Knitting on Deck

Yellow scarf finished !

2011-09-19T16:02:00.006-05:00

This weekend the parental unit was in town, and i took the chance to finish the scarf i was working on and giving it to my parents as a present. It was a very simple pattern but it was finished and after blocking it was 64 inches long. I used 4 skeins of yarn and have one left for a future project.

This was the basic pattern I used:

Multiples of 10

Row 1: p4,k1,p4,k4

Row 2: p3,k2,p2,k2

Row 3: p2,k2,p1,k1,p2,k2

Row 4: p1,k2,p2,k2,p2,k1

Row 5: k2,p3,k3,p2

Row 6: k1,p4,k4, p1

I casted 40 stitches, and used needles number 9.

Here are some pics:

Book Review - The Chosen, Chaim Potok

2011-08-30T14:44:00.008-05:00

This last month's book club selection was "The Chosen" by Chaim Potok, a book about Hasidic Jews in NYC during the early 1940's. It is one of those High School books that is given the students in the US, I had never heard of it before it was picked so I had no prior knowledge of the story or it's contents. The story starts at a baseball game, where two boys meet and the story follows them from their mid teens until they graduate from college. Our protagonists are Reuven Malther and Danny Saunders, they are both eldest children, they are both Jews, they are neighbors and they have very particular relationships with their fathers. Danny's father, Rev Saunders is a Hasidic rabbi that has inherited his position from his father and has led his flock from Russia to the United States. Danny's father is an intellectual who teaches and writes, he is an orthodox Jew and the story never really goes very deeply into why he came to the U.S. or when. Since each family is of a different type of Jewish faith, their lives do not intersect even if they are neighbors until Danny and Reuven meet at a baseball game. It is hard to do a summary of the plot without giving the story away, but here are some if the great insights this book provides:

Explains how the Talmud is studied
Explains where and why the Hasidic movement was born
Illuminates the different Jewish positions and feelings regarding the founding of the State of Israel

I would definitely recommend the book it is an easy read, and if you do not know about any of the subjects mentioned above, then you get to know a little more so it is definitely something interesting one can use years later at dinner conversations and intellectual parties, but I do have to warn you that the book is book of ideas. What do I mean you ask ? Well the book uses its main 4 characters to explore different positions, the very orthodox, very traditional Hasidic point view, a more modern orthodox point of view, and through the two boys, they author covers the Americanization of the children of this very tight communities.

Happy reading !

The Return of the Knitter

2011-08-26T06:21:00.009-05:00

Well, hello !! Any one there ??? Yes it is me, I am back kind-a-sorta. After 2 years of traveling to California and now 6 months of working from home, I am going a little crazy. Yes the kind of crazy that happens when you wake up at 6:15 for a meeting at 6:30 and then you stay all day at home working remotely and talking to people over the phone , but lacking total human contact for hours on end. So in this 2.5 years i have read a lot of books - thank you air travel for allowing me to read a book a week - but I stopped doing anything crafty, like at all. About two months ago I started knitting again, and I feel like i want to share the results with you.

I was working on this two sided cable scarf, but I was making a lot of mistakes and after some frustrating time I ripped it out and started a new with a simpler pattern, this is all a result of two very good friends who have started a knitting circle with yours truly and that was the kick in the pants I needed to get back on to the fiber arts, and I have made tons of progress.

Here is a look:

This is more detailed look:

The scarf is getting there, I need to do another feet or so, for it to be long enough for me to like and feel comfortable giving as a present. Who will it be presented to you ask, well my mother of course, since she has not received any scarfs as of yet. Next on my list, my mother in law !

2010 New Year's Resolution

2010-01-06T18:00:00.002-05:00

Hello, remember me? Yes this used to be a blog, but for the last year a bicoastal commute and a severe case of ADD has prevented me from writing anything on it. But this year things are going to change, first of all I want to announce a new endeavor I am embarking with my dear friend Knack also known as the Crafty one:

http://the-crafty-ones.blogspot.com/

Basically we are going to visit little and well known places in DC and give our reviews and recommendations, lets just say we think everyone is dying to know what we think about such places as the National Gallery of Art, the Octagon Museum, and many, many more. The main impetus behind this blog is to make sure we are enjoy the city we live in. We have both lived in the area for years and we have barely scratched the surface of the places and things that can be done in the DC area.

Also wanted to share with you my resolutions for 2010, and this year again I will only focus on 4 or 5 things. After many years of writing 12 resolutions every year and never really getting past 3 or 4, I have made an internal change and for the last 2 years I have mostly focused on a couple of things, and last year was a weird year in terms of goals. Weird because I feel I accomplished a lot, but still in terms of traditional goals, lots of things fell by the way side.

So, this year I have the following 4 goals:

Exercise at least 3 times a week (with the travel 3 in average seems like a good goal for when I am in California). This goal should really be loose 20 pounds, but not sure this is going to happen and I do not to set up myself for failure.
Read 2 books every month, one will be the book club book and the other one can be a trashy fiction book of my choosing. In order to keep myself honest, I will use this blog or Knick and Knack to post reviews.
Save some money, with the move and all the purchases for the new apartment savings have diminished, but I think that this year, I will be able to put some money away, and no I will not post any of the progress I make to this goal here.
Consistency,by that I mean keeping up with Knick and Knack, no slacking and no stopping mid way through the year.
Lastly a very specific goal, I need to knit 2 scarves and a baby sweater this year.

Well there you go, that is all I have for this year. I am hoping I can do it all. I am kind of sorta cheating since I already read 2 books in the last 2 weeks (one of them the January book club book) and the Crafty one and myself are planning on taking a knitting class later this spring.

First Impressions

2009-02-04T08:54:00.001-05:00

People drive fast ! really fast
The city is huge, I drove and drove and drove
The hills are amazing, as is the vegetation
Restaurants close really early, I had to have MikeyD’s for dinner the first night
Have I mentioned how fast people drive ?
The hotel in Camarillo is nice, but not as nice as the newer hotel in Thousand Oaks.
Dulles Airport is a zoo
LAX is an even bigger zoo, after Charlotte, I was not sure what was I thinking, but I felt like an ant.
Weather is amazing, just a little chilly.
Does everyone have an iPhone ? I never got the memo, but I am feeling I should have.
Yes I am the lone gay person in the team, I think I will be alright.
Need to get with the swimming program, or the gym program or something, and please take the cinnamon rolls away before I eat another one.
I am tired though, very tired, I think I slept like 2 hours naps every day last weekend, and think I could sleep all day today and still not be rested.

California here I come ...

2009-02-01T11:23:00.004-05:00

Darling readers, I have been gone, I know. The last project kinda sorta swallowed me whole, I had no breathing time, I stopped swimming, blogging, knitting (partially, there is some progress to talk about) and except for eating, working and struggling, I feel like little else has been going on in my life. Of course that is all hyperbole, I manage to go home for the holidays, to have a great New Years with the husband, and to be content mostly surviving from weekend to weekend. The project came to an end and here I am getting ready to go on the road again, without even one week at home, and this time its not even the East Coast, no, this time I am going to California.

Yes you read that correctly, I will be going back and forth between the coasts, every week. Yay for airline miles and hotel points, not so much for quality of life. I am lucky, the Argentine, is very supportive and he promises to come visit and be patient with me. I adore him for that, so I am trying not to complain too much, and chin up, and keep going. So today - Sunday, I am leaving DC at 5:30 and flying cross country (always wanted to say that) and will arrive in LA at 8:15 or so, should be interesting. I will be in Ventura County, 1 hr north of the city.

From a professional stand point it is a great opportunity, and I think it will even be fun, and the people I am working with will be great and all that, but at the same time i am terrorized and nervous. I am not sure how good/bad the flight will be, and I am not sure how my team over there will be, and how traffic will be and all those things that always have kept me awake will be, but in other hand it is a great opportunity and I get to not skip a beat and will be billable (the magic word in consulting) from one week to another.

All these lamentations need to be toned down, because a) its not the end of world and b) its California - fabulous weather, a high of low 70's and low of mid 50's. Really who am I to complain when there is snow in the card for DC this week. Still that means, fit, good looking people, which means, I need to go on a diet and start exercising pronto! I already found a swim team, lets hope I can make morning practices.

Wish me luck, and I will try to keep y'all posted

Déjà vu

2008-10-20T11:04:00.000-05:00

Hello dear readers, I know, I know I have not posted in months, but here I am again, not just posting again but back in North Carolina, at he feet of the Blue Ridge mountains. As a traveling consultant one gets used to coming and going, and the constant change of places and people, but one of the weirdest things one encounters is going back. Once you have finished a project, it is rare to go back, well this time I am the one going back, and let me tell you it feels weird.

Today I woke up at 3:30 am, could not sleep, and had to get ready for a taxi that was going to pick me up at 4:30 to take me to National Airport to catch a 5:45 flight. I know I exaggerated with the timing, next week I can try and leave later, but I wanted to make sure everything went well. It did, the flight left almost on time, the car was ready even if I had the car at the end of the lot – one of the problems of switching companies and not having yet the status to just get to the car lot and drive away – and then the drive was fine. There are 90 miles from Charlotte to Wilkes, and I did them in 1 hr and 20 minutes. Not bad. My surprise was when I got to the office and realized nothing has changed, I am sitting in the cube next to the one I was occupying before, and the people in the team are all the same, the people we share the offices with are all the same, the town seems all the same. Quiet the déjà vu.

Anyhow this is day one, we shall see how things go, but I have a feeling I have read the script before.

Socks Part Deux

2008-07-22T06:36:00.004-05:00

Last week I started my second sock knitting class, I know, I know, you can all laugh. The Crafty one and I have decided to make socks our crusade, we think we have dominated the scarf - I am still working on one btw - but we think that socks are easier and faster to make. So far she has finished one pair, I have finished none, and we are on our second class mind you. But the theory is there to back us up, they are smaller projects and they are more interesting than a scarf, but the problem is finding the right teacher. Last time around we went to one store (said store will remain nameless, for our knitting future sake) and we just did not like the teacher, she was just one of those teachers that just can not explain, she rushes through things and we spent 3 days struggling. The solution was simple, find another place, and we did, but it took time before we both had time to do it, and so it is not until the summer that we did it. I started the class last week, and I loved the store, and the best part is the teacher is a teacher, in real life and in her knitting life, so I I think we have a winner, and just because of that I am going to regale you with the following pictures:

Yarn

Cuff in Process

Finished Cuff:

The store gave me this cheapo yarn, to experiment and try it out. This is the third time I did the cuff, and I should have ribbed it, but I just wanted it done yesterday, I needed to mop and vacum. More updates later this week !!

There and back again !

2008-07-21T09:44:00.002-05:00

Three miles, is a long distance to swim when you are out of shape like I am, but I did it, somehow, do not ask how, out of spite, pride and determination I managed not to give up and swim them. It took me 1 hr and 40 minutes, but I finished, and I took no shortcuts. I am very proud of myself, and more proud of everyone who donated money, because this year we raised 26,000 dollars, out of which 675 was us, yes dahling readers I was among the top 12 fundraisers this time, and I even got this lovely plate, that I am not sure what to do with, but keep it for sure.

Swim for life was the main event of the weekend. The weather was very nice, hot and humid, but with a slight breeze and the water in the river was not very bad, no jelly fish, or see needles, the current was so-so, but still a gorgeous day to swim out side. With the event over, I drove back to DC and headed home where I napped for 2 hours, I was exhausted, and then the girls from Virginia came over and we had a lovely feast cooked by the Argentine, I will not go into details, but both experiments were amazingly succesfull, I am sure he will post about them later.

Sunday was book club, and we had a good discussion, I need to sit down and update the book reviews, I have read 3 or 4 books in the last two months and want to update y'all in what we are reading.

Back from Vegas

2008-07-17T08:40:00.004-05:00

First things first, thanks to everyone who has donated. It meas a lot to me, and it will go to a really good cause. So far we have raised $600 dollars it is amazing. If you have not given, click on the link and go give:

http://www.firstgiving.com/pablofernandez

Last weekend I went to Vegas, the Argentine had a conference there Sunday through Tuesday and since he was in California the week before, we decided the best thing would be for him to fly to Vegas and for me to join him for the weekend. Dr. Wives Club, here I come ! I had never been to Vegas, so I was very excited. I had seen the documentaries and the movies, but I was not prepared for the real thing. The city is like a huge, I mean huge Cheesecake Factory, everything looks a little fake even if it is real as real as marble and crystal can be real in the middle of the desert.

We stayed at the Palazzo, the new resort just next to the Venetian. The hotel is, well indescribable, it cost 1.9 billion to build, and you can believe that, the rooms are palatial, the mall is very expensive, the restaurants are very good, and it makes its older sister (the Venetian) look a little tired and old. Its not just the fact that the Grand Canal shoppes are well, more reasonably priced and affordable than the ones at the Palazzo, its that after 10 years, it just looks a little old and dark, not bright and clean. I am not sure it is hard to describe.

The weekend was very good, we did not do much, but eat, lay by the pool and then eat again. We did see "O", the spectacular show from the Cirque du Soleil, it was amazing, the use of water as a stage made it incredible.

I did not fall in love with Vegas, but I have to say that even as a non gambler, I recommend going, at least once, so you can say you were there.

