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

Wednesday, December 31, 2003

Got my space over at Lunarpages and transferred most of the photo albums there. The pictures from the Xmas party are there too.
As for the dirt on D.C., it will have to wait. I also have more pictures to upload (Xmas dinner, D.C., etc.) but it won't happen before the weekend. Right now I have my hands full and it ain't as bad as I thought it would be.

12:39 AM

Sunday, December 28, 2003

The water might well drown me.

We are off to D.C. tomorrow morning. My friend Lisa did not show up but called this evening to say she had the flu and was not coming to NY. Too bad she called so late or we would have left for Washington today. The Ikea shopping plan had been postponed to next weekend anyways as there are no rental cars available in Manhattan this weekend. I was so relieved ...
Tomorrow I'll see Pam and I will see Ghego again after way too many years. The guy is mute but he is comforting to me nonetheless. I guess it has to do with the fact that I have known him and liked him forever and that there's still a bond there after all these years. He's a little piece of my history.
In the meantime I keep busy researching stuff on the web. So far I've discovered two very interesting programs (Voodoo Pad and Gallery) and I am considering buying webspace at Lunarpages. Their price is great and they seem to provide good service. Maybe then I will finally revamp this mess of a site and give it a consistent look.

1:35 AM

Friday, December 26, 2003

Very quiet on the work front. Very uneasy on the home front.
So far it's been mostly boring, just shuffling from one meal to the next. Today I opened the dam. Let's see where the water will take us.

4:02 PM

Wednesday, December 24, 2003

Santa is coming to town!!!!!!!!

We are going to Cecilia's ...

5:31 PM

Tuesday, December 23, 2003

Got an e-mail from Michael last week. I wrote back asking for detailed news about his life and a naked picture (I haven't seen him in several years but he was extremely cute).
He replied stating that my wish is his command, so this if what I got for X-mas:

Now ... I don't remember him being exactly like THIS ... the effects of Pilates? Photoshop? Photo swapping?

10:38 AM

So now I am home. Just got here. I came straight to the computer and I am now eating mozzarella in front of my iMac. I've checked JP's flight status and it should be more or less on time. I am pondering whether to sleep or not. Work was crazy but what the hell, that's what I am payed to do and I would not have minded much if it wasn't for the lousy timing. Maybe I should take a bath. Maybe I should upload more pictures. Maybe I should really look into a new design for my site. Maybe I should write on my Moleskine diary. Ugh.

3:28 AM

Monday, December 22, 2003

Murderous rage has a way of turning into plain old sorrow. I am well into an all-nighter now. I totally hate the fact that Cecilia and family are gone too. There will be nobody home when I get there. Let's hope JP's flight will not be delayed and that he will be home early. I could really use a hug now.

11:45 PM

M.A. is leaving tomorrow. Major despair. Hubby is coming tomorrow. Major excitement. One was to cancel the other and I was to feel mildly numb today. But on top of an already emotionally complex day I am now stuck at work doing something totally unplanned and having no idea when I'll be done. Forget the lobster dinner and probably the farewell night out too. Now I am totally pissed, on my way to a blind rage. Beware.

8:47 PM

Sunday, December 21, 2003

I hope I am not coming down with something. Yesterday after lunch with M.A. downtown I stayed in for the evening. And this despite having been invited to Bob's party. Not only that. I offered to stay home with the kids but Silvio was not feeling well so Cecilia asked me to go out for a margarita and I said no. I said no. Unbelievable. I actually mixed her a homemade margarita and did not taste it. Something is definitely wrong.
Today I woke up early to pick up Melissa and froze my butt out in the cold while she slept oblivious to my phone calls and door rings. Finally her father emerged from the deepest sleep I've even heard of (it even beats mine) and I took her to a trendy brunch place a couple of blocks from her place, before going shopping for a little something here and there. I now got something for almost everybody on my (short) list. As for Melissa herself, she gave me a red shirt from Old Navy and I gave her a set up fruity lipglosses, but this is not the real present. The real present, which she is already aware of and of which I spoke to her mom about beforehand, is a membership at the YMCA so she can enroll in the teen programs and maybe do some karate again and swimming. I thought it was better than just buying her something. I would rather contribute to her not spending too much time in the park hanging out with friends and doing nothing or just watching movies. She used to do karate at school and loved it but the classes have been cancelled. Karate is a great sport and is always good to know how to kick some ass. You never know when it might come in handy.
So tomorrow I'll stop by at the Y and see about getting her in. I also have to ask for my free passes, which I never received, so I can give them to JP for him to use while he is here. He should be here on Tuesday morning.
The rest of the day I did nothing. Cecilia and family are out at IKEA again and my plan was to wrap the presents while they were away. Then I thought I'd like to show them to JP first, so I decided to leave the wrapping for later. I still have the lease to sign and a text to finish and all sort of things to do but I mostly watched TV (oh yeah, we are on high terror alert again), read a book and napped.
Now it's time to get up. I should be going out with M.A. for "a little beer" in a while.

