Kane Mansion online

Finally "Kane Mansion" is now online in the english writings section.
It is a mystery story I take great pride in and I hope you enjoy it. I would love to hear your thoughts on the ending in particular...

Have fun!

The Misuse of Power

When hearing about "The Misuse of Power" we think immidiately of the top of the pyramid. The president using the jet for a trip to Jamaica with his mistress and the minister putting money aside.

But I don't want to talk about that. I want to talk about the small administrative employee, who has just enough to power to use it to make other people miserable. I am sounding annoyed? Yes, I am because there is no other point in what they do than to prove to themselves that they have power over someone.

Today I went to get a residence confirmation (not sure about the proper english term, but basically a paper proving that I live where I say I live), as it is required by the consulate to issue a new passport. Since my passport is outdated I took my drivers licence as ID, which according to them is no acceptable ID, instead the outdated passport was required. You might say: The rules are the rules! Well, ironically my dad requested the same document for the same reason only three days ago and in this case the drivers licence was a proper ID.

This is just one example of many as I am sure each of my readers can come up with at least one similar event. It is not a big deal, tomorrow I will return with the outdated passport and get the document, that point is: Why do this people behave like this? They have no real personal gain and have to end up doing the work anyhow. It is about proving they have power over you, they can make you return the next day, having to run extra errands etc. But this doesn't happen only with adminstrative employees but all over the place, like the practise nurse telling you there is no earlier appointment available or the tax investigator being extra thorough, so that the invistigation costs more than what you make in year.

The question is: Are we all predisposed to behave like this, when we have a little power? I guess each of us should be careful, because it is rather easy to fall into this behaviour. We should bear in mind that we could be on the other side next time. It all comes down to one thing:

Try to be understanding to other people and don't misuse whatever power you have.

Ireland - My lovestory with Emerald Island

If you grow up abroad like me, usually the holiday season is reserved to travel back home to visit relatives, so you don't get to travel around much. In 2003 this changed for me, as I had been in a long distance relationship with a guy in Spain, which ended in a bad break up. So the last thing I wanted was to go home and I decided to follow my gut and booked a trip to Ireland. By then I only knew about the country that it was green and that it had nice music.

As soon as I stepped of the plane I noticed that something very special had happened. I felt a special connection to the country that I cannot explain even now almost 10 years later. So there I was on my own, with a right hand drive rental car, a list of B&Bs and a map, ready to embark on my own personal adventure.

What followed was a week during which I deeply fell in love with the country and its people.

Irish people make you feel like family after five minutes and have an emotional warmth to them that blew me away. I wouldn't need to ask for help, as people would offer it to me, as soon as I started to look remotely like a lost puppy. Living in a country where the police recommends you to scream "Fire" instead of "Help" when you are in need of assistance (Apparantly people tend to pay only attention to "fire" as it could endanger them too) this totally blew me away.

I remember meeting an elderly couple on a beach near Ballina.She was English and he was Irish. She had come to Ireland for visit a long time ago, fell in love with him and moved there shortly after. They had been married for over 50 years. They shared this story with a total stranger and it warmed my heart to see how much they still were in love. She even warned me about the charm and smile of irish men with a twinkle.

I am not going to write about the irish landscape as from my point of view I can never do it justice with my words. What I can tell you is that you feel like in a fairy tale, embraced by woods and castles.

Ireland is also a very proud country and has all the reason to be. You stumble across history around every corner and everyone enjoys preserving even the smallest things. Each waiter or ticket sales man has a local legend or story to tell.

Another story I remember is hitting a local pub, after a long day of driving around. After all, what would be a visit to Ireland without going to a pub? I don't recall the town's name and I am pretty sure I was the only tourist there. There was this band playing some sort of folk music and there were pretty good. After a while I started wondering how many singers the band had, until I understood that the people singing weren't the band's singers but other guests. They would walk over to the band and request a certain song and then just go for it. I was amazed to see that there were so many traditional songs everybody knew, especially in a time when folkloric background seems to be outdated.

You may want to say now: God, she seems to be irish. But no, I am spanish and proud of it, but nonetheless I love Ireland. I think both countries have a special link and if you start thinking about it there is something to it.

Northern Spain has a huge celtic back ground, going so far that one of the regions is called "Galicia" and the resemblance to the word "Gaelic" couldn't be more obvious. Also you have in Ireland what is called "the Dark Irish". It is said that when the rest of the crushed Armada (1588) tried to make it back home lots of spanish sailors stranded in Ireland and formed families.

Maybe this is all legend or maybe we have common roots, who knows. The only thing I know for sure is that I will always return to Ireland.

Update writings

Lately I have posted mostly essays but I wanted to give you an update on my writings.

Chronicles of the Shadow Wars, for those who don't know this is the novel I am working on, is developing nicely, although these days I am too focused on my upcoming exams to work on it. I have reached a major plot point and have to nail that one. But the exams are only ten days away so afterwards I will focus more on it. I am currently waiting for the feedback of a publisher, that requested a summary of the book and the first three chapters. Keep your fingers crossed!

At this point I don't cannot give away any story details, but it is what is called urban fantasy (at least from my point of view) and it is based in the times of Ancient Rome.

Other then that I am working on several poems and short stories (These only take a few days to develope) and am trying to post them within this month. You can find those in the "english writings" section on the right side of this page.

I look forward to getting feedback.

One more note: If you want to use anything from this page please contact me in advance (best way is to leave a comment) to discuss your request. Anything else will be considered a copyright infringement.

Thanks for your understanding.

The Power of Music

First of all I will admit that I am deeply in love with music. Perhaps even more than some musicians, despite lacking any talent for it. As you can imagine this breaks my heart, but I found my way to be a part of it. As a matter of fact I wrote part of the lyrics for the unfinished musical "outremer" which went 3rd in an international competition (This under the pen name of Maria Lorca).

I am not writing this to show off, but to prove something to people that might feel like myself a  love for music, but show no talent for it. Music will always find a way into your life, if you let it. 

To me music is one of the most amazing things on earth. Without words it can move you through the complete range of emotions and back. It is the perfect art as it is literally born out of nothing and can be everything. It connects people through generations, time and language barriers. How else can you explain that the music from Mozart or Beethoven is still present more than 200 years later? No matter if it is in greeting cards, lifts or concerts. It is there, we know it and it moves us.

Music is everywhere. What would the best movie be without its proper score? What would be "Shark", "Indiana Jones" or "Star Wars" without their classic theme? Just stop a second and try to remember the name of the actors in the movie and then try to remember the central melodies. Let's me guess: No clue about the actors (Maybe except of Harrison Ford) but the music was there in an instant?

Most of your know Mussorgsky's "pictures at an Exhibition", but does anybody remember the pictures? The music was just written to underline the exhibition yet it is what endured.

While most things these days become outdated within a decade, music is always there. Although new forms appear the old forms still exist and are still appreciated. It is more than that, they are carefully cherished. How else can you explain that 15 yearolds still know who people like Jimi Hendrix, Gary Moore, The Doors and Queen are, although they are supposed to be the music of the "previous" generation?

Because Music endures, moves us and unites us more than anything else. This is the power of music!