~ A World of Snippets ~

CMS, servers, internet and my mac...

2008-07-26T14:30:00.003-05:00

Mood: laaaazy...
Feeling like: going to the movies.

I've been caught up in a freaky twist of fate... all of a sudden, everything that was wrong-- or, rather, f*cked up with my life, started to get better. My Mac (which I don't think I've mentioned-showed off in here) was broken, and so was my cell phone; I had no job, I had no money, my life was a flatline... But then, one of my neighbors turned out to work fixing all kinds of computers, even the tricky and special Macintosh and he's about to finish repairing my Mac; my cell phone has been fixed; I have a new and awesome job; and... well, there's something more that has made me very happy, but I'll talk about it next time (if there are any more posts in the futuree of this blog...).

Having started with that random intro that's supposed to explain why I have done absolutely NOTHING online lately, let's talk about the real topic of this post (although I've already mentioned that my Mac is the main reason why I haven't been online. I've got no Mac-- oh, my gorgeous Powerbook G4--, I've got no Internet, ergo, I'm stranded)

Right now, I'm getting ready for a new stage of my self-education: I'm downloading portable servers to screw joomla and drupal up, over and over until I learn how to use them... I'll let you know the conclusions I reach, but the servers I'll try are server2go, wos, xaamp. I hope at least one of them will work without giving me a headache (considering that I'm practiacally a newbie when it comes to php and mysql).

Oh well... I'm off...

Projects update!

2008-05-16T22:06:00.002-05:00

Mood: indifferent.
Feeling like: staring at the ceiling in silence for a few hours.

As requested by some of my friends and/or acquaintances (and that little voice inside my head), here’s an update on my fan fictions, websites and other projects. As usual, feedback is appreciated—in the form of suggestions, words of encouragement or (playful and innocent) threats ;)
An Arnold Thing To Do – Oh, my beloved story… First and foremost, I do have all the intention of completing it, so fear not, my faithful readers.
When I posted the last chapter (the tenth) I talked to my beta, Hellerick Ferlibay, who said that the story looked like it was in a very “writer’s blocky position” and that he had no clue as to what should happen now. I told him not to worry because I did know what to do with it and where I wanted to go, in spite of my “partial block” (I knew what to say, but not really how to say it).
Once again, however, life got in the way. School, work and some other stuff distracted me from the story and when I tried to take it where I’d left off, it just didn’t work—it just doesn’t work. And now, months after chapter 10, the way I think, feel or maybe even write has changed—and I’m starting to have what I’d call (and my sister, Karla, would probably agree) dangerous ideas: should I rewrite the whole thing? I really think I shouldn’t, because I may lose some readers’ interest, but a part of me feels that it would be the best thing to do because I would do it better this time.
I’m quickly discarding this possibility, though. Besides the losing readers thing, there are other stories that I really want to work on (HA! and non-HA!) and if I rewrite AATTD, I may not have the time to work on them. I guess, for now, I’ll keep trying to stick to this version of my story and keep you posted on any decision I make on this.
The Spanish version will have to wait ‘till I’ve either made up my mind or finished the English version.
Harry Potter and the Quest – What can I say? This one I do want to rewrite it. I wouldn’t change too much, though… basically just the style. And I don’t know when will I do it. What I do know, though, is that my ideas will stay the same, despite the fact that Deathly Hallows is out and the series are over. It’ll be some sort of AU story, if you will.
The FH series – My original fiction… I have been thinking a lot about it. I wanted to finish Fort Halliday: Killing Faith before 2007 was over, but then I had a massive attack of potentially good ideas that I have to arrange so that they make sense, so now I think it’ll take me a while to finish the first novel—and it most likely won’t be KF. There’ll be a novel or two before that one, me thinks.
ProyectoPrIn – The pottermania is in a bit of a pause right now, as the last book came out months ago and the sixth movie is not too close to its release. However, I feel terrible because I haven’t been able to give this site the attention it deserves. I am developing some pretty cool ideas for new sections, but I think it’ll be a while before I can launch any of them. Actually, our anniversary just went by and I still haven’t launched the contests and stuff I had planned to celebrate it… *sigh* All I can do right now is hope time will be kind to me and this site.
Lyrics of Arnold – The home of the muspisodes just hasn’t been the same since the big dropout last year. Half of the staff quit without so much as a good-bye and then a couple more members found themselves unable to continue with the project due to… the usual enemies of internet and leisure: school and work.
This site, though, is still on my mind and heart and I plan to make some changes to it; probably by July or August. Also, I’m working on a few transcripts and stuff for it and they should all be up sometime next month.
Musicphilia – This is something that’s been bugging me since the last few days of last year. Two big projects that I’d love to do but can’t find any time for them and, in all honesty, I wouldn’t want to commit to something I know I’ll end up dropping sooner or later. I won’t say a lot about them for now, but one of them I’d do it by myself and maybe with a little help from contributors and friends; while the other, I’d need loads of help from loads of people. I’ve thought about a few guys and girls who would may be interested in contributing, but I gotta talk to them and decide if I want to do launch the project (if you like music and would be interested in helping, leave a comment).
The School Blog – This is another thing I’ve planned for a long time. The reason why I haven’t launched this is because I’m not sure my dear friends at school will be kind enough to post entries at a regular rate. I think this may be fun, but we’ll see…
Getting a boyfriend – lol! No, really, I think it’s about time I admit it to the world: I need a boyfriend. But I seem to have no time for all those things I’ve mentioned before, let alone socialize, so... :P

As you probably realized by now, I have a ton of things to do, but I really think I can organize my schedule and dedicate some time to all of them… Oh well, only time will tell—see? It’s all about time!
I’m off…

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Now playing: Breaking Benjamin - Follow
via FoxyTunes

Harry Potter and the Deathly Decisions

2008-03-15T18:20:00.001-06:00

Mood: frustrated.
Feeling like: making a few people at WB "disappear".

To be quite honest, and despite the fact that I found out two days ago, I still feel too frustrated to talk about it, but I just gotta try to vent…
It’s a well-known fact (by the people who know of my slight – ahem—obsession with Harry Potter) that I am not crazy about the movies because, like I’ve said a number of times, they leave out waaaay too much. They’re not, in my opinion, faithful enough to the books.
Also, the fact that I truly disliked the 5th movie is not a secret at all. Being The Order of the Phoenix one of my favorite books, I was very upset to see what they’d turned it into.
Now, I don’t have any doubts that Mr. David Yates must be very talented as a director—but if the people over at WB think that he is the right guy to lead a franchise as big and successful as HP, I beg to differ.
It turns out that, despite what he did to OotP (he destroyed a wonderful story), they want him back for not only the sixth one (which was confirmed ages ago and, IMHO, is sure to become a romantic comedy with wands and some magic in it), but also the seventh AND (take this) the eighth one!
What. The. Fuck?
Have they lost their bloody minds? This is Harry Potter we’re talking about, people! It’s supposed to have a grand finale and all. Why on earth did they decide to hire a… a… newbie… to direct the last movies? I mean, with the amazingly talented directors out there who were more than willing to direct Deathly Hallows (Guillermo del Toro, for example)…
I just can’t get over it. All I know is that they’re making a huge mistake. And if Yates was a tad considerate, he would step aside and let someone more experienced and talented do the job. Moreover, I think it’s about time the person in charge starts caring more about the story and less about marketing and what not (yeah, right, like that would ever happen).
After all these years… After all the money we, the fans, have spent in the Potter franchise… After all the happiness Harry and co. have given us… *sigh* He deserves better. We deserve better.
Moving on…
Other than the tragic choice that has been made about the director, the good news is that, apparently, they’ll try (at least try) to respect the seventh book, to be faithful to its plot. Yes, I did say a few lines ago that there’ll be 8 movies, instead of 7. Kudos to WB for deciding to go with two movies for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows—there was just way too much material in that book to make it into just one movie, considering their limit appears to be 161 mins. (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the longest movie so far).
The titles are anything but complicated: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II. And we can expect them by November 2010 and May 2011, respectively.
That’s what kept me from flying over to the UK, sneak into Leavesden Studios and killing everyone (but Dan), starting with Yates. In all honesty, however, who else, besides me, thinks that this decision about the two movies was at least partly one last attempt to milk HP as much as possible…?
I’m off…

When you get caught up in life...

