Go baby go go

You hold a candle in your heart
Go baby go go
You shine the light on hidden parts
Go baby go go
You make the whole world wanna dance
Go baby go go
You bought yourself a second chance
('Cherry Lips', by Garbage, 2001)

Nervous
Yes. Very nervous. We are leaving the day after tomorrow and i still have to:

1. Find a place to sleep in from Thursday til Sunday
2. Write a piece on why everybody seems to be making love and having babies in New York for the paper
3. Get 400 euros worth in pounds
4. Figure out what to wear to the concert
5. Make up my mind on the kind of camera i want to take to London

All very important matters, as you can see for yourself. My motto is: Don't get your knickers in a twist. I hope i can keep it.

Now here are some random facts of today:
Drinking: Water. Lots of water. Must keep in shape.
Craving: More water and a bit of fruit.
Reading: Bill Bryson's Notes from the Big Country.
Feeling: Mostly braindead.

London calling
I used to go out with an English boy. A lawyer. He was very responsible. And cute, in a weird kind of way. In a gay kind of a way, as a matter of fact. We were together for a long time, considering i didn't like him. I hated the way he (mis)treated me. Take our trip to England, which comes to mind after all the contest hassle.

It was Easter and he took me to meet his parents (i'll tell you that story some other time) at the countryside. After that we went to London for a few days. We stayed at a friend of his'. The dirtiest place i've ever laid my eyes on. The guy advised me not to ever, under any circumstances, walk into the carpeted bathroom barefoot. You can imagine the rest of the rooms.

I hadn't been to London in a long time and i felt like a teenager on a school trip, amazed with everything, feeling curious and trying not to miss a thing. But it was hard to enjoy the trip with the lawyer.

He was so controlling, i'd have to seek his approval for everything. I wasn't even allowed to take a picture because we were too close to Buckingham Palace and that felt 'too tourist' for someone from London, like him. Of course, i'm the one to blame for putting up with the nonsense.

I'll take my camera to London on Wednesday. I might even take a shot of the Big Ben and laugh.

The Yes Day

Does luck exist? Yes
Is Garbage playing at the Electric Ballroom in London next Wednesday? Yes
Does that have anything to do with me? Yes
Did i just win a radio contest to fly to England and see the show? Yes
Can Tom travel with me? Yes
Am i over the moon with joy? Yes
Is there a God? Let's not push it...

Friday's workout
1. What is your current occupation? Is this what you chose to be doing at this point in your life? Why or why not?
I occupy myself by keeping a website up and running, but i'm not an engineer. I'm a writer. A journalist. You can call me webgirl, if you want to get a punch in the face. This isn't what i wanted to do exactly. I'm just waiting for my moment.

2. If time/talent/money were no object, what would your dream occupation be?

Rolling Stone journalist.

Fashion editor at Elle.

Writer for Friends.

Supermodel speech coach.

3. What did/do your parents do for a living? Has this had any influence on your career choices?
Mum's a teacher, dad's a writer. Everything they do seems to influence a lot of my choices, career as well.

4. Have you ever had to choose between having a career and having a family?
Nah.

5. In your opinion, what is the easiest job in the world? What is the hardest? Why?
The easiest is writing trashy scripts for crap tv shows. On the other hand, being a construction worker must be hard. Or being a hooker. All though the hardest job is to find one.

Music shopping
Bruce Springsteen complained there were 57 channels but nothing on. I have hundreds of CDs and i play the same 4 over and over. Is it a matter of taste? An obsession for those few chosen records? Am i compulsive buyer? The answer to all these questions, except maybe the last one, is no.

There is a post at Wherever You Are i couldn't agree more with. I don't think my taste in music has changed radically and so i still like my CD collection. I don't listen to it because it keeps growing. Seriously. The new CDs push over the older ones, even if the older ones were purchased 7 days ago, and it's hard to keep up.

Tom is even worse than me. He won't listen to the CDs he buys because that's not the reason why he gets them. He is a true collector. He likes the object, the container rather than the continents. Give him one of those designer cardboard discs and he'll give you his heart (plus 20 euros if you're the fnac store).

I remember saving for weeks whenever i wanted to buy a record. I remember playing the vinyl every day after class. I learned the lyrics, i read the thank you notes on the jacket, i admired the cover, i danced in the sitting-room (you don't have to picture that if you don't want to). Now, the new CDs wait on the shelf for their 15 minutes of glory per year.

I must go now. I'm going music shopping.

Holding my breath


Give me a couple of days and i'll tell you what this is about...

