Quelle's Thoughts

My Not-So-Extravagant Wedding

2011-10-25T17:30:00.001-04:00

My wedding is next year and while it's still several months away I am in full planning mode. One of the first things we did when Carlos and I got engaged was have an engagement photo shoot. The photographer iss a friend of his and she gave us a great deal. The pictures came out wonderful! I had signed up for David's Bridal's website and got a coupon for a free Photo Book from Shutterfly. I turned those engagement photos and iPhone pictures from the proposal into a Photo Book. It came out so well I got one for my parents. My mom loved it so much that she took it to work and showed all her co-workers. And then the problem began.

Her co-workers saw the fancy pictures in a printed hardcover book and immediately assumed that we shelled out a lot of money for it. They didn't know that we had gotten a discount from the photographer friend and that although I paid for the second Photo Book, I used two coupon codes which gave me free shipping and a 10% discount. All of a sudden all of my mom's co-workers are being super nice to her. Especially ones who had either ignored her or been rude to her in the past. She even got Employee of the Quarter which she hadn't received in almost 17 years (she's been at the company well over 20 years). Everyone wants to be invited to my wedding. The wedding they assume will be an extravagant and expensive affair. Not only that, my mother has been throwing out a random dollar amount for the whole wedding budget. Thanks Mom! Thanks for telling people how much you think my wedding will cost (FYI - I have not given her any numbers).

My wedding will not be extravagant. These are the 10 ways I'm pinching pennies.

1) No Bridesmaids, No Groomsmen, No Wedding Party - It's not traditional in Spanish-speaking countries to have these anyways. Also saves me money on having to give gifts, get flowers for the party, provide them with transportation, etc.
2) No flowers with a few exceptions - There will be no flowers with the exceptions of two bridal bouquets (one for me to hold and one for me to throw) and a few boutonnieres. And I'll be making the bouquets and boutonnieres myself to save money.
3) Ceremony and Reception are at the same place - I'm not having a church wedding. Both the ceremony and reception will be at the same location. We won't have to worry about paying for transportation to get people from one location to another or to pay two rental fees. Also, the location I chose is owned by my Alma Mater and I got an Alumni discount. Food/Catering is included in the price and they don't charge us a ceremony fee like other places do.
4) No Limousine - If the ceremony & reception are in the same place and I have no wedding party, why would I need it? It's a gross waste of money in my opinion.
5) No Rehearsal Dinner - Why would we need one if we have no wedding party?
6) No Engagement Party, Bridal Shower or Jack and Jill Party - I think our money was better spent on Engagement photos than a party. The wedding is the big party anyways. Also, while the Bridal Shower/Jack and Jill Parties would be organized by someone else and would be an opportunity for us to get presents, I think it's best to skip them to lessen the stress overall of wedding planning.
7) Hair and Makeup - I'm not 100% sure about this but I might be doing my own hair and makeup. It's expensive and if I pick a hair and makeup style early and practice it in advance of the wedding date, I can master it in time for the big day. However, two people have offered to gift me Hair & Makeup so I'm still deciding.
8) Decorations - No lights, no special tablecloths or napkins, no ice sculptures, etc. We may have some non-floral DIY & themed centerpieces but I'm not sure yet.
9) Dress and Accessories - Probably not going to have a veil. My ideal dress would be light enough to move and dance in. It will not be expensive because I'm only going to wear this once. Why would I want to break the bank buying it? I'm seriously considering ordering a handmade custom dress on Etsy however I just found out that my fiancee gets a 25% corporate discount at a well-known Bridal boutique chain.
10) Free help! - I have a wedding coordinator who is not charging us but is helping us out in return for experience. I'll be asking a few people to help out on the day (minor stuff). And I use TheKnot.com for free wedding help and their organizational tools and Twitter for advice.

Things that are important for me to invest in include: save-the-date magnets, invitations, wedding cake, DJ, photographer, videographer, wedding favors, disposable cameras, honeymoon, travel for the ceremony officiant, wedding bands, marriage license, bachelorette party, etc.

So why am I being so cheap? I want a house desperately. And I also really want a honeymoon. I haven't traveled any significant distance for a proper vacation since 2003. I'm long overdue. I'd rather save money and keep costs down so I can have what I really want but still have a nice wedding.

Bleach Makes Everything Bad Go Away

2011-09-30T13:00:00.020-04:00

Bleach is so wonderful. It's the best cleaning product out there, bar none. My mom taught me so many ways to use bleach and it has been an essential weapon during my trials and tribulations of living at chez Carlos.

Before I moved into Carlos' condo, Carlos would never use a liner in his trash cans. This ongoing practice resulted in nasty trash buckets lined with a sludge that resulted from the decay of food material and other waste. Blech. There was no way I was going I was diving into his 13 gallon plastic kitchen trash can to clean it. No matter how many pieces of paper towel and how many bottles of all-purpose cleaner I had. No way. NO. JUST NO!

So what did I do? I took the empty (emphasis on empty) trash can and stood it in the bathtub. I then poured some bleach into it, just enough to cover the worst of the sludge, and let it sit there for about 15 minutes.Then I turned on the shower and let really hot water fill the trashcan. I made sure to open all the windows of the condo, including the bathroom one, because steam that results hot water and bleach is not something you want to be breathing in. In fact, I even went outside for a few minutes while the shower water was filling up the can just to get away from the fumes. Once it the trash can was full, I shut off the shower head and let the trash can sit there for a few hours while the hot water and bleach worked it's magic. I dumped the bleach water and got a sparkling clean trash can in return. No scrubbing, no spraying, no nothing. Thank you bleach!

Warning: Be careful when using bleach! Wash your hands thoroughly afterwards and be careful not to get any on your clothes. If need be, strip yourself of all clothing and wrap yourself in a large white towel or wear a white bathrobe.

Another way I use bleach is to unclog the bathroom sink and tub when it gets to filled with hair and other waste. Somewhat recently both the bathroom sink and tub were clogged and would fill up quickly and drain way too slowly. I don't know about you but I loathe standing water. It's a magnet for bacteria, bugs and the dreaded MOLD! I have little to no patience with standing water. What I used to do to treat clogs was add a couple glugs (yes that's a technical term I use) of bleach to help the water drain. It did help the drain go by faster but it didn't help the clog and the problem would continue. One day, completely by accident, I discovered the solution. After forgetting to help the sink drain with some bleach I went back and found the water had all drained. I looked inside the drain and saw hair, floss, string and other gunk inside. I poured enough bleach into the sink to create a pool reminiscent of what was leftover after I washed my hands. The bleach got to work and the drain burped a few times and the liquid went down. Ever since then, water drains quickly in the sink. I did the same for the tub and after a few belches it's been draining efficiently.

So why didn't I just buy some Draino? It doesn't work! I don't care how much research they've done and how it's advanced over the years. Draino, and similar products, are more money than their worth. After an incident with a tub clog back in my old apartment, I went through about 4 bottles of Draino only to have the tub still filled with standing water for hours upon hours after every shower. I called my mom in distress and her answer to me was Bleach and lots of it. I bought a small bottle of bleach (much cheaper than either of the 4 bottles of Draino I had purchased) and poured the whole thing in. The problem went away just like that!

So when in doubt, bleach! Bleach makes bad things go away. (Warning: Does not work on annoying people, only on annoying household grime and clogs and your laundry whites).

The War Against Mold and Mildew

2011-09-28T13:00:00.001-04:00

I'll save you the distress of having to look at a picture of mold or mildew. You'll thank me later.

Mold and mildew. Oh how I hate you so. Before I moved in, Carlos' condo was a total mess. Standing water in the tub, a moth infestation, some light levels of hoarding, dust, hair and mold and mildew. And that's just a general overview! There were a lot more problems but those were the major ones. Carlos has asthma so how he lived in those conditions and survived is beyond my level of understanding.

I got rid of the moths by cleaning the kitchen and removing all of their egg deposits. I made sure that nothing dry (flour, rice, etc.) was exposed. Everything was in clean sealed bags or containers. I placed dry bay leaves in various cupboards to scare them away. The moths disappeared and haven't come back.Carlos had someone fix the drain in the bathtub and there was no more standing water. All the rooms were cleaned of hair, dust and clutter. It seemed like everything bad was fixed. But the mold and mildew still plague me to this day.

The problem with the condo is that it has poor air circulation, is in a shady corner of the complex so there isn't enough sunlight coming in and it is at ground level (mostly above ground). Because we are at ground level, it's not feasible to keep the windows open when we are not at home. It would be way too easy for a burglar to find his or her way in and make off with our valuable goods. So for most of the day the windows are closed.

Mold grows the most in the bathroom. Whoever tiled, caulked and painted the bathroom neglected to use anti-mold materials. You can buy anti-mold caulking and paint at any local hardware store. No one informed this person of that valuable fact. The shower is completely tiled and there is a window with a sill that's about a foot deep. The tile, including that flat surface of the sill which collects pools of water, is a magnet for black mold. Oh and how it loves to grow on that. The ceiling paint also has black mold. I have spent countless hours in that bathroom cleaning with hot water, bleach and mold remover. Alas, the mold always comes back with a vengeance sticking to anything it can.

So I developed a full battle plan against the mold (and the pink mildew which grows there too):

1. Open the window after every shower. Even if it's only for an hour or two. This daily practice helps bring in fresh air that will dry the tiles, tub, shower curtain and mat. Mold loves moist environments so the drier I can get the bathroom the better. There are no electrical outlets in our bathroom so a fan (my ideal solution for this problem) is not an option.

2. I invested in a anti-mold/anti-mildew bath mat. I've gone through a couple mats. The first one was a mold magnet and went from clear plastic to almost black. I threw that out. Then I got an anti-mold/anti-mildew bath mat which never collected mold but never dried. EVER! It was always cold, wet and squishy. Finally, I got a white rubber mat which was also anti-mold/anti-mildew. After every shower, we hang it up on the towel rod which is in the shower itself. Bad placement for towels, great for mats. The mat, suspended all day, dries thoroughly.

3. I also invested in an anti-mold/anti-mildew shower curtain liner. Pink mildew was a big problem on the last shower curtain I had. It would grow rampantly and I'd shiver at the thought of the curtain liner touching me. Ick! I switched to the new liner which works for the most part. However, if you scrunch the liner, the space in between the folds won't dry thorough and the pink mildew will grow. So we had to make a regular ritual of spreading open the curtain.

4. Weekly treatment of shower with an Anti-Mold/Mildew spray. Why don't I just do this every day? The spray has a heavy chemical smell and doesn't work on heavy mold growth. With steps 1-3, I keep the mold growth down and the Anti-Mold/Mildew helps remove what's left behind. It's also really good at getting that pink mildew off the curtain. I do this every Sunday and make sure the window is wide open to let some good air in.

Extra tip: I wash all used towels once a week with hot water and detergent and I dry them at the highest heat. After each use, they are spread out to dry on our new towel rack. Folding wet towels and not washing/drying them frequently enough will just be inviting more mold to grow.

I miss the days of having a super clean, always dry, mold-less bathroom. I lived on the 3rd floor of an apartment building and always kept the bathroom window open with no fear of a break in. Glorious! A dry bathroom is a happy one.

A Heavy Load Indeed

2011-09-26T13:00:00.020-04:00

Carlos is almost one month in to his current semester and already he is feeling overwhelmed. He takes two classes at a community college and works upwards of 60 hours per week. Next week he'll be clocking in at 6 days instead of his average 5. I feel bad for him because he comes home exhausted from being on his feet all day, he can't take some time out during his day to study and he goes to bed really late after studying all night.

I remember the work-school dilemma very well. Back in 2005, I started a graduate program in Writing, Literature and Publishing at a local college. I was working full time and attending classes at night. Each class met once a week for 4 hours. By the time I got home, my mind would be buzzing from the days' activity and brand new information. I had to start taking melatonin supplements so I could go to sleep. I didn't work 60 hours but I did work a regular 9-5 Monday-Friday schedule with significant commuting time. It was a lot to handle. See that picture on the left? That was my first semesters reading load. The only book I didn't have to read cover-to-cover was that fat Chicago Manual of Style towards the bottom of the stack.

How did I manage to survive graduate school? I'm still not 100% sure. During that time I was in a car accident, developed an ulcer from all the coffee I drank and gained a few other health problems because of all the stress. I fit in homework where I could. I did a lot of writing during my lunch breaks. I read whenever and wherever I could: on the T, in bed, at the library and even on the toilet. I made it out of school with all As, a diploma, a gaggle of new friends and regret. I don't think I really needed a graduate degree. It didn't do much for me career-wise but it is another notch on the belt of life. No one can say I'm just some typical underprivileged Latina with too-tight pants and too many pregnancies. I have a Master's!

So what's the solution for Carlos? I think his free time is very precious and he needs to manage it well in order to make it through the semester. Time management is tres difficile. I was never good at it. Fear of failure kept me in check. I hope Carlos can find something that works for him and I know I'm willing to help.

September 11th, 2011

2011-09-11T09:59:00.001-04:00

This is a picture that I took back in 1991. I was 10 years old and my mom and I were in New York visiting family friends. Not sure which tower this was but I remember taking pictures of all the major New York sites while we past.

Do you remember where you were September 11th, 2001? I remember driving at night on the highway on September 10th, 2001 and I was listening to the radio. It might have been NPR or some other news radio and the correspondent talking mentioned Osama Bin Laden. He claimed that George W. Bush had no interest in finding him. Then the next day, I woke up, had my breakfast and watched as my dad took my dog out for his morning walk. I was going to start my first semester at Northeastern University in just over a week so I was enjoying my last days of summer. I logged onto America Online and I saw an incredible image in the welcome screen. It was of the two towers with smoke billowing out of them.

