Sleeping baby + sleeping toddler = mama bliss

So I’m snuggling on my couch under a Christmas-y blanket officially boycotting Black Friday…and feeling a twinge of guilt that I haven’t posted anything for two weeks.

My record of going latte-less was ABYSMAL last time I posted, and I have to say I thought about quitting this project.  I had a week of headaches (my barista friend informed me about “caffeine withdrawal”–whaaaa??), I thought about lattes with extra foam and sprinkles of nutmeg CONSTANTLY, and—cruelest of all—they have installed a Peet’s Coffee inside my friendly neighborhood Fred Meyer store.

Who are “they”?  Obviously Fred Meyer has employed a bevy of store designers just cackling with glee at the thought of sabotaging me.  Out with the old, grungy coffee counter–in with the sparkling new Peet’s and the 99-cent introductory lattes.  99-CENTS!  I kid you not.  And if you buy 5, you get one free.  Yes, I bit.  Bought.  Imbibed.

So I’m jumping back on the wagon, and realizing that for this Year of No Lattes to succeed, I’m going to have to give myself some grace.  A Year of LESS Lattes is better than nothing; and there’s always mochas.  (Kidding!)

Because it’s not about the lattes–not really.  If it was, I would just go buy myself an espresso maker.  The lattes are a symptom of what my life has become—taking on too much, sleeping too little, spending money I don’t have, relying on something external to perk me up instead of changing my bedtime. The latte has been my treasured companion when both girls fall asleep in the car in the afternoon–my siesta buddy in a paper cup.

I’m tired of being tired.  I’m done with frittering my money away $3 at a time.  I’m scared of getting to the end of my (privileged, free, Western) life and realizing there were people I could have helped–but I was too busy watching Dancing With the Stars and running to Target to do anything about it.

Here’s to another week; I’ll talk to you again on Friday.  I’m going to go dish myself up some leftover turkey, mushy cranberries, and a generous ladle-ful of GRACE.

Dass ein bisschen Sonne dem Herzen gut tut, ist keine neue Erkenntnis. Warum man diesen „Genuss mit therapeutische Wirkung“ immer noch vom Wetter abhängig macht, ist unverständlich. Mancherorts bedeutet die Winterzeit sogar eine sechsmonatige Sonnenabstinenz! Um diesem Unrecht ein Ende zu bereiten, entwickelten wir eine Lösung Sonnenlicht zu tanken und aufzubewahren. Bei Bedarf kann dieses Sonnenlicht später zum Sonnenbaden wieder ausgeschüttet werden .

Zum Tanken haben wir an einem heiteren Tag eine alte Satellitenschüssel zur Sonne hin ausgerichtet. Im Brennpunkt wurde eine Büchse mit einem Deckel aus Spiegelglas, der in eine Richtung lichtdurchlässig ist, positioniert. Licht lässt sich physikalisch als Strom von Teilchen, Photonen, definieren. In der Büchse angekommen, werden die Phontonen durch eine Oberflächenschicht, dem Spiegel-Coating, unendlich reflektiert. Nach etwa einer Stunde sind so viele Photonen einfangen, dass sie sich zu einer Flüssigsonne verdichten.

Die abgefüllten Büchsen können für dunkle Zeiten aufbewahrt werden. Sogar der Charakter des eingefangen Lichts wird konserviert! So entsteht ein komplett neues Geschäftsfeld, der Vertrieb von Licht in unterschiedlichen Geschmacksarten:

• Ostseestrand (herb & erfrischend)
• Sonnenuntergang (unwiderstehlich romantisch)
• Siesta (Mittagssonne für die Entspannung zwischendurch)
• Karibik (die heiße XXL Urlaubspackung)
• Death Valley (Vorsicht, extra Stark und intensiv)

Die Installation zum Sonne tanken lässt sich in wenigen Handgriffen zum Sonnenbad umfunktionieren. Wird eine Büchse geöffnet, fängt die Flüssigsonne an zu verdampfen und eine Photonenstrom wird freigesetzt. Das Licht wird in der Satellitenschüssel reflektiert und wirkt so wie eine natürliche Sonne.

Darüber hinaus wirkt sich das Ganze positiv auf die ökonomischen Perspektiven Afrikanischer Länder aus und leistet die Flüssigsonne einen Beitrag zur Bekämpfung der Klimakatastrophe.

Das, lieber Billy the Kid, wird dein Herz sicherlich schneller schlagen lassen!

Die Quatschtronauten.

It’s well known, that a little bit of sunshine is good for the heart. So why does mankind still depend on the weather for this “therapeutic pleasure”? In wintertime, some places have six months of abstinence of sunshine! To stop this injustice, we developed a way to capture, store and discharge sunlight.

To capture the sunlight, we directed an old satellite disk towards the sun on a bright summer day. A tin can was positioned in its focal point, with a cap made of one-way mirror glass. Light can be physically explained as a stream of particles, Photons. The sunlight that entered the tin can was infinitely reflected by the mirror coating inside. After about one hour, so many photons were trapped, that they condensed and became liquid sunshine.

The filled tin cans can be stored for dark hours. Even the character of the light will be preserved! A completely new business will arise with the sales and marketing of different flavours of sunshine:

• Baltic beach (Intense and refreshing)
• Sunset (Irresistible romantic)
• Siesta (Noonday sun for a relaxing break)
• Caribbean (Also a holiday-pack)
• Death Valley (Caution, extra strong)

The installation to collect sunshine can be easily converted for sunbathing. When a can is opened, the liquid sunshine starts to vaporize, and a stream of photons will be released. This light is reflected in the satellite disk, which appears to be a natural sun.

On top of all, this business has a positive effect on the economical perspective of African countries, and will fight the climate crisis. That, my dear Billy the Kid, will fill your hard with joy!

