Fragment: NY/NJ

Another month of silence...and fragments actively happening!

I just spent the last 3 weeks at my second home with my parents: New York/New Jersey. I've noticed that when I travel, I don't seem to focus enough to sit down and blog. The irony is that travel should be a time of massive blogging since there's sooo much going on around and inside one's head.

Well, as you've all seen, I didn't :S

I know it's best to write when ideas are fresh, but I'll try my best in keeping the details real! It will take a couple of posts to share the impressions, situations, feelings and thoughts from this trip.

However, the first thing I have to say is that the days spent in NY/NJ revealed a lot of things to me. Understanding and acceptance took place inside of me concerning issues that've been obscured by time but not really healed. I feel things settling inside of me...something inside of me changed. The chain of events that have stirred my heart and my thoughts in the last 6 months gave way to this wonderful, soul-shaking trip.

I found this quote the other day:

"Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly".

I think this is what's happening to me...like a butterfly...I feel my wings finally coming out.

The day after I got back, I had lunch with my clarinet teacher. Profe has dealt with me for years and knows me very well. Someone I work often and closely with. We performed together the night before my trip. And when we met for lunch that day, he interrupted me as I talked and said: "Neny, you seem different; something in you has changed...your face has light; there's even something different in the tone of your voice. As you speak, I notice something that wasn't there before...I'm happy to see you like this".

WOW! This meant so much to me! His words confirm that what I am feeling inside is genuine and even, evident.

I am happy inside...I feel things changing...I feel things settling...I feel parts of me growing...I feel I am getting stronger...am I really getting ready to take flight?

"Chocolat"

On this beautiful sunday morning, I've had the pleasure of saboring chocolate, enjoying Binoche's candid smile and splendid acting, gazing at Depp's delightful appearance, dreaming of living in a magical small french town like Lansquenet-sous-Tannes...all this just by watching the sweet film: CHOCOLAT.

In this movie, Vianne and her daughter Anoushka are wanderers; moving from town to town every time the 'north wind' changes. They move into a small french town and open up a cozy, beautiful chocolate shop. Vianne is so lighthearded; open to meeting people and welcoming them into her sweet world. But the close-minded people of this traditional town reject her for being sinfully sensual and open-minded. Vianne was one not to pay much mind to tradition or religion. Opening the shop exactly on Lent week, she wins the major's total rejection.

However, trying not to be shot down by the towns people's rejection, she continues to strive in attracting them to her shop. Some came in the shop with total skepticism, "just to check it out and know the enemy", but usually came out happier people. Vianne has such a warm personality, very inviting, very humble, very giving, reaching for closeness, delighted to share her stories and her culinary talents. She helps an old woman reconcile with her grandson and eventually, her daughter. She takes in a lady abused by her husband, teaching her about the world of chocolate and bringing her into her home. She convinces an old man to finally court the mourning lady he'd been spotting for years. She welcomes a group of river drifters when the whole town totally rejects them, as well. By little acts of kindness in return for skepticism and rejection, she had soon enough transformed the conservative locals into happier, open-minded people.

Vianne falls in love with Roux, the leader of the river drifters (ohhh! Johnny Depp!), and while conversing with him realizes that although she's not conservative, inside her exists a set of traditions which she subcoinciously lives by. The whole wandering from town to town when the wind changes, no matter how much this affects little Anoushka, is her way of coping with life.

This film questions tradition in the "sweetest" of ways; leads you to dream about moving to a small village and opening a cute shop; makes you fall in love (YES! with Johnny Depp!); plants a seed of desire for anything sweet! Truly enjoyable :)

I really liked a fragment of a review I found on www.ram.org, "The cinematography and pacing are very good and pangs of desire for something sweet are sure to be felt seeing the delicacies prepared by Vianne. The story is told effectively by creating an aura of enchantment in the way Vianne works: Is she just offering chocolate or is there something more? The actors do an amazing job and give Chocolat its sweetness."

Fragment: PROCRASTINATION

When I went to college in NY, I spoke a decent amount of english. I'd lived in NJ when I was younger, and learned the language without much effort. However, I came back to DR, and did not study english any further. So, when I got to college, my english level was not up to par for professional studies. I had a tough time trying to catch up with everyone else in the beginning; in college you have to write an essay for everything and anything! It was challenging! But I went from a D- to an A- in my english composition class...YEY!

