a blue moon for a new year

today was a special day
the last one of 2009
a rather hard year for me,
death was sniffing around...

but with hope in the heart

and a double full moon, a blue moon

on the skies

i plan to start smiling this 2010

my poor attempt to photograph the captivating full moon without a tripod, too lazy to set it up...

this morning i went to my yoga class

and to celebrate the rare event of a blue moon

instead of sun salutations we did moon salutations

the version we did is a bit modified from the one on the link
i've never heard or done before moon salutations
so i thought that was pretty cool
probably the last thing i've learned in this 2009


a closer failure, but hey! there's a photo,
a bad one, but a photo nevertheless...

later, i had lunch at Jyoti Bihanga with my friend
el perro, was nice to see him before the year ends
i spent the last hours of 2009 putting together
an IKEA little table and getting rid of my old desk

i think is a nice superstition to start the new year
with a clean home, and even though i did clean much
i cleared the old desk and set the new table

i took a shower and now i rest the day
counting the hours, the minutes, not for 2009 to end
but for 2010 to begin
my two friendos the gatos are fast asleep
frau Kitty on her post, and herr Gato on the couch
i decided to not go out tonight but to stay in & relax
and it feels as Radiohead would say
Everything in its Right Place

and i guess is normal to make resolutions for the new year
i have no intentions to go hard on myself
but i do hope in 2010 to read more
about 300 books heh heh
and to do yoga more often, yes, to work out too
but specially more yoga, i do feel so fine
while facing downward like a dog

a warm eHug for you reading here
thank you for being my eFriend
and i sincerely wish you the healthiest of existences
for this coming year, and always in your life
a healthy body, a healthy mind, and a healthy gentle soul

as today, and tonight i am
loving being alive another day
another year, another decade!
& thankful for coming all the way
from 1969 to 2010!

Off

2009 comes to an end
i spend the last days of it,
living some time-off

after enjoying a lovely yet hectic week
with my mom visiting in San Diego,
shopping, visiting friends, and running around


my mom and I at The Old Soud

now i seat and relax and do not much...
unrushed coffee in the mornings
bread, jam, with a side of sweet slow,
then a yoga class in the morning or a walk


it's Dec. 29th and i bought myself a lateish Christmas gift,
this lovely yoga mat bag, on white, light blue and pale yellow boats,
like inviting to let your OMs roll all the way to San Diego's shores...
with big round buttons and cute metal button on top,
i have 2 yoga mats, but never a yoga mat bag before
[insert picture of wide smile here]

cooking slow lunch, like baked potatoes for an hour
with chopped tomatoes, vinegar,
slowness, laziness, smilingness and olive oil


i was about to take a picture of the fresh baked potato but couldn't resist,
i stopped right before i finished it, only it could be documented

and many coffee cups and plenty of tea pots
from this and other worlds...
and some fruit too, so the guilt is not too strong



am really liking it a lot,
this end-of-the-year's idle song...

Feliz Navidad

wishing that the celebration of Christmas
always full of lights, warmth, and joy
make your heart jingle with some love
and puts a smile upon your soul


Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico - December 2008

today we celebrate, regardless of being Catholics,
Christians, Pagans, or so on,
the birth of one the 'coolest' souls ever to be born
Jesus Christ
one of my favorite entities of this our troubled
western world

to think that a little baby Jesus brought literally
a new era to this world, with only a message of peace
tolerance and love, is something to smile about

receive an electronic yet very warm hug
if you come across this page

and hopefully, regardless of being religious or not,
we all will practice some of the humility he taught...

here some of his wise words, they still make sense
after 2000 years or so

“No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead he puts it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light.”

“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
-Jesus Christ

Vivaldi in LA

i am getting really excited...
tomorrow Sunday
my mom and I take the train
to Los Angeles to see
the LA Philharmonic playing
Vivaldi's Four Seasons
and other baroque delights



at the wonderful Walt Disney Hall
a superb auditorium
i have been there twice before
for a performance of
Anthony and the Jhonsons & the Philharmonic
and later for M83's plus Philharmonic
rather unique concerts

but this will be my 1st time to attend
and actual 'classic classical' concert there
looking forward to listen to Vivaldi
next to my mother, whose appreciation for fine
music is superb, as for notable venues



also the ride on the Amtrak by the
Southern California coast, shall be a delight
specially with ravishing weather we are having here!

wait for reviews of the concert coming soon!

reposting: walk into the sea

tonight i mentioned Low, the band, again
one of my favorite bands of all times
and this lovely song
Walk into the Sea
that i posted a while ago
http://bereweber.blogspot.com/2008/05/walk-into-sea.html

tonight, again
haven't listened to it in years
and with so many things going on my life right now
busy at work, deadlines at school, end of the semester
the Holidays rush, my mom visiting and so on

on an quiet corner late at night
while my mom and my 2 cats
fast asleep are
i listen to Low...
hope you too, join me and
enjoy!

