Godzilla vs. Tyrannosaurus

Ordinarily, I'm a pretty happy-go-lucky kind of girl. Sometimes it takes some effort to keep smiling, but usually it's a pretty honest reflection of my state of mind. When I do get mad, it tends to be expressed in a highly annoying passive aggressive manner. Most of the time.

This particular entry, however, is about the other times I get mad. The times that scare people. After all, it's Halloween, right?

Let me reflect back on my mother. She's an adorable lady who has been passionate in her moods for as long as I can remember. Whether she's sad, happy, mad, my mom does it to the umpteenth degree. Do you remember that scene in The Shining with Jack Nicholson axing through the door? My brother Mel and I lived through a similar scene growing up, except it was a really thick yardstick instead of an axe. I can't remember what we did, but mom didn't like it, and she liked it even less when we locked ourselves into my bedroom. Lucky for us, that particular room had a back exit, and we fled the scene and hid in the barn until our brothers calmed her down. There are also stories involving tennis rackets, lamps, and other objects being wielded as blunt weapons.

As I got older, I became much more skilled at calming her down. Humor is the best thing, but you have to nip things quickly before they really start to escalate. Usually, I just have to scream in a fake Japanese accent "Go-ji-ra is coming! Aaaieee!" and she'll start laughing.

I can be just as outwardly insane in my rage. Luckily for almost everyone, about the only place where it can be witnessed with some frequency is at my parent's house. Usually, it involves my mother. Some fairly innocuous incident will set us both off, and suddenly our wrath is shaking the neighborhood to it's foundations. Children start to cry. Dogs start to howl. Threats are issued, we disown each other, we curse the very ground we stand on.

But, hey, you can only go so long. The following (translated from the original Spanish) is the usual outcome of these mighty duels of irrational rage.

"Wait... do you have any [delicious Peruvian food] left?"
"Hmmm... yeah, I put some in the freezer. Oh, and I have [decadent dessert]."
"[Decadent dessert]! Why didn't you tell me earlier? Let's eat!"

So, thank my mom. Without her, I'd probably have to subject someone else to these fits.

Well, enough of that. Chicken pot pie awaits.

More on Madrid

Hmm... where to begin... well, no real order to any of the following.

Madrid has some of the coolest and most unsafe playgrounds imaginable. Alex and I made it a point to run around and try out anything that looked particularly hazardous for the sheer joy of it. This resulted in minor injuries and nausea on a few occasions. I'm sure we were also the source of confusion and concern for many children and their parents. We also climbed a few trees and engaged in unintentional trespassing and leaping over a locked gate or two. We're rebels that way.

People panhandle aggressively in Madrid. My favorite incident involved a lady who asked us for some wine. We were just leaving a food festival and were drinking some wine which we agreed was not of the highest calibre. Rather than toss it, we gave it to her. Alex expressed some remorse, but I think we did a good thing.

Spaniards have a thing for ham. There is a chain of restaurants known as the Museum of Ham. Good sandwiches, from what I understand.

While in Madrid, I had lots of good food, and quite varied, everything from paella to falafel, suckling pig to vegetarian risotto (so good!).

There are a lot of national holidays in Spain. Nothing is open on holidays except restaurants. This made things like shopping for souvenirs annoying. As such, the only person who got any goodies is my mom. Hey, but I'll share stories!

Dog crap is everywhere. Watch your step.

I got to engage in some cultural enrichment during my trip, which included seeing an absolutely stunning flamenco show, wandering around museums (I got to see the Guernica in real life!), and admiring beautiful buildings (although I admit that I have little sophistication in my appreciation of architecture). I waved at several cathedrals, so I feel that I stretched out my Catholicism a bit. I also saw a freaky scary movie called El Orfanato, which I plan to watch again when it hits the states. Creepy little kids in masks are perfect for Halloween!

I did one day trip to Segovia (the place of the suckling pig, or cochinillo), and admired ancient Roman aqueducts and an awesome castle. Very nice people, too. I spent a good amount of time chatting with a storeowner and her father about the USA and looking over National Geographic maps.

People were chatty. Or maybe it's just that I forced conversations upon people. Hmmm... I think that it's probably somewhere in between.

We danced through the streets, sang on the subways, and overall had a really good time. Alex had joked that there was no couch at his apartment, and that we would split his folding chair. What a kidder! Well, kind of. There really wasn't a sleeping worthy couch, so we split his twin bed. Hey, the nights were cold, so it worked out great. We also had to keep an eye out for "psycho guy", one of the other people living there. I don't think anyone knows what his name is, but he appeared to be nocturnal and communicated (at least with me) by making hand motions and shushing. I think he also had poor aim when using the toilet. Everyone else was pretty cool.

