Moving out!

We (meaning: you and I) are moving out!

As from today, you can visit us on whataboutmarina.tumblr.com.

I will not delete this page - I will eventually use some of it's content, which is part of our history together -, so be free to come by every now and then. Just let yourself in, 'cause I won't be answering the doorbell.

Thank you and I'll see you on the other side.

(dramatic exit)

Here I am

Hey! So, I know I haven't been around for a while but, honestly, I haven't been in the mood to spread positive energies. I'm home again so I might be posting more frequently, now.

I have to confess I've been finding it hard to maintain this blog, because I lack motivation. I mean, I don't usually get any comments or feedback so it's hard to keep going, when I have no idea if anyone is reading, at all. Anyway, it's not your fault, I too read a lot of content online and watch YouTubers and all and I barely comment on anything, so, it's ok, we're ok (virtual hug).

Anyway, I wanted to tell you some news about my life. Today is my first day unemployed - yes, again. I plan to join the Amnesty International here, in my country, in February. They have this Face to Face project that will be on until June, so...there's that.

I also cut my hair short. Like you saw in this entry, I have been a little bit lost in what comes to my hair so I've decided to let it go (let it goooooo). My curls are definitely back and I'm loving this feeling of freedom - and I kind of feel a little bit more rebel with my hair short. My boyfriend was shocked, though.

Also, I'm thinking about getting my nose pierced, what do you think about that? Do you have any piercings? Comment below and let me know - really, do comment, don't be shy or it's like I'm talking to myself.

My puppy is really big, he's 7 months now. I think that's about it.

I hope you're still around. See you later, alligator!

The perks of rainy days

Well, hello you!

Let's talk about weather, shall we? I don't know about you but I've been experiencing some rainy days and, you know what? I LOVE it. Don't you? Well, let's think about it for a couple of minutes.

The perks of rainy days:

1. Falling asleep listening to the rain outside;
2. Staying home, watching movies or your favorite TV shows, not having to feel guilty about being in your pajamas all day - and, yes, I'm assuming you're in your day off, obviously;
3. Drinking hot tea;
4. Drinking hot chocolate;
5. Cuddling on the sofa;
6. The sound of rain is actually quite relaxing;
7. Thunder - it is awesome;
8. The smell of the wet soil;
9. Walking on puddles;
10. Umbrellas.

And, well, try to forget the annoying part of it and look around you! Water falling from the sky??? Come on! It's beautiful.

I'm serious, we need to start appreciating the amazing things we have in this planet of ours. It IS fascinating.

So, next time you hear the weather man talking about "cloudy with a chance of rain", give yourself a second to see the perks of it and start enjoying your day.

See you later, alligator!

(Also, I took that picture.)

Now on Pinterest!

Starting today, we are on Pinterest. Check it out!

Thank you! Good night! Sleep tight and love your pillow!

Curly curls

Hello everyone! Here I am, when I should really be sleeping 'cause I have to go to work tomorrow. Hurray, me. There were no buses today - some kind of meeting, or strike or whatever and they didn't even warn anyone about it! -, in the morning and I had to get my puppy to the vet somewhere in the afternoon, so I traded my day off and this is how you lose your Saturday! ;)

Anyway...what the hell am I doing? Let's talk about curls! Yes, CURLY HAIR. A blessing and, somehow, a curse.

My hair is naturally curly. It always has been and it always will be - hopefully. BUT for the last couple of years I've been doing it some - gosh, this is hard...I have just the right word in my main language but in English I just can't seem to find one - bad...things - sorry LOL. I did a permanent hair straightening, I painted it black - partially -, and then blue...and then some kind of brown/red and then dark brown - trying to save the mess my hair became after the "blue" experiment (read about the whole experience, here). Not completely satisfied, I did yet ANOTHER straightening, which didn't work. 

And this brings us where I am TODAY. My hair is a disaster. Completely messed up. I lost my curls AND my hair is definitely NOT straight. It's just...stupid, you know? I kinda miss my curls, although I do think they don't actually "fit" the shape of my face and, basically, I don't know what to do. I hate the idea of having my hair short but, this way...it makes me wanna go medieval on it!  

I really like my curls, I really do, but - and you WILL understand this if you are a part of the "curly gang" - it's NOT easy and I was just tired. Why? Well:

1. At school, kids mock people with curly hair. They used to call me things like "witch" or "mane girl" (something like that) or simply saying that I had a "wig". I actually acquired this nickname: Hermione! But they couldn't spell it right - the ignorants -, so I simply became...Harry Potter - and, yes I wore glasses AND I was kind of a nerd so...yeah...LOL;
2. At work, they claim your hair is always messy and you should straight it because it will make you look "more professional";
3. If your unemployed - which I've been - the same applies in an eventual job interview;
4. In Winter it's just the worse because of the moisture - on the other hand, in Summer time, at the beach with the ocean and all...it's awesome, your hair will look GREAT - true story;
5. During AND after taking a shower you have to apply millions of products so that your hair looks shiny and soft and, basically, manageable;
6. You have, like, three possible hair styles to choose from...it's really hard to innovate.