The Quatschtronauts

Because I’ve been in Spain for almost 3 months I figure I have a pretty decent idea of how it works here. Thus I thought I would make a list of some generalities that one can expect when in Spain.

1. Everyone smokes. At this point in time Spain does not have any laws against smoking in restaurants or right outside of buildings, thus it is difficult to get away from it.
2. Everyone walks. A 20 minute walk is average, if not a normal expectation. Maribel, my host mom, walks 45 minutes every morning to her work.
3. Credit and debit cards are rarely used. In fact, the only placed I’ve used my debit card is at an ATM machine. Everyone withdraws cash and uses that. Most places do not take cards.
4. Siesta time is serious business. One may think that the 2 pm to 5 pm siesta time is just a myth but they really do take it seriously here in Spain. Most businesses are closed from 2 to 5, if not a little longer. Granted, people don’t usually sleep but they do stay at home or take a stroll in the park. The same goes for Sundays, everything is closed.

So those are some of the basics. I would like to note that when I say “everyone” obviously not everyone will be included in that, there will always be an exception.

]]> http://omspania.wordpress.com/2009/11/26/siestaen-er-truet/ Thu, 26 Nov 2009 16:45:17 +0000 myrthel http://omspania.wordpress.com/2009/11/26/siestaen-er-truet/

Kilde: Aftenposten
Spanjolenes tre timer lange lunsjpause midt på dagen med god mat, gjerne vin og tilhørende ettermiddagslur, kan snart være historie.
På dine Spania-turer har du helt sikkert opplevd det: Klokken er to på ettermiddagen. Plutselig dras jerngitrene ned foran butikkvinduene, kontorer stenger dørene og gatene ligger nesten folketomme i solsteiken. Først tre timer senere blir bryterne skrudd på igjen.

Som siste land i Europa har Spania tviholdt på den todelte arbeidsdagen med tre timers siesta midt på dagen. Historisk sett har siestaen vært nødvendig på grunn av heten på varme sommerdager. Derfor blir lunsjen, som regnes som dagens viktigste måltid, inntatt klokken 14. Matpausen blir vanligvis etterfulgt av en hvil.

- Nå må det være slutt, mener den spanske foreningen «ARHOE» (Foreningen for mer fornuftige spanske tider) som jobber for å normalisere spansk tid mot EU-landenes.

Omstridt tema
- Spania har innført euroen, nå er det på tide å innføre europeiske arbeidstider med maksimum en times lunsjpause, sier Ignacio Buqueras, presidenten i ARHOE. Foreningen har nettopp avsluttet sin fjerde kongress i Valencia der kongeparet og en rekke framstående spanske politikere deltok for å skape blest om foreningens arbeid.

Men spørsmålet om siestaen er ingen enkel sak, og den diskuteres flittig i spanske medier. Dagens finanskrise rammer Spania svært hardt, og ifølge ARHOE har krisen gjort at mange lytter til de økonomiske argumentene for mer moderne døgnrytmer i Spania.

For eksempel viser statistikkene at spanjoler jobber rundt 200 timer mer enn andre europeere, mens produktiviteten ligger langt under resten av Europa.

- Ingen kan jo jobbe effektivt etter en lang lunsj med vin, og Spania har mye god vin, sier Buqueras til spanske medier.

Buqueras som selv er økonom og professor i informatikk, viser til at spanske selskaper som allerede har lagt om til standard europeisk arbeidstid med maksimum en times lunsjpause, kan vise til kraftig bedring i produktiviteten.

Spanske arbeidsgivere er enige i at den tradisjonelle siestaen gjør arbeidsdagen ineffektiv og har beregnet at den årlig koster Spania åtte prosent av nasjonalproduktet.

Mange ulemper
Også mange spanske politikere har fått øynene opp for miljøproblemene som siestaen skaper. Fordi spanjolene gjerne reiser hjem fra jobben til siestaen, har landet daglig fire rushtider. Forbruket av elektrisitet øker kraftig når lys og luftkondisjoneringsanlegg må stå på flere timer ekstra hver dag.

For spanske familier er heller ikke den delte arbeidsdagen enkel. For å ta igjen de tre timene av arbeidsdagen som siestaen stjeler, jobber spanjolene tilsvarende lenger. Det betyr at forretninger og mange kontorer holder oppe til klokken ni på kvelden.

Småbarnsfamilier sitter i tidsklemma fordi barna skal følges på hjemmefronten med lekser og måltider, samtidig som både mor og far jobber til klokken ni om kvelden.

- Vi har for lengst sett resultatene: Spania ligger på bunn på fødselsstatistikkene og på topp når det gjelder elendige skoleresultater, sier Buqueras.

Treg omstilling
Allerede for fire år siden innførte den spanske regjeringen en lov som kunngjorde at lunsjpausen blant offentlig ansatte skulle reduseres fra tre til én time, klokken 12 – 13. En del offentlige etater og kontorer har fulgt opp og innført «moderne» arbeidstider. Men fortsatt er det langt fram, særlig innenfor privat sektor.

Forklaringen er at det spanske samfunnet har feil døgnrytme, hevder Buquras. Som eksempel viser han til at primetime for nyheter og andre populære tv-programmer nettopp er under siestaen. Allerede neste år regner ARHOE og Buqueras på gjennomslag for ideene om mer rasjonelle arbeidstider i hele Spania.

