Because...

** I'm following in my friend Kristen's footsteps. It allowed me to occupy my mind for a bit and hopefully you will let it do the same for yours***

1. My ex is... one of my closest companions.

2. I should learn to... be more patient. It’s hard to control and as much as I try inefficiency and stupid people set me off.

3. I love... everything that you’re supposed to. Sun-worshiping, the ocean, my puppy who loves me back unconditionally, company and conversations that leave you feeling that there wasn’t enough time spent together, movies that make me forget where I am, books that smell good and are fascinating enough that I don’t have time to analyze how the words are written, music that makes you stop what you’re doing just to listen it match your heart beat.

4. People would say that I am... the person you go to when you want the cold, hard and brutal truth.

5. I don't understand... how people can abuse books, math and why we need imaginary numbers (if they are imaginary can I just imagine they don’t exist?), why my puppy feels the need to follow me into the bathroom (is he making sure the toilet doesn’t swallow me?), how people can park crooked and then leave their car without giving me any room to get into mine (yeah see that key mark on the passenger side, your welcome) ::grin::

6. When I wake up in the morning... I look at the ceiling and hope that I still have a couple hours before I have to get up.

7. I lost… my sense of worth once.

8. Life is... strange. You never know what’s going to happen.

9. My past taught me... a lot but not enough to help with the unknown of the future.

10. I get annoyed when... stupid/ungrateful people get advantages that they don’t deserve, when people drive slowly, when people “dog-ear” also known as folding the top corner of the page or fold the paperback book in half destroying the spine of their books (buy a bookmark and show the author some respect).

11. Parties... are when 3 or more people get together with food, drinks and music. : ) I miss the grand parties from the movies, where people dressed up and the object wasn’t to get piss ass drunk and make a fool of yourself.

12. I wish... to have the kind of everlasting love my grandparents have with each other with another person. Also that they stay with us until I can find that love, make babies and have them be a part of their lives, not like hold them as a baby but to have the ability for my children to have memories that would last into adulthood of their great grandparents.

13. Dogs and cats... have their own interesting personalities. Dogs crack me up and cats scare me (except for Rachel’s cat Missy to whom it’s taken me a yr to touch). Hey when you’re not exposed to cats at all during your life than yeah the unknown gets to be a tad scary. Dogs I know, so I have no fear, especially when you’ve been unexpectedly chased down by a pack of them.

14. My childhood pets... were fighting fish who were replaced one right after the other. All blue and all named Susie. Yeah I knew that the previous one had died and didn’t care, I liked the name and that’s how it stayed. Afterwards was Beastie, who bless his heart loved me and never realized that he was a grown German Sheppard and thus always tried to sit in my lap.

15. Tomorrow is... my final. But in a more poetic sense it’s another day to make more mistakes.

16. I have a low tolerance for... stupid people. Point blank.

17. If I had a million dollars... things would get paid off, first of all. And the rest will be spent for my sisters college education (if she needs it, I want her to at least try for some scholarships), for my mom to go to school full time, for my dad to do whatever he wants, for me to get my dream car … a Jeep, and then by that time if there’s money left over it will be invested or something. Idk I’ll deal with it when I get there.

18. I'm terrified of... being infested with some kind of bug, or having someone I know die, or living till I’m super old and being sound of mind but trapped in my body.

19. I've come to realize... the world is filled with stupid people and inefficient policies.

20. I am listening to... “As I Moved On” by Blue Foundation. The lead singer’s voice is haunting. I love it.

21. I talk... (say) exactly what I’m thinking.

22. My good friends... are just as strange as me. As they say “birds of a feather…”

23. My first kiss... was awkward.

24. Love is... something I hope to have.

25. Marriage is... something I have yet to experience. Everything in its own time.

26. Somewhere, someone is thinking... S**t!

27. I'll always be... “Emotional”. My thoughts and actions will always be tied to my feelings. Why is that a bad thing?

28. The last time I really cried was... when I was reminded of how a friendship used to be.

29. My cell phone is... a piece of crap!

30. Before I go to bed... I will terrorize my mother who is attempting to relax, criticize my sister who is in the process of completing a painting for school, rub my father’s bald head (which he hates) and kiss and cuddle with my puppy like he’s a stuffed animal (which he hates). LoL! basically tick off all of the members in my house.

