[1] Today I was perusing through my Facebook wall and saw some friends talking about incredibox.com. This website is awesome if you want to kill time. You add characters to a box and pick which melodies, effect, and beats that they will make and they start making sounds. The funniest things is that the creators nailed the way in which these character’s mouths and eyes move. I couldn’t stop playing with it.

[2] Traditionally Brazil doesn’t have many medals compared to the United States, but we did get a gold medal in Men’s Gymnastics Rings. The kid, Arthur Zanetti kicked butt and beat the Chinese.

This is the painting I just finished. A 24×42 acrylic on canvas.

[3] I just finished another painting. It is a 24×42 acrylic on canvas that my friend commissioned. He is actually giving the painting to a couple of friends of his as a wedding gift. It is based on the poster of a band that they went to see and that same night they got engaged. Soon I will create a blog post with the process of creation of the painting.

[4] I love volleyball and I have been watching the volleybal in the Olympics games here and there. I guess I especially love watching the Brazilian team because growing up playing volleyball in Brazil I have played against most of the girls that are now in the national team. They have always been incredible players, but I just could not believe this one save where the libero just kicked the ball back and the girls scored. I was not watching the game, but thankfully someone decided to create a gif with that.

[5] I AM GOING TO DISNEYWOOOOOORLD!!! It seems like was yesterday when I blogged about “My Favorites” for my friend’s Sarah‘s 15 Day Challenge and I listed Disneyworld as one of my favorite places on earth. Well, it turns out that my boyfriend’s brother will have a break from his job at the Coast Guard and the whole family – me, my bf, his brother, the brother’s fiance, mom and dad – will head to Orlando, FL in a couple of weeks for the weekend. YAAAAAAAY!!!! I am sooooo happy to go there again!

Isn’t this an incredible save?!

[6] This was a lucky week for me. I won a free personal training class at my Gold’s Gym on McKinney Ave. It was one of those raffles – you know…one of those that you usually walk by and doesn’t sign up for – but this time I DID sign up and I DID WIN I already scheduled for this Friday and I am super excited about it #WINNING.

[7] If you ever think about going to graduate school and want to know my advice about it: DO NOT GO! That’s it.

[8] Apparently some stores are already putting up Christmas items for sale. It’s too effing early for that!! I think Christmas time is so special, but if half of the year is filled with Chritsmassy things it will loose its magic. STOP THAT YOU BUSINESSES! >:(

[9] I love my place of work. More importantly, I am very grateful for the people I work for. Last week, when my dissertation proposal was shut down, one of my bosses took me to coffee, talked to me about it, shared her similar experience, and let me vent. I admire my bosses and I am very thankful for their support.

[10] I found the most wonderful thing about Baylor. This kid spend hours and hours in this computer software and recreated the whole university. It is definitely worth watching, and if you are a Baylor Bear it is will be particularly awesome. Sic’em.

This Week: Celebrity Girl Crushes

We know you all have those female celebrities that you gush over. In this week’s random thursday I will let you know who they are! What is it about them that makes me swoon?

Vergara | Jolie | Beckham

[1] Sofia Vergara. The reason she is number one in my list is because she is beautiful, funny, latina, and looking good at 40. I can’t even say that I hope to look as good as she does when I am 40 because in my 20s I don’t look as good as she does in her 40s. I hope that I age gracefully as she has.

[2] Angelina Jolie. Who doesn’t have a crush on her. Before I used to thing of her as this sexy beast and I wish I was like her. Now, I just admire her for her humanitarian efforts, her family, a long lasting relationship with Brad Pit, and being beautiful after popping so many children.

[3] Victoria Beckham. To tell you the truth I used to hate her in the Spice Girl days. Now, I admire her beauty (and how she cannot get a pound after 3 kids and life in general), she has also kept the relationship going with a very handsome man, and her clothing line is absolutely AMAZING. She has it all!!!

Actually, I think that the thing that makes those ladies my 3 choices for celebrity crushes is that they seem to have it all. Vergara is now engaged by the way AND has the clothing/home apparel line as well. They are beautiful, strong, have families, amazing men….they have it all!

