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


Tuesday, May 31, 2005  

A brief report

Saw Madagascar. Laughed myself into the floor.
Saw Crash. Did not laugh but loved it nonetheless.
The Elizaldes for dinner at home last Saturday.
Lunch with Nicolas on Sunday.
Dinner at the Cajun Restaurant on Sunday.
At the gym at 6 AM on Monday.
Work, work, work today. Missed Derek's class. One of his last. I'll have to start going to his classes at Steps'.
Off with Francia for a happy hour.
She says bye guys!
I still have to upload pictures and I still have to blog about North Carolina. Stay tuned.

7:00 PM
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Saturday, May 28, 2005  

Nightie nite

Back. Dinner. Some dancing. Train to 14th St. and then walking home. And calling 911 from my cell because of a guy hitting a girl in a car.

3:35 AM
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Friday, May 27, 2005  

Intellectal pursuits

The head count for tonight stands at 14 so far. I thought I would have time to sleep a little while before heading out, but time is tight, so I am coloring my hair instead. A dark blond, that I will extreme highlight tomorrow. I might as well experiment, as I am chopping it all off again next week.

7:25 PM
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Oh, happy days!

Third day in a row that we get to the gym a few minutes past 6 AM. I just had leftover fish and a Red Bull for breakfast adn it's now time to get in the shower. I keep looking around me, it's so sunny and the breeze coming in from my window is so delicious. It will be a great day.

Tonight I'll take Maria and Abel to Williamsburg. Pamen and Elena will be coming, and Soledad with two of her friends, and Rommy and Fabio ... I should have been an event planner.

I still have to post about my weekend in North Carolina and I have to upload the pictures from Pamen's party. Hopefully I will find some time this weekend.

8:00 AM
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Wednesday, May 25, 2005  

Back to civilization

We got back from North Carolina on Monday. Had a fun time but it was, to say the least, a clash of cultures - in a very broad definition of culture, that is. The anecdotes are plentiful, and I might have time to blog this evening.


Up before 6 this morning, at the gym 10 minutes after 6 AM. Not much done, about 30 minutes of a half walk/half light jog, a few abs, a few stretches. But at least I showed up. Hopefully I'll show up again tomorrow.

8:08 AM
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Saturday, May 21, 2005  

Almost packed

I am leaving the house to Mickey this week-end. Joe just called. We'll be staying a condo on the beach. A taxi will be picking us up at Raleigh's airport and driving us to Ricky's. Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and we will be renting water scooters and going to the local fair. Can't complain.

Yesterday I ended up having a delicious dinner with Rommy and Pamen at Paprika's but by the time we were done it was already midnight so I skipped the party in order to be able to get up early today, finish a translation and pack. Time to go now. Arrivederci!

10:45 AM
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Friday, May 20, 2005  

Stressed out

So yesterday 7 of us ended up having a drink at Union Square and then dinner at One91. I can't even remember what I ate so either it was not memorable or I am too tired. In any case I have a lot of work to get done before leaving today (I am taking Monday off), and then I will probably be meeting Rommy, Annie and Pamen for dinner and a party downtown. Given that I also have to pack as I am leaving tomorrow for a week-end at Joe's in Snead's Ferry I am just a little stressed out.

3:47 PM
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Thursday, May 19, 2005  

Yuk!

I have mice in my apartment again and I am freaking out. After searching and destroying one mouse about a couple of months ago this morning I found droppings in the kitchen. I thought I had hear strange noise coming from the kitchen the other night but chose to ignore it.
The absolute worst is that I just got this new bed, a really really low bed, a floor-level bed and now I am terrified of having Mickey Mouse climb on it. Anybody has a foolproof solution? I will be putting traps again but still ...
Anybody has even heard of a mouse attacking a sleeping human? I am researching the Web and trying to inhale deeply, exhale deeply ...

10:37 AM
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Wednesday, May 18, 2005  

A lively bunch

In the beginning, I was to meet Annie yesterday. What actually happened was that Annie (originally from Italy, most recently studying in North Carolina and now in NYC for a few months) showed up with Soledad (originally from Argentina, in NY for a few months). Then Pam (from D.C.) came with Bettina (visiting from Berlin, Germany). Finally MarĂ­a and Abel (from Madrid, Spain, on their honeymoon in NY) also showed up. We ended up having dinner at Zarela. With dinner most of us had a couple of margaritas. Some of us, well, some of them to be precise, did not hold their liquor too good.
In any case, we had an extremely lively dinner conversation. A spontaneous, fun, cosmopolitan evening.

