Poor 9iulian11

 

America's Douchbag

Seriously! THIS guy thought he could win a Republican nomination??

Obama wins Iowa

 
Let me say first that I think it is unbelievable that Iowa gets as much attention as it does; it is basically an undemocratic process where a vast amount of voters cannot participate in the caucus. (Here's a good story by Christopher Hitchens on this matter). BUT, I am very proud of Barack Obama this morning. In my short history of political life, I haven't seen a candidate like Obama. He gave me chills last night when I listened to his acceptance speech. Thank you Hillary for telling us that YOU are ready from day one to serve. But what we need now is someone who can inspire US to change America for the future. My favorite quote from John F Kennedy is this: "My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world, ask not what America can do for you, but what together we can do, for the freedom of Man." Obama is the candidate who will inspire us, and the world, to work together to repair the world that George W. Bush has destroyed. Hillary, whom I do respect, will inspire partisan battles which seek to re-fight the culture wars of the 60s and 70s. Let's move beyond that.

Christmas time in Mallorca

 

I spent another pre-Christmas week in Mallorca for work. It was a fairly relaxed in comparison to previous Mallorca work trips. I had no problems flying to the U.S., unlike last year when I got stuck in London. However, I did have the pleasure of spending 10 hours in Newark, NJ waiting for my plane to Milwaukee. Let's just say I'm looking forward to a little break from travelling. I had a nice Christmas with my parents and extended family, although it was a bit brief.

Can I get an IRON? PLEASE?

What the hell is it with continental Europe and irons and ironing boards? Is there a EU law prohibiting them in hotel rooms? You always have to ask for one (hopefully you check-in early enough to get it before the housekeeping is gone). Then, you stay in a crappy hotel in Madrid and they don't have 1) a clean iron so it ruins your shirt and 2) an ironing board (try ironing a dress shirt on a blanket and see how that works).

Scenes of Munich

I got into Germany LATE last night. I was so tired and as usual on this trip, couldn't sleep. I got up this morning and after meeting with the manager of my company's Munich store, I was able to snap some photos before my train to Frankfurt. I got some great photos, aided by the clear and sunny sky. Got into Frankfurt tonight and had dinner with Bernd, who is charge of the staff and operations in our Germany stores. Back in the hotel now and soooo ready for bed.  

Slice of London

 

European Work Tour

Well, about four weeks ago I found out that I'd be in charge of the product for our stores in UK, Germany, Ireland and Holland for a few months. In order to have a better idea of the needs of each store, I had to embark on two-week European tour. I began in Berlin last week Monday. I travelled to Madrid for a meeting, and then spent the last four days in London. I had a little bit of time for exploring, but not too much. I'm heading back to Germany to finish my visits to Munich, Frankfurt, Koln and then Amsterdam.  

curbed posting

One of my favorite blogs is called Curbed. They blog about real estate in New York City. While they often discuss uber-expensive condos, most of the entries are about new architecture in the city. They also discuss changing neighborhoods, for better or worse. (Williamsburg is in the thick of good/bad gentrification).
A couple of months ago, on my way to work, I noticed an old building beginning the condo conversion. The interesting thing about the building was that it featured amazing graffiti and artwork on its outside walls. The building was an ever-changing canvas with art in spray paint, paper, and mosaic forms. Well, when Erik and I were walking to the subway in Soho a week ago, we noticed a new add on the outside of the condo. I submitted the picture to Curbed and they posted it today!

some pre-renovation pictures of the building I took this spring:

fire island

Erik and I had a great Labor Day weekend. We had a BBQ on Friday night. It turned into a mini-Chicago ex-patriot party with four of my friends who used to live in Chicago. On Saturday we recovered from the previous night and took the Long Island Rail Road out to the Fire Island ferry. Fire Island was amazing! After a quick lunch, we met up with our friend Josh, dropped our stuff off at the room he was renting and then hit the beach. After a couple hours (and a nap) we went back to Josh's place and got ready for afternoon tea. (Tea on Fire Island = drinking) We slept in on Sunday and headed to the beach after breakfast. The beach was so beautiful. We ran into some of our friends who have had a share on Fire Island this summer. We spent Sunday night drinking (with a quick dinner break). We woke up Sunday and had breakfast with Josh and our friend Reto who showed up Sunday evening. We took the ferry back around one and spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing at home.

