Happy New Year - 2007

I am off to celebrate the welcoming of the new year with the family. Before I do I wanted to wish you all the best and hopefully some good fortune will come back my way in return. I look back at 2006 and am glad that I was able to keep some resolutions. Of course not all were completed but I am still on track. This coming year I plan to maintain on the right course and continue to have fun along the way. I never know where the road will take me but I plan to take notice of all my stops and enjoy them. After all that is what living life is about, enjoying the good times with everyone and supporting each other through the not so great ones with your friends and family. To all my friends and family - cheers to you and Happy New Year!

Saddam Hussein Executed

Saddam Hussein struggled briefly after American military guards handed him over to Iraqi executioners before dawn Saturday. But as his final moments approached and masked executioners slipped a black cloth and noose around his neck, he grew calm.

In a final moment of defiance, he refused a hood to cover his eyes. Hours after Saddam faced the same fate he was accused of inflicting on countless thousands during a quarter-century of ruthless power, Iraqi state television showed grainy video of what it said was his body, the head uncovered and the neck twisted at a sharp angle. | source: MSNBC

There is also video included in the report. I don't feel like watching it though. The description is graphic enough, I don't feel the need to see the video footage, although there is a small part of me that is curious. After hearing the verdict I assumed Saddam would be terminate via injection. I guess it's fitting to opt for the barbaric method he was accused for having many others go through. I am against the death penalty and feel humanity has no right to decide who shall like and who dies. Punishment is deserved and was desired it's just sad to see this in today's day and age.

Merry Christmas!

I know it's a bit late to post but the holiday season is not over yet! Things have been crazy around the home front with all the gift buying and party planning, but fortunately the party event is over! The New Years Eve party will not be at our house and for once I'm glad. I love my family and all but boy is there a lot of work! Feel free to view a few more pics of me and the family. I hope all of you are spending your time with loved ones and are merry as well.

A White-tailed Deer

My intention was to go to the gym and hop on the treadmill for 30 mins and then another thirty on the eliptical machine. Due to the holiday the gym closed early and I didn't get to go in. I didn't want to lose my motivation and decided to go for a jog at a nearby forest preserve that I have never been through. Normally my hikes are with Charlie in Riverside. The one I went to was a bit more west in Countryside. I might be coming back to this one soon, during my jog a deer crossed my path. He was a cute guy, but a bit bigger than it seems from this picture. Next thing a hear are a bit more footsteps and then I spot three more! It was a family, who I'm sure were more scared of me than I was of them. They kept their distance but I was glad I had my phone and was able to get a few shots.

Christmas Shopping

I faced my fears and headed to the stores today. I will have a few more guests coming over to the house tomorrow and have to get gifts for them as well as a few other items for the party. To my surprise the crowds and lines were not that bad at all. This has been the case for all of our Christmas shopping outings this year I'm not sure if we are lucky, picked great hours to go shopping or what? I keep thinking that perhaps the spending is not as high as the news reporters say, people are more than likely shopping on line more. Whatever the case I am glad I am finally DONE! Now I have to worry about gift wrapping.

Santa Swing E-card

The funny Christmas e-cards have arrived. I received one today, though parental permission may be required if you are a young viewer. Check out Santa's Grotto in "Spin around the North Pole" in this Santa Swing E-card

Charlie Gets A Buzz-Cut

Just in case you were curious, I did end up giving my lil' pooch a fur trim this weekend. I think it took over an hour but Charles got a full cut. I trimmed his body fur, beard and even tail. He seemed to like it he didn't try to run away at all during the whole process. In the past he use to not let the trimmer get close to his ears, this time around he had no objections. Below are some before and after shots - there are more on flickr.

What To Do Today?

I've had four days of rest and I am bored. I've cleaned and have organized my home. I've edited and posted many pictures, heck I even went jogging last night. All things I am really glad I did. I just always have to keep busy and having four days away from the office or not traveling is causing me to be a bit restless. Normally I would log into my work e-mail and work a bit. This weekend I am not able to for the simple fact that I resigned and have been cut off the network. I guess I should finally give Charlie the fur trim he desperately needs and I have been to lazy to give.

