tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75939858354995339372024-03-13T07:31:31.890-07:00Spanglish on the MoonOn living in the States under the effects of Puerto Rican-nessAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11028914955021800406noreply@blogger.comBlogger81125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7593985835499533937.post-74992507110298727372010-03-03T18:23:00.001-08:002010-03-03T18:58:11.151-08:00In the eye of the beholderDave and I have been watching coverage of the recent earthquakes in Haiti and Chile. One of the topics that usually comes up during disaster coverage is whether or not there will be looting or violence. What's looting when you don't have a house, food, or much of anything? Rampant disorder is one thing, but looking at images of people milling around the entrance of a grocery store, or walking Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7593985835499533937.post-23706760453907307102010-02-17T18:46:00.000-08:002010-02-17T19:40:33.229-08:00Mmm pieEver since...ever, I've had a strong predilection for bread and sweets. I've also leaned heavily towards gaining weight easily, so that has not worked in my favor. I can look at a slice of cake and gain five pounds, but if I look at a treadmill I just get tired.About a couple of years ago I decided that I needed a new hobby. I came up with baking. Of course, of all the things I could have picked Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7593985835499533937.post-60488801791507788432010-01-28T18:43:00.000-08:002010-01-28T19:07:55.836-08:00Um, hiSo it's been over a year since I wrote, here, huh?I've had a muse-killing year. Details aside, I've kind of been like a deer stuck in the headlights for exactly the last 12 months. Just last week marked on year since our car got totaled after 2 aholes got into an accident right on front of our house and crashed into our poor, unassuming, paid-off car. It's been mostly all downhill from there. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7593985835499533937.post-70064489680450343482008-12-15T21:19:00.001-08:002008-12-15T21:44:23.934-08:00Screw WheatiesSnowy days are cool, in that we don't live in a place that gets a lot of snow each year, so it's kind of exciting when the white stuff starts falling. The bad thing is that it has to get pretty cold in order for this to happen: Yesterday we got ACTION WINTER STORM OH-EIGHT (or something like that, according to the local news). Lots of snow, and lots of wind swirling the snow around. Dave and I Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7593985835499533937.post-49227495292110052852008-12-10T21:39:00.000-08:002008-12-10T22:32:58.327-08:00Of buses, elevators, and peopleIf you venture out into the outside world every day, in any capacity, you inevitably come into contact with people. These people, depending on their mood, or the time of day, or where they are, or even what the idiosyncracies of the city itself are, will interact with each other in various ways. Since I mostly find myself out in the world during morning and afternoon rush hours, most of the Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7593985835499533937.post-59022867587547477492008-10-25T16:50:00.000-07:002008-10-25T17:35:56.524-07:00Sink or swimI learned English as a child, it's my second language. When I was four, my mother enrolled me as a pre-kindergartener in an English-speaking school. I arrived the first day, and after the usual period of adjustment in such situations (children crying, shell-shocked-looking parents, consoling teachers), we all sat in our tiny little chairs and heard our teacher introduce herself and let us know Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7593985835499533937.post-87799760094433342622008-08-12T15:41:00.001-07:002008-08-12T15:47:54.147-07:00En españolI have been meaning to get back to writing in Spanish. My first forays into creative writing were in Spanish, and I'd like to be able to get back to that. So I started a new blog en español. No theme, really, just a place to be able to hone my writing in that language and get some feedback from whomever wants to give it. I have an idea for a story I want to tell, and hopefully publish one day, Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7593985835499533937.post-11795622064348154622008-08-07T19:45:00.000-07:002008-08-07T19:49:09.200-07:00Um, where are you from?A coworker whom I chat with sometimes in our breakroom asked me this the other day. I told her, and she said, "Oh, I had to ask, because I couldn't place your accent."It's very rare that someone hears an accent when I speak, so I mentioned that usually some people hear it, and others don't. She said, "Oh, I can definitely hear it."A few days later, in talking to another coworker, I detected a Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7593985835499533937.post-27038995676025892842008-07-24T18:35:00.000-07:002008-07-24T20:42:58.901-07:00What