Root of my Sense of Humor

Root of my Sense of Humor

Since I can remember I have always been drawn to comedy movies, comedy, shows, and I'm always laughing at what ever life throws at me. 
Growing up in San Francisco we didn’t have much money, but there was a movie theatre on

Mission Street and 17th that would play Spanish movies. My mom decided to take my brother and I. 

It was a Saturday night and we got on the Muni and made are way from the Excelseaor district down to 17^th street . I was only 6 and I was very excited to watch my first movie.  The star was Cantinflas, he was the Charlie Chaplan of Mexico. We sat down and my mom bought us popcorn and soda, this was my first ever experience at the movie and already I was loving it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GG00r0ZTv5c&feature=related

       I didn’t quite understand what was going on but my mom was laughing so hard that I could not help but laugh with her.  There were scenes that even I at 6 was laughing at, he was just that funny.

That same year in the summer my mom didn’t know what to do with my brother and I.  We where out of school and had nothing to do.  My auntie told my mom of a summer program that was very affordable to send us to.  It was the boys and girls club. 

        That same summer my mom and my auntie decided to send all of us (my brother my self and my three cousins) to the boys and girls club.  It was not close so we had to wake up early and take the Muni always down to 16^th street from Russia Ave and Mission St. This was not an easy trip, but between the five of us it was fun.  We would wake up early and walk up La Grande Ave, La Grande in Spanish means Big, and yes it was a big hill we had to walk.  From there we made our way down toMission Street this was 13 blocks away.  We would get on Muni and go down to 16^th street.  We then walked up 6 blocks to Guerrero
Street. On our way up we would ring door bells of homes and run like our life depended on it.  No one ever came out or answered threw the intercom; we never took the chance we just ran.

    When we got to the boys club there was so much for us to do.  There were arts and crafts.  You could cut and polish plastic blocks and turn them in to crosses or hearts.  We would weave plastic strings to make key chains.  This was our morning activity.  My favorite part was lunch time.  Not only did we get a sandwich but they would always show the 3 stooges staring Larry, Curly, and Mo.  

     I looked forward to waking up every day during the summer walking up and down the hills of San Francisco, making to the Boys and Girls club and watching the 3 stooges.

To me they were the funniest thing I had ever scene.

Looking back now as an adult; between Cantinflas, and the 3 Stooges, how could I not have a sense of hummer and love comedy in general.

       My favorite movie is Old School, I’m always watching Comedy Central; Tosh.O, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and the Colbert report.  I can’t help my self.

If my friends would have to describe me they would all say that I’m not a serious person and I try and find laughter in every day situations.

Fork In the Road

In life we are faced with many different and difficult choices.  What should I eat this morning cereal or the Big Steak omelet from IHOP with tender strips of steak, hash browns, green peppers, onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, and cheddar cheese. Served with salsa?  We face decisions every day but none are as important as the ones that can affect us for the rest of our lives.  Yes, it is true with hold our own destiny, we are free to make our own decisions in life, but sometimes it’s just not that easy.   

My half-sister moved to the Miami Florida, from Nicaragua at her junior year in high school.  She didn’t really know anyone in the Miami except her auntie who let her stay with her.  As she was graduating high school she was forced to make a life changing decision.   What do I do? She was turning 18, didn’t speak English that well and did not want to go back to Nicaragua.

While at school she heard that there was going to be a career day.  She thought this might be a perfect opportunity to see all the possibilities out there for her.  At first she was very excited to go, she was about to be able to hear of so many different choices and one might just help her decide on what to do with her life.  As the day came due for career day she still had one problem her English was not that good.  Now she was nervous.  She was also thinking that her time was running out, with only 4 months before graduation she knew she had to make a decision. 

As she went around the different booths she came across one that would change her life forever, The Army.  At first she was very hesitant to go approach the booth.  She thought, “The Army, what would I do in the Army”.  Out of nowhere a recruiter approached her, just as she finished her last thought.  The recruiter explained to her how beneficial the Army could be.  If she enlisted she could get a college degree, money to buy a house, etc..  She did not know what to think.  Then the recruiter said since you’re a girl you probably won’t need to go to war if one where to break out.  She thought this might be the perfect opportunity for me, I’ll be able to move out of my Aunties place, I won’t have to go back to Nicaragua, and I could get so much from the Army money for a college degree and help to buy a house.  This was the road to her independence the answer that she was looking for.

My half-sister decided to enlist.  She enlisted in February 2003; in March 2003 President George W. Bush declared that we were at war against Iraq.  She was scared but remembered that the recruiter told her that woman typically don’t go to war.  While taking her test to see what jobs she qualified for in the Army she felt pretty good.   She wanted to go into the medical field.  When my half-sister got her test results back, she did not qualify for the medical field.  Due to her language skills being so poor she would have to improve it and, re-apply for the medical field.  What she did qualify for was to be a driver.  So off she went to boot camp.  She passed her six weeks of basic training and then went off to be a driver.  She did not realize she would be driving big cargo trucks.