It's such a beautiful day I might go for another jog with sir Charles in a few as well. It has actually been over a month since I went to our favorite hiking spot the Des Plaines river in Riverside, which is only 15 driving minutes away. I'm supposed to go see a movie with Carson later. The new James Bond movie is supposed to be pretty good. That reminds me I haven't been going to the movie theater as often. Now that the cold weather is coming that is pretty much the main thing to do for fun - aside from shopping of course.

That's enough thinking about what to do, I'm off to do something!

Another Real Black Friday

This year I did not prepare to wake up before the crack of dawn to attempt to get a hold of massive sales from the many retailers, which is now very commonly known as black Friday. I thought about it last night but didn't feel in the mood to wait in long lines and deal with pushy people. The official beginning of Christmas shopping season, has increasingly become chaotic year after year. Today the New York Times Headline reads...

Attention, Holiday Shoppers: We Have Fisticuffs in Aisle 2...
"Customers behaved badly across the country yesterday,
but the mayhem can be traced in part to an escalating battle among retailers to be the first to open their doors and offer the steepest must-have deals.
Many merchants angered shoppers by trumpeting huge discounts like $70 portable DVD players and $600 flat-screen televisions only to announce they were sold out moments after they opened. The fact that so many people were sleep-deprived probably didn't help."

I rather pay a few bucks more this year and maybe even shop online. I think it's actually quite sad that such trivial priorities cause such behavior in the US while half way across the world there has been substantial life loss. Sunni insurgents killed 215 people in BaghdadÂ?s main Shia district. I am saddened as I read another article from Bloomberg.com...

A car bombing killed at least 22 people in the northern Iraqi city of Tal Afar today as the death toll climbed to 202 from yesterday's explosions in Baghdad, the deadliest coordinated attacks since the U.S.-led invasion of March 2003. About 250 people were wounded.

Continua Los Exitos Para La Oreja

Acabo de leer mas noticias sobre la oreja, y es por eso que no me queda mas que distinguir este no solamente la semana de exito para la Oreja De Van Gogh pero todo el año. Sin duda alguna me comprare un regalito para esta navidad. La Argentinidad... Al Palo reporta que LODVG reedita ‘Guapa’ con 12 temas inéditos...

Antes de terminar el año, La Oreja de Van Gogh quiere regalar a sus fans un nuevo álbum, Más guapa, un doble CD que contiene además de las canciones de Guapa, 12 nuevos temas y versiones diferentes de los cortes ya conocidos del último disco. La banda donostiarra no ha querido dejar en el cajón de los recuerdos el resultado del trabajo de los últimos meses y por ello ha decidido editar las nuevas canciones en un disco que saldrá a la venta el próximo 5 de diciembre. Amaia Montero y los suyos atraviesan uno de sus mejores momentos. Acaban de regresar de una gira de 13 conciertos en Estados Unidos y han recibido el Grammy Latino 2006 al Mejor Álbum Pop. Además, han añadido nuevos directos a la gira española. La próxima actuación tendrá lugar el 1 de diciembre en el Velódromo de Anoeta de San Sebastián.

LOS DOCE NUEVOS TEMAS DE MÁS GUAPA
1. En mi lado del sofá
2. Nuestro mundo
3. Amores dormidos
4. Canción desesperada
5. Coronel
6. La paz de tus ojos
7. Nube
8. Despacio
9. Déjate llevar
10. Aquella ingrata
11. El árbol
12. Escalera a la luna

Happy Thanksgiving

I am thankful for my family, friends and life. Give your close ones a hug and share a hug with me the next time I see you.

La Oreja De Van Gogh Chicago Concert

LODVG came to rock out at the Vic last night and fufilled my high expectations. Granted I am biased towards this band, which is my favorite Spanish or English. The crowd jumped along with Amaia, the band's lead singer, and sang through many popular songs. I was scared that I wouldn't be able to get a good view, considering were my friends and I were in line as we waited for the doors from the Vic theater to open. Fortunately we found a spot over the first step, which was only a few feet from the stage.

I remember looking around me and absorbing the moment. I have to tell you it is the best feeling to be at a concert for a group you enjoy and who are also at their peak. I want to fly to their next tour city now! This concert will be remembered as one of my happy moments.