This past weekend I traveled to New Orleans with my boyfriend and a group of friend. Therefore, this 10 on Tuesday post will be inspired by that trip.

View of the hotel in NOLA

[1] I played volleyball for many years of my life. Because of that I was recruited to play for Baylor University and there I made friendships that will be with me forever. Some of the girls I met at Baylor are my “core” friends, but they live all over the country and I don’t get to see them too often. This weekend tho, I got to see two of my besties and their significant others. They are strong, beautiful, and fun women and their boyfriend/husband are wonderful people as well (and that have a great relationship with my boyfriend). I had a blast reconnecting with them and I cherish every moment we spent together.

Bienville and Bourbon

[2] New Orleans’ French Quarter is AWESOME! I love the history, the architecture, the smells, the art. I LOVE ALL ABOUT IT. The only thing that is pretty annoying is the heat, but we were lucky enough that this weekend was not uber hot and walking around was doable.

[3] If you ever make to NOLA you MUST eat at this place called Willie Mae’s. I could write a whole food review about this place, but a lot of people have already done so. IT WAS THE BEST FRIED CHICKEN I HAVE EVER EATEN IN MY LIFE! According to the New York Times travel guide “her secret-recipe fried chicken were designated an “American classic” by the James Beard Foundation” and it is indeed remarkable! I also had the red beans and rice (to die for) and the green beans (yum!). The lemonade there is also FANTASTIC, along with their delicious bread pudim which I could not resist. After that we HAD to take a nap, but it was DEFINITELY AMAZING!

You ought to check this place out when in NOLA

The whole convo between Pat O’Brien’s and I

[4] Social media check-ins pay off. For this trip, checking in of both Foursquare and Yelp I got free begnets at Huck Finn’s Cafe , I got an American Express deal that for $10 bucks spent at the Krazy Korner on Bourbon I would get $5 back. Also, I got a delicious free appetizer at Le Bayou Restaurant.

[5] On the same trail from the item before I have an interesting story to share. The week before we went to New Orleans I decided to scavenge twitter for #NOLA to see what was happening. I saw then the following post from Pat O’Brien‘s bar saying “Thanks to out 1500+ followers! Here’s a coupon for a Free Appetizer in our restaurant – 624 Bourbon St #NOLA” and attached the picture of the coupon. I replied to that email by saying that I was heading there that weekend and that I would definitely use the coupon.

So, that Friday we get to New Orleans and I tell all of my friends “hey guys we should go to Pat O’Brien’s because I got a coupon for a free appetizer!” so, on Friday night we decide to go. We get a table, order the appetizer, our food, and before we get our check I let them know that I have a coupon in my phone (because it is on twitter). The waitress comes back and says the coupon has to be printed out to be validated. I decide to call the manager to explain that in the coupon there is nothing telling me that I have to have a physical copy of the coupon to redeem the offer. At that time I am tweeting Pat O’brien’s the following message: “well…we are here AND we brought the coupon on my phone (cuz u tweeted it) but they won’t accept it #lame.” I was so upset and tweeted again: “that’s not fair!!! the coupon should be accepted! you tweeted and didn’t say it HAD to be printed #notfair #nola.”

Having a lawyer as a boyfriend is very helpful at times. The appetizer was only $10 bucks and we would never sue them for anything that is that small…but that’s the PRINCIPLE that counts! If it wasn’t for that tweet/coupon I might not have gone to that business, therefore they solicited the business by reaching out. Once they do not honor a coupon, which did not state that it HAD to be printed, they are basically doing something deceiving to the consumer. I make that case to the manager (and my lawyer boyfriend as well) and finally he honors the coupon.

Later that night I get a tweet from Pat O’Brien’s again saying that they were sorry for my troubles and offering a drink, and I let them know that ultimately the manager honored the coupon. The funny thing is that the next day I get a tweet from them again inviting me for a drink on the house. I reply: “do I have to print the tweet to redeem it?” lol but at O’brien’s takes the joke and said that there was no printing necessary.

