New Year’s Resolutions… That I intend on acting upon

Posted on by anele25

You can’t party your life away
Drink your life away
Smoke your life away
Fuck your life away
Dream your life away
Scheme your life away
Cause your seeds grow up the same way

-Wu Tang Clan on “A Better Tomorrow”

This year has been pretty nice to me so far as at this time of the year, I usually run really low on money due to the backlash of Christmas. However, I’ve been wise to at least keep a good amount in savings and also in checking and I should be allright for the next week or so. Everyday of the new year I check if I’ve done something positive that day and pretty much I’ve done my best to do so. Along with doing that, I also have some new years resolutions, some of which are possible and some of which are personal goals for myself. Here they are (in no particular order)

1. Lose 15 (or more) pounds

This one is attainable and yet I have found that a combination of eating out less and spending money to cook something decent is more worthwhile than spending to eat out. I used to eat out quite a bit in the 1st half of the year due to a former friend of mine and myself eating out 4 or 5 times a week. I found that my weight bellied up so to speak and ever since we stopped taking classes together I cut it down to not eat out more than twice a week. Last year I was in the 250’s for my weight and I got it down to the high 230’s which is very good for my standards as I believe that I lost a good 15 pounds since last year. A lot of that is a combination of smaller portions and not criticizing myself if I do eat so much. If you keep calling yourself fat and you really aren’t, but you make the effort to work out or exercise then you shouldn’t be too hard on yourself. I believe that going to the gym and working out at least 3 or 4 times has helped me realize that my weight sometimes stays the same but after I’m exhausted from working out, I feel positive and willing to do it again the next day or the day after. I have lost weight and I will continue to do so as I feel that a few trips to the gym within the next few weeks will help me on the pathway to lose at least some weight.I know I can do it!

2. Find a new job at least by the end of the year:

This one has been bugging me for some time but I feel that it is time to actually start a job search. Sometimes, I may get a bit lazy after school or even after my actual job but if the right opportunity arises then I’ll apply for that job. I got a new app on my IPOD Touch a month or so ago that lists jobs in my area and every 3 or 4 days I’ll look at the first few pages to see if there is anything that applies to me. I haven’t been able to find anything as most of the jobs require a higher degree of learning yet I have stumbled upon openings for whole foods and Microcenter but I have yet to apply. My number one problem is procrastination sometimes and I feel that putting off a job search till later in the year will only hurt me even more. If I start looking early and often and I start applying anywhere I can I’m bound to be accepted by a job which is my goal. The current job I have is working at the Big Red Machine and I feel good having to work in the Market area yet I see much more opportunity for growth inside me. I’ve grown to appreciate having a job because I’m working to stay alive in an economy where retail workers are treated like dirt by there supervisors and there customers. I’ve learned that talking to your superiors is really not that difficult and all they want is a straight answer and they won’t say a thing to you and customers will only ruin your day if you want them to ruin your day as it is our job to provide some service to them. I can grow even more so than I have there and no job really “needs ” as this is a business driven country with an emphasis on how many “bodies” can do a job. Hopefully, I can do it and as soon as I see something I like I’ll apply.

3. Find a way to wrap up at De Anza College:

I’ve been going to De Anza for 4 plus years now and it has been fun and other times not so much. I can say that I’ve enjoyed my time thoroughly there and I’ve met some great professors and also a few people that I had a lot in common with. I’ve amassed about 140 or so credits and all I need to finish up there is to complete my Math portion of De Anza. I took math before and it was pretty simple passing with flying colors the two levels before Intermediate. However, I registered for that math right before I got hired by the Big Red Machine and I had to drop it because the first test was on one of the 1st days I worked there so inevitably I had to drop it. I enjoyed having the professor for the first few weeks I had him and ever since then I went on rate my professor and read the reviews for math teachers at De Anza and some of them seem either really hard and strict or just want things done there way. I fear that I may have to take Math at Foothill  just to make up for that because I do hear from other students that there professors are much better or even at one close to home Mission College. However, after looking through at the list of classes I need all I need is math and maybe a few others and I’ll be good to go. I’ve already taken my science, English, Social sciences, Arts, Critical thinking, and all I need now is Math. Math was always difficult for me to pass and I sometimes asked for extra help in high school but I was afraid that doing a problem wrong would lead to my downfall. But, I’ve been telling myself that I shouldn’t be afraid of anything and if I need help then I should take extra measures to ask a friend or ask the professor. I’ve learned a lot from going to community college and the next step is finishing it.

4. Elimination Chamber in Oakland California:

I’m very excited for this event that WWE plans to bring to Oakland in February because I’ve seen TV’s and house shows done hear as I’ve only been to one other pay per view but I think this one is going to be a lot more special. For one, I understand that WWE is trying to establish a “youth movement” with guys like  Wade Barrett, Sheamus, Jack Swagger, Daniel Bryan, Randy Orton, Dolph Ziggler, the Miz, and one of my new favorite wrestlers Alberto Del Rio. I think it’ll be interesting how this plays out on an event where the lead up to Wrestlemania has to be done well and without a substantial amount of veterans to get the young guys’ ability over, it’ll be even harder. I’ve enjoyed some of what they’ve done with the young guys and they keep impressing me more and more every week. Second, I plan on going with my Brother who I enjoy having with me as we share so much about wrestling angles and storylines as we always laugh about the good ones and bad ones. I myself am more of the wrestling type who goes for the wrestling ability of the wrestlers as these guys have to work just as hard as a professional athlete. I’m amazed whenever these guys either put on a wrestling clinic or just go out there and put on a story, like a gripping Hollywood film with dramatic scenes that grab you by the heart. All I know is that this will sure open eyes and ears to how they are operating their business and how it’ll do in the future.

5. Take more long walks:

Last year, I took a few long walks, two of them with a buddy of mine and the last time one of my friends decided he would join us. I enjoyed all three of them substantially and the best one was the first one. I liked the other two as well but the first one felt original and it was something I’m glad I did. If nothing more, I was there to be a boombox for the personal issues my buddy was going through. Taking these made me realize that people are strangers and we all have our secrets that we wish to keep to ourselves sometimes. I myself never realized that till we had taken those walks and there was some things I was surprised to hear myself saying to my friend and my buddy. I told my buddy things I rarely tell anyone else and I gave him my take on the situation that he was going through and he let out what led to the way the situation was being handled. I did my best to be there for him and I always say no regrets. The other two times were good too but I wouldn’t say they were great. I want to duplicate the original walk with the friend that joined us for the last walk because I feel that there is so much more that can be said between us as over the last 6 months or so we’ve gotten to know each other a bit more than I would have thought we would. This time however, I want to bring a camera to take some pictures as the trail of Los Gatos is wonderful to seek out and hopefully we can talk even more so than before. Hope to do it this year my friend!

6. Spend money (more) wisely

I’ve had this problem of overspending and most of it is sometimes on food. Well, I made a resolution to cut down on spending on food and the same can be said for other things as well. I sometimes spend money on wrestling DVD’s and I buy them as soon as they come out but I ask myself why buy every single major one that comes out? I tell myself now that I only want those that will mean something in the end. I also feel I can do better in terms of spending on gas and movies and CD’s. I can rent the movies from Netflix and if there is a show I like I can buy it in DVD from Amazon as there are prices are very reasonable compared to the retail stores prices. All in all, the most important thing to remember is to save, save, save. The best advice I got from my mom and a few of my heroes, was that I had to save and if there came a time when I had to use it, then use it. Money talks in America and we all pay that price.

7. Continue to fill up my IPOD:

I love doing this when I have that time to look through our extensive music collection and see what I could add. Right now I’m about 200 songs away from approaching 2000 which I couldn’t even imagine. Before, I thought only the music I listened to was the only that mattered but I branched out and discovered a vast array of artists. I will continue to discover new artists and probably new music because i want this IPOD to describe who I am and if I have the chance I want to one day have the ones closest to me listen to it or whenever I may have an immediate family. I hope I can continue to discover new music and also listen to some I may have forgotten about.

