Just Another Day...

Are you scared…? (I know I was from one experience)

Posted on December 1, 2010 by anele25

Starin at the world through my rearview
Go on baby scream to God, he can’t hear you-

Tupac on “Starin through my rearview”

Fear, what is fear? Do we all have the innate ability to not fear anything? I don’t think so because we all have our fears. We may be afraid that one day we will die due to how old we are getting or how bad of health we may be in. Fear is in all of us and when it involves more than one person, it can be quite scary and almost allow for a person to second guess the choice they made on that day. I remember almost 13 years ago my brother was learning how to drive stick on a Ford truck that actually used to be driven around these parts but we decided that none of us could rive. Anyway, my brother started learning how to drive from my Grandpa and my brother caught on pretty quickly as he had to learn how to apply the clutch and how fast he was going if he was going to use that clutch. My brother seemed excited and anxious to get driving and I could tell that him driving w as beneficial towards his well being and our families’ well being. Growing up, my family and I never really had any sort of car or truck so we just took the bus all the time which resulted years later into my brother learning how to drive. My brother got back from driving with my grandpa and he said that he knew how to drive already and he would take me later on a ride with him. This was known as cruising in our time so I was excited for the opportunity to go with my brother to the nearest pueblo. He put on his wranglers and his button upped cowboy shirt and I put on some jeans and we were off. Everything seemed fine and everything was running smoothly until we went off the side of the road. What I mostly remember was that my brother might have been going too fast for the stick is not friendly to the dirt road and he might have been gong too fast or too slow and he hit the side of the road but we were facing the road and we couldn’t get out because things could have gotten worse if we did. I remember being scared of the consequences that could have happened if we stayed in the truck. Who would come for us? Would they care? Would our parents be upset? How much had my brother be willing to take the blame if it was his first time driving me? I was scared for what was to come and what could have been and it was the first time in my life that I recognized the importance of my brother. He was not only willing to show me a fun time in what I believed at the time, a piece of garbage town, he also tried to comfort me as we both sat in the truck wondering if anybody would come and help us out of the truck. We waited for a few minutes in silence because we were so young at that time, that we didn’t understand what to think. Could we think that this was a mistake? Maybe, could we laugh it off? Maybe? How much trouble would this mean? I waited for a while until a man saw us stuck in there and he saw on the end of other side of the road. that there was one of those vehicles that could pull us out. We waited for him to come back and I was still scared as to what would be said, especially to my dad. He pulled us out and I learned from that no matter how much you may be afraid, just be strong and don’t be fearful of things that may happen in the future. Things happen too often for people to keep track of their lives and it is a struggle when you are afraid of something as simple as being confined to a single setting. Anyway, that was my talk on fear and why not let’s end it with a music video:

Are people at work your friends…?

Posted on November 28, 2010 by anele25

Mama told me watch your friends–they can be enemies within quick to
pretend like they fit in. Get in, they bring it all to an
end.

-Krayzie Bone on the song “Friends” by Bone Thugs-N-Harmony

Over the past two years or so I have worked for a company that I have kindly referred to as the “Big Red Machine”. Now, the company has had it’s share of ups and downs for me personally but I was sharing this thought in my head a few weeks back and one of my good friends also repeated what was in my head. Are people at work really, truly, sincerely, however you may put it, your friends? I remember when I first started working there, I was very shy and I didn’t want to leave a bad impression on anyone. I was trained by a guy who I refer to as Hall of Famer. I considered the guy to be my first, (or at least I thought), friend and he seemed to be a genuinely nice guy that cared about helping me succeed. However, after a while I saw the guy as someone who was really selfish and he didn’t care about making friends. I made an effort to get to know the guy but he seemed like a total tool who would backstab you the moment he could find the chance to do so. I don’t think he ever truly appreciated the effort that I made to at least talk to him because everyone there despised him to no end. I saw him trying to get to know me but he just complained a lot about work and the life he was living. He seemed intent on trying to put his own accomplishments over instead of his trying to help out others which is something that I see as being not only a helpful co-worker but as a friend as well. After a while, I figured that I was wrong about Famer and I should look for new friends at work. Now, Famer wasn’t the most popular guy yet his foe, if you will, was almost the exact opposite. Pitbull, as I would like to call him, was someone who helped me a lot when I first started, he taught me how to make things look good, how to impress the managers at work, and just some great tips overall. I found the guy to be a bit lazy, but I can understand since he had been there for almost 4 years when he got let go. I think the reason that I believed this person to be my friend was because we were both Mexican and he talked well enough to have me convinced he was all he said he was. From him, I learned a few things as to how and why we may not be truly friends with people at work. First, you only see these people at work, it isn’t always guaranteed that they will be there forever and when they are gone, it’s business as usual. For example, when multiple people have left due to career opportunities (cheap plug for the Clash!), financial reasons, finding out about yourself, or focusing on school people seem to only focus on the impact they had while they were there. I can remember when my friend, Rick, disappeared essentially from the company and I was really worried as to what happened. I was afraid he might have gotten sick, that he had an accident of some sort, and a part of me was in disgust that he just abandoned us. I remember people were just asking what happened to the guy and people were saying such things such as:
“What happened with Rick, did he just leave and bounce?”

“Job abandonment”

I was surprised because very few people took the chance to actually getting to know the guy. I can say that Rick, myself, JC, and Jason were a tight knit group for a while but I always felt that me and him had the ability to share more than just work. After talking to him some, I realized he had his own reasons for leaving the job and it made me realize that work isn’t the only thing in life. One of the main reasons I think friends may also not be your friends at work is because we all have our own lives and it’s very rare that we would actually take the chance to actually hang out with friends that we have at work. I also think it is strange that after someone leaves at the machine that they are soon forgotten about and people start getting sad when they are about to quit. I remember a few weeks ago, the cosmetics specialist, Taylor, was asking our security, Dillion, if he was leaving because she had overheard him talking about leaving but he was just making a joke. I personally believe that it is difficult to truly develop any real relationships when two or more people are working together, whatever it may be you are referring to. So, draw from this what you may but if you want to be friends with people at work, assume that they are ‘cool’ but after a while start getting to know and you’ll see how important it is to have friends that matter. Thank you for listening and good night!

Does life suck…?

Posted on November 24, 2010November 28, 2010 by anele25

Everybody wants to rule the world

It must be something we get from birth

One truth is we never learn

-Joe Strummer on “Charlie Don’t Surf”