This was a fun/interesting thing that happened. I didn’t go back for the free drink, but in my mind Pat O’Brien’s redeemed itself and I would still recommend people to go there. They have a great atmosphere and a great French Quarter style courtyard. The food was great, and even throughout the whole coupon argumentation they honored the coupon and were nice over twitter. GO THERE, take a picture, and tweet me @addymeira

[6] This time in NOLA we decided not to do a tour. Last time I was here I did a vampire tour where Vabio (my friends and I named him that because he looked like Fabio, but had Vampire fangs) showed us all the places in NOLA where vampire/murder stories are associated with. That tour was awesome and I totally recommend it.

The BF and I in #NOLA

[7] Packing! I hate packing! I hate packing especially when you pack a bunch of crap and you don’t get to wear them. This was one of those trips. Everybody on the group packed a bunch of clothes and shoes and we ended up wearing very few of them because during the day we would get all sweaty and we KNEW we would get just as sweaty at night…no need to change…

[8] Sunday was our last day. We slept past our check out time (of course), ate, took my boyfriend to the airport and then I drive to Houston with 2 of my friends (i flew out of houston because it was a lot cheaper). The drive back was AWEFUL!!! My friend Modg and I felt super sick, and when she was trying to determine the specific thing we had eaten to cause that I determined that it was THE WEEKEND! We had about 5 stops on the way #TMI, but 5 and a half hours later we made it.

[9] I miss New Orleans already. I miss the food, the french quarter, but most importantly I miss my girls. I always love spending time with them and I cannot wait to see them again.

[10] Dissertation proposal update: it was not accepted . This is the reason this post was not published promptly on Tuesday. I was/still am incredibly bummed out. My committee told me to revise/change pretty much the whole thing which may meas that my graduation might be delayed and that pisses me off…oh well…

This Week’s Topic: Dream Vacation!!

If I was given the opportunity to have an all expenses paid vacation, where would I go?! Who would I take with me?! What would I pack?! That’s an easy one: BORA BORA. There are many places that I would like to visit, and I even have my own Pinterest board with those places. However, if there was ONE PLACE that I had to pick right now that would be it. According to Wikipedia:

I would love to stay at one of those bungalows

“Bora Bora is an island in the Leeward group of the Society Islands of French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in the Pacific Ocean. The island, located about 230 kilometres (140 mi) northwest of Papeete, is surrounded by a lagoon and a barrier reef. In the center of the island are the remnants of an extinct volcano rising to two peaks, Mount Pahia and Mount Otemanu, the highest point at 727 meters (2,385 ft).”

To tell you the truth, I probably wouldn’t be exploring the land part of the island…I would probably stay at a hotel that has private bungalows right above the water, get room service, and be sinful with my baby <3.

Wouldn’t it be great to stay at one of these?!

Actually, in this scenario (all expenses and stuff) I would go Kardashian style and rent out a whole private wing of the Hilton Bora Bora Nui Resort and Spa. I would love to order room service for breakfast, hit the massage tables, then have lunch with the friends/family, get swimming/snorkeling in the amazing transparent/turquoise ocean, and later do dinner/drinking/partakation with the friend/family.

I would take the guy on the massage table as well…lol

Apparently, the rates for the cabanas during the off season are about $800-$900 per night, the flight there would be about…hum…EXPENSIVE (of course! I WOULD FLY A PRIVATE PLANE – dream vacation, remember?!)…

I would hope that at least one day I would be able to visit Bora Bora, even if it is not in one of the presidential style cabanas. Heck! If that couple from the Housewives of the OC (Tamra and Eddie) were able to go there – and by the way HERE is the breakdown of their trip’s cost according to a gossip site – maybe I will be able to go there too!

Want to share your dream place with me? Send me a comment or join the linkup!

[1] I absolutely love this musician called Anders Trentemoller. He is a Danish electronic music musician that creates these minimal, progressive house type of sounds. I have bought his album and I could listen to it over and over and not get tired of it. Below is one of my favorite songs by him called Miss You.

[2] Continuing the topic of music, and oddly…progressive trance…here is another one of my favorites. Actually, the video is one of my favorites. It’s Triphonic’s Parks on Fire.

