FW :A Picture Share!

On the E train...

A Picture Share!

At the brooklyn bridge...

President Nero strums while New Orleans drowns

more pictures here

When the Levee Breaks...

If it keeps on rainin', levee's goin' to break,
When The Levee Breaks I'll have no place to stay.

Mean old levee taught me to weep and moan,
Got what it takes to make a mountain man leave his home,
Oh, well, oh, well, oh, well.

Don't it make you feel bad
When you're tryin' to find your way home,
You don't know which way to go?
If you're goin' down South
They go no work to do,
If you don't know about Chicago.

Cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do you no good,
Now, cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do you no good,
When the levee breaks, mama, you got to move.

All last night sat on the levee and moaned,
Thinkin' about me baby and my happy home.
Going, going to Chicago... Going to Chicago... Sorry but I can't take you...
Going down... going down now... going down... Led Zeppelin

RIP SFU

I am a big fan of the HBO series, Six Feet Under. The show came to a close yesterday with the best ending I think, of anything I have seen on television. What I loved about the show is that all the characters were beautifully flawed and even after they die, they left unfinished business. Just like real life. I suppose the entire point of the show can be summed up when one of the characters, the recently departed Nate Fisher, says “I’m just saying you only get one life. There’s no God, no rules, no judgments except for those you accept or create for yourself." Goodbye SFU, I will miss you.

I took a picture of this gravestone in Boston Feb 2004

A Picture Share!

Saw this at the bus stop...

a weekend in san anto...

I spent a nice weekend in san antonio with my gf and my buddies. When I'm visiting SA I do three things...1) eat breakfast tacos 2)have a laugh over drinks with Mike and Brad 3) spend quality time with my girl...ahh, I am satisified. I got to see my old apartment. A friend of a friend bought the entire building and converted the downstairs apartment into his hair salon, and turned my old apartment into his home space. I spent 10 years in that apartment, lots of good times in that place. I am glad he gave it a face lift (as gay men are apt to do). I was touched that he wanted to show it to me, he said he wanted my blessing. I wish him many happy years there.
We took a drive around town Saturday night to take pictures, you can find them on my flickr site. As we were driving around town, taking in the lights, listening to the faint accordian music on the radio, it brought me back to my college days...memories of midnight drives and laughter, visits with friends and late night phone calls, drag pagents and barhopping, kisses and glances over conversation. I think I would be a different person if I stayed in Chicago (that's where I am from), perhaps a little ruder, a little more cynical (can i be anymore cynical?). My visits there make me long for it more than I thought. Life there is a little less hectic. And to be honest, it's nice to be surrounded by raza all the time.

I read opal's account of her visit to Crawford to support Cindy Sheehan. Opal also has photos from Camp Casey. I think her protest is brilliant as she personalized the effects of war. Her demading an audience with Bush puts him on the defensive. He's screwed if he sees her and screwed if doesn't. I saw fewer yellow stickers on cars, did they fall off on their own? Less than half of americans approve of Bush's handling of anything. People are angry but don't know what to do. I think Sheehan is on the right track. Force them to be accountable for what they have done.

Picture of the day...
la morenita

A Picture Share!

Columbia heights metro looks a little space agey...on my way to SA to see my girl..

Focus on SC Woman's Sign

Focus on SC Woman's Sign
Originally uploaded by Woodrow.

This is why I love flickr so much.

The Ex-Zone

I was talking to a friend (Suz) about ex's. Suz had an argument with her ex about something and was very upset when she talked to me. She asked me if I still talk to mine. I told her that I didn't, there was no need to. My ex lives in the west coast, and I suppose she is living her life, just like I am. Most of the time I don't really think of her, it's like she's an abstraction to me. It's like a ice sculpture melting, the details blur, the edges smooth over and it changes right in front of you. All that is left is the impression that she was here. Maybe it's just my way to deal with it. We lesbians are funny about our ex's, either they become our best friend or we pretend they never existed . I hope I can reach a point within that spectrum. But for now, I'm letting things heal on their own.