I thought it was kind of funny, but when I went to the flea market, there were a bunch of bootleg Threadless shirts all over the place. I actually didn't buy a single bootleg item. I was tempted by some of the movies, but somehow didn't get anything. Oh, well.

In answer to a question, the Castillian accent wasn't as prominent as I'd expected. Sure, it was there, but I think there are so many non-Madridians in the city that it's kind of buried amid all the different types of Spanish. I still feel that Argentineans have the weirdest speech patterns for being a pure Spanish language.

Delays are inevitable

Hmmm... I've really been slacking off on the blog front. I suppose I should do something about that.

In the meantime, a bit of classical music.

More Madrid

You know, this trip is going to provide possible flashback anecdotes for a long time into the future. I mean, I can barely recall everything I want to talk about right now, but I know that I will have moments of lucidity that will strike.

Anyhow, had a great start today. Alex and I trucked over to a fruit market kind of a place that also had some great pastries and cheeses. We stocked up and wandered over to a nearby park for a delightful breakfast. We feasted on olives, baguettes, clementines, figs, cherimoyas, chocolate, manchego cheese, croissants... oh my lord, so good! Seriously, there is some great food here. Yesterday, for example, we wandered through one of 8-10 festivals going on in the city, sampling different foods wherever we went to and stocking up on chocolates (honey, olive oil, coffee, and orange). The day before, we had purchased honey in the comb which was a absolutely fantastic: we were like orgasmic bears on the streets of Madrid, covered in sticky delight. We finished the rest yesterday with chocolate... oh, God.

Continuing with the bear synonym... we climbed trees after breakfast and then used the bark on others to satisfy our itchy backs. If I could be an animal, it would be a bear.

It might surprise some to know that we haven't really been out partying, per se. I mean, we fully intended to yesterday, but somehow, once we made it back home to change, we ended up crawling under the covers for a quick nap and woke up at 11 AM. Tonight, though, we'll be having some fun, and tomorrow we're getting up early-ish to go to El Rastro, a huge flea market with countless bootleg articles. Yay!

Halo from Madrid

Well, today has been a full day and highly enjoyable, and tomorrow promises more of the same. After all, this is sunny Madrid!

I am hurting right now. Madrid is 6 hours ahead of my regular Dallas time, and here it's currently 23:06 (which makes back home... 17:06). I have been up and running since (Dallas time) 0600 of 10/10/2007 with only a small bit of sleep during the flight from Miami to Madrid.

Now, quick note on the flight. I had a window seat with only one other person who could be in my little section. She moved to another seat shortly before take off to sit next to her family (someone missed the flight). "Excellent!" thought I, "I will get to enjoy kicking back, couch style!" And I did! For the 1st hour and a half of the flight, I was lounging back, doing sudoku, thoroughly enjoying myself. However, this was short lived. There were these two elderly people flanking a middle aged guy, all quite cramped. The younger guy asked if I would mind if he took the seat to give the other people more room. Damn it! You know I said yes.

Anyhow, arrived in Spain at 9 am local time (3 am Dallas), went through immigration, and met up with my good friend Alejandro, who got to work really late because he came to get me safely settled in. Love him!

So, I've ridden buses all around Madrid today, had some excellent food, done some shopping, and am now exhausted. I will post pictures soon, and post more trip info.

Nature films

When I was little, my brothers used to poke fun at me and occasionally called me nature girl. I would spend hours harassing insects and spiders, chasing rabbits around our property (and occasionally catching them - I was fast when I was little), bringing dead rodents into house to show to Mom (who never appreciated this), and reading books on wildlife. At one point, I wanted to be either a forest ranger, or a vet. However, severe asthma attacks when exposed to animals or the outdoors for extended periods shut down those ambitions. Nevertheless, I still like to pretend I'm outdoorsy. On that note, I present a nature film that I found a while back which I find fascinating.



(I promise that I will eventually conclude the stories started in past blogs, really!)

Dashing and daring

Do you remember the Gummy Bears? I do. And this made me happy.

Bears that bounce?

It's a mad world

It's late. Can't sleep. Currently listening to low key music and trying to settle down so sleep will come. In the meantime, well, the internet is always there.

The big Texas-OU game came and went this weekend, with a loss for Texas. Friday night, there was a gaggle of fans from both sides invading the West End outside my apartment. Firework booms caught my interest, and when I went outside I walked into bedlam. Somehow I've managed to live here for going on 3 years and had managed to remain ignorant that this is a yearly event.

