I might sleep
The weather is unbearable. Came home, took a shower and I am in the living room, where the AC is actually working, with wet hair, ready to watch a movie on Hulu and sleep on my bean bag. Tomorrow is a full full day. I have to get work done. I have to hit the gym. Then I have to go to rehearsals and, for the evening, I got tickets for Life in a Marital Institution.
WTF
Two birthdays today. One is a colleague's, very sweet and all but just really not my type. So I go to the restaurant, one of those places my ex would enjoy. I couldn't wait to get out, of course. Everybody was sitting at a table having drinks when I got there. Drinks and a table rarely go together in my book, although I must admit there are occasions where it might work. This was not one of them though. I had a drink, a below average lychee martini and left. Felt bad in a way because the birthday girl was paying for the drinks and she was sweet to invite me, but the truth is I am getting very particular about how I spend my time and I am not very good at handling boredom. So I went over to Dawn's, the other birthday girl. This guy was there. Eventually we all got in interesting conversations on politics, morals, the works. He said he was 12 in 1996 ... WTF???? I moved to NY in 1999. I was 40.
Rakku - brilliant design
Friday, July 18, 2008
so so execution. Still a great solution for my shoe problem.
Gotta love the Net!
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Want to learn without having to shlep anywhere? Here you go! I must check out Berkeley's channel on YouTube and openculture.
Today I also discovered Cryptainer LE -Free 128bit Encryption software for Windows.I already installed it at work. And speaking of work, lets hope I will not leave at 3.30 AM like yesterday ...
Private collection
Commissioned art for Elena.
Should you want something of this sort, speak to my agent.
Artsy Fartsy Tuesday
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
It's tonite. I am swamped in things to do but have decided to host it anyway. I think I could use some craft therapy.
Before leaving for work I have to cover the floor in plastic, take out the Uruguay wine (bought at Fresh Direct!) and leave a few project books laying around for inspiration. Given that I am on the evening shift and might not be able to get home before the artistic crowd, I will give the keys to Pamen so she can get the party started.
Don
Don was here yesterday. We had lunch with his cousin and then he walked me to work and I gave him a tour of the U.N. He can still charm the pants off just about anybody.
Snippets
AT THE 4TH OF JULY PARTY:
Two minutes after meeting him he says, out of the blue: "I haven't fucked in one year and 10 months" "I am glad to know the problem is across the board" I say, mostly because I felt I had to say something. "Oh well, but in certain cases one could say I am fat, so I don't get any but, in my case, look, I am gorgeous!" OK, he did not say, you are fat, so you don't get any, but he got very close. I told him something about how surprised he could be by how it's not really an impediment but what I should really have done is pointed out how maybe his personality is getting in the way of his nothing for him. Much later, when he insisted on his need for action, I let him know how a friend of mine, whose body is certainly not 10% fat, gets to roll in the sack several times a day. So there! The really sad part is that this person was by far the friendliest at the party. Completely into himself, yet fun. And I do like his installations. This one in particular. Very much, actually.
Seems other guests were reggaeton Grammy winners, actor and actresses, etc. Most of them acted like they were on stage.
All of us tried and tried, until we finally gave up and left for a bar.
IN MY BUILDING
I get in the elevator and I say good morning to the older woman riding it. She ignores me when I get in but waves goodbye when we arrive. I walk to the doorman Two women are coming in through the door, one Asian, one white. The sweet old lady who was in the elevator with me barges in on my conversation with the doorman to ask whether the Asian woman is Chinese. The doorman says he doesn't know but concedes she does look Chinese. The sweet old lady turns around and shouts "Are you Chinese? This building is fucking Chinatown!".
Now, this is a woman looking for trouble. I can't wait to see what will happen to her when she yells like that at some black woman.
THE CABDRIVER
He read my palm while driving. Was impressively accurate. Says he studied palm reading in Bangla Desh for 32 years and is now writing a book on the subject. He charges about 20 buck per person if you want him for a party. I have his e-mail and phone number, just drop me a line and will send them to you. Oh, he also offered to buy me a drink.
