NuríSpark

That's it! I'm posting a letter to the support staff. My updates to the template aren't taking effect! you'll hear from me once this is all fixed!

I think the blogs harte me. I just posted AND updated the blog template and NO changes were saved.

What's UP!?

*sigh*
Leah, Chris, and now...
Wade.

Gone.

*sniff*
I miss them all.

Zuza (brit gal) is here for a week in RESA. She's cool. We chilled a bit. She'll be hanging if she can when she can.
We shall be expecting Aussies, South Dakotans, et al. around June 30 -- as M� tells it, they don't speak much Spanish. If Zuza is any indication, it's true. But then, she lives in Portuguese, not Spain. So it's not like it's her problem. She's cool just the way she is.

I'm sad and a bit lonely. ;( I'll get over it.

had lunch with MC and Stefan. Cr�pes are fun. :)

made wade's gift... sleepy.
made virtually no plans to see him tomorrow (unless 11am phone calls count)
lunch with Marie-Cristine and Stefan tomorrow.
I miss them. they give good hugs.

wade's giving me more food! woo!

spent the morning sleeping. Around 2pm, I think I woke up...checked mail, and Jos� Luis called. Another BBQ! �Qu� suerte! Wade came too, and I had rabbit for the first time. I thought it was chicken -- but the bones were smaller and more delicate. It's good without BBQ sauce.

-----[ pause ]-----
Just got back from taking a walk with Gabi, St. Luss and Sheila. Took photos, got runny noses.

My tummy hurts from eating such yummy Spanish food. I don't want to eat for a few more hours. Tee hee.
Slightly bored. Need to start writing my final about Contact. The notes I took are just sitting in my backpack.

Nothing alltogether faboo happened today. I watched 2 hours of Embrujadas and was satisfied. I wish Prue were back. I'm not a fan of Paige. Rose McGowan is a cool chick, but I'm just not happy with the character. *sigh*

I suppose I'm not the only one who hates Paige's outfits either... hee hee hee.

I talked to Leah online today. She's still got jetlag. I know my mom won't tolerate much of it from me when I get home.
St. Luss and I measureed my Gateway box to make sure it followed USAir standards. It follows it. The box is 59 cubic inches, and USAir said it could only be 70. So I'm well within my limits. And I don't think my computer will weigh more than 70 or 80 lbs (the max is 100 lbs.) So maybe things will be okay. Maybe when I get home, my computer will stay in one piece. Maybe I'm kidding myself and I'll have a piece of scrap metal when I get home. ;-P

Maybe I'll stop worrying.

Nick and Bego�ia left... we had a nice dinner for Wade:
Hamburgers, tortilla espa�ola (made by Laura y Lucilia), my new Gouda cheese mashed potatoes, salad, and steamed-stirfried veggies... Nick brought pineapple upsidedown cake. It was a good night.

I'm pooped!

Time for sleep.

It seems that the smarter a person is, the more they hate themselves. It's like the more brain power we have, the more likely it is wasted on self-loathing. For a long time, whenever I looked at anyone, I would compare how much thinner they were than me. It was like I couldn't remove the scales from my eyes. If they were thinner, they were automatically better, smarter, hotter, happier, more whatever than me. It was such a waste of time, because I couldn't really see anyone or really know anyone, and it just made me really lonely.
We cannot really compare ourselves to others, because we are all different. We are all unique, and because of that we are all beautiful. To me, the gym body and fashionable clothes don't make the man. It is a hot mind and a conscience that turn my head. Advertising, magazines, movies, etc. all tell us that one ideal is attractive, and if you are in your right mind you should want that or want to be that. When you realize all of that is a big lie designed to make you buy more products to assuage your insecurity, then life becomes a lot easier.
There are a lot of smart queer guys out there who want nothing more than to meet someone like me: an intelligent, soulful individual with great taste and a frustration with the lack of queer images out there with which I can relate.

-- Me, channeling Margaret Cho

Audiogalaxy is now removed from my computer. BAD. I cannot believe they were all 'buy AG gold' and then block EVERYTHING. I'm glad *I* didn't buy it. Sweeter bought 2 months, I think she only got 1.5 out of it before AG became a slave to the man. You know ... the man? Yea.
I'm home in like 2 weeks. I think I can live off of my mp3z and CDs. Then, once I get home, I can use dad's connection to get WinMX and Kazaa. Then the real fun starts (muahaha.)

