Monday, November 29, 2004

Gobble Gobble...

Starting with my roomie, Zulay, who was out of here Monday night, last week marked a mass exodus out of Syracuse U to a place I would like to call "anywhere else BUT Syracuse" for the annual Thanksgiving break. That's right. Like clockwork, the minute people 'round here get a whiff that Thanksgiving is here, they pack their bags and get the fuck out, like rats escaping from a sinking ship. Because most people around here live somewhat relatively close to the Northeast, it's not that much of a big deal to head home for the holiday weekend. For some others, however, you got those people from Cali or Hawaii who don't have the money to head back home, so instead, they find some other family to chill with for the weekend. Like I said, "ANYWHERE but Syracuse."

(Exception, of course, to the people that are actually FROM the Central NY area. Then again, I'm sure they find ways of getting out the city, as well... Gotta love JetBlue. :-) )

So, I was no exception. I headed back to NYC for the extended holiday weekend to spend some time with the family. My abuelita ("grandma," for the Spanish-challenged) flew in from Houston, and one of my cousins was in town after being in Germany for over two years. For whatever reason, I wasn't able to meet up with my cousin (that wench), and I didn't spend as much time with my grandmother as I would've liked to because she was out all the way in Brooklyn, staying over at one of my uncle's houses. (It takes an hour and a half across the city to make it to where my grandmother was staying...freaking carajoland) Still, I managed to chill with my momma a lot during the entire weekend. It was all good. We caught up, chit-chatted, and made each other laugh, for the most part. It's so funny hearing her talk about college (she went back to school this year), and hear the genuine excitement coming out of her over the fact that she's doing really well. Seeing how much of an effort she's putting into school is making me think twice about the effort I've put into my own schoolwork this year...I guess we're coming from different vantage points. She's happy to be back in school, whereas I'm burnt out from dealing with the same shit over and over again. Still, I'm happy to see that she's striving forward to finish college and earn the degree she sacrificed when she had me 21 years ago.

Who says a Latina single parent can't raise a child from the tender age of 18, have them go away to a private University, AND earn a degree themselves? That's ma momma, making me proud. :-)

I really didn't chill all that much in the city with friends, if at all. I was more concerned with doing school work and spending time with the fam. I received countless phone calls from people telling me to "come out and get fucked up," and the usual "Hey Ray, I hear you're back home," booty calls. but, unlike this past summer, where my #1 priority was meeting up with friends, this time, I just chilled and concentrated on work and chattin up the relatives. After all, it's the relatives, who after careful "reminders" that a birthday just passed, feel guily about not calling you up, and give you tons of money to make up for it...

...And it's because of that, in a way, that my weekend was GRAND...in dollars...I took full advantage of the after-Turkey Day sales and obtained $1,000 worth of merchandise. (costs of which were split between myself and the fam) Yessir. I did my part to boost the fucking economy. I felt that it was time to update my clothing and footwear collection for upcoming business interviews and job opportunities, which, when put that way, justifies the spree. It had been awhile since I had spent a good amount of money on myself, so, it was quite a refreshing change from the dire financial straits I faced earlier this year, when I barely had enough money to pay for a can of soda while I was in London. (Seriously, you guys need to see the food diary I made when I was in London during a two week period...it's sad...it'll be published when I republish the Europe blogs before the end of the year)

So Apple and the 'Fucks are paying the bills. :-)

When I got home, I had one of those new Nintendo DS handheld systems waiting for me, courtesy of the Mother. Man, that shit is awesome. Wish me luck in balancing finals, L.U.C.H.A., Apple, and playing time with that thing lying around. The system replaces the one that was stolen from me during my first day in London almost a year ago. I couldn't be happier with the birthday present. Thanks ma. :-)

...Trips down to the city make me want my car that much more...soon, though, that problem will be addressed...

Turkey was good. I ate at my uncle's house in Carajoland Brooklyn. Turkey, Rice and Black Beans, and Candied Yams. Yum, yum. And topped off with Pumpkin Pie. It wasn't the most expansive Thanksgiving meal I've had, not by a long shot, but, hey, it's food, and, one has to be thankful for what they get anyway, y'know? Right now, ZuZu and I have tentative plans to cook our own "post-Thanksgiving" feast this coming weekend to get us in shape for finals week. Depending on our collective finances and dedication, we can go all out on this meal. I'm not going to set it in stone just yet. We gotta see what's good. Even if we don't, hey, at least we all had decent meals to fill our bellies with. :-)

...I'm working on seeing whether or not I can work at a 'Fucks in NYC during the X-Mas break until I return to school. If that's the case, I can stay in the city a lot longer and get to do the whole "hang-out" thing that I didn't do during this break. Last year, I was so desperate for work, that I had to stay in Cuse till Christmas Eve, leave, and then come back the day after Christmas to continue working for the "London Honeypot." Hopefully, I don't have to do that this year, and I can work in the city, make NYC wages, and have some REAL time off from school. (with money in my pockets.) :-)

So, I'll holla soon. Later!

Tuesday, November 23, 2004

Maybe the Mean Streets of NYC Ain't So Mean No More...

According to a recent study conducted by the Morgan Quitno Corporation, a survey company that has been releasing the national safety figures for cities for the past few years, has declared New York City the fifth safest city of 500,000 or more people...Camden, NJ, by comparison, is the nation's most dangerous city.

Dirty Jersey, indeed. :-)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6555449/?GT1=5809

And now for the bad side...


