WebJournal - The blog will set you free

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

Friday, October 31, 2003

I totally lost my voice, which is a major tragedy for somebody who talks as much as I do. It better come back before I have something important to say.
I took the day off today. I am going to a new hair salon at noon. I can't stand my hair any longer, I live in a perpetual bad hair day. I would chop it all off if it was up to me but hubby wants it longer. He also wants it in a bob, the most boring haircut ever. M.A. is all for longer hair too and I've done everything to convince him I actually look better with short short hair. I figured I could use him as a sounding board and that if I managed to convince him I could use the same arguments to convince hubby. A waste of breath. There has been no way. This is proof that all men are one and the same. I showed him a magazine with haircuts, pointed out the ones I really like (short, spiky and messy) and got a replay of J.P. 's comments to the same pictures. Agh!
After the hairdresser I might be going downtown to try and fetch a Bart Simpson mask for M.A. tonight. I might also drop by the Apple store to have my iBook checked and maybe buy Panther. I also might not do any of the above and stay home and nurse my throat.
Yesterday M.A. and I had a beer at home before going to Virgil's to meet Pilar, Miguel, Monse and Nicolas. The purpose of the dinner was to give Pilar a little overdue birthday present. She was appropiately touched by our gesture and it was cute.
After dinner (or after practically fasting in my case, as there is not much I eat in places like that - their idea of a salad is iceberg lettuce with bacon and creamy bluee cheese dressing) we went to a gay dive a short walk away. Monse and M.A. beat me to the splitting game. I stayed a little longer but barely touched my wine. Too mellow of a place for me, though the music was very good, in an oldies kind of way. Gotta go now. I shall be back ... with decent hair.

10:32 AM

Thursday, October 30, 2003

I've been nursing a sore throat all day. I stayed home from work and only ventured out for half-and-hour for a manicure and a back rub in the afternoon. I should be doing better tomorrow. Should I not, at least I'll sport well groomed nails.

Yesterday after work M.A. and Pilar came over and we had dinner at a very pretentious Italian place in the neighbourhood. The food was OK and the coffee was excellent. Other than that it was hilarious.
The patrons were your run-of-the-mill Italian and American upper-middle-class. Not the very rich, more like the people who cater to the very rich. Lots of sharp dark suits and a few blonde babes. We walked in into a swarm of waiters. I must say that for a ritzy place I was not very impressed with the service. I've been taught that good service is when things get done without you actually seeing who is doing them. Good service is onubstrusive but these people were all over the place. The head waiter or whatever the little guy was came over to our table to recite a 20+ list of specials. Too bad he had the thickest Italian accent ever. Barely comprehensible. He did mention some ingredient that came at $2000 a half-a-pound but that was the only occasion he alluded to any price at all. We were supposed to make our choice from this endless catalog without any idea of the prices and only the faintest notion of the actual food involved. I know, I know, if you have to ask you can't afford it. We asked for a menu anyways. The whole menu was much shorter than the specials and not particularly arresting.
At some point during dinner the same little guy asked me if I was Italian and I answered with a curt "Yes" without even glancing at him. I can be as snobbish as I need to be.
The wine list started at 150 bucks. There was one wine for $38 crossed out, then maybe 3 or 5 bottles at 40 something to 50 something and then it would jump to 150 and go up and up.
The food was OK. Pilar's choice was particularly good but she kept putting her fork down and the waiters kept thinking she had finished and trying to get the dish away from her in a comic tug of war.
The restroom was a letdown. Not particularly clean, not particularly fancy.
A little while into our dinner Nicolas arrived, looking, in his own words, "like white trash" in a plaid shirt over a t-shirt. He even had a baseball cap, but he did take it off indoors.
M.A. wanted to taste Pilar's dish and she handed him the whole plate. I could physically feel the disapproving stare of the waiters. I never understood that holier than thou attitude from, for lack of a better word, servants.
I clearly remember one instance in Geneva, Switzerland, where I went to a Gucci store to buy several pairs of a certain shoe model on behalf of a very big shot. The girl at the store gave me one of those condescending looks and proceeded to tell me how much they costed eventhough I hadn't asked. It was with utmost pleasure that I interrupted her and informed her that money was inconsequential and that all I wanted to know was if she carried that model and whether she had 4 or 6 pairs or whatever it was I was supposed to buy. She did not and it was my turn to look at her with contempt. Moments like that are great for channeling whatever pent up stress one might be carrying around. It's either that or a good jog.

Tonight I spent quite a while talking to Janis (a dietician friend) on the phone and plotting a weight-loss strategy. The idea is if it ain't working, change it. And change it. And change it. Until it works.