La Oreja canto casi todos sus nuevos exitos de su disco reciente - Guapa, pero tambien emociono el publico cantando sus mejores classicos, como 'Rosas'. Amaia pego todas sus notas comprovando su qualidad como cantante. Me asombre como fue tan sureal y parecido a su DVD de un concierto que tuvieron hace años en Madrid. Disfrute ahora ser parte de un gran concierto como fue el de a noche. Todavia sueño con volver a verlos, pero me encantariar verlos en su pais de España.

Thanks to a recent myspace friend here is a clip of the concert. After a couple minutes of screams from the crowd pleading for an encore, LODVG came back to play two additional songs. Shown in this clip is one of their most successful singles - "Rosas".

Seven Years Of Service

I packed the last seven years of my office belongings into a box today. I left a few items behind but threw out a substantial amount of knick-knacks, papers, books, files etc. It has been a bit hard to realize that I will no longer see the same people I had come accustomed to see on a daily basis. I’ve seen many people come and go during my tenure and it feels funny to be one of them now. Everyone has been great and told me how much they will miss me. All are supportive and have warm wishes, I'll miss them as well. I have never published where I work, there is no need to do so now. Tomorrow is my last day with the company – I look forward to a new beginning with my new employer.

My New Nephew

My sister finally delivered her second baby - five days after his due date. I left work a bit early, picked my mom and headed towards the hospital this evening. Due to traffic and crappy weather we didn't get there till seven pm. Visiting hours ended at eight in the evening but we decided to stick around until they kicked us out. The nurses hadn't brought the baby by and we were eager to see him.

I'm glad we stuck around, a few minutes before the time I had designated to wait till my little nephew was brought in. A few minutes after that my camera phone was already aiming at the cute kid :)

Where's The Baby???

I'm excited to welcome the new addition to our family the only problem is that he's not here yet. My sister's due date was yesterday and now we are all on high alert for that time to come. I feel bad for my poor sister though, everyone keeps calling asking if she has had the baby yet. It seems this baby is very comfortable in his mom's womb and hasn't shown any signs of wanting to come out. Perhaps he wants to wait until his room was completed. My sister changed the carpeting in Julian's room and had to wait for the installation this weekend. I'm not sure if she is going to stick with the name she and her hubby were thinking about. So far I've just been calling him peanut. We are going shopping later, I think I'll get peanut a welcome home gift - Let the spoiling begin!!

I missed the Latin Grammys

Last night my friend 'L' and I had rsvp'd to a Latin Grammy award ceremony party. Unfortunately it seems the turn out was so great that the viewing section was filled to capacity. We were sent to the upper section of Bravo's Tapa's bar to await access. Unfortunately I only had an hour to spare, since I had accepted another invitation to go to a comedy show clear across town. AT least we made the best of it and ordered and enjoyed some delicious tapas and wine.

I was looking forward to see if my favorite band - La Oreja De VanGogh (LODVG) won any of their three nominations. I was waiting for my friend when I overheard one of the categories come up and heard that LODVG won for best pop album by duo or group. Congrats! I can't wait to see them live. I've already purchased my tickets for their upcoming concert in three weeks.

Unfortunately I did miss many performances and presentations, but I caught some highlights through the Grammy website and highlights on MTV3. It seems it was Shakira's night she won Album Of The Year, Song Of The Year, Record Of The Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Album. I hope the replay the entire show this weekend. I had fun last night anyway, the comedians at Riddlers were great and I'm glad I went.

Carousel Ride

It's moments like these when I wish I were a kid again. I don't even remember how much fun it truly was to ride a wooden horse on a carousel. By the excited look on my nephew's face it apparently is wonderful. I love seeing things through his eyes, things are usually more fun that way.

