El Jaleo by John Singer Sargent

El Jaleo by John Singer Sargent, 1882. On display at Isabella Gardner Museum, Boston, Mass.

One of my all time favorites. I still remember the first time I saw it at the cosy Gardner Museum. It extends over an entire wall. Takes your breath at first glance and holds you in captivity. I stared for what seemed like too long but not enough. It took some convincing to walk away and at least glance at the other paintings.

Fervent passion and sensuality are in-your-face. The dancer leaning back, her fingers and elbows meticulously curved. The musicians over their guitars. The contrast of black and white, darkness and light. Look at her skirt... leaves you breathless.

Painting by John Singer Sargent. It´s geometric and carefully thought through. Monochromatic umbrellas, the "rainy" lighting, water in between cobblestones all portray the tranquil mood of a rainy city day. There´s even a certain politeness about it.

It´s quite large and found at the Art Institute of Chicago. Definitely worth a visit.

Progress on Bankers´ Pay?

It´s been announced the Ken Lewis, Bank of America´s CEO, will give back $1million of his $1.5million yearly salary and receive no bonus for 2009. He will step down as CEO end of 2009.

Giving back $1million is barely a scratch to Lewis, who´s retirement package and stock options are valued at $69.3million (minimum).

All banks and bankers should be severely punished for what they have caused to the financial system. They should be penalized financially since everything they do is for the money in the first place.

What´s a little unfair is that banks which still owe money to the US government are being penalized and scrutinized while others who borrowed from TARP funds and already paid them back to the US government are allowed to proceed scotch-free. Goldmans Sachs is going to pay record bonuses to employees this year. GS CEO Blankfein is all smiles, all the time. It´s quite annoying. When the financial crisis bit him and Goldman in the ass, he went crying to the US government and all is ex-GS pals asking to become a "bank" able to hold deposits and borrow funds from TARP. GS then takes the borrowed TARP funds, gambles in the market, makes a huge profit (I will admit they are very smart and know how to make money, be it in a completely unethical manner and feeding off the less powerful (ex: the individual American investor)). They take their profits and pay back the government with interest (isn´t that polite) and their crisis is over. Because GS now owes nothing to the US government, party time continues! And who pays for the mess GS and many other financial institutions contributed to? We, the American tax-payers, do. Not only do we suffer from investment losses but we also foot the bill for the institutions who caused our losses AND made money off our losses. Yes, that´s right.

Shame on you Goldman.

Girls Getting Dirty

I thought it was a joke... Maybe I´ve been two years too long living outside the USA...

Ladies playing tackle football in their lingerie? What chauvinist got away with this idea?

Well, I think it´s funny and it´s going to be HUGE, considering all the horny perves in this world. Next thing the LFL (Lingerie Football League) has more viewers than the NFL. I guess women are just not privileged enough to play football in clothes. That would just not be interesting...

www.lflus.com (notice "us" in the URL... does that mean they´re already planning a global expansion?)

check out the videos on the site. These girls are ruthless. They fight and even pull each other´s underwear. Girls getting dirty (that´s a good name for the league).

Melasma, the luck of being a woman

Some of us are blessed with beautiful, flawless skin. I once was.

Guess I should have listened to my mom when she insisted I not spend working-day hours at the beach with no sunscreen. So after years of tanning with no sunscreen, tanning beds during Vandy winters, and birth control pills, I am now permanently stained with Melasma, or sunspots.

Oh, sunspots? You can go to a dermatologist and get those taken care of, no big deal. Yeah right. No one actually tells you that there is no cure for Melasma. Once you get them, you´re dying with them. Unless someone comes up with a cure before our wrinkles "cover" them up.

A woman usually has a genetic disposition for Melasma. This gene + the sun = sunspots. Or, gene + hormones (birth control or pregnancy) + sun = sunspots. Some (very lucky) women never get them. For the ones with a tendency, learn to embrace your sunspots because they are here to stay.

Six months before my wedding when my sunspots were visibly bothersome, I decided to visit a dermatologist in Sao Paulo. If there was ever a time a woman wants flawless skin, it´s on her wedding day. I visited the office of Dr. Shirlei Borelli, who was recommend by a friend as a wonderful doctor and not too expensive (the latter is not only false, but she is the most expensive in this city of 20 million people). After 3 treatments, lots of money spent, avoiding sunshine at all expenses, and wearing SPF 60 everywhere but to sleep, my sunspots were less noticeable and easily concealed with make-up. So my wedding photos came out beautiful, with no spots to be seen.

Honeymoon consisted of 8 days in French Polynesia (paradise) and I was not about to avoid sunshine or sit under an umbrella. It was so nice to get a tan again and get rid of my greenish-ghostly color. Even though I applied and reapplied SPF 60 about 5x per day, the stubborn sunspots came back, this time bigger and darker than before. All the money spent for treatment down the drain...

So why am I posting such a gloomy story? Because I have discovered what could be the light at the end of the tunnel! Well, not exactly a cure, but my new beauty routine for normal skin has considerably decreased the appearance of my sunspots.

Here it goes:

• Facials every two months (You don´t have to go to the very expensive places. Ask for referrals from friends and choose an esthetician that really cleans your pores).
• Morning routine: Wash with facial cleanser and tone. You MUST use a moisturizing cream with sunscreen, even if you will be indoors most of the day (fluorescent lights are just as bad as sunlight). I highly recommend MELORA C. Manufactured in Europe, this foam sunscreen is rich in vitamins, (5% Vitamin C), non-greasy and easily absorbed. It even works great as a primer for make-up.
• Nightly routine: Wash with facial cleanser and tone. On the first night, apply a small amount of TRI-LUMA cream (contains 4% hydroquinone) directly on the sunspots. On the second night, use the moisturizer Vichy NeoVadiol NUIT all over your face and neck. On the third night, apply La Roche Posay Biomedic LHA Serum to the entire face. You will feel a burning sensation for about 1-2 minutes. On the following night, use the Vichy moisturizer again. Continue the cycle, alternating between the stronger agents (Tri-Luma and LHA) and the moisturizer.
• DON`T forget to use sunscreen DAILY, especially after using the stronger agents, as your skin becomes very sensitive. If you do not, you will notice redness and the treatment goes to waste.

Good luck and until they find us a permanent cure!