December 28, 2006
Here's a random story from the other night. While we were at the Estrella household, we were playing pool, listening to music, having a few beers...socializing. I was in the middle of a game and this girl I've never met before starts talking to me.
Girl: "Hey, you know who you remind me of?"
Me: "No. Who?"
G: "Now don't get offended...'cause you never know. Some people might get offended."
(Usually people tell me I remind them of Christina Ricci as Wednesday Adams. I realize I normally look like something serious is going on...That's just the way my face is, I can't help it. But here I was thinking, 'well damn, who do I remind her of that it would offend me?')
M: "Ok I won't. Don't worry about. Who do I remind you of?"
G: "You remind me of Janeane Garofalo."
(Now there's a comparison I'd never heard before)
M: "Hehehe. I'm not offended by that. I remind you of her...really?"
G: "Yeah. Hey Serena, don't you think she reminds you of Janeane Garofalo?"
S: "Yeah! Omg, you're right."
So, I guess I remind them of Janeane Garofalo. I asked how and it oddly came down to my shoes. She was going off about the way I was dressed and how comfortable I looked. Then she mentioned my shoes. The pictures are up, you can see I was wearing a blue Gap button down shirt, dark jeans and I was wearing my black oxford Skechers shoes. They said I had this relaxed vibe and didn't care to be all in painful fashion shoes. This girl on the other hand looked like she was dressed for prom. Of course I'm not offended. They pegged me right. I don't feel the need to impress anyone by the way I dress. Don't get me wrong, if the event requires formal wear, I'll dress up. But, I'm all about comfort. Originally I was going to wear converse. Wonder what they would've said about that.
Even so, is that enough to state that I look or remind people of Janeane? I like Janeane Garofalo's movies. Great actress, comedian and activist. It's all good, even if the comparison came about from shoes. :)
JG Online: Janeane Garofalo Online
IMDB: Janeane Garofalo
December 27, 2006
66 photos
66 photos
The first few pics are from thursday Dec 21st. Barruch had finished all his finals and it was time to go out. We went to this small bar right across from El Nuyorican. Cheap beer and a calm environment. The bad thing about this place is their stairs. I've seen so many people fall it's ridiculous. I even mentioned this to the guys as we walked up to the place. We weren't there for more than half and hour when someone almost cracked their skull on the cement stairs. Yes, it's a hazard, but damn was it funny. :) The stairs are all wet and there was a cardboard box on the floor so people were slipping. It's usually drunk people, but last night it was all sober folks. After that first guy slipped, 3 others followed. Thank goodness for the drunk bum that was standing at the entrance. If it weren't for his impressive catching skills, they would've definitely gotten hurt. After there we went to Pink Skirt.
Then it was that time of year again. Time for the annual Baldwin School Alumni X-Mas party. This year they made it open bar and wow, people were really going for it! It was hard to get anything to drink there so I didn't even try for an hour. The party was fine...see people you haven't seen in a while, talk to people you don't remember and have a lovely time. I sort of forgot I had my camera, so most pics are from the end of the party. After it ended we went to the Normandie and then ended up at the Estrella household till the wee hours. Serena hijacked my camera and started a foto shoot. It was a L-O-N-G night and later we ended up at Denny's. Classic.
December 19, 2006
After watching Loving Annabelle and looking up info on the movie/director etc, I saw that Katherine Brooks is in the process of making her next movie, Waking Madison.
She's not just making a movie, she's documenting the process and putting it up on a website. So if you've ever been curious as to how a movie gets made you should check out the site. You can read her blog, see all the video journals, interact in the forum etc. So far it's a free site and if you have money (unlike me) you can donate some to keep it going.
Check it out: Waking Madison
December 18, 2006
I recently saw this movie I'd heard so much talk over, Loving Annabelle written and directed by Katherine Brooks. For those who haven't seen it and don't like being told what happens, don't read this.
The story revolves around Annabelle Tillman (played by Erin Kelly), a head strong, free spirited, rebellious teen who pursues her teacher Simone Bradley (played by Diane Gaidry). Annabelle's a senator's daughter who can't seem to stay out of trouble. She's been sent to a girls Catholic school as a last resort before possibly ending up in military school. Here she meets Ms. Bradley and the two start forming a bond.
