Tuesday 14 October 2008

An Egocentric Guided Tour

In view of a couple of questions that Tracy asked, I thought I'd be horribly self-indulgent and give you a guided tour of my blog. It won't take long, because I try to keep it reasonably simple and clutter-free, and I wasn't planning to post today, so if you're not interested please feel free to skip straight to the comment section.


Let's start at the top, with my title banner. This is a photograph of the mantlepiece in my lounge. When I started my blog, I didn't have a camera, so I fairly quickly got one, and this was the first thing I photographed with it. The busts are of Bach and Beethoven, and the clock in the middle is a super modern radio controlled one, though it's very nicely finished and looks like an old Napolean clock. Usually my keys, phone and wallet live on that mantlepiece too. The unsightly wire is a speaker cable.

Moving to the first sidebar, we have a very unflattering photo of the blogger, together with my email address. Then there is my virtual clock, which I love. I don't know why more people don't have one.

Under the clock there is a link to Wiktionary, which was added for Bee, who complained that I sometimes use British words that she has to look up.

At the top of the second sidebar is Aimilia Kenevezou, who is the blog's muse. She reads the main weekday news bulletin in her own inimitable style on Cypriot state TV, my main source of information about what's happening in the real world.

Underneath is my blog list. I keep this short - in general it consists only of those blogs that I read on a daily basis. Bee and Jean Knee are at the top of the list, and although part of me would quite like to have everyone in alphabetical order, I can't bring myself to move them down the list. They have been faithfully reading, commenting and hijacking my blog from the very beginning, and are not completely of the opinion that it is my blog. They might be right...

I should also mention Klearchos, since he's not a regular commenter. He has a fantastic blog, which is in Greek, English and Bulgarian. He takes wonderful photos everywhere he goes, describing the places as well as any tourist guide. I don't visit his site anywhere near as often as I should.

Then there's the blog history thing.

Underneath that there are some Linux/Ubuntu logos. Contrary to popular belief, Ubuntu is not a town on the US/Canadian border, but a version of Linux, the computer operating system that I use instead of Windows. The penguin, Tux, is the Linux mascot.

The only thing I've not explained is the title. "o vretanos" is simply Greek for "The Briton", because I first started looking at Greek blogs, and I wanted it to be clear if I commented that I was British, so they'd know why my Greek was so bad. Instead I spent most of my time reading English (or rather American) blogs, and the rest is history...

15 comments:

Jean Knee said...

First,




I re- read your first post and guess what? Bee was first and I was second.

Dan said...

WTF, I should at leat be third or fourth, I was reading WAY before that Chris Wood guy.
And Tracy too, she should be third or fourth WTF Brian the Brit!!!!
I always thought o vertanos was your last name.

Tracy, lets kick him in the nuts.

Tracy Rambles On And On said...

Brian- I always thought that was you last name too. That's why I would say things like "Brian who has a last name I cannot pronounce". Now that I know your last name is The Brit it will make things much easier on me.
And to correct Dan, you are sadly mistaken. I have been reading Brian The Brits blog long before Bee ever forced you into blog land.
I do still find the order of the blog list unfair. You can't play favorites with two people and not with me (unless, of course, I am one of the two people being favored and then it's okay but in this case I am not one of the two people) so I think that you and Dan both deserve a swift kick.
And trust me Brian, you'll never hear the end of this from me either.

Tracy Rambles On And On said...

Oh and Dan, incase you forgot, I am also on the bottom of your blog list too. So you're getting two swift kicks for that buddy.

Dan said...

Tracy
Not anymore, I have someone else at the bottom.

Brian o vretanos said...

Jean Knee:

That's not surprising.

Dan:

You could always change your name to Aaaron

Tracy:

Now that people have started to complain, I'm even more determined to keep the order the way it is...

If this blog was a TV series, then I could do something like:

Bee
Jean Knee

Starring:
Anndi,
etc

Special Guest Star (who'll get killed off in the second episode if he moans too much): Dan

With Tracy as the Rambler...

Klearchos said...

Για άλλη μια φορά πρέπει να σε ευχαριστήσω για τα καλά σου λόγια!

Anonymous said...

tracy
I was sticking up for you and you want to kick me?
Aaaron

Anonymous said...

You have a bust of Beethoven? Cool, so do I - it belonged to my mum and I keep it for sentimental reasons.

Dan - sorry mate, what can I say?

Brian o vretanos said...

Κλέαρχε:

Τα αξίζεις. Καλημέρα!

Chris:

Mine came from TK Max, so isn't exactly an heirloom.

Anonymous said...

Interesting. I'll be honest I didn't until now that it simply meant Brian the Brit. Yay!

I like your pic, love the clock, but am lost when I am on a PC with Linux system. You have to actually be computer literate to use it. *wink*

OH! I love the mantle and the dudes who are adorning it!

Brian o vretanos said...

Catscratch:

The dudes used to live on my piano, but when I moved here I realised they were perfect for the mantlepiece...

Bee said...

:o(

Brain, I hate not having Internet access at work! I can't believe I'm last. (:'o{

Hey, we've been pretty good and not hijacking it in a while. This is out of respect for other people who are unfamiliar with jean knee and mine possessiveness where your concerned. There I said it! :op

Bee said...

I don't want to be 13th.

Brian o vretanos said...

Bee:

Your work internet situation is becoming a real problem as far as your blogging commitments are concerned - I think you should explain this to your boss. If you like, we'll all come round and hit him with pieces of wet celery until he gets you a new computer.