Personal Curiosities (3rd Part)

1. I love biking, but I prefer rollerblading. Walking feels great as well. However, I do not like running.
2. One of my first videotapes was a compilation of the cartoons “Wile E. Coyote and The Road Runner.”
3. The Cure's "Lullaby" used to scare me when I was a child. I learned to love it as a teenager, though.
4. At age 12, I started playing guitar. 
5. In the 1990s, I used to play tennis with a Yonex racket. It was the same model used by Monica Seles and Anke Huber.
6. I took horseback riding lessons during the years 1994-1995.
7. I cannot choose between swimming in the sea and in a pool. I love them both equally. However, I do not trust doing it in rivers and lakes.
8. In 2007, I adopted a cat called Isis, which was rescued from the streets when she was less than one month old.
9. I am married to a U.S. citizen named Edgar Amaya. He co-wrote Stella Castelluci’s biography “Diving Deep for Sea Shells.”
10. Edgar and I will be moving to Chicago in 2016!

READ: Toni Goes Personal

Working Boy

Recently, I decided to take some time off Twitter and Instagram in order to concentrate on an important task: reading books I have had pending for some time.

Today I had a quick glance at those and I realized that a co-worker stopped following me on Twitter.

Some of you might be wondering: why am I telling you all this?

Some time ago, I caught that person passing my work as his own and not giving me any credit at all. I never had the chance of speaking to him, since we work in different locations for the same company. Nonetheless, I told my manager, but I never knew anything else about it. Sometimes my team and I would laugh about the matter; we even coined an expression with the employee's surname.

I guess I could have told him directly, but I didn't want to risk certain consequences. He belongs to a much higher area and I was afraid I could be sacked for it. Indeed, I have seen people get fired for being honest.

My dear Tairrie B says that honesty is the holiest disease. And I'm proud to affirm that now I'm blessed to be infected with it.

Trust

You know you cannot make anxiety disappear. You just learn to live with it and have it under control.

You know you are achieving it when:

• You accept it and welcome it into your life. Anxiety is normal. Admitting to it plays a big part in recovery.
• You learn to be comfortable in situations in which you are not in control. The more you demand yourself, the higher your anxiety levels will creep up.
• You are not looking to rely on alcohol/drugs/herbs/medicines/food/other stuff to calm down and worry less.
• You feel you can accomplish things and choose to have positive views on them. Otherwise, anxiety eventually makes the body shut down; that has a name: depression.

My goal is not to eliminate anxiety, but to have it under control so it does not run my life. Some of the strategies I use are: sleep enough, eat healthily, reduce caffeine, exercise and meditate.

Stella Castellucci

In the book "Diving Deep for Sea Shells," which was co-written with Edgar Amaya, Stella Castellucci tells the story of her remarkable life in music. 

Published for the first time a year ago through Balboa Press, the second edition –which includes a new cover photo by Phil Fewsmith,– has now come via LitFire.

Born in Los Angeles in 1930 to musician father Louis Castellucci, Stella would go on to continue and further his legacy. She joined Peggy Lee's touring jazz group in 1953. They would form a close friendship that would endure past Peggy's life. Stella witnessed and took part in a very creative time for Peggy Lee in the 1950s. They would closely collaborate on the 1958 Decca release Sea Shells. Stella would also appear on the following Peggy Lee albums:

• Songs in an Intimate Style (Decca, 1954)
• Black Coffee (Decca, 1956)
• Dream Street (Decca, 1957)
• The Man I Love (Capitol, 1957)
• Jump for Joy (Capitol, 1958)
• Pretty Eyes (Capitol, 1960)
• Christmas Carousel (Capitol, 1960)

Chelsea Wolfe

Chelsea Wolfe is an American singer-songwriter from Sacramento, California. Born November 14th, 1983, she started her career in 2006 and has just released her fifth album Abyss on August 7th, 2015.

Her unique style is a beautiful combination of folk, rock and electronic music bath in a gothic/doom atmosphere. Besides singing, Chelsea Wolfe also plays guitar and piano.

In 2006, after composing an album titled Mistake In Parting, she decided not to release it and took a break from writing music for several years. She started performing live in 2009. A year later, she published her first album: The Grime and the Glow.

Her second album, Apokalypsis (stylized as Ἀποκάλυψις), came out in 2011 and it gained her an underground following. She started touring extensively in North America and Europe, even though she initially suffered from extreme stage fright. In those days, she would cover her face with a veil.

These first two albums sound close to indie/alternative rock and feature prominent bass lines, dark tones, and gritty, electronically layered vocals. My favorite track, which happens to be in both albums –albeit in two different versions,– is "Demons."

In 2012, she released her third album Unknown Rooms: A Collection of Acoustic Songs. This one features a more folk-oriented sound, as opposed to her earlier work. Her voice sounds cleaner as well. It contains the song that is probably my favorite by her: "Flatlands."

More Personal Curiosities

1. In 1991, I got my first video game console: a Sega Game Gear. Indeed, I was a big Sonic the Hedgehog fan!
2. At that time, there was a TV show that had me hooked: "El Rescate Del Talismán." It was an adaptation from the British TV show "Knightmare." 
3. Also, back then, my favorite cartoons were "Star Street: The Adventures of the Star Kids."
4. I can type 300-400 words per minute.
5. I wear glasses to correct near-sightedness and astigmatism. I do not like contact lenses at all.
6. I am allergic to house dust mite.
7. In 1993, I watched and fell in love with Agnieszka Holland's "The Secret Garden."
8. Not long after, I watched my first not-for-kids movie: "The Piano."
9. At age 11, I created my first mixtape. 
10. I am 6 feet 2 inches tall.

