New York State of Mind...

I just watched the Mayoral Debates and first off all, I had no idea half of this stuff was going on... I'm almost ashamed to say that I haven't kept up with what is going on in NYC.
I'm confused as to whom I should believe since politicians are usually liars or at least that has been my conclusion for the past few years. Thompson took a stab at Bloomberg every chance he got, completely missing the point of the questions that were given to him, and the answers that he did give were repeated--- I guess to make his points. They said that both these men have been working together for the past eight years, and when asked what grade they would give each other on their jobs Thompson jumped at the chance to say that Bloomberg deserved a D- (and that was him being nice), Bloomberg actually complemented Thompson... makes you wonder if he is just trying to be the bigger person or to gain some points with the public...

The reporter asked Bloomberg how he felt when people say he is out of touch with the average New Yorker since he is worth around 16 Billion dollars --- SERIOUSLY?-- he said that he actually rides the train (which last time I read was for a couple of stops and then he got out and had a private car take him to his office) and actually feels connected with the average NYorker because he started here with just a small business... Now my issue is, that's gravy and all Mr. Governor but how do you who can afford to retire tomorrow and go vacation off the coast of France relate to say the many families who are being bought out of their homes, my mom who has been here for 14 years had to sell her house because she couldn't afford it (the cost of living exceeds the amount you make), or the south and central American workers who have to wake up at the crack of dawn to make food for their home/take their kids to school/clean/and slave over jobs that pay them minimum wage or less because they are not legal immigrants here? etc etc... I'm not hatin on the guy, however dont tell me that you can RELATE to my issues or the "average" NYorkers issue because you ride the train at least five times a week for three stops... oh no sir.

This Thompson character needs to get himself in check though, don't go on national T.V. and demean your opposing party because then it makes it seem like you spend your days looking for dirt on Mr. 16 Billion Dollars instead of doing your research on what NYorkers need for the next couple of years. According to one of his commercials my boy Obama supports him, (must look into why) so... that MUST mean hes great right? (SMH) I hope people don't go out and just vote for him because they saw Obama's pearly whites on the top left hand corner of the screen... LETS DO OUR RESEARCH! Lets see where both these men stand on issues regarding jobs, education, health, safety, transit and most of all the future of NYC.


This city is extremely important to me. As someone who came here at age nine, I learned to love the cold winters and the hot summers where my cousins and I would make our way to Astoria Park Public Pool (only if 99 street pool was too packed of course). I didn't know the Heights existed until one summer in DR this random guy we called Caco de Bola said he was tough because he was from LOS HEIGHTS... a couple of years later I made my way uptown through the 1 train and fell in love with my Dominicanos all over again. This city taught me street smarts, and trust me they come in handy no matter where I've been. It gave me an opportunity to taste different cultures, to snap my fingers one night at a poetry slam and dance my life away through the rhythms of salsa the next. NYC inspires me every day to push forward and take risks, it teaches me that diversity is a precious and rare gift (I mean where else can you sit and simultaneously listen to multiple conversations in different languages but the train??)... NYC has watched me grow and I have learned to appreciate it for what it is and what it isn't. I have been lucky enough to travel to many places including large cities, and though I am the first to say that Toronto is cleaner and that Rome is breath taking, NONE and I mean NONE have compared to my never sleeping city.

So go do your research. Educate yourselves, these issues DO affect our communities, our younger cousins and siblings, our economic state, our morning commute! The most important weapon of all is to be knowledgeable and its arch nemesis ignorance would like all of us to turn the cheeck and leave it to the "Elite" group to make the decisions for the masses... but in reality it is us, MI GENTE, that make this city what it is!

Entonces! check out some sites and read up! or do it the cool way and support our news papers and magazines!

Gotham Gazette

Bloomberg

Thompson

NYTimes


Spread the Knowledge...

FanStar

What's on your Radio...

A new adventure…

Last night my girl Sasha and I joined a wonderful multi-talented duo at their radio show on urbanlatinoradio.fm

It was so dope! I’ve been on t.v. shows before and actually spoken in front of the camera and I am super awkward (deer caught in head lights). But being on the radio is completely different. I guess the fact that you are not necessarily being watched (even though they had a web cam in the room) makes it easier to “flow”. I wasn’t hosting or talking much, but I got to share my opinion on Latino in America (the small bit I saw) as well as a couple of lines here and there.

