Children

Our children are being neglected. That's the conclusion of a study by Unicef done in all industrialised nations. The authors say they used the most up-to-date information to assess "whether children feel loved, cherished, special and supported, within the family and community, and whether the family and community are being supported in this task by public policy and resources".

Notice UK and the USA...

CHILD WELL-BEING TABLE
1. Netherlands
2. Sweden
3. Denmark
4. Finland
5. Spain
6. Switzerland
7. Norway
8. Italy
9. Republic of Ireland
10. Belgium
11. Germany
12. Canada
13. Greece
14. Poland
15. Czech Republic
16. France
17. Portugal
18. Austria
19. Hungary
20. United States
21. United Kingdom

Source: Unicef


REPORT CATEGORIES
Material well-being
Family and peer relationships
Health and safety
Behaviour and risks
Own sense of well-being [educational]
Own sense of well-being [subjective]

Valentine's

Is Valentine’s Day more about marketing or romance?

Nowadays, more of the first, I’m afraid. In fact, this day was created for the business. Since there was a shopping gap between Xmas and Easter, it was needed to fill it in with something. And who can say no to LOVE?

Roses double fold their prices in these days; chocolates’ firms release special bonbon editions; massages are now the new trend (the couple is massaged simultaneously, in a very relaxed atmosphere – I almost had that experience, in China, with my friend Pedro. I say almost, because it wasn’t very relaxing, as the massage types we chose were a bit on the harsh side. The first half hour was a Japanese shiatsu kind of torture, as although we were fully dressed, the knots of the masseuse’s fingers still went through our skins, tendons and muscles leaving us in pain, for 28 mins out of 30. The second part of this experience comprised of extra hot stones right on our already pained backs. If it wasn’t for the masseuses’ audible burning pain in their hands, it could be semi relaxing. But the girls were picking up the extra hot black stones with their bare hands and they couldn’t hide their discomfort… And we felt we were being burnt all throughout. So much for the relaxation the brochure promised. We went out of there in a mix of relief and pain. That was my couple massage experience. Maybe not to repeat.)

In any case, Valentines is everyday, right?

PS – my horoscope promised I was going to receive good news today at work… I’m waiting!

Jamiroquai - Runaway

Can you dig it? Something in the air tonight....lalala

Beatrix Potter

Just came back from the movies. This time everything went as normal, just noticed that 3 lonely guys were watching this film all by themselves...

The film wasn't an action packed movie, it was Miss Potter. Quite sweet.

For the ones who don't know who Miss Potter is, look at the pic below, as it might give you a hint. Just a fact: she was the most selling author of children books.

THE TALE OF
PETER RABBIT
BY
BEATRIX POTTER

ONCE upon a time there were four little Rabbits, and their names were Flopsy, Mopsy, Cotton-tail, and Peter.
They lived with their Mother in a sand-bank, underneath the root of a very big fir-tree.

'Now, my dears,' said old Mrs. Rabbit one morning, 'you may go into the fields or down the lane, but don't go into Mr. McGregor's garden: your Father had an accident there; he was put in a pie by Mrs. McGregor.'

'Now run along, and don't get into mischief. I am going out.'

Then old Mrs. Rabbit took a basket and her umbrella, and went through the wood to the baker's. She bought a loaf of brown bread and five currant buns.
Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cotton-tail, who were good little bunnies, went down the lane to gather blackberries:

But Peter, who was very naughty, ran straight to Mr. McGregor's garden, and squeezed under the gate!First he ate some lettuces and some French beans; and then he ate some radishes;
And then, feeling rather sick, he went to look for some parsley.But round the end of a cucumber frame, whom should he meet but Mr. McGregor!Mr. McGregor was on his hands and knees planting out young cabbages, but he jumped up and ran after Peter, waving a rake and calling out, 'Stop thief!'Peter was most dreadfully frightened; he rushed all over the garden, for he had forgotten the way back to the gate.
He lost one of his shoes among the cabbages, and the other shoe amongst the potatoes.
After losing them, he ran on four legs and went faster, so that I think he might have got away altogether if he had not unfortunately run into a gooseberry net, and got caught by the large buttons on his jacket. It was a blue jacket with brass buttons, quite new.
Peter gave himself up for lost, and shed big tears; but his sobs were overheard by some friendly sparrows, who flew to him in great excitement, and implored him to exert himself.Mr. McGregor came up with a sieve, which he intended to pop upon the top of Peter; but Peter wriggled out just in time, leaving his jacket behind him. And rushed into the tool-shed, and jumped into a can. It would have been a beautiful thing to hide in, if it had not so much water in it.
Mr. McGregor was quite sure that Peter was somewhere in the tool-shed, perhaps hidden underneath a flower-pot. He began to turn them over carefully, looking under each.
Presently Peter sneezed - 'Kertyschoo!' Mr. McGregor was after him in no time. And tried to put a foot upon Peter, who jumped out of a window, upsetting three plants. The window was too small for Mr. McGregor, and he was tired of running after Peter. He went back to his work.
Peter sat down to rest; he was out of breath and trembling with fright, and he had not the least idea which way to go. Also he was very damp with sitting in that can.
After a time he began to wander about, going lippity - lippity - not very fast, and looking all around. He found a door in a wall; but it was locked, and there was no room for a fat little rabbit to squeeze underneath. An old mouse was running in and out over the stone doorstep, carrying peas and beans to her family in the wood. Peter asked her the way to the gate, but she had such a large pea in her mouth that she could not answer. She only shook her head at him. Peter began to cry.