It’s been a fun week as we approach Thanksgiving but something that I believe we miss these days is to examine life and enjoy the positive of it. I hear people at work and at school sometimes complain about how their life is complicated and how much they dread speaking in front of a crowd at school. One of the things I’ve learned about life in the past couple of years is that we all have flaws and when we complain it is because we are striving to be this perfect person. Everyone makes mistakes and even I have made my share of mistakes but I examine them now and sometimes I laugh about them other times I take it and just apply it to how much I’ve grown from them. For example, two years ago on my way home from school I hit my car against a curb on Highway 85 and I messed up the car pretty bad. I felt like an idiot once I got home because it was raining pretty bad that day and I wasn’t more careful. From there, I tried to be as open and honest with my parents as I could be but of course they were pretty upset. They were glad I wasn’t hurt and my dad and myself ended up getting the car’s kinks fixed up. I learned from that I have to be more cautious when I drive and I also grew to appreciate the support I got from my parents after that as they helped me out immensely with the car itself. I don’t think people really look at life and appreciate all the good things that they may be presented with. Sure, I work in retail and go to community college but from them I’ve been given so many positive moments that they are embedded in my mind as great memories. Going to community college, I’ll always remember the amount of Philosophy classes I took and how much I learned to value how different people view life. It made me strive to be a better person morally and also view life not just from my own perspective but from a metaphysical point of view. I’ve also been able to learn about myself and take part in some fun activities with a few classmates of mine. For example, I remember last year in Psychology of Adjustment, one of older classmates, Matt, was doing a presentation on Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and I took the test and it somehow revealed that I had it. The funny part was I truly enjoyed the back and forth I did with Matt because he kept berating me about how I had it and what was causing it, what triggered it, and so forth and so forth. Things like that make life unique and special and not enough people take school seriously enough to even enjoy the fun parts of it. The important thing is to be able to form some semblance of relationships with classmates because we are all in the process of learning about ourselves. Like my professor said the other day, we are always students in life and it is difficult to escape that. In terms of working in retail, it’s no secret that I wouldn’t look at it as the best job ever, but what I’ve taken away from it is to be able to help everyday people like myself. I wouldn’t consider the people I work with as friends, but the ones that I’ve helped out along the way make me proud that I at least put in an effort to teach them something. For example, two people whom I consider two excellent workers are this girl that I trained way back when in February who wasn’t the best person to communicate with at first. Another person was this guy that I helped out when he first started and I didn’t think much of him at first but he ended up working out as a great asset. I’ve learned from watching Chris Jericho’s Breaking the Walls Down documentary that if you teach ten things to a person and they take one of those things and they implement them, you’ve done well. I think that is true because you have to let someone grow on their own and it is important to keep teaching. We have to appreciate the opportunities we are given as very often we take the negative of a situation and that becomes our focus rather than what was originally thought it was. There are times when people complain that they are tired which I do from time to time but then I think about it. I examine as to why I may be tired, if I kept myself busy at school or at work or at the gym I think back as to the positive things I accomplished at that time. I went to the gym last Thursday and I had an intense but fun workout. Of course, working out for an hour will tire you yet I thought about how good it felt to get some exercise, how good I felt mentally, things I was looking forward to, and the reactions I get when people ask me about feeling good. Always remember to be proud of who you are, not of what you could be! Till next time.

P!NK… A person I’ll never forget…

Posted on November 20, 2010 by anele25

Take a look in the mirror

and see the bigger picture

It’s good to be alive

Nobody is an island

We are part of an environment

Nas (Feat. Mykel)

Why do those that leave us leave a carbon footprint on us like we will never forget them? To this day at the Big Red Machine I still believe this person I call P!NK made the right decision in deciding to leave the job she had. I miss her dearly to this day as I had many great conversations with her. I remember when I first saw her, my buddy Gump. was training her and I didn’t think much of her because she was training with Gump and I couldn’t really say anything to her. As I kept seeing her, I felt disgusted with her because in my opinion at that time I judged her based on the fact that she had all these tattoos all over her body and I just felt she was an outcast. In the coming weeks I noticed she worked with the recovery team constantly and she was getting trained by one of my buddies, Joe. I still felt a resentment towards her because I had that judgment towards her that she was a nobody who was weird and had a different agenda than mine. But something strange happened, I remember a couple days before hand I went to see “Inglorious Bastards” with two friends from work and I thought the movie was great with the acting and the action. This is when P!NK decided to ask me one Saturday if I had seen any movies lately. I told her about the movie and she agreed with me and instantly I thought we had clicked. One of my friends, CJ, came up to me and he thought I was going in for the kill but the truth is I just wanted to be friends with P!NK because she was so cool just from talking with her. Over the next few weeks I started talking to her more about everything possible. I could pour my heart out to her about my family issues, money issues, world issues, friendship issues, political issues, and I thought this girl was either crazy for talking to me or she just had a lot of heart. I later came to the conclusion that she had a lot of heart because she was always mysterious. For example, she told me about one day she wanted to get pregnant with her boyfriend but one day she told me it ended up happening which surprised me. I didn’t know what to think because she didn’t seem like the mother type but I believe she always wanted to be a mother to a child at some point in her life. What surprised though was one day she just disappeared and I wondered where she had headed. I was worried and I never wanted to reign on anything that was going on in her life but I was concerned because I saw something good in her that I hadn’t seen in anyone else. Low and behold, she ended up coming back a few days after black friday and I was reluctant to ask where she had been. She told me that she had gotten rid of the baby and to this day I don’t know the full truth about that whole ordeal but I will reserve judgment until then. I remember the great conversations we would have about life and the things I was learning in class about ethical propositions and what not. I remember talking about whether to live life by the rules or to live by happiness. It was always great to get into these debates about what life was about and what it meant to each of us. I’m glad she had her goals set high whether it was to go back to school, being in the peace corps, teaching something to a person, or whatever she had on her mind. I remember this one time I wanted to go on lunch with her but we were going at different times as I had already eaten. I saw her passing by and I invited myself to go to Panda Express with her and it was awesome to talk with her about anything that was on our minds at that time. I remember her being the one to bring up horror movies and I didn’t know much about them but I listened to her talk about them. It was a short ride but once we got there I realized I only had about 5 minutes left on my lunch and I wanted to walk back to work but she volunteered to take me back which was real considerate about her. Around this time, I also realized she cared about people but I felt people didn’t care about her. For example, one time she had a breakdown working in toys after staring at pictures of babies and I guess she was still feeling the effects of not being able to handle a child. She had a real desire to be heard and that’s why I felt the need to have conversations that mattered with her. She would discuss problems she was having with her boyfriend and this guy was a recovering addict which made it even worse for her to leave him. Around this time (say in December or so) I started having a small crush on her because I understood her and she understood me. She also this unique look to her that was hard to beat and she was changing her hair color which made her even cooler than I thought. I felt she needed people to talk to as I felt safe around her. But, eventually all good things come to an end and she just ended up quitting one day which I believe was June 21st and I can’t say that she made an impact on me. Ultimately, she taught me something valuable: Whatever a person may look like (whether good or bad) don’t jump the gun and get enthralled in how they look. Get to know the person first and who knows they may have something in common with you. All I have to say, is that no matter how many years pass or how many times I repeat it I will always have the memory of how nice and comforting it was when P!NK was working and the satisfaction I would get whenever her and I would get into a conversation. Thank You P!NK!

Westway to the World…

Posted on November 15, 2010 by anele25

Documentaries? What do they mean when I see them? Do I get a sense of enjoyment or sadness? A sense that what I’m watching feeds me the joy of communicating to others that this or that was a great documentary? Well, it can be anything really but yesterday morning I started watching this documentary and I realized how much more the Clash mean to music and to other people as well. Watching the documentary I loved hearing stories about how crazy things were in terms of how they made their music and the opportunities that inspired them to make the music they recorded. For example, Joe Strummer explains on one part about how the song “White Riot” was inspired and to hear them talk about how they saw everything that happened in front of them at a protest made me think about how crazy musicians have to be in order to get involved in that and how they may be endangering themselves. It was crazy to hear the Clash speak about how fast they would get their records recorded which in this day in age it takes someone 3 or four years to release one album after the other. For example, the Clash spoke about how they recorded Sandinista! in three weekends which could be exaggerated but considering that the way they flowed together it would seem strange not to believe that. I also found out stuff I didn’t know before about the Clash such as hearing them talk about playing 16 straight shows in the same venue, one of there biggest songs “Bankrobber” being rejected by American radio stations, hearing them talk about recording in a studio when they shouldn’t have or else some horrible things would have went down, Mick Jones and Paul Simonon killing pigeons with guns, and all this other great stuff that just blew my mind that I couldn’t believe actually happened to them. I also appreciated their music a lot more when I heard Joe Strummer talking about Authority and how people say it’s supposed to be grounded into wisdom but authority is only a system of control. I appreciate their music that speaks about life and it’s battles such as a great song that I just started to get into called “Up in Heaven (not only here)”. The line that got me is Fear is just another commodity here, they sell us peeping holes to peek when we hear. The one thing that got me thinking about this documentary was when I saw how much the band talked about the internal conflict that existed within the band. I believe Joe Strummer was right on the money when he said the chemical mixture of four people was what made a group work and you don’t mess with it and whatever you can do bring it forward. Sometimes when you have a band that strong it is really hard to keep it together for long periods of time. Hearing Simonon speak about how Jones and him got into a fight and Strummer would relate notes back to them both made me see that when we get upset with people it isn’t even close to what these guys did because they were making money while still trying to tend with each other’s ego’s. I thought the best part of the documentary was seeing the old footage of shows they used play as the crowd was just going insane for this band that was trying to bring their music to the public and those around them. This documentary gave me reasons to believe that in any type of music there are messages and very few of them ever have the impact that this group did. I’m intent on hearing more of their music in the future and next I’ll watch “The Future is Unwritten” with the focus on Joe Strummer and his life.