You like me, you really like me

I've never been featured before...but thanks to blogs by women for posting my ravings on their blog. If you haven't checked out their site. Do it! It's a good place to find blogs by all kinds of mujeres. Take a chance and randomly hit a blog on the blogs by women blogroll (how many times can i say blog) and see what you get!
Anyway, here's what I learned this week.... republicans like to storm off tv sets when challenged...that it's good to hide out for a month, especially when more than half the people think you suck...intelligent design is as stupid as it gets...

picture of the day... mexico at sunset

Don't mess with Texas, but we'll mess with DC

Boy, like I said before, Texans just LOVE to mess with DC. This time Henry Bonilla, the Representative for the 23rd District, which covers San Antonio to El Paso, has introduced a bill HR 3525 to rename 16th street into (get this) Ronald Reagan Blvd. What the fuck?! 16th street is a major throughfare that starts at the White House (1600 Pennsylvania) and it goes up to Maryland. It's this city's version of Main Street. It runs through diverse neighborhoods like Adams Morgan (Latino neighborhood), U Street (African American neighborhood), Dupont Circle (Gay enclave)... Y'know the people that really benefited from his policies. I live 2 blocks from 16th street and 2 miles from the White House (yeah, I checked) and this, of course, infuriates me. I despise how these out of towners impose their shit on us. I don't get this preoccupation with Reagan. It's like a cult. Remember the funeral? Hours of that on TV. Nancy and the casket? Now, that's a great actress!

And yet again I cannot say anything, because I am not a constituent. What right does Bonilla have to do this? He's not even a member of the subcomittee that covers the District. If this city was primarily a white city, would this happen? My bet we would be a state a long time ago. Anyway, seems like dumbass Bonilla might be running for the Senate (god help you Texas) so this would look good for the folks in Jeff Davis county. So yet again, I ask those in his district (you know who you are), email the pendejo.

school jitters

I'm starting school again after 3 yrs off. This time I'm getting my doctorate in psychology. Funny, I know I want to do this, but as usual, I have doubts about doing this. This is big committment, mentally, physically, emotionally not to mention financially. Someone asked me why am I doing this if I already have a master's degree. Mostly it's practical, I can do a lot more with a doctorate in Psychology. I couldn't find anything in dc with a masters that wasn't social work. No offense to the MSW's out there, but that's not my cup of tea. To a smaller degree, it's a personal goal. I wanted to see if I can do it. Apply, get in, and finish. I suppose my family influenced me. Not the way you think. My parents, god love em, weren't that supportive. Mostly due to the language/immigrant/cultural differences. They were too busy working 12 hour shifts in factories to go to teacher's conferences, or to presentations. They were(are) old school mexican catholic traditionalists, valuable work to them was with your hands. Don't get me wrong, I am thankful to my parents. They worked hard, gave us all we needed. I have friends/cousins my age who spent most of their childhoods in the fields. I can't blame my parents for not having the tools that they never had to begin with.
I also think the statistics influenced me. Let me explain. We are over 41 million people, 14% of the population but only 7% of Latinos have a bachelors degree, 2% a masters' and less than one percent (.83 to be exact) have a professional/doctorate degree. To compare, almost 20% of whites and 10% of African-Americans have a BA. Who have the advanced degrees? Nine percent of whites and 5% of blacks have a masters or more. I know they are only numbers, but they predict the future. Sometimes it's overwhelming...we are not going into school, and if we are, we are being siphoned into a community college track. I suppose I can blame the corrupt educational system that keeps brown and black people perpetually behind. But it's more than that. It's the false meritocracy boot-strap story we tell children. If you go to school, and get good grades and get a degree you will do well. Is that really true? How will you ever "do well" if you are incarcerated or tracked to a less than stellar school? How do you do well if wealth and resources are set up to keep those in power (white people) on the top.
Sad to say, I think more than education will even this up.

A little makeup goes a long way

Halloween comes early!

mind of a mediocre comic

When I heard that Comedy Central was giving a Latino comic his own prime time show, I was excited to learn that there will be another raza comic trying to add a little more flavor to a banal medium. Sadly, the Mind of Mencia wastes the opportunity to highlight the absurdity of racism and american culture. At best, his comedy is shallow. But mostly his comedy is bigoted. He says he is "an equal opportunity offender". Just because you make fun of everyone doesn't make you funny. What makes his comedy offensive and not funny and Chappelle's comedy brilliant is that Chappelle brings the viewer along for the ride, Mencia isolates you. He riffs about Muslims being stupid for what it feels about half the show. Another segment was horrifying, he was joking about a real incident when LA cops tried to catch a runaway emu...he says "It's a bird. It can't fly! Why don't you tell the black people that there's a giant chicken on the loose, and two minutes later we'll have a bucket of big-ass wings?" Like aren't we over that shit like 30 yrs ago?
There is no insight in this show-it's cynical and angry. He's a right-winger's dream...a brown man making racist jokes. In fact, the only people he doesn't make fun with such vitriol are whites. Maybe I just don't get it, maybe I am like he says "sensitive" but when a latino calls himself a "beaner" with no social insight, the joke's on him.