Brain not working

2008-07-08T09:04:00.003-05:00

Ok, so today the brain is not working, and feel just like this:

Thanks to everyone that has contributed to my Swim 4 Life fund !!!

For those of you that have not here is the link:

http://www.firstgiving.com/pablofernandez

Looooong Weekend

2008-07-03T08:38:00.007-05:00

First of all thank you to all who have donated some money for Swim 4 life ! I have not checked the donations today, but we had raised $75 as of yesterday. Of course this does not mean we only need to raise 25 more, no the more we raise the better. The Imelda has raised $500, and I do not want to raise that much money, but I do not want to just raise a meager amount. So keep giving !!

Here is the handy link: http://www.firstgiving.com/pablofernandez

Now to the business of the day. Another long weekend is here, for the last 3 weeks I have managed to not work 5 days in a row, but I think that this will be the first weekend when I have 3 days to cavort around town, and sleep. Let hope that happens, so far not a lot has been planned, I know some of you will dispute that, but there is nothing planned for Sunday, and I think that a 3 day weekend with one day free is quite the under planned weekend, and I intend to correct the situation tomorrow, but keep it mum, cuz the Argentine might take offense.

Anyway, I am going to post some pictures of beautiful Cuernavaca, where I went for a wedding a month ago, and then I am going to set back to work.

Asking for help

2008-07-01T12:41:00.001-05:00

Today, I took the plunge and registered for Swim 4 Life, what is this you ask ? It is an event organized by DCAC (the crazy swimming team I belong to) every year, in which we swim 1,2,3,4 or 5 miles and raise a money for AIDS/HIV related charities. This is a very important event for me and I want to try and raise a lot of money, every year I only give 100 which I pay for, so this time I am asking y'all for you help. Here is the website you can make your donations at:

http://www.firstgiving.com/pablofernandez

You can even see me in all hairy glory in the upper left corner of the page, applying sun block before last year's race.

I am goign to come up with a great thank you gift for y'all who give, so please pass this along, and remember give, give, give, even if it is just a little it will help.

Go see it now

2008-06-30T13:17:00.004-05:00

Absolutely cute, its one of those movies that manages to find beauty in world full of trash, only the minds at Pixar could imagine something this good:

The social commentary is priceless, and even if the second half of the movie is not as good as the first, it more than suffices.

Humble Pie

2008-06-25T08:48:00.003-05:00

Last week, came and went, and it all went good, we all had fun and I worked until my brain was fried and cheered until my voice was hoarse. It was overall an amazing success, everything that could have gone wrong did not go wrong, and in fact people had an amazing meet, and not just DCAC but everyone. Of course the devil is in the details and I swam terribly, and managed to put on 10 pounds in the last 2 months. There are plenty of excuses, some are really good, for instance I have been working 10 and 11 hour days, and then going home and dealing with a website and a registration system, and just not having the energy or the time to exercise or eat healthy. Then there was the wedding and the stress of that, and everything, but I am at fault. I am the one who ate and ate and ate, and just said fuck it. Well now the time has come to stop that. I need to stop eating, and start moving again. It is truly terrifying when the number in the scale is so high you want to cry.

Anyway, that is all I have to say today, there will be a lot of commentary on spinning classes and swimming practices and things that I have had no time and desire to do.

At least I am blogging again.

Exhausted but happy, wait not happy , thrilled

2008-06-24T13:32:00.003-05:00

We are done with the big gay swim meet, well almost done, still need to close the books, and see what happens with the left overs. But for the time being I am happy to say I am exhausted but very satisfied with all the work we have done. I think people had a great time, and so did we.

A big thank you from me to everyone that helped, volunteered and attended. Y'all made for an unforgettable weekend.

Ohhh and we won ...

Cuteness for Friday

2008-03-28T12:23:00.001-05:00

I have been sooo busy that I am not sure I will be able to post for the next month, or month and a half.

I will try, here is a very, very cute picture:

see more crazy cat pics

White People

2008-03-14T13:01:00.004-05:00

My friend the Diplomat sent me a link to a blog called Stuff White People like, the link is here. The stories are hillarious and they are over all huge generalizations but since being gay in DC means being white people, I am going to link to 3 stories that pretty much describe 3 things that both I and white people like:

NPR

Sunday New York Times

Breakfast Places

Viernes = Friday

2008-03-14T08:10:00.005-05:00

I have 2 book reviews to post, well more like to write, and a series of meetings to attend, so in lieu of posting any prose, a wonderful cartoon:

FIRE !!!

2008-03-13T14:26:00.004-05:00

Last night as we were soundly asleep, this was happening 5 blocks or so, up the street:

The view the morning after:

I am sure the Imelda and the Consummate Aries had to hear the sirens at 3 am. I have not talked to them yet, but still, my thoughts go to all those people living in that apartment building that are now homeless. Can you imagine, in one evening, going from having an apartment to not having anything. It must be devastating. The Post has a great story (read it here) and in it tells how the tenants had worked with the city to have the owner fix the building and put it up to code.

There are no words to express the outrage.

I want my hour back !!!

2008-03-12T11:50:00.003-05:00

I do not know if it works, or it does not work, but I want my hour back. What am I ranting about now, you ask, Daylight Savings time. I know I like the longer hours with day light, but all this week I have been off, and exhausted do not ask my why, but I am going to blame on Daylight savings time. I should not, because Sunday was a nice relaxed day, but come Monday I have felt this tiredness that washes over my body and makes me want to go to bed. Need some more convincing? I have napped 2 days in a row, this is more napping than I have ever made in two consecutive days. Monday got home from work and napped yesterday got home after a visit to the doctor and napped.

Anyhow, it is Wednesday, and I am still tired. Lets hope that my the end of the week I am fully adjusted, because otherwise I am going to be falling asleep on the way to work.

Some Knitting

2008-03-10T13:29:00.004-05:00

So I know that for the last year this has been more deck than knitting, but finally I am getting around to knit a little bit more, mostly it is the Argentinians plan to keep me home and watching TV. So since I can not sit still for 1 hour, I reconnected with the knitting needles and more importantly some of old projects. The influence of the M, also known as the Crafty one, has definitely helped. As a direct result I am done with my first scarf, here is the pic:

It is a simple red scarf, with the most basic stitch (garter stitch) and the yarn is too heavy, so it can not be wrapped around the neck comforably. But hey it is a begining !

Update

2008-03-05T09:28:00.004-05:00

This past weekend turned out to be a very positive one, I went to the UMBC swim meet, and I hate that pool, I will say this up front because I do, but even if the location is not my favorite, I still had a great time. I managed to swim almost all my events (lot my gogles in the 100 fly and did not finish the race) but I even managed to swim the 500 decently and that made me happy. I had forgotten how much fun it is to compete, even if I am the fat and slow one.

Of course I had forgotten how tiring it is, to be in a meet all day, I had no energy left Saturday. I was exhausted, completely, I could barely move. It is amazing how competing makes you so much tired than regular swimming. I think I barely swam more than 1000 yards Saturday or Sunday, but both days I felt like I had done 5000 practices. The good thing is I had plenty of distractions at home, the most important of them being the making of the Project Runway outfit, and let me tell ya it was so much fun, and so much work. I am still amazed that we all managed to go to work on Monday because between the swimming and the sowing, there was no way I could even think at all Monday.

I wish I could make justice to what happened Sunday, lets just say that I have not laughed like that in years. The good news is both the Argentine and the Crafty one wrote their own accounts. Click on the pictures to read each version of the story.

Sex ... and the city... spoiled ... a bit

2008-02-29T09:44:00.001-05:00

Ok, so I was a huge fan, you can even ask about my infamous Cosmopolitan's in their honor, but here is the trailer that unfortunately tells us everything we need to know about the movie:

But I will still go to the movies and watch it !

Busy, busy

2008-02-28T11:51:00.001-05:00

Instead of bitching and complaining, I am posting this picture, which is not only adorkable, but i sometimes wish one could just do what the kitten is doing and get away with it.

Enter the ICHC online Poker Cats Contest!

Editorial Cartoons

2008-02-22T08:35:00.005-05:00

Yesterday reading El Pais, I stumbled upon this cartoon ... priceless

Have a terrific weekend everyone !!

Knitting and the Doctor

2008-02-22T08:24:00.000-05:00

Friday is finally here and I can not be more thankful. Yesterday, I went to the last of sock knitting class (pictures are coming, I promise) and it was a mix of highs and lows, and the realization that I am not a skilled knitter, so lets just say that I need to work a lot on the next sock I am making, because the first one looks more like a pauch than anything else. The Crafty one, tho had no problems, she just knits like she is trotting, amazing.

Anyway, that done, we all went to dinner and then home. I was so tired, I read for maybe 30 minutes and then off to bed.

Of course today, there is rain and ice, and the day is gray, and gloomy, and to top it all off I have a doctor's appintment. I need to get allergy medications, and set up this year's physical. Ughhh, the appointment is at 1:30 and I am not looking forward to it. I hate going to the dr, I just hate it. Never liked it, never will. So anyway, I am going to go, and getting al over with. But not looking forward to it.

Falling off the Wagon

2008-02-20T08:54:00.003-05:00

Getting off the wagon is soo easy. For the last 3 days, I have not seen either the inside of the gym or the pool, and as guilty as I feel about this, I am still alive and quite well. I mean, yes I know I am not the fittest person in the world, but I try, and I do exercise regularly. Anyhow, maybe the Argentine's plan is working better than we expected.

Today tho, I am going to attempt to do spinning at 12:15 and then go swimming in the evening before project runway. We shall see if that is possible, because I need to finish a sock I have been "working on" for 3 weeks now and there has not been too much progress. Yep, I am sorry to report, not a lot of progress has been made. The class is tomorrow, and we are supposed to start the heal - we have already done the toe - so I might have to skip swimming ans stay home and knit.

Now that is quite the conundrum, and a very appropriate one for this blog.

Absence

2008-02-18T11:22:00.003-05:00

I been terribly busy with swim meet and work stuff lately, so busy that I have barely any time to write, but I do miss the blog, and putting some stories/ideas out there. I know, I know, I always say the same thing, and this time I am sticking to my resolution and posting 3 times per week, at least.

I am going to leave you with some lol catz, cuz they make me laugh sooo hard.

moar humorous pics

moar humorous pics

Foul Matter

2008-02-18T11:19:00.001-05:00

I can not explain what Foul Matter means in the publishing world, because I would be giving away the ending to the book of the same title, written by Martha Grimes and reviewed by your's truly here

Go take a lookse.

Pushing Daisies survives to fight another season!

2008-02-13T08:34:00.003-05:00

In the midst of all the bad news, the political infighting, and the rainy weather (at least in DC) today as I was reading a copy of the Express, I saw a piece of news that warmed my heart. What is it you ask? well, ABC has decided to pick up Pushing Daisies for a second season. Apparently after the writers strike, they are now trying to see hoe to save the rest of the season and looking forward to the fall, because that is where the action will be. This little notice, made me happy, because I do not know if anyone here watched Pushing Daisies, but it is one of the most imaginative, entertaining shows I have ever seen in TV. It is sooo good, it is almost unbelievable that such quality is allowed to go from written page, to TV Stage to TV sets all over the country. It is a gem. The stories are macabre and funny, touching but not overtly dramatic, it is like the best BBC writers, and the best producers at HBO got together and tried a completely new concept, blowing past anything we have seen in TV in a while.. The direction is terrific, the characters are endearing, and the art direction is out of this world.

So for all of you that have not seen it, it is time to tivo it, download it , or you start watching it. You are going to fall in love, I am warning you.

My world upside down

2008-02-12T10:00:00.000-05:00

Things have been very quiet here lately, because work and IGLA took over my life and have had no time to blog, or even think about blogging, but slowly things are getting back to normal. Today I was going to write a book review, but stumbled upon this piece of news and I am shocked:

"The data clearly indicate that consuming a food sweetened with no-calorie saccharin can lead to greater body-weight gain and adiposity than would consuming the same food sweetened with high-calorie sugar," Purdue researchers Susan Swithers and Terry Davidson wrote in the journal, Behavioural Neuroscience, published by the American Psychological Association.

Yes, all the artificial sweeteners are not good for you, not because they give you cancer, but because they do not help with weight loss. The Argentine is happy of course, because he has been telling me this for a while and since we ran out of Splenda a week I go had been having real sugar in my coffee. Well not only is it not going to kill me, it is going to help me loose weight ??. Knitter scratches his head in disbelief. I mean to think I have been, living a lie, a lie, a total lie, from the time I was 7 or 8 when I started drinking capuccionos and started using saccharine.

Oh well the good news is I bounce back from this surprises well, and now I have decided to give up artificial sweeteners for lent.

12 Twelve

2008-02-07T10:47:00.000-05:00

I was listening to NPR, as usual and there was this story about a publisher that was revolutionizing the industry by refusing to publish more than 12 books per year. Yes, only 12. It is a very interesting proposition, in a business very much like movies and music where publishing houses live off success and hits, many, many titles are condemned to the sale bin from the get go. It was funny also because I am reading a book about eh publishing world currently called Foul Matter, and it is a mystery/critique of the industry and it’s practices. Any how that review will be done later, when I am done with the last 25 pages, but in the mean time I wanted to talk about the story.