Clues

She has a good sense of humour

She is into gadgets and dance music from the 80s

She is a great skater

She traded the geographical center of Madrid for a strategical close-to-the-mountains site

She doesn't like ornamental lackered ducks

She is a natural blonde

Her motto is : 'Talk to me slowly, i'm blonde'

She has two very hairy, four legged children

She likes hairy stuff

Her favourite sandals are covered with bright pink hair

But her boyfriend isn't hairy

She will give you the evil eye if you say the word snake that defines a certain animal

She is as bright as her hair

It's her birthday today. Wish her all the best!

Not into tents
(Memories of camping and my idea of roughing out)

Camping was never my idea of fun. Call me a snob and tell me i don't know what i'm missing, but since i was a kid i've always felt a cold chill about the idea of sleeping out in the open, where a grizzley bear could eat my shoes and an army of scorpions would be practicing manoeuvres around the tent. Not to mention the fact that lifestyle goes back a decade or two when you're living in the woods.

Therefore, i did little camping as a child. Then time went by and i figured i was old enough to try again. My second time around was even worse. I went camping on the Easter holidays of 1997, to a site in Cádiz where the beaches are wild and so is the wind.

I went there with the wrong people (an ex boyfriend who resides in Venus, a group of friends that fought each other all the time, a manipulative bitch and a big dog), at the wrong time (i was trying to heal my very deep recent wounds but it was too soon) and for the wrong reasons (i thought going with them would be good).

The wind drove everybody crazy. One side of the tent would rush into my face at night while the fabric seemed to haul to me with its blowing voice. Having our breakfast at the local bar we looked more like a therapy group or seven people with a very dangerous hangover.

I don't remember laughing once during the trip, except maybe the odd smile. I know the experience had nothing to do with camping but you understand i simply hate the idea of doing anything similar again.

I spy (via Sherry)
If you spied on Uma you'd see she:

Drinks:
Depending on the time of the day, you'd find water, empty coffee mugs (i drink them fast), diet coke and the odd gin&tonic. Yeah, well, it's not that odd, i confess.
Smokes:
Too much, like every smoker i know except Tom. Especially at work and if i go out at night.
Wears:
Almost anything under the sun. I like to think i have my own style.
Currently Obsesses About:
Finding answers. And i don't mean this survey.
Collects:
Boyfriends? No, seriously, i'm not a big fan of collecting stuff. Maybe fliers and handbags.
Has These Problems:
Not enough money to cut the crap at work.
Has These Pet Issues:
I don't like smelly animals.
Politically Leans:
I tumble to the left.
Has Friends:
The best ones. The casting was hard, you see.
Is Grateful For:
Having these surveys to kill some time.

Oscar Wilde: genius, madman, or both?
Those quotes! He was a genius.
Which side of the bed do you sleep on?
Far from the door, close to the window.
Snow: lovely or a pain in the ass?
Gorgeous.
Top 5 hair bands of all time?
Good one. I dig the Aerosmith look. Sort of.

What’s your favorite black and white movie?
Gilda. I know the dialogues by heart.
What do you think about Starbucks and why?
Starbucks is a sin. They've recently opened one in Madrid and i can't believe it's getting customers when you can drink good coffee all over the place. I'm sorry but American coffee is brown water.
If you could have dinner with one historical figure, who would it be?
Any of the Roman emperors.
Have you eaten capers? Do you like them?
I don't really like them and this is an ODD question. I've had them on pizza a couple of times.
Favorite holiday memory?
Picnic at Central Park with mom. The entire day was memorable.

Ever own an action figure (as an adult)?
I still have my Spanish Olympic Team Barbie on the shelf.
How many cups of coffee to get you going in the morning?
At least two and we can start talking.
How did you get where you are?
I wonder that myself.
Where else might you have ended up?
Being a rock star, living in a castle in France.
Propose an alternate ending for “A.I.” and what you think it would have added to the film.
Add? I would never add anything to that movie, it was so long i felt it was a joke. I would have ended it at the jump.
Would you rather be warm or cold when you go to bed?
Hot, honey.

Punk not dead
Jay was in town for a few days. My soulmate, my friend. A punk at heart. I met him and his gang when i was 16. They were the 'dark band' from high school, loved getting into trouble, cutting classes to smoke joints, the usual.

Jay's best friend, Caesar, was the anarchist type. He hardly ever smiled, wore bizarre clothes and drew dead policemen all over the wall of his first appartment. He became a squatter for a while, delivered pizzas and listened to the Dead Kennedys.

But that was years ago. One day he started working out and became a movie stunt man. Now he owns a house, wears elegant clothes and smiles a lot more. Whenever Jay comes back in town they spend the afternoon playing golf at the country club.

We met when we were at school
Never took no shit from no one
We weren't fools (...)
Years have passed and things have changed
And i move anyway i want to go
I'll never forget the feeling i got
When i heard that you'd got home.

