Tales of Mere Existence

Tonight, as I was chilling out with my 10-year-old sister in the wee hours of the night, we came across a really funny video on YouTube. The video was linked to several other videos by the same author. It just so happened to be part of a series named "Tales of Mere Existence" by Lev Yilmaz.
The reason I mention this is because I utterly recommend watching the small clips. They consist of hand-drawn animations and the author's--in my opinion, sexy--voice in the background.
The humor is priceless, at least from my sarcastic point of view. What makes the videos comical is how they suddenly play out to be a  reflection of reality. They actually made me think a little about my own attitudes in life and how I treat others. I suddenly realized how annoying and complicated I can be. I'm glad I still have David by my side. For those who don't know him, at least God and I know the man is a hero.
For now, I bid you farewell. The time is: "very late!" I should be going to bed, and if you are reading this now, maybe you should, too.

Here's a link to the video that got me hooked! :D TALES OF MERE EXISTENCE

MONEY PROBLEM$

Have you ever stopped to look at your bank account and found it virtually empty?


In our virtual reality of online banking, money is anything but real. I have found that in my life it certainly isn't anymore. Rarely ever do I touch money, which has probably brought up my immunodeficiency by a good percentage. Bills and coins are a thing of the past. I have only to take out my magic card which will, with the speed of a swipe, solve all my problems. Even the bus fare is paid via an electronic card. Parking meters are now easily paid by phone when you provide the wonderful digits that some bank has assigned to you. For Pete's sake, I know one good day even the people who sell you water while you speed your way down Calle 8 will only take plastic.

I can see money die down for the sake of our convenience, the same way it once replaced the exchange of goods. Actually, at one point I even thought it was more convenient to have a credit or debit card than to have cash in my wallet, because it would stop me from spending it all. All I had to worry about was keeping up with a small numbers game and some basic math. I had to remember how much I had and how much I owed; but when how much you have is not tangible, you tend to disregard the value of money and even forget how much you truly own. That said, plastic is the first step to incurring in excessive overdraft and bank fees, and it is an excellent highway to bankruptcy.

I also remember the good old days when I used to carry only the cash I needed, maybe while running the risk of having my wallet stolen or forgotten somewhere, but never with the worry of having my identity stolen by someone in Georgia while I work my butt off in Miami to fill up their gas tank.

Unfortunately, many people think that the number of cards they have is equivalent to their worth as persons. They flash them like badges that reveal socioeconomic status. I truly concur with the badge analogy: you simply flash your status as a slave to a banking institution. You would think that to a bank you are a valuable client until the day you stop paying. Believe me, the day you stop paying you are more of an asset than a liability. You are valuable because you will end up paying them three times your debt by the time you are done paying it off, if you ever do. That is why they will give you more spending credit when you pay in a timely fashion: they want you to get carried away and hopefully fall into their trap. It is a diabolic scheme, to say the least.

I think one day we will understand the dangers of plastic. Yes, it is convenient and fast, but dangerous and potentially destructive even for those who consider themselves financially responsible. Most people will learn this very late and in the worst way possible. Some will end up cutting up their cards or freezing them next to their packages of Purdue chicken in fear that their $100,000 debt will escalate even further. All I know is that only with time do human beings see the effects of "development and progress." Maybe fifty years from now, in the same way that we are bringing back canvas bags as “ecobags” to replace polyethylene, we'll be bringing back paper and metal to replace plastic.

A Hand for Haiti

I usually try to make my blog a reflection of my thoughts instead of a reflection of my day; but today my reflection will be anything but poetic and philosophical. Today's entry--more like a missive-- is about real life, and not just the crazy thoughts of this bohemian's love for life and righteousness.

Two days ago I was bored out of my mind on my way home from a beautiful afternoon spent by my love's side. Such a perfect day ended up being clouded by calamity and an overwhelming sense of powerlessness as soon as I read on CNN Mobile the terrible news about the earthquake in Haiti.

I'm usually a sympathetic person, but my feelings are more than sympathetic. On that day, and the ones that have followed, I have been emotionally devastated. I cry every time I see the news on TV, the hopeless faces, the crying children, the destruction and the chaos that the good people of Haiti have yet to overcome. My eyes still overflow at the mere thought of the tragedy.

I've been wondering why such things happen, and as a Christian and a person of faith I have no answer. Hurricane Katrina, the 2004 tsunami, world hunger and so many other catastrophes that we have no control over, but expect God to control. Actually, many people see it as though it is His will for these things to happen; but I cannot accept it. I refuse to believe that a loving God, the one that I know and whose work in my life I am living proof of, could have brought so much misery upon the already poor and weak of the earth. I have no doubt that God's involvement in this terrible earthquake is only limited to helping us heal and cope, and sending out a call to help our neighbors and brothers in this hour of need.

I know how much Haiti needs our help to reconstruct the country, but especially to put back together their shattered hope and faith. Thus, as a Christian, as a citizen of the world, as a member of the one and only race--the human race--I invite you and beg you to help our Haitian brothers and sisters with your time, money or at least your prayers. It is in times like this that our humanity—that which we claim makes us different from animals—is challenged. I know that there is a difference between being a human being and being human. Only with global cooperation will we hold this world together. Let's lend a helping hand.

Thank you for your support. God bless you.