5:00 PM

Saturday, December 20, 2003

Went out on Thursday night to bid farewell to Enrique. He is just the sweetest thing, not to mention one of the cutest too. He is leaving NY on Sunday and after the holidays will be working in Geneva, Switzerland and awaiting the birth of his baby girl. Given that his girlfriend is also a cutie, the baby will be adorable.
Anyways, M.A. and I started off at a Mexican joint on 42nd St. It was extremely crowded and loud and there was an open bar thing going on. Perfect. Dinner at Dallas BBQ where the portions are so humongous I couldn't even start working on mine and then over to Kanvas where I sort of split from the group and joined a very lively bunch of girls dancing by the window until it was time to go.
This evening after work I went gift shopping with Cecilia and, as luck will have have it, bumped into M.A. on our way back while I was carrying his present! Not easy to hide when you are carrying a box and gift wrapping paper! There goes the surprise, though I think I managed not to let him see what it was. Ended up going to another Mexican place and then to the Divine for a quick dinner. I was home by 9 PM, asleep not much later than that and of course now it's the middle of the night and I am wide awake!
This weekend I need to get presents for Cecilia's kids (I have a couple of ideas), for Melissa (I have absolutely no idea), and for a few other people. I also need to get my act together, pay some bills and complete my lease paperwork (I HATE paperwork).

The Xmas party photo album is way too big to upload to any of my web spaces so I'd leave it on my own computer and hope you can access it. If you can't, let me know (wouldn't it be nice if somebody anybody used the comments feature sometime?), I probably should adjust the firewall or the network settings.

Tomorrow will be a day of crazy calls, I can feel it coming. In addition to my weekly emotional suicide I will probably talk to a friend who has lost her mother OVER A MONTH ago and has not told a soul because she cannot handle it. J.P. found out today by chance, was completely shocked, called her and was asked not to tell me. Supposedly, she will tell me herself tomorrow, by e-mail. I think this is insane. Or maybe she is reacting the way you are supposed to and I handled my father's death way too naturally. Maybe because I sort of expected it, maybe because I am convinced he was ready to go or maybe just because I am a cold hearted bitch, but while I've certainly been merrier I did not come apart. Now and then and especially when I go back to Uruguay where older men look a lot like him I have these pangs of grief and I am hit by the realization that he is really gone. Not away, not living in another country but totally, completely gone from the face of the Earth. It is unsettling but I try to savor the pain, not dwell on it and move on. And by savoring the pain I do not mean to get all masochistic but just to experience whatever I am feeling. After all, there is a certain dearness to this pain, even a certain comfort. In any case, whatever qualities it has I probably should not be trying to explain them at 3 AM ...

3:10 AM

Thursday, December 18, 2003

Still recovering. From the party and from Monday evening and the lobster dinner cum karaoke night. Was off work on Tuesday but ended up doing nothing. Yesterday evening I stayed home again to watch the kids while Cecilia and Silvio went to a concert at Webster Hall. I am still tired and although I had every intention of making it at early night toight, it's past 1 in the morning and I am trying to ftp the pictures from the party to several sites, looking for one with enough space available.
Tomorrow we will go out with Enrique, who is leaving NY and moving to Geneva. I will probably join the group for a drink and then split when it's time for dinner.
Spoke to Liliana today. I might get my hair extensions in Montevideo in January.

