School of Rock

"Blackbird singing in the dead of night...." What a great song! I've been playing a little more guitar lately, mainly because I have a student who enjoys guitar also, so I told him I'd teach him a few songs and now I feel like Jack Black on School of Rock. ha! We get together every Thursday morning in my classroom before school starts. So far our set list has included "Say it ain't so" by Weezer, "When I come around" Green Day, "Blister in the Sun" by Violent Femmes. We plan to learn some Nirvana, Oasis, Arctic Monkey's and Pixies. He is a pretty good guitar player. I was very surprised when he told me he could play, and he could actually play.

I've had a few teachers come up to me and tell me that it was really neat that I was helping this kid out. Sometimes, some of these students just need an outlet to get them motivated. As part of the deal, he has to keep his grades up and make privileges at home in order to jam on Thursdays. Has it worked? I think so, last week told me that he made "achievement" at home, the highest rank you can have at the home. I also told him he could have my distortion pedal if he brings me a sheet that tells me he is enrolled in college courses. I have a feeling I'm going to be out a distortion pedal some day.

We'll let you know when our first album comes out! ha!

Missing: Vintage Arizona T-shirt, help!

My newest mission: Find the cactus logo t-shirt!!!! I know it is out there, because I saw someone with it a year ago and I loved it, but I didn't have the chance to ask where the lil Wildcat got it from. I've looked online, with no avail! If you see it or know where to get it, contact me! I'm going to be on the prowl, and I shall find it!!!

My life according to Bright Eyes/Conor Oberst

I found this template on another persons blog and so I wanted to do it with an artist that might not be very well known, but who I admire and have personal ties to. What you do is you answer these question using only titles from songs by that artist. I thought about the Beatles and Nirvana, but everyone know them, so I chose who I think is probably the best songwriter of our generation, Bright Eyes a.k.a Conor Oberst. Not only is he from Omaha, where we currently live, but not knowing this, the first song I sang to my wife in a little park in Casa Grande was a song by him. So here it goes, my life according to Conor Oberst:

Are you a male or female?

Theme to Piñata

Describe yourself:

I believe in Symmetry

How do you feel:

Bowl of Oranges

Describe where you currently live:

I Must Belong Somewhere

If you could go anywhere, where would you go:

The Center of the World

Your favorite form of transportation:

Ship in a Bottle

What's the weather like:

False Advertising

Favorite time of day:

Sunrise, Sunset

Your significant other:

First Day of My Life

Your fear:

Something Vague

What is the best advice you have to give:

No one would riot for less

If you could change your name, you would change it to:

Arienette

My soul's present condition:

Souled Out!!!

Chicago

Happy Valentines Day!!

Unfortunately for me I don't get to spend the day with my wife, she is on call from 7am-7pm so we celebrated our V-day this Friday. What did we do...? We got all glamed out and we went to go see the musical "Chicago", which after seeing it, I don't know if it is the most romantic tale, after all, many of the characters in the play kill their husbands. Yikes! Nevertheless, it was really good. Good laughs, great dancing, awesome entertainment and I love those nights when Erin and I get dressed up and head downtown, makes me feel alive.

After the show we went to a posh hotel-bar, which happens to be the same hotel we stayed at for our wedding night. We had some drinks, ordered a dessert and actually were able to meet some of the people in the musical. Many of them were the male dancers, and they were all very nice. I think I was the only straight guy in the whole bar. I don't feel like you see a lot gay men in Omaha, so it was nice to see a change of ambiance. We couldn't believe how much these men traveled. They were on the road for literally 9 months out of the year, but damn what a cool life to live for a few years. Travel, meet people, see new cities and of course get to perform in front of tons of people. I think in my ego-life, I would have loved to of been in a successful rock band. The thought of sing my songs in front of hundreds of people would be such an experience.

Speaking of Chicago, it looks like that could be a possible place where we might head in two years. We have been there once and loved it. The residency programs are great for Erin, teachers get paid very well and I'm sure there is a lot more opportunity for me as far as getting my Ph.D or getting a full-time at a Community College. Plus, it is Chicago! How can you not love: The Cubs, Oprah, Deep-Dish Pizza, Sears Tower, The House on Mango Street, Chicago Fire and of course...its Chicago duh.

So I think Erin will try to do an externship (meaning she will do a month rotation there) just so we can get a good feel for it. The plane tickets are also very cheap from Omaha and Phoenix, so our parents/siblings could come visit us often or we can go back home too.

Chicago, Chicago, Chicago...who knows.... :-)

Chinese Opera for abuelito

There is something about listening to classical music in the morning that just makes the mornings that more pleasant. I'm still trying to wake up every morning at about 5ish to read and write, beside the little set back I had last week of getting sick, I've held that commitment to myself.

