John Fogerty: American Legend

You Guys.

I know I rave to an obnoxious degree about how much I love Neil Young.

Welp,

It's about time I share the love a little more.

Cause, 

you know,

Neil is just one of many incredible artists.

Yep, it's a first-name basis kind of relationship we have going on ;)

Enter John Fogerty.

from his website, linked above.

THIS GUY knows how to write a song.

AND execute it.

AND sing it out dripping with soul and emotion

He's such an incredible talent.

But here's the best part:

Mr. Fogerty just did an AMA on reddit.

A man after my own heart. 

The way he writes about his passions,

be it his love of old country and rock n' roll artists who inspired his unique sound

or his utter adoration for his wife and kid,

He just comes across as the type of guy you could get stuck in an elevator with

and not complain too much. 

if you don't know his CCR work, definitely give these songs a listen:

Lodi

Down on the Corner

Fortunate Son

(the Dropkick Murphys cover of that last song is pretty epic too)

As for his solo work,

I admit I don't know as much about it

but Mr Fogerty referenced this song in his reddit AMA

and it's become a new favorite for sure :) 

Plus, it was written for his lovely wife

if that doesn't bring a tear to your eye, I don't know what will. 

Enjoy guys Peter, hope you're having a great week dear.

Music Monday

I went to a beautiful wedding this weekend

which may or may not have inspired this song choice for this Music Monday. 

Hope it's a great one, y'all.

Americans are Funny, Too

Dearest, Sweetest Peter,

I know you think Americans can't be funny.

That we are the worst,

and that our un-funniness is just the icing 

on the America-is-eh-not-so-great cake.

Well.

In honor of Youtube's comedy week

(and my inability to start studying)

I am bound and determined

with this single blog post,

to prove you wrong.

Much Love,

Georgia

If you don't think Steve is funny,

we may have to reassess this relationship.

I mean,

if we don't laugh at the same things,

I don't know how this is going to work.

(p.s. same goes for if you can't laugh at Conan. FYI.)

I might love Aziz Ansari a teeny bit more than you. 

just a teensy bit. 

kitten mittens. 

when I was a kid, I thought this was the funniest movie in the world. 

I'm not sure why.

But 10 years later, I still crack up.

the end. 

Fellow Americans,

Anything I missed out on?

Music Monday (plus a cool link)

I'm feeling a classic kick coming back on, guys

(ok so it's Neil Young circa 1990s-

close enough.)

I remember as a kid

hearing guys like Neil and Bob Dylan sing.

they didn't have a sweetness to their voice

the way some other contemporary singers did

(<3 you Christie McVie!!)

and yet something still draws you in-
perhaps it's the ragged edge that sounds like they've slung back one too many whiskeys,

or the emphasis on storytelling over melody

But really, I think it's probably just the fact that these guys 

(and some of the ladies as well- RIP Janis)

have so much passion inside of them

they're not gonna let their lack of vocal prowess stop them from singing.

And I have to say,

I absolutely love it. 

They don't call Neil the Granddaddy of grunge for nothing.

On another note, what do you think of this NPR article?

I would love to start something like this up at my medical school.

I used to spend a decent amount of time at our local homeless shelter

unfortunately, years of wading through yellow tape, 

only to be stopped in our tracks

left me really disheartened about my ability

as a puny little medical student 

to make a difference in any community at the moment.

I've always felt that I was called to serve others through medicine,

but at the moment,

I am not exactly sure how I should go about answering...

does that make sense? 

This reassuring quote that Peter sent me in one of his letters 

reminds me that rather than attempt to control every minute detail of my life

I should spend more time embracing the moment

and have a bit more faith 

that I will be guided where I need to go

"In whatever place you live,

Stay put until God tells you to leave"

-Abba Anthony 

Have  a wonderful week, friends
oh, and...

Χριστός Ανέστη!

Yep, we can totally still say that! (:

Proverbs 17:22

somewhere in New Mexico, 2012 

Europe in America

I found this BBC clip on the dying German dialect in Texas fascinating!

Greeks are not the only ones who cling to their roots. 

Did your parents teach you any languages or traditions from the Old World?

On Forgiveness

I don't post many religious or spiritual articles on here these days.

Mostly it's because those articles take a lot more time, thought and mental energy

than it takes to just stick a youtube video or playlist on there and call it a day.

And considering I am supposed to be studying for my Boards exams 12 hours a day,

just flinging a few links up here is a lot easier 

than organizing my thoughts into a blog post.

But when I read this article on the BBC this morning 

I felt kind of compelled to write something.

A long time ago,

Germany did some awful things.

Saying they killed a lot of people would be an understatement. 

The scars left all over Europe and the rest of the world were devastating.

Greece was far from unmarred by World War II.

In Crete the oldest surviving member of my family told us about her experiences,

How her brother was trapped in Athens,

starving to death as the Germans held the city captive.

By the time he made it back to Monastiraki it was too late; 

he passed away from hunger soon after his escape.

child receiving oxfam food handout in WWII. source. 

I won't go into the Cretan Resistance today, 

(I'd rather research the topic to do it justice)

but if you are interested this film is well worth seeing. 

Other stories from the village I was asked not to tell

as she explained to me that these bad memories should die with her

and that the wicked deeds of the German soldiers who invaded her tiny village should not be remembered.

