Did you know that this actually has created statistical issues in Mexico because 41 year old men simply give their age as 40 or 42 when they participate in market research or demographic censi?

Anyway, I am not a man, so today that I turn 41 I felt inspired to think of those things why being a woman over 40 is so special. I wrote a post in Spanish for 40ymas.com and here below is the translation.

I know that this might come as a surprise to many following my ramblings before my 40th birthday just over a year ago. But hey, one is supposed to get wiser with age!

I’m grateful today ..

1. For my daughter. The light of my life and the reason of my existence.
2. For my mom. For her love and support despite the many miles between us.
3. For my dad. The angel that protects me and the little devil that inspires me.
4. For my sister. Because she simply is.
5. Because I am now aware that there are no coincidences but “causalities” (effects). Things do not “happen to me” by accident, I cause them.
6. Because I’m learning to take responsibility for my life. If I am happy and there is love in my life it is because I choose to be, to give and to receive it. If I am not happy and there is no love in my life, it is because I choose not to be, not to give and not to receive it.
7. Because I know my body better than ever and recognize that it needs exercise and a proper diet for me to feel and look good.
8. Because I usually like what I see in the mirror.
9. Because on the days that I look in the mirror and I do not like what I see, I simply stop looking.
10. Because finally I’ve realized that I deserve to spoil myself and to be spoiled.
11. Because I’ve had the opportunity to live in many countries and learn from many cultures.
12. Because my loved ones and I have good health.
13. For that wonderful man who complements me and who exists somewhere in the world.
14. Because I know that one day we will meet.
15. For all that will happen after we meet.
16. For my true friends. Those who are not there for a reason or a season, but for a lifetime.
17. For my best friends and because they know well who they are.
18. Because I have enough experience in my work, I know how to do it well and this is recognized.
19. Because I still get excited when I have the opportunity to learn something new.
20. Because I am still interested in learning new things.
21. Because I feel more creative than ever.
22. Because I have the opportunity to use my creativity in positive and useful projects.
23. For those close to me who are involved in inspiring causes.
24. Because life gives me the opportunity to improve every day.
25. Because I enjoy being alone as much as I enjoy having company.
26. Because I’m never really alone.
27. Because despite everything I am still me.
28. Because a few years ago I took the toughest decision of my life and I do not regret it at all.
29. For the tears I shed before that decision.
30. For the tears I did not shed after that.
31. For the years that I have ahead of me.
32. For each of the years I’ve lived.
33. For all the mistakes I’ve made.
34. For all the mistakes I will make.
35. Because nowadays I rarely mind what others think of what I do or say.
36. Because I do not feel embarrassed anymore when I have to say “no”.
37. Because I never felt embarrassed to say yes.
38. Because I now realize that sometimes there are consequences when I say yes.
39. Because I enjoy following my heart.
40. Because when my heart has nothing to say, there are other hearts that inspire me to find the answers.
41. For 40ymas.com. A project that was born from a simple concern of mine and that today has a life of its own with a heart that beats to the rhythm of 12,000 wonderful Latin American women!

This is obviously a move intended to push Mariah’s fans to buy the CD instead of downloading it online.

So far we were used to celebrities endorsing products and politicians, and this comes to reverse the roles in a very interesting way…which got me thinking of how else this new style of promotion could work for other artists and bands.

These are my suggestions:

• Dire Straits could very appropriately be endorsed by Gordon Brown
• The Who would be backed by the new president of the EU, Mr. …hmmm… what was his name?
• The UK’s Meteorological Department should support Scottish band Wet Wet Wet
• Any Electricity Authority in the world could sponsor AC/DC
• English rock band The Clash would get the ideal endorsement from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
• Merrill Lynch could suitably support American band The Pretenders
• Silvio Berlusconi could throw his millions behind The Kinks
• Chrysler’s new ads should all be played to the tunes of The Grateful Dead

and

• The new agreement following the forthcoming UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen should be printed to be distributed with a CD including the best of Blind Faith

And when it comes to life as a woman, especially as a working woman, we really have a short memory issue.

Just check below … it is a teacher’s contract drafted in Spain in 1923. It spells out a list of things that a teacher should and should not do to keep her job, and most of them do not make any sense at all!

Really, can someone explain to me what was wrong with a teacher getting married? or even more puzzling, why couldn’t a teacher visit an ice-cream parlor?

Notice that they were not allowed to drink beer, wine or whisky. Does that mean that they could drink vodka, gin and tequila?

This is the translation to English, or scroll down to see the original document in Spanish and have a good laugh:

¡Gracias mamá por compartir!

But no, unfortunately it was not a CHiPs episode.  The policemen rode away and I stayed there remembering the good’ol police and detective TV shows of yesteryear.

And I realized that there are so many of them and so hard to forget!

No, really.  How can anybody ever forget Max from Hart to Hart? Or the way Bruce Willis looked with hair in Moonlighting?  Or Tom Selleck’s moustache in Magnum PI?

And what about Farrah Fawcett’s larger-than-life smile on Charlie’s Angels … Columbo’s cigar …. Maxwell Smart’s goofiness … Kojak’s bald head … Hawaii 5-0 intro theme …. and Quincy’s …. ehem … well, who can possibly forget Quincy?!  He is the forefather of CSI after all!

I love police shows.  We’ve certainly been enjoying some good stuff also in the past couple of decades: from the X-Files to NYPD Blue, Law & Order, Dexter, Prison Break and 24, just to mention a few.

So this one is for all of you who still remember the oldies and liked them as much as I did: Officers Frank “Ponch” Poncherello and Jonathan “Jon” Baker in action. (and yes, please, feel free and get the tune stuck in your head for the rest of the week…)

He seems to jump from one thought to the next, killing the flow of the story in the process. At first I had the feeling that it was probably a translation issue, but now that I am almost half-way through the book, it simply feels like if it was written by a first-time author.

