Merry Christmas to all

Coughing, sneezing and wheezing , these are the sounds of my office today. It seems that over the merry Christmas holidays, people have forgotten to bundle up and stay warm. So now, with air conditioning at half throttle, people everywhere are dealing with runny noses and watery eyes.

But it was a merry Christmas for me! Friends, family and loved ones all around, joined in spirit, if not in body. My family is a spread out one, through countries and continents. We rarely cross paths but when we do, it is a thing of beauty. Family unseen in years, aged and different, yet fundamentally the same. It is always a joyous reunion, generously laden with shows of affection, and the occasional promise of contact.

This is my family, these are my friends. I would not change them for anything in the world and can only hope that they grow in numbers and in variety.


- Seth Mariscal, enjoying life since 1983.

Catching some fish at Utz Tzaba

Today we went to monterrico to see hotels for the big wedding. Saw a couple of places, and everything was pretty good so we stopped for lunch.

Here's a picture of my choice of lunch and I've got to say, I was blown away! At the Utz Tzaba hotel I had one of the best fish fillets that I've had in years! Even Susan, who is definitely not a fish lover, actually liked it too!

That was good enough for me, any kitchen that is putting out food that will blow me away like that, has earned itself a chance to be the place where we are to wed.

- Seth Mariscal, enjoying life since 1983.

BlogPress and iPhone

Let it not be said that I do not make an effort!! Yes, I've been MIA and while my lone reader may not actually remember that I have this blog I will prevail! Writing is a joy in and of itself so I will try to keep up with myself through here. I figure that if I can do facebook, why not my blog?

So here I am, with my recently downloaded blogpress app so that not being at my computer can no longer be an excuse!! More posts are sure to follow and. Lot of food to be discovered. Bon voyage!!


- Seth Mariscal, enjoying life since 1983.

Madame Butterfly and Parenting

I went to watch Madame Butterfly last night and it was absolutely amazing. It was everything that I think Opera should be.

The stage management was brilliant, the singers were absolutely fantastic. The musicians were very good as well. The orchestra was the municipal youth orchestra who did a very good job, though there were a few misses.

Some people cried, other people cheered but I think we all felt it. If ever I have been to a show that was worth it, that was it.

On the other hand, I used my Sunday to make a little demonstration of After effects parenting to demonstrate to Susan and to make the explanation of how it works a little easier.

For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, Parenting is a function in after effects that allows you to link one layer to another to allow natural movement such as one layer could be a hand that's attached to an arm. It has it's own movement but also fallows the arms movements.

Well, you can watch the clip and see for yourself. The heart actually get's attached and unattached as needed. This allows this kind of "attachments".

Here's the link to the clip:

http://tinyurl.com/dbkuh3

OK, so wow, it's been a while! Work has been really hectic but it's good to feel useful and productive. And to make money. The other day we had our "insurance" explained to us. The fact that it's in quotes should tell you more than something about what I think of this "insurance!".

In an effort to remain positive, I'll move on to other things. My car, as of today, is still in the shop and getting painted. Even if I did have it, I wouldn't really get to use it too much because I don't yet have parking at work. Fingers crossed though, maybe soon! I heard on Friday that there'd be a spot opening up these days, but wasn't really assured that I'd get it. As you might imagine, I'm not the only person around waiting for a spot to leave my car. Lord willing, it will be soon!

In an interesting twist, I got a call from a friend last Sunday (during church, go figure) which then turned to texting (because I'm not missing the sermon to talk to anyone)and he wanted to get some pictures done. So I grudgingly agreed, mostly because I'm pretty much helping him along with some photographs here and there to use for different self-promotion purposes. He's kind of making a name for himself in the LA (that's latin american) christian music scene. So, good friend that I am, I'll shoot his pics on a Sunday. And yes, my freelancing/photographer friends, I do charge him. He's the one up there.

In other personal news, my suspenders came in and I am LOOOOOOOVING them!!! you have no idea how comfortable they will be until you actually start using them. As I am not a small person by an stretch of the imagination, suspenders are just what the doctor ordered! I'll be sure to share a pictures of them ASAP.

