How fast do we go?

I was at the Mall and took some pictures. As an allegoric of our foot prints in life, some of these pictures made me think: how fast do we go in life? Well, for some people, fast enough that we don't leave a foot print. But other pass by our lives leaving such impression that everything else is a blur around them. I wonder if I'm leaving a deep enough foot print in the lives of the people I love the most.

Right across the street

From my window I can see them. They are my friendly gay couple that doesn't watch TV too often, have candle light dinners with friends and now have this person visiting their place... I don't know them. I know they are gay because in the summer they have a rainbow flag on the balcony. They are two middle age guys that sit out and read, decorate their balcony and are rather social. I don't think I could recognize them if I see them on the street. I guess they don't have a pet, and they work long hours. They are almost never home during the day. I see them through my window, but I haven't seen them looking at me. I am of course the curious neighbor!

This is the building where they live. Every place a different story! I have binoculars... I've seen many interesting things, sometimes more interesting than others. I saw a whole pregnancy, a couple of move out and move in, and now I have a camera! Sometimes I shock myself! Of course I'm very self conscious about my neighbors, but so far, only the kid on top points this way with his laser pointer. I want to get one of those bright lights and point it at him when he looks this way. He is probably 8 or 10. His brother is a big football fan. Every time there's a game he waves his huge flag out the window. Their mother is very much into doing laundry. Oh well, regular life, like everywhere else.

And here are a couple of pictures I took tonight.





I'm off to Spain tomorrow, so I don't know if I'll be able to post from there. Perhaps is possible, but not sure. In any case, have a wonderful time,and happy holidays or whatever it is that you do during this time of the year. I'll be waiting for Santa with my nephews! Hasta la vista, baby!

Christmas time

Today I finally went around with the bike to take pictures of some Christmas lights. But before I went to the Kudam, I stopped by the store to buy something to dye my hair. So, since Christmas is so close and all, I decided to dye my hair red, yes, flaming red! The kind of red that Santa Claus wears! Crazy? maybe! but it is not the first time or the worst thing I've done, so I'm OK with that. (I wanted to dye my hair green, but my GF gave me a really negative answer to that, threatening with not seeing me while green head! ) So, red it is!
The first step is to bleach my hair which is naturally dark brown, and the red can actually be more bright. I just finished bleaching, and since it is the first time I've done it in a very long time, now my hair is the color of straw... that yellowish/white with some orange kind of straw. Tomorrow I'll go to get a haircut and there I'll dye my hair red.
Funny thing, is that when the color wears out, then my hair becomes rather pink.

And here are some pictures from the Christmas decorations around Kudam, which is a very popular shopping area for visitors and locals alike. Not exactly a cheap area to go shopping. It would be more or less like Fifth Ave. in New York City. They have this little Christmas market that I plan to visit in the following days. Then I'll post more pictures.

Moonlight

The light was so bright, I thought it was a lamp outside my window. The problem is that there are no lamps on the fifth floor. As amazing as it is not being full moon yet, I couldn't resist and took some pictures. Technically I used low speed on the camera. Tried different things except using the tripod. So, here are some of the pix I took.


Digital cameras with all the possibilities of manual analog cameras are so much fun! I have it with me all the time, with extra rechargeable AA batteries and I use it almost everywhere. If you are curious, it is a Kodak Z1275.

And if you are into experimenting with light, speed and ISO, this little camera is the perfect one. Another addiction: I am now addicted to my digital camera! How pathetic am I?? (Just hope that my old beautiful analog camera doesn't find out. I feel unfaithful to her after all these years... Oh well!)

My Birthday!

At my age, which I am not going to disclose at such a public place, birthdays come by so fast, that I can hardly take them into account! Some times I even have to think hard of the year I was born, and then remember my real age! LOL!
As we've been doing for the last 4 years, I went out for dinner with my GF. We had a great time at an Argentinian restaurant where the steak is superb! This time was rather quiet, just the two of us, very intimate and fun!

As a gift I got a book published in French, with photos of women that are just getting out of bed. Many of them are very famous... they look so good even at that moment of the day! Two of my favorite women are in the book: Emma Thompson and Demi Moore.
And I also got a very cozy blanquet, perfect to use in winter while watching TV on the sofa.

I was thinking about how my life has change with my GF in it! She helps me see everything under a different perspective, savoring every moment, enjoying each other's company and having a blast with the simplest things. I can't imagine my life without her! It is so great to be in love! Today I feel very fortunate to have her with me.

