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We went to see Coheed and Cambria + Deftones in concert last week. Without going into the details of the car journey to the venue and my deep in-situ realisations on how old I am getting, I must say that I really enjoyed it.
I was really into Deftones ten years ago. Then, I don’t know what happened, I stopped listening to them. I think I believed that nothing they made would ever top up White Pony, so I kind of gave up on them after that.
I am a huge Coheed and Cambria fan though. (Well… let me give you my definition of “huge fan” = I listen to the albums and thoroughly enjoy them. I may even sing along. However, I don’t know the band member’s names, where they come from, and all those details that a “real” fan would know – I just care about the music…)
So I went to the concert looking forward to seeing Coheed, but the fact that Deftones were playing too and might play one or two White Pony songs was a bonus. (They actually played quite a few, Knife Party, Passenger, Change,..)
Well. I was talking to a coleague at work today about the concert, and he mentioned something that really shocked me. He asked something like: “And was the bassist there? Did he play?”
This puzzled me, because a) I had no idea what he was talking about but 2) I had noticed at the concert that the bassist player was not the same one as the long haired one that I remembered…
“What do you mean?” I ask. And he tells me the whole story…
Chi Cheng, Deftones bassist player, was a in freaky car accident back in 2008 that left him in a coma. He was travelling by car with his sister when they hit another car. He wasn’t wearing a seat belt. The rest you know: he is in a coma.
Apparently his condition has improved in the last two years, but he is still in a semi-coma state. He can trace people with his eyes, slightly move his hand and make some noises.
His family have been trying to collect money from well-wishers for the last couple of years, since the medical bills have been really high. The kind of medical support that he requires is not cheap, apparently. They have created a website called oneloveforchi.com were they sell some merchandise and post blog entries related to the incident and its development.
I admit I didn’t know your name, mate, but I knew who you were. I send my best wishes from this little town in England and I really hope that you get better soon.
So, yeah, we all need a hobby. I tried photography, and I love it, but it requires more time and effort than I am capable to offer at the time. I tried “cuisine” but I cook almost everyday anyway, so that doesn’t really count. I gave up Sims about a year ago… I think I grew out of it (after years of “addiction”)..
So what else was there out there that I could take up and enjoy?
Ah, yes, card-making.
It’s been over a year and a half since Jon and I created our wedding invites. That was a painful but beautiful process. It was painful because of the time constrictions. We only allowed ourselves two months to make around 100 cards (60 day guests and 40 evening ones). Plus, quite a few “order of the day” booklets (both in Spanish and English), the menu cards, the table numbers, the place names, the sitting plan… Yes, it was a bit too much. However, I loved the result and I was awfully proud of myself for such a big achievement. Here’s a little sample of what they looked like.
So now, after all the pain and bad memories that this hobby brings back to my dear husband, I have decided to create my own Christmas cards this year.
Jon thinks that I am crazy, but I am really loving the colours, glitter and creativity that comes with it. I am just an amateur and never in a million years would I do this for a job, but I am really enjoying myself!
Here’s another little sample of some of my (still unfinished) creations:
Some are prettier than other, some are easier to make than other. Funnily enough, the logic = “the harder to make they are, the prettier they’ll turn up” doesn’t necessarily work always. The one with the beaded heart in blue was a blooming nightmare to make and it didn’t turn up as I originally planned. And the ones with the tree shapes were far easier and I like them more.
I still have a few designs in stock and around three weeks before I have to send the cards out. So we’ll see what I end up with!
Oh, by the way: Thank you Hobbycraft!!
I find it very sad (’sad’ as in ‘not happy’) when people have a bad experience in a foreign country. As a Spaniard who visited the UK quite a few times before I moved here for good, I’ve always had awesome experiences that made me appreciate the country for what it is and can be. And I tend to think that everybody is going to find this country as fascinating and gorgeous as I do. I couldn’t be more wrong.
The main problem is that a great percentage of the people who make bad remarks don’t really want to be here. They have come because the economic situation in Spain is really bad with the highest unemployment rate in history (or something like that). They leave Spain because there’s no other option. So, where can I go to do something useful with my life? Okay, let’s go to the UK… I will learn English, I will join one of the tons of Spanish ghettos, I will meet more Spaniards, and at the end of the day, it’s only a two hour flight away and with companies like ryanair I can go there and back for less than a hundred euros. Yes, let’s try that. Which is fair enough. Everybody is free to come and go as they please.