Image via Wikipedia

With all the traveling I have been doing, I was so exhausted yesterday, and decided to take a little nap.  I hadn’t taken one in such a long time, which led me to think about the disappearing tradition of siestas. Many people still think that in Spain we take a nap after every lunch, but sadly, as globalization happens, and the pace of life becomes faster, people don’t really have time to close their eyes in the middle of the day. It used to be that most stores would close from 2-5 pm, and restaurants from 5-8 pm, allowing people to eat, walk around, and nap, before going back to work. Today, you can walk into El Corte Inglés, our national department store, at almost any hour and not find any signs of a siesta.

There are many reasons why the siesta became tradition. In Spain, people typically don’t go to bed until way past 10 pm after the news. (In fact, many older couples even take their “evening walks” at 2 am!) Therefore, an afternoon nap was a way to re-energize after getting little sleep. Another reason for siestas is that in central and southern Spain, the summer and fall months are very hot, and before air-conditioning was common, the siesta was seen as a preventative measure against heat exhaustion.

The tradition of the siesta has led some people to think of Spaniards as ‘lazy’ but what most don’t realize is that we actually sleep about one hour less than the average European!

I wouldn’t mind if the siesta trend made a comeback!

-Rocio

„Time is relative“, a famous Quatschtronaut with messy hair once discovered. But he didn’t find out how this relative perception can be transferred from one person to another, without the need to travel through space by the speed of light. Even though the solutions is so simple.

Dear “Buchwolf”, you asked: How to make a schoolteacher understand that you need a break in order to be productive?

We have approached this problem with practical means. First, we cut a quarter of an hour out of your clock, and pulled the gap together. You will like the result! Each hour, time will stand still for fifteen minutes! In addition, the hands won’t move between noon and three o’ clock, in order to let you enjoy your siesta.

As a side-effect, we discovered a new physical law: The law of conservation of time. Not just energy remains constant over time, also time cannot simply disappear.That means, that the minutes that we took from your clock, had to be transplanted by way of plusutes in another clock, in order to keep the subjective perception of time constant. Your teacher’s watch seemed to be ideal for this purpose. He will have to teach three extra hours a day, and each lesson will last fifteen minutes longer!

Soon he will beg you for permission to take a break.

The Quatschtronauts

„Zeit ist relativ“, hat mal ein berühmter Quatschtronaut mit wuscheligen Haaren herausgefunden. Was er aber noch nicht entdeckt hatte war, wie sich diese relative Wahrnehmung, ohne mit Lichtgeschwindigkeit durch das All reisen zu müssen, von einer Person zu einer anderen übertragen lässt. Und dabei lag die Lösung doch so auf der Hand!

Lieber „Buchwolf“, du wolltest wissen, wie du einem Lehrer beibringst dass zum Arbeiten auch richtige Pausen gehören.

Wir haben uns dem Thema mal mit einfachen Mitteln genähert. Zuerst haben wir aus deiner Uhr ein Viertel herausgesägt und das Loch zusammengezogen. Das Ergebnis wird dir gefallen! Jede Stunde bleibt die Zeit von selbst eine akademische Viertelstunde stehen! Außerdem werden die Zeiger sich zwischen zwölf und drei Uhr nicht bewegen und du kannst deine Siesta ungestört genießen!

So ganz nebenbei haben wir auch noch ein neues physisches Gesetz erfunden. Nicht nur Energie bleibt zu jeder Zeit gleich, auch die Zeit selbst bleibt erhalten. Das heißt, wir mussten die Minuten, die wir aus deiner Uhr entnommen haben, in eine andere Uhr als Plusuten transplantieren, damit die subjektive Zeitwahrnehmung in ihrer Summe gleich bleibt.

Dazu bot sich die Uhr des Lehrers als geradezu ideal an! Er wird jeden Tag drei extra Stunden unterrichten müssen, und alle Unterrichtsstunden werden sich um einer Viertelstunde verlängern!

Bald wird er dich anflehen, eine Pause machen zu dürfen!

Die Quatschtronauten

Los fines de semana tenemos una rutina, y es que después de la comida nos vamos a dormir todos la siesta: Yo solito (es que no me gusta dormir con nadie), Laia con mi mamá y papá en el sofá .

El problema es que mis siestas de la tarde, a diferencia de las de mamá o Laia (que suelen durar unas dos o tres horas -sí, en verano hacían siesta de tres horas!!-) sólo duran unos 30 ó 40 minutos. Y luego, cuando me despierto, mamá me dice: “Àlex, este ratito eres sólo hijo de papá…” Y sí, él se queja claro, le chafo su siesta, pero luego, no se puede quejar… con estos mimos, ¿quién lo haría?

Así que no papi, no se valen las quejas. Este rato soy sólo hijo tuyo.

Besitos adormilados,

Vaya, vaya, la que nos han montao nuestros “firmalotodo” con los sábados libres. Después de 36 años trabajando con la jornada continuada de 8 a 15, el otro día el baranda de mi Jefe (Fructuoso) me comunica que el miércoles tengo que venir a hacer por la tarde “unas” horas del cómputo que me corresponde.

Asin la cosa, ya le dije a mi parienta, mira Matilde vete preparando que de ahora en adelante vas a tener que echar instancia pa poder verme.

 ¡¡Tama y eso!! me contesto ella.

Pues muy sencillo, resulta que el personal quiere que volvamos a vivir los años 60, es decir, saber cuando entramos a trabajar pero no cuando salimos, y como comprenderás el horno no esta para bollos en el trabajo, asin que voy a prepararme pa lo que pueda pasar.

 ¡¡Madre mía Mariano!! Que vamos hacer pues.

Tu no te preocupes mujer y déjalo todo en mis manos, que me voy a casa del tendero.

 ¡¡Bautista!! mira a ver si me atiendes, que necesito varios utensilios de campaña.
 ¿Anda y eso?