2008-03-12T16:26:00.002-06:00

Mood: bored.
Feeling like: going to the movies.

Wait… February is gone!? How on Earth did that happen? And how did I let it pass me by without posting a new entry?
Oh well, this last few weeks have been pretty eventful, but I seriously believe I’d be kidding myself if I’m thinking there’s any chance I can post all of it now. There’s just too much to talk about, but I see no point in speaking about events of said weeks. I will tell some of that stuff, eventually, I guess…
For now, here’s me, introducing y’all to my new layout! Yay! *silence* Ahem… Yes, I do know that this is a random black layout from Blogger, but I was honestly getting sick of Me and the Moon (not to mention it looked damn crappy in IE 6-… I forgot that said browser makes .png images look incredibly bad when they’re transparent) and I really, really want a new layout, but I’m working on it… It may take a while.
Anyway… I think that’s all for now. I’m changing the recommendations because I haven’t done it in a while, I’m gonna work on the layout and I’ll also be working on some stuff I’d like to post in the following months (I might as well reorganize my tags, too).
I’m off…

Greetings, January!

2008-01-20T21:46:00.000-06:00

Mood: calm.
Feeling like: sleeping... and hitting my sister for talking me into playing Gotcha (ouch!).

Just how many times a year do you think we say the phrase, “whoa! Time sure flies by…”? Scratch that. How many times do we say that, in a month?
I’d daresay, one too many.
I’m thinking it right now, as I tell myself that’s been a week since I intended to post this entry… One week since my birthday. My twentieth birthday.
And here we go again: Twentieth? Whoa! Time sure flies by!
It looks like it was yesterday when I was celebrating my sweet fifteen (yes, people, 15… we Latin-Americans throw the big party on the 15th birthday, not the 16th). But enough with clichéd phrases… Let’s move on to another topic.
I’ve totally abandoned this blog, I know. And it sucks, doesn’t it? But this is the story—um, abbreviated story: I was going nuts with so many things that were going on in my life. Mainly, school and work; but I also was dealing with some other stuff, like the NaNoWriMo in November, or the creation of a website (work-related, not another leisure site), helping my dad as a translator in a business he had with people from the US, etc., etc.
BTW, the reason why I didn’t show up here to wish people a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, was that I took a one-week vacation in my hometown *innocent smile*
But now that I’m back, and a new year has started… well, I’m gonna try to put right a few wrongs.
First, as an example (of sorts), let me tell you five of my New Year’s Resolutions:
1. Actually try to reach all my goals/resolutions (yeah, that’s important).
2. Finish An Arnold Thing To Do (both English and Spanish version).
3. Finish Harry Potter and the Quest (both versions).
4. Work a bit harder on Lyrics of Arnold and upload the missing sections.
5. Same goes for Proyecto Priori Incantatem (my HP site).
So… how does it sound? I’ve posted those five resolutions for now, but I plan on keeping them on a list somewhere in this blog, so that I can be reminded of what I promised myself for this year.
I gotta go now, but I’ll come back soon (or so I hope) to rant and brag and basically just talk about some other stuff that’s been going on.
Oh, by the way… it’s never too late, I guess: Happy New Year to y’all!
I’m off!

Pumas didn't win... so what?

2007-12-10T16:09:00.000-06:00

Mood: a little sad, but proud.
Feeling like: having something good to say.

While excitement explodes loudly on a good part of the Andrés Quintana Roo stadium, I find myself surrounded by faces that show a variety of negative feelings: sadness, disappointment, anger, rage, hatred... I can't blame this people, though, because I, myself, am feeling like my stomach is tied up in knots-- but I'm not sure if it is due to the fact that it's practically empty or due to the way the game ended. Or both.

I hate to lose. I hate it with a passion. But I don't think I'm a bad loser because, as much as I despise to lose, I can accept when I did. This is no exception.

Oh, honestly... there's no point in translating this. To make a long story short, this is about two soccer teams in Mexico. One of them is the team of the most important university of my country (Los Pumas de la UNAM) and the other is a team that recently moved from Mexico City to Cancun (Los Potros de Hierro del Atlante). There was a final and both played awesome, but one of them had to win and, unfortunately, it wasn't my team... my beloved Pumas.

But I'm still proud of them, because they did so well. And proud of myself because, while most of the people chanting for Atlante had been "fans" of the team for a mere 6 months, I've been a fan of Pumas since I was born (ok, since I've had use of reason).

And to end this post, here's something we yell to support Pumas:

Goooya! Goooya! Cachun, cachun, ra, ra! Cachun, cachun, ra, ra! Gooooooya! UNIVERSIDAD!

I'm off...

Bye, November...

2007-12-01T13:50:00.000-06:00

Mood: disappointed.
Feeling like: going back in time to the first days of november and work harder on my novel.

So we're starting November, and the top news is... I didn't make it to the 50,000 words for NaNoWriMo. I don't feel like I lost, though; I really did have a lot to do and if you ask any of my classmates, they'll agree with me: it was a difficult month.

The good thing is that now I know exactly what it is like, so next year, I'll do better in NaNoWriMo. And another thing that I won is the idea of a novel that, despite not winning this year's NaNo, will be finished...

Anyway... I still got a couple more things to talk about that happened during this mildly marathonic month, but it'll be next time. Now I gotta go.

I'm off...

I'm a NaNo writer!

2007-11-08T12:44:00.000-06:00

Mood: excited, yet slightly guilty.
Feeling like: jumping up and down, but also hit my head against the nearest wall.

It's official. A few hours ago, I signed up for the crazyness that is NaNoWriMo and, like I said in those forums, I'm willing to finish my 50,000 words novel even if, along the way, I manage to lose what little sanity I have left...

Dear friends of mine who read this blog once in a while, I beg you to please drop a line or two in the comments... I'm gonna need a lot of moral support. I don't think I'll write anything else for this blog for the rest of November, but you never know. Perhaps at some point I'll be so frustrated that I'll decide to take a break and do something just for fun... only time will tell.

And now I gotta go, I still need 49,639 more words that won't be written on their own =)

I'm off...

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Listening: Linkin Park - Hit the Floor
via FoxyTunes

NaNoWriMo

2007-11-07T11:00:00.000-06:00

Mood: mortified.
Feeling like: crying... and hitting someone.

I simply can't believe I'm seriously considering this.

I must be completely out of my mind... Why else would I even think about entering? And why else would I consider entering now!? Now that everybody else has begun... Now that they all have had 7 days of work...

For those who know what NaNoWriMo is, I'm pretty sure you'll agree I've completely lost my flipping mind!

For those who have no clue, I'll explain briefly: NaNoWriMo is some sort of contest in which participants try to achieve the insane goal of writing a 50,000 words novel in 30 days...

So yeah, I know I'm absolutely crazy, insane, mad, etc. But... I dunno, I just have this weird urge to participate— to prove to myself that I can write 50,000 flipping words in 30 freaking days. And I hate that feeling... I know I shouldn't try to add one more thing to my already enormous to do list, but I want to enter NaNoWriMo... so badly!

God... I'm gonna have to think about this A LOT! Tomorrow, I'll have my final decision.

I'm off...
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Listening: Breaking Benjamin - You Fight Me
via FoxyTunes

My geekyness level.

2007-11-06T11:32:00.000-06:00

Mood: fairly satisfied.
Feeling like: eating something... I'm hungry!