happens when you have too much time on your handsThese are apropos of nothing. I was just bored during the 17 flights I had to take to make my way from South Carolina to Oregon, and got to thinking. (I know, shhh.)These are not meant to be definitive or anything, it's just what I like. And by "I like", I mean what I like right now. It's impossible to commit to hard-and-fast favorites, but one of the criteria I used when thinking up these Top 3'Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7593985835499533937.post-85317932541192672762008-07-11T10:58:00.001-07:002008-08-07T19:49:37.578-07:00Puerto Rican on board There's something kind of cool about spotting a PR bumpersticker on a car. The further away you are from PR, the more my neck cranes to look at the car. Why am I looking? What does it matter who is inside? I don't know, but I look anyway.This weekend I saw one of these on a car here in Portland:I've seen similar ones around town a few times. A few months ago I saw one up by Fort Lewis , in Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7593985835499533937.post-47444551832920805522008-07-02T08:28:00.000-07:002008-07-02T10:19:37.625-07:00Stealing ideas for a postMy friend at Zoo, Askew posted a list of popular books created by the National Endowment for the Arts; they estimate most adults have read 6 of the 100 books. Without having gone through it beforehand, I'm posting the list and bolding the ones I've read. Then, if I really have read six or less, I'll lie be honest about my results and resolve to get to readin'.1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen2 Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7593985835499533937.post-24083403566259901262008-06-26T08:54:00.001-07:002008-12-12T22:57:21.901-08:00My new favorite wordCockaigne.I learned this word through my daily Doctor Dictionary email. At some point I appear to have told dictionary.com that I'd like to be sent random words and its definitions. And, I mean, not to brag (really, no, don't make me brag, it's so off-putting), but most of the time I already know these words. Every once in a while, however, along comes a Cockaigne to bring me down a notch or two,Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7593985835499533937.post-71901057596258162922008-06-25T12:18:00.000-07:002008-06-25T13:16:24.373-07:00Motivation: Grab it while you canDave and I have a Nintendo Wii which I love very very much. Last month we got WiiFit, a game that is meant to get people off the couch and playing exercise-related games. The Wii allows you to make your own avatar, called a Mii. You get to use it as your character on a lot of Wii games, including WiiFit.So when I fire up the game, it wants to analyze my age, weight, BMI, etc. I stand on the boardUnknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7593985835499533937.post-16436052121464012472008-06-21T19:28:00.001-07:002008-12-12T22:57:22.048-08:00The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar WaoOne of my birthday gifts from Dave this year was a book called The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Díaz. It's about a Dominican boy living in New Jersey. Oscar is fat and nerdy, much to the dismay and bafflement of his family and peers. He is obsessed with girls, but doesn't have the rap that other Dominican boys have. Instead of learning to dance merengue, he's immersed in Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7593985835499533937.post-34901190701449707122008-05-22T12:43:00.000-07:002008-12-12T22:57:24.376-08:00Timbers vs Islanders, part II: Introducing the concept of "verguenza ajena"So another year, another season, another chance for the PR Islanders and the Portland Timbers to converge on PGE Park.After my one and only attempt to sit in the Timbers supporters' section during a PR-Portland match, this year I decided to meet up with some friends and sit in the stadium's beer garden. Good choice all around, except they decided to put some shelters for the players right in Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7593985835499533937.post-56755084120881464942008-05-21T16:20:00.000-07:002008-05-21T16:32:56.882-07:00A funny storyOne of my coworkers was calling a health insurance company in order to let them know that one of their subscribers was admitted urgently to the hospital. Her cubicle is on the other side of mine, so I can hear her every conversation. Mainly because she talks very...very...loudly.When she was asked for the diagnosis, she says this:"Abcess of the buttlock."I immediately stopped what I was doing. I Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7593985835499533937.post-51141226153179819462008-03-29T16:35:00.000-07:002008-03-29T17:16:03.445-07:00Los de aquí y los de alláI have a rule that I live by when it comes to giving my opinion about PR's status: I don't live there, so I don't discuss my