Writting a journal I am reading a book of a Spanish author. It is a resume of a journal he has written throughout his life. It is not a regular journal, as he doesn't include any date, except for the year. The names of his familly and colleagues is erased, he only writtes the initial of their names. But sometimes, as he was born close from where I live, and mainly when he writtes about other writters, it is easy to know who he is talking about. I like his journal a lot because he is a man that has read a lot in his life, so he talks about literature and mentions many famous quotes. He also owns a cat named Borges which is a very funny animal and it is clear he loves him a lot.

Do you get on well with your collegues? Getting on well with your collegues at work is such an important thing! We spend a lot of hours there, so we should make this time as nice and pleasant as possible. Having said that, I don't think it is a good option to be best friends with your colleagues and, mainly, with your boss. I have seen too many nasty situations involving people who thought their bosses were their best friends and totally shocked and unable of getting on when being fired. It is so important to stablish a line between work and friendship!

Discovering David Foster Wallace Today I have finished reading my second book written by David Foster Wallace: A supposedly fun thing I'll never do again. This essay is based on his experience on a cruise during a seven day holiday trip. I am already reading a third one, so it seems this will be a one-author year. Wallace has a really amusing style, very ironic and fluid, but he can also be very hard going and too much meticulous, so there were sometimes when I needed to take a break and read something less "intense". I was sorry when I discovered that he commited suicide being so young –not that being older would have been best, of course–. I thing he could have written great books. If you haven't read any of his books, you can find on YouTube a speech he gave on 2009 callled "This is water". It is a relly good speech about the importance of being concious of your decisions.

Moving by subway in Bilbao The subway in Bilbao was constructed in 1995. There were many people against spending citizens' money on this because Bilbao is quite a small city, with a population not bigger than 350.000 pax, more or less. In addition, it has a good public transport system, that includes short and long distance trains, buses, taxis, a cable car, etc. The subway has just two lines, that share the same walk in the middle of the city. In fact, it can only be considered a subway at the area including the center of Bilbao and the nearest towns because from there on it is sky-opened. The subway resulted to be a success. In 2012, more than 87 million people took it. As a result, the pollution in Bilbao decreased, as many people decided to leave their cars at home.

Leaving tips In Spain leaving tips is not obligatory in bars and restaurants. In fact we usually leave tips just in high priced restaurants or if the service has been very good. We never include that in the bill, it is something the client does because he wants to and nobody will hold you in contempt if you decide not to leave anything. As it is not included in the bill, the tip is payed in cash. The more usual is to leave some coins after the bill has been payed, just before going away. I totally disagree with including the tip in the bill. First of all, because I think that happens because the manager doesn't pay enough to his employees and therefore he does pay not enough taxes for hiring them. The client should not be the solution to a bad and excessive employing system. And the second reason is: why should I pay more if the service has been bad? Should I encourage the service to keep going that bad by paying them a money they don't deserve? I don't think so.

Puppy, our guardian dog When the Guggenheim Museum of Bilbao was opened in 1997, one of the things that fascinated the most the visitants was Puppy. Puppy is a very, very big statue of a dog made of flowers with its own watering system. It was designed by Jeff Koons who tried to mix popular and elite cultures. This little puppy was soon adopted by Bilbao citizens. It was supposed to stay just for some months but at the end the museum and the artist reached an agreement and Puppy will be forever greeting everybody who wants to visit the museum. Of course, if you don't want to visit it you can see Puppy too, as he stands outside. Twice a year the flowers are changed: in autum and hiver their colour is more dark, and in printemps and summer it looks much happier. I don't know anyone who doesn't like it.

World book day Today is the World Book day. This day has its origin in Spain and more specifically in Catalonia where book sellers decided to honour Miguel de Cervantes in the day of his death. It is also the day Shakespeare and many other writers died. In Spain, the publishers will sell about 3 - 8% of their annual sales. But that doesn't mean that people will read more, it's just that they will have another book in their selves. As I read all through the year, I don't feel specially concerned about World book day. I will just buy a book I already wanted if there is any special offer.

Working on my blog Now I have two blogs. One of them is just a list of all the movies I watch on the theater or at home. I just write two or three remarkable things I have found when watching them, so it doesn't take me many time. The other one is my personal project. I write twice a week: on Tursdays, I publish a short story; and on Fridays I publish a review of a book I have read. Sometimes, if I have the opportunity to go to any interesting event about literature, I write about it. But in my city that doesn't take place often. I would love to be able to assist to more writters' conferences, but I would have to move to Madrid or Barcelona for that.

Mindful diet Last year I visited a nutritionist because my husband wanted to loss weight. She proposed us to improve our eating habits and, at the end, my husband lost fifteen kilos and I lost almost ten. But one year later I have gained again five ot those kilos. One of the problems is that I cand hardly adapt myself to eat just three times a day. I don't feel like having a strong breakfast and I therefore need some additional meal at midday, something that is against what the nutritionist says. I am trying hard not to eat anything, but it makes me anxious. I am thinking about visiting another specialist who can propose me something better addapted to my life style.