Me Continuing To Make Terrible Posts About My Extremely Niche Interests Instead Of Anything People Actually

what if every Tumblr user suddenly looses their mouse?

The director of cybersecurity from the Electronic Freedom Foundation is offering to help women who have been threatened with compromise of their devices.

Yep, that's definitely a rock.

Okay, I’ve seriously been slacking. Time to write a week’s worth of updates! 

June 11th

Back to the museum! On Monday, we were given topics to write about that related to ancient  Cyprus. The museum is looking to add this info to their website within the next year, and they’re even thinking about putting together a written publication. This means that my little blurbs about Cyprus could end up in an actual museum publication! Holy crap! 

I chose to write about “Trade and Contacts with East and West in the Prehistoric Period.” Let me tell you, those Cypriots sure had an extensive maritime trade network. There was a lot of information that I had to condense and write summaries of. Doing that pretty much took up my whole day. 

June 12th

Tuesday was absolutely amazing. Mimika had arranged for Dakota, Haley (the other intern), and me to meet the curator of the Antikythera Shipwreck exhibit at the National Museum, where she’d give us a personal tour! Dakota and I met Haley at the Cycladic Museum, and then we trekked to the National Museum from there, which was about a thirty minute walk. We ventured through Omonia, which is the sketchiest district in central Athens, apparently. But, it was broad daylight, and there were three of us, so we were okay. I actually kind of liked Omonia and would love to go back and take good photos there. But there are anarchists there…supposedly. Everyone keeps warning us about them.

The National Museum is absolutely GIGANTIC! It was a bit daunting, actually. We were told to go around the side to the office entrance, where we would meet the curator, Christina Avronidaki. However, we couldn't find said entrance, so we walked through the front. We told them we were to meet with Dr. Avronidaki, but they had no idea what we were going on about. So…we had to go back around and locate the office, which we finally did. 

We were introduced to Christina, who’s a very nice woman. She gave us special passes that gave us free reign of the museum. I mean, with our special passes from the Greek government, we’d be able to get in for free anyway, but I digress…

I almost cried during the tour of the Antikythera exhibition. It was just so amazing; I’ve been reading about the wreck (and the Mechanism, of course!) for YEARS, and to finally see it was one of the best experiences I’ve had to this day. The so-called Antikythera Mechanism was way smaller than I thought it’d be! It was smaller than my head (and I have a pretty small head). I always had it in my mind that it would be some huge device, but it wasn’t at all! I felt almost as cheated as I felt when I saw how small the Kritios Boy is…my other favourite part of the exhibit was the marble sculptures. They are definitely a sight to be seen. Where they were buried in sediment on the sea floor, they were pristine. However, where they were exposed, they looked all “corroded.” It was extremely eerie, but also SO COOL. I’ll upload some pictures later. 

After we said goodbye to Christina, we wandered around the museum for another hour and a half. Just like at the Acropolis Museum, I saw so many pieces that I’d already seen in textbooks. Seeing them up close and personal, though, was something else. I managed to humiliate myself, however. I wanted to pose with one of my favourite pieces of sculpture, the Artemision Zeus/Poseidon. As soon as I tried that, a guy from the museum started flipping a shit and causing a scene. Awkward…you see, in situations like this, I laugh when under pressure. That just made it worse. Needless to say, I left that room as soon as possible. 

Other highlights included seeing the golden death mask of “Agamemnon” from Mycenae as well as the National Museum’s collection of Cycladic Art. We then went to turn in our badges, and we did so by sneaking through a gap in the back wall of the Antikythera exhibit. Like a boss. 

After we left the museum, we stopped at a café in Omonia. It was really nice to unwind and get to know Haley a bit better. We had an interesting conversation about our interests in art, and Dakota and I talked about archaeology. Then, we parted ways since Haley had to go back to her apartment at 1:30. Dakota and I tried to find the Numismatic Museum and got pretty turned around. I wanted to give up since the bandaids I’d put on my toes kept falling off. Result: bleeding blisters on my pinky toes. Ouch. But, we eventually found it and toured the collection. The house was absolutely beautiful, except for one tiny little detail: swastikas. Everywhere. Swastikas on the floor mosaics…swastikas on the walls…oy vey. Later, we learned that the house belonged to Heinrich Schliemann for a time. That explains everything. If you know anything about classical archaeology, it’ll make sense to you, too. But the coin collection itself was quite impressive once you put the swastikas out of your mind. I do have to say that coins aren’t really my thing, though. I understand their importance to finding the chronology of a site, but studying them isn’t really something I’d want to do. 

