girl sailor

something to live by.

2010-02-11T07:48:00.000-08:00

For 2010 shall be a year of greatness. And behind that greatness will be a better person. Here's my idea of the way I'd like to live my life in 2010 and beyond...

Desiderata
by Max Ehrmann, c 1920

Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant, they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love, for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is perennial as the grass.

Take kindly to the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.

Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

it's that time...

2009-12-08T15:10:00.001-08:00

of year again. decorations, how i adore thee.

(corn street/city center)

(college green)

(park street)

best. poem. ever.

2009-11-29T08:37:00.000-08:00

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;	5

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,	10

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.	15

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.	20

a joni mitchell kind of day

2009-11-22T09:18:00.000-08:00

today, as the pitter-pattering of rain and responsibility woke me, i laid in bed smiling at the gray sky.

(the view from my window)

i put on one of my joni mitchell favorites, 'come in from the cold.'

"when i thought life had some meaning
when i thought i had some choice,
and i made some value judgments in a self-important voice.

but then absurdity came over me
and i longed to lose control.

oh all i ever wanted
was just to come in from the cold."
-joni mitchell

i'm a lover of rain and a lover of sunshine. i do not discriminate. it seems that england does though, and sunshine is rarely allowed to show it's face around here. i'm ok with that, as i've become more and more accustomed to the gray hearts, bears, faces and shapes looming over me as i explore my new city.

but sometimes, when you wake up on a sunday and all you can think about are bagels and tea, mother nature tells you to treat yourself kindly. to come in (or stay in, rather) from the cold. your glasses become foggy as a you read and drink a fresh cup of earl grey. you wear your pj's until sunset. you eat cookies while vacuuming. you treat yourself kindly.

that's a joni mitchell kind of day.

rain & peace on park street.

2009-11-07T11:05:00.000-08:00

today was chilly, rainy and gloomy (apropos for england in november i suppose). despite my overwhelming feelings of 'i-dont-want-to-leave-my-house-or-do-anything', i forged the rain and went on a stroll to the market....then to a cafe to study. it was nice to sit inside and drink my tea watching the world, the wind and the rain go by outside.

(saturday in caffe nero)

on the way home (after it had cleared up a little bit) i happened upon this little old lady who had also forged the rain, but she was doing it for a cause. i wonder if she had felt the same way that i had this morning, not wanting to leave her (seemingly adorable) little flat, not wanting to do anything, but deciding instead to do something. and i wonder if she'll do it again tomorrow.

(peace on park street)

(re)inspired and (re)educated.

2009-10-31T07:53:00.000-07:00

life, as it will, has a way of sneaking up on you. waves of inspiration come and go, priorities ebb and flow, and the seasons come without fail.

thanks to hilarys post, i am now (also) feeling an urge to dust off this blog of mine. and i'm looking foward to it.

my life seems to have taken an interesting turn since my last post. i speak as though i had nothing to do with it, and sometimes i almost feel as if that's true. nonetheless, i am living in bristol, england studying my masters in TESOL (teaching english to speakers of other languages), with the focus being on applied linguistics.

(the streets of bristol, england)

to the question: "so, you want to teach?" my answer is: "i have no idea."

i never knew i would enjoy something so much...the english language especially. but, i have found my passion. and now that i've found it, the hard part is knowing what to do with it.

either way, it feels nice to be back in europe...or, in the uk rather. delicious cheese, earl grey tea and magner's cider are becoming staples in this little british life i'm creating.

i've got one year in bristol and then who knows what's next. but, i'm welcoming it one step at a time. it's going to be a good year.

round ireland with a fridge.

2008-11-16T21:00:00.001-08:00

i recently finished reading a book by tony hawks (not the professional skateboarder, a comic englishman) called Round Ireland with a Fridge. i love ireland and i love fridges and i loved this book.

it's a nonfictional account about a drunken bet, hitchhiking (so, traveling), stepping outside of the "norm" mentally and physically and not giving a damn. it's set in the late 90s, just at the brink of the internet and mobile phone takeover. but they hadn't yet taken over (remember those days?) jack kerouac didn't have any of those fancy things and he did just fine. and so did tony hawks.

i recommend the book. i also recommend taking a day-off from the internet and the mobile phone.

if's on a cloudy day.

2008-10-24T11:20:00.000-07:00

by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

FAIL.

2008-10-08T12:52:00.000-07:00

if you're ever feeling blue, going to this website will undoubtedly bring a smile to your face. here's just a taste of it...

see more pwn and owned pictures

see more pwn and owned pictures

see more pwn and owned pictures

inspiration.