One of the things that has set this publisher apart is that he has managed to have many bestsellers and even in his first year of operation he managed to make it to the NYT’s best seller’s list. He says that the key is to only publish books you are passionate about. If you are really passionate about them they will be successful. It seems like a rather simple but subversive idea. Imagine that, focusing all our energy on doing 12 things really well, instead of trying to do 34 or 50 things all at once. I do know that I am one of those that tries to do too much all the time, I think that yes, I would be better off also if I concentrated on some core things, instead of trying to do many things at once. The question is if this works or seems to work at the personal level, will it work at the corporate level? I do not have the answer yet, but I have a suspicion that indeed this will turn out to be a successful mantra.

You can go to their website and see their catalogue, it is very interesting, I have not read any of their books yet. But I want to leave you with their 12 point manifesto:

1. Each book will enliven the national conversation.
2. Each book will be singular in voice, authority, or subject matter.
3. Each book will be carefully edited, designed, and produced.
4. Each book will have a month-long launch in which it is the imprint’s sole focus.
5. Each book will be nationally advertised.
6. Each book will have a national publicity campaign.
7. Each book will be published by Jonathan Karp, the editor who discovered Book Sense Book of the Year winners Seabiscuit and Shadow Divers, plus such bestsellers as The Orchid Thief, Franklin and Winston, Thank You For Smoking, What Should I Do With My Life?, The Dante Club, The Last Don, The Godfather Returns, and A Conspiracy of Paper.
8. Each book will be publicized by Director of Publicity Cary Goldstein, who for seven years was the architect of FSG's publicity campaigns for such acclaimed books as The Assassin's Gate, Sweet and Low, Natasha, and Trance, nominee for the National Book Award.
9. Each book will have the potential to sell at least 50,000 copies in its lifetime.
10. Each book will be marketed and distributed by the Hachette Book Group, the company with the best hit ratio in the American publishing business.
11. Each book will be promoted well into its paperback life.
12. Each book will matter.

Have you read any of their books yet?

Ergonomic design

2008-02-06T16:59:00.000-05:00

The Argetine shared this piece of news in his blog, and it is sooo funny I can not let it pass unnoticed Click on the link in the text to see the company that sells this product and what their sales pitch is. Hey, at least its hump day.

We're sure there's easier ways to lose your girlfriend, but probably none more stylish. Enter HK-Ergonomics' Hip Office, a glass-fiber prototype "accessory" that slides elegantly around your spare tire and allows you to suspend a laptop from your waist. Yes, it's just the thing to match your loveless evenings alone, fluorescently lit cubicle, and unfashionable pleated pants. Watch out, cellphone holster

A most read

2008-02-06T14:48:00.000-05:00

First of all, I want to say I have been buried in work, I have not stopped for the last 2 weeks, my neurons are burning as I type this. But I am still here. Today I wanted to post about one of my favorite magazines, it is the Atlantic, I know, I know, you are going to call me a political wonker and all that, but it is one of the best magazines I have ever read - I love the New Yorker, but lets face it who has the time for a weekly, so a monthly is as much as I can read. It's articles are very insightfull, verye well researched and usually they forsee situations that very fewpeople think will actually happen. One of the most reads for any politically inclined person that reads this blog is this month's number. It is their State of the Union issue and it has articles on:

The Atlantic's State of the Union
What, after Iraq, are the problems most urgently confronting us?

After Iraq

No Country for Young Men

Inside Guantánamo

First, Kill All the School Boards

The best line so far is “In the first place, God made idiots,” Mark Twain once wrote. “This was for practice. Then He made School Boards.”, from the article on education.

Priceless I know.

What will the World come to?

2008-02-04T08:16:00.000-05:00

Reading "El Pais" I found an interesting article as usual. This one is a bit frightening, British TV Broadcaster UKTV Gold, made a poll trying to see if what the British public thought was fiction and reality, here are some of the results:

58% of the people asked believe Sherlock Holmes was real

23% of those asked believe Winston Churchill is a fictional character

47% of those asked believe Richard I the Lion-Heareted is a fictional charcter just like Winston.

4% ... think Cleopatra is a fictional character and worst of all 3% think that both Gandhi and Charles Dickens are fictional characters.

This is to me proof that the Western world is in absolute decadence.

2008-02-01T09:20:00.000-05:00

I am being lazy today, but I was reading this editorial on the NYT and it touched me because in a way it could be story of my family. We are all huge coffee drinkers. There is no day where the day does not start with coffee, and there is no one that comes through the house and coffee is not offered to them. To this day my grandmother will insist on having any one have coffee, even when the cleaning lady comes in, even if she is late, she will insist, Lupita, have some coffee, then you can hurry about.

The article is by Judith Warner, it was published the 24th of January, here it is:

January 24, 2008, 9:00 pm
Memory Refill

At home, hidden in the bread box, I have a few samples of a “delicious” herb-chicory mix given to me by my acupuncturist to help me break my addiction to coffee.

It has gone untouched for months. Today, I think I will make the bold move of throwing it out.

I love coffee. And though I have, previously, shown myself willing to forgo all kinds of food and drink in the quest to rid myself of migraines, coffee is one habit that I am firmly committed never to break.

It’s not about the caffeine. I have largely renounced caffeine. I say largely because I know that the decaf I now drink all day isn’t entirely caffeine-free. My attachment to coffee is about the taste, and the smell, and the gesture.

I mean “gesture,” now, not in the way of French subway ads, where every ice cream pop, car or laundry detergent is either of a “gesture of freshness” or “a gesture towards pleasure.” I mean the kind of gesture my mother’s brother Mel used to make, waving toward the coffee pot, when you walked into his house in Brooklyn.

There was, first, the gesture toward the pot, always on, always ready, always warm. Then there was a gesture toward a cup, then a gesture toward a chair. Mel had been in World War II. He’d been left with a metal plate in his skull. There was always something formal, something military about his bearing.

At his behest, you’d sit down at the table, in the breakfast room off the kitchen, and you’d gesture into conversation. Or the grown-ups did, at least, while my cousins Michael and Jonathan and I went off and warred with some combination of Dawn dolls and G.I. Joes.

Mel died of a brain aneurism in 1985. He developed a blinding headache driving home from dropping Jonathan off at music camp and slipped into a coma within hours.

“He was always there, with the coffee cup in one hand and the cigarette in the other,” my mother said, bitterly, after the funeral.

In the years that followed, Mel’s wife, Barbara, and my mother and I spent many hours sitting around in that breakfast room. We’d drink coffee, and we’d jump in unison every hour on the hour, as the clock in the breakfast room opened to the maddening squawk of a cuckoo.

“Mel loved that clock,” Barbara would say.

These days, no one is “always there” with a coffee cup in his hand; nor is there anyone around with a cigarette. No decent person keeps the coffee pot brewing all day. No one would dream of drinking that much caffeine. No one would dream of sitting still all day to schmooze.

The only people who would are perhaps just the sort who might sneak out into the garden to smoke an occasional cigarette when their kids aren’t looking. Appealing people, I might be tempted to say. People who live in the grip of their passions. But suspect.

My husband, Max, used to smoke. In our early life together, I didn’t much mind. But by the time we had children it became a big issue; I did not want my children to have a father who was going to drop dead one day, coffee cup in one hand, cigarette in the other.

Early on, we lived briefly in the bottom two floors of a house in Brooklyn Heights. Max used to open the kitchen door to smoke. Sometimes, on weekend mornings, the smell of cigarette smoke would combine with the smell of coffee and a certain kind of sun-warmed Brooklyn air. And I’d be transported. Farther away than to the Victorian house in Midwood. Further back — to Flatbush, to the late 1960s, to a brick row house overflowing with great-aunts and grandparents, a kitchen filled with the smells of coffee and cookies and smoked fish and, of course, cigarettes. There were so many cigarettes: Pall Malls and Kents and Lucky Strikes, I think. (Or were the Lucky Strikes the chocolate cigarettes that my Aunt Fannie bought for me?)

My Aunt Fannie had a closet filled with secret things; finger paints and shiny paper, and crayons and scissors. In my memory, they are all just for me, but of course they weren’t; they were also for Michael and Jonathan.

Many of my memories of the house are false, it seems. The rooms were not arranged the way I remember them. It wasn’t a row-house at all, my mother says; it was semi-detached. Early childhood memories are notoriously inaccurate – and incomplete. I hadn’t even remembered the smell — that coffee and cigarettes and bagels and cream cheese and, with any luck, a couple of chocolate jelly rings smell — until Max opened the back door and God in his heaven sent in that perfect beam of sunlight.

It was 1994. Mel was dead, but Barbara was then still alive. The World Trade Center was still standing on the other side of the river. My father was still alive, though within a year he would no longer be, after collapsing on the street, on the way to his office from the Gramercy Park Coffee Shop — where he had his first few cups of the day, every day.

I wouldn’t be so pretentious as to say that I have measured out my life in coffee spoons. But it wouldn’t be so far from the truth. I began drinking coffee at the age of nine – teaspoons of warm, milky coffee from my father’s cup in restaurants after dinner. By age 11, I was drinking it chummily with my Mom over breakfast. I spent my adolescence over never-empty cups in places like Joe Junior’s and Lepanto’s and the Viand. There was time for this then, in my New York.

I miss that world terribly.

When Emilie greets me, after a long day in school, she buries her head in my neck and breathes deeply.

“You smell like coffee,” she says with satisfaction.

Every Monday, we have an hour’s break between school pickup and Julia’s violin lesson. Every Monday, wishing for a coffee shop, I take the girls to our local bakery-café. Julia and Emilie eat ersatz French pastries and I order a decaf. They do their homework, and I read the paper.

On the wall there is a mural of a village scene somewhere that looks something like Provence. There’s a cat in the mural who sits on a stone wall. We believe that the cat has magical powers: he can move at will between his wall in Washington and his wall in France.

When I get bored with reading the paper, I stare into his eyes. He is an exile of sorts, never entirely at home.

But I still have my coffee.

A perfect Sandwich !!

2008-01-31T12:57:00.001-05:00

In the middle of lunch I found this, sooo funny:

A new and surprising Opera

2008-01-31T11:11:00.001-05:00

Was just reading the NYT, and found a review of a new opera called "Jerry Springer" and it immediatly caught my attention. Here is a summary of the opera:

The first act, which depicts the taping of a fairly typical Jerry Springer episode (bisexual cheating fiancé, diaper fetishist, woman with strip-club dreams), surely has more obscenities per minute than any work that ever played Carnegie Hall. But it’s the second act, which takes Jerry straight to hell to arbitrate a debate between Jesus and the Devil, that has raised hackles high.

Well if that does not catch your attention nothing will. The interesting part is that according to the reviewer the show manages to be empathic and uses music inspired bot just by musicals but also by more classical operatic music. It seems like a real winner to me, we shall see if we ever get to see it in DC.

Knitting again

2008-01-31T08:55:00.001-05:00

Ok, so last week I forgot to blog about my new knitting class. Yes I know, see the word Knitting on the title this blog is more than just something witty I came up with. I do knit, I am a very bad knitter, and because of my ADD tend to jump from one unfinished project to the next, but this year as my TV habits have changed I have decided to give knitting another try. It is soothing, but it is hard work and it requires concentration, something I am not very good at. Anyway, so I picked up some old projects mostly a big read scarf, that was coming along until I accidentally broke a needle. But even before said incident, I had enrolled in a knitting class, i felt that I had teach myself as much as I could on my own and that it was time to go to a professional. So for once sticking to my goals, i signed up for a sock knitting class, and started last week, so far I have only knitted a partial toe, but I am getting there, today there should be more progress and then next class we are supposed to learn how to finish the sock. On the one hand I am very excited, but on the other I am terrified, it was much harder than I thought, and the other students tend to be better than I am. Ohh well one of my consolations is that I dragged the Crafty one (who has a blog, it is linked in the dahlings section) and she is coming to the class with me.

The $1 coffee cup

2008-01-30T09:21:00.000-05:00

Starbucks is taking over the world, well not anymore, but apparently they are testing a $1 coffee cup. It is their response to all the competion from Dunkin, and McDonalds and all the other fast food chains. To me it is an interesting concept, specially because I did stop at Starbucks and got myself some coffee this morning. The refil part is the one that is particulary intersting, is it really economically feasable, what will the do in places like downtown DC or downtown anywhere in the US where there are you can find a Starbucks place every 4 or 5 blocks (or like the corner of 17th St and K St, in DC, where there are 3)

This is the story (thanks Slashfood)

I do not want to go

2008-01-30T08:56:00.001-05:00

2008 promises to be the year of the weddings, heck, 2007 ended with a wedding. But this year in the immediate future there are 3 weddings in my midst, two in Mexico one in San Antonio, yes I guess that is kind of sorta Mexico too. Two of these are organized by friends and one by my cousin; as a result I have to go to the cousin’s wedding, well that depends on immigration papers and other things, but shush, lets see how that works out.

