There have been many dire warnings about our health recently. From the W.H.O (The World Health Organization) issued a warning about a future deadly pandemic – ‘Disease X’, that is 70% more deadlier than covid.
Then the W.H.O warned against artificial sweetners, like Sucralose found in Splenda, cause cancer, and damage to Dna.
Then the W.H.O said that very hot drinks can cause esophageal cancer.
Who knows what else we are consuming that in the future will be exposed as dangerous..
I cannot believe that it has already been three years since the pandemic really took the world by storm. The ‘unprecendented times’, words spoken by many news reporters, shocked and scared many. It changed so many peoples lives. Their jobs, their relationships their health all were affected by the pandemic.
Looking back, many mistakes were made. Governments became too authoritarian. And people became more angrier and divided than ever over issues such as the vaccines, and the mandatory enforcement of them.
But, the worst off all was the pandemic of fear. This had and still has crippled many people. It worsened people’s mental health and which led to terrible results for some.
“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.“-Madam Curie
“Fear is an insidious virus. Given a breeding place in our minds … it will eat away our spirit and block the forward path of our endeavors.”-James F. Bell III
While at Hydra I was lucky enough to view and photograph Amercian artist Jeff Koons’ sun scultpure.
It is an impressive sculpture that fits into the scenery of the island. It is a two-faced sun and is quite big. the sun rays spin slowly around.
Everyone knows how expensive Mykonos can be. It has become a bit of a joke. It is most certainly not a place that most Greeks can afford to go to which is a bit shameful.
And, yes I have heard that a beach chair can cost you about a thousand euros. Crazy!
Όλοι ξέρουν πόσο ακριβή μπορεί να είναι η Μύκονος. Έχει γίνει λίγο αστείο. Σίγουρα δεν είναι ένα μέρος που οι περισσότεροι Έλληνες μπορούν να αντέξουν οικονομικά να πάνε, κάτι που είναι λίγο ντροπιαστικό
Και, ναι, έχω ακούσει ότι μια ξαπλώστρα μπορεί να σου κοστίσει περίπου χίλια ευρώ. Τρελά!
..I I’m a bit of a perfectionist and I might redo this drawing as soo as the sweat stops dripping down my face and things get more comfortable. :0
My second drawing in the series ‘The age of entitlement’.
Here is the very priviledged ‘alpha male’ he is known to be the dominant male in the hierarchy. He is the successful and aggressive ‘go-getter’ type. Money, women and social status come easily to him. The toxic traits of this type of man can be arrogance, selfishness, insensitivity and he can be violent too.
Εδώ είναι το πολύ προνομιούχο «άλφα αρσενικό» που είναι γνωστό ότι είναι το κυρίαρχο αρσενικό στην ιεραρχία. Είναι ο επιτυχημένος και επιθετικός τύπος. Τα χρήματα, οι γυναίκες και η υψηλή κοινωνική θέση του έρχονται εύκολα. Τα τοξικά χαρακτηριστικά αυτού του τύπου ανθρώπου μπορεί να είναι η αλαζονεία, ο εγωισμός, η αναισθησία και μπορεί να είναι και βίαιος.
This is my first drawing out of the three in my ‘Age of Entitlement’ series.
We are living in a day and age where narcissism is at an all-time high. Everyone wants to be king or queen. Very few are humble. People’s egos are incredibly strong and get easily offended over petty things.
The rich, and even the poor, attack other less fortunate people; constantly blaming them for their circumstance as if it is always up to the individual. Too much blame is put on the individual. But there are plenty of other factors outside of a person’s control that could have created the difficult situation that they are in. The old school idea that working hard will ensure financial stability is false as there are people who work more than one job, and still struggle to get by.
A person’s luck is the biggest factor of all. And no one really ‘deserves’ a gold-plated toiled throne. No matter how hard they worked for it.
Αυτό είναι το πρώτο σχέδιο από τα τρία στη σειρά μου, “Η εποχή των προνομιούχων”.
Ζούμε σε μια εποχή όπου ο ναρκισσισμός βρίσκεται στο υψηλότερο σημείο όλων των εποχών. Όλοι θέλουν να γίνουν βασιλιάς ή βασίλισσα. Πολύ λίγοι είναι ταπεινοί. Οι εγωισμοί των ανθρώπων είναι απίστευτα δυνατοί και προσβάλλονται εύκολα για ασήμαντα πράγματα.
