THE CITY HAS BECOME A HUGE SUPERMARKET Every day, around thousand of messages incite us to buy items we don’t need: We are plunged into a consumerism that maintain the influence of advertisement and this one is based upon fake ideas as well as happiness depends on the acquisition of new products. Consuming stands for both to use and destroy. In our consumerism society, we don’t only are more dependent on new material goods but consumerism has become a social significant element. The majority of people buy to perk up their self-esteem, to be admired, envied and/or wanted. The dangerous thing relies on basic necessities which can be covered, but ambitions or the desire of been admired are insatiable, according to some experts who have alert us to it. In our consumerism society we can find three phenomena which are very common and at the same time produce what has been called an addition to consumerism. One the one hand, there are some people who are in the habit of spending their time windowing shopping in a department store as a formula to avoid boredom. This tendency can be associated or not to the compulsive shopping. On the other hand, an intense desire of obtaining something and, once purchased, losing interest in it. This tendency is related to total unsatisfactory situations. In a nutshell, and talking about compulsive shopping, credit cards and other ways to make us ours life easier when it comes to going shopping produces such debts that sometimes it becomes a vicious circle. This phenomenon is worrying the European Union as a socioeconomic problem, which has led to the existence of a project fosters by The European Interregional Institute for Consumer Affairs.

The environment Nowadays, most people aren’t aware of the importance of taking care of the environment, but it’s really true that we’re suffering the negative consequences and they will continue to happen in the future. On one hand, I believe that every one of us should inquire about this matter, I mean, how we could do our bit to help. It might be easier than we think because all what we have to do is so simple, in a nutshell, recycling paper, cardboard, glass and all kinds of containers, wrappings, etc. On the other hand, governments should keep a close eye on the industries that are polluting and ruining the planet’s resources by dumping waste in rivers and seas. Apart from this, there are other environmental factors causing chronic diseases, cancer and even death, such as, air pollution and climate change caused by other factors such as excessive energy consumption, emissions of carbon dioxide, gasses uses for industrial processes, etc. However, we can’t remain idle but proposing solutions to sort out the problem and here are some of my proposals: Using public transports and bicycle as much as possible, not throwing away rubbish in river and seas, and the last one classifying rubbish in different containers. To sum up, we all need to take urgent measures as many people get ill and other pass away every year all around the world due to different pollution related problems.

FAST FOOD IS NOT NECESSARILY JUNK FOOD Many people mistake fast food for junk food, but it’s not necessarily the same, as the essence of the real definition boils down to: Fast food is a type of food you can prepare quickly or take away from a restaurant designed to deliver it in the quickest way. Instead, junk food is food with not only extremely low nutritional value, but also rich food with empty calories. That’s it. First and foremost, I’d like you to consider what kind of healthy foods you might prepare in a jiff, and on the other hand what kind of unhealthy food might you prepare just as quickly. Let me help you out for a little while. What about if you make a nutritious salad topped with fresh vegetables, lean proteins, healthy fats and homemade dressing? And what about sushi, healthy sandwiches, tacos, or burritos? It sounds good, right? And now, bear this in mind if you don’t have time to cook, spend all day long at work, or simply want to eat healthy while travelling. In that case, you’d need to work out your own map or a list of food-stoops beforehand to enjoy your trip without blaming yourself for skipping your healthy style of live, especially if you are one of those who is worried about your daily diet. Conversely, I consider myself one of those guys who assume that no one is bitter sweet. Therefore, if you ever yearn to eat that pack of Doritos or popcorn while you’re watching a film, having a pizza or burger with your friends from time to time, just do it, live is too short, and in some way we are meant to live it to the full.

TAKE A HIKE A long time ago, I used to be one of those guys who didn’t miss a workout at gym, or didn’t skip that presumably healthy diet based mainly upon having foods with a high protein content, and even spent money on supplements in order to build up a body as if a Michelangelo sculpture’s was about, under the motto ‘No pain no gain’, however, that’s not the matter now. As time goes by, one realizes all that glitters is not gold, and sometimes one needs to find their inner peace and doesn’t be a slave to fashion or all that trendy stuff out there, and that was the reason why I chose ‘hiking’ as an alternative to cut myself off from following trends like sheep, because of the following reasons: On the one hand, you can practice it individually, without wasting money, with a friend, or in a group, doing exercise in a friendly natural environment, which can help you lose weight or keep fit, increase your strength, and best of all boosting your brain, and improving your outlook. On the other hand, the equipment you need is just comfortable clothes, trainers or any suitable shoes, and some water or food to get your strength back. All in all, something that allows me to recharge my batteries and embrace my own idiosyncrasies.