Screenshot from DMD app (from app store)

[3] I am OBSESSED with this app called DMD Panorama or Demandar. It cost me $1.99 at the app store when I got it (which it is totally worth) but is now available FREE for a limited time. This app allows people to create panoramic/360 degree images with their own phone. Below are some of the screenshot images from the app store, but HERE you can see one of the images that I have previously captured with this app. The way it works is: you line up your camera vertically, take a picture, then move the camera around until the halves of the circles on top align; when they do, the phone automatically takes another picture until you are done with it. Later, you can share that image by email, Facebook, or Twitter because the image is uploaded to the DMD server.

Another screenshot…also from the app store

[4] If you have not read Frank McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes DON’T DO IT. Instead, get the audiobook! Angela’s Ashes is an autobiographical book by Pulitzer Prize winning author Frank McCourt and in the audiobook HE is the one reading the whole thing, giving it additional authenticity and life to the story. The whole tale is beautifully written, but all comes to life when the author sings the songs his father use to sing to him throughout his boyhood days. TOTALLY WORTH LISTENING TO.

[5] Im glad Weeds, the TV show – not the drug – is back. Unfortunately, I don’t have Showtime at home, so I cannot watch it. But I guess the most interesting thing I am excited about it to be able to see one of the men in “my list”on TV…or when purchased via amazon prime or hulu.

Go to Sar’s blog & send her some lovin.

[6] Can you believe this?! Today, one of the victim’s from the Colorado movie theater shooting filed a lawsuit against Warner Bros. Studios…THE EFF!! As if they were in any way, shape, or form responsible for one man’s discombobulation….people, man…I cannot believe people some times….

[7] I missed my bestie’s baby shower this past weekend and I am incredibly bummed out about it. The reason I missed it is that she lives in Orange County, and I live in Dallas, TX. I live under my graduate students stipend and I can only afford doing 1 trip to Cali this year. I decided then to take a trip AFTER she has the baby, when her hubby goes back to work, and when I can actually HELP her with stuff. Still, I feel super guilty and I so wish I had been there

[8] Sarah Lake is absolutely awesome, generous, creative, inspiring, and I love her. She allows me to sleep in her spare bedroom when I go work in Waco and that saves me 3 hours worth of commuting during the week. She is absolutely wonderful and the world should know that!

[9] My boyfriend and I are heading to New Orleans this coming weekend with some friends. I am looking forward to some Beignets and Cafe Au Lait. Any other suggestions?

[10] My Dissertation proposal date and time have been set! Next Tuesday at 1:30pm. Prayers are appreciated and the result will be shared next 10 on Tuesday!

Querido Estebandito,

a. Nice Rocket.

b. Of course we used to title our letters! Because they were called emails. And when we first became friends we wrote them on aol. Remember, saymoreaboutthat@[maybe your address was not aol..., but still]?

c. I was responding to a facebook message this morning when this man was suggested as a friend on the sidebar:

Do you know who this is? This is my biological grandfather that I have never met. In fact, I know basically nothing about him aside from his <searching for euphemism> unforgettable name. I have learned, though, that he prefers Budweiser products <a clear indicator of family relation> and:

Imagine that.

Anita Margarita

PS: Can I borrow this copy of The Gilmore Girls I just found in your stuff?

Dear Ash,

Giving the blogs titles seems a little like cheating. Did we ever title our letters? I don’t think so. That would have been pretentious, even for the teenage versions of us. (And that says something.) I had a poetry professor in college who debated the value of titling poems. “The poem stands alone. If a title is necessary, the poem is incomplete.” Well said, Professor Horner. Still, we dated our letters, and that serves very much as a contextual reference point, and isn’t that the purpose of a title?

There was some story on NPR about a female Olympic athlete. She said something that stuck with me, something to the effect of, “I like my event because it’s short. I only have to feel terrible for a few seconds.” She was saying that the actual act of competing puts such a stress on the body that it feels terrible. Her word, not mine. She may *like* sprinting, but it also *feels* terrible. It’s easy to forget that noteworthy and newsworthy and jaw-dropping feats are frequently the result of conscious hardship. And still, to watch her run, you’d think she were a gazelle, right? Her skill might seem natural, or effortless.

