Let's Be The Change

i just saw President Obama's speech at Congress. I was very inspired to hear him talk about the importance of education in our nation. It is of utmost importance that we prepare our future generations to fully realize their potential. I was moved to tears by the schoolgirl from South Carolina that wrote to Congress to ask for help in improving the poor conditions of her own school. When the first Lady embraced that precious girl I felt the warmth and the Love. Boy, are we connected with each other more than we think! All through his speech I heard the word hope and possibility. I understand political rhetoric. I also know that we have been so accustomed to hear empty promises from phony politicians that it is difficult not to be skeptical when you hear inspiring language. But we must understand that rhetoric in itself is just a style of speech that when employed with honesty and vision can empower people to take action and improve their lives. I felt that this evening. I just love the idea of government helping those who cannot pay for college by asking them commit time and effort in helping their communities. This is the core of citizenship, giving back what you received. There is an unequivocal sense of dignity when you work hard for others. When you volunteer or work for something or someone other than yourself you make the biggest contribution. You instantly become a strong link in the chain of humanity because you both recognize the need in others and know that you are part of the solution. Feeling this connection is vital to our overall well being. I wish we finally understand that life is not about having but about being. Let's be the change we need. Let's burst the selfish bubbles that contain our fears and reach out to whomever needs us. In this spirit I'm joining in. I already feel the energy. Let's be builders of this dream.

Let Love Always Win

"When I was 13 years old, my beautiful mother and my father moved me from a conservative Mormon home in San Antonio, Texas to California and I heard the story of Harvey Milk. And it gave me hope. It gave me the hope to live my life, it gave me the hope to one day live my life openly as who I am and that maybe even I could fall in love and one day get married." -- Dustin Lance Black, accepting an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, February 22, 2009

Movies are not just entertainment. They are constant reminders of our humanity. There are good and bad movies. But when a film transcend its entertainment value it becomes part of our collective consciousness. I am not asking people to understand the whole issue of being gay. I am asking people to acknowledge the fact that there is diversity in humanity. And this diversity should be respected and protected because it is a fundamental issue. Throughout my life I have known personally scores of individuals that have been put in the streets by their families because they were gay. Worst of all, they have been thrown out of their homes because their parents thought they were an abomination. I do not blame the parents completely. Since childhood I have heard horrific false stories involving "homosexuals", promiscuity and crime. Fear is so powerful it can make a human being kill another without any apparent reason but plain panic. I have also known a couple of persons that had attempted suicide on account of them been gay. Luckily they failed. It is a human rights issue. Even though a great deal of progress has been made we still have a long way to go. Education is the key. We must be courageous enough to defend the rights of others to be different from us. We do not need to be all same. There is beauty in diversity. Go to a garden and see the wonderful differences between flowers. It is all about Love and freedom. Love is transformation. When you Love you transform your world and yourself. Many people are scared to Love abundantly and freely.

Many people get tired or feel peeved when gay activists demand equal rights and equality in marriage publicly. Wouldn't you do the same if there were laws in your country that forbid you to commit legally to the one you Love and to hide in fear of being fired from your job because you were "different"from the rest? Of course you would take to the streets. I am grateful that we are living in a world that is, slowly but surely, advancing the cause of equality. I remember having to hide with my friends inside a car before we got inside a club for fear we would be attacked by hatemongers in the streets. It is an urgent issue that will not just go away. It is Love what we are talking about in here. It won't go away. It will return time and time again. You cannot deny its absolute power. We are creatures of Love.

I hope that people from around the world saw Sean Penn and Dustin Lance Black accept their Oscars for Milk and thought to themselves Why are there people that wish Love be limited to their own definition of it? Why are there people that think Love should be contained, caged in like a dangerous wild animal? I hope they change their minds because there is only one Earth and one Humanity. We share this gift. We must honor it by allowing freedom to Love whomever you choose. It is essential for our survival as species.

Thank you for your kind attention on this matter.

