On Matters of Humanity

See, the thing is, that...

The only thing that counts is how you feel.

Does everyone agree with you? Probably not.

Do people think you're wrong? Probably.

Do you make mistakes? Definitely, you can bank on it.

So?

What is there?

There's you and ...

What you think and feel about things.

That's it.

That's all there is.

Sure - there's Others.

Definitely.

And they count as much as you do.

That's how insignificant you are, mwa-ha-ha.

But there's little you can do about Others anyway. If Others appreciate you, it's because of who you are, and if they don't, then... well... fuck 'em, haha.

No, of course not, just joking.

But -

The Thing About Acapulco

Personally? I wouldn't call myself one of Acapulco's biggest fans. Though the water is clean and inviting, the town itself can be dirty, loud, crazy, scorching. And I rarely have luck with the food there, for some bizarre reason. Everything's extreme: meat, for example, is served either carbonised or raw, bread gets stale within 2 seconds, as does granola, yoghurt tastes like sour milk in the best of cases, I mean -

But having said that, there are things to be appreciated about it.

For starters, it's the closest beach. The Autopista (thanks, Anon!) del Sol (now being renamed Ruta 2010, possibly because 2010 is Mexico's 200th Independence anniversary as well as its Revolution's 100th anniversary) leads from Mexico City to Cuernavaca, Tequesquitengo, then Chilpancingo and Acapulco within about 4 hours door to door (if you live within a 30-minute drive of the periférico's exit). A lot of people from Mexico City go to Acapulco as regularly as every weekend - say they have a weekend house there and can afford the 30-minute flight 4 times a month. Or they have a bright red Ferrari, like the 20-year-old we saw speeding past us nearing Cuernavaca, and then being stopped by the army for inspection 10 minutes later. They couldn't have fined her, she'd literally just finished paying the toll, but I bet those soldiers wanted to take a closer look at her car. And I had just said, after she overtook us, that "*my* Ferrari" would be "canary yellow and a convertible", followed, after a pregnant pause, by the nastier, "20 year-olds shouldn't really be driving Ferraris, now, should they. I mean, where do they go from there?"
Anyway, don't get me wrong. Mexico is a poor country and its poverty is evident everywhere. I am lucky. I don't own a Ferrari but I have a privileged lifestyle... "Chilangos", is what Mexico City residents are called outside Mexico City. But most people in Mexico are not as fortunate.

In any event! back to Acapulco - it can be quaint and relaxed, especially if you go with people you're familiar with. Yes, I'd say Acapulco is a place for family and friends, though we saw a group of US bird-watchers who seemed to be enjoying themselves.

It can also be great fun.

Guerrero Snapshots

The word means "warrior" but it is also one of Mexico's tropical states. Its capital is Chilpancingo, but its most famous location is of course the placid bay of Acapulco.

Here the place where we stay, tucked away up on the edge of a cliff just beyond the bay:




And on the way back to Mexico City, what better than a stopover in downtown's 100% Natural for a healthy breakfast in fabulous surroundings?

First Day At The Office

Well, actually, I wanted to make the title "On Method", because although I think it's great that Obama becomes President of the U.S. today and that everyone's happy and hopeful, we should all keep a close eye on matters of perspective and expectations.

But still -

Congratulations, President Obama! You strengthen my belief that everything is possible.

In any event, I wanted to talk about method because writing out a WishList just isn't enough. Once you've sorted out your list in writing, you've got to go about ways of opening doors and easying their materialisation, djuknowwhaddamean.

I don't know how these shifts occur, but they are, though not unexpected, quite sudden. I'll give you an example of one such shift.

The one room in my house that needed looking into, really, as in, tidying up and freeing of clutter - was my home office. I've been meaning - for months now - to clear it out and organise it, but life has its own way of carrying on and the office just piled up with shit. Stuff in boxes, papers, stuff that belonged in other rooms, wires and cables and old magazines and 3 dog beds and blankets and shit.

For months the office sat there, waiting to be cleared.

And for months I'd go through it over 30 times a day as its doors lead onto my brand new garden.

I knew I had to clear it, and I knew it would take at least a full day to do it. A full day of hard labour, ploughing through every piece of paper, every Christmas card, receipt, visiting card, clip, book, nail polish container, document, incomplete set of furniture wheels, AAA-sized battery...

Now -

Here's the order in which things started positioning themselves in a way that would eventually lead to yesterday, the day I finally did something about the home office situation (and therefore of point (1) on my WishList below.