Amongst all the great new words, phrases, grammar and composition techniques that I learned, there was one word in particular that truly caught my attention: PROCRASTINATION. This word doesn't have a direct translation in spanish. This is what I love about english language; it's so practical! Sometimes, one word (like this one) wraps a whole lot of meaning in it, which could only be translated into spanish by composing a whole sentence!

Anyways, to procrastinate is "to put off till another day or time; to defer; to delay". There's a quote I found one day that goes hand in hand with the word PROCRASTINATION, which says: "There's no pleasure in having nothing to do...the fun is in having lots to do and not doing it!"

So why do I talk about PROCRASTINATION today? Because I needed to let you guys know that I'd started a couple of posts and never finished them, always thinking, "I'll finish them later on..." and of course, never did till today :)

Therefore, I urge you to go as back as February 23rd to read some postings that were meant to be read back then, but having procrastinated so fabulously, you will be reading TODAY!

Here are the dates you should go back and read because they're were dated and saved back then, but finished just now:

February 23rd

March 12th

May 8th

May 18th

May 24th *pending

May 25th

May 28th

Go ahead and read the above PROCRASTINATED fragments ;)

Fragment: A DAY...today!

So this is what a day in my life is like sometimes; more so lately because of the situation at the symphony. Oh, right, I haven't written about this yet.

The thing is that our conductor resigned about 4 months ago. We got assigned a new conductor, this time a dominican (YEY!), whose put the orchestra under a deep restructuration process. We haven't had concerts or even rehearsals since March! Auditions for the whole orchestra have been announced, and they are obligatory. So, basically, we have 2 months to study the assigned orchestral excerpts and solo concert to audition in August, and then...get fired? raise our salary? get promoted, moved to another stand? who knows? As I've said before, I enjoy my job very much...it is SO unpredictable. Keeps me at the tip of my toes ;) Uuuuuuyyyyyy!But somehow, I have managed to keep myself busy, although I am basically jobless :S Playing with my buttons, socializing here and there, hooked to the series 24, singing at church, scarce gigs and other rehearsals, renting movies, working some hours at Crescendo, paying some bills, crashing my car, and the most recent, my new form of smart entertainment: SUDOKU!

(Oh man, I just noticed the clarinet wasn't even slightly mentioned in the paragraph above...hmmm...ok, I need to get on it!)

"The following events took place between 8Am and 4PM today" (like the 24 influence in me? jaja):

-Woke up at 8am; had coffee and cereal; watched 24, Season 2 Disc 2

-Checked e-mails

-Worked on Abotonada stuff (finished Nicky's order, yey!)

-Finally found a new way to close my button bracelets (I'm so excited!)

-Showered; made myself a light lunch

-Watched some more 24 (so GOOD!)

-Walked to my new favorite spot, the new coffee shop in my neighborhood; had my cortadito and did some SUDOKU!

-Walked back home; Lemay came to visit for a bit

-Finished 24, Season 2 Disc 2 (can't wait to go get Disc 3!)

-Started setting up my Etsy shop (finally!); still not done, but chk it out http://www.nenygq.etsy.com/

-Talked to my sister and little brother on the phone while I made myself some pasta for dinner

-Blogged ;)

What a day, huh?!

"24"

Ok, so I am officially hooked to the TV series 24! For those who know me, I know you must be wondering what has gotten into me. I usually AVOID anything with scary contents that create unnecessary tension in my life, especially if it contains too much of a death poll. And...24 IS about ALL this!

So, you are right. There IS some external influence that has led me to watch this. The other day, I was at a restaurant with a group of friends, and one of them started talking about 24 with so much excitement. The description given was so fascinating that I felt immediately intrigued. Soon enough after that day, I surrendered to my own standards of 'things I don't like to watch', and found myself renting the first disc of 24.

The series is shown in "real-time", meaning, each minute that passes while you're in front of the TV, actually corresponds to a minute in the lives of the characters. When there are commercial breaks, a digital clock appears on the screen showing the time, for example, 12:37pm, and when the show comes back from commercial, the same clock appears, now showing 12:41pm; it actually counts the real time that passed when the commercials interrupted the story. So even though we are seeing commercials, the story has kept going! Isn't this just amazingly thought out! How inventive and ingenious of the writers to create something like this!

There's a lot of killing and thrilling tension, but I am so fascinated and, surprisingly, HOOKED! I'm on Season 1, disc 4 right now, 1:00 to 2:00pm...Can't wait to finish my first 24 hours!

