The Mexican

From my 2008 travelogue to the "dark" continent!

As she got on the plane, she gave me one of those smiles. A smile makes you tingly all over. Fries your neural circuitry. Makes your heart go "thud" for a moment. God gave that woman a smile that tasered people into utter confusion.

Sitting in first class, 2C, to be precise on Virgin jet, I was just about ready to say goodbye to the real world for a couple of days. The plane had been fashionably late. When I asked a member of the air crew why Virgin was always late. He smiled, and then retorted, "That's because Virgins never come, Sir!"

An airline with an attitude. This is what America needs. As the gate closed, one of the flight crew brought that girl with the lethal smile over to first class. You can have 2D, the flight attendant cooed. This time I would return her smile, but her eyes got me this time.

As we glanced at each other, our eyes made contact. She had the look. The look that makes a second seem like eternity. The look that makes you want to never stop looking.

I went back to my movie. I was watching Sex and Lucia. An art film recommended by a friend. Little did I know what I was getting into.

"I like that movie. Pretty intense!"

We introduced ourselves. Her name was Zelda, short for Esmerelda.

"So you're Spanish, like the actress in this movie?"

NO! I am Mexican. Spanish girls fuck with their breasts, Mexican girls, we fuck with our hips. Can't you tell.

She was forward. I was on the back foot and laughed off my lack of a comeback. She made my long haul flight go by very quickly, not to mention I have a new appreciation for Mexican women.

Sarah Palin's High School Transcript!!!

Prior to marrying Todd Palin, she was known as Sarah Heath. Here's her SAT score report from 1982. A GPA of 2.2, a C average high school grade and a 39% percentile score on the SAT. I don't have high expectations of our politicians, but seriously, couldn't John McCain have picked a better running mate.

Come on America! It's time we elected someone who is qualified and has the intellect to bring America back from the brink of disaster that the Republicans have brought us to in the past 8 years. Give the dems the next 4 years, the only way to go from here is up. W made sure of that, now it's your turn to punish the party that is responsible for making you worry about your job, money and ability to live a financially secure life.

Everyone's counting on YOU!!

Bringin' Mavericky Back!

I hate John McCain for making Maverick sound so eh! When I heard the word Maverick before, I thought of Tom Cruise, fast fighter jets and kissing hot flight instructors on motorcycles. Not so much anymore.

The word Maverick is being abused. There's nothing mavericky about John McCain. Did he fly a plane upside down? Did he date a woman who was 6 inches taller than he was? Did he make tighty whities sexy?

The answer is NO! America needs to take the Maverickyness back from McCain and restore the word to its former glory.

Nothing personal John. You just aint got it!

Disconnect Central

I had to get some work done, and had to cancel my plans for the evening. At 10:30 pm, when I was just about done, I received a call from an old friend. Someone who I hadn't heard from in a while.

We talked. I was invited to watch a movie. With nothing more left to do, I jumped in my car and joined said person. Through the duration of the movie, banter and lots of laughs ensued.I was the only one laughing though. My friend, joined in sometimes, but it seemed somewhat forced.

How time had changed us. The same things that made us giggle for hours at SC had lost their hilarity. The drive back was 40 minutes of introspection. The two of us had just driven away from a 3 hour stop disconnect central.

Made me remember Barbara Striesand's famous single about memories.

Memories,
Like the corners of my mind
Misty water-colored memories
Of the way we were
Scattered pictures,
Of the smiles we left behind
Smiles we gave to one another
For the way we were
Can it be that it was all so simple then?
Or has time re-written every line?
If we had the chance to do it all again
Tell me, would we? could we?
Memories, may be beautiful and yet
What's too painful to remember
We simply choose to forget
So its the laughter
We will remember
Whenever we remember...
The way we were...
The way we were...

I suspect the only reason we remain friends is because we remind each other of the way we were.

I'm going to let Tiesto put me to sleep.

The Magical JK Rowling

Commencement season is here. And for me, this is the time when I read twenty or so commencement speeches. Many are unremarkable because they are no more than pontification from the rich and famous, but there are some that truly resonate and touch you in profound ways.

Steve Jobs commencement speech at Stanford several years ago inspired me and provided comfort at a very trying time in my life. Since then, I have always paid attention to commencement speeches to see if there was indeed someone who recapitulated their experiences in a candid way. Experiences that I could learn from.

JK Rowling's speech (Parts 1,2,3) at Harvard was truly phenomenal.

Here's my favorite excerpt from her speech.

You will never truly know yourself or the strength of your relationships, until both have been tested by adversity. Such knowledge is a true gift, for all that is painfully won, and it has been worth more to me than any qualification I ever earned.

Looking back at the two score plus years of my existence, I cannot but concur with her -- my secret sauce for happiness, success and lasting relationships has been learnt only through the trials that life presented me.

Highway 760 to G-City

Gotta get on that high road to bling. Busting my ass to get my wheels ready for the big rat race. They killed my soul. Now I'm just an economic man, looking for economic things.

Confused. Well, then don't even try. Cause you gots to have some b-rizzle to get my drift.

So don't attempt, to beg for my pardon,
Cause' I'll keep talkin' til' my arteries harden,
I've takin' losses, told off some bosses,
Sick of all them jobs that all make me nauseous,
It ain't worth it, workin' for your purpose,
For cash I'm hurtin', future's uncertain,
So I keep searching, livin' and learnin',
Earnest to earn everything I'm deservin'
If I can't be on the stage with my band jammin',
I'll be standin' on the street corner panhandlin'!

You won't see what you want from me,
So don't come to me with "what's it all mean?" cause'
It don't mean a thing
Your lies is all I despise,
Been fightin' guys like you all my life and
They don't mean a thing.

God speed

He is a good man.
He is the villain in my story.
But he is a good man.
I hope for his sake he is.

May God liberate him from his troubles.