12:22 AM

Tuesday, October 28, 2003

OK. So, after watching One bad trip on MTV and Larry King's interview of Terry Schiavo's husband, I saw the much anticipated Born Rich on HBO. Very interesting documentary. Frankly, except for Ivanka Trump that comes across as well balanced and sweet (I really truly liked her), the rest of the rich kids are a quite pathetic bunch. One could argue that the bright ones did not agree to be interviewed. I sure hope that's the explanation because I refuse to believe that having money and being braindead go necessarily together.
Luke whathisname, the one that sued the film's director, is a sorry little bastard. His in-your-face delivery is choppy and obnoxious and he projects himself as a major loser with a chip on his shoulder.
But the most despicable ones in my view were by far the Italian model and the Italian/German count/baron. The first one was simply hilarious with his remark about Clinton's suits. Here's this guy who has basically accomplished shit (and will most probably accomplish shit) in his life looking down at a guy who worked his way up to be President of the United States. He really cracked me up. I don't think he has a clue of how ridiculous he sounds with his pretentious comments about culture and life. And the curly haired, blank stare nobleman with the idiotic attitude looked like he was on drugs or mildly retarded.
Josiah Hornblowe, on the other hand, I liked. A sweet young man and an unnecessary tortured soul. The rest of them are mostly plain silly and useless. And I am not limiting myself to the kids. Jamie Johnson's father is pretty unimpressive himself.
I can't wait for the reviews tomorrow!

12:39 AM

Monday, October 27, 2003

While I wait for what I will call from now on my life lag to abate I will entertain myself answering the fridayfive questions from a few weeks back (there are no fridayfive this week).

1. What housekeeping chore(s) do you hate doing the most?
Ironing. I hate it. With a passion. Just the thought of having to get out the board and wait for the frigging thing to warm up. Ugh!

2. Are there any that you like or don't mind doing?
I don't mind cleaning the bathroom and I've been known to enjoy it. I like the way the place sparkles and smells clean.

3. Do you have a routine throughout the week or just clean as it's needed?
My routine is having a housekeeper come in once a week. I do clean the kitchen as needed, obviously, and I do clean the bathroom in between.

4. Do you have any odd cleaning/housekeeping quirks or rules?
For some reason I can't leave the house without making the bed. This is a relatively recent quirk. I used the be way more relaxed a few years ago.

5. What was the last thing you cleaned?
The kitchen counter, tonight.

2:28 AM

Just hung up with Pam on one of our middle of the night conversations. She might be getting the job after all and she might be moving in with me this week. Exciting.

Zero accomplishments today, except that I met Nicolas for a short workout at his place in the late afternoon. I am jet lagged once again. Who knows when and if I'll be sleeping tonight.

1:09 AM

Sunday, October 26, 2003

Slowly recovering here. Yesterday was a pretty full day. By the time I was getting up and was on the phone for my ritual Saturday-at-noon call to my mother, M.A. was calling from downstairs. It was a gorgeous day so we went to South Street Seaport, hung out there for a while, looked at every single gadget at Brookstone and then went for a delicious beer sampler at a brewery. We left at about 2.30 and I went to pick up Melissa and a friend of hers. They wanted to go to the movies to see either Scary Movie 3 or The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. We finally settled for Scary Movie 3, which I loved. The silliest movie ever but I was in stitches from beginning to end. It helped that I had seen or knew enough about all the flicks being spoofed. They loved it too. Melissa's friend seems more self-assured than her but she seems like a nice kid too. They are definitely teen-agers now, mainly into hair and boys. I dropped them home at about 6 and came back to my place in time to change for a night out. M.A. came a little later and started making margaritas while we waited for Nicolas. We then went to the same place we had been with Pilar on Wednesday to watch the Yankees game. Not that we get it at all. Well, Nicolas and I don't get it at all. M.A. seems to have some vague notions. I just look at the players. From the bar we went for dinner at the same Mexican place M.A. and I had been on Thursday night and then to good ol' Opal for some dancing. When we got there the place was almost empty but it quickly started filling up. Nicolas left earlier, though I don't recall exactly what time was it. We stayed on and danced and danced and danced some more. At a certain point an Asian guy attached himself to my backside and stayed there for a while. It felt like taking an aerobics class with a very demanding instructor. He would not let me go. He kept shouting things like "You go girl!" or "Gimme more energy" or inanities to that effect while he was going crazy behind me. Very tiring. It was time to leave the place. But we just couldn't call it a night so we tried the Turtle Bar Lounge and Grill where there seemed to be a lot of people. A couple of guys and one lady were in costume and a few people were beyond drunk. I was all danced out so I just sat down and watched. I think we were back home by 4 or so.
Today's Sunday, my do-nothing-day. Vivienne called and we caught up on each other's news on the phone for a while. We talked about our plans for Halloween (I have a party I want to attend, she will be going to a costume party at a friend of Ming's and we decided to maybe merge at a certain point in the evening) and her anniversary party coming up in a couple of weeks. It's a year already. Unbelievable!
I really want to get Panther, Apple's new OS, but I can't see myself going anywhere today.

3:55 PM

Saturday, October 25, 2003

I am on a roll. I've created a shortcut to create a note in a Tinderbox document from a highlighted URL on my browser. It needs some tweaking but it's basically working.
I've also created a shortcut in a floating palette to check my blog stats. But it's almost 3 A.M. now and I need to sleep if I want to go out tomorrow night.