A few months ago, I took a test to check my "geekyness level" and I turned out to be a "computer geek wannabe". That result was satisfying for me back then, since it was over 50 points and the average score for women is 35; for men, 56 (ergo, I was as geeky as a regular guy, and guys are, theoretically, geekier than girls).

Today, however, I decided to stop by that page and try again and... guess what? I'm now geekier than a regular guy :P

Ladies and gentlemen... my score:

If any of you have taken the test, I'd love to know what were your scores =)

I'm off...

"Carajo"

2007-11-05T11:36:00.000-06:00

Mood: amused.
Feeling like: eating a chocolate cake! Yum!

Undoubtedly, a journey is always enlightening; and a journey through internet is no exception. Everyday, one learns something and today, I learnt something funny about the origin of a 'bad word' in Spanish: carajo.

According to good ol' wikipedia, that word comes from latin word carassus (an alternate name for... well, the pennis). This word, with time, became the name of the biggest mast in a ship (talk aboutmetaphors, huh?), and then, eventually, was also the name of the basket thingy that's around that mast.

One of the less cruel punishments for sailors was to tell them "¡Vete al carajo!", meaning: "go to the basket around the big mast", where they'd be left for hours, until the were veeeery dizzy.

So that's why saying "Vete al carajo" is a baaaaaad thing, my dear kids. lol! I just thought it was a fun fact sort of thing... =)

I'm off...

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Listening: The All-American Rejects - Can't Take It
via FoxyTunes

Public Apology

2007-10-23T15:14:00.000-05:00

Mood: ashamed.
Feeling like: hitting my head against the wall... several times.

As usual (lately), I have no time, so I'm just gonna say...

I'm SO sorry, DV!

I swear I didn't forget about your birthday... well, I honestly forgot when I was about to leave for that trip to Mexico City, but I did remember on Sunday— the problem? I couldn't have access to a PC in that moment.

I came back home yesterday night so today I had a ton of things to do at the office, but I promise I'll make it up to you... Just let me get through a few pending exams tonight and some more office work tomorrow and perhaps by Thursday I'll be able to give you a surprise (or more than one). For now, I'd like to start by saying...

Happy (belated) 21st Birthday!

Also, check LyricsofArnold, the forums... um... here. And I'll do something more... you just wait and see *winks*
Lots of love for you, querida amiga!

I'm off...

So we had to make it a quadruple celebration?

2007-09-18T15:13:00.000-05:00

Mood: Sleepy, but in a good mood.
Feeling like: Spending some time in a quiet place, on my own.

So... September 15th came and went... and what did I do that night? I allowed myself to feel nostalgia flowing through my veins as I stared at the fireworks that came after everyone yelled "¡Viva México!" (and after me rolling my eyes in exasperation at some of the local traditions... It is The Independence of Mexico, not of Quintana Roo, people... ah well...).

I did know it was a triple celebration. Besides The Independence Day, here in Mexico, two of my best friends had their birthdays on Sept. 15th. (Um... Javier, Jorge... No need to translate my pseudo-apologies to English, right?)

Anyhoo, I didn't know there was a fourth reason to celebrate... Google's B-day! Yay! It's been ten years since it was born... and very good years, too!

I could go on and on raving about just how amazing my beloved Google is or how much I wish my two dear friends the best of the best, but I think that would bore everyone (even said friends) to death. Which is why I'm gonna abbreviate like this:

[Insert happy dance, fun party and enthusiastic speech to honor Google, Javier, Jorge and México!... and then multiply it by one million.]

I'm off...
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Now playing: 12 Stones - Let Go
via FoxyTunes

I recommend...

2007-09-13T15:00:00.000-05:00

Mood: Happy, but not excited.
Feeling like: Writing... and eating :P

OK... so the changes in AWOS have begun! XD

1) The kinda-heading: I won't write Mood, Listening and Reading anymore. I just left Mood and added Feeling like because I thought it was cooler :P What I am listening to will appear at the end of each post, thanks to FoxyTunes =D

2) Hot recommendations: Now I have a recommendations mini-section. Books, Songs, CD's, Movies, Artists, Games, Toys, TV Show, anything I think is worth being recommended, will be listed there =) I thought about naming it "Recommendations of the month" but then I thought "nah... I'll prolly change them whenever I feel like it..." lol.

3) The poll: yep, now I'll have a poll to know your opinion, my dear visitors... please vote and don't forget to comment on posts, too =)

And that's it for now... gotta get back to work...

I'm off...

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Now playing: staind - Epiphany (acoustic)
via FoxyTunes

"Heridas" by Papa Roach

2007-09-12T12:56:00.000-05:00

Mood: surprised and impressed.
Listening: Papa Roach - Heridas

Well, well... the things you get to find out in Wikipedia! Turns out that one of my favourite Papa Roach songs exists in a Spanish version and was recorded by... well, them! XD

I was very happy to hear Jacoby Shaddix's voice singing in Spanish and I've got to admit that he's not bad at all. Although the lyrics are sometimes kinda... rushed, so to speak, I'd say it's a very good translation ^_^

But besides finding out about this, today I also discovered an amazing web site called SpanishJamz.com where you can find songs by some artists/groups who usually sing in English, but have also performed some of their songs in Español, like Beyoncé, Madonna, Spice Girls, JoJo, Backstreet Boys, and many more. The "Heridas" lyrics is on that site and here's the link.

Anyway, I'll live you with the "Scars" video, with the "Heridas" audio ;)

"Hola", September!

2007-09-10T10:29:00.000-05:00

Mood: sleepy.
Listening: Breaking Benjamin - Firefly
Reading: Cafeteria Confessions, Hey Arnold Fanfiction by Deep Voice [link].

Isn't it amazing and yet awful how fast times goes by? We're officially in the "Mes Patrio" (Note: September is the month in which we, mexicans, celebrate our Independence Day— on the night of the 15-16th) and I've barely even noticed... =S

A few days ago, I reached the conclusion that I need some adjustments on this lil' blog of mine so I'll try to implement them.

Firstly, I'll do my best to keep my entries short, I wouldn't want to bore my readers to death, do I? I'll also try to do some entries from my alter egos' point of view because, ocasionally, they're quite right and they're also pretty funny at times :P And I decided that if I feel like it, I'll post more than one entry a day... um, well, if I feel like it and if I have time for it XD

One more thing I'll try is to change the skin/layout/design of the blog... but I honestly don't know if I'll be able to because I've just started school again and I have no time =(

Anyhoo... I just wanted to say hi to the new month and... well, just post something new to ease my kinda-guilt about kinda-abandoning AWOS.

I'm off...

The Soundtrack of My Life

2007-08-08T09:47:00.001-05:00

Mood: frustrated
Listening: Linkin Park - One Step Closer
Reading: Werther by J. W. Goethe

Sometimes, when you're very happy, it seems like everywhere you go, if you listen music, it can only be happy, cheerful, optimistic tunes... songs that make you wanna dance, y'know? On the other hand, however, when you're feeling sad and blue, depressed, it seems like the whole world is set upon making you feel even more miserable— and all because of the songs we listen wherever we go: songs of sadness, despair, bitterness, solitude, etc.

Those of you who have read a quite popular little book called "The Secret", will know that such things happen because of the Law of Attraction, which says that whatever we think about, we bring about. Ergo, if we're thinking happy thoughts, we will continue to attract things (songs in this case) that will make us feel happy. If we're thinking sad or bitter thoughts, we're attracting things that will make us feel worse and worse.

Yesterday would have been a day like any other. Except for the teeny tiny fact that one of my theories about my own life turned out to be true, and so emotions invaded my mind and heart: anger, sadness, frustration... Bleh, I don't wanna talk about this right now, but the point I wanted to make is that the Law of Attraction gave me another proof that it actually exists, for after that depressing feelings salad, the radio kept playing sad song after sad song, and those feelings grew stronger... That's why I spent the afternoon feeling a little more drepressed than I prolly should've felt.

Has it ever happened to you?

I'm off...