8. Building up my relationships with my brother, mom, and dad (again)

The last two years have been pretty strange for my family and I. We hardly ever have the chance to actually talk about the positive things in life because I hear my mom talking about how her foot hurts or how she is tired from working and this year I’ve made an effort to help her a bit more cleaning the house and helping her cook a little. I also take more responsibility for our dog Paloma as our brother was the one that took care of her in terms of food or her annual shots and also her grooming appointments. Well, I was the one that made the effort to at least make her my own and so far I’ve been doing a good job keeping her clean and making sure she is fed. Hopefully, the relationship with my dad improves as well because I know from seeing how much he is aging and how in a few years, I’ll have my own life, we probably won’t have as much time to talk as we would have in the past. I had a good relationship with them before this last year but I think money and bills stress them so much, they don’t look at the bigger picture. I have to be a good son to them and be even more obedient than I would like to be for myself. Sometimes, you feel you have to be right, but in this case, our egos and our wants need to be set aside to help each other out in the long run. Part of the reason we didn’t have that good of a relationship was because I was spending less time at home and I acknowledge that now I can do a better job, and every day I try to be as positive with them as I can be. Lastly, my brother is a great guy that I have only reached the bottom of the surface with. Before I started making my own money, he would pay for so many things on behalf of me that I would feel gracious and courteous to one day do the same for him. Yes, he can be an annoying drunk who is quiet and makes crude comments sometimes but I always defend him if I feel he is doing no harm to other people. I let him have his fun because I know him being a dad now that he has share of things to take care of. He has to deal with a wife that I have no problem with but being in a relationship is no easy task and I try my best to be a good brother to him. Yeah, we joke about wrestling, sports, cheesy 80’s movies, and fantasy football,  but in the end we’re brothers that help each other out.

9. Go to more A’s games

I love the A’s and I will never abandon this team. Hopefully, after a little time away from the Coliseum I can catch a few games in 2011 with an upgraded offense and a solid pitching staff. Go A’s in 2011!

10. Continue being a good “teacher” to new people I meet

No matter how you put it, I enjoy meeting new people at work or at school. Part of the reason is because I want to see where there at in terms of life and how they’re doing. Last year, I met a few ne people at work and at school and it was great getting to know them and their life experiences. I taught them a few things and they taught me a few things. The most important part is being able to understand that generally people like feedback but as long as they keep one or even two things you have shown them, all will be well. I was able to be more comfortable in meeting new people because I wasn’t afraid to understand them even more deeply. There was some people I got to know on an even deeper level and I enjoyed hearing how they are and I had it in my head for a while that this person or those people are like that just because. Hopefully, I can continue to build on this momentum because a good friend once told me that I can make friends easily if I wanted to. I realized that is something I have inside me and I just have to branch out of my shyness and be who I am.

Well, there you have it,

Happy 2011

I’ll miss this show:

On the 3rd of Janurary 2011…

Posted on by anele25

If you just can’t find
Someone to trust
When you give your heart
But you don’t get much
Don’t you worry
Your time is gonna come
Ohh yeah
Well the world’s a school
So much to learn
So learn it well young man
Well the world’s a stage some act to fool

-Roll with it by the Backstreet Boys

The first day of school. Sometimes, it’s like getting ready to go to war and other times it’s like getting to take a stroll in the park and sometimes it’s a little of both. Well, yesterday I had a little of both because over the well deserved winter break I slept quite a bit to the point that I got my usual 8 hours instead of 6. It was back to 6 yesterday because I had a hard time falling asleep after catching up on some episodes of Weeds and I just kept thinking of what new adventures awaited me at De Anza College. I tried to listen to some calming music but it didn’t work but I finally went to sleep at around 2 that morning. I got up around 8:15 that morning to take my dog on her walk which give or take can go from 15 or 20 minutes on a usual morning. After I had finished her walk I got ready for school and I tried getting there early so I can take a walk around campus to find my classes to make sure I didn’t get lost. The most difficult one to find is one in a trailer that is by the tennis courts which wasn’t easy to find but it wasn’t hard either. After that I went to my first class which was Colonial Latin American History which is taught by a professor that I respect for the sharing of his personal life and he also puts a real life emphasis on how history connects to life and what is happening around us. I was amazed at the vast amount of stuff he told us about how he stole this lady’s phone number yet he didn’t know he did as there was some sort of mix up with the phone company and what not. He also happened to take a phone call in the middle of class due to his insurance company calling to ask about how his liability problem is being handled by the DMV which is just weird and dumb according to him. I realized days before sitting in that classroom that I don’t know everything in the world nor should it be my intention to do so. Some people say it is “experience” that educates you but in my honest opinion I believe that reading a book and hearing other’s stories helps you constantly learn and it helps to build you up. Hearing this professor speak about Latin American history and what we are going to cover in the course helped me realize that just because I’m Mexican and I hear Mexican music, that doesn’t give me the right to automatically say that I know my people and I stand by what they are. I want to know more and if I keep learning at my young age, I’ll be able to understand who I am as a person and as apart of my culture. It’s interesting to note that while I was sitting there that my next class, Cultural Anthropology, is kind of along the same lines but along a different context. Our professor, this time a woman introduced us to the course and went over what it was that our culture taught us about ourselves and how we function as human beings. I liked her talking about her own culture in that she was born in Korea and her parents found it very hard to keep her because where she grew up the value of a son was seen as a good thing. She gave me the impression that she enjoys talking about the study of Anthropology and she doesn’t sugarcoat it so that she is really not into it. She told us how she went to live with a tribe in Chile called Mapuche and hearing talk about them made us realize as a class that there is so much to be discovered out there and we as people are unaware as we carry on in our busy schedules. After that was said and done, I took a break till 1:30 which is when my Regional Geography class started. This is where it got interesting as both good thoughts came into my head and weird ones as well. I realized that the professor teaching the class was very keen on the point that Geography is something that is put under the section “Social Studies” in Elementary school and I thought she is right. I hardly remember ever taking map tests or having to memorize the 50 states of the U.S.A. except for in Middle school or high school which wasn’t so good the first time around in middle school but in high school I could have told you where Virginia was located exactly or even Maine. I also found it funny that one of the students was trying to make smart ass comments on the first day of class. Usually, you study these ones that make these comments and you think to yourself that they are trying to prove a point that is a lost cause or they are just trying to be funny. I usually just think they are trying to get noticed by the professor but all it takes is that and they’ll notice you. I also found it funny that her jokes weren’t funny yet she jokes that her jokes were only found funny by old people and that she enjoys the occasional geography student that always raises their hands. I liked that she went over how the idea of Geography actually may work as this makes it seem like a less complicated process as this is a class that I’m taking for requirement but I’m also interested in finding out about the locations I live in and what they are embedded in. I then noticed a classmate that looked really, and when I mean familiar, I mean I felt like I would never see this guy again. It was this guy that I went to high school with and I couldn’t fathom seeing him again because even though we were back to back classes for a year and that was the only year I ever saw him, I hoped I would never see him again. He just seemed like he had to be right about everything and he just seemed righteous in the abilities he had about proving people wrong and he also seemed disrespectful to our history teacher that year. Once I heard his name read for roll call, I couldn’t believe it was him and I was just kind of shocked but I will try my best to avoid the guy because he’ll probably not remember me but I’ll remember him. Speaking of roll call, it was interesting because she called our names and she wanted to know places we would have liked to have gone to. I heard Greece, Toronto, Moscow, Chile, Fiji, and even the very estranged Cuba. I thought wow, all those places sound awesome to go to one day and I hope one day I’ll be able to afford to go to some of these places. I ended up saying Calgary, Canada simply because I want to visit the famous Hart House of the wrestling family the Harts, if not just for some picture taking if they ever make it an attraction. After that was over, I waited a few hours before work and I realized that I should probably order my books and I did and this time I got them at a good baragin which was just under 100 dollars which is way better than previous year where I’ve spent 90 dollars just on one book. I watched the amazing Miz/ John Morrison match on Monday Night Raw and I felt satisfied enough to go to work after a good meal and some wrestling. As I was rolling up, I saw a co-worker that I hadn’t seen in some time. It had been about two weeks and it feels strange seeing him even now. He decided a few weeks ago that he was going to quit and I feel proud of him as he and I were did a lot of things together but sometimes friendships end up being like relationships in that you hold up your end of the bargain but the other person only cares about putting their interests first instead of their own. I don’t know what his goal would be if he is moving to Fairfield as he is entering a personal fitness trainer program there and I feel that he can offer other people so much more than he has in the past. I stated to him that he was going to miss me and I told him that I wasn’t. I told him that it was time to move on and branch off but he wasn’t buying it which I found strange and perplexing. I thought to myself, I’ve done pretty well for myself in stages of my life where I had to start over in a way. I remember when I moved or when I found my first job I thought it would be difficult to find new friends but I put my trust in some of them and we had our share of laughs and we joked around but we were still friends in the end. I do truly miss having not to work and hang with friends from high school as I found it easy to communicate with him and we were both very level headed. I sometimes say to myself that I have to keep at least one friend from each era of my life and I can honestly say I have and I will always have that mentality. From the big red machine, I can say that maybe at the most, I have kept two, one of whom no longer works there and one I consider to me more of a “Yoda” figure as he has fun with everybody but with me he treats me like his own and we always try to have a great time when we work together. Back when I lived in San Jose, I made two great friends and even though we don’t talk on a regular basis, I can say that if either of those two guys ever needs a friend I’ll be there for them as I remember seeing one of them a few months ago at De Anza and we chatted for a bit about life and what not, although I was kind of inconsiderate due to my “time” running low. I also kept some old buddies from my old apartments so that always works out as well. I just kept thinking to myself as this co-worker spoke to me that I couldn’t take someone like that seriously anymore. I think after this day that I am in a position to succeed in anything I want, it’s just i have to position myself in order to do so. I hope to accomplish many things this year as everything has a solution… Thank you and have a good evening.