But there is one part that -although it seems like a “patch” on the plot- I really liked. It’s actually two paragraphs that I read over and over again and decided that they have more meaning than the 150 pages of the book I’ve read so far. I liked them so much that I felt compelled to close the book and write this post straight away.

One of the main characters is an Arab, Hamid, who at a time of reflection about his past and future recalls the Arabic proverb “Blessed be that which gives your children wings and roots.”

And the next two paragraphs go like this:

He needed his roots. There is a place in the world where we are born, where we learn our mother tongue and discover how our ancestors overcame the problems they had to face. There always comes a point when we feel responsible for that place.

He needed his wings too. They reveal to us the endless horizons of the imagination, they carry us to our dreams and to distant places. It is our wings that allow us to know the roots of our fellow men and to learn from them.

And by reading this my muse finally decided to come back!

So, I guess I should thank Paulo Coelho for writing those two paragraphs.  They are precious … even if the rest of his book is truly appalling.

The worst thing is that the only excuse I can think of is that I have no inspiration whatsoever! No, really.  And this is a first.  If there is something I usually have too much of are millions of thoughts inside my head desperately looking for a way out … and for the past year or so, I have happily found an escape route for them through this blog.

But right now, there is nothing. Zip. Nada enchilada.

My creativity has come to a halt, so I’ve decided to blame it on the fact that my muse must have taken a vacation.  What else, right?

You see, EVERYBODY in this country takes a break during August, and I am sure my muse is now having a great time somewhere fun.  I can see her sunbathing at a Caribbean beach or shopping till she drops in London while I am here, over-worked and wondering where she is.

“¿… a dónde a dónde a dónde estará …?”

So, if you happen to bump into her, can you please tell her to cut her vacation short and come back soon?

And to bring me a large bottle of my favorite perfume from duty free is she is so kind.

Facebook was terribly slow all day, Twitter went completely down, and sites such as YouTube and Google’s Blogger were also affected.

And the rumor goes that it was all a plot to silence one blogger from writing posts on the Russian-Georgia conflict!

I really love a good conspiracy theory.  It makes me smile.

I also love the way some bloggers described the “crisis” as the morning when civilization almost ground to a halt as Twitter was hit by hackers.  It makes me chuckle.

And what I love most of it all is the way some people were posting on the few sites that were still up and running during the event on how they felt miserable, useless and how much they missed their Twitter friends.  It makes me want to laugh hysterically.

But the fact is that Twitter was launched in July 2006 and Facebook was launched in March 2007.  Which means that civilization started only three years ago and by definition (of those Twitter-lovers, not me) we must have been all useless and miserable before that!

Not sure if I was less civilized and more useless then.  But certainly I cannot be really miserable anymore with all that smiling, chuckling and laughing that the social media meltdown has brought to my life since yesterday!

“Try and fail, but don’t fail to try”. I am not sure who said this, but whenever I feel that I cannot tackle something head on I sort of use it as a mantra. It does not always work, of course. Unfortunately, like all human beings, I am easily influenced by others on what I am “good” or “not good at” and this, unfortunately,  limits my possibilities of experiencing so many things!

Hence, I see myself “failing to try” more often than not.

Many are the brilliant minds and spirits among us that have transcended thanks to their self-confidence and believe in their own potentials. Thank God for them as their perseverance is a great source of inspiration for those of us who sometimes struggle to believe just how much we are capable of and that the ‘risk’ of trying is worth it every single time!

With one particular person I decided to give up talking altogether and stick to written communications only, in the hope that things will improve at some point and with the relief that at least I have written evidence of what I said. But even then, if I write “white” he reads “black”, when I write “thread” he reads “threat” …!

The fact that we both speak different languages and have very different backgrounds does not help. Breaking a language barrier by being totally fluent in a second, third or fourth language does not mean that you can easily cross the cultural barrier.

Like the story of a Polish man who moved to the USA and married an American girl. Although his English was far from perfect, they got along very well until one day he rushed into a lawyer’s office and asked him if he could arrange a divorce for him.

The lawyer said that getting a divorce would depend on the circumstances, and asked him the following questions:

L: Have you any grounds?

P: Yes, an acre and half and nice little home.

L: No, I mean what is the foundation of this case?

P: It made of concrete.

L: I don’t think you understand. Does either of you have a real grudge?

P: No, we have carport, and not need one.

L: I mean. What are your relations like?

P: All my relations still in Poland

L: Is there any infidelity in your marriage?

P: We have hi-fidelity stereo and good DVD player.

L: Does your wife beat you up?

P: No, I always up before her

L: Is your wife a nagger?

P: No, she white.

L: Why do you want this divorce?

P: She going to kill me.

L: What makes you think that?

P: I got proof.

L: What kind of proof?

P: She going to poison me. She buys a bottle at drugstore and put on shelf in bathroom. I can read, and it says: ‘Polish Remover’

Other events are caused by external factors. We don’t really have control over them from happening or not, but we can control somehow the effect that they have on our lives. War or a natural disaster is an example. The death of a loved one is another.

July 11, 1995 is one of my milestone dates. It is when Little Johnny was officially pronounced death.

It is the day I lost my father; and it is also the day I lost a substantial degree of trust in others. Especially when it comes to trusting other people with that which is very important to me, as would be the life of someone I love.

Looking back, I now realize that on that sad day I also lost other things: the opportunity of seeing my father as a grandfather to my daughter, nephew and niece; and what I am sure would have been the best piece of advice I could possibly receive on some of the most challenging moments I have experienced in the last 14 years.

Wherever you are Little Johnny I miss you.

I always will.