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Secret beach on Santorini GymPRETTY IN THE CITY

Secret beach on Santorini

Anyone who knows me knows that one of my favourite young-adult fiction novels is The Beach. So, as a staunch admirer of that book, you can imagine that I’m always interested in the notion of a secret beach. So there I was, innocently enjoying a souvlaki and a large pint of a local, quite disagreeable beer called Mythos - which is anything but mythic, but which I always seem to drink when I’m in Greece - when some guy started telling me about a secret beach on the island. He said (and I’m fairly sure he’s said this line to a lot of girls, and I have to admit it worked a treat) that every single year the locals take down the signs so that tourists can’t find it. Well, the next day, after making it clear to him that it wasn’t a date, I hopped on the back of his motorbike and went off to see this beach. And the way he was talking about it, I started to wonder if he’d also read The Beach, because he was describing how the sun hit this giant cliff that provided natural shade, and how if you swam underneath an underwater arch you ended up on the world’s smallest beach, completely unknown. Honestly, as far as he was concerned, it was Eden. Now, I know Greece. I know Santorini. There’s barely a plant on the place, so it was never going to be the Hanging Gardens of Babylon but still. ButI can confirm the following. One: the secret beach does actually exist. It wasn’t just a normal beach that he’d conned me into believing was secret. Two: there were no tourists on this beach. Three: the cliff really did catch the sunlight in a magical way and provided the promised natural shade. Four: it wasn’t quite an underground tunnel situation, but you did have to go for a short swim to find an even smaller beach, and it was a bit of an adventure and absolutely worth it. And five: he did indeed think it was a date, despite my having established already that it wasn’t. So I’ll end this little tale by saying that I’m afraid I can’t tell you where the beach is and the only pic I can give you is of the hotel gym. After all, it’s a secret!*   * I'm really intrigued to know if anyone else knows about this beach. 
ElleMX
June 9, 2025
Viva Tarragelona Screenshot 20260301 060422MY STORY

Viva Tarragelona

I am of my native country, but I live in Catalonia, I live in spain, I live in the European Union. I belong to an increasing set of people who I guess we call from 'Tarragelona' (no, this isn't fetch😂 I'm not trying to coin a new word*) but it is people whose life is centered mostly in Barcelona but we live in Tarragona. Barcelona is no longer viable as a place to have dignified housing unless you're super rich or you live with your parents. Tarragona on the other hand is still doable. Yes, you are an hour from Barcelona but you actually can have a decent place to live and, as you live there, you slowly start to realize it's fookin amazing. But watch out... More and more people are starting to realize this... and by the time you decide to come here it will have already become too expensive. Move now!   *I'm a liar... yes I am!
ElleMX
June 1, 2025
Pop Videos StalkerI'M WEIRD

Pop Videos

Have you ever watched old pop videos? I mean really watched them. Not just listened to the tune, but looked at everything on the screen. The outfits that they wear, things they do, the places they show. Lionel richie's 1984 hit 'Hello' is a straight up stalkers handbook. It's about a college professor who is obsessed with one of his students and I mean he's not just like obsessed  - he's scary obsessed; watching the video you see him following her around campus, including when she's at dance class randomly walking down the corridor, anywhere and everywhere. He like literally hovers wherever the poor girl is. And then there's the chilling lyrics which, once you know it's a song about stalking will send goosebumps popping out your arms.... I've been alone with you inside my mind And in my dreams, I've kissed your lips a thousand times I sometimes see you pass outside my door But that's nothing compared to the chorus... Hello, is it me you're looking for? I can see it in your eyes I can see it in your smile This is the classic moment where the stalker asks themselves if the victim loves them and then they answer the question themselves with some spurious evidence like "I can see it in your eyes'. Now of course, some blockhead will try to argue that because she makes the sculpture of him (which I suppose means that she's in love with him,) that somehow this excuses the stalking and the inappropriate relationship between teacher and student. Absolutely not! ...reciprocal feeling does not retroactively legitimise predatory behaviour, especially where power is unequal! Conclusion: sorry, I'm just being humorous... I mean obviously I do not approve of any of that behaviour but who the hell knows what was  happening in 1984... I don't know... I'm not gonna get on my hobby horse. But I do, however, maintain the original premise:   watching old pop videos is really mental. P:S: interestingly, after talking about this with a friend he whipped his phone out and start doing a bit of research, and it turns out that Lionel Richie actually didn't like the video or want the video to be anything to do with the blind girl or someone in college. The director, however... who also directed beat it by Michael Jackson... told him that the video was his responsibility and bad luck. So if anyone was the stalker, it was the director😂  
ElleMX
May 30, 2025
All dressed up to go to town… Ezgif 192adcc9ea6158cbPRETTY IN THE CITY