And now for the bad side
Originally uploaded by djkibblesnbits.
Check out the damage to the car...and the girl had the fucking nerve to be like, "Pay me now!!!"

I'm telling you, yo...you put your life on the line when you get out there and drive...there are too many stupid ass people out there...it's like these people get their licenses out of a Cracker Jack box or something...

Monday, November 22, 2004

Screetch..."You Pay Now!"

So...here's a question...

What happens when I get behind the wheel of a car for the first time in months, and feel as if the world was just one big open road, waiting for you to drive on it?

Everything comes crashing down. Or at the very least, a drunk Asian girl comes and fucking hits you in her '04 Audi.

Folks...I hadn't even had the car I had just rented from Enterprise for more than 12 hours before this bitch rams into my right rear passenger door, completely wrecking the entire right side of the car, and putting Zulay, Michelle, and Sarah just short of seeing their lives flash before their eyes.

You know what the sad part was? If I was going to die at that moment, I would've gone to my grave thinking, "Thank god I have enough room on my credit card to pay for the damage."

To simplify the whole thing for you...I was waiting at a red light on a two way street to take a left turn onto another two-way. When the light turned green, after looking to see if everything was clear, I committed to taking the left. Right in the middle of the whole thing, out of the corner of my eye, I see a blinding headlight coming towards me from the right. The shit came out of nowhere. I pressed on the gas pedal to accelerate through the turn. But my Ford Focus was no match for the speeding Audi '04. Especially after the car inexplicably swirved to the right, causing the car to hit us when it would've otherwise missed should the car had gone straight.

After I realized what had just happened, I looked to see if everyone was alright. Zulay, my co-pilot, was holding her right arm, fighting to hold back tears of pain and utter shock. Michelle was holding her head and was curled into a ball, still bracing for an impact that had long since passed. And Sarah, after shaking her head, looked at me and said, "I'm fine." I looked back to take a look at the bitch who had just hit me. I didn't even have to move much. The bitch was all up on my door.

"This is all your fault. You went when the light was red! You pay now!"

This little wiry Korean girl, the driver of the other car, was in my face, getting ready to cause holy hell for an accident that she damn sure caused. This Asian dude came from behind her and pushed her to the side, telling her to calm down.

"Dude, we had the right of way. You cut in front of us. Are you guys alright?"

Because of the shock, anger, and downright fear of what had just happened, I was in no position to counter with a credible argument. I just agreed and tried to work with the boyfriend to shut the little Korean bitch up. I just nodded and kept on looking back at Zulay and Michelle to see if they were alright. Hardly any damage was done to the Audi.

I didn't gain my senses until right when the girl said, "Just pay me $600, and I don't call the cops."

It was then that I caught a whiff of something. Liquor. On her breath.

Clue #1: Girl had liquor on her breath

"No, I'm not giving you $600. Let's get cops here to get this reported. We need to have this evaluated."

The girl was like, "Look, if the cops come, your ass is grass. They're going to find you guilty and destroy you. There's no way you can win. Just give me the money now, or you're going to work at McDonalds for the rest of your life."

And that's when I became Mr. "Get your Girlfriend off of Me Before I Knock This Bitch Out." It was a game that the boyfriend was only too happy to oblige in.

Eventually, we pushed the car over to another lot and waited for Syracuse Police and SU Public Safety to come over. The girl was trying to get me to commit to paying her money. I was like, "uh, no. First, let's get the damage evaluated, and then we go on from there." She was all in my face trying to get me to not only admit my guilt by paying her money, but also leaving my people high and dry without the benefit of her insurance coverage. I was only too happy to let the police come to determine who was at fault. The boyfriend walked her back to her car, and then came back to us to survey the damage, while he took a drag of a cigarette he shared with Zulay. The dude seemed cool. He explained that this wasn't exactly the best thing to happen to him and his girl; they had just gotten into a huge fight...

Clue #2: Driver was agitated.

I remember the girl kept on asking us if we had been drinking...uh, no bitch. She was then trying to say, "it's not good to have underage drinkers in the car." Uh...no bitch...none of us have been drinking. Stop confusing yourself for us.

Eventually, when the cops had come, we were all chillin. And then, we looked back, and saw that both the girl and the dude were being put on stretchers. All of a sudden, neither of them could move. I was like, "oh hell no!! These muthafuckas are frontin!" Zulay asked if she should throw up to get attention. I was screaming, "Hello?! We're the fucking ones who were hit!? Where the fuck is our attention!?" Public Safety had asked us if we were okay, and even though we were in pain, we all have learned to develop an incredible resistance to it. (I guess all those ass-whuppins our parents gave us) So, because we weren't acting like we had just been hit by a car four times, we weren't getting the attention quite like our counterparts in the other car, who KNEW they were being observed. As the night wore on, Zulay was taken to the hospital for precautionary measures. The other three of us turned down medical attention. I personally was running on too much adrenaline to get away. My only concern was making sure that the girl had a Breathalizer taken. When the cops came, I began lobbying for the test immediately. I was like, "Look, I'll take the shit, just give it to her before she heads to the hospital." The cops assured me that the hospital staff were going to look into it when she checked in. They took both my statement and her statement, and after talking with SU Public Safety, determined that no tickets could be issued, and that no one was at fault, but if anyone could be said to have real fault, it lies with the Korean girl because of the speed that she was going and the right hand turn that she made. Still, they made sure to tell me that the insurance companies are going to be the ones to battle over this case on their own, and they can determine who was at fault with their own little algorithms.