So...now I'm in this dilemma. What to do? Should I cut it? Should I try another hair straightening? Should I just learn to live with it? I don't know. This bugs me.

Also...I have a fringe, which makes everything so much more complicated 'cause you simply CAN'T have a curly fringe. You have to choose between a curly hair and a fringe, you can't have both. But, you know, some people just wanna see the world burn.

Anyway, I hope you liked this post and, hopefully, you can relate to it. If you have some advice for me, I'll gladly take it! Comment below and let me know what you think!

Don't forget to subscribe my Twitter account and check out my Facebook.

Thank you! See you later, alligator!

25 stupid things people say

Hello, you! And, first of all, let me tell you, you look specially stunning today, you good looking person! You hot, you!

I'm going to look the other way now, you're distracting me. And let's get to the business, shall we?

One fact: we all know at least 50 people. Another fact: we all dislike - or maybe we just fail to understand - close to 60% of them. And don't tell me it's just me or I will run away and cry myself to sleep thinking about how much of a bad, bad, bad person I am.

Among those 60% there are these few specimens who have a way of making us feel like we don't want to live on this planet anymore. And why? Because they say stupid things. Also, they make us want to laugh at them (note that I didn't write WITH them...) and that's why they get to have this little special mention in our blog.

Let's go!

Stupid things stupid people say (or ask):

1. You look different. You're pretty. | Well, thank you! I guess...
2. Why are you so serious? Smile. Smile! SMILE HARDER! Well, can't you just pretend you're ok?
3. You look fat(ter). | Well, f. you too ^^
4. So...how are you? Any girlfriends/boyfriends (yes, they usually use the plural on this one) in your life?
5. So...when are you two getting married?
6. Congratulations on your wedding!!! So...when are you two having a baby??
7. Congratulations on your baby!!! Any thoughts on having a second child??
8. I'm saying this with all due respect: your mother is a b*tch. I don't like her, she does this and that and also that, but, you know, it's your mother and I try to understand her and respect her. | Really? Really???
9. I love my kids but sometimes I wish they hadn't been born. | Oh...o...kay?
10. ...and, you know, the Big Bang killed the dinosaurs.
11. And these girls who bleed the first time they have sex...pathetic. | Really? What the...? What?? Are you mentally ill or something??
12. I'm afraid I'm sterile so I'm taking a break in my birth control pill to see if I'm able to get pregnant. (stated by a sexually active 14 year old girl)
13. Black cats are bad luck. | Go f. yourself.
14. Can you give me the code? Again? I've already gave it to you, like, 5 times. Didn't you write it down and memorized it already? No, I don't like to memorize irrelevant things like numbers. It's bad for your brain, you know? Actually, studies have shown that doing so helps prevent Alzheimer's... Yeah, well...I don't do that.
15. Animals are human beings too!!!
16. Put my seatbelt? What for? | Well...duh!
17. So...and how long are you together? Oh, that many years? Trust me, that won't last much longer. That's just life.
18. Your dog is misbehaving? He peed? Why don't you hit it?
19. I don't take my cats to the vet for vaccines. It's pointless. I love them, 'though.
20. Don't you think you might be a lesbian? You know, 'cause your boyfriend doesn't have lots of muscles. I like my men big and strong. | Well, good for you. Bye, bye now. Also, you're a d.bag and your brain must be very small...oh, and your men's brains too.
21. Animals don't feel. - not to be confused with "animals don't have feelings". The statement was that they don't feel, AT ALL.
22. My generation is so much better than this one. I don't know...we were just...better. Not like them. They're stupid. - As said by every single person of every single generation of every single decade. Wake up. We're all f*cked up, deal with it.
23. A real woman has long hair. | Shut up. Please. You're hurting my...every single part of my body. - I actually have long hair but this kind of statement just annoys me.
24. Real men don't cry. 
25. YOLO. | Enough, already.

If you have ever said any of the above, please, don't ever do it again. I still love you but...please stop. You're hurting me.

I admit I may have used statement number 1, but I swear it wasn't supposed do sound like that!

Do you have any other examples? Comment below and let me know, I can't wait to hear it!

Also, if you like, please share it! The more, the merrier! You can follow me on Twitter and like me on Facebook to be the first to know when a new fresh post is baked!

Thank you for reading and I'll see you later, alligator! ;)

It's a dog's life (part I)

Summer never came. I was just reading my last post here (you know, the one from, like, decades ago) and I was like "Oh, right...Summer was a bit late, then...". Yeah...it never showed up!