Anyway, I feel really bad about saying this, but this is the only place I can put this in writing, as much as I like my friends and I do like them, I do not want to do go. Yes, a wedding, is a wedding, it’s a ritual nothing else (thanks Sondheim, for the lyric) and I have no desire to go to Mexico City or San Antonio for the matter, to attend a wedding where I know no one. It is not like weddings are the time when your friends, you do not see very often have time to talk and catch up, it’s the time, when your friends are getting married and they are all over the place thinking about everything, except the friends they invited to the wedding. Besides I do not even know any of the brides, so I am not going. The hard part for me is telling people I am not going to be able to make it. All of you rolling your eyes, you know who you are, stop right now, for me, it is hard to tell someone I am not going to be able to go to your party – mostly because I hate when people cancel on me. Anyway so here are the questions I have for all the brides and grooms of the world that as soon as they have a set date, decide to turn the pages in their old address books and invite you to a wedding:

- Do you really think people have the money to travel to 3 different destinations each in one year for your wedding? NO
- Do you really think that friends – that are very dear – who have not met your significant other or any of your new friends want to go to a party where they will know no one? NO
- Do you really think people are going to plan and use their vacation time (this is not Europe where people have 6 weeks vacation) around your wedding? NO
- Do you really think people will pay 400, because lets be honest, airfare + hotel + meals even if you are going inside the US, gets to 400 easily to attend a wedding and then have to send a present? No answer for this one

Anyway, I was thinking all these during spinning yesterday, and I have come up with plausible excuses for my two friends and now working on what I am going to tell Mom if I can not go to my cousins. But I have to say my redeeming quality, is that I will send presents, I will, I just wrote it down in my to do list.

PS. Been so busy the last 3 days that, it is just now that I am able to post something worth posting.

The magic of editorial cartoons

2008-01-24T09:21:00.001-05:00

I have always been a great admirer of editorial cartoonist, they have one of the toughest jobs out there, take a commentary and transpose it from words to a drawing. The picture needs to be clear, concise, and tell the opinion that is being given, with no arguments, no supporting paragraphs, no quotations, nothing, but a set of lines and sometimes some color to represent an idea. It is something that to me takes the outmost humor and skill. Why am I saying this, today in El Pais (where else I know) I found the following cartoon, and it is perfect. Take a look:

It manages to sum up ideas about the after life, God, humanity, hope, and everything.

Politcs and Knitting part II + a dash of the economy

2008-01-23T14:32:00.001-05:00

On the subject if the election, and as a mirror to the one posted here, about Hillary, this one is about Obama.

On the subject of the Economy, in Spanish, the word Accion means action (as in to do something, but is the word used for stock, as in the stock market and a piece of a company) hence the play in words, with the frog offers an action, which really means Stock, and then asks for payback:

Source: El Pais

Twilight a Knitter’s Review

2008-01-23T08:10:00.000-05:00

Yes, another book review, so soon you say, well I finished this book over the weekend and I been wanting to share the review with all of you. The book in case is a little trashy and a very easy read, it is called Twilight and it is a teen romance, between a vampire and a human girl. I was very reticent to pick this book, but the Argentine had read it and enjoyed it and so I decided that before starting the next serious book (usually book club books then to be more serious) I would enjoy a light novel. I truly enjoyed it, and now I can not wait to read the next two novels in the series. Go here for the complete review.

Cold outside, cute picture

2008-01-22T12:52:00.001-05:00

More cute pictures at: http://icanhascheezburger.com/

A lesson for New Orleans and the world ..

2008-01-22T08:55:00.000-05:00

This morning was I was driving to work and listening to NPR, as usual a great story was being told and I just need to share. I know, sometime the name of this blog should be what is on NPR, but the thing is this is really interesting, at least to me and my environmental and political consciousness were awoken.

What is happening is that the Dutch government, is very worried about rising sea levels, which to them is a matter of life and death, but the Dutch are not. Why ? well after the flood of 53, they built massive storm surge barriers, new dams and giant steel floodgates that have kept the seas from rising, but the problem is we are in 2008 and not 1953, so these massive works of infrastructure, such as the Maeslant barrier are more than sufficient for a world that was not suppose to change, but who knows where the sea levels will be in 10 or 20 years.

Of course because if there is a country that thinks rationally and efficiently, they government has changed its policy of always fighting the water. Now the are welcoming the water and they are moving people and farms in the low lands, so that some of the land will be given back to the rivers and allowed to flood. By allowing more water in, and fine tuning the "North Sea Defenses" as they are called they are hoping to prevent disasters in the near and no so near future. The government official interviewed by NPR said "this idea of letting the water go where it wants is going to take getting used to. The Dutch are used to taming nature, he says. "But now, they have to accept retreat. And give part of the country back to the water. Because it is better. Because it is more clever."

I have to say it is so refreshing to hear about a government that is more engaged in climate change than it own citizens. I know this is why the Dutch have managed to survive and prosper in such difficult conditions, but this is something to look upon with admiration and astonishment. I can only wish that the US government and specially the State governments of the Gulf region would listen to the story and start thinking about it. I have always said that if we want to save New Orleans, alls we need is to call the Dutch and write a really, really big check.

Source: NPR (www.npr.org)

Mapp & Lucia

2008-01-21T09:38:00.000-05:00

Today’s book club meeting will be about E.F. Benson’s Mapp & Lucia, a lovely comedy of manners that takes place in between wars England, in a town called Tilling. It is one of those 30’s novels that dissect the bourgeoisie, in an effort to de-mystify it and ridicule it. A lovely book I truly enjoyed, go to the Argentine’s, most precisely here to read the review.

This just in ...

2008-01-18T09:20:00.000-05:00

I am going through the blogs I read and Jimbo has this perfect, I mean perfect definition of MAL:

To me the Mid-Atlantic Leather weekend has become something like the Renaissance Festival they put on out in Crownsville, Maryland every year - the events and venues don't really change that much from year to year, and you see the same people in the same costumes every year as well. In other words, your broiled turkey leg will still be there next year if you skip it this year.

Just a perfect definition and description.

Bomb !!!

2008-01-18T08:45:00.000-05:00

Last night I was so tired from a long day of writing SQL and waiting for some reports that needed testing, that at 6 I skipped the gym and decided to go home directly from the office. It was cold and rainy and it had snowed all day, so I figured a night of watching trasssshhyy television would do me good. I hopped on the metro and when I got to Cleveland park I called the Argentine to see if he would pick me up, he said yes, and I waited,and waited, and waited. Nothing, the minutes went by and no sign of him. I feel my phone ringing and it was him, apparently Porter was closed and there was no way for him to come get me, not that way. I told him I would walk, I mean yes it was raining and there was slosh (is that the correct spelling and word?) everywhere, but I thought ok, it will be a 10 minute walk.

For those of you who do not know Cleveland Park and Mt Pleasant, our place is at the bottom of a hill, at the top you can find the Metro and Cleveland Park proper and as you go eastward down hill and then slightly up hill, crossing Rock Creek Park, you enter Mount Pleasant.

Back to the story, so I walked down hill and start crossing the bridge that crosses the park, when I see that not only the road but the sidewalk was closed. A policeman was there, making sure no one could continue walking. There were two people there, already and they were making inquiries. The policeman told them and me, that he thought there was a bomb threat and that the entire neighborhood was being coordoned off. To which I said, hey I just called my boyfriend, and he is home, just 2 minutes that way, so are you also asking people to evacuate their houses? He had no response for this and said that he had no idea what the details were, but that he had a wife and two beautiful childrens and that he would not walk up th sidewalk for fear of his life. Hhmm, I said, and turned back, called the home, and started the climb back.

By the time I got back to Connecticut Avenue, the Argentine was at the gas station, and explained how the bomb threat was under the Porter bridge. This made me angry, because not only was the policeman not telling the full truth, but he had blocked traffic 2/3 into the bridge making the whole road block useless. If the bomb was going to go off, the first car to fall if the bridge collapsed would have been the cruiser and the silly pedestrians arguing over their right to get home.

Anyhow, it is a long story I know, but thanks to the man I got home in one piece and was able to watch Battlestar Gallactica.

The Snow in the City

2008-01-17T13:09:00.000-05:00

This week has been brutal, work, work, work and then some more work. But I am still here, today I am in DC (downtown) instead of Ashburn, because I had to be here bright and early, and because of the snow. No one wants to be stuck in the suburbs of Northern Virginia on a snow storm. Trust me, no one. So here I am observing for the first time snow in Downtown. It is not much different than the suburbs, just more people walking around and more cars. Lots of honking, and wetness everywhere, but mostly importantly people. DC is infamous for shutting down at the possibility of 4 inches of snow (and they say there are many size queens in the city) and it is refreshing to see that nothing seems to be closed, and that people are not running to the garages to get on their Aviators (or whatever name those awful SUV's are) and then drive home for 3 hours. It is also refreshing to know that as of late the city will be ready before the burbs.

With that I have to go, because I need to continue working.

The Gay Church

2008-01-14T12:28:00.000-05:00

A year or two ago, the Scientist (aka Gay Canuck) wrote a piece on Results, saying how at certain Halloween party, all the gays went to profess at their church, the church of the perfect bodies. Yesterday, we had a DCAC meeting and I had skipped swimming, Sundays tend to be crowded and I was just not in the mood for it, so I went to the gym after the meeting. I got on the elliptical and started my hour, and within 20 minutes the Scientist, the Imelda and the Consummate Aries all showed up. But they had swam in the morning ! So it is in honor of these amazing atheletes that I post this picture from one of the latest Diesel campaigns. I think it summarizes gay relationship with exercise almost perfectly:

Courtesy of Ohlala Magazine.

Trrrrraaashyyyy Television

2008-01-11T08:58:00.000-05:00

So this entry comes a bit late, but what the hell I decided Friday is for honesty and full disclosure. What am I going to disclose, well my latest guilty pleasure. It is not Project Runway, it is a new TV show, that the Argentinian initiated me to, and one which has me spell bound. It is the quintessential trashy show, very soap opera-ish, geared to 15 year old girls and boys, with steamy soft porn at times and great one liners.

So no it is not a reality show. It is not my super sweet 16, nor any of those shows, it is ... Gossip Girl. Yes, the heir to Dawsons's Creek and all those other crappy shows on the CW network. I know what you are thinking, those shows are terrible, the acting is awful, the writing is lunch time quality, the story is repetitive and ohh so predictive. But still admit it, they make great TV. I sit the couch and watch spellbound. Yes they are stupid teenagers in a prep school in Manhattan, and yes they drop a grand on a purse without thinking. But the fights and the situations are soo entertaining. And admit it, who doesn't like a villainesse (is that the female term for villain?) with a name like Blair Cornelia Waldorf. She is so crazy, she makes me and the Imelda sounds like Dr. Freud. The good girl, is this pretty blonde called Serena Van Huffenstrap, or something like that and she is the poor little rich girl that falls for the middle class, pretty boy. It doesn't get more complex than that in this show and because of that, and the great scenery and crazy outfits I love it.

Besides any show that portrays High School in such a bitchy and sex manner, makes me look back on my days as UN Model Queen, wait not Queen, Empress and think that I was not such a bitch. To top it all off, i get so much pleasure from turning to the Argentinian and telling asking him if there is any Trrrraaashyyy Television on, and get a positive answer.

One problem we have, is that after watching all the old episodes during the Christmas break, we have to wait till January 28th, to watch the next one.

Note. When saying Trrrraashyyy Television, one needs to chanel Ricardo Montalban, selling Corrrrrinthian Leather back in the 80's.

Politics and Knitting

2008-01-11T07:08:00.000-05:00

A cartoon in a Spanish newspaper that I thought would make e y'all laugh

Courtesy of El Pais.

A DC Metro Area Odyssey

2008-01-09T10:50:00.000-05:00

View Larger Map

Yesterday I had to stay in the office until 6, which is late for me, no not because I am a bum but because I work far, far away some days of the week and the commute can be hell. So after my meetings I left the office at 6 and was trying to see how to get to the pool, practice starts at 7 on Tuesdays. Obviously I knew I was going to be late, but how late I had no idea. From what Google Maps tells us there are 40 miles between Ashburn and Takoma Park, and it took me 1 hour and 26 minutes to get from one door to the pool's parking lot. After this odyssey I ran to the lockers, changed and proceeded to get in the middle of practice. As a side note I will add that I hate when people come in late, they tend to disrupt the lane and they just get on my nerves, but knowing that if I went home I would feel bad for not working out, I drove and drove and drove and managed to get in and swim for 40 minutes or so. I was exhausted, and stuck in a lane that was a little too fast for me. After some time, the Architect asked me if I was leaving before practice finished, the answer was yes and we proceeded to change, talk about real state and go back home. All in all not a bad day, the Consummate Aries was a very good coach and the practice was quite challenging, I wish next time I have time to get there on time, warm up and at least attempt the full work out.

Rosca de Reyes

2008-01-08T11:25:00.000-05:00

It came late, but it came. Yesterday my friend E brought a Rosca de Reyes from Mexico, and because of such a momentous gift, I decided to skip swimming, go order sushi (because sushi goes sooo well with Rosca, just kidding) and we had a small dinner and ejoyed the Rosca. It was great, the Rosca is the Mexican version of King's Cake, and it is eaten the 6th of January to celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany, also known as the visitation of the Magi(the 3 wise men). Traditionally the cake has one or more babies inside that represent Jesus, and whomever gets the baby has to provide Tamales the 2nd of February for Candelmass (La Candelaria in Spanish).

After almost 8 years of living in the States this was the first year I was not able to bring a Rosca myself, and I am very, very grateful to E for bringing it. It was a tiny one, so 3 people were the perfect number, in order to guarantee that there is some left over for me. The funny thing this year was that no one got the baby this year. I am guessing I will be the unlucky one as every other year, and it stayed home in the piece that I reserved, but I am not sure.