Dakota and I split up near the Cycladic Museum. She needed to send some postcards, and I wanted to head back to the BSA to disinfect my blisters. Fun. Right near the BSA, though, I walked past a dead kitten. That totally ruined my mood. :(

That night, Dakota went out with her friend from Bryn Mawr who happened to be in Athens for the week. I just hung out. It was a pretty long day, after all.

June 13th

Wednesday was our last day at the Cycladic Museum before heading to Patras for two weeks. At breakfast, we heard some pretty hilarious stories from Alice about the time she spent working at the Sherlock Holmes Museum in London. Apparently, the guy who played Watson got fired for being racist, tries to hide the fact that he’s from New Zealand, and took voice lessons to lose his Kiwi accent and sound British. He sounds like a winner. And then the guy who plays Sherlock won’t answer to anything but “Sherlock,” so his true identity is a mystery. Great stuff.

At the museum, we sent our summaries on our topics to Mimika as soon as we arrived. A short time later, she called us into her office and proceeded to tell us how absolutely astounded she was by how well we wrote! She couldn’t believe that we’d only been in college for two years and said that that post graduate Greek students could hardly write summaries that well. Thanks, Bryn Mawr Archaeology Department! I knew your extremely high standards were good for something! Basically, I felt happy for the rest of the day just knowing how highly she thought of us. I then moved onto a new topic to write about. This time, I chose the history of writing in ancient Cyprus. It was very interesting indeed! 

We headed out to get lunch at 1. Both of us got tiropita and had our meals back at the office. It was pretty sweltering in there. Mimika then told us that another curator, Maria (who’d given us a tour of the museum’s Cycladic collection), was absolutely frantic and needed our help! Sasha and Dakota to the rescue! It turns out that she needed our help to write tweets for the museum’s Twitter. So, we spent the rest of the day coming up with the best tweets ever in Haley’s air-conditioned office.  When they get posted eventually, EVERYONE will be flocking to the museum. There was one that I wanted to put in about Nero and the violin-shaped people figurines, but it was probably better that I didn’t…

That concluded our first leg of our internship. We said goodbye to Mimika and headed back to the BSA to pack (supposedly). We bought laundry detergent on the way because we planned to wash our clothes before leaving. That never happened, and we figured we’d just wash our clothes in the hotel bathtub in Patras. Euro 2012 was on…

June 14th

Off to Patras! Well, first I had to finish packing. It was a bit of a disaster. How the hell am I gonna manage next time? When everything was stuffed into my bags, we left the BSA and took a cab to the bus station. What a busy place! There, we called Konstantinos “Kostas” Paschalidis, who was going to be our guide/“boss” in Patras. He’s one of the guys in charge at the dig site and is a curator at the National Museum. 

Our bus left at 12:30. I wanted to stay awake and look at all the scenery, but that just didn’t happen. I took a much-needed nap at around 1:00 and woke up around 1:45. Okay, so it wasn’t much of a nap. We pulled into Patras at 3:20, which was a bit later than we should have, but that was okay. We got there intact! 

We met Kostas at the bus station. He’s a really cool dude. Hilarious, actually. He has a cute little hatchback from the 80s that just barely managed to fit our luggage. Score! We then arrived at the hotel. It’s so nice! Our room’s a bit small, but it’s really cool because it has the best wallpaper ever. Pictures will follow. And about the laundry situation…there’s no bathtub. Still have to figure out what to do about that. The sink’s a bit shallow…

At 8, we went to the lobby to meet Dr. Lena Papazoglou-Manioudaki. She’s the head curator of the Prehistoric Collection at the National Museum and has been working at the dig site since the excavation started in 2008. She introduced us to the two post-grad students we’d be working with, Katarina and Panagiotis. Kostas was a bit late, but then we headed out when he arrived. We went up to the square near the hotel and went to a cute little café. I ate so much (I’d only had a Luna Bar at the bus station) salad, and I even tried a spinach-type dish that I really enjoyed. I shared an eggplant with Dakota, and Lena shared her onion pie with us. I also ate a ton of olives, since those are really growing on me. Oh, and I had two glasses of white wine. That was fun. 