('Stay Free', The Clash, 1978)

A day like this
It's a national holiday today. We are celebrating the Feast of the Assumption, i am told. The streets are silent and grey. The atmosphere at the paper is quiet, dozy, almost dopey. My boss phones wanting to know if i like figs (i do) because she's planning on bringing some to work (i'd appreciate that).

While i wonder if the restaurant of my choice will be open for lunch on a day like this, i think of a cute melody i'd like to install on my phone and my mind flies off to unimaginable journeys.

Perhaps a trip to Paris would be nice next month. I could be concentrating on my job but it's a national holiday today. I should be celebrating the Feast of the Assumption on a day like this.

Lunch with Eminem and the homemade cake
Officially, i'm feeling better. That means i went to work today. That also means i got up at 6 am thankyouverymuch. And i'll have to do that again tomorrow. Rats.

Unofficially, my cold has all gone up to my brain and i act like a fool most of the time. Now, what that means is that i went to a Mexican restaurant for lunch with Fred and laughed so much people probably thought i was on (hard) drugs.

The two guys at the table next to ours were, well, peculiar. One of them looked like a Spanish movie director (Gonzalo Suárez) mixed with a renegade from Hell's Angels. The other one was the spitting image of Eminem.

We managed to figure out they both work at the tattoo joint nearby. The first hint was probably the way their skins looked like an unanimated cartoon.

I don't mind mexican food but i hate spices. So i asked if what i ordered was hot or not. They said no. Wrong. I had to urge the waiters for some bread because my tongue was about to run away in a wheel of fire.

Then i asked if the cheesecake was homemade. They said yes. Wrong again. They never told me at who's home it was made. Home is where the factory is, probably.

The good part is that, officially, i'm feeling better.

Open letter to the fairies
Assuming you exist and are actually at work protecting me from all things evil, i would like to leave a thank you note and add a few ideas you might want to focus on (stuff that will make me happier of course, isn't that your goal..?).

First of all, please don't let me get sick like this again. I'm tired, achy and i look like shit. Which may be even worse than feeling like shit. And if you really must have me ill at home, please make an effort with television.

I know it sucks all the time, but morning shows are way trashier than i thought. Please talk to the executives and throw in a decent 'watchable' movie.

After you manage all this, remember my original wishes about work (if my project doesn't turn out right, you fairies are in trouble) and permanent nice weather at the weekends. Oh, and you can grab a pair of Jimmy Choo's while you're at it.

Yours sincerely,

Uma

Plus sick

now let's see what your fault is

Think back
Do you remember learning to ride a bike?

I learnt how to ride my lovely blue bike with a little help from my family and a fair wound record as a 9 year-old. However, that's not the memory that comes to mind when i think of bicycles.

I remember riding around in the summer with LovelyV, on cute and silly little bikes, one pink, the other pale yellow, both with straw baskets at the front. We were 14 and trying our best to impress the boys, which was not an easy task with those vehicles.

But things got worse: The coolest trend that season was to ride on your pal's bike, standing up and holding on to his/her shoulders. Of course we both tried to learn as fast as we could.

Too fast, probably. We forgot about the bumps on every little street, designed to prevent cars from speeding. We both fell during our training days, thanks to the bumps and our lack of balance. In the end, we decided the old fashioned riding way was the safest... and much more glamourous.

Under the weather
I'm under the weather. So is the weather itself. And the comments in ambivalence won't work for a while. You'll just have to be patient with that last part. Sorry for the inconvenience.

These past two days i was supposed to have a rest from work, get ready for a temporary change of schedule at the paper this weekend and enjoy the entire first season of Sex and The City on dvd at home with Kurt and his pal Marko. Instead, i've been watching the clouds harass the sky (disgusting august weather) and feeling my body complain way too much.

Today i've already lost track of time. I woke up a little before six o'clock this morning, my head hammering my ideas and an olympic runner as a nose. I read a chapter while i took my temperature and then i closed my eyes for one of those 'on and off' sleeps only sick people get.

Tom is coming home for the weekend tonight and i feel, at one o'clock, that a long day has already gone by. Humans shouldn't be allowed to get sick when we're alone. Everything seems disturbing and leery under the weather.

Care for cars? Here come the F5...

1. Do you have a car? If so, what kind of car is it?
I don't have one, but i drive Tom's all the time, which is fun. It's a redcurrant Seat Leon, strong, fast and sexay.

2. Do you drive very often?
Yes, every day. The question is not how often i drive but how long i've had my license for. I had to renew a couple of weeks ago. It's already been 10 years. And i clearly remember the first time i took the car (mum's), feeling so free and independent. I guess i was pretty free and independent for an 18 year-old girl in the suburbs.

3. What's your dream car?
One with a chauffeur. No, seriously, it would be a peach Audi TT, a green Scénic 4x4 or a convertible Smart, which would make Kurt really happy.