A cook book for me

2008-01-07T09:28:00.000-05:00

I was reading this site, and found this book:

This is usually how I feel. I am almost hungry all the time.

Finally a good episode

2008-01-07T08:17:00.000-05:00

Last Thursday I had the chance to watch last week’s Project Runway, and finally this season we were able to see what PR can do and why it is such a good show. As usual it is the choice of challenge that made the episode, taking the designers to the Hershey store was a coup, once they were there and they had however much time they had to get material and then go back to build dresses my attention was assured, and no, not because it involved candy, I love sweets but have never really developed a passion for candy a la Imelda for instance. To me the most difficult things about this challenges is, you have to get material without having a full idea what the finished product will be like, because part of experimenting with non traditional materials is you will not know what will and will not work. It was lots of fun to see the designers struggle with their creations, except the little annoying twink who has talent and manages to make great outfits in no time, but every one was going for their own look and personality. I do think that they should have not been given access to the pillows and the bigger stuff in the store, because then it becomes a little easier to build something if you have big pieces of fabric, but regardless it was a great episode.

Veeeeeery Cold

2008-01-04T08:26:00.000-05:00

One of the changes with the new Administration in Klingle Road is that we try and walk to the metro the days I commute to the downtown office. After trying the buses, the metro is the easiest option, it is faster, more reliable – as reliable as the Red line gets though. The only problem is the metro is far away, mmmh, let’s qualify that not far, far away, it is up the hill behind the house. This means you have to walk down hill from Klingle land, cross the park and the creek no less, and then go up the hill towards Connecticut Avenue land and the Uptown.
Today I decided to walk to the metro. It was good and bad, it was good because I had not had breakfast and the climb with the cold guaranteed I deserved the bagel I am eating as I type this, but it was bad because the temperature was well cold. I mean cold, cold, there was frost on the leaves and the cars, there was wind coming towards me and not helping me and since I am short I can not wear long coats, so I was wearing a gray winter jacket, and as I walked up the hill my slacks got sooo cold I was not sure if they were there any more. From the waist down all I could feel were my legs and the chilly air, and nothing else. But even in these harsh conditions it still took me 10 minutes only, so I know I am whining, I do. Finally I made it to the station and in another 10 minutes I was in Farragut North and in another 10 I was sitting down in my cube. I did stop at Starbucks to get coffee and a bagel. Such are the hardships of my life.

PS. The other drawback of metroing from Cleveland Park is that there is not enough time to read more than 1 page, and so I do not advance in my readings, so I am forced to people watch. Wait that is not a drawback!

Alternatives to Sex

2008-01-03T09:45:00.001-05:00

I am finally catching up on book reviews, well one, over December I read Alternatives to Sex, right after finishing The Kite Runner, and it took me for ever. Not sure why but it did. Anyhow, I finished it just in time to start reading the next book club selection, which I am half way done. Click here to read the review.

Happy New Year !!

2008-01-02T08:32:00.000-05:00

This is that time, the proverbial turning of the page, starting new, and all those clichés. It is funny how even if we know that both Christmas and New Years are just two days, as normal as any other, there is some wonder this time of the year. It might be the eggnog and all the cocktails and parties, it might be that I am just too traditional (too Mexican) but to me this is a time to think back and think forward and set some goals and pick up where we left off. For most of us, this 2nd of January means going back to the same work we were at before, and kind of doing the same things we were doing the 23rd of December, so if we want any changes it is we who have to make them, because the world is not going to go change on us. Pause, and think, well it can, the possibility is there, but lets hope nothing of that sort happens.

I grew up with a Mother who made us write out twelve resolutions and then at the end of the year, in that very same notebook we would write the resolutions for the next year. Yes that is the kind of warped childhood I had, so early on, I realized I did not have the attention span or the energy for twelve and I started coming up with shorter and shorter lists of things to do. So this year I want to continue the positive and curb the negative, as much as possible. That is it; it is one simple but far reaching goal. It means, many things, as long as they are doable.

I raise my glass of water, the one right here next to me so that we all have a most positive year, full of wonder and merriment.

Done

2007-12-20T08:57:00.001-05:00

So far this month has been what one calls busy. Not just busy, very busy, but at least some progress has been made. So far the apartment is ready for the move, we still have plenty of things we need to figure out, such as where to put stuff, how to make better use of the closet space, and what to do with a box full of binders and a box full of notebooks, folders and random office supplies. The kitchen thanks to the Argentinean is looking ship shape, with everything almost ready, and we still need to send some of the pieces that were on loan from other collections back to their museums of origin. Once that is all done, we can bring in the furniture and figure out the new layout for the dungeon.

More importantly than all these, yesterday I finished my Christmas cards, yes, finally, there are only 2 that need mailing, but other than that I am set to go. Now the one last important thing is I need some suplise for the Argentinean, I have a short list but not sure what to pick. Maybe I will just buy everything.

And also today is M day, or the move day. We have worked like crazy so there should not be many surprises. But one never knows.

The family that stirs together…

2007-12-19T09:31:00.001-05:00

I was reading the Spanish press this morning, and stumbled upon an articled title The families that stir together. It immediately caught my attention and so I read it, here is the original one in Spanish, but basically it reports about this two kids one 10 and the other 8 years old who make their own cocktails. Do not panic, they are non alcoholic cocktails and they are very complex, made with ingredients that very few bars in DC have. Their father is the head of food and drinks (catering) for two luxury hotels, and he was given the National Price for Gastronomy in 2003, and he has chosen to involve his kids with his “line of work” by sparking their interest in cocktails and teaching them how to do it. It is a creative game and one that in my mind is very interesting, on the one hand he is teaching them about drinks and the adult world, but in a very controlled environment, in the other hand it is such a creative exercise I would compare it to music or drawing.

For instance they came up with a version of the Cosmopolitan for kids that follows this recipe:
- Three parts infusing of red fruits or berries
- Two parts cranberry juice
- Two parts orange syrup
- One drop of lemon juice
Shake and present “up” with orange rind

Another more complex cocktail the children developed is called Cocktel de Turron, Turron is a traditional Christmas candy made in Spain, usually made with Almond Paste and honey. For adults here is the recipe:
- Praline
- White Vodka
- Chocolate Vodka
- Chocolate Syrup
- Cream
Stir the ingredients well in a shaker and serve in a tall glass with two ice cubes, top with slivered almonds.

For kids
- Praline
- Almond Tea
- Syrup
- Chocolate Syrup
- Cream
Serve “up” with some shaved ice and slivered almonds

Of course the American in me is thinking that the whole kids and bars do not mix at all, but then the Mexican in me, says why not, they will grow up to drink anyway, so they might as well learn early on. I guess that these two children will at least be fully prepared to face a bar when that time comes. Besides if you are not interested in cooking, this is a great way to play cook with alcohol.

My last thought is that the cooking revolution that has brought us all these exotic ingredients and techniques has pretty much reached everyone. When people are attempting these cocktails at home, what else is there to try? I guess it is a sigh that at least in the western world we are reaching a time period where the pleasure of food and drink re being taken to places that only an overtly wealthy society can.

The Kite Runner

2007-12-18T08:57:00.000-05:00

After a weekend of cookies (more on those later) and movies and more moving, comes a book review. Today the Book Club is meeting to read "The Kite Runner" . I read this book in less than a week more than a month ago, but since the meeting was today, the review was posted today at the Argetine's, go here for more.

Friday's cuteness

2007-12-14T12:38:00.000-05:00

Cuz it is Friday and we need something cute, thanks to Lolcats 'n' Funny Picture:

Cookies !!

2007-12-14T09:44:00.000-05:00

As you all know, the Argentine is a terrific baker. He is not just good at it, but he enjoys it, you can always go here, or here or here for some examples of his prowess. This year since I am here for the holidays, I thought that what better than cookies to give as presents to all my homo and non-homo friends. The first will eat some and try to take the rest to the office, or lock themselves in a closet and eat them when no one is watching, and the second will just sit at home and eat up the goodies we make. Not just does the cookie making help us with the Christmas ooops politically incorrect term, holiday gifts, but they give me a chance to help and watch. I love to watch people cook, I personally have a very well established but limited number of dishes I can prepare, but it is always a joy to explore and to try different things. So here is the list of the cookies I think we should try:

1. Gingerbread cookies (I wish I had enough time to order these cookie molds for them)
2. Chocolate chip
3. … {enter your favorite or more desired cookie here}

I am missing a third type of cookie to bake. I thought about meringues, but they have been vetoed apparently he grew up with them and hence has no need to recreate them. So here are your tasks dear readers, first send your suggestions as per the type of cookies to bake and second help me in my lobbying campaign and we will all have cookies soon!

PS. It is a win/win for all

Rushing

2007-12-13T13:21:00.000-05:00

Busy, busy, busy, that is how I have been. Work had to be done this week both at the office and the home front. Lets just say that I can not wait to get home tonite, have some dinner and watch me some Ugly Betty. At least 2/3 of the Christmas Cards have been written and sent, now need to tackle the last ones and mail them, I have put myself a deadline of next Monday. Because I have nothing much to say here is the NYT's list of 10 notable books:

Nonfiction

IMPERIAL LIFE IN THE EMERALD CITY: Inside Iraq's Green Zone.
By Rajiv Chandrasekaran. Alfred A. Knopf, $25.95; Vintage, paper, $14.95. The author, a Washington Post journalist, catalogs the arrogance and ineptitude that marked America’s governance of Iraq.

LITTLE HEATHENS: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression.
By Mildred Armstrong Kalish. Bantam Books, $22. Kalish’s soaring love for her childhood memories saturates this memoir, which coaxes the reader into joy, wonder and even envy.

THE NINE: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court.
By Jeffrey Toobin. Doubleday, $27.95. An erudite outsider’s account of the cloistered court’s inner workings.

THE ORDEAL OF ELIZABETH MARSH: A Woman in World History.
By Linda Colley. Pantheon Books, $27.50. Colley tracks the “compulsively itinerant” Marsh across the 18th century and several continents.

THE REST IS NOISE: Listening to the Twentieth Century.
By Alex Ross. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $30. In his own feat of orchestration, The New Yorker’s music critic presents a history of the last century as refracted through its classical music.

Fiction

MAN GONE DOWN
By Michael Thomas. Black Cat/Grove/Atlantic, paper, $14. This first novel explores the fragmented personal histories behind four desperate days in a black writer’s life.

OUT STEALING HORSES
By Per Petterson. Translated by Anne Born. Graywolf Press, $22. In this short yet spacious Norwegian novel, an Oslo professional hopes to cure his loneliness with a plunge into solitude.

THE SAVAGE DETECTIVES
By Roberto Bolaño. Translated by Natasha Wimmer. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $27. A craftily autobiographical novel about a band of literary guerrillas.

THEN WE CAME TO THE END
By Joshua Ferris. Little, Brown & Company, $23.99. Layoff notices fly in Ferris’s acidly funny first novel, set in a white-collar office in the wake of the dot-com debacle.

TREE OF SMOKE
By Denis Johnson. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $27. The author of “Jesus’ Son” offers a soulful novel about the travails of a large cast of characters during the Vietnam War.

Have you read any of them ?

I have not. I have read this month's book for book club, so I am going to post a review tomorrow.

The one I might pick up is THEN WE CAME TO AN END.

Busy Weekend

2007-12-11T12:18:00.000-05:00

This weekend was crazy, between the carpet, IKEA, home depot and the holiday parties, I had barely any time to recharge my battery. I know that the urban legend says that I never ever stop and that I can go for hours at a time, but sometimes when all the activity starts to concentrate, I become tired. Well this weekend there was barely any time for that. I did manage to see 2 movies, both were a little disappointing, although one was much better than the other one.

On Friday I saw “Atonement” a story about a girl that commits a wrong and how that wrong affects her sister and her lover, and changes everyone’s life. The premise of the story is that a girl misunderstands an exchange between her sister and the ground keepers’ son, and accuses the boy of raping a girl This accusations sends the boy to jail and then to war (II W W) and to an estrangement from her sister and her family – this last was not very clear from the movie. The book got the Booker price I think, and it is a very good story. Very sad, but at the same time good, with compelling characters that are realistic and that at least impressed me very, very much. The ending of both the movie and the book is very dramatic, it takes the viewer/reader completely by surprise and it makes one ponder what was best.

The second movie, which I expected to love, was “The Golden Compass”. I read the book many, many years along and fell in love with the daemon concept and the complex story line that sets up this war between a little girl and the Magisterium (a stand in for the Catholic Church, or any form of organized and dogmatic religion). The book also explores truth and science and the triumph of the rational over the irrational, and in further books it explores more complex subjects such as the nature of God and the role we play in this universe as humans. One of the things that attracted me to the book was its use of fantasy and science in something that is more real than a Fantasy Novel, but not a crazy science fiction story. I had high hopes for the movie, well it was disappointing. Not only do they chop of the last two chapters, but in order to keep the story under 2 hours, it keeps bouncing here and there and never really explaining any of the details. I have to say that I enjoyed the creation of the world in which Lira lives and that at least when I try my hand at rereading the books it will make for a faster re read since I can put faces to the characters and buildings to the locations.