This is an interesting perspective,

especially in a world where memorialism and historical documentation have become so acutely prominent.

I mean, we killed Osama

and then made a flick about it two weeks barely a year later. 

The Lifetime Jodi Arias story was well into filming before a verdict had even been made.

And I am not saying that we should forget atrocities

or shove them to the back of our collective consciousness; 

let's face it,
we need to be cognizant of our capability as a human race to do such evil things

in order to prevent them from happening again 

(looking at you, Turkish government.)

But forgiveness

that is something that we are far less eager to get behind.

probably because it's a lot harder to forgive

than it is to stay pissed off.

It happens to be something that I am particularly bad at.

My brain is grudge-city- 

if you look at me funny I immediately assume you hate me and think I am weird 

and are plotting horrible things against me behind my back- 

and of course these imagined acts of cruelty are unforgivable.

But that's not exactly how we are called to live as Christians, is it?

A lot of Greeks have brought up the past discretions of World War II

in defense of their country's current state,

and while I certainly don't think the Greek state 

is blameless in creating its huge economic problems

they do have a really solid point.

The debts of Germany were all forgiven after the war.

This is a big component of why Germany is such a financial superpower today.

So when Angela Merckel pressures the Greek government with strict sanctions

and the EU threatens to evict Greece 

I can't help but imagine the servant of Matthew 18: 21-35

who, upon being forgiven a great debt by his master,

throws his own debtor in prison for a few hundred denarii. 

You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt, because you begged me. Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow servant, even as I had mercy on you?

Obviously,
this is a country we are talking about here, and not an individual.
I understand that the parallels aren't perfect-
and I'm certainly not out to solve the world's economic problems here.

I just think it's something to think about,

and considering my own track record on forgiveness

something I should probably reflect on more often.

Have a good week everyone. 

Music Monday

Peter, don't laugh.

(please.)

I kind of love this song

in all its histrionic-country-soap-opera glory.

The fact that Tim McGraw plays cardiothoracic ER surgeon probably did not help things. 

I hope you (and any other randos who happen to be reading this)

I mean, c'mon.
He rocks the cowboy hat like no other ;-)

have a lovely week!

Bright and Beautiful Music not-Monday

Guess what guys...it's Bright Week! If you are Orthodox, you know this is a week of feasting and celebrating  our salvation from the deepest darkest pits of hell, c/o Christ's crucifixion and resurrection (and yea, I may be saying this in a mildly humorous way but that statement is not at all meant to be sarcastic. I am a very grateful Christian this week.) If you are not Orthodox or a believer of any kind, jump on the Peace train anyways! Who needs an excuse to count their blessings and celebrate?

Here's a new band I think I love (and I've only heard 3 songs! Yes, I am an I-love-you whore.)

Enjoy, and have a blessed Pascha!

How to make studying a little less painful

I am studying for the boards for the next 6 weeks. So, I probably will not be posting on here very much during that time. I'M SORRY OK? Except not really, because I genuinely doubt that anyone actually reads this. 

To keep you preoccupied, 

here is a list of things to make the prospect of 6 weeks of studying a little less painful:

1. Rad Study Playlists from 8tracks! Especially ones with gorgeous mopey piano pieces and a few soundtrack classics (LOTR, *ahem*) thrown in there.

The Fault In Our Stars from EvanMaryniuk on 8tracks Radio.

(or, you know, just listen to the Shire theme over and over and over again)

2. Buy yourself some Rad materials- Usually I am ALL about cutting edges (cheapo-depot over here,) but there is something about writing and taking notes with a really nice pen that is pretty hard to say no to. So get your self an Office Depot frequent fliers' card and go to town on fun highlighters, cute tabs, a coffee mug with with a photo insert (I stare at the blue waves of Balos on mine every day- there's a fine line between teasing and torture), decorative paper- whatever it takes to make holing yourself up in 4 walls for 4 weeks straight even a teensy bit less painful

simple journal from recycled materials found on etsy


I am literally addicted to these pens. It is a sickness.

3. Plan fun stuff for after studying. For example, if I am extra-good this week, I get to go to the church gyro night with my friends! If we are EXTRA good, we might just pop over to Seacrest Wolf Preserve and play with some wolf cubs. What more motivation do you need to work your ass off? Yea, that's what I thought

Ugh. I can't even...source

4. Mix it up- I don't know about you, but the prospect of reading a single subject in a single medium is just way to daunting. Instead, I prefer to bounce around- an hour of microbiology lecture notes, then switch to watching a 35 minute video on pharmacology, then jump to doing a practice quiz on all subjects at the end of the day. Otherwise the work's just way too tedious.

5. Make lists. Not rocket science to most people, but it was to me. Even organization as simple as using the reminders app on my new iPhone (yay!) has helped me improve in staying on top of my responsibilities tremendously, both academic and otherwise.

Seriously, these may seem like dumb, no-duh-you-moron-what-rock-have-you-been-living-under revelations, but I didn't figure out these methods till halfway through my grad school career, so either (a) they are not actually all that obvious or (b) I really am too dumb to be going to medical school. I like to think that the truth lies somewhere in between :-p

Wish me luck guys!! I'm gonna need it.

Oh, and by the way...

CHRIST IS RISEN :)