Oh, by the way, JACK BAUER is like...THE MAN!!!!!!!!!

"6 Degrees of Separation"

Back in college, I saw one of the coolest plays ever. Not only was it entertaining, and superbly acted out, but the message was SO real; the theory on which the play was all based makes so much sense.

So, I went to WIKIPEDIA to share with you guys an accurate explanation of the theory ;)

"Six degrees of separation refers to the idea that, if a person is one step away from each person they know and two steps away from each person who is known by one of the people they know, then everyone is at most six steps away from any other person on Earth. It was popularised by a play written by John Guare."

Isn't this theory just fascinating?! We are often amazed by the 'interconnectedness of the human network' (this is wikipedia talking still jaja), which we usually refer to as the small world effect. "Wow, what a small world this is!"

Well, this week, I proved this theory once again (of the many times that I already have). One of my best friends lives in LA, and writes me a message through Facebook saying: "Yesterday, through a friend that doesn't know you, I met Lari, who saw a picture of you in my house and was so shocked to once again prove how small the world is! She is friends with Smardi, your big brother's ex-girlfriend!"

There it is; in ways you least expect it; defying huge distances, even! I mean, Smardi and I live in Dominican Republic, my brother lives in Boston, and Sar and Lari live in LA, and we didn't all know each other, but through the interconnectedness that existed, which became evident through a series of events, NOW we all do.

I just mentioned a key word in the paragraphs above. FACEBOOK has become a powerful tool in this matter! Through Facebook, I along millions of people, have found it extremely interesting to see which friends one has COMMON friends with. "What?! Such and such knows such and such?! But I know them from very different networks!"

Googling this great theory, I came across Paul Walk's Weblog, which talks about Facebook and the Six Degrees of Separation theory. These are some of the things he says (so interesting!):

• I recently got invited to participate in Karl Bubyan’s Six Degrees of Separationapplication in Facebook. This application navigates the ’social graph’ in Facebook, offering a couple of tools to allow the user to test the ‘Six degrees of separation‘ hypothesis. The application and its interface seem quite slick - and it has the now obligatory visualisation (reproduced here).

• So I suggest that for any actual person in whom you are interested, Facebook presents two degrees of separation

• This tool is quite interesting in terms of what it allows the user to discover about their relationship to other, named, users.

You can read more of him here:

http://blog.paulwalk.net/2007/10/08/no-degrees-of-separation/

So...can somebody figure out my 6 links to............Jhonny Depp, pleaseeeee! : p

"CAYENA@Casa de Teatro"

Last night was such a wonderful, soulful evening! First the Kalma concert: DIVINE! Then off to Casa de Teatro where I got to see my friends doing their thing: JAZZ & BLUES mixed in with contagious, tropical beats!


It made me so happy to be surrounded by people that appreciate GOOD music. Casa de Teatro is a hub of culture! It's one of my favorite places in this city; although, I don't go as often as I should. Interesting events are always taking place at Casa de Teatro, supporting and exposing local artists.

Last night, Cayena displayed its power of performance, its musical quality, its diversity, its astonishing charisma and, (BONUS!) its unexpected sense of humor! There were many great things going on on that stage: interesting colors added by the lively percussion player; phenomenal improv's by the trumpet and trombone players; the drummer's impeccable discharge of rhythms; outstanding compositions by the guitar and bass players; and overall, so much SOUL! When can I get more of this, pleaseeee?!

It was a pleasure to witness such upscale musicianship. Check 'em out if you reside in Dominican Republic!

"KALMING notes..."

I lived a truly magical experience today :) These are the little things that have been happening in DR that have kept me happy, satisfied, and wanting to stay for longer!

A couple of days ago, before starting yoga class, the director of the centre introduced us to a new student. Everytime she introduces me, she HAS to mention the fact that I'm a musician and that I play with the symphony. She sounds so proud that it makes me blush all the time! Reminds me of my dad ;) Anyways, that day in particular, she probably noticed herself how excited she sounded introducing me, and went on to say: "Hey! I have an idea; bring your clarinet one day and play for us. Let's make it something special; we'll decorate and invite students from the other classes. Mother's day is approaching! Maybe we can offer a little concert as a gift to the mothers at the centre!" She went on and on with ideas, and got ME all excited! "LET'S DO IT!", I said.