Spam Attack

I don't think I've been as annoyed with spam as I am now. My domain has been hacked, I keep getting e-mail messages for non-delivered e-mails that I DO NOT SEND. In addition to that I have a form on my freelance site that has been hijacked. I keep getting fake quote request filled with links for products and other nonsensical garbage. I hate that I will have to spend my weekend either adding more validation on my forms or adding more server-side code to combat this internet spam. I truly feel bad for the recipients of these e-mails that are coming from my domain. The sad part is that I just renewed my domain for another three years, so I really wouldn't want to cancel it. I think I will have to place a call to my hosting provider as well :(

Feelings - woe, woe, woe, feelings

It's funny when you see a person you haven't seen in a very long time the feelings you usually think have past rise again with great strength. You not only remember the reasons for having those initial feelings, but you feel them once more. Two close friends surprised me this Friday when they suddenly showed up from out of town. I think it's been two or three years since I had seen them last. I'm not saying that I forgot about them, I just feel our friendship revived again. It's weird I didn't realize I needed that - the direct contact that is. E-ail and IM is fine, but you can't beat actually hanging out. D&V hope to see you again soon - don't be strangers! (Meow!)

Never Surprise a Police Officer

Check out this funny clip (well I think it's funny)! See how an attempted surprise party goes terribly bad.

Google Blog Gets Hacked

Everything in Google is not all a bouquet of roses. After news of the purchase of You Tube ran accross all news wires, another news alert went out. Turns out that the Giant can be succomed to hackers. I worry about my many blogs here on blogger.

A hacker broke into Google's main official blog and posted a false message on Saturday, saying that the company had decided to cancel a joint project with eBay.

The intrusion marks the second time this year that Google's official blog has fallen into unauthorized hands. In March, Google staffers deleted the so-called Google Blog by mistake and someone briefly took control of the Web address.
Blog Carries Corporate Messages
In Saturday's incident, someone exploited a bug in Blogger, the Google Web log publishing service on which Google Blog is hosted. The hacker published a note riddled with grammatical and spelling errors that said Google had ended its click-to-call advertising project with eBay because it was 'monopolistic.'
The next day, Karen Wickre, from the Google Blog team, alerted readers about the false posting and said the Blogger bug had been fixed, without detailing the breach. The eBay project remains alive and well, she wrote on the blog. | source: Yahoo! News

Record labels in deals with YouTube, Google

Several media companies announced licensing deals Monday with YouTube Inc., potentially clearing copyright hurdles as Google Inc. (GOOG) reportedly is set to acquire the popular Internet-video site. Under agreements with two record labels and CBS Corp. (CBS), YouTube will track copyrighted material incorporated in its user-created videos and share advertising revenue with the media groups that own the content. Amicable partnerships could help pave the way for the YouTube acquisition, which has been pegged at $1.6 billion and could come as early as Monday afternoon.
...
Napster shuttered its pioneering music-download service amid a barrage of lawsuits from the major record labels. In echoes of the controversy, Universal Music Group had hinted it might sue YouTube for copyright infringement. Instead Universal Music, a unit of Vivendi (12777.FR), and Sony BMG Music Entertainment were part of the deal flurry announced Monday. The companies will make their music-video libraries available on YouTube and share ad revenue for user-generated content that use their music. Google's video-sharing site reached similar arrangements with Sony BMG, a joint venture of Sony Corp. (SNE) and German media giant Bertelsmann AG, and Warner Music Group Corp. (WMG), which recently signed a licensing deal with YouTube. | source: Marketwatch

Oh Yeah, There Is The Dial-up Option!

I have been using broadband internet for such a long time now that I forgot that I could connect online via dialup. These past days I have not had access to anything online. I don't recall if I checked on Friday night but Saturday morning my connection was not there. I figured my brother-in-law must have moved a cable again from the main router upstairs. I was busy all day preparing my sister's baby shower and didn't have time to check any settings or see if the connection came back. Saturday night after all the guest had left and everything was clean I opened up my browser only to receive that familiar error message of page cannot be found. It was too late to bother so I went to sleep. Today Sunday I tried a couple of times and finally went upstairs to check things out.

Everything seems to be in place all lights are flickering properly. The computers recognize that there is a signal but for some odd reason connection itself is not happening. There must be something wrong with Comcast or the router itself. After feeling defeated and just killing time with a good old fashion game of solitaire I remembered my trusty AOL. I have never been so happy to have dial-up :)

Everything is obviously slower but it's true - something is better than nothing. Too bad I realized it on Sunday night instead of Friday night.

My Cubicle

Parody from James Blunt's - You're Beautiful

Did My Trainer Beat Me Up?

