The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pantsuits

The spell has been cast, my girl has lost a battle but not the war. "The sisterhood of the traveling pantsuits" the best corny phrase I've heard from the forever great Hillary Clinton on Tuesday. Her speech was simply amazingly beautiful. I'm a die hard supporter of her for all the reasons I've mentioned on my previous posts. Her defeat was personal to us who have shown her our support throughout the primaries, but time heals wounds as deep as they may be. And now has come the time to face our two choices left in this presidential race. McCain vs. Obama, will we trumpet our emotions and let them cloud our judgment? Or shall we take a step back, reflect on all the important issues that are at stake and make a wise and informed decision?
- National Healthcare: to quote my Econ teacher "On the 16 top industrialized countries, America is the only one without National Health care although it costs less and people live longer"
- Education: I remember a post from Friedman [V. just pinged me, the GOP Veep's a WOMAN!! Dang it Dang it and Dang it...McCain just picked a woman as his running mate: Sarah Palin a mother of 5 still married to her first husband, even Michele Obama doesn't beat that!!...I'm anticipating a very heated election campaign, so hot that it'll "increase global warming" to quote Bill. I know nothing of the woman and I'm already torn between two camps.] deploring the deficit in American human resources in areas such as: Engineering, Biotechnology, Physics and Computing.
- Economy: Unemployment 5.7% (although my Econ teacher says that the true rate is 11.4% twice the reported rate because the Department of Labor only considers 3 types of unemployment from the 7 that exist) the highest it's been since almost two decades.
- Immigration: I have a personal take on it that will appear in a future article
- Last but not least: The war in Iraq. We need to reunite families that have been apart because of this "dump war", rebuild our military, thus our country.
The democratic party has had two superb runners up, the best won, tensions rose but should this be a reason to turn our backs on our fundamental beliefs and jump in bed with the devil?
This historical moment of our politics is very crucial, too much is at stake to leave it up to our emotions. [Dang it Dang it and Dang it, a WOMAN is the GOP Veep!!!......!!!!]

Death Clock

Heath Ledger opened the lead this year at 28, then followed Tim Russert at 50, Bernie Mac at 50, Isaac Hayes at 65, and Stephanie Tubbs Jones at 58. They all died this year, some of a sudden death, others with warning signs and this despite our life expectancy of 78 years in the US. All these people were respectively Actor, TV political moderator, Entertainer/Actor, Performer and Lawmaker. Ledger will be remembered through his movies and most likely will be posthumously rewarded for his stunning performance as 'The Joker' in The Dark Knight, Russert political commentaries will certainly follow us for a while, Mac's movie and sitcoms will always remind us of how funny of a man he was, Hayes music will keep him alive in the hearts of those who liked him, and as for Tubbs Jones, she was "the first African-American woman elected to the House of Representatives and a leader in the fight against predatory lending practices" as reported by DENNIS HEVESI from the Times. She will certainly be remembered throughout history books and other causes she fought for. 28, 50, 65 and 58 all these numbers way below our life expectancy, any year, any month, any week, any day, any hour, any minute, any second could be the time. Were they ready? What kind of legacy did they leave to their family and friends? Were they good spouses, dads and moms, teaching with words and by examples? Were they good colleagues? Have they known their time of death, would they have lived their lives any different than they did? Maybe Yes, maybe no.
According to my death clock here, I still have many years to live, many opportunities to reinvent myself (should I ever want to), many chances to do good and bad, many occasions to fall and get up and hopefully I'll be remembered for something positive.

And the Admiration Awards goes toooo......

BEYONCEEEE!!!!!!!!
This is not an article about Beyoncé , there are already several out there on the subject. What I admire about Beyonce is not her fame, albeit it has contributed to me knowing about her, nor is it how much she's worth though that raises eyebrows, but the hard work she puts into her work, her talent, her personality and her who-she-is. This is what I've learned from her and people like her (so to speak): The Williams Sisters, Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson etc...I noticed all these people have determined what they like and want out of life and have put everything into motion to realize their dreams. All these people have to sacrifice in order to reach their goal, whether it's by training the bodies (physical, vocal chords, tours, games etc...) several times per day most likely with a coach even if they are already the best. I admire their humility as being coached or trained by someone else requires the ability to accept criticism and the determination to improve. Those people have stopped dreaming and started working towards and finally living the dream sometimes at levels unexpected.
A common root of successful people is that they're doing exactly what they enjoy. Thank God we're living in a culture where such thing is actually possible. However, the difficulty with the hoi polloi is identifying what it is that makes them happy. And as I was listening to an audio book this morning the author mentioned that if you don't know what makes you happy, ask questions, either to yourself or the people who know you the best and then quoted Buddha: "All that we are is the result of what we have thought" -- As the author pointed out, thought or thinking is the essence of creation (a theory inspired by quantum physics although known and revealed by the Bible in Genesis and the Koran centuries ago).
Of course if Thought was all there is to success (regardless of one's definition of it), we will all be successful creatures. And this is where comes affirmative action. Thinking, acting and working towards that ultimate goal that we set for our lives. I remember an acquaintance who used (and maybe still does) to share his dreams of creating a start up, he would talk about it to whoever wanted to lend him a pair of ears ignoring Walt Disney astute advice: "The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing." Beyoncé understood it, so did the Williams Sisters, Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson and several others.