Waiting

It is Sunday and I am shaking like a leaf. Time flies so fast. How do you keep your bearings when you are unemployed? Each day is like a white sheet of paper in front of a novelist with a severe case of writer's block. A hot shower and soothing music would not do. You live on cents a day. Maybe a small coffee at the gas station for $0.75. Then you realize the day is only starting for you. 18 hours to take care of. You feel jumpy and anxious. Filling job applications on line. Downgrading yourself in order to fit a minimum wage job advertisement. And yet, I have days when I am very optimistic. I must say that I am wishing for a miracle. Yes, I am THAT human, that hopeful, that unrealistic. I understand that unemployment is basically a temporary situation. I've been there before. There are people far worse than me. I am no martyr in any way or form.

I refuse to watch the news. I do not trust them any more. They are feeding our panic our heartbreak. My heart goes out to all the families that are experiencing despair in these times.

Before I go to bed I make a list of all the things I am grateful for. I figure that if I cannot come up with a least one thing I am grateful for I must be dead and buried somewhere. This was my list last night.

I am thankful for:

1. My bed, I do not have to sleep on the floor.

2. My dachsie Pretzel, he gives me unconditional Love and likes to sneak behind me a lick my ears to make me laugh.

3. My legs, I can stand up, walk and dance without having to pay a single cent.

4. My brother, he has let me in in his apartment.

5. This blog, I never felt so connected to people around the world, it's a sheer joy to me.

6. My books, I can go to places where treasures are hidden and where characters welcome you like a long lost friend.

7. My eyes, I can see colors, patterns, textures, speed, radiance, trees, flowers, people's faces.

8. My teachers, old, young, American, Tibetan, Spanish, French, Committed, Mystical, Empowering, Enthusiastic, Wise, Courageous.

9. Friendship- I have longtime friends and friends that I have never seen. So nurturing and kind.

10. Love, so much out there and in here. Love is THE ADVENTURE, THE REWARD, THE PURPOSE.

photo by petit hiboux at Flikr.

Trivialities for the Homegrown Intellectual to Be

I dreamt last night I went into the Cash Cab and flunked all the questions and was left out in the pouring rain near Grand Central Station in NYC without any money. I was somehow reprimanded for not "knowing." This is the age of trivia glorification. From the images and sounds I get on TV and Film I can easily deduct that knowing useless information is very useful in your way to become rich and prosperous. I wonder how many times I got the job or the date because I could entertain using the accumulation of useless facts I have gathered all through my life. I remember memorizing all the names of the countries of the world and their respective capitals in sixth grade. I also remembered my dad parading me through the neighborhood and daring the reluctant neighbors to ask me the name of any capital. I felt very embarrassed but I didn't want to let my dad down. So I answered diligently. The Academy Awards will be given out on Sunday and one of the favorites to win Best Picture is not other than a movie that deals with this fascination we share about trivia, Slumdog Millionaire. So, knowing trivia has become a sort of zeitgeist in our society. I'm most likely generalizing. Trivia is not always trivial. Knowing the capitals of the countries of the world is rather important if you are to follow world politics and/or history. You need to know them for reference. Your mind needs memory landmarks to navigate the endless sea of information. Because we live at a time where information is so massive and pervasive it can also be a very confusing time to sort out what is important and what is not. We need to be editors of that information in order to handle it intelligently. I think our brains are being developed in new ways. Our inner wiring is being redesigned as a reaction to this information overload. Don't take me wrong, it is fascinating to be exposed to such diversity of knowledge and to be an active participant in this instant linking of thoughts and perspectives (Blogging being one good example). So my mind is diversifying at a fast rate. Specializing in subject matters I didn't even know existed five years ago. Maybe what we call trivia today is but a mind enabler, a touchstone for future discovery and understanding. So I must keep up, I do not want to be left behind. But I must do it at my own pace. I will not succumb to the pressure that I must know everything that is happening right now. I'm not getting into that Cash Cab only to be left out in the rain for not having the perfect answer. I'm taking the Orient Express. Elegance over speed. Beauty over chaos. Delight over stress.