2:50 AM

I am playing around with iKey. I just created a sequence that makes links for this blog. When I find an URL that I want to link to I first highlight it and copy it to the clipboard. I then type a very simple key combination and iKey writes the first part of the HTML code to create a link, incorporating the URL that's on the clipboard, then types the rest of the code and finally backtracks to position the mouse on the space between the brackets so that I can give a name to the link. It's working flawlessly.

Spoke to Melissa tonight but she is not sure we can meet this weekend either. She might go out with a friend of hers tomorrow. This girl had turned into a full-fledged teenager overnight! I might have to call the Big Sisters organization for a chat about how to handle the situation. I certainly do not want to impose myself on her and I know she cares and does want to see me. Problem is she is being pulled in all directions. I don't want to be another chore to her but I really want to keep an eye on her, not let her out on her own completely. So I told her I was going to call her tomorrow at noon and that she should tell me then whether she would like to see me or not because I need to plan my weekend too.

I can't wait for three upcoming new programs: MTV's Rich Girls, HBO's Born Rich and Fox's The Simple Life. They should keep me bitching for weeks. I already have a Paris Hilton overload.

Back to iKey and the wee hours.

1:43 AM

Friday, October 24, 2003

Wednesday I went out straight after work with Pilar and Nicolas. We had dinner at a nearby Blockhead and then stopped at a bar/restaurant I had never been to before (but will probably go again). A whole bunch of people was gathered around the bar, watching the game, screaming and hollering. Needless to say I dived straight into the crowd. Needless to say too, while I was waiting for our drinks at the bar Pilar found a little table as far away from the action as possible. Now, it's not that I don't want to have a conversation with my friends, it's that I truly enjoy having fellow human beings shouting around me and bumping into me. It's exciting, titillating. I like the energy in the air. I also like the occasional I smile at you, you smile back at me and the little chit chat with perfect strangers. I like strangers. Men, women, I don't care. I like talking to people I don't know. And to people I know. I like talking. Fortunately, I like listening too.
We left the bar around 1 A.M., I think, after having gossiped about virtually every poor soul that has ever crossed paths with us.

Yesterday I got home and fell asleep watching the news. How pathetic can I be? Good thing that M.A. rang me from downstairs on his way back from the gym and woke me up. Had he not done that I would probably have slept a couple more hours and then stayed up all night again. It's amazing how good I am at creating my own jet lag . Anyways ... being Thursday the bar scene was pretty animated. We started walking up 2nd avenue and jumped into the first tightly packed place we saw: a Mexican joint with pretty decent margaritas. Plenty of beautiful girls and plenty of hot guys in suits out on a happy hour. Enough to keep both of us entertained. Amazing how many good looking people are out there. After the margaritas we went for a shared tapa at the Divine's and as usual managed to keep a running conversation amid the crowd and the loud music. I was home a little after midnight, like a good girl.

Downloaded a few songs this morning. My favorite at this moment: My Bad by Rayvon.

2:43 PM

Wednesday, October 22, 2003

Finally got out yesterday! Pam was in town again for a job interview and in the evening we went downtown with M.A. to meet Jonathan for dinner at Moustache, a really nice tiny Middle Eastern place in the Village. After dinner we popped in at Chumley's to check it out. We loved it but we were in a margarita mood so we moved on to a Mexican place with the weakest cocktails ever. So weak I had to order what they call 4 shots of tequila to make my drink taste like something else than a strawberry smoothie.
As usual, an evening with Jonathan is very entertaining. He has an amazing mind and great curiosity, and knows so much about NY you can't but be fascinated.
On our way back we bumped into a shooting of a Sex and the City with Charlotte and her bald husband coming out of a Tasty D-Lite.
Could I ask for more?
We were home a little after midnight, which is great because I am now back to a more normal schedule. Actually, I should be leaving for work ...

Isn't this the freakiest divorce? Alien meets alcoholic, they get married, go on every national TV show to proclaim their embarrassing love and then this ... gotta go ...

9:10 AM

Tuesday, October 21, 2003

So much for a normal sleeping pattern. The plan was to get to bed in time to get a good night sleep and be up tomorrow early. Well. I got home from work before 6 PM, collapsed dead and completely dressed on my bed, with the TV on. Slept until JP called me about 9 PM. Since then I've spent quite a lot of time on the phone and the computer so now it' almost 2 PM and I am watching a The Newlyweds all-nighter. This girl is starting to get on my nerves. Good for her that she is so pretty or somebody would have shoot her by now. She can come out endearing some times but she is also the most boring person on Earth. The husband on the other hand ... I could put him to some use ...
While deepening my pop culture I am also surfing the web, and I have come across a new article on the whole Mother Theresa's sainthood process. Go, Cristopher, go!

Should I sleep or should I just wait it out until the gym opens?

Today we (as in M.A., Monse and I) booked our week-end in Colorado in early December. JP might join us too. Should be fun. I don't ski but they have snow mobiles and a jacuzzi. That should keep me happy.

1:45 AM

Sunday, October 19, 2003

11:56 PM

The Pope beatifies Mother Theresa? Ugh! I so strongly dislike her (yes I know, this is the second time I link to this URL and I will keep doing it as long as this senile Pope insists on turning her into a Saint)!