2008-10-01T21:33:00.000-07:00

any time i can get my hand on amazing new music i am jumping up and down. i'm digging this indie band little dragon from sweden. this video makes my knees weak.

labor day.

2008-09-01T12:56:00.001-07:00

though i am currently unemployed, i'm celebrating our day of labor today. i'm back in the states, weary but optimistic.

so far (in the last 4 weeks, since my arrival back to florida) i've celebrated my 25th birthday, had my tarot read, tried pilates for the first time, lived through hurricane fay (or, the most boring 4 days of imprisonment), won 5th place at trivia and watched the most amazingly inspirational democratic national convention.

and, might i add, florida beaches still take my breath away. this was taken a few weeks ago at my uncle's 60th birthday party in ponte vedra beach.

though i may not be laboring today, i hope to soon be laboring and getting back into the economical cycle of this country. america's not so bad. go obama!

the most beautiful place on earth [prague].

2008-08-22T19:45:00.000-07:00

i think i could live here. the pictures don't quite capture the dreamy aura that prague emits, but lets be honest, capturing aura has got to be near impossible.

hello's.

2008-06-15T04:10:00.000-07:00

i've become quite fond of learning different languages. i can speak english, spanish and very minimal czech. so, just in case you're traveling somewhere new and want to know how to start conversation....here's how to say hello in different languages.

i still haven't found what i'm looking for.

2008-06-07T19:00:00.000-07:00

when did i become so cheesy? and when did U2 lyrics become so awesome? oh, bono, you and your ingenuity and spunk.

i use the song "i still haven't found what i'm looking for" to teach my intermediate students the present perfect. i've taught it so many times that i almost feel like it's a part of learning English. [how else will they know the time line that the perfect tense runs...other than playing "never have i ever"...]

but as many times as i hear it, or read it, or print it, i still get it. i don't know if it's everyones aspiration in life; to find what they're looking for. but for some reason i feel like i am one of the lucky few who are delighted with a curious spirit. [meaning, i'm too introspective]

i recently read a book titled "what should i do with my life?" by po bronson. i'm one who falls in love with books quickly, and this one was no exception. it's a non-fictional account of about 50-ish people and their stories [i.e.: what they do with their lives, and how they got there.] it helped me to put things into perspective. and it made me smile. i am not lost. i am only lost-ish.

on that note. i kind of hate blogs. i hate how "introspective" and "self-involved" they are. i wonder why we feel like someone out there would want to read about our cares and journeys and dreams. [well, i guess i do, and i assume 1 or 2 of my friends haha.] but i guess we'd all agree that at this weird point in our lives....this quarter-life-something time....we're all searching for something. and i'm putting it out there...that i still haven't found whatever the hell it is that i'm looking for. and on that note, i am damn well happy nonetheless!

paris please, with a side of cheese.

2008-05-15T07:57:00.000-07:00

4 women. 3 americans. 2 leos. 2 cancers. 1 chilean.

last weekend 3 of my best barcelona buds and i set sail to paris, france. ["ohh la la" is right!] monday was a holiday [welcome to spain], so we took advantage of the long weekend. why not blow a couple hundred euros that we don't have in one of the most beautiful cities in the world? exactly.

we stayed in a hostel that was more like an american fast food restaurant - consumerism lining the walls - in a shady neighborhood ["one of the worst, definitely" said a native] - by a shady retention pond. they claimed that locals hang out at the bar downstairs, a bar dubbed "belushie's" [yes, there was that Animal House poster of him wearing the "college" shirt]. why do i doubt that statement? point is, it wasn't that french cottage along the seine that i was envisioning, but it was nice nonetheless. it was clean, they had free tours and they let us crash on the couches for free the last night because we had no where to stay [and i'm usually an obsessive compulsive planner, but thought i'd be spontaneous.]

the first morning we took advantage of 1 of the free tours which started in the latin quarter, along with fellow americans [well, most of them were canadians, but they sound like us, so it's all the same.] our precious [but gregarious] tour guide was telling us his autobiography when all of a sudden we hear this horrible, loud bang. we all turn to see a man laying lifeless in the street. he'd been hit and run over by a bus. it was frightening. we all stood shell-shocked; transfixed. luckily the man started moving a little bit...but i don't know what became of his fate. our tour guide [which i quickly lost respect for] clapped his hands and said "well, that puts a damper on the beginning of the tour." we abandoned the tour shortly after.

