men.

I spent my life trying not to be careless - women and children can be careless, but not men.
~ vito corleone, the godfather

this quote comes to mind every so often, especially after having moved to europe because i observe that this part of the world is definitely a man's world. funny thing though, it's totally ironic how macho this part of the world is considering most dudes out here live with their mothers up to and past 30 years of age, leaving their mama's house only when they get married (most likely to a woman who ends up being his second mother but calls her "wife," the legal term that says he can have sex with her (having his cake and eating it, too)). meaning, they have absolutely no grip on reality, yet these are the exact guys who sit on thrones, sign bills into laws, and determine the success of (or these days, usually the failure of) a company or a society.

i don't even know where i'm going with this - and mind you, i usually don't care too much for the issue of the battle of the sexes. but let's just say that today is one of those days that i wish i could just sit with my girls in a cozy environment with a couple of bottles of red wine - fuck it, champagne, a few joints to puff on, and talk about how ridiculous to the point of being hilarious men are and the make-believe world they've created for themselves to live in while the rest of us actually have to work to make a dollar/get recognition.

okay, i'm not going to get into it much further. but it's been frustrating trying to build a career out here. i learned french to work in france, but only to get stuck working with a bunch of macho idiots who never respected me, my experience, and therefore my work. and now i'm learning spanish to work in spain, all so i can be in the running for a fucking receptionist job at this american company while some dude who doesn't speak a lick of spanish and has no background in marketing is the fucking marketing consultant for them. granted, that dude is actually a super-talented, smart and successful man i call my husband, so i'll say he's a lucky bastard. but that job was perfect for me! in any case, careless i'm not, and careless i can't afford to be. and it's really anywhere in the world, i'd have to work twice as hard and kiss ass that much more to get where i feel like i deserve to be anyway. so i'm working and i'm kissing away...

i really should start my own company.

(in)dependence

after a month of "no funciona el internet" i actually thought for a moment today that i could live without it. yet as soon as i got home tonight, i got nervous just thinking about all of the news i need to catch up on. not sure why i was nervous as things seem to be just as i left them a month ago. although i must say that i don't mind reading about just how much the mid-term election is shaking things up in d.c. first woman speaker of the house. what.

and then there's q. always q! she just celebrated her 5th birthday last saturday with friends and fam. the theme was super heroes. how appropriate.

look at ninong mark getting a kiss from mila, originally uploaded by mjane.

little homegirl is wearing a black leotard with a white tutu at her birthday party. i think q does her own styling. , originally uploaded by mjane.

that's all day

since i moved away, i find it difficult to think in retrospect. normally, as soon as i step outside of my apartment, so many things are happening all at the same time with every turn, every step, every street i cross, every metro train i get into... all of them new and unusual to me that i can't keep track of all of the quirks and observations i'm making as soon as they happen. it's more like, hmm, there's an old drunk dude pissing in his pants in the middle of the plaza. interesting. walk a few steps and then there's another dude rolling a spliff in public. cool. turn the corner and there's a bachelorette party of girls wearing pink bunny ears and making the bride-to-be do something embarrassing in public. just like vegas. then there's a fireman climbing up the side of an apartment building to reach someone by going through their window. it happens. and so on and so forth and next thing you know you step in dog shit. god forbid you actually go through one day with your eyes closed.

i don't know where i'm going with this. there's just a lot going on all the time. it's exciting. in every possible way you could define excitement, it is very.

laundry, originally uploaded by mjane.

i never thought that i'd enjoy sitting in a starbucks overseas, but when you've been away from home as long as i have, this place is comforting. not to mention that the starbucks at maremagnum has an amazing view of port vell. , originally uploaded by mjane.

see what's in between the palms off in the distance? i call it mackenzie's oasis., originally uploaded by mjane.

oh, and then there's back home. if only i had my private leer jet already... then i'd have my cake and eat it too, wouldn't i?

aqui son mi papa y pequeña miss quirina. have you seen little miss sunshine, by the way?, originally uploaded by mjane.

back home: wonder q on halloween, originally uploaded by mjane.

i gotta cop me a pair of those tights!, originally uploaded by mjane.

which reminds me, mackenzie and i have been going to the movies almost every weekend since we moved here. we absolutely loved "little miss sunshine." i felt like "the departed" left me hanging, but how hot is leo dicaprio?? honestly. and just last saturday we saw "an inconvenient truth." you guys, if we don't all get rid of our OLD HABITS, there will be no more financial district in nyc, the golden gate bridge will be underwater, and the number of philippine islands will decrease to a few hundred, instead of a few thousand WITHIN OUR LIFETIME. anyway, watch the movie if you haven't yet.