As soon as her cargo driving training was over she got called to go to the Iraq War as a truck driver.  For some reason truck driving in Iraq was in high demand due to all the trucks that got attacked.  Either they got destroyed by land mines or rocket launchers.

Yes sometimes we are faced with a decision to make, what do I do?  We might not truly understand the decision we are making and how big of an impact it could have on our lives.  Some are very minor, like the Steak Omelet from Ihop that could give you the Hershey Squirts in a few hours, or joining the military without truly knowing what could happen.  My sister looks back on that decision and told me that at times she had to do things that she never wanted to do or dreamed she would be doing.  She didn’t join the Army for the money, but for the opportunity to better her life.   

The Art of Patience

The Art of Patience

One isn’t born with patience; it’s a skill that is developed over time.  It’s an art form that takes discipline.

Growing up I was like most kids. I was very impatient, wanting things immediately.  I feel that I learned a small part of patience due to my economic situation.  I didn’t come from a wealthy family, so whenever I wanted something I had to save my money for months before I could buy it.  Sometimes I had to wait until it was my birthday, or Christmas.  Not knowing it, at a young age I was starting to learn the art of being patient. 

This was only the beginning of my full understanding of what it truly means to be patient or even to develop the necessary discipline to master this unique art form. 

I can remember falling in love for the first time.  Her name was Kesia Rivera and she was a family friend who I had not seen since we were both around 8 or 9.  There was a church function in July, vacation bible school when I was 16 and we saw each other again and from there a spark ignited that turned into a blazing inferno.  It was love at first sight, we could not keep or eyes off each other. For the entire week of vacation bible school we were always together dreading when we had to say bye to each other, I was looking forward for the sunrise to see each other again the next day. She was only visiting from her home town in Fresno for one week and I lived in San Pablo.  This was going to make things very difficult.  We decided to give it a try.  We exchanged phone numbers and started a relationship.  Any chance that she had she would come and visit her family out in the Bay Area.  First there was a family party, and then Christmas came around. 

It was months before we could see each other but I looked forward to the day we would spend time together, counting the days longing to see her, hold her hands, and kiss her.  Patience and discipline are a very important attribute to any relationship.  One must have the discipline to be patient, in order to fall in love or even to get by in life.  We will always be put in situations that are out of our control, whether in a relationship, or just waiting in line at the grocery store and the person in front of you has 100 items and you might only have two, and then there credit card gets decline so they whip out another one until finally they have paid for their grocery.

Erich from said, “For a picture of the concentration, discipline, patience and concern are necessary for the learning of an art” The Practice of Love page 102 Erich Fromm.

In December 2010 I took up boxing as a sport.  I always wanted to do it and I really liked the physical-ness of the sport.  When I first started, my coach had me do jab drills, and foot work drills.  This went on for two months.  I never realized how much work and effort went in throwing a punch.  Just last week, 4 months later my coach was very impressed on how smoothly my punches were coming out and how my foot work  has improved from when I started.  In order for me to throw a punch correctly it took patience, and discipline.  This art form is used in all aspects of our lives; it’s just unfortunate we learn this in the later stages of our lives.

Alexis Arguello was a great boxer from Nicaragua who became a champion in the light weight division he was killed at age 57.  He was elected mayor of Managua Nicaragua wanting change for our people and was killed in his home.  He is the boxer who growing up inspired me to take up the sport.

http://www.google.com/search?q=boxing+pictures+alexis+arguello+pictures&hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&prmd=ivnso&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=IImjTZPxHJO8sQPk3pH5DA&ved=0CBsQsAQ&biw=1345&bih=569

"Hit 'Em Up" by Tupac

“Hit ‘Em Up”

I was debating on whether or not to use this song,  “Hit ‘Em Up,” by Tupac. It is not a song you will be playing at Christmas dinner, Thanksgiving dinner, or at any formal function whatsoever. However, it is one of my favorite songs. 

I once left my iPod playing on shuffle mode in my car while I ran in to the grocery store and a female friend of mine was still in the car.  When I came back to the car, she said, “Man that guy was really mad, he kept saying fuck you.”  I could not help but laugh.  I instantly knew the song she was referring to.

This song was written right after Tupac was shot while in New York.  He wasn’t sure who shot him but thought that all of  the East Coast rappers where behind it.  “Hit ‘Em Up” was written with raw, powerful emotions behind it.  The lyrics speak for themselves.  The hook is “Hit Em Up,” meaning: I’m going to retaliate against you, I’m going to kill you, and I’m going to fuck you up.  This is not your ordinary rap song.