that first day we wandered the streets, walking until our bodies started shutting down...haha...literally. we went to the notre dame, louvre, champs-elysées, the arc de triumph, and many'a cute little french store. that night we hit the town and ate the most amazing fondue [...lets talk about how amazing the cheese is here!], escargo and chocolate mousse at an authentic [aka: touristy] french restaurant. it was de-freaking-lish. it ended with a little kitty sitting next to us cleaning itself. i don't know if the kitty lived in the restaurant or was a nomad who'd somehow found its home in our quaint, dimlit hole-in-the-wall space. french kitties are smart.

the next/last day we went to montmarte....by far my favorite spot in beloved paris. the streets are lined with charm and avant garde-ness. we made ourselves at home in every little shop...responding with a smile and a "gracias." [why can i not speak in any other language than spanish these days? barcelona has gotten inside my head just won't leave.] we spoke more spanish there than ever....even met some mexican and spanish travelers. after our rendez-vouz in montmarte we went to the eiffel tower to see what all the hype was about. the sun was setting, and there was a'glow of the sunset on the tower. mmm, nice combination. with 2 bottles of wine in hand we set up shop below the tower and soaked it in.

i have no question why they call paris the city of love. i loved it. i loved the cheese, the beer, the chocolate, the arcitecture, the river, the flow-y dresses adorning the natives, even the pout of the snotty french women...and so on.

and so....my life continues. as long as i have a little getaway every once in a while i will keep my sanity. wandering is not so bad. i kind of dig it.

if there's one thing i know...

2008-04-16T13:22:00.001-07:00

it's that i love yoga.
other than that i'm clueless.

kurt vonnegut, jr.

2008-03-14T12:19:00.000-07:00

i'm a huge vonnegut fan. he's raw, he's neurotic, he tells it like it is....[the boy version of me? no, i shant be that ostentatious.] he died a little less than a year ago [11 April 2007.] but not without leaving a few masterpieces behind.

the first vonnegut book i read was "cat's cradle". as i finished the book of bokonon, [so it was], i was hooked. i haven't read every one of his books, but i've been crossing them off my list ever since. i read "cat's cradle" in 2004. the beginning of 2004. last weekend i decided to re-explore the book that enchanted me so. so, i reread it. hmm. it was ok. no, it was better than ok, but it wasn't the same. ohhh why oh why wasn't it the same?

is this an analogy of real life? maybe. or maybe, unlike a fine wine, some books peak the first time you read them. anyway, i don't give a damn if "cat's cradle" wasn't as good the second time around. i plan on giving it another shot in 2012. [letting it age on the shelf for 4 more years sounds like a good idea.] also, on that note, i plan on re-exploring 2 other of my favorite vonnegut books this week ["galapogos" and "the sirens of titan".] i want them to be just as good as they were the first time [another analogy of real life?], but i'm not keeping my hopes up.

when the sun goes down in gracia.

2008-03-13T09:33:00.000-07:00

a collection of photos.

nice [france] was nice.

2008-02-28T10:48:00.000-08:00

i recently celebrated my 1 year anniversary with barcelona. as far as i'm concerned barcelona and i have a great relationship...i am madly in love, i admit it. who knew i could love a city so much. who knew that a city could love you back? who knew that you could become dependent on the smell of panaderías [bakeries], the feel of city bustle, the taste of tortilla bocadillos [omelette sandwiches], or the sight of small dogs and smoke rings following you everywhere you go. i am getting all mushy.

one of my dear friends, kate [a londoner by birth, a wanderer by choice], made a quick move to niza [nice], france a few weeks ago. i tend to do things in haste, so as i drank a bottle of vino tinto i bought tickets to visit her for the weekend [last weekend]. i was accompanied by a few friends: brie, michelle and terri. [listing things in alphabetical order is the only way to list things]

nice was niiiiiiice. the french riveria. just saying "the french riveria" sounds sexy, and oh my did it live up to my expectations. we wined and dined and spent the weekend as old friends do. that's what life here does to you, to me, to everyone...you feel older, wiser, stronger, smarter, closer, and more open to new people and new things. [in this case alphabetical order was unnecessary] and, who knew, it was carnival that weekend as well.

here are a few snapshots...

and, since we were so close, we took a day trip to monaco...

[above: the monte carlo casino]

hello 2008

2008-01-14T12:59:00.000-08:00

i went back to florida for a few weeks for christmas & new years. it was so nice to be back in the motherland. the weather was divine...and the air, like an old friend, welcomed me as i exited the airport. i love florida air, i love southern air. i just like the fact that we have blessed laws that prohibit us from smoking in restaurants. being back in barca i can already feel the black lung kicking in.

i really enjoyed my time with my friends & family...but i was excited to get back to spain...back to my freedom, back to my who's its & what's its, back to the land of small coffee's & large beers.

it's 2008 and i almost feel like i have nothing to show for it. i have a bachelor's in journalism, a job in journalism, a job in event planning, and a job teaching english. [geez, only an american would sum up their life in terms of how accredited their resume appears.] i wish i had a gold medal from some olympic event, or a hit song, or a nice piece of property.