living spaces for artists

New York passed a new law giving artists money to pay for rent. I think it will be interesting to see who gets the money, but I think it is a great plan considering the vast amounts of tax breaks New York City has given to banks and corporations to keep their headquarters in the city.

http://www.amny.com/news/local/am-artists0831,0,2691542.story

hectic summer

Well, its Labor Day Weekend and a slow day at work. I am thinking of getting started with my blog again, for those one or two readers out there. It has been a very busy summer! I spent about five weeks in Europe between the end of May and the start of August. It was a bit hectic going back and forth between the U.S. and Europe every other week for three of the weeks I was overseas. I did get to relax in Rome for a week after the last week of business. I stayed with my friend Ann and her boyfriend Bill. Erik met me in Rome and we had an awesome week of sightseeing, picture taking, and drinking.
I've been very content being in New York for four weeks without major travel interruption (I did go to Chicago for a weekend). My next trip is to the west coast in a couple weeks. Until then, I've got two beach trips planned the next two weekends: this weekend Fire Island, next weekend the Jersey Shore. (above: a view of my favorite building on my walk to work from the subway)

Back in New York, for a bit

Well, I've been M.I.A. for a month or so. I got back from Madrid the last day of March and have been travelling all month. I was home for about six days when Erik and I went to Oregon. We attended the wedding of Erik's friends on Mt. Hood, which was amazing. After the wedding we headed to Eugene, where Erik went to school. After one night and a day of sightseeing in Eugene, we went back up to Portland and remained there for the rest of the week. I met a lot of Erik's friends and family which was great. I was very impressed with Portland. It is set up so well, has good public transportation options, is clean, and is quite picturesque with the river and the hills.

We came back to New York for one week. After that, Erik went to Amsterdam and Paris with his mother. I had my first U.S. business trip for my new job. I went to San Francisco on Tuesday of last week. I was able to see my good friend Joanna which was great because I hadn't seen her in well over a year. After two days, I headed to L.A. which was weird because the last time I was there, I was 16. It was cool to have a new perspective.

On Friday, I flew to Chicago to spend the weekend with friends. It was the first time I had been back to Chicago since I moved last June. It was great to be back and I used every moment (and soaked up all the hot, sunny weather) to have fun with family and friends. My parents made it down to Chicago on Saturday and I spent Sunday at the Chicago Botanic Gardens in the northern burbs with Mike and Sara.

I got back to New York on Tuesday. This week went so fast! I'm looking forward to spending a New York weekend.

Mom and Me on the Chicago River, in front of the new Trump building



Erik and Me on Mt. Hood



Me at the beach of Santa Monica

Marriage in America

(inspired by a comment Erik made about divorce to his conservative family members)

Destroying the institution of marriage is hard work. Between work, eating, and sleeping, there are so few hours of the day to spend on the destruction of the "most important social relationship." So in the interests of time management, I think divorced Americans should step up to the plate and join gay Americans in destroying such a sacred institution.

Oh, wait, they've already done that! Marriage is "destroyed" because of divorce, not because gay people want to marry. That's like saying church attendance will be harmed by the people who want to go to church, not by the people who have decided to stop going to church.

I propose the following solution to protect marriage(and guarantee that there will be a Democrat in the White House in 08). Right now, it appears we have about five front-runners for president. Hillary, Barack, John Edwards, John McCain, and Rudy. With the help of John Edwards out on the campaign trail, Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama should propose a constitutional amendment banning divorce in America. We'll have to hire a shadowy figure, a democratic Karl Rove if you will, to get anti-divorce propositions in swing states like Ohio and Florida.