Concert on 11/6/10…

Posted on November 11, 2010November 11, 2010 by anele25

Music seems to be my obsession these days as whenever I feel happy or sad I just like hearing it as the variety of music in the world is astonishing. What most people don’t know about me is that I’m a big Mexicano Regional music fan and when they find out they are surprised to hear so. Well, last Saturday I went to a concert at the convention center in San Jose, mostly because one of my favorite Norteno bands, Los Tucanes de Tijuana was coming to play. There were also other bands such as El Komander, La Original Banda El Limon, and Voz del Mando but I don’t know their music as much as I do Los Tucanes. Out of all the preceding bands before Los Tucanes played, I thought La Original was pretty damn awesome due to the fact that the other bands were singing fast paced and I can’t really understand what they are singing about. I had never heard La Original besides back in the 90’s when they had a different singer in Julio Preciado but these new guys actually left an impression on me. They sang such songs as Derecho de Antiguedad, El Maestro, Que me Digan Loco, Entre Perico y Perico, and Al Menos. They left an impression on me due to the sheer quality of music they sang and I also thought the instruments were pretty bad ass as well. Whenever I see a big band playing it’s pretty cool to think of how in sync these guys must be in order to be able to get all there notes right in order to please an audience full of people who payed good money to see them. Then came Los Tucanes and I tried my best to sing along with all their awesome hits such as Mis Tres Animales, Mis Tres Viejas, El Jefe de La Sierra, Amor Platonico, Mundo de Amor, La Chona, El Papa de Los Pollitos, La Chona, El Cetenario, and Soy Todo Tuyo. When they came out I thought about all the great songs that they’ve sang over the years and they still sound as tight as they do with Mario Moreno writing almost all their songs and some of them have some real good themes to them. My personal opinion, he is one of the top 5 song writers in Mexican Music due to the sheer honesty he puts in the songs they perform. On my favorite song from them, La Recompensa, tells the story of how several bands of drug traffickers are having a meeting yet the police is offering 5 million dollars to whoever can give them the hiding spot of where they are and at the end of the song someone gets it but he ends up dead which is ended with the saying it’s better to be poor and alive than dead and rich. Anyway, seeing them and having my parents there made me realize how much it meant to have my parents there. Whenever I’m with my mom or my dad and we hear an artist we both like it’s better to have that connection of hearing what the guy or gal is saying to be in sync with what the other person is feeling. I feel much better when me and my dad are riding in his jeep and we just blast some Antonio Aguilar, Felipe Arriaga, or even some Vicente Fernandez does the trick. Personally, after watching Los Tucanes de Tijuana perform I felt proud to be apart of something special and something unique in Mexican culture-the influence of the Corrido. Corridos are like the tall tales of men dying, relationships as a story, folklore sayings, and even drug deals. I realized that corridos are an essential part of our culture and it needs to be with us from here till eternity. Whether they are sang as covers or written originally they are an essential part of our story and it will continue to be part of us for many decades(here are some pictures of the concert)

100_1977 — The Clarinet players from La Original

100_1964 — The opening act: Los Novillos del Norte

100_1978 — Pretty awesome picture of Mario Moreno getting ready to perform

100_1985 — Probably the best picture I got that night

How Music Defines me through my Top 10 albums

Posted on November 10, 2010November 10, 2010 by anele25

I’m amazed at the amount of music that is made throughout the world and I was thinking the other day at how much I’ve heard all the music I enjoy and I was thinking that most of the music I hear defines me. I thought there would be no better way to do this than to do my own personal top 10 albums. I mostly listen to Mexican Regional and Hip-Hop but I tried to include something else to the mix, so enjoy:

10. Tu Ultima Cancion(Los Temerarios)

1. Tu Ultima Cancion

2. Corazon de Otro

3. La Mujer que Sone

4. Ahora Pienso Mas en Ti

5. Eres un Sueno

6. Una Tarde Fue

7. Enamorado de Ti

8. Mi Secreto

9. Voy a Quererte Mas

10. Me Empiezo a Enamorar

I find this album to be sad yet comforting. The first time I heard the album I knew it was a classic. The best songs on this one were “Corazon de Otro” which tells the story of a guy finding out from a girl he has fallen in love with that she loves another man. The story made me think about how much of an idiot I was for telling this to a girl I had a small history with back in High School. Another great song on this one was “La Mujer Que Sone” which tells the story of a guy falling in love with a girl he met in his dreams which is rather hard to think about but in reality we sometimes take our dreams too far sometimes. Two more great songs on this album are Una Tarde Fue and Mi Secreto which are both awesome love songs about regret and crushes on a girl that will never notice him but he hopes one that the girl will love him. This album is great and it was one of the classics for me personally. I wish that more Albums like this were made because the album is so crisp and the instruments used are second to none with a bass, electric guitar, and the keyboard.

9. London Calling (The Clash)

1. London Calling

2. Brand New Cadillac

3. Jimmy Jazz

4. Hateful

5. Rudie Can’t Fail

6. Spanish Bombs

7. The Right Profile

8. Lost in the Supermarket

9. Clamdown

10. The Guns of Brixton

11. Wrong ‘Em Boyo

12. Death or Glory

13. Koka Kola

14. The Card Cheat

15. Lover’s Rock

16. Four Horseman

17. I’m not Down

18. Revolution Rock

19. Train in Vain(Stand by Me)

This album is something special because it makes me think about how powerful music can be. One of my good friends, Ricardo, introduced me to this revolutionary group and when I heard this I knew I was hooked due to the content of their music. My favorite songs on this were Spanish Bombs, Lost in the Supermarket, Guns of Brixton, Clampdown, Death or Glory, London Calling, Train in Vain, I’m Not Down, and Rudie Can’t Fail. The reason this cracks my top 10 is because the Clash represented standing up for yourself and not being held down by oppression. This album, I believe represents what struggles people have to go through in order to fulfill their need in life. For example, Guns of Brixton shows that we don’t have to conform to sitting down and taking crap from authority figures and we can in fact die for what we believe in sometimes. Another great song is Lost in the Supermarket which is personally to me speaking volumes as to how we as humans live our lives the way we want to and it is difficult to recognize how others may do so in the same way. Sometimes an album like this is difficult to understand at first but after hearing it a few times I start to understand that reading and listening to the lyrics help to see what The Clash are trying to say with Political statements and how we as individuals fall into social situations which have solutions to them. Overall, a classic no doubt about it and very few like this one come along this often.