The conversation was mostly in Greek, but occasionally Dakota and I were included. Kostas translated some stuff for us. I was very slightly buzzed at that point, so I didn’t really mind that we didn’t have to talk as much. Then came the dessert platter. Oh my god…heaven. We left at 10, at which point the cafe (and the streets) were absolutely bustling! Things really come alive in Europe after 8PM. But we were too tired to do anything else, so we went to sleep after we got to the hotel. We had to be up at 7 to go to the dig! 

June 15th

Happy birthday to my husband, Tim Lincecum! 

Ahem. Anyway. We woke up at 7, which was kind of difficult. I took a lightning-fast shower, which helped wake me up a bit. Then I slathered myself in sunblock/bug spray. Breakfast started at 7:30. Dakota and I met Kostas, ate, and left the hotel at 7:50. Then, we headed to the dig site. It’s about five kilometres from our hotel and up a lot of winding roads. At one point, it becomes all dirt and gravel, and it gets really bumpy. I’ve never been on a road where only inches separated you from safety and certain death by falling off a mountainside. It was crazy. But Kostas playing Greek music from the 60s-80s was a fun perk. He made a habit of telling us when certain songs were from. “Yes, this is early 80s." 

We got to the end of the road, where we met Katarina and Panagiotis. We then had to hike a few hundred metres to the site itself. I immediately managed to tumble down a steep slope. I scratched my leg up pretty well, but I felt awesome. First battle wound! I later figured out my contacts were behind every little stumble I had. My left one was bothering me, so it screwed with my depth perception. Also, I have pretty flimsy ankles. 

Kostas gave us a tour of the site when we arrived. He introduced us to the workmen, but none of them speak English. I was immediately blown away by the view. From the hill (which is more like a really small mountain), you can see the whole city of Patras, as well as the Ionian Sea! I can only imagine how beautiful the sunset would be from up there. The background noise was a lot of cowbells ringing and roosters crowing. On an opposite hill, there’s a weird family who gets all defensive if you try to go near them. Turns out the National Archaeological Service is renting the hill we’re working on from them, but they don’t like it. The cowbells grew closer, and it turns out that they belonged to goats. Kostas doesn’t like the goats because they go to the bathroom on the site. 

The settlement is from the Mycenaean civilisation and probably dates to around 1500 BCE. It was incredible standing on floors so old. The upper part of the site has the remnants of what could’ve been an Archaic Temple (so, maybe 6th-5th centuries BCE). Lena told us that it may just be one of the oldest Greek temples EVER.  And I got to stand on its column bases! It also has an apsidal structure and what appears to be a destruction deposit. Kostas was working more in the lower level, however. That’s where a bunch of walls have been found. I got to stand in actual Mycenaean ROOMS. It was so amazing to be surrounded by so much history (or prehistory, if you’d prefer). We didn’t do much after the tour, but Katarina taught us how to distinguish pot sherds from rocks. As the workers were shovelling dirt into a wheelbarrow, we went through the dirt looking for sherds. More often than not, we heard Katarina say, "that’s a rock.” “Yep, that’s a rock.” “Rock.” “Petra.” We did find some sherds, however, so it wasn’t a total failure. Then, we watched the workers uncover more of the wall in square Θ17 (we learned about all the site divisions and how to classify objects). 

At 11:30, we had lunch in the “air conditioned” place, as Kostas calls it. It’s a small grove of trees that provides shade and a nice breeze. I only had a granola bar, but I shared it with Dakota. Panagiotis had a few breadsticks that he shared with us. We’d definitely have to buy our own food.

The day continued much like that. When I was on the upper part of the site with Dakota, Kostas came up and said, “Sasha, I think I found something of yours!” It turns out he had my left contact lens. No wonder I’d stopped rubbing my left eye! They found it on Wall 2. Who knew that the Mycenaeans had advanced contact lens technology? Basically, we had to put it in a baggy with water, like a goldfish, if we wanted to save it. Its shape was a bit wonky, but it looked normal after it got hydrated. So, that was fun. 