Before I knew it, the day of the mini concert came (today!) and I hadn't even decided what I'd play. About an hour before the time I had to be at the centre, I picked out a couple of excerpts from clarinet concert and solo pieces, mixed them all together, wrote down a list of order, and got dressed to go! The whole vibe I'd pictured was a hippie, chilled environment, and that's exactly how I dressed. I got to use these funky pants I bought in Spain, topped with my abosulte favorite: a wifebeater ;)

When I arrived at the centre, they were so excited to receive me. My yoga instructor approached me and told me to close my eyes for the surprise. With my eyes closed, he took my hand and led me to the outside terrace where we take our classes. When I opened my eyes, I saw exactly what I wanted to have seen! It was MAGICAL! He did a great job setting up a mini stage with the right kind of mood for what we wanted to share this night.

(right: I got pretty flowers! awww)

I talked to the audience, introducing each piece of music, some experiences, and just had lots of fun playing for them. The terrace was only lid with candles. I told the audience to sit back and relax listening to an instrument not too common to just sit and listen to around here. "Enjoy the KALMING notes that I will be playing for you tonight", I said. I sat down and played for about 45 minutes.

When I finished playing, they applauded with so much excitement. I could see the eyes lid with emotion and appreciation. It is truly FULFILLING to touch people in this way...

(right: me and my yoga instructor on his fab stage set up!)

I then offered them an extra little gift dedicated to all mothers, and sang a beautiful song I'd learned at CRESCENDO (my other job). Here's the song: "Señora, Señora". I was a little suffocated from having just played (it was so hot!), so I sound a little shaky and out of tune, jeje but the words are beautiful! Sorry for the non-spanish speakers :-/

"Flight of the Red Balloon"

I was at Movie Max the other day with a friend and bumped into something I thought I'd seen before. "I recognize that RED BALLOON...hmmmm", I thought, and immediately got a flashback of me, 5 or 6 years old, watching an older version of this film at a school in Manhattan, where we got free lunch, I don't exactly remember why ;)

I have got to rent it!

I didn't rent it that day because we were there for something else, but the red balloon on that cover stayed on my mind. A couple of days later, I went back and got it, and have just finished watching it.

There's something very peculiar about the last couple of months. I feel like after a couple of years of internal storms, a growing up process, and the past 2 years, falling back into my senses, I've entered a stage of RECOGNITION. It's like, in the process of growing up, I've earned as well as lost some things along the way, and those that I have lost are somehow coming back now. Perhaps because it is now that I am ready for them. Ready to use them, to understand them, or maybe, just ready to appreciate them.

Anyways, I remember being so young, and so happy about everything that was going on that day. I was accompanied by mommy, my little brother and a couple of cousins. We were all excited to get free lunch in school trays at the cafeteria, and then pass on to a big room where the french short film "THE RED BALLOON" was being shown.

I can recall my fascination with the plot of the story; I mean, here was a little boy being followed by a red balloon that, as wikipedia describes (I love wikipedia!), seemed to have a mind and will of its own! The entire story just follows around the balloon and the boy as they wander through the streets of Paris. Isn't it great?! If you've become at all intrigued with the description I've provided (wink*), you can watch it right HERE!

The new version that I just watched was also very good. I love Juliette Binoche and I love french films! Similar to the original movie, the red balloon also follows the little boy of THIS film...but not so crazy like the original one. The modern balloon is more discrete :) I enjoyed this film a lot too, and was just so excited to get these childhood flashbacks!

Oh! And a friend had mentioned something about a carrousel and "grabbing the brass ring", which I didn't understand, until a scene came up in this movie, were kids are trying to catch the brass ring while on the merry-go-round! I was looking for the scene in the film on youtube.com but couldn't find it. Take a look at this, though...just in case there is someone like me that doesn't know about this. Isn't it cool how we just keep learning little things each day?

Fragment: GOALS

This morning, excitement has taken over my heart!

One of my goals has been achieved ;)

This feeling makes me understand how important and valuable it is to write down one's goals. Writing them down makes them visible to you, therefore, makes it easier to commit because it makes you feel a certain sense of responsaibility. Writing them down also functions as a reminder; each time you bump into the piece of paper with your goals on them, you're reminded of the things you are supposed to be doing. And, it's just so liberating to scratch off the list when you've achieved one!

Today, I've been published! In my list of goals, one of them was exactly that...TO GET PUBLISHED...anywhere...whether it was a story I'd written, or someone writing about me.

