日本・京都 舞妓 　, 6. Gardens, Heian Shrine, Kyoto, 7. Heian Jingu Shrine, 8. A small part of Tokyo..., 9. Tokyo: Ochanomizu

A themed mosaic for this flickr favorites and it is about dream destinations. I think you can tell mine is Tokyo. I am amazed by the Japanese culture by the fact that although they are so technologically advanced they have a very strong tradition. It seems like such a place of contradiction, one day you walk around huge skyscrapers and the next you are in some small temple walking around its beautiful garden. Walking in the streets and meeting Harajuku girls or a pretty geisha. Well a girl can dream, until then I can ogle at the lovely photos!
One day in Tokyo, I think I'd like to stay for a month!
Visit the world today at Artmind's blog!

Luck

1. lucky, 2. Evil Eye, 3. Attracting good luck 4, 4. Everyones Lucky number

I think we are jinxed or cursed or something like that. It's the only way I can explain our summers. Last summer my mother, me and my sister all went to the hospital, for different reasons but that was our summer holiday, two months coming and going to hospitals. Now this summer everyone is healthy (knock on wood), so we were planning to leave in a week. Then my sister gets in a car crash. It wasn't her fault, some woman run a red light. Nobody was hurt except for our car which is now wrecked. I'm hoping things will work out or else we will resort to extreme measures i.e. priests blessing our house, shamans keeping off evil spirits, walking around wearing horseshoes or buying that kitschy cat that brings good luck.
Want to see more? Go to Mitsy's blog here!

Graffiti

1. Banksy love, 2. ZAP, 3. Graffiti, Hasselt, 4. Graffiti por "osgemeos"

A while ago I saw this movie about graffiti, it was pretty amazing. I've always loved graffiti and consider it an art form. In wiki there is this interesting article, in Pompeii after the volcano eruption graffiti was preserved on the walls and it included curses, magic spells, declarations of love, alphabets, political slogans and famous literary quotes!
There is a street here in Greece, were there is graffiti by many artists including the osgemeos team from Brazil, the last photo is their work. The second photo is a Greek artist, he is pretty amazing, you can check out more of his work here.
To see more mosaics visit Artmind's blog!

Dance

1. Tango Dancers, 2. spinning, 3. { the big sister dance} +2 in comments, 4. What's black, white, and jumping all over?

I was watching a show about dancing last night and they did a flash mob dancing act to promote it. Flash mob is when a group of people gather suddenly in public to dance or do something unexpected and just as suddenly they stop and go on their separate ways. It has been used in advertising but I like it better when it's people doing it just for fun. So watch these videos and maybe if it happens to you you'll join the dance!
This is in Belgium, love the song choice. This is in Ukraine, kids dancing it's fantastic. This is from a Michael Jackson tribute in Sweden, two different performances.
Go to Mitsy's blog here and see some more great stuff!

Groucho

1. Groucho, 2. You remind me of you, 3. Rufus T. Firefly, If You Please, 4. GrouchoLisa

"Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others."
Groucho Marx

It was so hard choosing one quote but I think the one I choose represents the mad genius of Groucho Marx. Here are some more of his quotes. There is also a flickr group "The Groucho Marx Appreciation Society", very funny to look through. Now I really must have those glasses and take a photo of myself!
Play along with Artmind here!

Sand castles

1. DA VINCI SAND SCULPTURE, 2. The Lion and the Mouse, 3. Paparazzi, sandsculpture Scheveningen 2005, 4. Sand Sculpture -A Visit to The Denist

I used to build sand castles when I was a kid, filled up a bucket and then turned it upside down. I also remember digging huge holes in the sand, not sure what I was looking for! This is something more ambitious than a sand castle, but I wonder if they had as much fun making them as I had making my little castles.
You can make your own mosaic here and join in Artmind's blog!

Combination

1. Orange Koi ~ Turquoise Tile, Um Hmmm!, 2. blue orange turquoise, 3. MagicPond, 4. Orange rose on turquoise plate

While painting some journal pages I was using a paper napkin to wipe of excess color. I only used it twice, first with a turquoise color and then orange. When I finished with my pages I looked at that napkin and it looked amazing, I discovered my new favorite color combination by accident!
Check out more mosaic's at Artmind.

Water

1. sprinkler kid, 2. Summertime, 3. Sprinkler Fun, 4. Cattle Dogs and Sprinkler _R5W1842

The first heatwave is here, too hot to do anything but play with water. On days like this I wish there were sprinklers on every street cooling you as you walk by!
See more mosaic's at Mitsy's blog!

Toys

1. An Ice Cream Cone, A Boy, and His Dog, 2. Day 130/365: Toothbrush, 3. At full sail!, 4. day 232
Being the aunt of a three year old boy has reminded me how it was when we were kids. So many toys scattered around the house, under couches, under tables and under your feet when you least expect it! He is a boy so most of them, well actually ALL of them are ugly dinosaurs and big trucks, cars, airplanes the list is endless ;)
All the photos are from a group in flickr: The secret life of toys, makes me want to take photos of his toys and their secret lives!
There are more fabulous mosaics to see at Artmind's blog.

Emptiness

1. Numb, 2. Empty, 3. Alone - Belleville, Paris, 4. Square VIII - /ï

This week there is a theme for my mosaic, emptiness/loneliness and I think black and white photos really convey those feelings.
For more mosaic go to Artmind's blog!

Embroidery

1. Urban Swap 2, 2. Pattern Sample - Stitched Heart n Hypo, 3. ♥ the singer - part one, 4. Rococo Sunset

I decided to do an embroidery mosaic since these last few days that's all I've been doing! I am just a beginner but I've been enjoying it so much. I'm thinking of buying a book about the different kind of stitches and how to do them, any suggestions?
Rainbow of stitches submissions open until May 31.