1:27 AM

Monday, December 15, 2003

The party went great. More details and plenty of pictures as soon as I resuscitate. Let's just say that we were plenty busy all Saturday and that the party lasted until 5 AM. The food was delicious and I got several cool presents. Today Sunday consisted mostly of trying to stay awake. We all slept on and off through the day. I never got out of my pj's and was mildly unsconscious most of the day. I have both kids sleeping in my bed now but that will not deter me from sleeping yet again as soon as I am done surfing.

1:42 AM

Saturday, December 13, 2003

Christmas. A party. Should be joyful, hu? Not with a mother like mine. I called her, as per the Saturday tradition (comparable to an emotional suicide) and she somehow managed to be so utterly unpleasant that the conversation ended with me slamming the phone down in a rage, with my stomach all tied up in knots and fighting back tears so as to not end up looking all puffy for tonight. It's nothing short of amazing how this woman can wreck havoc in my life from a million miles away. And every time I think I am over her and her manipulative ways I find myself reacting like a 12 years old again. The worse part is that I hate the person I am around her. Damn her.

12:51 PM

Oh, boy. Haven't blogged for a few days now. And it's 2 in the morning and I want to sleep. So, just for the sake of keeping updates:

Tuesday evening: out with Pilar, Jordina and Francia. Very quiet. We definitely have extremely diverging tastes and our mutual affection belongs to the "opposites attracts" category. It is impossible for us to agree on what is a suitable place for a drink. First we went to the same pub Cecilia, M.A. and I went to on Monday. Pilar thought it was too loud. Believe me, it was barely alive. We left and tried Keats instead. Now, Keats is probably the most boring pub in the city. The only fun thing there was Jackie, the Irish bartender. As for the clientele, it was mostly older lame men straight out from their cubicles. Needless to say, I was back home early.

Wednesday night: Opal with M.A. Lots of people, lots of neat nice looking guys in suits, live music. Probably some sort of party or after-office-party. We had not been at the Opal for a while and it was good to know you can always count on it for a lively evening. The evening was also brightened by the fact that I had bought my NEW IBOOK in the afternoon. I HAVE A NEW BABY!!!!

Thursday: can't remember doing anything, which probably means I stayed home.

Friday, a.k.a. tonight: M.A. came over at 11 PM and we went straight to the Divine for tapas, till now. And now I'd like to relax and rest for a few hours. Tomorrow will be a very busy day. We have to decorate the house, move some furniture around, shop for groceries and stuff and cook. Guests for the Christmas party will be arriving around 8.30 PM.

2:04 AM

Tuesday, December 09, 2003

So yesterday was a particularly stressful day for Cecilia, who had to run from work to pick up Anastasia from school after a misunderstanding with her husband who thought school ended later. After work she needed some destressing and we went for a drink at a nearby pub. Being my kinda girl she had a couple of straight up scotches (so much for the latest health news). M.A. joined us after he was done working and then the two of us tried to get a long-awaited-for Monday special lobster dinner at a bar on Second Ave. Unfortunately there was no lobster left when we got there and we were deflected to the Divine for wine and tapas. I was home not long after 11 PM but I still had trouble waking up this morning.

There was a little end-of-the-year party at the office today. Pilar is still chatting up a storm in the hall and I am waiting for her to see what are the chanches of us going out tonight.