Millions mourning.

2007-07-27T11:28:00.000-05:00

Mood: chaos; so many emotions are mingled inside me.
Listening: Samuel Barber - Adagio for Strings (on live365.com)
Reading: *lip trembling, eyes watery* N-nothing... *sobs*

So this is it... *sobs* It's over. The final period of a phrase that stretched through ten happy, magical years has been put in place.

Last night, I finished my reading of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which I wanted to take easy this time. Yes, I was yearning to know all those secrets, find out the fate of those beloved characters and discover the ending that Jo Rowling had been planning for all this time, but at the same time, aware that this was the last Potter book I'd ever read, I wished to drink in every detail, no hurry. I decided to taste every word, every phrase, every comma and every period.

For those of you who might be worried: no, you don't need to stop reading. There won't be spoilers here (that's for another ocassion). I just wanted to write something on how I feel about the release of Deathly Hallows, even though it is more than hard to actually describe what's on the heart and mind of a potterholic like myself— and like millions of people— in this moments of mourning.

Yep, mourning. Not just because of those characters we had to watch die during the war between good and evil, but also, more than anything else, because of that part of magic which died the moment I closed my book and placed it on my bookshelf beside its 6 brothers, tears filling my eyes.

Not all magic is dead, though. A great part of it is kept, still dormant but willing to wake up, within the question marks surrounding movies 6 and 7. An even bigger part has found its permanent home in the hearts of each and every one of those who have proudly brandished a flag with the logo of HP or the name of it's author, Joanne Kathleen Rowling. And that magic living within us, the fans, will never extinguish because she, Jo, has been clever enough to make sure Harry will never leave his place in our minds... ever.

However, that part of the magic residing in the mysteries of the books has been extinguished the moment each fan closed their copy of Deathly Hallows after reading its last word.

Speaking of words, the one that keeps leaping onto my tongue is "thanks". Thanks Mrs. Rowling for sharing with us this magnificent universe, for introducing to us those amazing characters and for taking us to all those wonderful places... Anything else I say, has already been said before and will keep on reverberating like an echo for a long, long time. Because what this admirable woman has done has no precedent and it'll be very difficult —or dare I say impossible?— to witness someone else doing the same in the future.

Throughout the 607 pages of my book, Bloomsbury Children's edition (the cover illustrates this post), I screamed in excitement, cried in despair, jumped in delight, groaned in exasperation and even found myself trapped in an overwhelming shock, scaring my family and friends a bit.

Now, those Potter fans reading this, will understand and, maybe, for some of the most passionate ones, will think my reaction was feeble; whereas the "normal" people or the Potter-haters might think I'm taking things to a slightly unhealthy extreme by crying my heart out for the death of fictional characters or the end of this series, but anyone who has ever had a passion or an idol can comprehend. Those who have never had... hopefully one day they will =)

I'm off... Bye, Harry!

Workaholic?

2007-06-28T14:08:00.000-05:00

Mood: optimistic, though a bit shocked
Listening: Three Days Grace - On My Own
Reading: The Secret by Rhond Byrne

For quite a long time now, I often find myself questioning my habits, the way I am and that weird OCD kind of thing I have against doing only one thing at a time, but a while ago, a friend of mine got me thinking about it again; this time, my thoughts bordered dangerously on the conclusion that I might be becoming something I used to criticize a lot from another friend of mine.

And so, the question has been bugging me— and will probably keep doing it for a good few hours, until I decide to put it aside and try not to think about it a lot (although ignoring it, perhaps won't be the smartest thing to do)... am I a workaholic?

I haven't posted anything in this blog of mine in a while... as a matter of fact, I nearly spent a month without a single update here... Oh no, I'm not going to let my dear AWOS go through the same treatment as "Alteregos en la Blogósfera" (my other blog, in Spaces MSN); updates will keep coming =)

So anyhoo... my possible condition as a work addict (*shudders*) seemed to be a topic worth mentioning, so I did.

Although I have a ton of things to talk about, I'll have to do that in another ocassion... For now I must go back to wor— uh-oh... *slaps her forehead*

Perhaps Deep Voice is right...

I'm off...

The Moving IV

2007-05-28T10:39:00.000-05:00

Mood: happy, but tired
Listening: the raindrops falling
Reading: oh, no! Laziness took over me! (ergo, I'm not reading anything.)

More than once I've asked myself, those people who never move from one house to another... what's their life like? It's probably a bit more 'stable'... but I bet it's also a bit more boring.

Yesterday, we gave the first step towards the "half-half" chaos, which means that half our stuff is in one house and the other half is in another house. Yep, we're moving... again.

I know some of my friends will see this post and think "what?! again!?"... but yes, people, yes... I'm moving once more! HA!

The good news is that its very likely that this will be the last move in a loooooong time. We just bought our very own house in Playa del Carmen! ^_^

Anyway... as I downloaded (funny... I've never used that phrase for anything that wasn't computer-related...) a box filled with my some of my stuff— mostly books— I told my sister something I had just realized: this is our fourth move within Playa del Carmen. The fourth one without counting the one from México City to Playa, that is.

So yeah, this week will be the week of the "half-half" chaos and I'm sure we'll have a few good headaches of the kind of: "heck! did anyone see my [insert the name of an object here]?", "Yeah... it's in the other house!"

I better get used to hearing those phrases... *sigh*
It's gonna be a long week...

I'm off...

"Who now is left alone, but me?"

2007-05-21T15:32:00.000-05:00

Mood: shocked, sad, confused
Listening: Evanescence - Your Star
Reading: Curdy (gave up on The Clan of the Cave Bear... again)

O.o <-- Yup, that was my face after I googled Evanescence news a few minutes ago.

If there's anyone to blame for my doing that, it'd have to be my little sister, who called me and asked: "hey, I know you're busy and everything, but I just heard that Evanescence's in trouble again. Rocky and John left, apparently... could you check?"

"Yeah, sure..." I dismissed the subject, completely oblivious to the fact that it was entirely true.

Ladies and gentlemen... I have some sad news (for Evanescence fans, that is— if you don't like the band, leave... this is gonna be a [possibly] huge rant about Amy and co.) and some shocking news for y'all.

Amy Lee got married! To a shrink! O.o No, guys... I am not kidding. I'm serious! On May 6th (or was it 7th? *shrugs*) Amy got married to Josh Hartzler, a 28-years-old psicologist who she has known for a few years, but started to go out with, just a year or so ago. It was a simple ceremony and, according to Josh, "full of flowers." Amy herself said that "it is the most incredible thing to happen in my life so far" and I do hope it is. Poor Amy hasn't had a very nice life, has she? Quoting my friend Miel: "No wonder why she became a goth!"

But that's not all, people... Amy ~~Lee~~ Hartzler has lost two more band members, which, sadly, leaves her as the only original Evanescence member to still remain (hence the title of this rant).

Gosh...! Where should I start? This is such a mess! And I feel quite confused about the whole deal...

But to make a long story short— sort of—, John LeCompt (2nd guitar) and Rocky Gray (drums), have left Evanescence. The real reasons are still unknown, because while John says he was fired on the phone by Amy herself and Rocky says he decided to quit, Amy claims that they both "made it clear they were ready to move on[...] They were very vocal about the fact that they didn't really care about EVANESCENCE at all and just stayed around for the money."

The bunch of statements by the three of them are too many and too long for me to include and prolly for you to read, but if you want to read them, then click here and here.

Rocky said he can't say anything due to a contract of sorts, but that he'll talk to lawyers to ask them if there's a way in which he can speak up and if he finds it, he'll say the whole truth. That's all I know about him.

John's a different issue, though... Here's a snippet of what he said: "I have always given blood, sweat and tears to make that happen but apparently that is not enough. I have now become just another of the people fallen by the wayside on the revolving door of her life. It's funny how many of us there are now. I guess it's good for lyrical content, though. Maybe I will be among the blessed to have a song written about me, too. Maybe the song will be 'Call Me When You're Broke'."

