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