happy new music

so, yesterday... ok technically now 2 days ago, was my bday. and one of the fun gifts i got was a mixed cd from a friend who has similar taste in music. and let me just say that i LOVE it! i actually love homemade gifts and mixed cds (if i like the music). so, the people i'm loving on the cd are of course feist, bon iver, over the rhine, sufjan stevens, and then surprisingly (only bc i don't really know them well) josh ritter, ohio, ryan adams, ray la montagne, and avett brothers (although they're still growing on me a bit). fun times! i should get mixed cds more often. :-) i love fun bday presents!

out of control

so, i just spent entirely WAY too much time on my computer and connected to internet world tonight. i actually was working most of the time sending e-mails and messages for some upcoming stuff that i need to nail down, but out of control. i'm just not wired to do non-stop admin stuff for hours on end. and having to send fb messages and e-mails has way too many distractions. and i only can stay focused on that kind of stuff for so long, which is why a few other msgs were sent and now this little post. so, now it's way later than i planned, i do have to get up early, or madrugar as they'd say here, so that's it for now. just a mindless, random rant. although i'm actually thankful to have a few more things checked off the invisible to-do-list.

sufjan!!!

i heart sufjan. i think i've said it before, but i've been loving his album seven swans. i've had it awhile, but have been listening it quite frequently lately. :-)

la cucaracha

i am not by nature one who is afraid of bugs. in fact, generally i set them free to the outside. there are a few exceptions, cockroaches being one particularly as of late. yuck! it's summer and it seems like they are everywhere. granted i'm rearranging some stuff, but i did actually just put out stuff to get rid of them. and the past few nights they've been terrorizing me.

the cockroach a few months back that FLEW out of the toilet paper thing when i went to get some tp was funny. it was just so weird. then the occasional one in the kitchen or bathroom isn't that big of a deal. i don't mind cohabitating to some degree. i would just prefer to not see them. but last night was the last straw. i went from my room to the kitchen and had three jet out a various places, one in the hall, one out of the poison trap thing, and then one from by the trash. i trapped one under the clear trashcan and then felt like that was inhumane, so i smashed him. then there is the one that ran over my barefoot the other day. there is something wrong with these bugs. they are neither rational nor good sensed.

this morning when i woke up, it occurred to me that i was afraid to turn on the light in the kitchen, expecting something to scurry away. and the same in the bathroom. then i thought, dawn, you're not actually afraid of cockroaches, they just gross you out. yuck!!! please mr. cucaracha would you leave and take your friends with you. i'm sure it's much cooler and darker a few floors down, or even better go to a park or something. i think you and i would be much happier parting ways. thank you.

summer summertime in the city

Summer has arrived. It was 38ºC, or 100ºF today. I would say that makes it now fully summer. So here is a list of what makes me think of summer, or that summer is just around the corner... Oh and I'll check those that have happened already...

_ Café con hielo, Iced coffee
x Iced Latté
x Washing my feet at night, bc it feels good but also bc they're dirty (and in the bidet, in my opinion it's what it was made for!)
x It's hot enough that I have to wear shorts to run (and don't get as many strange looks)
x I get the fan out
_ Lightening bugs (i'll have to wait 'til i'm back in stl for that one)
x Ice cream!
x Terrazas, or outdoor seating
x LOTS of people outside at night and late
_ Putting a fan or two in my purse
x Sandals
x Dresses & skirts without tights
x Seeing American tourists in shorts (and this year it looks like it might be "in" to wear shorts, although they are definitely "hip" shorts, not just your run of the mill shorts)
x Closing the windows in the day because it's TOOO hot to let the air in
x Loving the cool night breeze
x Noticing all the green!!! (even here)
x Making all kinds of iced drinks
_ Smoothies
_ Frozen Juice Popsicles
_ the pool
_ the beach
_ swimming
_ Galicia
_ Realizing it would make a ton more sense to wake up early to go running in a bit cooler weather
x Dying running in the heat
x Enjoying air conditioning on occasion
x Cold showers
_ barbecues! grilling!
x fresh veggies & fruits
x strawberries
x ice
x blue skies (although we almost always have blue skies in madrid)
x cottony clouds
_ outdoor films
x picnics
x parks
x late night walks