The #Greek Golden Rule of #Hospitality. #MondayBlogs #booktrope

In Greek the word “philo” means friend, though it can also mean to “cherish” or to “love,” as in “philosophy” (the love of wisdom), or “Philadelphia” (love between brothers). Timo or τιμη in Greek, means honor. So, one might assume that the wondrous Greek word φιλοτιμο (philotimo) simply translates to “love of honor.” Ah, but […]

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Hungry Like the Lekos! #Greekfood, #traditions, #family. #MondayBlogs

Thinking about this week’s blog made whet my appetite. Even before I’d decided on a topic, I associated the writing of this article with hunger for some reason. Perhaps I skipped lunch, you say? Well, that’s probably part of it, but I suspect more. It seems my subconscious has been telling me that a blog […]

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Moments that Shimmer: On #Seattle vacation, #Booktrope, #Friends, #Love, and Bone Marrow! #MondayBlogs

As I write this late Friday afternoon, the last day of July, I reflect on how a week earlier Katie and I were enjoying the sights and sounds of Seattle, Washington in all its emerald splendor. We’d spent the morning braving the crowds amid the hustle-and-bustle of Pike Place Market before enjoying breakfast at Le […]

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Mid-Summer Musings: On Work, Fun, #Booktrope, and Seattle. #MondayBlogs #amwriting #GreekAmerican

The past couple weeks have been busy with writing, editing, blogging, landing a new day job, social media-ing, and the like. Oh, for the carefree summers of childhood: long days spent chasing ice cream trucks, hitting up amusement parks, chillaxing with friends by the pool. I didn’t even get over to the Alameda County Fair […]

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From the Archives: Ermioni, Greece… My Ancestral #Home, Your Next #Vacation Spot. #Greece #solidarity #ThisIsACoup #MondayBlogs

In a show of solidarity with the people of Greece, I’m reaching into the archives this week to re-share a past post profiling the town from which the majority of my relatives hail, Ermioni. You can stage a coup using currency as a weapon, force the sale of our assets, but you can’t take our […]

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On Saying “Oxi!” #Greece #resilience #referendum #MondayBlogs

When I was a boy, my father, an immigrant from Greece, spoke often and fondly of the homeland. He talked of the sun, the sea; the ancient lands of Homer, Achilles, Agamemnon. Just as often, he spoke of a childhood eating morsels of bread served in bowls of powdered milk, and of days with his […]

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This Feeling: On love, romance, and Greek Myth

In his Symposium, Plato declares that according to Greek Mythology humans originally boasted four arms and four legs, their bodies driven by the beat of two hearts. Zeus was afraid of being overthrown by humans, and so he split them down the middle, leaving them to spend a life time searching for their other halves. […]

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Winging It: Skies of Angst?

Summer’s upon us. Sunny weather, the skies cloudless most days (unless you live in San Francisco, I suppose) seem friendly, and what do you do with friendly skies? You fly them, of course. Unless you’re me. How friendly is cramming into an aluminum tube among hundreds of other angsty, temperamental travelers? This year I’m saving […]

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Lines that Blur: Color, Race, and That Time I Published a Book at Age Fifteen

Initially, I had a different post in mind this week; something about my fear of flying as it’s travel season and the theme figures prominently in my forthcoming novel, “Wings of Wax.” Then the Rachel Dolezal controversy hit the net, and my flight plan changed. As you undoubtedly already know, it came out last week […]

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Musing on Memphis

The other night, winding down after a day of writing, editing, and a completing a job interview, I watched this movie “Memphis.” In one of those cosmic instances where a piece of art perfectly syncs with your mood, the sentiments of this film struck deep in my chest like the reverberations of an amplified guitar […]

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