Oh Spain, How I Love You So

Traveling to another country is always a paradoxical experience for me--reality is suspended for the duration of the trip yet the trip is reality in itself.



The former exists because I get to escape the responsibilities of work and don't have a care in the world. Instead, I am transported across the globe to another time and place, strolling down the cobblestone streets of Madrid and Barcelona,


passing through the colorful apartments with shuttered doors and potted plants on the balconies,






and looking up in awe at the medieval Alcazar fortress and Roman acqeduct bridge in Segovia










and at the massive cathedral in Girona.

Reality is temporarily frozen and gone are thoughts of the chores I need to complete and bills I have to pay, or concerns about my future career goals or the latest NY Times headline.

But at the same time, my experiences are as real as they get, with all my senses heightened from the new stimuli.






My eyes bounced around at the sight of quaint cafes and boutiques on every street


and rested on Picasso paintings at the Reina Sofia Museum (but fell asleep at the Prado)












and Gaudi masterpieces.











I also discovered my penchant for ornate windows and doors in the small towns that I visited.


My nose caught whiffs of the strong morning espresso and the stench of beer from the futbol fans celebrating Barcelona's win.










My back and feet hurt by the end of every day from walking every where.








My ears danced to the quick strum of the Spanish guitar and was warmed by conversations around the bar and dining table.


My tongue savored every morsel of food that it touched, from the crackling skin and moist flesh of suckling pig (look at its tiny little foot!),


to the saltiness of anchovies,


to the soft, crispy croquettes filled with bacalou,


to the cinnamon and sugar-encrusted flaky xuixo with sweet cream filling.

(more food pics!)









With great food comes great company. I befriended people from around the world (mostly western world)--the Brazilian guys who were nice eye candy, the Colombian German guy who had a scar the shape of a W on his neck, the Turkish girl who took us out at night in Madrid, the animated Polish guy who accompanied me to the Reina Sofia Museum and made me appreciate Picasso's Guernica, the Iranian guy who lives in Paris who doesn't trust swimming with dolphins, and the Aussie girl who works in bird conservation who was my eating buddy in Barcelona.









I spent my last day in Spain wandering the streets around Barcelona's Barri Gotic neighborhood, trying not to feel sad about leaving a place that I barely got to know but quickly fell in love with. I wasn't ready to leave my non-reality and go back to reality. Oh Spain, how I love you so...

NYC Halloween Parade

I love people watching. I love people watching even more when they're in costumes. Yesterday during the day I watched little kids play in Washington Square Park and then at night I watched adults parade around West Village.


I grabbed mango mousse cake from a nearby bakery and watched the kids run around inside the empty fountain.


After watching the kids for several minutes, my maternal hormones started to kick in and for the first time in my life, I had thoughts of wanting a baby. I was shocked that I was feeling that way, considering that I'm dead set on not having any. The shock wore off and then I realized that I just wanted to have a baby so I could dress it up as a furry animal...which is why I'm going to get a bulldog one day.


See what I mean? The kid looks like a stuffed animal.

Later that night my friend and I watched the parade as the rain poured. I was soaking wet, but it was worth it. People never cease to amaze me with their creativity. There were a lot of costumes that were inspired by current events, classic movies, childhood cartoons, and video games, and then there was just random costumes aka nakedness.



My favorite group costume of the night. There was a guy that dressed up as the traffic light holder in Mario Kart and he led the group.





Animal!


Kermy! I'm not sure who the muppet behind Kermit is but he's holding someone else's head.


Lego man.


???


Where's Waldo?


Not sure which character she is but she looks like a cross between Shrek-gone-pale and a warrior elf.


Dare, double dare, physical challenge! I miss the good ol' days of wholesome family game shows.


This guy was dancing on his unicycle. I think the full-body leotard optimized his aerodynamics.


Chewy and friends.


A native American who wants to spoon.



Smurfs! One of my fav cartoons, along with The Snorks and The Care Bears.



Bulldog!


Octo-mom.


KISS.


Swine flu.


Rats.


ET call home!


Ram woman?


The Care Bears taught me that sharing is caring. I used to have a Brave Heart Lion Care when I was a kid. I realized just now that Brave Heart wasn't even a bear. WTF?


Wii Mii.


Yes, those are titties hanging out.


He has nice shoulders.























I want some cheesy bread from Red Lobster. (TP, DZ, I want a re-challenge.)









Who wouldn't want some of this?

Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade & Fall Foliage at Brooklyn Botanical Garden

I don't own a dog but I love watching and playing with other people's dogs. So of course I had to check out the Halloween dog parade at Tompkins Square Park.

If dogs could talk, I wonder what they'd say about their owners dressing them up in these ridiculously cute outfits?


"Don't block the sun! Can't you see I'm tanning my ass?"


Wondew Wo-dog getting her cape fixed.


"Thug life."


"Headbands go on the head, not the body!"


Part chow chow, part bear.


"I see that Asian man eying me."


"The Asian guy is eying me too."


"I pee out soy sauce."


Chia pet.


Chicken-dog.


"Ahoy mate!"


Frankenstein.


"I'm sick of re-enacting the Civil War."


"I can't help it that I'm lactose intolerant."


Dinosaur.


"My drawings are better than your kid's drawings."


"I don't know what color I am."



"Peas have no personalities. Therefore I will sleep."


"My owner tried to pimp me out and when I didn't do as she said, she broke my leg."


"No, I will not play dead!"


"You smell horrible."


"Chicks love the Dean Cain look."


"Maybe if I disguise myself as a squirrel, the squirrels will finally want to be my friend..."


"I can't decide if I'm a leopard-lion with straightened hair or a rock star."


"Help! The lobster is attacking me!!!"




"I see dead people."


"No, your 150 lb. kid cannot ride me."