A couple of months ago, a friend of mine, photographer Alina Vargas (http://www.alinavargas.com/), excited about my ABOTONADA creations, suggested me to be published at one of the magazines she collaborates with: REVISTA U (http://www.revistau.com/).

I was so excited when she told me about it. First of all, I love that magazine! I hunt for it each month, because it's a free mag and you bump into it randomly. Secondly, and most important, I immediately thought of my goals list ;)

She came to my house one day and photographed me with my button accessories; a couple of weeks later (while in Spain), I was interviewed via e-mail by Elvira Lora from U Mag; and this morning, while having my coffee, I bumped into my BUTTONED OBSESSION article ;) YEY!

Check it out at http://www.revistau.com/, page 16...and enjoy!

Fragment: CRESCENDO

Something's been latent on my mind for the past couple of days. I have to make a decision about working at CRESCENDO or moving on to something else. As I think about the pros and cons about staying and leaving, I realized that I've never blogged about THIS fragment of my life :)

CRESCENDO is a center for early childhood stimulation through music. The first day I sat in a session, I entered a magical world, where no word was spoken; everything was sung, danced about and/or acted out. The program is designed for babies from birth until children 5 years of age. The facilitator (which I later on became one) guides parents into activities that stimulate the babies through the repetition of musical patterns, which objective is to provide a nurturing experience that will serve as the foundation for their subsequent learning.

For the past 2 years, CRESCENDO has served as a space for personal and professional growth. Never would I have thought that by stimulating babies through music, they would be TEACHING ME so much! Working at CRESCENDO has been challenging but very rewarding. Babies' responses are random but SO real, and the whole objective is to put all their little responses into the musical context that is being worked at the moment, which then makes the babies feel like, "look, I must have done something right, she's using what I just 'said'" and this becomes a reassuring and learning experience for them, even at such early stages.

Now, the decision about moving on to something else comes entangled with the question of a LIFETIME! Where am I going with this? Does working at CRESCENDO bring me closer to the goals I want to achieve? Does it wisely fit in the grand scheme of my life plans?

Of course, all these thoughts came about after the fragments of my life started jumbling up.

Nowadays, I find myself RESTRUCTURING the FRAGMENTS of my life; and I'm wondering if CRESCENDO should keep being a fragment, or if I should use this time to get involved in other activities that will take me to new heights or complement my music career in other important ways.

Either path I choose, I am sure I've got a lot to win. Whether it is in the world of MUSICAL MOTHERING (I love this term used by Maria Jameau) or moving on to other music related activities.

I've been lucky to be part of the CRESCENDO family. Much love to Eli and Tia Mary (in the picture above, my bosses)!

Fragment: LIMITS

I am so loving my yoga class. I missed it terribly while I was in Spain! My body felt the difference. But besides the physical aspect, I just love everything else about it; the ambience, the people, the applause and the hug after each session, the meditation (one does not usually stop like this on own time!), the incense, the lavender color on the ceiling (I've mentioned this before, sorry!). This week, the teacher has been introducing some new stretching techniques by partnering people. At first, we all hesitated; there's just a natural level of discomfort when it comes to making yourself vulnerable in front of others. OMG! A stranger is going to touch me and help me stretch my body?! It's kind of intimidating, but after you cross that boundary, you discover that it is lovely to step into someone's space in this way. With no conversation, just touch and collaboration, a sense of community is created.

Anyways, yesterday my yoga instructor said something really interesting and powerful: "yoga is all about knowing the limits of your body...AND BREAKING THEM". WOW.

To stretch beyond your limits...isn't this a useful thought that can be applied to everything else in life? When you think you can just reach a certain level, a certain feeling, a certain place, a certain person...think again...and try to go further...reach further...work for more...do not conform...things can ALWAYS be better. OK, but don't go crazy, though. Just like in yoga, stretching your limit is done in a patient, slow, delicate fashion, so you don't hurt yourself. Little by little, treating your body with love, getting to know every sensation, you will know when to stop, rest, recover, and go on. Everyday, you'll be at least a millimeter further. I am not sure closer to what, but FURTHER ;)

Now, the interesting thing about this word/concept is that, in the last session with my therapist (before I left to Spain), we spoke about LIMITS. However, we did not talk about stretching my limits, it was more about defining them and establishing them in my life, so other people don't break them. This is a whole other perspective on LIMITS. I am not too sure I understood the benefits of her concepts. But in the days that followed, I learned some truths about limits through a couple of people and situations. So now, I am working on my LIMITS; it's the word of this season in my life. Limits in the things I say and share (DISCRETE); limits in what to say yes to and no to (ASSERTIVE); limits in the amount of friends that'll know EVERTHING about me (EXCLUSIVE); limits in relationships (IDENTITY); limits in what to give and how (SELECTIVE); limits, limits, limits...