Can you tell?

I went to a meeting today at work. I sit down, they all looked at me and commented on how happy I looked. I asked if it was so obvious. They all went: "Yes!". Actually, one remarked that I am always happy and that I make them happy. Guess I am a happy shiny person. Unless I am in a bad mood, that is. In that case I am just your average bitch.

Important decisions

Today I might attend a cocktail.
Friday I might go to a party.
Saturday I might leave for North Carolina.
Unless I decide to skip the cocktail today and leave for North Carolina of Friday evening. Or to attend a second party on Friday. Or to go out for dinner tonight.

Human information booth 4

Walking towards Zarela yesterday. We are all standing at the light. A guy to my left specifically asks me for the time.

4:00 PM
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Tuesday, May 17, 2005  

Intravenous Red Bull?

I babysat yesterday and got home around 2 AM, then chat a bit with Pam, then surfed the Web for a while. Getting up this morning proved to be somewhat challenging. Still, I am off to Derek's class in a few minutes and later I'll be meeting Annie for a drink. She arrived in town yesterday. Also in town are two friends of my niece's. They called, I should call back, but I will probably meet them once and then give them a list of places to explore and enjoy on their own - after all they are on their honeymoon!

Nice doggie

Yesterday I visited Elena at the hospital. She was bitten by a dog in Bermuda and has developed an infection. The bite looks nasty and she spent half her holiday with her leg up in the air.

Gotta go now.

5:22 PM
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Sunday, May 15, 2005  

New York moment 2

The Gap, somewhere walking up from SoHo. Black woman, shouting at the top of her lungs, non stop. Something about 3.000 dollars in purchased merchandise that she wanted to return. The cops were called. In the meantime an employee explained to me that he was looking for a girlfriend, but that women ended up being crazy like the screaming black woman at the counter. He needed a good woman, somebody like me, he pointed oyt.

The wait is over

I was in the neighborhood. I had to go. I had to buy. I got my new Mac OS: Tiger!
So far, a waste of money. No improvement that I could not have lived without. There's Dashboard, but I had widgets before. There's Spotlight, but I had Quicksilver. There Automator, but I had iKeys.
Oh, well, I just had to have it.

10:51 PM
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In love with a city, in love with a family

Yesterday Pam and I went to Mathias' (Johanny and Pascale's baby) christening and then to their place for a little party. We were planning on staying an hour and then going shopping downtown and visiting Strand, but we stayed well into the evening. Sometime in the afternoon, when the family had left, and only Pascale, Zoe, Claudia, Pam and I were left, with Johanny mixing drinks for us, Billy, a client and friend of Johanny's, arrived with is girlfriend and her two daughters. I fell in love. The girlfriend is the friendliest, warmest, nicest woman and the kids were adorable. We promptly exchanged phone numbers so I can introduce Chicco, a 16-years-old Italian boy that will be staying with me for a couple of weeks at the end on June (sort of an exchange student, except that he will not study) to them. Also, I realized that Chicco will be here for the 4th of July and we were already making plans to go to the beach.
So not only I fell for this whole family but then I got to walk uptown from Battery Park (actually, we walk to 34th Street, then we took a cab) and I was ohing and ahing at the beauty of this town. I keep falling in love with it over and over.



Webcam from the marina at Battery Park, where Johanny and Pascale live.


Human information booth 3

In the Village yesterday, walking uptown from Battery Park, a car full of girls in a street with the usual Saturday night crowd. Of all people, the chose me, and Pam, to hollow at, asking for directions to 5th Ave.

A NY moment

Same day, same walk, same area: police all over the place. What seemed like a man with long hair laying on the street in front of a restaurant, a pool of blood coming out of his head. No idea what happened.

Friday's party


Friday night we had a party at Pamen's for Chema's and Marc's birthdays. We had asked everybody to come wearing something on their head and they all complied. I built a last minute headgear out of a headband, three chopsticks, some paper and aluminum paper. According to a neighbor, it certainly "showed my commitment".
I'll be uploading the picture tonight.

8:35 AM
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Thursday, May 12, 2005  

The human information booth 2

Me: coming back home from work (3 blocks away), standing on the corner, waiting for the green light to cross the street.
Him: a middle-aged man quickly walking towards said corner. I see he's shouting something at me.
I finally hear him. He's saying "Where's a bank?". No hello, no please, no nothing.

Now, really ...

Getting ready to party

Tomorrow we are having a party at Pamen's for Chema's and Marc's birthday. I've already baked a couple of spinach pies and cooked some beef in the oven. I still have a couple of things to prepare and I also have to come up with something to wear on my head.