31. My middle name.... is Carolina after my mother.

32. Right now, I am thinking... that all I want to do is sleep yet thoughts are attacking and won’t leave me in peace.

33. Today I... ate my best friends cooking and didn’t die. She tries.

34. Tomorrow I will be... eating sushi/gossiping with Adaza, taking my final exam, and drinking beers with Ken to celebrate the end of the minimester.

35. I really want to... stop trying to live up to other people’s expectations, write a novella that I want to share, read without feeling the need to analyze the text, and fall in love.

36. The person most likely to re-post this is... someone very bored.

37. The person least likely to re-post this is... someone who has something to do.

38. My relationship with my grandparents... is the greatest thing in my life. I adore every minute I spend with them. My Abuelita is always the one to listen to me even through my struggles with the language and the frustration I have not being able to be as eloquent as I am in English. She cheers me on when I tell her good news and consoles me without a word when my soul is hurting. My Abuelito is my hero. The man can spin a yarn faster and more detailed than anyone I have ever met in my life. He blesses me with his stories and reminds me that I am a “poderosa Maya” (a strong Mayan). The two of them have given me a childhood that kids can only dream of and have witnessed my growing into adulthood. I hope to have them forever.

39. My most treasured possession is... my family. We are messy and complicated but I would never trade them for anything in the world.

40. My favorite pictures... are of my childhood. That and the ones of me and my Madrina (godmother), they are few and she normally hates to smile in pictures but in the ones of us together you can always see the pearly whites.

41. I sing... surprisingly well. Lol.

42. If I were a crayon... I’d want to be used by a kid who is coloring for the first time. To be personally responsible for the first artistic experience they have is a privilege.

43. Someday I want to travel to... Australia. Two words… Great Whites.

44. I am wearing... jeans and a tank top.

45. My favorite class in my LAST semester... was my Telenovela as Literature class. Well that and my Dracula in Literature class. Both have helped me advance in my perception of film and novels. They were Fascinating and my professors were AWESOME!

46. My favorite language is… English for the way it is conveyed on the page (read Rudyard Kipling if you doubt me) and Spanish for the way it sounds when spoken.

47. It hurts... to see everything changing

48. I'm going to miss... the sense of security I once felt.

49. My profile picture is... of Alca on the porch in DC.

50. I need... to sleep peacefully. To write freely. And to live without regrets.

Ice cream & Fireworks

By the time our little tribe left the house at 6:30 spirits were high and ready to tumble with the thousands (feeling like millions) of other DC residents heading to the monuments for fireworks. Swarming would have been an understatement to describe the number of people there and of course in true DC fashion we not only took the cramped metro down there but also went through bag checks. Yes people were still pathetically attempting to bring illegal substances.

We lounged and attempted to digest from the days breakfast (that could have fed an army for 30 instead of 10) and the huge patriotic lunch we our had consumed not an hour before. It was nice to sit together along with numerous families, everyone enjoying their country with the floods of red, white and blue. I sat on the blanket with my U shirt decorated with stars and stripes and one can feel the renewed patriotic fever that one ran rampant with the election. Its exciting to say the least, the kind of natural high that reminds me of why I love this city so much.

Bum

I am finally in DC and although we got here a while ago and haven't really done much I cant help but feel a bit... overwhelmed? I still don't think that its the right word to use but basically I am more than burnt out, I'm chard to a crisp. I don't want to read or watch tv or listen to music, more than anything I just want to sit. If I could I would take my brain out of its case and soak it in some alka-seltzer, maybe that would make it feel better. In reality its not that I dont want to do something but rather don't have the energy to.

Perhaps its underwhelmed instead. I dont have anyone expecting anything from me, no deadlines, phone calls to make or places to go, just here hanging out. Take for example this morning... I woke up, rolled out of bed and went to the kitchen at a leisurely pace to make some eggs. Then returned to bed where I turned on the tv to watch some epis of Degrassi, which ended and then I stared at Tasha while one episode of Will & Grace was on. She then left and me and Alca did our normal routine of staring at each other for the length of another epi until it was time for lunch. Went grocery shopping where I bought snacks and stuff for dinner tomorrow and now im here back at the comp again. I wish I could be more productive but I dont really have the desire to be anything but a lazy bum.