After a few more minutes or so, the cops had helped me to get my car back on, which had shut down its fuel tank immediately after getting such a hard throttle from the crash. I went to go pay a visit to ZuZu at the hospital to see how she was doing. Michelle was given a ride home from Public Safety, and Sarah went with ZuZu in the ambulance. So, when I got to the hospital, I chilled, waiting for the results from her exam, when Sarah and I saw the boyfriend walking out of the Emergency Room, rubbing his neck. He explained that the ambulance people him told him to go into strecher and made him not move. When asked about his girlfriend, he told us that she had just passed out from shock. We couldn't believe it. WE were the ones hit. When probed for more answers, the boyfriend told us to call her directly at some point, but to not look for answers through him. His reason?

"I just broke up with her. She told me to 'Fuck Off' just before she passed out. So, that's when I decided to leave."

Clue #3: Chick is crazy

An hour or so later, Zulay was reunited with us and we drove back home in the now beatup car. It was still ticking perfectly, from a mechanical statement.

So much for joyriding...There are a lot of questions that need to be asked and answered. I'll look at them all before the end of this...stay tuned.

Sunday, November 21, 2004

The Real Numbers...

My man Jose recently published an entry on his Xanga page talking about how people are biting his style and straight up jacking his ideas for entries. Within his entry, he posted up a link to one of them online quizzes people take to determine what "number" they are. Of course, Jose, being the meng he is, got a "#1," and wondered aloud if anyone else could get #1...

...Well, let's just say great minds think alike...

In either case, i decided it was time to not celebrate the people who get #1's or #4's, but rather, it was time to celebrate those people that are sooo unique, they're not even on the scale...






You Are a Caca



0




You're a flat out piece of shit

...and you know it

You don't feel, you don't talk...hell, you don't even act

You expect other people to carry your load without second thought to their well-being





And like that I'm out. :-)

By the way...people can always go and copy style...but they can't copy talent...

Thursday, November 18, 2004

And Now, I'm Officially Legal...

Michelle was the first one to ring in my birthday with a phone call at 1 in the morning.

"You're old, bitch!"

That's right folks. I have officially crossed over into the "I don't need no stinking ID" age group. No longer will I have get all antsy around police officers if I'm trying to buy liquor around them. Never will I get a ticket for underage drinking. And no rejection at the front doors of bars. Now that I'm 21, my ID has become useful again; I don't have to pretend I'm "Abu Aknar" or anyone else to get on by. I can be plain old me, simply because I'm finally at the right age range.

It sucked ass how I was able to smoke, buy a lottery ticket, get a credit card (incur debt), and die for my country, but I couldn't buy liquor. That was a fucking bitch. But, now, things are good now that I'm on the other side. What's the first thing I'm gonna do now that I'm 21? Rent a car from Enterprise WITHOUT having to pay for that ridiculous "underage" fee. Can you say, "roadtrip?" :-)

...So, people have been asking me, "Ray, what did you do for your 21st birthday?" Well, I'll tell you...I went to class, went to the SU Bookstore to pick up a cake that my dear ol' momma had ordered for me (once again, fuck you people for calling me a "momma's boy." There's nothing wrong with having ONE person in your life to call you up out the blue and tell you that they love you. :-) ), chilled with Michelle for a hot second, and headed to the movies to see the "Motorcycle Diaries" with ZuZu and Justine. Before I get into the movie, let me dig into Michelle for a sec...this bitch...and I'm laughing while I'm typing this...you gotta give this bitch some credit for being able to come up with some silly ass jokes...

A couple of weeks ago, Michelle asked me in between classes what I wanted for my birthday. Now, unless I know that you can really afford what I want, or I'll be able to reciprocate and buy something of similar value, I'm never clear to other people in describing what it is I really want for particular occasions. For example, I may want that X-Box or that ill-ass jacket, but I'll never tell you that exactly. I'll prolly make a joke of it, and then, two days later, go to the mall with you and gawk in a store window at the object of my desire. Especially when it comes to girls. Women always want to know if the men in their lives are listening and observing...well, chica, it's time you start doing the same exact thing for us. If you want to know what it is I want for birthdays/Christmas, I want you to pay attention to me and figure out what it is I want. Because, it's not just about the gift, folks...it's about the time spent, the small conversations and the stolen moments you have with that person, all as you try to figure out if the gift you have in mind would really suit them. For all you know, all I could want is this year's edition of the HESS truck, and you'd only know if you ever paid attention to me enough. (By the way...I already have the HESS truck in my possession, just in case it popped into anyone's minds...) So, when Michelle asked me what I wanted, true to form, I replied, "man, all I want is either sex or a hug." Now, this bitch, instead of trying to figure out what it was I really wanted, she decided to use my birthday gift as a prank and showed up with an inflatable wife, and then giving me a hug afterwards.

"See? I got you sex, AND I gave you a hug. Aren't I the best?"

So, now that I have a gift that I'll never open, lol, I'm forced to make up an entry just for people like Michelle so they can understand what I REALLY want for these kinds of occassions. Be on the lookout for it soon.