Ouch! Harsh, isn't it? And what about this: "I will forever remember her as being about as deep as the shallow end of a child's wading pool and her lyrics about as deep as the two-dimensional surface that they were written on."

*winces* I, obviously, don't want to believe that... not of Amy =(

I mean, I'm sure she must be a bit hard to get a long with, given that goths are usually that way (usually, ok? I'm not speaking for all the goths out there). Specially goths who, like her, have had a hard life. They tend to be defenssive about everything— but even if she's difficult, I refuse to believe she's such a b*tch, because that's what John's describing her as.

She, on the other hand, was a bit harsh, too: "I knowingly let this negative energy [from John and Rocky] grow within my band for a very long time because I was afraid of the appearance of falling apart when in reality trying to hold on to these guys is what was holding us back. I treated both John and Rocky with nothing but kindness and respect, and I got nothing but jealousy and resentment in return. They were miserable. They are no longer playing with us because I love this band too much to see it driven into the ground."

Well, if that's true, I understand her... I'd do the same thing, because why would anyone want to play with musicians that don't care about the band and only care about the money, fame or success?

She also said that "Rocky didn't quit." and that she "told John it was time he did what he obviously wants to be doing — playing in his own band. Because no one should be playing in EVANESCENCE that doesn't appreciate it — that doesn't love it.

I can't help but to feel bad for Amy, but at the same time, I keep asking myself why? knowing that there must be a reason... It's just that Ben left, William left and now these two? Is there something wrong with Amy? John says there is...

All I have left to say is that I can help but being a huge fan of the band and of Amy and even if she is the mean person John says she is, there's no denying that her lyrics rock. She is an artist and I respect her and adore her for that reason.

No one is perfect and neither Amy, nor Rocky, nor John are the exception.

Whoa... talk about a long post... (and I still want to translate it to Spanish? Ugh...) Anyway... that's my rant for now... I'll prolly come back another day to rant about the same thing.

I'm off...

Too much hair...

2007-05-17T09:51:00.000-05:00

Mood: sleepy
Listening: *shrugs* Some pop comercial song they're playing at the plaza where I work.
Reading: Jean M. Auel's The Clan of The Cave Bear

First of all I want to say: YAY! WOOT! WOOT! *makes happy dance* No needle's gonna get anywhere near my veins if I can help it! HA! The thing is that I managed to find a way to get the stupid certificate without having to get the blood test done. So I didn't have to face my fear XD

Anyway, once I've shared that tremendously good news, let's talk about movies...

Yesterday, just like nearly every wednesday, I went to bed late because I went to the movies with my family. Yep, we're all movie-maniacs ^_^ Last wednesday, for example, we watched Blades of Glory and it was a laugh. Though it was also very stupid, but I didn't mind.

Yesterday, however, I sat for a whole 120 minutes torn between indifference and major awkwardness, with a tiny bit of embarrassment and wishing that the god damn lights above would just turn on, signaling the end of that torture.

What's the movie I watched?, you might be asking. Your answer will arrive shortly. Right after I've stressed a point: I think I am mature enough to watch sex scenes or nudity without going all "oh my god! why is that guy naked? this is outrageous!"; as a matter of fact, I don't mind about such scenes, as long as it serves a real purpose or is relevant to the plot.

In other circumstances, I could have been okay with all the explicit nudity and sex scenes from An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus. I liked the summary when I read it, because I think it's always good to learn about other people's life. Nicole Kidman is one of my favourite actresses, too... But it was definitely a bad idea to watch that movie yesterday...

Why would they rate it as B15 (mexican rating) if it contains such scenes!? According to wikipedia, Mexican B15 rating is "For teenagers 15 or over. More explicit content than B rating, but no extreme violence, explicit sexual and drug conducts, and non extreme verbal violence."
Well, pardon me, but I think it was a tiny little bit too explicit!

Just checked on IMDb and other sources and it turns out that it was rated R in USA!! WTF is wrong with whoever decided it was suitable for people 2 years younger than recomended by 'R' rating? ("Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian 21 years or older with photo I.D. These films contain strong adult language, strong sexuality, nudity, strong violence, and/or gore, and drug use.")

You have no idea how awkward it is to watch such a movie when you're sitting next to your parents! AND your 14-year-old sister! It was pure torture...

Anyway, my personal experience was awful, due to what I just mentioned, but I guess it'd be fair to give my personal review on the movie itself...

In all honesty, I thought all that explicit nudity and sex scenes were completely uncalled for. The movie could have been okay: a freaky photographer who acquires an obsession over a hairy circus freak. Slightly sick, but interesting.

I saw no need for Nicole Kidman to appear naked or explicitly having sex with the hairy guy. But *shrugs* I guess the director did. In a way, I felt disappointed on her. I still think that scene was flat out porn. And Nicole is way better than that.

They could have had the movie to be more interesting, appealing and worth-watching if they had not been so focused in sex and nudity and rather in Diane's life per se (by the way, it is pronounced Dee-ann... funny, huh?). I bet her life was far less boring. I mean, she had an affair with a hairy circus freak! Poor guy, though... apparently, he had a disease that caused him to grow hair non-stop in every inch of his body.

I don't tend to be so harsh on movies— especially if they feature an actor/actress that I like, but I couldn't help to feel this movie was a waste of time. Hence me being torn between indifference and awkwardness.

My advice is: don't watch it unless you have an open mind and, even if you do, be ready for at least a bit of boredom.

OK, rant's over.
I'm off...

I don't wanna go!

2007-05-15T13:10:00.000-05:00

Mood: utterly terrified
Listening: Linkin Park - No More Sorrow
Reading: (or trying to, anyway) Jean M. Auel's The Clan of the Cave Bear

Why me!?!? *cries and sobs uncontrollably*

There aren't a lot of things that can reduce me to a pathetic pack of sobs and scared moans, but needles are definitely top of that small list...

I HATE NEEDLES! Specially if the reason they penetrate my skin is to get my blood out of me... D'Arvit, it is MY blood!

My boss just called to tell me that I have to get a "Certificado Médico" which means that I gotta go to a hospital, get some tests— blood tests done and some government doctor will give a stupid sheet in which they stay whether or not I am able to work...

Criminy! I thought that when I left McDonald's, it'd be the end of those damn tests every six months, but it looks like the government likes to torture me... Apparently, you are supposed to have that stupid document wherever you work.

I'll try not to panic, but it is really hard for me to overcome that idiotic phobia of mine.

I'm off... and scared =(

Me and the Moon

2007-05-11T22:35:00.000-05:00

Mood: pleased, yet a bit annoyed
Listening: Linkin Park - Faint
Reading: more fanfiction

So little time, so much to do... Sometimes I wished days were 48 hours long, instead of 24, but I think that's a common feeling for all— or almost every human being.

I've been having some eventful days lately, but today I can't and mustn't waste time ranting, so I'll have to tell you in another ocassion. Right now I'm just interested in officially announce the "big openning" of version 1.0 of A World Of Snippets, thanks to which I finally managed to get rid of version 0.5 (boring, boring, boring...).

I had thousands of ideas, but never enough time to work on them to create a good theme— to be honest, this theme isn't exactly what I'd call good, but at least it gave "life" to this blog of mine. Anyway, after concluding that I was already sick of the black simplicity of AWOS 0.5, I risked stealing a bit of time and create the theme "Me and the Moon".

I didn't create it from scratch, though... I should be honest and confess that, in reality, what I did was base on the theme "Harbor", from blogger, modify the CSS and create some graphics to represent the night sky.

As I looked at how my sudden idea was taking form, I decided to give it a name and when I looked at the moon, I only could think of a certain song by Something Corporate, so I called it "Me and the Moon". Sounds a bit poetic, doesn't it?