2008 seems like a year from the science-fiction-version of the future. why aren't we wearing space suits & reading each other's minds? i swear if we get a 6th sense it will be telepathy, and if not i'll be pissed.

i'm looking forward to 2008...i don't know what the hell i'm doing or where i'm going, but hopefully it'll lead me somewhere nice.

god bless america.

2007-11-26T13:59:00.000-08:00

wow, so thanksgiving has come and gone.

i've felt more patriotic in the last week than i think i have in my entire life. i spent the majority of my 20+ teaching-hours talking about the relationship between the pilgrims and the indians ["what the hell is a pilgrim?" my students would say], explaining why turkey is better than ham, exaggerating about our 3-day feasts and drawing maps of america over & over again to show them where the pilgrims landed in comparison to where the great state of florida lays.

"is everything really expensive in america?" my younger students ask. sometimes i actually give the question real thought, and other times i just say "well, milk is like 4 dollars" & they gasp.

what is it that i love so much about teaching my students about america? i swear they're probably scouting my arms & legs for an american flag tattoo. they probably think my dad works for bush and that i hate mexicans.

this thanksgiving was the first time [i think] that i didn't spend it at my family's farm. i called them in between my classes and they passed the phone around, "we miss you" they said, "it's not the same without you", "don't tell me you're eating olives today darlin'" my uncle lee said with his thick southern drawl. i almost felt like i was there, i could imagine it perfectly. but i settled for a delicious pasta dinner with my favorite american friends here in barca, and [ironically enough] we were able to catch "the new world" on t.v. [a horrible interpretation of john smith, pocohantas, etc.]

on saturday my friends and i went all out. we wanted to celebrate right, and since we all had to work on the "given" holiday, we put together a rather ambitious party a few days later. we were all scrambling around all week trying to find corn meal, cranberries and other "mystical" ingredients that spain has never heard of.

when the day came there was so much food....it was...well...glutton-looking. when our spanish friends arrived i was almost embarrassed, shrugging my shoulders like "well, shit, this is why america overeats." we had a huge stuffed turkey, at least 15 casseroles, candied yams, corn bread, pumpkin pies, apple pies and some weird pecan fruit-cake sent from the US. we drank spiked apple cider, hot buttered rum and lambrusco [spanish dessert wine] for 12+ hours. i [with lambrusco in hand] told the story of thanksgiving to everyone, and we played "pin the tail on the turkey."

my austrailian friend stood up in front of everyone & made a toast, saying "this is my first thanksgiving, and i love the idea of it. and here we all are, living in a foreign place. and i am thankful for that. i am thankful that we all have each other." i think it made us americans feel really good. and really proud. and really thankful as well.

here we are eating, drinking and being merry...

so, this thanksgiving i'm thankful for america [even though i'm not there right now, it's in my bones and it's in my heart.] i'm also thankful for the amazing life that i have made here in barca and the amazing people that i've met. i feel like i've lived another lifetime here in spain, and i wouldn't change it for the world. but america is my number 1. and that'll never change.

catalan? que?

2007-11-09T06:41:00.000-08:00

i was mostly unaware of the term "catalan" before i swarmed myself with tourist documentaries on spain. i wanted to have some kind of a clue about the crazy place i was moving [and had never been to before.] that's where i first heard about "catalunya", the northeastern province bordering france...where good ole' barcelona is located. catalan's are from this province.

here's a map of spain...you can see the province on the top right.

and a closer look...

[in the map above, the names are actually written in catalan.] yes, that's right, they have their own language...a melodic combination of spanish, italian and french. this was a fact i knew coming to barcelona, but didn't expect to be so blatant. when francisco franco ruled spain [from 1939-1975], it was illegal to speak catalan. after his death, the "catalan" patriotism was at an all time high, and has been ever since. on the streets they speak catalan, in stores they speak catalan, the billboards, the newspapers [not all, thank God] are in catalan. catalan's are "catalan"...not "spanish".

the other night i was taking a taxi [most taxi drivers speak to you in catalan] & he was speaking in castallano [spanish] and i said "are you catalan?" [hey, it was 5am] & he started raging [in spanish], saying "no, i'm not CATALAN, i'm SPANISH for god's sake...what the hell...f-ing catalan, we're in SPAIN not CATALUNYA." this is a good analogy of how people [spaniards] who aren't catalan feel about catalunya.

in gracia [my neighborhood] the catalan patriotism is always in full force [the catalan flag is 5 yellow stripes and 4 red stripes]:

but i must say, i love the catalan people. it feels good to know that every day i can count on their unfailing admiration for: pork, dark square-rimmed glasses, whiskey with lunch, horizontal striped shirts, magdelenas [the best muffins in the world], taking their babies and their dogs into bars at ungodly hours and their monochromatic dress choice.

mi fin de semana en figueres.