The Christian right, motivated by their morals and family values will vote to support this amendment and local anti-divorce initiatives. And, especially for the Catholics out there, as long as Giuliani or McCain is the nominee, and one of the above mentioned democrats is on the ballot, they'll have to vote for the democrat. Why? Well, Giuliani and McCain have both been divorced, while Hillary, Barack, and John Edwards, those crazy immoral liberals, are still on their first marriage. The right is motivated not by hate for gays, they are motivated by their commitment to family values. So, it makes sense that they wouldn't vote for a Republican who has contributed to the increasing divorce rate in America.

Now, maybe we should have compassion for these immoral Republicans? You know, hate the sin, not the sinner. Well, that may be all nice and good, but check out these statistics:

According the website www.divorcerate.org:
"The divorce rate in America for first marriage is 41%
The divorce rate in America for second marriage is 60%
The divorce rate in America for third marriage is 73%"

We cannot risk a NATIONAL NIGHTMARE if Giuliani (on his third wife) or McCain piss on their sacred oaths of marriage again while in office. We would certainly lose the war on terror if our president got a divorce while in office. The immorality of spawning a war which has killed thousands of innocent people is nothing compared to the destruction of marriage.

Giuliani is a Catholic. His only hope is that he has lived like "brother and sister" with his last two wives, as Pope Benedict has recently instructed Catholics they must do to continue going to mass. I certainly hope he is denied communion, as John Kerry was in 2004.

Or, maybe we should spend more time and energy working on real problems in this country. I hope the 2006 elections weren't just a flash in the pan, I hope it is a sign that Americans are waking up to the fact that Bush and his right-wing friends have spent the last 6 years distracting and dividing Americans over stupid issues that Bush values because that was the only way he could win elections.

Noche de Copas

Instead of being a hermit during the week, I went out last night with some of my classmates. We started at a Belgian bar where Celine, a girl from Belgium, was excited about drinking Belgian beer in a traditional Belgian bar. However, much to her surprise, although not surprising to me, there were no Belgians working or drinking there. Several students from Enforex (my "school") joined us there. It was fun, despite its lack of authenticity. Celine forced me to speak a little French which was difficult because I've successfully overcome my initial problem of saying French words instead of Spanish words. After several beers there, we went searching for a new place. We were handed some fliers for a dance club near by, so we took advantage of the free entrance and one free drink. We danced until 1:20, ten minutes before the last Metro.

Per Sara's Request Pt. 2

My apartment:

Another Madrid Weekend

I spent the last two weekends travelling and, because of some bad weather in Bilbao, I decided to spend another weekend in Madrid. The weather was perfect in the city, and I succeeded in adding more color to my skin, so as to have an extra souvenir when I return to New York next week. On Saturday, I saw the Palacio Real for the first time during the day and decided to be a tourist and go inside the Palace. I was a bit ambivalent about taking the tour as the building isn't the most spectacular building in Madrid. However, the inside of the palace was very beautiful and quite opulent (as one would expect of a royal palace).

I spent the rest of the day walking around and then, later in the afternoon, I relaxed in a bar while reading my book about the Spanish Civil War. At night, I had dinner with Rafa in the Chueca district and then went with him for some "copas" (drinks).

On Sunday, I met Rafa and his friend Helen. We spent the day hanging out in the Rastro / La Latina district. After another friend of Rafa joined us, we headed to the same tapas restaurant I went to on my first weekend in Madrid. After dinner we headed to a very old cafe in Lavapies. The cafe is a bit run down looking, but it adds to its charm as it probably looks like it did 80 or a hundred years ago. After reading my book about the Civil War, I could imagine groups of communists, anarchists, and all the other left wing groups of the time huddled in the cafe while they discussed the right-wing rebellion. After some wine and desserts, I headed back to my apartment and performed some much needed cleaning.

3-11-04

Sunday marked the 3rd anniversary of the Madrid train bombings. There were gatherings throughout Spain to remember the event(I saw one in Sevilla). In commemoration, Madrid unveiled it's official memorial next to the Atoche train station where all the trains on that day were headed (and where I arrived late Sunday night). I had some free time today so I went to Atoche and saw the memorial. The entrance is inside the station, where you look up inside a large glass block cylinder. Clear plastic hangs inside the cylinder, printed with words left by well wishers in the days following the attack. It was very serene, a stark contrast to the bustling Atoche station.