READ: Personal Curiosities

Read this post in Catalan.

Star of David

Known in Hebrew as a Magen David (Shield of David), the six-pointed Star of David is composed of two triangles superimposed on each other, forming the shape of a hexagram. It is the symbol most commonly associated with Judaism today, even though it is actually a relatively new Jewish symbol.

READ: Menorah

It is supposed to represent the shape of King David's shield (or perhaps the emblem on it), but there is really no support for that claim in any early rabbinic literature. Indeed, some historians trace it to Jewish communities in the Middle Ages, but these claims are neither fully substantiated nor widely accepted.

In the 17th century, it became a popular practice to put the Star of David on the outside of synagogues, in order to identify them as Jewish houses of worship. Around this time, the star also became part of synagogue architecture in Europe, in the Middle East and North Africa.

After the Dreyfus Affair in the 19th century, the star was adopted by the Zionist movement at its 1897 Congress; this gave the symbol more international prominence. In the 20th century, the star became even more evocative of Judaism when it was used by the Nazis to mark Jews for persecution. And after the Holocaust, the same star became part of the flag of the nascent State of Israel.

Ireland

Fifteen years ago, I was living in Ireland. There, I was attending summer school in Cork. The time I spent there, I lived in a village named Carrigaline. I also had the chance to visit several lovely places such as Cobh, Killarney, Youghal, Bunratty, Kinsale, and Blarney.

The Republic of Ireland is a state that occupies five-sixths of the island of Ireland. The remaining area is a part of the United Kingdom, whose name is Northern Ireland. The island is located in north-western Europe in the North Atlantic. It is separated from the island of Great Britain by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and Saint George's Channel.

The island has an area of 32,595 square miles (84,421 square kilometers) and is mostly made of low-lying mountains surrounding a central plain. It has lush vegetation due to its oceanic climate, which means there is rain all year round. Temperatures are usually cool and without any extremes.

It is believed that the island was first inhabited after 8000 BCE (Before the Common -or Christian- Era). Ireland's essence as a Celtic nation started between the years 600 and 150 BCE. Its population began being Christianized from the 5th century onward. Until the Norman invasion in the 12th century, the island had been a patchwork of local tribal kingdoms.

Following that Norman conquest, England claimed sovereignty over the island, even though it was not incorporated until the 16th century. The Irish famine of the mid-19th century saw the population of the island drop by one third through starvation and emigration.

Ireland declared independence from the United Kingdom in 1919. The Irish Free State was created in 1922 and was officially declared a republic in 1949. It joined the United Nations in 1955 and the European Union in 1973.

As of 2015, its population is 4,892,305 inhabitants. In addition, there are 1,850,393 people living in Northern Ireland.

Katie Jane Garside

Katie Jane Garside is a British singer-songwriter and artist. She was born July 8th, 1968 and lived on a yacht around the world with her family until she was 17. She started her career in 1989 when she joined indie/punk band Daisy Chainsaw. She quit the band in 1993, one year after releasing the album Eleventeen. The band would continue with a new vocalist and publish a new album until they split in 1995.

After some years out of the public eye, she re-emerged in 1999. She formed a new rock/metal band, QueenAdreena, with which she toured and released several albums until their disbandment in 2010:

• Taxidermy (2000)
• Drink Me (2002)
• The Butcher and the Butterfly (2005)
• Djin (2008)

The Dirty Dozen

Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. Although the health risks of smoking are well documented, many myths about smoking are either encouraging people to start (or continue) smoking, or preventing them from quitting:

• People have free choice whether or not to smoke.

• Everyone knows how bad smoking is.

• Just a few cigarettes a day cannot hurt.

• "Light" cigarettes are less harmful.

• It is easy to stop smoking; if people want to quit, they will.

• Cessation medications do not work.

• Once a smoker, always a smoker.

• Smokers may die earlier, but all they lose are a couple of bad years at the end of life.

• Environmental tobacco smoke may be a nuisance, but it is not deadly.

• Tobacco is good for the economy.

• We have already solved the tobacco problem.

• The tobacco industry no longer markets to kids or undermines public health efforts.

You can read more about it here. 

Find Long-Term Solutions to Prevent Anxiety

This is the third chapter of a series named "Prevent Anxiety".

I recommend you to check the previous episodes in case you missed them:

• Preventing Anxiety
• Stop Anxious Thinking

In order to find long-term solutions to prevent anxiety, the following steps are recommended:

1. Learn to live in the present. Embracing every moment and opportunity that comes your way will help you stay grounded in the present. Stop worrying over something in the past or in the future that may cause you harm. Meditating for 10-20 minutes every day can help you focus on your body and your mind. Taking the time to appreciate the sights, smells, and feelings around you is also a way of living the present. Do not take a day of your life for granted: write down all the things you are thankful for and embrace them as much as much as you can.
2. Minimize situations that cause anxiety. Avoid as much as you can those situations that cause you anxiety or stress, and make your life easier and more manageable. For instance, if you are always anxious about getting to work late, leave the house fifteen minutes earlier. If you are anxious about how your best friend really feels about you, have an honest conversation with him/her. If going to places where you do not know many people makes you deeply anxious, avoid these situations unless you can find a way to manage them.
3. Spend time with calming friends. Seek out the people in your life who make you feel calmer, at ease, and at peace with yourself. Avoid the people who cause worry, make you more stressed, and make you feel like your problems are bigger than they really are. Spend as much time as you can with friends that make you feel grounded.
4. Keep a journal. This can help you trace your most anxiety-inducing thoughts and will make you see a pattern to your thinking. Writing a journal is inherently a calming activity, and making time do it every day (15 minutes is recommended) can help you wind down, make sense of your day, and get ready to move forward. 
5. Learn to accept uncertainty. A big part of anxiety stems from not knowing what is going to happen next. Unfortunately, there is no way you can predict the future. You have to learn to be okay with not knowing what is going to happen next, controlling only what you can control, and learning to take your life one day at a time.
6. See a doctor. If you feel that your daily life is filled with overwhelming worry and that nothing you have done has improved the situation, it may be time to see a doctor in order to check if an anxiety-related disorder is present and, therefore, prescribe the corresponding medications or alternative treatments to help you improve.
7. Seek therapy. Discussing your every day concerns as well as your larger worries with a professional can make you feel more at ease and less alone. It may also help you gain a new perspective on your worries, and can also make you more comfortable talking about them.