Annabelle's aggressive and relentless in her pursuit of Simone. She knows what she wants and sees no wrong in it. On the other hand, Simone struggles with falling for Annabelle and keeping her at arm's length. There's a lot of intense eye contact between the two and you certainly feel the attraction for one another as well as Simone's reluctance. Annabelle pushes Simone out of this "comfort zone" she'd created for herself...even though it wasn't that comfortable to begin with.
She'd been seeing and pretending to like this man, but the only person she desperately wanted to fool was herself. Does that mean Simone's uncomfortable with her sexuality? Quite possibly. Even so, I thought this whole charade was in reaction to the loss/death of her girlfriend (even though they never call her that) a few years before. You can make up your own mind as to why, but to me it feels like a rejection of herself based on her past experience. If she denies this part of herself, then she's "safe". Simone's just going through the motions with this man and there's no way she's going to get hurt in this relationship. People do stupid things when dealing with tradegy.
However, there comes a point when Simone can't deny her feelings anymore and surrenders to Annabelle in a passionate love scene. The movie ends the way it's supposed to end. Of course you'd want a happy ending (that's what alternate endings are for), but the fact is it's sort of illegal for teachers to sleep with their students.
Loving Annabelle's a good movie. Even though you know a teacher becoming involved with a student is wrong, there's something about the way it's presented that you end up rooting for them. Annabelle seems wise beyond her teen status. Never really portrayed as a child, she's the one doing all the chasing and Simone's the one fighting it away. Maybe it's all that. Plus, she's a senior and they get together almost at the end of the school year, so she's practically 18 anyway :P
Also, in the mist of this complicated relationship, the movie just seems calm to me. I don't know if I can explain that. The movie has these still moments, be it outside or in a building that are, peaceful and beautiful. All in all, I think it was well made, a great movie and definitely worth checking out.
IMDB: Loving Annabelle
Myspace: Loving Annabelle
December 16, 2006
56 photos
56 photos
There were many reasons to throw a party last night.
1. To celebrate all the birthdays this past week (my father, uncle, me and Sophia)
2. Parents got back from the 3 week vacation
3. Jorge got back from his first med school semester
4. And, do you really need a reason to have a party? :)
December 15, 2006
13 photos
13 photos
With no bday plans, I ended up at Shannan's Pub.
December 14, 2006
What did I do for my birthday?
Well, I woke up at 6am. Got ready and left to head over to the dealership to get the car serviced. It's only about a 20 min drive at max. I wasn't even close to the old pay toll and I hit traffic. This was at 7am...there shouldn't be any traffic in the direction I was going. At first I thought there was an accident, but no. An hour later I finally see why there was traffic. Workers were taking down the cement roof of the structure that's no longer in use. Because of that, they'd closed one lane and everyone was flowing through the only lane left. Only in PR would they do something like that during the week. I don't even think they're done yet.
So I get to the dealership and wait a few hours till the car is ready. It's tiring just waiting around with nothing to do, but atleast I got out of there before noon. I thought once I got home I'd take a nap, but I was flooded with calls and IM's, so that never happened. Then I had to go to the post office which was full. Another attempt at a nap was futile.
I had no plans and wasn't going to go out, but then Tatyana called and we ended up going to Shannan's Pub. It was fun, but way too packed.
Today, I was cleaning and getting things ready for tomorrow's party. My parents 
get home from a 3 week vacaion and my brother gets back from Mexico, so we're having a party. One of the things that needed to be done was to put up these decorations on the lawn. To keep them from falling over, I had to tie them to a bar with this wire. So I was cutting the wire and everything was fine until...OUCH! I managed to get my middle right finger stuck inbetween the scissor handles. The actual pinch wasn't all that bad. But since it was a strong pinch, it ended up cutting me in 3 different places, creating a lovely blood bubble and of course bleeding and throbbing like crazy. That was the worse...the throbbing pain just made me feel ill. I just hope this getting injured during december isn't a new tradition for me. Last year I dislocated my toe [see: Watch My Step and Jack'd Up Toe] and this year I messed up my finger.
December 13, 2006
Happy Birthday To Me!
December 6, 2006
Back in May I mentioned how my friend Carol wrote a kids book called Robby the Lion Doesn't Eat Meat.