Happy Birthday to Me!!

Joyeux anniversaire!! P.O

Happy 35th Birthday :) PJB

Happy Birthday, tu souffles sur une bougie de plus! -- A.D

Happy 18th Birthday :) -- E.K

oh ma cherie, comment passes-tu ton anniversaire? -- H.A

I just noticed it's your birthday today, I hope you have fun tonight!! -- S.M

Happy Birthday and best wishes!! -- Neal & Cliff

Je te souhaite également un joyeux anniversaire.bisou-- Kikes

Hey Happy Birthday, doing anything fun? -- KK

Joyeux anniversaire!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Je t'appelle ce soir. -- A.N.

Patricia, Joyeux anniversaire, tu vieillis!! -- K.S

Many Happy returns of the day Patricia -- PK

Tu parles, j'avais completement oublie. Happy Birthday to you.-- FES

J'attendais ton coup de fil, tu sais que c'est toi qui nous rappelle tjrs notre anniversaire!! -- J.S.

Don't eat, we're taking you out!--F.S

I got you a card, Happy Birthday!! And the card reads:
We can't choose each person who makes up our family
But our family is lucky in one unique way
And that's having someone as special as you are
to think of so warmly on your special day!

Happy Birthday

LOVE,

A.S.

John Carlos and Tommie Smith enlightened me

Until recently I still couldn't really grasp the reasons behind the anger that some African Americans have against their counterparts White until I watched some snapshots, during the ESPYS awards, of what John Carlos and Tommie Smith went through in their prime years. Smith and Carlos got respectively Gold and Bronze medals for their track records at the 1968 Mexico city Olympics. As the American national anthem was playing, they raised their fists toward the sky, which was depicted as being the black power salute, but explained by them as being the denouncement of racial inequality in the US. The gesture got them kicked out of the games, they lost their jobs and nearly their family. With Death threats sent their way, they had to fight for their lives. And today 40 years later, they received the Arthur Ashe Courage Award which is given to people whose "contributions transcend sports" to quote Beth Harris from the Oxford Press.

The images accompanying the journalist's narration of the events almost created in me a flow of anger towards the injustice that African American had to endure. The last time I remember entertaining such feelings was 11 years ago I went to watch the movie "A Dry White Season" from a book of the same name by Andre Brink about the Apartheid in South Africa. It's been nearly two decades that apartheid was abolished in South Africa and four decades since the Mexico "incident", the pain and humiliation is still fresh in a lot of minds, the wound has been healed but the scar is left as a reminder of the past.

However, should we cling to that past? How would being angry at the White guy/gal advance us? How would rebellion against the "White" system (dads and uncles in jail, drugs on the streets, teen pregnancies, irresponsible moms bringing up irresponsible kids, education forgone etc...) help us achieve our true potential?
Wouldn't it be more beneficial for the previous, current and next generation to come to embrace a peaceful non rancorous approach that would not only completely heal us as a nation but also unite us as one people? 40 Years 's indeed too short, but how long should it take?
Today, John Carlos and Tommie Smith effigies stand up in San Jose State University in remembrance of that day, of those days.

Saltimbanco was in town!!

It had been a almost two decades since the last time I went to a circus. Last Saturday was a chance for me to get reacquainted. Circus had always been something I enjoyed watching especially on TV (back in the days when our national TV station would fill up the program with such selection). Cirque du Soleil: Saltimbanco honored our town with their presence. I was quite surprised not see any children at the show. Mostly adults coming to have a good time.
- They had a musical band that would accompany the choreographers.
- A silent 'soliloquy' (if that makes any sense at all): we, the audience, could follow the protagonist going through a door, locking himself up, fighting for air as water flowing down from a malfunctioning toilet was drowning, finally having s.o come to rescue him, all of this in a virtual staging w/ no real physical doors, water or toilet.
- The juggler had an impressive number too. He could juggle up to 7 balls as fast as 1.75miles/hr (wild guess, but it sure felt like it).
-The acrobats were the most lauded by the audience. They would hold each other with their ankles while swinging 150 feet (made up number but definitely felt like it) up in the air.
I mostly enjoyed the band and their music selection: a jazzy/souly moist kind of style. The soloist had an amazing voice well underlined by the 'Lion King' performance theme .

Thank you note

I'm distractedly listening to Bobby Womack playing in the background. It's a saturday evening, it had heavily rained in the morning keeping me from doing any outdoor activity notedly going to Walmart. We're about to go to a family picnic organized by our little community here. And I'm thinking about some milestones in my life: my career, my family, my future and I marveled at the special attention the Man upstairs has always carried my way. I'm thinking about years back when I was working two jobs: One full time and one part time, struggling to pay for school tuition that I was attending full time. No time to reflect on things around me. And today I can afford to stay home the weekend, relax, read, travel (in and out the US) and compose some articles like this one. My family is always there for me. My future is undoubtedly shiny and shinier. All of this I owe it to you Big Guy. I owe you the wisdom you have imparted me: the wisdom to stay focus and the wisdom to make wise and wiser choices. Faith Hill, "There you'll be", is now playing. It's dedication to you my God, my Love, my Everything.

Thank you!