This article is based on this source.

Senyera

The flag of Catalonia, which is called Senyera, consists of four red bars on a golden background.

It is also the official flag of some autonomous communities of Spain: Aragon, Balearic Islands, and Valencia; and the historically Catalan-speaking city of Alghero in Sardinia, Italy.

In addition, it is part of the flags of two regions in France: Languedoc-Roussillon, and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur; and it is a quarter of the coat of arms of Andorra.

It is also the flag, or part of it, of many municipalities and divisions of the aforementioned territories. These, indeed, were part of the Crown of Aragon, which was ruled by the Count of Barcelona. Most of these lands speak Catalan. In fact, the flag is generally used to represent the Catalan language.

It is one of the oldest flags in Europe. It first appeared in the arms of the tomb of Ramon Berenguer II, Count of Barcelona, who died in 1082; and on a seal by Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona, in 1150.

Agave Americana

One of the plants that I believe is among the most beautiful is Agave americana, also known as century plant, maguey, or American aloe. It is a species of plant that is native to Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. In addition, it has become naturalized in the West Indies, parts of South America, the Mediterranean Basin,  and parts of Africa, India, China, Korea, Thailand, New Zealand, and Australia. The American aloe denomination is actually a misnomer since the plant is not related to the genus Aloe.

Agave americana usually lives between 10 and 30 years. Towards the end of its life, the plant grows up a tall, branched stalk, which may reach a total height up to 25-30 feet (8-9 meters). The upper part of the stalk contains yellow blossoms.

The plant dies after flowering, but it produces shoots from the base, which continue its growth.

If the flower stem is cut without flowering, a sweet liquid called aguamiel (Spanish for "honey water") gathers in the heart of the plant. This may be fermented to produce the drink called pulque. The leaves also yield fibers, which are suitable for making rope, matting, coarse cloth and are used for embroidery of leather in a technique known as piteado.

In the tequila-producing regions of Mexico, agaves are called mezcales. The high-alcohol product of agave distillation is called mezcal; Agave americana is one of several agaves used for distillation. There is a mezcal called tequila, which is produced from Agave tequilana.

Björk

Björk, whose real name is Björk Guðmundsdóttir, is a singer and musician. Born in November 21st, 1965, in Reykjavík, Iceland, she started her career in 1977 when she released her first album "Björk." It was available officially only on vinyl and cassette, and it featured mostly cover songs in Icelandic.

Later, she formed her first punk band, all-girl alliance Spit & Snot, where she played drums. She was also involved in projects such as Exodus and Jam 80, all of which without known record releases.

In 1981, she launched a band named Tappi Tíkarrass (Icelandic for "Cork the Bitch's Arse"). They released an album, "Miranda," which combined punk with elements of funk, disco, and jazz. By 1983, the band had morphed into darker act Kukl (Icelandic for "Witchcraft"), which released three albums before disbanding in 1986: "The Eye," "Kukl à Paris," and "Holidays in Europe."

Björk's next band was to be the biggest group ever to emerge from Iceland: The Sugarcubes. In 1987, they published "Life's Too Good," with which they received critical acclaim. Two years later, "Here Today, Tomorrow, Next Week" was released, but it did not fare as well. Their final release before disbanding in 1992 was "Stick Around for Joy." Afterward, Björk moved to the United Kingdom to start a solo career. Previously, in 1990, she had recorded "Gling-Gló," a collection of popular jazz and original work, with the jazz group Tríó Guðmundar Ingólfssonar.

Romantic Calmness

Romantic love is often associated with tempestuous excitement. In fact, love can be like that; but in our current accelerated society, calmness is the new romantic excitement.

Emotions are often compared to storms and fire. They are perceived to be unstable and intense states that represent tempestuous excitement and agitation. A typical characteristic of emotions is their tendency to magnify. This characterization also prevails in descriptions of romantic love. We usually think that ideal love consists of constant excitement and uncompromising emotions.

The above characterizations are essentially true concerning tempestuous emotions. These are intense, focused emotions, which last for a brief period, as emotions are typically temporary states. But there also enduring emotions, which shape our attitudes and behavior in a permanent way, that can continue for a lifetime.

Not all tempestuous emotions can turn into enduring emotions, but romantic love can. Therefore, we can distinguish between romantic intensity and profundity.
Romantic intensity is a snapshot of a romantic experience at a given moment: it refers to the momentary level of passionate, often sexual, desire. It is brief and has no significant development.
Romantic profundity is an ongoing romantic experience that features frequent intensity and enduring romantic experiences that develop and enhance the flourishing of each lover and their relationship. Such love is evaluated mainly by the implementation of meaningful interactions, which involve joint activities and shared emotional experiences.
Time is positive and constitutive for romantic profundity, and destructive for romantic intensity.

Fractal Counter-Enlightenment

I wrote this on my blog not long ago:

... Since I am a person who is in a constant search of self-improvement, I find very useful to read the following Twitter accounts, which deal with mindfulness, breathing, meditation, personal development, and positive thinking: Louise Hay, Simon Boylan, Judith Orloff, Eric Barker, Learning Mind, and Fractal Enlightenment...