Sunday breakfast
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Espresso, freshly juiced prunes and peaches, non-frozen spinach and egg whites omelette.I have a long post in draft mode still. Hope to have some time to finish it today.
On my way
Sunday, July 6, 2008
To yet another night out ... If this cabdriver does not kill me first ...
Back from the party
Saturday, July 5, 2008
and drinks afterwards. Two things I will have to blog about: how the "cooler' the people, the unfriendlier they are and all the bullshit about menopause. But all this will have to wait until tomorrow. Nightie night!
Amazing machine
The Y has a few new cardio machines. You can plug in your iPod and you can also download your workouts to any USB gizmo. The gadget geek in me is loving it.
A quick shower now. Meriam texted Dawn. She is tempting us with early drinks. By early she means NOW. This is going to be a looooong day. I need to find some time this weekend to read some of my unread pile of books (two more added yesterday) and several magazines. I also have to paint the frame for the little painting Elena asked me to do for her. And prepare a bunch of stuff for tomorrow's rehearsal.
The party is expanding
Tonight we are celebrating Vivian's green card. It's past due and I had to cancel last Saturday, so I am going a little overboard now. Got up early and started cooking. So far the tofu and shrimp red curry is done, I just need to cook the rice. I will also prepare a huge salad and baked brie with caramelized onions (the onions I did this morning, I just have to shove the thing in the oven) and a few canapes. Dessert, so far: chocolate pudding mini-tartes with japapeño and lemon filled croustades. Oh, and a tequila, pisco, fruit juice mix is macerating with fruits in the refrigerator. I have barely time to shower and go to rehearsals now. Today there's this actress from Mamma Mia coming over to show us how it's done.
I met my match
She can out drink me and out dance me. She works the room better than me, talks to more people, gets more responses. She's also younger and prettier. I am torn between hanging out with her and having fun or staying away from such fierce competition. Who would have thought such a creature existed.
Geek satisfaction
I am surfing the web with Firefox on Ubuntu in a VirtualBox running on a Windows 2000 machine. Aaahhh!
0626080001.jpg, originally uploaded by Rosarionyc.
0626080001.jpg, originally uploaded by Rosarionyc.
Give me a break
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Buzzword! Buzzword! Drunkorexia (don't miss the link, it's hilarious, the pompous judgmental comments being the best part!), the "new" eating disorder, so new it was popular when I was a kid. More than 13% of females have more than 7 drinks a week? I think I might know them all. I think I hang out with a bunch of alcoholics. And Cristopher Hitchens rule!
Cheerfulness explained
A little excerpt from a very interesting essay:
Interpreting pain and loss as meaningful in a philosophical or religious context is another form of bargaining, a consolation prize: "My legs are gone, I have been tortured, my children went to a concentration camp, my tumor is inoperable, but there is a reason for everything: it is to test my faith; it is all for the greater glory of God or the Party; it brings humankind to a realization of existential despair; even from the jaws of defeat we can salvage a mustard seed of victory, we shall rise from the ashes, we shall be changed." Explanation is still the game of hope and fear: "If I submit to suffering, then maybe I will gain a higher truth."
The pressure of affliction tends to blow these answers away like chaff. A political prisoner being drowned in a bucket of floating sewage is interested in only one thing: the next breath. Sarcoidosis is not quite as severe, but the concern is the same. Beyond that, I want to open completely, without disguises, consolations, or illusions of any kind. By refusing to assign meaning to it, we stay with the emptiness of suffering, and thus begin to live in a reality that is luminous, limitless, unconditional, and immediate.
The cheerfulness that results from this renunciation of meaning cannot be destroyed, because it does not deny anything, and it does not have to be maintained. Misery and death are included, and allowed. It is not "my" cheerfulness; it does not come from anywhere. You can let go of it and laugh. You could drink from skull cups and make trumpets from human bones.