I may make a few adjustments later on, but at least for now, my blog has a "face" =)

And once I've made the proper introduction of my AWOS 1.0, it's time for me to leave, not without one last complain about the lack of free time... Grrr...

I'm off! ^_^ / >.<

Happy birthday!!

2007-05-02T13:33:00.000-05:00

Mood: festive.
Listening: A Pain I'm Used To - Depeche Mode
Reading: El Diccionario del Mago (forgot the English title... )

I've said this one too many times before, but there aren't enough words to thank God for bringing a certain angel to my life. After more than two years of friendship, I still find it hard to believe that there can be such a friendship and even harder to believe that I deserve it.

This entry is dedicated to a friend that's been there for me everytime I need him; when I have a new crazy idea, I know I have his support, whole-heartedly; if I'm sad, he'll make anything to brighten my day; if I have problems, he'll give advice and, if possible (and sometimes even if 'impossible'), he'll help.

I just dread to imagine what my life in the past two years would have been without Joseph Wood, and since today it's his birthday, I want to wish him the best of the best and insist that, no matter what, he can count on me, forever.

Queest-ce que je ferais sans toi, mon ange?

I'm off... but, happy birthday!

Multitasking is definitely my thing

2007-04-25T20:16:00.000-05:00

Mood: Bored *yawn*
Listening: Panic! at the Disco - London Beckoned Songs About Money Written by Machines
Reading: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

I honestly wasn't going to post aything until I had time to make a nice, if simple, theme for this bloggie thingy, but since I can't see any free time in the near future and I don't want to abandon this blog the way I've abandoned my MSN Space (for example), here I am...

Like the title says, my thing is definitely multitasking, which is doing more than one thing at a time. It so happens that I am working on this cute reproduction of the Dominican Republic flag with Adobe Illustrator (that's what I'm learning this month at school), but keeping my focus on just lines and colors gets boring, so... I decided to drop by and make a pointless blog entry XD

Anyway... I'll take this chance to let you guys know that new trailers, photos and posters from the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix have been released... If you're interested... well, there isn't an English section in my site, so I can't actually recommend it... but you could still see the pictures in our galleries and the trailers in our YouTube channel.

Going back to the topic of pimping up this thingy, I think I can at least try to make a decent heading... but we'll see. Right now I need my muse to help me to come up with neat designs for my —ahem, ahem— *fakes the voice of an important business woman* clients *grins*

I'll tell you all about my "dirty" business later on (hahaha!! "Dirty"!!), but speaking of designs, I got a couple of wallpapers that I'll upload... later on... hehe.

Until then...
I'm off!

Definitely not nu metal

2007-04-03T11:09:00.000-05:00

Mood: excited
Listening: Linkin Park - What I've Done
Reading: Hey Arnold Fan Fiction (wanna read it, too?)

Ugh... this place could definitely use some "pimping up"... It looks so boring... I hate that I haven't had any time to make something cool for my blog *sigh*.

Anyway, on-topic: I spent yesterday's afternoon listening to Linkin Park's What I've Done over and over and over again... So yeah, it isn't nu metal anymore... but it still rocks!

Pig-gir (my sister) is probably going to kill me for saying this, but the truth is that if I had to choose between Evanescence's The Open Door and Linkin Park's Minutes to Midnight, I'd go for LP's new album, no doubt.

It might be somewhat of an unfair "competition", though. I've listened to all of the tracks from TOD at least a thousand times (lol, maybe a little less), I even own the CD and I've seen 2 videos so far, whereas LP's MTM is still relatively unknown to me, but just by listening to their first single What I've Done, I can tell they did some growing up, not unlike Evanescence, but the thing with LP's music is that (IMHO) they grew without becoming a comercial band. I find their renewed style more mature; in their music and their lyrics. They found a more artistic style.

All I can say is that this might be a turn down for some LP followers, but, for me, it's the start of a whole new era for them and I personally love the first single— by the way, did I mention you can listen to it through this blog of mine? *grins* Yup, just scroll down until you see my RadioSnippets and click on the desired track. I also have some songs by Evanescence (the first two singles from TOD —Call Me When You're Sober & Lithium— and the one to be released next Thursday —Sweet Sacrifice), Incubus (first two singles of my favourite album —Light Grenades— Dig and Ana Molly), Crossfade, Panic! At the Disco, +44, 30 Seconds to Mars and I can't remember what else did I upload... lol! Oh, well... just listen and enjoy!

I'd love it if you could make a comment to tell me what you think of LP's new single... or anything else you want to tell me =)

I'm off...

PS. The image from this post is a thumbnail of my latest wallpaper. If you want to download it, just click on the image ;)

A bit of everything...

2007-04-02T12:08:00.000-05:00

Mood: Happy! XD
Listening: Zoe - Miel
Reading: Harry Potter y la Piedra Filosofal (Sorcerer's Stone)

I truly have a lot of things to talk about, but I'll try not to make this an extremely long entry... I said I'll "try"... OK? *half-lided threatening gaze*... Good! *grins*
This is basically an update about things that are important to me and I write out of leisure, mainly. (Note: the news are randomly arranged and don't follow significance or chronological order.)

Harry Potter: I can't believe PRIN's first anniversary was yesterday... *sniff, sniff* It's been a beautiful year... =')
And I'm more than thrilled because, despite all the trouble we had, pig-gir and I managed to achieve our goal of switching to Priori Incantatem version 2.0, almost in the last minute and after several headaches caused by me, neglecting a few things during the "upgrade" of WordPress (the blog system we use to post news on PRIN). Unfortunately, some "details" are missing, but since this week my afternoons are free, I'll work on them (hopefully).
On the other hand, I am practically jumping up & down in excitement, as most of the fans, for the magical release of the covers from the last book... I have a ton of things to say, but as I promised, I won't make this a huge entry. I'd rather rant on the PRIN forums... or in LoA's forums, too.

Artemis Fowl: Oh my God! I just finished the fourth book The Opal Deception and I can only say I loved it (although my favourite remains the Eternity Code)... I'm dying to get "The Lost Colony" and read it straight away, although I'm sure Minerva's showing up will piss me off... Point is: I loved this book.

Evanescence: XD *humming* The next single is coming, the next single is coming, the next single is coming... wooo!! Thanks to Señorita Miel's suggestion, I signed up for the Evanescence Newsletter and in the latest issue I was informed that "Sweet Sacrifice" will be launched on April 5th via Yahoo! Music. Frankly, I am a bit sad about them becoming a little too comercial, but I am a hopeless fan and I can't wait to see the new video.

Linkin Park: [Insert a scream of happiness] There's a date for the release of their new CD! And a name, too!
A quick research in Wikipedia.org revealed that "Minutes to Midnight" will be released on May 14th (15th in North America). And the first single of this album, "What I've Done", will be launched... TODAY! *jumps in excitement* Isn't it great? Yeah, yes it is!

Hey Arnold: Well, there are bad news here: apparently, those swines at Viacom have started to target fansites, but I am confident that this problem will be solved somehow. The cool thing is that we played a great April Fool's Day prank and it was very funny. I appreciate the ideas and support from DeepVoice and I congratulate her for that extra prank she played on all of us. It made me laugh a lot!

Me: As for me... there's plenty of things to say, but I'll leave it for another ocassion because I've already made this long and I "promised" I wouldn't... hehe. I'll just say that, for now, I'm happy because I finally got a new cell phone (it's a cheap one, but at least I can communicate now!)
And now I gotta go, because several of my projects and tasks demand my attention! ;)

I'm off... (and happy!)

I knew it all along...

2007-03-31T12:51:00.000-06:00

Mood: frustrated
Listening: my thoughts, tormenting me
Reading: nothing. I'm not in the mood.

Grrr... Don't you hate it when you find out about something— something that can make you very happy (or at least would make your day), but you know that's not gonna happen... and you let a part of yourself get all excited, anyway?