Procrastination

What I should be doing right now is writing an intriguing essay on the novel Dracula as a comparison to Salem's Lot by SK, but I just don't feel like it. I mean who would when you've got Pandora putting out some awesome tunes on my self made "Smooth Radio" and a famazing home brewed cup of Creativi-Tea. Yup. Thats the name, courtesy of Glaser Organic Farms. Yes I bought it for the name, hello? Who wouldnt? Its cute and although a bit cheesy who doesnt need a little cheese in their lives? A wonderful mix if I might add. Its light because of the chamomile and nicely bodied with the mint. Awesome. Its a loose bag but that adds to the excitement since every cup is slightly different from the last but equally as good.

Either way I am dutifully procrastinanting from the paper that was due well what feels like forever ago. I guess the excitment of going to DC is just killing me. Everything I do now is for the trip or to get ready for the trip. I just cant wait for the morning to simply pack up the car, with Alca tightly buckeled in of course, and hit the road...

ok back to work ::grumble:: ::grumble::

Movie Night!

After a wonderful Dracula class (which I will definitely have to write about at a later time) Ken and I trenched through the wind and seemingly never ending rain to go to the movie theater. On a side note I am quite happy with the rain, I get to use my umbrella which my mom gave me for Christmas and only now have been able to use. Either way we made it into the theater and I simply felt robbed for having to pay 10 dollars for a movie. What is going on. We were there for a 5:10 showing and the price is 10 bucks?? I don't remember it being that much even a few years ago. And I refuse to buy any of the crap that they sell inside. Another 10 bucks for a bag of popcorn and a coke?? Thats inflation! Everyone knows that you can go to Publix and get a box of corn with 8 bags in it for less than $5 and a 2 liter of Coke for $2.

Enough rambling... We went in to see Terminator Salvation and while I was excited for the movie (which just to tell you had only 5 ppl in the theater it was so early in the afternoon) I felt that it was just good. It played into all of the things that we associate with the franchise, the amazing car chases, the androids going out for humans but it lacked I guess a little coherence. Maybe I should have re-watched the old ones before going to see it to which I say "my bad" but I still expected more. Theres the John Connor side of the story played by the ever so sexy Christian Bale and then the other of Marcus Wright, who is half machine-half human aka "halftie." lol. And of course the halftie has to find some chick whose human and bla bla...yawn. To be honest the thing that kept me going was the cg, those machines are sick! and Anton Yelchin who plays Kyle Resse. Hes a cutie! Plus it took me the 2hrs to realize where I knew him from which was Hearts in Atlantis, the movie based off of the Stephen King novel. Either way the movie finishes, promising a Terminator part 5 and 6 in the works with Christian Bale keeping his role as Conner for all. Good stuff.

Afterwords we snuck around and while "wandering" around the theater found ourselves in Pixar's Up which was AMAZING! Wow. The short at the beginning was great, the movie was great, the music, the animation, etc... I totally think that everyone regardless of age need to watch it. And balloons, they are so nice. I really couldn't get over it. What was funny is that from start to finish the whole movie theater was in tears. I know I was, the whole pair aspect of the movie reminded me of my Abuelitos who are defintely getting up there in age... although my Abuelito built the house for my Abuelita so move by baloon travel is not necessary.

From being in the clouds with the angels we dropped back to Earth, and then to hell, by grabbing a pair of seats to see Drag Me To Hell. I was surprised by the movie, don't ask me what I thought that it was going to be but definitely not the amount of "oral fixation" that encompassed the film. Everywhere you turn the fugly old lady is there with her corn colored teeth and beady eyes. Ewww. She was always finding some way to such on the main character, or exchange fluids, or put her hand into her mouth. I don't get it. The the ending, which I am not going to give away, is horrible. There are so many more ways to end it and still get the same effect with out needing to use some cheap cgi animation.

Overall I seriously cant complain too much considering the fact that I only paid for one movie and got to see three but in all reality the only one worth paying for was Up. The rest wasnt worth 10 bucks.