Among the day’s finds were a very tiny bronze ring found in the upper part and then some later, Archaic pot sherds on the lower part. You could tell because of the glossy black glaze. Kostas got so annoyed and was like, “GET OUT OF MY SITE!” It was pretty hilarious. Oh, Archaic pottery…why you in a Mycenaean layer? 

We left at 2:15, and I managed not to trip on anything else on the way back to the car. Score! Once back in the hotel, we showered. Oh, that was much needed. Then, Dakota and I took a nap until about 8, when we headed down to the city’s wharf. Patras is a really nice city. It’s much smaller than Athens, but it is still pretty lively. The docks were full of people as the sun began to set. I’d laid eyes on one of the most beautiful sunsets I’ve ever seen. Pictures to come. We then headed to a market to buy lunch food for the next two weeks. Peanut butter jelly time!!! After dropping our food at the hotel, we went out to eat back down by the sea. We found a place where I had a salad and a veggie burger. Let me tell you, that was one of the best veggie burgers I’d ever had. Omnomnomnom. 

Afterwards, we went back to the hotel, watched Euro 2012, and slept.

June 16th

Had to wake up again at 7. We ate breakfast with Kostas and then went back to the dig. Working on a Saturday, hellz yeah! 

This time, I didn’t fall on the way to the site. I think it’s because I was actually wearing glasses. Either that, or I was just extremely excited because we were gonna excavate a pot of our very own! We’d be real archaeologists! 

When we got to the site, Kostas gave us a bunch of tools and brought us to the room where the pot was. Katarina told us how to work around the pot so we wouldn’t break it, and we started to excavate. We were so excited. I may have been singing the theme song from the movie “Holes,” but it was totally necessary. YOU GOT TO DIG THEM HOLES. 

About a half hour in, we’d already exposed a lot of the pot. We were talking about how it should go into a museum and how our names would be attached to it. So exciting. But then, Kostas had to come and burst our bubble…

The pot was a lie.

Well, it really was an ancient Mycenaean pot, but it’s one they rebury every year for the next season’s Bryn Mawr students. Bummer! Kostas called it “Persephone,” because it goes to ground for about six months every year. 

For the rest of the day, we watched the workers uncover more of a wall. We did help Panagiotis, though. He showed us how to find walls and use a brush to expose stones. He then had the idea after lunch for us to do a little bit of surveying. Of course, that wasn’t necessarily allowed, but whatever. After lunch, we went down a really steep slope that had a goat path. We’re not goats, though, so it was a bit of a tricky descent. We ended up in a rocky field full of a plant known as “donkey thorns.” They’re a really interesting looking flower, kind of alien-like. Basically, we found a bunch of sherds. We didn’t take that many back up, but Kostas found some Corinthian-style roof tiles! Those are from the 5th century BCE, so they’re way post-Mycenaean. The climb back up was a bit more difficult because it was so steep. A plant stabbed my leg, which I didn’t appreciate. It was also 104º F, but what can ya do? 

Then, we classified some more pot sherds with Katarina and wandered between the two levels of the site. We left at 2 because Kostas and Lena had to drive back to Athens to vote. That’s kind of annoying that they had to drive three hours, but this is an extremely important election.

That night, Dakota and I went back down to the wharf and watched the sunset. Then, we went to dinner at the same place we went to the previous night. Mmm, veggie burger. We watched the Euro 2012 game because it was Greece vs. Russia. It was a really intense game, but we left just before halftime to get froyo. 

On our walk back to the hotel, we heard a shit ton of screaming. It seemed as though there were a riot starting! But, it just turns out that Greece had scored a goal. Crazy, man. We got a bit lost on the way back, but we managed. I turned the TV on when we got to the room and watched the rest of the game while Dakota skyped her friends. 

GREECE WON. 

And then the honking and shouting didn’t stop until 2 AM. Greece, you DRUNK. It’s just the quarterfinals. But they weren’t expecting to beat Russia, so…I guess that’s okay. I wonder how it’s gonna be for the elections today. 

June 17th

Woke up at 5 AM to watch the Giants game. I hoped Timmy would turn it around in Seattle. After giving up two homers in the first, he settled down. And then we came back and scored 4 runs for him. But then I fell asleep, and when I woke up, the game was tied in the 6th inning (or maybe the 5th). A relief pitcher was in, so I was confused. But I was too tired, and I fell back asleep.

