I'm SO stuffed with Mexican food. I'm like a turkey ready to get into the oven.

I cannot move.

But I'm happy. =)

Friday Five | 09.27.02 | Relax

1. What are your favorite ways to relax and unwind?

If I'm stressed, I'll go to the gym and work out for a while to take the edge off. A long shower after that and then bed it's perfect. Otherwise, I'll try to lay down and listen some music or read a book.

2. What do you do the moment you get home from work/school/errands?

Take off my clothes and shower.

3. What are your favorite aromatherapeutic smells?

I'm not really into aromatherapy, but I adore my soap. I wish I could remember the brand right now, LOL. The thing is, it's a violet soap and it smells flowery/fruity. It's refreshing and it lasts.

4. Do you feel more relaxed with a group of friends or hanging out by yourself?

It depends on my mood -- sometimes I'll prefer to be alone so I won't have to inflict myself on anybody, but usually going out with friends puts me in the greatest mood ever. For example, on Saturday after what I call the Little Girl Incident I was feeling (and looking) awful on Sunday. Awful. Out of the blue, two of my friends called me at noon inviting me to an impromptu trip to The Avila, a gorgeous mountain that surrounds Caracas. I was so happy to hang out with them that afternoon.

5. What is something that you feel is relaxing but most people don't?

A good cry.

::gulps::

::whimpers::

And to think he's still five years away from being of legal age.

Ah, I knew that the ridiculous amount of work I'm under would pay off soon.

No, not a promotion. No, not a raise.

I have two big parties next week. Heh. The first one is a Hewlett-Packard product launch on this posh hotel. The second one is another product launch of Xerox. The thing with this one particular party is that is Star Wars-themed. Lauren would approve. In fact, the event is called "Episode X" (because of Xerox, natch) and is backed up by the Official SW Fan Club in Venezuela. Who cares if there's copyright infringement involved? It's a SW-themed party!

::does happy dance::

Now the FUCKING pop-ups don't work.

Somebody shoot me now.

::cries::

Update: They work now. <.g>

WHEEE!

Ahem. <.g>

I present you the version 3.0 of this blog: Jamie Oliver.

The only thing I need to work out on is how to make the background image lighter, because it's a killer for slower connections.

And the archives. As usual. ::sigh::

So, what do you think?

New layout up in minutes. Am v. nervous.

::crosses fingers::

I'm ashamed to say this, but I was humiliated by a little girl on Saturday.

And not in a cute way.

While I waited for the elevator in my building, a little girl from the 12th floor told me the most awful things nobody has ever said to me. And I won't tell you what they were, since they were humilliating and all. And I couldn't say anything back to her. For a moment I thought I'd be mean with her, since she was being a little bitch to me for no reason, but then, she was a little girl.

I just stood there, shocked. I couldn't believe my ears.

Then I went home and cried all night long, because I believed her.

Because they say kids will never lie.

Today I'm wondering if that's really true.

Random Emmy Blah

God, I want a husband like Bradley Whitford. He makes my toes curl. ::whimpers::

They Got It Right: Allison Janney. Brad Garrett. Jennifer Aniston. The writers of "24". Band of Brothers. The only thing that could have made me happier? Lauren Ambrose winning an award. Actually, if Six Feet Under would have won more stuff I'd be deliriously happy today. At least they got 6.

I was pleasantly surprised to see Michael Chiklis win. Unfortunately, I haven't seen him and I doubt I will, since I don't get FX, but I remember someone saying this guy was a chubby cop/husband or something, and he reinvented himself for this role. So I'm really happy for him. He was so excited. :)

They Fucked It Up: The West Wing. Come ON! ::groan::

Conan: I see many people here dreaded him, but I loved Connan! The Osbournes sketch at the beginning ROCKED. And I was near tears when I saw the horseback riding clip with Garry Shandling. <.g>

Best Acceptance Speech: Oprah, baby.

Best dressed: Marg Helgenberger, Joan Allen (gorgeous!), Kim Cattrall, Jeri Ryan, Jennifer Garner and Peter Krause. YUM.

I also want Heather Locklear's shoes. They look like the ones Jennifer Lopez wore at the VMAs. Pretty, pretty shoes. ::sigh::

Worst Dressed: Stockard Channing's Amazing Ragdoll Hair, Shiny!Bernie Mac, "I'm Too Cool To Wear a Tie" Eric McCormack, and Maura Tierney, who looked SO hideous nobody even took a picture of her.

Most Surreal Moment, Possibly Ever: Larry King, after an homage to Milton Berle, gets powder-puffed by a midget. It was some sort of reference to a classic Berle joke, but the fact remains: On live television, Larry King was assaulted by a midget wielding a giant powder puff.

Friday Five | 09.20.02 | Contact

1. Would you say that you're good at keeping in touch with people?

I'm good, but not as good as I wish I was. I'm sucky at replying e-mail -- if I don't reply to you that same day or the next, it'll take me a week to get back to you. But that doesn't mean that I don't care, it's just that I have few precious moments to take care of my personal e-mail. I still love you, it's just that I'm a late replyer (is that a word?).

