The Lonely Cookie

In this season of feasts and lavish banquets, I have no choice but to recall the lonely cookie. Yes, for all those times when a potato is left on the tray, a piece of pumpkin pie lays on the plate or a saddened feelerless prawn sits there, looking at you with tender eyes for you to take it out of its misery. There's always somebody who says, 'C'mon, it's just one'. And you look at him, after dinning for 3 hours straight, with the pain reflected on your face and yet sad for that little saved prawn, that crumbled cookie or that smashed piece of pumpkin pie.
I don't think it's very normal of us to shove that amount of food in such little time in the same space in which we normally put a third of that amount of food. Even though Christmas is Christmas and it's sacred, I appeal to your solidarity with that little cookie, all alone in its plate, with no company other than crumbles left by what once were its sisters before we engulfed them in an attack of Christmas spirit... don't you people have a heart?

La perrunilla solitaria

En esta época de festines y comilonas, no me queda más remedio que evocar a la perrunilla solitaria. Sí, sí, por todas esas veces que se queda un polvorón en la bandeja, un trozo de turrón en el plato o un triste langostino sin bigotes en la mesa, mirándote con ojitos tiernos para que le saques ya de su sufrimiento. Siempre hay alguien que te dice, "Venga, que sólo queda uno", y tú le miras, después de llevar 3 horas cenando, con el dolor reflejado en la cara y aun así, la pena por ese triste langostino afeitado, ese turrón desmigajado o ese polvoroncillo aplastado.
No es demasiado normal que nos metamos semejante cantidad de comida en tan poco tiempo en el mismo espacio en el que normalmente metemos menos de un tercio de esa cantidad. Aunque las fiestas son las fiestas y son sagradas, yo apelo a la solidaridad con esa pequeña perrunilla, solita en el plato, sin más compañía que las migas de las que fueron sus hermanas antes de que nosotros las engullésemos en un ataque de espíritu navideño... ¿es que no tenéis corazón?

Quick

Quick! I gotta go for dinner...

Happy holidays to all. Enjoy this time we spend with our families, to some THE ONLY time they spend with them, and I hope that the New Year's resolution is to be good ALL year around, not only in Christmas.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Rápido

Rápido, me tengo que ir a cenar...

Felices fiestas a todos. Disfrutad mucho de esta época que pasamos con la familia, algunos la ÚNICA que pasan con ellos, y que la resolución para el año nuevo sea que seáis todos buenos TODO el año, no sólo en Navidad.

¡¡FELIZ NAVIDAD Y FELIZ AÑO NUEVO!!

Documentaries

I know I'm not supposed to talk about the documentaries I translate, it is all confidential and all, but lately I've been translating a series of documentaries I really like.
They're called "Explorations powered by Duracell" and they're short documentaries about technology, human body and science in general.
I like them because they are short and about curious stuff. Even though I've always been an arts person, I am very keen on science. So with these documentaries I'm discovering all things I've learned as a hobby are coming very handy.Last month I translated three of these documentaries and they've made me think a lot. The first one was "Tomorrow's Ear" and it was about people that are deaf from birth and the new coclear implants they're inventing to overcome that. The second one was "Storm front" and it was about the climate change. Anf the third one was "First Impressions" and it was about the chemical reactions that triggers the body when we encounter a pretty person, how our genes are designed to be appealed by pretty people cause they seem healthier.I only talk about this cause I love having a job in which I learn at least one new thing every day and, though everybody says I'm a host of useless knowledge, everything I learn it's fascinating to me.
Due to these documentaries I'm sure all we've always called "fate" is our genes. They define how we'll be, which diseases we'll be prone to, to whom we'll feel appealed, and a whole list of things. And now we're starting to change that fate. Through the latest discovering about our genome, researchers know now how to change all those genes we think are "faulty" or that may be a problem to the future person.
There is a huge ethical debate about this and, although there are some things I do not think are correct, there are some others that don't seem so bad and that don't go forward often because of the double moral that reigns in our western societies.
I really think it's a pity to know that, on the one hand, the human race is capable of researching and discovering things that could save us from diseases or even make us live longer; and on the other hand, it can use those discoverings to destroy life on Earth. We are making the planet to rise up against us and, even though, we are so arrogant we think we can change the natural course of things.
In a book I'm reading now, it's said the human race won't evolve anymore because the natural selection law says only the strongest of each species evolve and the human race, as soon as it reaches a minimum technological power, helps the weak and needy. This is a statement that I think reveals a lot of us as a species and it's intriguing, at least. I say this because we've proved that even though we haven't evolved in thousands of years, we haven't disappeared, which means man can get to an "evolutionary stagnation" and still keep going technologically. Instead of removing the "faulty" portion of population, that is exactly what makes us improve the species, trying to help those that otherwise wouldn't survive. The ability to feel compassion for another being is what makes us human. It is ironical, in some way.
Well, there I launch this little shuttle for you to think about the world we live in and about the importance of small things. I recommend you read that book I talked about. Although, as I've been said, every time you read a science-fiction book, check up the date in which it was written. You will be surprised...

