Having been inspired by Randy Pauch's The Last Lecture, I've reflected on some things and came up with a list of things/dreams that I've always wanted to do and see. I call them Mis Diez Cosas, my ten things. I've done and seen a few of these from the list, so there are some that still need doing, but I may not be able to do them all.
Mis Diez Cosas
Snow
Mountains
Get a Corvette
Be an astronomer
Go to Argentina
Go to Spain, Barcelona
Snag a redhead
Chase tornadoes
Participate in Los San Fermines in Pamplona
Do the pilgrimage Road of Santiago de Compostela
As I kid there were two things that I wished to see: mountains and snow. I saw my first mountain range at age 9 and did not see any again until after I turned 22. The funny thing was that in each instance they were the same mountains of northern México. Mountains would be on my horizons when I visited Monterrey and Saltillo once a year during my university years and then again for my short stay in Spain in 1999; which is where I saw my first snow, albeit on the ground, in my first few days there. Although my first snow fall occurred in Dallas, the most memorable snowfall was on my 31st Christmas: a white Christmas in South Texas.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve always wanted a corvette and probably will never have one. At least I drove my uncle’s a couple times when I was in high school. There’s something about that car. Ask my dad. He’s always wanted one too and he’ll tell you that when I was a kid, I could spot one coming down the road before he noticed it too. I inherited my dad’s eagle eyes for sure.
My first science fair project was about stars and constellations. Astronomy was been a hobby of mine from early on; I was in 2nd grade for that Stars project. I got my first telescope around that time too: I remember waking up in the middle of night Christmas morning and seeing the telescope sitting in our living room right next to the Christmas tree. You can imagine my giddiness. We didn’t have much money those days, but “Santa” had enough to get me my first telescope. Though math and I never got along for me to do the astronomy thing professionally, but I aim to get one of those 12” Schmidt-Cassegrains to peruse the heavens with my daughter.
I did a report on Argentina when I was in the 4th grade and have always wanted to visit ever since. It was not until I got older that I wanted to go to Spain. We had a foreign exchange student from Barcelona spend my senior year at our high school, where we became pretty good friends, since then had wanted to visit Spain. A little later the 1992 Olympics reignited my wanting to visit and see Antoni Gaudí’s La Sagrada Familia in person. I was lucky and blessed to spend a short three-month semester in Madrid, where I took a few weekend trips throughout the Spanish countryside. The first chance I got I went to Barcelona where I spent a really quick day and a half there. I spent most of my 36 hours or so visiting and staring at La Sagrada Familia. Oh yeah, I stayed with my foreign exchange student friend and her family.
Redheads are a big weakness for me. I had a redheaded roommate in college and she was really cool. I’ve had redheaded friends: so close, yet so far. Gut wretching. I think Mary Ann from the next town over corrupted me forever.
I’ve always wanted to chase tornadoes. Perhaps they are as equally dangerous as chasing redheads I’m sure. I almost went to chase the Jarrell tornado of 1997 with an old friend who used to do it in college. Considering what we were hearing, we smartly opted to stay in San Antonio and wait for the storm to arrive.
The running of the bulls in Pamplona has always intrigued me. I already have it mapped it out in my head: I’m going to hang on for dear life at the very beginning of the run, wait for all the bulls to be a few blocks away and then I’ll take my time getting to the Plaza de Toros at the end. Perhaps I’ll spend one of my birthdays at Los San Fermines.
I got a tattoo of the cross of Santiago a couple months after I returned from Spain. It serves as a constant reminder to one day do the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostella across the northern expanse of Spain. A grad school classmate and her husband did it the summer between our two years of our masters of history program. I was so jealous. Maybe I’ll do it one of these years after I’ve hooked up a redheaded Argentine astronomer, bought a corvette, run away from the bulls and chased a few tornadoes.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Please despair!
A few weeks back I saw a TV story about this company making spoofs of those infamous motivational posters and quotes. These demotivational snippets rock. Here are a couple of examples from Despair.com:
Adversity- That which does not kill me postpones the inevitable.
Attitude- Attitudes are contagious. Mine might kill you.
Change- When the winds of change blow hard enough, the most trivial of things can become deadly projectiles.