1) My new next door neighbours Ana and Adriana were here one night, together with my mate Julieta, who lives in Guadalajara. In fact, it was December 28th. They'd had to walk through the embarrassing office because I'd set the table and lit all the candles in the garden up and we were having wine and nibbles outside.

"What everyone needs to do in January", said Ana, glass raised, "is to throw away something that isn't useful anymore. The laws of the universe invoke us to start the new year with clearing out the old to make room for the new!"

"Funny you should say that," I blurted after a generous sip, "because I really need to clear out that office."

Ana stood up and took a good look at the room (while I cringed).

"Well, the problem here," she declared decisively, "is not only the clutter but the Feng Shui. Obviously. You can't have your desk there, you need to shift it. That's why you're getting nothing done"

"Yeah, right," I said, "whatever."

(Most disrespectful I am, really.)

Later that same evening, when the cold night had ushered us indoors and Ana and Adriana had taken a tour of the house (which is architecturally identical to the one they rent within this little complex), Ana once more declared:

"I *love* your house, man. It's really cool. But!"

(What? But?!)

"Yes?" I asked, curious.

"You could make it cosier by shifting the furniture round a bit. Here," she said, standing up and grabbing hold of the small table next to her. "May I?"

"Please!" I said, wondering what she intended.

But she only shifted it slightly so that the single drawer was now facing diagonally towards the middle of the living room (instead of table flush against the wall, drawer facing one of the sofas).

"Oh my God, that works!" I was surprised to hear myself say.

Lesson: Small shifts create big changes.

2) My mate Mati came round for lunch one day recently and told me about a thing called Family Constellations, ever heard of it? Neither had I, but basically, she told me that attending one of thei workshops had helped her increase her sources of income. So I looked it up and attended a Work Constellations workshop which was - apparently - a complete waste of time, but it made me think about why I was there, listening, role-playing, looking out the window and feeling cold, when I could be here, at my house, clearing my office.

Lesson: The energy required to carry out a daunting task may well come from an unexpected source, like a boring workshop.

Result?

A Feng Shui-friendly, uber-organised home office, ready for action.

Hurray!

Redefining My WishList

Following the advice of someone or another or something I'd read or whatever about the importance of writing your wishes down, back in November 2007 - to contextualise, I'd recently moved back to Mexico after an 8-year stint in England - I wrote the following on a printed (and unfinished) Sudoku grid from The Guardian (that I came across the other day as I finally sat down to clear my soon-to-be clutter-free office):

I want romance and company with a gorgeous single kind gentle solvent independent man.

Well... it wasn't long before Pat materialsed at my flat door (brought by my mate Ed who was in town at the time), and the rest is history.

So now it's time to re-assess the WishList situation and re-define what it is that I really want.

1) Professional development - want to be doing something I love this year, feeling busy and useful, stashing loads of money into the bank.

2) Travel - want to go to England this year, as well as Paris to attend one of Jodorowsky's free talks at Librarie Les Cien Ciels.

3) Keep fit - we've been on holiday from yoga for over a month and I confess I've done little in the way of exercise for at least that long. It's time to get myself back into a routine (including situps first thing in the morning!). Want to walk and cycle.

There we are.

That sounds do-able, don'tcha think?

Happy Sunday to everyone!

The Strawberry Affair

Act I

Scene (i)

A man and a woman sitting in front of a fireplace. It's cold outside. A furry dog sleeps in the background.

Man: So - let me get this straight. You like liquid strawberry yoghurt, but you don't like strawberry ice cream.

Woman (laughs): yes. Right. And I don't like strawberry yoghurt. I only like natural yoghurt. But only if it has granola.

Man: (Pauses) So...

Woman: (Starts picking at the fire but says nothing)

Man: There's just one piece of this equation I'm missing to frame it all together for effective filing purposes.

Woman: (cackles)

Man: Do you like actual strawberries?

Woman: (laughs). I do. I do like strawberries.

Man: And! You like strawberry jam.

Woman: Yes... but!

Man: Without the strawberries! I know... I know...

On Sadness

Last night I learnt my very dear friend Karine died over the weekend.

I received an email from her mid-December letting me know she was starting new experimental treatment on 5th January.

I'm so saddened by this news.

Even though I knew she was ill.

She didn't like speaking about it and so it was as if she wasn't ill at all.