11:33 PM

Yesterday we had a little goodbye dinner party at home for Raul, who is leaving NYC next week. Francia, Pilar, Monse, Elena, Chema, Fabian, Johanny, Pascale, M.A. were all here (October 24th, NOTE: Nicolas too and I forgot to mention him. He's not pleased so here I am, making public amendments!). I am so sorry to see him going, sorry for me because I enjoy his company and sorry for him because nobody should ever have to leave this town.

The idea was to have a fews drink and some finger food and then go out. It never happened. I am clearly afflicted with the staying-at-home curse. Some people left early, some people stayed on, but by 4 AM everybody was gone. I enjoyed myselft greatly but still, this is the last time I have people over or that I go to somebody's house. It's just too risky and I won't chance another evening at home. Should people get in a hibernation mood I just might get back to my former routine of dance classes in the evening.

About the party ... M.A. made a couple of tortillas to supplement the cheese, the pate, the salmon and the works. We had some wine, some beer and we made mojitos. The second batch was better than the first and the third was better than the second. We had a couple of tiny tiny little bottles of absinth that we did not even finish. I am not sure whether we were breaking the law or not. Seems it's illegal to sell it in the US but not illegal to purchase it. It's very confusing. And totally not worthy.
I vaguely remembered that absinth is supposed to be drinked warmed up in a spoon or whatever, but because I could not recall the details I just chugged a couple of small shots down. No hallucinations to report, no special effects, no nothing except that I was ready to kill for a cigarette. I did actually take a drag from an exceptionally delicious tasting red Marlboro. I forgot to inhale though so it didn't really count. I did try to get another drag but M.A. wouldn't let me, which was pretty decent of him. The urge, as violent as it was, only lasted a few minutes and then everything went back to normal. It would have really really sucked to find myself smoking again after more than 12 years. Fortunately I did not feel the need to kill M.A. for that cigarette either so I am still a non smoker and he is still alive.

Today was Sunday, my regular a-day-thrown-outta-window day. I slept until 1 PM and then cleaned the house. The housekeeper is coming tomorrow but I could not stomach the idea of spending another night surrounded by a mess.
Melissa is grounded this weekend so I did not see her. I did manage to go to the office for a couple of hours to finish something and then Nicolas came over for a sec to pick up the low carb muffins in my freezer. Now I am debating whether to eat something or not. Plan is to get up early tomorrow and go to the gym before work. We shall see.

Oh, Haizam called me today from Madrid. He is doing fantastic, has a great new job that's perfect for him and he did his first freefall jump yesterday. He can't wait to do it again. I was so excited to hear from him and even more excited to hear that after a somewhat not perfect period he is doing so well now. He's such a sweetie.

Got a gazillion photos to upload and I haven't done the online store thing yet. It won't happen tonight.

9:13 PM

Friday, October 17, 2003

Where, of all places, did Pam have dinner last week? At Soho House THE most talked about private club in NYC since it appeared on Sex and the City. Not my kinda place but I'd sure love to take a peek!

7:01 PM

My Friday five:

1. Name five things in your refrigerator.

A humongous bottle of tequila, a can of Budweiser and some beer bottles, salad, a hundred different condiments, a chocolate flavored massage bar, spearmint for the mojitos, an almost empty box of alfajores I had bought for the office - the one I bought for M.A. is there too. I haven't eaten it yet but I haven't given it to him either.

2. Name five things in your freezer.

Lots of ice in case the need for a frozen margarita strikes, tons of frozen bread for a dinner party tomorrow, at least 3 boxes of low carb muffins and some open boxes of vegan burgers/sausages.

3. Name five things under your kitchen sink.

Plenty of house cleaning products, not sure about the names though. I know I have Oxy Clean and some sort of deodorant for the vacuum cleaner.

4. Name five things around your computer.

My NetGear router, my EyeTV gizmo, a bunch of Tony's CDs, my Sony noise cancelling headphone, my bluetooth USB adapter ... and a million other gadgets.

5. Name five things in your medicine cabinet.
No medicine cabinet here. I have aspirin somewhere. And whatever people leave behind after they stay with me.

6:56 PM

Added a guest map (on the column to the right). Please add your info (not necessarily our name if you don't want to). Yes, I know, it has annoying pop-ups but you can get rid of those with some anti-pop-up software. I promise to switch to the pro version without ads if the guest map fills up.

1:23 PM

Wednesday, October 15, 2003

I absolutely hate being stuck at the office waiting when I know I could be having so much fun anywhere else.
Absolutely hate it.

7:39 PM

I finally met Pam's friend Fumiko. She popped in after lunch for a quick hello before heading off to the Japan Society. I liked her. Very straighforward. As Pam put it, she did shatter all those cliches about Japanese women. Definetely not the shy kind.

This weekend I am opening my very own online store. You will be able to buy www.rosariofernandez.com t-shirts and thongs, as I am sure you are dying to do. I might even get into more sophisticated designs. Fashion week, here I come!