I laughed exceptionally hard at this:

Villains fear me. Heroes envy me. Nur� is... The Purple Crusader

I thought I could split it up... it's hard.
I'm trying to devote my energies between Blogs and LiveJournals.
It's friggin hard. Especially since I actually get FEEDBACK in my LJ and nothing really in my Blogs -- unless you count Heath... I don't. (*grins*)
I'm thirsty.
didn't eat dinner.
I'm lazy
tired too.
Shana visited my site.
I love Shana.
Go Shana!
I miss Shana.
Werk Shana!
Yay Shana!
I hear she has a dyke haircut. Shana's a mommy with a boyfriend. I find this amusing.
I say: Hooray for new lesbo-action figure Shana. Comes with new accessories: short hair, flannel shirt, toolbox.

Bob's not amused, I'm told. Neither are her kids. Poor Bob and kids. DEAL.
She'll send me a photo soon. :)
Love you mommacat! This is a shoutout blog to you!

I miss Shana. She doesn't talk much on AIM. I can't wait to see her when I get back to Otown.. to bad she doesn't work at MCIS anymore :(
Meanwhile, today I had lunch at M�'s house... her lil brother is so sweet. He always asks when I'm coming over for lunch again. He wasn't there today. Apparently, according to his family, he's going to disappointed that he missed me. It's nice to be loved.

I called my mom. She's doing okay. I miss her more than I'm supposed to. I'm supposed to be all tough and adult (almost 22 now!) and all I wanna do is have her make me dinner and watch a movie with me. I haven't seen her in a year. She's gonna make me an appointment with Dr. Ko (I went to high school with Tim and Jim, his sons) about my allergies when I get home.

I don't want to cook. I have to cook. I don't want to cook. I have to :(

Pooooo.
Wade leaves soon. We had a nice time last night.
I had my talks individually with him, Leah, Verena, and Chris ... all that's left now is Mr. Nick.

I just want this all to be over. I don't like conflict. I don't deal well with it.

I want a long phone call with Yas or Tom or Cesar. I wanna vent. LOTS. For no reason.

:)
Mmm. My pasta primavera sucks compared to Leah's. I'm gonna have an insulin attack.

Because I adore Cesar and Shana lots:

Sorry things are so hectic! I have been running around a lot trying to get stuff done. LiveJournal works now. I'm hoping to make the balance work like this:
Most posts stay in Blogs (especially siteupdates.) More personal and evil posts go to LJ. Which works for me.

If you want to read a LiveJournal entry, you'll have to email me and I'll add you to my list. There's a purpose for this.

Leah and Chris are gone. Wade leaves Sunday. Nick's here until July. Verena too. Don't know about Stefan and Marie-Cristine. They stopped by my room with a note. I was at lunch.

Other than fun. I'm just updating small stuff, like adding more friends (yes, I know I have to add Jens...)
I really have no other major updates besides that of FRIENDS UPDATE and LiVEJOURNAL UPDATE.

Wanna see more stuff? Lemme know.

I emailed the guy who created the PosterChild program that allows you crazy bloglings to comment on my blogs. He's working to create my guestbook. You can see a sample by using the menu on the left.

Tonight and for the rest of my time in Spain, I shall eat very well, what with all the food Leah has left me! Muahaha.

My Senshi Colors Are: Purple: Gentle, Easy to Please, Relaxed Brown: Practical, Intelligent, Stable Get Your Senshi Colors At SailorOrion.com

I think I'm supposed to go to the city... don't know when/how .. odd.

I'll edit this blog later.

LiveJournal is made... gotta do stuff to it.

Let me explain something to you all...

I love my computer. I'm also a diehard PC fan for (mostly) one simple reason: all the software I need, someone can give it to me -- I would probably not be a graphic design student if I had to buy all the software I need. I know that's saying something bad... but it's not easy to be a student of graphic design with a computer... first there's the computer -- that's like 1,000-2,000$US -- and that's not including monitor and printer... then there's peripherals: Monitor, Printer, graphics tablet, USB hub, Zip drive, Digital Camera (or Digital Video Camera), scanner, video capture card -- this list is rediculous. All that is well over 3,000$US! And I thanks to many loving people I have most of it.
Then you tack on buying major software: Microsoft Office (with Publisher -- or I'll have to get...), Adobe Pagemaker, Photoshop 7, Illustrator, Steamline, Premiere, Acrobat (not the reader, the program that actually MAKES PDFs); Corel Bryce; Creative Labs Poser; Macromedia DreamWeaver, Flash, FreeHand; Quark xPress; Jasc PaintShop -- and don't forget that most drawing software also needs plug-in filters which cost sometimes like 40$US! Each piece of software is about 500-700+$US. How fair yet uncontrollably really uncool-unfair! And that's JUST for software for school/drawing!