●

[I could walk into the sea]
And choke away the memory
Do I have to stay alive
Just to keep our dresses white?

You come to me in dreams
With all the other pretty things
You tell me about a Savior
And how the soul lives on forever

And time is just a hunger
It bleeds us out to nothing
And when it finally takes us over
I hope we’ll float away together

Yeah, time’s the great destroyer
Leaves every child a bastard
When it finally takes us over
I hope we’ll float away together


●

bweber.org

a bit disconnected from the blog
from 23, and even from my visiting mom
working on my school final project for this
semester... designing a website with
CSS positioning, no tables, no no!!

so instead of blogging
i am htmling / cssing
on bweber.org



page that one day will display
my working portfolio
in the meantime, it holds the
final assignment for the last
class of this semester...

hope i can optimize it and feed it
the actual content soon...

Rakim

reading around
i came across Diatton's post on
Dead Can Dance
an old favorite band of mine

so i remember this song
Rakim
beautiful songs capture of souls
i was fortunate enough
to see them live in San Diego
for that 2005 tour reunion
Diatton talks about
they were s·pec·ta·cu·lar
hope you enjoy!



Favored signs to find hope
In the rounds of life
Favored rhymes to find hope
In the sands of life

windy Diego

today the weather in San Diego was nothing
like its sunny self...
with wind gusts over 55 mph
(over 80 kilometers per hour...)
and raining the whole day
not too hard
but constant rain

i don't think i have ever seen
winds so strong in my life before
only maybe on TV

18 neighborhoods lost electricity
since last night, 250 car accidents happened
southern Californians have no idea
how to drive in the rain
and even less how NOT to...
flooding all over the place
and many trees have fallen
the streets are full of palm tree fallen leaves
and it's snowing in the closer mountains

my friends the sparrows
try to hide from the wind and rain
they ate for a little some wet seeds
and then they left again
i wonder were birds hide from strong wings



and a board from the back of my house fell off!
now i know how the 3 little pigs felt
when the big bad wolf said:
"Let me in, Let me in, little pig(s)
or I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house in!"
the three little pigs being
Frau Kitty, Herr Gato, and me...



and for a while in the morning Herr Gato escaped
and hid under the house, the rain felt harder
and he didn't dare to come back

after 4 or 5 hours, about 2pm
the rain became milder
so he came in, soaking wet
after some good towel dry,
a can of wet food, and some pets
he went back be his lazy self...



and even if i enjoy cloudy rainy days
specially since we get so little rain around here
the winds so strong were the ones
that made the situation very scary



Frau Kitty hides under a blanket, keeping warm

adiós a mi tío Pepe

mi tío Pepe, at my mom's garden in Autlán, December 2008

This Sunday morning my humble household
Apparently remains unchanged
The cats come & go
Beg for food, and stroll about
The birds graze around
And the mild coldish sun
Shows its beans, shy

Yet the news of death
Filter through a distant telephone line
Once again on this deadly 2009

Last night my aunt Elena who was visiting
In Guadalajara told me that my uncle Jose
Suffered a heart attack
But she was hopeful that he was to recover
I couldn’t talk to my mother, she was with him
Spending the night at the hospital

And early this morning, 6.30 am my time
The phone rang...
Complications after the heart attack
And being my uncle diabetic and in bad shape
Most of his life
This one has abandoned him all together
At once

My uncle was younger than my mother
But his life was always so hectic
That he looked older than her
I am not sure how old exactly he was
But I do know he was not yet 60
Close, but not 60 yet
57? 58?

And one thing that is a comfort for all
Family, I hope
Is that he lived an authentic rich life
Not the way most people think of a rich life
But for rich, in his peculiar ways…
He was a heavy drinker, a ‘party animal’
he really never took much care of himself
I guess he was one of those souls
Who agree with the old saying
“live free or die”
Vivre libres ou mourir

He lived for many years here in the US
In San Francisco, and then Portland
He was a truck driver most of his life
Had a great sense of humor
he was a pleasant person
with always cheerful manners
And over all a great sense of charity
I remember seeing my uncle
Getting rid of an expensive jacket once
That he has just received as a Christmas present
And handed it to a homeless drunk guy
Of course the aunt who just gave it to him
As a gift was sort of disappointed
But that was my uncle
He was never rich, yet he worked hard his whole life
And every penny he ever made
He shared with his friends
Who were never among the “good people”
He loved to surround himself with homeless people
And drink with them
Worth saying that my grandma and his sisters suffered
A big deal ‘cause of his 'free-living ways'
But then again, I am sure my uncle
Sure enjoyed his life