And a personal favorite:
Despair- It's always darkest just before it goes pitch black.
Do yourself a favor and check out the website. And if you'd like to buy me a t-shirt, get me either the "i > u" or the "How can I extract myself politely from this conversation?"
Adversity- That which does not kill me postpones the inevitable.
Attitude- Attitudes are contagious. Mine might kill you.
Change- When the winds of change blow hard enough, the most trivial of things can become deadly projectiles.
And a personal favorite:
Despair- It's always darkest just before it goes pitch black.
Do yourself a favor and check out the website. And if you'd like to buy me a t-shirt, get me either the "i > u" or the "How can I extract myself politely from this conversation?"
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Texas Tornadoes- the real ones, not the music group
One of our local news station meteorologists mentioned that both Dallas and Tarrant counties made the top ten list of number of tornado reports in Texas since 1950, #7 and #9 respectively. Considering that both counties lie in the well known zone of the United States called Tornado Alley, it is surprising that five out of the top ten counties are situated along the Texas gulf coast.
Being that I'm from the Gulf Coast, I find this quite interesting. At first I thought it could be the number of tornadoes that a land-falling hurricane/tropical storm produces as it comes ashore, but the high number of gulf coast tornadoes could just come from the amount of storms produced in a given time period. Think about it, East Texas, namely the southeast corner of the state is the wettest part of the start. But consider the amount of tornadoes happening this year all across the country, I've noticed a spike in reported tornadoes in the Corpus Christi area as well.
The Insurance Council of Texas conducted a survey of tornado reports provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This survey confirmed that Harris County, Houston's home county, led all of Texas' counties with 210, almost doubling the second highest count.
Top 10 Texas counties with reported tornadoes from 1950-2007
County----------Location-------Major City-----------#
1. Harris............Gulf Coast.............Houston...............212
2. Hale..............Panhandle ...........Plainview..............116
3. Galveston.....Gulf Coast............Galveston................108
4. Jefferson.......Gulf Coast............Beaumont...............99
5. Nueces .........Gulf Coast.........Corpus Christi............93
6. Lubbock.......Panhandle............Lubbock.................83
7. Dallas..........North Texas...........Dallas....................82
8. Lamb............Panhandle...........Littlefield................82
9. Tarrant........North Texas.........Ft. Worth.................80
10. Johnson.....North Texas..........Cleburne..................79
Click here for an interactive map from ICT.
Sources: http://www.insurancecouncil.org/news/2008/6192008x.pdf
http://web2.airmail.net/danb1/tornado.htm
Being that I'm from the Gulf Coast, I find this quite interesting. At first I thought it could be the number of tornadoes that a land-falling hurricane/tropical storm produces as it comes ashore, but the high number of gulf coast tornadoes could just come from the amount of storms produced in a given time period. Think about it, East Texas, namely the southeast corner of the state is the wettest part of the start. But consider the amount of tornadoes happening this year all across the country, I've noticed a spike in reported tornadoes in the Corpus Christi area as well.
The Insurance Council of Texas conducted a survey of tornado reports provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This survey confirmed that Harris County, Houston's home county, led all of Texas' counties with 210, almost doubling the second highest count.
Top 10 Texas counties with reported tornadoes from 1950-2007
County----------Location-------Major City-----------#
1. Harris............Gulf Coast.............Houston...............212
2. Hale..............Panhandle ...........Plainview..............116
3. Galveston.....Gulf Coast............Galveston................108
4. Jefferson.......Gulf Coast............Beaumont...............99
5. Nueces .........Gulf Coast.........Corpus Christi............93
6. Lubbock.......Panhandle............Lubbock.................83
7. Dallas..........North Texas...........Dallas....................82
8. Lamb............Panhandle...........Littlefield................82
9. Tarrant........North Texas.........Ft. Worth.................80
10. Johnson.....North Texas..........Cleburne..................79
Click here for an interactive map from ICT.
Sources: http://www.insurancecouncil.org/news/2008/6192008x.pdf
http://web2.airmail.net/danb1/tornado.htm
Saturday, June 07, 2008
New Poem
I wrote this a while back and thought I'd share it.