I told my dad, I called my mom who was at work and I watched the TV in horror. I remember watching one of the news shows and they were talking to someone at the Pentagon. I heard a big boom. It was the plane that hit the building. I couldn't believe what was happening. I was speechless as I watched both towers fall. It seemed unreal. Totally unreal.

You couldn't escape 9/11 even after the day had passed. I have been scared of flying ever since. This coming from someone who had been flying since she was 20 days old. Even almost crashing into the Atlantic Ocean during a flight at the age of 8 (we ended up safely landing in the Azores) didn't scar me like watching the events of 9/11. It didn't help my fear of heights too.

Let us never forget what happened that day. I know I won't.

Young Me #3

2011-09-10T09:55:00.000-04:00

Before I met my Carlos, I was very close with another Carlos. A young Columbian boy from my apartment complex in Natick. We didn't always get along. He was kind of a brat and if I'm honest, I was one too. Here Carlos and I are having fun at his birthday party and in an inflatable pool.

Posh Frock Friday - Cheer Me Up Edition

2011-09-09T09:28:00.001-04:00

Posh Frock Friday is a sort-of-meme run by Kate of Scathingly Brilliant.

I've been a bit down lately. Finances, future goals, health issues, wedding planning all seem to weigh me down emotionally. One of the ways I've been cheering myself up is by wearing posh frocks and experimenting with hairdos.

In our present culture very few people do hairdos anymore. It's all about the haircut. You go to a hair salon, invest in a good haircut and it's like having a permanent hairdo on your head at all times. I can't do haircuts. Nothing really works on me. Bangs don't work at any length because my hair is naturally very curly and frizzy. I have three types of hair (European, African and Arabic). It doesn't want to lay flat ever, especially on my forehead. I can't do any haircuts that require the hair to be super straight to look good. I can't do layers because it'll look like I'm wearing a mullet. Stylish haircuts are just not for me. However, I can do stylish hairdos. My hair loves to be braided, twisted, pinned and styled. Hairdos break up the roundness of my head and face and give some structure to my look. Plus they are fun to do. I used to do french braids on my friends in high school all the time. On one friend I even did a french braid that looked like a big question mark with a scrunchie at the end that served as a dot. Looking back at pictures of my mother when she was my age, she always had impeccable hairdos. She had at one time been a professional hair dresser and passed down her natural talent to me. So now, I'm cheering myself up with some hairdos!

Not sure if you can see but this is a traditional rope that wraps around the head. The secret to this rope is to work it like a french braid AND to make sure you twist the two strands of hair in one direction but twist them together in another. The tension between the two alternate twists is what holds the twist together. Also, alternating makes it look like a rope.

Skirt - Lord & Taylor

Top - Lord & Taylor

Cardigan - H&M

Earrings - Forever 21

If you want to learn how to do this hairdo, watch Lilith Moon's tutorial. She doesn't mention the alternating twisting style in this one so make note of it. Otherwise it won't look right on your head.

Old Polaroids #1

2011-09-06T21:45:00.000-04:00

I'm almost done with my family photo scanning project. It was a lot of fun going down memory lane. Some of my favorites have to be these wonderful old Polaroids, most of them taken in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and Natick, Massachusetts. Enjoy!

Never tape pictures! Never ever put tape on pictures! EVER!

Boston Harbor Fest

2011-07-02T10:26:00.000-04:00

Carlos and I spent Thursday in Boston attending some of the Boston Harbor Fest events. It was a lot of fun (and walking). Here are some pictures from that day.

Carlos walking the Freedom Trail towards the State House.

Inside the State House.

The hanging thingamabob represents Massachusetts. All the flags represent each town of the state.

Underneath the famous dome of the State House.

JFK Memorial Statue

View of the Boston Skyline from the Boston Common

Flowers at the Boston Public Garden

One of the famous Swan Boats at the Boston Public Garden

Self Portrait

Gorgeous flowers

Washington Statue at the Boston Public Garden

New England Aquarium

A Harbor Seal at the New England Aquarium

We took a Boston Rickshaw up the hill from the New England Aquarium to King's Chapel. This really worked hard to get us there.

View from the Rickshaw

Inside King's Chapel.

On the Crypt tour of the King's Chapel, Carlos gets a peek into one of the crypts.

And you can see a lot. Including the actual coffins. Including this one of an unidentified baby. ::shivers::

Cemetery outside King's Chapel.

U.S.S. Consitution

Second Anniversary

2011-06-28T16:48:00.000-04:00

Carlos and I celebrated our second anniversary by recreating our first two dates. We dined at the same restaurant we first met at and we saw Hangover II (Hangover was what we saw on our real second date!). We had a little fun with pictures too.

Lovin' you, is easy 'cause you're beautiful

2011-06-18T21:21:00.000-04:00

I was trying to remember the lyrics of this song the other day. Carlos and I had just come out of the theater after watching Bridesmaids (2011) and I told Carlos that Maya Rudolph's mother was a singer in the 1970s. She was known for hitting some high notes which I proceeded to attempt much to Carlos' dismay. This song is really beautiful and since I'm deep in my love right now the lyrics speak to me in a way they hadn't before.

La la la la la. La la la la la. La la la la la la la la la.

Proposal - Sunday May 29, 2011

2011-05-31T21:25:00.000-04:00

Carlos proposed to me on Sunday at Conomo Point. It was a magical day.

Posh Frock Friday: Southampton Wedding Edition #2

2011-05-14T08:00:00.001-04:00

Happy Mother's Day

2011-05-08T14:41:00.000-04:00

Posh Frock Friday: Southampton Wedding Edition

2011-05-06T08:00:00.009-04:00

Posh Frock Friday is hosted by the fabulous Kate Gabrielle at the blog Scathingly Brilliant.

I went to Lord & Taylor some weeks back (unfortunately, I chose the day they were having a Prom Runway Show, egads!) and got this fabulous cotton dress on sale. I fell in love with the shape of it because it reminded me of those wiggle dresses Doris Day and the like wore in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The geometric pattern screamed Art Deco and the black helped me look slim in the dress. I look rather large when I wear light colors so a bit of dark always helps. Plus I felt I could wear almost any standard color shoe and it would go with the dress. The material was sturdy enough to hold in my voluptuous figure and I didn't feel like I had to suck it in all the time.

Perfect dress for a wedding and for dancing at a hoppin' reception! Our good friends got married over the past weekend in Southampton, NY. Carlos and I had a blast!

Here I am at the church. I felt a bit uncomfortable there because I have a phobia of large pieces of religious artwork. But all the white space on the walls and ceiling helped me relax and soothed me. Doesn't it look like some spiritual force is shining light down upon me?!

At the reception, I was a bit naughty. I tried a stogie. Oh yes! I am militantly anti-smoking and I think cigarettes are cancer sticks of evil but I've always wanted to try a cigar. I think a celebratory cigar at a wedding is fine as long as cigars don't become a regular habit. Carlos got a bunch for the groom and the groomsmen at the wedding and I snuck a puff or two of his.

And I didn't inhale!

Carlos took some shots of me at the stairwell leading out of the restaurant's patio.

Carlos looked very nice in his Tuxedo!

Raaayyyyrrr!

The Geese in Southampton are very friendly

2011-05-05T08:00:00.002-04:00

A group of geese a Agawam Lake in Southampton, NY are very welcoming of any tourists who wish to stop by to say hello. They'll come right up to your car to greet you! Be kind because legally they have the right of way! And they'll take their sweet time crossing the street.

Young Me #2

2011-04-11T13:00:00.000-04:00

Here are some photographs from 1981 (although I'm thinking the last one is from 1982). We lived in Natick, Massachusetts then in a complex called Kendall Crossing. I'm in the middle of a big scanning project and am tackling some of my parents' old photo albums. The photos are not in the best condition so scanning them now is really crucial. These photographs are nice and big with lots of detail so scanning them as they are is great!

Pictures of Dory #4

2011-04-09T13:00:00.001-04:00

Pictures of Dory #3

2011-04-08T13:00:00.000-04:00

Doesn't this dress look a lot like the one I wore in the Posh Frock Friday: New Year's Edition post? I had seen this picture after I purchased and wore that dress. I love that we both shared something similar like that.

Pictures of Dory #2

2011-04-07T13:00:00.002-04:00

Pictures of Dory #1

2011-04-03T10:00:00.001-04:00

My beau Carlos has given me the opportunity to share some photographs of his mother here on Quelle's Thoughts. His mother, Dory, had amazing fashion sense and I love looking at pictures of her. She was always so put together and stylish. Carlos' mother passed away some years ago and unfortunately I never got a chance to meet her. I get some glimpses into her life through the collections of amazing photographs that Carlos' family saved of her. The pictures I'm sharing with you are circa early 1960s when Dory lived in New York City. I hope you this photo series.

Posh Frock Friday: April Fool's Day Edition

2011-04-01T08:30:00.000-04:00

It's April Fool's Day and Mother Nature chose to play with our sanity again and give the area a nice slushy snowstorm. But I'm not going to complain because 1) it's happened before and 2) it gives me an excuse to wear the green diagonal pattern scarf that I've been knitting all winter. I had hoped that I could wear it before winter was over but by the time March 21st came around I still hadn't finished. But thanks to this surprise snow storm, I was able to deck myself out in some of my finest winter wear for one last time before next winter (or the next Spring snow storm).

Coat - H&M

Hat - Forever 21 or DSW (I forget!)

Black, elbow-length gloves - Target

Scarf - Quelle

Photography by Carlos

Happy Birthday Carlos

2011-03-23T17:10:00.004-04:00

Today is Carlos' birthday and I want to do a little homage to him. Here are some of my favorite pictures of Carlos that I've taken with my iPhone as well as a few fun facts about him.

Carlos is really cool. He's not self-conscious at all and can get along with anybody he meets. He's a great conversationalist and a loyal friend.

Carlos is a big flirt. Waitresses at restaurants don't stand a chance with him.

Carlos loves cars. He loves driving cars, looking at cars and taking pictures of cars. This is him at the recent Boston Car Show taking a picture of a car!

Carlos loves to travel. He's been to his parents' native countries of Chile and Columbia and he lived in San Francisco for 3 years.

Carlos is very well-dressed. He has many years of experience in retail, in the clothing industry in particular and he is currently a wardrobe consultant for men.

Carlos has a great smile.

Carlos can be very silly.

Very silly! He laughs a lot and is always smiling. He lives by the motto: Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much.

Carlos really loves to eat. And I really love to cook.

Carlos is very well-loved by Raquelle. xoxo

Carlos gets a professional shave

2011-03-20T15:18:00.000-04:00

The before shot

After shot

Posh Frock Friday: Low Self-Confidence Edition

2011-02-18T09:38:00.000-05:00

Sometimes a nice flowy top is very forgiving. While I still feel good about my overall shape, I feel really bad about how much weight I'm carrying around. I've been over-working myself at the gym trying to shed some of this weight now but I keep injuring myself. For example, I overdid it on a thigh exercise which gave me some sciatic and a twisted pelvis. My left side was further back than my right. I tried to undo this by going overboard with stretches and I ended up injuring my right side and made my left side worse. Oy vey! I was on a really good track, jogging 5-7.5 miles a week and I had made a goal for myself of jogging a marathon worth of miles in February but I had to stop! I can't wait for the spring and summer time when I can be more active. I'm dreaming of the days when I can play tennis, go on long walks, start biking again, head out to the batting cages, go for challenging hikes, play paddle ball in a park, swim in a pool or in the ocean, etc. But alas, I'm stuck in winter for now, with this damn weight and this really low-self esteem which is just dropping to new depths every day.

Sometimes, when you are feeling really down about yourself, it's nice to take some time and dress up. Put on a skirt, a nice flowy top, or maybe just a dress, do your hair, add some makeup to your face and put on some dangling earrings. You'll suddenly feel a whole lot better.

Top: Forever 21

Skirt: TJ Maxx (gift from my mom)

Nylons: Backseamed ones from Nordstrom Rack

Shoes: DSW warehouse

Travel Blues

2011-01-26T19:55:00.001-05:00

I've been having a major case of the travel blues. It makes me so mad to see other people get to travel whenever they want when I'm stuck here. I would have never thought that at the age of 30, with a career and no debt that I wouldn't be able to travel. At all. But alas it is so.

I want Frank Sinatra to come whisk me away. To Bombay, Peru and Acapulco Bay. To somewhere far, far away. Take me away Frank!

Come fly with me

let's fly, let's fly away

if you can use

some exotic booze

there's a bar in far Bombay

Come fly with me

let's fly, let's fly away

Come fly with me

let's float down to Peru

In Llamaland there's a one man band

and he'll toot his flute for you

Come fly with me

let's take off in the blue

Once I get you up there

where the air is clarified

we'll just fly,

starry-eyed

Once I get you up there

I'll be holding you so near

you may hear

angels cheer, 'cause we're together

Weather-wise it's such a lovely day

just say the words

and we'll beat the birds

down to Acapulco Bay

It's perfect for a flying honeymoon

they say

Come fly with me

let's fly, let's fly away

Once I get you up there

where the air is rarified

we'll just fly, starry-eyed

Once I get you up there

I'll be holding you so near

you may hear

angels cheer, 'cause we're together

Weather-wise it's such a lovely day

you just say the words

and we'll beat the birds

down to Acapulco Bay

It's perfect for a flying honeymoon

they say

Come fly with me

let's fly, let's fly away

Lost Photographs #1

2011-01-18T19:29:00.000-05:00

My dad is notorious for hiding things. Recently when both of my parents expressed interest in my scanning old family photographs to preserve them, my dad "came upon" various old photographs. This is a series of photographs from 1984. Most taken in Portugal, others in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. I don't ever remember seeing these photographs so this is a real treat for me. I hope my dad will accidentally stumble upon some more hidden treasures!

Posh Frock Friday: New Year's Edition

2010-12-31T16:25:00.000-05:00

Posh Frock Friday is a new meme hosted by Kate Gabrielle over at Scathingly Brilliant.

Dress - Nordstrom Rack

Backseamed Stockings - Nordstrom Rack

Shoes - Payless Shoe Source

New Year's Accoutrement - Market Basket (no joke)

Images of my Dad #2

2010-12-06T11:56:00.003-05:00

My dad at the Lisbon Zoo. Circa 1999.

Family Pictures #2

2010-12-05T11:51:00.001-05:00

My aunt Raquel, Grandma, Mom and myself. Circa 1999

My mom and dad celebrating New Year's.

My dad, mom and grandma.

My half-aunt Mayra and my Grandma.

My half-aunt Mayra, a whole bunch of cousins and me. Dominican Republic circa 1988.

My Beautiful Mom #2

2010-12-04T11:51:00.000-05:00

Only my mother could pull off hot pink at a wedding!

Images of my Dad #1

2010-11-30T13:00:00.000-05:00

Family Pictures #1

2010-11-29T12:54:00.000-05:00

This was the inheritance I lost. A home and farm in Portugal.

Lef to right: Aunt Magali, Uncle Ezequiah, Grandma Maria Elena, Cousin Yasmani, Cousin Sabrina, Cousin Jessica and me.

My first birthday.

My mom is so gorgeous!

Mom and I at church.

Me with my nephews on Cape Cod.

I submitted this to Cake Wrecks but they didn't take it.

In the middle is my cousin Mito and to the right (his left) is my cousin Pedro. This is a religious procession in Taboeira, Portugal.

Festival on the Common

2010-11-28T13:00:00.000-05:00

My Beautiful Mom #1

2010-11-27T13:00:00.000-05:00

Young Me #1

2010-11-26T12:29:00.000-05:00

At the Christopher Columbus museum in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

9 years old, in front of my parent's home.

I want in!

With my nephews. Yes my nephews.

At age 12, a dancing portrait.

My 5th birthday. Check out how long my hair was!

Hangin' out with Trebeck.

I was a very happy child.

Book Review: It's Not Him, It's You! by Dr. Laura Berman

2010-11-16T20:00:00.005-05:00

It's Not Him, It's You!

How to Take Charge of Your Life and Create the Love and Intimacy You Deserve

by Laura Berman PhD

Dorling Kindersley

$25.00

Hardcover

January 2011

My beau Carlos and I became fans of Dr. Laura Berman after watching her short-lived TV series Sexual Healing on Netflix Instant Watch. In the show, she took on two couples with serious intimacy issues and worked with them for a few weeks on their troubles. She would meet with them together as a couple and one-on-one. Berman would also give them homework assignments, intimacy experiments that they would do in private (or in public depending on the task) and would report back at the next meeting. Some of the cases were pretty serious and Carlos and I were always impressed on how she dealt with them. She listened to them, asked them thought-provoking questions and always encouraged communication between the partners.

So when I saw that DK was offering up some galleys of this book for review on Shelf Awareness, I jumped on the chance. I thought, if anything, it could help improve my love life.

The copy I received was a paperback galley with pixelated black and white photographs. I hope that the final hardcover will be in color! The design overall was very good and I'm excited to see the final product when it publishes next year.

The book covers many topics from dating, sex, long-term relationships, health issues, family, stress, etc. The way the different sections are structured makes it easy to read and great as a reference guide. The book is peppered with quizzes, lists, strategies, sexy photographic spreads, and thought-provoking essays. The target audience of this book is primarily women but men could read it as well. You can be single, in a casual relationship, in a long-term relationship, married, divorced, it doesn't matter. It is pretty much guaranteed that regardless of your current romantic status that there are several sections of this book that will relate directly to you. It's evenly balanced and I didn't feel like it catered to one group of women over another. This is the type of book that women could easily share with their female firends and family members.

In my opinion, the main goal of the book is to help you not sabotage your relationship. Because let's face it, that's what many of us do. Both men and women have a tendency to destroy their relationships because they are scared or they don't put in the effort required to keep a relationship healthy and thriving. This book focuses on how women do that and how they can stop doing that and improve their love lives. I found it very empowering but several times throughout the book I would stop and wonder if "It's Not Her, It's You!" would ever be published.

Personally, I got the most out of the section about the "blame game". I didn't quite buy the you spot it you own it idea that if you see some flaw in someone else you have that flaw as well. However, I do think I have a tendency to blame people for things they haven't done. This is my way of lashing out at people in order to protect my vulnerable self-esteem. Also, Berman suggests that if you confront your partner over a certain issue that you be more careful with your words. This is something I really need to work on as I am prone to spout things that are hurtful just because I want to see the other person's reaction. This is NOT healthy! I realize this now and will try to be more careful with my words.

Laura Berman's book It's Not Him! It's You is like having your own sex and relationship therapist in the privacy of your own home. Having it available in your library will empower you to take steps to improving your love life.

Full Disclosure: The e-newsletter Shelf Awareness featured an ad by publisher DK offering a limited number of ARCs/galleys to folks who were interested. I sent a request and received a copy. Thank you DK!

Excuse me but that song just made fun of you

2010-11-13T12:57:00.000-05:00

Outkast totally pulled the wool over your eyes and you didn't even know it.

I love this song! But at the same time I also recognize it as one of the biggest scam I've ever heard. It's anti-love, pro-casual sex and it basically insults the listener. It's dance beat and the repetition of words like "shake it like a polaroid picture", "alright", "hey ya", "why oh why oh", etc. hypnotizes listeners into a frenzy of gyrations. They are too busy dancing to notice that Andre is talking to a girl whose love he can't return but whose body he still wants to enjoy. He keeps on this point for about 2 minutes until the insult comes. Andre mutters, almost under his breath right before the song bridges to it's climax. "Y'all don't wanna hear me, y'all just wanna dance." That's right Andre. Most of the people who will listen to this song will completely overlook the anti-love message you are spouting and will be dancing to the beat, oblivious to your negative thoughts on love. They are only there to dance, not to be preached to. By the point that Andre says, "y'all just wanna dance" and delivers a few more lines of lyrics, he completely drops the anti-love message and basically commands his audience to start shaking their bodies like they would shake a polaroid picture to get it to develop faster. Genius! He stops his message before the audience can catch on and encourages them to lose themselves in the beat and in their dancing.

Let's talk about the elements of the video for a bit. There is a green coffin on stage. I like to think that represents the death of love. How it's not forever because like Andre says, if nothing is forever so why is love the exception. And I think it's kind of funny that the actor Ryan Philippe, who was notorious for cheating on his ex-wife Reese Witherspoon, introduced the Andre-multiple fake band "The Love Below" in the video. If anyone knows how to kill love with a swift blow, it's him! Not that they would have known that in 2003 but I like this regardless. Now, let's talk about those multiples Andres. All in green and with different functions and personalities. What a great distraction! While you are watching the video, you'll be too busy picking out all the Andres to realize that Andre is breaking up with his girlfriend in the song. The girls screaming in the background to be Andre's next girlfriend (whichever Andre on stage they can get). I think this is funny too. He just said he doesn't believe in love. So you want to be with him so he can make you cum-a and toss you aside?

I've talked to a few people about the anti-love message and the insult in the song and most of them never noticed (well duh that's the point) or they think I've over-analyzing the song. If you think of a song or any type of art whether it be a book, a movie, a painting, etc. is only what it is at the surface then you are deluding yourself. There is always something more once you pull back the curtains and see what's really inside.

Lyrics

My baby don't mess around

because she loves me so

and this I know for sure

but does she really want to

because she can't stand

to see me walk out the door

don't try to fight the feeling

'cause the thought alone

is killing me right now

Thank God for mom and dad

for sticking two together

'cause we don't know how

hey ya, hey ya, hey ya, hey ya

you think you've got it?

oh you think you've got it?

but got it just don't get it

'cause there's nothing at all

we fit together

oh we fit together

but separate is always better

when there's feelings involved

'cause what they say is

nothing is forever

then what makes, then what makes, then what makes

love the exception?

so why oh why oh why oh why oh why oh

are we so in denial?

when we know we're not happy here

Y'all don't want to hear me

Y'all just want to dance

Don't want to meet your Daddy

just want you in my Cadi

Don't want to meet your Momma

just want to make you cum-ah

I'm, I'm just being honest

I'm just being honest

alright now fellas

yeah?

what's cooler than being cool?

ice cold

I can't hear you

what's cooler than being cool?

ice cold

alright, alright, alright, alright, alright, alright, alright, alright...

ok now ladies

we are going to break this thing down in a second

now don't make me break this thing down for nothing

now I want to see y'all on your baddest behavior

lend me some sugar, I am your neighbor

Shake it, shake it, shake it, shake it, like a polaroid picture (repeat)

hey ya (repeat)

What do you Google?

2010-10-26T19:29:00.000-04:00

I have a very curious mind. I get it from my Dad. My curiosity is like an itch that I have to scratch and if I can't scratch it I will go out of my mind with anxiety. Or perhaps a lighter version of that.

Now, I've been online for quite a while so I've been "Googling" things before Google even existed. I would do searches on Altavista, Lycos but mostly Yahoo!. Today, I almost exclusively Google but do occasionally visit Bing or Yahoo!. If I'm not looking up something for my job, for my blogs or hobbies, I'm Googling questions, things I heard, new information I learned and want to know more about, trends and topics, etc. I Google a lot of things and while I'm not the best Googler out there, I feel like I'm pretty competent.

What do I Google?

Here is a list of things that I Google on a regular basis:

1) Symptoms - Confession: I'm a bit of a Hypochondriac. If there is anything amiss with my body, I will Google the symptoms and research the ailment trying to self-diagnose. I remember one month I was getting some cramps in my chest, I think I Googled "breast cancer" almost every single day. Last Thursday, I was pretty sick and had to lie down for most of the day. This caused me some acid reflux that has been affecting me ever since. So I Googled those symptoms. Some months ago, I had a really large and painful cyst (don't ask). While I was waiting for Carlos to pick me up to bring me to the Emergency Room, I spent the time Googling symptoms on my iPhone. Now, while I know health resources online are valuable, I would never self-medicate myself with anything other than the recommended dosage of an OTC drug. However, it is a comfort to know what I have or to know something is normal and treatable.

2) Quiverfull, Prairie Muffins, Polygamy, Helpmeet - I'm fascinated with Quiverfull and FLDS Polygamist lifestyles. Several times a month, I plop these keywords into Google and I read blog entries, Facebook pages, news articles, etc. Something I'm starting to do more these days is to search keywords through YouTube (not through Google's Video search though, which I don't care for). I found this very interesting clip about a Quiverfull family over the weekend. Why do I Google these terms? I just find these lifestyles very interesting and at the same time very scary. There is a dehumanizing of the female that happens in sacrifice of family that fascinates me endlessly. Especially since I see the same thing in mainstream culture but for other reasons.

3) Pushba - Once in a while, I'll declare "It's Pushba time!". Pushba is a young Russian woman who is some sort of alternative model. She shaves her hairline, wears numerous piercings, has various tattoos, uses crazy make-up and wears a strange array of clothes. I found her when I was reading the funny website Tacky Weddings and they did a post about her Russian Goth Wedding. I did some research on her and found she keeps a Livejournal (NSFW), which I can't read because it's all in Russian, and a Gallery (NFSW) of her modeling. Her photos are so captivating. I can look at them for hours! I never bookmark her sites, instead I just like to Google her. Why? I'm not sure. Maybe searching for her is part of what I like about Pushba time.

4) Questions - If I have a question about anything, I'll Google it. No really. I'll Google the actual question because chances are the question contains all the necessary keywords needed for the search. Maybe this is me being conditioned from the AskJeeves.com days. Most of the time, these questions are personal and relate to sex and romance. But I ask all sorts of other types of questions too.

So what do you Google?

How I Macgyvered Our Toilet; or War against the Ballcock

2010-10-22T08:50:00.002-04:00

Our home toilet hasn't been doing so great. The lift chain which is pulled by the handle in order to lift the flush ball and flush the toilet was broken. It was being kept attached to the flush ball with a paper clip. Then the Ballcock, the part of the toilet which is connected to the water pipe and fills the tank with water, was spouting water from the top instead of from beneath the cap. This was causing water to come out of the lid of the toilet onto the seat, the floor or completely soaking our rolls of toilet paper. We managed to survive with these two problems. The paper clip had to be readjusted ever so often and the Ballcock could be twisted in a way that it wouldn't spurt water out the top. But this required removing the toilet lid and fixing the Ballcock quickly every 3-4 flushes.

I kept bugging Carlos to call his Plumber friend to fix this.

Fast forward a couple months and my beau gets really sick. And let's just say the toilet is put to the ultimate test during this time and it fails. The part of the handle that is attached to the lift chain completely broke. In order to flush the toilet, you had to remove the toilet lid and pull the lift chain yourself. Oh my. We have to keep the toilet lid off at all times in order to use the toilet at all.

I know Carlos won't call the Plumber friend anytime soon. He likes to procrastinate.

If you know anything about me, you will know I'm as stubborn as a mule and I don't like to ask for help. So off I went to Lowes to get myself a Toilet repair kit. I must have stood out in my grey Modcloth dress, pink cardigan and black cloche hat (I wish I had snapped a picture) traipsing about the gigantic warehouse. There were tons of Lowes employees around swarming the aisles and I weaved through them, avoiding them until I found the Plumbing section. I looked through the various options. Should I just get a handle and a lift chain and deal with the spurting Ballcock? Should I get a Ballcock too? Which one should I get? In the end, I decided on getting a complete toilet repair kit that came with all the essentials for a 8-1/2 inch toilet (handle, ballcock, float, float arm, flush valve, guide arm, flush ball, lift wire, etc.). I noticed that the package didn't come with a lift chain and that they were only $2. I decided I would buy that too just in case.

Good thing I did because turns out, I didn't really have an 8-1/2 inch toilet. It was more like 6 inches.

First thing I did when I got home was shut off the water and drain the tank. This was already going to be a messy job, we don't need water getting everywhere too. Then I screwed off the hose and removed the handle. Next was the Ballcock. The ballcock has several pieces. It has a small tube which gets hooked up to the water hose. This tube goes through a hole at the bottom of the tank. A plastic washer screws the Ballcock in place and a rubber ring keeps water from seeping out of the tank. With the old Ballcock, the washer was on so tightly that I couldn't remove it. I took a wrench to it, almost destroying the small tube and most of the washer. It still wasn't budging. Then I removed the float arm and float that are attached to the Ballcock and may get in the way of me removing the device. Still wasn't budging. Who ever put that washer on tightened it so tight I'm surprised he didn't break the toilet in the process. I tried several things until I started getting desperate (this is where my stubborn nature comes in).

So out came the saw.

All that was in the way of me fixing this damn toilet was removing that stupid washer. So I grabbed the saw and started cutting away. Flakes of plastic were flying everywhere. I almost got to the toilet when I realized this wasn't working.

Then I declared war against the Ballcock.

I put on a pair of my pink rubber gloves and twisted the top of the Ballcock so hard that it came right off, splitting the the washer in two. I grabbed the Ballcock and held it up triumphantly, bringing it to my beau and proclaimed "I pulled out that mother fucker!".

Now that the biggest obstacle was over, I was sure everything would be a breeze. That's where I was wrong. When I put the new Ballcock in place and was fitting the new float arm and float I realized that the arm was way too long. Shit. I bought the wrong kit. The float was so pressed up against the toilet wall that it wouldn't budge no matter how much water was in the toilet. The whole point of a Ballcock is that it cocks the ball. No I'm not being perverse. There is a little lever on top of the Ballcock that holds the float arm and float. When the water in the tank gets to a certain height, it lights the float. When the float is up to a certain level, the lever on the Ballcock snaps shut preventing more water from filling the tank. This device HAD to work or there was no use. So I decided to use the new Ballcock with the old float arm and float. Luckily this worked with no problem.

Now there was the issue with the flush ball and chain. The toilet repair kit had several pieces that put together would create a very complexe flush-ball-lifting system. I didn't quite get it. I preferred the flush ball and chain (two pieces, super simple). Turns out the length and sizes of the pieces weren't going to work with my overflow tube or even the height of the tank. I had to nix them altogether. I'm so happy that I spent that extra $2 on the new lift chain because I used the old flush ball, attached the new chain and connected it with a strange paperclip-looking piece that came with the kit to the handle bar. I turned on the water, the tank filled up and I did a test flush. It worked! An amalgamation of new and old pieces, no more paperclips, and I didn't even need chewing gum or duct tape to Macgyver this toilet!

Book Review: Give the Drummer Some by Mark Zero

2010-10-20T08:36:00.003-04:00

Give the Drummer Some
by Mark Zero
9781933975047
Giant Publishing
August 2010

Mouse Watkins was the drummer of the funk band The Bad Apples. After a falling out with fellow band member Gateway and the realization that his band and his music wasn't what it used to be, Mouse tries to live like everyone else. He gets a regular day job working, moves out of his mom's home and into his own apartment. During a particular stormy winter in St. Louis, Mouse's retirement from The Bad Apples has put his life into an upheaval. He rekindles a romance with an old flame Shauna, explores Christian Science and fights his personal and professional battles with his old band mate and his family. This novel asks the question: what does a musician do when the spotlight ceases to shine on them?

Mark Zero's Give the Drummer Some is a sensitive look at a musician's fall from grace and the subsequent reivention of the self. Mouse is a veritable literary Phoenix and the reader will enjoy following his journey as he rises from the ashes.

My favorite parts of the book pertained to Mouse's innocent exploration of Christian Science. Growing up Baptist but not being religious, Christian Science offers something to Mouse that nothing else in his present circumstances offer and that's stability and order. Mouse's job at the Anheiseur Busch factory is only temporary. If he can't become a permanent member of staff or get a new job he will lose his apartment. His relationship with former groupie Shauna has serious highs and lows. On top of all that, everything is being covered with layers of snow that will later disappear. Nothing seems permanent. At any given moment, things can slip away. Mouse first visits a Christian Science bookstore. He seeks shelter in the bookstore after walking several miles in the snow. He needs a quiet place to warm up physically and cool off emotionally. Curious about the religion, he gets pamphlets and attends service. He likes how the religion is the opposite of his music and it's freeform style. And while he doesn't intend to convert to the religion, learning about it helps him find balance in his own life.
I personally loved this book and savored each chapter. This is the third book I've read by Mark Zero and I have to say it's by far my favorite. There is no way you will not fall in love with Mouse Watkins, sympathize with him and see parts of yourself in him. Reading about Mouse's relationship with Shauna and his exploration of Christian Science struck a chord with me and I had a personal revelation while reading the novel which I hope will help me become a better person.

Read this book now! You won't regret it.
The author Mark Zero http://www.bookmarkzero.com/
Give the Drummer Some book site: http://giantpublishing.com/givethedrummersome/
Give the Drummer Some book trailer

Special thanks to author Mark Zero for providing me with a Galley for review.

My French Journey

2010-10-19T10:00:00.001-04:00

Polyglots are so hot.

Yesterday, Adriana over at Indigo Spells wrote about the nine languages that she's studied. Yes, you read that correctly, NINE. Bulgarian, Russian, English, French, Albanian, Greek, Romanian, Italian and Spanish. Yowzah. That's a lot. She's not fluent in all 9 but I commend her for at least tackling all of them.

Recently, I have been listening to Michel Thomas' Method French for Beginners plan in my car on my morning commutes to work. I picked up this 8-CD course at a Barnes & Noble back in 2000 when I worked there. It was at first to prepare for a trip to Paris which never happened but then over the past 10 years of owning the set I've picked it up with the intention of becoming fluent.

But I haven't been learning French off and on for 10 years. Oh no. It's been more like 20+ years. It all started with a big loveable alien named Muzzy.

The Muzzy Language Learning Program for Children is an educational cartoon developed by the BBC in 1986 to teach English-as-a-Second-Language and then adapted by Early Advantage to teach other languages as well. The cartoon has a plot which is very slow and is interrupted by interstitials which take a moment to teach children more vocabulary words. Muzzy, the main character, is an alien from outerspace who visits the Kingdom of Gondoland. Gondoland is run by the King (la rei), the Queen (la reine) and Princess Sylvie (or Sylvia). Sylvie is in love with Jean (or Bob) the gardener (Jean le jardinier) but the King and Queen want her to marry the evil scientist Corvax. Both Jean and Muzzy get in trouble and get thrown in jail. Can Muzzy get back to his spaceship and can Jean rescue Sylvie from marrying the evil Corvax?

Starting at the age of 8 or so, I watched Muzzy over and over and over again and I learned a lot of French by doing so. Repetition is key to learning and there was a lot of repetition in the program and it begged for repeat viewings.

I learned some important words and phrases:

j'ai (I have)
j t'aime or j'aime (i love you or i love)
on y va (off we go)
bon jour (good day), bon apres-midi (good afternoon), bon soir (good evening), bonne nuite (good night)
Arrete (stop)

comment allez vous? (how are you?)
merci, s'il vous plait (thank you, please)
grand (big), petit (small)
voila (look!)
la (there) ici (here)

months of the year
how to count from 1 to 10
letters of the alphabet
seasons
colors

I learned some silly stuff too:

j'aime les parcmetres (i love parking meters. Muzzy likes eating clocks and parking meters!)
j'ai un hamburger (I have a hamburger)
je suis mal a la tete (I have a headache or literally I am ill of the head)
les raisin et le prune (the grapes and the plums)
j'ai un ordinateur (I have a computer)
Je suis Jean, je suis le jardinier (I am Jean, I am the gardener)
je suis le grand Muzzy (I am the big Muzzy)

Building upon those basics as well as my own understandings of English (which comes from French and German) and Spanish and Portuguese (which are both Romance languages as is French), I am very confident that I could learn to become fluent in French. What helps my confidence is that Michel Thomas' Method of teaching is so natural and fluid that he has you spouting full sentences in French within a few minutes of starting the lesson. There is no vocabulary to memorize, no workbooks, no charts, no nothing. The lesson plan comes only with the CDs and you basically listen and talk your way into learning French. You are learning along with a male and female student (which is important because of gender specific words that men would use versus women and vice versa) and if you pretend you are student #3 you can learn right along with them. This is why the CD set is perfect to listen to in the car (by yourself) because you can say the words, phrases and sentences out loud and perfect your pronounciation without worrying about bothering anyone else.

I am a veritable Michel Thomas fan girl. I love the man. He passed away in 2005 at the age of 90 and had a very long career as a polyglot. He even taught Princess Grace Kelly how to speak French when she needed to learn quickly before marrying Prince Rainier of Monaco. He left us with many recordings in which he teaches students French, Spanish, Italian, German, Portuguese and other languages. I'm hoping that with the help of Michel Thomas that I will become fluent in French, regain my fluency in Portuguese and perfect my Spanish.

The art of speaking multiple tongues is highly valued by many. There is a lot of resistance in the United States to speak anything other than English which I think is utterly ridiculous. Being raised by Spanish and Portuguese speaking parents, I understand the value of speaking multiple languages, being able to help out those learning English and broadening my horizons. I can visit any Spanish or Portuguese speaking country with no problem and can visit a French speaking country just barely get by. Yet there are people who travel who don't even try to learn a few basics. Instead they speak English super slow as though that way people can understand them.

Are you learning a language? Do you speak multiple ones? Is there a language you've always wanted to speak but haven't tackled learning it yet? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Moving in Together

2010-09-24T21:22:00.003-04:00

AskMen.com has an interesting article about how to adjust to moving in with your significant other. I forwarded it on to my beau Carlos because he and I just must in with each other a month ago and while I've adjust physically to living in the new space, we are both still adjusting to sharing our lives together this intimately. While the article had a lot of really good points about adjusting to each other's mood, developing on one's space and privacy and actively keeping up the romance and sex, I feel a bit strange about the fact that the author of the article claims to have lived with several girlfriends at this point. To me, I take that as he's had several failures. Does that make him an expert? Has he gained wisdom from these experiences? However, he has enough good advice that I didn't question the legitimacy of the article. He ends the article asking men to keep the romance alive and to continue to develop the friendship that is part of the relationship. I think this is really crucial. A woman can start to feel taken for granted especially if her man is used to her constant availability. She has to feel special otherwise she'll feel trapped.

Why am I as a woman reading this article on AskMen.com about relationship advice? Because women's magazines and sites are fluff. At AskMen.com, they are not afraid to post articles about real issues and not just the same recycled articles about the 100 ways to have a mind-blowing orgasm. And until sites like Jezebel.com start offering relationship advice, I'm sticking with AskMen.com.

Mad Men

2010-09-02T20:03:00.000-04:00

Mad Men Season 4 Episode 4

2010-08-21T20:00:00.004-04:00

Mad Men Season 4 Episode 3

2010-08-09T21:56:00.002-04:00

Spilled Iced Tea and my Mother's admiration

2010-08-07T16:51:00.000-04:00

On my list of 30 things for my 30s, I listed the following:.

28. develop a sense of elegance and grace. I'm clumsy on a good day. I could get away with it in my 20s but not in my 30s.

This morning, during my visit with my parents, my mother gave me a McDonald's styrofoam cup filled with unsweetened iced tea. I put the cup on the side table and took the straw out of it's paper sleeve and inserted the straw into the cup. Pretty basic right? Well, not for me. The cup decided to leap off the table, do a half flip in mid-air and spill all of it's contents (ice, lemon, tea, straw) onto the floor. Not one drop of tea was left in that cup.

I was furious. Why the f*** does this kind of s*** happen to me? ALL THE F***ING TIME?!

I burst into tears. How am I ever going to become a 30-something that people take seriously if all I do is fumble with words and objects?

My mother saw me crying and told me to stop it because this wasn't an occasion to shed tears. I explained to her that it was more than just the iced tea. It was about being taken seriously. About being a grown-up.

My mom told me again to stop it. Basically, she told me to shut up. She said that I have done something she has never been able to do. Live alone. She went on to tell me that she admired that I got my own place, moved out, worked, paid my own bills, took care of myself (cooking, cleaning, laundry, everything) and that I didn't have to rely on anybody for anything. My mom is scared if my dad passes away what she'll do to maintain the household. She's never paid a bill in her life and she's always depended on someone to help her out.

Her admiration made me feel really good about myself. And even though I'm moving in with Carlos, I spent the last four years taking care of myself with nobody's help. So I can go into that new phase of my life, knowing that I held my own and I can do it again if need be.

30 things for my early 30s

2010-08-05T20:43:00.000-04:00

I have a big move coming up. Everything I've grown accustomed to in the past 4 years will be gone. I will no longer be living by myself, independently. Instead I'll be moving in with my boyfriend and will have to learn how to coexist in the same space with him. In three weeks, I'll be packing up my lovely apartment and moving out. But this isn't the only big change that's happening this year. In November, I'll be hitting a major age milestone when I turn 30.