These photos of him and my mom
I took in December 2008 in Autlán Jalisco
Back in 2007, and because of his diabetes
My uncle almost lost a leg while living in Portland
I remember my aunt Margarita and my mother
Traveling from Mexico to a lost town in Oregon
To sort of rescue him…
The whole family thought that once my uncle
Was in Mexico, he would stop drinking and taking
Care of himself
But my uncle was still so full of life
And he sure loved to play around
To surprise of my mom and aunt
He started having an affair with the maid!
Which actually makes me smile
She is a married lady too!
So the small Mexican town was scandalized
Yet I am sure my uncle was happy
To enjoy yet again of some forbidden love
And even if I miss him now
I somehow would love to raise a glass of wine
In his name and memory
Cause even if gone now
I am quite sure mi tio Pepe
From heaven, and by his mom
Is smiling down to us
Left still on this terrene life

My grandma had 7 children
5 women and 2 men
And this is the first of these siblings
To go away
my grandma died in 2005
so i guess is better that she didn't see him die
I am sure they are together now
she always loved his so much
that other siblings were jealous of him
but also we all know
she worried so much about him and loved him so much
'cause he was indeed her 'trouble child'

And I am extremely sorry and worry
For my mother, she loved him so much too
she didn't care saying always
'my favorite brother'
And it’s the first time in her life
That she loses a brother


my mom and her beloved brother Pepe

So far this year
My mom has lost an ex-husband (my dad)
And a brother
And she endless worries over my frail
health, the damn asthma, the migraines,
my IBS…
now i worry over her too
she just recovered from pneumonia
and at age 62 is facing osteoporosis
she was supposed to arrive to Los Angeles
this Tuesday December 8
but the trip has been postponed or maybe canceled

after my infinite strolling around for years
every time i have vacation for the past 5 years
i either rush to Mexico to visit my family
or to Germany to see Thilo
so i decided mostly 'cause of health
to spend my 2 free weeks at the end of the year
here in San Diego
not jumping on a plane as soon as i get out of work
for once, and so my mom agreed to spend Christmas
here with me...
now this changes everything
and with flight prices so expensive and my horrible
health, i am not sure i can go to Mexico either

My oldest aunt, tia Marilu
Suffered a great deal this year too
With pancreatic cancer
And we all thought that being she the oldest
And with such a terrible sickness
That she would be the first one to part

But as usual, life and death
Are full of surprises
So just like that
My uncle is gone now…
and miraculously my aunt Mary
is recovering
she's such a sweet lady too

and to end

Gracias tío Pepe!
For the times you made me smile
And for showing me that sometimes
We just have to embrace the fun of life
Even if that means to be less healthy
And eventually, younger, have to die

my uncle's full name was
José de Jesús Navarro Uribe
descanse en paz
rest in peace
i am sure many friends here in the US
and in Mexico will raise a glass of wine
on his name and give him a last smile

he had 3 children
2 older men from his first marriage
and a lovely daughter from his second marriage
he didn't live with any of them
but here a picture of 2 of his grandsons
Hector and Nano, sons of his daugter Zarina
this photo from 2005
who lives close to San Diego
Hector, the older kid
the one on the back
sweetly hugging his brother
reminds me a lot of my uncle
he's restless and passionate
and with the same beautiful fair eyes

Hector and Nano, my uncle Pepe's grandsons, South Gate 2005

mote & migraine Wednesday

today i woke up with a bad headache
and an awful sinus pain
made it to work only to leave
a couple of hours later
after many pills (which i hate taking)
failed attempts of naps and
uncountable cups of tea
i feel a little better...

so, looking around the web
i found a Sonic Youth song/quote/post
on a German blog
and it reminded me of how much i loved this song
and how Sonic Youth was, and still is,
one of my favorite bands of all times
and how much i appreciate, specially all the songs
written and sung by Lee Ranaldo
my preferred poet of noise
so this is not migraine-curing music
but it's good to remember good old things of
one's youth, when feeling down
so here, enjoy Mote, strange video
and weird lovely noisy tunes
and some good obscure lyrics to scream to



[Lee]
When you see the spiral turning through alone
And you feel so heavy that you just can't stop it
When this sea of madness turns you into stone
Picture of your life shoots like a rocket
All the time

Put 'me' in the equation it's alright
I've seen you moving in and out of sight
My friends tell me it's all cut through you (?)
From nowhere - to nowhere
Cut together - cutting through

I'm island-bound, a mote inside my eye
I can't see you breathing as before
I am airless - a vacuum child
I can't stand to reason at your door
In this time