3:41 PM

Just got home. A bite of cheese, a bite of chocolate. I just poured myself one third of a glass of red wine and I will now proceed to crawl into bed with a book.
I hope to get decent rest as I have a very long list of to-dos to get done tomorrow before going to work.
The good news is that I will go back to regular hours on Monday.

4:18 AM

Tuesday, October 14, 2003

Smells are very powerful indeed.

Dial Soap. My very first time in California, just after JP's first by-pass surgery. We were there to consult with Dean Ornish but he was on a sabbatical so we took a nice vacation too. We stayed with Eduardo and Benji at their place in Laguna Beach. They had Dial liquid soap in the bathroom. To me, Dial Soap smells like a striking colored bathroom, bright red towels, a view on the Ocean. It smells like my first time in the US as an adult. It smells sunny and hopeful.

Ivory soap it's a week in NYC with my friend Liliana. We were staying in an small apartment on the same street, the same block I am living on now. It was constantly raining. The apartment was dark. We were in and out, shopping in the rain. I fell in love with the city. I watched NY1 in the morning, fascinated with the traffic report. The bathroom smelled of Ivory soap. After all these years I still open a bar of Ivory soap with eager anticipation and I never fail to get a whiff of it. It is amazing how easily I am catapulted back to my very first impression of NYC.

I just saw they altered the formula for Yves Saint Laurent's Rive Gauche parfum. How could they do this to me? Rive Gauche is Paris, high-school and my first boyfriend (well, actually my third, but my first serious one). Rive Gauche smells like long walks, cutting school, bars before classes and the occasional joint. It reminds me of a couple of parties at the house of Annie Girardot's daughther, Giulia Salvatori. At the time we shared the same gang, albeit only for a short while. Still, smelling Rive Gauche sends me straight back to her apartment at the Place des Vosges. The lights were dimmed, a drama queen of a friend was always weeping on a bed, my boyfriend was drunk and I was either talking or dancing. Some things never change.
L'Air du Temps is Paris too, albeit at a quieter phase.

Meeting JP will always smell of Paco Rabanne pour Homme to me. He used to be drenched in the stuff. I smell it and I see him, basically just a kid, with his blue sweater and his green bomber jacket. I also immediately remember his car, for the same reasons any couple without a house of their own remembers their car fondly. Paco Rabanne and the first time I saw a glimpse of his naked tummy, when he was sitting sprawled back on a nightclub sofa. I remember mentally following the line of hair that disappeared into his jeans. We were not doing "it" yet and I was in a constant state of arousal. Twenty something years later and it's still a vivid image etched in my mind.

Polo by Ralph Lauren is Don, long walks around Desenzano del Garda, long long talks into the night and wild parties. A sense of excitement and of new beginnings. Fresh, intense and brief.

Non-sequitur ...

Why do I ever bother going to half-ass hair salons?
The stylists are straight out of a Eastern European bordello. The manager is constantly eating. The lady who cuts my hair reeks of cigarettes and mints. The place is a mess and everybody is unfriendly. Not only that, but they even criticize my previous hundred bucks haircut from a decent salon.
So why do I do it? Because I only want a trim, I don't need an appointment and I am in and out in less than 25 minutes, that's why.

10:42 PM

Dial Soap smells like California.
Ivory Soap smells like New York.
No, I am not going bananas. This makes a lot of sense to me but I will explain later.

2:15 PM

No margaritas for us today. It's too late or rather too early.
Left the office at almost 3 AM. Went shopping with Pam at Duane's Reade (what else can one do at this ungodly hour?) and now I am finally home, exhausted but not necessarily sleepy.

4:21 AM

Monday, October 13, 2003

My Friday 5, although it's already Monday:

1. Do you watch sports? If so, which ones?

Not really. When I do I tend to watch fitness competitions, ballroom dancing, ice-skating, even cheerleading championships. I also watch the Olympics, for the kicks.

2. What/who are your favorite sports teams and/or favorite athletes?

Whoever is the hottest. In pre-ancient history it was Mark Spitz. Then Andre Agassi . Then Michael Jordan. Now it's probably Derek Jeter. But in all honesty I've never been crazy about professional athletes. I like regular guys who look like athletes and regular guys who are physically active, not professional players obsessed with sports. I don't even like regular guys obsessed with sports. I like a tight ass with a cute face and a perfectly functioning mind, not to mention a giving soul, a sunny disposition, a light-hearted sense of humor and boundless energy. But I digress ...

3. Are there any sports you hate?

Soccer really bores me, but Beckman is hot. And I don't understand the whole golf thing.

4. Have you ever been to a sports event?

Yup. The Roland Garros in Paris back when I lusted after Adriano Panatta (I really sound like an oversexed teenager but I can't help it, this is my true nature). I also went to a Yankees game a couple of years ago ... because a guy I had lusted after years ago invited me.

5. Do/did you play any sports (in school or other)? How long did you play?

I swam a lot when I was 10 or 11 years old and I loved it. In high school I hated anything vaguely athletic. I wanted to take ballet classes but my mom was not very keen on the idea, as far as I can remember, so I did nothing. I have made up for it plenty since then.