On a PC, it's just much more common (I'm not sure why) for there to be 'pirated' or cracked software. There just is. I don't happen to have a Mac or go surfing around for it... but I'm thinkin it's much harder for a Mac to be cracked-- which is really good...but sad as you're seeing from a student's perspective. So after I have all that software, I'm upto about 10, maybe 20 thousand dollars!!! Think about other programs I might want -- like telnetting, privacy software (anti-spam, firewall, anti-virus), Spanish language software, decompression software (for zips, rars, aces -- those all want money too!) There's more than just what comes with the standard system...

So there I have it. A PC with mostly all the trimmings. I spent somewhere around 1,500$US on JUST my tower (as I own my own monitor and I had a zip drive, printer, camera, and scanner.) And my career, my choice, tells me, I need to spend more money -- me, a student -- and buy (even at university discounted prices, are still astronomical) all that software I listed on top of everything else. UNREAL! So where is all this money going to come from? Because I worked 2 jobs at my uni last year just to pay for gas for my car (you know, so I can go to CLASS and go HOME.)

And they (you know ... 'they') say 'well, you already have a few scholarships and government grants and loans just to pay for tuition! We cannot give you any more! There are other students who need money too, you know." And my poor parents are looking at me, saying 'it's hard just paying for ourselves and you -- don't look to us for financial assistance.' Because I'm not from a rich family. And I don't act like it. I think lots of (if not the world) people think I come from a rich family -- I don't!

So now, I'm looking at getting a new computer (maybe) especially since I might be able to sell this one in Spain... which led me to looking around and I thought... hey, I do like the new Mac OsX .. and Miami (my Uni) has a deal with Apple, maybe (heh -- why did I think it would be something extra-ordinarily helpful??) I should look into getting a Mac (I really like the cute new generation 3 iMacs, but they don't have all I need.)

So browsed and made a custom Mac -- because, even I need some fun. I think the only things I put in that were 'for fun' were the iPod and instead of getting dull speakers, I got bass speakers so I could use my 'new' computer as a TV (since I won't be able to afford a TV with a new computer!)

Here's the breakdown

Power Mac G4	$4,085.00
includes:	Keyboard 1GHz - DP PowerPC G4 NVIDIA GeForce4 Titanium 2x80GB Ultra ATA drive 1.5GB SDRAM - 3 DIMMs Accessory kit AirPort Card Mac OS 56K internal modem Zip 250 Drive Apple SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW) Ultra SCSI PCI card & cable adapter
2 Apple Studio Displays (17" flat panels)	$1,858.00
APP for Power Mac	$237.00
SmartDisk FireFly 5GB FireWire Hard Drive	FREE!  (oh joy!  something I didn't even need!)
HP Deskjet 990cM Inkjet Printer	$294.00
AirPort Base Station (which prints on both sides of the paper -- I can save money on paper!  I almost got the other printer which had a card reader for my digital camera)	$281.00
Retrospect Express 5 (backup software)	$49.95
Adobe Photoshop 7	$599.95
Adobe Illustrator 10	$399.95
Norton AntiVirus 8	$59.95
Microsoft Office v.X for Mac ('academic version'?)	$199.95
Roxio Toast with Jam (to burn CDs)	$199.95
Virtual PC 5.0 (Windows 2k -- so I can still use my old PC software)	$219.95
and for fun (since I'm spending thousands of dollars...)
iPod	$469.00
Apple iPod Power Adapter (so I don't have buy batteries!)	$45.00
Harman Kardon SoundSticks (they're the speakers)	$199.00
Promotion Savings Discount (I'm not sure this is from MU -- just Apple trying to be nice)	-$200.00
TOTAL (not incl.tax *groan*)	$8,997.65

I'm done. I just want to scream and cry and sleep and eat until I just die of heartfailure from bacon or something bad-for-me -- because it's just too depressing being a poor student with dreams. *sigh*

'So I was constantly asking myself,
'Am I gay?
Am I straight?'
And then I realized:
I'm just a slut

...

Where's my parade?"
Thank all that is good that there's Margaret Cho to make me laugh!

1. I got a passing grade on my project for Lit. Espa�ol.
2. I'm Still Myself Inside � 1990, Fred M. Rogers -- yea, that's right MISTER ROGERS! The one and only!
I can put on a hat, or put on a coat,
Or wear a pair of glasses or sail in a boat.
I can change all my names
And find a place to hide.
I can do almost anything, but
I'm still myself inside.
I can go far away, or dream anything,
Or wear a scary costume or act like a king.
I can change all my names
And find a place to hide.
I can do almost anything, but
I'm still myself,
I'm still myself,
I'm still myself inside.
If you've known me earlier than 2000, you'll think this song is true AND funny.
I've slept most of the day, so I'm gonna go draw. No bitterness in the blog for you all... look at another one.

This is a shoutout blog to Le. He's got a right to be sad. But he's got friends -- in Ohio(Spain) and Cali who adore him -- I know there's more, but I don't know where ALL his friends live.
May the blogs be with you, Le (or Livejournal, as the case may be.)