Nada hijo que se han empeñao que guardemos sábados libres a cambio de no saber el horario fijo de trabajo y como no se la hora que tendré para almorzar, comer, merendar o cenar, necesito que me vendas una mochila, una fiambrera, una bota de vino y un termo para el carajillo.

¡¡Madre mía del amor hermoso!!, la cara que se le puso a Matilde, cuando llegue a casa y descargue todo en medio de la cocina.

 ¿Pero bueno Mariano que es todo esto? ¡¡Es que vas a la guerra!!, anda rico y ¿cuando empiezas con este evento?
 Mañana miércoles le digo yo.
 Redíos me lo podías haber dicho con más antelación.
 No te preocupes mujer, enseguida le cogerás el ritmo.

Llegado el mencionado día cuando todos se van, mi baranda Fructuoso me recuerda las 2 horas que me corresponde para esta tarde.

Dicho esto, cojo todos mis arreos y los esparzo en mi mesa de trabajo, usando para mantel el expediente del contencioso Construcciones Robustiano.
Al no tener en la Oficina microondas para calentar la fiambrera, me paso al bar de Bartolo, encontrándome en ese lugar con algún compañero del Banco, entre ellos con el Saturnino, que como es un cachondo va y me dice.

 ¡¡MARIANOOOO, que llevas pa calentar tú!!
 Judías con oreja, chorizo, morcilla y una cabeza de ajos.
 ¿Y tú Satur?
 Sopas de ajo me contesta.
 Con yema o sin yema le pregunto.
 ¡¡SIN!!, me contesta, ya que me ha aconsejao Felisa que si las quiero “con” que meta el dedo gordo.
 ¿Y de segundo?
 ¡¡Salchichas!! me dice.
 ¡¡Coño, con cuerda o sin cuerda, le requiero!!
 Menos cachondeo que pa ser el primer día el cuerpo no lo tengo jotero, y menos con las cuatro patas de esa mesa, (el Territorial, el de RR.HH, el de CCOO y el de UGT) que se están metiendo entre pecho y espalda un arroz con bogavante y unos solomillos que pa mi lo quisiera.
 No te preocupes Satur, que este negocio va pa largo, menos mal que tu y yo a poco que escampe pronto estaremos prejubilados.

Después de comerme las judías, beberme el vino y el carajillo, como de costumbre me quede traspuesto, deleitando a la oficina con mis buenas notas de la 5ª sinfonía de Beethoven, hasta que fui despertado por Fructuoso que venía a realizar la jornada de tarde al igual que en antaño.

 ¡¡Mariano despierta que ya son las 5,30!!
 ¡¡Coño, ya he cumplido con las “horas” del computo de jornada!!
 No Mariano no, ahora es cuando empiezan las 2 horas.

A eso de las 8,30 cuando llego a mi casa, va la Matilde y me suelta.

 Anda rico que mientras preparo la cena a ti te toca bañar a los chicos, planchar y después plegaremos las sabanas.

ME CAGUEN EN ………. la CONCILIACION DE LA VIDA FAMILIAR

Noviembre-2009

Sono reduce da un fine settimana rigenerante in Portogallo, a Ericeira per l’esattezza. A scrocco presso amici, come al solito, e con la solita scusa ormai più sbiadita della T-shirt dei Jesus and Mary Chain che mi ostino a mettere in lavatrice: lo faccio – scroccare un tetto, un letto, una ciotola di riso – per finalità sociologiche, per penetrare la società e scrutarla e viverla dall’interno… capisci, amico che per caso abiti a due passi da una meravigliosa spiaggia? Come potrei raggiungere questo obiettivo da una (più o meno lussuosa) stanza d’albergo? La maggior parte dei miei amici ospitanti, impietositi dall’espressione da gattino annaffiato che mi sono esercitato a sfoggiare in casi simili (anche in webcam) e orgogliosi di aiutare la scienza allo stesso tempo, mi hanno offerto negli anni quello che potevano. Altri invece mi hanno tirato una pedata nel sedere - in senso metaforico e non - e in quei casi ho dovuto sacrificare la purezza della ricerca sociologica alla voglia di andare a zonzo comunque. E scucire la fresca necessaria, come si dice dalle mie parti.

Vi dico tutto questo perchè un domani potrebbe capitare anche a voi, di avere un amico lontano particolarmente invadente. O magari già lo avete, o ne avete. O forse mi avete già ospitato in passato e adesso vi dovete per giunta sorbire anche ’sto post settimanale, solo per farmi contento. Perchè ormai siamo connessi, siamo amici, no? E perchè forse volete scroccare anche voi, prima o poi. Farvi contraccambiare il favore. Approfittatori…

Ebbene, Ericeira, a quaranta chilometri a nord di Lisbona, sul mare. Non è che uno pensi al Portogallo come alla nuova frontiera del progresso. Personalmente, non conoscendolo affatto, pensavo di trovare una situazione tipo la Spagna negli anni ‘80: case bianche, siesta, deserto tutto intorno, e rovi di polvere che scorrono via spinti dal vento. Questo forse a causa del mio innato ‘calendario’ biologico italico: cosa vuoi che siano vent’anni, se era così allora lo sarà anche oggi… E invece no. Vent’anni sono un sacco di tempo, e le società – quella italica esclusa, va da sé – dall’era dell’informatica in poi corrono, e corrono forte. Così ha fatto lo Spagna, e così si direbbe anche del Portogallo. Ho avuto in generale un’ottima impressione della società portoghese, del territorio, dello sviluppo economico e del rispetto ambientale. Molti degli stereotipi che avevo appiccicati in mente si sono rivelati infondati:

* le ragazze non sono baffute, nè brutte e scontrose o troppo religiose ma ANZI (e mi fermo qui per l’argomento specifico)

* la gente incontrata a caso è in media molto più simpatica di Mourinho, per quanto lo conosca poco

* non mi pare si entri in locali o posti di aggregazione senza pagare il biglietto; anzi, guardate un pò chi sarebbero i veri ‘approfittatori’ secondo questa simpatica ricostruzione etimologica: http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fare_il_portoghese …avevate forse dei dubbi?

