Mario Vargas Llosa, Nobel Prize in Literature 2010

It is with great joy today that I post the Nobel Prize for Literature has returned to Latin America after a 20 year drought (Mexican Poet, Octavio Paz won in 1990). Mario Vargas Llosa, a Peruvian, won the grand-daddy of all literature prizes last week (for a great article by one of my favorite professors click on the link). Unfortunately, I have not read a lot of his novels. In fact, the only novel that I began to read was "La Ciudad y Los Perros" (The Time of a Hero), to only stop reading it after my father rented the movie, and of course spoiled the ending.

I have read a lot of his criticism of Latin America though. During my graduate years at the University of Arizona, I read a lot of his articles criticizing the intellectual left of Latin America, such as Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Noble Prize Winner 1982) for their ideologies of what Latin America should be. It is always interesting to me how intellectuals in Latin America are perceived. For instance, Vargas Llosa is considered very right-wing, but for American standards, I'd say his views would be considered pretty moderate.

I am also glad the Nobel Committee was able to put political views aside and pick a candidate for their work of art. I say this because, as many literature aficionados would tell you, one of the greatest writers of all-time Jorge Luis Borges was denied a Nobel Prize because of his political views (so the rumor says).

Nevertheless, the Nobel Prize returning to Latin America puts an exclamation mark once again on how great writers of the Spanish language are. It is a triumph for everyone who speaks or loves the Spanish language. Congratulations Mario Vargas Llosa on uniting Latin America once again!

PALABRA Literary Magazine publication

I'm so happy today because one of my poems made it to a very well known and respected literary magazine, PALABRA. Although I have known they were going to publish my poem since this summer, the actual magazine is out and available for purchase.

The poem they chose to publish is called: Girls with Ice Cream. It is basically a poem I wrote while I was in Mexico last year, just sitting in one of the many plazas and observing the dynamics of schools girls chatting while creepy strange old men look at them. You'll have to purchase a copy of the magazine to see what I'm talking about.

I must say that I feel pretty proud being among a sharp group of poets in this magazine, two of which I'm friends with, Yago Cura and Suzanne Frischkorn.

Support Latino poets and purchase a copy for yourself...you owe it to the inner poet in you.

Wilbur is my homeboy

Time flies when you are having fun, as the old saying goes. This weekend my wife and I traveled down to Arizona for a very short trip. We arrived in Tucson at about 10:30 am and headed straight for my parents house. It had been since last April since I'd been home, but some things never change, especially home sweet home.

The trip was meant for a pre-celebration to my birthday this coming Friday. As part of my birthday present my brother, Aldo, got everyone tickets to the University of Arizona football game. My family has never really been big on football as U of A basketball has dominated the lime-light in Tucson for the past 20 years, but since our basketball team sinks like yesterdays underwear, our football team will had to do. To make things even better, we are ranked pretty high (or were ranked, until our lost that evening).

The Wildcats did not start off to a good start. I'm no expert on football, but I'd say that our defense lost the game for us. Just as it seemed we were going to get a turnover on downs, the Oregon State Beavers were right back in it. Their QB was pretty damn good. I was really impressed on how well he was connecting throughout the game.

How do you know you're in Tucson? When you hear a Mariachi play during half-time. Mariachis from different schools played during the half-time show. I love hearing Mariachi music, especially when I'm in Tucson. Although it isn't part of my immediate culture, it is part of my Tucsonan culture.

The game was great. The atmosphere was energetic and could be felt even more with our seats that were right next to the Oregon State fans. A lot of smack talking going back and forth. No fist punches, but we did see two pretty blondes talking smack to each other, my wife thought they would really fight. Although we lost the game, it was still so much fun hanging out with the familia and cheering on the home team.

I do have to say that Wildcat fans aren't as crazy as Husker fans, but we'll get there with our football team. Just to put things in perspective, season tickets for the Arizona games only cost $92 dollars, that kind of money might get you a decent seat at a Huskers football stadium. Well at least we don't have to put on corn-hats to show our die-hard loyalty to our team.

ps. How cool is the shirt my brother has of Wilbur the Wildcat!

Boys Town youth gets second chance

Although I never had her in class, I do remember her walking through the hallways. It is always nice to hear that our youth are able to change their lives with a little guidance from the Boys Town staff. Hopefully more stories like this are in the making! Check out her success story/video from the Chicago news here.

Calvin Crest, Mountain Bike Trail

If you are looking for a great mountain bike trail in the Omaha area,CalvinCrest is the place to be. This trail that runs about 4.5 miles, just opened this August and after doing the trail once, it has become my favorite trail. It has a little bit of everything for every rider. There are many dips and sharp turns that require a little more skill, but the pretty smooth ride between the forest is just right for novice riders.

Calvin Crest is located just outside of Fremont, NE (which is about 20 minutes from Omaha) on the edge of the Platte River. There is actually a point on the ride when you are riding right next to the river. It is a little tricky getting there and finding the trailhead, but once you are on the trail, it is very easy to follow.

The coolest part about the trail is the suspension bridge toward the end of the trail. I highly doubt any trail in Omaha has the same feature, but what a rush to ride on a moving bridge with a little creek underneath.

Check out some of the pictures from the ride! See you out there!!

Garage Poet or Garbage Poet?

As I'm getting closer in looking for ways to publish my latest collection of poetry: Provoking la Piñata, I can't help but think of going through the "do-it-yourself" route. With the internet and the emergence of "publish on demand" companies, the temptation to send your work has come across all writers mind.