6:08 PM

Monday, December 08, 2003

This past weekend was the weekend we were supposed to go to Breckenridge, CO. This past weekend was the weekend we stayed in NY and made believe we were in Breckenridge, CO.
Thursday evening we ended up going out in different groups, to accomodate all tastes. It was Cecilia's first night out with us and she seemed to be really enjoying herself.
Friday both M.A. and I had taken the day off to pack, rest, get ready, etc. He called me in the morning, sick, with a fever, not sure he was going to be able to travel. Talk about an auspicious start! Obviously I would not have any of it and made it clear that unless he was dying I was ready to go drag him out of bed by his hair. Then the snow started really coming down. By the time he got home there was a major storm going on. Monse did go to work but was off before 3 PM . I tried calling a car but none were available. Regular cabs were impossible to find. We had to walk down to Central Station and get on a bus to Laguardia. The bus took forever both because it was stuck in traffic and because it kept stopping every few minutes to let people out once they were past their scheduled flight times or their flights were canceled. We called our airline and the airport and were repeatedly assured our flight was right on schedule, a fact we strongly doubted. We got to the airport at 5.20 PM for our 5.40 flight to Denver. Obviously the airport was closed and our flight had been redirected to Albany. The chances of us leaving that evening were very slim and even if we could have left it would have been too late to actually enjoy the weekend. After being assured we could use the airline tickets for a year and the hotel reservations until the end of the skiing season, we decided to get back to Manhattan. Not an easy task. We froze our butts for an hour waiting for a bus. We got in a bus. The bus broke down. We got into another bus and finally made it back. All the while M.A. was looking sicker and sicker and every time I looked at him I felt guilty.
In the end we were very lucky because our bus was the last to leave the airport. Lots of people were stranded there for the night. Anyways, I had a plan B. I had tracked down Johanny at a party and he was already sending his friend Melville with his car to pick us up. I still can't believe he would do that. Drive an hour in a major snowstorm to come get us at the airport. It's very comforting to know you got friends like that. Not to mention Cecilia, who waited for me with a delicious homemade dinner.

Satuday morning. By the time I got out of the shower M.A. was already at my place and pretty much alive, ready to go. Great, I got to wear my new snow outfit! We spent the whole day in Central Park, under heavy heavy snow. It was drop dead gorgeous. Arresting beauty. We never had a snowman competition but we did our share of playing in the snow. I am a sucker for the snow and a sucker for anything clearly infantile. Lunch at the Boathouse was spectacular and then we went to the ice skating rink. He wanted to ice skate, I had strong reservations but what the hell, ice skate we did. I must say I was impressed. I never let go of the rail and, when available, grabbed just about anybody who was willing to be grabbed and some who were not. Even so, I ended up with my ass on the ground an inordinate number of times. He, on the other hand, after his share of undignified falls, ended up skating in the middle on the rink. He even managed a few silly dance steps. I am consumed with envy.

Yesterday was another beautiful day, sunny and cold. We went downtown to return the skiing pants I bought last week, had a drink on Union Square and came back uptown for brunch/dinner at a Greek place. By the time I got home I was absolutely exhausted and achy. But boy did I enjoy the first snow in the city! I am ready to buy a sleigh!

It's Monday now. It's Anastasia's (Cecilia's eldest daughter) first day of school. I'll have to wake them up in a few minutes.

Today is THE day: I am getting my new iBook!

6:01 AM

Thursday, December 04, 2003

Guess I am back to a more normal day schedule. I woke up a few minutes ago, at 6 AM. Good. I was tired of waking up at 2 PM.
Cecilia and I almost went out for a drink and dinner yesterday but then decided against it. We were both beat and it's so cold out there. Instead we ordered some Chinese food through Nyctogo and stayed home with Silvio and the kids. But enough is enough and today we are definetely going out, once we negotiate where. At the moment we have two very different sides to the question. Some people like to cozy up a home and have quiet dinners or go out for dinner and the more relaxed kind of bars, I, on the other hand, prefer to skip dinner because I find that most people are good to tuck in bed as soon as they've eaten. I'd rather have finger food in a crowded place with loud music. And although I like to stay home sometimes, I still like the finger food and the loud music. The problem is I might have lost the battle and be the only one on the more dynamic side. If not I will certainly be once M.A. leaves.

Yesterday I had a little training session with the Security guys at the office. Very interesting. Made me want to learn more. And I think I need a CPR refreshment course.

6:15 AM

Tuesday, December 02, 2003

Gloomy day today at work. Got here to find out a security guard was found dead, shot in the head, an apparent suicide. I haven't seen a photo of the guy yet but I think I know who it is. I read he had two children. If it was a suicide it's a lousy thing to do to your children, and just a few days from Christmas. Pilar does not agree with this, she thinks when you're desperate you're desperate and you do not think about these things. I think maybe you are desperate in part because you do not think about these things. God, that came out pretty awful. I did not mean to point a finger at this poor guy. I have no idea what drove him to kill himself, assuming that he did, and whatever it was it's just a huge tragedy that should only deserve compassion and not my soap-box judgment.

