SUCH IS LIFE...

STAR BLOGS EPISODE I: The shame menace

2012-02-12T11:06:00.000+01:00

Turmoil has engulfed the Galactic Republic. The taxation of trade routes to outlying origami systems is in dispute.

Hoping to resolve the matter with a blockade of deadly battleships, the greedy Trade Federation has stopped all shipping to the small planet of Naboo.

While the Congress (*ehem!*) of the Republic endlessly debates this alarming chain of events, the Supreme Chancellor has secretly dispatched two Jedi Knights, the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy, to settle the conflict...

I skipped a week of posting because it was the turn of the Phantom Menace and I wanted to post on the same week of its 3D relaunch.

I thought I would be super excited about it, but I am not! And I know the reason:

Who did this horrid thing? Horrid! I see this and instead of wanting to watch the movie on theatres I want to pop my eyes out of my face.

Come on, Star Wars already has kitsch posters, with a seventies look that made them somewhat nice, and all fans were used to them and kind of understood that tatty aura of B series movie that encircled the posters.

But the new poster? That is like glueing together bits and pieces giving no sense of what the film is about! Fortunately they have been at least king enough not to include Jar-jar Binks in the poster. So the new trilogy may not be the best trilogy ever, even though Episode III has some interesting stuff going on, but if the content is not good, at least the package should be inviting!

Fans have had to defend the Phantom Menace yet too often, sure it is not like the original trilogy, sure the story itself is somewhat lacking and childish, but it is Star Wars come on! Don't make it look like a Leslie Nielsen (RIP) movie! Please. I'll have to defend it is superawesome even if the poster says the contrary and I don't like that.

May the Force be with you.

Such is Life

STAR BLOGS EPISODE VI: The return of Lego (R)

2012-01-28T17:15:00.001+01:00

Thanks to my sister I have discovered the prints that are going to cover the walls of (let's hope so) my future place.

And also I have discovered a great artist of small things, mostly Lego (R)!! Please check his website, because its totally cool: Mike Stimpson.

He not only fotographs Star Wars stuff but also recreates famous photos and pictures with Lego (he even made a recreation of Goya's "Los fusilamientos del 2 de mayo" commissioned by the Spanish government) or Steve McCurry`s Afghan Girl.

Through his work I also rediscovered Stormtroopers, which may be one of the most world wide known Star Wars icons of all time but that may not have gotten the recognition they deserve.

Stormtroopers have been on both sides, and I am convinced that after the fall of the Empire they went back to the good graces of people, they may have even gotten married and have kids (it already happened during the Clone Wars, so hopefully they get the peace they deserve after more than 30 years fighting).

Little did I know at age 8, when I first saw Star Wars that over the years, I would want my walls filled with Stormtroopers, who for me were simple idiotic men who had enrolled in the Empire's troops in their fight against the Rebellion.

Bad nasty people these Stormtroopers hummmmm.

And now? Now thanks to the Clone Wars (you may object but it is an awesome show!) and these pictures I pity Stormtroopers so much I would like to adopt a squadron and invite them over for tea every week. Even more so if they cook! and knit, and eat pancakes.

So next time you wonder what do I get M as a present? please please please please get me one of these, any of these, all of them, but do it!!!

May the force be with you.

Such is Life

STAR BLOGS EPISODE V: The Calories strike fat

2012-01-21T15:57:00.002+01:00

EPISODE V: The Calories strike fat

It is a dark time for the Diet. Although the Death Watermelon has been destroyed, Carbohidrate troops have driven the rebel froces from their hidden base and pursued them across the fridge.

Evading the dreaded Carbohidrate Dishes, a group of calory fighters led by Luke Spicewalker has established a new secret base on the remote icing world of Hoth .

The evil lord Darth Transfat, obsessed with finding young Spicewalker, has dispatched thousands of remote probes into the far reaches of the fridge...

In the icing planet of Hoth, the Carbohidrate forces, push our favourite calory fighters out of their hiding and destroy the rebel base, forcing Princess Leia, Chewbacca and Ham Solo to flee on board the Millenium Salad Bowl in search of the diet republic's meeting point. Their journey won't be uneventful, constantly chased by enemy ships and on the verge of being eaten by gigantic fridge worms, our heroes escape to the so-thought friendly cloud city, where they are trapped and held hostage awaiting for Luke Spicewalker to come in his friends' rescue.

Luke, who has been training with old weightwatcher master Yolkda leaves his training unfinished and meets his fate in the confines of cloud city, only to learn Darth Transfat is...

you all know who he is!

May the Force be with you.

Such is Life.

Impotant note: None of this pictures are mine, all obtained from google images. All awesome, thanks to the cooks!

STAR BLOGS EPISODE IV: A new post

2012-01-20T19:43:00.001+01:00

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...

The creative team of whichever agency hired by Volks Wagen came up with a brilliant idea that has given me the inspiration to start a new blogging cycle:

STAR BLOGS! It sounds like I'm going to show you some awesome blogs, but I am not, I'm going to show you some STAR WARS goodness.

The title is bad, but I hope you find the idea cool.

Six movies, six episodes, obviously starting on episode IV because that is how it was done, I'll be posting in the next few weeks six posts on fun (and sometimes cute) STAR WARS stuff which I really like.

And today is the turn of the bark side: Volks Wagen's 2012 Super Bowl commercial. I almost cried with the AT-AT doggy (stolen idea from Ms. Mello and her dog Bones Mello - the AT-AT dog)

Brilliant. And stressful, I have tried to identify all 11 doggies and there is one I just can't decide who it is: I'll start from left to right, we've got R2D2 and C3PO, Leia, Han Solo in the middle, and Luke, then tiny Yoda, Chewbacca, Wicked the ewok, Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader, but who is the caramel brown dog suppossed to be?

I have two possible candidates:

- Ben Kenobi (I said Ben on purpose because I am that kind of nerd), because it's the only main (I would say essential) character that I cannot identify. And he has a brown cape.

- Admiral Ackbar. Because that dog really looks a lot like him.

Any ideas? And don't say Jabba the Hutt because we all know he would be a lot fatter.

So don't be a slimo and leave me some nice comments and suggestions.

May the Force be with you.

Such is Life

PS: Please check the video of the Wampug posted on Bones' Facebook page. I was going to post it here but I think we've had enough dogs for today.

I don't remember my life b.i (before iPad)

2012-01-15T22:37:00.000+01:00

iPads are a dangerous thing... Yes they are. First thing people ask you when you drop the idea of buying one is: what do you need an iPad for?

And so, for a little while you wonder what use can you give to the device, and come up with nothing. N O T H I N G. Nothing. Crisis ensues, you don't need it, you can live a perfect happy life with it. You may even live better without it (I dread the day my iPad starts malfunctioning, and so should you). You get it anyways thinking: "I'll discover what to do with it when I have it, but it is so awesome I need it."

And hell you do.

So much, you can no longer live without it. Without your iPad...

1.- how are you supposed to watch TV while you shower? (essential)

2.- how do you cook?

3.- how can you look for a flat?

4.- how do you sketch and draw?

5.- how do you survive a bus ride?

6.- how do you know which movie was number one in the US box office the week you were born?

7.- how are you supposed to watch your favourite MTV shows?

8.- how are you supposed to (let's face it) save? (App store very dangerous)

9.- how are you supposed to watch a non-HD screen?

and last but not least

10.- how do you wish happy birthday to a friend? (also works for picking someone up at the airport)

One hundred apps downloaded in less than a month. I may have used about 30% of them, but in my mind... oh so essential.

Such is Life!

and done! HAPPY 2012!

2012-01-01T22:56:00.000+01:00

Who would have thought...

Who would have thought 2011 was going to be like this? Please raise your hand if your year was just as you expected. No one? Isn't that awesome?

I am only sad 2011 has gone so fast! So surprising, in an excellent way. If anyone had told me, January 1st, 2011, that I would be typing my last post of the year in my iPad 2 or that I would have my very own Jedi academy batch, I would never have believed it true. ;P

Last night I said goodbye to a year I will always remember, no matter how old I get. 2011 has been full of milestones, which pave my way to 2012. And even if 2011 has taught us all something about the hard times and the need to adapt to change, the new year brings new opportunities to start again, in some cases, and keep fighting in many others. We will all be tested once again, and we will all leave many a new year resolution forgotten in the way, but such is life.

I am so glad I have 366 days ahead to make the best of them with you all!

Thank you for making last year so special, as always, I have my very special thanks, but this year I'll keep it in the anonymity: to the girl that sings and dances disney songs with me, the boy who always has some spare change to lend me, the girl that has made my phonecalls oh-so-cool, the girl that moved out of a yellow flat filled with good memories, the dear friend that wants me to read at her wedding, the friend that travels the world every nine months... thank you and HAPPY 2012.

I am so thankful you were part of my 2011, and I can`t begin to to tell you all what you mean to me and how much I hope we share a year that will steal 2011's thunder in my "top years" list.

I will be finishing now, repeating my thanks, to my friends and family, for being so amazing, for letting me in and be part of your 2011, words cannot explain the awesome.

HAPPY 2012!

Such is life.

Merry belated Chritsmas

2011-12-27T22:55:00.001+01:00

Oh my my, this is embarrassing. Here I am, December 27 and wishing you Merry Christmas. At least I owe you that! I have no excuse, other than the truth: I have been caught up in learning how to use my iPad. It is so awesome that it can produce this: MERRY CHRISTMAS from Such is Life!

21 days for Christmas!

2011-12-03T16:42:00.001+01:00

Deck the halls with boughs of holly
Fa la la la la la la la la

Such is Life is ready for Christmas!

Tis the season to be jolly
Fa la la la la la la la

It took me a little while to find the background and I had a personal fight with html and all, but here it is! With a new face, a new playlist and a new challenge now the Post-athon is over (and for the record, 1 post = 2 km, therefore I made it!), I have personally undertaken the task of getting you all in a Christmas mood.

Don we now our gay apparel
Fa la la la la la la la la

Here I was listening to Christmas carols looking for something to show you, so I went for on of my usual easy-post options, GLEE!

Troll the ancient yuletide carol
Fa la la la la la la la la

I started to search for the video of Deck the rooftop, which is nowhere to be found because it doesn't exist and I found this:

Up on the rooftop reindeer paws
Out jumps good ol Santa Clause

How "awesome" is this? This moments are those when you regret living in a big city and looking for a tiny apartment in that same big city instead of moving to the suburbs, buying a place with a garden and sharing with the world this display of seasonal joy.

Down through the chimney with lots of toys
All for the little ones Christmas joys

How I love to find a video and then pull the thread and find yet more and more interesting stuff, and so, I came up with the 7 BEST CHRSITMAS LIGHTS SHOWS (as can be seen on Youtube):

Ho ho ho
Who wouldn't go?

Underneath the video these words: "WOW!!! 4 Different Homes With Extreme Creativity & 1000's Of Outdoor Christmas Lights/Music - Thanks People!!"

Ho ho ho
Who wouldn't go?

Creativity is one of those things that mistakes genius with unbearable too often.

Up on the rooftop click click click
Down through the chimney with good St. Nick

Fa la la la la la la la la

Such is Life

The Finish Line (Post-athon day 21)

2011-11-30T22:46:00.000+01:00

I did it!

I made it!

You thought I wouldn't be able to post today, didn't you? Well, I did, and I feel so relieved I may actually cry.

The preassure is over, the Post-athon is completed and I have to thank many of you for that.

Your comments have kept me going through these eternal three weeks, and I have barely missed a post.

Therefore, here we are today in the 2011 Post-athon Awards (Cheer, applaud and scream please):

- Best Reader Award goes to Anuska and Agnes, for their comments and support, reading and commenting every post no matter how boring or random.

- Most Obnoxious Reader Award to Paula, my sister, like you didn't expect that.

- Shy Reader Award goes to Isa Conde, for her first comment in Such is Life on the Ultimate Top 5.

- Early Bird Reader Award goes to Bece, for becoming a follower and commenting all in the same day.

- Follower-at-last Award goes to Anonymous, for becoming a follower before the Post-athon is over!

and finally:

- The Ultimate Blogger Award goes to myself (of course) cause this has been a real challenge, and I feel like I deserve it. Please do not comment if you think otherwise.

This has been it.

Finally I will be able to think a little bit more about what I post, and that will definitely improve the quality of this Blog.

Thank you so much for reading.

Such is Life.

The ten worst things squash edition (Post-athon day 20!!!!!!)

2011-11-29T13:46:00.004+01:00

If this Post-athon has proven something it's that no one should ever be allowed to post unless they have something to say. Otherwise, you better stay quiet.

I may have exceeded the limits of what is considered as acceptable random ramblings in the past few days, what with all the fill-in-the-gap posts, but do not fret, once today is over I have something which I hope you will enjoy, and then... then I can begin with the "Christmas Countdown Post-athon!!!"

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Please please don't do this again!!

Ok, I won't put you through that.

I will instead opt to post a very absurd picture of the 18kg squash my uncle brought us the other day. And will dedicate this post to my sister, and the 10 WORST THINGS THAT COULD EVER HAPPEN TO YOU (when you hate squash)

1.- Your uncle is kind enough to gift you a 18kg squash when november comes, this is something he has been doing for the last couple of years, and you are oh so thankful.

2.- Your mother needs to get rid of the squash but there are not so many people willing to take home a 2kg slice of squash, therefore...

3.- After your mother gets rid of half the squash you still have 9 delicious kg of squash all to yourself.

4.- Squash is one of those vegetables that freezes oh so nicely and there is stored squash at home for months.

5.- Your obnoxious sister, who loves squash cream insists your mother cooks squash cream weekly.

6.- You not only hate squash but also hate cream.

7.- Your mother adds squash to all her dishes, including the traditional cocido every saturday.

8.- Boiled squash leaves little pieces of squashy mush everywhere, so no matter if you get rid of the bigger pieces, there is no way you can erase that orange aura from your food.

9.- Farmville makes you plant squash and pumpkins all november long.

10.- By the time you finish all the aquash... is november again and your uncles comes home with AN EVEN BIGGER SQUASH.

Oh, lucky you.

Such is Life

A breath of fresh air (Post-athon day 19)

2011-11-28T01:00:00.000+01:00

Christmas is near! And with the coming season Such is Life is in the mood for good deeds.

Today I want to present the Little Lungs Foundation. Created to enable and improve research on rare lung diseases specially in children, support their families, provide and share information, create a healthy environment and all in all try to make the life of sick children and their families a little easier.

They arrive at Madrid next December 17th with a beautiful Concert in the National Auditorium. Click in the picture below to learn a little more about them and the concert.

This is it for today.

See you tomorrow for the penultimate post of this 2011 Post-athon.

Such is Life!

The Ultimate Top 5 (Post-athon day 18)

2011-11-27T12:32:00.001+01:00

Good morning! it is a lovely Sunday morning, it's cold outside and the sun is shining, and I have a new post, one of those with content, not random silly ramblings.

Over this post-athon I have offered you a couple of TV show lists, and even though I tried to make a good list at first, I realised it was not my list.

I lied to save face, but when you run out of posts, you must either face your demons and post or just write some crap from a taxi and press send.

I choose both.

So, without further ado, I present, the Ultimate Finalest Realest Top 5 TV shows of my choice:

5.- It is a powerful program that which makes you cry every time you see it. These people are made so happy... (And in that last sentence there is both irony and truthfulness). Number 5 goes to Extreme Makeover, Home Edition.

4.- This is the real place this show really deserved in my initial list. All that make it work has lead to incredible designs, and hours of entertainment.

3.- Oh what this show has given me... the music, the characters, the story, the ideas, I wish other sagas would give fans so much material to feed their thirst as this one. Some may object, but this is awesome!

Oh, no wait, that wasn't it...

2.- Good morning upper east siders, yes, I admit it, I really enjoy this show... The looks, the city... It is drama for drama, and they are frivolous and all that stuff, but I enjoy it a-lot.

1.- Number 1 will always be number one, for the years to come and the shows to be invented, I have not seen another show like this. Number one is always for them! F.R.I.E.N.D.S!!

And with this the show is over for today! Comment and suggest, but do not judge.

Such is Life

The stressful life of a social media addict (Post-athon day 17)

2011-11-26T22:38:00.001+01:00

A taxi is just a good a place to post as your living room at home. I have to thank blackberry for that.

I don't thank bb when it decides to let its servers die and takes four days to fix them, at that time, i loathed bb for keeping me away from fb, my friends and google maps.

But today it is going to save me from failing to post! I have to admit saturdays are a terrible day to post. With my job I would never have thought that being normal one day a week would get in the way of posting daily, but actually saturdays are a terrible day for posting.

It gets even worse when you realise you have to manage three facebook accounts, five email addresses, linkedin, twitter and... This blog. I may have reached my peak internet wise, and I have to admit I'll be very glad when the posting preassure is over and I can focus on my various other social media addictions.

Must get off the taxi now, the most useful taxi ride of the week!

Mischief managed!

Such is life

Excuse me, is there a doctor in the room? (Post-athon day 16, PhD edition)

2011-11-25T12:32:00.001+01:00

Excuse me, is there a doctor in the room? You said yes? May anyone please point out who the doctor is?

Oh! I see, the girl with the big smile to whom the waiter is offering a drink? (What a fancy place with waiters and all!) Oh, that is excellent news.

And is she the only doctor in the room? Really? I thought many of these people could pass as doctors... of course the girl with the shiny headband does not, (yes, the one with the pretty skirt that looks totally borrowed from her fashion forward sister), but the rest?

Oh, and of course the five ladies in that corner are not!! I can tell valid from null. Paz... What did you call them?

And what about the grey-haired gentleman with the brown jacket and the tie, or that worried looking man with the white shirt and the blue jumper?

What do you mean they were doctors for a day? That is a ridiculous notion!