The other night I told you that living together felt rather effortless. This was true though “effortless” can also be understood in the way it’s described above. In order for our living situation to be effortless, we must exert effort. It doesn’t seem fair, right? But it’s true. In order to run for miles and miles without effort, you have to train with great effort.

Divorce is a strange thing in our society. It holds many paradoxes.

1. Most marriages end in divorce, though it still carries a significant stigma. The US divorce rate is a tragedy, of course, but you’d think that our society, which trends toward liberalization would be taking a more Brave New World approach to the whole process.
2. When we decided to end our marriage, it came as a shock to many people. This was probably because we exerted large amounts of effort to behave like adults on the court and off the court (i.e., in front of people and in private). And yet, more than one person (though less than five, thankfully) asked me why we didn’t give our marriage more effort. It is hard to answer questions like those with poise and self-control. I can think of no time in my life when I gave more effort than our four years of marriage. What a paradox. Indeed, we cheapen the beautiful and complex practice of marriage when we speak as if “even a child could do it”. Marriage is an art. It is a science. It requires great effort. Marriage is hard. That is why it is worth pursuing.
3. This one gets me: The expectation is that divorced couples will behave badly with each other. In what other social arrangement do we expect adults to behave badly to each other? Odd. Just odd.

Paradox Three is my favorite. We fly in the face of that one. True, we have fallings out, like the other night. Why wouldn’t we? Everyone falls out. We fall out with coworkers, family members, friends, people we don’t know. Where is it written that our social lives should be smooth? And if they were, what would be the point? David Belle, Parkour’s Paul the Apostle, said, ”If you are not better than you were the day before, then what are you doing – what’s the point?”

Look. When I sprained my wrist (pretending to be David Belle), it felt terrible. But at least there was a point to it. The point was learning how to do what I was trying to do. And when we fall out, there’s a point to it, even though it feels terrible. We’re learning how to do what we’re trying to do. This is what gets me about working for the government and NGOs. When a program doesn’t work, the thing is often scrapped, like it was a waste of time and effort. No!! That’s missing the point. Failure is Lesson One. If you stop before you learn the lesson, what was the point? You don’t stop shooting for the moon because your first rocket blew up.

When I asked you to live together again, and you said yes (even though our first rocket blew up), it was as if, in some quiet way, our entire relationship was existentially justified. All of it was worth it, nothing was wasted – we are still on a journey together. We continue to exert effort so that being with each other can become effortless. We aren’t trying to do marriage again, we’re doing us again. And that is the point.

Very sincerely,

P.S.

My left tonsil is still the size of Central Texas but by golly we are homebrewing tonight.

SB,

What I’m typing now is the letter siri helped me write to you this afternoon as I drove the hundred miles south to begin my stint of dual residency. I suppose it reads more like a list of statements than a letter:

1. I’m moving into my matchbox place in Austin today.
2. I took your french press with me.
3. I’ve had a nervous stomach about it all day.
4. I don’t especially know what I’m doing.
5. This is an example of why it’s hard to make long term decisions.
5.1 Things are so easy now–it’s surprisingly easy being roommates without Olive home. I hadn’t guessed that when I determined to do this two months ago. Last night, we even talked about the effortlessness of living together right now–a new experience, since we never really have lived without Olive (I don’t think either of us counts those three months before she was conceived).
5.2 And so why would I need the space and freedom of another apartment in another city?
5.3 But she will return from her grandparents in short term.
5.4 And Goose will move in, too.
5.5 And the apartment will get smaller.
6. It’s ironic that we had a falling out last night where you said that I run away, I said you chase me away, and today I’m actually driving my mattress to another town. It’s as if this were all cinematically timed.

And then I stopped dictating because we arrived.

The apartment is relatively empty. Evidently most of the furniture and decor that were here before belonged to the girl whose room I’ve taken over. There’s a sectional couch and a flat screen TV and not much else.

