31, UCLA & finding my religion

It’s hot out there, folks. Stay hydrated.

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I got through the work day with some help from my Puro Pedo Magazine colleagues. We started making up titles for fake research papers on Latino movies. I offered up a few including “We have to be more Mexican than the Mexicans and more American than the Americans: Poch@ identity formation in Selena.

That’d be a neat dissertation topic, no? I’m already interested in racial/ethnic identity formation… it could happen. Or not.

I should probably just focus on Latino college students majoring in the sciences. I find those kids interesting. Just don’t ask me to remember their names.

Yesterday afternoon, one of the sophomores in the Program (aka Job1) spotted me at St. Augustine, a church in Culver City. I’ve passed by dozens of time while driving and running, but had never attended a service there. We got to St. Augustine with 15 minutes to spare before Mass and walked around the grounds. As we walked toward the school and parking lot, two young women passed by. The woman in a yellow sundress doubled back.

“Cindy!”

I was surprised she knew my name. She picked up on this.

“Hi! I’m in [program]! I’m a sophomore.”

“Oh, hi! Um… you’ll have to tell me your name, I forget students’ names all the time.”

I felt so embarrassed that I didn’t recognize her at all. The name thing happens more often. After their fall quarter freshman seminar, I only see the 80+ students a few times a quarter and interact with them mainly through email. I’d have to make flash cards to remember everyone’s names. I see current/former [Program] students all the time on campus, but have never seen one off campus unless it was a UCLA-related event.

She told me her name and I introduced her to Sean. I told her it was our fist time visiting St. Augustine, her home parish. She invited us to grab some food and cake at the anniversary celebration for the sisters associated with the parish, but we were full.

I’ve been pretty spotty on Mass attendance since going away to college. I’m working on getting back in the habit thanks to Fr. Ricky at St. John Vianney. When Sean and I met with him about having our wedding at SJV, he reminded me that I need to practice my faith as part of my preparation for the sacrament of marriage. Attending only on holidays, Lent and the occasional wedding wasn’t going to cut it.

Sean — who grew up Lutheran — has been accompanying me to Mass. When we’re in Hacienda Heights on a Sunday, we go to SJV. When we’re in LA (most Sundays), we’ve been going to St. Timothy in Rancho Park. Yesterday we skipped their noon service in favor of the 5 pm youth service at St. Augustine in Culver City. I generally like youth services, they’re much livelier. I like St. Timothy, but I haven’t been able to make it through a service without breaking in to giggle fits thanks to a man his 60s/70s always sits front and center. First, he has an interesting look. He has a big belly, a beard and long gray/white hair he twists so it sits atop his head (kinda like a Snork). His hair makes him easy to spot. Second, he draws out the final word of hymns long after everyone else has finished singing. It’s rather odd to hear his deep voice hang over with “eviiiiiiiil” or “peeeeeeace” in an otherwise silent church. The first time he did it, we were surprised. The next few times we tried unsuccessfully to suppress giggles.

I need to pick a new parish. SJV is great, but I won’t go to Mass weekly if I have to drive 30-45 minutes just to make it there. St. Augustine offers more Masses, including a Spanish service at noon and the youth service at fives. St. Timothy’s latest service is at noon and it’ll help me work on keeping a straight face.

Any tips on choosing a church or parish?

Fotos, Listed

31, East Village & NY near misses

Things Sean missed after leaving New York and moving to LA:
– Several blizzards (except for the one that delayed his move 3 days)
– The second hottest day in New York City history
– An earthquake
– A hurricane

Things Sean misses about LA and wants to do when we return to NY in the fall:
+ Play football with ZogSports
+ Visit various restaurants
+ Walk/take the train everywhere
+ Wear his fall coats again (he gave them to his brother before he left)
+ Go to happy hour with friends
+ See family, of course
+ Hopefully see the Yankees in the playoffs

Cambios, Fotos, Listed

31, Los Angeles & GPOY pre-post

Maybe sometime soon I’ll have a photo of me wearing/holding up the jersey of whoever gets #31 on the NFL team we might get in LA.

I also chose this photo because it’s a gratuitous before/after photo. The first photo is from January ’09 on my first trip to the Staples Center. After the Red Wings beat the Kings, my date and I wandered around the store; of course I had to take a photo of the Kurt Rambis’ jersey. I know the jersey covers up most of me. Oh well, you can see it in the face right? This photo was taken just a few days after I started WW. [This is usually the “before” picture I use.]

The Dodgers jersey was a gift from Sean. The first jersey he bought was lost somewhere in a postal office in NY. Someone out there has a Dodgers jersey and is confused; there are no Mosquedas on the Dodgers. I took the second photo in June ’10, after getting to my goal weight and achieving WW Lifetime status.

There are a lot of differences between January ’09 me and August ’11 me. Things that I didn’t foresee happening in January ’09:

Successfully losing 31% of my starting weight (60 lbs).
Running a mile without stopping. Hell, running much longer distances without stopping and really enjoying it.
Cooking decent home-cooked meals.
Still loving the Dodgers even as they go through one of the worst seasons ever, both on and off the field. Troubles include life-threatening violence in the parking lot, threats of MLB taking over, severe decrease in attendance, possible bankruptcy and not being able to make payroll on the first of the month.
Going back to work as a research assistant for my advisor to study the educational pipeline of underrepresented minority research scientists.
Getting an article I co-wrote with colleagues published in a top tier education journal. I was last author, but that’s okay.
Losing two long time roommates and seeing my living situation turn upside down initially. In the end it all worked out and I have some pretty cool roommates.
Beginning to date Sean, the guy who inspired the concert buddy search and a post on mini crushes. After 9 months of doing the LA/NY thing, he moved to LA. A few months later, he asked me to marry him. Now we’re planning a wedding. Fun times (sorta).
Having my words featured in some pretty cool places. I wrote about college affordability on the NY Times debate blog and was featured along with my father on NPR’s Morning Edition and Latino USA talking about our father/grandfather. I’m such a nerd that a year later I’m still geeking out over that.
Getting in to the reading running and healthy living blogs. (More the former as the latter typically bore me.) These would inspire some quality snark and contributions to a meme. Today I found out I won Angry Runner’s contest. Neat.

There are some things that haven’t changed since then. Some of the changes were tough. The change in roommates wasn’t easy. Neither was breaking up with Alan in November ’09. I only alluded to it here, but it felt a little too personal for the blog.

Fotos

31, San Diego & five links

Remember when I went to a taping of The Price is Right… and didn’t win anything? Well, it aired on Friday. It’s online. My friend Lucy who smells like corn (10 points for you if you get the reference) pointed out the spots where you can see our group of 4 fabulous Chicana education PhD candidates — well 3 of 4, I’m the slowpoke of the group. If you care, they’re at: 0:47, 6:35, 7:43, 9:55, 22:35 and 37:35.

After 9 month or so hiatus, we finally have a new issue of Puro Pedo Magazine.

A friend linked me to the latest NPR Krulwich on Science story about favorite numbers. I wonder why it made her think of me.

Last week’s PostBourgie podcast featured a few notable guests as well as the usual contributors reviewing the documentary Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest.