WebJournal - The blog will set you free
News of no interest whatsoever except to very close and patient friends and family members and maybe people with no life


Monday, May 31, 2004  

Kayaking for a few minutes on the Hudson

Yesterday we had magnificent weather. Perfect for trying out the kayaks. I had never really been up to Riverside Park, which is strange. We entered at 79th St. I've been North of 79th both on the East and West Side, but never all the way to the West, on the Hudson. One thing is sure though: I will go again soon. It was just beautiful. It was fun to be there with Anastasia and Nina too. Anastasia got on my kayak and we were screaming and laughing like two perfect idiots. They stayed with me overnight and today we went over to Pearl Paint where I spent an obscene amount of money, as usual.

Bush is on TV giving some Memorial speech. I could slap the guy.

7:46 PM
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Saturday, May 29, 2004  

Confused friends

The phone rang this morning at 6 AM. It was Nicolas. He was in a hurry. The movie was starting in a few minutes.
Poor lost soul. He was only 12 hours ahead ... He swears he was not drunk, not on drugs. He just woke up, saw the daylight, checked the time, assumed it was the middle of the afternoon and called me in a panic.
Lucky for him, I was already up.

We ended up going to the movies at 6 PM, after a little walk and a short while at Bryant Park. I loved the movie. The story is non-existant, but the special effects are outstanding, except for the digital wolves.
After the movie we met Miguel in Chelsea for dinner at a Greek place and a drink at Barracuda. I am considering turning into a guy and then going gay. Those Chelsea boys are really something. I split after the first drink. They even offered to go to Splash but I was not in the mood. Maybe I should see a doctor. I am always in the mood for dancing. Not today. I wanted to come home, get on the Net, grab a book and hopefully wake up early tomorrow and get to the Park to enjoy the day.

Today, being Saturday, I called home. My mother is lucky I don't live nearby. Or maybe I am the lucky one and I have avoided spending the rest of my lifetime in prison for murder. After my absurd conversation (the term conversation is used in a very loose way here) with her I called JP who laughed out loud at my indignation. I can't get no respect.

11:58 PM
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Wednesday, May 26, 2004  

Pictures

I've uploaded new pics: some from the party on Saturday, some assorted pictures from M.A.' s stay and Gemma's and Marc's pictures for the photo project.

Friends with strong ears

It's good to have friends when you need them. It's even better to discover their ears do not fall apart too easily.

10:15 PM
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Oral sex

8:05 PM
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Tuesday, May 25, 2004  

I am in the middle of an IT seminar. Well, actually, this is the coffee break. I thought it was going to suck and it did for a while. Now it rocks. Can't wait to get in again. Later.

11:15 AM
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Monday, May 24, 2004  

Catching up on a full week

Monday I worked a full day, Tuesday just a couple of hours and from Wednesday on I was blissfully on holiday.
NYC is a great place to be off work. Can't remember what we did on Monday, but Tuesday night we had an early party at Chema's for his birthday. It was very enjoyable. There was tango dancing and dancing tout court. There was plenty of food. Lots of singing with John on the piano. Very nice. And we were home by 11ish. Wednesday we had lunch with Luis from work and then I think we went home to sleep. It was probably Tuesday when we had lunch at Hells Kitchen and then went over to the new Time Warner Center and the magnificent Whole Foods market.

Thursday we had lunch with Pascale and Johanny at a Greek restaurant on 51st and 1st ave. and then walked uptown trying to get on the East River walk. We gave up around 77th street and walked across to and into the Park to spend quite a while spraweled on the lawn by the boats. In the evening we were sort of beat. Monse came over for a beer and we went out to a nearby pub. When she left we headed to the Sutton Bar but did not stay long.

Friday we must have walked half of Manhattan, going South at 5th Ave. then taking Broadway, then crossing at Canal St. to the Hudson River and having a sushi lunch at one of the piers. We then walked over to Chelsea Piers. An interesting place to keep in mind for the summer.
We were supposed to meet a bunch a people in the evening and go out but by the time we got home and I took a bath we were both exhausted and dinner at home (a delicious gazpacho, among other things) plus a (lousy) movie sounded just perfect.

M.A. left on Saturday but we managed to get to the Boathouse in the Park for a drink and then home for lunch before he had to go. His stay was very different from what I expected. We did not stay out till dawn every night. We did not party much, if at all. A lot of grocery shopping, a lot of cooking, a lot of hanging out in the sun, a lot of relaxed conversations and relaxed silences. Above all, strangely, even better than expected.

After he left I went straight for a massage and then spent the evening at home reading gossip magazines.

Out with the kids

Today, Sunday, I took Melissa and a cousin of hers (an extremely sweet 10-years-old girl), plus Anastasia and Nina to see Shrek 2. I LOVED IT! I was laughing out loud constantly. I probably had more fun than the kids! The movie is brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! After the movie we went to Mars 2112, always a hit with the kids. Nina was terrified of a couple of Martians, especially the Empress Glorianna, but all in all we had fun.


1:27 AM
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Sunday, May 16, 2004  

As busy as I wanted to be

So far we stayed home on Thursday and went out on Friday with Monse, her friends and Pilar and then, when they went home, cabbed back uptown to a new bar across from the Opal. But before that, as we were leaving the first bar, Monse's friend told us that Noah Wyle, of E.R. fame, was drinking a beer all alone. Indeed he was. And then he was smoking a cigarette all alone, and then amicably chatting with a girl, who left with her friends after a short while. So much for big celebrities hanging out in ritzy bars with their posses.

Saturday I went to the gym and then, with Marc, joined M.A. in Central Park for lunch at the Boathouse. In the evening we had about 16 people over and it was great fun (Pilar, Francia, Elena, Miguel, Nicolas with an extremely handsome and nice friend, Marc and his friend Kate, Mario, Pascale and Johanny, Monse, Cecilia, Romy, the girl from the gym, with her Italian boyfriend, Blanca and her boyfriend) M.A. had cooked up a storm, so there was plenty of delicious food and plenty of booze. I managed to dance for hours and otherwise make a fool of myself, as usual. People left around 3 A.M., completely wasted. M.A. was already fast asleep so I cleaned up (I hate to wake up to an after-party mess) and then zonked out myself. Seems it was a rude morning for most of our guests this morning, but M.A. and I were perfectly fine (we somehow managed not to get drunk ) so we took advantage of another gorgeous day.

We went back to the Park in the morning and tried to have lunch at the Boathouse again but it was completely booked, so instead we had Mexican food in the Upper West Side. We were home by 7ish. The plan was to set up the computer, the speakers, the food and watch the The Passion of the Christ. I wept all through it. It was not the sadistic depiction of the end of Jesus. I've seen enough gore movies and enough news on TV not to be moved by gratuitous violence. It certainly was not the thought of our savior getting that kind of treatment, because I don't believe Jesus Christ was anything else than a regular guy, if he existed at all. It was his mother, Mary, that did it to me. I lost what little composure I had left with the scene where she flashes back to when Jesus was a child and rushes to pick him up when he falls. Toilet paper was not good enough at that point I had to get up and go fetch the really good, strong-as-cloth paper towels from the kitchen. Good thing I had no make-up on. In any case, I missed the point of the movie. It does nothing to teach anything related to Catholicism. It's relentless violence for the sake of it. And not even fun violence.

11:57 PM
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Thursday, May 13, 2004  

The man is in town

M.A. arrived yesterday. He's staying 10 days.
I barely gave him enough time to shower and we were out for the inaugurational tour of margaritas at Zarela, wine at The Divine and a little stop at Opal. Can't complain.
We were up sort of early this morning, the sun was out with a vengeance, it's hot like hell so we walked up to the Park to vegetate for a while. Only problem was that my shoes were killing me and now I can't walk anymore. If only I could rent a helicopter to take me home straight from my desk!

Saturday we are planning a little get-together at home. Other than that I hope to be too busy to blog.

2:19 PM
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Wednesday, May 12, 2004  



7:20 AM
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Tuesday, May 11, 2004  

I had the best massage ever today. I can't bend at the waist any longer and I am afraid I will wake up a quadriplegic tomorrow morning, but it sure was a fine experience. I was asked whether I minded to be massaged by a man. Of course I did not. I think I lack any sense of modesty. The guy was a young black man with dreadlocks and the sweetest eyes. And he was good. Painfully good. Screaming pain/pleasure good.

I am watching a documentary on TV about stage moms and dads. So depressing. The worse are all these deformed insane women who drive their little girls crazy in beauty pageants. I think they all belong in jail for child exploitation and, most often than not, child pornography. How can you possible dye a 3-years-old hair? Make her wear make up? Pose in a swimsuit? It is quite indecent. A bunch of sad sad losers, except for Jordan and her mother. The little girl is adorable and very talented.

Sandal weather! I got my first official pedicure of the season!

The first photos of the photo project are up. Take a look, leave comments, rate them. Go!

1:05 AM


Sunday, May 09, 2004  

untitledCrafts on Columbus

Just back from the Upper West street fair. Went there to check out the Funny Sculptures Pilar has been raving about. I LOVED them. The artist was there and I got to talk to her a bit. She's from Brazil and she told me she might start teaching soon. Needless to say, I signed up on her mailing list. I also bought a few things that I will madly enjoy and try to reproduce.
A few steps after her stand I had to stop and marvel at the Amazing Mobiles. I go nuts with mobiles in general, but these were really special. I particularly liked the Kiss Blower. The artist was there too. I thought he had a familiar accent. Well, he's from Argentina, according to the Web site.
I also liked some of Lois Cohen designs. Stress on "some". I don't like the watches, I don't like the metallic stuff. I do dig the colorful glasses and pins and chains. So much so I almost bought something.
Last but not least, I lusted after DeLomba. Please please please, I promise I'lll be good. Can I get any of these for Xmas?

5:30 PM
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Oops

Well, I like orange hair. Patchy orange hair is cool too.

9:40 AM
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Unbalanced females

I tried to watch Sylvia (Gwineth Paltrow playing Sylvia Plath) yesterday. I just could not. Dozed in and out constantly. Sylvia Plath comes across as an insufferable self-centered drama queen. So much for a feminist icon.
Speaking of feminism, I have yet again changed the color of my hair. Actually, I am right now in the process of high-lightening the front and parts of the back of my head. Way too blonde, probably. Some people have the same hair all their lives, use the same perfume, the same make-up. I struggle not to change something everyday.
Gotta go rinse out the dye. Lord help me.

9:11 AM
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Saturday, May 08, 2004  

untitledLame lame lame

It figures that the day of the photo project would be a totally lame Saturday.
I tried to get up early but was falling asleep about the time I had planned on getting up, so I decided to sleep a little more.
At noon I took a class with Derek and chatted with him a bit beforehand. Nice guy. I think he has a cool job, he thinks I have a cool job. We were talking about how everybody looks like regular people at the gym and then when you start asking what they do for a living, quite a few are big honchos. As he put it, it is amazing what kind of people dance brings together. I also chatted with the Spanish girl I met last week. She is very friendly and I will keep her in mind for some extra-gym activity.
I finally got the choreography and so did Marc so we managed to dance through the whole thing. Fun fun fun. It was about time I got back some resemblance of coordination.
After the class I was on cloud nine and sms-essed M.A. to find about whether he was coming to NY or not. He is, indeed, on Wednesday. I was propelled to cloud ten or maybe nine and a half, so as to not get my hopes up too much.
Around 3.30 PM I was at the office and worked until 7.30 PM. On my way home I stopped and got a couple of slices of pizza. Monse called but it's cold out there and I want to work tomorrow too so I am staying home. At the moment I am having a beer, watching America's Most Wanted, pondering whether to watch a movie, read a book (I am juggling three at the moment) or channel-surf. Decisions decisions decisions.

Today's a repeat repeat repeat day.

10:05 PM
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Skip lunch, fight hunger

Skip lunch, fight hunger Day is Wednesday, March 12. Check out the Web site and donate your lunch money!

1:47 AM
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Friday, May 07, 2004  

On the edge

Funny how sometimes just one word pushes you off the edge. It was like that for me today. And I wasn't even aware of being so close to falling. A little chat with Nicolas and a little pep talk to myself and I was mercifully back on my feet. Disempowering feelings are to be avoided. It's not that I don't want to feel things, it's just that I don't want to stay in a place that's painful and useless, a really atrocious combination. Pain for a purpose can be endured. Pain for the sake of it it's unacceptable.
Stayed at the office till 11ish and then had a beer with Nicolas and, later, Mario. Home now, tinkering with my ftp for the photo project.

8:56 PM
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Tuesday, May 04, 2004  

The March

OK, a little late but here's my take. I know it's supposed to be cool to be pro choice. I know you're suspected of being either a bigot or a woman hater if you are pro life. But I don't like to be labeled. I am pro life and certainly not religious nor conservative.
My personal opinion is: I don't know when life starts, so I prefer to err on the safe side.
I would not shoot a two-years-old if I went bankrupt and could not feed him, I would not shoot him if I got a divorce and could not provide a father figure, I would not shoot him if he was maimed in an accident, I would not shoot him for his own good.
There is something about the very concept of women's reproductive rights that I find disturbing. As a woman I am biologically capable of carrying a human being within me (and frankly, this is one the things that makes us so damn superior) so it's not only about my rights as a woman but about the rights of the unborn who, by the way, is the perfect victim. It has no right to vote, no economic power nor value. You can eliminate him without so much as a peep.
As a woman I cannot understand pushing for abortion rights, turning from victims into victimizer. As a woman I'd like to push for a society that welcomes children, a society that would offer both women and men the means to raise their offsprings. I want the money to go to day care centers, not abortion clinics. Sex education not the promotion of selfishness.
I've never got it when friends would tell me about their understanding boyfriends who, upon hearing about their pregnancy, would hand out the money for an abortion. I would find it insulting. I have a problem being grateful if all you can come up with is the dough to shove the problem away.
I also strongly believe in a responsible sexual life. Personally, I am not opposed to swinging from a chandelier if the mood strikes but then only between consenting adults, emphasis on adults. If you are not an adult willing to face the consequences of your actions then you have no business screwing around.
If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen. Rosario dixit.

For a while I thought I was the only one on Earth (well, with my sister) to be both profoundly liberal and yet anti-abortion, then I came across Nat Hentoff, who can hardly be considered a fascist, and his much more eloquent opinion on the subject. For the record, I agree with him completely.

Sore all over

Took a funk class today. It's getting much better now. I can follow better and thus enjoy it more.
Now I am just one giant yet happy muscle pain.
I must focus now and finish a text I have to get to the office early tomorrow.

11:44 PM
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Fun!

Street Pac-Man? I hope to remember next Saturday!

Pac-Manhattan is a large-scale urban game that utilizes the New York City grid to recreate the 1980's video game sensation Pac-Man...A player dressed as Pac-man will run around the Washington square park area of Manhattan while attempting to collect all of the virtual "dots" that run the length of the streets. Four players dressed as the ghosts will attempt to catch Pac-man before all of the dots are collected...Using cell-phone contact, Wi-Fi internet connections, and custom software designed by the Pac-Manhattan team, Pac-man and the ghosts will be tracked from a central location and their progress will be broadcast over the internet for viewers from around the world.

An invitation to play

Now, expanding on the Daily Photo Project, Project 24 and America 24/7 concepts, I would like to invite my friends to snap digital pictures of their next Saturday and e-mail them to me. The objects or people you chose to photograph are up to you. The style is up to you. The theme is up to you. Everything is up to you it except for the fact that the pictures must be taken next Saturday. Susan, this is meant for you too!

1:04 PM
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Sunday, May 02, 2004  

Back to work

My trip to Rome went kaput so I might as well go to work tomorrow.
Spoke to M.A. Saturday. His plans have changed too and he is threatening with coming soon. I won't believe it till it happens but in the meantime I rather keep my days off so I can use them whenever he gets into town. I hope I'll need them.

Lisa is leaving tomorrow. We did not go to P. and J's tonite because we could not get in touch with them. Melissa and I saw Godsend. We are both lucky in that we both like horror flicks. This one was barely good enough, too predictable, too slow. The best thing was the casting. The kid is eery. And Greg Kinnear is damn hot.

A New York moment

We saw the cab. It had a siren. It stopped on Prince and Houston with a screech and both a passenger and the driver came out, walkie talkies in hand. Undercover cops, of course. A guy on the corner gave them the description of a white 5 feet 7 inches male. They went looking for him. We walked after them. From what I gathered the guy had robbed a shop on Prince Street. We kept walking. A couple of blocks later they had caught him. I snapped the pix with my cell while he was getting handcuffed. Exciting.

Less exciting was Lisa's NY's experience. She was on 3rd Avenue shortly after a lady got ran over and killed by a cab at a street fair. I got home and she - Lisa obviously, not the poor lady - was in tears.


11:34 PM
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untitledBriefly

Lunch with Monse and Pilar somewhere in Tribeca.
A little window shopping in SoHo.
Dinner with Lisa at Dolphins in the East Village. We then saw the Blue Man Group show.
Now I am going to get Melissa and probably take her to the movies.
Later in the afternoon I am going to Pascale and Johanny's. I'll probably have dinner with them and Lisa.
I also have to find time to get some work done, not to mention that manicure and pedicure I've been thinking about for a week. Might do it tomorrow at lunchtime.
What a hard life.

1:59 PM
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Saturday, May 01, 2004  

untitledKids say the darnest things

This sweet little thing first told me I looked ugly with my braces, then asked me whether I had a baby in my tummy. I had to leave the party before bludgeoning her to a premature death.

12:10 AM
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