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As time goes by…

shebfierce
 
“We’ll always have Paris”. Humphrey Bogarts way of saying, “See you later love” to the beautiful Ingrid Bergman in the 1942 classic, Casablanca.  That was also his subtle way of letting us know exactly what they got up to in the French capital. The only way of knowing if the leading characters in the movies of the 40’s and 50’s got it on, was when the camera moved away from them to film fireworks in the sky bang bang!  Or if you have ever seen ‘From Here To Eternity’, the waves smashing against the shore…my particular favourite.
 
Sex, skin, smut; these were rarely shown back in the day and the shock when they were!  I started to notice a change in my teens and how movie makers became braver.  I wasn’t ready for these changes and if a slightly naughty scene was shown on TV I would shoot up and say, “Who wants a cup of tea?”  Watching these scenes with my mum and dad in the living room was excruciatingly painful.  All I could hear whilst waiting for the kettle to boil was my mum saying to my dad in Greek, “Turn it over Michael”.  My dad came home with a VCR one day, it was so exciting and videos to watch too; ‘Ninja’ 1, 2 and 3?  Violence was ok but sex wasn’t hmmm….   
 
Coming of age films where the best at the time and we could all relate to their content of sex, relationships, mistakes and lessons. The one that stands out for humour alone is ‘National Lampoons Animal House’; The original ‘American Pie’. No uncool dad giving his son tips on women and leaving him ‘reading material’ by his bedside table. No, these guys had to go it alone.  Hand jobs, rubber gloves and climbing up a ladder just to peak though a window to watch girls undressing…the outcome is hysterical; James Belushi at his best.
 
Movie genres are many from imaginative, fiction, non- fiction, fantasy the list goes on.  The ones that leave a lasting impression are those that express what we go through as human beings; in particular, between two people.  What used to go on behind closed doors is now more in the open than ever and whether you agree with it or not, it’s there and we are proof that it’s happening; how else would movie makers get their ideas?
 
So, if you feel like ‘Something’s Gotta Give’ and need ‘Romance and Cigarettes’ or maybe, you just want to ‘Eat Pray Love’ (all great movies) remember:
 
‘Boys will be boys and girls are there to help them turn into men; make a girl feel like a woman and you’ve been watching the right movies’.
© Michelle Sotiriou 2012

 

 

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Families, who’d have em?

shebfierce
Here in the United Kingdom, the Queen celebrates 60 years in the same job; that takes some doing.  All those years ago, she vowed to fulfil her duties to the nation and the commonwealth to the best of her abilities.  But what struck me as I watched her step out onto the Buckingham Palace balcony to greet her public was her family, standing by her side.
 
She’s not just the Queen, she is a mum, auntie, sister, daughter, grandmother and wife too!  Every family has at least one of these along with divorce, adultery, disagreements, weddings, pets and toe sucking.  Any of these sound familiar?  We’re not so different from the royals are we? 
 
The Jubilee concert had everyone dancing, hearing Stevie Wonder would definitely have had my family up on their feet…not that we need an excuse to have a boogie but I noticed that the royals just nodded, they didn’t get up so there must have been a lot of tapping feet…Prince Harry would have found this very difficult given that he likes to party. At least they knew the words to ‘Delilah’, that’s something I suppose. This is what we call protocol, things they cannot be seen to do; etiquette, manners, rules of appropriate behaviour.  That’s the way they do things.
 
This is where we are different from them.  They are not as free as people may think.  My aunties had to follow this kind of ‘protocol’ when they were young ladies, getting up and dancing was unthinkable and my grandfather would have shown them the back of his hand if they so much as wiggled.  These days fathers dance with their daughters and encourage them to take the floor; you can still be a lady and dance at the same time.  Pole dancing being the exception of course!
 
The best family to belong to is the one that encourages you to grow and act in a way that is true to you.  Famous families are an example of this: James Franco and his brothers, The Jacksons, The Bee Gees and the Simpsons…yes there is a certain message in each cartoon that would suggest they are very supportive of each other; regardless of the mayhem.
 