Here's where I stand. As of today, I have been working with a local publishing company in Omaha. I've be kind enough to help edit 6 manuscripts, two of which were outstanding and the rest complete rubbish. After sending some first drafts of my manuscript sometime in March, I received a letter sometime this summer saying my manuscript has been "recommended" for publication. Like any struggling writer, I was ecstatic with the great news. But I've come to conclude that being "recommended" can mean a lot of things.

Last year, I had two poems recommended for publication at Bilingual Review, but I still have not seen them in their journal, nor have I received a copy or any news of their whereabouts. More recently with the publishing company from which I received that letter this summer, I have emailed the publishing director just to see where in the process the manuscript is but I still have not received a reply. It's very frustrating to not get any news of a manuscript status. It keeps your feelings in limbo, not knowing what will happen to this pieced of art that you have worked so hard for.

As the months pass, I've been really contemplating publishing the book on my own. This wouldn't be the first time I have done a self-publication (Though this could be the first that I truly promote and looks to sell for profit). Detras del Biombo, was my first publication. I made 100 copies and distributed them as a wedding present to our guest. The majority of the love poems where in Spanish and I'm sure many of the guest were left feeling clueless about what to do with the chapbook, but damn it felt so good to hand someone a copy of my poems. Ever since then, I've been in pursuit to re-create that same feeling, over and over.

The second chapbook, The Traveler, was printed last May. I only printed 50 copies. Made of a series of vignettes, I printed this chapbook as a senior present for my students. I felt that if there was anyone who I'd like to give this book to, it would be to my students. I hope many of them read it and contemplated some of the messages it contained.

Provoking la Piñata could have the same fate. There are so many things that I like about self-publishing. The first and one of the most important aspects being that I have complete artistic control over what I'll be putting in my book. I would hate for someone to tell me what the title or book cover should be. Another aspect that I really enjoy about self-publishing is that I'll be able to price the book and make a much bigger profit from the sales. At this point in my career, I don't have the luxury of knowing that thousands of copies will be sold and I will make profit from the volume of copies being sold.

The big draw backs of self-publishing are obviously that I will not only have to front the expenses, but also do a lot of self-promoting/marketing to sell the books. And of course, the biggest draw back is....being labeled as "one of those" poets that self-publish.

I've thought long and hard about that label and I can't seem to find why it has such a bad taste in reader's minds. I've always thought of my poetry status as being that of a struggling rock-band. Both are lyrical/musical to some sense and both are considered a major art form, but one of the big differences lies in how the audience view self-promotion.

Many of the major bands today at one point started as nobodies. They probably began playing in someone's living room, then moving to play at local parties and finally knocking on the door of local pubs in search to get a gig. Eventually, they saved enough money to get some studio time to record their first album and from there on it was all about getting as many records into the hands of people in hopes that someday they'd get that big record deal.

The majority of people would think this would be an admiral process, even more, a natural process of making it big. Yet, in the literature world, for some reason this is frowned upon. People assume since your book isn't published through an official publisher, your work could either be crap, or worst, you want to come across as an author just because you made your own book. But isn't this essentially what rock-bands do. Granted there are many horrible rock bands (I've seen my fair share of them) as I'm sure there are numerous horrible self-publications, but isn't this what being an artist is all about. Self-expression, self-promotion, self-denial and self-destruction.

So, will I become a Garage Poet or Garbage Poet? Only time will time will tell, in the meantime, I'm gonna spend my mornings digging through some records instead.

Race to the Finish

If some of you in Omaha saw me running downtown super fast this morning, don't worry I wasn't being chased by "La Migra", I was just in a 10K race.

What a difference shedding a few pounds can make. One year ago, I was crawling on the sidewalks of Creighton University because my feet hurt so bad after doing a 10K. The pain was so bad I had to ask my wife to come pick me up, while I sat there like a poser-running bum almost in tears.

Not the case this year. My wife and I were both able to finish the race without stopping once. Did I cheat? No sir. Did I take a short cut? Nope. Did I put wheels on my shoes? Never, that would be dishonest, although that would be pretty cool. I ran the whole thing, fair and square. I'm pretty excited about it, a huge improvement from last year.

I want to say the main reason for such an improvement has to be the weight that I lost this summer. I was very active for the past three months. Teaching a lot of tennis lesson, playing soccer twice a week and picking up the sport of mountain biking. I have always been an active person, but I really pushed myself to lose some weight. I'd ride my bike to places if I could, I'd keep my lunches to a sandwich and I'd make a daily conscious decision to work on my weight. I don't think I was ever really over weight, but I knew I could lose some pounds off the old gut.

The result of losing that weight have been tremendous. I shed about 15 pounds. From 203 to about 188. The big differences that I can really see are obviously my pants are fitting me better, they aren't as tight, I'm able to run a lot faster and longer and the biggest improvement is my feet not hurting after a run.

I've had problems with my feet since college. My feet are super flat. According to doctors I have plantars fasciitis. Basically, since my feet are so flat, I have no arch support which makes certain tendons work harder, thus overworking them and making them sore. It really wasn't a concern for a long time, but I did begin to notice pain more frequently when I put on a few pounds. I've tried insoles, which initially worked, but I know the problem was that extra weight that I was carrying around.

So today, after the race I didn't know if I should expect the same results as last year. I was dreading the pain, and even more because we arrived a little late to the race and I didn't properly stretch. To my enjoyment I had no problems during the race (I actually didn't get tired of running until about 1/2 from the finish line) nor after. My feet hurt for about 5 minutes and then I told them to get over it and proceeded to eat 3 bagels. I felt so good that I even went to play some soccer late in the evening. Life is a lot better for my feet now that they aren't dragging a fat ass.