Put 'me' in the equation it's alright
I've seen you moving in and out of sight
My friends tell me it's all cut through you (?)
From nowhere - to nowhere
Come together

I'm down in the daytime out of sight
Comin' in from dreamland I'm on fire
I can see it's all been here before
Dream a dream that lies right at your door

When the seasons circle sideways out of turn
And words don't speak just fall across the carpet
You're just in time to watch the fires burn
It seems a crime but yr. face is bright you love it
All the time...

al fin llueve

& it finally rains
und schließlich regnet es
al fin llueve

after over a 100 days with no rain, finally this past Saturday after Thanksgiving, we had some rain... it was wonderful to watch & to smell the wet earth, through my old kitchen window



and then
the neighbor's yard was suddenly immerse in gray nostalgia
the birds chirping was noticeably far & sparse
a lovely mood that wrapped the city in a timeless
liquid sunshine
San Diego, was for once, a city with rain

happy Thanksgiving!

i hope you had a good Thanksgiving
mine was little, but nice

i planned to celebrate with friends on Wednesday
instead of Thursday this year, but i got sick
on Tuesday and wasn't able to go to our celebration
yet, i made the cranberry sauce and send it
they send back turkey left-overs and other goodies
also my best friend Perro baked a delicious assortment
of breads, focaccia, and this wonderful russian rye bread
and today we had some naan brad he baked too
with some of his home-made hummus



today i ate left-overs of turkey, oaxacan stuffing,
and gravy made by the conners
sweet potatoes by mione, perro's assortment of breads
some Gato Negro Chardonnay, and of course
some of my cranberry sauce...

this morning, i cooked another batch of cranberry sauce
that i plan to eat over the weekend with more turkey
on sandwiches with that russian rye bread
here a close up



this sauce is so easy to make!
you need:
-1 cup of water
-1 cup of sugar, i use the regular brown mexican sugar
-1 bag of cranberries, one of those that you see in every supermarket in the US these days, i think is 12oz. of cranberries

boil the water, add the sugar, bring to a boil again, add the cranberries and cook at medium height for about 20 minutes... more or less, let them cool, and then refrigerate until ready to serve... even with some cold turkey breast and not fresh baked turkey, you can make a pretty decent sandwich, if you like ham (which i don't much at all...) then you can try... also as jam for your toast in the morning

ah love the fall, even when in San Diego feels like the summer
80°F today? good thing that the nights are colder
after 6pm does feel like the Autumn
optimal time to write on the blog
while sipping on 2-day-old Merlot
French Market from Trader Joe's, still $2.99
the bottle and ah! so good...

gatito, cd design

finally been free from work for a couple of days
i thought i would be chronologicalizing the stupidity
more often but even when free, i manage to be busy
i've been designing the cd cover for my
friend's Perro album, coming soon!
as soon as he releases it to the world
i will post the graphics and of course tunes here
if perro's permissions granted...

also, kept me away from the www
this lovely kitty, homeless, who arrived
to my house, not sure when, but for a couple
of weeks, i've been getting glimpses of him
sneaking to eat the outdoor cats food
from under my neighbor's house
i suspect he was sleeping there for a little while now
i would only see him very early or very late at night
around the time the skunks take over the little yard
and while herr Gato, frau Kitty, and myself are sleeping inside



and finally last Tuesday he came closer
and became less shy
then i realized he is really young!
a 6 or 7 month old kitten
not neutered and obviously homeless
so i made friends with him
he soon became very friendly and a little wild
as the nights were turning cold in San Diego
i conditioned the laundry room, as i did long ago
with HG and FK, with a heather, and rug and a towel
and left the kitty there locked at night, with litter box
food, and water, the first night i checked on him
3 hours later after locked
i found him on his little improvised bed
purring, happy rolling belly up, and when he saw me
went happy to eat and drink more, and used the litter box
right away... this has to be the friendliest kitten and most
fast to learn, with such a relaxed attitude
not always a threat in a homeless cats
amazingly, herr Gato and frau Kitty were totally fine
with him hanging out around, unless he came into the house
and endlessly wanting to play....


Gatito sneaking under my laptop to nap

on Friday i took him to the vet
gave him vaccines and made a flyer
to find him a home, as lovely as he is
it's a burden to get yet another cat...



the veterinary and all the nurses were
in love with him, he's a gorgeous and very friendly
silver Tabby young cat

after giving away flyers, finally a girl who is
friend of a friend at school, called...

by now, mister Kitty has a home!
and i am done with my friend's CD graphics
and it's Thanksgiving!

i feel for the 1st time in 2009
free!!!

i have another 4 days to do NOTHING
before going back to work

of course, i am supposed to be designing
my website, assignment for my class
and sure, i am supposed to be doing many things
but instead, i just babble here
and plan to finish today, reading for pleasure
i am missing finishing The Awakening
that started many months ago and interrupted
and this weekend should be a reading-being lazy
for pleasure one... finally!

the quality of mercy

"The quality of mercy is not strain'd,
It droppeth, as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice bless'd;
It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes..."