Οι πλούσιοι, ακόμη και οι φτωχοί, επιτίθενται σε άλλους λιγότερο τυχερούς ανθρώπους. κατηγορώντας τους συνεχώς για την περίστασή τους σαν να εξαρτάται πάντα από το άτομο. Υπερβολική ευθύνη επιρρίπτεται στο άτομο. Αλλά υπάρχουν πολλοί άλλοι παράγοντες εκτός του ελέγχου ενός ατόμου που θα μπορούσαν να έχουν δημιουργήσει τη δύσκολη κατάσταση στην οποία βρίσκεται. Η παλιά σχολική ιδέα ότι η σκληρή δουλειά θα εξασφαλίσει την οικονομική σταθερότητα είναι εσφαλμένη, καθώς υπάρχουν άνθρωποι που εργάζονται περισσότερες από μία θέσεις εργασίας, και ακόμα πασχίζουν να τα βγάλουν πέρα.
Η τύχη ενός ανθρώπου είναι ο μεγαλύτερος παράγοντας από όλους. Και σε κανέναν δεν «αξίζει» ένας επιχρυσωμένος θρόνος τουαλέτας. Ανεξάρτητα από το πόσο σκληρά δούλεψαν για αυτό.
My handmade collage background with a layer of a photograph of a rose that I captured from my garden.
This was a very difficult and challenging year for all of humanity. To accept what is beyond our control and ride the wave or get crushed by it is up to each person. Disasters come and go, and after the end is a new beginning. In the meantime we must go into ourselves and find a bit of peace.
‘Covid-19 Conspiracies’ collage by Angela Zafiris
There are many conspiracy theories going around about the global pandemic. Some theorists say there is no virus, that it is a hoax. Others say the pandemic was pre-planned and it is all about the government trying to assert more control over people. When ultimate control is obtained people will be ‘microchiped’, then we will have a cashless society, then a one world government etc. Others say there is a virus, but it was man-made in a lab and that it doesn’t come from nature as many scientists claim. Also, they claim that the new wireless technology 5G is to blame for the spread of the virus. For a long time now there have been various rumors circulating about 5G technology and that it can destroy peoples’ immune system and that it can make people sick with cancer. Then there are the conspiracy theories surrounding Bill Gates as well. That he is enforcing a vaccine in an effort to depopulate the world. The assumption is that the elites are obsessed with the worlds’ over-population and due to their misanthropic feelings want to eradicate the- mostly poor people- from improvished countries.
I think that it is important to do your own thorough research, learn from various sources and follow not only what your intuition tells you, and also what history tells you as well. This is why it’s important to be educated about the past of our ancestors. In the past humanity has suffered through many pandemics, and there was plenty of fake news going around back then as well. People came up with various theories about where the plague came from. There were many doctors at the time, who in their desperation, came up with many strange concoctions to try and cure the diseases.
The truth always sees the light eventually, and this is the time of the revealing or apocalypse. The real truth will come out soon.
I do believe that many of these theories are dangerous and we need to all be on the same page and come together to fight our common enemy.
Disclaimer: The conspiracies in the collage do not reflect my own opinions, but the many varied opinions of people over the internet.
“For the city…can no longer lift her head from beneath the angry waves of death. A blight has fallen on the…land… And the flaming god, the malign plague, has swooped upon us, and ravages the town…” [lines 22-30]. -Sophocles ‘Oedipus Rex’
‘Time For a Change’ collage on canvas by Angela Zafiris
‘Only the wisest and the stupidest of men never change’ – Confucius
‘Μόνο οι σοφοί και οι πιο ανόητοι από τους άνδρες δεν αλλάζουν ποτέ’. – Κομφούκιος
The tomb of business man and philanthropist George Averoff who died in 1899.
I was in awe of this very old cemetery.
A huge family grave belonging to a wealthy family.
The very beloved Archbishop Christodoulos
An angel holding a cross on the family grave of the Pesmatzoglou. A very old aristocratic Athenian family.
An angel holding a cross symbolizes redemption.
This bust looks like ‘Lurch’ the butler from the Addams Family!
Grave of famous Greek actress Aliki Viouklaki
Grave of famous Greek actor Lambros Konstandaras
A huge family mausoleum
The grave of the legendary actress/singer Sofia Vebo.
Sofia was given the nickname ‘The singer of victory’ «Τραγουδίστρια της Νίκης»
It has been a year since my mother’s passing and we just recently held the one year memorial service for her. It isn’t until you lose a close member of your family that you become more acquainted with cemeteries. I wouldn’t normally tour and photograph a cemetery, as most of the cemeteries in Greece are very ‘cookie cutter’, meaning every grave looks the same. However, when I heard about the history and art of the First Cemetery of Athens I knew I had to pay a visit.
The First Cemetery of Athens dates back to 1837 and it is the oldest modern cemetery in Athens. It is a very unique graveyard in that it contains a lot of beautiful sculptures. There are over 768 sculptures carved by famous artists, 10, 233 family graves and 2,007 three year graves.
It is so big, about 170 acres, so it is impossible to explore all of it in one day. I took a lot of photographs so this post will be in two parts.
My Creative Wayz 