Cecilia and company arrived early this morning. I am therefore functioning on less than 3 hours of sleep that combined with what might well be an early PMS (the sorry state of my skin and a certain low grade lower back pain are certainly pointing in that direction) has not done much to keep me perky and cheerful today. A little e-mail I got from a coworker this morning did not help either.

For those who think substance is more important than manners, I need to clarify that BOTH are important to me and that I think manners are usually pretty indicative of what sort of substance lies behind. I mean, eating with your mouth close is not an unnecessary frill, it's really about showing some respect for the people eating with you. I believe that, in general terms, there's always a good reason behind some etiquette rule.

In any case, the background 411 is as follows: about a month ago or so this coworker asked me to take over his work for a couple of nights. I did not hesitate, I did not ask questions and when he offered to pay me back by taking a couple of my night shifts I declined and assured him it was not necessary.

But then I realized I wasn't going to be here for Cecilia's first day at work so I thought of asking him to help me out. I sent this guy a very polite e-mail asking if he could possibly take my night shift tomorrow night, and explaining why. Well, this morning I got my answer. No hi no bye just a brief "Sorry! I have plans for Tuesday". Now, it's not that people have to be at my beck and call if I do something for them. I can perfectly understand him not being able to work tomorrow and I would have had no problem with that. I can take a no in a civilized manner, but the way he phrased it sounds more like an "Up yours" to me. What about some nice wording along the lines of "Sorry, I can't really trade places with you on Tuesday but I will be happy to do it any other time". I don't care if you never do it! I care about wasting acts of kindness on undeserving jerks with an attitude.

I still very much want to be with Cecilia tomorrow and this asshole is not going to prevent me from doing what I want. I'll just have an extremely long day at work tomorrow. It won't kill me. It's past 2 AM and I am still at work. I hope to sleep some.

Enough with shop talk.

2:03 AM

Monday, December 01, 2003

What could I be doing in the middle of the night? Well, trying different updos, of course. Right now I have a high ponytail with backcombed strands and sprayed on pink tips. A perfectly appropiate pastime for an insomniac.

So M.A. is back in town. Yes, he is sunburnt. Badly. And no, I don't really hope it hurts. He came to pick me up at around 1.30 PM today and after a quick walk through the Christmas fair on Union Square we went further downtown and had lunch at the Greenwich Brewing Co.. The football game was playing on a TV set hanging over my head so people were sort of staring my way, cheering and clapping. I could almost imagine myself being the object of all that hoopla. Must be very cool.

After lunch we walked back to Union Square and went shopping for winter gear at Paragon (Monse, M.A. and I are off to Breckenridge next weekend). True to my sad nature I bought a pair of ski pants I'll have to return tomorrow. Too small. Would somebody please put me out of my misery and just shoot me? Please?

Pilar joined us at the shop. She looked as bad as I felt yesterday. Seems the dinner party at Monse's ended at around 5 AM and nobody abstained from alcohol. We called Monse too but she was feeling even worse and had no plans of ever leaving the bed today.

After shopping we went for a drink at the Coffee Shop on Union Square. Eventually Pilar took a bus back home and M.A. and I walked uptown. It is a gorgeous night and almost all the shops have their Christmas decorations up. I love it!

Cecilia is on the plane at this very moment. Will be ringing my bell at around 8.00 AM. She will probably find me in a deep coma.

On a more personal and profound note: I finally got my hands on the Paris Hilton sex tape or better a short version of it but still long enough to get the gist of it. I wish I could call her a stupid slut but although I am convinced she is both, the insults will have to wait until another occasion (for which I am sure I will not have to wait long). I have not been above the videotaping game myself, back when there was something worth videotaping. Now I feel like I must turn off the lights in the whole neighborhood and feed reality-altering drugs to my partner. It's called aging gracefully.

1:54 AM