The countdown

I spoke to M.A. yesterday. He's coming this summer for a month and a half. I am trying not to start counting the days. I am also trying not to plot murder against some coworker in order to make room for him so he can stay a little longer.

Other summer visitors: Annie is arriving on Sunday and staying until September,
Lisa is visiting for a few days in July, a girl from back in high-school should be coming in May, an Italian boy (the son of a friend of a friend's) will be staying with me for a couple of week at the end of June, my friend Liliana might be coming in June or July.

11:29 PM
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The human information booth

There is something about me that makes people ask me things. It happens to me constantly, everywhere, not just in NYC, not just in the U.S. If I hang out long enough anywhere you can bet somebody is going to ask me for directions or something. So today, at about 11 PM, on Central Park South, on my walk back home from dinner in the Upper West (trying to burn'em calories) I see an old lady looking at a bus post. I pass by. Sure enough, she calls me to read the bus sign to her. Now, don't get me wrong, I cherish the fact that I look so approachable that complete strangers, incluiding lonely old ladies in the middle of the night, feel completely safe talking to me, but sometimes I wish I had more of a dangerous oversexed vibe about me.

12:10 AM
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Wednesday, May 11, 2005  

Work, work, work

No Derek, no Hitomi yesterday. I stayed at the office late. I am buried under work right now but I enjoy it immensely. It involves a lot of interaction with people, meetings, talks, etc.
Today, at one such meeting, a guy told me he watches Smalville regularly and that there's this one actress that reminds him of me. Something about the way she smiles and talks. I don't watch Smallville so I had no idea what he was talking about but I immediately researched the show on the Net. Well, I feel fiiiine now. I had the guy on the phone a few minutes ago and just had to ask him exactly which character he was referring to. He said it was Chloe. I checked her out. Wow. There's nothing about her that looks like me but she ain't a bad looking gal. To give my ego another big lift, this colleague assured me he thinks she's the cutest one on the show.
I am a sucker for compliments.

Well, gotta rush to Anastasia's concert and then meet Debra for dinner.

Little aside note

The comments on this blog do not seem to be working. I am waiting for an answer from Blogger. Mobile Blogger is not working either.

5:23 PM
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Tuesday, May 10, 2005  

A good day has started

I woke up a little past 5.30 AM today. This tends to happen lately because I leave the blinds open and the sun come in at will. But today, after checking the news, my mail and the Net in general, I actually got up and hopped on the rebounder for half and hour of jumping and dancing to blasting music from my iPod. I have now opened the window and a delicious fresh breeze is coming in. I am drinking Evian water (the only French product I can't seem to boycott), sweating in out while waiting to get in the shower. Later on, at work, I will be kept busy with different computer-related tasks and I just love it. And the cherry on top of it all is Derek's class in the evening followed by a session with Hitomi. Delightful.

7:31 AM
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Sunday, May 08, 2005  

Go, now, go

If you have been ignoring my hints and my links on the right, stop it! Don't wait any longer, go to Go Fug Yourself and Overheard in NY for laughs, but don't miss
Post Secret for a touching, very human experience.

9:07 PM
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Celebrity sighting!

After a second lunch (I had my first one at home, before Pilar called) and a mojito at a restaurant on 1st and 1st, Pilar and I thought it better to walk uptown. We were getting thirsty and drowsy so we stopped at Borders on 2nd Ave., browsed through the books and magazines and waited for an opening at the cafe. No such lunch. We were in a perfectly nondescript neighborhood. We walked into a Starbucks a block away. A perfectly drab Starbucks. We were sitting facing the windows. I was taking in my surroundings, as usual. I see this guy walking to the sugar table. I only see his backside but generally that's all I care about. I am liking what I see. Now I am really checking him out. Not too tall. Nice shoulders. Nice posture. Very nice neck. Some grey hair at the temples. Yummy. He turns around and I see his face. It takes me a full second to recognize him, then I try to stop staring. It's Mr. Big!!!!! And he's hot!


Friday night at Highline

OK, so Gemma's face is cut off and Pamen looks like she is sick to her stomach, but hey, decent pictures of me are few and far between, so I had no choice.