Well, that's about all I've got going on right now (that I can think of). Hope y'all have a great night and a great Sunday (at church ;) I'll assume)

Rabbits, Tiffin, Valentines and haircuts

Happy Valentines day folks!

Today's post will be short since I only really have four minutes to write it. I'll just kind of give a rundown of what's going on. Yesterday I got paid! (yay!) so this morning I went to deposit the check. Once that clears I'll be able to get my Tiffin box! Tiffin, apparently, is a kind of holdover from English influence in India. It's lunch, from what I gather. So a Tiffin box is actually a lunch box, but cooler.

Also the Squishable.com bunnies arrived yesterday so Susans' gift is safely in my hands! That's what the pictures about. BTW, the rabbits are fair trade made in Thailand and 100% cotton.

I've also decided that I need to start eating more home cooked meals because I'm going to wind up fat and poor if I don't.

So I found a weekly meal planner template for excel that I'm planning on using to go shopping and buy the necessary ingredients ahead of time and on the weekend when I have time! But right now I need to go pick up my dad because he lent me his car so I could go on some errands.

I talked to the mechanic and it seems that my beautiful Jeep will be out of the shop sometime next week (I hope). whenever it comes out, you can bet that I'll have a picture to share with y'all.

Hope everyone has a great valentines day and weekend!

Work, Pizza, Studies and Money

So I am now delving into my third (I think) week of work. The more I learn about it the more interesting it sounds. Interestingly enough, the current Dilbert comic strip is all about working in Collections. Maybe it's just my "new worker" Naivety but it really seems like it'll be interesting work. The pay isn't too bad, the advancement prospects are reasonable and the people I work with are great. It really makes me wonder what would make people feel remotely bad about it. I guess I'll find out once I hit the floor and start making calls.

Last night I made another pizza. It was really good but I really made it to share. What I didn't really count on was having it disappear within two minutes of "unveiling" it. I guess it really must have been pretty decent as I've already been "strongly suggested" to bring in another one. Next on my to do list, however, is peanut butter cookies.

I've also begun studying for my comprehensive exams in March and April. Kind of a bummer and I don't really have anything to study with, but I hope that I'll at least pick up whatever I need to know from our study sessions. I was supposed to take in an analysis of a printed ad, but I'm just to tired and I forgot to do it when I could have.

As for money, I'll be getting a paycheck on Friday, for which I am incredibly grateful. I probably should have administered my money a little better but this month I only had about $100 to live off of for two weeks. You do the math. So I'll get paid on Friday just in time for Valentines Day and also a local store will be stocking iTunes Store prepaid cards on Saturday so I'll be able to afford one!!

So that's pretty much what's going on in my life. Leave me a holler and let me know what's up with y'all!!

New Threads

Today I have clothes. For work, that is. I went to the mall with my dad and my girlfriend and got myself some new threads! Not much to say about it other than I really like what she helped me pick out. Here's most of what I got:

A New Start to a New Day

This morning I woke up and checked my email. I got some interesting messages about Obama being inaugurated. Now, I was sure that I had read somewhere something about it being in the afternoon so you might understand my surprise when I log on to Twitter just to find a bunch of comments about the the inauguration! So I quickly turned on my TV to catch maybe half of Obama's speech.

I should clarify that I'm not real big on speeches but I really liked this one. He was very clear about what his goals are and didn't beat around the bush a whole lot when addressing things like the economy and water boarding (a.k.a. Torture).

While I'm sure that the poem that was read by, I believe, Elizabeth Alexander was good enough (though it didn't strike me as great) the actual reading of it was just awful. It was like a moribund moment that just wouldn't die! It just comes to prove that being able to write is not the same as being able to read.

The benediction on the other hand was deep, witty, well thought out and, despite the limited amount of time allotted, very dynamic. It was very refreshing to hear someone who is a good orator speak.

All in all it was very enjoyable and joyous experience.

I share with you a photograph of the 44th President of the United States of America, President Barack Obama by Jmtimages on Flickr.

Apples Galore...

