Monthly Archives: April 2009
And this is NIOSA
| April 30, 2009 | Posted by Angela under Local Places & Events |
You either hate or love Fiesta. As a San Antonio native and one that enjoys celebrating San Antonio, I love Fiesta. San Antonio puts together an 11 day celebration filled with over 100 events.
Fiesta really is one of America’s truly great festivals. It began as a way to honor the memory of the heroes of the Alamo and the Battle of San Jacinto.
NIOSA (Night in Old San Antonio) is one of my favorite events. It is an evening of food and drinks in La Villita (heart of San Antonio). It is open from 5:30pm to 10:30pm Tuesday through Friday. Various areas represent different cultures, serving their respective foods such as German, Italian and Asian. I go to taste different foods, have a few beers and visit with family and old friends. It is quite an adventure and not for everyone. It does get crowded in some areas. Here is a clip of an area that got really crowded.
And then of course, NIOSA brings the best out in my parents. It’s really hard to out do this couple.
San Antonio can be LAME
| April 22, 2009 | Posted by Angela under Why I like San Antonio |
San Antonio has a tag line “Keep San Antonio Lame.” I knew that it was created in response to Austin’s “Keep Austin Weird” but didn’t know the fully story. I was reading the SA Current Blog and finally discovered it’s roots:
San Antonio visual artist Aaron Forland, contributing writer to emvergeoning.com (billed as “America’s most difficult art blog”) and co-conspirator with Justin Parr at emerging-artist hotspot Fl¡ght Gallery, originated “Keep San Antonio Lame” as a catchphrase in 2004, partially in satiric response to Austin’s “Keep Austin Weird” sub-culti PR blitz. It’s a pretty telling comment on San Antonio’s self-image: We think of ourselves as significantly less, well, cool than Austin. Austin’s middle-class, educated, indie, hip, self-aware. SATX is much poorer and way more old-fashioned. We love metal and the accordion, and could largely give a shit about trends if we even know about them. You know: “lame.”
I find this to be hilarious and very true. Don’t get me wrong, I love my city but I am the first to admit that San Antonio can be very lame. People consider us to be “old school” or late adapters, but what if we don’t want to adapt? I think San Antonians are perfectly contempt with the way we are and quite frankly, most probably don’t know we have this rep and if they did know, wouldn’t care. We’re not Austin and don’t want to be. Austin is a great a city but it’s unfair to compare cities because every city has something different to offer. Let’s keep San Antonio LAME people – it gives us something to work toward!
It’s been a year already
| April 20, 2009 | Posted by Angela under Family Stuff |
Today marks our first year wedding anniversary. It’s hard to believe. I guess time flies when you are in love (haha, cheesy but true).
Jason surprised me with tickets to the first Spurs playoff game of 2009…and we lost. The Spurs just couldn’t execute come the second half. We had a blast anyways. It brought back memories of when Jason and I used to have Spurs season tickets for 2005 and 2006. We went to almost every game. We were there when we won the championship against the Detroit Pistons – unbelievable experience.
Jason and I have known each for for 5 years now. Seems so long ago but we are still learning about each other and growing closer everyday. Though we have many memories to reflect on, we have many more to come.
I think we fell in love really quickly meaning our hearts were there but maybe not our heads entirely. It took some time understand the magnitude of marriage- it’s a serious commitment and not to be taken lightly. If there is any advice I can give to women that want to get married, I want to first emphasize the following:
Do what you need to do on your own. Whether you need to finish college, take a trip to a far fetched destination or start your career. Whatever it is, do it. The love of your life will still be there if it is meant to be.
This is so important because you never want to feel like you can’t do something because you are married. That’s not fair to you nor your husband.
Also, when you get married, that doesn’t mean that you stop focusing on your personal growth and setting personal goals. You still need to do things for yourself. The difference? You can’t just think about yourself but you have to consider your husband’s thoughts as well. For example, if I wanted a job in San Francisco, I can’t just pick up and leave. We have to discuss what makes sense for both of us. It’s all about compromise.
The difference between dating and being married:
- If you get an argument, you can’t just pick up and leave. You really have to work things out.
- Finances! Your money is his money and vice versa (even if you have separate checking accounts, doesn’t matter)
- WE – it’s all about the we. You are now sharing your journey through life (it’s not just about you)
We have had a really wonderful first year of being married. We are sharing adventures that I wouldn’t have imagined 6 years ago. Dreams do come true, my friends.
Please know that I am highly aware that marriage is not all sweet and dandy. I know that 20 years from now, I am sure a blog post about our 20 years of marriage will be a bit different than this one.
No matter what, remember why you got married. Mine? I love to see Jason smile.
CNN iReport selected my photos!
| April 10, 2009 | Posted by Angela under My Travel Adventures |
I was reading the CNN Travel section and noticed that they were doing a special on Vatican City. They were asking for people to submit their photos of Vatican City and tell their stories. Being that we just returned from Vatican City, I thought I’d submit a few photos. A few days later, I received an email from a CNN reporter letting me know that they were considering my photos for their final selection. They sent me a few interview questions and I replied with my answers. I also told my story of how I was by myself when I took these photos because it was the day Jason had to go to Florence to retrieve our passports. At least he knew I was really there !
The final 9 were chosen and posted on the main CNN Travel Section. 2 of them were mine! You can check it out here.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TRAVEL/getaways/04/10/travel.snaps.vatican/index.html
It is the one in middle right and bottom left. Posted below are the photos with my quotes:
It cost Ramirez-Bartels 7 euros (and many calories!) to climb to the top of the St. Peter’s Basilica dome, but it was worth it. “I was able to oversee Vatican City. It was truly beautiful.”