Regardless, I am still exhausted, and it is only Tuesday

The Undomestic Godess

2007-12-05T14:44:00.000-05:00

I just posted a book review at the Argentine, you can go here to read my opinion on the latest trashy book I read, called the Undomestic Goddess. Lets just say that the book is an easy read and my mind is in search for some more seriousness in the next selection.

The First Snow

2007-12-05T09:24:00.000-05:00

Today Washington woke up to its first snow “storm” – that is the name the weather people on the radio called it - for this winter season. By our standards it comes early, and as usual it threatened with chaos and school closings. As usual in DC, whenever there is the slimmest hope of having some form of snow, everyone goes into panic mode, and people went to the grocery store yesterday, got de-icing salt and milk, water and lets not forgot toilet paper. You think I am exaggerating, well last night as I was prepping up for a swim team board meeting, I was watching the local news and they had 3 stories on the snow that was coming, and had of course nice old people buying salt at Home Depot and stuff. Obviously when the snow comes, nothing happens, except empty toilet paper ails in Supermarkets.

I was lucky enough to witness the now today, and lucky in an interesting word, because I experienced it, because I had to take Manolito – for all those novices, Manolito is my car – to the dealership for the very expensive 20,000 miles tune up. I chose to do it on Wednesday because I can take the Metro to work and then take the Metro uptown to pick up the car in the afternoon. As planned the alarm clock went off at 6 am, and I woke up, hopped on the shower, cleansed, shaved and scrubbed and by 6:40 I was ready to go. As I opened the door, I see that it has started to snow, and it was breath taking. Yes it was cold, but it was so quiet and calm. The snow fell upon the cars, the streets, the trees and yards very much like confectioners sugar when it is being sifted, slowly covering all the non moving surfaces, not in clumps, but in small tiny flakes. It was quite the spectacle. I walked to my car, brushed some of the snow off, and drove to the dealership in Bethesda, in awe of it. The fact that it was 6:40 and the light was just starting to change, from dark to light, made a great difference. It took me 15 minutes to reach my destination. At 6:56 I was by the dealership’s door, waiting for it to open.

That was my morning. Obviously the ride in the metro was fine and then the walk in the city was ok, but very routine. Oh well, at least I had an amazing morning.

Comfort (er)

2007-12-04T13:49:00.001-05:00

This weekend I got my Christmas present, and it sounds boring but I love it, a real comforter. By real, I mean real, with goose feathers and all that. It was a gift from the Argentine, who had a vested interesting in the comforter situation, and who has a nack for comfort.

For years I had had this IKEA comforter, I got it when I first moved here and having never lived in a land where comforters were needed, well I thought that it was ok. I do not remember what it’s price was at the time, and I do not remember what it was made of. I am sure it was synthetic, and hypo allergenic, but that was it. It was a functional piece, and it worked for 7 years.

Then I started dating the Argentine, and he has a very nice comforter (Polo me thinks) and from the first time I slept under it, I realized how much lighter it was. As time went by, I started noticing the weight of my comforter and how it was not soft, it was not rough, not at all, but it had no volume, and you could see the quilting, even when it was covered. As the move details were discussed I mentioned my intention to get a new comforter, but that was the end of the discussion. Last week as we were looking around, we found one that we liked (for more details go here) and the Argentine made the purchase. We tried it this Sunday, and it is heavenly. Light and warm, it floats above one, and it manages to be cloud like even as it keeps one warm . I am not sure how I spent all these years with a fake one, it almost makes me mad.

Of course there is a problem now, I need to figure out what to get him for Christmas. Like him I believe in useful gifts. There is nothing I dislike more than a gift I do not like, or that I can not make use of. The obvious choice for him is something from the kitchen, but trusts me, he has it all. There is not a lot I can buy he doesn’t already have. A Viking range is out of the question, since we are renting, but trust me I have thought about that. Any one has any ideas?

Schdenfreude

2007-12-03T09:48:00.000-05:00

Last night we went to see Avenue Q, with a bunch of swimmers and assorted people, and it was so much better than I expected it to be. It was one of those musicals where the every song is terrific, every character is likeable and every situation is somewhat real. I am sitting here in my desk on Monday morning and I am still some what amazed at the creativity of the people who wrote the book, the music and who came up with the concept.

The show is both a parody of Sesame Street and real life, and what real life is supposed to mean. It starts with a young freshly minted college graduate moving to Avenue Q, and what happens in his first year out there. The show is always ironic and raunchy, but it might be because of the use of puppets that you can just take it all in and enjoy the ride. I had listened to the entire sound track 3 years ago, when the show opened and everyone I knew had either seen it in NY or had heard about it, I remembering listening to it at the Architect’s house and going to next day to purchase it. As I played the entire cd, I fell in love with most of the songs, I specially enjoyed the “Internet is for Porn”, “What do you with a BA in English” and “Everyone is a little bit racist”. They were so different from any other songs I had heard in musicals before, and the seemed so fresh, and witty. When I went and saw it staged, the musical was even better because you get to see what happens in between the songs, and you understand the situations a little bit better and you get to meet The Bad Idea Bears, which are two adorable characters.

I loved the show, and yes I do recommend it completely. A big part of the experience was seeing the Argentine laugh uncontrollably at times, and few things make me smile more.

I do have to say that the show stands well against the test of time, in the early 00’s it was extremely relevant, with all the references to lay offs and young struggling college grads, I am by no means a young struggling college grad and half the show applies directly to my life. Of course the one line that will need to be changed next year is the one about how George Bush is only for now, which almost brought the audience to its feet. It was after all a Washington crowd. But I am sure they can find some other name to use when the times come to show how things are truly mostly for now.

December

2007-12-03T09:43:00.000-05:00

It is December people! I have like so many things to get done it is not even funny. No not even. It is scary how much I need to get done and how the year is at and end. Here is a list:

Cards
Presents
Work
IGLA Registration Site
More cleaning, and more moving
Parties (lots of them, thankfully)

The joke is on me !

2007-11-29T10:59:00.000-05:00

Picture taken from: http://icanhascheezburger.com/

Finger Prints

2007-11-29T09:06:00.000-05:00

I been absent for a couple days, mostly because I am sick (got this nasty cold, and I am wiped, have no energy, and little inspiration for the blog, work or anything else). This is not the only reason, yesterday I went to have my biometrics taken at an immigration center, no I am not a criminal, I just want a Green Card, and this is part of the process. I was a little nervous, not sure why, I just was. At 8:30 I left my place, even if my appointment was not until 10 am, the center was somewhere south of Alexandria, in a place I had never been to, and my driving instructions told me that it would take me 40 minutes to get there, I thought I would give myself 1.5 hours, just in case I get lost. You must all think I am exaggerating, but not, at the bottom of the notice I got from the INS, it said that if one misses one’s appointment, the process is considered abandoned, and I have not been here for 7 years (almost 8) to have anything considered abandoned.

Where was I, ohh yes, so off I went, across the river, and down 395, then up Fairfax County Parkway, after some ups and downs in Virginia’s country side, I got to the place at 9:30 or so. See good thing I gave myself time. I went in to a very anonymous looking facility and promptly got a form to fill and was told to then get a number and then wait. I sat down, filled the form and bonded with my people, of course the majority of people there were my people, so I felt right at home, it could have been El Salvador, or Mexico City, except for the Vietnamese people running the show. I filled the form and in true bureaucratic way, a secretary checked my form, and gave me a number, then told me to go sit in another part of the room and wait for my number to be called. I opened by Smithsonian Magazine and waited for a bit, then in like 15 minutes or so, my number got called. This ancient looking man, who had to be like 150, took my fingerprints, all of them, there were like 20 prints and then my mug shot. I shaved, so I looked decent. Just like that in 5 minutes it was all over, all my nerves and anxiety for nothing. At 10 am I was out of the center and in my car reviewing my shopping list. How better to celebrate than by some shopping. Off I went to Homo Depot and got new lights for the apartment and then off the Targay where I was just looking for some decorations and miscellaneous stuff, but ended up just getting the random stuff, cuz none of the decorations were nice enough.

The rest of the day I spent inside, trying to get over the cold and going through papers and crap that needs to be sorted in the apartment.

Craig’s list works !!!

2007-11-26T12:24:00.000-05:00

I am going to let the Argentine blog about thanksgiving in detail; I am just going to say it was wonderful. A four day weekend full of fun, food and cleaning, doesn’t happen every week, and I can say that by the time Sunday night came, I was tired, but extremely satisfied with all the progress we had made, and the food we had cooked, the little shopping, but to top it all, Craig’s list made us three miracles. As you all know the previous weekend we had posted 3 items to be sold, and I had never sold anything like this, so I was afraid no one would be interested, and that the adds would be forgotten by new adds posted after we posted ours. Well it was not that way at all, here are the three miracles of Craig’s List:

1. Friday morning this dude calls and asks about the Futon, I had had calls for the entertainment center, but not for the futon. We were having breakfast, considering what to do that day, and someone calls for the futon. We arrange a time, the dude needs to get this car someone is going to lend him. Finally at the time convened he picks it up and pays almost the price we set. Someone else had emailed about the frame, and some other person had called enquiring about it.

2. Tuesday of this week, a get a call at work about the Entertainment center, a monstrosity that I inherited from the two previous inhabitants of my abode. The guy was going to pick it up Saturday at 11, which created havoc on my schedule, but I decided to sacrifice 30 mins of swimming. Friday night, we start to take it apart and it gets damaged. Anyway it was a large piece and had so many nuts and bolts and pieces that even with out best drawing efforts, putting it back together would have been a pain. Then on Saturday he called saying he was running late, and we had brunch plans and things to do the rest of the day so good riddance. I proceeded to go to Brunch at Tabard Inn and loved it.

3. Saturday night, at dinner, I get a call from someone interested in the one piece I never thought would sell, the microwave stand. It is ugly, and the Microwave in it is old and useless. I thought that one we are going to have to eat. And dismantle and take to the dumpster. Well no, not at all. A girl called and said she was interested. We called Sunday and arranged for a pick up time, at said time she came, and paid the price and took it away. I even tried to give her the oven for free but she already had one. On Sunday I got another email enquire about the stand, so if she had not liked it, we had another buyer.

See the List works ! I am now one of its most devoted believers. So remember next time you need to sell or buy anything, just go to craigslist.

Something funny

2007-11-21T11:36:00.000-05:00

Two cute cartoons to make you laugh

The follow up ...

Both are courtesy of the Washington Post

Throw it out !!!

2007-11-21T09:10:00.000-05:00

This weekend as it has been already posted here, the Argentine and I, went through my closets and de-cluttered them. There were t-shirts from when I was 10 (I still fit in them, still being almost the same height), pants I no longer fit in (thanks North Carolina) sweaters and sweatshirts I no longer wear (thanks Consulting gig with little casual wear options), and papers, many papers and letters that had not been filed or shredded or anything. At first I was a bit apprehensive, being a pack-rat the whole process of sorting and getting rid of stuff always intimidates me, and having had a big enough apartment to just cart stuff into it, well I have not really had the need to get of things, there was/is always room to put something – except for the kitchen – but seeing how we are moving in together (see here and here) I really needed to get rid of stuff and make room.

Half way through the process, in between the laughs, the faces, the sorting and the mess, I realized how empowering the de-cluttering process would be. As the trash bags with clothes for Good Will got bigger, and the shredding of papers accelerated, and the space magically reappeared before my eyes, I felt better and better. It went to my head and I wanted to get rid of everything, we saw something I had not worn recently and I would say, lets get rid of it, but the Argentine would disagree and remind me that I need some clothes, I guess the hair on my back and chest not a shirt makes, ha,ha,ha (c’on laugh). The best part was when we got rid of these piece of furniture that had left behind by the previous dwellers of my apartment, and as we sorted through the crap in the little closet, and we finally disassembled, and took it out of the apartment, my little foyer became a foyer again.

The apartment is by no means ready for the move, but there is space in the closets. Some of the pieces of furniture are going to be sold and I am ready. I almost want the move to happen tomorrow, so that it is done with. Of course if the Argentine was to move in tomorrow, it would mean a very hurried Thanksgiving dinner, and I would be happy to do so, but I rather take my time. I am enjoying the cleaning process, and the making room process and the sorting and throwing out process. All these steps help my anal retentive mind assures me that we have made the right decision. The apartment is not this luxurious pad, but it is big enough, we will make it work.

PS. I could try and write something, about a little discussion that went on the Argentine’s site, but I for once will refrain. I am just going to say that I know it is the right decision.

Carols on the 15th … ??

2007-11-16T09:05:00.000-05:00

Yesterday as I drove back from the hinterlands, I was tired of stories on Iraq, the Presidential Campaign, inequality in America, etc. etc. So I changed the dial, and I was looking for some pop music to keep me company. Went to 107.3 but they had adds, try 99.5 they had some rap-hip-hop thingy that did not please me at all, finally I went to 97.1, the cheesiest radio station in town, but it was better than more on Hilary Clinton. All of sudden I start hearing something that could be a Christmas song, but could also just be the introduction to an old 80’s pop song. I wait and All I want for Christmas, played on. I was not dismayed, not was I revolted, I like carols and holiday music, at least as much as the next gay guy, but this early in the year? Thanksgiving is a week from yesterday, I would expect radio stations to wait at least another week, but no, no in DC, they had to go for it. My main complain with this early caroling is that by the time the Christmas comes around I am all caroled out. Back home the holiday music crazy is hardly as strong as here, first of all the Christmas Carols come in two versions, the old Spanish one, and the covers from Anglo-Saxon ones. Let’s just say that the later leave a lot to be desired off. So one week of old fashioned “Campanas de Belen” or the American standards were enough for me and the family.