So you'd think that apples had suddenly appeared at a dime a dozen, the way today went. Before lunch I decided to make some apple butter which I had bottled and in the fridge by 5 pm. After that I went to watch Valkyrie with my dad. I have to say that this is by far my favorite Tom Cruise character. Maybe just the first viewing, time will tell if his performance can stand the test of time.

But I digress. After the movie I decided to make apple pie. Also turned out reasonable well. At some point in the middle of this flurry of activity I managed to put together a little something for Susan.

In life and in Death....

Today I went to a funeral. It seems that Dora Amalia died. Since I imagine that you don't know who she is, I'll explain. She was one of the founding members of VSA arts Guatemala. She had an undergrad degree in psychology and was a choreographer for the wheelchair dancing. In the picture above is a group of wheelchair dancers with her facing the camera.

We met August when for our graduation project my group had to make a social communications plan for VSA arts Guatemala. Dora Amalia was everywhere and her enthusiasm and helpfulness was unparalleled.

Just a few months ago she helped me by appearing in a 30" TV ad (below). It took us about 25 takes adn 45 minutes to get these 30 seconds. It's really strange to have so recently recorded someone that died. It's really hard to wrap my mind around.

Well, I guess that it's better to wish her Bon Voyage than to dwell too long on the tragedy that was her death. She lived well and accomplished much. So to her I say:

"May they rest in the company of the saints,
and their sons and daughters with them."

-Irish Blessing for the Dead

On seaside seafood....

So looking over the past posts I realized that I actually didn't mention my trip to Monterrico, so I'm going to go ahead and take advantage of this moment to go into it. Monterrico, for those of you who don't know, is a little town on the beach in Guatemala. A few posts ago I mentioned that I was going to go, and I did. It was absolutely amazing.



I had the greatest time in a little cabin mere feet from the beach at a place that had two pools. We walked, we chatted, we ate and had a great sunset. Now I don't usually post so many pictures but I just couldn't help myself. I'm afraid I don't have the restraint that I'd need to post the usual one.

Now I'd hate to fall into the whole "let's look at my pictures thing" and I think I at least have the restraint not to do it. Just to share though, I went with my girlfriend, her sister and a friend. As you might imagine it was quite the adventure. Well, in a sense.



You see, for me there's no greater adventure than not knowing what you'll be doing in a few minutes, where you'll eat or what you'll see. Now that really freaks some people out, but I feel like that's an integral part of any decent vacation.

So that's about pretty much it for that. I couldn't really figure any other way to post the pics with out coming right out and saying "look at my pictures" and I like to keep posting frequently enough to keep y'all on your toes wondering if there's anything new, and to hopefully give you something to lighten the mood for a few minutes.

Now, I also promised that I would share the picture of my fish and shrimp, so here it is:



Good bye and until next time!

Unexpected Surprises

So today after church I had the odd experience of having someone come up to me and tell me that one of my pictures is in this months "Revue" (English language magazine. Page 12, bottom. January 2009 edition "Revue Magazine").

My parents and I picked up an issue from a nearby stack and started leafing through. Of course by now I've remembered that I did indeed hear that revue was looking for photographs so I sent a few in. It was a little hard to find because I didn't actually have any idea which one they actually used. Turns out that they picked out the one included in this post.

Oddly enough the person who let me know is friends with the wife of one of the participating photographers (and a friend of mine).

While reading through kitty's blog (Design Backslash), I just couldn't help but notice how few degrees of separation we have between us here in Guatemala city. This isn't the first time I've had this kind of experience. Let me know if you agree/disagree or have anything to add!!

The beginning of a new year.

So a new year begins. This has been absolutely amazing! The first thing was that Susan, the love of my life has agreed to be my girlfriend. This happened on January the third. This may seem rather mundane but the truth is that this has been a long time coming. I've really had to wait for it but she's completely worth it.

The other thing is that after quite a few weeks of sitting on pins and needles, turns out that I got the job that I've been waiting for. It's by far the most formal job I've ever had (by a long shot) but I think that it'll be a very positive experience.

So that's it for today. Thanks for reading!!