Brainwashing…

Posted on by anele25

“His thoughts are whacked, he’s mad so he’s talkin’ back
Talkin’ black, brainwashed from rock and rap
He sags his pants, do-rags and a stocking cap”

-Eminem on Sing for the Moment

Brainwashing? What is it is exactly? I believe it is when you get others and yourself to think that something is right and there is nothing else that can disrupt that process.

I was having a conversation with a friend of mine the other day and he distinguished between two types of brainwashing. One of them being moral brainwashing and the other is unmoral brainwashing. I understood what he said but if I try to explaining it to others I just might end up confusing myself and my main point is that brainwashing is everywhere around us.

Believe it or not when you put on your headphones to listen to music you are choosing to brainwash yourself with thoughts about love, politics, situations, broken homes, violent men and women, and other things as well. I see this as a conscious decision by most of us to see what we want and how we want it. When I go to work and I hear about certain numbers dictate the number of hours you work, I don’t believe a word of it but this in fact is brainwashing as well. I don’t actually know the circumstances of how the number of hours works and if I tell myself that these numbers matter I’m telling myself that this in fact true. But how do I know it’s true? There are a great number of factors that go into this and I come to the conclusion that “it’s a business”. I also see it on TV as well when I was younger and now. I started watching the TV show “Weeds” a few days ago and it is both funny and ironic as well. The media tells me that women shouldn’t be working and they should just stay at home. However, watching this show I see that the opposite is true and it happens in illegal situations. The actress, Mary-Louise Parker, plays a mother who sells drugs and she does it somehow without getting caught at first. Once I started watching this show, I see how much drugs are a business for America yet no one takes it as bad or good at all. I also see it school as well as I grew up believing that Thanksgiving was a great holiday for us all. I remember watching a video in second grade about the Native Americans and the Pilgrims and how much they cherished each other’s food and drink. Yet, I found years later that the Native Americans were slaughtered with disease and death. I was brainwashed to believe certain things yet I didn’t know till my cognitive sense was still developing. One last sense is I see at home as well. When I go to my Aunt’s house and I see my cousin who is a few months pregnant, it shames me to see how much people may talk about her being the latest ‘cousin’ to be having a baby. I hear my mom and her sisters talk about how they need to take better care of there babies yet they don’t know what they may go through. Women these days have to be beautiful and men are either seen as kings or seen as nothing more than ordinary. I see this today and I’m brainwashed to believe this yet I try my best to not believe it fully.

Happy new year everybody and remember take care of each other

One year ago…On this date

Posted on by anele25

“Stay far from timid
Only make moves when ya heart’s in it
And live the phrase Sky’s The Limit”

-Notorious B.I.G. on “Sky’s the Limit”

December 30th 2009, I remember this date for a couple of reasons.

(1) It was a Wednesday and my one time friend C.J. and I would always try to hang out on Wednesday and we knew we had to end the year on a bang.

(2) I have a vivid image in my head of myself raking leaves and texting my good friend Rick while he was work asking if I was going to the famous “Dave and Buster’s” here in the Bay Area.

and #3

We had a small reunion of “Big Red Machine” employees (current and former) at Dave Buster’s, which believe it or not probably was just about timing.

I remember on this one time adventure, my buddy C.J., was out with foot tendinitis and he wasn’t in the best of conditions to move around so I was sympathetic to his cause. I remember a little after myself and Rick were texting each other, I felt the wanting of getting us three back together to hanging out once again. I enjoyed the company of both of them and I especially wanted Rick there because he was and is an all around great friend. So, as I’m sitting at home anticipating reading about the wrestling rumors, I get a text from Rick asking if we were doing anything later that night and I replied that we were thinking of hitting up Dave and Buster’s. I went outside sometime afterward and started raking leaves. It was a little chilly but I got through it by being warmed up with a heavy sweater and a beanie. I remember waiting for my friend Rick to text me back about what the plan was and I was excited because the year had been so up and down in terms of work, school, and life. He told me that he was off at seven and I told him we could do him the favor (meaning myself and C.J.) of picking him up from work. He worked at a local mall and C.J. lived really close to the mall so it was really convenient for everybody. I waited anxiously to see if C.J. would come through and join us as well and low and behold he called me at about 5 P.M. that day and I told him that Rick was “free” and “back”. I sounded gitty and excited from what my voice was saying over the telephone, yet I knew that I was justified in what I was saying. These two got to know me and I got to know them which felt better than ever because each stage of my life I have found that I find new friends that I can share things with. Some I have kept, others I don’t ever hear from again for various reasons. As I went to pick up my mom, I got a call from Rick and he to was waiting for what was to come so I told him what was going on. I waited till seven so that we can all go together but Rick let me know just as I was getting closer to C.J.’s house that he was going to stay to work for another hour or so and he would meet us there at Dave and Buster’s. I felt a bit disappointed but I felt that as long as he went everything would be cool. I picked up C.J. and I told him the sort of shocking news but on the way there we just discussed football, which at that point in time took up a majority of our conversations. I was excited that my year was coming to this sort of end and it was almost like it was meant to be as I was trying to look my best with a green sweater and Lee jeans. We went around playing monopoly, the fishing game, and a few arcades till rick got there. I waited till he got there and I was a little anxious as he was nowhere to be seen for close to an hour. I finally spotted him passing by with his girlfriend. I didn’t think that he would be coming with her but I didn’t mind that he did so because he was trying to provide a comfortable setting for himself. I started chatting with him a bit but it felt out of place because it was so loud with so many people there just chatting away about nothing. He and I always used to have a running gag whereby one of us or both of us would tell each other that we needed to talk, which depending on the circumstances, would be serious or not serious. He told me that he needed to talk and I didn’t take him that serious yet I understood if he really did want to talk. We went around a little bit passing by all the games and then all of a sudden we saw one of our co-workers drunk which surprised me because she didn’t seem like the type to drink. She gave Rick’s girlfriend a hug because they are good friends and I thought to myself who in the world is that at first. I then saw that it was her and I was shocked. She asked us if I still worked at night and I remember she was talking about she had to work at 6 the next day and I thought in my head a bit after wards that I couldn’t imagined how she can go into work after a night like this. I also remember my friend Rick remarking that this is like a “Big Red Machine reunion” which made me chuckle because it really was but it was strange because it took place on one of the last days of the year and we all seemed like smart, ambitious college students. I knew each of us were really smart and we had so much more to offer the world. I knew that Rick, myself, and C.J. were smart and I knew that Rick’s girlfriend and her friend were in school excelling at high levels. We said our goodbyes that night and myself and C.J. went to grab some In-N-Out Burger which was nearby and we just gossiped like a bunch of women about football and the crazy night. I was happy that we got to experience hanging out one last time for the year was close to ending. My heart was into it that night and I wasn’t shy about getting the “big 3” back together again and I felt like we each had a lot to offer the world. We had a mixture of experience, sociology, history, philosophy, psychology, politics, and we were still learning. I think to myself, and I see how much things have changed and I’m glad I got to do that at that time. I have no regrets and I see that the “Sky is the Limit:. We’ve all grown immensely this year and some have gone onto future endeavors but that is there personal decision, Life changes and people change, some for the better some for the worse:

I’ll be back with another commentary for the last post of the year but until then here’s something I discovered last night:

Remembering VCR’s and VHS’s…

Posted on by anele25

“In a New York Minute, everything can change, In a New York minute, things can get really strange.”

-Don Henley on New York Minute

This past week, I decided to dig up some old tapes that I had. Now, these tapes ranged from this TV show I used to watch that was called El Chavo Del Ocho, Vicente Fernandez concerts, as well as Alejandro Fernandez concerts, and also old wrestling tapes. What was surprising was that I also dug up some old Christmas tapes as well. I was thinking in my head that this was everything was simple and technology had not advanced. The reason we use the technology we have now is because it is convenient and accessible. Everything is so different than it was 3 or 4 years ago when I was still taping things on a VCR. I was surprised when I especially found the old wrestling tapes and the amount of wrestling I had on there was stupendous even to me. I found stuff I don’t even recall taping such as this street fight between two very accomplished wrestlers in Edge and Shawn Michaels. I thought about what was going on in my life at that time. I remember I was still in my Junior in High School and I was engaged in reading Catcher in The Rye. I was also busy trying to get ready to pass my license test that I prepared for at least 3 months in advance (taking into account that this was in February. I was astonished that watching the Christmas tape as well as to how much of a spoiled little kid I was. I wasn’t proud of what I saw on the tape because I was trying to get all my presents first before anyone else. I was hogging the camera spotlight trying to be something I wasn’t. I also saw myself in the tape speaking English and Spanish, yet Spanish was not as advanced as English. I look back on that and see how much things have changed since we had that Christmas in 1997. That was one of my favorite years in my life as many great things happened that year to make my life a pleasure. I had my mom, my dad, my brother, my uncle, my aunt’s husband, my uncle’s wife and his kid, my other uncle, his wife, and their daughter, and also our next door neighbors there as well. That was one of the last times that we were all together as we have kind of drifted apart to different parts of the the San Jose area, and/ or moved away to Mexico due to economic circumstances. I was also happy to watch some parts of a El Chavo del Ocho tape I found too. When I started watching El Chavo in 2003, I had just moved to the West part of San Jose and I had little to any hope of actually staying in contact with my old friends from the old apartments. I completed my first year of high school at Homestead High School and that was the only time I got to see them. However, when I would take the ride home it was fun and exhausting  because most of the time I would take two buses to my house and I remember being a little tired from starting at 7:30 in the morning to almost 3 P.M. I didn’t have anybody to talk to when I got home but I just remember the year before, my mom and I went to Mexico in August of 2001 and this show came on that was both funny and educational. My Grandma, myself, my mom, and my grandma’s brother would watch the show when it would come on at night for about a week or tow before we had to leave. I always laughed the hardest when Chavo would would say something dumb to Don Ramon and Don Ramon would hit him on the head. I also laughed a lot whenever the kids (Chavo, Quico, Chilindriana, and Nono) would cry for whatever reason. I was amazed watching the show because it taught me a lot about comedy and how it doesn’t need to involved sick,crude jokes, and it doesn’t need to involve cuss words to bring about humor as well. I was a little sad when we had to leave to come back home because I didn’t know if I would ever watch the show again. Well, one day I was flipping through the channels and I saw El Chavo on and I started watching it a bit. There wasn’t much of a choice as to what I could do because my friends had were now away from me. I thought to myself ‘hey this is pretty funny’ and then I had the idea of taping the show which low and behold I ended up with 12 tapes of El Chavo del Ocho, which, I told my dad were for sort of a time capsule from a period in my life. I can say that recording those episodes were apart of what got me through the early part of high school because I looked forward to see what the antics would be Don Ramon, Dona Florinda, El Chavo, Quico, and the rest of characters as well. Watching the concerts a bit also surprised me because I forget I had even recorded some of Don Vicente and Alejandro Fernandez. But, above all the wrestling still shocked me when I found some stuff that I don’t recall taping at all. For example, I found a match with the legendary Ric Flair against a guy that was supposed to be one of WWE’s future stars in Carlito. Now, granted Carlito never made it huge, and rightfully so being a wrestler with a “bright future” does not guarantee anything and yet he still managed to have a wonderful match with Flair. I still get a bit of nostalgia when I think of a live event I went to here in San Jose where these two put on almost a similar match yet the one on TV went a bit longer. After watching a few matches, I realized that taping stuff (whatever it may be and NOT on a DVR) really makes you think back and say: I remember that or ‘I taped that, really’? I felt better watching those because I realized even with stuff we have now, it is simpler, yet our kids will never know that we actually had to sit in front of a TV to wait for something to come on. It feels better to wait for something to come on because it is that much sweeter and much more satisfying. We have everything at the touch of a button now, or we have phones that can bring food to your house, and we also have the ability to pay things electronically instead of actually paying it in person. It’s not at all bad, yet some things were better when we had the ability when we could actually do things in person. It goes back to the whole Facebook argument in that we don’t have to see these people face to face we just have to send them a message and then they’re our friends. I’d like to end this by adding that if “Life wasn’t a challenge it wouldn’t be fun” good day to all (Go A’s):

Merry Christmas everyone…

Posted on by anele25

Remember what Christmas is,we may have thought it was about toys and expensive items when we were younger but it’s about making jokes with your family and remembering old times. I am proud of what happened with my family today because this year we didn’t have as many gifts as past years but we don’t need much to be happy. I have most things I want in life. I have a beautiful pet, great parents who you have disagreements with but you get over it, caring friends, and most of all a very positive and healthy outlook about myself and my future. Remember, if you don’t get what you want at least that person made an effort to at least find you something. If you want it so badly, go out and buy it but ask yourself, do you really need it right away? Be proud of this Christmas and future holidays that lie ahead and look forward to them! Thanks for reading:)

Don’t be stupid man.. The Future is Unwritten

Posted on by anele25

“And I cornered him in the kitchen and I said to him ‘Joe do you think we’ll ever work together again’ and it was one of the most brilliant things he ever said to me ‘Don’t be stupid man’- It was one of those ambiguous Joeisms don’t be stupid man of course or don’t be stupid man it’s over”

