Praise for Jim and Cindy Walsh

When I was 10, my mom wouldn't let me watch Beverly Hills 90210. She said it was for grown ups. I used to hide and watch it but didn't really understand anything. When I was around 18, I started watching re-runs and loved it. It was so ridiculous I couldn't stop watching. My only regret is that I have never watched the last episode.

The first theme song that was later changed.

In the beginning I didn't really like Brandon and Brenda's parents, Jim and Cindy. I still think they are annoying and stupid. But watching some episodes I now realize why I can't really hate them. They are a lot like my own parents.

Jim and Cindy Walsh being annoying in the 90s.

My parents are dorky too. My father listens to Neil Diamond and dances horribly. My mom is boring in a different way, she pretends she knows the bands I like but messes the names when she tries to talk to me about them. My parents are dorky and boring. And I am very, very happy they are like that.

I can't stand the whole concept of "cool parents" or girls that claim "my mom is my best friend." Parents are not supposed to be your friends or be cool, much less go out with you and your friends. Maybe I would change some things my parents did when I was younger, but I would never want to have Kelly's junkie mom or David's cheater dentist father.

BFFs

I finally stopped watching The Hills. I couldn't do it anymore after Lauren left. I don't know what MTV was thinking bringing Kristin Cavallari to replace her. What I can't stop thinking about is the concept of "best friends" that this show tries to push. I've been thinking about this for a long time now. Ever since I move to the U.S. and started watching (even more) American TV. And to still be reading Pretty Little Liars is not helping either. Don't get me wrong, I love my friends... I just hate the concept.

Pretty Little Liars is a series of books about a BFF
so awful to her friends, she ends up dead.

In American pop culture everything is about being BFFs with someone so you talk to them about boys and clothes (nothing else). But for a long time now, whenever I try to think about who is my BFF, I can't. I believe in the concept of having (possibly many) good friends. And there are friends for different parts of one's life. Friends to party, friends for crying, friends for when you need to be told you're a b*tch.

In this group of friends I have one for (almost) every need.

My dad still can't understand why Facebook or Twitter are so important for keeping friends. But I like to keep contact with friends that I don't see often. Like my friend Luis. I met him when we spent a semester at a boarding school in the French Alps. He now lives in a beach in Mexico while I go to school in Savannah. We probably have seen each other less than 10 times since leaving France in December 2003, but I still consider him one of my good friends. He's my music-friend. And thanks to social media we're going to Austin City Limits in September. Just as if we saw each other every day. No need of calling each other BFFs. And with no drama worthy of a reality show.

Luis and me in London.

When you feel so tired you can't sleep...

I never before had trouble sleeping. I used to drink coffee at any time and still be in bed my famous 11 hours. My architect friends envied me so much I had to stop talking about how much I slept. Then, I moved to Savannah. First time living on my own... And everything changed. I felt the need for napping, but then I read this advice from Dr. Michael J. Breus: "Even though it may be tempting, try not to nap on Sundays (if you do make it for 25-30 minutes before 2:00 p.m.)".

From cartoonchurch.com

So I still feel lost and sleepy. And this are the reasons, I suspect, are keeping me awake:

• The Hills
• Finals (and my lack of interest in what I need to write about)
  
• Hot weather
• Mosquitos
• Money
• Using my computer in my bed
  
• Excess of iced coffee
  
• The excitement of going back home

I just don't understand why I'm falling asleep at 8 p.m., but as soon as I put my head on the pillow I can't sleep.

It's like crack...

I feel like I need to always have a TV addiction. But not a current show, I need something that I can watch on my computer episode after episode. This started when I moved to Savannah and didn't own a TV. One of my friends suggested I started watching How I Met Your Mother. When I was done I watched Dexter. And now I'm at my lowest point. I'm watching The Hills.


My friend Maya said Dexter is like crack and she's probably right (although I've never tried it). The Hills, however, is like a car accident. It's so awful you can't help but look. I started watching because I like Lauren Conrad and the idea of an internship at Teen Vogue. But now I have a fixation with Heidi Montag's changing face and the worst human being on earth: Spencer Pratt.

Why would anyone do this to themselves? (Photo courtesy of Red Lips and Academics.
The text from where I took the picture is also interesting.)

It's amazing how someone can have an addiction to plastic surgery. I don't really understand why people do this. And it's not only fame. Or Spencer.

So painful.

