I am exhausted. This four-day weekend really took a lot of energy out of me. Had tons of fun. In fact, I’m too tired to write about it right now.
Instead enjoy the pictures. Werd.
Monthly Archive for November, 2004
Last night was the annual family get-together for Thanksgiving. I always put my hopes up for some good American-style turkey dish with all the expected sides. Dinner was delicious, just not what I was hoping for. We had a souffle of some sort (my cousins think it was chicken, I believe it was pork) with some potato goodness and lots of rice, along with some sweet potato slices. For desert grandma provided her famous apple pie and a raspberry pudding. Mmm mmm!
Before we ate I was asked to lead the family in a prayer. It was at my grandmother’s request that I do it. Seeing how I come from a Colombian family, I was expected to do my prayer in spanish, which I did. The words are slowly dissappearing these days, though. I’m not the best public pray-er in the first place, but doing it in spanish makes it a bit tougher for me. My daily prayers are whispers to the Lord, usually in the morning in my room or while I’m driving and before my nightly slumber. I’m just not used to praying with other people except the folks in my church family, and even then it’s usually someone else who does the talking. I guess my prayers and petitions feel more authentic when they’re just between me and the Lord.
It was very pleasant catching up with my cousins. Jorgie is doing the DJ thing on a weekly basis, Natalie will be heading up to Tallahassee in June for college, Enrique will be heading out to California, Stephanie got a C+ on her report card. When all the eating was done we spent most of our time outside, enjoying the cool night breezes. I, of course, took my skateboard and worked on my ollies and shove-its. Some of my family was surprised I even skated. Like I said, it was good to catch up.
This morning I had some left-over homemade apple pie for breakfast. I’m still savoring it an hour later. Grandma makes the best apple pie, and for that, too, I am thankful.
I don’t know what’s so appealing about my site to spambots, but they all seem to be flanking towards me lately. I don’t go a day without having to destroy a bunch of worthless comments inviting me to buy new drugs or purchase cheap shoes or who knows what else. I’ll have to take some desperate measures soon because it’s become a daily annoyance to have to tidy up my little site from stupid bots. I’ve learned of a few methods recently that should help. One of them involves your help, another one involves just a bit of management on my side to reduce the possibilities of spam attack. I’ll attempt the latter first to spare you from having to type in special codes before commenting on here. I’m sure someone has come up with a brilliant idea in the “War Against Spam”, I’d just better start doing my research.
On a different note, I went to the gym today and had an extreme workout: non-stop sparring. I was partnered up with Lou, the buff italian science major who does mixed martial arts when he’s not working. This guy is a monster in strength and speed. He’s a bit shorter than me but he’s got some serious game. Bobbing and weaving, left and right, throwing hooks, guarding from jabs, and taking every punch I throw at him, and he doesn’t seem to get tired. I went about 5 rounds with this guy and I’m fighting for my breath every time. My jabs are slow in response and I’m barely keeping any balance. This is what I’ve been missing. Working with Lou is the best. He’s always encouraging, reminding me to try that uppercut I used to always get him with, and complimenting me on the fake hook I have him dodging. One day I’m going to tire him out.
I have as one of my many written goals “Win a boxing match”. This has been on my list for about 2 years now, and I have yet to do any formal competing. I’m just not ready yet, but I want to get to a point where I am. Every few months there are local competitions for mixed martial arts which many of the folks at my dojo compete in. Again, I don’t think I’m at a level to go out there and challenge some other dude in my wrestling, but I plan on competing one day. It’s just a matter of sticking to the training routine and following through. Yes, yes, then there’s diet. I’m working on that, too. Baby steps.
It’s time to reassess my list of goals and begin putting new ones in it. I have completed a good portion of my 68 goals (24 so far), but I want a nice whole number like 100 to shoot for. Of course some of these goals include places to travel, which should take a bit of time to complete, but it is a goal nonetheless. Perhaps I’ll put this list online so I can get some accountabilty/scrutiny/encouragement to follow through. Sounds like a new goal to me.
In honor of the 41st anniversary of C.S. Lewis’ passing, here is one of his poems entitled “Love”.
Love’s as warm as tears,
Love is tears:
Pressure within the brain,
Tension at the throat,
Deluge, weeks of rain,
Haystacks afloat,
Featureless seas between
Hedges, where once was green
Love’s as fierce as fire,
Love is fire:
All sorts—Infernal heat
Clinkered with greed and pride,
Lyric desire, sharp-sweet,
Laughing, even when denied,
And that empyreal flame
Whence all loves came.