One of Joe Strummer’s pals on “The Future is Unwritten

It is surprising that this year I have been able to learn new things, laugh at the little things in life, and also learn about human beings and seeing that we are not perfect, nor should we strive to do so. This past Friday afternoon, I decided to sit down in my room and watch The Future is Unwritten, which I thought was not going to be worth watching at first but it got more interesting as it went on. The film, is of course about Joe Strummer and his life and how he lived it. What I saw Joe as someone who was an artist in this documentary because they talked at length about he was great at doing paintings, writing song lyrics, being a leader in his own right, playing music and many other things. I found it surprising when I first thought about how the director, Julien Temple, used Joe Strummer’s radio broadcast “London Calling” to narrate some of the aspects of the film and how she used various interviews to document several of Joe’s triumphs and tragedies. I loved hearing about Joe would live by squatting at homes which were considered slums in those days and all the struggles he had to go through in order to actually document his life. I was surprised to hear about how much of a party man Joe was yet not many people would go out of their way to actually make sure everyone at the party had something to drink like Joe did at many of his parties. The most interesting part was hearing people talk about Joe and his life around a campfire which signifies that some of these people actually had a want to say great things about him. I liked seeing some of the clips of them playing pool and Joe talking about how people can’t hear the lyrics over the instruments but sometimes the vocal word is only supposed to add to it. I thought about what he said after he said that and I realized that in some songs by the Clash I can only understand the instruments and if I listen more I can hear what the songs means but in my honest opinion I believe that sometimes the instruments and the beat of the song are what makes the song. I was also intrigued by the many clips they showed of the Clash as they were starting to form as there former drummer Terry Chimes talked about how it was a headache to go to sessions because they would just argue about politics all day. Politics isn’t for everyone and as we descend into even deeper levels of conversation it is difficult to comprehend just how Joe, Mick, and Paul were engaged in politics. I laughed at Joe’s antics as he talked about how he would never steal money from a friend but he would steal his girlfriend. It just shows what kind of person he is through the film as he doesn’t want to steal someone’s earnings and prosperity but he wants to at least have a shot at a girl he has his eye on. The discussion of how Joe got together with their manager Bernie Rhodes was interesting because he seemed intent on building a foundation for music and he also seemed willing to have someone handling their business. He once again stated here that many people claim that London Calling was their finest work yet I still don’t believe that is their best album. The fact that they made it in three weeks was impressive because it had a variety of interesting subjects about poverty, war, politics, life, love, and many other subjects. I was surprised to see some notable names on the documentary such as Matt Dillion, explaining his love for the Clash, and also Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I was surprised that Flea stated that Sandinista! was his favorite Clash album because not many people have heard of the album and many people discuss it as being somewhat of a letdown. Flea explained something that I recently found out and that is the fact that the much of the music on there signified growth and if you don’t show growth what is the point of making music anymore. After hearing that, I was in full agreement because I didn’t like it at first, in fact I hated it at first, but after giving it a few listens it is really the Clash trying to speak to their audience through instruments and the occasional lyrics to spark excitement. It was pretty funny to see how Joe would talk to the media and he would explain that this was their manager Bernie Rhodes and he was passed out (probably from so much alcohol and drugs). What got me during the whole documentary is the amount of power that Joe exhibited in his humor and in his words. I was taken aback by the fact that Joe was a deep thinker who likes to analyze the whole event as he states in a part of the documentary that he enjoys thinking and takes a liking to it. I was also surprised and shocked at the saying “Is It our destiny never to know what is true?” These are questions which may sound impossible to answer but they let us imagine what it is like to see life from someone who was living to show others how to live a good life. I was also intrigued by some of the stuff he said such as when he left a note for one of his friends, Gerry, and he said on the note on when he would be back from the desert and he circled one of the days which had had me chuckling because Joe stood and looked like an awesome person. One last thing that left me thinking was that Joe loved his kids and he showed a human compassion for people yet when he went behind closed doors he went back to being depressed. I learned from this that he wasn’t perfect and we have our shares of ups and downs which either help us change and we look at our mistakes and other people’s mistakes. Joe was human too and hearing about how the Clash broke up must have been killing him inside because he was never the same after that. It was the Clash itself which was the problem and as some of the people on the documentary even admit Joe did seem afraid of confrontation which sad to say made him in other people’s eyes a coward. Confrontation are sometimes needed and sometimes they are not but in my opinion what made them into one of the best bands is what killed them. When you are in a band you don’t want to ruin a good thing and even if you can’t stand one or two bandmates, you still have it in your heart to keep making contributions towards the music you are making. Joe was trying to keep the peace and I can understand that because sometimes the consequences are something we as human beings fear the most. After all, Joe Strummer was a human being like the rest of us and he wanted to keep his band together for as long as possible. The last saying by Joe Strummer is something that got me thinking and I hope that if some people read this they too will learn from an inspirational man in Joe Strummer:

“‘I’d like to say people can change anything they want to; and that means everything in the world. People are running about following their little tracks. I am one of them. But we’ve all gotta stop… just stop following our own little mouse trail. People can do anything; this is something that I’m beginning to learn. People are out there doing bad things to each other; it’s because they’ve been dehumanized. It’s time to take that humanity back into the centre of the ring and follow that for a time. Greed… it ain’t going anywhere! They should have that on a big billboard across Times Square. Think on that. Without people you’re nothing.”

Thanks for reading Happy Holidays!

What I’m proud of in 2010…

Posted on by anele25

There ain’t no excuse for loosing your feet
Drowning in your defeat on this road of life
There ain’t no excuse for coming up short
The ball is in your court
So reach up and touch the sky

-*NSYNC on Do Your Thing

I can’t believe what a great year this has been, both physically and mentally. I remember at the end of 2009 I wasn’t sure how the next year would go because I had many things that I had accomplished that year. I got to finally make a connection with my dog, Paloma, after her and I hadn’t really been close during the first few months. I also got to become acquainted with a group of people, one of whom I still consider a very good friend of mine. I got to do what I wanted in 2009 as I grew a lot during that period as I had great conversations with all sorts of people at school, at work, at social gatherings, at home, and other great places as well. However, I accomplished so much in 2010 that I don’t want the year to end but I think what I would want to be heard is my top 5 things I am proud of in 2010:

5. Taking a vacation after four years:

This was a tough road for me because I was thinking in my head for the longest time about how I hadn’t taken time off work for a substantial amount of time. I would request to take the occasional time off which was mostly for sporting events and other events to attend to. My vacation was from March 21 till April 1 which was plenty of time for me to just reflect and relax about what I didn’t need to deal with. The week was filled with fun and surprises because the first day of my vacation was when I went with my dad, grandma, brother, sister in law, and her friend to the flea market. I had wanted to go to find a CD that had been released recently by Banda Cuisillos and I had no luck in finding it. What I found fun that day though was the sheer enjoyment I saw in having my family there with me in the good weather that we have here in the bay area, just relaxing and not worrying about anything. We ended up eating nachos and drinking soda that day at the flea market which I enjoyed because if it’s food it’s food. When all was said and done, my co-worker, Jed, called me to see if I was doing anything because he was “bored”. I complied to him because at the time I didn’t know any better as to what being “bored” meant to him so I obliged and I just went along with him to go to his house and pick him up. We ended up going to wal-mart in Milpitas but then he proceeded to ask me if I could drive him to pick up a fish tank part. We ended up getting there and he got it then we called it a night. The next day was when myself, my dad, my brother, and Jay went to watch the WWE Supershow leading up to Wrestlemania 26 which was awesome due to the sheer athletic ability that guys like Rey Mysterio and Shawn Michaels were putting on that night. I was dumbfounded by the fact that there were so many people there that you couldn’t even buy merchandise and what not so I was a little disappointed I couldn’t buy anything. The next two days I started studying for my Biology final and working on my Ethics paper which to this day amazes me because not only was it well written but I did it in a timely manner. I was stressing for those two days because the night before my Biology I was debating whether to hang out with my co-worker, Jay, and my friend Rick. I decided to call it off because I realized that they weren’t going to hate me for the rest of my life if I said no once and they were both very courteous about me saying no to this one time occasion. I went to Biology the next day and did ok on the final but I felt I could have done better. The next day I ended up waiting for my brother to call and tell me what was going on that day. If it isn’t really known yet, I took about a four day trip to San Diego with my brother and my sister in law’s family. The momentous occasion was that one of my brother’s friends, Alex, was getting married to his girlfriend of three years. I was happy enough for them that I ended up buying them a set of knives that was on their wedding list. I waited for my brother to get there and when we ended up getting to the airport for the rental car, it seemed like a very long process. I couldn’t wait for my brother to get on the road and start driving. I hadn’t really got to talking to him on that long of a trip before so I was looking forward to it. He was really quiet on the drive but I found out that my sister in law’s family loves talking about other people’s problems. For example, they were talking about how so-and-so didn’t really love them so they weren’t really being faithful and I didn’t think any differently of them, it just opened my eyes to what my brother had to live with. The next morning my brother stayed with me in the hotel talking and watching TV with me. A few hours later he and his girlfriend had to go wedding rehearsal which I didn’t go to. I was starving so much that day that all I could think about was food as I went with my sister in law’s family to go shopping at CVS and Ross. They finally got back from the rehearsal and we went to eat and I was amazed how many people from my brother’s and his friend’s job were there. It amazed that only his closest friends were there because he deserved to be poured in all the glory. I have always considered him to be a decent human being because he tries to be courteous with you without ever putting himself over you. It all seemed so surreal because I had known some of these guys close to five years now and they were pretty cool with me. I remember the comment of the night came from one of the guys that I have known for about five years in Aldo, as he stated something about our minds not being as cognitively functional in our early years. That concluded the night there. The wedding was something else because we had the ceremony which was really nice because I saw a guy I hadn’t seen for some time, Dave. Dave used to be one of the guys that my brother used to work with and I always found myself talking to him when he would have us over his house. He seemed really cool due to the fact that he loved movies and I loved movies so we hit off pretty well actually. The ceremony was well attended to and I saw Alex being really nice to everyone who had attended the ceremony as he tried his best to take pictures with his wife with everyone. We then went to the reception itself which was followed by food and dance which was great to see as everybody had a few words to say about Alex and there love for him. I thought one of my buddies, Allan, had one of the best moments of the night when he busted out with  a rap about Alex’s marriage and everybody, including myself, ate it up. My brother also had some words to say and I believe that he and Alex have this bond that is almost impossible to break up. I can see that through this speech that Alex might be the only one who really understands my brother because sometimes I find it difficult to even reach my brother. Everyone had fun and everybody seemed to be enjoying themselves. I was just a spectator but I still found enjoyment in the fact that everyone was having fun. The next day, my sister in law’s family decided they wanted to go to Disneyland which was fine with me because my brother and I went and had some amazing ribs at this restaurant out in LA somewhere. The ribs were amazing and I couldn’t help be enthralled by the fact that Wrestlemania was that day and I was most interested in Shawn Michaels’ final match. I was waiting for the final result as I later found out after a little delay on my Ipod Touch that Michaels retired and I felt a little sad after that. I reflected a little bit after that maybe 2010 was a year of change and rightfully so it was. The final day of our trip, Monday, was when we got back home and I was tired from so much driving and I was little taken aback from what was in front of me when I got home. Of course, I remembered that my aunt from Mexico had recently gotten in so I greeted them as best I could as I had to help my brother bring back the rental car. I was kind of saddened by my brother not standing up for himself more when his girlfriend’s family was practically yelling at him to get stuff done so they could get home and rest. I honestly felt bad for my brother because he was genuinely a nice guy with no ax to grind but I guess sometimes that sort of stuff happens. The next day I kind of relaxed and I ended up going to the gym with my co-worker, Jay. We talked about work as per but I wanted to just talk about my trip afterward. The next day I decided to take my friend, Rick, and Jay to Fenton’s which was all the way in Oakland which was on March 31. That was a memorable day because that was a memory that will never leave me, as we were all one and no one had really been hurt or berated against so I took it for what it was: an honest good time. I also bought MLB 10: The Show which was an awesome game that I played for close to six months. That night, myself, Rick, and Jay played the show and we just enjoyed ourselves.

4. Starting this blog:

There is not enough words to say how proud I am to have started this blog. I am proud of this blog mostly because it improved my writing skills and it helped me appreciate life more. I was talking to a co-friend at work one time and she suggested that my first few blogs were great reads and after hearing that I was encouraged even more. I feel the need to say things on this blog because some of it is what I believe and my beliefs are what I stand by in life. As I say these days to people, I could be wrong, nobody has to be right all the time. For starters, blogging has opened up not just opening up more, but it makes me appreciate life more.

3. Continuing my journey to fill up my Ipod Touch:

I am proud of this for many reasons. For one, my selection of music at the beginning of the year was honestly not that great and for good reason I decided to experiment and see what new music I could listen to. I have always considered myself a type of person who will listen to anything if it has meaning and depth to it. For example, the list of ten artists or bands I got into this year was:

1. The Clash

2. Eric B. and Rakim

3. Billy Joel

4. 98 Degrees

5. Linkin Park

6. Los Tiranos del Norte

7. Oro Norteno

8. Gerardo Reyes

9. Los Titanes de de Durando

10. Los Huracanes del Norte

I am trying my hardest to keep exploring because I like music that tells stories whether they be about love, tragedy, political movements, violence( though it seems unintentional at times), and pretty much anything else. Right now, I have close to 1600 songs and once I pass a certain milestone, say 2000 or 3000 I will listen to every song on there. If I hear something I like, I’ll try my hardest to get it on my IPOD anyway I can. As a great philosopher said, Friedrich Nietzsche said “Without Music, life would be a mistake.” Not only is this true, but it’s something we can rely on to get us through our days, whether good or bad.

2. Having great conversations with a good friend of mine

This is something that I look forward to every week and it’s something I want to do every week. At first, I thought this person was just someone that would forget about me after he quit the job that we both worked at but I thought it was worth a shot to see how he was adjusting to life after the Big Red Machine. At first, I feared rejection and doubt raised in my head as to how he would respond to text messages I would send him. I was still a bit upset that he just quit and abandoned his “friends” at work. I was wondering what triggered in his mind to want to leave this job that I felt at the time had a lot of upside to it and it was a good environment to be in because there were still a lot of good people to work with. After a few text messages and a bit of doubt being raised out of my head, at the end of 2009 he and I decided to talk a bit about work and what led to his decision to finally leave the Big Red Machine.After talking to him that day, I realized that there was still that bond between us. After that, I didn’t hear from him for a few weeks due to holidays and work filling us with things to do. But on January 19 of this year we met up at a local strip mall when it was raining and pouring at the same time. I remember that day very vividly in fact because I remember my friend got very soaked when we were trying to head for a local Subway that was close by and we talked about work early on but after that day we found more in common with each other than I would have thought. We talk about life, our experiences, our triumphs and tragedies, our problems that have solutions, school, work, and one of the best sports ever baseball. I want to take this opportunity to thank this friend of mine because without him, I would not have realized that we as human beings have a lot more to offer each other. Talking to somebody and getting to know them in conversations is essential because (1) We get to see that we are not alike in our beliefs but if we disagree with each other, we can always try to respectfully see the other’s person’s point of view. and (2) The human relationship between two human beings is slowly going away and when I finish talking to this friend of mine whether it is on the phone or in person, I want to be able to try harder in life. For example, I remember just last week when he and I had a brief, but magnificent conversation about baseball and what was going on in our lives. After that, I was looking forward to work because even though it may be a crummy job for crummy pay I still enjoyed myself that night because I also tried my best to not create any drama and just get my work done the best I could. Thanks Buddy!