The -line
-----------
You weren’t my first choice,
and probably not my last either.
Yet here you are.
I would’ve never thought you my type:
you tend to be moody and only come
around when it suits you,
rarely acquiescing to me.
But don’t get me wrong,
I’m glad when you decide to play,
although it’s usually when I’m busy
doing other things.
And even then, having been turned off
by your indifference,
I really don’t care for whatever
warmth you care to share.
Most of the time you lay
around waiting for bedtime.
I hope you’d change your ways,
as your fickleness hurts more than me.
Other times I’d like to be with my friends
but there’s a “you versus them” thing
that doesn’t allow that to happen.
I’m a revolving door of over used excuses.
There could’ve been another
if I’d been more patient and vocal-
and believe me,
I could’ve had another.
I’ve left the door open for you to walk out,
and I know you’ve thought about it,
yet you haven’t,
regardless of how bad I’ve treated you.
Nevertheless, I’ve chosen to stay with you,
mess and all, no matter
how wrong you may be for me on many levels.
Sure we can work this out, but only if I want it.
Who knows how long you’ll stay-
perhaps when I’ve gotten tired of your antics
or tired of looking the other way for so long.
You weren’t my first choice and
I wasn’t asked if it was okay to keep you around.
Yet here you are:
The subject of someone’s pity.
Someone’s pet.
The one who usually doesn’t wait up for me-
The fe- line:
our cat.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
f j de g y l
10 III 2008
The -line
-----------
You weren’t my first choice,
and probably not my last either.
Yet here you are.
I would’ve never thought you my type:
you tend to be moody and only come
around when it suits you,
rarely acquiescing to me.
But don’t get me wrong,
I’m glad when you decide to play,
although it’s usually when I’m busy
doing other things.
And even then, having been turned off
by your indifference,
I really don’t care for whatever
warmth you care to share.
Most of the time you lay
around waiting for bedtime.
I hope you’d change your ways,
as your fickleness hurts more than me.
Other times I’d like to be with my friends
but there’s a “you versus them” thing
that doesn’t allow that to happen.
I’m a revolving door of over used excuses.
There could’ve been another
if I’d been more patient and vocal-
and believe me,
I could’ve had another.
I’ve left the door open for you to walk out,
and I know you’ve thought about it,
yet you haven’t,
regardless of how bad I’ve treated you.
Nevertheless, I’ve chosen to stay with you,
mess and all, no matter
how wrong you may be for me on many levels.
Sure we can work this out, but only if I want it.
Who knows how long you’ll stay-
perhaps when I’ve gotten tired of your antics
or tired of looking the other way for so long.
You weren’t my first choice and
I wasn’t asked if it was okay to keep you around.
Yet here you are:
The subject of someone’s pity.
Someone’s pet.
The one who usually doesn’t wait up for me-
The fe- line:
our cat.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
f j de g y l
10 III 2008
Friday, June 06, 2008
Negro Leaguers Finally Drafted
Thirty former Negro Leaguers were drafted in a pre-draft ceremony in tribute to those players who were never allowed to play in Major League Baseball. Many former players of the Negro Leagues can thank Hall of Famer Dave Winfield for coming up with this idea. In an article written by Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports, Winfield, who is vice president of the San Diego Padres, recalls a time when Satchel Paige once called him to say that he enjoyed the manner in which he played and hoped to meet him in person, but Paige, one of the Negro League's best players, died just weeks after the phone call.
Kudos to Mr. Winfield and Major League Baseball for arriving at such a touching tribute for all those players who were more than talented to play in the Major Leagues, yet were deemed unworthy to play.
Kudos to Mr. Winfield and Major League Baseball for arriving at such a touching tribute for all those players who were more than talented to play in the Major Leagues, yet were deemed unworthy to play.
Thursday, June 05, 2008
Best Guitar Solos
Here's something that's been sitting in my mind's blog files for a while now and having just read a somewhat similar article in Yahoo!'s List of the Day, I thought I'd put in my two-cents about this. Yahoo! had an blurb listing their greatest 25 guitar riffs of all time. It was pretty good actually, but I have a different take on the guitar thing.