Aaahhhh ok, so now I understand, what a curious phenomenon! 5-6-7 years as pre-doc, one day (some would even say second) as doctor and a post-doc for the rest of your life! This science thing is complicated (that's the way the cookie crumbles guys)!

Ok, I came here with a purpose, so I will just walk to her and say my speech: "Congrats Dr. Ferina, you make a hell of a doctor!!"

Such is Life

Author's note: It seems I can't expect anyone to understand this post. Don't try, even my critics, who should understand it, don´t.

That's the way the cookie crumbles (Post-athon day 15 revisited)

2011-11-24T14:00:00.001+01:00

Have I gone insane?

Yes. There is no other explenation to posting twice a day in the middle of a Post-athon.

Why fool myself with the idea that my synapse works just fine when I know my neurotransmitters are more similar to fireworks than...

... Than whatever scientific explanation there is to neurotransmitters (I will never understand why I get into these puddles of mud so often).

A conversation with my sister this morning made me give some serious though to today's previous post, and I am somewhat ashamed of posting that crappy stuff.

Apologies to all, permanent and eventual readers.

The conversation with my sister made me also realise (more accurately my sister pointed out) that the only "quality content" of my blog is limited to:

-lists of (either music or TV shows),

-poscards from... and

- the 10 worst things.

The remaining fill-the-gap content is crap.

In my posting crisis I started surfing the web trying to find additional inspiration to improve the F I've given myself for today's previous post, and I found a few ideas:

1.- synonimes for such is life: I could dedicate an entire post to expressions like: "that's the way it goes", "c'est la vie" or my personal favourite "that's the way the cookie crumbles".

2.- explaining synapse, neurotransmitters and how it may be similar to fireworks (unachievable).

3.- commenting on current affairs, such as the economy (boring).

Either of them or all, are crap. But now you may realise that I've managed to:

A) write more than 3 paragraphs,

B) mention my sister (thrice)

C) use three types of bullets, and

D) redeem my F, which may be now a C-.

That's the way the cookie crumbles.

I really can't stay... (Post-athon day 15)

2011-11-24T00:03:00.001+01:00

In such cases as these you just have to be brave and type. I am officially exhausted, you are exhausted too, no wonder, and the quality of the posting may be decreasing steadily, but I promise this will all be over soon, I'll go back to posting once in a lifetime and you'll go back to being surprised when I post.

But till then, this is it, and I need a story to tell.

For the last few days (I think weeks) I've been feeling this knack for Christmas, I keep listening to Christmas Carrols, buying cds with Christmas Classics (plenty) and all in all getting ready for Christmas. The only problem is this year my list of giftable people is longer, and I am totally out of ideas.

Christmas socks are a good idea right?

Excellent idea when you are asking for an iPad or diamond earings in return. Brilliant.

I need help. I need ideas! And I need a posting break. I will just listen to the music and think of nothing.

This is the second time I post this song here, so please, if you didn't listen to it the first time. It is totally worth it.

Such is Life

Postcards from London: Good morning Chelsea (Post-athon day 14!)

2011-11-23T01:00:00.000+01:00

I've been to London several times, first when I was nine, I still remember the cold, the food and the Disney Store.

But I had never had the chance to walk down the King's Road and to get lost in Chelsea.

There was a time, before my mouth went all radical on me where I could eat and taste solids, and enjoy a great brunch, when I could speak and not sound like a 5 year-old or a drunken homeless (I am not sure which of the two is more accurate).

Focus M, focus! As I was saying, we started our morning stroll down King's Road (so gameofthrony!) and even though is was misty at first, the weather was amazingly nice for a weekend in late November.

On the random side, during our walk we came up a very funny Canadian guy who recognised us for our chit chatting and told us he was the first Canadian to import Spanish clementines to Canada, awkward conversation, a few laughs and he kept walking and do did we.

We walked and walked, past the National History Museum and several other museums, rows of houses all neatly painted, better decorated and framed with luxurious cars, and started to feel hungry, mmmmm what can anyone do on a Sunday morning but to enjoy brunch? Nothing, just enjoy brunch.

So there we went to PJ's, where I had my last solid dishes in days: Eggs Royale with smoked salmon (just like eggs benedict but with salmon instead of ham), and dessert for 6. I still remember that apple crumble and smell the cinnamon and the walnuts...

I am starved. The only good thing about this tooth ordeal is knowing I will get rid of the few pounds I put on over the summer.

We all need to find some solace don't we?

Such is Life

In sickness and in health... (Post-athon day 13!)

2011-11-22T13:24:00.001+01:00

Oh how I suffer!

My wisdom teeth have decided the best time to cause havoc is a few weeks before Christmas, with a post-athon on the go, a wedding, dinners, several celebrations, shopping and work to sort out before the holidays.

This is f*****g painful. I can bearely speak let alone eat solids. I cried over breakfast and it was just soggy biscuits drowned in cocoa (yes, I am back to age six). Worse, haven't eaten solids since sunday (thank God for that Holandaise sauce over eggs benedict, it may keep me going for another week).

My left ear hurts like crazy too, all part of the same wisdom disaster. If this is wisdom, I want it gone. I'd rather be unwise but unsuffering.

To add more pain to the aggravation, we had a fire drill today at work. The sound of the alarm nearly made my battered left ear bleed, I am certain. Worst of all, as a friend said, being in the top floor sucks, we will be in serious trouble when the drill becomes reality and hundreds of panicking lawyers try to exit the building at the same time.

I think my wisdom teeth are affecting my sense of humour, but here I am, in sickness and in health, posting every day!

Such is Life
--

Liar liar my pants on fire (Post-athon day 12)

2011-11-21T09:00:00.000+01:00

Ok, so maybe I lied.

Maybe my top 10 TV shows are not the 10 you I showed you the other day are not exactly my top 10, maybe I was not totally accurate and truthful. Maybe I feel a little ashamed of the TV I really enjoy? Maybe NOT.

I hereby present M's real TOP 10 TV shows of all time (Part 1):

10.- Sunday afternoon after sunday afternoon these three sisters fought against evil and charmed (hahaha that was easy) teenage me:

9.- The best chef ever. I drove by his restaurant at the Claridge's in London yesterday and have made the purpose to go sometime soon, maybe not while being strangled with a mortgage though. Can't help but love Hell's Kitchen (and Kitchen Nightmares, it makes me miss HK a little less in between seasons!)

8.- Blood, blood, blood and Eric! (and Alcide of course, but he's not in the video sorry)

7.- Another HBO hit which lead me to the books and is now in the limbo of "will I like next season less now I've read the books?" that is what happens when you "play the Game of Thrones..."

6.- This is the most awesome Cartoon show I've seen since Dave the Barbarian and notwithstanding my Top 5 choices. BLUE is AWESOME.

I could actually dedicate this little blue friend a whole post! But I still have many other things to post! The final real Sich is Life TV show list is coming soon, and it is going to be AWESOME!

Such is Life

Postcards from... London (Post-athon day 11!)

2011-11-20T23:27:00.001+01:00

Hello darlings, how lovely yo see you all again.

I am going to be a little naughty and say I am consistently publishing posts, since yesterday I made it to post something even if it was something with little consequence.

As I said yesterday, I spent the weekend in London visiting a friend. It's been a great weekend, shopping laughing, chatting, eating and chatting a little more, and shopping a little more.

After a few weeks listening to Christmas carrol's at work, the sight of Christmas decorations filling the streets quenched for a little while my thirst for Christmas.

South Kengsinton and Chelsea offered a beautiful picture at seven p.m. when we made it back home full of shopping bags, exhausted and stressed thinking how on earth would we be able to fit all the stuff we got in our tiny easyjet friendly suitcases.

There was a stop we couldn't miss, Hamley's! and it was full of Christmas Legos!!

I behaved very well in the morning and tried to spend moderately, but then I went to Urban Outfitters and I went a little crazy... so crazy that on the way down from the first to the ground floor I had to stop by the cashier to return a t-shirt... that made me feel a little better, but still, this weekend was not the best in saving terms. I have decided that January will be the start of some serious saving new habits, my new year's resolutions are going to be very very interesting!

I will be back with more London pictures soon! But today is election day, and there is some very important stuff going on right now for is 46 million Spaniards.

I have to admit I missed you all, now I'm back! and I promise to look for the damn email address to post from my bb.

Such is Life

2011-11-19T15:14:00.001+01:00

I won't be able to post today... I am sorry. So sorry. But I'm in London city for the weekend and still can't remember the fhfdsddufjkh email address to post by email.

My sincerest apologies, I promise to bring London goodies!!

Cheers!

Such is life

The 10 worst things that could ever happen to you (Post-athon version)

2011-11-18T00:00:00.000+01:00

Like you didn't see this coming... ha.

I have ran out of posts, not only have I left a very very interesting one half written, but I am leaving for the weekend and won't be able to post till Sunday evening again... I should have programmed posts till then but my life got on the way, and I find myself writing this post in an email hoping to remember the address I set to publish posts by email.

This is being a hell of a challenge, and my daily routine is not making it any easier. In fact, the planets seem to have aligned to prevent me from posting. Here are the reasons why.

The 10 worst things that could ever happen to you (when engaged in a Post-athon):

1.- You commit to publish not 7, not 10, not 15 but 21 days in a row (First colossal mistake)

2.- The list of planned posts is not longer than... 7 posts.

3.- You write some posts during the weekend and decide to find some time to post during the week (Second colossal mistake, don't you know where you work??).

4.- You work till 2.a.m. on the planned night to write some posts in advance.

5.- You get home at 2 a.m. and go to bed. You can't sleep thinking you need to post something by 12:00 a.m. Friday (Shit, it's Thursday already!).

6.- 3 a.m. You seriously consider getting up and writing, but you feel your family would think you insane. Agreed. You'll write something at lunch time.

7.- You skip lunch to write a post from work (Third colossal mistake, I'm famished). The browser of your work computer is not compatible with blogger (Why oh why). Ok, don't panic, just try to post from your bb. You can't. Why did you have to upgrade blogger? It is not compatible with either explorer 6 or bb internet explorer! You seriously consider to upgrade your work browser, but then decide to be reasonable. Your IT department would not think reasonable that you needed the upgrade your browser to post on your blog. No wonder.

8.- While thinking this is all an international conspiracy to keep you from delivering to your faithful readers, you remember you configured blogger to post directly from an email address (Oh joy).

9.- You can't remember the iihgiashgpfugpçiofgpçàoidfg address. You remember you copied it to your bb address book.

10.- You then remember you lost it when your bb died last summer.

And now, here you are, praying that you'll convince your wonderful loving sister to post this on your behalf.

I hope she does. (Yes she did! She is the best sister ever!) I would feel very disappointed with myself if I failed so soon in the race for Post-athon success.

Oh well, Such is Life

And on the eight day she rested (Post-athon day 8)

2011-11-17T00:00:00.004+01:00

I am chewing on the idea of taking a day off, today may be a great day to do it, I could just post a video and leave you to it. Or I could choose a song, post the lyrics and the video clip and... Oh, I could do that! and there's this song I like... huh.

I enjoy this song so much, it's hilarious. I like it so much I couldn't believe my luck when I found it on iTunes, and I bought it. Not that I don't like hipsters, I actually like their aesthetic a lot and what with my haircut and fake glasses, I am a hipster sometimes, and I like it. But taken to the extreme, as everythinghey are ridiculous. Totally ridiculous. And it's not only me, but a great may normal people think that some things are just... well, just watch the video and judge yourselves.

I wasn't surprised to see that Mr. Oatmeal, had dedicated them one his awesome comics. Btw, I totally encourage you to drop by his page and read some of his stuff, true as life itself, fun and intelligent. Excellent for that two minute break you need at work to stop feeling miserable.

I know this was just a filling post, but give me a break! I've managed to post everyday for more than a week, and I am running out of ideas. Do not judge me, please.

Thank you! Such is Life

PS: All the interesting stuff in this post is NOT mine, but his: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/hammer_vs_hipster

The TV show Show Part 2 (Post-athon day 7)

2011-11-16T00:00:00.000+01:00

Oh joy! I made it through the first Post-athon week! Two more to go and I will have over come my greatest bloggong challenge so far.

Ok, enough of that, today's post is the continuation of Monday's TV show Show. I am sure you are waiting for the top five, so I will end your agony and provide you with this extremely valuable enternaintment insight.

5.- Mckinley High has provided me with hundreds of hours of good music and even though this new season is being a little bit of a disappointment, they still deserve a place of honour in my LIST. Here's to Glee!

4.- This show reminds me slightly of my number 1 choice, it's NYC, it's a group of young people spending most of their time together, and they are fun (well not Ted, Ted is not fun, I don't like Ted). Big round of applause to How I met your mother, for making me miss my number 1 choice a little less.

3.- This is getting interesting... 3, three is to a good cop show filled with irony and sense of humour, intelligent and entertaining, even though Beckett is silly because he is awesome and he loves her. Mr. Rick Castle, you deserve it!

2.- I declare this guy the best TV character ever. Best humour I've ever seen. Also I have to admit I feel identified with them some times, and that makes it even more awesome. Math, science, history, unraveling the mystery and all started with...

1.- 1994-2004, I grew up with this show and cried when it ended. I know episodes by heart, I never tire of watching it over and over again. That is the secret of a great show, you never tire of it, you laugh with it and you cry when it's over. First place goes to FRIENDS, for so many years of feel good moments.

I have to admit I keep laughing out loud as I watched this clip. I think Jennifer Aniston is genuinly laughing too.

Anyway, this is it. Or is it?

Muahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Such is Life.

Postcards from Russia - The name game (Post-athon day 6)

2011-11-15T00:00:00.001+01:00

Ok, maybe you are wondering when I find the time to write so many posts now and why, if I have so much time to write, why don't i do it more often. Well, it's Saturday and this is the third post I'm writing today. And I still have another one to do at least before I can relax a little. Jeeezzz, the life of a regular blogger is exhausting.

Anyway, my point, Postcards from Russia is here, fifth post dedicated to this country, and maybe not last, cause the week I spent there left me full of posting ideas.

Today I want to play a game with you all, the name game. Cyrillic is an alphabet very similar to greek, and once you've seen it for a couple of days you can actually read it with some ease.

Once you know what a PECTOPAH is, the rest is easy. It's actually funny to walk about the streets of Moscow articulating letters as you read them. Russians may think we tourists are idiots, but we tourists feel very intelligent when words start comming out our mouths and make sense. Cause Russian has many words that sound like a mix of Greek and latin, and I don't know what else

I made a selection of the best known brands worldwide and offer you to play the name game. Can you guess them all?

Most of them are easy, with the giant M and the little syren, the last two are a bit more difficult, but I am sure that at least my friend Agnes will know. I would be very dissapointed if she doesn't.

I am officially exhausted. An this post only ensures I have posts till Tuesday... This is going to be hard... Why do I put myself through this?

Such is Life

The TV show Show Part 1 (Post-athon day 5)

2011-11-14T00:00:00.003+01:00

I promised yesterday to post this and here it goes. My Top 10 TV shows of all time, well, maybe not, maybe I should say My top 10 TV shows of all time from an adult perspective, cause if you had asked me let's say 22 years ago I may have included Falcon Crest in the list below together with Saint Seiya (better know as Caballeros del Zodiaco here at home).

So be thankful I grew up and that my mom never let me watch more that the opening credits of that show cause this could have been a very... interesting list actually. I've decided to split this post in two parts, so today numbers 10 to 6, and next week the top 5. You are, as always, most encouraged to comment on my choice and suggest some changes, I am always eager to discover new TV shows, so drop by and leave a word.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present you, the LIST:

10.- I admit I would put this TV show in number 5 or 4 if my common sense didn't tell me that many will disagree and think me a little shallow. I may only need to say three words for some to guess which show it is: Make it work.

9.- I started watching this show when its last season was about to start and it was such a great discovery that I watched all the seasons, episode after episode some time in the autumn of 2008, frack, it took me days to do that. Awesome show. Can't say the same about the prequel. Please cheers to Battlestar Galactica.

8.- Number eight goes to a show I watch intermitently, a show that I don't watch while it is ongoing but wait for the season to be over and watch episode after episode in a Show-athon (anything can be athoned this days!). She is bad, she is twisted and she is brilliant, that why everyone loves Patty, cause when she is through with you, there won't be anything left.

7.- Seven goes not to one show, but to a genre, those cute TV shows that make you like them just because they are cute, characters are cute, the town is cute, the story is cute... I think you get it. It's a pity general audience doesn't seem to like them as much as I do. Clear examples are Men in Trees and ongoing and recently premiered, Hart of Dixie.

6.- Weird, inexplicable and odd. Fringe is just that. Walter Bishop is one of those characters you can't help but love. Peter is awesome, Olivia may or may not irritate you, in my case she does, but the show is great. And this way I cover not only Fringe, but also other J.J. Abrams shows, looking all modern, ha.

Curious to know which shows made it to the top 5?

In other circumstances you would have had to wait months, but that is the good thing about the Post-athon! You'll have your top 5 in a few days. Come on, leave me some comments.

Such is Life.

Hard times for M (Post-athon day 4)

2011-11-13T00:00:00.004+01:00

Someone should have told me the minute you start thinking about buying a house something twitches in your brain and all becomes a matter of saving.

I am so not ready to save! I would have to quit on stuff like taking taxis to go everywhere, and not buying everything I like. That sucks. Even I feel guilty about the last pair of shoes I bought, and that is just cause I bought them right before seeing the apartment I WANT (and need to have, it's a pity it is so damn expensive). I seriously thought about turning them back, but they are so lovely, and duck blue!

But I've started adapting my ways to this new idea of saving, for instance, last night, instead of taking a taxi, or two, I took my mom's car, and not only did I save around 30€ in taxis, but gas is free, since mom pays for it.

Or Thursday, thursday I spent zero € overall! I got lifts to and from work and I got invited to lunch... Maybe this saving thing is not that difficult, all you have to do is make someone else spend the money for you right?