Checking the status of your Japanese knowledge

I've received a link to a page where you can check if you know your Japanese kana, both hiragana and katakana. I got a 100% in hiragana, although I haven't tried with katakana yet.
I recommend you check the page cause it has a lot of curious things, such as finding out how to write your birth date in Mayan glyphs.

Pics & Dreams

I dreamt the other day that my friend Andrea lived in Canada instead of in Asturias, in the north of Spain. Suddenly, as in all dreams, the fact that she lived in Canada seemed perfectly logical and normal. Even the fact that her parents had an northern accent while living in Vancouver was totally normal.

In my dream she had finished studying all she's studying and she was looking for a job. As she now lived in Canada it looked like a good chance to me to tell her that there's a lot of translation jobs in Canada and that we should start a business there. She agreed and in order to do all the paperwork, I moved to her place.
Here's where the wonder of dreams comes in place...
I took a bus and got to her house in a few hours (!!!). When I got there, I greeted everyone and, as she spoke on the phone, I looked out the window and saw (!!!!!!) part of the ski runs that they have in Van north, as if there was a chroma. It was like a very regular sight. Me, in a fourth floor of an northern Spanish home, looking out the window and seeing the snowy trees and perfectly shaped ski runs of Vancouver, more than 5,000 miles away from there.
The best part was when, in the middle of the dream, something made me remember she doesn't live in Canada but in Asturias, and everything came back to normal, except for the tiny detail that I still could see Vancouver out the window.
Andrea, do you have a poster of Canada sticked outside your window back home?
As you can see, even in my dreams I do think we have a professional future...
I have pretty weird dreams lately and the truth is that I'm spooked cause it's been a while since they were SO weird.
The last I remember waking up thinking "Wow!" was one in which I was a cashier in a big market and there was only weird people going to my checkout. Nature freaks like tattooed children, dismembered dads and moms victims of some nuclear holocaust. Now that I think about it, it reminds me of a song...
I know lots of people think dreams are the reflect of what we really think of the world but I hope it doesn't apply to my case, cause it may mean I should be locked up. Opinions aside, I hope it's not the case.
The year I lived in Canada I was often asked in what language I thought and, even though it might sound odd, I thought both in Spanish and English. Whenever I though of things about my parents or Spain, I thought in Spanish. But when it was something that had happened in Canada, I always thought in English. Well, it's the same with dreams, although sometimes there's weird stuff. My dreams sometimes have a lot to do with languages, I guess because of my affinity to them. Sometimes, mostly with nightmares, I don't understand anybody and they don't understand me either. Some other times, even when I'm in a country I don't even know what they speak, I speak and they understand. That's cool.
Lately, when I dream of snowboarding, I dream in English. Sometimes I dream I talk to my parents in English and they, poor them, don't understand a word that comes out of my mouth and I get very frustrated cause it's so obvious what I'm telling them (!!!).
Anyways, I invite you to share the linguistic curiosities of your dreams or your dreams themselves. I'll always be conforted by the idea of not being the only person with the dreams of a creep. Hehe.

Fotos y sueños

El otro día soñé que mi amiga Andrea vivía en Canadá en vez de en Asturias. De pronto, como en todos los sueños, el hecho de que ella viviera en Canadá parecía completamente lógico y normal. Hasta el hecho de que sus padres tuvieran acento asturiano viviendo en Vancouver era lo más normal del mundo.