As for Michelle...well, let's just say that April Fool's Day can't come soon enough...;-)

...I finally got to see "Motorcycle Diaries," the foreign, Spanish movie about Che Guevara before he became the daring revolutionary, starring that dude from "Y Tu Mama Tambien" and "El Crimen de Padre Amaro." Man...I loved that movie. When it comes out, it will be an instant add to my DVD collection. Any movie that can make me tear up at the end, fuck it, I'm buying it. (Though I did cry from watching "Daredevil," but more because I realized that I lost two hours of my life that I was never getting back.) I highly suggest you go see it if you want to understand a little bit more about the man that you see emblazoned on these prick's t-shirts on the streets. (I get peeved thinking about the people who BUY shirts with Che's face on them...like, you just bought into a capitalist enterprise of SELLING the image of one of the most historic figures of the SOCIALIST movement in history.) Better than that, read the actual diaries this movie was based on so you can get a feel for what made this man tick. (Cuba might be a different place if Che had been around to assert himself around Fidel...Che wasn't really feeling the Soviet take on Socialism)

...It's amazing to think that a year passed by so quickly...last year, at this same time, I was going through quite possibly, one of the worst birthdays I had ever experienced, emotionally. After my mother came up and visited "my neck of the woods" in snowy Syracuse, I truly felt what it was like to be truly cared for. We talked, joked around, caught up on things, ate good food, and drove around town while we took advantage of dear ol' Cookie's 4 x 4 capabilities. But, when she left on my actual birthday, I never felt so alone in my life. My roommate, Morgan, was off dealing with his on again, off again girlfriend and dealing with the aftereffects of a serious car accident. ZuZu and Michelle, though they lived across the street and stopped by from time to time, didn't really get involved in my life as much because someone else was there for me, at least in theory. And as for that particular person? Well, it was thinking about her that made me feel the most alone. Chiyo. The one person that I had vested such importance in my life, had placed me in such an emotional dilemma only a few days before my birthday. Imagine coming home from work, only to see your significant other's "dirty" ex (not the "ex" that things just fell apart with, but the "ex" that did the grimiest shit to end the relationship) coming out of their bedroom with a big smile on their face? After that moment, no matter what she said, and no matter what evidence I could or could not find, I never held full trust in her again. And if you can't trust the person that's supposed to be the closest to you, boy, you're in one fucking pickle.

I remember text messaging Chiyo shortly after I arrived back home from dropping my mother off at the airport:

"I feel so alone. :-("

A few minutes later, my cell phone buzzed with a reply:

"But, you have me...:-( "

A temper flared up inside of me when I received that message. You fucking lying bitch. I felt like calling her and cursing her out right then and there. Instead, I didn't say anything back at all. I just remember crying. A 20-year old dude, crying. On his birthday. There was such confusion on my end, I didn't know WHAT to think. On the one hand, I had the incident with the ex from days before. And on the other hand, I had the whole, "Chiyo going all out to please her man," thing...she made this big dinner and got me this videogame I wanted at the time, and didn't waste a second in dishing out all the hugs and kisses I could ask for. I remember saying to myself that I just wish I found her fucking the dude so I could be more decisive in utterly cutting her off. I could HATE her. I remembered wishing that things had been worse off, that our relations had shattered, and that every spoken word to one another was an insult. I didn't want to have to spend time agonizing over what was going wrong when so many things were going right...

...Here we are, a year later, and the situation has changed completely. I'm no longer crying on my birthday. No longer am I second guessing my girlfriend's actions. (Hell, no longer do I have a girlfriend) And now, I have support. I have friends. People who get me inflatable wives and accompany me to see movies about Socialist revolutionaries. I have 49 Facebook messages from people wishing me a "Happy Birthday," from acquaintances, old friends, and family, alike.

And life is good.

Here's a (legal) toast to having a real "Happy" Birthday. Cheers, mates.

Tuesday, November 16, 2004

I'm worth money!!!

I randomly bumped into another blog, when I noticed the girl had a link to this particular page that tells you how much you're worth. According to them, I'm worth $2,176,403.13. How much are you worth?

I think that's too low. I'm worth more than that, yo. :-)

Monday, November 15, 2004

The Daily Musings Are Now Firefox Friendly!

Hey ya'll. If you haven't been paying attention to the computing world in recent months, Microsoft's dominance is being challenged on so many different fronts, it's not even funny. Ranging from Apple bitch-slapping Microsoft with iTunes, to Hotmail bringing a knife to a gun-fight against Google GMail, Microsoft is beginning to finally gain some competition in an industry it has completely dominated for years. The latest challenge? A few renegade programmers from Netscape left to create their own open-source company, Mozilla, which has dedicated itself to creating free, open-source programs for the masses. These guys have gone and created a brand-new Internet browser that eclipses Microsoft's Internet Explorer in every single way, Firefox. Firefox is THE answer to the prayers of anyone who has ever got a virus from using IE or has had to endure tremendous page loading times for some websites. Included in Firefox are browsing innovations that can change the way you browse the 'net forever, including tabbed browsing, as well as support for RSS feeds, built right into the browser.

Which brings me to my point. If you have joined one of the tens of millions of people that have downloaded the Firefox browser, then you can take advantage of the RSS features of this blog. All you have to do is bookmark this page in Firefox by pressing the little orange wave logo on the bottom right hand of the browser window in order to subscribe to this blog. A bookmark will appear on your Bookmark Toolbar which will be updated to reflect everytime I update the page. It simplifies your browsing experience, and also keeps you from wondering exactly when I updated the Musings. That information will be available right in your bookmark tab.