I felt so good about doing such a great job saving that I spent 70€ shopping on amazon. That is the spirit.

I feel so Rachel Green right now.

and this also helps as introduction for Monday's post in Such is Life 2011 Post-athon, "My top 10 TV shows of all time".

Such is Life

Dear France (Post-athon day 3)

2011-11-12T00:00:00.001+01:00

(WARNING: This is one of those angry posts only very few will understand. If you wonder, yes, it is totally ironic)

Dear France,

Oh, how I appreciate that you treat us so fairly.

It is admirable how you respect our public holidays and keep us away from our laptops, emails, blackberries and offices, and allow us time to relax and forget the trials of our proffesional lives. We are so thankful that you kept us from a boring and tedious Wednesday with our insupportable friends and families. We know you do it in our best interest. In this economy, we need to be more productive, and if you don't make us lazy Spanish work in our public holidays, trust me, we are not going to do it.

How cheerfully you informed us that Friday is a public holiday in France, and that none of you would be working. How admirably you encourage us all to work non-stop from Monday to Thursday so that you can get your well deserved rest. How complete a person feels when your job is well done.

How awesome to have produced more than one hundred emails in a day making us feel needed and appreciated, and our work and time so incredibly valued.

I was moved by your capacity to keep calm and try not to panic with the smallest downturns. We Spanish should learn from your organised and efficient working methods.

Thank you so much France. You are a dear.

Kind regards

The Social Network Trap (Post-athon day 2!)

2011-11-11T00:00:00.002+01:00

Damn me and my need to report any little thing that ever happens to me on Facebook.

I fell (not for the first time though) in the Social Network Trap.

The Social Network Tarp is the mix of: (a) the pathological need to tell the world any and everything you do real time (i.e. "I am eating an ice cream cone, awesome") and (b) the realization that you may have made a mistake in reporting what really happened to you, which always leads to (c) your friends realising you are somewhat ridiculous.

Of course, as always, based in a true story:

As usual, this is what happened to me one sad wednesday afternoon.

A few weeks ago I decided to start going to the gym with a friend. The idea of exercising regularly is still alien to my convictions, but week after week, we kept going to that horrible little hole full of muscles and sweat.

That wednesday, as I got ready to exercise, with very little will to actually exercise, I realised I could not find my runners. Old plain runners. I desperately seek them in the changing room, and frantically type this on my FB status: "someone stole my runners at the gym". Immediate reply, my sister laughs at me and I keep frantically looking for the runners.

I go to the reception desk asking for a pair of old Adidas but no one has seen an old pair of Adidas. Thieves! Filthy little thieves! I keep looking and looking, and when I have surrendered to the idea that, I am not going to exercise that day (that was painful, yeah (ha)) and I would have to buy a new pair of runner (that was painful indeed), I realise that I have not had a pair of Adidas since 2003.

"Excuse me Miss, you may not have found a pair of Nike runners by any chance?"

"You said Adidas before"

"I know, I am that stupid and cannot tell the difference between three stripes and a swoosh"

"We do have an old pair of plain Nikes"

"Those will be mine, thank you".

My next FB status: "is a clear example why you should not publish anything and everything that happens to you on FB in real time".

My theft status generated 18 comments, none of them praised my descretion, trust me. I even felt bad and had to publicly apoligise to the people at the gym (again by publishing it on my FB :P).

Lesson learned, after that I have only updated my status twice. One referred to my late raccooning, which I may explain, or may not, depending on how fast I run out of stories for my Post-athon, and the second to send RIM to hell for the revival of the general server faillure which took place yesterday for a short while.

Oh well, I made it!

Such is Life post-athon day 2 and another post successfully published!

Such is Life.

Postcards from Russia - The Tzars saw it coming (Post-athon day 1!)

2011-11-10T00:00:00.003+01:00

Summer is now very far away, and I am not very good at remembering details, so I'll be quick.

Russia 1917, the last members of the imperial family are driven away from Saint Petersburg and gave rise to one of the most popular 20th century legends, Anastasia (I may have watched the 20th Century Fox movie at least a million times).

But I digress. The purpose of this post is to show, that sometimes you can, or at least, you have to see certain things coming (like a mass of raging proletarias who want to send to to hell).

Here's a story:

Tzar: "My dear daughter, here's a palace in the center of Saint Petersburg as a wedding gift"
Princess: "Thanks Daddy, but I don't like it".
Tzar: "Why darling?".
Princess: "I hate the view!"
Tzar: "But why? It is a lovely view of the square, and the church on the other side is magnificent".
Princess: "Oh, but there is that statue of you in a horse in the center of the square".
Tzar: "sure, and?"
Princess: "The horse's backside is the first thing you see when you look out the window".

And that is the story of how one of the hundreds of palaces in Saint Petersburg has always been empty.

And here's another story:

Summer, Saint Petersburg, some time in the XIXth century (yes I am that accurate with historical facts). The tzar and his family relocate to their summer palace 29 km away from their hundreds of palaces of Saint Petersburg. Golden fountains that flow with the sound of music (even one dedicated to the tzar's favourite dog), a channel from the main fountain to the sea, a yet smaller palace for those times were 40 rooms are not enough to get away from your family... and your subjects Mr. Tzar?

"Oh, they may be starving, but I am sure they will not be a problem".

Ha.

Who couldn't see that coming?

I'm not dead, and proudly announce...

2011-11-09T22:25:00.000+01:00

Ok, I may have been suffering writer's block or actually just being lazy, I know I owe you some more postcards from Russia, and I know I have not posted anything half funny in the last few months, but do not suffer! I have many many ideas in mind now, and I intend to put them into practice.

I am therefore proud to announce, the "1st Such is Life Post-athon" (*please cheer*)!

Now you may wonder:

a) What on Earth is a Post-athon? and

b) Why is she announcing stuff she is not going to do?

Well, please find your answers below:

a) A Post-athon is a blogging marathon. From now till December 1st I intend to post something every single day, yeah, I have gone suicidal. One post per day for the next... 1, 2, 3, ...21 days!

b) I am very stubborn (clear examples of this are: The hula hoop and the diving paradoxes, soon to be published in the Post-athon.

Yeap, more Such is Life coming in... TOMORROW.

But before I can go all crazy with the new draft posts, I have some draft minutes to prepare. I hate working on bank holidays (you here me people at W&C? hate working on bank holidays, a little thank you would be much appreciated).

Such is Life

Postcards from Russia - Through my peephole

2011-08-27T14:10:00.000+02:00

Thursday, last few days of holidays before going back to my quest for blue Narnian donkeys fluent in Chinese, and here I am, with some more Postcards from Russia while watching (ashamed to admit it) a please-shoot-this-obnoxious-brat average program on MTV.

And although I can barely blink while the teenage brat screams at her mother for giving her a $67,000 car at the wrong time, I really feel, as the sensible adult I am, I should stop paying attention to the TV and get to the point of today's post.


A Russian crane

A peek on Russia's day-to-day life. Sure I did all the touristy stuff, paid my repects to Mr. Lenin's tiny body and all, but while doing that my camera got some glimpses of what lies beneath, a country struggling to adjust to capitalism and free market. I have said it before and will repeat it here, never have I seen so many supercars parked close to prefall of the Iron Curtain Ladas, petrol tycoons and other stuff mobsters drinking vodka in 5 star hotel halls while their security personnel eye you poor tourist suspiciosly (no kidding) and just a couple of blocks away workmen carrying put their jobs in the poorest conditions.

After last summer's trip to Romania I thought I had seen enough of Eastern Europe to get the idea of how ex-communist countries are facing the twenty first century. I was wrong, Russia has that same bitter taste but in this case, the mix of the super rich and the super poor makes the place a lot more interesting for the blogger eye.

I spent a full five minutes watching the works outside Mowcow's Red Square. Please look at the pictures with full attention, the sequence is hilarious (and unsafe).

Am I getting too serious? I think I am! This is new... Anyway, just wanted to give some text to this pictures. Hope you enjoy them. Again, more to be found in my Fb page, only for friends!

Next on Such is Life: Postcards from Russia - The Tzars should have seen it coming!

Postcards from Russia - Such great hights

2011-08-18T22:00:00.002+02:00

I've learnt quite a lot of things about Russia lately, its recent and not so recent history, its people and their traditions.

Capitalism, free market and Perestroika have had a somewhat disfunctional way of becoming part of the daily life of Russians, big fat cars mingle with groups of women dressed in black,old men playing chess in the middle of the street and women wearing the most unbelievable high heels one could ever manage to walk on.

- "Let's do the shopping, darling".

- "Sure, dear, i just need to put my comfy shoes on".

Seriously, I bet half the money in my purse (0,76€) that Russian hospitals have the highest rate of ankle injuries among female patients between the ages of 17 and 35 in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD.

Unbelievable.

I therefore undertook the task of taking pictures of all the Russian women wearing appaling heels that I could, and trust me, it was a difficult task to try and take the picture without their enormous mobster boyfriends turning my humble digicam (as in Digimon! but digicam) to tiny sparkling metal pieces (which explains why most pictures are either blurry or twisted).

High heels walking across Moscow's Red Square's irregular pavement make one believe impossible is nothing, of course then you watch this impossibly tall women lose balance and can't help but imagine an average Moscovite ER filled with women carrying one broken high heel shoe in one hand, ankle throbbing.

Of course I have not checked statistics on Russian hospitals, but I have been witness to some very common collateral damages that come with wearing heels through impossible pavements. As you walk along any Russian street you can perfectly hear the very particular clang of lidless heels announcing the arrival of an impossibly tall Russian female, and of course you are correct in that assumption. Here she comes, accompanied by her mobster boyfriend. Camera out, picture!

It hit me as something quite surprising when I discovered this sign at the entrance of Saint Petersburg's Ermitage museum. You can take pictures everywhere, ruin a beautiful Rafael or Leonardo taking pictures but please refrain from ruining the floor with your high heel shoes!!

I pitied them, suffering all day long... I pitied them even more when I learned the reason behing those shoes. Our tour guide in Moscow was a young girl in her twenties who gave us the plainest answer to this quizz: "We wear this shoes to get good men". I really hope she is wrong... Alas, she is one Russian woman, and they are millions treading down the heart of that country. They are likely to have their own reasons.

This is the winner as far as hight goes

I'll leave you now, London's calling, and I have a plane to catch. I plan to have some New Age fun with a vintage feel while I take pictures of the London fields looking through my pair of empty frames, why you may wonder, well, cause being a dickhead's cool, and of course, cause Such is Life!

P.D.: More pictures can be found in my fb page, only for friends!

Postcards from Russia - Moscow and the defenders of the land.

2011-08-12T14:37:00.003+02:00

Hey there!

Red Square (Moscow)

Just returned from a holiday in Moscow and Saint Petersburg with my camera full of pictures (yet too many) and even more things to share with you.

Curious place, with curious habits and curious people to say the least and nearly 500 pictures I will not bother you with, just my personal favourites. Today, my take on the Russian authorities.

I suppose Russians will be used to their huge hats but to me they looked like something brought from the past.
The truth is, I felt carried a couple dozen years back while passing their way. It doesn't help that at least 8 of them permanently watch over Lenin's preserved corpse during opening hours or that they make a very odd yet fun looking "dance" while changing guards at the tomb of the unknown Russian soldiers. Even their own "kin" watched them curiously as three soldiers lifted their legs and hit their waepons while maintaining a difficult balance.


The walls of the Kremlin (Moscow)

During the weekend dozens of young cadets (recently graduated by their looks) filled the streets of Moscow leaving some very fun and odd pictures. Walking with their girlfriends and their impossibly high heels (post in the oven in this regard) or just walking along the Red Square with their proud mothers, grandmothers, aunts, uncles, nieces, cousins...

I started to feel too touristy and decided to stop taking pictures, until the morning after, when I came by this:

Smile boys!

More to come on Such is Life's trip to the other side!

Enjoy your summer!

Such is life.

Melon. Yet another "Such is Life" story

2011-08-01T15:35:00.001+02:00

Remember me?

The laziest blogger ever? Well I am finally on holidays and ready to provide you with yet another typical "Such is Life" story. Enjoy!

MELON:

What if your mom cared so much about you eating well at work that every morning she would cut a nice slice of melon cut it in pieces, put it in a lunch box and leave it in your bag for you to take to work? wouldn't that be nice? Sure! Awesome, thanks mom, it is lovely.

Or not.

What if you forgot to eat half your melon and realized just on the elevator that takes you home. What would you do? You don't want to dispappoint your mom (let alone let her repeatedly tell you how unhealthy you eat and how dreadful it is that you forgot your melon).

So back to the elevator, there you are, 11pm, back from a long's day work and you panic: S**** there is melon in my lunch box! Think M, think! You live in a very high floor, the elevator is going to take at least a minute and a half to get there. Eat! Now! go! So you start to eat your melon at "12 campanadas" speed (will explain what "12 campanadas" is later), and by the time you reach your floor, chocking and still trying to swallow the last two pieces, guess what?

Your sister and father are waiting for the elevator.

You try to greet them casually, trying to hide the fact that your hand is dripping with sticky melon and that your mouth is full of melon, and that the lunch box is opened in your hand. Oh! i da', sis'er wha' ar' you do (*cough*) ere?

Sister laughs, you finally swallow. Hey dad, I was just eating a forgotten piece of melon. I'll go home now. Bye!

Your sister whatapp's you countless laughs, you finally laugh at yourself, and even more when your sister tells you what your father said: Does she really think I'm going to buy that "one melon piece" thing?

Why not dad? It is perfectly normal to eat melon as fast as you can in an elevator at 11pm on a Tuesday night, right?

Lesson learned, never forget to eat your melon, and if you do, don't lie kids. You'll get caught.

THE END

Such is Life!

12 campanadas: In Spain, we receive the new year eating one grape for each time the bell rings at midnight on December 31st. Chocking is quite common, starting the year spitting grapes to the face of the ones you love too. So. Much. Fun. You have to eat the damn grapes so fast to make it twelve before January 1st that you can barely breathe.

GoT

2011-07-08T02:55:00.002+02:00

When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. There's no middle ground.

Mr. George R. R. Martin, we may have to meet this summer...

Such is life

My life is trash

2011-06-22T21:24:00.000+02:00

They say we are what we eat, I say you live what your trash says you live. And I'm living hell.

I have undertaken a sociological experiment with myself and have come to that conclusion.

So please pay attention to the following findings if you are trying to decide whether you would be happy in my shoes (i.e. being a total loser).

Here's how it goes:

You live what you trash. Episode I

Day 1: The Big One

There is a day in the life of a jr lawyer when you f*** up big time, it can't be avoided. Sooner or later the Big One comes, and you enter into a spiral of stupid and avoidable mistakes which is very hard to come over.

So, you eat lunch and have dinner in front of your deask while trying to cope with disappointment on yourself, at times you can't stop tears (i.e. the bunch of tissues).

Day 2: You've got growing up to do

And you've got to rise from you own ashes and start climbing the mountain again. Losing confidence in yourself leads to more stupid mistakes, and you suddenly start questioning all your actions inside and outside work. First you try your luck with the lottery, wishing that you will become a millionaire and send many many people to ... (there is no translation for esparragar). But you are not lucky enough to win the lottery, losers don´t win the lottery for God's sake! There has to be another way, a professional way out of your missery... You look around your desk and decide it looks too personal and are determined to redecorate your life in a very proffesional way, and thus get rid of all those things that make your workplace less of a rat hole and more of a human desk.

Bye bye Wacky Woolies... Truth is, I really don't think it was necessary get rid of all my cute stuff, but I had to do something, and nothing better came up (resigning is not an option (yet)).

Day 3: Sheds and pieces

So you wake up, it is wednesday still, and you have to go to work. You plaster a smile to your face and try to confront the fact that you have to keep doing what you do, even if all of a sudden you feel your work is trash, your knowledge is trash and of course, your life is trash. All you can do now is start the climb to a better situation, right? WRONG.

Very very very wrong.

Day 4: The accident

There comes a time when you realise you may not be as sane as you thought, and you decide that holding a red hot metal bar cannot burn your fingers, cause, why would it? Physics don't exist, Walmart invented them, just like Christmas or Valentine's Day. Burnt fingers lead to sticky fingers, lots of plaster and freaking burning pain. Yet you have to load yourself with caffeine and keep rowing in your own personal galley.

Thank goodness, it is not so bad, and by the end of the day you are back to full health conditions, or are you?

Day 5: In sickness and in health

As Murphy once said, anything that can go wrong will go wrong. How very true, so, to add pain to the aggravation you get sick, very sick, as in thousands of tissues a day + old man's cough + teary eyes. And yet you have to go to the office again... and keep trying to fix your loss of grace despite the fact that all you want to do is go home and stay in bed all day long.

Worst of all, it that prior experience tells you this may last days, weeks, even months.

Day 6: Happy Birthday

And you turn 26 sitting in front of that desk, blowing your nose at a rate of 10 tissues and hour and being unable to celebrate as you feel you deserve. You sing happy birthday to yourself and receive greetings from family, friends and colleagues while still typing in front of your computer. It is then you realise your life is trash, you are caught up in a vicious circle of work, your ass is growing the size of your chair and your skin is ashy pale and sunlight hurts your eyes.

Time to shake up and make a slight change of scene and society. Well maybe not society, cause the good thing is, even if your life is trash, you share it with the best colleagues you could imagine.

And those colleagues may not be colleagues but good friends, who provide efficient and quality solutions to your trashy existance:

Ha ha ha, not too bad for a loser right?

Suck it! Such is life

Origamad

2011-05-15T23:51:00.001+02:00

Every once in a while I discover some kind of handcraft that soon becomes an obsession until I get tired of it.

Just the other day I dropped by a japanese store with a work coleague where, a pack of brightly colored papers with various patterns caught my attention. Origami paper.