8. The Chronic (Dr.Dre)

1. The Chronic(Intro)

2. Fuck with Dre Day

3. Let Me Ride

4. The day the Niggaz Took over

5. Nuthin’ but a “G” Thang

6. Deeez Nuuuts

7. Lil’ Ghetto Boy

8. A Nigga witta Gun

9. Rat-Tat-Tat-Tat

10. The $20 Sack Pyramid

11. Lyrical Gangbang

12. High Powered

13. The Doctor’s office

14. Stranded on Death Row

15. The Roach(The Chronic Outro)

16. Bitches ain’t shit

I heard this album for the first time in 1994 or so when I was still in first grade when my brother bought the cassette that same year and I remember being drawn in by the “gangster” aspect of the album. Dr. Dre isn’t the best rapper but he produces beats that are insanely good that are incorporated from Jazz, Blues, and he uses a lot of samples as well. For example, on the song “Let Me Ride” he uses a song a song from way back in 1975 called Mothership connection and what you get is a fresh, yet tight beat that is just about being a “G” and the beats make up for what is otherwise not a lyrically masterful album. The reason this is such a classic is because of the stories it tells and some of the songs are about having fun in ways that may be illegal but in reality it’s like a movie, where it’s cool to watch or hear it but we would never really do the things they say in the music. “A Nigga witta Gun” is a good example where it shows how a person may have a gun in possession but it’s not really practical to actually wield a gun. I was also impressed by the sheer quality of instruments that Dre used on this album such as using guitars, flutes, and keyboards. This is the album that set off the explosion for west coast rap and after this many tried to duplicate the success of this but many failed and few succeeded at surpassing this.

7. Grandes Exitos a La Manera de Alejandro Fernandez (Alejandro Fernandez)

1. La Gloria eres Tu

2. Consentida

3. Encadenados

4. Si Dios Me quita La Vida

5. Conozco a Los Dos

6. Rival

7. No

8. A Pesar de Todo

9. Noche de Ronda

10. La Enramada

11. El Dia que me Quieras

12. Piensa en Mi

13. Mitad tu, Mitad Yo

14. Voy

The first thing I have to say about this album is that I was not a big supporter of this album at first but when I thought about it, I thought about my mom spending her hard earned money to buy me this CD. I listened to it and I thought it was slow and boring but as I kept listening to it after 3 years I was in awe of this man’s voice and the way he spoke about the struggles of love. The best song on this album was “El Dia que me Quieras” which is a beautiful melody of a man who desires for a girl to love him and all that he describes is the wind and the breath of both of them ready to love. The thing I like about this CD is that the way he speaks about love is almost visually inspiring as though he is telling a separate story of how love works in many different aspects. One of the most unique songs here is Si Dios me Quita La Vida which is an awesome song about if a man dies, is he going to be able to protect his love from harm and how is he is going to do so. I was impressed mostly by Fernandez’s vocals on the album because he doesn’t let up or he doesn’t sound nervous when he is singing another hit on this album. There are very few, if any skippers on this album, as the only song that didn’t exactly inspire me was Voy, which is not a great song but it still is a good one nonetheless. This album, to me, remarked what was the peak of his career and he surprised on this album due to his influx and the energy he gave on every song. One thing that particularly made me put this here is the fact that in this album there was the song “A Pesar de Todo” which is a song that inspires me to tell that special someone someday how much they may have flaws but in the end they may be beautiful despite that. All in all, a great album with a great comforting feeling for anyone that’s in love or have experienced any of these things.

6. Enter the Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers(Wu-Tang Clan)

1. Bring Da Ruckus

2. Shame on a Nigga

3. Clan in Da Front

4. Wu-Tang: 7th Chamber

5. Can it all be so simple

6. Da Mystery of Chessboxin’

7. Wu-Tang clan ain’t nothin ta F’wit

8. C.R.E.A.M.

9. Method Man

10. Protect Ya Neck

11. Tearz

12. Wu-Tang: 7th Chamber-Part II

What can I say about this one? A classic in my eyes due to the sheer brutality that the mastermind RZA puts on the beats and as well as the crazy lyrics put on by the Wu ensemble. My favorite songs on this one were CREAM, Bring da Ruckus, Da Mystery of Chessboxin’, Protect Ya Neck, Clan in Da Front, Method Man, and Wu-Tang:7th Chamber(part II). Overall, I believe this album made me see the world from a different perspective instead of being stuck in a rut here in Northern California. I saw the struggles that these rappers went through as they speak on CREAM about the struggles that money puts on them and I also saw how much more intelligent rappers can be on Bring the Ruckus as they speak about their obsession with Kung Fu movies and the way they spit there rhymes are just insane. I also enjoy hearing GZA spitting just crazy lyrics on Clan in da Front especially when he just lets everything flow like there is no tomorrow. These guys revolutionized the game of Hip-Hop with this album because it was so good coming from an East Coast perspective and there was the potential for their future albums to be as good as this one but they were unsuccessful. What I found amazing was how much time was spent on the songs themselves as few them go under 4 minutes and most go over that as that shows the ability to keep going a song about life or whatever these guys maybe competing for. Overall, a must have for any Hip-Hop fan.

5. Illmatic (Nas)

1. The Genesis

2. N.Y. State of Mind

3. Life’s a Bithc

4. The world is yours

5. Halftime

6. Memory Lane(Sittin’ in Da Park)

7. One Love

8. One Time 4 your Mind

9. Represent

10. It Ain’t Hard to tell

Amazing album. I love the way Nas raps and he is not afraid to say what is on his mind because he not only speaks on issues that are relevant to life but in society as well. I find the songs The World is yours, Represent, and Life’s a bitch inspiring due to the sheer storytelling that is told on these songs. He makes me feel inspired when he speaks about being to take life and take risks whatever they may be and acting out on them because we only live once and it is hard to do it again. The reason this album is so good is because there are no guests on this album and with that there are only 10 songs on the album which is something to say due to the way that the album is built ahead of time. This album set the bar for debut album and I hardly think these days any actual artist tries to provide the listener with lyrics and everything is more focused on beats instead of actual lyrics. My favorite line from this album was Sleep is the cousin of the death because with either one we really don’t know what were getting because we are rolling the dice whenever it may happen. Either way Nas shows the way he stands up for the ghetto part of New York and he tries his best to justify the way he lives his life as we have to withhold judgment on anybody. Overall, not only is this a classic but it made me see Hip-Hop from a different point of view because of the rhymes that are exhibited and the excellent storytelling that is shown throughout the album, recommended for anyone that wants to hear Hip-Hop from a different perspective.

4. Puras Rancheras Con Banda Cuisillos(Banda Cuisillos)

1. Cruz de Olvido

2. Hace Un Ano

3. Por El Amor de Mi Madre

4. Hermoso Carino

5. El Herradero

6. Vuela Paloma

7. Como Paloma Errante

8. Cartas Marcadas

9. Pobre Bohemio

10. Adios Amor

I remember how much I wanted to buy this album due to the classic songs that had been written and performed by other artists and I wanted to see how one of my favorite traditional Bandas sang them. I bought it the day before my 21st birthday and I got it for a bargain at Rasputin’s and I was blown away when I got home and heard it. Cuisillos kicked ass on this album due to the energy that their singer Rayo de Luz sings every song with valor and determination. I found the song Por El amor de mi madre to be meaningful to me because hearing this song made me think how much I’m willing to do for my mom and if I ever get in trouble that is one of the people you can turn to. I also found the song El Herradero to be one of the best songs I’ve ever heard due to how it shows what it means to be living in a pueblo and how much fun it can be to be a country boy in Mexico and eventually I just felt nostalgia hearing this song. I think Como Paloma Errante was the song that made me believe that this band was one band that is so underrated, and yet this album is nearly flawless. When I read a couple years back that this album actually won a grammy, I was proud to hear it because I never knew that professionals would actually consider this as good of an album as I thought it would be. After hearing this album many times, it still holds up and this one is a pure gem.

