Conversations in the Night

My wife's uncle came in to O'Hare last night. I was feeling a little isolated. Or more like wanting to be isolated to de-stress from my job and other little minor things in life. My wife went to work as soon as I got home. About 10-15 minutes after she leaves, she calls me and reminds me that her uncle will arrive around 8:00 pm. I tell her okay. She stresses that I have to go and say hello to him. Although I was not in the mood to...lets say play nice...I went up and had a little chat. I came in at the part where my mother in law was talking about how society is changing. The roles of male and females are more mixed every day and how this may affect our lives. She believes the cause of many problems in society are a result of females demanding more rights and thing like this. She was stating that God made the hierarchy for a reason. It is to keep thing in balance. It was a little strange to walk in to a conversation like that. I still do not have an opinion on this topic.

She excuses herself and proceeds to go and check on the late dinner she was preparing for her guest. My cues is to keep the conversation going. I did the mindless how have you been crap. The conversation I really wanted to highlight was the comparisons of different styles of lives we live. I tell him that Mexico in Mexico City is huge. Also in their little communities, they work together for the cause of the neighborhood. Here we work for individualistic goals. I live with my in-laws. My sister-in-law and I work together at the same company. We have the same route to work. Yet, I have not seen her in like maybe two weeks. Despite her living upstairs and working at the same company. I find it very sad and very distressing. Why do we seem to isolate ourselves like this? Is this a recent thing or do we do this more now?

Growing up...I do not recall being this isolated. I remember being at my uncles house all the time. I remember playing with my cousins and also fighting. I really do not know where I am going with this. It was just an observation.

Bike Ride with the Kids.

I went for a bike ride last night with the kids. We left around 7 and returned around 9:20. It was good. We went by Northriverside Mall. I was quite surprised with the kids. They had the energy to ride all the way there. We did stop for water. We brought bottles of water. There are some art displays at the little plaza by Cermak and Harlem.We checked those out. I love that because it was my kids and art. They were amazed and they enjoyed the one with the drum thing. It was like a drum park. You can sit on these metal seat looking things and bang away. There was also one that you can stomp on and it sounds like a base drum. It was fun to say the least. There was another one with electricity. You actually saw the electricity travel through these metal rods. They really got a kick out of that one. I am so happy that I get a chance to spend this time with them.

A Poem to Dusk

My angel from dusk
take flight and spread your wings
let them flutter in the morning sun
to be carried by the wind
towards me
let my voice guide you
towards the warmth and love

Weight Issues

Okay...bloggers. I was thinking abuot my weight a lot. Mostly because bloggers, co-workers, and friends have expressed a concern with the battle of the bulge. Surprisingly enough, they are all thinking I am doing a good job of waging war on the bulge. Turns out the weight has got a private investigator and has found me, not to mention they brought friends to stay around the mid section. I wake up this morning and do my usual routine. The exception to this routine is I step on the scale for "shits and giggles". So...the bastard scale could not lie to me and tell me that I had lost some weight. Instead, the scale tells me I have gained about 20 pounds. I am exxagerating, but it is too damn close to it. Here I thought Iwas doing okay. I was in denial. Damn it!!!!! I was just telling my co-workers that I was surprised at how large my number was. They thought I mean how well my progress was going. As of today, I will swear of beer, liquor, Caribou, any sweet stuff. I am going on a nazi diet and also starting to exercise for real. None of this bullshit I am going to exercise routine. I am actually going to do it and keep it up for at least a month. I will gauge my results and continue. I can no longer do this. I really can't believe it. I will only indulge in Cafe Aztecas when I visit Chanclitas bookstore. Okay...people I am really so sad.

Okay...getting over it now. I had my evaluation for work. My supervisor praised my efforts with customer relations. He was real happy with my performance and despite some customer complaints. I guess you can never really make everyone happy. It was all good. I hope this translate into a huge pay increase. I really doubt it, but I will keep my fingers crossed.

This morning ride was quite scary too. I was going to bike, but drove instead. I was sure glad. It started pouring as I came by the office. I mean lighting scary. I saw lighting and hear it about 2 seconds later. I mean it was that close. A chingao... a viene el patron.

A Letter to Elise

I have been listening to all the songs on my ipod via the alphabetical list. So the #, Characters, and then A,B,C. I have a lot of Cure songs. I love the Cure. They do rock. It is a nice little mix of spanish rock, alternative and even punk. I have heard songs from Fobia, The Cure, Depeche Mode, and other bands I can't recall. I want to work on a poem. A Letter to Elise reflected the mood. It was uncanny. Maybe I will post it or not. I will sometimes start on poem, but end up giving up. It will be like three or four lines and nothing more. I do find that writing about it dissipates the negative emotions.

I do have to confess. I have been thinking about a lot of things. I have been thinking about being evil. I have been thinking about death, birth, the future, relationships, and carreer paths. I still want to be in Disney World. I put up some pictures on the web at flickr.com and Sams Club website. If you want to see them, just e-mail me. It has pictures of me too. I do not look like the guy on the bike. I wish. I did have the bowl hair cut, but that was a long time ago. Okay...I have to get back to work. I really just want to hang at Chanclitas Store and just talk and read. I really need to win the Lottery. I guess I really have to start playing to win. Oh well. Ay nos vemos que aqui espantan.

It is all fun and games til someone loses an eye.

It was a great time had by all. There was laughing. There was name changing. Alfredo was really funny. jajajajajaja!!! I mean it was a good time. The only issue I had was the service was terrible. We ordered food and it really took us about 2 weeks to have it delivered. I am exxagerating. It took forever. Other than that the night was great. HP was great. He was totally funny.

Sidenote: Really what was with the naked stuff on the television. It was distracting to say the least.

Getting back into the swing of things.

