The David Returns to Italy

Posted by Raul on June 2, 2011

The other day I received this joke in an email. I thought it was funny, but also makes you think of what’s happening in the US, and how people around the world see Americans. (The email was in Spanish).

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The David returns to Italy

After two years loaned to the US, the David of Michelangelo is returned to Italy

Its proud sponsors were:

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Crazy, Isn’t it?

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The Old Prostitute

Posted by Raul on May 31, 2011

I was standing at the bus stop, waiting for my wife who was coming from I don’t remember where.

The old woman came to me. She was short and clearly overweight; wearing plenty of make-up and a short dress that attempted to make her look sexy, yet the intention wasn’t achieved.

“Do you want some action?” She said to me, and it took me a couple of seconds to realize what the proposal was.

“I’m waiting for my wife”

“But in the meantime…we can go there” She pointed to an old house around the corner. There were several women like her, some in a window, others standing in the street, waving hands to males passing by.

“She is pregnant; I have to be here to help her”

“How long is she pregnant?”

“Six months”

“So you have been without a woman for a while”

“I’ll wait for her” I tried to give her my best smile.

She looked at me for a moment without saying another word. There was strangeness in her eyes, and I believe some sadness in her face.

She looked at me for a while without saying another word, then, with sad eyes and a very low voice tone she said: “Don’t go there, they might rob you” pointing to the other women; and without another word she turned around and left, walking in a slow pace in the direction of the old house.

Sadness came to me at that moment, feeling for maybe loneliness in that old woman, working the days for some money. I have never been able to forget those sad eyes and the tired walk of a woman that seemed to find herself in the wrong place of life.

Raul

The Versatile Blogger Award

Posted by Raul on May 26, 2011

Lately it has been a struggle for me to come up with the time to write for this blog, and to do it in a positive tone of mind. Many things have been happening around here, together with several physical others breaking down and in need to be fixed, robbing up time originally planned for writing activities. So the thinking, writing and visiting friends around the net activities have suffered from a forced lack of attention.

Double reason to be surprised when a note from Sara at A Sharing Connection arrived with the news of Alien Ghost being selected to receive The Versatile Blogger Award!

By Sara’s explanation, it was a drawing rather than a straight selection, due to the many blogs in Sara’s preferences that meet the requirements. Still, an honor for me since in order to be selected by drawing, this humble blog’s name had to be in the “bag” of names from which to draw from.

Thank you Sara for the distinction, and my apologies for the fried brain cells while reading some of the posts, although your post-challenges have also fried some of mine in the process of trying not to fail to the test 

One of the requirements of this award is to mention seven things about one for readers to know more about the writer behind the blog, so in that sense, and trying to go more personal, I decided to share with you my:

1-Social Security Number

2-Driver’s License Number

3-Email address

4-Street address

5-Phone number

6-Checking account number

7-Savings account number

Just kidding! 

1- According to my mother’s records, I was born by the tenth’s months of pregnancy; purple and overgrown. The first seven years of life I spent about almost nine months in bed and three on my feet due to fever attacks that gave me hallucinations. There were sequences of ninety injections in three months periods, so I played with the little bottles and crazy thoughts since I was mostly too tired to move. By the age of seven the extraction of the tonsils fixed all the problems (Don’t ask me, I have no clue).

2- When I was about six months old an uncle used to call me “Stuffed Potato”…I don’t know why!

 3- Because of my father’s job we used to move a lot when I was growing up, so the twelve years of school I did them in fourteen of them. That’s 1.17 schools per school calendar year! Although I didn’t like to change schools because it was always living as a ghost (it usually took me about six months to befriend someone) I really loved seeing new places and experiencing new weathers and geographies. All in all, a wonderful part of my childhood!

4- Trying to find a job, together with some inertia left from the first years, I had around 47 different jobs between the ages of 18 and 29. I did many things like: car mechanic; apartment interior repairs; work clothes manufacturing; jewelry artisan (silver casting and rock polishing); radio program recorder; events organizing (theater and music shows); apprentice miner; shoe manufacturing tools fabrication; brochure publication; taxi driver; bus driver; agro machinery mechanic; road repair work; decorative lamps manufacturing; fruits and vegetables seller (farmer market type); among many others.