Moving About

If you are what you eat then I must be a pizza. We are moving to a new apartment to the north of the city. As you might expect there is a lot of coming and going. Grabbing something to eat on the run has become routine. We've been lifting, wrapping, unwrapping, pushing and sliding. Poor Pretzel, he feels so unsettled. He's been howling like the wind all day long. I had to have a straight man to dog talk with him. It is often unsettling to move to a new place. I am a bit of a gypsy so I'm use to it. In fact, I've moved more that 18 times through my life. Lately my desire to settle down is much stronger. From the balmy Caribbean to the barren winter cold of central Maine, I've lived in many different climates. I read on the World Almanac that about 20% of American are on the move, so to speak, every year. I think that's a very high number of people. That would be around 40 million people changing homes any given year. We are a very mobile society. On one hand is can frustrating and sad to leave friends and family behind but on the other we are being exposed to different people a different lifestyles like never before in our history. I have a little trick to feel comfortable once you have reached your new location. Go tree hunting. By this I mean to go out for a walk in search of trees you could befriend. I adore trees and the more I feel surrounded by them the safer I feel. Sometimes I think I must have been a druid in ancient times. I feel a sense of deep reverence for trees, specially old ones. Forests become cathedrals in my mind, true places of worship. Trees symbolize ancestry, roots. Trees make me feel like I belong. This very morning I took a long walk to find my trees. I saw a couple of them with high possibilities of becoming gorgeous specimens once the Spring arrives. As I travel around and move from place to place it is very reassuring to know beautiful and majestic trees are about to be met and make me feel welcome everywhere.

There Is Always a First Time...

First Movie I saw In A Cinema: Batman (1966)

First Record I Ever Bought: Chicago XII (1977), it had Baby What A Big Surprise which I loved.

First Airflight I Ever Took: San Juan, PR to Caneel Bay, St. John, USVI (1965)

First Book Without Pictures I Ever Bought: Jaws (1974)

First Car: Ford Fairmont (1979)

First Crush: Peter Tork from The Monkees or was it Astroboy? I was 4 years old.

First Oscar: Ok, I'm kidding.

First Time I Had Coffee: 7 or 8 months old. My mother made us one shot lattes for our baby bottles...Really! I'm Latin it is cultural. We call it Café con leche.

First Job: Store Clerk at my Dad's Gift Shop/Armory Store. Mom liked porcelain figurines. Dad loved guns, he was a skeet champion. They reached a compromise. The weirdest concept for a store. The store didn't last that long. It had an iron cage in the middle where the guns, rifles, pistols and revolvers would be displayed.

First "real" Job- Translator at the Department of Education in Puerto Rico.

First Time Ever I Saw Your Face- Roberta Flack

First Time I Ate Frog- Montreal 1982, it tasted like chicken.

First Time I Realized The World Wasn't In Black and White Before I Was Born: July 1968

First Visit To The Confessionary At My Local Church- I was 7 years old, I didn't understand the whole concept of sin. I though I didn't have any. I shared this thought with my teachers. They told me that it was impossible, that everybody sins. Even saints sin, they told me, seven times a day (damn saints!) So I made up a few sins before I went to see the priest. At an early age I felt the need to keep up apereances and portray myself as a sinner.

First Existential Question Ever- I was 6 years old and was playing with my neighbors. We were pretending we were Romans and we were fighting the Vikings. Everybody was assigned a military position. They forgot about me. I got angry and yelled: "Who am I?, Who am I?"

First Time I Learned About Sex- I was 9 years old. My mom bought this book that explained how babies were created. I didn't believe it for a second. It didn't make any sense to me. As far as I knew you ordered a baby on the phone. Then when it was ready a nurse would call you up to pick the baby.

Phot of the number one by horizontal.integration from Flikr.

Is it me or has anyone noticed that in the box where all the followers have their little heads compartmentalized there is a sign that states: STOP FOLLOWING? It took me three weeks to figure it out. I thought I was among the group of blog stalkers the blogger wanted out of sight. Did I say something offensive? Did I lack the professional requirements needed to visit this site? I swear I was shocked the first time I saw the sign.

