I'm on it:.

Today I had an interesting conversation with my laboratory colleagues, regarding the main motivations in life. Not surprisingly, we discovered that we all value different (different!) things in our own lives.  For some, the main motivation is money, for others it's love or health, but for me, it's definitely freedom!!. 

However, I learned long ago that freedom is really expensive, and that not everybody is willing to pay the price to get it. Even me, I know that I'm not really free, at least not as long as I don't get rid of some addictions, but as I told one of my colleagues today, the first step of achieving a goal, is to know what your goal is...

The conversation went from philosophical questions, such as this, to more practical stuff, such as, where are you going to live?, and what are you going to eat, if you have no money to spare!?. 

Nonetheless, I still think that the only thing that matters in life is to be able to be master of your own decisions, or like William Ernest Henley would say, to be master of your own fate, to be captain of your own soul!. I don't know, maybe I say these things because I think that after all, we are all going to die the same way we were born: alone and without nothing to hold on to...

So, just enjoy life while you can, with the people that mater the most to you right now =):.

We're gonna live it up,
I promise,
just hold on a little more.

No te echaré de menos en septiembre:.

Like most of my generation, I had my first lessons about nationalism while being forced to both, sing the mexican anthem, and salute our flag every monday morning...for at least 12 years!!. As a result, every time I listen to the mexican anthem I can't help but feel a lump in my throat, and a tear sliding down my cheek =). 

However, ever since I was a teenager I decided that if I ever felt like crying, it would be for something I decided myself, not because of something that had been programmed in me. And so, my quest for something to cry for began...

I first tried girls, but I soon realised that very few people outside your family deserve any consideration at all. Soon enough, life gave me the reason, and I first realised what it meant to never see one beloved member of your family again...The following times were all family related, but some years ago I also discovered the effect that music had in me, and it changed my life!. Long story short, I tend to remember the last 10-15 years of my life not by events or people, but by the music that I liked at the time!. 

And why do I tell this?. Well, there are some bands that don't speak not me, but to my core, and that sometimes make me feel so overwhelmed, that I can't help but feel a tear sliding down my cheek!. Last week I saw two of these bands live, Sigur Rós and Beach House, and for a moment, I just felt...I dont' know...happy =)...

However, I also kept thinking that this kind of experiences are meant to be shared with someone you (really!) care about. However difficult it is, I'm still looking for that special someone that could appreciate these little things, the way I do...

Será como aquella canción de los años 80,

seré como el tipo que algún día fui.

Á lífi:.

A (little bit of) life in music:

1996, I discover what great music sounds like (Bee Gees).

1997, My first rock concert (U2).

1998, I saw my favorite band of the time, at their top of their game (Oasis).

...

2008, Best catalan band ever (Facto Delafé y las Flores Azules).

2009, Best concert with last-minute tickets (The Killers, Hello Seahorse!).

2010, Dreaming with music! (Beach House).

2010, I discover what a music festival feels like (Corona Capital).

2011, I let myself dance freely (Vive Latino: Chemical Brothers).

2012, I got off a transatlantic flight, to go directly to a concert hall (Bombay Bicycle Club).

...

2012, The first concert that has made me cry (Rock en Seine: Sigur Rós).

Kominn heim.

What about breakfast at Tiffany's?:.

A year ago I was on my way to a new life experience in France, and now that I'm about to start my second year in this land, I think it's a good time to make some reflections...

I have to admit that my previous knowledge of this country, and its culture, was rather limited. I did have some background information, mainly from an old Simpsons' episode and from a couple of weekend getaways. To be fair, I also had some mythical stories from the time my uncle studied here, back in the late 1980's. But to be really honest, I didn't know much about the country where I was supposed to live for the next three years of my life...

Anyway, I came to Grenoble, and I'm happy to admit that I don't regret it...I don't regret it at all!. I've had the chance to meet great people from all around the world. From renowned researchers, to humble PhD students, like me. From people from places as familiar as Puebla, to colleagues from the distant Cameroon and Brazil. I got the chance to visit one of my favorite countries, the mythical Hungary, and a beautiful nordic country, Danemark. But must of all, during these visits I had the chance to meet great colleagues from the software maintenance and model-driven engineering communities. 