Then he tried to find his way straight across the garden, but he became more and more puzzled. Presently, he came to a pond where Mr. McGregor filled his water-cans. A white cat was staring at some gold-fish, she sat very, very still, but now and then the tip of her tail twitched as if it were alive. Peter thought it best to go away without speaking to her; he had heard about cats from his cousin, little Benjamin Bunny.

He went back towards the tool-shed, but suddenly, quite close to him, he heard the noise of a hoe - scr-r-ritch, scratch, scratch, scritch. Peter scuttered underneath the bushes. But presently, as nothing happened, he came out, and climbed upon a wheel-barrow and peeped over. The first thing he saw was Mr. McGregor hoeing onions. His back was turned towards Peter, and beyond him was the gate!

Peter got down very quietly off the wheel-barrow, and started running as fast as he could go, along a straight walk behind some black-currant bushes.
Mr. McGregor caught sight of him at the corner but Peter did not care. He slipped underneath the gate, and was safe at last in the wood outside the garden.
Mr. McGregor hung up the little jacket and the shoes for a scare-crow to frighten the blackbirds.

Peter never stopped running or looked behind him till he got home to the big fir-tree.
He was so tired that he flopped down upon the nice soft sand on the floor of the rabbit-hole, and shut his eyes. His mother was busy cooking; she wondered what he had done with his clothes. It was the second little jacket and pair of shoes that Peter had lost in a fortnight.

I am sorry to say that Peter was not very well during the evening.
His mother put him to bed, and made some camomile tea; and she gave a dose of it to Peter!
'One tablespoon to be taken at bed-time.'

But Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cotton-tail had bread and milk and blackberries, for supper.

If you like these stories, check this site. These are beautiful classics, our children should listen and read them, as they are the cutest thing.

nouvelle vague

Just a cool little song. Love it...

Babies and earthquakes

Yesterday was a key day for Portugal: for the second time round people had the chance to get involved directly in politics and have a say in the remaking of a law. Last time in 1998, people weren’t so interested, and the referendum participation was below the 50% needed for a legal ratification.

This current government also wanted to change that law and again it asked the people to vote and decide. The referendum was about a very delicate question for us, Portuguese, as we are, together with Ireland and Poland the most conservative in this field. I’m talking about legalising abortion.
Our law, the way it is written, only allows interruption of pregnancy in case of rape, malformation or danger for the mother’s health by solely decision of the medical class, and not the mother herself.
If the mother-to-be decides she wants to end her pregnancy, she has to do the abortion in an illegal backroom, usually with unsanitary conditions and paying around 1000€… Risking being found out and going to prison, as it is a crime, according to our law. Punished with up to 3 years sentence.

The referendum yesterday was posing the question if we agreed to change the law, by allowing women to voluntarily end up her pregnancy in a legal clinic, up to the 10 weeks of gestation.
In a very Catholic country but with plenty of available contraception – for free – this topic is very difficult to reach a consensus between the ‘pro-life’ and the ‘pro-freedom of choice’.

The law will pass, abortion will be legalised.
Today’s earthquake (5.8 in the Ritcher’s scale) was, according to some, a divine punishment for those who voted for the legalisation.
Who knows? J

Ahhh, weekend!

WEEKEND!!!!

I'm getting to the gym right now and then it's officially lazy time! Hooray!

Many options to fill in these 2 days:

* cinema

* cooking nice warm food

* last sales quick tour

* drinking tea and cookies on the sofa

* looking for nice cute cars

Ahh, the joy of the weekends... Bless!

Bug Alert

Look what my computer revealed to me today, the poor thing... That's what happens when you leave it all by itself for some time.