The Delicacy of Chinese Poetry

The delicacy of Chinese poetry is a bit hard to translate into Western languages such as English. The written Chinese system is composed of pictograms or written symbols that can convey all by themselves an object or an abstract idea. Not only do you read the sound of a word but also capture the visual cultural symbol as interpreted by traditional calligraphy. Chinese poetry is exquisite in the sense that it can draw beautiful images in your mind. Chinese poetry is evocative and serene. It is important to try different translators. In Chinese poetry the translator becomes a distant co-poet. His translation must be based on his or her knowledge of Chinese culture and history. Even if you cannot read classical Chinese to decipher this amazing poetry you could trust a good or renown translator to direct you, like a good field guide, into the depths of one of the oldest poetry known to man.

This is my little attempt to enjoy Chinese poetry fully using a little bit of my imagination. I've accompanied each verse of the poem Seeing a Friend Off by Li Bai, 701-762 (Translated by Tony Barnstone and Chou Ping) using images we recognize instantly like I think Chinese readers do when they see Chinese characters. Of course I do not know what they actually see in these symbols beyond their meaning but I suspect they see a beautiful and profound mindscape.

Blue mountains past the north wall,

white water snaking eastward.

Here we say good-bye for the last time.

You will fade like a hayseed blowing ten thousand miles away.

Floating clouds are the way of the wanderer.

The sun sets like the hearts of old friends.

We wave good-bye as you leave. Horses neigh and neigh.

Grainy Photo Tells The Whole Picture

This is little me. Perhaps at 18 months. It was shot on Lucchetti Street in Condado, Puerto Rico in the early 60's. A few steps from the blue Atlantic waters of Puerto Rico's north coast. The photo was probably taken by Mami (Mom). She loved cameras, specially Super 8 video cameras. Not many of the Super 8 film have survived the ravages of the high humidity of the tropics. There are about 5 or 6 cans I gave to my sister previous to me moving to Texas. It will probably be too costly to have the film digitalized. So maybe one day I'll find someone that will do the job without charging me to much. I have many pictures of the family with me. I did not want to loose them. They are my ties with the past. These pictures have gone through 3 major hurricanes, floods and at least 10 or 11 relocations. They've been to New England, Florida and to Texas. They are bittersweet. They are part of my history. Now my mother is gone, I am an adult orphan so to speak. These pictures, about 500 of them are my life line in these days battling depression. This photo in particular reminds me that I was a little child once, that all I cared about was being loved. Mine was a tight family. I grew up with an extended family of nearly 20 people. Grandparents, uncles, first cousins. Our family gathering seemed so big, so happy, so joyful. I miss these times miserably. All of my elders have passed away. The loss of Mami last March has been the hardest thing I have gone through. I'm doing my very best to move on. I never thought It would hit me so hard. Each day is a challenge without her presence and constant advice. I do feel a part of me died with her. We were the closest of friends. I lived with her most of my adult life. I only moved out of her apartment 2 years before she died. I want it to try total independence at 44, if you can believe that. Boy, do I wish to hold her right now and tell her how much I loved her and how much she meant in my life. I'm content in the fact that our love was expressed on a daily basis. I'm lucky in that. I love life and people, I want to get back to do the things I always wanted to do. I feel regret that she will not be there with me to share my future. I know it is the rule of life that your mother dies before you do. I guess I'm just going through the mourning period. Most days I'm OK, I survive. But other days I'm shocked that I cannot phone her or visit her at her apartment anymore. As much as I try to be philosophical about this matter I cannot do it. I miss her terribly. This photo also reminds me that I was brought up by two very caring parents and four devoted grandparents. This photo shows the very first time I learned how to walk. Ironically, I'm learning to walk again on my own after this great loss.

It's All About Love

"Fidelity": Don't Divorce... from Courage Campaign on Vimeo.


From couragecampaign.org/divorce
"Ken Starr, who led the campaign to impeach President Bill Clinton, filed a legal brief last month -- on behalf of the "Yes on 8" campaign -- that would forcibly divorce 18,000 same-sex couples that were married in California last year before the passage of Prop 8."