Well, a newspaper in her home county wrote an article about childrens books back in October and she's mentioned in it. Very cool Bushar! Here's a bit of the article:
In ‘‘Robby the Lion,” Carol Bushar seeks to teach young children that being true to yourself may be difficult and frightening – but can result in self-satisfaction as well as approval from others. The lifelong Rockville resident and Rockville High School alumna, who now lives in Chile, says the story comes out of her own experience.
You can read the full article here: Dandy lions: Kids get the lion’s share in new books
December 4, 2006
20 photos
20 photos
I was taking the trash out tonight when I noticed it was a very bright night. Not so much a clear night sky, but since it's a full moon tonight, it's very bright.
So I decided to mess around with my camera's settings and take pictures of the night sky. It's quite hard using the Night option and not having a tripod. But, this is what came out.
Oh, the 2 day picture were from this afternoon. It started to drizzle and this perfect rainbow appeared right infront of me for like a minute and then it disappeared.
November 27, 2006
I noticed last night there was little water pressure and was wondering what all that was about. After we got back from the Bacardi factory I noticed the fire hydrant was open and gushing water all over the place.
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Turns out there was a water main burst on my street and the whole neighborhood had no water. The water company had been there all day today fixing the problem. I never did venture up the street to see what they were doing...this gushing hydrant was enough for me. And yes, the 7 year old kid in me just wanted to jump and play in the water :)
12 photos
12 photos
I wasn't much in a picture taking mood today. We went to the Bacardi Factory in Cataño which was sort of lame. I'm glad I'd been there 4 years ago when Aya came to visit because back then we actually got to see the inside of the factory and the brewing places. The tour now just consists of one building where they give you the history, you watch a movie, go into a replica room of the old distilery where you can't take any pictures, some dude talks to you about the different rums in a replica old style cuban bar and you get to watch the brewing process on flat screens. The tour was definitely better 4 years ago.
At night we went bowling at Galaxy Lanes. Monday nights are all you can bowl, all the Medalla you can drink and all the pizza you can eat for $20 bucks from 9pm to midnight. Actually it's more like $20.31 with the new tax. It was a fun time. And Mike, you know how you kept asking me in Tampa how much I bowled 'cause of the wrist guard? Well, tonight I bowled a 123. :)
November 26, 2006
49 photos
49 photos
Today we went to Old San Juan...during the day. We got there a bit too early so the venders weren't all out yet. I had to explain to Rob that since it was sunday, people are in church and things don't get going till after mid-day. It'd been a WHILE since I'd gone to OSJ during the day. I'm always there at night so I forgot how HOT it gets. And this whole week had been unusually hot for november. Today was no exception. So we started off by walking through El Paseo de la Princesa that leads to La Puerta de San Juan. Then we went up the road to La Calle San Sebastian and to El Morro. The fort was built by Al's people :) and you can really tell how tall people were back then since every doorway and hallway is really small and short. I think it's funny and I of course fit right in.
November 25, 2006
35 photos
35 photos
Woke up early and headed to the El Yunque (PR rain forest). We got there and it seemed there was no one there. I'd never been there THAT early. We were there so early we beat the tourist buses up the mountian. After we got there that's when 2 tour buses arrived.
After the rain forest we headed to Naguabo to relax by the beach for a while. It was seriously hot and next door sort of there was this group of kids practicing all this Cirque Du Soliel stuff...It was cool to watch and we were just waiting to see if any of them fell from those cloth ropes things.
We then came back home and later on at night I of course took Rob to Pink Skirt which he said he liked a lot. :)
November 24, 2006
34 photos
34 photos
Today Rob and I went to Ponce. That's about an hour away from where I live. We went to oldest known indigenous ceremonial camp grounds in PR. The last time I'd been there I think I was 7 years old, so it'd been a while. :) They showed us a movie before the tour all about the history of the grounds, the archeological findings and of course it being in spanish Rob didn't understand a word of it. There was a lot of information on the tour even though the place isn't that big, but it was still interesting.
After that, we tried going on a tour of the Serralles Castle which is on top of a very windy mountain road. We got there and they said the next tour was at 3:30pm. Yeah, we weren't going to wait around for an hour so we left :) Instead we went to the Ponce art museum and then back home.