Immediate family is our backbone but extended family our friends, are special.  They can be just as supportive of you when you need it.  They have a good ear too and will listen when no one else will.
 
Family, everyone has at least one; if you think you haven’t…think again.
© Michelle Sotiriou 2012
 
 
 
 
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The ‘F’ word…

shebfierce
Made you look!  Be honest, most of you were thinking the same thing right? 
 
No, I was referring to a word that once found, will give you the greatest feeling but searching for it can be the most painful experience you will ever go through.  I am of course speaking of ‘FREEDOM’. 
 
Mel Gibson cried out for it as William Wallace in Braveheart, George Michael sang about it, firstly with Wham and then as a solo artist. Dr Martin Luther King and many other brave figures in history spoke of freedom of speech and our liberty; freedom fighters that changed the way we live for the better.  But for many the freedom we seek is much more personal and is a day to day fight. Described best by Bob Marley:

”None but ourselves can free our minds”. 
 
There are times when you will just want to throw the towel in and give up…those days are many.  Ever noticed that when you hit rock bottom, something changes and you start to fight again?  Maybe that’s where we go wrong; fight another F word that means you have to struggle yet again.  There is an F word that maybe, just maybe we should consider, ‘FAITH’.
 
Religious or not, it doesn’t matter, to have faith means you believe that things will be better.  Pride shows strength but it can all get a little confusing when your ego comes into play.  Ego ‘the self’,  thinking that you can keep it all in without anyone ever knowing what you’re really going through can be so damaging…I found that out the hard way.  So you think you don’t want to bother anyone with your problems?  In my experience I have learned that people want to be bothered by you, ok not everyone (choose wisely) but there are those who truly have your best intentions at heart and whose words of wisdom can open a door that seemed to be firmly shut.
 
The journey you choose to take and it is your choice, maybe a long one but trust me, the place you want to be is there waiting for you.
 
Believe you can and you will. 
© Michelle Sotiriou 2012
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On your bike?

shebfierce
Dilemma’s, two possibilities but which do you choose?
 
My buddy Collette and I decided to escape to the sun.  It was October and rainy London wasn’t very appealing so off we went to Rhodes for a girlie holiday.  A holiday with a friend can test your relationship but not for me and Collette, 20 years on and we are still friends.
 
Our apartment was on a steep hill next to an army base (this is what happens when you book a last minute cheap deal) so we decided to hire a scooter to get us to the beach.  The man we hired it from was dodgy to say the least and didn’t look the type to be messed with.  He may have been the Don of the island for all we knew and was probably known as ‘The Papa’ to anyone who feared him. 
 
To cut a long story short, we crashed!  We reached the top of that god forsaken hill and lost our balance. If this where a romance novel the soldiers from the barracks would be jumping over the fence to come and rescue the damsels in distress; but it’s not, so there we were broken scooter and bloody knees…I still have the scars on my knee to this day.
 
Now we were faced with a dilemma; take the scooter back to ‘The Papa’, explain what happened and accept our fate or leave the scooter outside his shop in the middle of the night? (this covert operation would take some planning)   After weighing everything up we dumped it outside his shop…dishonest maybe but we were two girls in a foreign land and scared very scared!
 
The next day we sat in the local bar and a girl rode up in a scooter that had a crack on the front…it was our scooter and was now in the hands of someone else.  I can’t even begin to explain the relief we felt at that moment…this called for a bottle of Ouzo!  We duped the ‘The Papa’!  There was no contest when faced with not one but two women with a brain!
 
Funny, we wanted to escape the British weather and ended up trying to escape from the sunshine of a Greek Island…go figure!
 
It seems to me that when faced with a dilemma, trying to figure out which choice is the right one means that neither would be right at all.  What if there is another option that you just can’t see because you have been blinded by panic, fear even love? 
 
As for me, I would rather be where the sun shines.  Metaphorically speaking, that could be anywhere.  
© Michelle Sotiriou 2012