At first I thought I could use it for anything, pretty paper is so pretty you cam make up anything just to use it, to cover boxes, notebooks, just to keep it and look at it... but then, back at the office as I waited for our server to come back to life (not surprising but totally nerve-racking), I googled ORIGAMI and, oh surprise! Welcome to a new world.

I started with a simple shirt, easy, then I went on browsing and discovered you can use origami to make useful things, like toothpick cases or clip stands (cause of course everyone has a pocket full of toothpiks in every pair of jeans they wear). And then I went completely crazy. I crafted a very cute tie, a tropical fish, and discovered you can make balloons with paper and blow them!

I realised then this was the kind of silly little thing my sister would love, and just then, I could easily see the kind of madness I would unleash if I showed her my origami paper. And I did!

There's this very cute origami website where they have all kinds of origami categories with instructions and diagrams...they have a page for everithing, and... oh, look! here it says Accessories, lets click here... Oh! you can WEAR origami, WEAR it, as in origami bracelets, origami rings, origami necklaces... and then and there I decided I could leave my sister the difficult parts and go for fashion. I may have done twelve origami bracelets in the last two days (lol) and next weekend: Origami beads for an origami bracelet!!

I went out on friday night on friday and found myself being "that crazy girl folding paper", I made some more shirts and ties, and fish while at dinner, and wished I had sticky tape to make some more bracelets, but of course, that couldn't be. Crazy girl folding paper was seen again on Saturday afternoon folding paper at a cafe while having lunch with Agnes, wearing her super fashionable paper bracelets, which, by the way, are not waterproof, the rain in Madrid made that veeery clear.

Anyway, just as I had anticipated, as soon as I told my sister about origami, she went crazy too, and soon became the real origami master in the house, she made an amazing cactus and she has announced she is working on a car which may take her a while but will be awesome.

Origamad as we are now, I had to, HAD TO, get origami paper to fill a whole house. I got tons of origami paper from the same store on Saturday afternoon, of course, couldn't wait any longer. Our plan is to fill a huge box with them, or maybe we can decorate rooms, houses and castles with our origami creations.

Or maybe we'll get tired in a few days and will have just tons of colour paper we use for nothing (a very likely option).

Of course there is a dark side to this silly story. My hands are full of papercuts, and they sting like crazy.

Such is Life!

Budapest for Blackberry

2011-04-24T23:14:00.001+02:00

Crisis over, Bb functioning perfectly and time to look back to my holiday in Budapest.

Some facts about the city include the oldest metro railway in mainland Europe, the third largest Parliament building in the world and the place of birth of the inventor of the "biro" or ballpoint pen, Sir Biro László József.

As I walked about the city I came up with some very impressive sights and others not so interesting but beautiful. Truth is, as I went through the pictures just a minute ago, I realised most of them were taken in a 60º angle with the ground, if not 90º, therefore, I've spent most of my holiday looking up.

And these, appart from some serious losses of balance, are the results, I've been trying to decide whether I should explain every caption and bore you with the details of the pictures, but finally concluded I want to gain readers, not lose them, and considering what I missed just the other day in Budapest (read below) I might as well keep you all happy.

So here are some of my favourite takes at Budapest with my Bb camera:

The Danube bank, city of Pest:

Buda Castle district:

Liberty Bridge:

Anonimus:
Fun fact? If you touch this guy's pen you become a better writer, guess when I found out? Five minutes ago when I was looking up some fun facts about Budapest (just like the thing about Mr. Biro). Of course it didn't pop my mind to touch the shiny pen just for fun and thus improve my writing skill not even wishing to...

Detail of scary horse in Heroes' Square:

The dome of St. Stephan from below and in between:

Applied Arts museum, an unexpected surprise:

Also, here's is the proof that, just like Sheldon Cooper, I would have made an excellent elf:

Just as I announced in my "Hungarian update", this is my first attemp at Archery (Second target from the right, arrow in the white zone).

Just for the record, yes, all pictures are mine, which is a novelty!

Hope you all had a great time on your Easter holidays (if you had any).

I shall enjoy a last day of freedom before going back to my quest of blue narnian donkeys fluent in chinese.

Such is Life!

This proccess may take up to 30 minutes

2011-04-24T21:42:00.000+02:00

So I'm back home from Budapest, transfering my pictures to my laptop and I have a brilliant idea: "Let's update my blackberry software and see if I mess the whole device up"... Hadn't updated the thing in months so there was a lot of stuff to update, and 12 steps to complete.

Step 1 to 7 seem to go on easily, 8 to 10 are a bit slower than I am comfortable with, and then I got to 11, and for the last 37 minutes there is a screen on my computer which reads: "This proccess may take up to 30 minutes"...

Why do I bring doom to myself so easily?

Humpf.

Such is Life

Hungarian update!

2011-04-22T23:09:00.000+02:00

Hey there!

Greetings from Budapest!! Beautiful city, full of corners ready to be captured by my bb camera. I'll start posting as soon as I get back.

In the meantime, I'll tell you just how good I was today with a bow and arrow. All that wii practice and LOTR replays has finally paid its result! And I am ecstatic.

I certainly have a gift. Such is Life.
--

Dear passenger, we are going to make your holiday total crap

2011-04-21T11:43:00.000+02:00

I really wanted to get out of Madrid for a couple of days. Really really wanted to, but I guess someone has a different plan for me, cause here I am, three hours after the departure time of my flight and still here.

Not only did I wake up at 5:15, but I had to put up with more crap than desired on a four day holiday.

Flight delayed, three hours and counting, and it doesn't look like we'll take off any time soon. Worst of all, I'm stuck in the plane, with some very annoying passengers wishing to stuck the seatbelt down their throats.

Of course, the crew's help in a scale from 1 to 10 is something between minus 12 and zero. No explanations, no information and no kindness either. Damn you Malev. Crappy airline...

Being my sister's assistant to help her with her broken arm doesn't improve my humor. I may have to dedicate a whole post to this issue.

Patience is a Jedi virtue I do not posses... Such is Life.
--

Making my life easier

2011-04-19T10:21:00.000+02:00

Hey there!

Still trying to find the blue narnian donkey, but in the meantime I found a way to make my blogging life easier, and thus, yours more miserable.

This is my first email post!! Such is Life has become part of my Bb's phonebook and now all I have to do is email my posts to a very secret address any mediocre hacker could find in less than I produce my blue narnian donkey. But this is a huge step, one which I hope will let me keep posting on a regular(er) basis.

See you around, such is Life.

The short second life of...

2011-04-18T18:17:00.001+02:00

Life is hard... and then you graduate.

In the case of a junior lawyer, life is hard... and then they suck your blood completely, make you believe you owe your life to the firm, squeeze all your strength, push you to the limit, make you wish you had studied something else, make you wish you hadn't studied (at all), take your money, your time, family and friends, make you look for (and find) a blue donkey fluent in chinese directly arrived from the magic land of Narnia, and then at the end of the day, they don't even thank you for the effort (and right now, a blue narnian donkey fluent in chinese doesn't seem so hard to find...).

Why?

Cause they are making you a favour so that you can become like them and suck someone else's blood come the right moment.

And so you cling to that hope, the hope that some day you won't work as much, won't have to sacrifice your holidays, your personal life, and your feet (cause you make yourself believe high heels are going to make you a better lawyer, of course!) and enjoy an average evening in which you leave the office before 11pm...

Oh, and then you die young.

If anyone asks, I'm officially on holidays, unless of course, you need a blue narnian donkey fluent in chinese, in which case... just leave me a comment.

Such is Life.

April Fool(ishness)

2011-04-03T18:50:00.000+02:00

Here's an springier look for April, trying to inprove my publishing avarage.

Bamboo for starters, let's see how much creativity this new month brings! Truth is, as far as spring goes, I'm still waiting to see some real sun and warm weather. Not that it makes any difference, since I'm spending Sunday home (pretending) to work.

It's been a crazy month of March at work, and the start of April doesn't look any brighter, but at least Easter is coming, and a trip to Budapest with all the family looks very promising.

Unless something really odd happens from now till dinner time, this is all you're going to get today.

Blogging is complicated! But what isn't?

Such is Life.

The 10 worst things that could ever happen to you... vol. III

2011-03-21T23:10:00.001+01:00

There I was, entering a restaurant with 12 other members of my family... I should have read the signs then, I should have turned around and leave the place for good, but I didn't.

The following, my dear readers (Thanks Ana for increasing my followers' list by 16,66%) is a list of the TEN WORST THINGS THAT COULD EVER HAPPEN TO YOU (when you go on a family lunch)

1.- There is a horrible painting of some horses riding through a storm on a beach at night hanging on the main wall of the room.

2.- The waiter announces the entrée you asked for is not available.

3.- You go to the ladies and the door doesn't shut.

4.- You try to gracefully keep the door shut while you... you know!

5.- Your sister likes your choice of second so much she eats half (ok, here I'm exaggerating, a lot, but I need 10 things, so let me have this).

6.- The waiter announces the dessert you asked for is not available.

7.- Your sister's dessert arrives before yours.

8.- You steal her complementary biscuit (which looks like this:

9.- You bite the biscuit, then seriously think of blowing in the hole just for fun. You randomly look inside the hole and...

10.- Your fate is decided. When you randomly decide to look inside the hole of the biscuit THERE IS A GIGANTIC GREEN WORM INSIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I chocked and almost died at that same moment. There is no excuse for such a disgusting thing to happen in a decent or not so decent restaurant.

I could only picture Mr. Gordon Ramsay screaming at the cook, the waiter and anyone in the kitchen, just like I wanted to do...

Never going back there, the complementary wine and the free desserts could not compensate such a disgusting situation.

Why do these things always happen to me?

Such is Life.

The Glist

2011-03-20T22:32:00.000+01:00

Ok, so I think it is high time to post something, march is almost over, spring is coming and my lack of posting is starting to worry me after such a good start of the year.

I've been thinking on posting something on one of my favourite TV shows as of late, and considering how many of the songs of the show feed my iPod's playlists I could go no longer without paying my humble homage to a show that has joined the best songs of the old times and the current ones.

Ladies and Gentlemen, please raise your glass to... GLEE

If you pay a little attention to my blog you may have seen a little list of songs on the left hand of the screen, well, those are or may have been at some time or other my favourite glee songs, but right now, here's my top ten:

10.- Old but fun, and maybe one of Glee's underdog song if there is such a thing for those guys: RUN JOEY RUN

9.- I am so glad they started to give Santana the spotlight she deserves...: VALERIE

8.- Number eight is just plain sweet: BABY IT'S COLD OUTSIDE

7.- Again an all time classic, awesome song, awesome voice (awesome guy too): SWEET CAROLINE

6.- This is not just the song, but the performance (I want this in my wedding)... six goes to: MARRY YOU

Now here comes the TOP 5, most of them from the current season, but just so awesomeI can't stop playing them again and again and again (I've got a problem called song-burning, the good thing is the show keeps feeding me songs on an almost weekly basis)

5.- Another old song, but so relaxing!: LANDSLIDE

4.- Bon Jovi in Glee means success, but in this case, it is just perfect!: IT'S MY LIFE/CONFESSIONS Pt. II

Sorry for the interruption again, but I need to explain my top three a little bit! This next three songs just make me feel great, they rise my spirits, make me wanna shout and dance and scream. For that, they have earned this special place in my Glist. No further explanations, the songs speak for themselves... Enjoy!!!!!

3.- FIREWORK

2.- THE DOG DAYS ARE OVER

1.- RAISE YOUR GLASS

I like posting a Glee song on FB every week, so if you like these songs and want to hear some more, just stay tuned. Considering how these guys get better and better episode after episode I may have to update this Glist completely before the end of the year!!

I was going for a Saint Paddy's theme but....

2011-02-27T21:57:00.000+01:00

... Shabby blogs got in the way... so this is going to be March!! Hope it is a little bit more fruitful than february, the lemons didn't inspire me much.

Have a great week!!!

The business of fashion

2011-02-20T23:43:00.000+01:00

Dedicated to my sweet and always optimistic friend and blogger collab (one likes to think!): Agnes.

Twice a year Madrid hosts an increasingly popular fashion week.

Designers, models, socialites and wannabe socialites, bloggers, journalists, actors, and a very wide range of fashion lovers (from undisputed dickheads - I mean hipsters, sorry - to myself) go to the world's end (20€ taxi ride on the way back home!) to enjoy a taste of what fashion is going to be about next season.

My dear friend Agnes got us tickets for one of the shows, and, despite the fact that I am not a huge follower of the designer, I enjoyed every minute of that atmosphere (specially being comfortably seated in the fourth row). A fashion show is a at the same time a theatre play, an art exhibition and a concert, your eyes go from one side of the runway to the other hoping not to miss a single detail of all that goes on. Different styles mean different music, and you fell how the show evolves from Act I to the Final Act.

Fashion is fun, and frivolous, and I love the fact that for an afternoon I could indulge in my hunger for trends and be just as frivolous, hearing Mr. Gunn in my head, with his "make it work" moments and his "wow factor" as I commented on designs and shuffled through clothes.

I can very well understand those who wish to make fashion their life, and try to fight their way in a world full of ideas, beauty, color and, let's be blunt, money with a huge envy factor.

It's Siberia out there, I could see it even for a while in a little style contest, and you have to be particularly strong to climb up the ladder of the business of fashion. And I know you are, just keep climbing!

Such is Life.

AUTHOR's NOTE: As usual, pictures NOT MINE but theirs: MARIE CLAIRE (http://www.marie-claire.es/fotos-francis-montesinos-cibeles-2011)

On the lack of inspiration and other disasters

2011-02-14T23:35:00.003+01:00

Sometimes I just need to start typing to come up with a good post. Sometimes it takes a bad post to find the inspiration to write a good one, or at least one up to my posting satisfaction.

Truth is, february is half gone and I haven't posted anything yet. Sure there are at least seven drafts waiting to be posted, but I am just unable to come up with something really good. I suppose sometimes you have to lower your standards and just let go of all the things that bug you while writing and let your fingers run through the keyboard and build your thoughts, and... amaze the whole world with a piece of trully enriching writing. NOT.THE.CASE. I know, I am just letting my fingers type and my brain go blank.

I've tried to hide my lack of inspiration behind a new change in SiL's design, but I feel I am fooling myself and you.

Maybe I should go to the easy, the mundane and trivial, for example I could just wish everyone a happy Valentine's Day, but I just don't feel like it. Again, mundane and trivial...

10 worst things is not working either, no frustrating taxi rides, no internet failures, no bitting dogs or noisy cats, just a bunch of thoughts scattered through my brain with little to no connection between them and even less interest.

I admire those bloggers who force themselves to write regularly, who have a purpose and make a weekly/daily effort to feed readers with something new. I cannot.

So after blurting all these absurd thoughts I'm going to go to bed and hope this week brings me some much needed inspiration.

Thanks for reading, if you do.

Such is Life.

PS: After insisting with Denmark with little (no) response on Denmark's side (not too happy about it but I totally understand), I've travelled a little south and now insist on having just a teeny tiny hello from the Netherlands, I know you are reading right now, so stop and say hi (please?).

PS2: The picture pops up on google when you type "Netherlands", I thought it my help... Of course it is not mine, I got it from here: http://www.metrolic.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/3the-netherlands.jpg

I thought it would help improve my terrible post. Not sure if it helps at all but makes it look even sadder.

Run mad as often as you food... No, wait, that's not it!

2011-01-30T20:29:00.001+01:00

A great author once said this to a friend, and ever since I heard them quoted in a movie, these words have been among my favourite quotes ever:

"Beware of fainting-fits... Beware of swoons... A frenzy fit is not one quarter so pernicious; it is an exercise to the Body and if not too violent, is I dare say conducive to Health in its consequences--Run mad as often as you choose; but do not faint--"

After devoting my weekend to the study of these words, I've come to my own version of the magnificent quote itself, here it is:

"Beware of chinese food... Beware of ice cream... A baked zuchinni is not one quarter so pernicious; it is an exercise to your cooking skills and if not too burnt, is I dare say conductive to Health in its consequences-- Eat baked vegetables as often as you choose; but do not mix them with pizza."

I have entered a dreadful food comma state, and I may not recover till the morning. All along, it was totally worth it!

Such is life!

The power of Stats

2011-01-16T21:31:00.000+01:00

I discovered, not long ago, that there is a very useful "Stats" option in blogger wich provides you with very useful information.

For instance, right now, in two years of existence, Such is Life has been visited 666 times, creepy number, but quite a successful one, at least for me, considering the untimely updates. More than 300 of those page views took place in the last 30 days, which means my new year's resolution of posting more has paid some results in the short term.

I used to hate Statistics in business school, statistics sucked, it was just a bunch of ridiculous data to me. Then I discovered Freakonomics and Superfreakonomics and my views on the subject started to change. And then, then I clicked on the Stats button and I found out...

1.- That Such is Life has been read in 4/5 continents, North and South America included (Oceania, I still don't understand why you are not in my Stats).

2.- Someone found my blog by typing the words "ugliest feet" on Google.

3.- My sister is not an online phenomenon.

Finding number 1 was awesome, finding number 2 embarrasing and finding number 3 was just plain hilarious.

It seems, my sister makes only number 7 in my Top 10 posts list, and here is the proof:

So sorry sis, I tried, I really did!

Thanks to the Stats I found out United Kingdom and Denmark make #3 and #4 in countries with more pageviews, I get United Kingdom (more or less, I can imagine who could it be at least) but Denmark... you guys have to understand my insistence!

Anyhow, I must go now. Such is Life.

When the bosses talk...

2011-01-14T01:47:00.001+01:00

...no matter how loud, children have to listen and...take notes.

Just a quick post, specially considering this late hour, to relate my hell of an afternoon/evening.