And then, when it becomes a fact that "it" (which could have made your day) won't happen, you get so mad at whoever's "the one to blame" when, in reality, you're the one to blame because you got all excited in the first place. And you know it— heck! of course you do! — and that makes you even more frustrated!

I HATE when that happens. And it just happened to me. I apologize for this pointless entry but— wait a second, why am I apologizing? This is my blog.

Argh! Don't talk to me, I'm not in the mood.

I'm off...

OH MY GOSH!!

2007-03-22T01:04:00.000-06:00

Mood: SUPER HAPPY!!!! XD
Listening: a grasshopper
Reading: Artemis Fowl, La Venganza de Opal (The Opal Deception)

Flash news!! I just got internet installed at home!! I'm so freaking happy!!!
I wanna scream at the top of my lungs and wake up all my freaking neighbours!! I don't care!

JOY!

Simply hilarious....

2007-03-21T15:10:00.000-06:00

Mood: too giggly
Listening: Maroon 5 - She Will Be Loved
Reading: Artemis Fowl, La Venganza de Opal (The Opal Deception)

I've been wanting to post something for a few days now, but for one reason or the other (mainly, time) I haven't been able to, even though I have a ton of things to talk about...

It's been a few times already; some of my friends keep asking me if I've seen Avril Lavigne's lastest video. I frankly cannot stand her and those who have asked about this so persistently, I assume it's been either because they'd like to hear me ranting about how much I despise the blonde or to have a nice discussion in which we'd compare the enormous differences between people like her and people like Amy Lee (no, they can't be directly compared; that's be a hideous blasphemy).

Anyway, today I was defeated by curiosity and I decided to search for the so-called "Girlfriend" video in YouTube... I practically drowned in my own laughter.

What can I say? Or better yet, where to begin?

I'd like to congratulate Mrs. Lavigne-- uh... what was the name of the poor unsuspecting guy that married her? Whatever. Congratulations to her! Lots! XD
Why? Well, because she's finally come to terms with what she really is: "a little pop princess clone" (virtual cookie to whoever tells me where did that phrase come from).

"She's, like, so whatever..." could there possibly be a more pop-like phrase? Yes, probably yes. but my point is that this kind of phrase shouldn't and mustn't be in a "rocker's" vocabulary (not even a "wannabe-rocker's", like what she used to be).

Her gestures! Her poses! Oh my God...! *goes into histerycal fit of laughter* Her clothes! LMAO!
At least those stupid ties and gloves made her "punk-rocker" attitude slightly believable...

This video reminded me of so many pop "divas": Gwen Stefani, Hillary Duff, Jessica Simpson and, of course the super-pop-princess: Britney... hahaha *wipes a tear from her eye*
This is just way too funny... it really is.

I posted a comment on that video and while I was at it, I read a few others. That only increased the amount of laughter. There was one from a fan that complained about Lavigne "becoming" (?) a puppet for her record-label (or something like that) and right after that, two comments that made my day: "Who gives a shit? She's hot!" (LOL!) and, replying to this one: "Amen."

Conclussion: Thanks, Avril! For showing your true self... the way you've always been. I still despise your music, but now I hate you a little bit less. Go, pop chick!
HAHAHA!!

I'm off...

Harry Potter International Holiday!!

2007-03-06T14:11:00.000-06:00

Mood: happy... I guess
Listening: Korn feat. Amy Lee - Freak on a Leash
Reading: *sigh* I still don't have time...

Nine days. That's the time HarryPotterHoliday.com has been active on internet and during those nine days Tommy, webmaster of the site and starter of this 'revolution', has been able to gather 4178 signed petitions (as of the posting of this entry)... not bad, huh?

Now, what are these petitions for?, you shall ask. Well, this young man from California, U.S.A., is a big fan of Harry Potter (like yours truly... or maybe more) and after going through the bittersweet emotions that most "pottermaniacs" went through due to the announcement of the release date for the seventh and final book, he concluded that the best way to keep alive one of the biggest fandoms ever, was to declare an international holiday .

And so, young Tommy has been working really hard on this noble task and, helped by his website (harrypotterholiday.com), he expects to reach his goal of 1,000,000 petitions signed by fans from every corner of planet Earth.

I'd like to explain you in more detail what this is all about, but, as usual, I have no time so you guys will have to go to the official website to find out more.

Oh, and by the way, if you speak Spanish, you might want to know that the Spanish version of the info pages from that site will be available soon (translation for which I'm going to help).

If you'd like to read what I said about this proposal of holiday, you can see my coment here.

And sign!!! Por favor? ;)

Exaggerated Patriotism?

2007-02-27T13:38:00.000-06:00

Mood: proud
Listening to: The Kill - 30 Second to Mars
Reading: nothing... I have no time :P

Nah... I do feel very happy and proud about the triumph of my country men!

OK, OK... so we didn't win all of the categories in which the films of my "Tres Mosqueteros" (Three Musketeers-- Cuarón, Iñárritu and del Toro) were nominated, but... *does happy dance* Mexico got an Oscar!, Mexico got an Oscar!, Mexico got an Oscar!.... XD

You know what's a shame, though? I haven't even seen those movies *blushes*
I know, I know... that's bad! I've been absolutely traumatized by not being able to see them while they were still in theatres, but I'll take the first chance to see them! Even if I have to get a pirate copy of them.... mwahahaha....

Of course, that won't keep me from purchasing the authentic, legal and original versions, but I'm just dying to watch Children of Men, Pan's Labyrinth and Babel.

However, the fact that I haven't seen them doesn't mean that I hadn't made some research on Internet about the plot and other information about such films ;)
And it's thanks to that research that I don't feel like I'm totally "lost" with no knowledge about this topic.

IMHO, Cuarón did deserve the award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Children of Men looked to me like an extremely interesting concept and I'm sure it'd be exactly the kind of movie I love. And Adriana Barraza... I heard she did an excelent job... but alas. Looks like the Academy thinks otherwise.

Anyway, the point was to congratulate my country men. I hope we keep on following this path and always move forward. I believe that if we do that, the Mexican Film Industry (that IMHO has always had great potential) could stand out as much as the rest of the world's-- particularly, as much as the American's.

Congratulations Alejandro González Iñárritu!! For your vision and your interesting style that got Babel 7 nominations.
Congratulations Alfonso Cuarón!! For that artistic sensibility that helped Children of Men get nominated in 3 categories.
Congratulations Guillermo del Toro!! For your wonderful imagination without which, Pan's Labyrinth wouldn't have gotten 6 nominations.

And congratulations to the winners of the 4 Oscar Awards that these movies got:

David Martí and Montse Ribé for Makeup in Pan's Labyrinth.
Eugenio Caballero and Pilar Revuelta for Art Direction in Pan's Labyrinth.
Guillermo Navarro for Cinematography in Pan's Labyrinth.
Gustavo Santaolalla for Music (Score) in Babel.

¡Si se pudo! (We did it!)

Free Hugs!!

2007-02-14T20:47:00.000-06:00

Mood: optimistic
Listening to: Lose you tonight - HIM
Reading: Artemis Fowl, El Cubo B (The Eternity Code)

Happy Valentine's!

This year I'm in an unusually corny and giddy mood about this celebration... why? I have no idea...

You could think there's something that makes me feel like this, but the blunt truth is that there isn't. I have no boyfriend, I have no plans to go out today and I was awfully stressed today at work... And despite all that, I'm happy!
If someone finds a reasonable explanation about how my brain works, I'd love to know... I've been trying to understand it for the past 19 years... ¬¬

Anyway, I have news about Fan Fiction...
My two WIPs are currently in hiatus (I hate to say that, but it's true...), due, mostly, to the fact that I've been working hard on my two websites (equally hard on both, I swear... um, maybe slightly harder on Priori Incantatem, though) and my new crazy schedule.
Also, I'm going through a major writer's block. I believe it was caused by an "overdose of creative juices", meaning that I have so many freaking ideas boiling up inside me, that it gets too hard to organize them into something coherent and good enough for An Arnold Thing To Do and/or Harry Potter y la Búsqueda.