The Merchant Of Venice Act 4, scene 1, 180–187
-William Shakespeare

and these his words
written about four hundreds years ago
make scintillate my soul
since the beauty they convey
is not only about the artistry of the English word
they are deeper,
they reach my core

if we all could be a bit merciful
then the enemies would turn into love

William Shakespeare, 1564 - 1616

Wallander: high brow TV

"These are our lives. And they are fragile. Precarious. Miraculous. They're all we have."
Detective Kurt Wallander in Firewall

I have seen only two episodes of Wallander
and I am hooked!

here the opening of the 1st episode I watched
Sidetracked




great darkish photography
great intriguing stories
great technoish music
and of course
superb acting: nothing less than Kenneth Branagh



i am a follower of PBS Masterpiece Mystery!
and this is probably one of their best series
(though i am a fan of Oxford's Inspector Lewis and his sidekick Hathaway too)

Wallander stories unfold in the town of Ystad, Sweden
and are based on the novels of author
Henning Mankell

if you have access to watch this series
give it a try
TV can be a good thing sometimes too

The Berlin Wall, 20 years gone - The Big Picture - Boston.com

The Berlin Wall, 20 years gone - The Big Picture - Boston.com
click to see these fantastic and soulful pictures from the fall of the Berlin wall and its twenty anniversary
Posted using ShareThis

grasshopper's back

another visit of mister grasshopper
these days grasshoppers visit less
they are careful 'cause of the cats and many birds

this gorgeous one, who i had to rescue from
herr Gato' fauces, who was playing with it
appeared this weekend

i grabbed him and placed him on the palm
where i've seen little holes afterward
meaning he's been around and munching on it

the close up shows his thorn-like back legs
& for me, it's always a pleasure to see my old
friends the grasshoppers around



hope you had a lovely weekend

frau Kitty's escapade

self-explanatory

Wallace and Gromit

all-time favorites Wallace and Gromit
are 20 now!
to celebrate, Nick Park answers 20 questions
submitted online by fans about Wallace and Gromit
a treat for those plasticine aficionados, like me


20 questions with Nick Park, creator of Wallace and Gromit


Gromit knits


Wallace (& many sheep) fret over Gromit's destiny plastered all over the headlines

now in case you want more from Nick Park's creations
i highly recommend you this episode
Cats or Dogs
from the hilarious series
Creatures Comforts


Creature Comforts: Cats or Dogs

happy 40th anniversary Internet dear

a day like today, but 40 years ago
the Internet was born
with a broken message: LO
the 1st message was supposed to be 'login'
but one of the computers crashed
sounds familiar?

today the news is all over, well, the internet
a self-celebration
and following back steps comes
the 1st attempt of connecting 2 computers
through a network, the ARPANET
y
i read it all a while ago
on a book my friend perro lent me

[ highly recommendable if you are interested
in knowing how is it that now-a-days you can read
posts like this, a couple millions more
and counting... then meet people online, and in my case
to actually have a job
(i spent about 80% of my time at work
writing HTML and CSS and plenty at home
surfing, reading, writing, posting, uploading,
downloading, eExisting...)]

ah yes, the book is
Were Wizards Stay Up Late:
The Origins Of The Internet
it's very exciting to read about
the guys who were able to transform
human communications forever
& why such a project was intended for

and i just realized, '69 is my birth year too
i am as old as the internet...

and i think there's no cooler way to celebrate
than to visit Kevin Kelly's superb project
The Internet Mapping Project
[don't skip reading his soulful eIntroduction]

he has collected 'sketches' or 'maps' of the internet
on his flickr site for a while now
these sketches go from cute & funny to bizarre
and you can even download, sketch,
and submit yours here!
a few of the maps, click to enlarge
and read the age, occupation, and hours
the drawers spend on the internet
very interesting!









and here you can see all the 113 Kelly has so far

Ligeia, pumpkins, y gatos

high winds and cold weather
doesn't sound like San Diego
but it has been like this the past two days
and i am immensely happy about it!
i finally get to wear a sweater for the 1st time
in about 8 months...