I had a seven hour meeting today, and I consider myself a survivour, only comparable to Bear Grylls. I was more of a spectator watching a dramedy (It got so tense sometimes I had to supress a laugh), listening and taking notes as the bosses talked (at all different volumes audible by human ears). Very instructive, promise!

I thank myself and Starbucks for the tall Capuccino I had right before the meeting, I was smart there, the other junior in the room was not that smart, and I watched him suffer for seven hours the slow attack of boredom and sleep.

He yawned, I rock.

And now I'm the one yawning, so, good night and enjoy the coming weekend (if you have nothing better to do, you could actually leave a comment during the weekend or read this strip by the Oatmeal, wich made me laugh at the realisation that is has all happened to me at some point in my life: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/printers, actually this is me right before my meeting:

As usual, picture is not mine, but his: http://theoatmeal.com

) <--- this bracket is totally intended and makes sense, so don't think it's a typo.

There you go, Such is Life!

P.S.: Denmark, I know you keep reading, so come on! Just say hi, pretty please... :)

Denmark

2011-01-08T00:10:00.003+01:00

Ok, I really need to ask this, my curiosity itches really bad. Who is reading Such is Life from Denmark?

In any case, thanks for your 27 visits!

The 10 worst things that could ever happen to you... vol. II

2011-01-07T23:14:00.000+01:00

Damn you Agnes for always knowing cute stuff that I ignore!! Just as I started the year with a new design for Such is Life and encouraged her to do the same with Chez Agnes, she tops my game and makes me discover Shabby Blogs...

This cute website has inpired my redecorating ambitions and I was determined to show you today the ultimate Such is Life, however, some things got in my way, mainly ignorance.

Totally frustrating, so here it goes:

THE 10 WORST THINGS THAT COULD EVER HAPPEN TO YOU (when you are trying to redesign your blog in an attempt to... to get more readers/comments/followers!)

1.- You discover the most amazing website a week after spending a whole afternoon redecorating your blog.
2.- Said website has not only backgrounds but also buttons and banners.
3.- You find a "Queen of Random" button that you must, simply must, have.
4.- Despite all the languages you speak fluently (two forms of elvish included) HTML is a language you totally ignore.
5.- You overestimate your computer skills thinking you can actually learn how to use HTML in two minutes.
6.- You copy the HTML text and decide you can paste it anywhere in the "Edit HTML" page and it will work.
7.- Your master plan obviously doesn't work.
8.- You mess up the prior HTML configuration of your blog.
9.- It takes you 30 minutes to fix the mess.
10.- You realise there is a restore button which would have avoided all the pain.

There should even be an 11th point: Your sister, the online phenomenon will simply remark on how boring this post is cause it is not about her.

Yeap! Such is Life!

New Year, New Look

2011-01-01T19:35:00.000+01:00

A conversation with Daniel yesterday triggered my posting ambitions for 2011. I had been thinking about changing a few things about Such is Life lately, specially considering i just published 10 posts last year (which compared to 2009's 30 make me feel quite ashamed of my self).

So I start the year with new ambitions, and a new design for Such is Life (while I wait for greater things to come).

First, new column showing a playlist. I will update it as regularly as I can with monthly additions.

Second, well, you can all see the new humongous flowers. I think they are cute.

Third, I've deleted "I totally agree..." from the Reactions since no one ever used it and it messed the new layout.

Appart from that, I have some more genius ideas, like continuing with regular "10 worst things" posts and the fake newspaper articles.

2011, may I present the new Such is Life, I hope you two get along a lot better that 2010 did.

Enjoy!!

Happy belated (though not much) 2011

2011-01-01T18:12:00.001+01:00

- Dinner with family - Check!
- Unusual party with friends - Check!
- Breakfast/lunch - Check!
- Afternoon nap - Check!
- Belgian hot Chocolate - Check!
- New Year's blog post - ... no? What happened?

I have no excuse, as usual, I've been caught up with real life.

It's not that I don't want to wish you all a Happy New Year, just that I've been getting lazier and lazier as of late and the result has been that I've missed my traditional new year's blog post for the first time in four years...

2010 has been difficult, as years pass by things don't seem to get easier, I did not expect that to happen, but I seem to have a little trouble coping with drama. Everyone around me has been through some ups and downs, and sometimes staying in the sunny side of life is more of a challenge than usual. Little by little you start to find out you may not be as good a person as you thought, and putting a blindfold over your eyes is the easiest way out in the short run, but not so easy in the long term. Still, as a whole, 2010 was a good year.

Baby steps at work that seem to lead me at an unusual pace towards I still don't know what, but something I certainly like. Family crisis that end up in this quiet and peaceful saturday afternoon. Victories and losses, love and other disasters, the fight against the elements, I have to confess putting it all in one blog post is a great responsibility, and I may not feel up for that job right now, I am still sleepy, and I am not that good of a blogger to keep everyone as interested as I wished.

So, after the self examining first paragraphs, without further ado, here it comes:

Happy New Year everyone! I'll be brief, I promise. To my sister, the online phenomenon, I hope 2011 brings you a very successful thesis, an even more amazing paper and a choice of post-doc up to your genius and standards (that meaning, nothing less awesome than Milan). I hope I'll be able to post our training success during 2011. And by this time, next year, we will proudly anounce how we ran for 10km on New Year's Eve (the popular San Silvestre Vallecana).

To my Sws, girls and boy, you are all amazing, and although 2010 brought us some drama in many ways, I am glad we have all learnt how to dance the rain. You always have a smile on your face and a willing ear and shoulder, and you all deserve the best for 2011.

To my school friends, to Ro, gone and come, 2011 is the time of change and challenges, so suit-up and start the new year with your usual smile you deserve the best of years!!!

To my favourite couple, I just hope 2011 sees us together more often either here or in Frankfurto, we will visit soon (no Ebbelwei Express this time, promise!!).

To my little sis overseas, I hope 2011 is plain awesome, just like she is. I miss you dearly and hope to see you soon, very very soon.

To Ines and Álvaro, the best of years, you guys are essential to keep my feet on the ground.

To the amazing O'Donoghues and Whytes, all the best for 2011, a trip to Madrid must be part of your 2011 calendar!

Friends and coleagues, can't see you as just coleagues, thanks guys for making my long long days so much fun and a little less long.

To all the rest, to Ana, Alba and Inés, my dear Hoyas...

As always, please do not feel offended if I forgot to mention you, I still wish you all the best for 2011, may these new 525.600 minutes be AWESOME!

Latest News!

2010-12-19T22:59:00.002+01:00

JUNIOR LAWYER BURNS DOWN FIRM'S BUILDING

Sources close to the firm claim she suffered temporal alianation due to a failure in her personal computer.

Late this Sunday evening, young lawyer M burnt down the building of the law firm where she worked. After what M claims was a series of catastrophic coincidences, the 25 year-old girl burnt to dust a well-known law firm in downtown Madrid.

"It is all Hp's fault" she insists. It all started early on Saturday morning when her computer's charger broke down and she had to go back to the office to take another one and keep working on Sunday. The first signs of madness turned up as she tried to park her car in one of Madrid's best known shopping districts, full of Chirstmas shoppers at the time. "Right then I wished I was the Grinch and could steal Christmas and get rid of all those shoppers and lights and cars...", minutes later, as she tries to get in the building, she realises she forgot the access card home and has to beg the security guard to let her in. "She seemed completely normal at the time" claims the security guard that let her in who barely escaped the arsonist, "I wish I had known then what was about to happen".

Already angry with all the time lost and the need to check her email, M tried to open Outlook several times with no success. As she rebooted her computer she realises things are not getting any better. "One of your disks needs to be checked for consistency" could be read in the girl's computer screen. It seems more than one disk needed to be checked for consistency.

Forty five minutes later, no progress achieved, M grabs a coleague's lighter and sets fire to a stuck of papers. The building, full of papers and computer devices burnt to dust in a couple of minutes. No lives were lost in the incident.

The arsonist was arrested as she tried to burn yet a second building, a department store close to the law firm. "They made me pay 4,6€ for one hour of parking space, I couldn't use my affinity card and by the time I got to the toll, it was out of order and lifted so anyone could get out for free. I believe I had an excellent excuse..."

As she patiently awaits to be taken into custody she holds a peaceful smile on her face. "At least I can take the rest of the evening free, awesome!".

Such is life.

The 10 worst things that could ever happen to you...

2010-11-25T21:03:00.006+01:00

I have to admit I've had this post resting in my archive for a couple of days, trying to decide whether it would be convenient (for my popularity) to post it or not.

DISCLAIMER: None of the things included below have ever happened to me, none!

THE 10 WORST THINGS THAT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU... (when you need to go to the bathroom really bad but you want to get home as fast as you can so you decide not to stop by the toilet on your way out of the office)

1.- The lift stops in every single floor on the way out of your office building.
2.- There are no taxis around since it is past midnight.
3.- When you finally get one, it turns out to be driven by the slowest taxi driver in Madrid.
4.- The slowest-taxi-in-Madrid's radio is playing a program whose interstitial music is the sound of waves and the sea.
5.- The slowest taxi driver in Madrid gets lost of the way to your home.
6.- The slowest taxi driver in Madrid is not even nice enough to stop the taxi-meter even if it was his fault he got lost cause you gave him some very specific (and correct) directions.
7.- Your shoe heel gets stuck in a sewer as you get off the slowest-taxi-in-Madrid.
8.- Your state of the art electronic key does not open your state of the art automatic building door.
9.- You live in the highest floor of an apartment block that is quite high, trust me. The lift takes ages to get there.
10.- Your family has left the key in the lock so you can't open the door yourself.

But as I've said, none of these have ever happened to me. If they've ever happened to you... suck it! Such is life!

I don't want to mess with karma, but... I needed this!

2010-10-20T23:50:00.006+02:00

As the new work year takes off, I can't help but look back to the last year, and even a little further back, when I was juggling my studies with a very frustrating job hunt. That job hunt was partly the trigger that made me start writing this blog, and actually today, I received news from one of the kick ass companies I applied to then that rejected my application before even reading my CV because my grades, MY GRADES, were (literally*) "not good enough".

Just today I got this email (For economy purposes I will re-write it):

Dear M,

When we received your application we thought you had great potential, we were wondering if you would like to apply again. Send us your CV and let us know what you've been up to.

Best

Kick Ass Ltd

And how I wanted to reply:

Dear people at Kick Ass Ltd,

Please wait for my application... comfortably seated.

Best

M

But karma is a tricky thing, and I may get kicked in the ass sooner or later, therefore I choose to remain quiet while inwardly sniggering** (not literally though!)

And now, just for fun and because all this looking back has made me reflect somewhat on how I ended working for... well, you may know for who(m), here's another fun strip courtesy of theoatmeal.com: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/interviewees

And as usual... Such is Life!

* For the right way to use the word literally, don't miss this http://theoatmeal.com/comics/literally

** Snigger: To neigh, as a horse, especially in a gentle tone.

Disclaimer: Picture belongs to the Oatmeal (http://theoatmeal.com) a very fun page, highly recomendable.

You are welcome!

2010-10-20T22:38:00.006+02:00

If any of you know my sister, you must know she has the hability of falling asleep in the oddest situations, including while having lunch. Sitting-at-the-table. Yeap. Well, each and every single night, as we all sit in front of the TV, she consistently falls asleep and then crawls to bed in a state inbetween sleep and conciousness.

If any of you know my sister, you must know she may be very enthusiastic about watching something on TV after dinner, promising she won't fall asleep this time and make you watch the same episode of whatever TV show we are watching night after night until she finally watches it completely, which sometimes may take weeks (I am pretty sure it took her a whole month to watch the all-time classic "The Third Man").

If any of you know my sister, you must know that, try as she might, she is completely unable to stay awake once she sits comfortably on the sofa.

So here comes the story...

She brought with her from London David Attenborough's Life of Birds and Life of Mammals, and is trying to watch both documentaries episode by episode. So far I've watched "Mammals: A winning design" two nights in a row. And I am doubting I will be done with it tonight since I can see my sister's eyes closing slowly and for longer periods as minutes go by. The process is always the same: First she blinks a lot, constantly, then she closes her eyes for a few seconds, opening them from time to time, and then, a couple minutes later, just like now, she falls completely and deeply asleep only to be woken up in a couple of minutes and crawl to bed (see paragraph 1 above).

Aaaaaaaand right now... she just fell asleep.

Aaaaaaaand right now... she just woke up! frustrated that she will have to play the episode a third time, and stumbling to bed, eyes half closed. She apologises for making us watch the episode yet again tomorrow, maybe then we'll get a minute further or else I am going to use the dvd as coaster.

And here it is, yet another post dedicated to my sister. No need to thank me for keeping your popularity soaring (ha ha ha). Enjoy!

Such is Life...

The misterious case of Popeye and the Thing

2010-09-19T13:33:00.007+02:00

What a great weekend... huh.

A W E S O M E

It all started at 4pm on friday. I'm out of work early yay! sure... Out of work early to get my newly acquired allergy vaccine. And that's when it all started to go wrong.

I had to spend two hours in the doctor just in case I had an anaphylactic shock, which (thankfully) didn't happen, so I went home and started planning the weekend.

Then... then my arms, specially the left started to get itchy, and when I looked I had a 3cm diameter bump in my arm. Ok, don't panic M, this is normal, isn't it? I tried to call the doctor a million times but it seems normal people don't work later than 7pm on a friday.

I call my allergy personal advisor (ie my cousin) and she tells me not to worry, that sometimes it gets a little bumpy and red on the zone where you get vaccinated. So I relax and go out for dinner and drink with my friends, and try to cope with the itchiness and pain as best as I can.

Back home and off to bed only to wake up with two very painful arms that look like... OMG, my arms look like Popeye's. Only they are also red and itchy and they start to hurt.

And then I panic.

Nice begining of the afternoon in ER.

It seems I am allergic to my allergy vaccine, that has to be some kind of joke, right?

My mom got the brilliant idea of drawing a circle around the bump, to see if it keeps growing. Well, sunday morning and... it keeps growing, so from Popeye's arm I have gone to the Thing's arm. Really nice, not itchy or painful at all. Besides, as the bump in my left arm grows so do the circles around it so I have not only the Thing's arm but also a very very nice and fashionable dartboard tattoo.

Yay!

What a great weekend.

Such is life...

Glory! (a.k.a. my feet are famous)

2010-09-03T12:39:00.003+02:00

We all deserve our minute of glory, I thought I got mine some years ago, summer 2007, but last Monday my feet got their own moment of glory.

I spent the morning shopping with my mom, and by chance we came across a spa (http://www.micalleny.com), awesome place, where a thousand tiny fish give you an amazing massage for thirty minutes.

While in there, a man and a woman walk in, they tell us they work for a local online newspaper and that they would like to take some shots of our feet for friday's newspaper.

Ok, let's be honest, my feet may be some of the ugliest feet ON EARTH, luckily I had done my nails on Sunday, cause otherwise it would have been a total catastrophe. It didn't help that I was wearing red shoes that day, I can see some shades of red in my heels on the video.

So now, as I know you are all bitting your nails to see them, may I present: my feet (the ones on the right of the picture, those who wiggle in the video, yeah, they have a knack for the spotlight...)

http://www.madridiario.es/2010/Septiembre/madrid/sociedad/191557/peces-garra-rufa-peeling-spa-tratamiento.html02

Aaaaand... Such is life!

9 crimes

2010-08-28T21:59:00.005+02:00

Funny how the google add that pops up when you watch Damien Rice 9 crimes official video on Youtube reads "find out the date of your death", ooooook, so the guy writes some very depressing songs, but that is just plain scary.

I learnt in one of my classes at Penn how Google Adds is dangerous thing, something close to a public enemy according to my teacher, but this just seemed too obvious. Seems Damien Rice is aimed at scary death obsessed people for the Google guys.

That is sick.

Ohhhh random stories, how I love them, how I missed them actually.

You see? I used to have a blog.

I used to post some random and unimportant stuff every once in a while, at least once a month, sometimes twice.

I used to do this, I used to do that... and I love complaining.

It's been a long while since I last posted something here, I have no excuse for being so negligent with this site very few people read and even less care about, but this blog used to make me happy, and I used to find the stupidest things to write about... and I am determined to go back to my good habits.

Seems I got busy on the way, and I apologise, not to any of you, but to myself actually.

Sometimes we have to go back to move forward. Such is life.

SSS (i.e. Some sis stuff)

2010-05-20T23:04:00.003+02:00

"If I had a small piece of land (in Spanish "Terrenito" for those who can catch the hilarity in the word) I would plant my own tomatoes"

M's sister

Only she hates tomatoes...

Following My sister, the online phenomenon, here some little extra insight on said phenomenon.

After making a surprisingly punctual return from Ireland a couple of weeks ago I came to realise my sister is addicted to planting things.

In the last couple of years she has managed to buy/be given the most odd sets of seeds. I have to admit I tend to indulge her planting habits, but all in all, she is always planning what to grow in the few pots we have at home that are not filled with my mom's flowers (must run in our genes, I guess).

At least we are lucky, and most of the things she plants don't even see the light, otherwise my balcony would be full of:

- Giant pumkins (no kidding).
- Cherry tomatoes
- Hundreds of tulips, and...

... The Hanging Gardens of Babylon (or so said the box).

The lack of land has made her look for alternatives, and smaller plants, thankfully. After buying seeds in a match box (that actually had the seeds stuck to actual matches), the last thing she got was a can, the size of one of those airplane cans that are so cute, painted in light blue with golden letters in which you can read:

"Grow your own luck"

You just have to guess what's in it.

And now I'll just press "publish post" cause she has been pretty intense about how much she wants to read her latest blog post.

Here you go, sis, you can keep sleeping on the couch, I'lll stay awake a little while longer, as the song says, it's hard to say I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep... but you know these things tend to happen at some point in your work life. Damn it! my sleep schemes are totally changed... Such is life!

How did this happen?

2010-04-05T22:28:00.003+02:00

How did this happen?