I may have a solution, though: write one-shots!
Why? I don't actually need a plot to write them, just a little idea that could easily squeeze out of my brain, leaving room for a better organization of its sisters ;)

I really do hope it works, because I'm more than willing to update both fics... they're my babies and I love them!

Anyhoo... in the meantime, I'm ready to let those little ideas flow out from my fingertips and over the keyboard. And I'm craving for something new... unexplored fictional worlds, you know. I'll experiment with 'new' fandoms (at least they're new to me).

I have a personal challenge: write about a few one-shots this week, one per fandom. Now, there's a lot of fandoms I love, but I'm just going to consider 4, maybe 5 for this challenge:

Danny Phantom - why? I like the ghost boy and I have a fair few ideas for pointless fluff, besides a nice idea for a long story, but it could also fit the Jimmy Neutron universe, so I'm still unsure about it.
Artemis Fowl - why? I'm highly obssesed about these books at the moment, but I'll talk about that obsession later. I'm actually halfway through a Valentine's themed one-shot, I'm going to post it tomorrow, I hope (I wanted it up today, but as I said, work was killer and I had no time to do it).
Jimmy Neutron - why? um, actually this is the fandom for which I'm still unsure, should I or shouldn't I write a one-shot about it? I like it, but I'm not fan... so, um, I don't know....
And, of course, the two fandoms for which I've already written stories that people seem to like: Hey Arnold! and Harry Potter.

I don't know if I'll be able to achieve this goal, but I'll try.

Oh, by the way, I used the 'Free Hugs' title because I'm completely supportive of that campaign, specially in days like today, when everybody could use a warm hug :)

Have a happy Valentine's Day!
I'm off...

To write or not to write...

2007-02-10T10:41:00.000-06:00

Mood: frustrated
Listening to: silence and the A/C of the office
Reading: Artemis Fowl, The Artic Incident (in spanish)

I know I have a ton of things to do and some of them are quite important but I can't help but to feel this sudden urge to write something-- something new...

Now, I love An Arnold Thing To Do, my story about Helga being kidnapped, but I just can't focus on writing anything decent for the tenth chapter!

I also wish I could sit with my sister and try to write more about our story: Harry Potter y la Búsqueda (HP and the Quest), but our schedules have been quite busy lately... specially mine.

As if that wasn't enough, I have to start working on my next muspisode for Lyrics of Arnold and, of course, the new Priori Incantatem! Version 2.0... oh, right, I also should be working on my dad's website... *groans* I need time!!

And here my muse is, urging me to get my fingertips on the keyboard and allow them to do their "magic"... She wants to start a new fanfiction--even if it's just a one-shot. But I don't know if I should add one more thing to my to-do list... and I hate it because I have some very good ideas! *pouts*

Maybe I'll tell you about them later, but for now, I just wanted to rant a bit... or a lot.

Oh, on a minor note, I've created yet another account. This time at LiveVideo.com and you can see the link to my LV channel at the right column of this page.

I'm off now...

Here I go again...

2007-02-09T16:15:00.000-06:00

In a (pathetic?) attempt to focus in only one personal site, I created the spanish version of this blog today, so that I'll use this to publish news about my life, rant about life, rave over my favorite fandoms or explain why the heck I haven't updated my fanfics...
Also, I'll try to make a few jokes about my "famous alteregos" which are actually the different parts of my personality.
The usual ones on the net are mxnhpfreak y clesmalo. Although in the real world, the one who deals with life is usually Daria...
You'll get to know them all... eventually...

So Welcome... back!(?)
Remember to leave comments, suggestions, questions or curses... :P

Google and YouTube

2006-12-01T10:16:00.000-06:00

Today, I felt like taking a look at that video from the founders of YouTube, where they announce the site was bought by Google. Also, I checked the video responses (which raise to more than 70 by now... wow), trying to find renetto's response. I had a laugh the first time I saw it and I wanted to see it again.

However, I found some mocking videos... they were funny, I admit it... but they also pissed me off.

And today, I feel frustrated and amazed that people can't be open-minded... All of those videos went on and on about how 'Google's gonna ruin YouTube' and how now the site's gonna be called 'GooTube' or 'GoogleTube'. Or merely suggesting that YT will disappear so that their technology will be absorbed by Google Video.

Flash News, people: It's NOT gonna happen! Any of it!

I mean, sure, Google is an 'internet Giant'... but it's not a heartless and careless giant. Google is not another big stupid company trying to take over the world and determined to do anything it takes to achieve that goal.

It cares about its users, visitors, employees... Google cares... and I honestly hate that people think it's gonna rip the insides of YouTube, eat it and then dump what is of no use for them (i.e. their style, logo, name, motto, etc...).

I saw some rather insulting jokes, such as the motto ("Broadcast yourself") being changed to "Broadcast what we tell you to broadcast"...

The best example that illustrates my point (that Google don't and won't just buy and screw good products) is exactly what I'm currently using: Blogger.

Has it changed (drastically, that is)? Has it become "Googler" or something like that? Has it turned into a white-screen page with a colorful logo (Google style)? Has it been attacked with loads of ads or useless buttons?

Google even decided to run their blogs using the Blogger services.

Ok, ok... Today I saw something about a 'new Blogger', but the screenshots looked the same (almost). It said you needed a Google account to use the new version, but it is optional.
No one's forcing the Blogger users to do anything.

And come on, let's be realistic, if Google bought Blogger, they ought to have some benefit from that purchase! The benefit is: more people with Google account.

Of course it has to grow. Of course it has to develop 'strenght'. Of course it wants more users. If *you* had a company and the oportuniy to make it grow... would you stay with your tiny, little company? Or would you let it become a big, known company?

I'm sorry about all the [perhaps useless] rambling, but I really wanted to blurt all that out... And anyway... why do I apologize? This is my blog, for God's sake! lol!

I'm off... for now...

2006-11-01T11:51:00.000-06:00

Keep Running, Arnold!

Woohoo!
I finally get to post this thingy!

I've been working on it for quite some time but problems with Windows Movie Maker, lack of time, etc, made me take longer than I thought it would take...

Anyways, it is finally here and I hope you like it :)

YouTube! Hey Arnold episodes...

2006-10-26T12:55:00.000-05:00

YouTube users, attention, please

Well, as most of you already heard or saw, cecilehelga and candyapple28's accounts were suspended and their videos are not available anymore...

Whether it is because of Hey Arnold or not, I am not sure, and though I think it is, we can't conclude anything.

Anyway, seeing as I am one of the few YouTube users who uploads HA! episodes, I decided to write this to let you know what I think of the whole situation.

First of all, my reaction, which some of you have been asking: I was (to tell the truth) TERRIFIED when I entered and saw them gone! I was like: "WTF?"
Then, paranoia took over me: "I'm next... I know I'm next! OMG! I'm next!"

Once I calmed down... well... I just don't really know what to do. I have had some suggestions from subscriptors and youtube users: "delete the HA episodes!", "make your videos private", "make sure you have back ups" and some other things.

I don't know what will happen tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, but if YouTube decides to take down my account and videos... *sigh*

I'll try to come up with a solution and once I have it, I'll let you know... for now, all I have to say is:

* Youtube Users: enjoy HA! episodes while they're still online...
* YouTube: I know, I know... copyright crap... but couldn't you just send some warning before kicking them out? Like: "delete those eppys or you'll be kicked out of our site"
* Nickelodeon: I HATE YOU! Why? Why did you have to complain to youtube? (I'm sure that's what happened, actually)
Give us the god damn chance to watch our favorite cartoon online! You don't air it anymore, we don't have a DVD, so why the &^*% don't you let us enjoy Arnold online!!!

Ok, enough ranting... Thanks for reading and stayed tuned (to my youtube channel) because there might be some further announcements...

I'm out of here