and the weather matches the October Halloweenesque mood
so I've running some of those infamous October errands
like reading Allan Poe's short tales &
getting a cheap, small & rather cute pumpkin for $1.99 at Von's



and i am not sure if to cook it and munch it down
or to carve with a silly face like last year
[halloween 2008]
although it's sad to keep it away from herr Gato
who is rather enamored with it



he's not supposed to climb on this table
but since the arrival of the pumpkin
every time i leave the house and come back
i find him sleeping by it
i moved the pumpkin
and the napping cat followed it
so funny!
my guess is he likes the smell



and on breaks and to break away from
obnoxious everyday issues
i've been reading this classic Allan Poe's tale
Ligeia
I read it many many years ago
I was a teenager, 12, or 14? maybe?
and I read it in Spanish
so it is pretty much a brand new story for me
and the old English style
it really takes you for a few minutes
away from it all, trying to understand and make sense
of all those complicated English sentences and especially
to imagine those scenarios that mister Poe so
delightfully narrated... by the time it all makes sense
you realize the obscurity of the matter handled
here here free eBook a simple & sober .txt file
courtesy of the wonderful Gutenberg Project
and you might as well read the whole compilation
where this story appears, Famous Modern Ghost Stories
selected by Dorothy Scarborough, Ph.D.
Lecturer in English, Columbia University
New York, March, 1921.
yes!! 1921, so old classic tales
really, you should...
enjoy!


Ligeia illustration
~by an author whose name i don't know but who has
a great illustration of Allan Poe's creepy tale in Google images

don't cage the hen that feeds you

little advice on how to make the burden less
on the animals we abuse every day to feed ourselves...
of course i could help more if i were a vegan!
but since i am not, at least i buy eggs from cage-free raised hens

i am claustrophobic myself, so i can only imagine what it's like
to spend one's lifetime inside a cage, let alone
putting tons of eggs for those ugly two-legged, loud-speaking
animals to collect them every morning and engorge on them
boiled, fried, or on muffins and pancakes...

so no posts, bad mood days, ah but a tea advice & more blah

i've been rather moody the last couple of days
called in sick 2 days
migraine (under control)
but still... &
tiredness, bad mood, and general down-lowness
all mostly courtesy of the jerky thievery
landlords & owners of the roach motel
the placed is rented
but they are trying to take advantage of me anyways
returning a misery of all that i gave them

so yeah
blah blah blah
gray gray gray
angry tired & a mess
thank God i remember
there is a whole long life
of mine before and after this sordid
episode
and at the end it will be all a silly post

and sure, i am not taking it
am going to the small courts claims
ah! i will for once test the American legal system
hooray????

so like with many other bad episodes in life
a smudge of grayness among the blue skies
of one's life

yeah, they might take advantage of me
but at least i am me and not them
heh heh

and then i opened one of these
philosophical tea bags


ah sighs!

[and the word you don't read complete
'cause of my dry finger is 'reason']

The Fun Theory

this is cool!
be patient though
& download the video (by pausing it)
before watching it all
... it's that slow :(
worth watching, or not?
i truly hope so
not me, but you
shall be the judge



[via http://www.rolighetsteorin.se/en/]

achieving Nirvana, the furry way

after reading Dr. Jay's from Yoga for Cynics
The Cat Story, i remembered this photo I took
from herr Gato a couple of weeks ago

I was wondering how long it took
Paramhansa Yogananda to become a Yogi
and how much discipline and control one has
to exercise to become a bit relaxed
let alone to be a little enlightened...

and yet herr Gato seems to achieve Nirvana
pretty much every time he naps around...
maybe he's getting all of Paramhansa's knowledge
by osmosis, since he likes to sleep by his book



as i told you before, he loves to nap
around books, funny fat blond cat this herr Gato
everyday i am liking more his literary relaxed style

October 07

today, October 7, is my favorite aunt's birthday
my aunt Margarita
so it's Thom Yorke's b-day too
one of my favorite artists
notice that i didn't say favorite singer
i think he's actually not a great singer
but his conceptual mind
has mesmerized me (& millions)
for years now
his interesting solo album
The Eraser proved what he can do
without Radiohead
as the allmusic.com review says
it's intensely focused and steady...
and visit his website too
TheEraser.Net

here some of his solo & live performances


and sure, a Radiohead song too

these very dark days for me
feeling weak against roaches, sickness
asthma, allergy, and over all
selfish human behaviors
sure i wish i was too
bullet, human & roaches
and broken heart proof too



this is not the 'official' video of the song
but i feel it fits the tune...