Angela Ramirez-Bartels found the interior of St. Peter’s Basilica the best part of Vatican City. “The interior of St. Peter’s really and truly took my breath away. The massiveness, the sparkling floors, the shiny statues, and the paintings — all of this was so hard to appreciate in just one sitting.”
Do I really need Twitter in my already full social networking life?
| April 9, 2009 | Posted by Angela under Business & Technology |
I think I hear Twitter more often then I hear the word Google nowadays. Did you Twitter it? instead of Did you Google it? Remember in speech class when your professor would count the number of “um’s” you would say and knock off points from your grade respectively? It would be interesting to track down the number of times we say “Twitter” everyday. Twitter has been mentioned in the news more often and it’s hard not to wonder, what the heck is Twitter and why do I need it?
Let’s take a step back and talk about social networking in general.
I happen to work in the IT Hosting industry, for PEER 1 specifically, and we speak Geek. We are constantly updated on the latest technology and latest internet trends. In some cases, these are our clients (YouTube, WordPress, GreenPatch) so it’s hard not to notice, and in other cases we use social networking to connect to clients. We are consumed by the Internet because quite simply, we run that **it.
I have to admit, when MySpace came out, I didn’t embrace it. I didn’t understand the purpose. Why do I want to post my favorite TV shows or what my salary is? Does anyone care? And if they do, does that make them my friend? I just didn’t get it.
As social networking has evolved, there are now multiple avenues for you to take. This is what I use and why:
Flickr – Share my photos. I love taking photos (recreational purposes) and enjoy sharing my photos with others.
LinkedIn- A must have for a business professionals. In my opinion, it replaces business cards.
WordPress – I blog because I enjoy writing. I find it to be therapeutic. If people happen to enjoy it my posts, awesome!
Facebook – Connect to family, friends, and colleagues geographically disbursed. Rule of thumb: Keep it simple and only accept people that you will say hi to at a restaurant.
Twitter - I find Twitter to be a way of sharing your thoughts, ideas, opinions, valuable information so that you can inspire, empower, educate or motivate others – in 40 characters or less. And you get the same in return.
Wow, that sounds like a lot of work. Actually, not really.
I have always taken photos. I have always uploaded them to my computer. Now I just take one simple step and upload them to Flickr to share with my family, friends, and other photography enthusiasts.
For LinkedIn, you only really update this profile when you change positions or companies. Same reason when you change your business card.
I try to blog when I can. I have always loved to write and have kept personal journals, now I just keep it on all on my computer and publish entries to my SAFUN blog that I think others might enjoy.
Then Facebook is my hub. Flickr, SAFUN (my blog) and Twitter all feed into my Facebook account.
So what’s this Twitter thing again?
The definition Twitter gives is:
Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?
Twitter actually saves a lot of time, depending on what you use it for. You are able to connect to tons of people in one simple “tweet” (140 characters or less). Rather than sending a mass email, a mass text or going to all your favorite websites to find updates, or visiting forums – Twitter is a one stop shop for all of this.
It did take me a while to understand it and embrace it. The thing about Twitter is that they really left it up to the users to figure out what Twitter is for within these simple limitations:
- Tweets can only be 140 characters or less
- You can follow whomever you want
- Whomever can follow you if you have a public profile (you can make it private if you wish)
People might say, well I don’t care when “so and so” is going to the bathroom. Well, don’t follow them then! You are in control of who you want to follow.
I follow a variety of people from locals VisitSanAntonio, MySA, SACurrent and even local reporters so I can find news out before it hits the new stations. I have found out about so many cool local San Antonians doing great things such as Jennifer Navarrete, Sam Lerma, Nan Palmero. I would have never found out about these cool individuals until Twitter. I also follow people and companies within my industry. I follow our President and First Lady Obama! What better way to get real time information on what our government is doing? oh and what Michelle is wearing 
I follow to get information, to get inspired and to have a few laughs in between.
The other question is, do you need Twitter? Well, that is up to you to decide. You can choose to follow a bunch of people but you might wander, what do I have to say to others? Do they really care? You’d be surprised. The power of the people is enormous. I truly believe that there are more good people in the world than bad. If we can join forces together and connect to more people and share positive messages, I believe the world would take a turn for the better. It sounds cheesy but that’s what I truly believe.
Tony, CEO of Zappos, is one of the most followed on Twitter and was an early adapter. I think he wrote the best article on why he uses Twitter. Here is an excerpt but please read the entire thing if you are interested:
I know it can be overwhelming. I just think that as new forms of communication come along, they will replace old forms. And if you choose not to embrace Twitter or other forms of communication, I don’t think it’s any shame on you. Quite honestly, I’d prefer to spend more hours in the park on a sunny day then on my computer. The way you balance your life is your choice. But remember, if something great happened in your life or if you learned something new, share it. People need to hear all the goodness that happens so they can see light at the end of the tunnel. Even if it’s simply telling others that your kid just hit a home run at his Little League game but ran from 3rd to the dug out instead of home. It’s the little things that move us the furthest.
If I made someone smile, laugh, or even allow them to think about their own thoughts – I have done my job.
Here are some of my “Tweets”
Our Product mgr just passed by me with 3 bottles of wine in his hands. He says “It’s not what it looks like.”
Making Tilapia. Couldn’t find the Thyme. @jbartels says “just look at your watch” – So silly but we couldn’t stop laughing.
Why pray and wish for world peace if you are not willing to make peace with your neighbor?
Just had Pop Rocks for the first time – I didn’t know they actually popped in your mouth! The office found this to be very amusing.
Sometimes you don’t realize you are on a journey until you look behind you.
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