alex graduated

...with honors!! :):):)

weekend

My day is like this:

I get up at the crack o'dawn as usual and spend the morning in bed. Toast and coffee, oh wait there's no milk or bread, downstairs, back up for toast and coffee. Then back to bed.

Around 12 I finally make it out of bed, out to the street, take a stroll, there's no way you can stay indoors on such a beautiful day.

So why not something to read and an icy caña on a shady terraza? Yes, yes, that will do. And then off to the plant store, because here's un update on the plants: THEY ARE SO HAPPY. Except little cherry tomato number two. He is being devoured by evil spiders. Plant store, check.

Back home for a solo lunch, impressive nap, and then an afternoon apartment jam session of heavy rock (going to THIS next weekend!!!!!), drinking the iced tea we made yesterday, it's SO DELICIOUS, which is most definitely a result of the robust mint that is taking over aforementioned plant bed.

Back out to the street, have another drink, its 7 p.m. but the afternoon is only just beginning!

And then, as I'm out the door, a nettlesome thought occurs to me. Because, like the evil spiders of poor little cherry tomato, it has been plaguing my mind lately:

Am I really thinking of abandoning this?

summer---come to me

Wanna find myself by the sea,

In another's company, by the sea...

tuesday

Oh, timing, we are slaves to the flowing hands of your ticking clock.

Please excuse my whimsicality...

But I lately find myself in this state, a bit entranced by the coincidence of things, how infinite, unconnected events have a way of all coming together sometimes, making some sort of surreal and ephemeral harmony in life..

It's that sort of feeling, where you realize the times are strange, and you are intrinsically aware that the memory of this feeling, the nostalgia of it, will forever be present in your life and mind.

Could this strange sensation be what they call...youth?

Forget narcissism. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'm enamored with my age, and it feels so good. I must make love to it on a daily basis.

saturday

Today I was thinking of all the delightful things Vickie has sent me since I have been living in Madrid..

My mother, like many of her kind, loves to shower me with gifts. The sheer pleasure she gains by gifting me with anything--whether it be wise knowledge like a piece of invented health advice or something material like a little black dress--I have to admit that I often verge on being a spoiled-by-mom girl. But come on--who isn't, if at least to a certain degree?

Since we see each other once a year these days [:( ], she must sometimes expel bursts of generosity through sending packages. She will easily drop 60 dollars to send an exploding one-month-late Christmas package. Inside will be all sorts of goodies. I'm not kidding. Granted, they can rarely compare with those of the college days, but that is circumstantial.

And in any case, there are equally impressive curiosities like three pounds of peanut m&ms, or a pair of wedge sandals. Once even, a mini and dismantled fake Christmas tree complete with all adornments, and always, assorted paper products. Oh mama, you know me so well...

This came once. It's a notepad that she scattered with inspirational thoughts, some of her own and some of the world.

If you know Vickie--you know she is REALLY into quotes. It's a problem, we think she has an addiction, she might need help.

Enjoy the very brief selection I have made of this awesomeness (there must be at least 50):

some photos

I've sort of checked out to vacation early. It is unnecessary to go into detail regarding this comment.

I don't have much to say today, besides that I feel like I need to get out of Madrid, and I'm thinking that it must have something to do with the last few opportunities in which I missed my chance.

But then I feel planted, to the city, and its often anonymous weekends. I live for them. So much that I sometimes but more like always take long ones.

I don't have much to say today because I am checked out on vacation, a sort of forced repose period that stems from the accumulation of too many nights with little sleep, and then the total indulgence of not leaving the house once during a stormy day.

So I think I will post pictures because I have several to share from random recent times. Here you are:

Alex and I had the same hole in our sock...

...we were really excited about it...

Maria and Diego...this picture doesn't really do the little dude justice in terms of cuteness, but I think it shows a lot about his character: he is a TORNADO. Anyway, Maria does look awfully cute so all in all, I give it a ten.

Easter brunch, how could we not?

Found some random folder on this card with pictures of bears n'stuff in North Carolina. It's nice.

This was actually a while ago...Spanish "field day" in the park with the whole school. It was a lot different than mine as a child, and I wish someone had told me the planning committee needed help, or rather, creation. Oh well, better luck next year. And in any case, despite its lack of organization, it was clearly a fun time. Take note of little Mario in the background, easily the strangest child in the class.

Classic San Isidro Sunday. Here we have the chulapo get-up, men from ages 0-99 dress like this in celebration of Madrid's patron saint. We could talk about how "typical spanish" this man is for days. The word chulapo is an old school word that refers to, in all their castizo (traditional Castilian) glory, Madrileños.

San Isidro Sunday three hours later: rained out. Sorry chulapas, show's over!

Don't you love when you are roaming around town and see something cool like this big-breasted woman, and then seconds later you realize you've been there once before (but hadn't the slightest clue as to were you were)? Such are the outcomes of a Saturday night.

tarsier skull

Did you know that, in relation to body weight, the tarsier is the mammal with the largest eyes in the world? Here's a picture of a tarsier skull to give you an idea. Those eyes were bigger than both this little guy's brain AND heart!

toy boats

I am a firm believer that anyone can learn english as a second language without too much struggle, mainly because it has become such an international language. But if it weren't for this reason...I wouldn't agree that it was an easy one to learn...

I am no expert on languages unfortunately, but I do know that there is a big difference between the two that I call my own, that being the phonetics.

Learning a second language is never easy in terms of phonetics (especially for adults whose mouths have lost their malleability), English is particularly tricky in this aspect.

Take John, for example. He's from England or something and knows not a single thing about the spanish language. By gunpoint, force him to read the sentence "Tengo un gato en mis pantalones." If just one single mistake slips from his tongue, you and him both know what's next...

...in another room, have an accomplice perform similarly with Juan, a Spaniard who knows no more English than John does spanish. He will read "I have a cat in my pants."

Do either triumph? Do both fail?

John will be fine. He will sound incredibly stupid, naturally, but will stumble through the syllables pronouncing each one as it looks on paper. Juan, however, is surely going to fail. Just as he might say "boAT" instead of "boat" (hear this mistake all the time), he would probably read the sentence as such: "Ee av-eh a cat in may pant."

Not even the publishers can get it right....can you spy two words here that rhyme?