They interviewed the online editor of Latina magazine. A really dope girl, very opinionated and chill (as-hell). It is nice to always see young Latina womyn making moves in the media industry (can you tell I was inspired yet again…hehe).

Their second guest for the night was this up and coming group called “The Crowd” and when they performed I was blown away by the talent. I haven’t heard something so good coming out of a group in a really long time. The Crowd is composed of three individuals: Akil Dasan, Randy Mason, and Adeline (who is FRENCH!). I immediately had a crush on RM haha I am the biggest sucker for poets/artists--- I can’t help it. However their music is amazing, and I plan on supporting by attending their shows and spreading their name J to the masses.
I’ll let you listen for yourself and if you don’t like it, then you don’t know what good music is…

Info!
The Crowd
http://www.myspace.com/therealcrowd

check out their up coming shows in NYC, Philly & Boston.

Entonces! A huge shout out to Rachel Loca La Boca for always introducing me to new possibilities, to Mike aka Juan Bago for being so funny and welcoming and to Sashita Manita for being who you are.

Listen to their show on Thursday Nights from 7pm to 9 pm!!

Loving.Living.Laughing.

A romantic state of mind...

I know my blog seems/sounds one sided, but Id like to make a point that this isn’t a blog about one particular thing. I’m not someone who only writes about celebrities (if at all), or about the newest restaurant in town, or new music of the week… Instead, I write about my life and what affects my thoughts, my movement, my future, my present and past. And if it happens to do with music/film/men/romance/friendship/family/death then I’ll include it in my stories.

I had mentioned in a previous blog that I wanted to talk about an issue that I’ve been faced with over the course of the last years. I know I write about my dates and relationship situations a lot but it is what it is.

So my continuous issue, and the older I get the more of an issue it becomes is… drum roll…
My ideals/wants/hobbies/social life/friends/habits/education/points of views vs. a relationship.

Education:
When I was a freshman @ Marist I had un enamorado who would always say: you think you’re better than me bc you are getting an education?---yea.

Social life:
Always a topic of debate! Why do you know so many guys?! My response: I don’t know, why don’t you?... why do you always have an event or something to do? Why must you wear bright colors? Why …why…why… don’t you just live your life, and let me live mine?—yea.

Ideals:
I dont want to raise my kids with any particular religion, I believe in a balance of being strict and being liberal, if I have a girl and a boy they are both doing the same amount of anything (i.e. just bc she’s the girl does not mean she has to clean,cook,etcect). ß this is where most guys Ive dated start to raise their eyebrows.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I know that isn’t enough information for you, but I cant sit here and write out all the stories at once. My point is that, I find it to be ironic that men who begin to date me always say how interesting and “different” I am, they love that I am a.b.c.d. but a.b.c.d. are the reasons why "it" never last…--yea.

­­­­­­­­­________________________________________________________________________-

I’m not being pessimistic, I am still the helpless romantic who crosses her fingers. But I’m quickly getting tired of this "issue". Should I be less of me, and more of a stereotypical docile obedient none verbal “okay with all you do”—no te apures mi rey yo limpio, cocino, te hago de todo- type of female? why is it that wherever I turn, even within my family and friends families there lacks a balance of power? or respect for the others personality? Maybe I just happen to walk into the wrong scenarios...

At the end of every encounter con un enamorado, I evaluate my actions, my words, my way of being with this person. And I try to dissect and separate the good from the bad choices that I made through out the encounter. I guess what I mean is that I try to grow from it. Take away from it.

These past months: I learned that like pieces of a puzzle you cant force it when you are clearly not compatible. It’s almost as if a chemist mixed the wrong stuff… and didn’t get it quite right. People are who they are. My cousin told me that sometimes you just have to hope for the guy to change… I have a lot of hope but I can’t waste it on that. You think that was mean? And i dont mean to say that women dont do the same to men. I am willing to change. You just have to ask right...go about it the right way... make sense?

I wonder of the impact I made in my past lovers lives... I always do. But it can't be that bad if I'm still great friends with 3/4 of them... hmm.


Regardless of the fact
That I am who I am
Not simply exposed by the lens of your cam
I cant stop being…

I’m only 23
And although I enjoy what comes with being free
I wouldn’t mind
If
I could find
The eternal fountain of …
Love.