I hate trying to catch up. You go on vacation and come back and there are all these files that need your attention. Clients are waiting for you to come back. All of a sudden they tell people at reception, you told them last Thursday that I would personally take care of it. Dude, I was not even here. How could I have told them that? I guess my evil twin has resurfaced and taken over my spot in my absence.

Lost

Me siento perdido,
sin ubicarme en esta probre vida,
no tengo mi sol,
pa guiarme,
me falta la luna,
pa iluminar la noche
te sigo buscando en las caras
sin facciones.

I feel lost,
disoriented in this poor life,
without my sun,
to guide me,
I need my moon,
to cast its light over the night,
i keep searching for you in the faces,
without features.

The Return of the Cyber Stalker

It is the first day back at work. It is cool to go on a long vacation, but the bad part is having to catch up later. It was nice to be unplugged for a couple of days. I missed a ton of people and had a great time while getting a nice tan and burning too. It is hot in Florida. I mean if it is not hot, then it is hotter. I will try to get some pics up on the flickr account. Let me know what you want to see. I do not want to put all of them up. I got about 300 shots. You can imagine. I got a whole bunch of them. I did get a shot of me and Tigger. I mean who does not love Winnie the Pooh.

Here is a flashback for you. My son at the age of 2 learned about Pooh. We had the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh on VHS. I'm not sure if we purchased it for him or if it was a gift. I just remember I had always liked Pooh and The Rabbit. Well...needless to say at two. I put it on for him to watch. Well...he fell in love with it. For about 6 months, we watched the movie over and over. I mean he would get up and click the rewind button all by himself. I would try to change it and give him another VHS tape and he knew it was not the right one. He could not read, but somehow he knew that the VHS of Lethal Weapon was not Winnie the Pooh. It is amazing indeed. Finally, I developed a liking to them. Me being a big kid at heart...I did get excited at watching Tigger, Pooh, and Eeyore. I wish they had Piglet, but I did not see him around. At any rate, it was nice being in the Magical Kingdom of Disney.

TTFN.

Dreamworks Presents

I had a dream last night. I had gotten some girl pregnant. It was actually Ella. She was working at a 7-11 like store next to a car wash or mechanic. The weird thing about the pregnancy was that we had to take our shoes off to go in to her job. The boss also would like to leave all the time. Meanwhile, we had a gathering of people at my home. I mean like Cicero's Old Town President. They were playing baseball. It was funny. Also, I had a dog following me everywhere and he climbed stuff and guarded us. It was one of the strangest dreams ever. I felt so guilty.

In the next couple of days, I will be out of town. I will be visiting the Magical Kindgom of Disney World. It is a surprise for the kids. They think we are going to the Florida beaches. They are very inquisitive...so they may get the idea sooner than we get there. It will be a first for all four of us. It should be very exciting.

I had a real good time on Thursday. I went to Cafe Mestizo on 18th and Paulina. I think that is closest cross streets, more or less. I spent some time with Chancla, Sonrisa, and a Art Gallery Rep. It was a great time. I got to hang with Chancla first before Sonrisa got there. I got to see the red stapler first hand. It was very impressive. I always have a great time with these young ladies. We should call Mariposa and Dr. V next time to join us. I know we will be getting together on June 21 at Cafe Iberico, but everytime after that would be nice. I just have a great time with these cool cats. It turns out I am a gay stalker. I really am not, but it is more like an inside joke. See if you hang out with us, then you would know. Although here is a small list of reasons I could not be a gay stalker.

1. I would need to put extra effort into following someone around.
2. I honestly have never worshiped one person like that.
3. This mean I would have to remember where this person is going to be at at all times. Lets face it. I wake up thinking that Friday was Saturday. Then realize I have to go to work. Doh!!
4. It would no longer be about me. It has to be about Santiago all the time. Come on...you should know this.
5. I would have to buy all sort of equipment (surveillance). I'm broke and can't afford to be a stalker.
6.I would also need to buy dark or black clothes. See reason above. You know to blend in to the background. I figure I would have better chance of going unnoticed in the dark.
7. I am a pretty big guy. I could not hide behind a light pole. Maybe behind a car, but I have really bad knees. This would make it hard for me to stalk during the day.
8. My physical shape does not help the cause of being a stalker or a real cool Ninja. Ninja is a real good one. They are so cool. Come on.
9. I really love women. I am always falling in love with them.
10.I really love women. Just in case you missed the last one.

After the cafe, I went home on my bike. They were all worried about me. It was sweet. It was dark by the time I left. I kept staying longer. I kid you not it took me about 30 minutes just to tear myself away. The ride home was awesome. I was so happy riding home last night. It was great. Listening to my Cafe Tacuba- Puntos Cardenales and then watching all the eloteros on every corner on 26. It made me feel real good. Well...talk to you guys later. I have to go take a shower. Catch you on the flipside.

Morning Routine

I proceeded to have a series of recurring dreams. Either I am protecting someone I love and they are romantically linked to me or I failed the first assignment of protection and have to repeat the mission like a videogame. I was apparently running around in Mexico and the stars were brilliant. I like the dream. I had this one two or three time. I awoke and went back to sleep and dreamt the same thing. I got up an took a shower at 6:30 am.

Proceed to wake the children and get them the toast and bagel at their request. I tell my wife to get up. I always wish she would wake up and help me with this. She did not work last night. Fast forward to me getting into my car with my _Mocha Cappuchino. I made my own at home. My mother-in-law comes in behind me. She is driving my sister-in-laws Honda Civic. I start to think...that has got to suck. You buy a car. It is a new 2005 model and you make the payments. You pay the insurance on it and then your mother drives it. Maybe they have some arrangement. I think on this too much, but just think that has got to suck. It would make me a little mad. You know. I guess I am being a little selfish? They are family.