“Do you ever feel like a cliché?” she asked and looked up at him.
“Always,” he replied with a sly smile.
She threw back her head and laughed and continued slowly dancing to “Volver, Volver.”
Dissonance
“The Hurt Locker… I think I saw that movie with you.”
“Yeah, you did.”
“Let me check.”
“But you did, I know.”
He got up from the bed, walked toward a shelf by the door and picked up a large ziplock bag from the shelf. He walked back to me and sat in the bed.
He fished around for the orange ticket stub amongst more ticket stubs, photo booth strips, homemade cards, simple notes scrawled in the morning, and more mementos of our 18 month relationship.
“Here it is! Yup, I saw it with you.”
“I knew that already,” I said as I looked through the clear bag. I stopped and then spoke without thinking.
“So, is this the stuff you’re going to burn when I break up with you?”
“Probably not. I’ll just put it away, but it depends on the terms of the breakup.”
“Oh.”
I’m a funny little thing
One day, I’m going to tell this story. I won’t leave anything out. For once, I’ll be honest. At least as honest as my memory allows. I’ll recount the beginning, the middle and the end.
End? You ask.
Of course. There will be an end. This isn’t the kind of story with an ever after.
Valentine’s Day Cards by Rio (new for 2010)
Yes, it’s that time of the year again.
My friend, Rio writes:
What’s up to all my friends, lovers, and drunken makeout partners! El Rio’s Valentine’s Day Cards are back in the ring to take another swing for 2010! This is the 4th year of my cards and it’s turned into my longest running project. Enjoy!
As always, please post these cards on the pages of your friends, enemies, sexting partners, craigslist hookups, and friends with benefits. To see an archive of cards from years past CLICK HERE.
Enjoy!
Dad’s little life
Before our StoryCorps Historias’ session, I emailed my dad a list of questions and topics I wanted him to talk about. Once in the recording booth, I hardly referred to my questions and the topics I’d brainstormed earlier in the week. I just had to ask a couple of questions and dad did the rest. He can talk. Of course, I knew this.
We spent most of the 45 minuted interview talking about dad’s “little life,” or his childhood and youth. Dad touched on the joys of living on a dairy farm in Texas, playing stickball in the streets of East LA, how Grandpa truly touched people, and how he played Sabor A Mi during an assembly at Garfield High School. I originally planned to share parts of the interview here, but after listening to our discussion, I’ve decided I don’t want to edit it down.
I’ve uploaded the entire interview. You can listen to it or download it below:
Since dad and I showed up on opening day for East LA we got a chance to talk to some media folks. Check out the LA Times story. Guess who was quoted.
And… many thanks to my friend Alex for being a great facilitator.
Lotería Chicana 