Work work // sleep sleep // draw draw -- I've almost made a poem
this blog is brought to you by the word: relationships. Liz and Howie are dumb. I was finally called in as Capt. Relationship (meddling since 1994) and have placed a moretorium on their rediculous behavior until 20 August. It was all I could do from them from ripping each other's virtual spleens out.

Aside from that, my cousin Steve emailed me cute pics of his kids. I agree with him about not posting lil kids photos online... privacy maniacs and stuff.. but I can tell you about them! Eli and Molly are SO cute. They look just like their parents and since Steven and Leah are purty people, it's all good. I know my Aunt Bobby and Uncle Jimmy are just beaming with pride over all of their grandmidgets.
Meanwhile, my brother Jason and his wife Ami have a ... a pixie of a daughter, Arielle, who's also in my photos. My sister Lisa and her husband Frank have 3 kids of their own, but I have no photos to share :-( Maybe when I get home, I'll scan some from my parents.

I've been working on several art projects at the same time... one for Bryan and his bf, Chris; one for Ana, Pablo's girlfriend; one for Leah and her siblings; and one for Helen, whom I don't have a photo up yet, but I do have one of her... I'm lazy. She's a VERY cool Brit. I like Helen. She's fun.

I cleaned my kitchen quite a bit! I'm very pleased! I was going crazy from looking at the mess and NO ONE would help me (considering the majority of the mess was from cooking everyone else's dinner, I was sorta annoyed that no one helps me.. but when Verena has people in her apartment, it's "let's all help German girl" ... maybe I need to start swearing in German and blaming all the world's ills on men.. hmmmm... I'll get back to you all on that one, maybe.

I'm tired, and I have a group meeting at 10:30a/11-ish with my group to finish Tarza... I mean The Jungle Book (c'mon! They're like the same thing! -- except that Tarzan's white)

omg! do you realize how many paragraphs (let alone SENTENCES) begin with the word or root 'I'?! I mean, (there I go again!) I relize this is about me, but could I be any more static in my writing!? I shall (Dammit!) put a stop to this... once I figure out how to write about my feelings without talking about myself too much in the third person (like Leah does... which is sorta scary.)

So I just spent about 2.45 hours reading from 'cover to cover' my friend Bob's LiveJournal. Lemme tell you, he gets LOTSA action where he lives. Maybe I should move north once I graduate. I like the idea of Texas and Cali because Tomandyas are all about it (I'm now going to refer to them collectively as TAY or YAT depending on who the dominant force of nature is.) It just strikes me as funny as how you see someone one way, then read their 'journal' and feel like you see another side of them that you didn't even know existed. Did you know Bob used to be a dancer at a club for money? I know | didn't! That's just ONE thing I learned of many. I also realize that I give a lot of attention to my blogs -- more than Alison or Bob do to their LiveJournals. Maybe it's because I'm in Spain -- really, that cannot be it because I'm always by a computer.... so I dunno. I like being able to Blog once or twice or as many times a day as I like.

I slept all day! I woke up, made "Spanish rice" -- that's what the Internet cookbook called it. Leah made a rather salty- but good- tortilla, and Verena and I made a salad. Then Leah, Maxon, and Ariel went to the park and got the fire going in a BBQ and later Carla, Wade and I showed up for smores, marshmellows, and roasted apples. Javi was there. He annoys me. I never blogged about Javi. He's really full of himself and what's more, he has the nerve to ignore all of us this year -- it's not that we didn't notice him (it's hard NOT to) and then really, when Maxon comes to town, THAT'S when he shows interest in the Americans. I know Leah and Wade have spent one or two evenings with him ( like all of a month ago ) with him... but still, I'd never had a conversation with him ... until like, Friday night. And why? Because he wanted me to 'invite Maxon -- OH! and his sisters too, I guess -- to his birthday party.' Like I'm his gaddamn messengerboi. Whatever. I was annoyed, but being a good sport, I did like I was told. [/RANT]

I've been hanging out online with Bob and wrote a social for him. Now I think he's annoyed with me -- as is Darrin (the admin) and now I wish (along with the issues with Se�or Pablo) that I would become mute and my hands get chopped off so I cannot communicate in any way shape or fashion. I don't think I have any good talents... except for finding ways for people to get annoyed and mad at me. I'm sure that if you know me, you won't be compelled to say 'Oh, Nur� ... it's not that bad!" You'll see "....hmmm, yea, I can see where some people might say that..." and really you mean "He<< yea! You annoy me like it's your job!" and we all see why I'm single. ;-) (I speak NOT of my ex. I'll give an entire blog to my ex someday when I'm good and annoyed.)