4. Have you ever received a ticket?
Are you joking? Course i have. Tons of them. Well, maybe not tons of them, but enough. All of them were for parking in the wrong place, not speeding or anything dangerous. I'm not a dangerous girl, officer.

5. Have you ever been in an accident?
Yes.

Art and Rolex
I wanted to study Art History as a career for a while. Then i did some Mickey Mouse studies Journalism and became a journalist whatever i am now.

My Art teacher in high school was disappointed with my choice. Nevertheless, i tried to work as a guide for a museum in Madrid during the summers. I had to study hard and train a lot. But it was interesting. Most of the time when i wasn't memorizing Art and History books i strolled around the museum watching and learning from the other guides.

There was a private visit once. A small group of real snobs aristocratic older women and one man were visiting the Rubens area. The guide pointed at one of the portraits and said: "This artist was especially great at capturing the details of the person he was painting. If you look at the delicate laces, you will know what i mean. At the time, the more laces you had, the higher your status. A bit like wearing a Rolex nowadays".

The whole group looked down to their wrists, smiling.

Antonio Vega
I fell for Antonio Vega when i was still a teenager. I had always sort of liked his band from the eighties, Nacha Pop, but it was his first solo album that got me.

I had just moved into a house in the outskirts of Madrid and i was starting to meet new people. There was a girl, Carol, who invited me over to her place. We talked, we listened to music, we laughed. It's funny, we never became friends after that but it was a good try. Anyway, she gave me a tape that someone else had made and Vega's new album was on it.

I took it home and played it. For weeks. The lyrics moved me in a whole new way and i found the music had a certain uniqueness that turned the record into one beautiful story.

I was already into Antonio Vega when i met Nick. He was from a different universe or i was the 'foreigner', i don't know. The fact is we managed to join our worlds and one of the things we shared the most was music. As it turned out, he was the one who had made the tape that Carol ended up giving me.

People come and go, but there are friends who will always be there. Such is the case with Nick and i like to think Antonio Vega, in some way, is one of them too.

I ran a story on him the other day for the paper and his official page published it yesterday. I don't think i can be prouder.

No pushing
He won't come. It's not official yet, but we both know Martin won't come to Madrid in september, as planned. Our other friend can't make it and the idea of taking a plane alone (for the first time, having phobia to flying and crossing the ocean on his own) petrifies him.

- Do i respect his decision?
- Yes.
- Am i angry?
- Of course not.
- Then, what is it?
- I'm dissapointed because i hadn't looked forward to something as i did to seeing him in my city for the first time in this 12 year-long friendship.
- So what's my plan?
- Wait and have plan b, c, d and e ready.

You can't push things, no matter how much you want them.

The observer
My youngest niece, Little m, is a natural born observer. She has big brown eyes that go well with this job. Like her sister, she likes any kind of animals. But she can also spend hours at the garden, watching insects, checking her mental inventory of plants and being the first to inform us if there is a new flower behind a tree.

The flower in the picture was born about a month ago at the Mountain Family's patio. We took the picture of it because we were overwhelmed by its shape and colours. Little m started whispering when she saw it.

We-are-family
Following Meg's suggestion, i've joined the family. It's about a blog's pedigree and the other blogs that inspired it. I have five parents now, and that's just the Internet ones. And yes, they are right: I should be in bed by now.

My world in 2 words
(via Sherry)

Your home: Temporary territory

Your car: Not mine

Your job: Nervous breakdown

Your S.O.: Cool boy

Your Family: My friends

Your Friends: My family

The Internet: Essential wonder

Television: Utter crap

Books: Never enough

Today: First day

Tracking it down with the Five

1. What is your lineage? Where are your ancestors from?
My mother is Irish and my father is Spanish. My grandmother in Ireland tracked our roots down once and she came to the conclusion that her family went to North America and fought against the indians. She was embarrassed by this fact and asked to keep it a secret. I think it's hillarious and that sooner or later we are all related to someone evil or stupid. Think of the Bush twins.

2. Of those countries, which would you most like to visit?
I haven't been to Ireland since 1987. I know i'll go back as soon as i can and that i will find a whole different country there. It'll be strange and beautiful to see all those places. A weird déjà vu. I can't wait.

3. Which would you least like to visit? Why?
I don't think there is one place in the world i wouldn't want to visit at least once. It's all a matter of setting your priorities right.

4. Do you do anything during the year to celebrate or recognize your heritage?
I don't think i need to.

5. Who were the first ancestors to move to your present country (parents, grandparents, etc)?
In my mum's side, it was her. She came when she was about 20 years old on a holiday and decided to stay here forever. She was probably seduced both by my father and the slogan 'Spain, everything under the sun'. She still claims her money back when the weather changes.