There's a book my sister is reading, and that my little brother once recommended, which deals with this matter: John Henry Cloud's, "BOUNDARIES". I haven't read it myself, but I've heard very good things about it, so it's definitely on my 'TO READ' list.

I guess boundaries/limits ARE a healthy tool to use in life, either way. Whether you stretch your limits to make yourself stronger and/or reach further, or you establish them so other people or things don't go beyond them.

YES! I'm working on it ;)

"Clarinetisimo"

Off the plane from Spain, and I was back to my LIFE! Performing, helping out my teacher with a clarinet music festival he was organizing, hanging out with my girls Lau and Alaimette, and back to the wonderful little routines of my life.

CLARINETISIMO was a success! 5 days full of clarinet masterclasses, concerts, exhibitions, talks, and collaborating with other colleagues, held at the National Conservatory of Music here in DR. as a I think my profe's standards for the festival were met, so he is very happy; hence, so am I ;)

I was so happy to see that more students are picking up the clarinet and are motivated to keep playing, learning and growing as musicians. Our instrument is not very popular around here; I've been actually a bit worried about the future of the clarinet in this country. But the experience of this festival made me feel a bit more optimistic. I hope for these young clarinetists to keep on studying and to become a generation of important clarinet growth in the DR.

I've heard, although not very much believed, that I am one of the few professional clarinetists in the history of this country! Doesn't that sound kind of like a big deal?! But then again, anything in a small place can EASILY be a big deal. However, now, I not only believe it, But I've come to learn that it is totally certain. In a way, I feel a little honor of having made a bit of history in my country ;) but in another way, I feel a bit dumb for not being more serious about my career in the last couple of years. I know I could be so much better, and could have done SO much more with my talent and the opportunities that have been presented to me.

I don't regret anything in my life; but I am fully aware of how some decisions in my past could have taken me to higher places. My profe says is not to late...hmmmm.

Then again, it all sums up in the same old question! Where is it that I want to go with my life...and the answer is...................................................................... ;)

"BACK!"

Before anything, I should apologize for this LONG silence. Not only because by faith I know some people bump into my FRAGMENTS and read some, but more so because some faithful fans have come up to me asking for more! So, for all of you, here I am...BACK!

I am back from Spain; back in the comfort of my sweet home; back to my yoga class (mmm!); back to my SO-ME bedroom; back to this lovely, tropical weather; back to appreciating rainy days because they're so scarce; back to singing at church; back to my LOLOS (niece + nephew); back to my sister's awsome cooking; back to my brother-in-law's enjoyable and wittiful comments; back to working with babies (which after 1 1/2 yrs. I still feel like a beginner, TOUGH!); back to renting movies and wine almost every day; back to my clarinets and do-RE-MI-fa-sol-la-SI-do (awww); back to the symphony orchestra (???); back to my world of buttons (ABOTONADA); back to my chiquette Lau (a wonderful girlfriend); back to my laptop and blogging; back to the smell of Perla Negra coffee waking up my senses each morning; back to the little routines I've invented to conform my fantastic life :)

Yes, I am BACK! And hope for many more fragments to share...

Fragment: SPAIN

Ok...so I finally accept it: I'M IN SPAIN!
It has taken me some time to finally appreciate the fact that I am HERE. But I finally realized, I am exactly where I've been wanting to be for quite a while.

Having coffee with my girlfriend every morning before she goes off to work; stopping at random smokey bars for a cafe con leche and a bocadillo; taking the metro to the city centre making myself believe I'm a local; wandering through the tiny, maze-like streets of the Gothic Quarter; eating the super lunch menu at charming restaurants (which includes 2 entrees, bread, wine and dessert); hunting for unique accesories
on which to spend my little euros; jumping of joy every time I bump into an antiques fair or any other street fair; walking around with a map and NOT getting lost (!); eating lots of bread at all hours of the day; drinking wine and/or coffee at every stop I make; fascinated by the "living statues" on Las Ramblas; photographing the amazing architecture of Gaudi at Casa Batllo, La Pedrera and La Sagrada Familia; walking through the magical Parc Güell; reading, writing and spending lots of time with myself; hostelling and meeting other wanderers (love it!); "renfe-ing" my way to Barcelona, Valencia and Madrid...hmmm...