I've been reading blogs for almost a decade now and a few of the bloggers that I have followed have turned 30 and made 30 lists. Either things they want to accomplish by the age of 30 or during their 30th year or for the duration of their 30s. And of course these lists consist of 30 things. So I thought I would create a list of the 30 things I would like to accomplish during my early 30s. 30 is a fairly big number so I'm going to mix lofty goals with smaller ones to make this realistic.

ommitted due to personal nature (if it happens I'll let you know later)
develop some natural gravity. people tend to treat me like I'm a big joke. I don't want that to continue through my '30s.
work on my languages. get more proficiency in Spanish and Portuguese and acquire more vocabulary in French and Swedish.
finish the 25 books Latinas should read challenge
improve my wardrobe. I've been so poor the past few years that I've been holding on to my threadbare clothes. Its time for a change.
clear away my student loan debt. I think I'll be able to pay off my credit cards before I turn 30 so I just have this student loan to tackle. Lucky for me, it wasn't that big to begin with so this should be doable.
develop a few key organizational skills. I used to be super organized and now I'm just plain scatterbrained. I need to recapture my inner organizational diva.
take a vacation. And not just a few days off to work on things. A proper trip somewhere far away.
maintain a good relationship with my parents. It's the best it's ever been right at this moment and I want that to continue.
be in the best shape of my life. I was in really good shape in early '09. I want to get back to that.
run a 5k race.
try to read 3 books a week. 2 books for work and 1 book for pleasure.
lengthen my attention span. Do various exercises to keep my attention focused longer.
watch all the classic films I own, either recorded on VHS tapes and my ever-increasing pile of DVDs. I take for granted that they are there waiting for me.
start looking for a house with Carlos
exercise several instances of patience. It's unlikely I'll flip a switch and be completely patient but some exercises will help.
explore some of the things I loved so much as a child. Following the I'm Remembering Tumblr has made me realize how much the toy & TV culture of the 80s was a part of my life. It must have shaped me some how. I need to figure out how it has.
liven up my music library. It's kind of sad right now.
get more into Jazz music. Read more about performers and amass a greater collection of works.
learn some hairstyles and hair management tricks. My hair is either down with a side split or up in a bun or ponytail. I need to start experimenting.
knit. something. anything. How about that knitted tie I keep meaning to make? Maybe I'll attempt a sock? ::gasp::
have cocktails at fancy bars in the city. My recent trip to Noir bar has put me in the mindframe of dressing up, going out and having some fancy drinks.
frequent my local repertory theaters. I already do this but I need to keep doing this. And more often if I can.
keep learning how to cook and keep improving my culinary skills. Raquelle-as-chef is always a work-in-progress.
work on my skin. It's always been a mess, thanks to hormones and genetics. There's gotta be something I can instead of just covering it up.
visit friends. My friends have been selfish and self-absorbed so I've been avoiding them. It's time to get back in touch.
with #26 in mind, I want to focus more on people who are thoughtful, generous and kind and less on people who are selfish and greedy.
develop a sense of elegance and grace. I'm clumsy on a good day. I could get away with it in my 20s but not in my 30s.
keep up with my blogs. This is important to me as it's an outlet.
start my own business. What that will be, I have no idea.

The whole point of this list is that I want to be a better, enhanced, more adult version of myself in my 30s. I want to demonstrate that I can grow as an individual.

Mad Men: Season 4 Episode 2

2010-08-04T19:34:00.003-04:00

Give the Drummer Some by Mark Zero - Book Trailer

2010-07-29T18:21:00.001-04:00

My good friend Mark Zero has a book coming out on August 17th: Give the Drummer Some. Check out this book trailer he made for it. Funk-ay!

Mad Men: Season Four

2010-07-26T21:31:00.002-04:00

I don't really watch TV shows very often but I will clear my schedule to make room for Mad Men. It's just a top-notch show.

Living Life to the Fullest - Instantes

2010-05-20T13:53:00.000-04:00

The Spanish Blog over at Transparent Language posted an anonymous poem called Instantes. I was really moved by it since it really demonstrated how much we deny ourselves pleasure and how we take our lives for granted. Just reading it makes me want go out and live life and have fun while I still can. No one who reads this will not be affected by it.

Here it is in the original form in Spanish as well as my translation into English.

Instantes

Si pudiera vivir nuevamente mi vida.
En la próxima trataría de cometer más errores.
No intentaría ser tan perfecto, me relajaría más.
Sería más tonto de lo que he sido, de hecho
tomaría muy pocas cosas con seriedad.

Sería menos higiénico.

Correría más riesgos, haría más viajes, contemplaría
más atardeceres, subiría más montañas, nadaría más ríos.

Iría a más lugares adonde nunca he ido, comería
más helados y menos habas, tendría más problemas
reales y menos imaginarios.

Yo fui una de esas personas que vivió sensata y prolíficamente
cada minuto de su vida; claro que tuve momentos de alegría.

Pero si pudiera volver atrás trataría de tener
solamente buenos momentos.

Por si no lo saben, de eso está hecha la vida, sólo de momentos;
no te pierdas el ahora.

Yo era uno de esos que nunca iban a ninguna parte sin termómetro,
una bolsa de agua caliente, un paraguas y un paracaídas;
Si pudiera volver a vivir, viajaría más liviano.
Si pudiera volver a vivir comenzaría a andar descalzo a principios
de la primavera y seguiría así hasta concluir el otoño.

Daría más vueltas en calesita, contemplaría más amaneceres
y jugaría con más niños, si tuviera otra vez la vida por delante.

Pero ya tengo 85 años y sé que me estoy muriendo.

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Moments

If I could live my life again.

The next time I would try to make more mistakes.

I wouldn't try so hard to be perfect, I'd goof off more.

I'd be crazier than I have been, in fact

I would take fewer things seriously.

I'd be less hygienic.

I'd run more risks, take more trips, watch

more sunsets, climb more mountains, swim more rivers.

I'd go more places I had never been, eat

more ice cream and fewer lima beans, I'd have more

real problems and fewer imaginary ones.

I was one of those people who lived sensibly and proficiently

every minute of my life; of course I had moments of joy.

But if I could go back in time I'd try to have

only good moments.

Because if you don't know, that's what makes a life, only those moments;

don't lose the present.

I was one of those people who never went anywhere without a thermometer,

a hot-water bottle, an umbrella and a parachute;

If I could relive my life, I'd travel lighter.

If I could relive my life I'd walk barefoot at the beginning

of spring and would continue until the end of autumn.

I'd take more rides on the Carousel, watch more sunrises

and play more with my kids, if I had my whole life again before me.

But now I am 85 years old and I know that I am dying.

Sugar (2008)

2010-05-12T09:00:00.000-04:00

Sugar (2008) follows the story of Miguel Santos, whom everyone nicknames 'Sugar', a young Dominican man who has chops as a carpenter but finds a special talent in his country's major sport, Baseball. His knuckle ball catches the eye of American baseball recruiters and soon he is whisked away from the Dominican Republic and put on a farm team for the Kansas City Knights. He moves from Arizona to Iowa and finally to New York, experiencing various levels of culture shock along the way. Some how he breaks through the language barrier and makes a life for himself in the States, but not quite in the way he expected.

Growing up with a Dominican mama and with Dominican family, I have seen the Sugar story many times but in very different forms. Members of the Dominican diaspora are a bit like Phoenixes, the mythical birds that rise and burn only to rise again. No matter how badly they fall, they always manage to pick themselves up and start again. Dominicans are the ultimate survivors and we see this in Sugar. He has very limited English and has probably never been outside the confines of the isle of Hispanola. He tells his girlfriend that he'll drive back home in a Cadillac that can travel over water. He doesn't know what to expect but also has false expectations. He's separated from his friends and family little by little. Some of his buddies go with him to Arizona, and one goes with him to Iowa, but eventually he is alone and has to start a new life for himself.

The Dominican Republic is famous for their Baseball players. It's a veritable religion there, like soccer is with the rest of the world. Many baseball players are recruited from the DR but only a few make it to the big leagues. Sugar is one of those athletes who has a chance at the big leagues but life takes him in a different direction. Algenis Perez Soto was a perfect choice to play Sugar. He has a quiet somberness that expresses a lot of emotion without emoting. He's pensive, curious, scared, ambitious, driven, shy, playful, and he shows all of this with an almost blank stare. The cinematography is very tied into the main character. We get lots of scenes in Sugar's point of view and many of the shots reveal Sugar's naivete or something new he is about to experience. For example, in New York he looks for a place to stay. His eyes/the camera settle on "Caribe Hotel". He choses this place because of "Caribe"/"Carribean", it reminds him of home. But the hotel is really a hotbed of prostituion and a seedy nook of clandestine encounters. We know this off the bat and we want to protect Sugar, but we can't. We have to sit back and watch as he figures it out for himself.

This film gets the Dominican culture right on. The unexclusivity of romantic relationships, the feeling of entitlement in family, the connection to home but the desire to find something better, the liveliness, the dancing, the social ease, etc. It's all there along with the juxtaposition of colorful and stark visuals that represent the DR so well.

As the movie progressed, I couldn't help but chuckle as I could connect so many elements of the story with my mother's experience. She left the DR in her 20s, without any grasp of the English language, with unrealistic notions of what life in the US would be like and with the knowledge that she would never move back to her homeland. She struggled in many of the same ways that Sugar struggles.

I spoke to my mother on the phone the day after I saw the movie. I was ecstatic telling her details of the film that she would enjoy and promised her that I would get a copy to her soon so she could see. There was one particular sub-plot that I just had to tell her right then and there. Sugar and his baseball buddies are in an Arizona diner. Only one of them speaks English and when the waitress arrives he orders French Toast. The other guys order French Toast too, mimicking the sounds made by the English-speaking friend with the hopes that whatever he ordered they would like too. Sugar visits the diner over and over again, always ordering French Toast. One day, he becomes brave and asks for eggs. When the waitress asks how he would like them, he can only reply "yes". They have a back and forth struggle with understanding and he eventually caves and orders French Toast. The waitress feels for him and comes back with his French Toast and with a plate of eggs. There are a few different kinds and she tells him which is which and how to pronounce them. This scene really touched me and my mom seemed tickled when I told her about it. When I was born, the nurses wanted to tell my mother that I had beautiful eyelashes. She couldn't understand them so that made movements to indicate "baby" (rocking of the arms) and "eyelashes" (applying mascara with a finger as a fake wand).

Watching this film (and reading Dreaming in Cuban - see my previous post) made me realize that I really need to focus a lot more on stories about Latino/a's. I'm at a point in my life that I really need to expose myself to stories that speak directly to me instead of ones about people/places/experiences I can't identify with. I hope I'll be able to use Quelle's Thoughts as a forum to discuss these types of stories.

25 Books Latinas Should Read ~ Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina Garcia

2010-05-08T13:06:00.002-04:00

Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina Garcia

Just one look at the cover and the title and I was hooked. Out of the 25 Books Latinas Should Read list, Dreaming in Cuban was the one I wanted to read first. Cristina Garcia blends poetry with prose in this story of a Cuban family, splintered by the Cuban revolution. There is the matriarch Celia who finds happiness in her melancholy life through the revolution and in her adoration of El Lider (Fidel Castro) as well as the hope that her rebellious granddaughter Pilar provides her for her family. The patriarch, Jorge, is a ghost that haunts the entirety of the novel. Their daughters Lourdes and Felicia deal with their own distinct madness and Javier seems a shadow in comparison to the other family members. Then there is Pilar. She's the Cuban-born, Brooklyn-raised rebel granddaughter that seems to be the only one that sees everything clearly.

If you are looking for a book with a linear, easy-to-follow plot then look elsewhere. Garcia's writing is difficult to grasp in the way a good poem takes extra effort to understand. We weave in and out of time and we are never really sure where we are, the chapter headings are misleading. The narration goes from first person to third person often. Sometimes we are in Pilar's head and other times we are watching Celia at a distance or listening in on a conversation between Lourdes and her father Jorge. The only thing that anchors us in the story is the group of well-defined and interesting characters.

Out of all the groups of Caribbean diaspora, Cuban-Americans seem to be the most distant from their homeland. Unlike others who could easily visit or move back to their original country, Cubans remain exiled from Cuba and look upon the politics of Cuba with a discerning and judgmental eye. There is a strong intrinsic tie between the Caribbean-born and their country. I know this from experience as my mother is from the Dominican Republic and although she hasn't lived there in 30 years, and hasn't even visited in over 10, she still talks about the country as though she was just there. Her homeland will never leave her. This kind of connection is crucial for good Caribbean fiction and Garcia captures that in Dreaming in Cuban. For example, Lourdes hates Cuban politics and secretly wants to kill El Lider. She relishes in the freedom of the capitalism and democracy of the US. Yet she is drawn back to her homeland, to see her mother, to bring her daughter there, to reconnect with the ghost of her father. However much she hates what Cuba has become, the Cuba of her childhood is still very much a part of her. Dreaming in Cuban gets at the core of what it means to be from the Caribbean through her magical and lyrical prose. This is a must read for sure.

Extra note: As a classic film lover, I particularly liked the mention in the text of one of my favorite pre-code movies Three on a Match (1932). I even took a picture and put it up on Twitpic! http://twitpic.com/1iqumh

If you look at the picture, you'll see that it's referred to as Mujeres de Fuego which translates into Women of Fire. Superb!

Full Disclosure: I purchased the book myself.

Selena (1971-1995)

2010-03-31T08:08:00.075-04:00

In the early 1990s, Selena Quintanilla-Perez was a rising star on the Tejano music scene. By 1995, she had won a grammy and had a slew of hits including "Como La Flor", "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom", "Amor Prohibido" and "No Me Queda Mas". She was just about to make a transition into the English-language market when she was senselessly murdered by the president of her fan club.

That fateful day was March 31st, 1995 and today marks the 15th anniversary of Selena's death.

There are so many things absolutely wrong about the circumstances in which she died. The person who killed her was reported to be her biggest fan, a trusted employee and a family friend. She turned out to be an obsessive opportunistic thief who was embezzling money from Selena.

At the time of her death, Selena was just shy of her 24th birthday and was pregnant with the child of her husband of 3 years, Chris Perez. She was in the middle of recording an English-language album and never finished.

Selena was one of those rare gems. A truly genuine person with a big heart. She was always smiling and laughing, she charmed everyone with her bubbly personality, she was beautiful and talented.

I was 14 years old when Selena was murdered and since then Selena has become a very important part of my life. In a way she was a role model and now as an adult, when I watch video of Selena I see how much of her I emulate to this day.

1) Selena's Smile and Laugh - It was infectious. She was always breaking into a huge smile and had a full-bodied laugh. You'll find me smiling and laughing every day, even on my most depressing days.

2) Selena's hair - Earlier in her career, she wore a very short hair cut but then proceeded to grow it out very long. She boasted long curls down to the middle of her back or she wore her hair straing and long with big bangs that covered her forehead. I could never pull of the bangs (believe me I tried) but everytime I cut my hair to my shoulders I would always long for it to grow out. Also, Selena and I both boast Spanish bangs, those little tufts of hair that crown the forehead. She would sometimes wear a Busca-novio a flirtatious little swirl of hair pasted to her forehead. So Latina!

3) Selena's look - She always looked put together. Hair, make-up, nails, jewelry, clothes, etc. I always strive to look my best. You would have never caught Selena out in public in a sweatshirt and sweatpants.

4) Selena's Religious Upbringing - Both Selena and I were raised as Jehovah's Witnesses. Her parents and my mother were only believer but not real followers. I think this affected us in two ways. It gave us an innocence and youthfulness that came with the overprotection that the religion provides. We never really had to grow up. Also, it made us stick to our morals and get us out of trouble. Since Selena died at the age of 24, it didn't affect her adversely as it did me now at the age of 29. I left the religion long ago and I wonder if Selena would have done the same.

5) Selena's bodytype - I can't attribute this to her but we do share a similar body type. Selena had an hourglass figure with a fine bosom, a butt so big that even JLo had to pad hers to match it in the Selena biopic, and robust thighs. My Lebanese heritage makes me carry a bit more around the middle whereas Selena's waist was always super tiny. Selena's shape was a lot more attractive than mine but I like to think in ways we are similar and to me that's a big deal.

6) Selena's work ethic and charm - Selena was driven and motivated and had an amazing career by the age of 24. I can't attribute my work ethic to Selena (I get mine from my parents) but I have always admired her for it. I have always wanted to emulate her people skills. There is a famous story of Selena traveling to Mexico to meet music executives and journalists. Even though Selena sang Spanish-language songs, she wasn't fluent in the language and her father was particularly nervous that his daughter would make a bad impression. You know what Selena did? She went up to each and every executive/journalist, gave them a kiss and a handshake and introduced herself. They were so impressed with her warmth and her friendliness that when she fumbled with her Spanish they couldn't care less.

7) Selena's musical upbringing - Like the Jackson 5, Selena's father put his children to work at a very early age creating music. I played the violin from the age of 7 up until the age of 14 or so. My parents pushed me to excel in music and taught me that practice makes perfect. Selena and I both had to practice our music even when we would rather go outside and play. I didn't have musical talent but Selena did.

Selena broke my heart 15 years ago and today my heart is still broken. For the past few weeks, I've thought about the big gaping hole Selena's death left in this world. You know how people say that the world is because certain people are in it? I say that the world is worse without Selena's presence. At least we have the memories to hold on to.
---------------------

"No Me Queda Mas" is my favorite song/music video by Selena. I couldn't embed so please make sure you click on this link and watch the video on YouTube. It's a great ballad, it showcases Selena's amazing vocal skills and you get a little taste of her personality.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pVdNR3VAfE

25 Books Latinas Should Read Challenge

2010-02-04T20:01:00.008-05:00

In order to get myself reading more books and to get more in tune with my Latin roots, I am taking the challenge posted my Literanista. This year I will try to read all the books on the 25 Books Latinas Should Read list created by Latina magazine and posted on Literanista.

The books are:

1.The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende

2.One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

3.In The Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez

4.When I Was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago

5.Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

6.Kiss of the Spider Woman by Manuel Puig

7.Death in the Andes by Mario Vargas Llosa

8.Hopscotch by Julio Cortázar

9.The Labrynth of Solitude by Octavio Paz

10.The Death of Artemio Cruz by Carlos Fuentes

11.Like Water For Chocolate by Laura Esquivel

12.The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho

13.Las Peliculas De Mi Vida by Alberto Fuguet

14.The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

15.The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

16.Compañero: The Life and Death of Che Guevara by Jorge G. Castaneda

17.A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn

18.The Aleph by Jorge Luis Borges

19.Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in the United States by Juan Gonzalez

20.Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair by Pablo Neruda

21.The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

22.Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina Garcia

23.The Decapitated Chicken and Other Stories by Horacio Quiroga

24.Pedro Paramo by Juan Rulfo

25.Men of Maize by Miguel Angel Asturias

A few of the books are out of print, so I may replace some with other titles. Right now I have Julia Alvarez's In the Name of Salome as a back-up.

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I want to revive this defunct personal blog and use it as a platform to talk about and review the books I'm reading during this challenge. I hope you'll follow my adventure!

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2009-07-18T12:41:00.000-04:00

Having lunch with mom.

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2009-07-06T18:10:00.000-04:00

Reading the new Brattle schedule

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2009-07-03T18:34:00.000-04:00

My old bookstore.

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2009-06-24T17:37:00.000-04:00

Rain murder crime scene

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2009-06-23T19:16:00.000-04:00

Minuteman Mike Day 2. I see you!

Minuteman Mike Day #1

2009-06-22T17:54:00.003-04:00

Day #1 log - Minuteman Mike is outside apartment building again today. Only variable is that he is parked on a different street. Regular spot taken. Possibly with lady friend.

Walking home in rain w/ bubble umbrella

2009-06-22T17:36:00.000-04:00

Dulce De Leche Cookie Sandwiches with Macadamia Nut & Coconut

2009-06-21T17:32:00.001-04:00

Oh Abra! How I've missed you!

2007-06-17T20:07:00.000-04:00

Abra Moore is back!

Taxicab Nightmare

2007-06-09T15:11:00.000-04:00

It was a quiet Sunday morning. I left my hotel early after the big show to head off to LaGuardia airport to catch my 10 o'clock flight. Little did I know what horrors would ensue. My first mistake, hailing a taxi cab. I should have just let the Hotel bellboy catch me one. But no, I was cheap and didn't want to pay a tip. The cab driver didn't quite understand what I meant by LaGuardia. That should have been the first major warning. And then when he accepted me in and we headed down the wrong direction on a one-way street (with 4 lanes of oncoming traffic), I should have asked him to just drop me off at the nearest street corner immediately. But no, I was patient. That is until I realize he didn't know where he was going. By that point we were crossing the Brooklyn bridge and it was too late. For the next hour and 15 minutes, I was taken on an excrutiately slow ride through Brooklyn, the Bronx and Queens. At one point, I saw an exit sign for Long Island and almost fainted. I panicked. I pleaded with the driver, but he had no clue where he was going. He was constantly checking a map, calling another cab driver for advice, going very slowly, taking illegal turns, missing green lights and passing red ones. Then when my time started to slip away, I pleaded in tears to get me to the airport. I was going to miss my flight. I made a tearful call to my parents and continued to beg the driver to hurry up. He kept saying sorry and not to worry about the fare. I wasn't worried about the fare. I was worried about missing my flight!

Finally, we reach the airport and I breathe a sigh of relief. I tell the driver to drop me off at the USAirways terminal. The driver takes me to the first terminal he sees, the Delta Airlines one. At that point, I started screaming at him to get me to the right terminal. So he went around and only half-stopped at a stop sign, and then proceeded to rear-end the vehicle in front of him. The man from the other car started screaming and cursing at him. At that point I knew my contract with the driver had ended, he no longer could deliver me to my destination. I grabbed my things and bolted out of there without paying the driver one cent. I pleaded with a Hertz shuttle bus driver, who had seen the accident, to help me. I was shaking and sobbing uncontrollably. He was sympathetic and took me to my terminal. A couple on the bus, gave me some tissues as I told them about my hellish joyride through the burroughs.

I caught my flight just in the nick of time. They had started boarding when I got there. If the driver hadn't crashed into another car, he would have probably taken me to another wrong terminal or I would have had to negotiate some discount (the fare was at $45). But instead, I got a life lesson, free trip and a story to tell.

I'm so excited...

2007-05-30T18:04:00.000-04:00

"and I just can't hide it. I'm about to lose control and I think I like it..."

Just one more day before I fly off to NY for a whirlwind weekend at the big show. I find myself trying to do 10 things at once getting ready to prepare. I figured just packing would be a 3-4 day process and I started on Monday. I can't say much about it specifically, so I'll talk generally. My schedule will be jam-packed with travel, customer service, networking, booth-maintenance and partying. Yes that's right. Us book-folk like to party hardy! We make absolutely any excuse to get together and have fun. You wouldn't necessarily think of book people that way, but we are social creatures by necessity. Our job is people and we are constantly connecting with each other. Authors are celebrities, teachers and librarians are nurturers, book buyers are demi-gods and publishers are creative beacons.

Off I go to do some more packing and fill numerous small 3 0z, plane-friendly tubes with various beauty gooks. Wish me luck! I'll try to post some pictures when I come back

Why I don't talk about work...

2007-05-23T13:24:00.001-04:00

It's far too dangerous.

Publisher's Weekly Article: The Big Chill

Blast from the Past!

2007-05-21T09:28:00.001-04:00

At the wee age of 17, after attending the Lilith Fair, I decided to marry my fervor for a new type of music with my desire to make a mark on the internet and created a fan website. The celebrity was Abra Moore, a talented singer, not terribly famous but well-known amongst a devoted following and in the late '90s, at the height of her success. The plan was that information was manageable and traffic would be moderate. Exactly what I needed to start up my very first website.

I never quite completed it. It was more work than I had imagined and I still to this day don't quite have the knack of HTML coding. But I'm proud of my little venture.

It's not up any more but thanks to Archive.org you are able to see a bare-bones archived copy of my site.

Raquel's Abra Moore Website
http://web.archive.org/web/20010711181029/members.aol.com/gerenukz/music.html

If you've ever had a burr stick to your clothes...

2007-05-17T18:25:00.000-04:00

... and liked it, then please please please check out this website.

Joie de Vivre et Joie de Blog

2007-05-04T10:26:00.001-04:00

I've been shamefully neglecting this poor blog. My mind wanders back to it on ocassion but when I start to contemplate it's future I only come with ideas for several other blogs. What hinders me most about this blog is it's title. I'm thinking of either changing it or abandoning it completely for other potential projects. For example...

A book blog would be fun to write. I'm not terribly good at writing reviews (I'll leave that to Bev who's a born professional in that department), so my blog would be more about the book business. But the business is so broad. Would I focus on publishing versus bookselling? Since I'm in children's publishing, would it be focused on children's books? All of this presents a major dilemma, which is personal and professional bias. I'd basically be raving about the company I work for and all the excellent books we produce. Plus it would be a financial burden to buy books from other publishers to keep up with the joneses. Who's going to send free galleys to someone who works at a rival publisher! Scratch that idea right off the bat!
More realistic ideas include a classic movie blog. That would be exciting. But it wouldn't be full of boring movie reviews. No! It would have movie-inspired articles. I could talk about my passion for blonde-Bette Davis films, how I'm half in love with Richard Barthelmess and how Norma Shearer is highly under-rated as an actress and as a woman. It would also be a vehicle to express my love and devotion to Turner Classic Movies and to recognize Netflix, which has an awe-inspiring variety of classic DVDs for rental which allows me to feed the fire!

My other idea, which is my personal favorite, would be a blog chronicling my Spring and Summer. I've made plans to have the most fun-filled summer ever! I'm filling my calendar with lots of exciting things to do. My goal is to develop my social life and become more adventurous and outgoing. I'm obligating myself to accept more invitations even at the cost of slight personal embarassment or discomfort, which is just simply a result of my deep-seated shyness. I actually started this new experiment in March and have so far attended or planned 10 social events. So if I want to chronicle this new chapter in my life, I need to start straight away!

Well here's to happy adventures in blogging and a potentially life-altering year!

Soaring

2007-03-04T20:22:00.000-05:00

I'm flying to Indiana tomorrow for a business trip. Will be spending sometime looking at a warehouse full of children's books. Woohoo! If I weren't such a book nerd, this trip would be much less exciting. I was contemplating wearing my new bright red H&M trenchcoat, but I think I will chicken out and wear the khaki one. Ever since watching Love Actually, I've been desperate for a bright red winter coat. Now that I have one, I'm terrified to wear it. What if people stare at me?!

Anyways, I'm off to compensate for my weakness by painting my nails bright red. That oughta do it. Wish me luck on my trip, I'm terrified of airplanes and the one I'll be going on is super duper small! I'm flying white-knuckle all the way.

Brilliant Idea

2007-02-12T17:49:00.000-05:00

It's amazing what you can think up whilst in the throes of ennui. The other day, I was driving with my mom and we had a lengthy conversation about various types of miscellanea. In the midst of this, I hit upon said "brilliant idea". It occured to me that IF milk can be produced into cheese that it would be possible to turn coconut milk into coconut cheese. You could possibly make a sweet soft cheese or maybe a more acidic hard cheese. I wasn't quite sure if bacteria or mold would need to be involved, as is often the case with cow's milk cheese. My mind thus began racing. I could introduce my new food invention into Latin American countries and call it CoQueso (which is the marriage of the words "coconut" and "queso" [Spanish for "cheese"]). And if it was popular there, I could bring it to the US as an alternate cheese for vegans or a great product for coconut afficianados. There could be coconut cheesecake, coconut cheese frosting for cakes, amongst various other desserts.

It wouldn't make my millions off of coconut cheese, but if it was successful it would be a nice venture. So why am I divulging my brilliant idea for CoQueso (patent pending)? Because 10 years earlier someone had already thought up the idea. Ahh well!

http://www.unido.org/userfiles/PuffK/ISED_R85.pdf

On the way to class...

2006-12-05T18:53:00.000-05:00

I don't know how it happened, but when I started by current lit class for graduate school I was what you could consider a "non-writer". Sure I barely keep up this blog and I write e-mails and some papers for school, but I don't really do any creative writing. Now, with only a couple of weeks left for class I will come out of this course a bonafide "writer". And its not even a writing class. But the course is taught by a published writer, most of the students in class are Creative Writing majors and the atmosphere and dynamic of the class just encourages writing. We wrote responses to everything we read, and were encouraged to read as writers and to look for what the author was trying to accomplish and how he/she carried it through. We read our writing out loud, which, over time, became a performance that influenced our written responses. And our mid-term and final papers involved mimicking other writers in sytle and form to fully understand their methods and learn things for our own writing. And I wrote a non-fiction essay about a seeing-eye dog and by some miracle it came out very well and I got an A! Now, I can't stop thinking of things to write about. Each night I think of story ideas and scenes until I fall asleep. Then the next day my fingers are itching to get at the computer to tap away at the keyboard with the new tale. What happened? Where is the Raquelle who found writing so painful and difficult? Who is this new Raquelle who actually likes to, wants to, needs to write?

It's all very strange, but I'm very grateful.

26 Year Marker

2006-12-03T17:07:00.000-05:00

On the 25th of November, I turned 26. I turned 26 on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. This day is in commemoration of the brutal Trujillo-sanctioned murders of the Mirabal sisters, Patria, Minerva and Maria who protested Trujillo's dictatorship. Trujillo and the Mirabals were from the Dominican Republic. My mom is Dominican and one of the many godchildren of Trujillo (he baptized kids like crazy).

So there is historical and ancestral reasoning behind my hatred for my birthday. This is a very good cover up for the fact that I just don't like getting older. On my birthday, I always think about what I've accomplished and its never enough. I'm a late bloomer in many ways and I get supremely jealous seeing other people younger than myself accomplishing goals that I still have on my "to-accomplish-list". Plus I'm starting to get pressure to get married and have children from family members. I was spared of this until recently.

So now I'm old, errr. Older. I found a grey hair. I plucked it. Now I just have to appreciate my 26th year and make of it what I can before I turn 27 ::shudder::.

If you want to buy me a present...

2006-11-14T20:24:00.000-05:00

If you are ever so inclined to purchase me a present for ::insert gift-giving occasion here::, then this is your guide to what my greedy soul wants. Otherwise, take inspiration from this list for your own materialism! Do I sound bitter? Mayhaps. I am broke. So right now, these things are pipe dreams until I get a fat juicy bonus in the New Year ::fingers crossed::.

~ Alfred Hitchcock: The Master of Suspense, Pop-Up Book ~ Each spread is a different Hitchcock movie. Genius!
~TiVo ~ So instead of watching junk I don't want to see on TV because I'm bored, I can't watch junk that I DO want to see on TV when I'm bored. Cheers!
~ Coach KATY Travel Tote ~ I'm spoiled. I only crave Coach bags now. I'll have to wait until this is out of season to get it.
~ Kitchen Aid Mixer in Empire Red ~ Sexiest piece of kitchen equipment there is. You know you are a true chef when you have one of these sitting in your kitchen just waiting to go into action.
~ Laptop ~ Any. As long as it has MS Word and doesn't weigh 15 pounds like my current one.
~ Subscription to the New York Times-Sunday Edition ~ Its the only newspaper worth reading these days. And the added bonus is The Book Review!!
~ BOSE Wave Radio ~ So I can listen to NPR in any part of my apartment.
~ Digital Cable ~ So I can watch Turner Classic Movies. ::sniffle::
~ One Year Subscription to Real Simple ~ It's the NYT-Sunday Edition of the magazine world. I've been collecting them since 2003.
~ Vacation to France or Ireland or even Maine ~ I just want to get away!
~ iTunes Gift Card ~ Self-explanatory.

More Time Please...

2006-11-11T19:53:00.000-05:00

Now, more so than ever, I am feeling a major time crunch. I feel as though there are not enough hours in the day to do all the things I need to do. And because of this I charge up a debt which carries over to the next day, then the next and then the next and I feel that I can only (barely) catch up on the weekends. In fact, I had to re-arrange my weekend plans just to clean and do homework. How depressing...

Right now I'm sitting at my computer, typing this entry and procrastinating on writing my 7 pages on 7 essays (1 page for each essay read) for class on Monday. I really do not want to do this. This weekly homework used to be an ok task until our professor started making us read them aloud in class. ::cringe:: Now there is the added pressure of making them worthy of other people's eardrums. Those other people just happen to be a group of writers. (kill me now!)

But all is not lost on the time issue. I feel that instead of looking for more time to do more things, I really need to give myself fewer things to do so that I can do everything else at a reasonable pace. I also need to become more organized with my time so that I don't waste precious minutes and hours having mini-nervous breakdowns. How do I do all this? I'm not quite sure. But I'm working on it. Wish me luck!

Cosmos are good for killing spiders

2006-10-17T20:48:00.000-04:00

Who knew this women's magazine was a stealth arachnid killing weapon?!

Nothing expresses my status as a single girly girl who lives alone than my recent encounter with a spider. For anyone who has had the pleasure uhmmm... displeasure of watching Psycho (1960) , knows the tremendous feeling of vulnerability when your taking a shower. So when a spider decided to crawl in through the bathroom window whilst I was showering and park itself in a spot on the ceiling right above my head, I completely freaked out. I knew that the arachnid had to go. So I stepped out of the shower and dripping went tip-toeing into my bedroom to grab any available weapon I could. The closest thing I could find was the last issue of Cosmo on my nightstand. So I grabbed it and dripped my way back to the shower. I made a comical effort to kill the spider by throwing up the Cosmo at the ceiling and running away quickly, lots of girly shrieks ensuing. Now normally I'm not scared of spiders but being in this vulnerable position, especially living alone, I panicked. And what's most embarassing and what shames me tremendously is that I crossed the threshold over to impossibly girly when I grabbed the girliest magazine in the WORLD to kill this spider. Shame! Shame! The tomboy of my youth would be so disappointed. ::sigh::

Linkage

2006-10-14T21:00:00.000-04:00

After finding my blog linked at an apartment site for "old-fashioned London apartments" (don't they call them flats over there?) I thought it would be interesting to list how some people have found my little nook in the world wide web. This is not a novel idea of mine, it's shamelessly stolen by the great bookyeti.

Keywords:

hearts cristiano ~ I hear ya! I don't care what the Brits think, he's a okay in my book.
boruc handsome ~ why yes he is! huhmanah huhmanah!
grown men don't cry music video code ~ I'm still trying to figure this one out.
old fashion high society names ~ Like Willoughby van Dyne IV?
beginnings are hard, endings are sad ~ It's the middle that counts!

Chocolate-Covered Raisins

2006-10-13T13:39:00.000-04:00

Its been eons since I've had the pleasure of eating these little morsels. I grabbed a little bag of these from our office stockpile of chocolate and slowly picked at them one by one as I responded to some e-mails. These sure take me back. I remember the days when I was a little girl, my mom used to buy me a big bag of Raisinets to keep me occupied on our bus trips to New York. Such a strange little treat. The way the chocolate hugs around the raisin, with cute little dimples here and there. I love how the chocolate cracks and crumbles when you bite into one. I could wax poetic about how they shine and how they feel as I roll them around in my hand. I think its more about the happy memories and comfort they bring rather than their taste. I always find it amazing how smells and sensations transport us back to another place and time. Especially, when they bring you back to a happy time in your life. And chocolate-covered raisins definitely do that for me.

Sanctuary

2006-10-10T18:04:00.000-04:00

For the past few months, I've struggled to find sanctuary in my new little nest. I am by nature someone who needs a little cove of comfort. It's where the participation in my favorite activities is enhanced by the overall feeling of happiness. It is not only a happy place in the physical sense, but also in the emotional sense. That joy comes solely from within but if I don't feel a sense of comfort in where I am, it is hard to connect with those feelings. They end up buried somewhere not wanting to come out. Over time, I find myself more and more accustomed to my apartment, but I'm not quite there yet. I feel I have a ways to go. I still wander back to my parent's home ever so often to nest. If I had moved further away or perhaps had a significant other to move in with, my new place might have already reached the status of sanctuary. I think the loneliness and the easy access to close family make it the most difficult. I also believe that the size of my living room doesn't help either. It's very long and dark. I find it too brooding and ominous for my taste. I've been trying to make it seem cosier and to add more light to the room. On the contrary, the bedroom is just the right size and very sunny. I've filled the room with creams, blues and browns (just like home) and its so easy to fall asleep there.
Maybe I'm picky or just plain eccentric, but home is so important to me. I need to feel like there is somewhere I can escape to and find my inner sense of peace. But for now, my little nest is a work in progress.

Shakira

2006-09-13T19:07:00.000-04:00

I was a big Shakira fan back in high school. I loved her music and had much respect for her. I'm not really impressed by her now (in fact I'm kind of disappointed), but I found this video online and it was a great blast from the past. I used to listen to this song over and over again on my CD walkman (remember walkmans?!) while waiting for my bus in the mornings. Ahh memories. Enjoy!

Music Video:"ESTOY AQUí" (by Shakira)

Music Video Code provided by VideoCodeZone.Com

Ambulance

2006-09-02T18:31:00.000-04:00

When I woke up this morning, I didn't realize that in a few hours I would be taking my very first ride in an ambulance. I have been very sick for the past week. I got, what I thought was, a really nasty bacterial infection in my throat which affected my ears and then went on to give me the worst sinus pressure imaginable. The pain was unbearable. I had gone to the doctor before the symptoms got really bad and was immediately put on penicillin. I had been a good patient taking the pills 4 X a day. They didn't seem to be doing much since the symptoms kept getting worse as the days went on. Finally, yesterday I started feeling better. My sinuses were clearing up, my sore throat and ear pain were gone and I was getting my energy back. But I still had to continue on the medicine for a few days until I finished all of the pills.

This morning, after taking my second dose of the day, I felt like something was trapped in my throat. I thought that the pill was somehow lodged in my esophagus and I drank some water to see if I could flush it down. Three bottles of Dasani later, I tried honey and a salt water gargle. As the hours past, the pain progressed and I started to get short of breath. Then came the hyperventilating and panic. I called my parents numerous times, but they were far away and couldn't help. I was frantic and in tears and called 911. Within 5 minutes, there were 10 men in my apartment asking me questions, taking my pulse and checking my blood pressure. Shorty afterwards, I was whisked away into an ambulance and strapped into a stretche. Luckily, I was being consoled by a very handsome firefighter who had gone to extra effort to make me feel comfortable. (I wanted to kiss him right then and there!!!)

I arrived at the local hospital, went through all the motions. Registration, more registration, waiting, X-ray (of my throat), waiting, examination, more waiting and another examination. Luckily, there was nothing lodged in my throat, but it is very possible that I developed an allergy to penicillin. The medicine caused my throat to close up (thus the pain and the shortness of breath) and it also caused acid reflux which I'm sure did wonders to the lining of my esophagus. And what makes me the most upset about this, the doctor who examined me said that I shouldn't have been on penicillin in the first place because the infection I had was probably viral and not bacterial! Since penicillin only works against bacteria, I might as well have not been taking any medicine at all. Grrr!!

My parents had driven all the way up to come pick me up at the hospital (bless their hearts!). And for the next couple of days, I'm on a liquid/soft food diet and will take it easy. I knew that once I became independent and had my own place that I would have some adventures. But this wasn't the kind of adventure I was looking for.

Simple Pleasures

2006-08-22T17:22:00.000-04:00

I took some getting used to, but my apartment is starting to feel like home. My level of stress has gone down, especially since I'm away from my parents, so there is less bickering and my commute is down to 10 minutes from 2 hour + daily. I feel more independent and more responsible. The best thing of all is that I have the time to take pleasure in simple things. Here are some new rituals and some small things I get pleasure from:

Taking long evening walks
Reading the Sunday New York Times at a cafe
Watching people walk their dogs
Seeing the Prudential Tower from my bedroom window
Trying out new restaurants
Grocery shopping on Sunday afternoons (lot of local single guys do the same)
Silence. Enough to be able to sit down and truly enjoy a good book or magazine
Watching the sun set over the nearby pond

I plan to increase this list considerably! I just have to get used to the town and the area. I'm looking for new and fun things to do and places to meet people. Meeting people is the most difficult thing. Luckily, I have school coming up. I promised myself not to say no to any school or work-related gatherings! I couldn't say yes all that often before because of my commute. Now I have no excuse! Let the good times begin!