Let's be honest, I am (almost) an adult with some (not many, but some) responsibilities, so how is it possible that I find myself organizing my life and leisure around some virtual crops?

Yeah, you guessed, this post is all about Farmville.

That silly little game has such a powerful aura that you find yourself, most unconciously planning your life around your planting schedule. Sad but true... when you enter the Farmville universe you discover you are capable of constructing sentences such as: "great, I can meet you just after harvesting my crops" or "shit! my crops are going to whither..." or, my favourite "why did I ever plant this if I am not going to make it in time to harvest?"

Why all this crap now?

Simple answer, last night I found myself postponing watching one of my favourite TV shows just because I had to harvest, and, hell, why did I ever decide it would be a good idea to have a 24x24 farm? Aggghhhh... Thank God I have a harvester, a tractor and a seeder, otherwise I would be spending a great deal of time working on my farm. Am I insane? Yeap! seems I am, or else I wouldn't be staying awake only to be able harvest my silly (not so) little farm. I am lucky though and have been blessed with a steward (or sister :P) that takes prodigious care of my crops.

Farmville is a curse that threatens to mess up your life. Your friends are sick of you inviting them to Farmville, your farmville friends quit little by little, and there are times when you yourself are about to quit and then... then the Farmville meanies decide to invent something that will keep you addicted to the game for at least another two months... for instance, since the start of the year I have collected christmas gifts, valentine gifts, Saint Patrick's coins, Easter Eggs... I have built a horse stable, a french farm house, I have started co-op farming and I am dreading what will be next, but at the same time feel oddly curious.

Farmville has it's qualities though, mainly contributing to the internationalisation of all kinds of local celebratrions and popular folklore. No kidding, ever since I started planting I have celebrated the Super Bowl, Christmas, Saint Valentine, the Chinese new year, Mardi Gras (all previous three in the same weekend), Saint Patrick, Easter, and whatever stupid celebration imaginable. Ha.

As I have said, Farmville is a curse, a curse or an addiction, that no matter how busy your life is, always finds a way to crawl in your daily routine. When playing Farmville, one goes through some very common phases that range from anger to pride in a few moments:
1.- Why did I ever started playing this game?
2.- Ok, so I can't stop playing, but why on earth did I decide to expand my farm not once but 4 times????
3.- I hate harvesting, but plowing is even worse!
4.- My farm is not economically viable, why did I want to have a pretty farm when I could have an efficient farm?
5.- Please please, don't make me harvest any more.
6.- I am quitting... wait, is that a new collectable?

Then there are those who are way above the rest of us mortals... those are my favourite Farmaddicts... the members of the group "Farmville: Unlock Industrial Plantation 66x66". Seriously? Why would anyone want to decidedly inflict such torture to one self?????

And just when I thought they couldn't invent anything stupider, my steward informed me of the latest Farmville absurdity: Double Avatar Size... Why? again why? still the spark is lit and I am sure sooner or later I will complain just like the rest... "It is giagantic" or "totally useless, I want my normal avatar back". Aahhh the beauty of this double edged sword that Farmville is, you love it and hate it at the same time!

Anyhow... as much as I complain, here I am, waiting for my crops to grow so that I can finally go to bed and go back to my normal life tomorrow after 10 days of holidays.

Truths universally acknowledged...

2010-01-28T23:03:00.001+01:00

I once read it is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in posession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife, well that was the XIX century, 200 hundred years later, truths have changed, but are still universal. And I am going to prove my point:

It is a truth universally acknowledged that the higher the heels are the prettier (and the more painful in a please-I'd-rather-have-my-feet-cut-off way).

It is a truth universally acknowledged that the more you try to arrive on time the later you are, and it is never your fault.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that the night you say you just go out to dinner and a drink you never get back home earlier than 7am.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that when your computer dies you feel as if your dog did.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that if a guy doesn't call you, the only reason behind it is he doesn't like you (not that he is shy, or afraid of your brains, or unsure of your feelings or any other he-is-not-that-into-you excuse).

It is a truth universally acknowledged that you only need your Bb and a bus ride to come up with a silly bolg post...

Now I challenge anyone in the world to refute any of these truths. Volunteers?

Of course I speak out of mere observation and not experience... Such is Life.

The end of the Decade

2009-12-31T17:06:00.005+01:00

Hey guys, it's the end of the decade... decade!!! Ten years have passed and I don't think anyone of us realises just how much we have changed. I for one have spent the last ten years getting ready for the next ten, and the trip has been real fun... But enough of this "I am getting old" stuff.

As you all now the year is almost over and I feel compelled to write my now declared traditional end-of-the-year-happy-new-year post. I hope you all spend the next 525.600 minutes in the best way, and that 2010 is just as good as you want it to be.

Looking back, 2009 may have been one of the most decisive years in my life. Studies over, the start of my work life and the end of those good times in which you had 3 months of holidays in the summer. I have to admit to you and myself that I have not been at my best, that sometimes I have tried people's patience with my whinning and complaining, more this year than the years before, and for that I have to send a huge thanks to all those that have suffered me. Starting with my family, specially my bro (yeah, you all know my bro is a sister, but she is my bro), who may be the only member in my family to read this! Then of course my friends, my closest and best of best friends, who are always there for me no matter where we are or who is our boss.

2009 was awesome despite all the drama I've thrown into it. 2009 was Brussels and Croatia and Slovenia, and Prague and Seville, the ever fun Seville... 2009 was the last summer of iddleness and three months without my bro that clashed with the begining of my days as a lawyer... fun and confusing. 2009 has been this blog, with its few faithful readers and some others that drop by from time to time. 2009 has been the TURNING POINT. I think I am ready for the next decade with its own turning points included.

I can't finish this without making some particular aknowledgements... I want to wish the best of the years to all of you, my friends and not so close friends, friends of friends, friend's families and anyone with whom I have exchanged a few words this year (boss included ha!), but specially to these amazing people: Pau, Flagüer, Dul, Ale, Sity, Mary, Claire (no better way to start the year than with you!!) María (my newest friend and Bb partner), María (as always my oldest friend), Inés (for being strong with me), Ana, Inés, Álvaro, Juan... Marielle, Lorraine, Cathaye (we have plans in the next decade girls!!), to all my friends overseas, Sebastian for all you Like clicks, Matias and your plans to come over, to all those I have met in the last few months, those I haven't seen in months. To my ever present and sweet Ro, to all those I have meant to text but never have. To everyone and anyone... HAPPY 2010.

And here it is for one last time this year... Such is Life!

Real life ensuing

2009-10-06T23:23:00.002+02:00

I can't believe it's been more than a month since I last updated... I am a very lazy blogger, no surprise actually, I am very well aware that the number of monthly posts is proportional to the amount of spare time I have (by spare time I mean the time I used to spend at school, catching up on TV shows -sad but true- or catching up with life in general -i.e. friends and family-).

I've been very busy lately, I'm done with my two-weeks-and-a-half training period and tomorrow afternoon I'll be meeting my colleagues and boss/es... Needless to say I'm a little nervous (little= drop dead) but I am so tired of classes that I can't wait for the change.

In two weeks and a half my daily life has turned 180º, from the time when my sister woke up every morning before me, woke me up with the noise, made me angry, then left for work and left me to my own devices for the rest of the day to a no longer shared room, a sister living thousands of kilometers away and a daily routine that includes a real job and real responsabilities. I get home late and I have no sis to play Wii with (I haven't used it since she left actually), I watch Malcolm and no one falls asleep in the middle of the episode...

Three paragraphs to say two things:

1. I miss you sis!
2. Please, please, wish me luck!!!

Hey! Here it goes... Such is Life!!!

Diary of a dreadful haircut

2009-08-20T13:42:00.005+02:00

August 18th, Day 2

Woke up at 8:30, cleaning lady arrives at 8:45 and I can't be sleeping when she arrives, house rules. Exhausted, nightmares all night dreaming I am completelly bald. I finally get out of bed and walk to the bathroom, check self on the mirror on the way, hair standing on end like a very frightened cartoon.

Unfortunatelly hair doesn't look longer, must check tomorrow again. Just my luck.

August 19th, Day 3

Woke up at 10, no nightmares but hair still not growing any longer, wonder if there's something wrong with my methabolism. Hair standing on end, look for a pin to make it less spiky. Pin works, hair looks less spiky but major new problem, pin makes self look really stupid.

Afternoon in the swimmingpool, extreme heat, decide to go in the water, water freezing cold, off the water, hair dries before I can do anything with it, check myself in a mirror, look like David Bowie in album cover (see Second parts were never good to understand picture). Drive cousin back home wearing a headband, still no improvement. Must try hat tomorrow.

August 20th, Day 4

Doctor's appointment at noon, hair still painfully short. I follow yesterday's self advice and try hat on, hair is so short it looks like I am completely bald under hat. Late for doctor, hair's fault. Find pin in the car on the way back home, try pin on, still looking stupid but at least I don't look like a rockstar, rather look stupid than rockstar. Pin still on hair before lunch, may keep it all afternoon. Huge problem, weekend approaching and social life ensues, too embarrased to take hair out with me, may buy a wig. Just my luck.

Reactions

2009-08-17T15:09:00.003+02:00

People are extremelly lazy, me included, and commenting on my blog seems to be causing terrible laziness attacks on my readers, therefore I am making things a lot easier for you and now everytime I post something you just have to click one of the different options I provide you with to give me your opinion. Believe me I would add more options (such as "you are a freak" or "really, why do yoou keep doing this?!") but I had no more space. Sorry.

See? I care for my readers.

Second parts were never good (a.k.a catastrofa!!)

2009-08-17T11:58:00.004+02:00

So two weeks of holidays around eastern Europe and I'm back! back for good actually, cause I don't think I'll go anywhere in the near future, even if my sister is going to spend three long months in Miami... :'(

They say second parts are never good, or at least better than the first part (The Empire Strikes Back is one of the very few exceptions). Well, just as with movies, second parts of hair cuts (or should I call them recuts) are never good. Two months ago I decided to cut my hair really short, and yesterday, as I set foot in Madrid again I decided to go to the hairdresser to re-cut it cause it had started to grow really wild. Huge mistake.

I always go to the same hairdresser, a girl with long dark hair and a blond fringe, and she has always done a great job with my hair, till today. I let her do, cause I trust her, but she began to cut and cut and cut and by the time she stopped I looked like... David Bowie.

Sad enough, all I could think when I saw my hair in the mirror was... Oh God, I really have to post about this catastrophe, or as the Slovenians say Catastrofa!! Cause that's what this is...

CATASTROFA!

I hope that by the time I start working my hair will look nice and normal again otherwise I may wear a hat forever. I don't think I'll let anyone see me in at least a week, so don't even bother to call.

Such is Life.

Deconstructing Harry

2009-07-20T14:13:00.004+02:00

Four years after reading the book for the first (and last) time, WB has finally released Harry Potter and the Half- Blood Prince, or should I say Harry Potter and the Half-Good Movie?

Anyway, yesterday I finally managed to make it to the cinema together with my friend and favourite blogger (should I add owner of a pair of incredibly cool yet well priced Hermès sandals? -thanks for the pic!-) Agnes. The movie starts, we remain quiet, then laugh, then look at each other wondering "what the hell?", then scoff, and then... then it was over.

I have to admit I am never impressed by the HP movies. I am not a big fan of books made movies, except, and oddly enough, LOTR so I had prepared myself for the big disappointment, which wasn't that bad after all. Or was it?

Once the movie was over I thought it was OK, then I returned home and started screaming all the things that had gone wrong and realised I could not decide whether it is a good or bad version of the book. Frustrating, so frustrating... I decided to give it a thought overnight and start typing with a fresher mind and colder nerves just now.

As interesting as I find my own feelings toward the film, I guess what you want to read is a "yeah guys, I feel just as you do about certain scenes" so here it goes:

First and foremost WHY THE HELL DO THEY BURN THE BURROW DOWN?????????????? How? Where? When? Who thought it would be a good idea to add that to the script? Can anyone please fire that person? And are the Weasleys made of ice then? Someone burns your house down, you watch it burn and do nothing despite the fact that unlike us muggles you can actually do magic and then go back to school as if nothing had happened? That non existent reaction or longer discussion during the film only proves that it was totally unnecesary.

Second and not less important the films shows Harry Potter is a total coward. A kid who consistently breaks school rules in order to save the world is told by the headmaster to "go downstairs and do nothing" while five deadly deatheaters (actually three deatheaters, a most faithful spy and a very scared kid) attack said headmaster and he complies???????? In the book Harry is paralised and under the invisibility cloak, unable to move or help Dumbledore even if he aches to do so. Through that passage of the book you can feel his agony, his pain and desperation, in the movie you watch in disbelief how Harry turns into a helpless sissy. That is not my Harry Potter (nor the seventh book one either actually... My Harry Potter should have died at the end of the seventh book, but one can't have everything).

Third major mistake, Harry and Ginny's relationship. The book has a lot more passion and hormones into it that actually make the story somewhat brighter despite the gloomy air that J.K. conveys (most brilliantly) to the whole book. In the movie? In the movie Ginny ties Harry's shoelace (Whatever...).

And the Half-Blood Prince? How on Earth do you title a movie HP and the Half-Blood Prince and turn the HBP's story into a secondary and totally background plot? Oh well, they can't make both book fans and non fans happy at the same time, can they?

As for the missing bits...

1.- I wanted to see Fenrir Greyback bite Bill, who doesn't even have a part on the movie.
2.- Bill is suppossed to marry Fleur at the begining of the seventh book, why is no one planning the wedding?
3.- Where's the new Minister of Magic?

But even worse...

4.- WHERE IS THE BATTLE OF HOGWARTS????????????????????
5.- WHERE IS THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX? on holidays?
6.- WHERE IS DUMBLEDORE'S FUNERAL?

Of course there were some brilliant parts. I could feel my hair standing to end in the cave scene, just as I had imagined it, maybe even more spectacular specially when Dumbledore fills the cave with flames... just awesome, absolutelly legendary. They also manage to make a very fun Harry under the effects of Felix Felicis, and a really cute Ron in Quidditch practice. The first 45 minutes are great, the scene where they convince Slughorn to go back to Hogwarts is very nicely done, and the bits and pieces of memories that appear on the Pensieve too, still the ring scene was missing, and that would have explained a lot of Voldemort's ideas and actions.

Over all the movie is Half-Good, still it leaves a lot of missing bits that could have easily been included instead of the totally unnecesary scenes.

I can't help but wonder how are they going to manage to put the seventh book in two movies... Ahhg, I feel a lot less frustrated after this!

Thanks for reading, don't forget your comments! Such is Life

Harridans, embarrasements and bushrangers

2009-07-15T23:32:00.007+02:00

After half a month of silence my muse has decided to make a very short appearance, so short that she has left a few ragged thoughts with no connection between them whatsoever (Ah! "whatsoever" one of my favourite words in English!).

I woke up with a word in my head: Harridan, a word I have never used in English and that I actually didn't even know what it meant until a couple of minutes ago (hence the post and its title). Harridan: A vicious female, known for her evil tendencies towards male co-workers. What a discovery. Considering this evening I had the first real contact with my future co-workers, the word is not very inspiring or promising.

Today the law firm I'm going to work for from september on invited all the new hires to a cocktail party. The first impression was great, but now I have made a very weird connection between the recurrent word of the day: Harridan. Three interpretations are possible:

1.- There is no connection whatsoever between said word and my future work life (The most normal/likely interpretation).
2.- Will I be a harridan?
3.- Will my female co-workers be harridans?

Firgers crossed, praying for option 1, still unsettling.

It was a nice meeting actually, forty new hires and some of the partners we are going to work with in a couple of months. It was all going very smoothly until I started talking with a guy that looked so young I thought he was one of the new hires, just like me. I started talking to him in a light tone, as if he was one of my future colleagues and not my future boss. And then... then he said he had also studied in my university long ago. Long ago? my brain is unable to make the connection so my mouth says: So you have swithched jobs? he laughs and we keep talking and then another partner comments of his looking so young despite all the all-nighters he's done in the last 17 years... I felt really stupid, but maybe he doesn't even remember by now! I just hope I will work with some other partner, for my own mental health.

To add pain to the aggravation the partner that interviewed me in May didn't remember me... I blame it on my haircut.

Still thrilled about all this job stuff, despite the not so shiny beginning. Come September it will get a lot better, I'm 100% sure of that.

Liking and disliking words I have realised embarrasement is a word I don't like in English, it sounds too much like the spanish word for pregnancy in my opinion...

And bushranger? Another very fun word I learnt today. I once told you I stole Ned Kelly's last words to give a nice title to this very random blog, didn't I? Well, as I sit in front of my TV while I watch Heath Ledger's very boring movie based on the life of this bushranger I surf the web to learn a little bit more about him (I honestly don't think he could be as boring as he seems in the movie) and discover he was a bushranger. I like the word so much I may actually add it to my list of favourite words in English together with whatsoever and some other words (honestly is #1 on that list, of course! and awesome and random fight for second place)

I am sooooo disappointed right now... I was expecting a very poetic-sad-dramatic scene to picture Ned Kelly's last words and it was just like the movie: boring.

Anyway... time to go. I'll try not to think too much about this afternoon. Such is Life!

Next on SiL: Harry Potter and the Half-blood prince... I have the feeling I'm going to find the movie somewhat annoying. Ohhhh somewhat another word that goes to the list!!

10 things I would love to do instead of studying

2009-07-01T20:33:00.002+02:00

Ahhh, whoever invented wishful thinking never had to go through this... Such is Life, no, Life is cruel, that has been my motto for the last ten days. Is this going to be over anytime soon? Monday you say? By Monday I may be a zombie or, freakishly better, a wraith. Days pass slowly while I go through the same boring, dull, long pages.