I am not sure why I like it, but I do.
What now?
Monday, June 23, 2008
So I uploaded a picture of our food from my cell, as I usually do. I did not rename it. It got sent as some 00something.jpg. I come home, I check my blog and the picture has been renamed MAZEL TOV MAZEL TOV, HARAV HA'TZDIK!!!!!!!
WTF??????
Done!
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Finally! After spending most of the weekend working, I am done.
Tomorrow I am meeting Dawn at 6 A.M at the Y.
In the meantime I might sleep ...
As of tomorrow I might have new bloggers here, Adriana and Davide, telling everything about their relocation to Barbados.
Last Sunday
at Girls Girls Girls.
You can click on the photo and get the bigger version and then click again and see the humongous version, with the close-up pores.
Me being me
Saturday, June 21, 2008
svelte and subdued...
Photo snapped by the enemy at the Italian Meetup a couple of weeks ago. In the foreground, Eileen, looking like a lady should.
Why not two?
The Passion Fruit Saketinis were not bad at all. Pamen seemed very satisfied with her Sparkling Geishas. And now I am left to wonder how on Earth am I going to work tonight?
Too much work
and no play ... no, I refuse to be dull.
I am off to try a new restaurant, Riingo, just around the corner. I will have just one little miserable cocktail, a hopefully delicious dinner with Pamen and then back home for a long night of work.
As for the play, the director discarded the one we were doing and chose a completely different thing. Lets see what happens.
Today is the first day of summer, right? It feels so strange without M.A. For years now hot weather, the beach, swimming, most things summer related are intrinsically connected to him and it feels weird to experience them on my own. Guess I will though, like a big girl!
Friday!
Friday, June 20, 2008
I am done here at the office. I am leaving behind my iPod speakers because I lent them for a goodbye party still going on in the hall. Me, I am getting home, maybe working a little, or maybe reading the play. Up tomorrow early, more work, and rehearsals at noon. In the evening Vivienne and Randy are coming for drinks on my roof deck to celebrate her green card, after, I think, 10 years of waiting. Juan, Leandro, Ricardo and Pamen might drop by too. Later.
The mistery thickens
I got a call from UPS this morning regarding another shipment from Great Britain that needed to pass customs (one of the items was a scooter!). I explained the situation to a very nice lady and refused the box, so it gets sent back to the shop. Then I called the vendors in England, explained yet again the situation and got a good laugh out of the stupidity of these thieves you are seemingly unable to get the stuff sent to them. But there is a detail that is troubling. UPS did not call me at home, at work or on my cell. They called my Grand Central number, which I hardly ever use (by hardly I mean I got maybe a handful of calls on that number since I opened it in 2006). UPS was provided that number along with my current address. How the fuck did the thieves know this number? It is not listed and, as far as I know, it's not connected to me in any public forum. It is puzzling and I need to find out what is going on. I hereby ask my loyal reader base, all 4 of you, to think hard and come up with possible scenarios. Thanks - all 4 of you.
Retarded thieves
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
The idiots who have been using my credit card (raking over 7.000 dollars so far) not only have had stuff sent to my address (duh!) but they have also bought a couple of KLM tickets for a London-Amsterdam-Johannesburg flight. Their names come up in my VISA statement! I don't care if they used their real names or if they are traveling with fake IDs (which, by the way, implies an altogether different level of crime), it's just an idiotic thing to do. Having watched too many police series on TV not to be compelled to act, I found the South African police website, with a convenient form to leave tips about crimes. They even have the Johannesburg International Airport as one of the places to send the tip to! So now you know, should they ever find my body floating away on the Hudson, go look for these asses. They will probably be the ones wearing glaring red football jerseys.
More on the same: I called a company in California today to send back a huge box with clothes worth almost $700. Another brilliant move from the sharp minds behind these fraudulent transactions ...
Better late than never
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
I only just discovered this and it might prove to be as fascinating and addictive as This American Life or 30 days.