Limb by limb and tooth by tooth
Tearing up inside of me.
Everyday, everyhour, wish that I was..
Was bullet proof

Wax me, mould me
Heat the pins and stab them in.
You have turned me into this, just wish that it..
Was bullet proof

So pay me money, and take a shot
Lead fill the hole in me.
I could burst a million bubbles, all surrogate..
& bullet proof (slowdown, slowdown, slowdown)
Bullet proof (slowdown, slowdown, slowdown)

new apartment gone awry

i canceled the lease in the about-to-be-my-home
'cause i found roaches in the fridge...
saw them one night right before moving in
& after having signed the 1-year lease

now i am
dealing with getting back my in-advance month of rent
and deposit
then these are
busy. strange. hectic. confusing
times

yet i am OK hopeful to get
at minimum my deposit back
and some of the month-rent money

and even if i hate courts
somehow i wouldn't mind taking the matter
to the small claims court
i feel strong and would love to face
the guys that were supposed to be my landlords
they were prompt to reply on a weekend
when they wanted my deposit and rent in advance
but they sent the contractor to talk to me
and didn't reply my phone calls when i canceled the deal

tonight, i wrote many e-mails to those landlords
and talk to a jerky one for over 30 mins on the phone
& for a calm smiling mexican, i feel i did pretty well
my broken accent and surely many English mistakes
but i wasn't intimidated at all...
i was fighting for my rights to live roach-free!!!

specially inside a fridge!!

and yes!! they were right
moving sucks!!

promise to reply to the lovely comments
when i am less pissed off

and oh human deals,
here we go

mister Blue Jay

so this is one of the things
i feel i could miss from my old house
although i am already planning
to put a bird feeder at my new place


[click on the photos to enlarge, it's worth, he's a pretty guy]

ahh mister Beautiful Blue Jay here
i looove their mocking sounds
so loud and irreverent
and they are such beautiful elegant guys
of course they take dives at the cats
and people, they are a little too territorial
but wow! their blue feathers are some of the
loveliest shade of blues that nature can produce



and these Californian Jays are actually
Western Scrub Jays
beautiful moody guys

i am an Earth Rooster

so my Chinese Horoscope says that i am an
EARTH ROOSTER
Jan 22, 1909 to Feb 9, 1910
Feb 17, 1969 to Feb 5, 1970

some of the descriptions seem accurate
some others not so much...

Rooster is often seen as the original strong silent type, not unlike the Humphrey Bogart and Greto Garbo prototypes. Most people consider them quite eccentric. Sad to say, relationships with other people are often strained. They are quite moody and can be too outspoken. They are often self-centered, but can be quite brave when the situation calls for it. On the other hand, Rooster People are quite talented and capable. They are always devoted to their work and have a reputation for being the hardest of workers. Rooster People are deep thinkers and are pioneers in spirit. They can experience the greatest of joy in complete solitude. Even though often alone, they rarely experience loneliness. Instead, they enjoy their own company and feel solitude helps them in their quest after knowledge.

Shark-tail Soup and fortune cookies are among the keys to good health.
(probably this is the most accurate part, i do like soup not sure shark-tails though & i love eating/reading fortune cookies, and sure!! i am a loner too, i love being around people, but i usually retrieve by myself at the end of the day, and i do need a fairly amount of time by myself or i start feeling too stressed and tired i must rest from people at least a couple of hours a day, whenever i have had a couple living with me [it lasted only few months] or a roommate, or while growing up with my mom, i can't wait for them to leave the house, so i can truly rest)

The Earth Rooster epitomizes the very essence of one of Robert Browning's most popular poems, "Grow old along with me; the best is yet to be." Despite early adversity and rough times, their philosophical bent has led them to expect and therefore to achieve the good life. They have a very analytical way of looking at problems and they can pierce the most daunting of tasks with utmost efficiency. With saint-like patience, they are consistent in everything they do and always answer to their own counsel, which hasn't failed them yet. As a result, their careers are forever anchored in smooth sailing, and as life passes, they will know peace, abundance, and complete fulfillment. The same goes for their love life. There are difficulties at the very beginning but as time goes by, they understand each other perfectly, and receive "the best" love has to offer.
Famous Rooster people: Suharto, Deborah Kerr, Peter Ustinov, D. H. Lawrence, John Glenn, Emperor Akihito, Yoko Ono, Eudora Welty, Bette Midler

moving...

i am moving!!
same neighborhood, right down the street literaly
still stressful/busy times ahead
more to come soon...

am gonna miss my little yard so much!!!
this new place: no yard, but 1 bedroom
here is a studio

it will feel more 'urban' to live in a 2nd floor
more of an apartment complex than a little cottage
but this place has NO insulation
every winter is coooold, sometime colder than the outside?
and well, that doesn't matter much in Sunny Diego
the problem is the summer...
and the alley full of cars, & the cats
roaming around outside, Gato got another abscess
hospital of Cats for 2 nights... gotta keep them indoors
even if they hate it, but can't keep them indoors
in such a small place, so moving to a 1 bedroom
where they won't have access to my room
still it's gonna be hell for them, and for me
to leave the outdoors and settle in an apartment
yet at least it's triple size of this place
bigger kitchen, 1 bedroom, and much bigger living room
than my whole studio now
still...