10:14 PM

Pam just called me. She feels like having a margarita. I sent her out to get ice so I can mix some later, when I get home.
I am now calling my little sister's mom to see what happened since Saturday (more later).

9:19 PM

So much to blog, so little time. I will have to limit myself to the latest news for now.
Saturday was the day everybody went back home (except for Pam, who arrived).
Jose went first, then Jimena and Chocho and Elen. The last three (JP, Miguel Angel and Dieguito) were driven to the airport by Raul in the late afternoon. Their flight was scheduled for 10.00 or 10.30 PM. At 11.30 PM I get a phone call from the airport. The flight was cancelled or, more accurately, delayed until 8 AM on Sunday. They were all coming back to the apartment to spend the night. Pam and I waited and waited and waited. They got here at past 3 AM with awful stories of aggravation from American Airlines employees. Somehow this does not surprise me. Passengers were not given a voucher for a hotel stay so most people had to spend the night at the airport. They did receive a voucher for a ride back into the city but had to wait over two hours for the vans to show up. Also, American Airlines called the cops on the angry passengers, in a wonderful display of custom care. Needless to say, we will send a somewhat peeved letter of complaint.
So they arrive home, sleep about 3 hours, go back to the airport, finally board the plane, fly a few hours, then there�s smoke in the cabin and have to have an emergency landing in Porto Rico (and go through all the emergency drill before, of course). So much for avoiding stress after a heart procedure.
By the way, it's October 12, one of our anniversaries. It's either 25 or 26 years since we first met. On October 15 it's 25 or 26 years since we started dating and later on in October (I never remember the date) it's 15 or 16 years since we married. It was also three years since my father died.
Saturday night I decided to stay home. Monse was having a little dinner party but I was really not in the mood. The combination of things this past week plus a very intense PMS and the thought of having to negociate anything, even something as simple as "Where should we go now?" was beyond me. I wanted to chill at home and eat in front of the TV and that's exactly what I did, with Pam. A huge salad, bread, cheese, babaganoush and red wine. Perfect happiness.
M.A. called sometime early on Sunday afternoon and we popped in at the Opal Bar for a beer before going downtown to the Greenwich Brewing Co., a place he had been to but I had yet to discover. I tried a pumpkin brew, which I liked, and a berry brew, which I loved. Monse and a friend of hers visiting from Spain joined us and later on Pam, R. (a friend of hers I know from D.C.) and K., her friend, an investigator from the Department of Justice. Yikes! Hide the drugs!
We had something to drink, something to eat and then slowly started to walk uptown, with a stop at Whole Foods for some grocery shopping. It came in very handy because I've been in a mojito craving phase for a while now and we found limes and spearmint so we can prepare them at home. Then M.A. split and Pam, R. and I went to this guy's apartment in Chelsea. The place is very nice but the best thing by far is the spectacular private terrace with a North view. Part of the terrace has been converted into a dining room, enclosed in glass walls. There are plants all over the place and beautiful white furniture. Absolutely lovely.
The guy's dean of a well-known University and he is very well respected. Too bad it was instant dislike on my part. Something very snobby and vulgar about him put me off immediately. Pam was teling me that had I talked about my background he would probably have been interested. I am sure he would have and that's exactly why I did not bother. I've been around people like that too long. I particularly disliked the demeaning, sarcastic way he treated K., the investigator. OK, the guy might not have been brilliant - he was no fool either, probably just a guy who has not had a lot of exposure - but I despise people who use their supposedly intellectual superiority to make fun of others. People were coming and going, staying for a drink or to grab a bite. I love that. I've always tried to make my home an open house too. Some of the people were very interesting, most of them Lebanese. I spent a lot of time talking to an extremely nice guy built like a bodybuilder, very outgoing, very articulate and very sweet - an extremely attractive combination.
Now it's Monday, I am still very premenstrual, I look like a balloon and I feel like eating nothing but chocolate and ice-cream, but it's a gorgeous day and life ain't half bad and I should really just shut up and stop bitching.

2:22 PM

Thursday, October 09, 2003

11:08 AM

While reading a random blog today I came across what I thought was a poem. I really liked it and did a little reasearch on the Net to find out who the author was. Well, it's not really a poem, it's a song by somebody I had never heard of before. Her name is Natalie Merchant. I've just downloaded three of her songs: Kind and Generous, My Skin (these are the lyrics that were published on the blog) and Break Your Heart. I love her lyrics and I love her voice, I am not so sure about the music itself, though I really like Break Your Heart's.
Following my eclectic tastes, I also downloaded Hey ya! by OutKast. Saw the videoclip on MTV a couple of days ago and I loved it. Lastly, I bought Stars from Les Miserables.