I believe that Love is the highest truth.

Nobody should be denied the right to commit publicly and legally to this principle.

Diversity is part of the human race, to deny this principle is to deny our humanity.

Please watch this video, it's about Love and Truth.

N is for Nincompoop

I've been tagged by Life at Willow Manor to select a letter from the alphabet and write about it. I wanted to write about my beloved Spanish letter Ñ, but this blog is in English. So N will do, besides N is a wonderful letter specially when written the wrong way by children.
The letter N is the 14th letter of the English alphabet. It is believed to have developed from a snake hieroglyphic used by the Egyptians. Not long afterwards the Phoenicians adopted the letter into their alphabet. The Hebrews and the Greek followed suit. N represents the alveolar nasal sound in human speech. Only a handful of languages on earth lack this sound. It is the perfect letter to take to the Nth degree, obviously:

Nincompoop- a silly, foolish and useless person.

Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Them Goodbye- According to Wikipedia is a song that is often chanted by fans near the end of a contest to signify that victory is all but assured.
Nitroglycerin- a colorless, oily, explosive liquid.
Navratilova- Last name of a famous woman tennis player.
Nanotechnology- According to many the longest word starting with N.
Na Nu Na Nu- Alien greeting (Mork & Mindy TV series)

N in sign language




Nantucket

Narnia

the Nanny

Walking in the West End

The other day I took to the streets of Dallas to stroll down the so named West End and take a couple of photos with a camera I borrowed from my sister. It all looked clean and organized but lacked one substantial element, a soul. As I walked the barren sidewalks nothing was out of place, no difference from one store to the other. Trendy restaurants all look the same resulting in a rather confusing kind of boredom. This district was renovated and then gentrified in quick succession. Diversity and character gave way to an architectural conformity that tires the eyes and fatigues the urban dweller spirit. It is in the heart of the Metroplex, a urban conundrum of 6.1 million people living in area of 9,200 sq.mi.(About the area of Connecticut and Rhode Island combined!) It was designed for cars not people. As a pedestrian I am considered to be a pariah in this city. That in itself is a disgrace for the main purpose of humans getting "civilized" and constructing cities is to meet at a common ground where ideas, innovations and diversity contribute to the well being of all citizens. When an urban area is as physically disconnected as that of Dallas-Ft. Worth all sense of belonging to a greater community disappears. I have nothing against urban renewal, in most cases is necessary for a city to improve its infrastructure and to re colonize old and historical abandoned districts. But it must be done with care and responsibility.

Before the new buildings, even sidewalks and antique gaslight come up the neighborhood should constitute a cohesive community. It is not just about looking historical or in the case of the West End, pseudo historical but it must be alive with real people. The city as an entity should be a crucible where diverse ideas get mixed and synthesised. The purpose of the city is to be a universal translator of ideas to all of its citizens.

I do not care for Utopian models for urban planning, if anything they are just pretentious and snobbish. We need our friendly streets back, our human scale living, our colorful neighborhoods.

I love seeing different architectural styles mingling together and having a fluid conversation with shoppers, tourists and passersby.

I like a real city to live in, one that's not ashamed of its old buildings or low middle class neighborhoods. In my mind gentrification is annihilation. You do not upgrade buildings to look like Neo Victorian townhouses for the affluent by depopulating them of the working class original dwellers. Communities are being destroyed this way.


I liked this pub standing silently and alone in one corner of the district.

Wabi sabi: Simple and Profound

Sustaining the feeling of intimacy and compassion amidst an imperfect, incomplete and impermanent universe has been the aesthetic goal of Wabi sabi objects. They are simple, rustic and often asymmetrical. Their beauty lies in the realization that nothing ever stays the same. A bright bouquet of flowers that was given to a loved one will soon become withered and unappreciated; the old stepping stones near the pond that you used to skip when you were a child are now chipped beyond recognition, dusty and old. Such is the feeling of Wabi sabi. It does not intend to be nostalgic, it is a simple reminder that all shall pass. All shall be transformed by time. For me is an appreciation of the moment. A deep sense of serenity permeates all Wabi sabi objects. It is like meeting an old sage in the woods, in the beach or in a lonely mountain trail.

