Me & Mr Potato Head

Today, for the first time in YEARS, i took the bus to go downtown ... My car being at the mecanic i gather my shit and left ONE HOUR before my appointment (downtown being 20 kilometres away from my place). I just loved it ... seriously considering getting rid of my car after such a pleasant experience today. Mexico at its best. First of all the ride only cost me $8 pesos (that's less than 70 US cents!) which is to say, that's nothing. Surely not what it would cost me in gaz anyway!

As i sat on my seat, few row behind the driver, enjoying a landscape i pass in front of every single day, messengering friends without having to wait til i'm at the trafic light, i noticed a sticker above the driver's seat ...

OK picture is not the best, i couldnt zoom, lateral lines in PV are crap so it was a bit unsteady too. But you've got to love the "barbie a bordo" sticker, right next to a big poster of Jesus on his cross. And dont get me started on the Betty Boop and Tweety! haha.

Maybe i should start a category with all that kind of things i bump into here ... I'd call it "only in Mexico" haha.

As you can see, i've taken Mr patata with me today. He loved the ride too. Can't you tell by the look on his face??The real one is on his way from Taiwan (or maybe China, i'll have to check). There will be a lot more trips for him to come! Will keep you posted on that!

And beware of french fries invasion ;-)

A Whiter Shade of Pale

This is one of those days ... You wake up with a headache and the sky is a depressing shade of white ... At least it won't be one of these insanely hot days killing me and my hangover. Yes i admit it, i drank yesterday, first time in months ... Bloody chilean wine ... It was nice and relax, with a friend, at home ... But jeez, i don't do wine well anymore ... Guess it's the price to pay for my weakness in front of the evil call of a bottle.
It's the perfect weather to stay in bed and die! I might just do that! I already see the white light from my window! I'll blog you from the hereafter!

Go Susan

I write too much ... and talk too much as well ... always and again.
So for once, i will shut up ... i've discovered susan boyle just like everybody else, in the news and on youtube. This is the song she sang for the semi-finals of Britain Gots Talent a few days ago - along with a little reminder of who she is. Brought out all the softness inside me and i cried my eyes out. It seems to me pretty formidable that such a humble nobody coming from a tiny place in the middle of nowhere managed to reach millions of people all over the world. "Un peu de douceur dans un monde de brutes" ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzN3lbrDPMI

Like my friend Ivonne would say ... ESPECTACULAR

Unemployment or What you do with that much time on your hands

I am unemployed ... it's been 3 weeks ... OK, no, i'm not technically unemployed since i do belong to the paycheck list of a company, but this company doesn't currently have a job for me ... So what does that make me? In french, we call it "chomage technique" - technical unemployment. JA. I will NOT brag nor complain about my current situation, out of the thousands people who are experiencing this very same situation thanks to mass paranoia over a tiny little piggy virus (which have killed 80 people in my new home country of Mexico compared to thousands of people who die each year in supposed first world countries of curable diseases such as the traditional oh-so-well-known flu - guess if it's not swine, it doesnt count in the stats), i have it better than most. If it's not about the money than what is it about?
It's about how much free time i have now! An insanely high amount of time. In a country where you work 6 days a week, 10 hours a day, all of the sudden, having 5 days of nothingness a week, it kinda creates an undescribable weird feeling of emptiness. And that's without even talking about the frustration and the despair i've been feeling as well. Wonder what people do with their time ... Get ready for a big massive baby boom next february! :D i know for sure what my neighbors do ... bloody telenovelas all day or banda music full volume. Guess we all have different tastes !
Since i dont own a TV, i have other addictions to take care of ... my dog, my plants and internet. When i say internet, i mean gossip news, youtube, online games and the worse of them all - personality tests. I mean i've tried them all. From how bad i am (FYI, they figured out i'm bad to the bone) to the capitals of the world or what bad ass heroe i am ... i have done them ALL. Amazingly, i'm a pro in the capitals of the world (when i really thought i sucked in geography, i realized i am pretty damn good at it!) and it is just easier to say i'm the best at everything else i've tested myself in ... I'm the most perv person, the worse bad ass person, a dirty mastermind and in the 100 official purity questions - where they ask you how many creepy, wild, are-you-out-of-your-freaking-mind stuff you've done in your sex life, i shamelessly answered yes to 92% of them (oh dear).
My sex song - "sex bomb" by tom jones really made me laugh, what song represents me best would be "break the ice" by britney spears and the drug i am would be coke. Honestly. You gotta love the description they make of you when they told you: "YOU ARE COCAINE: You raise blood pressure, heart rate, and cause euphoria. Side effects include twitching, itching and paranoia. Your appearance is white and fine, and you can be smoked, snorted, injected, you name it". So well, that's scary enough. Not too sure you wanna snort me but sure, you can try if you want!
On the movie killer side, i'd be Michael Myers from Halloween (i had to check i dont watch scary movies), who's said to be "pure evil! Though you're just a normal dude with a kitchen knife, you are pretty deadly. Though you don't say much, you are actually pretty smart, and you avoid death easily". Well hell yeah i avoid death easily, my crime of choice is theft (i stick on easy targets such as children and the change in vending machines, or so they say)! I even pushed the creepiness a tad further by checking when will i die ... and the date fell like a guillotine blade: in 51 YEARS AT AGE 83. I have another FIFTY ONE YEARS to live? Holy crap, that's long! But i mean, that's looooong! Especially knowing i'm supposed to be dying of old age, in my sleep ... what a normal boring ass way of dying. Well, i guess after such an intense life of mine, i shouldnt be expecting a more exciting way of dying since i'm gonna be living to such an old age. I guess i'll be at home not doing crazy dangerous things anymore. Mmm.
I think i should go and see a psychic and have my tarots read. Even though i already know what tarot card i am ... I'm KING OF WANDS (which i translated as a witch but maybe i'm extrapolating!) ... tan-tan-tan! It's actually not too bad of a thing (especially compared to all the dramz i've discovered in me with all the previous tests): "The essence of fire behaving as air, such as lightning: A great and daring leader who inspires others to rise to challenges alongside him. An artist who can take hold of an idea and make it a reality through bold action. One who is forceful, charismatic, and honest, leading by example, but unafraid to invest authority in others. A dashing and magnetic personality, carrying authority naturally, and striking at the world with swiftness and grace."
So follow me you all, let's steal candies from the kids, snort them on each other's back before we die a painful death after soaking our miserable self in our impure evilness for the next 50 years to come ...