ahhh... hope i did the right thing...
wish me luck!!
and of course more bloggy-gossip
and hopefully some pix coming soon

of the yard what i'll miss the most
all the little plants i planted here
and the BIG palm outside my home
which grew from about 5' since 2005
to about 25' now, it's way taller than my house

and to think nobody is going to water them

and i am going to miss the many birds i feed
i won't miss their mess of seeds
but by now, at least 20 mourning doves
4 or 5 blue jays, and about 30 of the little
"common" city birds, those little brown ones
come every day!
plus 2 chubby skunks...
nobody is going to feed them anymore...

but heck, my health demands an extra room

ah sighs
hope i get used to my new place
can't wait to have the keys, so i can really explore
changing Sunday

an afternoon in my neighbourhood

walking Normal Heights

presidential crush

i am NOT in a very romantic phase of my life lately
i don't feel attracted to men as much as i did before
and the last thing i'd like to do is to fall in love again
for the 1s time in my life i feel complete being single
and i am not looking forward a relationship
it is a very freeing feeling that arrived alone
i guess it might be the older age,
and the fact that i feel a bit
overwhelmed but also complete with so many things
that have to get done these days
so no time for romance nor desire of it

but... when i see some photos of our president
mister Obama, i feel the little old tingling in my heart
as i am sure about another couple of millions of women do
he's such a handsome man!
and over all, intelligent & with a great personality!



i have dated uglier and handsomer men in my lifetime
and thankfully i don't have a physical stereotype for
men beauty, some of them have been taller, some shorter,
some browner, some whiter, some serious, some jokers
some have been assholes some not so much, but still a bit (ha ha)
(i do think assholeness is intrinsic to masculinity,
just like maybe sensibility/bitchiness is intrinsic to femininity,
pardoning you my colloquial lexicon... )
anyways, but one thing they all surely had in common,
that is all the men i have loved,
were (or are, since hope any of them is dead yet...)
intelligent, & in one or other way
and they all have had a taste for art too, so, yes
i do fall in love with personalities, not looks...
& yeah!! i am sort of in love with Barack
so disrespectfully that i even call him by his 1st name
sorry misses Michelle!

but this is not news... once, back in 1994
i had another huge presidential crush,
i was living in Mexico back then, but my heart
was all over the place for mister Bill Clinton
wow!! i was even jealous of Monica Lewinsky
you weren't the only one, Hillary!



so it's just nice to see two of my presidential loves
getting together for lunch
if only i could have a conversation with both...
but surely i'd be muted by nervousness
and all would be teenager-like giggles



oh and by the way, the only problem i find
with these beautiful men is that they are both powerful
i am a bit opinionated and i deeply dislike men
who trip on power... and women too for that matter

i feel that humility is a must to come close to my heart
even more important than intelligence
and of course than good looks
and to find a humble man is so hard!

anyway, even if not in a very romantic mood lately
it's good to know that my heart has come to a halt
but not to a stop...
i might just fall in love again
probably when i am 64 or 75
a more mature age heh heh

Ps. i hate to think that i have something in common
with ex vice-president Cheney since i think,
like Conan O'Brien, that he's an "engendro del Diablo"
(Spanish for something like a little monster conceived by the devil)
anyway, Cheney also thinks Obama is attractive

and what do YOU think?
do you have any platonic loves?
or unreachable romances?
please share!

Gatos tees

i guess some things never change &
after having designed t-shirts for living
i seem to still have fun at it

i made these t-shirts a couple of months ago
around the time when i started photographing los Gatos
and found out about Zazzle.com



Zazzle.com is a very cool online service
where you can customize pretty much everything
t-shirts, mugs, cards, calendars, mouse-pads, and even shoes!
at somehow reasonable prices

so in a jiffy, i designed these, based on some
of the photos i took, was eager to try the service!
the quality of the shirts it's pretty decent &
they have plenty of models and colors to select from

so if you are feeling creative
or want to design your own Christmas presents
take a look
http://www.zazzle.com/create




herr Gato's & frau Kitty's original design
i made these with Photoshop and chose for herr Gato's design
a 100% cotton long-sleeved ladies fitted shirt
and for frau Kitty's, a custom ladies ringer t-shirt
with red collar & sleeves to match


then uploaded them to the Zazzle.com inter phase
with a rather helpful flash application that
allows you control of scale, position, and other specs
of your design on your selected product model



http://www.zazzle.com/cr/design/pt-shirt
and well, you saw the finished products above
scroll up, & click on, to enlarge
they are cool and comfortable garments
& i wear them all the time on weekends,
Friday's at the office, or for walks
where i get nods from cat-crazy people
and grunts from the more normal kind...