Woke up for real at 12:30. My leg was really hurting from pulling a muscle when I fell a few days ago. My calf is just really tight. Anyway, we walked up the hill to see the Byzantine fortress, but it was closed. Boooooo. 

Dakota and I split up, and I got lunch at the café we went to a few nights ago. I had a huge salad and fourteen olives. I’m an olive fiend.

After lunch, I took a photo walk. I think I got some good pictures. 

Then I got back to the hotel. And now here I am, trying to write blog entries. 

Remind me not to slack for this long ever again lol. 

THE END (for now)

Traveling vocabulary in Japanese

旅行 [りょこう] - travel, trip 旅 [たび] - travel, trip, journey 観光 [かんこう] - sightseeing, tourism 休み [やすみ] - holiday 旅行する [りょこうする] - to travel 乗客 [じょうきゃく] - passenger 旅行者 [りょこうしゃ] - tourist 外国人 [がいこくじん] - foreigner 国 [くに] - country 言語 [げんご] - language 通貨 [つうか] - currency 文化 [ぶんか] - culture 旅行先 [りょこうさき] - travel destination 旅行日程 [りょこうにってい] - itinerary 旅行代理店 [りょこうだいりてん] - travel agent, travel agency パンフレット - pamphlet, brochure 旅行保険 [りょこうほけん] - travel insurance 注射 [ちゅうしゃ] - injection 予約する [よやくする] - to book, to reserve キャンセルする - to cancel 遅れる[おくれる] - to delay 乗り換える [のりかえる] - to change; to transfer 借りる [かりる] - to rent 荷造りする [にづくりする] - to pack 荷物 [にもつ] - luggage, baggage 手荷物 [てにもつ] - hand luggage, carry-on bag パスポート - passport ビザ - visa チケット - ticket 地図 [ちず] - map 飛行機 [ひこうき] - airplane 電車 [でんしゃ] - train, electric train 列車 [れっしゃ] - train 汽車 [きしゃ] - train, steam train 新幹線 [しんかんせん] - bullet train 地下鉄 [ちかてつ] - subway 車 [くるま] - car バス - bus タクシー - taxi 船 [ふね] - ship, boat フェリー - ferry 自転車 [じてんしゃ] - bike バイク - motorcycle 空港 [くうこう] - airport 便 [びん] - flight パイロット - pilot 客室乗務員 [きゃくしつじょうむいん] - cabin crew, flight attendant エアライン - airline 航空会社 [こうくうがいしゃ] - airline company ターミナル  - terminal ゲート - gate 時刻表 [じこくひょう] - timetable, schedule 到着[とうちゃく] - arrivals 出発[しゅっぱつ] - departures 税関 [ぜいかん] - customs チェックイン - check in 搭乗券 [とうじょうけん] - boarding pass, boarding card 保安検査 [ほあんけんさ] - security control セキュリティチェック - security control 入国審査 [にゅうこくしんさ] - passport control 手荷物受取所 [てにもつうけとりしょ] - luggage reclaim インフォメーション(カウンター) - information (counter) 両替 [りょうがえ] - money exchange 駅 [えき] - station 切符売り場 [きっぷうりば] - ticket window, ticket booth, box office 券売機 [けんばいき] - ticket machine (プラット)ホーム - platform 停留所 [ていりゅうじょ] - stop 港 [みなと] - harbour 駐車場 [ちゅうしゃじょう] - parking space 宿泊 [しゅくはく] - lodging ホテル - hotel 受付 [うけつけ] - reception desk, information desk フロント  - reception チェックイン/チェックアウト - to check in/out 部屋 [へや] - room 旅館 [りょかん] - ryokan ゲストハウス - guesthouse ホステル  - hostel コテージ  - cottage コインロッカー - coin-operated locker ガイド  - guide 通訳者 [つうやくしゃ] - interpreter 観光案内所 [かんこうあんないじょ] - tourist information office 観光名所 [かんこうめいしょ] - sightseeing spot, tourist attraction  ツアー - tour カメラ - camera 写真 [しゃしん] - photo お土産 [おみやげ] - souvenir ポストカード - postcard 時差ぼけ [じさぼけ] - jetlag 乗物酔い [のりものよい] - motion sickness

If you feel like you’ve seen this alread, that’s normal. This list of recommendation has been previously posted on my first account @praestantias which has been deleted for some reasons. So here I am, reposting it. 