READ: Birthday

Fractal Enlightenment is a community that seeks to achieve a unique and thought-provoking perspective to alter our programmed thinking. 

I used to read at least one of their articles almost daily. I had found a lot of knowledge, advice and comfort in them. I had recommended them and shared their work countless times. They had been a great source of inspiration and personal growth.

However, that changed three days ago when they published this.

What do you think? Is it a good choice that Fractal Enlightenment quotes Adolf Hitler?

Since I have had no response from them yet, I think it is time I wrote my opinion.

Love Penalty

Sentenced to death

I can’t escape

What can I do?

It tears me in two!

Flowers passing out in a jar pot

Feelings of a missing touch that I once had

Evaporating was my sugar

Full of anger and revenge

Don’t forget it...

In a blood pool, I drain you out

While I hold you from the chin

I stick my rotten teeth in your neck

And taste the sweetness of the silk

I feel you fading into my space

But I won't share my suffering

Though I wish I had a partner

In crime we are all enemies

You believed in me

I believed in you, I believed in you, I believed in you...

But I have betrayed you

Now I rest in peace, now I rest in peace, now I rest in peace...

And now...

I am paying for my sins

Love, love penalty...

I don’t want to hurt again

But if I don’t, I will be dead

What’s the sense of my existence?

Living like this ain’t nothing but resistance

What for...

In a blood pool I drain you out

While I hold you from the chin

I stick my rotten teeth in your neck

And taste the sweetness of the silk

I feel you fading into my space

But I won't share my suffering

Though I wish I had a partner

In crime we are all enemies

I wrote this one for Go Ape in 2008.

Menorah

Everyone knows that the main symbol of Judaism is the Star of David. However, this only became a Jewish symbol in the Middle Ages. Despite its prominence on the flag of Israel and kiddush cups, it is a rather late representative of the Jewish People. However, for most of the history, the Menorah was the preeminent symbol of Judaism. Currently, it is featured on the coat of arms of Israel.

The Menorah is a seven-branched candlestick that was found first in the Tabernacle of Moses, and later in the Temple of King Solomon in Jerusalem. It is mentioned for the first time in Exodus 25:31-40:

Make a lampstand of pure gold. Hammer out its base and shaft, and make its flowerlike cups, buds and blossoms of one piece with them. Six branches are to extend from the sides of the lampstand—three on one side and three on the other. Three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms are to be on one branch, three on the next branch, and the same for all six branches extending from the lampstand. And on the lampstand are to be four cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms. One bud shall be under the first pair of branches extending from the lampstand, a second bud under the second pair, and a third bud under the third pair—six branches in all. The buds and branches shall be all of one piece with the lampstand, hammered out of pure gold.

Then make its seven lamps and set them up on it so that they light the space in front of it. Its wick trimmers and trays are to be of pure gold. A talent of pure gold is to be used for the lampstand and all these accessories. See that you make them according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.

Fish Are Not Plants

On my post "Vegetarian," I spoke about the existence of certain people calling themselves vegetarians: they eat a plant-based diet, but they include fish on it. These people are known as pescetarians. Thus, I thought I was going to be one, but that changed when I learned that fish are actually not needed as food.

First of all, a vegetarian is a person who does not eat animals. As far as I am concerned, fish have always been cold-blooded water-dwelling animals. Indeed, since they have a nervous system and pain receptors, fish feel pain and suffer like all other animals.

E-Cigarettes

On my post "Ex-Smoker," I wrote that I quit cold turkey, even though I support any approved method to assist smoking cessation.

Although it is being constantly marketed as an aid to quit smoking, one that has not been approved as such is the electronic cigarette, also known as e-cigarette.

This device is a battery-powered vaporizer that simulates the feeling of smoking. Some e-cigarettes look like traditional cigarettes, but others do not. All of them have a heating element that atomizes a liquid solution named e-liquid. This solution usually contains varying amounts of nicotine (some allegedly do not) and a syrupy synthetic liquid called propylene glycol, a chemical that has been shown to be generally safe to consumers except at very high levels. The user inhales an aerosol, commonly called vapor, made by heating the e-liquid, which can be flavored in thousands of ways.

Hence, there is the term "vaping," which is the action of inhaling that vapor; it is correlated with smoking as the action of inhaling tobacco smoke.

The benefits and health risks of e-cigarettes are still uncertain, especially regarding the long-term and second-hand exposure. Though they come without the carcinogenic tar and combusting products of traditional cigarettes, we know well that those e-cigarettes containing nicotine are including a highly addictive substance, which constricts blood vessels, increases blood pressure, and restricts blood flow to the heart. In addition, nicotine may cause airway problems and has been linked to disturbed sleep rhythms, depression, diabetes, and even some cancers. It can also provoke dizziness and irritability.

Furthermore, the FDA regularly receives reports of adverse events involving e-cigarettes from consumers and health professionals. These events include hospitalization for illnesses such as pneumonia, congestive heart failure, disorientation, seizure, hypotension, and other health problems.

Personal Curiosities

According to the Hebrew calendar, today is 23rd Tammuz, 5775. Since I was born on 23rd Tammuz, 5743, I am giving you another personal post in which I show you 10 things you may not know about me:

1. My mother tongue is Spanish, even though I live mainly in English and Catalan.
2. I have a cat named Buster that previously belonged to Lydia Lunch.
3. I got my driver license in 2001 and still have no car.
4. I used to play tennis in the mid-to-late 1990s. Indeed, I played four under-16 tournaments, won three and finished runner-up at the one I did not win.
5. When I was a kid, I was afraid of swimming. Today, it is one of my favorite activities.
6. I won a poetry contest when I was 17 writing in Galician.
7. I have been rollerblading since I was 6.
8. One of the first books I read as a kid was "The Neverending Story" by Michael Ende.
9. I modeled for a department store chain from ages 11 to 12.
10. So far, I have been to these countries: Portugal, Spain, Andorra, France, Italy, Vatican City, Germany, Ireland, United Kingdom and the United States of America. Yes, I love traveling!