3. El Hijo del Pueblo ( Vicente Fernandez)

1. Escuche Las Golondrinas

2. La Primera Caricia

3. la Ley Del Monte

4. Campanas de Olvido

5. No me Hagas Menos

6. Dejo de Quererme

7. Hasta la Tumba

8. La Ley de La Vida

9. Que Triste Estoy

10. Le Pese a Quien le Pese

11. El Hijo Del Pueblo

This is the album that got me into Mexican music and I’m proud to say everything about it is great and consistent. From the opening song, you can tell that Chente is filled with sadness over hearing ornates. I also feel the album is filled with melodies that hare hard to duplicate and it also is filled with great stories of how girls sometimes forget us guys without any real idea as to why. This is one of the first CD’s that I heard and every time I hear La Ley del Monte or La Primera Caricia I feel like I’m one with Chente as I feel he is singing to the few yet he is appealing to the many. My favorite song on the album was El Hijo del Pueblo which tells the story of a young man who, even though he is poor he is not afraid to admit it to his friends and even to his girlfriend. I also found La Ley de la Vida to be a message as to how Rancheros are supposed to be and how they may live their lives throughout many realms. I don’t think Vicente ever had this good of an album again which was so crisp with the trumpets, guitars, and Violins. Overall, great album and awesome from start to finish.

2. East 1999 (Bone Thugs-N-Harmony)

1. Da Introduction

2. East 1999

3. Eternal

4. Crept and we Came

5. Down’71(The Getaway)

6. Mr. Bill Collector

7. Budsmokers only

8. Crossroad

9. Me Killa

’10. Land of Tha Heartless

11. No Shorts, No losses

12. 1st of tha Month

13. Buddah Lovaz

14. Die, Die, Die,

15. Mr Oujia 2

16. Mo’ Murda

17. Shotz to Da Double Glock

This album was purchased by my brother and when I heard it years later I felt it was a lyrical masterpiece. I was obsessed with Krayzie,Layzie, Wish, Bizzy, and Flesh and the way they just rapped fast about murdering, stealing money, and the fun parts of life. Once again, it was cool to think about this stuff but to actually do it would be extremely difficult due to my morals not actually allowing me to do the stuff. It’s like a movie that you play out in our head and you just are amazed at how fast these guys rap and they make everything flow slow well. My top 3 songs on this were East 1999, Down 71, and Crossroad. I found East 1999 to be about the end of the world and what it may be like if it did happen. The video also speaks volumes about how the world may come to an end and how we may not be prepared for it if any type of people took the world over. I found the idea behind down 71 to be pretty cool as it deals with three of the guys stealing money and trying to get away which is an awesome concept just trying to imagine it. Crossroad is essentially in my top 10 songs ever because we have to remember those that have passed on and it is difficult to understand where they may go when they pass. This song shows that once they gone we still see them again wherever we may end up, be it Heaven or Hell. Overall, I think this album helped out Hip-Hop in the mid west as it grew much more so after this.

1. El Gallo de Sinaloa (Chalino Sanchez)

1. El Gallo de Sinaloa

2. Don Arturo Garcia

3. Flor Margarita

4. Juan Samaniego

5. Noches Tenebrosas

6. Don Jose castro

7. Vestido, Anillo y Corona

8. Paloma Envenenada

9. Contrabando de la Frontera

10. Amador Garcia

This is my favorite album ever, no questions about it as I was mulling over whether I wanted to choose this one or the East 1999 album. Chalino represented something new and inspiring as he sang about Drug Cartels, love, the Mexican Revolution, old school corridos, and yet he didn’t have the best singing voice. He made up for it with his heart and his willingness to have passion in the way he sang his sings. All the songs on this album mean something to me but the one that is my absolute favorite is the first song, El gallo de Sinaloa. This song tells a story about a young man that is selling drugs, yet he does so without harming others because he is so well liked. I like the fact that he also sings about love as well with four love songs included on this one, the best ones being Flor Margarita and Vestido, Anillo, y Corona. I like these ones in particular because they speak volumes as to how there may be a girl that everyone believes is beautiful and she is expecting every guy to like her but she is so disillusioned. The song depicts how this girl knows everything about love and she just does so the guys can become more confident but in the end it ends up with nothing. The second song deals with a guy who gets cheated on, yet he is already ready to get married and he finds out from a friend that this girl broke his heart. All the other songs are just as good but in particular I found the mentioned ones to be special and meaningful. Overall, an album that still holds good ground and I can honestly say if anyone would mind offering their top 10 alums on Blog land you’re more than welcome to, good night everyone!