Don't use Firefox? You can still use NewsWire Reader programs to do the subscribing for you, like many people have already done.

By all means, though, make the jump to Firefox. I already have on my Windows computer and I don' t regret it. It's going to take a lot more for Firefox to replace Safari for me on the Mac side of things, but, granted, it's still a great browser I'll keep on the back burner.

Want to download it? Head to Mozilla.org for details.

Sunday, November 14, 2004

A Quick Game of Catch-Up

From a school work perspective, I have so much work to do, it's not even funny. I've been trying to catch up to my work for awhile now, and right now, I'm just beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. However, by the time I get there, I'll be plunged into yet another freaking trap...FINALS! Fucking school. I swear, like I always say...

"School gets in the way of your education."

So, as a result, this overload of work has affected me in many ways. For one, my blogging has taken quite a hit. Updates don't come as often as I would like to, and the depth of each entry isn't exactly up to my personal standard of detail or importance. Nonetheless, I'm trying, though. I'm fighting through it all to keep my life in balance and to also keep writing my thoughts down somewhere. I swear, I have, literally, THOUSANDS of topics and ideas that I want to pursue on the Musings, but between school and work at both the 'Fucks and Apple, it's been hard. Unlike some people I know (Ahem, Anna, ahem, Sam), I'm not going to "take a break" from writing. I think I'd go crazy if I didn't have some kind of public communication with people on the Musings. And we all know how crazy I am to begin with. We don't want that to get a whole lot worse now, do we? :-)

Ironically, while the content has gone down, the readership has gone up. WAAAYYY Up. If there's anything I can thank Blogger for, it's for making the Musings more 'Google friendly" than the previous incarnation of the blog. I'm not going to sit here and jerk myself off for gaining new readers and spend time talking about how I "spit knowledge to the masses." I'll be blunt: I have enough of an ego. I don't need to hype myself up anymore than I already am. I feel that for the most part, my readers are educated and smart enough to have the same information I have at their fingertips. We live in an age of instant gratification. I call it the Age of On-Demand. Any questions you might have are just a few keystrokes away from being solved. Want music? Download stuff instantly off of iTunes. So my point is that it makes no sense to talk down to your readers and assume that you're some kind of information guru. All that means is that you know how to use "Advanced Search" on Google. :-)

So, for you new people: I thank you for reading. Don't hesitate to comment if you have anything to say. I know there are people out there that read and don't say anything until I see them in person. (Like professors who pull me aside and have mini-debates with me about my "Ways of Protesting Against the Bush Administration...") And there are others who don't know me at all and although they RSS my blog, they have no freaking idea who the hell "Michelle" and "ZuZu" are. For those people, I invite you to check out my main site, The Shindig, and see pics of the people that make up my life. I've said this before in another entry similar to this one, but like I said before, this is a labor of love. I love to write, and I love to provide insight into the life I lead. Therefore, it's a highly personal blog. (Which, in my opinion, anything personal and detailed make up some of the best material on the Net) It is my aim to provide content that not only satisfies my desire of "getting it all out" but also is readily understandable by people who really don't know me. I also try to make it as entertaining as possible so you guys can keep on coming back to check me out. So, by all means, give me a holler if you don't understand something, or if you disagree with something I said, or if you just want to chit-chat. I'll be more than willing to respond back. :-)

...So now...getting back to the task at hand...playing catch-up...

As a result of school work, my publication for Syracuse's "La LUCHA", entitled, La Voz has kinda taken a back seat on the priority list for this semester. I don't see why I should sacrifice myself right now for a publication that really doesn't have support from writers this semester. So, I'm going to release the content I have soon, but it won't be anything as grand as what I had envisioned for this semester before. Next semester, I'll have the writing core I so needed this time around, and start on the right foot, with great PR work from La LUCHA (hopefully). I see La Voz as my goodbye kiss to SU. I hope to be able to leave a good enough mark on campus where people will recognize the efforts I made with that publication and hope that it will impact the SU Community in a positive way. But, first I need writers. Because if I don't have writers, shit, I might as well just publish this blog and hand it out in the Schine Student Center. It shall be called, "La Musings." (Ultimate spanglish right there, son)

...Got to see my first concert ever this past weekend in Rochester, NY...Incubus was cool. While I like some of the band's songs, I'm not going to say that I'm like a die-hard fan of them or anything like that. I just appreciate their sound. It felt kinda awkward being in the concert because we were surrounded by these teeny-bopper "slit my wrist" teens that swear they go through so much drama when they really haven't seen shit. Still, it was a good concert. ZuZu, Justine and Sarah came through with me.

...More on the concert/live performance agenda...John Legend (the dude that sings that song "Used to Love U", which was a free download on the American iTunes Music Store a few weeks ago) came through to SU and played in the Schine Underground as part of the Black Artist's League's annual "Jazz Night." While the performance was cool, and most likely, I'll buy a few cuts off this dude's album, the night itself didn't leave me with this feeling of "WOW," like say, LUCHA's Cafe con Leche was this year? (Sorry, self plug, but a well deserved one) The student performances were wack for the most part, and John Legend himself wasn't enough to turn around what was otherwise an anti-climatic night. I took a few pics here and there. Haven't posted them yet. I prolly will when I publish the other blog soon.