Humble art suspended in time, slowly aging, slowly living...slowly dying.

It is us we see in these objects.

Note: Dry leaves by imagetaker!, metallic surface by gdnarch both in Flickr.

Things I Rather Watch

For me it's very easy, without any reservations that I must confess that I hate anything associated with the Superbowl. I know I might sound opinionated but I could never understand football. And God knows I tried. I remember buying season tickets to see the Orangemen play at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse. After three games I gave my tickets away to a friend. I just don't get it. All through the years I have asked friends what is it that they like about the sport. All I hear is mumbles, something like the classroom teacher in Peanuts. I think is the slowest most boring game ever developed in the history of mankind. Curling comes a close second. So I went to the movies to see Daniel Craig's piercing blue eyes, I mean his latest movie Defiance. The movie is based on the true story of a group of Jewish refugees living in the woods of Nazi occupied Belarus during World War II. Is not a bad movie. The dialogue is a little bit tiresome because everybody is speaking English with fake Russian accents. But going back to those eyes. I am mesmerized my Daniel Craig' eyes, but that's another post. So If you like to watch Daniel's eyes for two hours this is the film for you. Monday shall be a more exciting day, I hope.

Films I Love: Rear Window (1954)

Spying on your neighbors becomes an art form in this classic film directed by the legendary master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock. Without giving out too much of the plot the film deals with the suspicion of a wheelchair bound photographer that a murder has been committed in his neighborhood. He has the vantage point of the view from a rear window in his apartment. He can see clearly a collection of city characters that come and go about their lives. But his roving eye catches some funny business going on in one of the apartments. He shares this with his upper crust fiancee Grace Kelly and his nurse Thelma Ritter and all three become involved in trying to solve the crime. What follows is a superb sequence of twists and turns that keep you fixed on the screen for the whole duration of the film. 55 years after this film made its debut critics still consider it to be one of the best suspense thrillers ever made.

I will add that this film is still relevant today. An underlying theme dealing with the loneliness and isolation experienced by many in a big city environment is very apparent. Without realizing it we live in a society that glorifies voyeurism in the forms of reality shows, youtube confessions and celebrity gossip. We all have rear windows where we can spy on people and pass judgement on them. But above all it is a very entertaining intelligent film, it plays beautifully against your sense of expectation, seamless from beginning to end, like a good crime story should be!

I'm staying on the Pink Motel tonight

Thank you all for your great support. I've managed to calm my nerves since. Not easy. My whole blog life vanished for 25 minutes before my eyes. It was through divine intervention that I could recover my blog. It seemed so easy to do. I visited four different websites on the matter. They all said it was sooooo simple. Right!!!! I carefully selected a beautiful vintage seamless pattern, it was going to be a quantum leap forward for my blog. It would look like a textured brocade reminiscent of old Victorian manors. All they said was- "Go to your Edit HTML tab, look for the word "body" and copy the web address inside brackets." Oh, I was so confident, My blog is gonna look purrtty, I reckon!!! I see so many beautifully designed blogs out there, you can smell the fresh lavender and get partially blinded by their evocative mist. But now I've been challenged, now I do declare I'm going to learn how to do it if it kills me. I'm ambitious in that very small way. I like the idea of creating a dummyblog, I shall call it The Maladroit Review, I also plan to have a header where the cowboy falls from the horse in slow motion amidst pink fireworks in the background, I swear I might do it. So tonight I'm staying outside the Rancho and into the Pink Motel if only to escape all the turmoil I have inflicted on my festive permanent residents. I must add, I had a nightmare last night where I met an unfriendly crowd in a honky tonk saloon. They all yelled-"Edit HTML" in unison. More chocolate, please!

Baggy Britches, the .22 caliber long rifle carrying clown reminds you: "Never give up!!!

OMG! I Almost Erased My Whole Blog Kind Of Day.