As I idly flowed with the crowd, people-watching and enjoying being a passive observer, my arm was gently grasped by a petite blonde. "Excuse me," said she as she handed me a piece of paper, "have you been saved?"

I never know what to say when random strangers come up to me and start questioning my Christianity. I'm a confirmed Catholic. My understanding of my own religion is murky most of time at best, and I have never really understood what people mean by being "saved". My suspicion is that I probably don't fall into the "safe" category as outlined by many bodies of worship. But you know what? When I'm out wandering, minding my own business in a crowd of excited football fans in the middle of night, the last thing I really want to do is engage in a theological debate with some random stranger who will probably walk away from any prolonged interaction with me with the impression that I'm a heretic destined to burn in the pits of hell.

So, I did what I usually do in situations where I really don't know what else to do and I'm trying to avoid being completely rude. I told the truth where I could and BS-ed the rest.

"Yup."
"You've accepted Christ into your heart." (Possible air of
disbelief)
"A long time ago."
"How long ago?"
"Hmmmm... probably when I was 5."
"5? Really?"
"Yup. Anyhow, good luck with everything. Have a nice
night." (Broke away from her and walked away.)

To be fair, I think I was 4 or 5 when I can first remember my introduction to religion. It's when I started to emulate my mother's actions (crossing myself when we passed graveyards, started a journey, heard bad news, etc.) and I learned several prayers. I loved the prayers; they were like music the way my mother said them. To this day, I don't know the traditional Catholic prayers in English, just Spanish - it just feels better that way. We never really went to church. It was just never a big deal.

I think I'm going to stop. This is getting too involved, and I'm starting to yawn. Good night.

Addendum to Day 2

Holy crap, I had completely forgotten about the place we danced! Did I dance?

...

I don't remember. I remember wandering on my own vaguely wondering where the rest of the team was. I'm pretty sure I was approached by a large man, although I don't remember whether his intentions were good or ill, and how exactly I extricated myself from him. I remember seeing familiar faces on the dance floor and feeling like I was a hundred miles away.

I think I might have danced then.

I don't remember how exactly we got back home, although... did I for a bit try to convince everyone it would be a nice night to walk? Did we take a cab?

Not much of a video, but it's the song that matters.

Chicago: The Experience Day 2

Friday
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One of many things that I am grateful for is my innate hangover resistance index (HRI). While I have a low threshold to alcohol (3 beers in an hour is enough to make me worthless), I will persist in my drinking long after, only to awaken in 6 hours perky and happy. My HRI has failed me but... twice? Chicago was not one of those times. I awoke refreshed and ready to take on the town. Ian was kind enough to pick up a toothbrush from a nearby 7-11, since I managed to leave mine in Dallas

After gussying ourselves up, the three of us took to the streets for some shopping and food. Yes, most definitely we needed food. Food in the form of some pretty kick ass cornbread and rotisserie chicken sandwiches. What was the name of the place? I forget.

Clothes shopping at H&M came next. Now, while I think I'm a fairly well rounded individual generally (kind of), I have a major failing, an Achilles heel, so to say. I have no fashion sense at all. My main clothing criteria is that it not expose anything I don't want exposed and that it be comfy. This includes lots of things, from some perfectly acceptable jeans and shirts to monstrous sweatshirts (men's XXL) that I bought because it fit both above criteria and it was blue fleece. Bright blue fleece. It matched my car. Really. I love that thing. It doubles as a tarp in times of need.

Needless to say, I can't shop very effectively. But I have the good fortune of having friends who are not afraid to say "No. Absolutely not." One friend in particular. You know who you are. Any really nice things I own (that fit) are probably because of her excellent eye. As it was, I was not destined to find anything at H&M, but I made up for it on Saturday.

Hrmmm... I think that afterward we went back to the hotel to nap. We watched Gracie, which was fun. Also, I had 2 separate conversations with JB on two separate phones, and both times was mistaken for somebody else. The long and short of it being, the remaining members of the Chicago posse made their way down from Wisconsin, and we rolled as only truly awesome people can.

My sense of direction is excellent. Really. As long as I have the sun, stars, or a compass I can usually find my way around. Of course, no one believed me after my directions got us lost and wandering the streets of Chicago for a while. On the bright side, the architecture is quite lovely. On the questionable side, we found a tequila bar. I'm pretty sure we had dinner somewhere before... Ah, that's right, at the Rock Bottom Brewery, good beer. I fell on the stairs twice there, and that was before the tequila shots. I blame my shoes, which also caused some massive blisters. At any rate, another alcohol induced black out followed not long afterwards.