...Apple, Apple, Apple...it's all about Apple lately. Every two days, I get some freaking package from Cupertino with all kinds of goodies for me to hand out and display. It's been so fun and cool to work with the company that I love the most at this current time. I had a meeting in Rochester last week (the day after the Incubus concert) with a few other Apple Campus Reps from Upstate NY, as well as a few Account Execs from the region. We all traded information about our particular schools and also traded programs to download on our laptops. It was cool. The day before I chilled with some of them at the grand opening of the Apple Mini Store in Syracuse. It's a "cute" store. I'm sure I'll make it a substantial pitstop for me everytime I visit the Carousel Mall in Syracuse. I traded some business cards with the people that work there, so I'm sure that I'll be making them my best friends pretty soon. :-)

Oh, to answer some of my fellow guys' main question..."Any hot bitches at Apple?" Watch the smile rise on my face... :-D (and you thought the number one question was about Apple products...yeah right!)

...My roomies and I are cool for the most part. We've had some headaches over the course of the time we've been together, but for the most part, we're a good combo. We make each laugh a bit TOO much...it's a wonder how we get any work done. I'm telling you...some of our antics are most definitely "Musings" worthy...I just wish I had the time to tell the stories. I will...one of these days...

...Halloween was wack for me. It wasn't no Cornell this time around, that's for sure. I dressed up as a Catholic priest, took some good pictures, but spent the night at an Engineering Frat party...nuff said there. The highlight of the night was when some of Justine's Army boy friends came through and got into a fight with some of the brothers over liquor. Oh yeah, baby...:-)

Well...I think that's enough of a brief update...I'm turning 21 soon...man...I can't believe I'm saying that...I'm getting old, man...

Hey, Don't You Guys Forget the Main Page!

I just wanted to take the time to plug my main site, the Shindig. If you have yet to check it out, You've certainly missed out on an entire aspect of my web blogging. Ever wanted to know who the hell I was talking about in some of my blogs? Check out the Shindig to get a good look at these people.

While you're at it, check out the Movie of the Month, as well as the Pic of the Week. More picture updates are coming up soon. Hope you guys enjoy the site, and keep on going back every once in a while to see what's good.

So check out:

http://homepage.mac.com/djkibblesnbits

Thursday, November 11, 2004

Crush of the Month (November)

The winner of this month doesn't belong to any one person or small group of individuals. Instead, it belongs to, quite possibly, the phenomenon of the month, Facebook.com. If you have yet to jump on the Facebook bandwagon, basically, it's kinda like this online community of your peers from your college campus that can check out the names and profiles of the people that they go to class with. If they are your friends, you add them to your coveted "friends" list. Some people have turned this feature into a popularity contest. (Y'know "Oh, I have more friends than you," bullshit) But, still, it's a nifty way of catching with old friends that you've lost contact with in high school. People from other colleges can check to see if your name is on the Facebook network, and should you add them as a friend, they can check out your profile. Some people call this the "stalker" book, but quite frankly, it's just a simple, but great way of keeping touch with the people you've lost contact with, or you WANT to get in contact with. So, congratulations to Facebook.com for winning the coveted Crush of the Month title! :-)

Want to see if your college is on there? Check out www.thefacebook.com. And make sure you add me to your friends list. :-)


PS: Jessica, don't get all mad if you see this entry! Consider it a priviledge to be placed on the Musings. :-)

My Heart is Broken...

After spending a good amount of time finishing up the eagerly anticipated "Values of Cockblocking" blog, Blogger pulls the absolute worst thing it could ever do to a writer. ERASES the entry.

I'm so heartbroken, it's not even funny. So much so, I don't even want to write it anymore. It shouldn't take this much work to write an entry.

I'm considering moving onto yet another blogging mechanism. This has pissed me off to no end.

So, add Values of Cockblocking to the official list of "Destroyed Blogs on Account of Blogger."

Destroyed Blogs on Account of Blogger

1) "Some Rough and Interesting Times in Italy (Part II)"

2) "Estimated Arrival Time"

3) "It's the Things You Don't Say That Really Matter (Part II)"

4) "Blog Etiquette #'s 4,5,6,7,8"

5) "Values of Cockblocking (or lack thereof)"

So fuck you, Blogger...It's about time that I move on...

Tuesday, November 09, 2004

And Old Man Winter Said...

"MUTHA FUCKA!!! I'm gonna make it snow!!!"

So yeah...this marks the first day of snow, officially, in Syracuse, for the season. It actually stuck to the ground. Goodbye to normal weather for the next 6 months.

....Completely off topic, but you gotta love the fact that Michael Phelps, our 6-time gold medalist in swimming from the Athens Olympics, was caught DUI. Check out the story at

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/more/11/08/bc.oly.phelpsarrested.ap/index.html?cnn=yes

Hey, he's gotta have some kind of fun...and all this time, you thought he didn't do anything but practice...yeah right!!

Friday, November 05, 2004

Ways for Aggravated Americans to Protest the Bush Administration, # 143

Seduce the wives or husbands of ultra-conservative religious leaders across the country, impregnate them (or get impregnated by them) and threaten to tell the whole world that the baby is theirs...

I bet you all of them will be thankful that they have the Right to an abortion...fucking hippocrites.

Can't Beat 'Em? Move to Canada!

I'm sure all of you know someone who's said that if Dubya was ever re-elected, that they would move to another country. (For example, I'm one of those people.) Well, apparently now that he's been re-elected, it appears that people have been true to their word, and have begun searching for places to spend the next four years..such as Canada. Check out this article from the BBC to see just how people are making plans for the move to the Great White North.

