Thursday, April 22, 2004

Death & Pain

I hope nobody is offended by my thoughts on death so here goes. In the last day, my younger brother broke is right wrist after falling on it, just found out that my grandmother broke her wrist (she's 86ish), a girl was found dead on the campus where my sister is going to college, and the pain of the lost of a friends aunt keeps lingering in the way deaths always do. I'm always reminded in the spring of my cousin's death a month after Ciuapilli was born, and of the abrupted halt to our first baby almost 3 years ago. So much changes so fast, but it stays the same... Contradictory but true. One of these is death itself, we can run all our lives from it but sadly we are all mortal, you, me, my daughter, wife everyone we love and hate will die. I don't say this sadistically or happily but just to explain how death seems like one of those things that you either embrace (in a very human way) or completely ignore and reject (like only humans can do) and to varying degrees do both. I personally try to embrace it although the pain the emptiness and the despair that comes with it is nothing you can learn to accept or blow off like nothing. But with the growth of our human brothers and sisters more and more the loss of life becomes so great but so negligible that mere numbers from foreign or even semi-distant places is brushed off like the TV after the news. More and more the death of every single person will sting less because of the sheer size of our world but for those whom shared in the lives of those that die the pain will forever sting the bleeding heart.

-for renee

El Gran Silencio!!!

I was just informed that my favoritist Band in the world will be in Phoenix on Jun 12th... AHH!!!!!!! I'm bouncing in my chair!! this is so great... they are like the coolest Spanish band in the world. Just check out this art from there webpage... Anyways if anyone wants to blog on here not just about me but to add to the discussion then just drop a comment or email. Oh of special request would be to name a band you love and a song that you enjoy... share the music.

Earth Day

I honor of the day United States people honor our mother Earth, I would like to throw out my ideas for fixing our environment. First off is to mandate double the mpg for all cars to be a min. of 35 city. if not you pay 10k extra for your car which would offset the increase in the new technologies prices in new cars (hybrid, fuel cell, whatever). Secondly, get the government into the recylcing business, mostly because most commercial places still haven't taken off or don't have enough junk to turn a profit and whom do we turn to when there is a service that we need that won't necessarily make money, yup Tio Sam. An added benefit would be a new manufacturing government job for unskilled people to go through the garbage. Lastly, make zoning moratoriums for housing. Do this in such a way that houses in suburban areas are only built for one year then are halted. The intent is to slow the spread of sprawl and to force people to consider improving urban and multi-level housing. Granted all these things are not popular and would probably have there own crappy ramifications, like higher prices (which blows for us poor folk) but the benefits would last longer than most of our family names. That something to consider.

Wednesday, April 21, 2004

Confessions

One of the reasons I started this blog was to be able to organize my thoughts through the typed word. Having been out of school for 2 years now feels like an eternity most likely because of the baby. But I feel like I need an outlet for the non-baby, non-marriage, non-family life that I think I have. Most of that involves Chicano politics as I see it, the emergence of a minority majority, and lots of stuff that effects people of color. Lots of this will be things I hope people are thinking about but understand that through the rigors of daily life most people can't.

Secondly, I would enjoy having my friends comment and add to my blog because as I can attest to through my years at Yale and in life, friends make it all a bit more bearable and sometimes help unclog the dams of information just waiting to flow from our minds. My intermost circle is a group of a few Chicanos and mostly Chicanas (plus one Chicana-Rican, and Amy my MEXi-Native) from originally the Class of 2002 which we called O'Duece mostly because yelling 02 at parties was well not good enough for our class. After that is my Yale people outside of my class which is mostly my MEChA Mechistas and people affiliated with them, all cool people. Some of my blogs my be just commenting on how my friends are doing and what I think of them (in a non-gossip way).

Thirdly, and hopefully not for too long I will blog about the trials and tribulations of writing a senior essay (thesis) two year after "graduating" and with a family while living with in-laws. I will try and not use this an escape or procrastination tool but much rather a kinda public diary that will force me do what I say will.

OK, so for my first entry I would like to confess that I failed my federal securities test on Monday by one answer. This is crappy because I need to pass this test so I can make money being a Financial Advisor, so now I have to wait 30 day to take a really simple test I completely blew. Well it better this way because now I can focus on writing my essay, in the mean time. So that's what I'm doing, plus taking care of my beautiful 2.4 year old and still getting settled in after moving back in with in-laws. Lastly, I will try and write at least once a day unless some crazy Bush lead thing goes wrong and I want to make some sense of it. Haste luego.

Tuesday, April 20, 2004

Quicky

Just a quicky for right now... IMing with sister and friends who eat lots of gummybears (yes Alex that means you) and am about to go pick up my wife at work. If you want to post anything please comment and I will make sure it gets on the Blog.

oh don't for get its High Times today... 4.20

Raza Time

Welcome one and all to my first Blog. Been lurking around the Blogshpere and decided to give it a try, beside getting tired of emailing all the blogs that have points of view I just can't stand. Now I begin to find some of my voice I hope. Don't forget that we are all human and very prone to mistakes and changes of hearts. I do promise to always speak from my true voice, but will also try to listen to reason if I go a bit too far into my own voice. This voice by the way is distincly Chicano which are terrible absent in this medium, except for car related stuff.

Paz, Amor y que Viva la Raza

4.20 - Pass the word to the left hand side...