More than I can chew
I am on the night shift this week. Saturday afternoon is 5 hours with the theater thingy for which I have to prepare. Sunday I am on beeper duty at work and will probably go to the office. I have a gazillion things to do at home (the wall decals in my bedroom, the mobile curtain in the kitchen, the throwing out of a ton of paper, the giving out of a ton of clothes). I have to do the paperwork for the credit card fraud. I downloaded an Arabic course so I don't stand there looking like an idiot when Meriem and her friends start making side comments. Oh, and I have to start working on a short movie for the Year of Languages due at the end of the summer, as well as on a documentary that I have embarked upon with Chema. To make things more NY hectic, I now have also one of those long and ungrateful side "jobs" like my sister's nightmarish resumé. I really need to drag my sorry ass to the gym again. It's the only way I can hope to have enough energy for the rest.
Clueless
Monday, June 16, 2008
Seems Michael Economy is a downtown star. How could I be so unaware? Miss Guy is also somebody to be reckon with.
So there I was yesterday, dancing at the Bowery Electric until I could move no more and talking to this very nice still-in-the-closet young boy. I was actually telling him my thing with black men when a black man walked in, came straight to me, at that moment sitting at the bar, and started moving all around and over me. I think that impressed the shit out of the boy. And me, to tell the truth.
Let the nightmare begin
Came home to a package of soccer shirts and Chelsea scarves from Manchester. Having no idea what was going on I checked my VISA account on the web. Wow! Somebody is spending my money like there is no tomorrow. I already blocked the card. Now I have to sort this mess out and still manage to pay the very nice couple I bought some prints from this afternoon. It was bound to happen some day, it's amazing it has no happened earlier.
Lots of rain and new experiences
Saturday, June 14, 2008
The amount of water pouring down right now is nothing short of amazing!!!! I might rethink my evening plans!
Today I met with the theater group and found out which play we are doing and what is expected of me. It was fun getting into Fordham, checking out the classes, sitting at a desk again. And it was very interesting to find out how it's done, all the little details, all the work that goes into producing a play. As assistant to the director I am basically expected to be at his beck and call. Right now I have to read all the parts and know them well enough so I can feed the lines to the actors. I have to make a list of the props. I have to take care of coordinating the rehearsals. I have to help with creating the playbill and the posters. This is going to be a 5 hours affairs, every frigging Saturday, until October. Too late to back out of it now though.
After the rehearsal (at which I discovered that one of the actors works exactly one office down from mine!!!!!I have never crossed paths with him at work and it took an Italian group on the Web to get us to meet!) I started walking back home with some of the other victims. Eventually I took refuge with one at them at Borders. She is an American of Italian descent who teaches Italian but has a B.S. in neuroscience. So we chatted on NLP, my ex hubby, Oliver Sacks, Ramachandran, my crush on Cristopher Hitchens, etc. This must be my week for interesting conversations, given that it started with a debate on prostate massage with a guy I had just been introduced to.
Well, on a different subject, I hope to stick to my plans for tomorrow, as I did not go out yesterday night, nor did I tonight.
To be or not to be
Thursday, June 12, 2008
MSI Wind or Dell Inspiron Mini? I almost pre-ordered the Wind this morning and now I found out about this smaller Dell, with Ubuntu!!!!! I liked the hardware on XP Wind, the longer battery life and the memory and I was ready to chance installing Ubuntu on it. But now I am screwed. Now I will have to wait and see the Dell specs.
Twittering again
Tonight it's drinks at Meriem's with the Arab crowd.
Tomorrow I'll spend the day at the beach with Pam, then go over to the MoMA for the Eliasson's exhibit a lot of people are raving about.
In the evening, drinks with Joi, one of the girls I met in Lima.
Saturday early afternoon I'll attend my very first theater meetup, where I hope to find out which play we will be doing.
Saturday night I might go to a birthday party.
