#romantisizing

I don't mind being alone. I guess I'm kind of like my dad in that way.

bella swan, who?

In his olive grove, a man finds an ancient statue which looks just like his wife when she was young... and fells in love with it!

That's the plot of the second episode of Post Card (Καρτ Ποστάλ), a tv series based on the novel of the same title by Victoria Hislop. The protagonist is an acclaimed greek-british archaeologist, Joseph (Andreas Konstantinou), who, while is in Crete for an excavation, gets dumped by his girlfriend. So, he begins senting her post cards telling her the stories of the people he meets. At first he hopes that he'll move her, but then he realizes that she's just the excuse to write his thoughts down.

The second post card tells the story of Stella (Anna Mascha), a beautiful old woman, who is dealing with psychological problems and as a result she's considered the "mad woman" of the village. Her husband, Kostas (Gerasimos Skiadaresis), loves her, but isn't willing to get her medical help or spend time with her as it pains him to see her like this. As the story unfolds, we realize that Kostas doesn't love Stella, but what Stella once was: a smart and beautiful young girl. So, when he finds an ancient statue in his olive grove that surprisingly resembles her younger self, he falls in love with it. He's so in love with its eternal beauty and perfection that his love kills him.

There's a truly romantic scene where Kostas lies next to the statue and whispers love words at it supposing it's his wife. That's the dream of any archaeologist, lie with a beautiful statue, feel its marble through your fingers and gaze at the sky, oh my God, that's so romantic I mean, this actually makes him a smuggler because he should have called the Ephora, so that archaelogists had come and took care of the statue's conservation and made sure that they would save as much as they could from the archaeological context.

Anyways, after Kostas' death, when Stella finds the statue, she's very moved because she believes that her husband was still looking for her and loved her. There goes one of the really moving scenes of the episode, because Stella informes Joseph about the statue and asks him "how does it feel like to find something that was lost for a thousand years?".

Joseph really knows why it's worth digging, as he replies: "It's like fixing a mistake, like you save somebody's story from oblivion. Every time I discover something, I think of the person who held it in his hands; what he was thinking, what his life was like, how much he struggled to create it. For example, here" (he points at the statue) "how many days was the sculptor standing in front of this beautiful woman until he gave to the marble her form? Did he ever touch her? Did he fell in love with her? Did he sleep and wake up next to her? Did he ever got used of her?".

"Did he watch her getting old?" Stella adds (like another Dorian Gray... how wise was Oscar Wild when pointing out that only art remains flawless in the passing of time?).

At the end, Joseph takes Stella to a psychiatric facility and she thanks him. He realizes after all that he might have never loved his girlfriend, but he was mostly in love with the idea of love. Though ancient greek art was idealistic (which means that the statues had no personal characteristics, especially the female ones) and women's portraits only appear in the hellenistic and roman period and definitely not naked, I can't deny that the final shots where Stella is paralleled with the statue are of absolute magic.

All this storyline, might remind you something. Though I can't get into Hislop's mind, I think that her inspiration could easily be Pygmalion's myth. Pygmalion was the king of Cyprus. In disgust with female prostitution, he swore never to marry. Pygmalion was also a sculptor and he crafted a statue of a woman so beautiful that he fell in love with it -it was perfect and nothing like the real women. So, he prayed to the gods to make it real and they did it. Pygmalion married the woman (aka the statue that came to life) and (in contrast with the majority of the myths) he had a happy ever after.

Here's the episode:

A guide to Harry Potter's very own Mione. Hermione granger being an academic inspiration<3 (& the brightest witch of her age)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 Study in a library. Hermione usually tends to make the library her study place, you can smell the books, have a lovely, peaceful environmental place to study in and always have the resources you need! Cozy up and study your heart out.

2 Create a study schedule. Hermione is known for her organized approach to studying. Create a schedule for different subjects when studying to maintain good time, and study well. And of course take tiny lil breaks in between, Hermione does that too. Some time for reading, study, and a little bit of free time with Harry and Ron or in the library (don't burnout)<3

3 Read. Read. Read. Be able to enjoy reading for pleasure time, learn some cool stuff in between and beforehand so you can impress your teachers! /hj. It helps with your creativity, focus, stress and exiting reality. Take notes, highlight important points, and ask questions while reading. Engage with your class and have more understanding.

4 Prioritize Important Tasks. Identify the most crucial tasks and do them. Hermione determines to know what needs to be done first and that way gets harder things out the way.

5 Study Regularly. Hermione practices spells regularly and reads a lot about the world of magic in the library, and particularly interested in it.

6 Seek Understanding, Not Just Memorization. Hermione tends understands things and facts rather than just memorizing them for the test. You need to be able to properly understand instead of memorization to help seek a better clear view for your knowledge.

7 (Optional!) Study with company. Hermione often accompanies with Harry and Ron to study sometimes. Even though it might not be a huge help, it does help her a lot; explaining things to other people help make you memorize study clearly and well.

౨ৎ ............................CLASSROOM BEHAVIOURS...................................

8 Stay Organized. Hermione keeps her belongings organized. You can use color coded books, folders or binders to help sort out each topic. Maintain an organized study space and keep track of deadlines. Keeping it efficient & stress-free.

9 Participate in class & seeking help. Participation is a must! It helps a lot with your social skills and academic validation, and can show your opinions and originality. Don't be afraid to ask your professors when in need of help or replies!