READ: Birthday

Read this post in Catalan.

Pro-Choice

Manhole was a rap metal band from California, United States, that was formed in 1993. However, due to legal reasons, they had to change their name after releasing their first album "All Is Not Well" in 1996. Thus, the band was renamed after cult actress Tura Satana. They released their second album "Relief Through Release" in 1997 and split two years later.

 

The band leader was vocalist and lyricist Tairrie B. In 1990, she released a gangsta rap album, "The Power Of A Woman," featuring artists like Eazy-E, Everlast, Dr. Dre, and The D.O.C.

After Manhole/Tura Satana, she formed metal band My Ruin, which is still active today. She has also The LVRS, a spoken word project with My Ruin guitarist and husband Mick Murphy.

I love her work. Indeed, I realize while I am writing this that I had already included one of her early songs on another post.

READ: Respect Yourself

Interestingly, Tairrie B will release her first hip-hop album in 25 years on August 14th, 2015. Of course, a post will be dedicated for the occasion.

Stop Anxious Thinking

One of the best ways to prevent anxiety is to avoid anxious thinking.

The first step is to learn to recognize your anxious thoughts, so you can stop them as soon as possible. Once your heart rate is racing, you start pacing around or tapping your foot, and your thoughts turn to potential disasters, uncertain outcomes, and obsessions over the worst things that can happen. Then, you are in full-on anxiety mode and you need to cut off the problem at the source as soon as possible.

In order to prevent that, you have to develop a routine that helps you fight these thoughts before they are fully formed.

READ: Preventing Anxiety

The second step is to avoid "all or nothing" thinking. This type of thinking happens when you tell yourself that if something does not go perfectly, then you are a complete failure and nothing will ever go right again.

To avoid this kind of thinking, just consider the many possible scenarios that can happen.

The third step is to avoid overgeneralization. Overgeneralizing happens when you draw from one negative experience and think that it has to dictate the rest of your life. Instead, you have to remind yourself that you are drawing from a small set of data and that one bad date or one bad experience will have little impact on your entire life.

In fact, you have to tell yourself that you will have plenty of opportunities for something in your life in the future.

United States

The United States of America (USA), commonly referred to as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country whose goverment form is a federal presidential constitutional republic. It consists of 50 states and a federal district:

Most of the U.S. is located between Canada and Mexico, except the states of Alaska and Hawaii.

It also includes several overseas territories in the Caribbean (Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands) and in the Pacific (American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands).

According to The World Factbook, the United States of America covers an area of 3,794,100 square miles (9,826,675 square kilometers) and has a population of 318,892,103 inhabitants as of 2014. The capital city is Washington D.C. and the largest city is New York City.

The U.S. is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, since the country is the result of large-scale immigration from many peoples: Africans, Germans, Mexicans, Irish, British, Americans, Italians, Poles, Scandinavians, French...

The country became independent from Great Britain in 1776. During the 19th and 20th centuries, 37 new states were added to the original 13. Two of the events that have marked the nation's history were the Civil War (1861-1865) and the Great Depresion of the 1930's. Buoyed by victories in World Wars I and II and the end of the Cold War in 1991, the U.S. remains the world's most powerful nation in the world.

Great-Circle Distance

One of the things that we learn at school when we study geometry is that the shortest distance between two points is always a straight line. That is true in plane geometry. But if we are talking about a sphere, that statement is not correct.

The first time I went to the United States, my curiosity led me to search for maps showing the routes that airplanes follow and the surprise was huge: airplanes do not follow straight lines!

I could not understand the reason why airlines would want to make flights longer and spend more on fuel.

Thus, I learned that representing the Earth on plain surfaces as maps entails some distortions. For instance, the Mercator projection, used by Google Maps, shows us Greenland being almost as big as Africa when in reality the latter is like 14 times bigger than the former. Likewise, in this type of projection, Alaska and Brazil seem to have a similar size, even though Brazil is five times bigger than Alaska.

Therefore, thinking automatically of a straight line that unites two airports is actually a mistake. Indeed, the shortest line on a sphere will always be the one that draws the greatest circle between two points. That circle is also known as an orthodromic line. Nonetheless, it is not always possible for airplanes to follow this pattern since there are zones that are restricted to civilian air traffic. Meteorological conditions or volcanic activity may also affect an air route.

The main source for this article is here.

Read this post in Catalan.

Vertigo

Alan Wilder, formerly of Depeche Mode, one of my favorite bands, started a band named Recoil in 1986.

In 2000, Recoil released "Liquid", an experimental electronica album that features a song titled "Vertigen" ("Vertigo" in Catalan). The song was written and narrated by Rosa Torras. It features some chanting by my beloved Diamanda Galas.

These are the original lyrics:

Aquell matí em vaig llevar. No recordo on ni tan sols el temps que fa. I tot havia canviat. Però jo no ho sabia encara. I més m'hagués valgut no saber-ho mai. El meu món era petit, però suficient, abans. Deixà de ser-ho. La meva vida: un cel particular, nul·la incertesa, dolça soledat.