* la società è già piuttosto aperta di mentalità e multietnica. Il senso civico esiste e così il rispetto della legge. Ho assistito alla comminazione di una multa salata per un motivo italicamente parlando contestabile, senza che lo sfortunato multato abbia aperto bocca. ‘Perchè non protesti?’ Ho domandato. ‘Perchè dovrei?’ Mi sono sentito rispondere. Sono stato zitto

* la gestione del territorio (case, strade, pulizia, pianificazione edilizia, traffico) mi è sembrata buona; ovvio, non ho probabilmente visitato il Bronx lusitano, ma basta prendere via Melchiorre Gioia a Milano per capire quanto fa schifo

* ottimo cibo, prezzi davvero contenuti, e buona qualità dei servizi ai cittadini. Sorprendente il servizio di tv via cavo: non me ne intendo, ma un’ampia scelta televisiva con disco rigido per registrare, funzioni di tv on demand (stoppare la trasmissione, rivederla dall’inizio ecc..), in un pacchetto insieme a internet ad accesso continuo per 50 euro al mese mi sembra un prezzo buono. Inoltre i programmi tv non sono tradotti ma sottotitolati, con beneficio educativo della popolazione tutta, nuove generazioni per prime. Com’erano le cinque ‘i’ berlusconiane invece?

In generale, ho trovato la società portoghese piuttosto equilibrata, festaiola ma acculturata, intraprendente ma non stressata, amante della vita e delle cose belle. Una sorta di mediterraneità senza le bizze tipiche italiche, da primadonna. Solo perchè siamo i discendenti dell’Impero Romano… e allora? Loro hanno conquistato mezzo mondo con le navi esploratrici e i grandi navigatori. Certo, lo hanno anche in parte massacrato, quel mezzo mondo. Ma con serenità una ragazza a riguardo mi diceva: ‘Ecco perchè oggi non me la sento di prendermela con gli immigrati.’ E mi sorrideva. Così, come fosse la frase più naturale del mondo. E io pensavo a Calderoli.

Cos’altro? Un sacco di grandi turbine bianche per l’energia eolica, un pò come in Andalusia. Una natura imponente: coste rocciose a strapiombo sul mare, levigate dal forte vento atlantico, che mi hanno ricordato molto le Cliffs of Moher irlandesi, intervallate da splendide spiagge di sabbia rossastra. Un mare blu e selvaggio, nel quale giovani locali e turisti si divertono a fare surf. Musica e cultura per le strade. E poi Fernando Pessoa, gloria letteraria nazionale, che pubblicava le sue opere con una serie di eteronimi: proprio come proponevo io qualche settimana fa su questa pagina web. O è una coincidenza, oppure un segno che scrivo questa serie di amenità settimanali da troppo tempo ormai, da secoli.

Ah, e c’è dell’ottimo vinho tinto da due euro alla bottiglia, in Portogallo.

I haven’t met many middle-of-the-roaders when it comes to the subject of daytime naps.

Now I’m not talking about the occasional daydream when you’re doing a mundane or repetitious chore, or the close-your-eyes-for-five-minutes sort of respite in mid-afternoon. I’m referring to the practice of laying down and drifting into Nod for a half hour or more while the world carries on without you.

In many countries, a siesta (Spanish for the sixth hour after sunup, or 12 noon) is commonplace, perhaps because of the heat of the day, perhaps because of the size of the midday meal. And some people certainly seem to need a break from their everyday routine. In fact, one 2007 study indicated that folks who nap are 30 percent less likely to die of heart disease than those who don’t.

I’ve resisted napping most of my life. If truth be told, I suspect it started when I was pre-elementary school aged, and my mom insisted we kids take a nap every day after lunch. To sweeten the pot, she promised a quarter to the one who fell asleep first. Not being particularly interested in working that hard for a measly 25 cents, I of course was the last to drift off, if I ever did!

Even today, Mom is a napper, and all her close friends seem to know it. The phone doesn’t ring, the doorbell doesn’t chime, the TV is turned off while she grabs forty winks.

I once had a boss who was another staunch believer in naps. Every day after lunch, Miss Dot would ask one of us girls to wake her up in 45 minutes or so while she took a snooze on the couch in the ladies’ restroom. I remember going in there and finding her curled on her side, face to the wall, peacefully catching some zzz’s, and I always marveled that anybody could fall asleep in such busy (and smelly!) surroundings!

When I was pregnant with My Favorite Domer, I was working in pharmaceutical sales — luckily for me, I was managing my own time and territory. As soon as I’d made my last call, I beelined home and curled up on the sofa, where I promptly fell fast asleep for at least an hour. Nothing like hormones to turn a person into a napper!

But MFD took after me, I guess, and, after enduring naps for a couple of years, finally swore off them. To this day, he enjoys a “quiet time” mid-afternoon, but for him, that means he’s on his computer, playing music, or some such.

About the only times I succumb to naps now are when I’m sick or after that Thanksgiving or Christmas Day feast. People blame the tryptophan found in turkey as a sleep-inducer, but it could be something as simple as deviation from the norm — eating a BIG meal mid-day, when I’m used to lighter fare.

At any rate, that 2007 study also suggested that if you get a chance to nap, you should take it, and if you’re used to napping, you shouldn’t stop. So don’t feel guilty about napping — besides restoring your spirits for the rest of the day, it just might save your life!