Sevilla

I spent the weekend in Sevilla (or Seville). What an amazing little city! Sevilla is very charming and the people are very friendly and open. I spent the weekend with my friend Rafa. By chance my other friend Ruben, who works for my company, and his boyfriend, were spending the weekend in Sevilla so we ended up staying in the same hotel. We arrived late Friday night and got a bit to eat and went to bed. Saturday morning, the four of us got a quick breakfast and began a typical Sevilla Saturday. We walked to the city center and Ruben gave us a quick tour of the city. After we saw the impressive Cathedral, Real Alcazar, and Gold Tower, we headed for the first of five bars to have a beer and a couple tapas. We spent the rest of the day going from bar to bar. For about $45 dollars, we had drinks and food at five different places, quite a bargain!! It was great to spend the weekend with Spaniards as I felt more at home as I was able to have a local experience. After we were good and drunk we headed back to the hotel for a siesta on the sun roof (it was about 80 degrees in Sevilla) and then a siesta in the hotel room.

Around 9 we headed to another cheap tapas bar for dinner (most of the dinning in Sevilla consists of tapas; according to my little book about the city, other forms of dinning are really expensive). I enjoyed most of the food but one type of ham they eat isn't for me. It tastes good, but I'd have to cut all the fatty parts off of it to eat it and I felt stupid trying to do it. After dinner, two girls who work in our store, Yolanda and Fatima, joined us for drinks. Ruben and his boyfriend went back to the hotel and the girls, Rafa, and I went dancing.

Spain's timetable is very different. When we got to the dance club at two in the morning, there was no one there. About an hour and a half later, the place was packed. We had a lot of fun and left around 5 in the morning. My eyes were in pain from the combination of smoke and my contacts (which I'm still getting used to wearing again).

Sunday was a pretty relaxed day as Rafa and I were a bit hungover and tired. We had a nice lunch of paella and then walked around the city again. We walked through the cathedral and into the tower (pictured). We got some ice cream, had some dinner later and picked up our bags from the hotel on the way to the train station. It was a great weekend!

Train Tickets and Terrorists

Last night, my friend Rafa and I went to buy tickets for our trip to Seville. We were unable to purchase them last night because people had made reservations but had not paid for them. (I don't understand this ridiculous policy, seriously!!) So, although we could buy tickets to GO to Seville, we had to wait until this morning to see if those people followed through with their purchases of return tickets. Luckily, Rafa was able to buy the tickets this morning.

We were waiting for the metro after our disappointing trip to the train station, when all of a sudden, Rafa grabbed me and yelled, "ciudado!" (be careful). I felt something push the side of my stomach and turned and saw a man with a black and white scarf (very similar to those seen in terrorist videos) covering his face. His hand was pushing my side and the second I turned, we looked in each other's eyes and he . . . realized I WAS NOT HIS FRIEND HE WAS TRYING TO SCARE!!!. He was down on his knees telling me how sorry he was (all in Spanish) and Rafa explained that I was from the US. The guy, correctly, felt like shit! Rafa and I were laughing for the next 20 minutes until we went our separate ways.

I had a much better Spanish class today. Last night, when I was with Rafa, I realized that I was using some of the things I've learned in class this week so I was a bit more calm and opened minded in class.

Well, we leave for Seville in two hours. I'm not going to bring the laptop so I'll be updating things on Monday!!

Rewind

Before I left New York, Sara visited NYC. Originally, I was supposed to be in Madrid when Sara arrived in New York so it was great that I was able to hang out Saturday and Sunday with her and our friend Hiral who also lives in New York. On Saturday, we had lunch at the Heartland Brewery in Union Square and on Sunday, we had dinner at Sea in my hood. (The following pictures are used with permission from Erik E. Larson)