Més tard: cau soterrat, previsibilitat maleïda, asfixiant aïllament. Mai res m'havia fet tanta falta. Ni la sang que per les venes em corre no necessitava amb la mateixa urgència. Mentre el dolor creixia, de sobte, aquell soroll estrepitós, insuportable. Cridant, plorant, vaig córrer.

Era incapaç de sentir els meus crits, de segur esgarrifosos. De sobte, l'abisme s'obrí sota els meus peus. Morir volia, recuperar el meu cau, la meva estimada soledat, els meus llimbs, la meva preuada illa. I vaig caure. Queia, sentint-me cada vegada més prop d'aquell horror, del meu propi dolor, del més terrorífic despertar dels meus sentits, tot just acabat de descobrir.

Ja no recordo quan va ser que vaig despertar aquell fatídic matí, aleshores salvador. No recordo quan fa que estic caient, que caic, veient la fi més propera cada vegada, però amb la incertesa de si mai arribarà. Ara el dolor sembla no tenir límits. El dolor i la por són tot el que sento. Tinc por de caure per sempre.

And this is my translation to English:

I woke up that morning. I don't remember where, nor how long ago. And everything had changed. But I didn't know it yet. And I wish I never knew. Before, my world was small, but enough. That ceased. My life: a private heaven, no uncertainty, sweet solitude.

Later: a buried shelter, cursed sureness, suffocating isolation. Nothing had ever felt so needful. Not even the blood that runs through my veins, I didn't need it so urgently. While the pain was growing, suddenly, that thunderous noise, unbearable. Shouting, crying, I ran.

I was incapable of feeling my own screaming, creepy for sure. Suddenly, the abyss broke under my feet. I wanted to die, get my shelter back, my beloved solitude, my limbo, my appraised island. And I fell. I was falling, feeling closer and closer to that horror, to my own pain, to the most terrifying awakening of my senses, that I had just discovered.

I don't remember anymore when I woke up that fateful morning, salvation back then. I don't remember when I started falling, for how long I'm falling, while I see the end closer and closer, but not knowing for sure if it will ever come. Now pain seems to have no limits. Pain and fear are all I feel. I am afraid to be falling forever.

You can listen to it here.

Read this post in Catalan.

Birthday

Since today is my birthday, I am going to introduce myself and talk a little about me.

My name is Antoni Maroto (Toni) and I was born on July 2nd, 1983. I live in the metropolitan area of Barcelona, Catalonia – still a stateless nation.

Languages, music, reading, and writing are among my biggest passions in life. I am very grateful for being able to communicate, create and learn.

I live in three languages: English, Catalan, and Spanish. In addition, I have diverse levels of knowledge of French, German, Galician, Russian and Hebrew. This love for languages led me to complete a licentiate degree in Translation and Interpretation.

I consider myself an avid, creative and dynamic translator. I would love to get a full-time position as a digital & social media agent in the areas of content, communication and/or customer experience.

Currently, I have been working as a home banking agent for the past six years. There, I cover several channels on a 24/7 service: telephone, email, chat, and social networks. Indeed, social networks and digital media have been the areas in which I have excelled at.

I believe that my best quality is that I am highly decisive. I also execute my tasks quickly and handle them with great quality.

LGBT & Judaism

Within Judaism, there are many shades of LGBT acceptance:

The Reconstructionist Movement was the first movement to publicly address the issue on homosexuality and same-sex marriage in their 1988 report. The Reconstructionist Rabbinical College was the first Jewish seminary to accept openly gay and lesbian students.

LGBT Jews and their families are fully included in Jewish communal life. Reconstructionist rabbis are free to perform same-sex marriage ceremonies.

The Reform Movement has a long and proud history of working for full inclusion of LGBT people in Jewish life and for their full civil rights. In fact, in 1965, the Women of Reform Judaism were calling for the decriminalization of homosexuality. Resolutions by the Union for Reform Judaism and the Central Conference of American Rabbis followed.

LGBT Jews and their families are welcome in all Reform temples. LGBT Jews may be ordained as rabbis. Most Reform rabbis officiate at same-sex ceremonies.

The Conservative Movement used to hold the same position as Orthodox Judaism. However, since the 2000's, they have issued several resolutions in which they affirm that LGBT Jews are an integral part of the movement's families, synagogues and communities. Currently, Conservative Judaism endorses full and equal civil rights for LGBT people.

LGBT rabbis can serve openly since 2006. In the 2010's, the American and British branches of Conservative Judaism formally approved same-sex marriage ceremonies. Nonetheless, the Conservative communities may choose not to conduct same-sex ceremonies.

The Orthodox Movement has a variety of views regarding LGBT people. Its traditional position on homosexuality is well known: two verses in Leviticus (18:22 and 20:13) express unequivocal condemnation of male homosexual sex. The Talmud also disapproves of lesbianism: Shabbat 65a/b and Yevamot 76a.

Orthodox Judaism mostly affirms that Judaism legislates only acts, not orientations. Therefore, homosexual people should not be cast out from the community, even though openly LGBT rabbis are not ordained. It is the homosexual activity that is condemned. Orthodox Judaism opposes marriage equality and will not officiate at a same-sex wedding or affirm same-sex relationships. Even worse, some will even reject LGBT members and/or endorse discredited "reparative therapy."

LGBT Rights

The Stonewall riots were a series of demonstrations by members of the LGBT community against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28th, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn. This tavern, which was frequented by gay men, was located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. The riots continued until July 3rd, 1969.

These events marked the first time that gays and lesbians as a group forcefully and vocally asserted their rights to equality under the law. Until then, LGBT people had mostly been harassed, penalized and discriminated against. Therefore, the Stonewall riots are considered as the single most important event that led to the modern movements for LGBT civil rights, which in many countries −mostly in Europe and America− have already achieved equality on topics like marriage and unions, adoption, military service, and anti-discrimination based on sexual orientation.