I'm tired. The sun's really risen and I've not slept? What's wrong with this picture? ME. AWAKE. NO CLASSES. NO FINALS. NO MONEY. Just my computer. SAD. No lovinz for Nur� either. Ohhh woe is me! Woe is me.

I hope someone out there loves me.

I wanna add those cute lil'"how I'm feeling" icons to each blog... but I'm not sure how.. I'll have to look into it.

Love, smores, and of course... BLOGS!

I'm destined to make someone very happy... since I can make pancakes in the shape of things... it's quite remarkable. I made a cactus (just like in Practical Magic), a star, an oval with a hole in it, the letter M, and a fish. Gosh I'm cool!

I love Georgia O'Keefe... here's a quote my brother sent me: "I hate flowers. I only paint them because they're cheaper than models and they don't move." She's darn cool, if I do say so myself. Too bad she's dead.

I blogged lyrics to a song, Sakura Drops, earlier, but I lost the blog, and it's now dead. SAD lil blog. I'll post them later when I find them again. Then it'll be a reincarnated blog. Muahaha. Just call me Dr. Frankenblog!

So two things...
1. Karen thinks I'm not so chic because I don't like old-style Elton John.. eh.
2. I wouldn't date me if I were a wommon.
3. I like Patricia Manterola's Que el ritmo no pare so much, I'm sharing it with the bloglings. Dance on, ya'll!
Me: ate dinner with Wade, Verena, Ariel, and Leah -- Leah made Chili, I made the pasta and strawberries and my famous whipped cream (which Elyssa cannot hold a candle to.)
Hung out with Cristina for a bit, then watched Jungle Book cartoon. Now going to sleep, I think. yea... 8am... umm, I should be sleeping... yea...

My day was made terrible, better, not so bad, almost bad, nice, annoying, then just ... more annoying. Pablo's letter of response to my email totally construed my understanding of human nature and I'm almost always the one who sees the best in everyone. I was low. Then I talked to M�nica and RESA and I realized that scare tactics are old, dumb, and don't need to work on me. And my day got better. Later, Jos� Luis took me down to Alcampo and I finally went shopping for (probably) my last grocery shopping trip in Spain. He really made life simple and easy. Thank goodness. Then I was off to a really fancy-expensive-nice Italian restaurant to meet Verena, Leah, et al. Reservations for 10. I arrived at 9:55pm. They arrived not-so-fashionably late at 10:45pm. I had a nice pasta in a green garlic-clam sauce, Spanish onion soup, and tiramisu. I don't eat out often, so it was a nice treat! Then, it was bar time at 'Limbo," which I'd yet to visit. Let me tell you all, I'm glad I never did. It was dull as all hell. I waited and waited for Verena to get tired or feel guilty that she'd need to study the next day, but it really didn't happen until the energy of the room just died. Then she left with Wade and I. I really wished I'd had more money so I could have simply caught a cab and gone home. I'm mostly a home-body, and have done the clubbing thing with Tom and friends my first years at MU. I'm done. I almost felt bad that I wasn't interested in everything. People kept coming up to me, thinking I was sad or angry. I was just bored and annoyed that I couldn't leave. I wasn't about to say 'Verena, I wanna go' and ruin her fun. So I lasted through it, and Chris's 'everyone adds their element to a room' (is mine somber and annoyed?) and 'you only get out of it what you put into it' (if you take me out of this place, I won't throw my water in your face?) opinions. I know he was only trying to help, but it just made me look at him and go 'geez! what a naturalist attitude!' I don't subscribe to it. It's not wrong. It's probably not even called 'naturalist' but I like calling it that. That, and the DJ at Limbo must be fired. He played crap crap and then, Shakira for a a second, but then CRAP again. He could have redeemed himself with some good Destiny's Child (like Ladies leave your man at home, Independant woman, Sexy daddy or Bugaboo but no .. Survivor. Which is a fun song... but not to dance to, really... at least, not the version I heard. I think the most important part of the evening was fulfilled (from when I came and left) was that Ariel and Maxon had a good time -- and that's all that mattered to me. My happiness was of less consequence (but it would have been nice if they'd played my new favorite song: Patricia Manterola's Que el ritmo no pare.)
Now that I'm back at the RESA, I put my groceries away and read emails: one from Pablo which was just so asinine (his English was correct for the most part, but I'm not commenting on that) -- he's so stubborn to defend something he believes in, but really knows he's wrong. It's one thing to defend one's beliefs because they truly believe in them. It's quite another to cause trouble for something just to feel important and make others miserable [[[ and claim it in the name of liberty, freedom, and privacy ]]] What a crock!
But still, he's my friend. People who think clearly tell me 'a true friend would still stick by you and you of him if you disagreed' Yea. I agree. But I still will let this blow over. He really is entitled to his opinion .. but to express it in such a way as to disrupt so many minds and lives -- that just irks me.
Oh, that and the fact that he thinks the US, one of the most advanced cultures in the world, brothers with the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, China, Israel, Japan, and France, doesn't know what democracy is. That cracks me up. That I don't live in a free society. Oh, and he does. Do any of us? Where is there pure democracy in this world? My parents' house-rules aren't democratic. The fact that I cannot walk into McDonalds without a shirt or shoes if I want to be served isn't democractic. Since when would RESA become subject to this? We pay them to live here -- we abide by their rules. If I were able to live in an apartment, and the landlord says 'don't nail any holes in the walls,' those are his rules. I know I sound like all-of-the-sudden an old fuddy duddy -- some rules are dumb, and I've walked over them because I think they're dumb and don't serve to help, protect, or maintain order -- but this is about the concept 'if you want to play, you play by the rules.'