Untangling life

Life is complicated. Life is not fair. How many times have I heard those same lines from all kinds of people? How many times have I said those lines myself? How many times until I stop hearing them play again and again in my head like a cheesy Mexican telenovela?
Indeed, life is complicated and not fair, at least for those who do not understand it; for those who do, life can play out to be quite simple. It is a matter of understanding that, whereas the expected relationship should be that of sowing what you have planted, the secret of good farming lies in being mindful of the possibility that sometimes the seeds can be good, the soil can be perfect and the care might be the best, but there might be no fruits. Factors that the farmer cannot control will inevitably affect his crops. All that there is to do is to work hard and to hope for the best.
We must recognize that sometimes our efforts are not enough. We must have faith. We must be diligent, tenacious and determined, but most of all, we must trust, not in the fruits of our work, but in our capacity to start over. Let us then reconsider our role and concentrate not in worldly success or status, nor in the collection of goods or the growth of fortunes, but in the only growth that should matter: that of our soul.

An Assessment of My 2009 Resolutions

The end of the year is quickly approaching and I thought it would be a good idea to go over the resolutions I set for myself at the beginning of 2009.

The following is the list of my resolutions. I stroke through the ones that have been accomplished or are in the making. I have also added comments to some of them.

1. Apply to & get a scholarship - Never applied
2. Handle my finances (responsibly)- This has actually been a very irresponsible year when it comes to finances. However, I am finally starting to plan my financial moves and save my money. 
3. Travel to a new place (hopefully out of this country) It was going to happen and got canceled last minute. :(

4. Get my driver's license (finally!) I still wanna get this done before the end of the year.

5.Get my personal training license and start my own business I had no money to invest in this.

6. Get in top-notch shape (go to the gym at least 3 times a week) Still working on it

7.Read at least 50 books for pleasure, not school Hahaha Not in my wildest dreams. I wish I had the time.

8.Give time to my sister

9.Decorate my new room (Paris themed) I changed my mind about Paris, but I decorated my room.

10. Make my relationship official (2/12/09 :) ) One of this year's milestones 

11.Learn to play video games (start with Guitar Hero) I can't believe it, but I actually did this. I even mastered Guitar Hero...at least on Easy Mode. Hehehe

12.Run a 5K or 10K marathon Again, another one I wish I had done.

13. Volunteer

14. Start a diary/blog (apparently I already have)

15. Visit NYC and Canada Got canceled :(

16.Get an amazing 25th anniversary present for Mom and Dad (8/8/09)Well, I helped prepare a big party for them; but I didn't have money for the gift.

17.Get a pet turtle

18.Buy a professional camera and start developing my own pictures No money, my friends

19.Learn to use PhotoShop, professionally

20.Get A's in all my classes So far, so good

21. Hydrate my skin and hair, drink lots of water and take my vitamins

22.Learn to ride a bike

23.Go to the beach, and get a tan Here's another thing I thought I'd never do.

24.Learn how to walk in high heels I didn't really LEARN, but I can walk with them.

25.Return to my belly dancing classes

26. Grow my hair down to my waistline Still growing and getting close

27.Get a car It has to be fixed, though

28. Celebrate my birthday in a unique way I got engaged and had a Hawaiian party with my friends. I think that is very unique.

29. Go to Disney World and Halloween Horror Nights I didn't go to either, but I went to Epcot. 

30. Pierce my ears (again)

31. Go on a spiritual retreat

32. Learn to play a sport

33. Learn a new language (Italian) I learned Portuguese instead

34. Get more than 7 hours of sleep, weekly (j/k!!! every night, of course)

35. Get my pictures taken at a studio
36. Go to a museum or art gallery
37. Try food from another country
38. Cook more
39. Go to the opera/theatre
40. Always have flowers in my room
41. Go dancing and have a movie night at least once a month
42. Celebrate my month-aversaries and finish the scrapbook
43. Go to Vizcaya at Night
44. Go to a concert
45. Start wearing what I have in my wardrobe and stop buying clothes and shoes I'm never going to wear.


24 out of 45, not so bad LOL

When you lose it all...

What is there to give when everything is lost? What is there to find when there's nothing at all? When everything is lost we have no ties to hold us down. The future, the past...they are both gone. Only the present lies in wait for us to write it and with the soles of our shoes blaze the trail we will walk on. When you lose it all, you have to wonder, if the only thing that's left to lose is hope. When you lose it all you gain the freedom to start again on a blank slate. When you lose it all, I'm starting to believe, you win the world.

The busy life of a bee

I have been seriously thinking about the chances that in my previous life, if there is such a thing as reincarnation, I might have been a bee. Of course, not a queen bee, but a worker. Actually, a really hard worker.
It was because of all my hard work that I was promoted to my current position, or should I say positions? I am a full time college student, daughter, sister, grand-daughter, niece, girlfriend, friend and a part-time writer and accountant. Not content with all the labors I must have performed in my past life, God decided to assign more responsibilities to me. Sometimes I think that He finds it comical to see me juggle so many things at the same time.
However, I have been thinking that facts such as being "booked" for weeks on end, and handling more than I ever thought would be possible, are irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. All those burdens are but menial tasks, and God must have assigned them to me because He thought and knew that I would be capable of handling them, and, why not, enrich the lives of others and grow a little bit more in the process.
After all, no one is born a superhuman and we all have to confront our fair share of trouble. At least I am not another number suffering from starvation and AIDS in the African plains. I am not a child enduring the mission of searching for my next meal in the perils of South American dumpsters. I am not an orphan or a victim of genocide or discrimination, and for that I am grateful.
I have so many blessings that cannot be counted. I have been given the gift of carrying my own loads and of alleviating the backs of those whose burdens have been too heavy to carry on their own. I have been given the blessing of the working bee that sees her honey production grow and her honeycomb prosper. It is a sweet honey that shall be enjoyed by everyone and will sweeten the life of the bee who shared it.