BBC News Article

And also, check out this hilarious site, Marry an American.com

Marry an American!

Anyone interested in moving back to London with me? :-)

Thursday, November 04, 2004

Drinking water: Bad for the environment

Well...not exactly drinking water...it's more like drinking BOTTLED water...check out this small article from the Scotsman.

Bottled Water Bad For the Environment

Top 10 Most-Played Songs of October 2004

Wow...October was an action-packed month, in terms of school work. Sheesh. I barely had time to keep up with myself on the Musings. Nonetheless. I'm back, somewhat, to deliver the stories and thoughts that make up my life. ZuZu's b'day weekend (where practically everyone BUT me got ass), MorganFest 2004 (not exactly as poppin as it was last year), some drama here and there with new people, my first Cafe con Leche(wonderful event sponsored by La LUCHA at Syracuse that I was happy to have been a part of. Nuyorican poet Shaggy Flores is simply THE man...and he crashed on my couch!), a trip to Cornell that was to never be, and a quick Halloween outing as a Catholic Priest, all made up the major events of this month. Now without further ado, here are the songs that made up the soundtrack of my day to day life.

10. Lost Cause, by Beck, off of the "Sea Change" album. (NEW)

9. In the Waiting Line, performed by Zero 7, off of the "Simple Things" album (NEW)

8. Worn Me Down, by Rachel Yamagata, off of the "Happenstance" album (NEW)

7. Breath, Stretch, Shake by Mase, off of the "Welcome Back" album (NEW)

6. Hay Algo En Ti by Loony Tunes and Noriega, off the "Mas Flow" album (NEW)

5. Drive Me Crazy by Kevin Little, ft. Big Easy, off the "Last Drop" album (NEW)

4. We Gon' Make It by Jadakiss, off the "Kiss the Game" album (NEW)

3. Bounce It Right There by Sean Paul, off an untitled album. (NEW)

2. Suenos by Juanes, off of the "Mi Sangre" album. (NEW)

1.Mmmhmm by GrandanBob, off the "Waltzes for Weirdos" album (NEW)


Once again, this top-10 list is just completely reflective of my eccletic mix of musical tastes. The #1 song is a Euro-techno type song, and #2 is Spanish Rock. Go figure. Toss in a little Jadakiss and some Jazz, and you'll be alright. Much like I was all over the place this month, so was my playlist.

Probably the one song from this list that suits today's somber mood is "We Gon Make It." Makes you want to grab your crotch and fuck someone up. (Yes, even if you're a girl).

So, definitely give these songs a whirl. Take care. And remember...

DON'T STEAL MUSIC...

Ways for Aggravated Americans to Protest the Bush Administration, # 252

Method #252: Go into the residential areas of the counties that were overwhelmingly supportive of the Bush Administration late at night, and fire bullets from an M-16 rifle into the air to wake up everyone, every single night that Bush is in power, and then send the White House the spent bullet casings from these demonstrations to protest the Adminstration's lack of action on the Assault Rifle Ban.

Go on...assert your right to bear arms and the freedom of speech...

During Sex, Don't Ever Say...(Part II)

"What is that smell?"

Wednesday, November 03, 2004

Fuck 'em All

Here I was, hoping that Kerry would go and do the right thing and "fight for every single vote." Instead, what does he do? He listens to his peanuthead advisors that ran his campaign quite possibly the WORST way you can when you have a President running for re-election with a 46% approval rating; he CONCEDED. This entire voting process has been about as surreal as it can get, in the worst possible way.

So now, it's time for the "Happy Latino" to do what he does best, and throw the proverbial "Fuck-U" Brick.

Fuck Bush for sleeping with corporate America and telling the American people that he stands for "moral values."

Fuck the Deep South and the rest of the red states that voted for Bush and believed his utter BS. They cared about, "moral values?" Yet, here he is, starting a war that had nothing to do with the War on Terrorism. Why? Was it because they weren't Protestant like him? Fuck them for taking the name of God in vein.

Fuck Puffy and his wack ass "Vote ot Die" Campaign. Good job in not leaving the comforts of the tri-state area and not telling the black people in Cleveland that they needed to vote too.

Fuck Fox News and their Neo-Conservative agenda.

Fuck the people who didn't vote because they thought that just because they lived in non-swing state, that their vote didn't count...if those people had voted, Kerry would've easily won the popular vote. Now we have the media networks telling us that Bush has a decisive "mandate." Bull fucking shit!

Fuck the people that thought Kerry was a "weak" candidate. Mutha fucka, you stand up for him! You had a choice between someone who understands civil rights, the barriers between the rich and the poor, was pro-choice, pro-Assault Rifle ban, and pro-middle ground Supreme Court versus someone who believed in the exact opposite. Now, you assholes are responsible for letting neo-con Bush take over again. Since when did a candidate have to look good and do a good song and dance to be able to effectively run the country? You don't want a President; you guys want a fucking Backstreet Boy.

Fuck Kerry, for conceding the election. So many people stood behind you, man. And you gave up, all while claiming that you're fighting "for every vote." Bull fucking shit. It's over when it's over. The electoral college has yet to be formed, and you give up. You claim that you wanted to "bring the country back together" Let's face it...this country hasn't been together for two years, and won't happen for a long fucking time. It wouldn't have hurt to stick to your guns for a little bit. Now, we have Bush parading around like he's God. (Wait, according to his supporters in the Deep South, he is...)