This historical rebellion is commemorated annually during the month of June in thousands of parades and festivals around the world collectively known as LGBT Pride, which is a positive stance against discrimination, shame, social stigma and violence against LGBT people. Those negative attitudes are still faced by some people, especially in countries in Africa and Asia, ranging from restricted freedom of expression through penalties, including imprisonment and death.

While I was writing this article, on June 26th, 2015, same-sex marriage was effectively legalized in the United States following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell v. Hodges. Prior to this, there were already 38 states in which same-sex marriage was legal at least to some degree. In this way, the United States joins a list of countries in which same-sex marriage is performed. 

Although not performed, Israel, Malta, and Mexico recognize same-sex marriages performed abroad. Indeed, some Mexican states −Campeche*, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Guerrero*, Jalisco*, Nayarit*, Quintana Roo, and Mexico City− have already legalized same-sex marriages and it looks like the country might be the next to join the list. In the United Kingdom, though, Northern Ireland treats same-sex marriages as civil partnerships so far.

UPDATE (06/08/2016):

I have to add Colombia and Greenland to the list of countries in which same-sex marriages are legal. Keep them coming!!! =)

*added after the article was published

Ex-Smoker

Recently, I have been interviewed by Tabex about my experience as an ex-smoker.

Even though I quit cold turkey, I support any method that has been approved to assist people to give up smoking.

READ: Smoke Free For One Year

I am very grateful for this chance and I hope my example encourages others to stop smoking:

Why did you start smoking?

I started smoking because I thought it was cool. It made me feel less insecure as a person. It felt like it was the perfect accessory when I had to socialize.

For how long did you smoke before you quit?

I was a smoker for 10 years before I quit. I started at 20 and quit at 30.

How many times did you try to quit?

I lost count of all the times I tried to quit. I do recall two failed attempts that lasted approximately 6 months each.

What made you start smoking again?

In those two aforementioned failed attempts, I went back to smoking while drinking at parties and believing that just one cigarette would not matter. But, of course, it did.

How did you manage to quit eventually?

I quit cold turkey. Previously, I had been smoking less and less and reading about quitting and staying quit. That lasted some months until I had the last one at 7pm, April 25, 2014.

What did the process of quitting look like?

The first month, I felt I was nervous all the time and I could not concentrate on anything at all. I had some wild mood changes as well. But the benefits of quitting started as soon as 3 days after I put off my last cigarette.

What were the things that challenged you, while quitting?

The first thing I thought was that I would need to learn how to live again without tobacco since it had been attached to many situations for 10 years. I was afraid of not being able to handle it.

In what way did your life change after quitting?

I started to feel more alive and less stressed. My body started to ask for physical exercise. My self-esteem improved greatly. I started to enjoy a more satisfactory sexual life. I felt cleaner and healthier. My closest ones were really grateful I stopped damaging my health.

Were there any side effects caused by this process?

I would say there were barely any side effects. We all know food smells and taste better when you quit smoking, so… yes, my appetite increased. That made me gain some weight, but not much: 4 kilograms.

Who supported you in the process? What helped you?

My partner was the greatest support I had when I decided to quit. Family and friends were very supportive as well. Indeed, some time later, some of my friends decided to quit smoking too. Reading and discussing it was really helpful.

A lot of people don’t take that in mind, but how hard is it to quit smoking and what was the emotional cost you had to pay while doing it?

When you quit smoking, you have to think that you are making one of the best decisions in your life. Fear of failing and/or not being able to handle it can be very powerful; but if you believe in yourself, you will succeed. After all, why would it be bad for you to quit?

What would you advise people who would want to quit smoking?

My advice for someone who wants to quit smoking is to search for information on how to do it and, then, do it. It is important to know that any moment is fine to start. You do not have to choose a special day or wait until life feels better. There is no perfect moment; and people who have just quit and feel they had to choose a better moment, there is no such moment. Unless you decide to create it yourself: don’t wait to be happy, be happy from right now.

Looking back, what were the biggest harms the smoking did to you and your family?

The biggest harm was that tobacco had started to accelerate my aging: worse teeth than average, more gray hair, more wrinkles, and less energy. I could not handle physical exercise as much as I can do now. Plus that fear that sometimes would pop up and say when I lit a cigarette: will this one start the process of a fatal disease? That type of thinking is not healthy either.

What makes you happy?

Being alive makes me happy. I love life and I want to live a long healthy one.

June Solstice

Today, it takes place the June Solstice, which is the Summer Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, and in the Southern Hemisphere is the Winter Solstice.

A solstice (from Latin solstitium, meaning "sun-stopping") happens when the sun's zenith is at its furthest point from the equator.

On the June solstice, the sun reaches its northernmost point at about 23.5ºN. In addition, the Earth’s North Pole tilts directly towards the sun. It is also known as the northern solstice because it occurs when the sun is directly over the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere.

On this day, the midnight sun is visible throughout the night, in all areas from just south of the Arctic Circle to the North Pole. Meanwhile, on the other side of the planet, south of the Antarctic Circle there is the polar night: no sunlight at all, on the June Solstice.

Here (Barcelona, Catalonia), the sun is rising at 6:18 am and setting at 9:28 pm, thus making the duration of the day 15 hours and 10 minutes. It is, indeed, the longest day of the year.

However, the earliest sunrise already took place at 6:17 am on June 12th-18th, while the latest sunset will take place at 9:29 pm on June 23rd-July 1st.

What is the reason for this?

Chicago

Part of my family lives in Chicago*.

The city has almost 3 million inhabitants. It is, therefore, the third most populous city in the United States of America, after New York City and Los Angeles. It is the most populous city, as well, in the state of Illinois and the Midwest.

