Cuentos

Sincerity

Ojitos was a different kind of guy. Getting to know him was simultaneously new and familiar. At the same time I was learning more about him, I felt like he already knew me. I wondered if he’d read my blog. He was saying and doing all the right things.

I liked it, but it made me feel a bit uneasy. So I kept my guard up. While Ojitos would be frank and sweet, I’d be a little sarcastic not quite ready to show just how much I liked him.

***

H (cheese party hostess): How’s Ojitos?
Me: Cool. He’s super sweet and bit cheesy. The guys I date aren’t usually like that.
H: Well, he certainly seems like he likes you. He had to ask his friend for your info.
Me: I know, but it all makes me wonder. Is he sincere? Does he mean what he says? Or is he just spouting lines?
H: You’re probably overthinking it.
Me: What if he’s just being so nice and sweet because he’s trying to get in to my pants or needs a green card?
H: *gasp* I can’t believe you said that!
Me: It’s okay. I’m Mexican…
H: Still…
Me: It was a joke. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t need a green card. Okay, so how do I know?
H: You’ll just have to wait.

***

I didn’t have to wait long. A few hours after my frozen yogurt session with H, Ojitos admitted that he had been “kinda giddy” since he’d met me. That was enough for me.

After all, if I could have that effect on him, he had to be sincere.

Cuentos

Disclaimer

When I wrote my initial post about meeting Ojitos, I didn’t intend to make it a series. However, I got a great response and decided to keep telling the story and answering the questions as they popped up in the comments. I also didn’t realized that most readers would assume I was telling the story in the present or that others would investigate* a little and realize the opposite.

The story of meeting Ojitos and getting to know him is not happening in the present. I won’t reveal when it all happened, until I figure some things out.

* If you do some investigative work (all you need to do is go the archives), you can probably figure out what happens… but do you really want to skip to the end and miss the story?

Cultura, Música

Lalo Guerrero (1916-2005)

“No Chicanos on TV” by Lalo Guerrero (1916-2005)

I know I saw Lalo Guerrero perform live, but I’m not quite sure when and where. I think it was eight years ago. Yeah, it had to be then because that’s when Ome and I first became roommates. Our sophomore year, we got stuck together in Hedrick Hall, room 676. The sixth floor was supposedly the “multicultural floor,” but there were only a handful of brown people.

At the performance (I think, it’s all kinda fuzzy 8 years later), Ome bought a CD of some of Guerrero’s hits. We got a kick out of hearing the respected musician — the father of Chicano music — sing a song like “Marihuana Boogie.”

Perhaps I never actually saw Lalo Guerrero perform live. I’m not old enough to start having fading memories of my late teens/early 20s. Maybe it was all just a dream. You ever have that feeling? Sandra Cisneros captures it perfectly in Caramelo, “Did I dream it or did someone tell me the story? I can’t remember where the truth ends and the talk begins” (p. 20).

If it was all just a dream, at least I got to make up for missing Lalo when he was alive by catching a performance of ¡Gaytino! by his eldest son, Dan Guerrero (review to come, I’m still trying to wrap my head around the show).

Blog/tech, Preguntas

Question of the week: In a sentence or two

It’s happened twice in the last two weeks.

The first time I was asked to describe my blog was at the Latina/o blogger gathering in East LA. The second gathering, set up by Eastside Scene, was pretty well attended. Everyone got a chance to discuss how he/she got started in blogging and their focus. When my turn came along, I explained that I’d been blogging for about 6 years. I didn’t even know I was blogging when I started. Since then, my initial diary-like writings have evolved as I realized people were actually reading. That was the easy part. It was more difficult to describe what I write about.

Yesterday, my friend Jake, editor of Puro Pedo Magazine, asked me to describe my blog in a sentence. It was tough. Jake called it “digital chisme,” but I think it’s more than that even if chisme’s been a current focus. I came up with something last night, but today it looks rather pretentious and the description is still unclear.

La Pregunta: How would you describe your blog in a sentence or two? How would you describe my blog?

[Note: Yes, I know I’ve been lagging on the QOTW posts. I’ve been a little distracted. I have a few ideas for the next few weeks, so don’t fear my lovely readers.]

Escuela

Spring break, grad student style

I’ve been in college eight years and have never taken a spring break trip. The stereotypical trip is not my thing. I don’t care too much for beaches and tanning and parting with drunken frat boys. I do like traveling, but I couldn’t afford that during my 4 years as an undergrad. For the past 3 years in grad school, I’ve been (a) too poor or (b) too tired of traveling to want to schedule a trip during the short break between winter and spring quarter.

This year is different since I sort of have to take a spring break. Actually, it’s more like I’m going on tour: Dallas to visit family; Austin for a conference (not SXSW, I wish); Houston to visit more family, meet my cousin’s newborn son; New York City for a second conference.

I’m really excited about the Texas part of the trip. It’s been about a year since I’ve seen most of the Texas side of the family and I miss them. I’ll also finally meet some of my favorite (former) bloggers and reunite with HEOC alumni now living and teaching in Austin.

But New York… well, I think LCD Soundsytem put it quite well: “New York I love you, but you’re bringing me down” (mp3).

I’ve gotten half a dozen headaches simply trying to schedule my flight through the travel office at school and my codo hurts when I look at hotel costs.

It’ll all work out. I’ll forget about the headaches when I’m hanging out with Sean or grabbing lunch with Jeff or hitting up the open bar with fellow students at one of the many conference receptions. I won’t rule out the typical spring break hangover just yet.

Photo from my December 2002-January 2003 trip to NYC by my good friend Chris.