bliss

Damien Hirst

I love this YBA (Young British Artist - yea that's right I use the terminology of the art world. It's fine) that is involved in this cool project my sister is working on in London.

I want this piece

Thanks, Dad

In the immortal words of Victor Frankl “You have to take risks to save your life”

That photo is not my Dad, FYI. Though it would be cool if he had those glasses.

Wise Bunny

Jasmine Joy

Locking Doors

I am reading a rather interesting article in the New York Times by Stephen Webster about people who don't lock their doors, whether they live in apartments or in houses, and the whole debate about security and the likelihood of theft.

I cannot believe that I used to live in a place where locking your front door was not entirely necessary, especially if you were in the house. Summer evenings were ideal for having friends drop by, and as they let themselves in to come join you in a glass of white wine, you could relax knowing that they knew their way around the house.

Buenos Aires is a completely different story. Most people have at least 2, more often 3, locks on their doors. Even if the door locks automatically when closed (standard for almost all apartments), people like to lock themselves in, just for extra security. When you leave, make sure you lock the door two times over. Dead-bolts and complicated locks and endless amounts of keys. It's a nightmare.

Granted, I am all for security and safety. I have heard plenty of horror stories of people getting into apartments, either by robbing the doorman or by pretending to be a maintenance worker, and stealing hefty amounts of personal belongings, or worse. But reading this NYT article just dumbfounds me. How do people who live in New York not lock their doors!?! I mean, I'm no country bumpkin by any means- I guess it's just a matter of having lived here for more than a year, and having it drilled into your brain that everything must be locked, sealed, closed, curtains drawn and heavy wooden shutters let down.

This first paragraph from the article is incredible:

IT’S the lore and lure of bucolic small-town living: The community is so safe, people don’t even lock their doors. But Joyce Weisshappel, a 63-year-old vice president with the Corcoran Group, a real estate company, does not live in a small town; she lives in Manhattan, in a luxury apartment building. And she doesn’t think she has ever locked her door in the 30 years she has lived there — she doesn’t even know where the keys are.

Why would she lock the door, she asks. There are 24-hour doormen, delivery people cannot enter the building unescorted and she’s never heard of a crime being committed there.

We also have a 24-hour doorman and workers are not allowed to just walk in to the building unannounced and unescorted.

Anyway, I'll continue this later. Just found it an interesting way to begin my Saturday.

How About Italy?

I want to go to Gargano (Italy) on the Adriatic coast, and then meander on over to Croatia.

Thank you ma'am.

India, Anyone ?

Shall we?

Let's.

Deadbeat Blogger

I know I have been neglecting the blog. Forgive me.

New Year's photos and other lovely things are to come ...
When I get a free moment (grumble)

Running around like a crazy person these days. The 95 degree weather doesn't really help. But at least I'm not frozen on the urban tundra.

I'm trying to figure out where I/We will be going on vacation in the next couple of months.

On my list of ideas:
-South Africa
-Costa Rica
-Barcelona/Paris

Obviously HOME is on the list, too ... I was merely naming places that I haven't been that I would like to see. It's hard living in another country because one feels compelled to return home for vacation, but I would really like to go to a new place this year. The last "new" place I have been was to San Martin de los Andes last February and it was incredibly beautiful but I would ideally like to go somewhere outside of Argentina.

I'll be back in DC definitely in September for a week or so, and since we're not sure of the possible arrival of D&D to Buenos Aires, I might put the idea of going home on hold for just a moment. Let's go to South Africa and drink wine and enjoy hilly mountaintops alongside the ocean.

That's all for now.

Not Suprising

So Diego Maradona, famed soccer player & current coach of the Argentine National Selection, apparently owes 36 million Euros in debt from back when he played with Napoli in the 80s. Real classy. In an effort to recuperate some of the value of those 36 million, authorities are hoping to seize Diego's famous - and giant - diamond stud earrings, valued at 4,000 Euros.

Excerpt from Perez Hilton (can't believe it made it onto that website):

Diego Maradona is a legendary soccer player in Argentina with loads of fame to his name and even more debt! Diego owes a hefty sum to the Italian tax authorities for taxes he didn't pay during the time he played for Napoli in the late 1980s-early 1990s.

His grand total owed? A whooping 36 million euros! That's 51,759,321.20 dollars!

In order to start paying off this debt, the Italy's financial authorities seized many of Diego's personal belongs to sell, including his diamond-studded gold earrings. They're valued at 4000 euros and will be sold off on January 14.

Meg = My Google Idol

My friend Meg made it into the Boston Herald ! She is a fabulous little lady and makes great jewelry too (check out her line Margaret Elizabeth. Done and... done).

Here is the link to the article: LINK !