You know, what I like the most is that you're no longer competing against some colleagues in a classroom, you're really competing against some of the brightest minds from all around the world!. Of course, it's not easy, we've already had some drawbacks (particularly some rejected papers), but that's what makes this new experience so interesting...

One final remark, during this year, both my alcohol tolerance and my love for films has increased dramatically, and I intend to keep it that way...=):.

She said, "I think I remember the film,
and as I recall, I think, we both kinda liked it..."
and I said, "Well, that's the one thing we've got!".

Just to know that you are near:.

A few months ago I watched The Tree of Life, and I remember saying, WTF is this shit?. I know that it's kind of a heresy to admit it, but something similar happened to me the first time I watched Pulp Fiction and The Big Lebowsky (though these films are in a complete different league!).  

Anyway, I'm telling this story because in a conversation I had with some friends last week, I was arguing that some movies need to be experienced more than once, before you barely start appreciating their beauty. Maybe the first time(s) you're in a bad mood, you don't have good companionship, the environment is not good, or you just don't have the necessary life experience. The tragedy is that we tend to judge things based only on the first experience.

And how did the topic come into discussion?. Well, there's a long tradition in some european cities to project movies in open air during hot summer nights, and Grenoble is a proud member of that tradition. So, last week's movie was The Tree of Life, and despite my previous experience, I decided to give it a try!. Maybe it was the 8.4° beer, the warm summer night, the freedom of my new MétroVélo bike, or something else, but this time I really liked the movie!.

I know this phenomenon is not exclusive of movies, but since almost everything I know I had learned through movies or tv series, this is something I can easily relate to =):.

To get through,
to the man in me.

If we're looking in the dark:.

I could tell you about the madness that these last weeks have been, including the search for a new place to live in, cleaning and moving out from my old apartment, updating a project just in time for its presentation, losing each and every one of the football games we played this season (and not only that, but also losing our only ball in the deeps of the Rhône river), getting all my clothes wet during my flight to another country, and having to explain to a german custom officer how I managed to get into some airport restricted area...

But no, I'll just tell you about how I got the chance to meet some legendary model-driven stars, in an european modeling conference. Moreover, it was really interesting to meet again some colleagues from the software maintenance community, and to see the relatively high interest that some industry folks have in this type of events. One final remark, once again informal conversations (5-10 min) seemed to be way more effective than formal conference talks. All in all, an excellent way to start this summer!!:.

No one's gonna find any answers,
if we're just trying to hide, 
from the things we know inside, 
are the truth.

Pas d’autre issue de secours:.

A few weeks ago I had the chance to see, for the second time in my life, one of the best bands of our generation, Beach House!!. The first time was two years ago, in an epic concert back in Mexico city, and despite the differences in space and time, I found some similarities, and some other things that I would like to talk about.

Well, the first and most obvious similarity is that a lot of people go to the concert barely knowing the name of the band they are going to see. I don't mean to say this is a bad thing, I actually encourage it. There's nothing like listening to a good song for the first time in your life, and if it is with live sound, you're up for an epic experience!!.

Since the concert was not in my city, I decided to share the transportation fees with some other guys (Covoiturage). One of them was a girl from the USA, in particular from Colorado, and after the concert she made a comment that I found particularly interesting. She said that she had really enjoyed the concert, and that it had been a good experience not to be surrounded by Marihuana smoke. She explained that in Colorado Marihuana is legal, in theory only for medical purposes, but that it's really easy to get a prescription to buy it. It's only natural that when you go to a concert, the place is full of people using it.

I'm not naïve, it's not like in Mexico and France people don't do drugs during concerts, but as this girl could tell, the percentage is fairly low if you compare it to other places (in my personal experience, it has never been more than 15-20%). There are many other variables to consider, like the type of music, the venue, the age group, etc. It's a complicated subject, and in my opinion, legalization is the only way to go, but that will be the topic of another post:.

Recycler cette colère,
car aujourd’hui plus qu’hier,
cette colère reste mon meilleur carburant.