Could anybody out there direct me to a good idiot-proof guide to changing your blog background and header? I was trying to add texture and design to this my most beloved blog. I tried to do it using the Edit HTML tab, then I erased everything. After 40 minutes of pure agony I managed to retrieve a saved template. I almost ate a whole box of chocolate to deal with the anxiety attack. I manage my nerves using chocolate. So, beloved followers and visitors, would you be darlings and help this poor soul?

PS. Thank You Lucy for being there for me.

Icy Day in the Big D

Bad Ice!Good Ice!

All I see around me is ice, ice and more ice. How do I long for my tropical paradise in the Caribbean. I'm trapped in my little apartment for fear I will slip and fall out there. So what is a pink cowboy to do under these dire circumstances? Break into song, of course!!!

It's...Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
Even though the sound of it
Is something quite atrocious
If you say it loud enough
You'll always sound precocious,
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

I can listen to the birds chirping right now. It's one of those days at the Old Pink Rancho. Permanent residents, Miss Fanny Louette refuses to sing a long, and Father Mackenzie is drunk as a skunk. The coyotes are bored and taciturn Sheriff Lubbock is on his way to bed.

But tomorrow, as well put by Miss O'Hara, is another day.

Art History Series: The Vienna Secession

Water Snakes II (1904-1907)- Gustav Klimt

This movement started in 1897 following the protest of several young artists in Vienna that wanted to break away from the rigidity of the Academic style preponderant in Europe. Gustav Klimt was his most famous and prolific adherent. Their design aesthetic was always looking for freedom and expression. The style is highly decorative, it always experiments with color, graphics, curves and exoticism. At the time it was interpreted as very iconoclastic and decadent. It follows the credo of the Art Nouveau in all manifestations. This search for a new aesthetic produced works of art that are both sumptuous and resplendent. Other members of this group were Koloman Moser in design and Joseph Maria Olbrich in architecture.

Do The Shuffle.

It was a pleasant and multicultural Sunday at the Pink Ranch. I put my ipod on shuffle mode. A rather amusing selection came on. The Beatles followed by African Pop Music followed by Patsy Cline singing I Fall to Pieces. After 20 or so minutes I forgot about the ipod and thought I was listening to the radio. “What a great radio station, one good song after another”- said I. Then I realized it was my own ipod. I could be absentminded like that. I know the year of the Battle of Hastings (1066) but I do not know where I put the car keys. I should stop using so much Splenda. Someone told me it affects your memory. I remembered just now when I worked as a teacher. An early October morning I asked my students what day was America discovered. One kid shrugged his shoulders and said- “Tuesday?” I didn’t know if to cry or laugh. I looked at him sternly and said -“No, it was a Thursday.” Nobody got my joke. I digress. So anyways, I was in a shuffle mood. Then the great Celia Cruz from Cuba came on. I had to stand up and wiggle my body a little bit. There is something with us Caribbean people when we hear Salsa or Merengue music. We are possessed. You cannot control the paroxysms going about in your entire body. The rhythm overtakes you and you need to start moving. I’ve seen complete strangers in places like malls, public parks, schools and groceries stores start dancing as soon as Latin music starts playing. The transformation was amazing. I became a slave to the rhythm. I was by myself in the apartment so I had no qualms whatsoever about dancing a little bit. Here are the songs that came on my ipod in succession and the mood they “provoked on me.”

Trickle Trickle- Manhattan Transfer SASSY
I Will Survive- Gloria Gaynor DEFIANT
Lucille- Kenny Rogers LANGUID
Surf City- Jan and Dean CAWABANGUISH
Bad Connection- Yaz (Yazoo in the UK) ELECTRIC
Chinese Kung Fu- Banzai CORNY
I Have A Dream- ABBA ANGELIC
My Boyfriend’s Back- The Shirells SILLY
Don’t Let The Rain Come Down- The Serendipity Singers. BACK-IN-SUNDAY-SCHOOL-ISH
Hot Tamale Baby- Buckwheat Zydeco LAISSEZ-LE-BON-TEMPS-ROULEZ-Y

So, What’s in your Ipods cowboys and cowgirls?