Hoy me levanté temprano, me alisté y me fui a la U, la clase estuvo normal, debo admitir q los profes son muy buenos, luego de eso al salir, uno de los compañeros me habló, bueno chvr el chico, creo q es el secretario o algo así del salón, bueno, luego de eso me fui a caminar, hasta q x fin conocí al puente roto del q tanto he oído hablar…  de veras está roto, no llega al otro lado, bueno camine, x el centro, luego volví x la Remigio, me encontré con Mateo (ese q se va de intercambio) bueno, y regresé a mi casa, ya todo estaba limpio, y ordenado, y me bañé, tenia q encontrarme con Will a eso de las 12 en el inter, y así fue de tiempo chateamos… bueno, luego de eso, vino la Nena y le acompañe en su almuerzo, io comí una mandarina, xq ya rato antes había comido una manzana y una pera bueno, estuvimos allí viendo la tele, y nos quedamos dormidas, como hasta las 6 jaja…

Bueno, vimos Friends y luego de eso nos alistamos y nos fuimos a la iglesia hogar, llegamos y empezó temprano, la charla estuvo muy interesante y fue bastante extensa, al final, uno de ellos nos mostró su violín, muy bonito y antiguaaaaaaaaaazo, valorizado en no sé cuantos miles de dólares bueno luego de eso, le llevamos a una compañera a su casa, y finalmente a la casa, io entré al inter por sea caso y me había escrito muy feliz, entro el inter x fin! Y estuve allí un rato conversando con Miguel… y bueno tengo clases mañana asi q a dormir Saludos!!!! Uhmmm raramente mis pas no llamaron jeje pero igual gracias hasta mañana!

SIESTA was born in 1996 to implement, in self consistent DFT, the order-N techniques developed for tight-binding in the early 1990s. Because order-N was carefully imposed in all the code, this was very efficient, specially for large systems and moderate precisions. Later, the need for higher precisions, and the addition of many new functionalities, imposed compromises to the order-N philosophy, but efficiency kept being one of SIESTA’s strongest points.

http://www.icmab.es/siesta/

$ tar jxvf siesta.tar.bz2
$ mv siesta_src siesta
$ chown -R $USER:users siesta/
$ mkdir siesta/Util
$ mkdir siesta/Util/Hybrid

$ tar jxvf hybrid_src.tar.bz2
$ chown -R $USER:users Src/
$ mv Src/ siesta/Util/Hybrid/

$ cd siesta/Util/Hybrid/Src/
$ cp Sys/ifort-libs.make arch.make
$ vim arch.make
LDFLAGS=

$ make clean
$ make

ifort -o hybrid \
precision.o ionew.o memoryinfo.o parsing.o parallel.o sys.o fsiesta.o version.o neutralatom.o chkdim.o conjgr.o dynamics.o fixed.o iofa.o ofc.o functions.o inver.o iorho.o ioxv.o iovext.o memory.o paste.o reclat.o reinit.o timer.o timestamp.o vmb.o volcel.o cgvc.o iocg.o pcpot.o centerall.o ran3.o dot.o readall.o subconstr.o subfree.o writeall.o qmmm_lst_blk.o solv_assign.o mmforce.o ljef.o solv_ene_fce.o linkatom.o recipes.o assignation.o mulliken.o elecfield.o hybrid.o libfdf.a

$ cp arch.make ~/siesta/
$ cd ~/siesta/
$ make clean
$ make siesta

since i have returned from Rome…i have seen sevilla in a whole different light.  perhaps it is because fall has FINALLY arrived (20-23C), or maybe its just the fact that I am branching out and trying to explore new parts of the city. i realized yesterday that i have never walked east of my house…never…so i did it.  i found a shopping mall that is mounds and mounds better than the one i normally go to…it also has free wifi, and a cien montaditos, and a mexican restaurant with 4€ margaritas…you probably don’t understand how happy that made me unless you have spent time in spain…but its a big deal…i will be considerably poorer due to this discovery.  it goes to show that it pays to explore, it pays to branch out, it pays to try new things.

when I first got here, I thought that the life I was living was indeed a temporary dream…and that things would become normal at some point. however, now I realize that going to my internship from 9.00-15.00, coming home for lunch, having a bottle of wine, then sleeping for an hour or two is not only culturally acceptable..its expected of you.  from this, I have decuded that I will be returning to Spain upon my graduation from university.  there is no question about it…its happening

in other news, i had my first churros and chocolate of the fall yesterday.  it was cloudy, 19 degrees celsius, and I saw my first leaves tumbling from the trees in sevilla, and this was motivation enough for me to declare autumn in full swing.  i headed down to a certain hotel called “virgin de los reyes” (nevermind the engendered machista influence in the name) and proceeded to scarf down a tray of churros soaked in melted chocolate. yummy.

things are certainly looking up for sevilla these days…

]]> http://rassieurk.wordpress.com/2009/11/09/sevilla/ Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:21:30 +0000 rassieurk http://rassieurk.wordpress.com/2009/11/09/sevilla/

This past weekend we visited Sevilla. We had to wake up really early at 6:30 to catch our train at 8. On the 6 hour train ride there we slept almost the entire way, which was really nice. Once in Sevilla and checked into our hotel we decided to walk into town to get lunch. Sevilla was so great because everyone took siestas much more seriously than they do here in Barcelona. Everyone was out and just hanging out. It was like one big block party. We settled on a tapas restaurant and were very satisfied with our choice. We had a delicious 3 hour lunch for such a great deal! Much cheaper than Barcelona! After our meal we went to go meet up with my friend Alex from home. He and his friend, who is a club promoter in Sevilla, got us a couple beers and Tabo took Lauren for a ride on his moped!