Just after the movie (To Rome with Love; good comedy, laughed a lot, see it), Chad and I were standing around talking about the oddity (in terms of bare feeling) of the naked walls. He was minutes from going back home and suddenly I felt like a college freshman being dropped off at the dorms for the first time, like I was saying goodbye to my parents.

He left, and I felt just like that. So I made my bed and took a shower and wrote you a letter. I wonder if my first nights in the college dorms were really that much different. I know I had a hard time sleeping then, whereas now I’m looking so very forward to my bed.

This reminds me of an exchange between Jesse Eisenberg and Alec Baldwin at the end of the movie:

JE: With age comes wisdom.
AB: With age comes exhaustion.

I don’t know if that stands alone, but I’ll let it.

Thank you for my housewarming plant. It’s the most vibrant thing in my room. I won’t forget to water it. And feel better for god’s sake. We’ve got some homebrewing to get after.

ap

Today I woke up with the tragic news that during last night’s midnight screening of The Dark Night Rises in Aurora, CO a 24 year old PhD student from the University of Colorado went bonkers and opened fire against the audience – the movie theater had the capacity to hold 300 people – killing 19 and wounding 59 people (the sources for all of this data are all over the internet, and for the sake of me sharing my opinion/my take on this I will not waste time linking up the data with the sources). My boyfriend and I have tickets to watch that movie tonight at 9:30, and my opinion does not relate to any fears of going to the theater now, nor about the violence in movies or the media of today. My opinion relates to graduate education and how the pressures that can come from it might drive someone that is already somewhat imbalanced to doing something completely horrific.

Most of my friends know that last year was a very hard one for me. I had been extremely anxious and stressed out about school, life, jobs, graduation, dissertation and because of that I ended up succumbing to depression. I reached out to psychologists and psychiatrists at my university’s health center to help me get out of the funk, and after therapy and medication I am finally at a much better place. After reading and watching the news all day and learning more about this kid I was just taken back to my depression days.

According to sources, this kid was a Neuroscience PhD student at the University of Colorado in Denver, but on the process of dropping out. Other sources say that prior to enrolling into graduate school, this neuroscience major could not find a job and had complained a lot to his mother (which…HEY! I know the world is not fair and if everybody nowadays cried for not finding a job the US would be flooded). My point is: I GET IT! I DO NOT (and I am making sure to use capital letters, bold, and italic to emphasize it) think that going bonkers and killing people is right and I WOULD NEVER DO THAT, but I just can sympathize with the fact that he just went bonkers…If he was in as much stress/depression/anxiety/mental issue/state that I was last year and just didn’t get the proper help that’s what happens.

My point is: the economy is S*&^ now, jobs are scarce. People feel like shit (and when you are educated you think that it is not gonna happen to you, but IT DOES, so the disappointment is bigger). Then, people decide to go to graduate school and IT IS NOT EASY to be in graduate school (I know…there are many medical doctors and lawyers, out there and they have NOT gone bonkers…blah blah blah…what I am saying is that graduate school is not just a walk in the park). What I am saying is that, if you get to a point that you cannot handle that and don’t get help…EFF! you go bonkers!

I am glad I reached for help. I know I would have it in me to go completely insane (but boy! many times I just felt like kicking a computer monitor or two and stomping on it) but the help I got allowed me get back to a normal state, and I am very thankful for it. I just hope that, if people feel that they need help THEY GET HELP. With my involvement with the National Association of Graduate and Professional Students (NAGPS) I got informed of a resource for graduate students called National Graduate Student Crisis Line. If you are in a situation that you need help, or you know someone that needs help please go to http://www.hopeline.com/gradhelp.html or call 800-GRAD-HLP.

I am very saddened about the news today and I pray for the families of the victims, the shooter, and the shooter’s family. Also, I pray for the people at the University of Colorado (which will definitely see a lot of repercussion from what happened). I don’t know what his issues where, if graduate school had anything to do with it or not, or whatever his deal was…IT DOESN’T MATTER. What I really do hope is that people reach out for help or help people get help in the future so things like these won’t happen.