Reading Challenges

Reading My Name Challenge

When: February 1, 2009 - June 30, 2009

1. Claudine at School – Colette

2. Some kind of short story collection – Colette

Battle of the Prizes

When: May 1, 2009 – September 7, 2009

1. One that won the Pulitzer but not the National

2. One that won the National but not the Pulitzer

3. One that won both the Pulitzer and the National

· The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao – Junot Diaz

Non-Fiction 5 Challenge

When: May 1, 2009 – September 30, 2009

1. How To Become A Famous Writer Before Your Dead: Your Words In Print and Your Name in Lights – Ariel Gore

2. Reading Like A Writer – Francine Prose

3. Living in History – Hilary Rodham Clinton

4. .

5. One that is a different format than the other 4.

Summer Vacation Reading Challenge – “Globe Trotter”

When: May 22, 2009 – September 7, 2009

*5 of the 6 titles can cross over with another challenge.

1. The Sisters Antipodes – Jane Alison

2. .

3. .

4. .

5. .

6. .

Summer 2009 Reading Challenge

When: June 1, 2009 – August 30, 2009

1. Title with a Sports Theme

2. Re-read a Favorite

3. A Title by Linda Howard

4. Title published before 2000

5. Hot word for summer (sun, fire, heat, fever…)

6. A Book that takes place in a warm location (Florida, Hawaii, etc)

· Duma Key – Stephen King

7. Unlikely here/heroine (whatever that means to you. overweight heroine, nerdy hero...)

· The Worst Years of Your Life

8. Author with last name that starts with same letter as your last name.

9. Schoolmarms/Teachers/Governess...

10. Title with a person of royalty (Duke/Princess/Marquis/Queen...)

11. Title with an "S" for Summer

12. Food type word (Sweet, Tasty, Cake, Lick, Bite...)

13. A Title Read/Reviewed in the Spring Challenge...

14. Reader's Choice...

15. Double Trouble, ( a story with a twin or twins )...

Starting with Sandra

After wanting to start this blog for some time now I have finally taken the first steps to beginning. Most of it came from the very well intended advice of my family and friends who see my lack of a blog something to be ashamed of considering my desire to write. The other is a the uncanny desire to quiet the numerous chaotic thoughts that surface in the little room my brain occupies.

So it seems appropriate to start tonight after seeing the wonderful Sandra Cisneros speak. We all gathered together in the Coral Gables Congregational Church awaiting her introduction. Big mistake. during the time that we were left to analyze our surrounding and a church which seemed quaint and cozy at the beginning slowly deteriorated to a mess of bad interior designing. It could not hold a torch to even the rattiest churches in Nica, the paint was crappy, the ornamental crosses oddly placed and Bibles congregated in between patrons as there was no shelf on the pew in front of you to lay them to rest. Finally she came out at 7:43, I know it was that time because the gentleman sitting behind me rattled off the minute as each one passed. Dressed in a Mexian Puebla dress she came out and read to us the new intro the the 25th Anniversary edition of The House on Mango Street. The intro delt with the idea of her mother and how she took them to public library, a favorite destination in my childhood and definitely one that my own mother was happy to oblige. But regardless of her speach she instantly put everyone at ease with the same soft speak and small dichos. I was in love. There were little interjections of things she said that made me think as an introvert...

"We all censor ourselves in different ways... write something that is too controversal to publish." Wow. Shes probably not the first person to say something along those lines but damn did it resonate in me. Idk. Just think about it.

The other was "Writer's block is simply writer's fear." Now thats some food for thought. She kept going on about these "buttons" which may not seem interesting for anyone other than other inspiring writers but basically she used it as an extended metephor for her writing. The "buttons" were her ideas, concepts, little paragraphs, etc that just floated everywhere. And when she is going to get up and start writing for the day she begins by choosing a "button" and going from there. You make a shirt, a blouse, etc as you extend the story.

Wonderful, God I love these one on one interactions with writers. Makes everything feel possible, feel that its worth doing. I hate the fact that I have to write for a class. It sickens me, especially since they are tailored specifically for the professor. Im more of a non-fiction type of fiction or rather an elaborated fiction and there seems nowhere to go from that point. The frustration builds, but besides that it was wonderful to have someone speak to me and be on the same page. (lol)