2007-11-06T15:32:00.000-08:00

this past weekend my 2 friends [fellow americans] and i took a short train trip up to figueres, a small, humble village, 2 hours northeast of barcelona. like most of the tiny villages that come and go, like a flip-book on the cross-country train, figueres is just another one-horse town. but we weren't there to see the one horse.

Salvador Dalí was born in figueres, which brings a lot of pride to spain, and especially to the catalan people. Dalí was catalan, [most people are unaware of what being "catalan" means...which is something i will approach in my next post.]

so, in figueres, the slender, over-used and over-abused sidewalks busted at the seams with tourists. we were all there for the same reason: to see the famous Dalí Theatre and Museum. it was "molt bé" as the catalan's would say.

some highlights:

interestingly enough [and borderline creepy], Dalí is buried in a tomb beneath the museum...

it was amazing being able to touch, feel and even smell Dalí's presence [i'm talking about the paint...or maybe i don't know what the hell i'm talking about...ha]. i've learned a lot about this man, and have admired his work for years and years and years [i went to his museum in st. petersburg, florida when i was 7 and i remember thinking it'd "changed my life".]

it's funny the different ways that [facets and elements of] spain, and the spanish culture have affected me. needless to say, coming to BFE-figueres was no exception.

tibidabo architecture

2007-10-25T10:39:00.000-07:00

i'm currently teaching a college student who's studying at a private university in the mountains of barcelona. three days a week i make my trek up to tibidabo [near the mountain-top] to teach him. my calves and lungs are getting a great work out...and so is my ipod [i think the little bugger is on his last leg, actually.]

if there's one thing i could forever rave about [and forever appreciate] in barcelona, it's the architecture. and these avant-gard houses in tibadabo [almost hidden away, and on a slight slant] are unreal. here's a sample...

grand terraces seem to come standard on almost every home. i wish i could sneak onto [break into?] one and pop a bottle of wine and count the stars, or look at the constellations or something else that i've never in my life taken the time to do.

these terraces would be just perfect...

my last trip to mcdonalds.

2007-10-24T13:59:00.000-07:00

so im an idiot. i [against my MUCH better judgement] got mcdonalds for dinner. not because i was craving it, not because i was homesick [which are usually the only reasons which i would ever actually waste my money on that shit....and i've only been there 2x since i've been here...and the first time was just to have it with a beer, because yeah they serve beer at the mcd's here]....anyway, i ONLY got it b/c it's one of the only "para llevar" [to go] places between my house & the train station that takes credit cards....and i didnt have any cash on me.

woah, mistake! not only was the chicken sandwich barely cooked, but the "walk of shame" as i'd like to label it, was horrible. everyone for about 1-2 miles saw me walking with a big mcdonalds bag. so embarrassing. and THEN i get to my flat and rebeca [my flatmate] is showing it to a possible new flatmate [for rebeca and i]....who [i think] is spanish, and really cute...and here i am, the american girl walking in with a flashy mcdonalds bag. classic. so yeah, i'm eating a bowl of cereal right now. i'm too f-ing tired and cold to cook. [tile floors + no heater + cold weather = bad combination]

the day of rest.

2007-10-24T06:41:00.000-07:00

sundays are great. they just might be my favorite day. i like the whole "let's not do anything" mentality that many people grasp on this glorious beginning [or ending?] of the week.

this past sunday my friend kate and i decided to keep up this "do nothing" routine, and just bum around town. we went to grab a hearty [and by hearty, i do not mean heart-healthy] breakfast of churros con chocolate at this adorable place in el born...[with the blue doors].

then we hit up this pleasant little organic market to toil over the many meals we hope to cook [thanksgiving is approaching!] and we saw this...

we were laughing hysterically...a package of ham [jamon cocido] with a child on it? it's no secret that the people of spain are head over heels for pork...but this might be a little much.

that night my friends and i had a dinner party. for some reason everything seems like more of a celebration here [even the organic market runs.] dinner consisted of vino tinto [more or less, my mouth is purple from friday night to sunday evening] amazing apple, raisin, onion and tomato salad, baguette with cheese and chocolate bars. yum!

sundays, how i adore thee.

read between the signs.