“That’s why I fucked your bitch you fat motherfucker.”  This is something that people might think, something people might even say to their friends, but never to a person’s face, or let the whole world know exactly what they did to another person.  Tupac did just that, he lyrically expressed how he felt about Biggie, Puffy, and Junior Mafia in one song.  What keeps me drawn to the song is Tupac’s uncensored thoughts of what had just happened to him. The song motivates people.  This song has been used by many athletes to pump them up before a big game, I use it to pump me up at the gym on a regular basis. 

While writing this blog I wondered if this song reflects who I am.  In some ways it does.  We all have this inner demon in us. We’ve all said “fuck you” to someone, or we have all thought it even if we haven’t said it.  “Why did you take my parking space? Why did you cut me off in the freeway?”  No I’m not going to go and hit ‘em up like Tupac wanted to do.  But we can all relate on some level.  I don’t like to be messed with, I think that nobody likes to be messed with, and this song speaks to me in that sense.

The song is full of lyrics and very little “hook music” meaning that the same thing is not repeated over and over again to keep a person singing the song.  That’s probably what I like the most about the song.

DJ Shadow "Long Stem"

Long Stem

Long Stem was my favorite song of the whole DJ Shadow album.  When I first started listing to the album I did not know what to make of it.  Most of the songs seemed to be ones that one would listen to while on some type of psychedelic drug.  I was almost ready to go and buy some mushrooms so I could continue listening to the rest of the album. 

Then Long Stem rose came on.  This was a song that I could listen to.  There are very little lyrics which made it all the better.  The song is a long one, hence the title Long Stem.  It put me in a nice tranquil place where I could relax.  The beginning seems to be a very long intro but in fact it’s the actual song.  I felt like I was watching a movie in the 70’s and something was about to happen.  I’m not sure where DJ Shadow found the beat to this but it would make for a great song.  There are two spurts of random lyrics

Then go, Back, Head, There, Decide....

I think he wants us all to stop and listen and decide.  We might be in the middle of making a decision we should just go back and decide.  This verse can be used in many different ways it just depends on who is listening and what they are going through at that particular point in their life.

I say parking tickets! you're crazy, i don't...

He says well, they have some outstanding warrents left on you

and they want to just solve them you know, whatever it'll be.

So they take me in on a chain down to long beach

and now they lock me up in the cell behind the courtroom in long beach

while i'm awaiting to be heard on my traffic offences! parking tickets!

I paniced, i'm thinking, oh my god, man, while i'm here, what's to stop them?

I mean what's really to stop them, oh, i assumed that maybe some day

my mother would realize that i should have gotten out! yeah,

she was nice, she would have known but still, what's to stop them?

and finally they called, so, they called, oh, man....scared

This lyric that he put in towards the end of the song really makes you think.  He put it towards the end for a reason.  I feel that it’s to make you again make a decision.  The person in question is talking about being taken to jail on some parking tickets.  Why didn’t he just take care of the tickets so he could avoid the whole scenario?  That’s what DJ shadow wanted to get across.  Why don’t we take care of small things before they become big issues in our lives.

Groundhog Day Phil's Love Cave

Phils Love cave

Ground Hog day begins with Phil being an egocentric person.  He is only concerned with himself and feels that everyone and everything should revolve around him.  He finds himself trapped in a day that keeps on repeating itself, and with no way out, he feels he can indulge in a world where there are no consequences. After indulging in his world, Phil finds that there is still something missing from his life.  He tries to make Rita fall in love with him. He tries to remember everything about her.  He gets to know her likes and dislikes.  He finds out what kind of drinks she likes, what she majored in and what eventually made her take the job that she did.  He soon learns more about her like the fact that she likes French poetry and that was actually her major.  He makes a wise remark about her major and sees the look on Rita’s face. 

Thinking to himself that he should not have said that he repeats the event until he gets it right. 

While Phil is trying to get the day he and Rita spend together perfect down to the last detail, Rita still manages to see through him.  Phil was trying to get the day perfect so Rita would sleep with him.  His ultimate goal was not love but sex. 

He finally realizes that his plan to have Rita fall for him in false pretenses was not working, he tries to kill him self.  He feels like there is no escape from this world.  To his surprise he keeps on waking up and repeating the same day all over again.  In one scene he has a conversation with Rita and she tells him that he looks at the world all wrong and that he should look at life like an opportunity.  He senses that there is some truth to this comment Rita makes. 

Phil finds himself getting satisfaction in helping people.  He sees that the world does not revolve around him but he should revolve around the people he has.  He gets to know all the town people; he makes a remarkable news commentary about ground hog and the town’s people.  He catches a kid falling from a tree and comments on it, “No need to thank me kid, I only saved your life and almost broke my back, but don’t worry I will be here tomorrow at the same time to save all over again.”