Fuck the people that "don't want to talk about this issue." It's people like you that four years from now would forget everything about this campaign and go on and fucking vote the wrong way.

Inauguration Day...let's not let Bush take the walk to the White House in celebration, just like in 2000. He don't deserve it at all.

Deja Vu All Over Again...

So, it's the day after the Presidential Election, and low and behold, we aren't entirely sure who our President will be in January. Bring out the lawyers, bring out the chads...this is going to be 2000 all over again...

I remember telling people that this election wasn't going to be close, that people of my generation were going to come out in droves and support Kerry and carry him to victory.

I guess I had too much faith in my generation. A severe egg is on my face. Now, Bush hopes to gain from a very real possibility that he will be re-elected. Once again, we might have another four years of a complete Republican government. Now I know that John Kerry wasn't exactly the greatest candidate ever, but damnit, he was still a good man. He just had bad campaign advisors. Whether he loses this election or not, the Democratic party has to take one long hard look at itself and determine who exactly is going to be the face of the party in 2008. Hillary? I'll be damned if she runs. Edwards? Would be an interesting proposition. Obama, or whatever the hell that dude's name is? Try again, modafocka. Gore? I think he's a lot cooler now than he ever was four years ago. Dean? Yeeeaaahhhhhh right....

Definitely, the party has a bit of searching to do if its going to go up against whoever the Republican party decides it wants to be its faceman. Ahhhnold (I'll be back), Giuliani (that fucking asshole...more on him another time), or McCain will present all kinds of challenges to the Democratic ticket. Hell, maybe even Jeb.

In the meantime, we can only wait to see what's going to happen in Ohio. All eyes are on that little state, and unfortunately, half the people who voted this time want to see it swing in the Red.

Egg all up in my face...

Tuesday, November 02, 2004

"So Wait...How Do You Say Your Name?"

"Torres"

"Spell that for me."

"T-O-R-R-E-S"

My voting experience at my local polling place can be summed up like this: It took longer for them to find my name than for me to actually vote.

So, ZuZu, Michelle, and I headed a local elementary school that, for today, served as Ground Zero for the Bush-Kerry Sweepstakes. I had woken up earlier this morning to go and vote, only to discover a line out the door of the school. However, when the three of us headed to the school around noon, there was hardly a soul there. Save for these really old people sitting at two tables, arranged in the middle of a basketball gym, with the registered voter rolls for the district. I mean, these people were so old, it's a miracle that they didn't drop dead from an eyeblink. It was a miracle that they were there, in the flesh, waiting to verify the information of whoever dropped on in to vote. Zulay went ahead of me, and the woman who was helping us struggled with her name. A younger gentleman walked over to help her out, but apparently, ZuZu's name was too exotic for them, so a third person came over to help out. I was thinking to myself, "Gee, how many election board members does it take to find a minority's name?"

"How do you say your last name?"

"O-lee-vo"

Three grown ass people, struggling to find a name inside of a book that is listed in alphabetical order. I felt like taking the book and doing the shit myself. It didn't help I saw both my name and her name flipped over in search of the elusive, "Olivo." I never felt like such a townie until that particular moment. When I went with my momma to vote in NYC, we had these snooty ass people who would rush us on into one of 35 election booths. In Cuse, we were struggling to get into one of 2 booths. And the place was so empty. After seeing the crowd earlier that morning, I never would've thought that I would walk into an empty grade school basketball gym and greet Old Woman Time herself.

Eventually, they found our names and we proceded to our booths. There was no doubt in my mind who I was voting for. I walked in there, and flipped switches all the way across the Democratic ticket. I got pissed off when I noticed that the race for House Representative was down to just one candidate, Republican Jim Walsh. Fucking Gerimandering. In protest, I voted for the Socialist Candidate. After flipping the switches, I triple and quadruple-checked my vote, making sure I didn't pull some stupid shit and vote for Bush or something. Satisfied, I pulled the lever which reset the booth and registered my vote. I had just finished voting in my first Presidential Election. :-)

Syracuse University, overall, is a pro-Kerry campus. Bush supporters are certainly present, but definitely, it's no question as to who the people on this campus respect as their future President. Personally, I don't see any reason why an educated person should vote for Bush, conservative or not. I've been waiting for someone to present a good argument to vote Dubya, but I have yet to find someone who didn't provide false information that was promoted by the Bush campaign. I've been dying to find someone to argue with on that point, but alas, no one steps up. I guess everyone is afraid to have a good old fashioned debate nowadays. I don't understand why. People are too scared to step on each other's toes when it comes to this thing. If we discussed these kinds of things amongst ourselves, I think we'd be able to educate one another and get a sense for where a lot of our peers stand on matters. We have a habit of generalizing individuals based on who they're voting for. If we had actually discussed this issue, though, we'd understand where people are coming from, and be able to debate the pros and cons of each candidate on each particular issue.

I'm gonna go run and chill with some peeps...more to come...

Finally it's time to...

VOTE!!!!!

Get out there and get your voice heard!

(I must say, I fucking hate those stupid "Vote or Die" t-shirts, especially the fucking 12 year olds running around here with them on at Super Size sizes.)

During Sex, Don't Ever Say...(Part I)

Has any other girl given you head?

Can you ask the question at any other point in time? Sheesh...talk about putting us on the spot...
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