All dressed up to go to town…

I despise drugs, but if I come across a half smoked joint in an ashtray I simply have to smoke it. So there I was in a country house in the province of Girona. We'd been lying around for a couple of days in tracksuits, so we decided to get all dressed up and go into town. And so I dutifully got all dressed up - well, not all dressed up, but quite dressed up - and then as I was waiting for my friend I spotted this half-smoked joint in the ashtray and, according to the rule mentioned above, I had to smoke it. Turned out it was one of these newfangled super uber extraterrestrial semi-hallucinogenic things, because I proceeded to spend about an hour in the garden with the flowers, as you can see in the photo above. What's the moral of the story? ...Flowers are surprisingly good listeners.
ElleMX
April 15, 2025
Working as a seamstress by day and a singer by night… 612IC8RNThL. AC SL1500BOOKS

Working as a seamstress by day and a singer by night…

Chanel was the daughter of a minor nobleman who had fallen on hard times. That's what she told people anyway, but the reality was that her mother died and her father abandoned her and she was raised an orphan in a charitable institution. It's very curious how any famous person these days would kill for an origin story like that, but in those days it was shameful to come from such lowly origins. So Chanel simply did what any sensible person would do: she lied magnificently, wore the lie like one of her own little black dresses, and let the aristocrats who actually did inherit their wealth spend their entire lives wondering why they seemed so dreadfully dull by comparison.
ElleMX
April 2, 2025
One of those book purchases I feel compelled to make now I’m post 30… 716kupZcxtL. SL1500BOOKS

One of those book purchases I feel compelled to make now I’m post 30…

  I suppose I'd better explain the title. I don't know, I think it's something to do with a vague feeling that I should be seeking inspiration from women who combine an exemplary domestic matrimonial situation with professional excellence (she has 5 kids and was leader of the House of Representatives. I have neither. Anyway, the problem with  this exceedingly dull biography is that it lacks tension and a gruelling ascension, meaning it just reads like an excellent CV. And anyway, things got off to a bad start because this book began with the cardinal sin of telling me what is going to happen. Yes, I know she's a public figure but there's still lots of things I don't know about the story so don't start in your introduction telling me everything. Sorry Molly, but this belongs to that rare category of books I just could't finish.
ElleMX
March 6, 2025
As long as I’m not the subject…. 819LpM85oXL. AC SL1500BOOKS

As long as I’m not the subject….

This book shows the power of a title because I bought it purely based on the title. Unfortunately, though, the actual book didn't deliver quite so well. The main character is just not a nice person and she mirrors the exhausting way people today weaponize their grief/trauma/ADHD etc, to dodge accountability. Oh God I better shut up there or I'll just continue the amazingly good job I do of making myself unpopular.
ElleMX
February 3, 2025
Rain RainMY STORY

Rain

Today I'm taking revenge on the rain by eating a lot. If I can't go outside then I will fill my inside with every single carb I can find under this roof. I tell people I love the rain cos I'm a romantic, but it's just because I fucking love food and it gives me an excuse not to go out running. I hate exercise. I just pretend to like it. The only thing I really like is food. I want to eat cake. And pizza. And ice cream. And then a large burger with fries. And then I'll get bigger and bigger and nobody will want me then social oblivion will finally arrive. Thank God. And eventually they'll just have to Take Me Out of the house by taking the window out and using the crane But I don't care Just as long as I've got food. My only true love. Not surprisingly the rain is indifferent to my protest. I fucking hate dieting.    
ElleMX
January 28, 2025

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