NOT BAD, eh?

Fragment: HP image ;)

Sooooooo...to my surprise, last night a friend from college said hello while chatting through Facebook and said: "Dar, I have something for you! I had to go buy office supplies for work (mostly ink for printers) and I saw your face on the HP ink boxes! I cut it out to send it to you...it HAS to be you!"


JAJAJAJAJAJAJA...I was laughing non-stop for the next half-hour :)

So yea, I got this random gig in July 2006 while trying to live in NY/NJ...I was looking for jobs when I bumped into a casting for HP. I was like, "what do I have to lose?"...they were looking for "real people", meaning, NO MODELS! Not sure if to feel offended or happy about having gotten the job JAJA. So, I went to the casting. Basically, I wrote my name on a sheet of paper, posed for a photographer as if I were going to jail ;) (front, profiles) and walked out. Two days later, I got a call! YEY!!!!

It was such a wonderful day! A great and memorable experience! I was a REAL PEOPLE, but let me tell you that I DID get to BE a MODEL for one day!!! It was AWSOME :)

So pampered! Getting hair, make-up, nails done...the fashion stylist trying a million clothes on me as if I were a doll...she was so hyped! (and so was I!)

They did some great shots! Don't know why they only used this picture (which I actually don't like at all). But another friend of mine just told me (through Facebook, once again...don't you love FACEBOOK?!) that another friend told her that she bought a laptop and saw my face on the box JAJAJAJA... I'm intrigued if they used the same unliked-by-me picture. So, if any of you bump into one, pls let me know ;)

Anyways, apparently my image has been out in the market since April 2007 and I didn't have a clue. NICE!

Don't you just love the little, random surprises that life throws one's way?

My dad sent me an e-mail this morning saying he immediately went to the store to buy a couple of these inks JAJAJA (see? I can't stop laughing!) and said it felt so cool to go to the store and see my face repeatedly on the products. Awww, proud daddy :)

Hey! I wanna see me! Well, for now, I found this image online.

Thanks Angelito for letting me know about this ;) I think this actually made my day! JAJAJAJA!
P.S. When I get back home I'll upload like two more photos I have from the HP shoot (which I like much better).

Fragment: BLISSFUL SOLITUDE

As I wander through the charming, little streets of Madrid, I wonder: What ever happened to BLISSFUL SOLITUDE?

Everyone that knows me KNOWS how much I enjoy being by myself...whether I'm just hanging out at home or traveling around. I've never understood when friends have told me: "Please come with me! I don't want to go ALONE!" My response to that has always been: "WHAT?! I always WANT to go ALONE!"

I've always been characterized as one that enjoys solitude a bit too much. I've never had a problem with traveling ALONE, going to the movies ALONE, drinking a bottle of wine ALONE, sitting at a restaurant ALONE, having a cup of coffee ALONE (well, with a book in hand, so not that ALONE)...and all these times, I've felt BLISS. I'm always ranting on how great it is to enjoy SOLITUDE!

So, today, it comes to my great surprise, that...for the first time in ages...I FEEL ALONE...scary!

I am exactly where I've been wanting to be in, like, FOREVER! Spain! I've dreamt of walking through these tiny, cobblestone streets hunting for unique treasures...and I HAVE! But, I feel...incomplete...a weird sense of emptiness. I don't want to walk these streets and find these treasures...ALONE...and it is SOOO weird to feel this way.

Maybe...deep inside, my heart knows...I was not supposed to be here...ALONE...

"My new favorite lantern"

My little brother sent me a small treasure this morning...an e-mail that read:

"Isn't this just the best video in the world? And your in it! You lucky girl you."

...and this video:



This is me dancing with my late "tio" at a Thanksgiving party in New York, 2004. I remember this day perfectly and how I felt dancing with him. He was such a great DANCER! Just look at that turn!! Seems like we rehearsed it or something ;)

And you know what I just noticed while watching the clip? The merengue that we are dancing to is Juan Luis Guerra's "FAROLITO", which translates to "Little Lantern". You guys have read about my fascination with lanterns, especially little ones. Well, I've received today the most precious little lantern of all.

I miss you Tio...now I have a little lantern that holds an eternal image of me and you :)

Thanks, Guevs!