After the dog parade, I went to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden to check out the foliage. The trees are close to their peak colors. I heart fall!

Finding Your Inner Strength

Last night I attended a benefit dinner for work and heard some uplifting stories from people with multiple sclerosis about their drive to stay positive and overcome their condition. Although I couldn't relate to the pain that that they experience from their MS, I could definitely understand their universal message of perseverance and self-empowerment.

The most poignant part of the night was when the honoree of the event was sharing a story of how she wasn't able to physically walk her daughter to her first day of first grade, but her daughter insisted that she can push her in a wheelchair down the street to the school. Her daughter did just that, and has been the source of her inner strength that has kept her going for over the past 15 years.

Some people are going to experience difficult times in their lives. Whether they have a debilitating disease like MS, or are just in a dark place in their lives, where they feel like they're not going to get through it, where they have thoughts of "I can't," they all possess the ability to overcome their difficulties.

So whatever it is you're struggling from, find that one thing that warms your heart and let it give you the inner strength to keep you going...or you can always read the news and see how much worse other people's lives are, and that will make you realize that you're just being a big baby and need to shut your hole about your so-called problems.

Three Things I Learned This Weekend

1. Do what you're passionate about, no matter how insignificant it may seem to others
2. Never play frisbee with a stranger
3. NY pet parades suck compared to California ones



The Bryant Park Fall Festival started last week, offering free performances featuring a variety of artists from dance, musical theater, opera, jazz, and classical music institutions. Last Friday I watched musicians from Carnegie Hall's Ensemble ACJW perform three different sets. For the first set, one particular musician stuck out to me--the man playing the drum and triangle. When he was playing the one drum and triangle, he put all this energy into it, with his head moving in sync with every beat. To me, the triangle is one of the most unexciting instruments, but to him, he was playing it like it was the most important thing in the world. He was obviously passionate about music and his passion reminded me of how much more enriching your life can be by finding something that you truly love and doing something with it. Even if it's something gross like collecting finger nail clippings. Who I am to judge you for doing something that you love?





Today the weather was a perfect 70 degrees so I went to my favorite spot to lie out--Sheep Meadow. I laid in the middle of the field, away from the screaming kids, the spooning couples, and the flying footballs and frisbees.


While I was lying on my back changing the songs on my iPod, this 40-something-year-old chubby, short man with a bowl-cut hairstyle and thick mustache stands over me and asks if I want to throw the frisbee around. I thought, "Poor guy doesn't have anyone to play with him. Sure, why not?" Instead of standing up to throw the frisbee, my lazy ass sat down to throw it. So we were playing frisbee and having small talk and after 30 minutes or so, I had to get up to go to the dog parade. And that's where I should have known better. That's where I should have thought twice about why not. "You should take my number if you want to play frisbee again," he says. "No thanks," I say as politely as I can without sounding like my blunt self. He offers it again and this time I say firmly, "NO, that's okay." Really. It's okay.

I don't understand why I only attract old men and ghetto guys. It's not okay.


After I left Frisbee Man, I went to the pier to check out the dog parade. I was really looking forward to seeing a lot of dogs with awesome costumes but the parade didn't have a big turnout. And I only saw one bulldog :( I really miss going to the dog parades in Long Beach, California.

Watching The Wizard of Oz in Central Park

Last night in Central Park, Netflix celebrated the 70th Anniversary of The Wizard of Oz by having Julianne Hough from Dancing with the Stars and Jennifer Hudson performing songs from the movie, and then showing the movie on a big screen.


Julianne Hough


Jennifer Hudson

I didn't really care to see the singers but once I heard Jennifer Hudson's voice, I was impressed and amazed by her talent. Julianne was good but not Jennifer-Hudson good.


Julianne Hough singing, "We're off to see the wizard..."



Jennifer Hudson singing one of my all-time favorites, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

As I sat on the floor and watched the movie (dressed inappropriately for the 60-some degree weather), I felt the warm rush of nostalgia pass through me. But at the same time, I also felt as if I was watching the movie for the first time. The only scenes I really remembered from The Wizard of Oz were the flying monkeys in the castle, Dorothy pouring water on the Wicked Witch of the West, and the Wizard of Oz being caught behind his booth. The rest of the movie was new to me, including the comedic overtones, the details and rainbow colors of Oz, and the words to all the songs (I finally understood what the Munchkins and Lollipop Kids were singing).


Friggin camera man ruined my shot.



I stayed until the part where Dorothy gets locked up in the castle and Toto is leading the Lion, Scarecrow and Tinman to the castle. I was cold and hungry. So I went to get some pizza and called it a night, with "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" playing in my head.

I Believe In...

Last night I celebrated my friend's birthday with her dad, who was visiting from California, and a couple other friends. After stuffing ourselves at Benihana (seriously...of all the joints in NY, she wanted to go there), we strolled down 5th Avenue and my friend's dad got into the subject of what-kind-of man-do-you-like-so-I-can-hook-you-up. One friend wanted a Jewish man and her sister, who is also Jewish, didn't have a preference. To go along with the whole religious preference talk, I preferred someone who is spiritual and open-minded. Of course the conversation was all in fun because my friend wouldn't even go for any of the men that her dad wants her to meet.

Nevertheless, the subject of religion/what-do-you-believe-in got me thinking: what do I believe in? For starters, I believe in Wishing upon a shooting star Karma Dancing like no one is watching Not shaving my legs for awhile Waking up early to see the sunrise Detachment Traveling to a developing country Eating chocolate chip cookies for breakfast (lunch and dinner) Spending time with family Saying it like it is The Middle Way Being vulnerable Environmentalism Impermanence Going for it Being happy with what I have Now

Obviously they're not all religious beliefs, but they're things that I live by, things that I believe in.