It obviously isn't interested in anything but sweets and attention. It's only fair I treat it to a little snack... (Is it my PC or me ;) ? )

Kisses

PS- found it in Ana's blog and you can find some more of this stuff here.

hi

Just to say:

HELLO

Fundas and cinemas

Ok, Ikea out of the way...



This is my funda nórdica.












Also bought a bed cover.
And some sheets. And this is it in what bed clothes are concerned!

Yesterday went with my sister to the movies to see the opening of The pursuit of happyness.

We loved the film, especially as it's based on a true story. Watch the trailers on the link.

But we went through a cool experience on the movie theather. It started as the lights went off around 8.15 (movie was starting at 8.20) and for around 10 mins we were all in the dark with no pictures on the screen. There was obviously a problem with the projector, and people kept turning themselves on their seats to look up there to the little window. In the meantime, there were no lights and the theather totally full of mainly foreigners (it was a Original Version movie). At some point one of the many mobile phone lights pointed at the screen and its ownwer started to move his hands . The shadows were projected and everyone giggled a bit. He saw there a good chance to stand out and the next shadow was a butterfly. We all laughed a bit more. The light went off and the next Chinese shadow he came up to (he had been practicing in the dark) was a dog eating and barking. At that one which was really good, besides laughing he also got applause from all of us. The next one was a rabbit, but we only laughed, the dog was the best!

*Photos of 2006*

If you have a tiny bit of time to kill, go and have a look at this site » http://msnbc.msn.com/id/16094272 .
It's a compilation of the best pictures of all over the world events and it is very cool. Enjoy!

Lunch

Today we had a Lebanese lunch at work, as a colleague who is half Lebanese had his birthday turning 30 and offered us scrumptious food. Everybody in the office was eating pita bread and humus, and all the very nice things he brought. Recipes were exchanged as the majority loved the food. As for me, I was innundated with questions about my trip to Beirut and how much Lebanese food had I; which one was the favourite; what kind of meat is used, etc etc. It was a nice gesture and tomorrow he will be given a nice prezzie from all of us.

Ikea's bedroom

Ikea left thousands of catalogues downstairs. It's the new 'bedroom for 07'.

Do you want to miss the most modern tendencies? Go now and pick one of these catalogues from your neighbour's mailbox and sit confortably on your Ikea sofa, pull your Ikea blanket up, drink some tea on your Ikea mug and relax. Enter the world of Ikea's bedrooms...

(came in quite handy too, we were looking for fundas nórdicas for quite some time... Do you actually know what fundas nórdicas are? hihihihiihi)

Is it me...

...or I'm not being a good blog owner?

My poor blog is nostalgic of those days of multiple posts, with many uploads and colours, laughs and comments from all over...

The reasons of this non-activity can be found on:

> my moody days

> my eye surgery

> my internetless week

> my lack of exciting facts to share

> my boring days (sniff!)

> my non existing life after working hours

> my work

> my sister, who uses the laptop all night long

> me???

This is not a 'take a pick' option kinda thing. It's the whole list! (sniffffffff.....)

Catching up...

Yes, yes, I know...long time no see.
In a nutshell:

- spent an internetless week at home (coincidentely we changed operators a week before and that week was the transition, quite a good timing hey?) where days were slowly passing by, for my own comfort. It was also cold outside, so I managed to choose a good week to stay home alone. Nah, it was a bit boring, actually, given that I had a red eye and the prospect of going out wasn't tempting, especially in this country where the genre violence is the highest in Europe, maybe in the world, who knows?
Last year, 70 women were murdered by their partners or ex-partners and this year this figure is starting to grow - 3 so far, and it's only January.
Anyway, needless to say that I was happy not to go to work, although bored.

- then, it's the sales month, so one has to be active during this time of the year (that week at home set me back quite a bit!). Not that we bought a lot, but it's always good to have a look around.

- during the weekend, gave a dinner here, I cooked my best chilli con carne, and also went out on boring Sunday afternoon for a coffee and a muffin in 2 Chueca coffee shops, Isolée and Diurno. Met a new Portuguese girl, and talked about banalities, including my plans to buy a car for my own self.

- yesterday, went back to the gym, after that week's absence and it felt good. Tonight thought of going back, but dinner at Vips and then the viewing of Dr Rouse (Spanish interpretation of the famous doc) sound a bit better :)

- booked my flights to Barcelona to the end of next month, going Saturday and coming back on Tuesday. Would like to see my dear friend over there and enjoy 2 days of turism in that beautiful place (Saturday afternoon and part of Sunday are spent at Graphispac fair, poohh!)

- and now, excuse me, but going to bathe myself, it's my best moment of the day, coming back home and just relax....