First Snow

I live on the top flor of the building. Not exactly the luxury Pent House that some people might think. Rather, the very small apartment in between two bigger units. Saturday afternoon, there we were in bed, watching a movie. The light from the sun was showing through the curtains, looked like a nice beautiful day. Then, when the movie was ending, all of a sudden I see that the sun disappeared. Perhaps 20 minutes later, we open the curtain and we see it is snowing!
I grew up in a place where snow was a thing of the very high mountains in The Andes. The rest of the country, pretty much 28 Celsius all year 'round. So, even though I've lived the last 18 years in places where winter is really a change in the weather, I still get all happy to see the first snow of the season. I enjoy to touch it, feel the cold and even open my mouth when the snow hits my face. Yes, I do feel like a kid when its snowing. I was hoping I could do some snowballs to throw, but unfortunately it was more ice than snow. It looked good though... But in matter of minutes it was all gone. Berlin has a thing with rain. The snow is something we don't see accumulating very often. The temperatures are not low enough most of the time, so me mostly get rain.
The most incredible thing was that, while it was still snowing on one side, the other side was showing a clear sky above the clouds... really a very nice view.

Hello, my name is Sally and I'm an addict

I know I am weak! I have an addictive personality. I can get addicted to so many things at the same time. So, today I decided to admit publicly that yes, I am addicted to the following things:
Coke, Trendy Lemon, Sushi, Grey's Anatomy transcripts (I only have the second season on DVD so I read the rest of them online here), Desperate Housewives transcripts, AfterEllen.com, Scribegrrrl recaps of Bad Girls on Afterellen.com, And also the recaps of the terrible shows that they put in there.
I am addicted to a bunch of blogs, they are all in my Blogrol. I read the Obituaries every day. I play pogo.com everytime I'm on the phone. I talk on the phone for hours. I like to watch "Wissen" on German TV (documentary about how things are made). I've seen these series over and over: The Sopranos, Sex and the City, Queer as Folk, The L Word.
I am getting addicted to Weeds (The TV series, not marihuana).
I'm addicted to taking hot baths, drinking hot chocolate, eating Tamarindo, playing the slots machines at casinos, going out on the bike, taking pictures with my new camera, reading Mafalda, reading old postcards from my girlfriend.
I am addicted to the smell of my girlfriend's pillow, conversations until very late at night, apple with cheese, powder milk, and talking with my nephews. There is no particular order in my addicitions. And the picture, is from my favorite Sushi restaurant here in Berlin. When my friends came to visit, that's what we order for us 4. No, I didn't eat the whole thing by myself!

Out with the bike...

Today I took advantage of a wonderful day and went out with the bike. I wanted to check out the Open Air Exhibit of Botero in Berlin. Interesting and very crowded. It was a little cold, but there were no clouds in the sky and it was so nice. My depression is still there, like in the back burner, but I'm getting over it little by little.
Here are some pictures I took today with my new camera. By the way, my camera is a Kodak Easyshare Z1275. It is great! And yes, I can take panoramic pictures with it. I'm still experimenting and trying things every day, but so far I must say it was a pretty good investment. Most of the pictures are from very typical Berlin sites.
The Brandenburg Gate.

The Siegessäule

Berlin's Cathedral

Checkpoint Charlie. This was the entrance control for the American sector when Berlin was divided by the wall.










The Television Tower

And then there's music!

So there I was happy as a clam, taking pictures with my new camera, and discovering new things to do with it. (Why are clams happy I don't know yet). Then I got disappointing news that actually got me depressed. I felt bad, low, didn't feel like going out and taking more pictures. My girlfriend came to cheer me up. It worked for a while and then I was low again.
There's nothing I can do about the news, even though it was something I expected.
So today I decided to take action against depression and got myself imersed in another world: I put on the headphones to listen to music. I've been listening to everything! From Joni Mitchel to Shakira, to classical music and Christmas songs. Yes, it was the "party shuffle" on the iTunes doing its job of really mixing things up.
To make a long story short, music is definitely the language that speaks better to emotions. At least for me.
And now I feel so much better. Only one thing, I just broke my laptop!!! The screen was not going back enough so I pushed and some piece of plastic jumped out of it!!!. Apparently that's the only thing and it will not be a problem. At least I hope so! Well, here's the damage to my computer.


I'm like a kid with a new toy with my new camera! I find technology fascinating. Oh, by the way, when using your digital camera to take "panoramic" pictures, just make sure there is nothing moving around, or you'll end up with a phantom!