A little bit of everything
Thursday, February 21, 2008
The week started on a less than cheerful note when on Tuesday, coming back to work after President's Day, I found that a colleague and fellow countrywoman had jumped from the 19th floor of the U.N. building. I did not know her personally but Uruguay being what it is, the name rings a bell. As usual with all news, at the beginning the details were not very accurate though they eventually they got them right. I would hate to be one of the security guards that found her. Through a friend of a friend of a friend, I was already treated to some gory details.
On a technological aside: I am still struggling to make MisterHouse work on the old laptop. My total ignorance in all things Linux does not help. I keep going from a tutorial to a cheat sheet in order to understand the commands. I have no idea of what I am doing but it is very interesting nonetheless.
And on a new, different idea: I am looking into "volunteer vacations". I think I have already decided on the organization (CrossCultural Solutions) and the place (Peru). Later on, if I enjoy it as much as I think I will, I'd like to try Ghana and Laos. I will be attending an info meeting on March 4th and I'll probably leave in April, if there are still places available.
As of the near future, I will be leaving for D.C. either tonight or tomorrow morning. And snow is on the way!!!!!!
Minimum one drink per set
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
I hadn't laughed so hard in quite a while. The two classic gin martinis might have helped but the show itself was hilarious. Matthew Broderick, Donna Murphy, Kristen Johnston, Seth Rudetsky, Rachel Dratch, Richard Kind, Claudia Shear, Dayle Reyfel and Eugene Pack reading the most moronic passages from the autobiographies of some pretty dumb and full of shit celebrities. Comment on the side: Matthew Broderick is very cute in person. I guess he just does not photograph well. After the show I joined Pam, Bettina, Julie and her friend for dinner at an Indian restaurant on the corner of 100th and Broadway.
And now I am working on the Punta del Este photobook. I am afraid I am in a very sleepless mood.
On my way back home
Track 3. 42nd St. Last crosstown.
Theory and practice
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Theoretically I should have gone to the gym and spent a few hours at the Library, working. Real life had other plans: lazy coffee in bed while surfing, humongous pizza at Patsy's, a lousy movie where I promptly fell asleep and back home, trying to digest the pizza and getting ready for dinner with Pam, Julie, Matteo and a friend of Julie's. The dinner part might not happen though because they will be arriving in town around 8.00 PM and by the time they will be ready to go out it might be too late for dinner. Not that that bothers me. Right now the mere thought of food triggers crushing nausea.
Well, I do have an hour or so to get some work done ...
Bed and out
At the Fubar
Friday, February 15, 2008
Wondering whether to leave or not. Been here since 8.30 and I think the alternative plan (dancing at Cielo) will not materialize. Reading about their "strict door policy" was enough for me not to want to go. Given the gazillion things I have lined up for tomorrow and given how much I need to pee, I think I am indeed leaving . . .
Regular mascara
For the first half of Dianne Reeves' concert I kept choking up. By the time she sang the last words to Windmills of your Mind I had tears streaming down my cheeks. On a non-waterproof mascara day!
Is the sound of distant drumming
just the fingers of your hand ?
pictures hanging in a hallway
and the fragment of this song
half remembered names and faces
but to whom do they belong ?
when you knew
that it was over
in the autumn of goodbyes
for a moment
you could not recall the color
of his eyes !
Marc and I ended the evening at Toast where I was the oldest customer until a couple of professors showed up.
A gem
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Just came across this ... can´t resist sharing it ...
My artwork is my deepest emtions and thoughts transcribed into a visual context exalting myself from old and negative emotions and to own my truth that my concious mind cannot envision. My art penetrates my subconcious enabling me to gauge what I feel and the condition of my soul.
Gem therapy is an alternative form of healing used as tools to strenghten, protect, and heal the mind, body, and spirit. Each amulet designed have been finely selected to attune personal needs and act as a talisman as well.
Gems and minerals...
An exercise in frustration
Misterhouse is not communicating with my Home Director module so I tried Heyu, which is simply refusing to install. I found somebody out there with the same problem, but the solution doesn't seem to work.
So the heck with them for today. Now I am looking into changing the image on this blog header. I downloaded the original and will be tweaking it with the GIMP. I added a Google calendar but the pop-up is too big for the page margins. Gotta fix that too. And I definitely have to finish the photobook of Punta del Este. So glad a long weekend is on the horizon.
Speaking of frustration, I fired off a less than happy e-mail to the company in charge of the cafeteria at work today. No breakfast and the perspective of a long day and I was ready for some decent food, which, obviously, was nowhere to be seen. I headed to the very last resort, the sandwich station, where a dozen people stood immobile. I waited a short while and then lost it. I must have speed walked back to my office and my computer. In the e-mail I made sure to mention the mice that can often be seen walking around.
I do not live by bread alone
Kaveri, Pam's young client, was over tonight for dinner (she is a tiny 22 years old with gorgeous, huge dark eyes, long, dark eyelashes and pouty lips - I can't believe I fed her! I should have killed her as soon as she set foot in my house!). Pam bought the groceries, I improvised the cooking (spicy sautéed Bruxelles sprouts with scallions, sautéed fake chicken with sesame seeds and orange marmalade, sautéed cauliflower and onions and baked sweet potatoes - they are both vegetarians). We topped it off with some fancy fruit alfajores and orange rum.
Given that today I was also out for lunch and that I have basically pigged out the whole week, I think I will have to run on the treadmill at full speed, on a level 10 incline setting, for at least a couple of months. I might burn the calories and I might also say goodbye for good to my knees. I'll think about it at breakfast tomorrow.