Elementary School memories…

Posted on November 4, 2010 by anele25

What can I say about elementary school except that it was a period of innocence, freedom, growth, fun, sadness, first crushes, and the list goes on and on. I have very distinct memories of what it was like to be in school and not knowing the language of English when I first started in 1993 over at Vargas Elementary school. Of course, being in that time my parents raised me to speak Spanish and the only influence I ever had was my friend Adrian, who lived right next door, and my brother and his friend Victor. Hanging around Victor and my brother helped me learn the language of English a bit better but as time went on I still was having trouble with it in school. I remember sitting in Kindergarten and being afraid to say anything and I remember getting into fights with this kid by the name of Stephen. Of course, not knowing any better and being a young kid, I just got into fights with him for whatever reason, he would make fun of me, or we would just fight for no other reason. I was sent home a number of times because of this and that era of my life is marked by being cautious of what I said and how I said it because I felt stupid at times. I also have a memory of playing the telephone game in Kindergarten and not knowing what to say to the next person because I couldn’t understand what they were saying and I was afraid I would mess up what I was saying to them. Of course, in this time this is when kids learn how to share and what not and in this time we had to share toys and what not throughout any possible fighting that kids had between themselves. So, that was sort of a quick period for me because I knew very little about what was going around me and I was gullible to the fact that I had very little, if any, chance of actually succeeding in school. Then comes 1st grade, what I remember most about 1st grade is meeting one of my closest friends Freddy Carillo, who was a little short Salvadorian kid who I could barely begin to understand at first glance. I remember this is when we used to do school presentations and we would do these at night time around 6’o clock or so and the first one I remember is when we worked on a Christmas type thing where we sang as a class Christmas carols around this tree and it was pretty awesome at the time cause this is where I started hearing Jingle Bells, Frosty the Snowman, and all those other Christmas songs. The most vivid memory I have of first grade is when I ended up pooping my pants and it ended up with me going to the nurse’s office and having to use the bathroom where I had to take off my pants and it wasn’t the prettiest site when I saw what my body had done to these blue jeans of mine. I just remember being afraid because my Uncle’s wife was the one they called and she wasn’t the friendliest person due to the fact that she got upset a lot for no particular reason and she always gave her own kids particular reasons to behave the way they did. Mrs. Sunderland was my teacher that year and I remember being quite fond of her because she understood I had a problem understanding the difference between English and Spanish yet she still tried her best to make sure I got help from the faculty at the school and herself included. I can remember when she had a conversation with me as I cleaning up my cubby and she started telling me how I put in effort with my schoolwork but the results weren’t really showing and she just told me to keep trying harder. That encouraged me even more because she was a great teacher to her 1st grade class as she always seemed to be in a good mood with whatever stupid questions we may have had. In my 2nd year, I had Ms. Barnes who I don’t have much memory of because the year flew by so fast I just remember always playing kick ball on the blacktop with my classmates and I got mad whenever I was on the losing side of things yet I understand now that it was just a game of winners and losers. Third Grade is when I really start remembering these things because my teacher Mrs. Crome treated us like we were one of her best classes and two years later she even stated to a few of us that we were her best class from the three or four years she had been teaching there. I remember my my dad and his friend dropped me off and I met Mrs. Crome after shaking her hand and I felt pleased that a teacher greeted me with such pleasure and kindness. We made Latke’s I remember one year because Hanukkah was coming up and I just remembered how special that was because each of us made our own and we sat around and ate them. I also started to realize at this time that Halloween is one of the best holidays…For kids that is. I dressed up as a Ninja that year and I just thought how cool it would be to throw around ninja stars and yield this very sharp sword that can hurt anybody but looking back at it I was just a kid with a passion just to be me. We also watched Toy Story that day after my teacher tricked us into thinking we were watching The Lion King and looking back on it it wasn’t so bad after all because kids are gullible at that stage so they’ll believe anything. That year I don’t think I learned much besides reading about Bill Clinton, sitting in a circle and doing adlibs which were fun back in the day, watching the Magic School Bus, and also reading Math problems with pluses and minuses which weren’t too difficult. I also remember we had to make up our own stories and mine was about this king who treated his servant like dirt and eventually the king went to throw the servant in jail but yet I never really ended the story but I wish had looking back now. Another momentous occasion is when we had a sleep over at the cafeteria/assembly building which was empty enough to have enough us to sleep there overnight. We had a bunch of activities lined up such as Twister, Duck-Duck Goose, and also hangman. I remember my friend William ended up throwing up near my sleeping bag because he must of have gotten sick from the popcorn that he had that night and I was fine with it because we all have accidents so it comes naturally. Then came 4th grade which was both tremendous and also quite strange because I had no idea I would end up having one of my best teachers in Mr. Hauser. I remember this year he read The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, to us and I felt kind of scared when I heard about the Lion, who was referred to as the Asian, being killed in order to save one of the character’s lives. I also remember two field trips we went to, one being to the Monterrey Bay Aquarium, and the other one being to this type of ocean place that I don’t remember where it was. The Bay Aquarium was awesome because for one, this is way back when we still had to get people so they could drive us so one of our buddies dads, Charlie Liang, decided he would be one of the drivers and the drive there was funny because all kids talked about back in those days was superheroes and what was on TV so on the way there we just talked about the most random things kids can come up with. I also remember my teacher, Mr. Hauser being very kind when it came to actually seeing how I struggled with certain areas such as English and Math and he encouraged me to try to get my brother or even my parents to help me out which was tough in those days because my mom didn’t know much because she wasn’t that educated and my brother was was barely getting by as well in school. I remember the theme for that year was the plant life and we also ended up going to the wetlands which I have a very vivid memory of because it was cloudy that day and I had no clue that I would end up getting a bit wet that day. This is when we also started doing P.E. and I had a lot of fun always playing Flag Football with the guys because we always tried to be competitive with each other throughout any kind sport. 5th grade was also a bit strange because we had a walkathon that was very memorable for myself and also for many other reasons I had fun this year because this is when I had my first crush on a girl. Her name was Jackie Martin and I remember seeing her and thinking the first thing that attracted to me was her blond hair which made me think that all beautiful girls must have blond hair? I was wrong of course because I would discover women, no matter what they look like, come in different shapes and sizes which isn’t a bad thing by any stretch of the mind. I remember the first few weeks of my 5th grade being quite memorable due to me being first Cafeteria helper, and second this is when I went on a trip to Mexico. The Cafeteria helper thing was fun for two reasons, I got to see what it was like to help out with food and the process that it entails, and I also got to work with Jackie which was a great experience. I just remember asking her what her name was and I was too shy to even ask myself what I was thinking. Either way we got to serve ourselves whatever we wanted including Chicken Nuggets, Corn Dogs, milk, pizza, Tacos, and anything else we wanted. At around the time we had to leave for Mexico my time in the Cafeteria had started and I had to go which left me wondering what would happen to Jackie, I just thought about it until I got back and I discovered my crush was just a natural thought process so I should not have been worrying about it so much. This is also when my teacher, Mrs Caudle, was telling us that she was just our temporary teacher and our real teacher, Mrs. Maddox, was going to come to teach our class and I have mixed feelings about her. She was a nice lady, sometimes but when it came down to it she was strict on everything even being able to talk out of hand which was real annoying at this point. She yelled whenever we got even a little loud and I still think she could have been a little nicer when it came as to how we did our assignments. Overall, I just remember dissecting squid and eating it after in a class we had one day which wasn’t that bad at all =. We also ended up learning about the difference between boys and girls, physically that is. As soon as our instructor that was teaching this I kind of laughed as she mentioned that thing between our legs as did many of the other boys in the class. We also watched this video about how girls get their periods regularly and I just wondered how amazing it was to hear all this. The kid in the video also ended up looking at his brother’s book about reproductive organs and I just laughed when he ended up getting caught, funny then, not so much now. We also went to Science Camp that year which was loads of fun because we learned about the outside world around us and we also got to do a lot of team building activities. What sucked though was that our trip got cut short due to the fact that a lot of people got sick and we had to leave a day earlier than was scheduled. I remember the best part was hiking up some hills to see if we could find snow and we did find snow which was really watery but it ended up being all right after all. Our leader was real cool also because he told us scary stories about ghosts and what not. The walkathon that year was the year that I ended up walking about only 5 miles or so which tired me out but I kind of remember being kind of lonely because my friends got separated from me and I also remember having this coupon for In-N-Out Burger which had just opened in Sunnyvale. They had the truck over there and I remember waiting for my mom so we can grab some burgers after a pretty long afternoon in which I was exhausted from walking so much. Overall, the fun part of elementary school was seeing how much I grew from not knowing so much about the English language to knowing it like the back of my hand and I still to this day pass by Vargas Elementary and I gaze into the hallways to see all the walks I would take to my classes. I also remember this past summer taking Paloma, with my brother and his daughter, Jazmin, and thinking how much fun we had back in those days at Vargas when we would play flag football, soccer, basketball, and all the other sports. The one thing I forgot to mention is this one pretty girl that taught us after school where we needed help with English and her name was Ms. Cannon. Ms. Cannon was pretty awesome even though there were some times I felt she was dealing with idiots sitting there at the table and I remember my buddy Adrian mentioning if he could buy her a naked Indian dude which had me cracking up at the seams. Even though there were times we got on her nerves, I remember she drove up with this Pontiac that was purple and she asked me if I needed help with sentence structure I could meet up with her at 7:45 in the morning because class would start at 8:25. I got there at 7:45 and I just think back and I wonder how teachers can make such a sacrifice without even complaining to others about even once. She ended up helping with the sentence structure part and to this day I think of how much she really didn’t need to show up then but she did anyway for her sake and my sake. I met one of best friends in Vargas which was Freddy, and I can’t stress enough how important he was to how much fun I had in Vargas because we would take walks down to Vargas in the morning and in the afternoon and he would keep me sane sometimes. As I mentioned earlier, Jackie was my first crush but what’s ironic is that I ended up being in a class at De Anza College and I just thought when I saw her how familiar she looked. Once the teacher called her name, I knew it was her because she hadn’t changed so much in the way she looked and she still had that beauty to her. I didn’t have the courage to talk to her yet I kind of laughed about it because I could have sparked a conversation with her but I just said ‘whatever.’ Hope everyone enjoyed this blog, I know I did! Here are some pictures of my class from the various years:

Var — My Fifth Grade class(I'm not in the picture:()

Monday Monday — My Classmates(Arturo, Satomi, and Karla

A random assortment of pictures from K-5

Why the same patterns in wrestling always work…

Posted on October 30, 2010October 30, 2010 by anele25

On Thursday afternoon, wondering if I could get wifi in my car, I read something interesting while I was sitting there studying for my Speech 8 midterm while I was able to actually find a connection, and that was in the wrestling organization TNA Hulk Hogan has proposed that TNA will no longer be doing fake story lines and they will be in fact shifting to real story lines. I was kind of taken aback by this because for one, no one will buy and two it’s something that can’t be helped out by the fact that wrestling formality is and always will be what draws people to it for the sake that it’s like a soap opera. Let’s make an analogy here, if on one of my favorite TV shows, The West Wing, they made it known that the original main character, Sam Seaborn, who is played by Rob Lowe, was upset because his role on the show was dwindling and they made that real, it would feel strange and upsetting because I want to know about the character Sam Seaborn and not the actor who actually ended up feeling upset because his role was downgraded to a supporting role instead of a main one. For all intents and purposes, wrestling has always relied on several things to keep it alive which makes it simple and yet still exciting for “hardcore” wrestling fans to tune in. For example, I always joke with my brother Jesus about the oldest tricks in the book in wrestling and it still keeps us entertained, Some of the examples for this would be (but not limited to)

1. The idea of good vs. evil: There have always been two forces in the universe that triumph and that is good and evil, that is the basis for wrestling and it doesn’t get anymore simple than that just watch it and that’s what you get.