wild about harry

I finally finished the latest installment of the Harry Potter series. This book is more emotionally mature and darker than the others. The characters are now in a post-9-11 er..voldemort environment, with the ministry sending out "how to protect yourself from voldemort" manuals, random attacks from dementors, there's heightened security, and general paranoia. He starts the school year with alot on his mind, his godfather dead, unsure about what to do about his future, and a prophecy to live up to. The books mature as Harry does, what interested him in the first few books are no longer at the forefront. He is just like any other kid but he lives in a world not of his choosing. Poor Harry...he faces puberty, romance, struggles with authority, standardized tests, death of loved ones and an evil overlord that is out to get him! The only thing I ask is that the last installment of the series doesn't have Voldemort saying something like "harry i am your father"...


picture of the day...
miami in november...

A week in 7 words

Rove, Roberts, London, Iraq, hangings, microwaves, Mecca ...ugh, my head hurts .

I think I am going to read the latest Harry Potter book this weekend. At least I know that is fiction.

Picture of the day...
Central Park in the summer

neon wonderland

fabulous las vegas
I just got back from my first trip to Las Vegas. My impression? It was a wonderland of extremes. Everything about this city is geared to exceed your limits, push your buttons, expand your boundaries. I thought it was wonderful and at the same time discomforting. It is a city where indulgences celebrated and encouraged. Whether your addictions are food, money or sex it's all here for you to partake. I'm glad that I visited this place in my 30's. I think I could've taken to the excesses quite easily if I were younger. I enjoyed every hot sweltering minute. With the exception of 90 minutes at Hoover dam that can be best described "infernal", we didn't spend alot of time outside. With temperatures reaching 120 degrees, you can understand why.
We spent most of the time eating, gambling, shows, site seeing and shopping (in that order). We saw 2 shows that were really good. The first show was called the Havana Night Club. It's billed as the "show that Cuba doesn't want you to see". With token mentions to "freedom" the show wasn't about why the cast defected to the US last year. I felt a sense of longing from the show, a sense that dancing and singing was all they had to connect themselves to the old country.
We celebrated my gf's birthday with a fabulous dinner and saw Jubilee, which can be best described at the campiest, gayest show I ever saw. It had something for everyone: breasts, leather codpieces, dance routines, the Titanic, and Bob Mackie gowns. My gay gene was very satisfied.
I am not much of a gambler, the riskiest game I played was Monopoly. So to say I am a novice is an understatement. I figure I would play the slots, I mean how hard is it to pull the lever, or in most cases push the button. Much to my gf's dismay, I just didn't see the value of placing maximum bets. I decided to try my hand on the roulette table, since at least I can lose my money to a dealer instead of a machine. Despite the fact that I didn't know what I doing and was breaking protocol and etiquette rules right and left I won 100 bucks! Good thing I knew when to stop.
I'm glad that we only had a few days to spend in Vegas. I am exhausted. My senses have been overstimulated, my wallet has been slimmed down while my stomach has expanded. I liked the intensity of the city but I am glad to be back to DC, where things are not so intense.
I am sad I won't be seeing my gf for another month. I'm thinking to taking another 4 day weekend to SA sometime soon...I miss hanging out with my gf and our buddies.

A Picture Share!

The Hoover dam...it hit 120 degrees today!

Mandate goes poof

Mandate goes poof

via kos

here are some highlights
59% believe the country is going on the wrong track
56% think the Bush is mishandling the economy
56% disapprove Bush's handling of the social issues
59% disapprove handling of Iraq
62% not concerned about a terrorist attack

Bush got over 90% (Gallup) after 9/11 so that means that he LOST 50% from the rest of the country.

Clinton left office with an approval rating of 62%

Makes one wanna smile..