Fragment: TRAGEDY

Tragedy has touched upon my family on this dominican festive week. Now, all the little signals come together to try to make some sense out of something so surreal.

(Above: Tio Augusto and me; this picture he had in an album titled MEMORIES in his Windows Live profile, my cousin showed it to me :( )

"You were looking so handsome, young, happy and healthy lately! Just can't believe you're gone...You will be missed...terribly...Pushy reminded me of something so wonderful the other day...you gave me my NAME :) CIÓN TIO"

Ok, my stomach keeps hurting...

We were not created for dying in the 'original plan'. That's why 2009 years later of people dying, we still can't grasp it, still can't accept it, still can't understand it...

Lord, please have mercy...

NOTE: http://www.app.com/article/20090226/NEWS01/902260490/1004/NEWS01

Fragment: PHOTO SHOOTING ;)

These photos of MOI were made by Alina Vargas and her students at an APEC Univeristy photography class. It was such a fun sunday morning! And I love the results ;)

Check some of them out:

Fragments: MADERS n' FIDDLER

Today is my maders' birthday...this is a picture daddy sent of how mami looks at age 55, TODAY! Look at her pose and her smile...she's so LOVELY ;)

I've always thought, and each day confirm even more, how maders and I are the same person 30 years apart.

Like her, I am super emotional, affectionate, touchy, don't get jokes right away, go straight to the sale section at each and every store, give so many details when telling a story, among other things. However, I am not a social butterfly like her and I did not get her culinary skills :S I HAD to get some things from daddy! ;) Hold on, but daddy is a great cook :S Hmmmm...

On another note, I haven't told you guys that this week I am playing at a musical. We are doing FIDDLER ON THE ROOF and I am so excited to be a part of this project! I LOVE the music; I love the matter in question, TRADITION; I am loving the under-the-stage experience; and I'm excited to connect with my colleagues in a different setting. I have met wonderful people, and even got hurt by one of them already (my toe has been injured!) JAJAJA!

"Vicky NENY Barcelona"

I just saw a film recommended by my lil' brother, and have ABSOLUTELY loved it (he always gives wonderful recommendations)!

"VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA"

Four fabulous reasons:

-Scarlett is one my favorite actresses of all times...and plus, she's so HOT! I hate her, in a good way ;)

-Barcelona is the set of the story...who knows me, KNOWS how much I want to go to this place!

-Hot spanish actors...so great to see them act...and basically, to just SEE them :)

-I'm such a CRISTINA!!! Felt so connected to some of her thoughts...SOME, I've specified, SOME ;) There's one scene where the narrator says something about Cristina that screams out NENY all over the place! It's so cool when someone or something speaks the language of your soul :)

And the narrator says: "It was only Cristina, as the last days of summer expired, who began to experience an old familiar stirring; a growing restlessness that she dreaded but recognized only too well. Suddenly, thoughts started taking precedence over feelings; thoughts and questions about life and love, and as much as she tried to resist these ideas, she could not get them from her mind..."

The following scene is just amazing! When Cristina comes out and expresses what she has thought about, Penelope Cruz bawls out, and makes an OSCAR winning performance :) Check it out!



In the end, I couldn't help but smile again, as the girls prepare to leave Barcelona and the narrator says: "Cristina continued searching, certain only of what she didn't want..." :)

Ohh!! And I loved the BARCELONA song used all throughout the movie, and the spanish guitar playing scenes! I have the same reaction as Vicky everytime I have the chance to experience guitar playing :) *SIGH* I love the guitar!!! This video I found on youtube.com of two guys in Barcelona playing flamenco!

Fragment: YOGA

I started YOGA class about 2 weeks ago and I'm totally FASCINATED! It's such a cool way to start the day...I've never been so aware of my body before; of its strengths and weaknesses, of of its capability to go further, of some body parts I didn't even notice were there (excercise your toes?), my heartbeat, my breathing...WOW! It's like a confirmation of how ALIVE I am:)

We go through the days just doing what we have been domesticated to do, and rarely take a moment to be in touch with ourselves, our body, pay attention to it! After all, it is the temple of our souls, we should nurture it and take care of it! And be AWARE of all of it, so we could LOVE it and APPRECIATE it more.

It's been so awsome hearing my heart beat when we lay down after each position...and how the body just NEEDS to breathe! And at that moment, I feel so thankful...Thank you God for BREATHING! It's such a wonderful thing :)

I go early in the morning, three times a week. The class is held at a roofed terrace in a lush green garden...we can hear birds chirping, the wind rushing through the leaves and then caressing our bodies...classical music in the background...candles and inciense...and a fabulous instructor, who always has a smile on his face and has gorgeaus eyes, just seeing him makes me smile :)


I am feeling more energetic, more stretched out! And this was the very purpose for taking this class...I'd been feeling weak lately, my body had been getting lazy and tense. But now, I feel great! Totally recommend it! Specially in the morning...it's such a FRESH way to start the day :) I started going to a gym early in the morning a couple of months ago...but it was just a too agitated way to start the day, for my taste; cardio, aerobics...cool, but no...YOGA is the ......... ! jejeje ;)

Note: all the walls and ceilings are painted in lilac and white...what can I say? LILAC JUST MAKES ME HAPPY :)

"My Daddy's b-day is MY b-day too!"