The blogs dislike whiners with nothing but scant, immature, incoherent phrases lacking in maturity. I wonder who said those keywords???

See me smile! Nothing bothers me.

So there's a drama going on. But more important things first. Leah's brother and sister, Maxon and Ariel are here until next Friday. The arrived Wednesday night and they're superfun and cool. We went out last night to a few bars and then a small snack at an all night cafeter�a. I don't like going out very much, but I had a nice nice nice time. Leah got a lil too tipsy, but she was buzzin pretty good. I stuck to water or a Coke. Somewhere, I had principles -- I think I put them in my jeans' back pocket and sat on them. ;-)
Tonight, I'm thinking it's dinner out (Italian) and then, we're oot and aboot for the entire night. I hope I can handle it!

So here's the deal -- I don't like drama. It's not fun. But Pablo made it for us all, and I wanted to stop it before it blew up in his face. M�nica wants to do room checks because several public objects are missing from the residence: ash/trash cans, laundry baskets, chairs. Spanish people don't like that very much. Personally, I don't care, since they're commonplace in dorms in the US. So Pablo wrote a letter to all the people he could saying how he had researched laws of privacy and the Spanish constitution and a billion other impressive facts. He also was spewing (to me) facts which he regarded as true, but were indeed false. So I wrote my own, as I said. I know it's in Spanish -- so I'll translate it. I am proud of the essay I wrote for this 'open forum' and no one will take away that pride. I know I did my best, and it was good enough!
Al contrario de la creencia popular, RESA es una instituci�n/empresa privada. No est�n sujetos a estas pautas. Seg�n la excepcional investigaci�n del Sr. Blanco Sampedro: casas, residencias, complejos de hoteles y apartamentos est�n sometido a las leyes de intimidad. Sin embargo, sus textos exhaustivos no cubren RESIDENCIAS ESTUDANTILES privadas. Adem�s, cualquier subyugaci�n de normas puestas dentro de la residencia O Castro que de la fecha fija en julio no se votar� en compa��a de un
'supuesto' n�mero-X por ciento de la aprobaci�n. Tales normas y suposiciones, elaboradas como rumores por ciertos agitadores �nicamente sirven para formar m�s extensas y m�s profundas tensiones entre nosotros (los residentes) y la administraci�n (M�nica y RESA). Esta disputa no es una cuesti�n de principios ni que esta justificado en
nuestros derechos humanos. Los instigadores residentes luchan por una causa de poder en una disputa en la que no est�n en una situaci�n favorable como residentes. Estos estudiantes, a�n adolescentes, todav�a no entienden lo que la importancia de libertad y las ideas de las dos burocracias �ntimas y p�blicas. Ni las libertades individuales de los residentes ni colectivos se ponen en peligro. RESA ni M�nica quieren estorbar la libertad personal, individualidad, ni intimidad de cualquier persona. Garantizan la calidad de
nuestro nivel de vida. Debemos estar seguros cuando culpamos conductas injustas y criminales, recordar que esos que roban objetos de uso p�blico para su propio uso son
los delincuentes reales. {Contrary to popular belief, RESA is a private institution/business. They are not subject to these laws. According to the exceptional investigation of Mr. Blanco Sampedro, houses, residences, different types of hotels and apartments are under these privacy laws. However, his exhaustive texts do not cover private STUDENT RESIDENCE HALLS. Moreover, any subjugation of rules placed on the Dormitory O Castro on the fixed date in July will not be voted on by the supposed X-number percent for approval. Such rules, suppositions, and elaborations as rumors by certain agitators will only serve to create more extensive and deeper stress to the lines of communication between us (the residents) and the administration (M�nica and RESA). This dispute is not a question of principles nor does it try to justify our human rights. The resident instigators are in a struggle for power in a dispute in which they, as residents, have neither place nor right to fight. These students, still teenagers, still do not understand the importance of freedom and the concept of public and private bureaucracies. Neither the individual nor the collective freedom of the residents is in danger. Neither RESA nor M�nica want to encroach upon the personal freedom, individuality, nor the privacy of any person. They are guaranteeing the quality of our standard of living. We should be sure that while we are looking to accuse injustice and criminals that we remember that those who steal public objects for their own personal use are the true wrongdoers.}