As seconds tick by at an incredibly slow speed I have come up with ten things I would love (or die) to do instead of studying:

1.- Watch TV, more specifically: Disney Channel (can't really explain what drags me to that channel every time I turn TV on, guess I am just childish).

2.- Read books, light books, mistery books, any kind of literature other than the notes I have in front of me.

3.- Sit in a bar (preferrably outside) and share some beers with my friends.

4.- Paint my toenails in some shade of dark blue or red.

5.- Spend each and every afternoon tanning in the swimmingpool (which combines very well with number 2).

6.- Deal with all the paperwork I've been putting off (this is not something I'd love to do but that I have to do if I want to start working after the summer).

7.- Get away from Madrid, no matter the destination (well, it actually matters, but I sound more desperate if I say it doesn't).

8.- Catch up with friends I haven't seen in ages (this should be in the must-do list too... :P).

9.- Wear real clothes, not sweatpants and old t-shirts/ PJs all day long.

10.- Have something actually fun to write on this blog. I'm starting to suspect my muse is back to hating me... what have I done this time??

Here are my ten, if you have any other suggestion... all you have to do is comment!!

Enjoy your summer while you can, it doesn't last for ever! Such. is. life (I mean: life. is. cruel.)

Smarter than a fifth grader

2009-06-25T09:23:00.002+02:00

Second post of the week after a month of hiatus, man! I am bored.

There is nothing worse than being bored when you have to study because any and every stupid little thing can make you lose track of time and waste a whole morning/afternoon doing nothing. Bored as I am, just a few minutes ago I decided to go through my old posts just to keep myself away from "Some very bad Corporate Valuation notes writen by I-really-don't-know-who(m)" and I re-read my "Are you smarter than a fifth grader?" post. Then I remembered I forgot to tell you the end of that story, and knowing myself and how I love to brag about my achievements and make clear I am after all an intelligent person I cannot imagine why I didn't say this before!!!

Seems I am smarter than a fifth grader, that or in that company they don't need people smarter than fifth graders cause two weeks ago they called me in again for a second interview. It actually felt good to tell them I was no longer interested...

I'll leave you now, Corporate Valuation awaits and I can't risk screwing this last exam, my future depends on it!

The tale of the three pigs

2009-06-24T11:40:00.001+02:00

Who would have thought things would change so much at home.

For years my mom has urged my sister and I to study, she is constantly asking us to sit down prepare our exams and write our essays and projects and stuff... she mainly does what every parent does: try to make us hard working/good students. From my point of view she has been quite successful on her task, but my opinion is completely biased.

However, she does not expect the same of herself as a student... A few years ago she started to take english classes twice a week. Of course at first my sister and I were willing to help her with homework and class stuff, but as the years pass her homework requires more and more of her time and unlike us, she asks someone else (mainly her daughters) to do her homework for her.

Last week she had to write a 200 word essay telling a kid's story. She was unwilling to make the effort so she asked my sister and I to write it for her. The problem is we had to adapt the story in spanish to her level of english, and that is a bit complicated taking into account that using, let's say, conditionals or subordinate sentences is not exactly what a student with her level of english can do.

In the end, and after one of the best laughs ever, my sister and I came up with this translation of her story, with some changes in the traslation and the plot (our additions are in italics):

"Once upon a time three little pigs decided to build a house each. The youngest of them all built a hay house. The second eldest built a wooden house and the eldest, being as he was the hardest working of them all, decided to build a brick house.

His two younger brothers laughed at him because he was working too hard, but then one day the wolf came. Each pig hid inside their house and waited for the wolf to arrive.

The wolf knocked on the firt pig's door and when the pig didn't open he started to blow and blow until the house collapsed. The second pig invited his brother to hide in his house, but again the wolf came and blew down the house. Terrified, the two pigs had nowhere to go but their elder brother's house. They asked him to let them in his brick house. He didn't want to but he was very good and he did.

When the wolf came, he blew and blew and blew but the house was so well built that he couldn't bring it down. The wolf hyperventilated and died.

The moral of this story: Hard work always has a reward. Beware of hyperventilation."

I wonder what her teacher thought of the story, and us, cause there's no way he bought that my mom wrote such a thing considering she never does her homework and always answers his questions in spanish.

The moral of this story: Such is Life!

Author's note: Yeah, I should be studying my finalest of finals, I know, but with my mother's example, what do you expect?

My sister: The online Phenomenon

2009-05-27T22:17:00.003+02:00

Ladies and gentlemen, may I present... my sister.

My only sibling is three years older than me, and ever since I started this blog has been nagging me about it. The reason? She thinks this blog is the platform that will turn her into an online phenomenon. I don't want to discourage her enthusiasm but I honestly think this poor girl has no idea of the terrible things I could say about her.

She should be thanking the Lord I am actually a nice sister, cause otherwise she would not become an online phenomenon but a social faillure.

Still, my sister, "the online phenomenon to be" doesn't surrender, and she insists on me telling stories about her.

Just ten minutes ago we had a conversation that explains the situation quite well:

Sis: I have been reading your blog today.
Me: Really, that's good.
Sis: Yeah, and I've realised the post I like most is "What this blog is not".
Me: No wonder, it's about you.
Sis: Exactly, I think you should talk more about me, it's fun.
Me: Fun?
Sis: Of course fun! I actually like the posts about me most.

At that point of the conversation my fingers started to itch, and I felt the urge to start writing. I can't understand why she tells me this kind of stuff, doesn't she know I am going to tell you guys about it asap?

So innocent, poor thing.

Here you go sis, your third post in Such is Life, congrats.

Crossroads

2009-05-20T23:00:00.004+02:00

Be careful what you wish for...

Months complaining about the job market, countless interviews that came to nothing and now... now I have two job offers, and I have been cursed (or are incredibly privileged, I still don't know which of the two) with the gift of choice.

Choices are double-edged swords, cause they always leave a lingering question in our minds: What if I had done something else? Law or Consulting? This or that? Here or there? The difference, in my case, is a number followed by four zeros and the uncertainty of ignoring what the future holds. Where will I be in a year if I choose option 1? Where will I be if I choose option 2?

I should feel fortunate, cause whatever I choose I'll be somewhere I want to be, and I wont be able to blame the crisis for my misfortunes, it will be my own choice, and that idea makes me feel I have regained control of my life after so many months of trying to find my place in the real world.

Will I make the right decision? time will tell, unfortunately we don't have a looking glass through which we can see ourselves in the future. Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mistery... And today? Today I finished my classes at my current University forever.

I am done with lectures after six long years (and two degrees, don't you dare think I took longer than expected to finish my studies!) and I have been tasting a bittersweet sensation all day long. Happy-go-lucky days are over. My final Finals are here and then... then The Leap. I don't want to finish this post without mentioning my dearest friends and severest critics. I love you girls, and I'm going to miss our daily routine, the coffees, the beers, the laughs, the talks, the plans... As I told Ale this afternoon, it's been an honour!

The title of this post is Crossroads, I don't think I have to explain why... Congratulations Class of 09, we are finally done! See you on the Road... Such is life.

Hoping for the best but expecting the worst

2009-05-09T13:05:00.000+02:00

Amazingly enough just three days after the interview with the HR girl from the law firm the assistant of one of the partners gave me a call to schedule an interview next week. I am a little bit at odds right now, reasons?

1.- Maybe I sounded more convincing than I thought I did and she thinks I have a chance with them (Unlikely but not impossible).

or

2.- She thinks I'm not suited for their firm so instead of telling me herself she is going to make me go through the toughest legal interview ever so that they can kick me out of their interview process for an actual good reason (Very likely and possible).

I really hope it's option 1, but I expect 2 to be the right answer, just like the song: "Hoping for the best but expecting the worst..." I'm not going to fall without fighting though, and I'm spending the morning going through all my notes on contracts and business law.

Whether you know where you'll be next september or are wandering aimlessly on these troubled job-search waters, I'm sure we all want to be forever young, but... (wait for it!) SUCH IS LIFE!!

Are you smarter than a Fifth Grader?

2009-05-07T23:12:00.000+02:00

The answer is... No

After finishing the last post I feel compelled to tell you how terrible my interview went today.

AWFUL.

The position was Junior Analyst at a M&A firm. I was dead nervous since it was my first interview of the kind. I had two 40 minute interviews with two very nice interviewers, but I am not smarter than a fifth grader, so I can't have passed both interviews.

After talking for a while about my CV (that's easy) the first interviewer asked very quickly if 17% of 38 was larger than 38% of 17. I remained quiet for a while and opened my mouth just to say:

"17% of 38 is larger" and the interview carried on without me worrying about the stupid question.

I was doing more or less fine when the guy asked in how many different ways could six people be ordered in a queue, and I fell silent again. Mind totally blank... I give a very wrong answer, which I'm not going to tell you and the interview carried on.

I realise my mistake and try to fix it only to keep giving a wrong answer.

Interview number two was less embarrasing since my mistake was a lack of financial knowledge and not basic math. Still embarrasing though.

Once on my way home I keep going through the interview and suddenly realise something:

17% of 38 = 38% of 17. OH NO, I ignore one of the basic rules of math: a x b = b x a, how could I go through school????

And then I couldn't even come up with the answer to question number two, my mom did (and my sister*): 6!, and that is not an excited 6 but 6x5x4x3x2x1...

I feel mighty stupid... but hey! I was too nervous to think clearly. Next time I'll be a little more ready, but I have the feeling these guys won't give me a second chance no matter how good I am talking to people... Oh well, such is Life.

Worst of all is I have realised life has been spoiling me these last 23 years, and now I suffer from failure intolerance. All I can say is I thought I was smarter, not only smarter than a fifth grader but plain smarter. Yet again, I proved myself wrong. I need some rest...

* My sister was reading this post as I wrote it and insisted on my writing that she knew that basic detail too, I have to let the world know she is intelligent and I am not. Well, lucky she knows math, unlucky she wasn't doing my interview today.

Popularity, NOT Notoriety

2009-05-07T18:25:00.000+02:00

What a week... Illness gave way to HR interview debacle which in turn gave way to my new internship and finally today... I screwed up another interview!!

But that story will have to wait till later cause I want to tell you another one about something essential in today's Blogosphere, and actually life: POPULARITY. I believe we all seek popularity one way or another, and when we find out we are not as popular as we thought we were, we get really disapointed.

I wanted to see how popular (or notorious?) my blog actually is, cause people keep telling me they read it, but all the assurance I get is their word, and some of them are not to be trusted... (and here I'm being ironic or sarcastic? I just don't really mean they are not to be trusted, only kidding) Anyhow, I decided to google this site reaching some very strange conclusions. Being incredibly optimistic I typed "Such is Life" and got at least 300,000,000 answers... it seems too many people have writen books and stories with that title... what I liked most is that it turns out Ned Kelly's last words were these three that give title to my blog.

I then decided to add my name to the search and my blog didn't turn up either.

Here comes the hilarious part (for you, embarrasing for me) if the word blog is added to the search, then...

"Ask sister Mary Martha" and I had to click on that link... OMG (literally)

and another one:

"Martha's blog: Finding meaning in the second half of life"

And then I realised that guy was right...

"That guy" is a guy I met at a bar (literally called Coyote Ugly, in D.C. -very very ugly place-) with whom I only exchanged one word:

- That guy: What's your name?
- Me: Marta
- That guy: That's a granmother's name
- Me:... (I gave him a nasty look and walked away)

So yes... it seems I have a granmother's name, at least in anglo saxon environments.

Anyway... I kept trying to find my blog and realised it is nowhere to be seen on Google, and I am crushed. There's no way to find it, so I'll have to keep bugging you on Facebook and personally till this little website has the notoriety it deserves ( I mean popularity!)

Yet another story... Such is Life.

To learn more about Ned Kelly you can read this website: http://www2.visitvictoria.com.au/displayObject.cfm/objectid.000E92DE-B241-1D06-970F80C476A90000/vvt.vhtml

What not to do...

2009-05-05T20:06:00.000+02:00

The high temperature is gone so I'm back to class and routine.

I had an interview a couple of hours ago, it was with a girl from the HR department of a very important law firm (if not the most important).

Everything was going great until she asked if I was interviewing with any other company, and I made a huge mistake: I TOLD HER THE TRUTH, and the truth is I am interviewing with other companies, but not other law firms. And then she asked if I was more interested in business and finance or law, and I made an even bigger mistake (cause huger doesn't exist) and I said... BUSINESS.

I don't know why I just couldn't come up with a good reply. I blame the terrible cold I have for it, my brain is blocked.

I did sound confident, or at least I think I sounded confident, now I really don't know! But no matter how much she liked me, I'll always be the girl that made clear that she'd rather work for a consulting firm rather than their law firm. And I really like these guys!!!!

A thousand interviews and I still had to screw things up in a HR one (I thought those were my forte).

I'll go now and bang my head against the wall for several minutes, or hours.

Such is Life...

Such is Life is still "such" but now it looks nicer

2009-05-04T23:24:00.000+02:00

Isn't it cute?

My muse has been gracious enough to come back and I have decided to give her a nicer place to live in.

May I present the new Such is Life, well at least its new layout, cause it is still what it always was: a place to write my randomest thoughts while I figure out what I'm going to do with my life (and while I keep my self busy while being sick!)

I'm still having problems editting my blog with the new layout, but it is totally worth it.

The creative brain of all this dwells here: http://betterinpink.com/ it is a lot of girly stuff, but I love it!

For the sake of memory keeping, here's my homage to the old Such is Life:

Sick of sickness

2009-05-04T19:41:00.000+02:00

In such times as these the worse thing that can happen to you is fall sick. Not only because you feel like hell (head and back ache, high temperature and the subsequent nightmares...) but because everyone thinks you have THE FLU, as in H1N1 flu... me included. I've been trying to track the source of my ilness, and have come down with two possible sources of it and none of them relate to anyone who has The Flu, but still, if you know me, you must know I'm obsessing about it. A lot.

I have the weirdest nightmares when I'm sick, last night it consisted on me infecting the whole world with my flu, but there were massive factories involved in it, but still I was aware I was in my bed and half awake... and I kept waking up and dreaming the same dream all night. By 7 a.m I was so tired of not sleeping that I decided to wake up and watch TV, wich is what I've been doing all day long.

I have a very busy month of May ahead. Classes and interviews as usual, but to that you have to add an internship that should start this week but that may not because I am... sick.

And with these words I'm going to shut my computer and keep doing nothing but fill my bin with tissues. Nice.

You all keep away from me till further notice.

Mal de muchos, consuelo de tontos

2009-04-20T21:18:00.000+02:00

While my Muse gets to see the World (she actually sent a letter yesterday saying she is not planning to come back any time soon) I carry on with my routine: Class, Interviews, TV... I am seriously starting to think that if I really want to find a job I have to step out of my comfort zone and start looking for the unexpected.

This morning, I was lost in such thoughts about the job market when I read an email from a friend, and she made me feel a little less alone. "Mal de muchos, consuelo de tontos" which means that if a bad thing happens to a lot of people, it feels less bad somehow. Sorry but I am no translator, so if anyone has any suggestions on how to translate this saying, I accept any kind of help.

The email had this link attached:

http://video.nytimes.com/video/2009/04/17/business/1194839618058/life-after-wharton.html?ref=business

I deffinetely feel less alone.

Thanks Lu. I think we should keep looking though, things don't usually happen if you just sit around and wait for them to actually happen.

Muse on Hiatus

2009-04-18T16:10:00.000+02:00

My creativity seems to work just like TV shows, and right now she's on hiatus. Still don't know for how long since she never tells me when she plans to show up, but she's been gone for almost two weeks now, and I'm starting to be a little angry at her.

Maybe it's time to fire my muse and hire a new one.

What if?

2009-04-05T22:11:00.000+02:00

Today I'm going to entertain you with some very random story that I came up with a couple of seconds ago. And I know my friends already think I write very weird stuff, and that I seem to have no shame for letting everyone read it, but I really enjoy this, so I'll keep doing it for as long as I have something (no matter how stupid) to write.

So everyday at about eight o'clock we have to take the trash out to a small room in the common hallway of our floor in our apartment block (is the description clear enough? hope so :P). I hate to do it, but it has to be done, and while my mom does it if she's at home, when she is not it is me who does it, even if I'm wearing my PJs and my face covered in green cream and my sister is perfectly well dressed cause she just arrived home... the trash room is seven steps away for any apartment in the floor, so it takes like ten seconds to take the trash out. Really easy. That's why I never take the keys with me, why should I? I'll be home in ten seconds right?

So here comes the "what if" randomness: What if one of those days I take the trash out when nobody else is home the door locks accidentally behind me? just today I was wearing my Miffy PJs and walking barefoot through the common hall. What if there was some kind of air draft that locked the door? I could picture my self taking the lift to the bottom floor, walking across the huge porch to the entrance of the three-building complex and asking the doorman for our spare keys. That's when I decided I'm going to start taking my keys with me next time I have to take out the trash.

Things happen, you know?

Fyi, this is Miffy, created by Dick Bruna: http://www.miffy.com (just in case someone sues me for using pictures that are not my own on this blog- better safe than sorry!).

Third post of the day, what this blog is NOT

2009-03-18T23:01:00.000+01:00

My dearest sister,

Thank you for becoming a follower, actually I should be thanking myself for making you a gmail account thus enabling you access to the comments on this blog. You have been quite useless on the process and therefore I will not abide to your rules regarding my blog.

This is, after all, my blog, and even if you just pointed out the commas should be in a different place, I will keep them where they are, since this is, after all, my blog.

This blog is not the place where I consistently prove the world how absurd you can be at times.

This is not the place where your achievements are recognised (see Parents, a comparative study to understand the meaning of achievement in this context).

This is not the place that's going to turn you into an online phenomenon.

This is my blog, and I fill it with my own ramblings. The fact that you are an important part of them only proves one thing: You are a trustworthy source of humour, and not because you chose to be so, but because you provide me with anecdotes unconciously.