2. Which communication method do you usually prefer/use: e-mail, telephone, snail mail, blog comments, or meeting in person? Why?

It depends. I mostly rely on telephone and SMS to communicate with my friends around here, but those devices are often used as a logistics tool to arrange our next meeting face to face. :p

With my friends who live outside the country, well, I love to IM, baby. It's cheap, it's fast, it's addictive. What's not to love? But some of them hate IM, so it's either via e-mail or telephone. If they have blogs, I'll leave comments as well. There's nothing like stalking through comments. ;)

3. Do you have an instant messenger program? How many? Why/why not? How often do you use it?

Here at the office, I have MSN, AIM and Sametime, which is a Lotus Notes IM for the company's employees from around the world. It's utter coolness. Sametime is on all the time I?m in the computer, but AIM and MSN are on a break now until I find out how to break into the firewall, because the fucker won't let me through. Gah.

4. Do most of your close friends live nearby or far away?

It's a 60-40 ratio.

5. Are you an "out of sight, out of mind" person, or do you believe that "distance makes the heart grow fonder"?

Tricky question. The people that really care about you will always stay in touch. I've always said it's about the quality of the contact than the frequency of it what really matters. Of course, I tend to be more forgiving with this rule with my friends outside the country for obvious reasons. :)

Awww... isn't that the cutest thing ever? :-)

EW.

Do these people know Daniel Radcliffe is 13 years old?!?

Friday Five | 09.13.02 | School Days

1. What was/is your favorite subject in school? Why?

I loved Language, which is the equivalent of English for you gringos. I loved to read and read and get lost in stories.

2. Who was your favorite teacher? Why?

Sylvia, my 4th and 6th grade teacher. She was... special. Always there for us, treating us as the smart, intelligent kids we always were. She loved to show us off on her classes at college, and we loved to go there. She made us feel special every time. I'll always love her.

3. What is your favorite memory of school?

Gymnastics. I LOVED it. I was on the school team despite the fact I was kinda chubby -- but I had flexibility (in fact, even when I can't open my legs in an 180° angle, I keep the flexible lims, thank you). And you know what? I was kinda good. Not as good as the school stars, but I did nicely. They switched me to the Rhythmic Gymnastics team a while later, because I was supposedly better at corporal expression.

Another favorite memory was a school act when I danced ballet as prima ballerina. I looked so beautiful them. Oh, the days long gone. ::sigh::

4. What was your favorite recess game?

I had two favorite games. The first was hide and seek, that always came in handy when we had to play with those pesky boys. The second and girly one was Miss Universe -- we'd grab our Barbies and dress them up to compete against each other. However, no matter what, our friend Elena's Barbies always won. All the fucking time. That pissed us up horribly to the point of hating her for that. The punchline is, we were the judges ourselves. And we still picked her doll. LOL.

5. What did you hate most about school?

The fact that it was almost epic to be in the same classroom with all my friends every year. We were alphabetically sorted, and when there were many kids in a section, usually the first or the last would have to switch chassrooms. Guess what? I was the first one on the list. On second grade, they changed my classroom. I decided I hated my new teacher and my new classmates, so I decided to sit there all day long and cry until they switched me back. Wanna know how long it took? Five days. I had to cry for five whole fucking days to get me in my old classroom. LOL.

I've been on a daze today because last night I was lucky enough to meet one of my favorite people ever: Jaime Bayly, a Peruvian writer, journalist, novelist and all-around epitome of coolness.

I first heard of him through his interview show, En Directo con Jaime Bayly, when I was in college. Every single interview was a class on the technique. He always ended up putting the guests on the palm of his hand, playing with them, defeating them with charm, wit and a bit of mischief. He's always said he's like a little naughty, dorky boy -- he keeps things simple, but he keeps them his way. I can't really be blamed for getting into groupie mode lat night. ;)

So yesterday, I heard about this forum he was going to do on a local cultural center, the CELARG. And dude, it was free admittance. I HAD to go. I grabbed Raquel along with me and there we went. I wanted to go with my girl Maru (the most rabid JB fan you could ever meet) so bad... but she was on this training at work with no chance to exit. So it was kinda unfair to be there without her. But what is SMS for? I kept on giving her updates through the evening, but somehow she always ended up replying things like "OMG! KISS HIM!" or "I FUCKING HATE YOU." LOL.

But there was the man, speaking to an audience of 200, and I felt at home. What can I say? The guy has a way to work the audience... did I mention the wit and the charm? We laughed, we cried, it was better than Cats. After an hour of hilarious anecdotes and bisexual innuendo, the mike was ours: we were given the chanc eto ask him whatever we wanted. I was a bit antsy to do it, and not to mention nervous, but Raquel told me I'd hate myself forever if I didn't go for it. So there I went and asked my questions. I'm proud to say that I was a smartass. ;)

Then, at the very end -- an impromptu book signing. Fucking hell. No books on sight, and I also had to get an autograph for Maru. So I went to the line and took that night's forum flyer out of my bag and decided this was also a Carpe Diem moment. Raq pointed out that we didn't have a camera to save the moment, and somehow we ended up convincing a phographer from a local newspaper that was there to take our picture please-my-God-we'll-pay-you-whatever-you-want-dude.