I refuse to take back my thoughts and remain silent. There is too much bickering going on. I know adding my two cents was the fire just waiting for the fuel, as Ani Difranco says. I regret only that people cannot learn to accept criticisms and that feelings are worn like armor and used as weapons instead of intelligent discouse and debate. That just makes me sad that such a small matter has been blown up into a rediculous issue of 'the grandest proportions.'

That is all. I am burning my soapbox. Let him dig his own grave. I tried the best way I know how to dissuade him. I only wanted him safe and this all to come to a swift end. In the end, there will only be one winner: RESA, and everyone else will grumble and have hurt feelings and lost friends. There is wisdom in the words of the blogs, listen to it like the wind on a summer's day (or something poetic like that.)

Now everyone calm down! Yes. Yes. The famous Kristin McCartney is on the site. It's true. She's going to comment about the site and artwork and how much she values me as a friend -- isn't that exciting? Let's get to it, shall we?

Read this. I love this song
:::( Hikari ):::

Light / Hikari Utada

No matter what the time
I'm just alone
Destiny forgotten,
Even though I kept going.
Inside of the sudden light I awaken
In the middle of the night

Quietly,
Stand in the exit way,
And, in the pitch-black, take the light

And about the recent promises,
Is it just that I'm so anxious?
A wish that's wanting to be said, but shall be repressed
I'll introduce my family,
You'll surely get along well

No matter what the time
We'll always be together
No matter what the time
Because you're by my side
The light known as "you" finds me,
In the middle of the night

Enter a noisy street
And put on the mask of destiny.

Thinking too much about the future.
Stopping things that have no meaning.
Today I'll eat delicious things.
The future is always before us,
Even I don't know it.

It's not necessary to go right to the end,
Just keep going.
It's okay if the scenes
Go on one by one.
The light known as "you"
reflects my scenario

Let's talk more,
And about the tomorrow that's before your very eyes.
Turn off the television,
And look only at me.

No matter how well we're doing,
I don't believe in us completely.
But at those sort of times,
Because you're by my side,
The light known as "you" finds me,
In the middle of the night.

Let's talk more,
And about the tomorrow that's before your very eyes.
Turn off the television,
And look only at me.

So I thought I'd check out the new Netscape 7beta (since I don't like Netscape 6, and Netscape 4final doesn't like my webpage.) Looky there! 7 likes my page. It doesn't really care a lot for Blogger.com's fun stuff, but as long as I can blog, I think I'm happy.
So this is my first blog using Netscape, and again, I reiterate: I like Internet Explorer much better. Everyone likes IE. Netscape is just dumb -- but they do have a nice wepbage program that does the quick important stuff that I refuse to memorize.
Today's image is me and Diablito being adorable, as only a Nur� and a puppy can...

Now it's time for pasta -- the dinner of college students(*with their own kitchen) worldwide.

Essentially, I did very little today. Darned pills. I wanted to get to the library and go shopping with Verena... see how THAT didn't happen.
Speaking of not happening, Yas didn't log on until like, I think 8 or 9 am RST -- which really is only 11am/noon hers... but that means I didn't get to talk to her. Tom was sleeping too. She missed out on fun. Meanwhile, Nick wants Spiderman, and I tried giving it to him, but to get it all in one night was not in the stars for him. We'll keep trying.

I'm trying to get a picture a blog, so here's some blog love: Me and Alejandro (el joven del d�a -- or something like that...)

I'm tired. It's time for sleep. Tuesday shall be a minor catchup day, I believe.

This day had to end at some point! Geez, how did I pack so much into it?
First, I woke up at 9, took my pill and cream. Then at 10 Piliar called me and woke me up -- I had less than an hour to shave, shower, find clothes and call a taxi to go to the church for Alejandro's first communion. So I really picked out a bad outfit. But considering it's all I have for formalwear in Spain, the Fasion Interpol will not issue me a ticket.

So I arrived at the church in time to see ... los comuni�nitos (that's my Spanish word for them) getting into line. I took some photos of Alex looking very much like a young Juan Carlos (the king of Spain), very dapper for a 9 year old. I'd say, and his whole family agrees, he was the most handsome of the whole bunch. That's not to say that all the boys and girls weren't very adorable in their outfits, but he really looked very nice. His parents and siblings were very proud.