These are solos that not only consist of memorable guitar runs but may also provoke one to play the ever popular air guitar. Here are my favorite guitar solos in rock music, in no particular order:
Hotel California, The Eagles
Don Henley and crew create one Rock music's enduring songs. If I'm not mistaken, the guitar solo is played by more than one person. The acoustic version on the Hell Freezes Over video of this particular song rocks even without the help of electric guitars.
Will We Rock You, Queen
Talk about rocking hard, it's the quintessential rock anthem. I love how the guitar solo slowly crescendos almost from nothing and then hammers onto the scene with the force of a tornado through a trailer park. If you want to get technical, you can get a two-fer with this song, if you include We are the Champions as both are usually played back to back. More bang for your musical buck.
Rock Around the Clock, Bill Halley and His Comets
Maybe this is how rock and roll guitar solos started. That's some mighty fine guitar work here! It's an all-time great.
Like a Stone, Audioslave
We'll see if this becomes a classic but goosebumps usually accompany me when I listen to this one, especially at the solo.
Pride and Joy, Stevie Ray Vaughan
What's a guitar list without one of the gods of the guitar. Check this one out and you'll know what I mean.
What Would You Say, Dave Matthews Band
It's more than just a guitar solo-- the sax leads off and then concludes with a goosebump inducing harmonica riff.
When It's Love, Van Halen
The video for this song has a funny moment especially at the guitar solo. Eddie Van Halen plays the first chord, pauses, scratches his head and then proceeds with the rest of the solo.
Dust in the Wind, Kansas
Though not a guitar solo per se, but the string solo is quite memorable and accompanies great acoustic guitar work throughout the song.
If I come up with a few more, I'll be sure to add them to my list.
These are solos that not only consist of memorable guitar runs but may also provoke one to play the ever popular air guitar. Here are my favorite guitar solos in rock music, in no particular order:
Hotel California, The Eagles
Don Henley and crew create one Rock music's enduring songs. If I'm not mistaken, the guitar solo is played by more than one person. The acoustic version on the Hell Freezes Over video of this particular song rocks even without the help of electric guitars.
Will We Rock You, Queen
Talk about rocking hard, it's the quintessential rock anthem. I love how the guitar solo slowly crescendos almost from nothing and then hammers onto the scene with the force of a tornado through a trailer park. If you want to get technical, you can get a two-fer with this song, if you include We are the Champions as both are usually played back to back. More bang for your musical buck.
Rock Around the Clock, Bill Halley and His Comets
Maybe this is how rock and roll guitar solos started. That's some mighty fine guitar work here! It's an all-time great.
Like a Stone, Audioslave
We'll see if this becomes a classic but goosebumps usually accompany me when I listen to this one, especially at the solo.
Pride and Joy, Stevie Ray Vaughan
What's a guitar list without one of the gods of the guitar. Check this one out and you'll know what I mean.
What Would You Say, Dave Matthews Band
It's more than just a guitar solo-- the sax leads off and then concludes with a goosebump inducing harmonica riff.
When It's Love, Van Halen
The video for this song has a funny moment especially at the guitar solo. Eddie Van Halen plays the first chord, pauses, scratches his head and then proceeds with the rest of the solo.
Dust in the Wind, Kansas
Though not a guitar solo per se, but the string solo is quite memorable and accompanies great acoustic guitar work throughout the song.
If I come up with a few more, I'll be sure to add them to my list.
Monday, June 02, 2008
Vacation from Reality
I just got back from a somewhat lengthy family vacation. It was great to see my parents, my nieces and nephews and visit with my friends in San Antonio on our return swing back to Dallas. I only wished that my folks had internet access so that way I could've posted something whenever it came to mind and not all at once and after the fact which I'm about to do here.
Courtesy on the Road
Growing up we made plenty of roadtrips throughout Texas and most of time we took the roads less traveled or the smaller, two-lane highways. On these "back roads" there was alot of the letting of people pass, either ourselves or the person ahead of us. And when that occurred, whomever was the passer, up went our hands to show the passee that the move over to the road's shoulder was much appreciated. It happened every time. It happened in each instance. It was highway courtesy at its finest. But somewhere between the years of those memorable family trips and the present, folks are hardly ever showing their appreciative hand gesture. Although having thought about it a little more, the "thank you" wave have been in dwindling over the past several years, but on our way down to South Texas, I did not see a single "thank you" wave when we moved over to the shoulder to let folks pass us by! I'm happy to say that I waved thank you whenever someone moved over for me.