Maybe it doesn't exist, maybe Love is a word just made up.

Maybe one day you will stop hearing me...and start to Listen.

No more vague kisses.....

beneath the nook I'll wait...

for the Lover that will come with my next

date...oh the wonders of fate...

Fan-Dizzy

::Where the Wild Things Are::

I've been having these instances filled with anxious thoughts of what 2010 will bring, sometimes they are purely fire balls of excitement and at others they are 3000 thoughts at once about "what ifs"--- what if I don't get a masters, what if I never write something amazing, what if something happens and I'm miserable... what...if.... I stop worrying? then I might have to actually relax... ((sits back and ponders))

I need to relax (como dice Sasha)... I sound like I have a mix of ADD and Schizophrenia don't I? but shouldn't I be "hungry" for more... if I'm not, wouldn't that defeat the purpose of my mothers struggles? not to mention my own? (enter clip of me getting bullied in 5th grade)......... entonces? hmm.

Ladies and Gents... I have never basked so much in the glory that is Hispanic Heritage Month. I went to an event hosted at the Time Warner center by HBO Latino last night and I saw the screening of "Celebrity Habla"-- dope. I laughed a lot, and almost teared (that's me being a softy again). It was great because it reminded me that MOST of the Latinos that are famous now were once struggling to find themselves, as well as wondering how the hell to make some sort of impact on our community. It reminded me how hard some of us try to assimilate when we come here as immigrants, to blend in (I actually wrote a poem about this in 12th grade, except I was stating that blending in is not for me). It reminded me that just because we're not in the times when the Brown Berets and the Young Lords were around does NOT mean that the Latino struggle is dead, or that we are chilling at home not trying to move forward as a people. Our identity as Latinos in America is (I feel) the struggle of my generation... but maybe this is a subject with too much substance... Ideally I would love to be in a coffee shop (how American of me) with a group of mi gente (there we go Latina all the way) discussing these things, coming up with ways of how we could make changes. --- BTW that's why I love my sorority, these women do all of this every day as social workers, educators, lawyers... etc etc.

I got to see Rita Moreno! casi se me sale la baba... O.M.G.... I was able to meet people from the film industry (thanks Rachel & Mike aka Juan for pulling me in, I can get shy ::gasp::).................. INSPIRATIONAL night indeed.

On other news.......... I got to see Where the Wild Things Are ... First of all, that little boy Max would have gotten his culito waxed if he would have done that to my gramma... pero! for the purpose of the movie it worked... I identified with him! at times he felt alone, confused, scared, happy, wild! Maybe it is all a part of growing up (and here I thought puberty was long gone)... it was nice. Because just like little Max eventually I'll find my way to where it is that I belong (SO GO SEEEEEEEEE IT!) Plus it didnt hurt that the person who I joined made the night effortless and relaxing (aja! lo hice!)... so thank you.

I'm challenging myself to step out of my comfort zone and take risks (the theme from last year returns!) don't get comfortable that = boredom and death to POSSIBILITIES... Lets see where this goes....................................

In High Spirits...

::FanStar::

Omens of all sorts...

I want to share my weekend with you all because I feel that we often focus on the bad or the small intances that might break through our state of happiness and let it spread far too quick...

I spent my Saturday w/ my very close and very sweet sister Zuzu--- and this was by mere luck, because if it weren't for her my Saturday would have been quite plain (so thank you Zuzu for helping my night be memorable)... we went to El Museo del Barrio and saw a bit of the screening for Soledad O'Brien's documentary Latino in America (airing this wed! watch it), I got the chance to see her and hear her speak after the screening was over, and I have to say this lady is truly an inspiration to me as a Latina. She spoke so well and carried herself in a matter that most women either dont care for or never had a chance to acquire. I'm really excited to see what Latino in America entails and how it will portray mi gente to the rest of America, lets hope it is as successful as Black in America. Even if it was produced and done with a different point of view... maybe this leads CNN to have more pieces like this: she said that people have approached her about Gay in America, Poverty in America, Education in America --- maybe I'll pick up a cam and film something for the masses some day --- Jmo included.

