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freeing a soul : december 2001
12.30.2001
how much lovliness can *you* pack into 1 day?
today was just too delicious for words :)
first, the salvidor dali museum in st. petersburg (30 minutes away)
i cannot even begin to describe how amazing it is to stand in front of his art in person. so many pieces, so much detail, so amazing to see. and those are just the smaller ones.
his masterworks are a different story all together. they have 6 of them there.
the hallucinagenic torreodor (you know the one: it has all the venuses and the bull) is actually over 5' across and 10' tall. and to stand before it (and any of the other 5) could consume you for hours. some he painted so that depending on where you stand, you see different things.
while i always liked dali's art, my visit today gave me a new respect and understanding that i cant adequately express. you must see it to believe it.
simply amazing.
then we *finally* saw lord of the rings this evening.
<SIGHS> i know i dont have to preach the gospel to any of you :)
mairi was right - i want a harem of blonde elves!
so there is much to write over the next week or so...i will get to it, i promise - be patient with me. i am still trying to recover and also rather consumed by the continuing Family Time upon my return to florida.
more to come :)
posted by belen 8:54 PM
12.25.2001
trapped
christmas was...fairly tame and only slightly neurotic.
bad news: my father *just* realized after 8 years that i am not on his insurance <GASP>
so i am not allowed to drive.
at all.
yup. i have to be chauffered.
everywhere.
3 days and counting.
posted by belen 3:01 PM
12.24.2001
glimpses
so Hurricane Belen left austin on sunday, and everyone can now resume their regularly scheduled lives :) i have so much to say about my visit, but that will wait...i will let the goodness brew a bit before i pontificate on it.
tonight, if i werent feeling like ass from my lack of voice, allergies from hell and general decrepid physical state, i problably would have just lost my temper completely. however, with the firm hand of TOO FUCKING SICK TO CARE holding me down, there is still silence on the homefront.
my parents and i have been having long talks about eating habits, weight loss, and how to balance meals in a healthy way.
tonight, i threw together something for my sister and i because we were hungry early. a few hours later, my father requests food. however, in a LANDMARK event, he had gone to the grocery store that afternoon by himself to get stuff, so i didnt get particularly growly at his demand on my mother.
so as i walk through the kitchen to get tea, my mother is cutting up veggies and creating a delightful salad that looks very appetizing.
she puts pasta water on to boil.
a while later, i hear and smell salmon cooking.
at some point in this process i ask if she is eating too, and she says "yes".
45 minutes of cooking later, and she puts everything on the table (1 place set, mind you), and asks me to take a look at dinner and give her my opinion on what i think is the right amount of foods etc.
i look down and see: a big lush salad, pasta with veggies on it, a small peice of salmon, a side of asperigus and spinach, some pita bread and water.
i mention that i would recommend 1/2 as much pasta and twice as much fish.
and i look over and i see her walking over to her rocking chair with a small bowl of pasta.
nothing else.
and i look down at the 4 course feast on the table.
and i look back at her and said, "yes HIS dinner is fine - yours however, isnt. what makes you think that your body needs anything less?"
and she ducks her head and stares into her pasta and mumbles about how she just doesnt want much.
and i come back with the fact that that doesnt matter much, because her body still does.
that it *NEEDS* protein and other things to feel good.
she says "i have protein twice a week"
and just before my head starts spinning around and i lose my shit, i look over at his carefully prepared meal, back at her cowering in a corner, take a deep breath and think how fucking wonderful christmas is.
and i shut my mouth.
there is absolutely nothing i can do but watch my mother kill herself slowly, while my father sits around too ignorant to notice.
fuck.
posted by belen 7:48 PM
12.11.2001
adventures in florida
so david and i experienced a first last night (shush! we have a few left!)
david & kay from websonly.com invited us to join them for a Boat Parade. it was *so* charming. a big parade of boats all decorated and lit up for xmas :) ahhh, the beauty of living somewhere where december is 75 and sunny ;)
afterwards, we made a trek into tampa (1/2 hr) to see what the retro night at the local goth club was like.
the building looks like a castle - very nicely decorated...stained glass windows, beautiful velvet couches...pretty impressive.
however, we stepped in, and i saw more jeans-and-white-shirts straights than black-clad goths. it was very strange. not a single boy in a skirt. <raises eyebrow>
but, it was retro night, which always brings out a larger crowd that is more diverse. fridays and saturdays are goth/industrial, so we shall see how that goes.
