A Place in the Sun

“I no longer have patience for certain things, not because I’ve become arrogant, but simply because I reached a point in my life where I do not want to waste more time with what displeases me or hurts me. I have no patience for cynicism, excessive criticism and demands of any nature. I lost the will to please those who do not like me, to love those who do not love me and to smile at those who do n ot want to smile at me. I no longer spend a single minute on those who lie or want to manipulate. I decided not to coexist anymore with pretense, hypocrisy, dishonesty and cheap praise. I do not tolerate selective erudition nor academic arrogance. I do not adjust either to popular gossiping. I hate conflict and comparisons. I believe in a world of opposites and that’s why I avoid people with rigid and inflexible personalities. In friendship I dislike the lack of loyalty and betrayal. I do not get along with those who do not know how to give a compliment or a word of encouragement. Exaggera

And how time is flying! There is never enough time to do all that I want to do, and before I know it weekend's up! To make it worse, by the end of the day there will be gone the entire month of August - another month of summer over! I cannot say it's that bad now that I have a fixed job - I no longer suffer the extreme cold and wet that comes about from having to drive around for a greater part of the day. Most days I am snuggled up at my desk, working.  However, I do prefer the summer weekends, when I can swim and do all sorts of stuff. Today I feel inclined to sleep. I am just so exhausted. Mondays always begin with me being utterly tired! 

Goodness, goodness! It is the middle of August and I have discovered this website / blog full of lovely recipes! Roberta is someone I knew at school, though we have lost touch a long time ago! Well she is running this blog, Chorizo & Thyme , where she blogs her favourite recipes, and boy are they yummy! This Chocolate Orange Drizzle Cake looks so scrumptious, that I might just try it out! That being said, it is really too hot to be considering ovens at this time of year.... but you never know... I might use my small convection oven (which doubles up as a microwave, but with the oven only option) and make it... just for kicks. Then again, I did promise myself one week of healthy dieting and full out exercise, to kick start my dieting and metabolism.... so I might just delay that a little for now.  I am busy with monitoring food intake, and healthy options, as well as attending Zumba classes as often as I can, since they are my movement for the day - or even for the week, excep

What a lovely concert! Joseph Calleja hit the crowds again yesterday with some of his legendary achievements, wowing the crowds with his wonderful voice. He had some of Malta's best performing alongside, including Winter Moods , Red Electrick and a large choir of children, setting the stage for crowds to cheer and sing. The aspiring tenors, Nico Darmanin and  Cliff Zammit Stevens joined him on stage, making this a stunning performance by three amazing talents.  The Maltese Philarmonic Orchestra with its most competent Maestro provided great backing, with the legendary Carmine Lauri heading the violins. The Maltese music scene has shown a huge upwards stint in the last few years, with ever-increasing professionalism and quality not seen before in this scenario - or at least, not enough to bring such prominence to this amazing talent. The much-loved Anastacia graced the stage a few times, her powerful voice echoing across the auditorium. Well done to NNG Promotions for setting u

I often sit and wonder what it is that so poisons my soul on a Monday morning.  I suppose most people get Monday blues - but I am only delving into my own abyss. Part of the thing that so pollutes my consciousness is that narrow-minded mentality of certain people one comes to meet on a routine basis - be it in the place of work or other environs (e.g. shopping) that one does not engage in during weekends. This is not a specific comment - it's the whole 'starting again' of the week's activities that generates this negativity... Until someone, this morning, landed a large slice of delicious chocolate cake, almost first thing in the morning.  Soul pollution or not, it lifted my spirits - and my calorie count, but who cares? I can make it up later! 

This week I was going out, one evening, and found a nice book sitting on my doorstep. The book, " Falling into Grace " by Adyashanti. Here is Amazon's summary: "Adyashanti asks us to let go of our struggles with life and open to the full promise of mindfulness and spiritual awakening: the end of delusion and the discovery of our essential being. In his many years as a spiritual teacher, Adyashanti has found the simpler the teaching, the greater its power to initiate this awakening. In Falling into Grace, he shares what he considers fundamental insights that will spark a revolution in the way we perceive life-through a progressive inquiry exploring the concept of a separate self and the choice to stop believing the thoughts that perpetuate suffering; "taking the backward step" into the pure potential of the present moment; why mindfulness and spiritual awakening can be a disturbing process; absolute union with every part of our experience and true auton

80% of all life on earth lives in our seas and oceans!  A new photographic competition is being organised in advance of CHOGM 2015: "A great opportunity to showcase the value and importance of our blue planet is coming in November 2015. The Heads of Commonwealth Governments will meet together in Malta to discuss issues of critical global importance, such as the future of the planet’s Blue Economy – that is, the economic activity that is dependent on oceans, seas and coasts. A vast area of our global ocean lies within the jurisdiction of Commonwealth countries. More than half of  Commonwealth countries  are islands, to whom ocean matters are of vital importance. These global leaders therefore have critical decisions to make such as how best to ensure the future health and viability of the ocean. Good pictures can tell stories in ways that words sometimes cannot. We hope that ‘Out of the Blue’ will inspire Commonwealth citizens to use photography to engage with the vast blue w

That was my summer's fix of Shakespeare and it was a great show! MADC did it again.  Pity about the fireworks and aeroplanes from time to time in the background - these sometimes drowned out the voices since no amplification was used. Perhaps in some instances actors could have faced the audience more, to balance the sounds and cover the background noise.  That being said, this is in no way deflecting from the quality of the performance.   All being said I thoroughly enjoyed it and I definitely recommend seeing it! 

Tomorrow I'm off to see MADC's Romeo & Juliet!   Every year, the Malta Amateur Dramatic Club sets up a Shakespearean play - most often with a modern twist - at the beautiful San Anton Gardens.  This year it's the two star-crossed lovers again, and this is the synopsis that they give: "This drama is one of the great tragedy themed plays by William Shakespeare. The famous story of the “star- crossed” young lovers Romeo and Juliet. Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet are young teenagers who fall deeply in love but their families are bitter enemies. Regardless of the feud between their families they  marry in secret. They make every effort to conceal their actions but their story ends in tragedy." MADC has been established in 1910 and continues to attract young actors to the stage, as well as crowds of audiences with all its productions, particularly the summer Shakespeare at San Anton and the Christmas Pantomime.

It always amazes me how life changes from one year to the next.  Only a couple of years ago, I could not imagine myself without my boat.  Last September, I returned from Monaco Yacht Show only to find that she had sunk - possibly after receiving a hit during the night. This year, the summer kicked off with a trip to Istanbul with my friend and colleague, Geraldine Noel of Acumum Services Limited, where we spent time shopping for beautiful things as well as chatting about career developments. Her practice is doing really well - and I am sometimes unsure of whether I should continue to enjoy a rather laid back pace or go back into the rat race of life.  I know I could make more money, but this really isn't half bad.  I get plenty of time to play, since I leave work to go home at a decent hour most days.  I still have my office at Saga Juris , the law firm in Valletta, with whom I started off my career more than 15 years ago. I also visited THW, a German rescue company, as well

Over the last year I have discovered the beauty of photography and the fun of wielding a camera. I am also soon going to start lessons on editing those pics - not that I haven't tried my hand. My country is small, but well, there is always some new angle if you look carefully, or a different way the light falls on a spot, a point you would focus on, or perhaps an object...  My camera has travelled with me quite a lot and I have learnt much with it.  Here is some of my work .. .