Apprentice of miner. I'm the one at the right.

5- I hold certifications as Automotive and Diesel Mechanic; Industrial Electric Technician; Airframe and Powerplant Technician and Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Mechanic, but I love writing! (I’m still trying to figure that out!).

6- Memory it’s always been a problem with me (a gift from the fever attacks?); I always struggle to remember how old I am, and after many years of memorizing my age and then having another birthday, I decided to memorize just the year I was born; from then I just make a quick calculation after asking “What year is it?” (I’m not kidding!)

7- When I was 26, and stuck trying to write, I decide to take an opportunity that presented and tried marijuana to see what happens and see if it’ll help me in creative writing. Wow! So many ideas passed through my mind at an ever increasing speed, that I wasn’t able to write them down fast enough. The room started spinning and I had an amazing trip, but completely lost control of my thoughts. I never tried again by the fear of becoming addicted.

So there you have seven things about me 

Another of the requirements of this award is to pass it on to someone the recipient consider a Versatile Blogger, and in that aspect there’s no doubt in my mind to name Nacho at Zerebria for the variety in his posts ranging from self improvement, common every day situations we all experience at one time or another, to hard analysis of the human mind and behavior, but all written in a “accessible” way for the common reader, without loosing the professionalism of a psychologist. Congratulations Nacho! I hope you accept, and so we all can also learn more about you.

Raul

Light Bulb

Posted by Raul on May 19, 2011

The other day I had to replace the bathroom fan, so it implied going up to between the ceiling and the roof. Walking over the wooden frame; avoiding the ceiling made out of sheetrock; over the dusty insulation; in a three feet vertical room; trying not to get my head scratched with the nails pointing down from the roof (those that hold down the shingles)…not exactly my preferred situation!

Once over the bathroom I left the 110 volts lamp over the insulation and proceeded to work on removing the old (truly vintage) bathroom fan. While working on that, and sweating a lot because of the heat and my own nervousness of falling through the ceiling (sheetrock), the light bulb exploded and darkness became all around me.

After removing the light bulb to replace it with a new one I realized there was a missing piece of glass, and could see the problem was my sweating dripping over the heated light bulb. That got me thinking…

Can we destroy our own imagination and ideas (reflected in the hot, lighted light bulb) by becoming too anxious (sweating drops) about the problems we have to deal with (falling through the sheetrock) while trying to accomplish our dreams and goals (replacing the bathroom fan)?

(I know what you thinking: “Here we go…what I was thinking when I clicked in this guy’s blog?”)

Not that a new bathroom fan was my dream to one day accomplish, but rather another freaking problem that had to happen when I had many other things to deal with.

The thing is, how many times we destroy our possibilities because of our own anxiety about the process and the outcome, and even more, worrying about the problems we do and will encounter throughout the process?

How many things could we accomplish if we could learn to just leave aside the worries of the surrounding elements that complicate the process, and that are part of any process?

Or simply learn to switch from the concept of “problems” into a more comfortable thought, which can be also easily manageable.

I must admit that thinking about this while hanging from the ceiling wasn’t exactly the best idea but hey, some people use music to distract the brain while working.

Now I can write about it, comfortably seating in front of the computer, while the new bathroom fan smoothly takes the vapors of the shower away, to the infinite sky (or the backyard).

Have you had sometimes the feeling of being your own “enemy” while trying to accomplish something? Like…being the biggest problem when working in solving the problem?

What is your take on the reasons why people struggle so much to accomplish their dreams?

Do you like light bulbs? (Just kidding) 

Raul

Typical Declaration of Personal Independence

Posted by Raul on May 16, 2011

Chirr-chirr-chirr-chirr (Sound of a cricket)

I know…sometimes I can be really sarcastic!

Raul