PS - did I tell you we are going to stay in this flat, at the end? The landlord was understanding and was did 'rebajas' on the rent!!! Not that my persuasion didn't work, it's just that he likes us :)

Marie Antoniette

Yesterday we went to the movies and watched Marie Antoinette, the new Sofia Coppola's film.

Can someone tell me what modern-age element appears in one scene? Quite funky too!

If you check out wikipedia you'll find quite a big deal about this amazing woman.

Mowgli (feminine version)

In Cambodia a woman apparently living in the wild for around 19 years has been found in a jungle.

She was described as half human, half animal and she cannot speak any language. She must be around 27 years old and she was naked and walking in a bending-forward position like a monkey. She was bare-bonnes skinny and shaking. Her eyes were red and always glancing left and right, left and right. Her father recognised her by a scar in her arm and her family is watching her after she took off her clothes and acted as if she was going back into the jungle...

Can you believe it? It reminds me of Mowgli, of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, about the boy who was raised by wolves and his friends: old wise bear Baloo and Bagheera, the sleek black panther. In our ultra modern times, these odd situations still exist and make us wonder about our progress and how much we have developed. How it's all so relative. Maybe this girl was also happy like Mowgli and his jungle friends and thought of herself as one more. Is this a rescue or a sentence to her?

Catching up...

I guess I'm part of the 60% of workers who check jobsites whilst at work...
Besides showing a bad sign about people's attitudes at work, it also shows that many people aren't loyal to their companies, i.e., don't feel happy enough at their current jobs and are willing to take chances. I'm always willing to try new things, as once I learn how to deal with something I look for something new. I couldn't be a maintenance manager or something that'd involve routine as the main task (like in a production line), as I'd be out of that in a blink of an eye.
So, basically, I'm on the look out. If I see something interesting, I'll go for it. My Dad left a cool book about how to elaborate a decent CV and how to market ourselves efficientely, so when I'm done with the book, I'll translate my CV into Spanish and off I go! Full of confidence and taking it easy. You'll see me!

As for the promised sunset, have a look and think how the Phoenicians must have liked that spot! We were near Byblos, one of the most ancient known cities in the world, looking at the sunset. Nice, no?...

Other news: currently looking for a cheaper 2-bedroom flat and a cheap car... Talking about utopias, right? We have it more or less assumed it is a waste of time, as no landlord in Madrid rents one out for less than what I have now, given all the conditions and area. But, in case I won't keep this one I'm in now, we'll have to settle for something less exciting (no swimming-pool, no 24 hour doormen, no car park, no gym at the end of the street). I'm trying to sort a meeting with my landlord to somehow persuade him to let us stay for less than now...Uff, I guess I will need lots of convincing to do, as for him to slice 25€ off it was almost the end of the world, therefore an inmense task of persuasion is ahead of me... (Should I bake some cookies and stuff to sweeten his heart?)

The car, well, that will have to take a while, as I want to see as many as I can. After all, you're buying a commodity, something that you must trust upon and rely on, so I would like to be convinced I'm doing a good business. I'm inclined to buy semi-new, which is to say, less than 20.000 km used car, sometimes it's quite worth it, as the age of the car is usually quite low and the price is quite different as if I bought a 0 km car.... I'm quite ignorant of all car things, so I guess I will wait for a guy from work who's away, to come and advise me, as guys know best about these things...

Vacations

Coming back to work has been hard, with so much stuff to do, so many things to think about at the same time, visits at home the same day I come back from holidays...Well, only today I think I'm gathering a bit more of my thoughts and myself.

As for the holidays, they were cool, any holidays are good, as long as we don't come to work, right? For the first time, I had a New Year's Eve without champagne or sultanas (as tradition obliges), but I had a great time. Met so many new people (it had been ages since I met so many new people at once) and was very welcomed over there at that turbulent yet beautiful part of our world. The thing about Lebanese, from what I aprehended is that they are very positive, optimistic and above all, resilient.

The fact there are tanks on literally every corner, barbed wire on major locations, soldiers with their M-16's (I took enough care to know this name) and hundreds of campers in front of the President's office Downtown, all these things going on and people still walk around as if nothing is happening. Of course there is tension, 2 years ago we didn't feel the same around town, but it's nice to see that life goes on, no matter what. And the sun set is quite nice, from that restaurant on the cliff...

I still have the pics to download, as I told you, no free time, lately. But I will post that pic of the sun set and you'll know what I mean :=)

New Year

Just a quickie to say HAPPY NEW YEAR everybody!
Hope your new year will be eveything you wish for!

Take care sweeties, I'll be back!