After our day of festivities we decided to go back to the hotel for a bit to nap. However, after our large meal and accidentally eating some stale chocolate my stomach hurt really bad. I decided not to go out, which ended up being a really good decision because the rest of my friends who did got lost and came home after about two hours.

The next morning we had a delicious FREE breakfast at the hotel and went on a really cool tour of Alcazar, the oldest and still used palace in Spain. It was absolutely beautiful. We walked through gorgeous gardens and saw some of the largest tapestries hanging on the walls that exist. While we were there we saw a few different couples taking their wedding pictures there. The intricate detail on the ceilings of the palace was stunning.

After the tour we decided to do a bit more exploring on our own. We went to an awesome restaurant by the river for lunch, then walked around for a while. We discovered that we could rent paddle boats for only 5 euros a person for 1 hour! Obviously, we decided to do this. It was so much fun. The weather was perfect so when we were out on the boats I was slightly upset I didn´t bring my swimsuite to get tan. Rachel was my partner in my boat so we both just paddeled up and down the river for a bit while talking and having our own version of karioke. Lexi doesn´t really like paddle boats so we went back early to save her from her boredom (she was throwing leaves into the water). We later found out she was almost robbed by gypses!

That night we went to a wonderful Italian dinner and then met up with my friend Alex again to play beerpong. Lexi was my partner on team BOMO. We won one game then got sick of playing and just hung out the rest of the night. After the bar Rachel, Lauren, Claire and I went to another club and then got home around 4am. It was so much fun, but no Barcelona.

On Sunday Lexi and I walked around to try to find a pottery shop I had seen earlier on the trip so I could get a gift for my mom while everyone else ate lunch. Sadly, because it was sunday everything was closed but a couple tourist shops. It was still a fun afternoon though. Lexi and I walked around for about 2 hours and went in the Cathedral where Columbus is barried.

It was a great weekend with beautiful weather and I couldn´t be happier with how we spent our time there!

Hemos tenido un finde pasadito por agua y ¡¡lo qué nos queda!! He mirado y esta semana comienza con lluvias, y lo tengo que reconocer ¡me gusta! Los días lluviosos tienen su encanto ¿no creéis? Días de paraguas, botas de agua, chubasqueros, de mirar por la ventana al huerto, de frases hechas “anadanda como esta cayendo eh?” “dicen que han caído tantos litros” “deja, deja que esto pal campo viene gloria” “alaaaa que se limpie todo bien” y de escusas para quedarte un poco más en la cama o echarte una siesta….

En casa de Yogui era algo tradicional el chocolate el día que la brigadilla podaba los árboles de la carrera, ahora no sé si estiman la fecha de la poda y lo hacen igualmente , se lo tendré que preguntar porque árboles ya no hay. En mi casa somos más de celebrar la nieve con un manú especial.  Es algo que sabemos desde el momento que nos levantamos y vemos el huerto nevado. El menú será migas de mi apatxo tradición adoptada de su padre y chocolate con picatostes que nos hace amatxu mmmmmmmm ah! y también sabemos que las zapatillas de casa ese días estarán calenticas porque nos las dejan en la cocina de leña para llegar a casa y ta chán ¡piecitos calientes!

Ayer, para irnos a casa contentas, quedamos en que una tarde que haga frío y llueva tenemos que hacer chocolate. Ya sabemos que cualquier escusa es buena porque el miércoles pasado quedamos en el txoko para….. “ver a los vitis” si señor, con un par….. jejeje y realmente hace que la semana se sobrelleve mucho mejor. Así que espero bajadas de temperaturas y algún chubasco porque tengo mono de chocolate con pan o con churros o con más chocolate todavía.

Y es que el chocolate anima muchísmo y te da un chute de felicidad.

Esta tarde me ha pasado una cosa extraña. Después de comer me he echado un rato al sofá a ver la T.V. y poco a poco he notado que mis parpados iban cayendo al mismo tiempo que dejaba de prestar atención a la T.V. Si ya sé que tampoco es muy extraño. Pero despertándome de la siesta he pensado en porque me había dormido tan fácilmente y más con el jaleo de la T.V. y porque mucha gente dice aquello de “no puedo dormir sin la T.V.”

Bien pues ¡tengo una teoría! Eso sí, nos tenemos que remontar tiempo atrás a cuando nuestros padres nos dormían leyéndonos cuentos. En este caso creo que tiene mucho que ver, salvando las distancias claro está, pero mi teoría es que estamos acostumbrados a dormirnos escuchando una voz ajena. Quizás porque pensamos instintivamente que es una cuestión de seguridad. Pensamos que alguien esta ahí protegiéndonos y de esta manera podemos aflojar nuestro sistema nervioso. Esto hoy en día no tiene mucho sentido, pero cuando estás en medio de la selva si, y nunca hay que olvidarse de nuestros orígenes.

Por eso muchos niños pequeños se duermen cuando sus padres les cuentan un cuento y ahora que somos mayores la T.V. es ahora nuestro cuenta cuentos particular.

The Mysterious One

_________________

Brai at “the “beach”
Brai (BR – I — as in “aye” captain!)

My face was burnt. not to a crisp… but it is burned.
It was burned… but there was no ensuing tan.

Apparently the sun in Africa shines harder than other places. I mean, you know… more than the normal amount of heat that you feel from the sun. But I suppose that is due entirely the fact that California, *whispers* “the land of my love”, is such a perfect climate that I shall never enjoy any other sun. A few hours in the sun proved to kill my cheeks, just underneath my eyes. Sting. That’s a good word for it.

But on the bright side to Monumental things happened, though they did not seem so exuberant as they were happening.