Love’s as fresh as spring,
Love is spring:
Bird-song in the air,
Cool smells in a wood,
Whispering “Dare! Dare!”
To sap, to blood,
Telling “Ease, safety, rest,
Are good; not best.”
Love’s as hard as nails,
Love is nails:
Blunt, thick, hammered through
The medial nerves of One
Who, having made us, knew
The thing He had done,
Seeing (what all that is)
Our cross, and His.
Poem from The Visionary Christian edited by Chad Walsh, Collier Books, NY, 1981, page 32
Feels good to perform again. I’ve been trying to get back into that familiar groove of being in front of the mic, putting myself out there. The past month has served in writing new material, mostly about my family. I had the opportunity to try out half of my material on Thursday night at WKBC. Got some good feedback from the audience afterwards, which is always appreciated. Being up there is the biggest rush, knowing that every joke is a thin line between bombing and killing. It’s all in the delivery.
Some other developments: I’ve started writing some poetry on the side. It’s been years since I took a stab at it. With the new cafe at WKBC in construction I think I should have a good amount to perform at some point in the next few months if I create a big enough collection. Gotta keep writing. I also began my sixth sketchbook recently, consisting mostly of pen drawings and sketches. This will serve as the foundation for my sketchism redesign. I’m considering making the main page as my portfolio and having a seperate page for my writings. I have a few layout possibilities already.
Music in my playlist lately: D’Angelo, Jill Scott, Erykah Badu. Trying to get my hands on some Angie Stone to complete my neo-soul experience. If anyone knows some other good artists please let me know. I’ve been out of the scene for quite some time now.
I returned to the gym this week. It was strange driving down the those familiar streets, stopping at those same lights, stretching on the mats, running those 20 laps before class. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Surprizingly enough I got back in the groove rather quickly. There were about 2 new faces when I entered, but the other 4 were the same comfortably familiar ones I’ve grown to enjoy talking to and punching. We started our boxing drills and different Muay Thai drills and stuck to that for an hour and then I had to jet. I’ll be going to the Tuesday and Saturday sessions again. I can’t afford to miss the classes again. It turns out my next school semester will look almost identical to this one’s, so I’d better start at the gym whether I like it or not. Two days are better than none. If I throw in a few days of skating on the side I could manage to keep a steady excercise routine. As far as eating, I’ll just try to stay off of the ice cream for a while. Chicken salads and taco themed meals will do for now. And a little Granola for my sweet tooth.
That’s it for now. I’ve got to begin writing my first term paper ever now. I will perform a 3 minute version of it for class on Monday. Gotta represent.
What an incredible weekend. On Friday evening Tony, Claire, and I drove up to Orlando together. Our reason: RELEVANT Magazine’s open house to celebrate their new building, which included a free performance by Mute Math. From the moment I left my school I knew it was going to be an exciting trip. The first hour on the road consisted basically of sitting through horrible traffic on the turnpike, but we enjoyed ourselves nonetheless with some fun music. All 3 of us brought our own cds so we alternated on what would be playing. A little Tribe Called Quest here, a little Goodie Mob there, a little Jill Scott now and then and of course some Mute Math.
When we finally arrived in Orlando, we made sure to unpack at the hotel first. It was a simple room with a tv and 5-button remote control. Power, Volume [+] & [-], Channel [+] & [-]. Again, it was a simple room, but a pleasant one nonetheless. The silly keycard process to get into the room was a mystery to me. It’s usually something like “Put the card in, wait for the green light, and turn the door knob.” But no, this one had some kind of crazy timing system that only a proficient computer hacker or rubix cube player could decode. Props to Tony and Claire for opening the door each time. I was clueless.
We had little time to enjoy the room at first because we had to leave immediately in order to catch the improv show at the SAK Comedy Lab. This place is known for being one of the top improv groups in the U.S. This is where Wayne Brady got his training and where I will one day train as well. The show was a blast. There was audience participation, witty acting, and free tootsie rolls bites for the audience members. Yay for free stuff!
After the show, we headed towards the Downtown Disney shopping center where everything was closed and where an extremely goth crowd was roaming around. Turns out the wholesome Cradle of Filth was performing at the House of Blues. We even bumped into some spanish-speaking goth kids, which almost seems like an oxymoron of some sort. Their spanish was so nice.
We then walked over to Pleasure Island to see what kind of interesting stuff we could find there. Interesting was the right word. Silly drunk people doing silly dances on the walkways. It was a gas watching them make fools of themselves, but it got old quickly. We walked around some more and checked out the Planet Hollywood where we saw tons of cool movie props including a Gizmo!