I tend not to expect too much from people I appreciate in a platonic way -- I hate to say admire, because honestly, nobody's good enough to be admired -- and it has worked out nicely for me, thank you. I expect a little and I get a lot. That's the whole idea, you see.

The first thing that surprised me the most about him when it was our turn was his look -- so sincerely grateful and loving -- that I felt a bit naked. A bit vulnerable. He stood up and gave us a big hug, and said: "You know something? One of the things that I enjoyed the most about tonight was the two of you laughing so hard at my lame jokes." Obviously, we almost pissed ourselves. Because dude. He was watching us. LOL. Anyway. Asked for Maru's autograph, then mine. All the time, I must have had the most motherfucking biggest, happiest face in the world, because he kept on smiling and caressing my hair the whole time. It was almost as if he was there for me, not the other way around.

That random act of tenderness broke my heart. How come this... geeky, dorky guy I've always loved had to be so grateful and loving towards me? I had no book to sign, just a small, wrinkled piece of paper. But he was amazingly sweet and nice to us during the time we stood in fron of him... I just couldn't believe I deserved that. On top of it all, he said a warm goodbye with a caress and a kiss. And a honest, happy smile.

I was immensely touched by his gesture. We walked out of there walking on the clouds, feeling as the most special people on Earth.... so I guess words can't express my gratitude for sharing his sincerity and his love with us for five minutes.

I had never felt so happy in a long, long time.

My first memory of 9-11 is a website with a TV capture: one tower of the WTC on fire. The cption said that a plane had hit one of the towers. I just thought, what a horrible accident.

About 15 minutes later, when I reloaded the page looking for an update, it said that the other tower had been hit by another plane. A commercial plane. That didn't feel right and my portable TV was at home, with my mom. No CNN. The word terrorism was coming to mind. Calling her to ask her what was going on was the logical next step.

When she told me another plane had hit the Pentagon, I broke down in tears. I was so fucking afraid I couldn't speak. All I could do was listen to CNN through the phone.

I checked on my online family. All well, thank God. Checked on friends, boyfriend in the States. All well. But i had to see.

I found a TV at the office at the exact moment the first tower went down. Then the second. It was all dust and smoke and silence and confusion and helplesness. I felt so useless and stupid and guilty for not being there that I couldn't get anything done that day.

Then I came home. Saw news after news after news. The horrible images on a neverending loop. The stories, the last calls for a few lucky ones to listen an "I love you". I hated the world that day.

I'm an outsider, an alien. And although I can't share the American pride and patriotism born from this fateful day a year ago, I share a piece of my heart -- one full of admiration for the ones that made it through. This one's for you.

Buffy finale: fucking great ending -- whicj¡h was good, since the whole end to the Bad!Willow storyline SUCKED.

Spike has a soul now, huh? So he doesn't get to be a badass mofo to Buffy next season? Please don't tell me he'll be all lovesick again. I'm hoping he'll treat her like shit for a while, and since she seems to like that, she'll fall for him. Then he loves her back. And the season ends. LOL.

Well, I won't have slash on the show now with Warren dead, so that's the next best thing. ;-)

I'm worried about Willow now. I want them to give me their best shot for her return. She's Will, but she killed a guy, for God's sake. But then the fuckers shouldn't have killed Tara (Me? Bitter? Nah).

And Giles is sex on a stick.

That's all.

Somebody help me -- I'm addicted to Dutch Syrop Waffles. I've already eaten 4 packages since I came back from Aruba and I can't stop eating them. Who cares about the calories? It's Dutch Waffles, for God's sake.

Oh, and Jamie Oliver is my new boyfriend.

I can say I'm positively depressed to be back at work. It's not that I had the time of my life or anything in Aruba, I'm just not ready to be back yet. In fact, I faked a cold last week and stayed home to watch the VMAs. I just don't feel like doing anything and I have this overall shitty mood with me constantly. I have this HUGE load of things to do and my time is running short -- however, I feel paralized. I refuse to move a finger or do anything to get things going. It's awful.

I had never felt this intense dread to come here. Never. And I hate the fact that I hate it. God, I have trouble sleeping at night thinking that I have to wake up to go to work. It's depressing. And stressing.

Yipee.

Oh yeah, and my neck hurts. I was headbanging to The Hives' record last night. At 2:00 am. After I watched Velvet Goldmine again while daydreaming I was watching it with someone. Someone specific, I mean. After hours into my vivid daydream, I started to hate myself for being so silly and stupid, so very maturely I decided crying was the best solution, since it was 4:00 am and I kinda had to wake up today at 6:30. Eyes puffy and wired, I had to drug myself with painkillers to fall asleep. Not one of my best moments.

Yeah, I'm just a ray of sunshine lately. So not much blogging. Friday Five can go fuck itself, because I don't give a damn at this moment.

But not to make this my gloomiest post ever, I have some good news: We finally bought Melissa's wedding gift. We got her a microwave oven, which is not *that* much, but hey, we're poor people. I hope she likes it -- but most importantly, I hope she hasn't bought one yet. :p

And I hope Justin loses tonight on American Idol. I could puke on his hair at will.