One thing is that I touched the Indian ocean. Truly something I never thought I would be doing. It wasn’t as warm as they say, at least not in South Africa. We took a walk to the beach right after we ate, and we seriously could have been in Santa Cruz. I walked into an ice cream shop only to hear another american totally getting bashed on for being american. Kind of stunk at first. But they apologized and we all had an awkward, but good, laugh about it. But the point is… I never in my life thought I would be touching, seeing, smelling, soaking in the Indian ocean. It smelled exactly the same as everywhere else I’ve been.

Two.

I had a dream in January of 2008 that the world was ending. There was a massive flood and series of events leading up to that one large surge of water upon the land… but the end is what has always gripped me the most about this dream.

Everything had ended. The water had subsided. It was like everything was made new. – - – And I found myself walking along a body of water. With the waves coming upon the shore very softly. Lapping.

There was golden and green grass on a very soft earth and sand mix. It was peaceful. Just walking along side. I don’t remember if anyone was there with me or not. But that part may have just come true. Or at least it points to it some how.

As we were walking to the beach on Saturday (10-31-09) I walked along a peaceful body of water… everything was the same except for the side that the dream happened on. In the dream it was on the right, but when this happened, the water was on my left. But peaceful… yes.

I really don’t know what to make of times when i find myself living what I dreamed about years ago. I don’t know how to explain why I have dreams of coming events… at least in my life. I don’t claim to be a prophet to the nations or anything, but these dreams and precipitations happen more often than I really think about. Which makes some of my dreams that affect me enough to think they mean something very, very scary for me.

I think I will not only pay attention to my dreams… but pray more often… But now there is another reason for that…

Friday, 30 October 2009.
The day of particular poopiness…

But in my desperation I called out to God. And he heard me.

In my desperation and hatred of the situation I was put in I left the house the first moment I could. I just got in a taxi to run an errand to a large Costco® like store. We were buying office supplies.

They were talking with someone getting a temporary card for this club store, and the person they were talking to (Lionel) decided he would write me a note.

“The Lord is about to bring forth tremendous changes in your life. Visions will be on the increase. dreams will be on the increase. Don’t be afraid where the Lord Jesus, will pour out on you. Embrace what  He’s about to give. Don’t be afraid. Believe He’s faithful.”

I have a hard time believing that God will actually do this with me… but have you heard my dreams before??? I have them often. And supposedly now… they will be more often.

Church In The Park

It was super windy on sunday. Absolutely windy. really… like i’ve never experienced it before. Seriously… like something amazing. The wind blew pretty hard all.day.long. Nothing else will do as a word. It just blew.

The problem with that is that the wind is actually strong enough to pick up small particles of stuff (mostly sand) and carry it with it. In this process there is much sand everywhere you go here… there is also much face whipping. My Sun burnt face… stung most of the day because of this.

But the not so big problem/miracle that happened was that a bunch of people despite the cold and the wind stayed. And on top of that they made the call to salvation. I was so amazed my hands stopped hurting fora  few moments. Which leads me into a very personal thing that no one really knows about me…

When it’s cold… my hand hurt. And it was torture playing out there. Really. Playing piano was suffering for souls this time around. I was mad. And I started to think things like the leaders here don’t care about me or about what I feel like and all that stuff that can go through a person’s head when something doesn’t go in their favor!

…I also put myself to sleep when I’m playing worship music… that is… when I’m tired and sleep deprived to begin with. In college I would practice my important pieces and immediately feel like taking a nap. So often my rehearsal turned into a time of “recharging”. This happened on several occasions. To this day – and it can be proven by testimonials – it happens.

Guitar

Unlike the popular “strong bad email” (Search for Guitar) – which really… only a bunch of nerds know about – I am unable mash my fingers way up on the little strings and make the “meedly meedly” sound – BUT!!! I am a capable guitar player.

Many of my previous “struggle” writings could have easily been avoided if I had just been selfish and brought my guitar instead of a keyboard! But I decided to go with the more noble deed.

Guitar, since I was in college, has been one of my closest friends besides Jesus. Closer even than any friends that could actually speak and process emotion… that is until I met Loreena. But the guitar is still like my hiding place. It’s a place i can run to and feel comforted because i know that I can not only relax by playing music… but draw close to God.

If there has been one really hard thing to suffer with is not having a guitar at my hand to comfort me in desperate situations. But alas those days are over.

The Lord has shown His face on me. (Shown is and archaic form the past tense of Shine – and if you really want to get into it, it’s kind of like the past and present tense at the same time! God began to shine his face on me, and continues to do so even as I “pen” these words)

This week just enough money – no more, no less – was given to me as a blessing. R500 was handed to me from heaven.

I did not pray for a guitar. But God knew my heart. God saw my desperation and blessed me with one. Something I never really expected or asked for, but wanted none the less, maybe even needed, has been provided. This is just divine. No other word or situation can explain it. It was just enough money to purchase that guitar.

It’s a classical guitar to boot!

All to say… that this week has been one incidence of sheer divinity after another! Miracles that could never have happened are taking place in my life at an all time high!

And that’s without a ton of detail.

PRAISE THE LIVING GOD!!!

THE ONLY GOD WHO WAS, AND IS, AND IS TO COME!!!

THE ONE WHO SPOKE AND ALL THINGS WERE CREATED!

PRAISE GOD!

PRAISE GOD!

It’s nearly unbelievable. It’s uncanny. It’s perfect in timing. It’s soo… perfect.

At a moment when I really wanted to quit. At a moment when I thought I could go no further in sacrifice. At a moment when I thought I could trust God no longer… Such strange and mysterious happenings are happening. They are awe inspiring and cause peace to well deep within me.

____________________

COMING SOON!!!

The Account of Johannesburg.

…Victory Outreach is being used to change the world as we know it. God knew what he had in mind with this ministry.