We then walked around taking pictures of funny signs with funny poses. Personally, this one is my favourite.
We left back to the hotel and had a good night of rest.
Next morning we got up pretty late, which made us miss a solid breakfast so instead we went to an Indian buffet nearby for lunch. The staff of 2 seemed happy to see the first customers/victims of the day. My stomach is still making funny noises.
We then headed out to the local shopping spots to spend some cash. Tony bought shoes, I bought books, Claire bought sandals, and we all bought Coldstone’s ice cream. Our pockets were getting lighter but our stomachs kept on getting bigger. A good roadtrip demands good junk food. Should have packed some Pepto.
It was getting dark and the time for the Relevant party was approaching so we headed back to the hotel for a nice nap and a change of clothes. Refreshed and clean we headed out in the rainy night to see what we had been waiting weeks for. The interior of RELEVANT is amazing. Ikea furniture in every corner and prints a la Josh Smith covered the space. We spoke to designers, marketing execs, musicians, and of course the great Cameron Strang, founder and president of RELEVANT. I told them all about my plans to work for them one day and they all seemed excited at the idea as well, especially Cameron. Apparently they’re always in need of design interns so I’d be welcomed on board for sure. Praise God!
When Mute Math took the stage everything else seemed to be a quiet blur. The performance was incredible. The lead singer Paul is an excellent musician and I give huge props to the other 3 members who did an awesome job at rocking along with him. The drummer is sick stuff, man. Sick.
Before we knew it the party was over and it was time to jet. My mission was accomplished. I spoke to all the people I wanted to meet, took pictures with them all, and of course the whole time I was blessed by the company of my great brother and the lovely Claire. This is the pinnacle of good times. It will be hard to top Saturday, November 13, 2004.
As we drove back home on Sunday everything seemed so heavenly. I napped in the car, jammed to some more great music, joked around and laughed with my co-passenger and when it was time to depart I felt like Someone above had given me another gift I was unworthy to accept. This weekend solidified relationships and laid foundations for future ones with many people; professionally, emotionally, intellectually, spiritually, and even aesthetically. It’s times like these when I am reminded of how great our Father in Heaven truly is. I pray these memories are only a glimpse of more to come in the future and that the small simple ones that He provides on a daily basis don’t go unnoticed. There are too many great things that I experienced this weekend to share with you. However, the gifts of greatest value will forever be engraved in my heart with their names: Tony and Claire.
Been watching a good amount of documentaries lately, mostly on musicians. I rented Meeting People is Easy, which follows Radiohead on their 1997-8 Ok Computer tour. What fascinated me was how many interviews they have to go through on a daily basis, at the minimum three. I don’t know if I would be able to handle that kind of pressure on a daily basis, people caring about my opinions so much. It reminded me of my brief conversation with Reese of the band Roper. I was super excited to finally meet the guy so at the first opportunity I told him how much his music and attitude had inspired me to start performing comedy. All the time I was saying this, he had a blank look on his face, as if he had heard the same comment every day for the past 10 years. Hard as it was, I tried not to take it personal at the moment. In retrospect it seems understandable.
The other documentary was on Jimmy Eat World’s independent creation of the album Bleed American. This video had more of a home-movie feel to it, with constant footage of the band members telling their stories and clips of them in the studio creating piece by piece the album I have grown to love. The struggle in this film was less personal and mostly corporate, showing how they started off as a band and what steps they took to get where they were now. Radiohead just seemed annoyed and tired all the time. An awesome band nonetheless.
Something interesting happened this past weekend. I went with a group of 52 men from WKBC to the Promise Keepers conference in Orlando. It was an amazing time, filled with laughter and enlightenment as we had the opportunity to spend time together intimately as a group. The bus rides alone made the trip worth it. We joked around, watched movies, shared testimonies and took crazy pictures of each other sleeping and drooling.
At the conference I had the great pleasure of meeting and talking with the comedian Brad Stine. Again, I expressed my gratitude to him for being the final spark in my desire to perform stand-up. He asked me how it was going and what my plans were. We talked enough to make the autograph line stall a good minute or two. Most people just told him he was awesome or whatnot as he signed their copy of his dvd or book. I didn’t bother buying anything for him to autograph. An authentic conversation is the best gift a fan could ask for. That and of course a fun picture. I had to steal one while he was talking with someone else. Yes I know: N00b.
