Blanche comme neige.

A Day in the Life...

2008-12-14T04:09:00.000-08:00

Dusk arrives early in these winter days and the dense clouds filter the sunlight into a gloomy glow for whatever there is left of the day. The day goes by sometimes slow, sometimes fast; it all depends on the mood and on the variables involved. Since the plot takes place in a town called Brewster, the assortment of possible activities is considerably limited. For those who have lived here before, will know what I’m talking about. It is not all bad, it is not all good. It is something in between. It is just one day that could’ve been better or could’ve been worse:
It is early morning on Friday, and I’m having a hard time getting off my bed because last night I concluded my reading way after midnight. That night, I ventured in kidnapping my sister’s cat so that I could have some company, but since I knew the impossibility of ransom from my sister’s part, I decided to return the cat that same night.
I wait for my sister and niece on this Friday morning so that we can commute to work together, in perfect harmony, like good siblings and family in general should; that way, I avoid walking the five-block way to school. It is fairly cold outside, and although I could almost touch the dense clouds with my fingers if I stretched a little more, there are no signs of snowing; this season is taking longer. The scentless smell of the cold air quickly wakes me up, and there we go to work while my sister gives her daily prayer on-the-go, from which my niece and I approve with an “Amen!”
I usually make sure that my assigned group of not-so-outstanding students is at least trying to do some of their tasks, but this time we are working on origami on the first and second period. And there I am, wrestling with the paper, but I finally manage in creating a dove, a penguin and a star.
Then, my 20 minute break starts. I promptly proceed to the lunchroom to have some time alone so that I can avoid hearing one of fellow employees complaining about how much he dislikes being a teacher and praising himself as one of the best in the business. So I sit there by myself in the lunchroom thinking about things I usually keep to myself and, for a moment, consider calling someone; but then, I think it twice, since it’s still too early to be annoying people myself.
Next period passes by rather quickly with the only news that it has finally started to snow. Everyone is excited in the classroom after the announcement has been made by one of the students sitting by the window. The class is dismissed for lunch and so am I. I’m not very hungry so I decide to spend that time in the classroom reading news articles in the computer: there’s nothing new about the news, but the same bad news about a declining economy.
Then, I hear the receptionist through the speakerphone announcing a reminder to the students that it is against the rules to throw snowballs at each other. Ironically, I observe them out the window already running like crazy headless chickens, getting ready for battle as they tightly compress the freshly fallen snow. And there it goes: snowballs flying all over the place! I just smile in silence in the safety of the classroom.
Fourth period, the usual: helping “my” students catch up with the rest of the class. They are getting closer indeed, but sometimes they give me headaches. Fifth period, I realize how much my two non-English speaking students have improved in algebra compared to the rest of the class. The teacher tells me that she is pleased with their improvement and that she would completely disregard their previous performance and would only include their current work on their transcripts.
Then, as I am getting ready for geometry on sixth period, the sister of one of my students from geometry class greets me and tells me that her grandmother cried when she saw her grandson’s grades. I thought for a moment that I had done something wrong to make the old lady cry. Instead, she was crying because her grandson had never had a B in math, thus, the positive emotional reaction from the grandmother’s side. Cool!
The geometry teacher is absent today due to something about her going to another school to observe another teacher teach. I’m assisting the substitute teacher, who doesn’t put much discipline in the class, so most students are just fooling around. I reprehend a few of them because they just can’t keep their fingers away from their cell phones. I few others ask me for help on their assignment. Another student tells me that I don’t look like a Mexican… “In a good way!” he rapidly adds to his statement, just to make sure I don’t get offended. And I don’t, because he is of Mexican parents himself. So I just ask him: “How is a Mexican supposed to look like?” Then, he realizes the ambiguity of his question.
It’s the end of school day; even better: it’s Friday! But I don’t get too excited, because the snow, now indiscriminately having buried all Brewster, limits me from doing even more things. And the gloomy glow of the snowy day and the early dusk make things even worse. So my plan is to stay in my room and watch a movie, or hang out with my next-door neighbors for awhile, or maybe both. Then, read a book or work on some probability problems, or maybe both. Then, maybe kidnap the cat again to give me some company while I play guitar. Then, think about things I would otherwise prefer to talk about to someone rather than keeping them to myself or telling them to the cat.