2007-10-21T15:34:00.000-07:00

so i like astrology. it's comforting to know that something [if only the sun, the moon and the planets] knows why we are the way we are. at least on a superficial, general-based plane.

the other day my friend and i were racking our brains trying to remember which astrological signs were in which elements [she's a capricorn, i'm a leo]. after some [much enjoyed] research, i came upon these descriptions, which i found enlightening. of course it can't all be true [there's a little bit of bullshit in everything], but it's worth a second glance. just a little something to think about...

Fire Signs - Aries, Leo, Sagittarius

Fire can do good, like cooking food to eat and keeping us warm or it can do great harm, like burning a house down. Fire is a combustible, unpredictable element, a chemical reaction that can go off easily and quickly go from a small flame to a raging fire. Fire astrology signs can ignite easily too, they are very temperamental however if managed properly, they can be very beneficial. In fact, fire signs must be managed and under control in order to be of benefit. Fire signs can be emotionally volatile yet they are very passionate. Fire can change it's course at an instant, those born under fire astrology signs are very dynamic and like the fire spreading, are the first to set out into the unknown and take initiative with adventurous enthusiasm. Fire is not a physical thing, it is quite mystical and fire astrology sign people apprehend the world through their intuition, they trust their gut instinct (or they should anyway) because it rarely ever leads them wrong. Fire people have a strong sense of self just like fire which has no regard over anything in it's path, fire people are quite self centered but they are moving so fast that they never get stuck on themselves, the fire needs to spread and explore. Fire people are impulsive and just like fire spreading, often leap before they look.

Water Signs - Pisces, Cancer, Scorpio

Water can be refreshing, like a cool stream or it can be dark and mysterious like the depths of the ocean. Water that is contained is easy to deal with, like swimming pool, water that is un-contained and out of control can do great damage, like a flood. Water signs represent the intuition and emotional aspects because it flows and it's liquid or it could be solid like ice, it can evaporate into air and turn into clouds. Water is complex and a paradox it is everywhere and can be almost anything. Water signs are the most emotional of all signs, they flow down deep and search out crevasses and cracks to explore, symbolic of the unknown emotions of the human psyche. Not only is water is essential to life and covers the whole globe, but water makes up the largest percentage of all living things. Since water is found in everything everywhere, water sign people have a knack for dealing with others, they can see into other people, they understand the motives and needs of other people and to sum it all up, they are borderline psychic and the most in-tune with others. This makes them empathetic, caring and helpful but they are over sensitive and can be easily hurt by others who do not acknowledge the sacrifices that have been made and how deeply involved they really are.

Earth Signs - Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn

Earth is real, you can see it, hold it, smell it. Suitably so, earth signs are very "down to earth" and real. Earth is the foundation on which everything is built. Earth people are solid and stable and composed of many different parts, they are multi faceted people, like the many mineral compounds that make the earth. There is nothing wishy-washy about these people, they do not have their head in the clouds, They are dependable, you know they will always be there and they are stable. Most of the time anyway, more stable then the other elements. Earth does not change. It stays there and allows whatever is growing to continue to grow and progress. Earth people are not fond of change, they like stability and regular life that can grow upon and develop. Why start something new if what is already there is fine? Earth people are the most materialistic and possessive of all astrology zodiac elements. Earth people are also concerned with what's on the surface and never really dig deep to get to the bottom of it, they are happy with what's on the surface.

Air Signs - Aquarius, Gemini, Libra

Air is the element that you cannot touch or see, but it can be mysteriously contained, like blowing up a balloon. When it is contained in this way, it somehow escapes or gets stale. Air people are free and cannot be contained or this same thing will happen to them. Air is uncertain and unpredictable, it can spawn a horrendous thunderstorm with violent winds and the pressure drops and raises by the minute. Air sign people are elusive in this way, they are unpredictable and eccentric. Air is the most necessary element, being necessary to fire, earth and water. Air people live in their mind. They are caught up in their thoughts which take them high to new levels where no other element can reach, like the upper atmosphere. Here they can formulate theories, solve problems clearly and see the world below. Air people are said to be out of touch with reality, but they are also very advanced in thinking. They are very mental oriented people having a knack for intelligence but also lacking emotional depth.

eat and run.