Best regards,

Morrigan - goddess of war and death (my celtic name) ohohohoh (evil laugh)

Chiles

I dont eat chiles. Don´t like spicy food either. So buying chile plants is purely decorative for me. And buying chiles at the supermarket always makes me feel weird ... I have bought maybe 10 chile plants since i've been living here in Mexico. Don´t know why, not been doing a good job obviously, they all died on me. They must feel that i won´t eat them. Maybe i make them feel bad, make them feel completely useless. Yes, my lady plant, be beautiful and shut up. No, no, i won't eat you either, no need to wave like that. You can just germinate, grow, blossom, look gorgeous, dry up, died and rest in peace. Well, apparently, they don´t like that. So they shamelessly die on me those little bad ass motherfuckers.

Unfortunately for them, i'm not the give-up kinda girl, and when i really want something, generally, i get it. No matter what (and no matter what it is either :p). So instead of heartlessly trashed the plant away, i cautiously and patiently open every single chile fruit to collect the seeds (yes i did used my dishes gloves and didnt touch my eyes, i'm no tourist anymore thank you). But men, do they have seeds! I collected maybe 150 seeds from one plant and another 50 from a jalapeño i bought in the superstore (dont know why people looked at me this way, it's not weird for me to buy ONE jalapeño, for crying out loud, i live alone (and wont eat it anyway haha)). Anyway ...

Proud of my 200 seeds, i planted them following the very good advises i've been receiving from Bart the super-gardener (to the rescue from the other side of the world). I didn´t have much doubts about SOME germinating but jeez ... LOOK AT THAT :


I have like 80 (if not more) mini chile plants growing in such a tiny pot. What am i gonna do?? I'm supposed to plant them in separate pots ... jaja ... like i have 80 pots waiting in line to receive their chile plant ... Oh, and in the pot at the top of the picture, there come my jalapeños too! So far i have 4 out i think! Woohoo ... It's so freaking exciting!

With that much time on my hands lately, i've been a planting freak ... Chiles are just the beginning of a planting madness ... I am also expecting an avocado, 2 mango trees, tomatoes, bell pepper, pineapple and chayote. I still have a few more mangos in my fridge and will plants them as soon as i ate them!
Mexico has the perfect weather to grow pretty much anything. And just for the sake of it, i'll plant everything i can put my hands on. And Jose Jalapeño, God of all Chiles shall see ... i CAN take care of chile plants ... I'll make you proud Jose!

Will keep you updated on the chile front!

Endorphins

Endorphins are produced by the pituitary gland (you'll find it at the bottom of the brain) and the hypothalamus in vertebrates during strenuous exercise, excitment, pain, death and orgasm, and they resemble the opiates (opium) in their abilities to produce analgesia (pain killers) and a sense of well-being. Endorphins work as "natural pain relievers" (whose effects may be enhanced by other medications).
The term "endorphin" consists of two parts: endo- and -orphin; these are short forms of the words endogenous and morphine, intended to mean "a morphine like substance originating from within the body."

Mmm ... Where to start ?
First of all, thanks to Wikipedia for the info ... FYI, i cut the medical-scientific crap out of the definition but you're more than welcome to check it yourself!