EVERYTIME YOU LEAVE 1 FEBRUARY Victoria was standing in the middle of one in the corridor at the airport staring intently at one of those horrible screens. ‘Delayed’ Flight 5478 to Brussels was delayed, and it wasn’t the only one filling up the screen, more than half of flights to Europe were delayed because of the bad weather. Resigned, she walk towards a café located near the assigned gate to her flight and queued to ask for a coffee. Minutes later, and with a paper cub full of brown liquid that hardly contained her daily dose of caffeine, she sat down on a seat to wait because of delays. There were hardly free seats, but Victoria found one just opposite a wall. She dropped her bag off on the floor, a terribly heavy bad, and pulled out the book she was reading. The seat she had found was the last in line, therefore, there was nobody on her right, and on her left there was a lady in her eighties, or thousands, who looked like taken directly from Black Forest with those pink cheeks and those big arms that could grab four tankards of beer in each. Victoria noticed that the lady was looking and smiling at her, and she smiled back. Afterwards, she made sure of closing her bag properly, and then she stood up one for a moment to get rid of the horrible and empty paper cub at that moment. She watched the screen again to check out if a miracle had happened, and the arrival of her flight was announced, and after realizing that it wasn’t, she sat down again and opened the book on page 20. And then she fell asleep.

The Museum of Prado Some of the names, places, or situations and dates appearing in these pages have been made into a novel deliberately to protect certain sensitive sources of information and doing like this more accessible its content. Thus, the references and pieces of information relating to the art or literary works, their authors and their context respond to the truth, if such a thing exists when we talk about History. This story begins at the first colds in December in 1990. I have doubted very much, so much about the convenience of publishing it, especially because it is about an adventure with strong and personal connotations. It is, all in all, the little story about how an apprentice writer was taught to watch a painting. As it happens with all the great human ups and downs, mine also starts in a moment of crisis. At that beginning of decade, I was a young lad from a province town who was nineteen, newcomer to Madrid who dreamt of making his way in a city full of opportunities. Everything swarmed around me, and I had the impression that the future of our generation started to draw faster from what we were able to perceive. The preparations for The Olympic Games in Barcelona, the Universal Exposition in Seville, the construction of the first high-speed train, the appearance of tree new national newspapers or the arriving of the private TV was the most visible part of that swarm. And as I was sure that some of those exterior transformations were going to finish affecting me, nothing of that resulted important to me. Being naive, I believed the possibility of gaining a place in the world of communication – which the one I have been flirting with it since I was a child – I was at the gates. In fact, since I settled in the capital I did my best to visit radio stations, TV sets, press conferences, book launches, editorial departments, in order to meet journalists I admired as long as getting the idea of what were going to be my profession.

GETTING LIGHT IN THE CITY OF THE MICES At the following day, I went to the office very early. I have been getting up early for some months. My chauffeur came to pick me up with the luxury car of the company. At six o’clock in the morning, Ratonia, the city of mice, was deserted, I liked the feeling of having the entire city to me. Eventually, I went up the stairs coming to the offices of my editorial and once I got the whole yellow Gruyère velvet carpet fitter, I came into my luxury office. For heaven’s sake!!! How much work!!! – I complained desperately. My desk was full of papers, bills, documents, contracts, manuscripts, and so on, and so forth. Thank goodness, the new assistant would arrive today – I thought happily. I shut myself in my office and I plunged into work. It was twelve hours since someone had knocked the door: It was my secretary. -Ahem! Mr. Stilton, the new assistant has arrived. But, before making her sign the contract, I believe you should see her... - I want her to sign it immediately –I said angrily - But, Mr Stilton, ahem, I believe you should... – Ratonila insisted. - I have a lot of things to do! I shouted exasperated, pulling my moustache At least, you could take charge of the small things, couldn’t you? Ratonila was gobsmacked, then, it seemed she was going to reflected on it and concluded: -As you like, Mr. Stilton, she’ll sign the contract then, but..., by the way, there is still another detail...., a request... The new assistant wants to get paid three months in advance as a guarantee to avoid going to the competence, because she has said that she has received a lot of offers. I could afford to tell her that a mouse in your position would never accept, but she compelled me to tell you! Therefore, what are you going to do, you’ll also sign the payment in advance or are you going to deny?

Mess at the restaurant Marcos is on vacation. He’s visiting his grandparents who run a restaurant. It’s great because Marcos can eat at the restaurant every day and chooses what he likes the most from the menu. Today, he’s going to eat chicken with fries and some lemonade as a drink. There is some ice-cream as a dessert. There is no activity at his grandparent’s restaurant. There are just a couple of guests. Apart from him, there is another client in the restaurant – an old lady. She just finishes asking the bill while still has her coffee. Marco’s grandpa who is the waiter takes the bill from the cash register and brings it on a tray where is also the ice-cream for Marcos. Suddenly, a loud cry is heard from the kitchen. Then, the cat runs around in the restaurant. Later, the cook runs after it. Oh no! The cat has stolen a fish and it is heading to the main door of the restaurant. The cook who was going to cook the fish pursues angrily the cat. Luckily, ‘the cat feels like eating fish and not chicken’ Marcos is thinking.