Cool!

2008-09-13T18:48:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all of you for all your responses to my recent blog. You just made my day! Adan clarified a little about the car accident: unfortunately there was no eight track on his car :(, and it was a Toyota Corolla. And I'm very glad to hear that some of you are willing to tell me some stories of your own. That's Cool! I love hearing stories.
But I guess there's a little misunderstanding about those emails you received. Well, every time I post something on my blog, I set it up so that it automatically sends you a copy of my posts. I tried to set it up as a private blog, but it is required for all of you to have a Gmail account and I don't want to make things more complicated so now it is open to the whole public again.
So now I have added Judy and Martin to my V.I.P. list. I hope I have their right emails and hope to know they're also checking out my blog. So next time all of you receive an email like this, instead of reading the post on your email, read it on my blog. The music and pictures I have there makes it more emotionally suitable. There are also videos and a link to Sol's blog, so check it out. Thanks again.

Some memories.

2008-09-12T19:48:00.001-07:00

So last Tuesday I was listening through some 80's tunes just to catch up with the old days; those days when people used to have puffy hairdos, wear plastic clothing and engage into who-knows-what other weird things. So there was A-Ha, Tears for Fears, Cyndi Lauper, The Bangles, Duran Duran, The Cure… (Sorry Adan, I still don't dig Ratt), while I was getting caught in this sort of nostalgia about those strange days when we used to live somewhere in California. Believe it or not, although I was somewhere between 2 to 4 years old or so, I have been able to keep memories from those days. Coincidentally, Sol was telling me yesterday that she was looking through some old pictures and that she was enjoying some good old memories of her own.Anyways, I was listening to a Kate Bush's song called Cloudbusting which has some elements characteristic of a good 80's song: synthesizers prevail throughout the song and the rhythm is set by one of those automated drum sets. Still, it's a very nice bittersweet song, but more sweet than bitter, probably the only one I liked from her.

So I remembered the day Sol got her fingers caught in the washing machine. It was one of those old models that had like two rolling pins which spun and you had to put the piece of clothing through them so that the two rollers could squeeze the water out of it. Unfortunately, Sol didn't let go of whatever she was trying to dry on it and her fingers got caught in between. I remember she was crying in pain while her nails were hanging off her fingers (I'm not sure about that part of the story, probably it's just my imagination helping me making it sound more dramatic). So my older brothers rushed on her aid and that's the most I can remember from that.

I remember one day Adan was driving us, Dany and I, to school on a rainy cold day. I can't remember if it was in one of those VW bugs that he was taking us to school. I'm guessing that's what it was, because Adan used to be very dreamy about those cars. Adan was driving and allegedly listening to an eight track, Dany was sitting on the passenger's seat while I was on the back seat, all of us without a seatbelt (it wasn't required to use them because it was believed that the puffy hair and the excessive use of hairspray would cushion the impact). I'm not sure if Adan got distracted or if the car slid off the street, the thing is that we crashed on another car parked on the side of the road. It wasn't a terrible impact, but Dany and Adan hit his head on the dashboard, and mine on the front seat. Dany was crying like a baby, and Adan was all freaked out for what just happened… That day, we missed school. It was a shame because I loved school lunch (back then, I didn't have a sense of good taste).

What about the day a trailer showed up in front of the little house we used to live at during Christmas time. We were very poor back then and it was a real delight to have one of those used G. I. Joe's or He-Man's toy from a second-hand store. So it was my great surprise to find out that the trailer was full of amazing things I only thought possible in my dreams. There was food, Christmas ornaments and, the best of all, lots and lots of toys. I still remember the toy I loved the most, it was a clockwork train, with a smiley face and big eyes. The cool thing about it was that it came with small plastic discs that you could put in it; as soon as you let the toy go, it started playing children's melodies. It was awesome, one of those days you wish you could bring back. I'm still very grateful to all those people who donated those goodies to us.

So there it is and there's more to tell about the past, but it would take me a whole book to do so.