Sunday afternoon I can't miss the Renegade Fair in Brooklyn and then Girls, Girls, Girls at night.
So busy that I am on Twitter again. I also thought it would come in handy should I ever be arrested. Sign up to follow me and in the meantime I'll look into ways of synching my Twitter updates with my Facebook status or I'll be forced to spend the rest of my days sending SMSs.
A blast of an evening
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
I am blogging and walking. Met the Italian group for drinks and then dinner. Wonderful time. I finally negotiated working for the Italian play but not as an actress. I will be behind the scenes.I am going to end up under a car tryng to type this on my cell and blog. Pam is on the train and will be home shortly.
Slavery
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Another beautiful day and here I am at the office. I am trying to decide whether to take Friday off and go to the beach by myself or keep these 2 days and use them later on.
I finally met Gigi today. She's a friend of Gabriela's, the daughter of Gabriela's brother's best friends. She was in NY for a couple of days and we managed to have a coffee together this morning. She's very nice and she has been instrumental, with her family, in Panchi's successful back surgery in Spain. Now back to work so I can get out of here soon (although I am afraid I'll have to pull an all-nighter today).
Not happy
Saturday, June 7, 2008
There's a heat wave in NY. It's sunny and hot hot. I had half planned a day outing to Sandy Hook. Instead, I am in the office and I will be here tomorrow too, buried under a pile of pages. I have no idea why I said I could do it. I've been invited to a barbecue today too. I doubt I will be able to make it. Todays it's juts me and the little mouse who's been visiting my office lately. Shit. I also started my working day calling M.A. who's still at the beach having a grand time. I really want to telecommute!
Saw the Sex & the City movie yesterday evening. Loved it. Not immediately, but eventually. At the beginning I almost got mad at what seemed like the most unfeminist movies ever. Then I warmed to it, decided it was a fairy tale, relaxed and enjoyed it. Then, as it often happens with sagas, I did not want it to end. I want to keep an eye on these girls in their 50s, 60s, 70s ...
Grand time
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Back from my Meetup meeting. Had a wonderful time with a bunch of nice, interesting people. Drinks at Bar Milano after work and pizza at ... at ... at ... I'd better sleep now ...
I am back
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Flew in on Sunday and I am still awfully jet lagged. Up at 5 AM today. I had a wonderful time though. Good thing I have NY to come home to or I would be seriously depressed now.
Change of tagline
Friday, May 16, 2008
So it's not "I just can't quit" anymore and "The third one" is not just about the third blog anymore. Now it's about the last third of my life.
Waiting
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
All the outlets seem to be taken so I can't open my MacBook and blog. A glass of wine, my Moleskine and my Helio should keep me busy. Too bad the cell is running very low on battery after some Web surfing and a call to M.A.
This merlot is akin to liquid acid. I have been working on it for half an hour but I am not sure I willl be able to drink it all. I shall take this as proof that I am not yet an alcoholic. I still have standards.
Absolutely fascinanting
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Through Mark Siegel's blog, which I had not read for a few months and was now catching up with, I got here and now I am watching the full episode. Fascinating, refreshing, so fucking human.
I am not making this up
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Tonight will be a long night of work, as I have to finish translating my sister's untranslatable resume into English and I have a document that needs to get started, so I ordered a pizza on line. The website is telling me that Mohammed, a delivery expert, is on his way to my place ... Letterman will get a good laugh out of this.
Stop the rain, now!
Friday, May 9, 2008
I will probably have to work another couple of hours, so no happy hour for me today, though I hope to make it for dinner with Pamen and Ana and maybe later go check out Juan and Leandro's new digs. In the meantime it's raining cat and dogs and it better stop soon so that Central Park can dry off and not be all wet and slippery tomorrow for the workout.
I finally had time today to meet with the head of the U.N. Staff 1% for Development Fund, of which I am part, to discuss whether we could finance a project in Lima. I sent all the info to Kique at Cross Cultural Solutions and lets see where it goes from here.
Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and off to Spain!!!!!!
Yet another haircut
Thursday, May 8, 2008
I was shooting for Agness Deyn but it came out sort of Judi Dench meets your average dyke. But I LOVE IT!!!! I'll probably change the color soon.
In case you feel like whining
Through this blog as therapy article on cnn.com, I landed on these posts. Shit, I got it so good!
B.F.F.
Yesterday after work Ana and I joined Meriem and two of her friends at the Pavillion at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza. We stayed for a while, bonded with the bartenders and moved on to grab a bite at Keats, where we played the infamous Keats Kwiz and came in 4th. Anyways, one of Meriem's friend is a big, raunchy, upbeat, politically incorrect girl. She's divorced and likes bubble butts. She also seems to play a mean game of poker. ! This morning I was up at 5.30 to meet her at the gym at 6 ... and she drinks Red Bull for breakfast! She could be my sister! Thanks, dad!
Scrumptious
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
I am back from one of my best NYC dinner experience. At almost 100 bucks a pop, but so worth it! I don't care what the snobs are saying, I loved Kittichai, especially the foie gras and the jasmine flan. And the lychee martinis, not to mention the gorgeus, attentive service! I also loved the company, although tonight was a night of resemblances. Before dinner we stopped at the Merc Bar for gin tonics and cosmos. The bartender was from Argentina, of Uruguayan parents, and he is about to open a restaurant in Williamsburg, a few feet away from the train station. Something about him reminded me of Zoolander. Pamen agreed. Then we met with the first of the two brothers from Cyprus. One looks like a perfect cross between Fabian and Borja. So much like them it's eery. The other brother looks a lot like a smaller, shabbier, balder George Clooney. Sorry, but I have now to attend to my simple, basic needs: water and sleep. Good nite!
Back in town ... but not for long
Monday, May 5, 2008
Regarding Peru: a fascinating week, especially for a white upper-middle class South American woman. I just can't summarize such a life changing experience in a couple of paragraphs so it will have to wait until I have more time. Lets just say I've come back a tad more radical.
I returned last Sunday, after a long trip. I had 3 hours between flights in Miami and I almost missed my flight to NY. That's how long it took me to clear immigration, customs and security. I got home around 1 PM and put together a brunch for Quique, Dani (another of M.A.'s brothers - I am starting to refer to all of them as the Daltons, although there are 5 of them, not 4) and Pamen and when they left I slept all through the afternoon and the night till Monday morning. The rest of the week was almost all too much work and dinners with Quique, until Thursday night, the night of Dolly Parton's show at the Radio City. It was great. All the boys were there (I had no idea she was such a gay icon), so many of them you had to wonder who was left in Chelsea to mind the shop. She is just adorable and her voice is amazing. I am so grateful to Marc for acting as my cultural attaché because in a very short time I have seen three amazing older women (Mimi Weddell, Cindy Lauper and Dolly Parton) who march to the beat of their own drums, and it is such a refreshing thing, after all those sad sad women at the Real Housewives of Orange County and the likes.
This weekend I managed to stay holed up both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday Joi called, she was coming to Manhattan to see a Broadway show with Nicole (Joi and Nicole are two girls I met in Lima), but then it got too late and we took a rain check. Today Vivian came for lunch and stayed for dinner. We did nothing except watch The Office and Desperate Housewives on the Net. A perfect day.
I was now watching a documentary on the Children of God sect. I've already seen parts of it before, it's mostly about Ricky's ("Davidito") murder/suicide. Amazingly, I remember members of the sect proselytizing on the streets of Paris, I remember Faith, one of them, I remember the pamphlets and I remember almost going to a meeting. They looked so awesome and innocent back then. What I did not remember was that River Phoenix had been raised in this cult. Usually his family is described as a family of "missionaries", not lunatics (although one could argue there really isn't that much of a difference between the two terms).
A new week starts tomorrow. A busy week and then on the 14th I am off to Spain. My life does not suck.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)