En el sueño ella ya había acabado todas las cosas que está estudiando y estaba buscando trabajo. Como de pronto vivía en Canadá, a mí me pareció una oportunidad para comentarle que en Canadá hay mucho trabajo de traducción y que deberíamos abrir una empresa allí. A ella le pareció una buena idea y para prepararlo todo en condiciones, me mudé a su casa.

Aquí es donde la maravilla de los sueños entra en juego...
Yo me cogía un autobús y me presentaba en su casa en apenas unas horas (!!!). Al llegar saludaba a todos y, mientras ella hablaba por teléfono, yo miraba por la ventana y veía (!!!!!!) parte de las pistas de esquí que hay al norte de Vancouver, como si de un croma se tratara. Era una estampa de lo más normal. Yo, en el cuarto piso de un edificio de Avilés viendo por la ventana los abetos nevados y las curvas perfectas de una pista de esquí de Vancouver, a más de 9.000 kilómetros de allí.

Lo mejor de todo fue cuando, a mitad del sueño, algo me hizo recordar que ella no vive en Canadá sino en Asturias, y todo volvió a la realidad, excepto por el pequeño detalle de que seguía viendo Vancouver por la ventana.

Andrea, ¿tienes un póster de Canadá pegado por fuera de la ventana de tu habitación en Avilés?
Como ves, hasta en sueños pienso que tenemos un futuro profesional...

Últimamente tengo algunos sueños un poco extraños, y la verdad es que me alarma porque hacía tiempo que mis sueños no eran TAN raros. El último que recuerdo que me levantara pensando "¡Guau!" fue en el que yo era cajera en una gran superficie y por mi caja sólo pasaba gente rara, freaks de la naturaleza, con niños tatuados, padres desmembrados y madres víctimas de algún holocausto nuclear. La verdad es que ahora que lo pienso me recuerda a una canción de La cabra mecánica...

Sé que mucha gente piensa que los sueños son el reflejo de lo que realmente pensamos del mundo, pero yo espero que eso no sea así en mi caso, porque quizá quiera decir que estoy para que me encierren. Opiniones del público aparte, espero que no sea así.

El año que viví en Canadá a menudo me preguntaban que en qué idioma pensaba y, por raro que parezca, tenía pensamientos en español y en inglés. Cuando pensaba con cosas que tenían que ver con mis padres o con España, lo hacía en español. Pero cuando el pensamiento era sobre cosas que me habían pasado en Canadá, siempre lo hacía en inglés. Pues bien, con los sueños me pasa lo mismo, aunque a veces pasan cosas raras. Mis sueños muchas veces tienen que ver con los idiomas, supongo que por mi afinidad con ellos. Muchas veces, sobre todo cuando son pesadillas, no me entiendo con nadie y nadie me entiende a mí. Otras veces, aunque esté en un país en el que ni siquiera sé en qué hablan, yo hablo y todos me entienden. Eso mola. Últimamente, cuando sueño con hacer snowboard, sueño en inglés. A veces sueño que les hablo a mis padres en inglés y ellos, claro, pobriños, no me entienden y yo me frustro mucho porque está clarísimo lo que les estoy diciendo (!!!!).

En fin, que os invito a que compartáis las curiosidades lingüísticas de vuestros sueños o vuestros mismos sueños, que siempre me consolará pensar que no soy la única con sueños de creep. Jeje.

Latest news

Now it looks clearer than ever that the cat is an alien who's been frozen for a long time here on Earth. When it unfroze and had to get in a body cause it was pure intelect, it decided to get into a cat, but the problem now is that it can't get out.
Once in a while she rolls her eyes and makes strange noises, probably calling her mother ship to put her out of her misery...
It is also possible that she's a cat from Melmack.

Últimas noticias

Ahora parece más claro que nunca que el gato es en realidad un extraterrestre que ha estado congelado en la tierra durante mucho tiempo. Cuando se descongeló y tuvo que invadir un cuerpo por ser intelecto puro, decidió hacerlo en el de un gato, pero el problema es que ahora no puede salir.

De vez en cuando mueve los ojos y hace ruidos raros, seguramente llamando a la nave nodriza para que le saque de este sufrimiento...

También es posible que sea un gato de Melmack.