Anyway...hello! Good night, good morning, good whatever part of the day you're living! I know I've been kinda absent but I'm back now so let's get going!

You might be wondering what I have been up to. Well, I can tell you that my life is upside down at this moment. The title of this post is literal: I have a dog!

Now...a little bit of context for you, my dear beloved followers and readers in general: I have a cat, his name is Peri and he has been with us for three years now. He's a beautiful black cat, not a very social one but also not aggressive, at all. Anyway, for years I've wanted to adopt a dog, ever since my mom gave away our puppy when I was a kid. I'm an adult now (sort of) so I decided not to wait any longer and go and rescue a puppy. And so I did. And I love him and I'll be by his side forever and also, he's a nightmare.

Yes. I'll say it right here, for the world to read: my puppy is a nightmare. All that talk about puppies being cute and warm and NICE? Lies. All lies! He barks, he bites, he destroys everything, poops and pees all over the house and he's a rebel! A young turk, I tell you! And you know what? My life belongs to him now, I have obligations now, expenses (he eats a LOT), I swear having a puppy is quite similar to having a new born baby (not that I ever had one).

Now, don't get me wrong. The first two weeks were awful and I was close to despair but I KNEW where I was getting myself in. Never, for a second, I thought about giving him up.

The problem is - and this is why I'm doing this post today - lots of people do think about giving away their newly adopted puppies. LOTS of people ABANDON their animals. And you know why? Because they didn't know what was coming. Because they believed on the cute advertisements we see every day on TV and, ultimately, because people who have pets only show the good parts of it on social networks - I'm also guilty on that one, he's really cute on my facebook page.

Every day I see these facebook pages of animal institutions and, ok, they do talk about RESPONSIBILITY but, no, they don't tell the truth about the dogs and cats they have for adoption. Somehow, their animals are all perfect, behaved and sweet. They don't do any of the things animals usually do. What do they get with that? More adoptions? Yes. More "devolutions"? Yes.

If you're thinking about adopting an animal there's a few things you should do first (note that I'm gonna use the pronoun "it" to avoid having to choose between "he" and "she"...I'm not particularly in love with that detail in English language...animals are not things to be referred as an "it" but ok, moving on):

1. Talk with your close family about it. You don't want to bring home a pet that no one else wants;
2. Again, TALK with your family and friends who have animals so that they can help you and provide you with some relevant information;
3. If possible, don't buy a pet. Rescue one, there's plenty of abandoned animals waiting for a caring family;
4. Ask yourself a few crucial questions like: why do I want a dog/cat? Where is it going to sleep? Where am I going to walk it (if it's a dog, of course)? DO I HAVE THE TIME? DO I HAVE THE MONEY?
5. Know that, from the moment you say YES to a dog/cat you are saying yes to a new member of the family. It's not an object and it can't be seen as a possession;
6. Know that mornings spent lying in bed are over and that you will be followed every single time you go to the toilet;
7. Know that animals HAVE emotions too. Yes, they're different from ours but, still, they are there. Animals do feel fear, sadness, joy and anger like everyone else;
8. Know that they will destroy stuff you like. It might be your phone, your favorite jeans, your curtains or your plants or even that really cute shirt your boyfriend gave you (sad, oh so sad) but it doesn't matter right? 'Cause you love your pet and you know it doesn't understand the value of that kind of stuff;
9. Know that you will HAVE to educate them in order for them to become that "best friend" we all hear so much about. In the beginning, trust me, they are not your friends, they're just a cute and playful pain in the ass that jumps happily to whoever comes in the way (puppies in particular tend to adore everyone);
10. Know that when you acquire a pet it's supposed to be FOREVER so picture yourself in a few years...will you have space for a pet in your life when you accomplish those goals you have? That boyfriend with whom you plan to spend your life with...does he like animals? Does he WANT a pet in his life? Yeah....ups, right?

So, you know where I'm getting with this. I know this is not a fun post but I think it is important to put this information out there 'cause I felt cheated by all people that say puppies are this and dogs are that. Yes, I am much happier now than I was when my puppy wasn't here but that's not the point. My life is a mess, my house is a mess and I wake up really early and surrounded by crap every single day. And you know what? It's not easy and people who thing that having an animal is a piece of cake, shouldn't adopt one, at all.

There will be a part 2 and I promise you it will have a different and more funny/happy approach.

Please share this post if it made you think and if, even with all of this inside information, you still want to rescue a dog or a kitten...go ahead! Good luck and, yes, you will love them with all your heart, I know you will. 

One smile a day keeps the doctor away ;) bye bye

P.S.: follow me on Twitter, I'll be happy to welcome you :)