2. A battle for pride or “who’s better” series of matches between two competitors: One of the best examples of this is when way back when in the 1980’s Ricky Steamboat and Ric Flair put on one of the best rivalries I’ve seen through matches that just wow’ed me when I viewed them on DVD because they were crisp and the psychology and storytelling put on by both men made me appreciate just how hard these guys have to work in order for the crowd to buy into what they were doing because they were not only working their asses off but they were also trying to show that wrestling can be a sport if it wanted to be.

3. The heel stable against the group of disgruntled babyfaces: I have mixed feelings about this one because it can be really good if executed correctly. The best example of how this may work is with the Hart Foundation in 1997 and the way it happened was awesome because for years Bret Hart was the beloved hero but he ended forming a heel stable because now things were a bit different and people wanted to cheer for the bad guys instead of the typical bland babyfaces. What ended up happening was you got Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels, Undertaker, Mick Foley, The Road Warriors, Dustin Rhodes, and others to form an alliance against this rugged group of individuals. What ended up happening was a U.S. against Canada and for everything for what it was worth it was and is one of my favorite times in wrestling because it showed what life demonstrates sometimes: ideals, righteousness, and the supremacy to see who is number one in the world matters to some.

4. The build up of the chase for the world title babyface: I like this one in part because some really good stories have come out of this one. Several examples include the Steve Austin rise to the top in 1998 when he was facing Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania 14 and he ended up winning, another one is when Sting wrestled Hogan at Starrcade 1997 which was built up with a year’s worth of promos and what not, and another one of personal favorites is when Eddie Guerrero won the championship here in San Francisco from Brock Lesnar which was made even better by the fact that I was there live and I couldn’t have been prouder of one of the little guys that was a great wrestler and he had a great persona.

5. Building up something without the babyface even being on TV: I have seen this numerous times throughout my years of watching wrestling and it seems difficult to execute but once it’s done I feel proud to be a wrestling fan. The master of this is Chris Jericho who feuded with Dean Malenko over a title but in hindsight Malenko was off TV for several weeks which resulted in Jericho insulting him, his family, and even his famous 1000 holds moniker. Looking back even 2 years ago, he had one of my top 10 favorite feuds with Shawn Michaels in which he may have ended his career and for weeks he bragged about it which made the fans even more furious because they wanted to see their hero Shawn return and show Jericho that he was in fact not retired. Michaels did in fact return after being off TV and once he did the crowd just ate it up because he was back for revenge.

Looking at these, I realize wrestling would be impossible to actually have as being real with real storylines. The basis for wrestling is to have it be fake but these guys are athletes that are integrated with storylines that sometimes have real life implications. For example, we always root for the underdog in any situation which is something wrestling is excellent at because writers and agents want us to feel enthralled in what they do instead of actually seeing the bad guy come out on top all the time. I don’t want to know what goes on behind the scenes, it’s juicy and funny when it they talk about it on TV but too much is overkill and it just makes me think how they can allow these inside things onto a “wrestling” show. Anyway, wrestling will be and always will be using the same formula because without it not many new ideas can be come up with. Have a good afternoon everybody and here’s a demonstration of why I love wrestling( insane heat 101)

Trips with Family…Pt.1

Posted on October 27, 2010June 17, 2023 by anele25

I sometimes miss being a kid and being a teenager because that’s when I spent most of my time going to Mexico with the family in Zacatecas, where I have a lot of great memories and I learned then that family is one of the five most important things in life. I loved the fact that from 1994 till about 2002 we would take regular trips down to Mexico, and I took sporadic trips in 2004 and 2006 but I haven’t gone back since. Just to provide some brief descriptions on these times I will document what happened in those years and how different they were.

1994: I remember this with a blur because it was my aunt’s qunicinera and I didn’t know what was happening because everybody was so happy for my aunt Graciela, who is probably my favorite aunt to talk with because we joke around a lot with each other. I just remember my grandparents being very happy that their daughter was turning into a woman finally and that was probably one of the last times that my mom’s side of the family was together which included the kids as well. I became very attached to my brother at this time because being in Mexico I understood very little of the language and I was afraid I would be looked down upon because I was born in the United States and I knew very little, if any spanish, and the way I spoke it made me seem childish in a way. I was hanging around with my brother and my cousin Filiberto, who I found to be like a Mr. Cool because everything about him spoke how cool he was. I also remember seeing my mom dancing to some generic Mexican Band with keyboards, drums, electric guitar, and a bass guitar as well with some other guy besides my dad and I just chhered my mom on for some odd reason. That was one of the few times I’ve ever actually felt lost because I had no clue that where my parents and family were from was one of the places that I would look down upon at first but I would grow to love later on, which is located in La Batea, fairly far away fro one of the prominent cities in Zacatecas, Sombrerete.

1995: This is fairly tragic due to this being when me and my mom going because my Grandpa, Sylvestre was sick and this is when he passed away due to having a pulmonary problem which I found out about years later. I also have scattered memories of this time because I just remember being in the hospital with my grandpa and I didn’t know what to think because I was little and I had never experienced what it was like for an elder person to die. I thought to myself, what do I do what do I say in this time and day. I also remember a casket coming in for my grandpa and I believe that’s when I knew people’s final resting places are. Suddenly I just remember my grandpa’s casket being brought to a funeral home and for some odd reason I remember going up to the stage and rambling on about something which to this day is one of the most vivid memories in my head because there were lots of people sitting down yet I didn’t know what to do once again. I also remember being there and seeing my mom cry extensively and I didn’t know what to say or think yet her brother was there to comfort her for all i could think about was just being a kid and enjoying my young life.

1996: This one was fun, yet brief because I believe we only went for about 2 weeks and what I remember most was going to a rodeo and sitting up on these rocks that were uncomfortable and yet it’s one of those things you just remember forever. My mom would always bring this huge video camera and I would feel like holding it because in there are memories that last a lifetime. I would be in awe of these guys that would go on there horses and knock down bulls as I remember my aunt’s husband, Manuel, my dad, and my uncle Raul would be in on the action and it was always awesome to watch my family in the rodeo because they would get these cool looking tags to make it look as if they accomplished something but it was fun times. I also remember going to Fresnillo with my Aunt Irma, my mom, my other aunt Graciela, and my cousins Brenda, Chelli, Soccoro, and Rafael. What I remember was going on this bus that went about 15-20 mph at best and I just saw how amazing the countryside was withe green plants, cactus, cows, the mountains, and a bunch of other sites. We went to this awesome store called vision which was kind of had an americana feeling to it. I was having fun because it was culture shock to see nice things in a country I considered poor in Mexico.

1997: This is when I started understanding my people because they just wanted to have fun but I wasn’t that kind of guy at all. They enjoyed making tamales, going to dances, talking late night outside on their porches, and just oing anything but watching TV. I remember also this is when my brother started drinking at dances and such and I never really understood why he did such a thing but I thought it must of been pretty cool to be drinking and having fun at the same time. I also remember taking trips down to my other grandma’s house and just talking with her about practically nothing but this is when I first tried milk straight from a cow and I noted how sour it tasted and I just wanted to throw up soon thereafter. All in all I can remember us going everywhere and how it was an adventure just to do so from going to the local store, the sierras, with the Menones and I was amazed how they were white yet they spoke an alright kind of spanish.