On our return trip back to town we visited our friends in San Antonio and I got my share of guilt thrown at me from a couple of my friends for living so far away. First off, one of my friends gave me her subtle shade of guilt like she usually does whenever she sends me an email. This usually consists of telling me that there's a few houses up for sale in the neighborhood where she and her husband live. Of course this feeds directly to my wife's line of thinking. Anyway, it gets worse.
We went over to visit my daughter's godparents. Mind you, each one of them has a Ph.D. in their field of expertise, so they're alot more driven than me. [On a side note, my compadre may ask me to draw him his maps for his upcoming book on the Spanish-French borderlands in what is now eastern Texas and western Louisiana.] During our visit, my daughter's godmother point blank asked me why we're still in Dallas. Having been caught off guard by the question, I didn't come up with any convincing reason. But having thought about it a bit, I figured it was because of my job. I really like my job and I doubt that I'd find a similar type job in San Antonio with the experience and degree that I have at this point like the one I have now. It's complicated really. It's all grey area. Perhaps it could be for a similar reason why I moved to SA in the first place.
Courtesy on the Road
Growing up we made plenty of roadtrips throughout Texas and most of time we took the roads less traveled or the smaller, two-lane highways. On these "back roads" there was alot of the letting of people pass, either ourselves or the person ahead of us. And when that occurred, whomever was the passer, up went our hands to show the passee that the move over to the road's shoulder was much appreciated. It happened every time. It happened in each instance. It was highway courtesy at its finest. But somewhere between the years of those memorable family trips and the present, folks are hardly ever showing their appreciative hand gesture. Although having thought about it a little more, the "thank you" wave have been in dwindling over the past several years, but on our way down to South Texas, I did not see a single "thank you" wave when we moved over to the shoulder to let folks pass us by! I'm happy to say that I waved thank you whenever someone moved over for me.
NBA Playoffs- The Champs are Defeated
The good thing about the San Antonio Spurs losing to the Los Angeles Lakers was that I only saw two complete games from beginning to end: that 20-point blown lead in game 1 and their game 3 win. Being that we were busy visiting family, we caught only fleeting glimpses of most of the series, which was a good thing because I hated to see the Spurs lose to LA. But I will give the Lakers this much, they were the better team, top to bottom, and they deserve to make it to the Finals after making those personnel moves to finally get over the Spurs hump. The Spurs looked like the old team they really are and only beat the New Orleans Hornets because of pure pride. I still haven't made up my mind who to cheer for in the finals. I could cheer for the Lakers because they beat the Spurs and to prove that Kobe doesn't need Shaquille O'Neal to win a championship. On the other hand, I would like to see Boston win so their "big 3" could finally win a championship. Either way, I expect this series to at least go 7 games unless the Celtics cannot win a road game in Los Angeles.
Putting the Guilt in the TripOn our return trip back to town we visited our friends in San Antonio and I got my share of guilt thrown at me from a couple of my friends for living so far away. First off, one of my friends gave me her subtle shade of guilt like she usually does whenever she sends me an email. This usually consists of telling me that there's a few houses up for sale in the neighborhood where she and her husband live. Of course this feeds directly to my wife's line of thinking. Anyway, it gets worse.
We went over to visit my daughter's godparents. Mind you, each one of them has a Ph.D. in their field of expertise, so they're alot more driven than me. [On a side note, my compadre may ask me to draw him his maps for his upcoming book on the Spanish-French borderlands in what is now eastern Texas and western Louisiana.] During our visit, my daughter's godmother point blank asked me why we're still in Dallas. Having been caught off guard by the question, I didn't come up with any convincing reason. But having thought about it a bit, I figured it was because of my job. I really like my job and I doubt that I'd find a similar type job in San Antonio with the experience and degree that I have at this point like the one I have now. It's complicated really. It's all grey area. Perhaps it could be for a similar reason why I moved to SA in the first place.
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