on the up side, monday nights are $2 cover and $2 drinks :):):)
they played apoptygma as soon as we got there, so we raced to the dancefloor, where several blondes in floral patterned halter tops etc *HOPPED* to it next to me. i tried hard not to backhand them, but the urge was very strong. and here i am used to coming out of a spin and seeing delectable lovelies like steph and cassandra dancing near me. <sighs> i guess you cant have it all! luckily, i am used to being stared at as though i have 3 heads, so the song was pleasant to dance to :)
then as we were sitting, peoplewatching, this guy in a FLY black victorian overcoat came up to us and started talking to us. he was the Welome Wagon :) so we chatted awhile and then he disappeared and reappeared with drinks for us and escorted us over to where he and his girlfriend were sitting. john & shannon. they were very cool, and it was so nice to be welcomed and have someone to chat with.
from what she says, the scene here is very clique-ish, so it will be interesting to see if we manage to meet anyone else :| however, mandy knows someone here, so i need to poke her to put me in touch with him :)
i am so carzy-busy! between work and unpacking and xmas shopping and trying to get everything in order for my trip, i feel like a chicken with my head cut off! <grins> but at least i know this will all die down after the holidays and i can return to some semblence of Normal. well, as Normal as our life gets ;)
posted by belen 9:58 AM
12.5.2001
peace
so the house is still vaguely in chaos...boxes here and there, no couch yet, no decorations up. but it is lovely nonetheless.
light floods into the living room, the white walls and stone tiles making the room bright and airy. the balcony door is open, as are the sliding glass doors in the bedroom, allowing the breezy late morning air to flow through the apartment.
the cats are lying in puddles of sunshine on the screened-in porch, truly believing that they have reached cat heaven after 14 days of Travel Hell.
my dishwasher is humming, relieving me of dish duty.
i made rental car arrangements for my trip to austin. i may have a new gig for conduit. i feel the tension in my shoulders easing.
the universe is good :)
posted by belen 8:46 AM
12.4.2001
sweet success
words cannot explain the relief of *finally* being here. this trip was just a bit more than either one of us were prepared for.
so, to catch you up on our Comedy of Errors:
last tuesday: we woke up, packed up the hotel room and prayed that today would be The Day that we could leave. we had made the best of Tucson - trekked around looking at the beauty of the desert, drive to sodona to do some shopping, and generally did the best we could with 4 days in a place we didnt expect to be. but we wanted to get the show on the road.
miracle of miracles, the car was ready and we drove out of Tuscon at noon instead of the later afternoon departure time we had been expecting. yay!
on the road again! so we were chugging along, feeling hopeful again.
then at 4pm, we are driving through Demming, NM and the car goes dead (yes, *while* driving). we pull off the nearest exit ramp, and coast to the light. a nearby gas station jumps our car, it starts, no problem. we head toward the auto parts store down the block. we spend an hour checking to see if its the battery..it isnt. we check the alternator - bingo. at this point we are so fucking tired of mechanics we could scream - so david buys an alternator, we borrow some tools and change it out ourselves.
at 7pm, we are on the road again, our good humor mostly evaporated. we just want this to be over with.
we eat dinner in el paso, and at midnight, we see little flecks of white stuff that look *suspiciously* like SNOW. by van horn, we were in a full-on blizzard. even david, who has suffered the likes of chicago winter is stunned at how bad the driving conditions are. SOUTHWEST TEXAS, FOR FUCK SAKE! knowing if we stop, we will be stuck for 2 days waiting for the snow to melt (since the state doesnt own snow plows), we drive at 25mph...for 250 miles. yup, you do the math. i cannot express how much this sucked.
finally, 10am rolls around, and we are out of the hazardous conditions.
2pm, and we are tearing across the final miles, just past dripping springs, about to hit oak hill - wheeeeeeeee! and then as i am driving, the car goes dead AGAIN. we pull over, analyze the situation and pray that it is something simple. the gas guage SAYS 1/16 tank, and we have SEEN it hit empty before, but maybe for some stupid reason, we are just out of gas.
ryan gallopped in on his white steed with a gas can and after 2 cans of gas, the truck started again. i swear to you, if it had been any more complicated than that, we would have just given up.
so finally, at 3:30, we slunk over to andre's and unloaded the car.
we were in austin from wed evening until sat morning, although not many caught sight of us. we spent most of our time recovering and trying to brace ourselves for the next leg of our journey.
so we left saturday and arrived on sunday at 4pm. we unpacked the truck and trailer and we have been trying to tame the chaos ever since :) i think we are winning - thank god.
so life is returning to normal...lots of meetings this week (and a potential client from the guy who hooked up my cable modem!)
now begins the scramble for last minute xmas shopping and house setup :)
posted by belen 7:55 AM