Tag Archives: change

san juan

25 Tuesday Jun 2019

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Yesterday was the festival of San Juan. It was also my saint day (Shawn = Juan). On the eve of San Juan the tradition is to build bonfires that people then jump over – the idea is to burn away all the negative shit that’s accumulated in your life and start fresh on the other side of the flames.

Well, these past few months have been very difficult, for various reasons, but they have also made me take a hard and honest look at what is important in my life. Which has been both difficult and sad. Then just when I thought I’d reached bottom, that  I couldn’t possibly feel any sadder, I found out that my friend and wonder twin Jed had died. On San Juan day.

One thing I know is that I’m done crying, because I’ve been crying a lot. And I’m also done with falling into this crippling sadness that’s been dragging me down for so long. It’s time to burn all that away, let it go, and start on a new chapter. Wish me luck! x

new kitteh?

09 Tuesday Apr 2013

Posted by in animals & pets, cats, change, home

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pitu and kittehs
For those of you who don’t know about my friend Pablo… well, it’s been a long and sometimes complicated friendship. But hey, we’re still friends, even though we tend to drop in and out of each other’s lives. Just like yesterday! I was walking over to see an exhibition at the Alfonso XIII Hotel and passed an old folks home where Pablo’s parents were once in residence and I found myself wondering where the hell he’d been the past couple of months. Then about an hour later I was having a tapa with Peter and I suddenly got a WhatsApp video sent to me by Pablo showing his Pitu with a litter of eensy kittens. How random is that?

Then it occurred to me that I’ve actually been hankering for a new kitten… it just always feels better with three. But, other than when I went looking for a companion for Azar after Sunny died (which of course ended up being Loki) I’ve always gone with the notion that cats tend to find me. Just like yesterday. After having a look at Pitu’s brood I gave Pablo a call and asked him to give me first choice. And guess what? Turns out they were just one day old! Which means they were born on April 7th… Azar’s birthday.

So that’s a done deal! Except now I have to choose one. Will be going over to Pablo’s this week to have a better look at them, and will no doubt visit them a lot over the next 6-8 weeks. Right now I’m partial to either the little orange one or the black one with a comical white face.

lap cat

28 Wednesday Nov 2012

Posted by in animals & pets, cats, change, home, life stuff

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Lots of changes happen when, well, when things change. For example, now that Azar is no longer draped over my legs when I am in my comfy chair either reading or watching tv… Loki has decided to become a lap cat. And frankly, I love it! Especially now that it’s getting colder. He just cuddles up and starts purring and there are even fleeting moments when I forget to miss Azar. Likewise, now that Azar is no longer sleeping on my head, Luna has started sneaking under the duvet to snuggle up for the night. It’s so endearing and it reminds me of when Azar first started trusting me enough to do that. So yeah, the bottom line is that I still miss Azar so much that it’s a constant ache in my heart, but these two young’uns help me smile every day and help me remember how lucky I am.

upstairs

10 Saturday Mar 2012

Posted by in change, food & drink, friends, home, work

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For over a year now my fabulous upstairs room has barely been used. This is about to change.

It’s funny how chance encounters can make such a difference. The other day I stopped by my friend Maria’s shop and found her chatting with a rather exotic looking woman called Fourat. A few minutes later all three of us were sitting at La Azotea up the street ordering wine and tapas, and an hour or so later I was over at Fourat’s house (turned out she lives on the same street) setting up a Twitter account for her and talking about our various projects.

One of the many things that came up was my now sadly abandoned clothing biz and I mentioned how I hadn’t sewn anything in ages although I still had TONS of fabric. And so this morning Peter and I cleared off one of the tables upstairs and set up my sewing machines so that they are there and ready to go whenever I feel inspired, as one thing that always puts me off sewing is having to set everything up and tear it all down again afterwards. The other thing is that I don’t actually like sewing, but that’s partly to do with the first thing.

Anyhow… it’s such a perfect room for sewing because of the lovely natural light and it’ll be great to actually be using that room. Until now it’s mostly just been Peter’s classroom for the couple of students that come to the house, even though there’s a comfy chair for reading and a music system set up. I’m sure that once I’m spending more time up there it will also inspire me to start doing more with the terraza. And all because of one chance meeting. Fourat (who gives classes in Lebanese and Mediterranean cooking) and I are also planning a project or two together, so stay tuned for that…

policy change

26 Thursday Jan 2012

Posted by in blogging, change, sevilla, social media, spain, tapas, websites, work

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For almost five years now, since first starting my Sevilla Tapas blog, my policy has always been to only put up tapas bars and restaurants that I would recommend to a friend. If I didn’t like a place it simply didn’t get included. I guess I just thought I wanted my tapas blog to have a positive and helpful feel to it. A couple of years ago I did put up a very scathing review of a place that had treated my friend and me horrendously, but I don’t know, it seemed to throw a shadow on what I like to think of as an upbeat and friendly site and I removed it.

But lately I’ve been wondering if this is actually the best policy, especially as fewer of the places I visit these days end up on the blog because I know I wouldn’t ever recommend them to a friend. Was I getting jaded, I asked myself. Or just more experienced and discerning? Then today happened.

I met my friend Pablo for lunch at a place that had not only been recommended to me many times over the years, but people couldn’t actually believe that I had never been there, as it was apparently such a popular location. So as I had a meeting right around the corner from this place that finished at lunchtime, that’s where we went. And well. I should have known upon entering that it was going to be dire, but again, you never know. Sometimes the shabbiest looking places serve up the tastiest tapas (though to be honest, this almost never happens in the city) and this place was certainly shabby. It had the look of someplace that had had its day about fifteen years ago and hadn’t bothered to paint or replace the tacky furniture. It wasn’t DIRTY exactly, but it had an unclean feel to it. So why didn’t we just get up and leave? Well, because I had to find out if all those who had praised this joint were right. They weren’t.

The food was not only pedestrian in the extreme, but most of it seemed past its time, hard and dry and tired looking. And the service was haphazard and impersonal. Even if the tapas had been cheap (they weren’t at 3-4 euros each) it wouldn’t have made up for such a dismal meal. Pablo and I were left feeling upleasantly full and unsatisfied and, well, a bit annoyed. And I felt ripped off thinking I’d wasted my time and money at a crappy tapas bar that I wouldn’t even be able to put in my tapas blog.

After lunch we ran into a friend of ours, Markus, and told him about our experience. His office is nearby and he said he never eats at that place. But both Pablo and Markus told me that it would actually give my tapas blog more credibility if there were some negative, or at least not glowing, reviews. So they convinced me to change my policy a bit, if only as a public service.  Because I truly pity anyone who might end up eating where we were today, especially when there are so many other terrific places nearby.

So that’s it – no more Ms Nice Guy. 😉

What do you think?

[also posted on the Sevilla blog]