I thank you for being one of my inspirations, my second follower and my beta reader, but please, let me take the credit for my writings.

Love,

your sister.

Requiem for a fish

2009-03-18T17:26:00.000+01:00

And I was afraid I would have nothing to write and my blog would die little by little. I was sooo wrong.

It is sad, I can say almost tragic, but my fish died this afternoon. She was old, really old for a fish, at least 7 years old, and she was beautiful, shiny white with orange freckles, big eyes and round mouth, huge we thought, until we saw the size of the males of her species.

She even had a name. I still remember when we thought she was a he, till she laid eggs on our fish tank. She didn't move away from her soon to be kids while they matured. She bit any other fish that approached them, even the father... it was sad to see none of the eggs survive, but it has been even more sad to see her floating aimlessly on the fish tank, no shiny skin, her eyes opaque...

Sure she wasn't a dog or a cat (I would have been alergic to her in the second case), sure she didn't greet us happily everytime we got home, but alas she was our fish, and, believe it or not, we had grown very fond of her (and I should stop watching Pride and Prejudice if I ever want to speak current English and not XIXth century English).

This is my humble homage to our big fish, goodbye Jacinta

Esoyarse en un majano

2009-03-18T14:29:00.000+01:00

Before anyone wonders, the title of this post has little to do with its content, it's just a very fun way of saying: Fall on a pile of rocks (Remember what my sister did two Sundays ago? That's literally it).

But there is some metaphoric relation between the actual expression and my current situation. I'm afraid I may just fall on a pile of rocks very soon. I'm climbing it right now, and have started to find the climb exhausting, stressful and tense. If anyone wonders what the f*** I'm talking about I'll be clear about it: I'm looking for a job. I graduate in less than four months and I can't bear the idea of not having a plan after that, so looking for a job has become part of my daily routine. Applications, letters, tests, interviews, cases...

I think I'm doing fine, some of those interviews go well, others not so well, but still I have to learn how to say what the interviewer wants to hear, and that I can only achieve with practice. Some days I feel I'm doing more than well, I feel I'm doing excellent, so I wander what will happen when I get to the top of my pile of rocks... will I fall? will I stay there for a while? Is there a higher pile behind it?

Why don't we all have a crystal ball where we can have look at our future depending on our different decissions? Life would be a lot easier... Maybe a lot more boring too.

I like myself better when I write humorous posts but hey! Such is Life.

Why people should never laugh at other people

2009-03-12T17:41:00.000+01:00

Call this revenge if you want, but I can't live knowing the world ignores what happened last Sunday.

I have been really busy these past few days with Marielle's visit (who left this morning :( ) and I'll be gone all weekend, so I was starting to fear there would be no new posts on this blog for a long long time. Fortunately, my sister made me a priceless gift last Sunday, a gift that will prove that there's either something wrong with the Clemente siblings or just that we are all humans after all (and definitely not dancers -what a song!).

A couple of weeks ago I humbled myself by posting one of my very intelligent ideas (see The Parafilm Experiment for more details) today, sorry Bro, I'm going to tell you my sister's brilliant idea on Sunday.

As I said before, Marielle has been visiting us for a couple of days, on Sunday we decided to take her to Chinchon, a small town near Madrid. After lunch we took a walk, and decided to try some of the pastries we had bought. With a piece of pastry in her hand, my very curious (and I must add 26 yeared old) sister spots a small group of rocks, and decides it would be a good idea to climb on one of them (by climb I mean step on it, as the rock had the size of... let's say... my head). It is a shame that no one saw the actual fall, but it seems the rock moved and she fell in the middle of the massive group of rocks. She stood up as fast as she could, but the damage was done: A very scratched arm, a less scratched knee, a bruised leg and a pair of torn tights.

I really wish someone had taped it. People carry the mobile phones with them all the time and make videos of the most stupid stuff. This was not stupid stuff. This was hilarious.

Sorry again, bro, I had to tell the world. You laughed at me a few weeks ago, and now it's my turn. Revenge is best served cold... I only fear the consequences of my actions now...

Parents, a comparative study.

2009-03-02T23:21:00.000+01:00

I'm back, Brussels was great. I went there with my mother to visit an old family friend, not that she's old, of course, but she's known me since I was born, so she is indeed an old family friend, and the mother of my oldest friend (who has also known me since I was born).

Unimportant as those facts are, they may help you understand the following entry: Parents, a comparative study.

Spanish parents are different. If anyone has been reading my blog, either on Blogger or Facebook, you may have seen me claim Spain is different. So true. Parents are no exception. Spanish parents are particularly protective of their children. I guess it has a lot to do with the fact that spanish children stay home longer than many other young people all over the world, and the more I see of the world the more I believe my own theory. Spanish parents worry over three basic needs and will always ask three questions when their kids phone them from wherever they are:

1.- Where are you?

2.- Are you warm enough?

3.- What have you eaten?

Cold and food are the greatest worries of spanish parents, as long as their kids are warm and well fed they are happy. I think it has to do with the worries of the previous generation. Our grandparents lived a civil war and lacked the basics for a long while. They worried over those basics and taught their children (today's parents) to worry over the same things.

Mothers are even more special. In the last few days I've been making a deeper study on my understanding of Spanish moms. And I have made some very interesting findings: When Spanish moms gather they always repeat 3 behavioral patterns:

1.- Moms will always share cooking recipies. I strongly believe that's one of the reasons why Spanish food is so rich and delicious.

2.- Moms will always talk about their kids achievements, by achievements I mean "I remember when my daughter burned a curtain with a hair drier" or "My daughter doesn't even know how to turn on the washing machine".

And

3.- If moms go to a bar or a restaurant they will always fight over who pays the bill. Paying is a victory (I never understood why).

These facts, added to the first three questions pretty much define what spanish parents are like. I do wonder if these facts are closely related to the fact that they are Spanish and Parents or if it has to do exclusively with the genes that activate with parenthood (and here I beg scientists to forgive me, but I do have the feeling some of our genes activate only after having children, if that's possible).

Trying to answer my own questions I found a video on youtube that was quite enlighting. I add the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ak9xHCdrIdE

After watching it three times in a row I showed said video to my mom. I couldn't stop laughing, the video is a marterpiece, a work of art, plain hilarious. But my mom had another approach, no wonder, she is, after all, a mom. She did not laugh, all she pointed out was that she would have taken the kid to the hospital at once, whatever anesthesia he was given at the dentist it was seriously affecting his brain. She even made me feel bad for not worrying about David's condition. I am a very selfish being.

Then today something else happened. My sister's been given the chance to do a three-month research abroad. Her options are Miami, Montreal and the Netherlands. When I heard her options I instantly voted for Miami. My mom? She just asked: Don't you have any other option much closer? I looked at her outraged: Closer? If anything, she should go somewhere even further.

Such is life, such are Spanish parents.

The Parafilm Experiment

2009-02-22T13:00:00.001+01:00

Yesterday afternoon I went with my sister to the lab where she's carrying out the research for her PhD. On a saturday afternoon the building is totally empty, and walking about there alone is quite scary. So I gathered all my sisterly-love and decided to go with her despite all I wanted was to stay home and watch TV.

I used to understand a little bit of science when I was at school. I once wanted to become a doctor... but then I decided I didn't have the patience. Scientists have a skill I don't, I guess I could have learnt it, but now it's too late for me. Yesterday I proved myself right in that belief.

Bored as I was while my sister prepared her cells to freeze them, I walked about looking for stuff that could be fun. Liquid nitrogen (-196ºC) was the first dicovery, but I needed an expert to handle it, so I let my sister freeze gloves in nitrogen while I watched mesmerised how the liquid disappeared as it hit the ground, or a table. So. Much. Fun. But dangerous. If liquid nitrogen get into your eyes, you should start saying goodbye to the amazing gift of sight. No kidding.

So I finally found something fun-but-not-dangerous that I could enterntain myself with while my sister worked: Parafilm. Quoting the company that created it: "Parafilm® M is a versatile, moisture-resistant, thermoplastic flexible plastic for a wide variety of clinical and industrial applications, Parafilm M® film has been used with confidence for years in scientific research and medical settings".

To make things easier, Parafilm is a plastic tape that you can stretch to protect things such as bottles. If used correctly, and I want to emphasize that, correctly, it can protect anything from getting wet, but I lacked the skill to use it correctly.

And then... then's when I had "the brilliant idea": Why not cover my cell phone in parafilm and put it in a sink full of water? Excellent idea. My sister helped my to cover it from left to right, but then I was left alone to finish the job and cover it from top to bottom. That was the begining of the end. Believing I had done it right, I dipped my telephone into the water, and left it there while laughing a little bit histerically (I did not trust myself, but my sister insisted...). A minute later I take the phone out of the water and checked the results of my experiment... THERE WAS WATER INSIDE THE SUPPOSEDLY WATER RESISTANT PLASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I panicked and tried to get the phone out of its cover, but one of the properties of parafilm is that it is very difficult to break it once it's stretched. So I start screaming, finally manage to break the plastic and contemplate my very wet cell phone. There was water inside the battery, and between the buttons.

I have never felt more intelligent in my life. I dried the sad little device as quickly as I could. It is still working. Had I broken my cell I would have never been able to forgive myself, it would have felt like I had murdered it by drowning it into the water.

My legal mind first thought of suing the company, but they are intelligent (unlike me) and they limit the liability of its product to its "correct use", dipping cell phone into water is not considered one of those correct uses.

Still, I have another experiment in mind to carry out next time I go with my sister to the lab: Cover the cell phone in parafilm with so many layers that if you bang it against the floor it won't break. Bets are accepted, will my cell die this time?

Have a nice week,and wish me luck, the results of my exams are coming out on thursday. Next update will be in march, next weekend I'll be in Brussels!!!

*** Parafilm: http://www.parafilm.com/FloraTapeHome.aspx?Menu=2

Not breathing a word (Feb 14th 2009)

2009-02-20T17:37:00.000+01:00

After five weeks of writing Notes I've ran out of ideas. I finally have nothing to say, at least this week. I don't think my notes were very inspired, but at least I could fill a couple of lines that made sense!

Who knows, maybe next week, maybe not, I may be going on hiatus for a while, until again I have some paranoia worth telling.

Till then, Happy birthday Mr. Darwin:

PHOEBE: Go ahead and scoff. You know, there're a lot of things that I don't believe in, but that doesn't mean they're not true.

JOEY: Such as?

PHOEBE: Like crop circles, or the Bermuda triangle, or evolution?

ROSS: Whoa, whoa, whoa. What, you don't, uh, you don't believe in evolution?

PHOEBE: I don't know, it's just, you know...monkeys, Darwin, you know, it's a, it's a nice story, I just think it's a little too easy.

ROSS: Too easy? The process of every living thing on this planet evolving over millions of years from single-celled organisms, too easy?

PHOEBE: Yeah, I just don't buy it.

ROSS: Uh, excuse me. Evolution is not for you to buy, Phoebe. Evolution is scientific fact like the air we breathe, like gravity.

PHOEBE: Ok, don't get me started on gravity.

Singing the Songs (Jan 31st 2009)

2009-02-20T17:26:00.000+01:00

Every single morning I wake up with a song in my head. I can be lucky and wake up with a song a really like, or I can be really unlucky and wake up with a very annoying jingle from a TV ad. This week in particular I've woken up siniging the same song for three days in a row, and by now I'm sick of it. I guess it doesn't help I only know the chorus, and it doesn't help either that I keep playing it on and on in my iPod.

"And you're singing the songs thinking this is the life..."***

Had a final yesterday, not good, as usual. I am starting to think I really have lost my ability to concentrate. It's been a very boring week, I've only seen the sunlight to go to English class on monday and wednesday evening, and then yesterday I went to ICADE to take the exam and then back home. I feel somewhat trapped, but I shouldn't complain, it could be a lot worse.

While I was being held hostage, Madrid was attacked by fog. So snow, rain, wind and now fog... It was thursday morning, and I woke up at 8 to sit in front of my notes and study. As I looked out (trying to find something more interesting than my financial analysis notes) I saw the city covered by a thick grey fog, that kept getting thicker and thicker until I couldn't see the buildings right in front of my block. I'd rather call it mist, cause to me it has a more mysterious aura around it. I opened the door to the balcony and contemplated (not that I could see anything though) the view in front of me: just white emptiness. Not only the city had disappeared in front of my eyes, but suddenly it was all silent too. Very odd, incredibly odd for a city of 3 million people. I stood there for a couple of minutes until my bare feet started complaining. I have to agree with them, it was a terrible idea to walk outside barefoot. I shivered, walked in again and just a little while later the mist was gone, just as suddenly as it fell over the city.

Again last thursday half of Spain was paralized for a couple of hours, this time the reason was the fog.

This is by far the weirdest winter I remember, and not only weather-wise. Ever since classes started after winter break I've felt like I'm in a constant state of packing. Gathering the things I've done for the last five years, putting them all together in a bag and carrying them with me somewhere, the only thing I ignore is where I'm going, but truth is I am leaving. Leaving my life as a student and starting yet again a different life. Strange feeling, I am suspended in a place between the real world and the easy life of a college student. For five years I've been "singing the songs, thinking this is the life" and now I can see a tiny door at the end of the road, a door that gets bigger by the minute as I step closer. I will have to open it, eventually. Till then, I keep packing, "singing the songs, thinking this is the life".

Picture by EFE

I'd better go back to my next final, I really want to watch Nadal in the Australian Open Final tomorrow, and if the match takes as long as yesterday's I'll be in front of my aunt's TV for at least five hours... that kid doesn't stop to amaze me. Vamos Rafa!!! Yet another duel of Titans, Sunday is going to be an interesting day...

"And you're singing the songs, thinking this is the life... Where you gonna go? where you gonna go?" If only I could answer that!

*** This is the life, by Amy Mcdonald (Thanks for the discovery Dul!)***

Snow White Chaos (Jan 10th 2009)

2009-02-20T17:23:00.000+01:00

Snow is not something we get very often in Madrid, not at all. Last snowfall I remember was sometime in the winter of 1999 and it was just an afternoon of snow. Sure we were let out of school to play outside but in a few hours the snow was gone, and we were all back home, soacking wet with a very sore throat (lots of screaming plus very light coats have that outcome)...

January 9th 8 am and I get off the bus to go to class (Oh joy!) as I step out I feel something cold lightly touching my face... After two days of temperatures below zero it has started snowing in Madrid, and it keeps snowing for more than ten hours. By 10:30 am, the time of our coffee break (I am going to say coffee break because it sounds more adult-like, but we have breaks every morning, just like school kids), the street is covered in snow, I am wearing my very thin red shoes and Ale is wearing high heels, us madrileños really know how to cope with bad weather... just crossing the street is quite an adventure and the preassure is increased by the fact that one doesn't want to trip and fall in a street full of the people she's been seeing everyday for the last six years.

Barajas Airport
(Photo: Javier Beneytez taken from elmundo.es)

We make it to our cafe, the one we go to every day, sometimes twice, or three times, breakfast, beer before lunch, lunch, coffee after lunch, coffe after class... En fin... Back to ICADE just to find out spanish bureaucracy is just as slow as I remembered, plus everyone is worried with the snow outside, parents calling warning their kids to be careful with the car, streets covered by a thick white sheet (thick for spanish standards at least!), there is no salt left to avoid the snow from turning into ice, people slipping while they walk, fifteen times more emergency calls than a normal day, Barajas airport closed, one thousand flights cancelled 400 km of traffic jams... Ahh Spain is different!! But this time we have an excuse, it hasn't snowed like this since 1977, and we are not ready for it.

Cibeles (taken from ABC.es)

The bus back home shows me a side of Madrid I had never seen, I feel like I'm in a post card. El Paseo de Recoletos is covered in snow, the goddess Cibeles gives me an odd look as I pass by her, her lions are covered in snow, she is covered in snow and the fountain is completely frozen. I pity her, outside in the cold while I watch everything from a bus with heating. Not romantic at all, but very cosy at the moment. My memories drift back to a morning in late november, when I woke up to a very white Philadelphia and a beautiful Locust Walk covered in snow, I should have taken pictures then, I should have taken pictures of Madrid yesterday... but I lost my camera in a Bolt bus, and my telephone had no battery (just my luck) so all I have are memories, memories that get blurrier by the minute.

Paseo de Recoletos (Photo: EFE)

Off the bus and I walk home trying not to fall, yet again. I successfully make it with my pride unharmed but my shoes are soacking wet, my feet are freezing cold and black. Yes, black, it seems the shoes tainted them, and there is no human way of taking that black away... I could be a Siksika at the moment... But I am not. I am a Cat, and we cats are not used to snow, even if some of us go skiing from time to time.

I take a two hour nap and when I wake up it's dark and still snowing. My sister and I meet Maria and Daniel for dinner. We go bar hopping to the most traditional/popular/old/us

ually crowded tapas bars in Madrid, but they are empty. Even though it's stopped snowing people have decided to stay home. We are not used to this weather in Madrid, and all the madrileños have agreed to stay home for a night, even if it is a friday.

Una ración de gambas a la plancha, croquetas, tortilla brava, calamares, bacalao and some cañas later we head home. It is amazingly easy to get a taxi for Madrid standards as the city has decided to rest for once on a friday night.

Saturday morning and Madrid is surprisingly white still, the low temperatures have kept the snow on the trees and the roof tops. From my 13th floor window I see cars covered in snow, people still walking carefully to avoid the ice and lots of small columns of white smoke, every house has the heating on, shops have sold more heating devices in the last two days than in the whole winter.

-5º Celsius, Madrid is not used to the cold, and nor am I.

*** Siksika: Black feet Indians. http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/tribes/blackfeet/blackfeetindiantribe.htm

Cat (Gato): People from Madrid. From what I've read online, the name dates back from the XI century, when the troops of King Alfonso VI reconquered the city climbing its walls, just like cats.