Have you ever …

2007-11-16T09:03:00.000-05:00

• Read a book with such tiny print that three or four pages equal 25 in other books?
• Read a book that has so much information per paragraph that after 2 pages you feel like you need to rest your head and process stuff ?
• Read a book on the evolution of cooking written by and Oxford Historian?

Well if you have you can probably pass me the Cliff notes for the book I am reading now. If not brace yourselves because this will be a review that is going to take me 3 months to write. Of course in the mean time I am reading some rather trashy books too.

The let down

2007-11-15T11:20:00.000-05:00

Last night Project Runway debuted, and as much as I love the show, and I am a huge fan do not take me wrong, I can not help but report that I am a little disappointed. As usual the gaggle of gays came together to watch, and because it was such a fun group of people, even if we had watched the evening news, I would have had a good time. The show was good, it did not change from the tried and true formula, which is a good thing. They kept all the original judges and Tim, who are the core of the show. So far so good right, everything seems good, the same product placements the same exact editing and style to the show.

My big problem is with the contestants. There is no one that really impresses me or makes me want to root for them. Not one. We all know one of the contestants (someone much better than others) but he is most definitely not someone I would consider a favorite. The women on the show are all very drab and grunge for my taste, and the men are at least all out of the closet (yes even the straight one, is out of the straight closet, and made a point of saying so) and they are also a bit too emo for me. The one exception is the Costume Designer, who I am betting will go far, he might not win, because he is a little to showy and not fashion enough, but he has solid talent.

Anyhow, I am also guessing that as the weaker contestants get booted, the show will get more interesting and I will be able to pick up some favorites.

Isn’t exercise supposed to give energy?

2007-11-14T09:07:00.000-05:00

I have always heard the exercise, supposedly gives you energy. I am sorry to burst all y’all’s bubbles, because it does not. I know I am in no shape or form, but this past week and half I have been trying to get back into the swing of things. Slowly bur surely I assumed I would benefit from daily exercise to jump start my metabolism, and my energy levels.

In order to achieve this, I:

• Swam Saturday (and struggled, but I finished the practice)
• Skipped Sunday (have learned that I need one day off)
• Did spinning Monday
• Swam Tuesday (yesterday)

Last night, I saw a show on the Dover Intelligent Design Case on PBS (where else?) and then read for 30 minutes, and feel asleep promptly at 10:45 or so. Slept like a rock, and when the radio started playing at 6:30 am, I could not leave the bed. It was not the cold (it is not that cold yet) I was simply exhausted.

Oh well, what is a modern day homosexual to do, I will go to the gym today, so that I have time to do some laundry and more Christmas cards this evening before Project Runway.

Just had to get socks

2007-11-13T09:38:00.000-05:00

This is my second week back in DC, and I been struggling to get back into my routine, of cardio, and dinner, and some more cardio and work, etc, etc. If I only had a better metabolism, sigh, no I am not having a fat day, what I have been having is a couple of incompetent days. Let me explain, last Friday I packed both my bags, with work stuff and gym stuff, so that I would leave work and drive straight to the gym, work out and then go meet the Argentine. As planned I leave the office, call my Mom on the way to the gym and then after fighting traffic (the DC government is redoing the sidewalks in Rock Creek Parkway, they have been working on it for months now, causing traffic backups everyday, this is neither here nor there, I know) I get to Dupont, park the car and go into results to realize I had forgotten my sneakers. Yep, so I thought I will see if they sell them, and they do, but they were $89, and do I really want to fork out that much money, when they sneakers where home. No I did not think so. I went to the Argentine’s and read.

Yesterday – Monday – I left work and get to the gym, there was no swim practice, so I did spinning, and as I am changing I realize I have forgotten socks. Well I have many gym socks, but a bunch of them are old, and need replacing, so I sighed, walked to the reception and checked their socks, they had a 3 pairs for $11, and seeing how it was 5:55 and class was going to start at 6:15, I made my purchase and got over myself. Today I made sure I had packed everything. I even checked twice.

That time of the year again

2007-11-09T10:53:00.001-05:00

Like the anal retentive fag I am, I send Christmas cards, these year after a failed attempt at ordering in NY – they were too expensive – I visited “The Written Word” and bought 50 cards to start with (the list is made of 60 give or take between now and December when they are mailed). They are lovely cards (3 different motifs) all very minimal and in blue and silver hues. I liked them and best of all they were not as expensive as the beautiful Kate Spade ones I adored, but which came up to 3.50 a piece. Anyhow I went back home and put them aside, while I prepare the addresses of the people I need and I can actually get in the spirit of things and start writing Merry Christmases and Happy New Years and appreciations to all my friends and acquaintances. It takes time, but from experience I can tell that once you get going, it gets easier, and it is really helpful to start with the people you have the least to say, that way you get done with 20 or 25 in no time, and the fountain pen is writing just they way you like it. After this first batch, then the difficult ones start, cuz I like to write something, something that shows I really care and I am not just patting myself in the back for sending cards. So I never send cards with Best Wishes, Pablo, nah.

Well I am getting sidetracked here, yesterday I had to go buy a sympathy card on behalf of the swim team and I needed to buy a new fountain pen. I lost my old one. I like Lamy’s because they are sturdy, I like their medium nibs. Best of all they are cheap. So I found them and I bought myself a new one, and wanted to write a bit that night to get the pen going. I ended up at a store on L St, between 18th and Connecticut. I recommend it to everyone, they have a great service (the space is cramped) they had all kinds of pens and a huge Christmas Card selection. They had tons, and they had some beautiful ones. They also have some humorous, funny, modern ones. Aghh don’t you hate it when you have invested in something and 2 weeks later some better ones come your way. So frustrated, I know how ridiculous this is, I stress over the tiniest details, its one of my neurosis. But not to worry, since I need 10 more cards, I get to buy some of the new ones, and then I have to decide who gets what.

Ok, I think I have given away to much of my personality in this post, oh well.

Hello Commute my old friend !

2007-11-08T13:48:00.000-05:00

Being back in DC, for me at least means one thing, commuting to Virginia every day. When I first moved to DC, Virginia was my home base, I lived and worked there for the first 3 years and as I became gayer and gayer (now gayer than gay) I moved into the city and never looked back. Now I would not move to Virginia, mostly because of its politics and because there is no swim practice there (ha,ha,ha, bad joke). Any how, so my problem is that most of the places that I work in are in Virginia that is where my company has contacts and where engagements are. This time I am repeating, working for a non-governmental yet non-private entity that has 2 locations, one Downtown (where I am typing this) and one in Ashburn, where the IT department is located. Unfortunately for me my job is in Ashburn. I tell people that I am semi local, since I drive 35 miles each way to get to work.

The drive is not bad; it is across some beautiful parkways, the GW and Georgetown Pike, which are meandering roads that cross the very northern tip of Virginia, alongside the Potomac. The scenery is beautiful, the problem is the roads, if there is one accident or problem, it will take me 2 hours to get back home. It is the nature of the business, or as a former boss of mine says “It is what it is”. Obviously, I try to make people aware I live in DC, and since most of them know me, they believe me and let me come in early and leave early. The key to coming into the city is getting here before 6, because at 6 for some reason only known to the traffic Gods, the entry points to Rock Creek get drowned in traffic and it just takes another 30 minutes to reach Mount Pleasant. The good thing is I managed to get a new working arrangement where I work in Ashburn 3 days and I am in town 2. It is not bad; it means I only drive 210 miles every week. The bad news for you is that with all that time in the car, I will be getting plenty of inspiration from NPR again.

The Uncommon Reader a Book Review

2007-11-07T12:28:00.000-05:00

Another book review, this time, a little novella called “The Uncommon Reader”, by the same author of “The Madness of King George III” and “History Boys”. It is a terrific read, go check it out at the Argentine’s

Theater Whore (or every gay man's fantasy)

2007-11-06T12:51:00.000-05:00

My last week in NY was very hurried, I had lots to finish and I was excited I was coming back to a semi local project. M and L, wanted to party like it was 1989, but I remember 1989 and I was not in for a week of late evenings and tens of G&T’s. I thought and thought, and the solution came to me via the NYT Theater page, why not just get tickets for shows, and then have an excuse to not have to go out. Monday I got my credit card out and bought three tickets, one for a Broadway tradition, one for a new show very off-Broadway and the last one for the next big hit. So happily I did what any other theater loving fag would in NY, watch a show every night.

The first show is Forbidden Broadway, this year’s show is called Rude Awakening, and it contains spoofs on Spring Awakening, Company, Grey Gardens, Les Mis, The Little Mermaid, Lion King, etc, etc. Almost every show was made fun of. I specially enjoyed the ones on Spring Awakening, that were dead on and made me think about how Broadway manages to be very shocking at first, but after they have done something, it becomes almost main stream. The show chide all the other shows, for being too commercial, for not being original enough, but it does it with love and admiration and with a big dose of reason. The women seated behind me, clearly a pack of Midwesterners on the prowl, thought they had come to see a completely different show, and when they saw the small theater and the lack of great decorations were a bit disappointed, but as soon as the songs started targeting the better loved musicals knowing by everyone they were fine. The leader had to apologize for choosing this show and not The Phantom.

The second show was a small production, with three actors in a theater that holds maybe 60 audience members. It is called Speech and Debate, and it is the story of three teenagers that come together for a Speech and Debate Club, because they are all outcasts, the club allows them to tap into the schools resources for purposes all their own. There is the attention starved girl, the new gay guy and the nerd. I can not give the plot away, cuz I have a feeling we will be seeing this show in DC soon, it managed to meld blogging, chatting and a traditional school format very well. The show was produced by Roundabout Theater Company as part of the Underground Program. This program tries to produce new author’s work, in a professional environment. One of the strengths of the show was the setting; it looked and felt like a classroom, and the direction. For this piece the Roundabout got same person that directed Avenue Q. This is why I like their productions; they try something new but make sure it is never amateurish. I am sure Studio Theater will have to bring this to DC, besides the production was cheap.

The last show I saw, as Young Frankestein, the new Mel Brooks musical. It is a big show, I mean big, with big stars, great sets, special effects. It has it all except great songs; well I guess Deep Love is a memorable song, but not really a musical hallmark song. The same criticism can be made of The Producers, it has no timeless songs, that can be taken out of context. Still the show is worth it, the cast is great and the story is very funny. I do recommend buying the tickets at the box office, because no one else (except scalpers) will have them in the near future. Andrea Martin, playing Frau Blucher, steals the entire show, even from the ever watching eye of Megan Mullaly, and a nymphomaniac Bride of Frankestein, er Frankesteen.

Brief Intermission

2007-11-05T11:26:00.000-05:00

Last week, i was prevented from posting because my customer blocked all blogs. It was a busy week and need to blog about that, but I am back !!! I am in DC ( DC'ish, Ashburn really) but I get to be in town again.

More Updates later, just wanted to say Hello

Bad Car Day

2007-10-30T08:35:00.000-05:00

Last Sunday Manolito (my car has a name, and that name is Manolito) decided to pull a stunt on us. We were doing the usual going to Safeway to pick up groceries for the Argentine and for a pumpkin pie I had requested. We left the grocery store get in the car and it refuses to start. We try one more time, it refuses to start again. I start to panic, but the Argentine starts thinking, he thinks it is the battery, and that all we need is for someone to jump start the car. We call Geico and we wait [this post now goes into a linear mode to fully express what happened]

3:30 pm we waiting for Geico tow truck
4:30 pm no truck in site, luckily for us a AAA truck just came into the shopping center, so I go flag it down, he jumpstarts the car. Yay !! all is good, he tells us drive for 20 minutes or so, until the battery recharges
4:50 pm we drive, drive a little more, we even go to Autozone, where they tell us we need to bring the battery in for them to check it
5:00 pm we go back to the Argentine’s
5:01 pm try to start the car, and it died again
5:10 pm decide to check the battery at Autozone, we start by tacking it out of the car, well the Argentine does all the work, I look and cheer and bring the tools (ha,ha,ha). No seriously he is the butch one.
5:30 pm get to Autozone, where they tell us the battery is not charged. Decide on buying a new one, they do not have the one that my car needs, so they tell us they will charge the battery for 30 mins. We wait, and wait and wait
6:00 pm leave Autozone and go try the battery, guess? Yes the battery did not charge.
6:15 pm Drive to my place to get my jumper cables
6:45 pm Try to jump start the car in the hope of driving it to my place where it can be parked and not moved for a week, the Argentine’s street is cleaned Tuesdays and Wednesdays so the car could not be just left there.
6:50 pm Manolito’s electrical system is fine, the windows and the lights turn on and function but the engine is just not starting.
6:53 pm Call Geico to get another person to come help
6:55 pm Eat dinner chez Paradigm, the stew was really good
7:30 pm Tow truck person calls, only he is not in a tow truck he is in a green Cadillac,
7:45 pm we loose all hopes, even after jump starting again, Manolito shuts down within 2 minutes
7:46 pm I freak out
7:47 pm the Argentine helps me keep it all under control and we decide to leave the car there and he will try and get a new battery Monday

… (this means 16 hours go by)

11:00 am the Argentine suggests we call VW Road Side Assistance, since he car is under guarantee.
11:10 am I call and presto, they will take the car to a dealership in the DC Area for free
11:20 am I call the dealership in Tysons Corner, the car is under guarantee
11:30 am try the dealership in Friendship Heights and see if they will take my car, since I usually go to the one in Tysons, they say Yes
11:40 am call VW Road Side, tell them to take the car to the DC Dealership, they say the tow truck will be there within an hour. Give them the Argentine’s number (no silly thoughts, this was all business) and since he is home it should not be a problem.
12:40 pm No sign of the tow truck (actually a flat bed one)
1:00 pm VW called the Argentine to say they had sent another one since the first company had not dispatched the driver
1:10 pm I call VW to get the information on this new company and email it to the Argentine
2:20 pm the first company shows up and they pick up Manolito and take him to the dealership

End of the ordeal, so as you can see it took a full day to resolve the issue. To say I was nervous, anxious and worried sick is an understatement. Then to top it all off I had to travel, so Monday was all done via phone, email and good vibes sent back and forth between DC and the corner of Broadway and 38th. I know it can be much worse, so I am just stating the facts and thanking my man, for helping me out.