It was Karine who always clarified my doubts about returning to Mexico:

"But - what are you worried about?", she said. "There's no question in my mind that that is what's best for you. You're already familiar with Mexico, your family's there, you've got a job waiting for you, you've got friends, you'll buy yourself a lovely house (but remember! make sure it's in the best possible location, location, location, tee-hee)... so - what do you want to stick around here for? You want a mortgage on a 1-bed flat?!"

As I said to Pat last night, I didn't see Karine and/or her twin sister Nathalie on a regular basis, but when I did, it was always one of those long and rewarding afternoons/evenings.

I can't believe -

Big Bro and I

It's difficult to get Gordon to agree to being photographed, so I'm glad I was able to set this shot up.

Thanks again, Gordon, for having me - great to see you.

Hidee

Was a shy puppy who hid a lot. Hence the name.

Once, when Gordon was walking her down the street, a woman came up to him and cooed, "ooooohh... what's your dog's name?"

He goes, "Hidee", and the woman turns to him in shock and says, much more curtly, "oh! and what's *your* name?"

He smiles and says, "Gordon" and is about to add, "and yours?" when the woman interrupts and spits, "Well! I'll make sure to call my next dog "Gordon", then!" and walks away in a huff.

Oh dear.

Another Ba-ha Sunset

Back when I was teaching English at (the horrendous - maybe I should stop calling it that) Embassy CES in Greenwich, England, I'd walk into the classroom during the whole month of January greeting my students with a booming "Hello! Good morning! And oh, look at that! It's another miserable day."

To which most would giggle or laugh.

I wonder if it would work the other way round: "What? *another* beautiful sunset?! Oh, maaaan!"

P.S. Spot the Moon!

A Brief Glance at Todos Santos

Even though the idea was - specifically - to "go to Todos Santos", what ended up happening was that we drove through, looked at our watch, saw it was time for the fishing boats to come back, and decided to turn back and go buy some fresh fish around 5 miles down the coast instead.

So didn't see much of the town, in the end.

But what I did see, I liked a lot - it's clean and tidy, loads of art galleries and cool, off-the-beaten track-type restaurants, kilometres of beautiful beaches and lots of colour in the shape of tropical flowers.

If I had money to invest in property, that's where I'd put it.

Incidentally - that fish we bought? OMG. Doesn't get any fresher or better. Gordon made some amazing cebiche, then a stir fry, and still had most of it left over - I think his freezer's full of fish. All we did was buy half a dorado tail. I'd say it was a good 2 kilos.

It's Got to Have That Ba-ha Light

There's a certain edginess - a dangerous/adventurous vibe to Baja (depending on how you see things - I admit that in my case it's mostly the former, what a weakling).

Massive fauna you don't ordinarily come across, thorny bushes and cacti everywhere (hey! watch your step!), crazy drivers (no, really - it's a mad house) among others on land, and stingrays, jellyfish, sharks, and big, toothy fish in general in the ocean... djuknowwhaddamean.

And it's v embarrassing to be so incompetent in the whole survival thing in the company of big brother, who's lived there - as in - out in the frikkin boonies, I seriously don't know how he does it - for over 25 years.

Me: Generator? Oooops, no. Don't know how to do that.
G: Ay, Tanya...

Me: What? Water pump? Nope, don't know where that is either.
G: Ay, Tanya - how do you survive?!

Me: Oh, no lights at night? Oh, OK, cool, but... no, seriously: where's the light? Oh yeah, no lights at night. Where'd I leave that torch again?
G: Ay, Tanya...

Ad infinitum.


Anyway, Ba-ha... can really be breathtakingly beautiful.

And the light!

At least in *that*, Gordon's right. It's got to have that Ba-ha light.

More Ba-ha

Hi blog mates,

The house you see in the photos is Nick the Greek's, who's currently in Texas. Gordon and I are staying here and it[s a fabulous property. Nick must be a man of vision and means to have been able to build this for himself 20 years ago. These days there are massive houses and developments popping up around the area but 20 years ago...?

Thank you, Gordon, for your hospitality (and being big bro), and thank you Nick the Greek for allowing us to stay.

Out Post

Happy New Year from Ba-ha, blog mates!

Here are Spotz and Shelly, 2 of Gordon's 4 dogs, keeping a dutiful lookout.



Oh-oh - Spotzy spots a lizard. Or a bird. Or a cricket, snake, butterfly. OMG, these dogs are so lucky.



Have a seat... relax... it's all good.