Endorphins, the hormone of happiness, the natural opium created by your body. How about THAT for a start! No wonders sportsmen arent serial-killers or suicide bombers (ok, we'll set OJ apart). They're happy going little fellows.
No wonders either sex and tattoos are addictive - they bring out 2 of the endorphins production sources! Not too sure about the death part though !! What is that supposed to mean? That dying makes you happy or that killing makes you happy? They really should be more specific cuz it could bring a lot of confusion here. Like if dying makes you happy, well, you first need to be depressed to commit suicide and then, shit, you get the orgasmic experience after you throw yourself out of the window, enjoy the "ride", feel the rush and miserably crash on the pavement 10 storeys below. Yeah well, way to go buddy, you can't even do it again (dumb ass). Now if it's killing that makes you happy, well that will definitely lead you to a pretty ... mmm ... interestingly dangerous path.
So about the death part, i'm still a bit confused, none of the 2 possible explanations i found are attractive to me. But hey, there are freaks everywhere.

So all of this to say that yeah, i've become a happy little fellow as well cuz i'm doing sports! I wish my production of endorphins would be thanks to excitment and/or wild orgasms but hey, you dont always chose that kinda thing and in my oh-so-boring jobless situation, i'd rather take the safe route to happiness ... sports (not too convinced myself on that to be honest but oh well).
I walk my dog, twice a day, 20 minutes in a morning, 60 to 70 minutes in the afternoon. It's not the granny walk who takes her poodle out for its pee, it's active bad ass tiring walk to drain my hyper-active dog so i can sleep in an extra hour in the morning! Still can't believe a non-pubescent dog has more energy than i do. And she's only half way through her weight ... Oh dear.
Adding up to that (which i think it's already pretty decent exercise, considering that in normal cruise-ship days, i stand in the sun all bloody day and walk an average of 8 kilometers, yes sir, i measured it ... 23700 steps (approx. 12 km) was my busiest day ever). So i was saying, adding up to that (that being the walks with the dog), i hop on my exercise bike for another 20-25 minutes with WEIGHTS on each ankle (1 kilo to be exact). Not too sure if all this is considered "strenuous exercise" but it surely feels good. Reminds me this reebok poster i used to have in my bedroom saying "l'effort vous rend belle" (effort makes you beautiful, ladies).

En fin ... all this to say that in these hard crapy times of laziness and unemployment, might as well do something about this aging body of mine. Not too sure rewarding myself with a double decker nutella sandwich is the best way to go but oh well, we could discuss the virtues of chocolate later ... (think happiness, excitment, pain-killer and orgasm might kick in the definition again!)

And for the anecdote ... endorphins first got discovered in the brain of a ... swine ! JA ! I'll let you sneeze (bless you), i mean, SLEEP on it ;)

Irony ??

74 people died of swine flu and everybody wants to wear a mask
MILLIONS of people died of AIDS and nobody wants to wear a condom ...

... just saying ...

  

Pitbull & Orchid

Last week, i went to the botanical gardens of Vallarta ... 7 years later, well about time! I've always loved plants, have a good hand with them and recently discovered the wonders of beautiful exotic flowers and the delicate care they need. So needless to say how impressed i was with the orchidarium of the botanical gardens. If it was only for me, i'd sneak in at night with a truck and empty the orchidarium of all the plants there's inside but also of all those amazing hand made wooden breaded furniture ... (does that make sense??)


Since i'm a decent person (most of the time at least) and since i most definitely won't do that (ever), i took about a million pictures (34 total) and will do my best to make my patio and my garden look, if not better, at least as good as theirs!

My main problem actually has a name. It's a she (everything that brings problems is ALWAYS a she). Her name is Nikita. Niki for friends and relatives. She's my 6 months old 16 kilos bad ass looking tiger stripped pitbull. Apart from the fact that, being a dog, she likes on chewing shoes, i also noticed (and you can hear the voice of experience since it's my 3rd pit) that she loves chewing on sweet big leaves plants (such as ginger, pineapple, savila, agave etc. etc.). So putting orchids in "her" patio, in "her" territory, it's like sending a serial killer to the death row : they will die (one probably more painfully than the other but the result will be exactly the same in the end).

So what to do with this amazing orchid i've been given from the botanical? I decided to keep it in my bathroom. It's not too warm, it's humid enough, good light, what more can such a delicate flower ask for? Well rock on, it just blossomed 2 days ago ... I took a picture but it would honestly be an insult to its beauty to post it ... I'll try to scan the 35mm REAL picture i took of it if it comes out nicely.

Instead, i'll let you admire animals's ingenuity to deal with unbearable disgusting mexican heat (30°C this morning at 7:28am). And i proudly announce that YES, Niki can be in the presence of an orchid without being tempted of "romperle la madre" (as long as i keep her under close supervision, of course!)




  

Brand New Start

I'm not new to blogging ... nor to writing either ... let's just say it's an old lover that has been left behind for a while and then back again in the spotlight of my life! All of this thanks to 2 pretty important people in my life (2 guys, who would have thought??) - one of them for allowing me to dig into other really cool people's blogs, making me realize that i've always wanted to do this - the other one for making me accept the fact that you can only deny what and who you really are for a while until it hits you back in the face, generally pretty hard.

I have decided to share the slices of happiness i find in my life. Little somethings that make me unreasonably happy, excited, pleased with myself, proud and/or all of the above ;)

No cut, no censorship, no shame, no taboo ... just RAW ... (like us french like it in the plate!)

Hope you'll enjoy it at least as much as i will ...