1. I am proud of motivating myself to the fullest extent

This year was a road of emotions, highs and lows, excitement, triumphs, and it was also eye opening. This year I motivated myself to be motivated at work, school, home, with my family, and also with my friends. I dreaded going to school for the first few weeks of school in 2010 because they were mostly 9:30 classes but I saw after a while that even though the subjects themselves weren’t that great I still found myself learning new subjects. I remember in Biology that there was a classmate of mine who helped me a lot with class assignments as I was not the best at Biology. It kept me motivated to believe that if someone can do that for me I can help other people out as well. You can say that he was teaching me the best he could about DNA and RNA. He also helped me understand plants and what goes into the construction of what makes a plant. In my speech class from the beginning of that year, my speech teacher praised me for writing a 7 page paper on Health care which I thought wasn’t that exciting to begin with. I remember that date, February 18 because that’s when I got together with a few buddies of mine to converse about our lives and we just had a lot of fun that day. With Philosophy, I took an ethics and a History of Philosophy class as well. I found the Ethics class to be particularly engaging because I would usually bring some of the topics with me to work and discuss them with P!NK. I remember we had some great discussions about the ideas of being a good person and doing the right thing which was usually the essential question I was asking myself for the majority of the quarter. I also got to asking myself why exactly some people do the things they do morally or not in their case. It kept me motivated to start questioning whether it is right to even consider if it is ok to never lie? I still have trouble with this question and sometimes I am a little hard with myself about the ways I may tell lies to people. My family was a big reason why I decided to keep being motivated because they have done a ton of stuff for me this year. I remember there have been times where my dad or mom have decided to make food for me when they are tired or they have just gotten home from work and I thank them for that. I also found it very fitting for my dad and myself to watch WWE Smackdown whenever he is not busy on Saturday afternoon and he and I become very engaged in the product whenever Jack Swagger or Kofi Kingston go out and have another classic in front of the fans. I also got to seeing my brother finally become a dad and he looks a bit more happy than he has in previous years due to Jazmine Diaz coming into the picture. Jazmine and Paloma are the two new additions to our family and ever since both of them have noticed each other they become aware of the other’s presence. I love them both dearly because Jazmine is going to be a very smart kid just from seeing her very engaged in her surroundings and Paloma is just as adorable because she doesn’t yell you when you get home as all she wants is comfort and care. I made the habit of also discovering that the connection of childhood will never leave someone. This past summer, my old buddies Freddy and Alex stopped by here near my area and we had a great conversation for close to two hours about our lives. This kept me motivated thinking about all the changes that we have all made and the reason that I believe it was better for me to see them was because I saw that both of them being brothers keeps them together and they have a lot to offer the world. They are as I would say “one of us” rather then them being someone you had just met recently. 2010 was also the year I got to take some fun trips with a co-worker of mine to malls, Chinatown, Gilroy, and other places. I do miss those times on long days here in the winter but we always have to remember that we can’t have any regrets here in life because once you’ve lived it it is a part of your life that will be gone but not forgotten. I also had the chance to go to game 1 of the world series which is something that I will never forget. I took the train to hear the game and also watch it on the big screen which was worth it because not many people get a chance to have a world series in their area. It was a fun experience and one that is forever ingrained in my memory. 2010 was enjoyable and hopefully I’ve inspired people to write even more so about their lives in 2010: Good day and here’s a little something that is awesome ( one of my best memories of 2010)

 

A trip down memory lane…

Posted on by anele25

Don’t be afraid to try again
Everyone goes south
Every now and then
You’ve done it why can’t someone else?
You should know by now
You’ve been there yourself

-Billy Joel on The Stranger

After an exhausting and yet quite worthwhile week of finals, I’m now able to talk about one trip I took down memory lane about a week ago when I went over to my brother’s place to watch TNA wrestling. After we had watched the wrestling show, I wondered about what I had just watched and I was happy I was able to watch some wrestling with my brother. Of course, back un the day my brother and I would watch every Monday on TNT with WCW coming on at 5 PM and WWE would come on at 9 PM which was actually kind of cool because we wouldn’t be like the people on the East Coast flipping back and forth between both shows. We were able to be amused and entertained by both shows at different times and I was also able to watch it with some buddies from my apartments when they weren’t doing other things. Now, you may ask what does this have to do with memory lane? Well, after my brother and I were through with watching wrestling I brought up the fact that our dog Paloma had not gone on her second walk of the day and I should take her. So, my brother being tired and exhausted from having his daughter with him most of the day, I decided to take Paloma myself and I was just going to take her around the apartments that they lived at at first. But, I remembered that our old apartments weren’t that far away and at most it was a ten minute walk there. So, I first went towards my old Elementary school Vargas and I passed the stop sign my mom would leave me at when I was younger. She would leave me at the stop sign and she would go to work. I couldn’t think much about the present and what I had to do within the next week because I was thinking about all the memories I had when I was younger. I started taking the walk that I would take to school by going straight then I went right on this small street. I remember thinking about all the stupid shit my friends and I would talk about when we were walking on that sidewalk. We would talk about school, girls, Dragon Ball, wrestling, and so much more. I passed all the houses thinking how much they must have changed since I last saw them which was about 8 years ago almost. I passed them thinking were the same people still living there? I remember there used to be this girl in my fourth grade class who would live really close by and I would always see her till about my first year of high school and I always thought she was actually kind of attractive. I passed this one house that had two stories wondering how much had happened since I had last seen it. The house was barely being completed when I was still in fifth grade and that was when people started moving into it. I thought with that nice of a house, I wonder how nice they must have it with a neighborhood that isn’t that bad off? I continued my walk just being in awe of what was before me. I feel I’m a very nostalgic person and when I took that walk I felt happy and upbeat because this is the place where I was raised. If it hadn’t been for that time and place, I wouldn’t have had some of the values I have today. Once I got closer to my old apartments I felt chills up my spine and then I saw this little girl that stated to me, “your dog is on the street.”For a split second I thought Paloma really was on the street but I was hanging onto her pretty good because I wanted her to be there too with me. I crossed the street and I just kept walking down the sidewalk towards my apartments and once I passed the managers office I remembered when my dad’s compadre and his son were asleep on the grass right next to the managers and I just smiled for a minute thinking about that. I kept walking on the side where I didn’t live before and I kept getting closer to my old apartment. I passed the entrance to the second half of the apartments and on that side my friends Ralph and Stephen were the ones who used to occupy a two story apartment with there mom and there brothers and sister. I remembered when we were still young and stupid and myself,Stephen, and my other friend Adrian were at Stephen’s house talking about summer school and the funny stuff that would go on there. Memories were just creeping up in my head as I passed the second apartment that was used as our home for about 6 months or so in 2002 and I remembered when we were first moving into that apartment we locked ourselves out and we decided we were going to go to Carl’s JR. with time to kill till my brother had gotten home from work. We waited for my brother to get home that day and I felt relieved because I wanted to see what this place looked like. I don’t have a lot of memories in that apartment because we stayed for only a little bit there but I do remember coming home during the summer and playing Smackdown 2 with my friend Monty and my other friend Adrian. We would have 40 minute matches that would include all three of us and what was just fun how long these things would go until one of us won. Monty would win sometimes and I would win sometimes and Adrian would win as well. Good times I must say indeed! I then saw a gentleman who was getting out of his car near one of the apartments and I didn’t want him to see my dog because they don’t allow pets in the apartments. I waited until he had gotten the food he had in his car until I could bring Paloma along and then I started passing by one of my friends old apartments who went by the name of Tony Olmos. I passed by the apartment thinking about the many times I would go by his house and play some N64. Usually we would play Goldeneye, racing car games, WCW Revenge, and a whole bunch of other games. What I remember most was how nice his family used to be and they were also very friendly every time I went over. They would always be very courteous and since we were all linked almost we would talk about what was going on with our families and such. I then passed by old room at apartment number 29 and I just remember everything that has changed since I have been in that room. I was last in Eighth grade when I was in that room and all the memories I have are priceless. I remember long summer nights and other times when my brother and I would stay in that room just chilling. I remember I would listen to the radio during the weekday and I would watch movies like crazy in that room during my later years. I also remember when my friend and my brother would have sleepovers and we would just laugh about some stupid stuff that was both hilarious and immature. Our friend, Victor, always would make the best company when he would sleep over with us because he was respectful and he had this coolness factor to him every time he would come over. One of my most memorable days there was when September 11th happened and I remember waking up to this shock and disbelief that my country had been attacked. My brother turned on the TV and he was getting ready for school while I was barely waking up. I was surprised to see the rest of my family kind of dumbfounded because they didn’t know what to think or say. I also remember a few instances where in that apartment we would celebrate Christmas and my best memory of Christmas there was when our neighbors, our two uncles came over, and we just had everybody there just happy and I just remember about just being young not having to worry about anything at that time. Once I passed my old apartment I just felt very emotional because I know I can never bring back all the good times I had there because you only live once and I made the best of it. I did everything I wanted to in that apartment from wrestling in our living room, being able to gather in our kitchen to eat dinner, having my “party” for my birthday in my living room, and also having one of my younger cousins’ birthday party in that apartment. I remember that day we had my uncle and his wife celebrating their daughter’s birthday and I wonder now how happy they must have been for their daughter because she was born here and they were born over in Mexico. So many memories, I thought as I roamed on the outskirts of the apartments. The little kid inside came out for a little bit as Paloma and I passed by some of the spots that we would play tag. Tag was a stupid little game that we would play occasionally and it was fun because we would always make it so that the other team would have ten minutes to get back to the deck near our apartments. We would have simple hiding spots but the strategy was to see what the most common spot was. There was the laundry room on the other side of the apartments, near the bushes, the garbage totes, under the stairs near some apartments. Most of the time, the most difficult part was to see how long it would take for the opposing team to make it back to the basedeck. You could say that the stranger came out inside me because I had never actually even thought of going back to my old apartments but when I did I felt it was worth it even more. I remember when my parents bought me a bike and we brought it with us. We went to Smart and Final with it and it was rejoicing to have my family buy me something that was worthwhile. When I started walking down the little hill that cars go down on I just remember the guys and myself having bike races on there and that’s where we would start and whoever would end up back there first after taking a lap would win. Memories I just thought to myself as I kept walking down the hill. I took a peak inside the small boiler room and I remember my friend used to live near there so I just remember the stairs he would take with his mom. I also remember when I kept getting closer to the exit of the apartments that I would always take this small walk to get to the local liquor store in Stop and Go. Stop and Go was pretty amazing because I always remember seeing the arcade there of Mortal Kombat and everybody would want to play it. My best memory there was when my mom bought me some chips for a field trip that I was going to take and the local clerk asked my mom if it was my birthday and she said yes for some odd reason. I remember buying a lot of fake caps for toy guns there because that was the closest place to buy them so whenever I bought them I was excited to pull the trigger. During my exit, I felt proud that I had taken the trip to my old apartments because I felt I had to go back someday to see what it was like and just to reminisce about what it was like before I matured and I became who I am today. If it hadn’t been for living in that apartment, I wouldn’t have learned about respecting people, the connection I began to have with my brother, the hardships my mom would have to make, my dad being strange yet lovable, and my real friends bickering among themselves and with me. I can say that having that experience can only be better and enchanting. After getting back to my brother, I felt happier about what my life had given me at that point in my life and I told my brother about it and he even cracked a small smile when he heard that. I can say that if you are reading this, go back to some old places that you lived before and see how they have changed, for better or for worse, it will be a burden off your shoulders. Good night everyone, and here’s one of the best songs ever:

What in the world was I doing around this time in 2009…

Posted on by anele25

I’m never fessin, possessin the tools that it takes to rock
I think it’s time for the new kid on the block
With a style that’s wild yet so unique
I can’t be stopped from reachin my peak

-Kid on “Kid vs Play (The Battle)”

As I’m writing this I was wondering the other day what was I doing a year ago? I remember that I was embarking on my journey of still working at the big red machine and the stress of Christmas was hindering on me. I was always a second floor person and working with my buddies always seemed more important than actually working. I clearly remember my one time friend Malcolm X was training this guy in the Christmas section named Mark and he seemed pretty decent yet I wasn’t too sure what I thought of him. I remember we were fixing up the store and it was pretty trashed yet I was still intent on working to keep it looking sharp. I also remember being pretty stressed about some assignments that were to be due the following week. I had to do a 10 minute speech in Psychology of adjustment, had 2 papers due in History and I was also had my Psych final the following Tuesday. I knew I had always had a distinct awareness of how much I enjoyed school yet I think the stress I created had a lot to do with how I imagined others would view me. I wanted to do well in everything I did and I was afraid that not only would I fail miserably but I would be letting down everybody that cared about me. I tried my best to manage everything so that I wouldn’t have to do everything at once and what ended up happening was both hilarious and eye revealing. Over the next few days I started writing my first paper on “Coming of Age in Mississippi” and I started getting more and more confident as the writing of the paper continued yet I still had the thought in the back of my head that my speech on “Just Friends” that monday would bomb. A few days prior to the actual speech I had no real plan on what I would say because I had to give a summary of the book and the strong points of the book itself. I had no powerpoint which I thought would just be a waste of time and I had no desire to show my book through slides and pictures. I also was nervously waiting whether my friend who had just quit the Machine would ever come back or was it just an illusion to make me think he was my friend? I tried my best to stay in touch with him but I thought at the time he was adjusting to his new job and he was striving to stay on the right path. Anyway, I also remember the Thursday before finals week my last class with John Gravener consisted of him giving us a low down on what was to be expected for the final. He wanted us to write ANOTHER paper which blew my mind because I couldn’t believe how many papers I had to write. It was take home and it was due the next friday which I found fine but I was stressing having to believe that I now had to write a total of three papers in the span of one week! So, now I had a full workload and I also felt I had to this for myself as well. For me, staying busy is the number one goal people should strive for yet there is room for relaxation when everything is dealt with. I also remember my brother telling me that Sunday that we should take our dog Paloma to get her yearly shots for Rabbies and what not. I was in complete awe of what was ahead of me for the next week but I prepared myself like a beast. I thought the best way to do the essay on the Anne Moudy Mississippi book that I had to read it before hand and I could half ass it either. So, I finished reading the book then I began writing the essay which wasn’t easy but it wasn’t difficult either. I wrote every word like I meant as I learned from there that you have to write every word with pride. I also planned something foolish as well which was to prepare my speech for Monday and know what I was going to say then do my Cold War paper the next day Tuesday. The preparation of the speech was the most challenging one because I had no idea how Dr.Ward would respond to my speech as I knew she had must have been exhausted from watching a great deal of speeches about a different variety of books. So, what I did was I had gone through the chapters the week before jotting down notes on what was important and how that it is related to the field of Psychology. I knew I should have done it while I was still reading the book but it worked out fine. Then came sunday which was one of my favorite days from last year. That day was special because not only did the Raiders come back that day and handle the Steelers a loss, but I saw my dog get her shots and got to see her interact with other dogs and that is always a treat because she rarely gets to do that. That day, I also got to close electronics which due to Anele, I was given the chance to show my skills and how I would handle it. I was proud of myself that day because I worked my ass off and I was ready the next day for my speech as I had done my best to at least memorize some parts of it and when I got home that night I looked at key parts once again and I started repeating them to myself. I remember I had just that class that day and I dawned my Arizona jeans with my anchor blue sweater and I got a haircut that my classmate Matt applauded me for. I felt nervous but when I got up there I felt comfortable and ready to speak. As soon as the first words popped out of my mouth, I was rolling and that had to be the most challenging part of that week because I couldn’t bear standing there and speaking but I ended up doing very well and getting a 115/120 total. My other papers seemed to be a breeze and I couldn’t put my finger on it but when I finished that finals week I felt I had done well enough to say that I’m doing well in life. I told myself after that, no matter what happens, this had to be one of the best things that could have happened to me. It’s always good to remember these old memories so if you ever find yourself in stressful situations, don’t put yourself down, if you keep getting knocked down, try again and you’ll be fine.