One of my friends in Mexico had one of the surgeries Heidi did. In a few words, her jaw was broken so she could have a slimmer chin. I think she looked fine the way she was before, but one never knows. I just hope she doesn't become an addict like Heidi. And most important, I hope she doesn't marry a clown like Spencer.

26!

In one month exactly, I will be 26. And I couldn't be more excited. Sure, it's closer to 30 than 25, but 25 was great so I can't wait to see what this new year has for me.

25 started crazy, with my birthday party ending in fights with boyfriends and friends. But I still had fun at said party. And all year after it. It's like when people say, "the worse the wedding, the better the marriage." Or something like that. I guess it's true because I traveled a lot and was really happy in general.

With my friends and my cousin on my 25th birthday party.

This year, however, I'm not having a big party. I just want to have a nice dinner with the people I'm closest too. And I'm giving myself the gift of going to New York. Same as I did when I turned 21. Or something like that. I'm also going to Austin City Limits in September and probably Orlando in November.

So I'm planning to enjoy 26 a lot, because next year I'll be graduating from my MFA at SCAD and I will finally have to be a grown up.

Wedding vs. MFA

A few weeks ago I wrote about my mother and how she is my favorite person in the world. It is still true. However, I think I owe everything I am to my dad.

My father was not around very much when I was small, we lived in Mexico City and he had a job as an executive at IBM Mexico. Then we moved, and suddenly I was a teenager. I look back and I hate my 13-year-old self. And now I understand why we had such a bad relationship. I was horrible to be around, yes. But what now I know and have come to accept is how similar my father and I are.

My parents and I last Christmas.

I always wanted to make him proud, but I didn't know if I was achieving that. Until last Christmas. My cousin got engaged and, obviously, she was the center of attention. Everyone was asking questions about the wedding, wanted to see her ring, asked about the date. My dad, however, was very mad that I was not being asked questions about my MFA. He thought it should be more important to people that I was actually doing something. I didn't care about people not asking. I was just very happy he felt that way.

Now I know why he pushed me so hard to have good grades and eventually get out of Mexico and do my masters degree. We still have our disagreements, but I'm really grateful to him and everything he's done for me.

The circus is in town!

Last week U2 gave three concerts in Mexico City. Personally, I hate U2, I think Bono is one of the most annoying persons in the world and I will never pay any money to see him, or someone who calls himself "The Edge," in concert.

Bono sharing champagne with his fans outside the
restaurant where he celebrated his birthday last week in
Mexico City (courtesy of News and Society).

But I guess I'm not a normal person because people filled the Azteca Stadium in every show. Some payed up to $400 dollars to be close to the band in their 360° stage. That is almost one month of my rent. And while I understand why a fan (like people who name their dog Bono) would pay that kind of money to see them, I am very disturbed by the people that went just because "it's U2 and everyone is going." Even the president talked to him. Seriously people, he's not Obama (who I think is a real rockstar)!

A picture of the stage taken by my cousin.

For me, this kind of behavior shows how people haven't evolved from those medieval towns where people would go to the carnival or circus because there was nothing else to do. Two weeks ago it was Lady Gaga. People who don't even know every song or even understand a band's philosophy are spending all their money in concerts.

I am someone that likes going to concerts and loves music, but I just don't understand it the whole circus thing. At least Bono is making more and more money so he can save the world.

I(heart)DF

As much as I’m looking forward to my trip to New York in August, I can´t wait to go home first. I want to spend time with my family but I also want to go to Mexico City as a non-touristy-tourist. I was born there and lived my first 11 years in the most populated city in the world. Then my parents and I moved to Queretaro, but I will always love D.F. (another way to called Mexico City, it’s something like D.C.).

Mexico City from a plane thanks to Austin Filbin

These are the reasons I can’t wait to go back to my birthplace:

1. Go on a girl's night with my best friends Ximena and Monica (in the picture), and my cousin Judy.
   
   
2. The new Soumaya Museum. Owned by the richest man in the world, Carlos Slim, it is supposed to be a first world facility with the world's largest collection of Rodin sculptures.
3. Hanging out at the bar in the Condesa DF hotel, probably my favorite bar in the world because of it's eclectic clientele and lovely roof top bar. I am still longing for the day I can actually stay in one of their gorgeous rooms.
4. Finally visiting MUAC, (Contemporary Art Universitary Museum).
   
   
   
   MUAC Museum.
   
   
5. Walk around la Condesa (Mexico's City coolest neighborhood) looking for a place to live when I move back.

I know many people think Mexico is a super dangerous country, and it can be, but Mexico City is also one of the coolest cities in the world. If you know where to go.