On a less basic needs subject, Marc, acting now as my own personal cultural attaché, has lined me up a few shows:
Thursday February 14: Dianne Reeves at the Apollo
Monday February 18: Celebrity Autobiography
Thursday March 6: Betrayed
Lunch with the geeks
Monday, February 11, 2008
Golden and red tomatoes, mozzarella di bufala with garlic marinated roasted peppers. My first course at Cibo, where I had a fun lunch with my fellow Taggers (Technological Advisory Group).
An international week-end
Sunday, February 10, 2008
I am back from a prolonged brunch. Lots of food and wine and an interesting conversation. In attendance mostly Spaniards and South Americans from work. Friday it had been dinner with Japanese friends and Saturday it was a German evening. Bettina invited a friend of hers, a German physicist with a background as a semi-professional ballroom dancer, very eclectic interests and an endearing quirkiness. He seemed to click with Pam. Soon they were deep in conversation with subjects spanning from Indian writers to Lebanese hotels, PBS and BBC radio. He walked back home with us, promptly accepting an invitation to come up and ended up staying until 3.30 AM.
Needless to say, I have had no time to go through my list of to dos. I haven't called all the friends I wanted to call, haven't sent all the e-mails I wanted to send. I haven't really played with Ubuntu much. Pam will be here shortly and I want to explore a series of links tonight:
Level Club
Saturday, February 9, 2008
This building is fantastic. I wasn't even aware it existed until yesterday. I had a very lively dinner at Fumiko's, a stylist, with Hiromi, a make-up artist, Bettina, who's in the fashion industry and Pam, with her fashion degree. A gathering with women like this and you are guaranteed a good time. I, of course, loved Fumiko's look and her layers of black clothes. I don't know what's with that style, but I love it. My ex-hubby used to call it my Vietnamese costume and recently at work somebody commented I was dressed like Bin-Laden. I don't care. I am mesmerized by black layers.
Today I am chopping my hair off, probably something radical, given that there is not that much hair to cut anyways. In the evening we are invited for dinner at Bettina's. She too lives in the UPS and I will be salivating once again. If my place wasn't so damn convenient for work I would move to the UPS. Either that or the LES.
In the restroom
Pam, Bettina and me in the restroom at the St. Regis. After chatting up a girl from somewhere in middle America, she took this photo with my phone.
Here I am surrounded by pretentious people
Kernels and martinis
Thursday, February 7, 2008
I slept squeezed between two laptops: my regular MacBook and my "new" A30 running Ubuntu. Yesterday the friendly folks from the Help Desk presented me with an old laptop from their obsolete inventory. I installed Ubuntu and spent a good chunk of the night getting to know it. I have to read up on Linux but I think I've found some pretty good tutorials on the web. Step 2 will be the installation of MisterHouse. I also want to try Transolution and find an indexer with functionalities similar to those of dtSearch (Heartsome? Recoll? MetaTracker?). I will probably just have to explore every single link on the Linux for Translators page and then research KDE. All this on top of a gazillion other things I want to do. The funny thing is the other me wants to do absolutely nothing.
Pam should be here after lunch. Tonight we are celebrating Bettina's 50th birthday at some fancy schmanzy bar and then off to an Indian restaurant yet to be decided.
Installation 1
Almost all the CD cases are up on one of the walls in my office. I have to print a few more and maybe add a title.
A bullet through the back of my head
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
I usually don't find Stephanie Klein's posts very interesting. But today she nailed it. My marbled bathroom walls tend to come alive with all sort of faces and animals. My airplanes do explode in mid-flight. My cars can't stay away from frontal collisions. When I was a little girl I couldn't turn in my bed because there was a knife sticking out of the mattress. The joys of an active imagination.
Artsy Fartsy Tuesday
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
We are meeting tonight at home for some creative activities. Hopefully I will end up uploading pictures on the website.
I have to glue magnets on the back of my CD covers and I have to finish the photo/comic book about our holiday in Punta del Este. I also have some other things in mind, but they will have to wait until next week or maybe the weekend.
Living an improvised life
Saturday, February 2, 2008
As I was madly pumping my fists in the air to the sound of George Michael's Freedom sometime late last night or, more aptly, early this morning, I realized how wonderful it is to be unattached. I can improvise. I can do whatever I feel like doing. No negotiating, no coordinating, no compromising. Blissful freedom. And I enjoy every second of it.
A little practical advice: never wear Kushyfoot socks on the dance floor. They do not provide a gentle massage. It feels more like stones in your shoes. After a while it's daggers stabbing the sole of your feet. Upon awaking today it took me awhile to get the courage to peep under the duvet and check whether I still had feet. I still have them but I haven't used them at all today. Until now. I am off to dinner now. Will get back to yesterday's celebration later on.
The best is yet to come
Friday, February 1, 2008
Today's my birthday. There used to be a time when I hated this day. That was back when I was young and stupid. Now I am older and remarkably smarter, so I absolutely LOVE it. Last year I rented a great space and had a big party. This year I sent out the following:
Being the snob that you all know I am, I am forgoing the party (soooo last year) for an art installation. Basically, I want each of you to get an empty CD case and replace the cover with a creation of your own. The theme is: "The best is yet to be".
It can be a drawing, a painting, a poem (nothing sappy, please), letters, a color, a collage, doodles, anything, but it has to be something. I will then glue a magnet on the back of the case and stick it on a wall in my office. Lots of cases, lots of creations, hence "the installation". This will be my present so you'd better not ignore my wishes and ruin my birthday.
As for the celebration, let's meet at the Delegate's Lounge at around 6 PM on Friday Feb. 1st for some needed fuel and take it from there. Maybe dinner (The Highline? ) and most probably The Pyramid Club for the 80's night .
For those of you not in town, please send me a scanned image of your creation and I will take care of the rest.
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