opinion on the subject. Only people who make their lives there should be weighing in on this. This is why when it is suggested that Puerto Ricans in the US should be allowed to vote in any plebiscites about status, I'm always opposed. If you have made your permanent Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7593985835499533937.post-72676869016899460312008-03-28T22:42:00.000-07:002008-03-28T23:45:23.928-07:00Corrupt, but patrioticIt's been a while since I last wrote anything in here. The urge to write hasn't gone away, but my mind has frozen up as to what to write about. I've been working, I've been coming home, and I've been going to work again. More often than not, I work late, because things are hectic and they're only getting hectic...er?I decided to take a couple of days off this week, because things are only going Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7593985835499533937.post-59081026255821084352008-02-14T12:25:00.001-08:002008-02-14T12:44:46.504-08:00Tag, I'm it!I've been tagged by my friend Candace. The rules are:1) Link to the person who tagged you.2) Post the rules.3) Share six non-important things / habits / quirks about yourself.4) Tag at least three people.5) Make sure the people you tagged KNOW you tagged them by commenting what you did.So here are my 6 random quirks/habits/things:1- I geek out over the Dark and Middle Ages. It's a pretty nerdy Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7593985835499533937.post-22949406643317482692008-01-24T13:59:00.000-08:002008-01-24T14:20:51.303-08:00Julio Iglesias: looking great Last night, Dave and I were looking at some music videos on Youtube. A few years ago we had a tier of channels on our cable tv that included MTV en Español, and we used to watch that station often. The videos we were looking up last night were ones we used to see a lot on MTV.Back then, Julio Iglesias released a cover of an old Carlos Vives song, La gota fría. Dave developed an instant dislike Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7593985835499533937.post-86939966307066685192008-01-15T12:41:00.000-08:002008-01-15T13:26:32.333-08:00Richardson's out -- I guess I have no one to vote for now The Hispanic demographic in the US has been taken into consideration more and more by the media. In part because of our growing numbers, in part because of the ongoing chatter about immigration.Now that the media is paying attention to the "Hispanic vote", I again find myself wondering, "What is the Hispanic anything?" In other words, are Hispanics a heterogeneous bunch, who all think the same Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7593985835499533937.post-77004002313640598792008-01-09T19:02:00.000-08:002008-12-12T22:57:24.933-08:00Cultural comparison fieldwork: The gymFor a few months now I've been going to the gym for all of my exercise needs. I was going after work, which was, truly, a bummer. Some people convinced me that I should try going in the mornings. I reluctantly agreed to try it. This meant that I would need to shower and get ready for work at the gym.Before I continue, I need to draw some initial comparisons between Portland women and PR women. InUnknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7593985835499533937.post-11458046994109519092008-01-06T12:46:00.000-08:002008-01-06T14:03:27.911-08:00Bread!Or rather, sumsum! The author of the cookbook I used says that these were popular with Syrian Jews in Paris -- they'd have some with their coffee during the Sabbath. Let's explore Sabbath snacks through the eyes of Syrian Jews in Paris!Ingredients:2 packages of dry yeast (make sure they are not expired)1/2 teaspoon of granulated sugar1 cup warm water (anything that feels hot will kill the yeast)1Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7593985835499533937.post-61132421127580190812008-01-06T11:39:00.001-08:002008-01-09T18:58:46.992-08:00Cookies!To some of you, making cookies from scratch may not be a big deal. Why is she even posting about this, you might say? Because I'm new at this and I'm excited about it, damnit. If I become a world-famous baker, you will be able to see my very first attempt and say "Look, I knew her back when making cookies was amazing to her." So, you're welcome.Let's get started! Here are my ingredients: 2 cups Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7593985835499533937.post-71025824600856384782008-01-06T11:13:00.000-08:002008-01-06T11:29:01.733-08:00Happy Three Kings' Day!I admit that Three Kings' Day is not a holiday I observe now that I am in the Iu Es Ei. Mainly because I have no children, and leaving a box of grass under my bed is no longer guaranteed to net me a cassette tape and box of Ferrero Rocher chocolates. Also, I have no family in the country to make me a lechón. Such is life.But I do want to celebrate it, even if on a small scale, when we have kids. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2