Nicolas, yours truly, Pamen, Pilar, Gemma, Luis

8:09 PM
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Pass me caffeine, please

I am slowly coming back to life after a night on the town. A bar hopping night on the town that is. Pamen and I started with a decisively cultural event and shlepped to Queens for a photo exhibit. We almost went to P.S. 1 but never found the door. In a way, I was relieved. A very spinstery looking woman at the photo exhibit had told us she had been there earlier in the day and that sent a through my spine. I absolutely refuse to turn into one of those old single women on the "cultural" loop, going from museums to artsy movies to gallery openings. The very thought of it is disturbing. In any case, we did not go, and we quickly got out of Queens and its distressing ugliness.
Back in Manhattan we met Luis at the Church Lounge for a quite potent mojito. For dinner we decided on the Viet Cafe, a great place with super fast service, good food and a cute tongue pierced waiter. After dinner we had a drink and attempted some dancing at a super crowded Lit. I really liked the place but after a while of the whitest of music and skinny blonde/Asian chicks jumping up and down in arrhythmical convulsions, I just needed a change of scenery. We went to yet another bar/lounge in the neighborhood, a completely forgettable place full of bridge and tunnel people. Finally we arrived at Pamen's, after a quick stop at the supermarket across from her apartment. There a peroxided blonde was busy screaming into her cell phone how much she hated the fucking family of the recipient of the call. Very, very classy.
Having woken up at 5 yesterday, I promptly fell asleep on Pamen's very comfy armchair. I guess it was around 4 when I found the way to my own bed.

9:56 AM
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Saturday, May 07, 2005  

My apologies to my fan base

I've just discovered a few comments that had gone unread. A few people who seem to read this blog frequently and who actually left nice comments. I am soooo sorry! From now on I will get an alert by mail and I promise to answer, unless it's a shitty comment, in which case I will ignore you.

12:11 PM
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Pansexual

Very cute guy, hard body, great eyes, bad breath. He comes over to Gemma to tell her what beautiful eyes she has. Then proceeds to chat me up. Eventually he asks me about Nicolas' sexual orientation and tells me he thinks he's very handsome. In a few minutes the guy managed to hit on everybody. All this at The Duplex, where we had a few drinks after a small private party for a retiring French teacher at the Velvet Lounge. Tonight the singers were not the best and the place was not at its best. A pity bacause Gemma and her boyfriend (who, by the way, is the spitting image of George Constanza) are going back home tomorrow.

1:47 AM
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Friday, May 06, 2005  

Yet another reunion

Today I saw Luca, one of my best friends from high-school. He has no hair, but other than that he is pretty much the same person.
Back when we were in our teens we spent hours on the phone. I vividly remember one day when I was squatting on the floor in my bathroom, a mirror in my hand. He was in his house, reading from the Encyclopedia. We were trying to find my clitoris.

7:28 PM
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Thursday, May 05, 2005  

I slept through it

Seems two small bombss exploded a few blocks from here last night. I couldn't be bothered.

9:28 AM
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Wednesday, May 04, 2005  

Color coordinated lunch

4:00 PM
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Me, busy?

I seem to be in a going-out frenzy. I might be overcompensating for the disastrous two weeks in Uruguay. I hardly have time or stamina to blog. Since last Friday I've been to Turkuaz (dinner on Saturday, good food, cute waiter, appallingly stiff bellydancer, kinda boring evening), Sylvia's (lunch on Sunday, horribly crowded at the beginning but once most of the tourists were fed it seemed to get better, so-so food, extremely slow service, second round of mimosas never found our table, good singers), Chumley's (opening drinks on Sunday, great place, friendly people), Ty's (later on on Saturday, I could not find a decent link for this one, a bear gay tiny bar filled to capacity with bald/shaved big men with facial hair), dinner was at some pub in the Village, then along came Monday and an evening at home, and then yesterday it was Williamsburg and Sea (dinner yesterday, great decor, very noisy, good enough food but not filling enough for Fabian) and Galapagos (yesterday, drinks after dinner, great music, cute guy behind me at the bar). Tonight I'll be out again. All the while, my finances and my weight are going to hell. The price of happiness.

I have a few pictures to upload, but it will have to wait.

And now I should start fixing lunch for Pascale, who will be here in less then a couple of hours. Then I'll get to go to work. Today we will have a wine in honor of Claudia, a coworker who died last week. She was sick with a recurrence of cancer. It had started as breast cancer, which she survived, only to discover it had spread everywhere less than six years later. The whole affair was quite depressing. No family in town, her closest friend abroad. It was still amazing to watch the people she knew best at the office pulling together to take care of her until the very last minute.

Note to Nicolas, who did not know what a Moleskine was (several cool factor points were detracted because of surprising ignorance): yesterday, at Galapagos, this Asian girl was taking notes at the counter in a ... guess what?

10:39 AM
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