New Beginning

2006-07-13T18:50:00.000-04:00

Hope Floats is not one of my favorite movies, but there is a quote from the film that I will carry with my for the rest of my life. "Beginnings are hard, endings are sad, but its the middle that counts." It was a reflection on life in general, but I think it can be specifically applied to any major change in ones life. I'm sad to leave my parents, who I love dearly. I find myself going back "home" to find solace, intermittently while I'm adjusting to my new apartment, which has yet to become my new "home" in the emotional sense. I'm waiting for that in-between period to come. One in which I'm comfortable with my new-found independence and do not rely on my parents for emotional support. I think it will take a while -- a long while. I'm very behind at being an adult. But I'll get through it somehow. I just have to.

So Tired...

2006-07-04T15:55:00.000-04:00

I'm exhausted. On Saturday, I moved some things into my apartment and got my new sofa. On Sunday, I loaded up a U-Haul truck and moved a whole lot more. On Monday and Tuesday, I moved even more things and started setting up so that the apartment could be somewhat liveable. I assembled a coffee table, two side chairs, a dining table and after 5 hours of blood, sweat and tears I gave birth to an entertainment center. I can't believe how much work this is and how quickly I get tired and have to stop. This definitely shows that I need to be more active!

Gonna take a short hiatus as I'll be internet-less for a few days and will need to keep working on my apartment. Pictures to come! Woohoo! And also, the finals of the World Cup are this weekend so I'll be too busy having minor heart attacks to do anything at all productive. Bon journee!

Go Portugal!!!!!

2006-07-01T14:23:00.000-04:00

Portugal kicked England's b-u-t-t today. This game was pure torture. No goals for 90 minutes, then no goals for 30 more minutes. Then Cristiano Ronaldo (shown above) sealed Portugal's victory with a third successful penalty kick. It was beautiful, but good grief I almost had a heart attack! The excitement was too stressful.

Grown Men Crying

2006-06-30T13:53:00.000-04:00

I love watching the World Cup, but boy is it stressful. I don't think I could ever become a full-time devoted fan of football (soccer). I wouldn't have enough energy to deal with real-life emotions because all my stress, anxiety, heart-break and happiness, joy and elation would all be funnelled into games. What gets to me is the major disappointment when one team loses. Today Argentina lost to Germany in penalty kicks. Argentina managed to only get 2 in while Germany got 4. That last missed penalty kick by Argentina sealed Germany's victory. That poor guy Cambiasso who lost that one goal was crying! Even though I was beside myself with joy that Germany won (I think they are incredible), watching a grown man crying depresses me to no end. And then to see a whole team crying and leagues of fans cry, I can't take it! I even fell to pieces when I saw Cristiano Ronaldo cry after his leg injury prevented him from finishing the game. The highs are so high and the lows are so low, that I guess no matter how much I'd like to become full-time fan, I can only take football in small doses. Lets hope there is not a lot of crying this afternoon when Ukraine goes versus the blood-thirsty, elbow-throwing Italians.

Go Portugal!!!

2006-06-25T18:22:00.000-04:00

Portugal (1) ~ Netherlands (0)

My apologies to the Dutch!

Anything to get out of doing my mid-term and packing up for my move!

2006-06-24T17:35:00.000-04:00

Everytime I watch a match of the World Cup the announcers always bombard the viewers with random facts and statistics that to me, as an amateur football fan, seem way out of left field. I decided, out of pure frustration with these silly scenarios that the sportcasters create, that I would write some wacked-out statistics of my own.

1) Germany has never advanced to the final four, on non-European soil and when cheap American Budweisers are downed by their team's rival's fan's mothers-in-law's cousins during teatime in London.

2) Mexico has only ever scored 2 goals in the second stage of the World Cup, except that time when 50% of the other team had serious constipation.

3) Its the first time in 40 years, Portugal has advanced to the second stage of the World Cup in which one of their team members is a young, hot, Prince-William look-a-like, not from the mainland.

4) Ecuador has lost everytime that the majority of their fans do NOT participate in the wave, sing the national anthem and buy expensive FIFA merchandise.

5) The longest distance a player has ever slid across the grass while other team members were celebrating the wrong goal in their second game, was 5 feet.

6) The Brazil vs. The African Brazil (Ghana) game will be the first time a South-American team has played against an African team which, within their own continent, is considered to be equal of the other team in that other continent.

Retribution At Last!

2006-06-21T17:57:00.000-04:00

This has been a really bad year for me, and yesterday I said to myself, "for all of the bad things that have happened to me, there must be some retribution coming soon. There is always a light at the end of the tunnel, I must be at least close!" Well, retribution is coming in the form of a bigger apartment! The tenant of the original apartment just wouldn't quit, so my realtors (God bless them) worked their magic and got me an apartment, on the same floor of the same building, with a bigger lay-out, better views and the same original price. I was blown away! Basically, I just got an upgrade. Now I can resume packing with the knowledge that I actually have an apartment (an even nicer one to boot) to move into! Thank you kharma!

My World Comes Crashing Down

2006-06-19T15:59:00.000-04:00

This is a really bad day.

For one, my beloved uncle died this morning at noon.

Secondly, the tenant of the apartment I was going to move into July 1st now doesn't want to move out. So I'm apartment-less.

To add to that, its crisis after crisis at work and I can't seem to catch up. And I have a midterm exam this week and a final exam next week.

::sigh::

The Cup Overfloweth With Opinions

2006-06-17T13:49:00.000-04:00

I have a lot going on right now. I'm going to moving into my first apartment in a few weeks; I'm in the middle of my grad school summer session with a mid-term right around the corner; I'm working like a dog at my job trying to catch up because of the time I lost during my vacation. But even with all of this going on, my main focus still remains on soccer and the World Cup. It's all I can think about and all I'm interested in. I allot most of my time to packing, studying and working but I've got a serious case of soccer-on-the-brain. Here are my thoughts on the World Cup so far (Disclaimer: I'm not a professional sports fan):

Germany-4 ~ Costa Rica-2 : Can someone say "hometown advantage"?
Poland-0 ~ Ecuardor-2 : I was mesmerized by the Polish goalkeeper the whole time.
England-1 ~ Paraguay-0 : Probably one of the most boring games, ever. ::Yawn::
Trinidad & Tobago-0 ~ Sweden- 0: I loved the fact that T&T were so happy with their score!
Argentina-2 ~ Ivory Coast-1: Eh.
Serbia-Montenegro-0 ~ Netherlands-1: It's interesting that Serbia-Montenegro is no longer one country. I was rooting for the dudes in orange. Go PSV Eindhoven!
Mexico-3 ~ Iran-0: I almost cried when all the Mexican players at the end went to hug the goalkeeper who's father passed away recently. What a touching tribute!
Angola-0 ~ Portugal-0: This fascinated me because I have family that was born in both Portugal and Angola. But I'd rather ogle at C. Ronaldo from Portugal anyday!
Australia-3 ~ Japan-1 : This is nothing to what Australia will face with Brazil. Good thing they have a 3 point advantage!
USA-0 ~ Czech Republic-3: I watched this at a bar with a bunch of USA fans, but I was rooting Czech all the way! I'm so not a good American.
Italy-2 ~Ghana-0: The Italians have really good hair. I wonder what conditioner they use?
South Korea-2 ~ Togo-1: I'm embarassed to say, I didn't even know Togo was a country!
France-0 ~ Switzerland-0: France isn't as interesting this year. Shame.
Brazil-1 ~ Croatia-0: Doesn't surprise me that Brazil won.
Spain-4 ~ Ukraine-0: The two countries rhyme! I love it.
Tunisia-2 ~ Saudia Arabia-2: I wish I could say I was interested in this, but I really wasn't.
Germany-1 ~ Poland-0: See my comments below in my last entry. Poor Boruc.
Ecuador-3 ~ Costa Rica-0: Wow, those Ecuadorians have lots of energy!
England-2 ~ Trinidad & Tobago-0: I missed this one. I wish I could have seen Rooney in action.
Sweden-1 ~ Paraguay-0: I think I was in panic-mode at work when this game happened.
Argentina-6 ~ Serbia-Montengro-0: Wow! Argentina swept the floor with those poor Serbs.
Netherlands-2 ~ Ivory Coast-1: Go Orange! Go Orange!
Mexico-0 ~ Angola-0: As exciting as watching grass grow, but gives Portugal an advantage.
Portugal-2 ~ Iran-0: Go Portugal! It's your birthday! This is my favorite game so far!
Czech Republic-0 ~ Ghana-2: What the...? How the...? Huh?
USA-1 ~ Italy-1: Brutal, complete with actual blood. Emotionally draining, but USA impressed me.

Issa/Boruc

2006-06-16T18:31:00.000-04:00

I have a soft spot for soccer players, especially those who struggle to make it to the World Cup only to be harshly ignored by lady luck. Last time, it was Pierre~Issa. A Lebanese, South-African born, French-raised soccer player who played for the South Africa team in the World Cup in 1998 and 2002. I thought he was beautiful and graceful. He was sleek and tall and his movements across the field looked more like ballet than sport. In 1998, he tried to intercept two shots on goal from the French only to have the ball slip over his foot and into the net both times! And because he technically was the last person to touch the ball, he was counted as responsible for the other team's goal. I don't know how, but he made it to the 2002 World Cup only to get an injury during his first part of the first game and had to sit on the bench while he watched his team get eliminated! My heart yearns for him, because this is his career, his passion!

South Africa didn't make it this year, but now I long to comfort someone else. A certain Artur-Boruc on the Polish team. He's one of the most beautiful men I've ever seen. I set eyes on him and I thought to myself, I must be dreaming, I didn't think they came this handsome. I did some research on him and found out that he's a very successful goalkeeper who's played for clubs in Poland and Scotland. But being a goalkeeper must be very difficult, especially since every goal the other teams scores is basically a result of your mistake! Ouch! And my heart went out to him when Germany got a goal in the 91st minute of a 0-0 game. He looked absolutely devastated. This may be a beautiful game but the highs are high and the lows are terribly low and its more than just a game that's at stake.

Below are some pictures of Boruc for your viewing pleasure. Sorry ladies, he's married (shucks!). But if you want to ogle at him some more go to is official website!

2006-06-16T18:30:00.001-04:00

Boruc3

2006-06-16T18:30:00.000-04:00

Boruc2

2006-06-16T18:25:00.000-04:00

Borac

Beautiful Game

2006-06-09T14:17:00.000-04:00

Once every four years, something amazing happens. No, it's not a break in the time-space continuum but it's a phenomenon that is almost equally astonishing. For one month, I am glued to the television watching nothing but sports! Not just any old sport, but the beautiful game - soccer. Or, to call it by it's true name, football. Also, it's not just any old football game, but the World Cup. I, who abhor watching any type of sport for the other 3 years and 11 months in my 4 year cycle, became infatuated with football. Athletic men, from around the world, join together to run around a field and kick a ball around, and I'm entranced. There's the thrill of knowing the one goal can change the entire game. There's the international aspect of seeing representatives from so many different countries all in one place. And the most important part, there's the feminine-hormonal surge in me which swoons at the sight of slender, athletic men drenched in sweat and running around in shorts that reveal just the right amount of perfectly sculpted leg muscles. And, if they are running fast enough, their uninforms cling to their bodies revealing their amazing shapes. Their outrageously gorgeous model wives and girlfriends are no where to be seen, so the fantasy is kept in tact. In just a few minutes, another game starts, so off I go to drool over the beautiful game.

Salut!

2006-05-29T18:23:00.000-04:00

I've decided that this poster will be the main focal piece in my new living room. Yes that's right, I've got a new living room meaning I have a new apartment! Yay! I will be less than 2 miles from work and only a hop skip and a jump away from school. Most importantly, I'll be at a distance from my parents who are still making plans to control my life while I'm away. Its going to be a great opportunity to become truly independent. I'll learn, mostly the hard way, how to be solely responsible for myself. I still see myself running back home for certain things such as mom's home cooking, our home garden complete with flowers, vegetables, fruit and herbs and my dad's mechanical expertise. I also don't want to give up my bank, my hair stylist, my dentist, my chiropractor, my aesthetician and my eye doctor. So I'll be doing lots of travelling home. But I do get to say goodbye to Monday morning/Friday afternoon commutes and paying outrageous amounts of money at the pump. I'm both excited and nervous because I know I have a lot of growing up to do! My move-in date is July 1st and I'll keep you in the loop on the details of the new pad!

Book Expo

2006-05-27T20:36:00.000-04:00

Last Saturday was truly an unforgettable day. I woke up at 4am-ish -- which should be a crime by the way -- got ready, got on a bus and then got on a plane to D.C. Besides my disabilitating fear of flying, I was super excited. For one day, I got to go to Book Expo America, the biggest event in book publishing. It's a convention held every May (sometimes June) when book publishers and other business create elaborate booths in a grandiose convention center to show off their wares to booksellers and other folk. Authors and remainder buyers swarm around the booths like hawks hoping to court a publisher or two. It's all shmooze and all excitement. When I arrived at the Washington Convention Center I was in awe! I got to wander around for a few hours oggling at other publisher's goodies before going to my company's booth for "booth duty." My job was basically to handsell our titles, pass out free goodies (something Book Expo is famous for) such as galleys (pre-publication copies of books), tote bags, postcards and catalogs, and answer as many questions as I could. It was so great to see so many people excited about the industry. The whole experience reminded me why I'm in this business: because I truly love books. And being around so many other people who've dedicated huge parts of their lives to books, only made me more proud of my career! I still can't stop talking about the experience! I have made a Yahoo! Photo Album for you to see some pictures from my trip. Please enjoy.