...

Últimamente no estoy escribiendo tanto porque me he propuesto hacer mi página web, y para eso tengo que aprender a hacerla. Por ahora no he llegado muy lejos, porque no tengo ninguna base y tengo que empezar desde el principio del todo.

Sé que lo primero que hay que hacer es decidir qué quieres poner y decidir cómo quieres ponerlo. Ahí es donde he encontrado el primer problema, porque mi humilde persona y decisión no son dos cosas que normalmente vayan juntas.

Después de mucho pensar ya sé qué quiero poner, pero aún no sé cómo. La verdad es que es bastante complicado.

Lo primero que he hecho ha sido meterme a experimentar con Photoshop, un programa que hasta ahora sólo usaba para hacer UNA cosa. Ahora ya sé hacer algunas cosillas. Os puedo enseñar un par de ellas.

Y, aparte de esto, estoy aprendiendo CSS, que es el lenguaje que se usa ahora para dar forma al contenido de las páginas en lo que se refiere a la apariencia del texto, la colocación, color, etc. Sólo sé hacer algunas cosillas, aunque me he aprendido las etiquetas más b ásicas y voy haciendo mis pinitos, que habréis visto en esta misma página. Si no os habéis dado cuenta es que no habéis estado atentos... así aprenderéis!!

En fin, que poquito a poco. Cuando tenga más cosas o la página hecha, os lo haré saber (tened por descontado que estaré lo suficientemente emocionada para daros la coña en cuanto avance lo más mínimo... jejejeje). Pues hala, a disfrutar.

...

I haven't been posting too much lately cause I've decided to design my own web page, and I need to learn for that. Up until now, I haven't gone too far because I don't know a thing about it and I have to start from scratch.

I do know the first thing is deciding what to say in it and how you want it to look. There I got my very first problem, cause my humble person and decision are not two things that go together very often.
After giving it a lot of thought, I know now what I want to say, but I still don't know how I want it to look. It is very difficult indeed.
The first thing I've got into has been experimenting with Photoshop, software I only used to use for THE one thing only. Now I know how to do some stuff. I can show you a couple of them.
And apart from that, I'm learning CSS, which is the language it's used now to shape up the layout of pages as far as text looks is concerned, position, colour, etc. I just know how to do some stuff, although I've learned the very basics of tags and I'm slowly getting there, which you may have noticed in this page. If you haven't noticed is because you weren't paying attention... smarten up!!
Well, step by step. Whenever I get some more stuff done, or even the whole web page ready, I'll let you know (you can count on the fact that I'll be excited enough about it to bug you as soon as I get any further with this... hehehehe). There, enjoy!

Peace

The ocean, the waves, the rocks, the sand, the squeak of seagulls, the crunch of sand under my feet, the salty smell, the breeze in my face... Is there any possible way of not being in peace with the world when all that is combined?

Paz

El mar, las olas, las rocas, la arena, el chillido de las gaviotas, el crujir de la arena bajo mis pies, el olor salado, el aire en la cara... ¿hay alguna forma posible de no estar en paz con el mundo cuando todas esas cosas se combinan?

Afraid of the killer vacuum cleaner

What a strange thing, fear. I've noticed lately that the cat is scared of almost everything. At the beginning I thought it was only cause she was little, but now I think it's just a matter of her being a scary cat. Although this last point is still to be cleared (I still believe is an alien), it is certain that she LOOKS like a cat.

When we're going out, she doesn't come with us to the front door cause she's scared of shoes. She's scared of people and she gets really scared if they're wearing shoes. She's afraid of the front door. This one time, the Guy who Works So Much took her to the door to say goodbye to me and she peed on him. Sometimes I call her to give her something she normally doesn't eat like french fries, or ham, or asparagus, or whatever, and I have to chase her all over the house cause she gets scared as hell... and I don't know why.
She's also very scared of high or low pitch continuous noises. Of course, she's scared of the washing machine when it starts spinning, even though she gets in it when it's not working just to play or snif around. And she's scared of the vacuum cleaner. The weird thing is, she's not afraid of the blow dryer... odd.
Her ears get all pointy, very stiff, pointing front; her eyes open as if her eyeballs were about to fall off, and her tail gets as big as a Christmas tree (without the balls and all that). The truth is that it's kinda funny, but I still don't understand why she's so scared of some things but not of others. I guess she's not afraid of the things she's used to from when she was little. If not, why would she be scared of the vacuum cleaner but not of the blow dryer? It doesn't make any sense.
Now, imagine that happened to us. Someone who wouldn't be used to the noise of a vacuum cleaner since birth, could die from a heart attack at 35 when he finally made it out on his own, got a vacuum cleaner and turn the damn thing on. It would be so weird that someone couldn't just vacuum... because he's afraid of the vacuum cleaner.
I know now you must think my brain is definitely melting, but put some thought into it...