Chicago: The Experience

I'd mentioned before that September was a memorable month. Chicago... wow. That was freaking fantastic!

Thursday
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My flight in from DFW was interesting. I am somewhat, how do you say, loquacious? Verbose? Yeah... I have trouble shutting the trap at times. Usually on flights, though, I can focus on a puzzle or a book and leave my seat mates in peace. However, I was seated next to an older gentleman named Ray. A brief, polite introduction took place, our general places in the world established, and then I asked if he was familiar with Chicago. Ah, fateful question. He grew up there. He lived there for a long time, and now lived a few short hours away in a small Wisconsin town. He had much to say. I had much to answer. Our conversation was overheard by people sitting over 5 rows away. There's a good chance some people were not pleased.

Now, frugality occasionally strikes me in peculiar ways. For instance, rather than paying for a map (they were all too big, anyway...) I printed out maps of the areas where I anticipated the majority of our time would be spent and labeled out important locales. My new friend Ray added a bunch of items, most of which we were unable to partake in. These maps were helpful throughout the remainder of our Chicago excursions. At least, I think they were.

Anyway, after grabbing our bags, we hopped over to the subway to cart us over to downtown, which was, oh, a bit less than hour what with all the stops along the way. This was a new experience for me. When subjected to new experiences, I tend to act stupidly giddy, much like a sugared up toddler or young border collie. Again, probably not very endearing to anyone in the near vicinity. I tried to focus on sudoku; it helped a bit.

Once in downtown Chicago (and really, throughout the entire subway ride) I consulted my maps to make sure we were heading in the right direction. The hotel was not 3 blocks away. Oops. We arrived at the Amalfi to find Ian reclining upon one of the lobby seats. We promptly scoped out our room, and then walked over to Gino's East for some genuine Chicago deep dish to celebrate Ian's birthday.

Wow. That stuff was really good. The restaurant itself was pretty spiff, although there was a brief moment walking up that Amy and I looked at each other as it seemed that the place was closed. Thank heaven, no. Graffiti everywhere, and surprisingly spacious. There was a distressing lack of Bud Light, but Blue Moon was brought out in pitchers with the welcome addition of oranges (didn't even have to ask, God bless this town). We feasted like kings.

Afterwards... well, we went to a bar. We met some friendly types named Joe and... Tom? Something. Tequila was provided. My memory began to fail around this time. There was dancing afoot, and I was out on the floor. And suddenly, I was shirtless. In a bar. In Chicago. There are pictures out there. Damn. What would you do, or say? "Can I have my shirt back?" Scream? Make a scene? Please. I rocked out there. I danced, I shimmied. And eventually got my shirt back.

The three of us eventually made it back, and I had my head hanging out of the cab, in a manner reminiscent of a dog. Hey, it was a beautiful night, there was a nice breeze, and the moon was hanging like a lantern over Lake Michigan! Why shouldn't I enjoy it? Yeah!

Back in the hotel, well, I was under the influence. I sang off key, loudly. I giggled like a maniac. And I eventually fell asleep. Thus concluded the first day.

On a serious note

Ok, I'm going to write a very personal entry. If you want something lighthearted, I advise you either skip down to earlier entries or check again in a few hours, when I intend to blog about happier thoughts.

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I really enjoyed my trip to Chicago. What I did not enjoy in the least was the fact that I got really, really out of control. I'm not talking about the drinking. I'm talking about the fact that I was ungodly rude to some really great people who deserved much better. If you're still reading this, don't give me any outs, there's not an excuse. I put my best friend into the position of either intervening or letting me act like an ass, and that's not fair. What's worse, it's something I've done before, too many times to count.

I've got issues. A lot of us do, but where I have continuously failed is by inaction. I don't take action to spare the people around me, which is selfish and bitchy and passive aggressive. I end up looking sad and apologizing. This isn't new. It's completely ineffective and worthless.

I'm going back to therapy. I've got anger problems, self esteem issues, lack of self worth, and I'm manipulative. There are some things that I can address on my own, but there's a lot of stuff I need some outside input on. My therapist is pretty cool, and I'll get to see her next week.

This isn't a self pity post, because, actually, right now I feel okay, great even. I went for a long walk/run, I'm about to grab a bite to eat, and maybe karaoke later. But I've spent a good amount of time today thinking about what went wrong, and I think that I should listen to the good instincts and good advice I've been ignoring for several months now.