Feb. 6th is really the date of this posting...I've had 2 FULL days of work and errands, and hadn't had the chance to sit down and WRITE. But my thoughts were on ONE thing on this day: HOW BLESSED I AM TO HAVE MY DADDY.

It was his birthday, and I think that, in a way, it's all our (my siblings and me) birthdays too, as we all have little parts of him in us. He is literally the source of our existance ;)Isn't that soooo deep in itself?!

He'll probably be shocked when he reads this, but I feel that my daddy holds a mystery. Nothing scary! :) It's just that as far as I can remember, daddy's been a righteous man, who loves playing by the rules, doing things "by the book", not one to socialize much, and a great seller at work but a man of few words at home; a bright minded man who will solve any difficulty at home or for anyone who needs his help, and who always has a right answer ready for any question asked. I grew up with a huge admiration towards my daddy...I KNEW something was very RIGHT about him! But as the years passed, and I grew to learn more about the world and our human nature, I pondered, things shouldn't be SO RIGHT about him............there's got to be something HUMANE!

I have a lot of qualities in me that reflect HIM...and as I've learned of my imperfections along the way, so I've reasoned that he must own his share, too. For a while, it became hard to come to terms with this reality, but as I once heard somewhere, "Parents are just kids trying to be adults". :) Isn't that interesting in the craziest of WAYS?! And when I think about it that way, I feel a renewed thankfulness... :)

But the mistery is somewhat surfacing ;) A couple of months ago, I found a treasure chest full of old photos and love letters. The letters where written from young daddy to young mommy, and the photos were of those times. My daddy was so loving and so tender in these letters...so in love! But it wasn't about the love, really...whatever I felt had something to do with himself, his own person. His way of expression in the letters made me see someone I didn't really know; someone I really liked and felt so connected to! It was my young daddy....

.....and the curious fact lays here: I don't know if it's my crazy mind or if it's at all true, but I feel that as daddy gets older, he's becoming in touch again with his younger self. I notice his essence coming back through many little things that I can notice BECAUSE I've read these letters...and it's such a beautiful thing. After so many years of work, of trying, of growing up, of being a kid trying to be an adult, he can finally RELAX and BE himself...AGAIN :)

Fragment: POWER of MUSIC

Yesterday morning, as the violins played away Weber's Der Freischütz overture during orchestra rehearsal, my mind drifted to other times. Times that I haven't lived myself. Times that reflected in my mind in black and white. Times of sorrow, of war and pain. I was playing too, but I couldn't help but envision a small apartment hiding 2 jewish families during the German occupation of the Netherlands in WWII. I envisioned a diary, and the insightful words of a 13 year old girl. I caught myself reminiscing.....about the DIARY of ANNE FRANK.

These are the kind of things that music has the power to do. Music can take you places without you having to leave your seat.

The following clip was filmed, July 22, 1941, on the Merwedeplein in Amsterdam, where the Frank family lived between 1934 and 1942, before they went into hiding. That's the REAL Anne Frank looking out the window of her house.

P.S. Watch the movie, it's pretty amazing! Especially if you're going through a whining period in your life. This story will make you stop whining and be a bit more grateful, even of the not so great things that are happening around you. So touching... Here's the trailer:

Fragment: ABOTONADA

So...my little baby is GROWING...

It all started out with a little treasure I found one day at an art exhibit in Casa de Teatro....I then tested my creative habilities by trying to make one myself...when I saw that the result was pretty decent, I began to make little gifts to people with my new creations...then I pondered: if I bought one of these so excitingly, I assume other people will do mine...so I started selling...I came up with an allusive name and started my ABOTONADA blog....with my sister's and my mother's input the ideas kept moving forward...from bracelets to necklaces to earrings to rings and the most recent, headbands....then came the business cards, which I made in like 2 minutes one day, out of recyled materials...then came the little jute and felt gift bags....then came the bill/receipts with my logo.

I've sold quite a bit of ABOTONADA creations and my skill keeps getting better and better. Never in my life had I learned-or even been remotely interested in learning-how to sew a button! In our super traditional culture, knowing how to sew a button is sort of a pre-requisite to getting married, same as cooking ;) I couldn't do any of these two, until my own need of learning came about..."I can not go on with ABOTONADA and not know how to sew a button!", I thought. I NEEDED to learn...so....."Mom, can you show me how to sew a button?" My look was sort of shy, hers was more like, "FINALLY! :)" P.S. cooking is still on the waiting list!


These days, my terrace is full of buttons and threads laying on the floor. I love going up there and looking at my organized "buttoned" mess; it gives me this little pinch in my heart that makes me feel: ALIVE. ABOTONADA has been therapeutic even! It's kept my mind busy, my hours productive, my soul cleansing, my pocket filling a bit more ($), infusing my stubborn self with passion...WHAT?! passion? A little word I've been searching for........for quite a long time.