Archive | October, 2014

This week the sun comes and goes. The clouds are low, the skies smell like rain.  It rained last night, the sun is shining, the mornings are cool.  It is all but November and we set our clocks back last week.  I have had some good bike rides.  It is nice weather for riding.

As some of you may know I have suffered from Meniere’s Syndrome for the past 3 years.  I have been diagnosed by several doctors, one of them a specialist.  None of them offered me any real plan for easing my discomfort or alleviating the symptoms of this maddening condition.  I can trace it back to April 2011, when I went swimming in the cool water of Paros.  I think that the combination of a low-grade virus and the cold water in my right ear not draining properly exacerbated an already existing tinnitus due to an exposure to loud volume over many years.  This led to Meniere’s…But really, who knows?  Not the experts…So for years I have experienced hearing loss in my right ear and the occasional vertigo which has negatively effected my quality of life.

Two weeks ago I began experiencing moments of extreme vertigo lasting 15 to 20 seconds.  I became alarmed and scheduled a CT scan to rule out the worst case scenarios.  My local doctor here told me to cancel the appointment and instead has put me on two meds.  The first is an anti-vertigo capsule and the second is betahistine.  Both are working well.  He said that if the meds don’t work after a month or so, then we’ll do an MRI.  As of today the symptoms are all but gone.  No vertigo, very faint tinnitus.  Relief.

I have finished printing the “cafe-Kafe” series.  I have delivered the 12 pieces to the matting/framers here in Paroikia yesterday and they will have them finished by November 12th.  They will also make a poster for me.  I’ll stick to A4.  I don’t need anything larger.  At the beginning the images were merely cups of coffee.  They have evolved into coffee and people.  Such is cafe society.

Tonight I take the night boat to Athens, then tomorrow afternoon I fly to Paris.  I will be there for about a week, staying with a friend.  I am looking forward to this little trip for many reasons.  I am bringing the right clothes.  It was 12C in Paris yesterday.  It is supposed to be grey and cloudy all week.  Much to see and do…

–JDCM

–It is mid-October and we have been blessed with lovely weather here on the island.  As I type this post at Port Cafe, the wind outside is slightly crisp, coming from the north, gusting at just under 47 km/h.  The skies are clear, the bay quiet…Paroikia too.  There are few tourists here now which gives the place a charm and solitude I crave after the long, hot, crowded summer.  Cafes and tavernas are closing earlier in the evening, sometimes not opening until the weekend.  I love it.

–I have begun printing the small images for my “cafe-CAFE” show to be held late in November.  I have printed four images so far, on Ilford Warmtone paper using the two-developer process I have come to rely upon.  The pieces are all from 35mm negatives and are all from the same cafe I frequent.  The show will be mounted there too.  I’ll send an E-nouncement to all…

–I have purchased a new set of panniers for my mountain bike (mine are red), the old pair literally coming apart at the seams.  They served me well for a year.  What do you expect for 27 Euros?  The new pair were significantly more expensive but they are of a much higher quality.  One friend joked that I will probably get a new bike before I replace them.  Not that I need a new bike, mind you…I’ll post a picture or two via Flickr in the next few days.

–A good friend and colleague is having a wonderful exhibit this weekend here on Paros.  Jun-Pierre Shiozawa is a painter who has been working on a series of portraits for the past year.  He will hang 29 pieces for the opening this Saturday evening at 20:00 hrs.  I will attend gratefully and gladly and then I must board the late night ferry to the island of Naxos.  The next day is the Naxos mountain bike race, in which I will ride.  I am fortunate to be able to do both.

So it is a week of art, photography and bike riding…Superb!

–JDCM