2007-10-17T04:49:00.000-07:00

i think the saying "eat and run" was developed here in spain. literally, everyday i see people gorging their faces while briskly walking, running or galloping down the street. at first i gawked, or even laughed a little..."is that ham falling out of that mans mouth?" i would think. but now, it appears i have joined the masses to become an "eater and runner."

the other night it was a baguette on my way to class. no, there was no delicious stuffing, no cheese, no meat, not even a condiment. but a dry, crusty baguette is the perfect cure when you're starving and running late. yesterday it was a chocolate filled croissant on my way to the book store. today it was a granny smith apple on my way to the train station. who knows, tomorrow it could be a leg of lamb on my way to the park.

i adore...

2007-10-16T07:26:00.000-07:00

...barcelona in autumn.

[above: barcelona is placed ever-so-gently between the mountains and the mediterranean]
[below: city center, placa catalunya]

goin' with the flow.

2007-10-11T04:02:00.001-07:00

i find myself feeling less and less foreign as my time here increases. confidence and conviction are slowly replacing the layers of insecurities that i've shed. i've come to introduce myself as "kath-ar-eeene", with a fill-fledged spanish accent...as if a name can't transcend borders. i read "que!" newspaper everyday on the metro. i am [on the average] 15 minutes late to any and everything i attend. yes, the catalan way is rubbing off on me like a virus. soon i will be wearing dark square-rimmed glasses and saying "vale! venga!" at the beginning of every sentence.

i cooked dinner for a catalan friend last night. it was a healthy mix of vegetables and grilled chicken. i introduced it as a "normal american meal", to reiterate [as i so often do] that americans are not [completely] unhealthy slobs. i guess all of my insecurities haven't quite gone.

recently, i've had the same experience about 3 times in the same amount of weeks. men yelling "rubia! rubia! que pasa rubia?" [translated: "blond girl! blond girl! what's happening blond girl?"] at me while they're working; painting flats, building buildings, or emptying the garbage into the garbage trucks. they yelp while flicking the ashes off of their cigarettes. [yes, people here love smoking on the job, in fact i think it's encouraged.] i don't consider myself a blond, so i just ignore them. but it's a friendly reminder that dirty men are everywhere we go.

i capture [the castle].

2007-10-07T16:33:00.000-07:00

what is it about love that makes us all complete idiots? i mean that in a charming way, but of course. today i finished a love[ly] book, "i capture the castle" by dodie smith.

it was written in 1948, set in england and it's all about the idiocy [and delights] of love, life and youth. i feel so close to the main character, cassandra, and am sad that the book had to come to an end. i miss her.

you know when that happens? that rush you get from feeling like you really got to know someone...in a book or in real life. and when you do get to know know someone, you reach that point of no return. they are there, forever. and you see the world just ever-so differently.

...i'm going to read 1984 next...i think that might have a different effect on me.

i love food...

2007-10-04T06:32:00.000-07:00

i love food, especially southern [soul] food. i love everything from filet mignon to chicken pot pie to green been casserole. i have eaten venison [deer meat, from deer that my dad hunted nonetheless] on numerous occasions. i put honey on my corn bread and tabasco on my oysters. i am from the south and i am damn proud of it.

it took me a while to warm-up to the spanish/catalan cuisine...but now, i'm actually [borderline] fond of it. despite my prior [incorrect] knowledge, the spanish have a certain luster for leaving out key herbs and spices needed to make food edible [their only condiment is olive oil.] words like "spicy" and "delicious" are more often used to describe people than food. needless to say, these days i am having a wonderful love affair with olive oil.

one thing that i do quite fancy here, and has become a staple in my refrigerator, is an indigenous packaged drink. yeah, it sounds gross already. it's called cacaolat.
cacaolat is a pleasant combination of yoohoo [judge me, please] and chocolate milk. it doesn't taste as delicious as it looks, or as bad as it sounds....but i think it's perfect.

the good thing about the below-par options of food is that it's forced me to do more cooking. i find myself day-dreaming up different dishes as i'm walking to work. i wake up looking forward to my daily market runs. i go through garlic like it's my job. [no...i am not solely gorging myself on cacaolat.] but all of the judging i have cast upon the spanish food has helped me to build up a nice little repertoire of personal [and mexican, italian, american, british...from my friends here] recipes.

tonight my friends are coming over [bottles of vino tinto in hand] and we're going to make homemade vegetable soup. yum. we plan on od-ing on herbs and spices.

i'm down for fall.