I received a few rejection letters these past few weeks from literary journals. I wasn't too surprised to receive it from one of the journals, but I was really surprised my poems didn't make it into the other journal. My reasoning is that I received a prior rejection letter from them last November, with them urging me to submit again, since my poems were among the finalist. I have a feeling this is what they tell all of their rejects. Boo! I guess this is why it has been hard for me to get motivated to write some of the poems I have in my head, but this morning, I did manage to write two more entries for my verse-novel, The Papaya Plot.

Some other good news, last night I booked another ticket to visit my wife in Phoenix. She will be doing a month long rotation at St. Joseph's so I'm very happy that I'll be able to visit her again while she is down there, plus the sound of Arizona when it 10 degrees outside here in Nebraska sounds so much better! Oh Arizona...how I miss thee!!

I've been thinking about my grandfather a lot these past few days. I think mainly because, I'm at the part in The Papaya Plot, which resembles his life. When I think of him, two images come to my mind. The first is him in his wheelchair, sitting next to the front window of our house and looking outside for hours. He would sit there and not say a word just watch. I always wondered what he was thinking. Did he like it here in the U.S.? Was happy with the way thing turn out in Nicaragua with the revolution? What did he expect to see to in our neighborhood? Yet, with all these questions lingering, it was a comforting image, seeing him sitting there looking out into the world from our small home.

The other image of I have of him is from a totally different spectrum. For the most part, my grandfather was a very quite and reserved man. Didn't say much, but when he talked, everyone made sure to listen. He was a quite man, but how he laughed. It was a ritual my father did solely so that my grandfather would laugh. Every time after dinner, my father would act like he was singing a Chinese Opera, within seconds my grandfather was a gasping for air from laughing so hard. Everyone at the dinner table would laugh with him, because I think deep down inside everyone knew he didn't have much time and what better way to spend your last days than with family at the dinner table and laughing to the sound of bad imitation Chinese Opera.

Te extraño abuelito!!

SuperBowl Someday

Sorry folks, when the SuperBowl comes around, I just don't think it's that Super. Not only am I not really into American Football, I just don't see the hype if your team isn't playing. In Nebraska, where there are no professional teams, it is hard to get hyped for any professional championship game. Now when it comes to Husker season, that's a different story. Though it did take me 3 years to warm-up to the idea of watching a full Football game and enjoying it.

There is one good thing about the SuperBowl, besides the funny commercials,and that is that it only takes one game to determine the winner. I can't stand how long the NBA playoffs are. It seems they will never end. At least for the SuperBowl, it only last about 4 hours and then it is over. Everyone eats their hot dogs, quesadillas and drinks their beers without having to worry about when the next game will be.

If I do catch a glimpse of the SuperBowl this year, it will probably be for the short few minutes of the commercials. Sorry lads, call me un-American or whatever, but Super Sunday just Super sucks....except for the commercials of course.

Defeating my cold with the Three Amigos

Feeling a lot better today. Monday morning I woke up with a cold and have been struggling to get through it. I finally woke up this morning feeling like a champ again. This cold has made me appreciate my health and the health of those I love. I am so grateful that neither my family nor my wife's family has to deal with a long-term sickness. I couldn't imagine having to wake up every morning feeling miserable. So this Sunday, I'm going to say a prayer for all those that are sick in the world, may they soon heal.

I finished editing another manuscript. It was a short novel that started off with a lot of potential but slowly dwindled into nothing. Whoever wrote it, I'm sure got to the point where they just wanted to finish the damn thing, but because of their impatience, it totally back fired on them. I think this might be one of the hesitations that I have about starting a novel. I love the idea of writing a novel, but I also know that I have a lot of work ahead me. Hopefully one day I'll get the courage to write the book inside me....maybe this summer?

My copy of the Three Amigos came in the mail last week. I remember it being one of my favorite movies when I was growing up. Steve Martin, Chevy Chase and Martin Short, how could you not like that line-up of slap stick humor. After watching it again while I was sick, I was a bit surprised. Although the movie is rated PG, there are a lot more sexual innuendos than I remember or was probably to young to understand them. Had this movie been made today, I don't think it would get the PG rating it did in 1986. I'm thinking more of a PG-13 rating. However, I do think that watching this movie nursed me back to health, in some weird mystical manner. Thank you Three Amigos!

Big news for me! I'm probably the only one excited about this, but I think I finally found the title to my book of poems: Provoking la Piñata

I love the title. It is a bit comical, with some hostility and of course....who doesn't like a piñata.

I also wanted the title of the book to have a mix of english and spanish words, after all many of the poems use this code-switching, so why not have the title do the same. As of right now, it is in the hands of a Berkley graduate of poetry getting edited. I'm curious to see what he/she has to say about the ms.