3:52 AM

Excellent news. Everything went great. Absolutely fantastic. Much better than expected. The doctors were able to clean JP's arteries (with a drill!) and place three stents through a cath. We were hoping for maybe two, if any. Three is beyond our expectations. After one night in the CCU he is now back home, ready to jump back into what he considers a normal life (i.e. one of the first things out of his mouth was a request for a cell phone to call his secretary and a request for me to find out the leasing price for a plane because he wants to get a pilot's licence). The whole experience at Mount Sinai was impeccable. The place is well run. Doctors and nurses are kind and friendly, not to mention that they wear very cool mismatched colorful outfits, some of them with cartoons prints. I thought they were cheerful and unassuming. Loved them. I also liked the decoration. In the holding room for heart cath patients the curtains have a heart pattern. Too bad I did not check the curtains at Urology!
So that's that. What a relief!

It's getting close to 4 AM now. I was back from work at 2 AM. Everybody was sleeping.
I am absolutely not sleepy and I can't turn on the light without waking up JP. I also have a bad cold and I am sneezing my way through the night. I'll go surf the Net a bit ...

3:31 AM

Tuesday, October 07, 2003

This is not good. I am done with my work, have been waiting for hours and might have to wait much longer still before I get to go home. Not to point an accusing finger, but we were assigned a typist that came with raving reviews but that I find totally incompetent. Maybe it's just me. It's probably just me, given that everybody else likes her work. But I type all my texts so I can't really figure out what the heck she's been doing that takes her so long. Also, she has one of those tentative kind of personalities that can drive me up a wall. It looks like I will be stuck here well after 2 AM. I am having all sorts of murderous thoughts and I am trying very very hard to stay calm. I should work on some pattern interrupts before I turn into Linda Blair in the Exorcist.

I'll probably have to forgo sleep tonight. I need to be up and going at 5.30 AM. Maybe it's a blessing in disguise. Maybe I'll be so tired I'll fall asleep while waiting for him to be done. You never know.

1:01 AM

Monday, October 06, 2003

So what do my drinks make me? I usually start with red wine and I am very partial to margaritas and martinis. Am I a take-charge chick, a high-maintenance honey, a boring babe, a clueless cutie or every guy's girl-next-door dream? I need to know.

10:23 AM

From the NYTimes Magazine: 'I am told that the average age of the Metropolitan Opera subscriber is 72 o 73,' said Reynold Levy, the president of Lincoln Center. 'There are people who choose to live near Lincoln Center. It's a semiretirement community'.
So it was not just my impression. I suspected only flamboyant queens, people in their seventies and my 70+plus+minded 50-years-old colleagues frequented the place. The article is pretty interesting, with some dumb patronizing remarks from Wynton Marsalis, that pretentious little shit (yes, I am all light and love today).
Now I need to know the demographics for the Lincoln Plaza Cinemas.

J.P. is at the doctor's right now. I am waiting for a steady stream of relatives to come take a shower at home.

9:34 AM

OK, why wait? Lets blog ...

By the time I was done at work on Friday night I had to deal with two major desertions: M.A. was tired and my niece was sleeping. There goes a Friday night. And I had not been out for a whole week. I was getting claustrophobic.

On Saturday my mother-in-law (Chocho) and sister-in-law (Elen) came over for lunch. M.A. called while I was food shopping with Jimena so we did have a short stop at a neighborhood pub before I got home to feed the family. After lunch Elen and Chocho left and Jimena and I snuggled in my bed to watch TV and doze off while waiting for Jose to arrive. He did, eventually, hours after he was supposed to.

In the evening Jose, Jimena and I met M.A. at the Divine Bar for drinks and tapas before going downtown to the Asylum and the Red Lyon where we were joined by Pilar, Paulino, Miguel, Monse and her friend and Nicolas (it is starting to feel like I live in Spain, not NYC).

The Red Lyon was OK, though I find the place too white for me. White music, white patrons. After a while good ol' rock gets on my nerves and instead of white girls shaking their heads I yearn for big brothers gyrating their hips.

Not that the paleness surrounding me kept me from staying until the very end, until the bouncers turned on the lights and started getting on our case for us to finish our drinks and get out of there fast. It really bugs me to be told to leave a place. If I am allowed to buy a drink I should be able to consume it at my pace without being forced to swallow it all down in one gulp. But because I don't see the point of getting into a fight with an obnoxious bouncer all I really wanted was to forget about my vodka and orange and leave. To me, the whole point of going out is to have fun and relax - aggravation is not on my list of favorite things for a Saturday night.

By then it was just me, M.A., Monse and her friend. I have no idea how much time we spent outside the bar debating whether to go somewhere else or, more like it, how much time these poor people had to spend listening to me blabbering about how much I wanted to go somewhere else. Needless to say, as soon as I got into a cab I realized the obvious: I was way too tired and probably too wasted to do anything but go home.