After listening to Soledad Z and I went about our way exploring Spanish Harlem... lets just say it was interesting. The night ended with dinner and some free Sangria @ Sofrito (Thank you to the owner of the restaurant for the shots and drinks)--- Neo was there and so was Stephon Marbury, whom I must say seems a little out of whack... maybe sitting this season out has him a little crazy. Anyway, something nice happened: a handsome stranger managed to keep my attention for most of the night, not with corny lines and Casanova moves, but with intelligent words--- about politics, cultural issues, travel etc etc... so, what I'm saying is if you find yourself in a social setting, dont go in with the expectation of "bagging numbers" rather go in with the hope that you get to have a decent conversation with someone... I know, I'm so easily pleased...

Sunday morning wasn't what I expected, but it made me realize that as a female who tends to complain about the idiocies of men I should always say what I mean when I'm feeling it, because letting that stuff build up is not cool... and since people aren't mind readers you should let them know "the deal". I realized that I truly cant STAND rudeness of any sort, because on a basic human level it just isnt right... and most importantly I would like to advice mi gente that empty apologies for the same things shouldn't simply be accepted and dismissed. Treat others as you want to be treated---- mami said it, hallmark said it, now I'm saying it.

I got to do brunch with Yuvi---whom I love--- and a friend who we met in Costa Rica this summer... it was interesting because in CR we were all about fun, and to be honest I didn't expect that I would keep in touch with any of the fellas we met in CR... but I did, and I'm glad for it. He was as handsome as I remember him (haha) and through our conversation he said something that I never really thought of, (of course it was about relationships) he said that what is most important is CONSISTENCY... and I said wow, you are so right. People get together and start off one way and 6 months down the line (if you're lucky) you're like where is the person I liked? So lesson #3--- be consistant. If you're going to open the door the first date, dont stop doing it... the little things are the ones that keep a relationship going... dont tell me I'm beautiful once a month, thats ridiculous...

By the end of the night Yuvi and I had walked around, discussed the battle that some of us women are faced with even at our young age (success/education/respect vs. being obedient and "keeping" a man--- which will be my next blog), laughed harder than most days, and watched The Soloist (great movie btw).... my ride home (1 to the A to the D to the F) was also memorable. A mix of random people, a handsome ( HANDSOME) black man, a little boy happy like the day of xmas because he had a doughnut in his hand, a stare down that turned into the nicest smile ever received, and a business card from a makeup arist (Yves Saint Lauren 34th St).... I took the whole weekend as a sign that I am growing as a woman, as a Latina, as an individual... and that hopefully this growth is leading me to better things as this new year creeps up on us... a toast to 2010.

Fan.Star

Inspiration is all around us...

I miss writing... and since my laptop is not working (my pc can't take much more of me saving things onto it)... I'm going to catch up on blogging...

First let me give you a few random thoughts swirling in my head:

1. Poor Leona Lewis--- someone punched her in her face the day she was signing her new book... who wakes up and is like, I want to go punch someone in the face today? lol wth!

2. I'm excited for the movie 2012... although this is a possibility in a near future, I'm still interested in the special effects... call me crazy---- =O

3. Should Obama have won the Nobel Peace Prize? Maybe not... but he did so how about we move on and talk about --oh Idk maybe the Health Care issues?? Hmmm...the truth is unless it affects you directly you wont care much about it...

4. Its cold. And although the change of weather brings me a sense of hope and change (No this is not bc of Obama)--- I'm not a fan of cold anything--- except for ice cream ... yum.

5. Office politics suck. And people that talk sht suck. And I know karma will be knocking on their doors any day now... gotcha beach!

6. Since when is it ok for a guy to play hard to get? --- another wth moment.

7. Why are Aventura tix so expensive? I'm not a fan of dominican men to begin with... ugh lol but I'll go for the Biff.

8. I'm all for supporting Latino artists, Directors, Films, Writers... etc... but sometimes people need a really good focus group to let them know that their material needs a lot or a little of tweaking... just food for thought.

9. I'm glad that Disney is coming out with another princess movie, and she is Black! woo woo get it... lets see if they get a Latina in next... :)

So I know my previous blogs have sounded a bit harsh in regards to men... so I'll share something sweet someone I'm seeing did... So I only had heels and a "lets go out" outfit as a spare to head out--- and as I have shared with you all I'm not a fan of cold--- well long story short, he gave me something to wear that was warm (including sneakers---which fit me huge) (laughlaughlaugh)... See men have the ability of doing something nice... they just choose to be idiots 95% of the time.

::FanStar::