I would like to note that two things did not happen once I entered the church:
1. I did not burst into flames like everyone kept telling me (including my parents!) and
2. The Church did not suddenly quake and then tumble to the ground instantly killing everyone except myself, leaving me to walk the earth alone in my shame that I created the 7th sign of the Apocolypse.

Then inside, I'm not sure how to explain this part... things happened. I had to stand the whole time -- I'd say an 45 min-1hr -- which wasn't fun. Plus everyone was pushing each other to see the comuni�nitos. There were lots of rituals that either were unfamiliar, very movie-like (stuff I'd seen on TV), or sorta similar to Judaism that went on. I cannot say that I loved or hated the service. It was a learning experience. I think, when all's said and done, I liked being there. Much to the relief of my parents and the regret of the Balog and Mitchell families I will not be converting from Judaism. Everyone's religion (including my own sometimes) is just too messed up for my tastes. I'll stick with secular Judaism, todah raba. My favorite part was standing in the middle of a throng of people and listen to them all praying at once, saying the same words, in unison, with strong voices. I imagine that's what the voice of G-d is like -- if there was a G-d. Then we all headed outside to mingle and be like every other congregation in humanity.

At M�nica's house... I wish I'd brought a camera. She said 50 people, there must have been 75, 90 or 100! The lunch was 4 courses long and by the second, I was so full. By dessert, I was ready to explode. The breakdown:
Primero: Empanadas (octopus, fish, or unknown)
Segundo: whole crabs, large prawns, crablegs, and lobsters
Tercero: fish (in Spanish it's called merluza, which is hake or whiting -- really good) and salad
Cuarto: beef with oven fried potatoes

But wait! Then for dessert, three kinds of cake in order of size, smallest to large: almond mocha, chocolate, or fruit -- each cake was busting with cream on top and inside!
Then it's coffee time, with so much liquor I thought I was drunk when they opened the bottles (relax, mom, I didn't even have more than a sip of the aguardiente -- it numbed my mouth!) and then Cuban cigars. Now that's what I call a lunch! Goodness!

Afterwards, my medication and the sheer mass of food in my body made me really tired, so Peregrina, the family's longtime nanny/housekeeper who lives with them sat with me and we both fell asleep in our chairs for about 30 mins. I'm now a 90 year old wommon, aparently. Although most people took a small siesta.

Then I played with Diablo -- Alex's communion gift from M�nica -- a mixed German shepard and ... I wanna say, like, a doberman. He's very calm and cute and I fell in love. Shame that he didn't get very much attention. For a 1� month old puppy, he got almost no attention from the kids -- they were all much too interested in the PlayStation2. I suppose, in some ways, that's cool and all, but I dunno. I think puppies are lots more fun than video games. Even if they're sleeping in your lap (which Diablito eventually did -- I was constantly worried that he'd pee on my clothes -- but he didn't.)

That's mostly the sum of the day. I took 63 photos today and enjoyed myself. M�nica's mom gave me so much food to take home, I don't think I'll ever need to worry about feeding the global homeless.

Now Tom and I are waiting for Yas to get her butt online for our threesome (kinky!) online-chat date that we've planned so we can catch up with each other and have fun. I've typed this entire monster-blog up and she's not online yet. I'm sure Tom's not miffed, he's checking his email.

I'm getting started on a collage for Alex's mom of the day with a really cute photo they gave me that was professionally taken for the occasion. I'll post it when it's done.

In the name of the Nur�, in Spain, and the holy Blog: BLOG ON!

Well, it's past 11, but here's what's been up (damned German keyboard and the hidden apostrophe!) I didn't go to Congas because the forcast said it would be really sunny, and that really irritates my rash -- aka. I'm a big baby.

So I slept. And slept. And slept some more. Then I woke up, took my pill and then reapplied cream... and then (you got it...) I went back to sleep. Then Verena called me and said "shall we eat dinner together?" as she does in her cute German-English *pinches her punum* and after Sweeter gave me the end of Star Wars II and some extra Italian lovinz (don't ask, I won't tell) I sent her some NY and MN lovinz before heading to Verena's room to begin the Jamaica shrimp (what I shall now call) Jumbalaya. With Leah and Verena helping out with cutting veggies, it worked out really well. Wade made a really good rice for it, and now I'm blogging on Verena's computer while she and Wade clean the kitchen. By the way, if she ever complains about me with her all encompassing M�enner I shall have to give her Prue's telekenetic hand. SO THERE!

Not sure what tonight's plans are, but Leah's mango ice cream and probably SWeII will probably be in there somewhere. Tomorrow: Alejandro's first communion. Time to iron! Woo, Catholocism!

I'm not going to Congas. News at 11.