Hating how elitist and eurocentric the dark academia community became, I would truly appreciate that you leave some recommendation of book written by people of color, for I noticed that I am guilty of the eurocentric part, but I am really want to educate myself and read more non-white books. 

Thank you for your suggestions!

Unmentioned MBTI Traits

ISFJs are incredibly resilient: never back them into a corner, the aggressor won’t come back as the same person. Able to withstand some serious damage. ISFJs are not beings made of sunshine and tissue paper.


ESFJs possess an unwavering vision: once an ESFJ is set on a particular path, they are not coming back until their purpose is fulfilled.
 Even if the earth itself needed to be moved out of the way, they will accomplish their goal.

INTPs are cautious empaths: once an INTP finally settles down with a person they trust you can see the raw concern for you and those around them.


ENTPs are ravaging flames: unpredictable yet capable of a nurturing warmth, possess flickering moments of interest always on the verge of being extinguished.


ISTJs truly understand themselves and others: they do not need to tout their accomplishments for the world to see, they know their worth, even if no one else can readily recognize it.

ESTJs seek peace: often their blunt and meticulous lifestyle stems from a desire for inner and outer harmony.


INFPs are not to be underestimated: regardless of how dreamlike an INFP may seem like, they are fueled by a unquenchable sense of purpose. Standing between an INFP and their objective is dangerous, even if you are trying to save them from themselves.


ENFPs are fickle yet genuine people: ENFPs can whisk you away in an instant and provide a life changing experience. They can just as easily drop you flat leaving you to pick up the mess in their wake.


ISFPs see the beauty and terror the future hold: able to paint a comprehensive picture of what lies ahead is not easy. The unique way an ISFP issues a beautifully cryptic forewarning should be taken with hesitance, but odds are life is as just off-kilter and fascinating the ISFP portrays.


ESFPs are always searching for significance: significance can be a meaningful connection, a sense of purpose, or putting the silent pieces of the world together in a multitude of ways so that this life makes sense.


INTJs lack a certain degree of object 
permanence: always misplacing things is a humorous trait for such a self-sufficient kind of person. If not monitored, this can translate onto relationships in their life as well.

ENTJs mean well: wrapped up in their own minds, they may not always say the appropriate phrase, but that does not invalidate their sentiments.


ISTPs are softer than anyone would like to admit: ISTPs don’t take every word said to heart, but a few nasty words from a person the ISTP valued can shatter their sense of self in an instant.


ESTPs probably understand you more than they let on: not always able to put their ideas into words, ESTPs have a firm grasp of what kind of people are allowed in their life.


INFJs are unbelievably stubborn: getting an INFJ to shift their worldview or opinions of another is nigh impossible. No matter how necessary for their own well-being it may be to adapt.


ENFJs are both simple and complex: capable of plunging the depths of another person as quickly as they keep every word shallow and meaningless, understanding an ENFJ is no simple feat.

Temple of Dionysus (Temple IV)

Yria, Naxos, Greece

580-570 BCE

28,5m x 13,5 m

Ionic order (One of the earliest uses)

Around 580-570 BCE, work began on the fourth and largest temple of Yria, the only one of which remains are visible, and the only one to have been restored. It is an archaic hekatompedon (30 m. long) temple of the Ionic style. It is built of local granο-diorite rock, and it has an Adyton (innermost sanctuary for a mystery cult), marble portico (prostasis) with columns forming a monumental entrance, and a marble altar. Τwο tetrastyle marble colonnades divide the building into three aisles. 

The temple is divided into three naves by two rows of four columns of Ionic order, each of which consists of two or three marble drums. The Adyton is separated from the cella by a second monumental gate. The hearth, found inside the temple, was of marble and was used for libations. 

Italian specimen agate and quartz box, circa 1800.

“My mom painted this and said no one would like it. It’s her 2nd painting.”

“I painted somebody’s mom”

“Took a while and not perfect, but i painted the guy who painted the other guy’s mom”

“I painted the girl who painted the guy who painted the other guy’s mom who painted an egret”

“I painted the guy who painted the girl who painted the guy who painted the mom who painted a bird”

“When it sinks in that I stayed up most of the night to paint a meme for internet points…”

Billie Lourd on how Grandma Debbie Reynolds wants people to identify her