Chicago was incorporated as a city in 1837. Today, it is an international hub for finance, commerce, industry, technology, telecommunications, and transportation; O'Hare International Airport is, indeed, one of the busiest airports in the world.

The city is known for the invention or perfection of several performing arts: improvisational comedy, house music, blues, jazz, and soul. My favorite ever music band, in fact, happens to be from Chicago: The Smashing Pumpkins. Other bands I like that are from the city are Veruca Salt and My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult.

Chicago has many nicknames, but the best-known are the "Windy City" and the "Second City."

The origin of the city's name is derived from a French rendering of the Native American word shikaakwa, which can be translated as "wild leek," or "wild onion," or "wild garlic." The first known reference to the site of the current city of Chicago as "Checagou" was by Robert de LaSalle around 1679 in a memoir.

The 1780s saw the arrival of the first known non-indigenous permanent settler in Chicago, Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, who was of African and French descent. He is commonly known as the "Founder of Chicago."
If you want to find about more about the history of the city, you need to visit the Chicago History Museum.

Chicago is located in northeastern Illinois on the southwestern shores of Lake Michigan. Chicago lies on a continental divide, connecting the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes watersheds. The average land elevation is 579 ft. (176 m) above sea level.

Tori Amos

As I previously wrote, I am dedicating an entry to each artist I saw live at Primavera Sound 2015.

After writing about Einstürzende Neubauten and Babes in Toyland, today it is about Tori Amos.

I cannot remember exactly, but it was in the mid-to-late 1990s when I listened to "Crucify" for the first time. It had been included in a cassette tape that a pen pal from Germany had recorded for me with her favorite music. It became a favorite instantly and it led me to dig into her work through the next years.

Tori Amos is an American singer-songwriter, pianist and composer of Eastern Cherokee ancestry. She was born Myra Ellen Amos on August 22nd, 1963 in Newton, North Carolina.

At age 5, she won a full scholarship to the Peabody Conservatory (Baltimore, Maryland). She was the youngest person ever to have been admitted. She was expelled at age 11 for insisting on playing by ear and because of her interest in rock and popular music. At age 13 and chaperoned by her father, she began playing at gay bars and piano bars.

She co-wrote a song called "Baltimore" with her brother Mike Amos for a competition involving the Baltimore Orioles. The song won the contest and became her first single, released as a 7" single that was pressed locally in 1980. It included another Amos-penned composition as a B-side: "Walking with You."

At age 21, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue her music career after several years performing on the piano bar circuit of the DC area. In 1986, she formed a band: Y Kant Tori Read. The name made reference to her aforementioned days at the Peabody, where she was never successful at reading sheet music. In 1988, their self-titled debut album was released through Atlantic Records, but it was a failure and the group subsequently disbanded. Two singles were released and one, "The Big Picture," had a music video:

Love in the Distance

Absence is to love as wind is to fire; it extinguishes the small and kindles the great. ~ Roger de Bussy-Rabutin

And ever has it been known that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation. ~ Khalil Gibran

It’s not the distance that’s the enemy, but the endless time I have to wait until I hold you in my arms. ~ Besski Livius

Psychomoon

Mirrored on my window was

Sweet honey psychomoon

Under the pink light

Grew amongst flakes of paper

In her lonely planet

White she lives alone

Blue moods reflect on psychomoon

Light a scar on my heart

Playing the game of queens

Go, go, go, go, go, go, go

Where are the keys?

Where is the dream?

He is long gone

Late is burning smiling

There is never night

Psychomoon is the sun

He gives life to us

If you get closer

You'll be burned and die

Candypoison

Don't find the bones

Psychomoon is sweet

Tori Amos is bitter

Under the pink light

Mirrored on my window was

Never saw the flakes of paper

In her lonely planet

White she doesn't live alone

He looks after her

A cycle that never ends

Where are we going?

To the other side?

Someone is calling

But I don't

Care, care, care, care, care, care, care

Psychomoon sleep between my arms

He slept with the devil

When he loved god

He broke his feelings

To serve you whole

You have hurt him that

He is in the hole

Can't he go out?

He's strong enough

Psychomoon keeps a secret

The queen kissed his scar

I know it

I was lost in my world

The ray came to my window

I had to go on

With psychomoon in my pocket

In my ears and my eyes

Yes, little you

You, you, you, you, you, you, you

I wrote this in August 2003.

Babes in Toyland

As I previously wrote, I am dedicating an entry to each artist I saw live at Primavera Sound 2015.

After writing about Einstürzende Neubauten, today I am introducing you to Babes in Toyland.

This all-female American punk rock band formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1987. The current line-up features original members:

• Kat Bjelland (lead vocals and guitar)
• Lori Barbero (drums)
• And Maureen Hermann (bass), who in 1992 replaced Michelle Leon.

They have released so far three studio albums:

• Spanking Machine (1990)
• Fontanelle (1992)
• Nemesisters (1995)

They disbanded in 2001 but reunited again in 2014. From then on, the band started to write new material and perform live.

I have been a fan of Babes in Toyland since I was a teenager. I was very happy when I learned they had got together and that they were coming to play live in Barcelona (Catalonia) on May 30th, 2015.

Though the gig had some sound issues due to Kat's guitar strings breaking, the band rocked and managed really well to bring back that raw energy from early 90's rock music. The set-list was amazing as well, featuring a great selection of songs.

Concluding on another note, the band members have stated clearly and several times already that Courtney Love was never a member of Babes in Toyland. In reality, Love had often "hung around" the band's practice space until she was asked to leave. The band was never part of the Riot Grrrl movement either since it was based in the Pacific Northwest.