I was so tired that I never heard J.P, Miguel Angel (another Miguel Angel, this one is J.P.'s cousin - it's very unnerving when people you know share the same name, it gets confusing - for instance, I've lost track of how many Javiers I know at the moment) and his son Dieguito. Seems they arrived around 7.30 AM. Seems J.P. came into the room three times to try to wake me up. Seems I sat up on the bed and had a conversation with him. I can't remember a thing and from what he told me I told him it's pretty clear I was asleep and hallucinating. So this saint I married (he was a saint today but this does not mean he enjoys sainthood statuts on a permanent basis nor that he will be considered a saint a few hours from now), having just spent 11 hours on a plane plus hours going to and from airports, took it upon himself to round up everybody (including Jimena and Jose) and get them all out of the house so as to not inconvenience my sleep.
By the time they got back it was past 2 PM and I had just emerged from the shower. So now we are all on different time zones, they all scatter to have a little siesta, I am left wide awake munching on cheese and salad.
In the evening we all reconnect with Elen and Chocho and have dinner at Planet Hollywood which is a place it has never crossed my mind to have dinner at. The food is seriously atrocious. I could not bring myself to order anything on the menu. I ended up having a bruschetta (and even then I did not eat the sauce and I did not eat the whole thing) and a side order of very soggy coleslaw.

Short stop at Virgin's on Broadway (I don't think J.P. has ever come to NYC without stopping at least once at the DVD section of Virgin's) and we get back home. Now everybody is sleeping and have been sleeping for hours. I am so awake I am starting to think they laced my soda with cocaine.

J.P.'s seeing his doctor tomorrow. I am getting uneasy now. Well meaning friends are sending me supportive e-mails that only manage to trigger apprehension. It'd better be Wednesday fast.

2:39 AM

Now that I had decided to start doing the Friday 5 look what questions are up this week!

1. What vehicle do you drive?

2. How long have you had it?

3. What is the coolest feature on your vehicle?

4. What is the most annoying thing about your vehicle?

5. If money were no object, what vehicle would you be driving right now?

So, to make it easy: I don't drive. I can't drive. I have no interest in cars whatsover. If money, the lack of a driver's licence and living in Manhattan were no problem I would be driving 2 cars: a Smart cabrio (I would really like a yellow one but they don't come in yellow, so I would settle for the green one) and a Porsche, though I have no idea which is the model I like.

As for my week-end report, it will have to wait until tomorrow. It's been busy, that's all I can say.

1:11 AM

Friday, October 03, 2003

What the hell!!! Today that I am just DYING to go out I am stuck at the office WAITING. I am not even working. I've done all I could do and more. I am f*ing WAITING, THE thing I HATE most in life. And I won't even mention what kind of headache I have by now ...

9:07 PM

Seriously gorgeous weather today. Elliptical for 30 minutes, treadmill for about 10. Too bad I still have this fucking headache.

11:48 AM

I was done yesterday by 10.30 PM. A world record. It's getting to be race-like. Grab those bits and pieces, process them as fast as you can, run to the typing pool to unload them, wait a little while, get the hard copy, edit it, exult! I am indeed enjoying it.
Well, today's D-day. The first batch of in-laws are arriving at 1.30 PM at Newark. Then there's customs and immigration and the cab ride to the city. I am not expecting them earlier than 3 or 3.30 PM.
My housekeeper should be here any moment now and as soon as she walks in I am walking out and getting to the gym.

I am so preoccupied with other matters I completely forgot to pay the rent!

This new Tarzan guy is so lame (though very well equipped, I must admit)! He's being interviewed on the Morning News and he sounds like he's on something.

8:28 AM

Thursday, October 02, 2003

I am giving up. This is my third straight day of tension headache. I am taking an aspirin at this very moment and I hope to have time to pop into the nails place to get a quick back rub before going to work. It better get better before my mood sharply deteriorates and there's hell to pay.
My sister-in-law and mother-in-law are arriving tomorrow from Madrid and they still have no hotel reservation. This is midtown NYC right in the middle of the UN General Assembly. Hotel rooms are not easy to come by.
My niece is coming to town tomorrow too, and staying with me until Sunday. Jose, her boyfriend, is coming on Saturday. They will both move to the Y on Sunday.
And on Sunday JP is coming, with his cousin and his cousin's child. They are all staying with me.
I don't care what else happens but tomorrow night, once I am done at work, I am marching straight to the nearest bar to unwind.
Day before yesterday I walked home from work at 12.30 AM, stopped at a deli, bought myself a balanced meal consisting of an ice-cream and a beer and came home. I never drank the beer. There is something profoundly sad about a middle-aged woman drinking beer at home alone. All that's missing is cats and then I might as well shoot myself.
In a bizarre way I must admit I am enjoying doing the journal at work. It sure kills my social life and that I hate but on the other hand it keeps me so busy I hardly have time to think about anything else which, given the circumstances, it's a blessing. And the work itself is kinda cool. For a geek like me, that is.

Yeah! Got a hotel room!

2:54 PM

Wednesday, October 01, 2003

Just created my very own Wiki. Now it's all about not writing/talking to myself. The comments feature was not too popular, but I am confident the wiki will. All you need to do is go to the very first page (that's where the link will take you) and click on "Edit" in the menu on the left. Write whatever you want (don't worry about format tags - I'll take care of that if necessary), click on "Save" and that's it. You don't need to sign it, you don't need to write in English. Anybody can write, anybody can delete. It's free speech in a free world.

1:07 PM

Fixed the link to my IQ report.

11:21 AM