I know Sol is trying to compile pictures and information from our family. That's a great idea. I have a picture from our grandparents I stole from Lety, so don't tell her please. I will try to send that one to her as soon as I can get the scanner to work. According to her blog, Sol believes our beloved mother was born in Morelia, Michoacan but according to my memory, she was born in Puruandiro, Michoacan. It is a small forsaken town full of cows, domestic birds and all sorts of farm animals. I know this because many, many, many years ago I went with her to that place. She was trying to get her birth certificate. So Sol, hopefully you're still up to help me out to write the collection of anecdotes from our brothers and sisters. We can definitely make a more touching movie than the Titanic from our own stories.

Kate Bush - Cloudbusting

What's new in my life? Not much.

2008-08-30T13:32:00.000-07:00

I think it's been more than a week since my last posting. I just haven't got much inspiration lately. It's kind of dull being here without friends to hang out with or friends to talk about whatever comes up. So I'll try to enjoy the wind out there, because there's like a freakin' hurricane going on.

But I want to thank you all (Dany, Sol, Marco, Wendy, Martin, la familia Resendiz, and everybody else) for all your advice and for cheering me up in regards to my interview. Je pense que mon entretien était excellent! So all I have to do now is wait, wait, wait... Meanwhile, I'm going to pick my nose and try to keep myself busy on other things.

By the way, check out the new pictures, I just posted them today. I hope you find them enjoyable. Oh, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY FRANKLIN!!! I know it's a week late but I didn't forget. Go to my sister Sol's blog for more details (http://www.madresol.blogspot.com/).

2008-08-22T06:27:00.000-07:00

Thanks Sol y Dany por sus comentarios. You guys rock too, I just need to take a picture of you without looking at the camera and having an I-don't-care sort of expression. I'm trying to get used to this thing, because in a way I am a little hesitant about what I want to say. Another thing, if this blog doesn't seem to be getting the attention of the people I invited, I will consider canceling it. In that sense, I would rather call Dany and Sol, you guys are the ones I stay in touch more often anyways, and my friend Marco too, although I haven't heard from him for awhile. Anyways, I have a few ideas under consideration to make this thing work, buy it will take me some time to elaborate on those ideas, and right now I need to get some sleep. Also Sol, I want to have a photo album on this thing and I don't know how to do that. By the way, it was freaking cold today at work! Have a nice day everyone!!!
Look Sol, that's your rock star picture right there, or more like a country music sort of theme, with the four wheeler and stuff.

My new job.

2008-08-21T06:27:00.000-07:00

So my new job is about supervising corn. A very repetitive job, but good thing I’ve been promoted to a different department within the company, where I get to label huge boxes containing the final product. Yeah, Twin City Foods! Not my dream job, but it keeps me busy. At first, it was sort of an annoyance to think about the whole idea of working at a place where I cannot use my skills. And then, my friend Marco bailed on me after having made an agreement of working there for the whole month. No harsh feelings though. But then, it has become a humbling experience to work with very simple people who don’t mind being destined to work in places like that for the rest of their lives. No, I don’t think of them as mediocre. They just haven’t had the same opportunities as many of us have had, and they're very nice people too. As for me, I’m glad it’s almost over, two more weeks and I’m out of there. No more corn for the rest of the year!!! By the way, kudos to Amy for holding on in there with me. Otherwise, who would I share my lunch with during the 30 minute break?

Well, as many of you must know, I have an interview next week for this insurance company called PEMCO. So wish me the best on that one because I don't want to move away from WA. Also, I would appreciate any advice regarding interviews, considering that most of you are more experienced on that matter.

About the picture, we got out early from work that day (we only worked 8 hours, but next night they made us work for 14 hours) and decided to go for a hike. So the early-morning landscape sky was kind of bloody, perfect for a badass-rock-star pose.

2008-08-20T17:21:00.000-07:00

I'm just getting started on this new thing my dear sister Soledad inspired me to do because MySpace and Facebook just wasn't working for me (you have to be sort of a popular person to be there). I have decided to dedicate this new thing to family and friends for that they make my life more interesting and enjoyable. Hopefuly y'all like it. I will have a few things ready soon.