Of course, there is something called Culture Shock that I do understand happens to almost everybody who has never travelled before. You can, however, get over Culture Shock quite easily. You simply have to understand that you are not in your country any more.
We could talk for hours about the differences between the UK and Spain. Cultural, social, gastronomical, and whatever have you… But after much discussing, we can only reach one final conclusion: There’s no point comparing because they ARE two different countries!
But going back to my original idea.. Sometimes I wonder if people have bad experiences in the UK and criticise it so much because they have not tried to adapt to a different way of life. To the country and its culture. I am not saying that anyone coming to the UK should renounce of Spain whilst they’re here, but comparing them all the time won’t do them any good. At the end, they will go back to Spain talking only about the negative and superfluous things (Oh, the weather is so bad. Oh, food is shit. Oh, people who say please and thank you are so fake, they don’t mean it, Oh, there are so many teenage pregnancies, etc)
Of course I am not saying that this is the case all the time. I do believe that some people will come to the UK and have a bad experience regardless. Those cases I can’t explain. Bad, tough luck, I suppose. But I bet that the chances of having a positive experience are greatly increased when your attitude and your expectations of the country are not constantly compared to the fantastic Spain where no wrong can happen.
The UK, and especially England which is the country that I know the most, is not perfect. Far from it. It has got its good things and its bad things. And I do understand that there are some people out there who are very analytical and will think that my view of the country is biased and “I don’t want to see further”. Some other will say that I am still in the “honeymoon phase” of my immigration process in which I believe everything is so much better than in my homeland. However, it is believed that this phase lasts for around 1 year at the most. I have been in the UK for way longer than that. And it is not that I believe that everything is better than in Spain -far from it too-, but for now, this country gives me more in every aspect of my life.
I am Spanish. I am not ashamed in any way to admit where I come from. As I have said in the past my nationality is part of me but doesn’t define me. I am who I am because of what I’ve done, what I’ve seen, what I’ve read, what I’ve watched, what I’ve learnt, etc. I am who I am because I want me to be like this. Of course my upbringing “a-la-Spanish” influenced me, but people change. I have changed over the years to become who I am today and I believe this would have happened regardless of my location.
For those people having a rough time in the UK: please try to see beyond the clichés about the food and weather. Try to meet British people, get to know them, learn their history, learn their customs. Try to be one of them for a little bit. It is only fair that you at least try, since it is you who is living in their country. And after doing all that for certain amount of time, I’d like to know if your perception of the country and its people is still the same.
(PS: Since I don’t fancy any “abuse” in the comments from people who may take offense about this entry, I have disabled to comments option for this post. Cheers.)
Beautiful name. Beautiful poem. Beautiful song.
Memories of times gone by.
Happy weekend.
It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of ANNABEL LEE;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.
I was a child and she was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea;
But we loved with a love that was more than love-
I and my Annabel Lee;
With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven
Coveted her and me.
And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsman came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.
The angels, not half so happy in heaven,
Went envying her and me-
Yes!- that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.
But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we-
Of many far wiser than we-
And neither the angels in heaven above,
Nor the demons down under the sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee.
For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling- my darling- my life and my bride,
In the sepulchre there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea.
I’ve been in a funny mood in the last couple of weeks. I feel apathetic, like I have nothing to say (and it’s not like the world hasn’t given me enough things to talk about lately, from serious issues like the Government’s sale of the forests or the more recent giving the vote to prisoners, to more light-hearted stuff like the laughable show that the X-Factor is turning into or our catastrophic first Halloween in the new house, when only two sets of kids came trick-or-treating)
And I have no idea what the problem is, or whether there is actually a problem. Maybe it’s the weather. For 5 years I’ve said that I don’t suffer S.A.D. (seasonal affective disorder), that it doesn’t affect me.. but looking at the symptoms it looks quite likely to be the reason. I tick lots of the symptoms!
And this is it. I don’t really know what else to say.
Yep. Apathetic. Can’t even be bothered to upload a picture…
Oh, PS. I forgot to mention that mariaandjon.com has been revamped! (although I don’t like the photo of me in there… need to change it..)
