Single-Serving Friends in Salta

Single-Serving Friends in Salta

by Rasmenia Comment Closed
I didn't know much about Salta. I was told there would be wine and mountains -- not wee fucking hills, but proper mountains. That's all I need to know. I don't require much more than wine and mountains to be happy. I'm low-maintenance like that.After  a short flight from Buenos Aires and a 20-minute cab ride, we arrived at our hotel, El Castillo de San Lorenzo.Our first couple of days and nights at the hotel, we were exhausted, so we didn't do much. We strolled around the area of San Lorenzo, the tiny little town where our hotel was located. We passed a couple of horses, several dogs and a smiley hobo who decided to chat with a tree after he realized we weren't going to be very good conversation. Neither one of us could understand the poor guy. Not because we couldn't understand any Spanish, but because we do not speak tree.We stayed in and had dinner in the...
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Business in Buenos Aires

Business in Buenos Aires

by Rasmenia Comment Closed
The reason we went to Buenos Aires had nothing at all to do with fun. It was all about work. Specifically, Olivier's job. Occasionally, the company he works for sends people to Argentina, or puts some Argentinians on a plane for France. They'd sent Olivier to Buenos Aires for a week a couple of years ago, but I stayed home. It wasn't a sad thing, since I had a BFF from back home visiting me.About 6 months ago, Olivier was informed they'd be sending him again. But, this time I'd get to tag along and we decided to take an extra week to spend time appreciating Argentina.After our insanely shitty flight from Madrid, we arrived on a Sunday morning to find Buenos Aires calm and still half-asleep. After showers and a Burger King fix (give us a break - there's no Burger King here, so we jump on it whenever we get the chance) we had a quick stroll, then...
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The Airplane Personality Test

The Airplane Personality Test

by Rasmenia Comment Closed
I hate flying. When I was a kid, I traveled by plane often, as many children of divorced parents do. Back then, it was a fun & exciting adventure. Because I was a wee one traveling alone, I received special attention. The flight attendant would bring me a little plastic pin with wings on it. "A gift from the captain," they'd say.I'd read my books & listen to my Walkman. The person sitting next to me was always nice. Or, at least quiet & polite.Over time, things changed. I got bigger. My legs grew longer. My patience, shorter.I take more international flights now. The airlines have changed, too. Now there's a lot more seats crammed into a single airplane in order to squeeze more money out of every flight.Flying anywhere -- even a 2 or 3-hour flight -- has become a fucking ordeal that one must survive, rather than a fun & exciting adventure. It's no longer the happy beginning...
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A Story About Guns

A Story About Guns

by Rasmenia Comment Closed
When I got my first and last gun, I was in the morning kindergarten class. The bus dropped me off after school and I'd watch TV in the living room while eating my lunch. Old reruns of some of the best shows were on in the afternoon: Batman. The Lone Ranger and The Adventures of Superman. I ate my sandwich with Adam West, George Reeves or Clayton Moore, then I'd run off to read my comic books, or play outside. I had no siblings, so I usually played make believe by myself. Sometimes I suited up in my Wonder Woman gear to save the world. Other times, I became Supergirl, flying around by fastening some sort of cape around my neck and hanging from my swing set. And when I had my little cap gun, I was just as brave and heroic as the Lone Ranger.In my mind, it wasn't symbolic in any way of a thing that hurt people. It...
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Writing a Frankenstory: Reality in Fiction

Writing a Frankenstory: Reality in Fiction

by Rasmenia Comment Closed
"My characters are fictional. I get ideas from real people, sometimes, but my characters always exist only in my head."  -S. E. Hinton"Any writer’s work is a map of their psyche. You can really see what their concerns are, what their obsessions are, and what interests them.” -Kim Addonizio“To ask an author who hopes to be a serious writer if his work is autobiographical is like asking a spider where he buys his thread. The spider gets his thread right out of his own guts, and that is where the author gets his writing.” -Robertson Davies *** A few nights ago, Olivier, the cat and I were curled up in bed, enjoying our pre-sleep reading time. Me & Cat with a paperback; Olivier reading my latest short story published by an online literary journal.When he finished, he turned to me and said, "Yeah, I know where you got that idea from.""What? No you don't. I made it up.""Sure. Parts of it, but...
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