Miedo a la aspiradora asesina

Qué cosa extraña el miedo. Últimamente me he fijado en que la gata tiene miedo de casi cualquier cosa. Al principio pensaba que era porque era pequeña, pero ahora creo que es porque es gata. Aunque este último punto tengo que cuestionarlo (sigo pensando que es un extraterrestre), sí que es cierto que PARECE un gato.

Cuando vamos a salir a la calle, no viene con nosotros hasta la puerta porque le dan miedo los zapatos. Le da miedo la gente extraña y más aún si lleva zapatos. Le da miedo la puerta de la calle. Una vez El Hombre que Tanto Trabaja la trajo hasta la puerta de la calle para despedirse de mí y se le meó encima. Hay veces que la llamo para darle algo de comer que normalmente no come, como patatas fritas, o jamón, o espárragos, o cualquier cosa, y tengo que perseguirla por toda la casa porque se caga de miedo... no sé por qué. También le dan miedo los ruidos agudos o graves continuados. Por supuesto, le da miedo la lavadora cuando centrifuga, aunque cuando está parada se mete dentro a jugar o a cotillear. Y le da miedo la aspiradora. Lo raro es que el secador no le da miedo... es extraño. Se le ponen las orejas de punta, muy estiradas, mirando hacia delante; se le abren los ojos de tal manera que parece que se le van a salir y el rabo empieza a ponérsele como un árbol de Navidad (pero sin adornos). La verdad es que tiene gracia, pero no consigo entender por qué unas cosas le dan tanto miedo y otras, no. Supongo que las cosas a las que tiene miedo son a las que no está acostumbrada desde pequeña. Si no, ¿por qué le daría miedo el ruido de la aspiradora pero no el del secador? No tiene sentido.

Ahora, partiendo de esa base, imaginemos que a nosotros nos pasara lo mismo. Un niño que no estuviera acostumbrado al ruido de la aspiradora desde pequeño, podría morirse del infarto a los 35 años cuando se independizase, se comprase una aspiradora y la pusiera en marcha. Sería una cosa curiosa que alguien no pudiera pasar la aspiradora... porque le da miedo.

Puede que ahora penséis más que nunca que tengo el cerebro esponjiforme, pero pensadlo por un momento...

Almost

Cheney's Office Chief resigns after being acused in 'Plame case'.

As it's very late and my eyes are closing on me, when I've opened Yahoo and read the words "Cheney" and "resign" together, I thought Cheney had resigned... Instantly I've thought, "who's gonna run the States now?". As soon as I've told the Guy who Works So Much, he's doubted about my statement and corrected me in no time: "No, no, you must be mistaken... you scared the holly living crap outta me!". So close...

Casi

Jefe de gabinete de Cheney dimite tras ser acusado 'caso Plame'.

Como es muy tarde y se me cierran los ojos, al abrir Yahoo y leer las palabras "Cheney" y "dimite" juntas, pensé que Cheney había dimitido... En seguida he pensado, "¿y quién va a dirigir ahora Estados Unidos?". En cuanto se lo he dicho al Hombre que Tanto Trabaja, me ha cuestionado en seguida y me ha corregido al instante: "No, no, no puede ser... ¡qué susto me has dado!". Por los pelos...

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

It's so good when things go well! It feels great when you see how a whole year's work pays off. Keep going guys! Next stop... the Oscars!

ENHORABUENA!!!

¡Qué gusto da que las cosas salgan bien! Qué alegría cuando ves que el esfuerzo de un año entero da sus frutos. ¡Seguid adelate, chicos, que de aquí a nada los Oscars!