1998: Boy, this was fun yet strange, I remember being in school and starting fifth grade but my parents planned on taking me and brother to Mexico yet I was afraid of asking the school how to actually request to take time off. I didn’t know what to say and I don’t know how I ended up getting away with it but we ended up just leaving without any word to my elementary school, Vargas. I remember going home that day and feeling a bit skeptical as to how I would get away with not informing my school that I was going to be gone for the next few weeks or so. Well, all went as planned and I woke up from taking a brief nap and I vividly remember seeing my brother in his boots and his cowboy hat on which made me think my brother was more Mexican than I was as I had no business being in this family that I didn’t choose and I wished at that point that we just stay there for the time being. I remember at the Oakland airport seeing a predominant “white” family and I that’s when I knew maybe white people liked Mexico too so I tried having as much fun as I could on the plane ride as this is when I had my obsession with wrestling going on and I wondered what would happen from that point till I got back. What was interesting was seeing my dad’s friend from work come with us, who was of Japanese descent but I found his company to be very forthcoming because I got along with him well enough that we could share so much about what he learned from working, life, tech companies, and for some odd reason the stock market. Anyway, we got there and I remember all the adventures we went through at that point from going to see my dad’s horse, having tamales at my grandma’s, going to the sierras and being with my family that mattered to me the most, and also visiting the capital city of Zacatecas that was ugly at the time but I wish I would have paid more attention to the area because looking back at it I wish I would have paid more attention to the sites because they were nice and beautiful yet I had no clue as to how I couldn’t be more attentive to what was going on around me. I clearly remember also going to the state fair with my dad’s side of the family and I got sick for some strange reason which must have been All in all, a very memorable trip that has little, if any chance of being duplicated.

1999: Truly, the end of the century and for me anyway, the end of my mom’s side of the family being a true family because after this my grandma ended up getting left by her last daughter, Graciela, and being there that year I saw many different signs of what it meant it to have people that cared about you. The things I remember about this one is seeing my Uncle, Guillermo, come down to live in Zacatecas because he couldn’t afford to live anymore in Sunnyvale which was saddening to me because I thought he was making quite the impression on me because before this I had never really talked to the guy other than about soccer but once I saw the music he listened to the more I grew to talk to the guy. I also remember seeing my mom’s side of the family, most of them, getting up at about 5 in the morning to go pick up my aunt who was coming from L.A. and she was coming with our cousins as well which made the trip seem even more worth it because I had a lot in common with my cousins as this was one of the few times I got to see them every year. We made a trip down to Fresnillo to pick them up but we ended up meeting them halfway between two cities that reach Fresnillo and we all went down to Plateros, a sort of sanctuary that is where a lot of images of Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and all the saints are which made me proud that day because I think we were helped out a lot from seeing these images as it granted us good grace and even better well being. I also remember going down to Agua Seca, which is a festival that they have near the small pueblo of Guadalupe and I just remember being interested in how much people dressed up for such a small event but either way I had fun, I was just a kid. The one last memory I have of this is seeing my grandma, myself, my brother, Filiberto, my aunt’s husband, Rafael, my aunt’s kids, and my cousin Miguel all went down to the sierras for no particular reason other than to look for cows and what not but I just remember seeing this fire that blazed up and we had to end up sleeping in my cousin Filiberto’s truck because it was cold and there was nowhere to sleep. Ah, good times

2001: Really strange trip because this was when just me and mom ended up going but I still had fun due to the fact that this was when I discovered the show “El Chavo”. This shows’s humor speaks for itself , as it has no real bad language and I can only say as a young 13 year old that had experience only with bad words, this show was a change as I didn’t know how to react to what was being said because at this point I only knew it was funny if another person ended up hitting another. But once, I caught up with what was being said, I said yeah and I was happy. I was also surrounded by women which made it seem strange at the moment.Anyway, awesome trip, wish it would have lasted longer.

2002: A short trip that only lasted about a week or so because my dad’s sister was going to get married but this was when I learned that I had hit puberty and I had to start turning a new leaf and not be so immature about certain subjects. I also saw that not only do people care what you look like but they also care about what you say in front of them as I was valued by my dad’s side of the family as being a good talker but I just brushed them off at that point.

2004: This is when my uncle got married and this is when my maturity level finally hit because I started to see my family was growing apart with my grandma being more worried about her only daughter that had yet to leave her but she lived in another city as she had trouble leaving them behind for anything. I also saw that my dad’s mom really had no care for anything my dad did as he was just trying to be a good son and nothing more yet I was seeing patterns such as who plays favorites and why? But all in all, I had a great time with my cousin and his antics because we ended up doing some stupid shit together in La Batea such as riding around in his dad’s Yukon and playing the song BNK by Bone Thugs and Harmony which is a rap song being played in a Hispanic setting. This is when I also started to hang with my cousin Karina who is awesome in every sense of the word. What I remember most is this being one of the absolute last times I would see my family together as one with my grandma, myself, my mom, her two sisters, and my cousins in one setting celebrating my aunt Julia’s birthday as we had tacos with potatoes which is a bargain over there any day.

2006: Bad Ass trip here for me because I now saw Mexico evolve in a technological perspective and the people that lived there as well. People seemed more upset now than ever before because they lived in a poor rural community yet they found a way to make the best of it. I clearly remember having a great time with my dad (me and my dad only went) and we spent the first chunk of the trip going to Vicente Fernandez’s ranch in Guadalajara which was gorgeous because it had little, if any gaps, and I was fascinated with the scenes of Guadalajara due to it’s huge yet structured city. After that, we headed down to La Batea once again and I was humbled to see how much it had changed and I remember seeing my dad going to purchase a truck that was not the best yet it had enough power to take us back as I had the knack to play some music and I popped in some Temerarios, Vicente Fernandez, Banda El Recodo, and just about anything else you could think of. I loved the fact that on this trip me and my dad got out more as I had to take care of him and I had to make sure he didn’t get too drunk or else I would get in trouble. I had my hunch that he would be drinking a bit there so I strapped myself in for a ride with my dad shooting the shit with his old and a hilarious scene that I remember is seeing the store owner of where he was hanging with his friends burning his stove and I thought “isn’t he going to suffocate in there” but he ended up controlling the fire, good times when that happened. My dad’s friends were also hilarious as they told stories about everybody, most of them hilarious as well as making me think about how much dad had to go through in order to make it to the United States. Nonetheless, the part of the trip that I remember the most was going with my dad to Sombretete and us going to Orgenoes which is sort of a sierra but with more empahsis on trees and plants and I just remember having a great time being with my uncle, my dad, and my mom’s brother in law, Jose who is a cool guy from what I’ve seen. That trip can’t be duplicated because I felt sad when it came to an end with my end of high school and I was coming to head with the beginning of what was sure to be a long road in college as I hadn’t decided whether I was ready to even begin that part of my life

Present: Looking back on those times, I wish I could go back because there still is something I need to see for myself and that is whether you can take the place out of the person as I feel within the next few years after I’m done with school and I have a career I can go back with my family to make some sort of connection with the place again. I truly do miss those times when my family was together and you can’t bring that time back but you can always ask others or your siblings “Do you remember the time…” questions that have a lot of meaning behind them that I’m not quite sure just how and why they do get asked but when I do ask them a smile comes on my face because not only is that a time when I was young and stupid but I also discovered just how important being in an environment where not a lot of people have money but what brings them together is experiences, life, commonality, and most important, love for one another: Good night and good morning (here are some pictures by the way)