Two Different Cities

2007-10-25T09:25:00.000-05:00

Last Tuesday I had to dramatically opposite experiences, both here, and both tell plenty about this city. The first one was a farewell for one of our team mates, and for some bizarre reason the people at the office decided to take her to Dave and Busters. I have never been a fan of arcades, or video games, probably my lack of grace, equilibrium and a long attention span, I have just never been able to play arcade games. Not me, not ever. I went to the place located in 42nd Street, right just west of 7th Avenue. It is probably the most horrid space in the entire island. You walk half a block full of LCD displays, adds, lights and bulbs that flash in every imaginable hue. The Red Lobster is right in the intersection of 42nd and 7th, and the one thing that kept capturing my attention was this huge lobster in the facade, like the Earth it kept turning on an axis and opening and closing its claws.

To get into D&b you pass all this horridness and walk into an empty lobby, go up a couple flight of stairs, pass a Ruby Tuesday's and finally you enter the Dave and Busters. It is at that time that you leave Manhattan and you enter America, this generic America where everything everywhere looks exactly the same. The drinks, the space, the people, the menus and the food. For the 2 hours I stayed there, talking to the customers and making nice, I could have been in Fargo, or Atlanta. The place was so generic that the only thing that kept me thinking I was in NY was that I had passed the New Victory Theater on my way into the space. It was horrible, the food was bad, the drinks were weak. I even played some of the games and made enough points to exchange for something at the end of the night. When I walked into the little store where you choose your price I saw some Care Bears, and knowing that there is a Mexican Care bear, called Amigo Care Bear, I thought i will get the Argentine one. They did not have it, so I gave my points to L and she got herself a little cute blue thingy for her desk.

Finally at 9 we all left D&B, I was not very hungry, but needed some chow before going to bed. M decided to take me to this sushi place he likes which happened to be somewhere in the path to my hotel - on the other side of town. We walked to Korea Town, on 32nd and Broadway and made our way East on 32nd. It is a strip full of Asian places, so I thought,we are going into one of these. No, it was not to be, we walked into building in the middle of the street and take the elevator to the 3rd floor. As the doors opened, we reach a second lobby and we open the only door there, and as by magic we were transported into one of those uber cool bars/restaurants/Karaoke place( this was Korea town after all) you see in the movies.

The space was all white and grey, the booths were not booths but benches separated by white drapes that created and defined the tables and the spaces, the bar as long and sleek. Every single kind of alcohol you could wish for was offered, and in the middle of the room, a huge Buddhist bell, and a transparent floor. Everyone there was Asian, everyone, I stuck out like an alien. Anyhow we sit down, they bring us the many menus, we order 4 rolls and some drinks, me being the non Asian, they forget to bring my drink, but they make up my bringing a couple 20 minutes later and they most weird sushi I have ever had was served. The rice was red, M said that red rice is the rice of the poor, but that it makes really good sushi,and each roll had more ingredients than I an remember. It was all good, even the one that was flamed on its way to the table. We ate the sushi and after a admiring the space, we paid the bill and I headed back to my hotel.

These are the 2 New Yorks, the one of the tourists who know no better, and the one of the locals who maybe know a little too much.

The worst bed in the bed ... not

2007-10-25T09:00:00.000-05:00

After three nights at the Hotel in the East Side (a Ramada) which was not as bad as they reputation puts them, I can now say that the worst bed in the world, is that bed that they advertise everywhere the Tempur-pedic bed. Let me explain it feels like a block of foam, and you just kinda lay there and it does mold to the body shape and all that, but I can still not get out of my head the fact that I feel like I am sleeping in a foam mattress and that just doesn't suit me. My bed back home is firm, and no pun intended, i like firm beds. So this whole being absorbed in to the bed felt so unnatural to me, also I read at night just before bed - do not listen to the Argentine who will say that is not the case - when I am traveling it is nice to read before bed, cuz it relaxes my otherwise high strung mind and allows me to sleep without the aid of Tylenol PM. Anyhow so this is the main problem with this bed, it is just designed to sleep, not to read on it.
Because the mattress adopts your body form it is hard to read, because there is no support, so I ended up rolling around, and moving this way and that way and finally had to lay on my back and read with the book above my head, but then my arms get tired of holding the book, it doesn't help that I am reading a hard cover. So yes this bed is not made for reading, that is for sure.
On the other hand as weird and alien as the material seemed to me, at first I thought what kind of cheap ass bed is this, one does really sleep in it well. Even today I managed to sleep in till 7, decided to skip the gym, since I have a 20 block walk to the office and hauled my sorry ass and my bags to the office in the middle of the rain and the wind.

East Side Story

2007-10-23T08:45:00.000-05:00

How funny of me to name this entry East Side Story, but that is because for the last two weeks I stayed in Chelsea and Mid town West, which were nice. But I knew the areas so there was little surprise, I knew what to expect of the barren that is the Garment district next to Penn Station and was entertained in the streets of Chelsea by the gym, the stores, the restaurant and the passers by. This week, I had to find a cheap but good hotel and they only thing that look right was on the East Side, to be more precise at the corner of Lexington and 30Th.

After work, I walked through Midtown until I found Lexington (It was a heck of a walk, like 6 huge blocks) and then walked down to 30th. I was not sure what I was going to find, I am not even sure the neighborhood has a name, but it is lovely. I was won over when i saw no less than 3 sushi restaurants by the hotel, and what seems like an upscale American dinner thing called Penelope across the street. The neighborhood feels quite like a neighborhood, a lot of brownstones and apartment building - with door mans of course - a lot of little stores, and dry cleaners and things like that.

The hotel this week is fine, the bed is a total disaster - that is worth another entry though. The carpets could use a change, and the furniture is circa 1984, but other than that the room is spacious (I am not saying big, I am saying spacious),clean and the bathroom is enough. It is lacking some space for my toiletries, but hey the entire La Prairie collection of potions doesn't fit in most places. So far so good, they even have complimentary breakfast, but I woke up too late today to make use of it.

If I have to walk one more block

2007-10-23T08:27:00.000-05:00

NY is a city of pedestrians, and I had always thought that I was a walker. I like to walk and I am infamous for parking far away from my destination and walk around an entire neighborhood. But NY is different. Last week, I was going out with the co-workers to dinner and we walked here and there, and back and then we walked some more and finally got to the restaurant. Of course after dinner there was some more walking.

When I got back to the hotel and called the Argentine, it finally struck me. I was tired of walking - I have been tired for 2 weeks now. It was like a rebellious stance, where the driver in me, worse the commuter in me, had just decided that there was no way I could walk another block. Of course the next morning I walked to work and walked to a show and even walked back to the hotel, but that was cuz I had no cash to pay for the cabs, and because I had dessert with my dinner and thought it better to just walk and at least burn some calories.

I never thought I would say this, but I miss my car and I miss not having to walk everywhere, specially where there are all these slow tourists and people everywhere crowding the sidewalks and walking like they were on a a procession or something, instead of late for work.

There I said it, aghh I became an angry New York pedestrian in all of 2 days. Hey at least it will help me no gain more weight ? Maybe,please,,,

Back to DC

2007-10-19T11:44:00.001-05:00

Been busy at work this past 2 days, I get to go back home soon ... Yay !!!

The Brooklyn Follies a Review

2007-10-17T11:08:00.001-05:00

Another Book Review at the Argentine's

The Brooklyn Follies by Paul Auster

I actually liked it quite a bit, even if it took me only 1 month to read.

Starting at 6 am

2007-10-17T08:01:00.000-05:00

For the first time in my life I woke up at 6, not be at work at 7, but to hit the gym before work. Somehow I feel invigorated but my legs are about to "give". One of the problems faced by social people like myself is that after work, we want to go socialize, and when you are in a little town like Wilkesboro, well its easy to go the gym, cuz there is nothing really to do. NYC on the other hand is completely different proposition all together and the two coworkers love to go out and they do not have to do much to convince me to just tag along. So workouts in the morning - tripple yawn - here I come.

Next on the list

2007-10-16T09:24:00.000-05:00

Today as I browse the NYT, found this (see the above picture) so I guess that is one of the things I will try and do this week. The following is from the article and links to it:

The shark has landed. On Tuesday Damien Hirst’s killing-machine-in-a-box begins its three-year stay at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It lies in wait on the second floor, close to a bank of south-facing windows, entombed in a steel-and-glass tank that suggests a collaboration between Donald Judd and Sol LeWitt. On sunny days the light should intensify the azure cast of the 4,360 gallons of formaldehyde. After dusk, when I saw it, the window reflects the tank back at you, doubling the piece into a shark gantlet.

Vegan and drinks

2007-10-16T07:57:00.000-05:00

I will start by saying that I am not a vegetarian, never been, probably never will, but I am open to try anything, at least once. Last night, the coworkers took me out to Gobo, a strict vegetarian place in the East Village, where there was not even butter to spread on the bread. The location is beautiful, an open kitchen, a long communal table in the center and sets of tables all around. The restaurant is all in blond wood, and the china is Asian inspired. One of those places with real pretty silverware.

But enough of the decor, we reviewed the wine list and chose a Spanish White, Albarinio, from North Western Spain and ordered 5 small dishes to share. And they were all very good, the best of all a set of soy cutlets grilled in a teriyaki sauce. They were yummy, I mean they were "meat like", they were crispy, they sauce was not too sweet. Just perfect. Then we also had some spinach dumplings, that were terrific and some fried rolls all using tofu or soy one way or another. Finally, I had order sweet potato and yuka fries - I was good and did not eat them all, actually was too full so only had 1/4 of the order - but they were perfect. Crispy and not greasy, just perfect. Then the coworkers guilted me about eating fries, and hence my good behavior.

After Gobo we visited a couple of bars in the Village, I sticked to water until we stumbled upon this little bar, Massif Central, a charming little restaurant with a terrific bartender who made the most complicated cocktails I have ever had. There I had a Barbelle, a champagne cocktail, with bitters, and different citrus juices, raspberry liquor, too many ingredients too mention, but it was one of those drinks that is pretty to look at and great to drink. So that was my evening, NYC, like the Argentinian says has the best restaurants in America because there is a culture around food, and enough people and money to keep all these unique 40 people places running. Coming from DC, where we rarely eat out of the norm, last night was refreshing and exciting.

Friday

2007-10-12T09:06:00.001-05:00

Today is my 5Th day here, and its all been good, still have no desk, but I have gotten my work done, have enrolled at a Gym, have explored Chinatown, the East Village and even - gasp - visited Alphabet city. Yeps, it helps to work with two young straight coworkers that make a ton of money, so been whisked away to many new and exotic places. For some reason when I was told I was coming here I never thought about the garment district - do they really need another gay - or the East Village, but that is where the Girl resides, and you know how girls make the world go round.

Today the Argentine is coming, and that thought alone makes me smile. He is not coming alone, the Diplomat and one of the Architects are also coming. With the Diplomat we are going to see Spring Awakening which won the Tony, and they say it is one of the best musicals to hit the big white way in a while, I will report next week.

Today seems like Fall is on its way, me thinks this will be a year with a quick fall and a very prompt winter. Lets hope not, but that is what my instincts tell me.

Have a great weekend y'all.

Cold and gray

2007-10-10T10:18:00.000-05:00

Incredibly, sometimes even NY can get boring and depressing. Today it is overcast and rainy and it seems that this is the way it is going to be for a couple more days.It is one of those days where all I want to do is get in bed and curl up, or just fall asleep. On of the problems I have been facing here is that I have no access to chat, so I feel completely disconnected, and I know that is bullshit, but when you are sitting on a training room waiting for a desk and equipment and have no one to talk to, that is the way I feel. I do not want to sound whiney, but I am just struggling today, maybe it is the weather. I think I am going to go with that, and blame it for my mindset.

Today I am thinking of going and watching a movie or just walking around a bit after work, need to find a cute place to sit down and finish "The Brooklyn Follies" which is this month's book club selection and send an email with my review, since I will miss the discussion.