2007-10-01T13:16:00.000-07:00

i've recently hit my 8 month mark in barcelona. que pasa? similar to the cars and motos here, time doesn't seem to slow down for anything.

today is october 1st. i tend to welcome new months with open arms. i like beginnings, they seem to put things into perspective. and there's something especially bittersweet about october...a month that i've always appreciated for it's frankness. there's no religious holiday stuffing it up and there's no cheery facade. i imagine apple cider, close-toed shoes, pumpkin carvings, warm hugs and orange-red-and-yellow sprinkled leaves. e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g is orange, red and yellow as a matter of fact. i dig it. i dig it all.

as the weather, and the people, begin to grow a little colder, there are a few things that i will miss about those warm barcelona months. for example...[beaches, bars and hazy shades of blue]

and, what could've possibly made those summer days more delectable? mediterannean-side tapas, perhaps [if it comes from the sea, i've eaten it.]

well, fall is here, and i am damn happy about it. beginnings add a little skip to my step.

coffee beans, amongst other things.

2007-09-18T08:48:00.001-07:00

i came across this picture by oliver ray and fell in love. funny how a simple image can affect the olfactory senses so.

it brings me back to the days when coffee was so much more to me than just a good caffeine buzz. i remember meeting my friend erin at our on-campus cafe....every [and i mean every] other day of our freshman year [yes, the college days]. i remember the vanilla latte that would always grace my pallet, and the cinnamon scone which i so adoringly attempted to substitute as an actual meal. i remember throwing on over-worn baggy t-shirts, sweat pants, flip flops and maybe even lip-gloss, [if my vanity had for some reason stopped me in my tracks before i left my dorm.] i remember the days when our cell-phones would be set on the table, so as not to miss a call from some horny boy that we'd recently met and [apparently] gave a damn about. i remember the days when everything made sense....and the ones that were begrudgingly hit with a complete bouleversement; when we thought the apocalypse was, in fact, approaching. but with my good friend by my side, my reliable cup of coffee in hand, and my loyal cinnamon scone sweetening the conversation....everything was ok. there was a simplicity held inside the walls of that on-campus cafe...childish innocence and childish enthusiasm. two things i hope never to lose.

fast forward 4 years: i graduated with a BA in broadcast journalism. i guess it meant something. shortly after i was interning at a news station in my hometown...which quickly turned into a part-time labor-intensive [but paid!] job.

fast-forward 2 years: i live in barcelona, spain and teach english as a foreign language.

and here i sit in my flat drinking cafe con leche...thousands of miles and minutes away from that young, perpetually optimistic college girl in that on-campus cafe. i'm still just as confused, and just as childishly enthusiastic. it's 6 years later and i find myself in the exact same place. but hell, maybe life wouldn't be as exciting if we had it all figured out.

Summer in the City

2007-05-20T07:19:00.000-07:00

Spent the least amount of money that I have in a looong time (for a weekend, and a fun one at that) ...especially since the dollar is losing power (God damnit!). I think the fact that I can get a decent bottle of Catalan wine for under 2euros plays a huge part. And I'm forcing myself to live like a minimalist....lots of fruit & veggies from the market, grilled chicken, baguette and vino tinto...man, just talking about this makes me want a big juicy expensive filet mignon.

Enjoyed a relaxing afternoon basking in the sun down at Barceloneta (tourist haven, which I find funny and disgusting at the same time). My favorite game to play is "Where is that crazy person from?" & 9 times out of 10 I am wrong. But it's still fun to play, even alone, as I laugh to myself and then those crazy people think I'm the crazy one. The Mediterranean was simply amazing, and the buzzing of foreigners and homeless people made for a most delightful walk along the Sea.

The Peruvians I saw last weekend weren't there. They'd been playing Native American music (live) and my sympathy and love for the Native Americans (b/c I'm an American, so by proxy I suppose) made me emotional (or nostalgic for my homeland?) and I bought one of their c-d's. I was a sucker, but that's ok. I don't speak Spanish fluently yet, so I suppose I'm still a tourist. The truth is, not 5 minutes went by...and I thought, "Wait, why did I just waste my money on this? I don't even think I want this." I've only listened to the c-d once, it's not that bad. I guess they caught me at a weak moment.

Am currently involved with "The Drifters" by James A. Michener. As you can see, he rather fancies writing about travel...

"The Drifters" is about a group of hippies/beatnicks traveling through Spain/Morocco...it's full of dreams and drugs and good ole' times. It's set in the late '60s, and I kind of wish I was one of the characters.

Mis amigas en Espana

2007-05-06T15:58:00.000-07:00

Three of my closest [coolest, dearest...] friends are visiting me from the states...and because of them I now have a blog.

I'll begin by saying: I'm 23 years old, currently teaching English as a foreign language and living here: [Barcelona, Spain]