Arts and Artists

My post today is going to be about arts and artists that I like. I love paintings and sculptures. Not only from the classic painters and sculptors but I also like to find and dig new talents. And one talent that I always liked is a great friend of mine Jozias Benedicto, from Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I always loved his art and one day I have posted something on facebook that inspired him. I heard Michael Jackson have died and I posted a picture of me and a statue of Michael Jackson at the Wax Museum Madame Trussaud in New York to mark the day. When looking at it he got inspired and painted 3 lovely small canvas on the motif. He sent one as a gift to me last year and then I immediately bought the other two. Now they are hung on the walls of my apartment and I just love it. I never tire to pass and look at them and I really love the colours going through. This post today is dedicated to Jozias Benedicto and his humongous talent.

Original Picture - New York, 2008

First paint - I bought at the end of 2009

Second paint - It has been gifted to me at the middle of 2009

Third paint - I bought at the end of 2009

The three of them on my wall. I just love the explosion of colours!

Dinner Parties

Definitely dinner parties are my favourite sort of party. They are cosier and in such occasions you got to talk to people because in fact the music is not really loud and you can have control of all the variables you couldn't in any other sort or party -being it on a nightclub or so.

Well, it doesn't need to be in my house or in any one's house, can be in a restaurant, a hotel or even a club. As soon as we have tables with max 10 people in each and friends around, fun is guaranteed as well as the possibility of having a proper chat without having to shout! Enjoy few pictures of my recent dinner parties, some in my own gaff, others out. Some in special occasions, others just in occasions to have friends around - which in my opinion is more than special!!!!

Dining table in my gaff

Christmas dinner in my gaff

Dinner feast with friends in Sitges

Dinner party in a restaurant in Dublin

Friends in my gaff - Nothing special, just friends getting together!

Friendship and Respect

I have been thinking a lot lately about friendship, respect and other things related to this complicated matter. When can we call someone friend? Is there anything to distinguish old and new friends? What is it? Is there any bar up to where a friend can talk to you without interfering in your life?

Ages ago I found out there is no wonderland when it comes to friendship. Some of my past good friends are suddenly showing their true colours and therefore forcing me to remove them from my palette. Why can't someone be friends in an accepting and understanding manner? Why not friendship is always a chain or to keep two individuals going on like one?

Ok, fair enough, this might sound pessimistic to my new friends but in reality what happened is that I just found out few very good friends of mine (or so as I thought) to be in fact opportunistic, self-centered, parasitic type of friends. In a halt I started to think about it, in a broader way and my thoughts took me abak. I could just realise that this doesn't happen only with me. I could see people very near me having the same sort of problem, even though they can't notice it yet. It is quite complicated when "true good friends" or "almost siblings" start behaving as enemies, full of dark feelings belonging just to enemies like anger, jealousy, lack of character, among others. And this can be triggered by so many factors, including changing in life style, money, position, prestige, etc. Why the "odd friends" seem to try to stab us behind our back or even worse to poke us in the eye?

Why do people behave in this way? Does this behaviour belong to human nature? Why can't we have or choose uncomplicated true friends?

I am trying to have my own radar now bringing to my new frienship circle people that I don't think will give me problems in the future. But I also thought my pseudo-old-good-friends were like that....

I know it is quite complicated but the border between friendship and animosity is as narrow as the border between love and hate, and interestingly all is triggered by the same factors, less sex! I know I am sounding like Arthur Schopenhauer but I have had few major disappointments recently, and I can see that there are more to come. At least I could see the disaster approaching me and then vanishing these people from my circle of friends was the right thing to do for my own sake. For others it can be quite difficult to do so, but I guess they will suffer more because they keep nourishing more hope towards something that is already destroyed...This ain't my business anyway.

Now that I took these feelings out of my head, I am ready to progress, in peace and loving life as I've always done.

With my new friends!

Bring it on....

Lunch in Longford town

I forgot to mention that on the way back to Dublin, as it was 2pm and our stomachs were clenching, we have decided to stop on the road (N5 as you can see on the map above) and grab something to eat. At that moment we were driving by the amazing Longford city in County Longford and I spotted a park space, parked the car and when I saw we were entering in a place called "The Red Rose Cafe"....

Ok, I will describe our experience at "the red rose cafe". Horrible restaurant by the road with a very tacky deco, the walls are painted to look like marble. But they are light green and the rays on the marble are so distant from each other that they look like wrinkles on the wall. However, as we were really hungry, the experience was amazing. With all the justice to county Longford, the best spice for any meal in to be feeling starving! Well done "The Red Rose Cafe"!

Evening and Morning in Ballina, Co. Mayo

I went to Ballina in County Mayo last night because Ken was going to work this morning. It was really funny as we arrived there around 7:30pm. I know it is a very interesting town and it is placed in a very intersting County, but it was really funny that after driving for 3 hours from Dublin, arriving in there and checking in to the hotel, to be told that the restaurant was to close 8:30h. Immediately I wanted to rush back to Dublin..... A bit of civilization.... Just a joke people from Mayo. In fairness, during my next free weekend I have to go to Mayo, for visiting lovely scenery places as well as driving around and climbing their beautiful montains.

The hotel we stayed wasn't the best one and I had work to do as well on my computer while Ken was working on a wedding but I have decided that next available free weekend I will spend in there, beautiful county, viva Mayo!

More pictures from my holidays in Sitges

Holidays

How can someone go for holidays and still be needing more? Fair enough, I went just for one week in Spain. It rained for 3 days, but they were alternate days with a very hot bright sun.... The point is that I am still needing more breaks. I will be on holidays again in December after a very stressfull first semester in college. It is going to be rewarding but I need to do something from now until there, even to feel refreshed for the beginning of hard work in college....I have a confession! I am going to a conference in Villasimius, Sardinia. I have 2 oral communications plus 5 posters. Lots of work beside a paradise beach....Torture. Unless I ignore the rest of the conference and enjoy the sunny beaches all over the place. The conference will be in a paradisiac part of Sardinia! Bring it on.....