I think this was the turning point for Phil as he realizes that its not about him anymore or him getting praised for doing things.  He then goes around the town and helps everyone out, not asking for anything in return or even waiting for a thank you.  He starts jacking up a car while the three ladies where inside and they comment to him, “Thank you young man.” Phil responds, “There is no need to thank me I was just around the way with a jack and a spare tire.”  He was doing this just for the simple fact that it was the right thing to do and not wanting any thing in return. 

At the end Phil is playing the piano that took him years to learn.  He is playing at the towns yearly ground hog dance.  Never once in his last day did he make an attempt at Rita.  Rita just came to him.  They start dancing and all the town people start coming up to him thanking him for all his good deeds and he is very modest and doesn’t even go into detail when Rita asks him about it.  Instead he just makes it seem like he has no clue why all these people are thanking him.

At that point Rita falls for Phil, all the town people love him and the ladies are commenting on how good of a catch he is.  The annual singles auction starts and instantly they call Phil up to the front.  He is the town’s hero and women have a bidding war over him.  Rita sees this and out bids them all.  Phil in one scene is outdoors with Rita and carves an ice sculpture of her face.  Rita asks him, “How did you do that?”  Phil tells her, “It’s like if I know every inch of your face.”  The scene breaks and Phil wakes up in bed to the same song but he then sees Rita lying next to him, and he starts looking around and finds that he has finally escaped Groundhog Day.  He starts making out with Rita and she asks him, “Why weren’t you like this last night?” and Phile responds, “Maybe it was because you where so tired from doing all your errands yesterday!”

To me, that was the best part of the movie. Phil finally got it right. The world did not revolve around him and at the end he got Rita.

The Love Cave

The Love Cave

          I was raised by a single-mother of two boys and I was the youngest.  We came to the United States after my Mom had enough of my Father’s infidelity.  He had two other kids with two other women.  I didn’t know this growing up.  All I knew was that my family consisted of my Mom, my Brother, and I.  When we first came to the U.S. from Nicaragua, we jumped from city to city. We started in Miami, went cross-country to Los Angeles and then finally made our way up North and landed in San Francisco, where we stayed until I was 12. 

When we moved to San Francisco, we moved in to a one-bedroom apartment with my Mom’s best friend and her family. We somehow managed to squeeze seven people in it.  I don’t remember much but I know that it didn’t last long.  We soon moved in to our own room that we rented from a family friend.  Our family friend was an older lady that was involved in a Spanish Baptist church. My Mom took us to church one day and we all really enjoyed it and felt at home. At that point, we began practicing Christianity routinely and going to church on a weekly basis. I think that was the beginning of how I came to realize that I was stuck in a love cave.

My Mom always sent us to all the church summer camps, as a way for her to make sure my Brother and I stayed out of trouble since she was always working.  I always remember the Pastor, or the Sunday school teacher, telling us to only date within our own “kind.”  For starters, they meant Latinas. Then they even got more specific by saying we should only date Latin Christian women. They even took it one step further: Latin, Christian, Baptist women where the only ones that I was allowed to date.  I was so young and didn’t know any better. 

I can still remember older gentlemen from church asking me, “So who are you going to marry when you get older?” I would reply, “A Latina of course.” Then they would ask, “ What about a white girl?” My response would always be, “No way.”

I can look back and see how this has always affected my love life. When I was 12 we left San Francisco and moved to this unknown city, San Pablo, which is nestled in the East Bay.  Growing up from 12 to 18 I was in a prominently Latin environment. I mean, the white people were the minority.  All the schools that I went to the race category broke down like this: Latino, Black, Asian, Other, and then White.  White people were less than 5% of the student class. This also had a big affect on my love life.  I’ve only dated Latin women. 

I was in my late teens when I started to see things differently.  I always thought that I would grow up and marry a Latin, Christian, Baptist girl and live happily ever after.  In church, divorce was taboo and infidelity was even worse.  So here I’m getting older and I start to notice that the married couples around me are having problems.  I thought this wasn’t possible.

My Sunday school teacher had an affair with other women and ended up divorcing his wife. This was the man who I looked up to.  I didn’t know what to think.  A few years later, there was a wife and husband that cheated on each other with the spouses of another couple. One of the couple’s ended up getting a divorce and the other couple stayed together.  The couple that stayed together just looked so miserable; you could tell that they only stayed together for their kids. Not for love. 

I was young and so confused about love, relationships and religion.  My faith in God has never gone away but my beliefs that I grew up with were questioned. 

I’m now 32 and single and I don’t think I have had a true happy relationship. Either I find flaw or imperfection in my partner, or I fall for the wrong woman all together.  I’ve never really been able to make sense of it all.  I think now that I’m older I’ve been able to climb out of my cave. I always had puppeteers telling me and showing me only what they wanted and I’ve always felt restrained from whom I could date because of this.  I can now look back into my cave and say that I’m out.