Today was my first session with a physical trainer - EVER. Yep you read correctly. I not only joined a gym but I've also commited myself to workout with a fitness trainer twice a week. I had joined a gym before, but was never able to stick to a schedule. I would often feel lazy and wouldn't go to hardly any workouts. I considered it a waste of money and ended up cancelling my membership. This time I wanted to make sure I stuck with it. So I bit the bullet and forked over some cash for a personal trainer. I think that having to meet with a trainer will help me stick to my schedule this time around. Brian (my trainer) made me work every muscle in my body. The workout was so intense for me that at one point I think I seriously felt like crying. Now I feel as if I got hit by a car or as if I was beat up BADLY! Well, as they say - No Pain, No Gain!

The Birds & The Bees

Every now and then a cartoon is included in a one of my many newsletters. I think because I live in a world of cubicles and 'proceses' this one made me chuckle a bit. I figured why not share it with you, enjoy...

CEO Dad by Tom Stern

Click on image to enlarge.| Source: Monster.com
For a real kick in the career, listen to Tom Stern's "Opportunity Knocks" podcast on Monster.

Happy Mexican Independence Day!

Today is the 195th year of Mexico's independence from Spain. Even though I didn't participate in any specific celebration this weekend (no parades) or political activism, I could not let the day go by without taking notice. I was born and raised in this country and for that I celebrate it's national holidays. My heritage and culture are as important and for that I celebrate with Mexico as well.

Con un fuerte grito exclamo - Que Viva Mexico Lindo y Querido!

Timber Lanes

Bowling resumes for my company league. This year I decided to join in again and commit to attend every week until mid November. I missed the first game last week because of my cold (which knocked me out for the day). Last night was the first time I bowled in probably almost two years. Nothing has changed either, I stink at it. I really enjoy it, but I'm awful. I started the fisrt game with a 92, I then showed some progress and had a score of 102 for my second game. Somehow things turned for the worse by the third and final game of the night. My final score was a sad 82. Stay tuned for next week scores, where I'll aim to break a hundred once more.

Vota Por LODVG

La oreja de Van Gogh ha obtenido 3 Nominaciones en los premios MTV Latinoamérica:
*Mejor Grupo o Duo junto a Belanova, Maná, Miranda y Panda.
*Mejor Artista Pop junto a Julieta Venegas, Kudai, Belanova y Diego Torres.
*Mejor Artista del Año junto a Juliega Venegas, Daddy Yankee, Belanova y Gustavo Cerati.

Los Televidentes Latinoamericanos de MTV Seleccionarán los Ganadores Votando en MTVla.com a partir del 5 de Septiembre. La Ceremonia Será Transmitida en Vivo Desde el "Palacio de los Deportes" de la Ciudad de México, el Jueves 19 de Octubre, y Contará con Presentaciones en Vivo de Evanescence, Nelly Furtado y Julieta Venegas.

Recuerda, para votar: www.mtvla.com

The Charlie Face Pose

Charlie sometimes just looks so darn cute to me. As you can probably tell he still likes posing for the camera, even my phone camera. Now if I can only get him to vary his expression.

Backing Up My Pictures

WOohoo! I finally uploaded the last picture from my Spain trip on flickr. I am a photo taking addict. I took way too many pictures and choosing which ones to upload and keep has been very time consuming. I kid-you-not, I think I went through almost FIVE-HUNDRED pictures. From those a little over two-hundred made it to my online repository. It's a good thing too!

I think my computer will give out on me any day now. I don't know what I did but the sound isn't working at all. I checked the sound card, speaker connection, drivers, settings - you name it all looks ok. The system itself keeps on crashing as well, and upon reboot takes several minutes to load. I think I've had this PC for a little over three years now. I've just added so much into it that I am contemplating just changing the hard-disk and starting from scratch. I thought about selling and getting a new one, which is what I usually like to do. I'm not sure if I want to remove what I already added to this one. (TV/Video card, new USB 3.0 accelerator card, memory) I reformatted and defragged the disk about three times already, because of viruses & etc. I just doubt doing that again will make a difference. I think I'll buy an external hard-drive this weekend and just back up everything to be on the safe side.

For the most part this computer has performed the best for me. I have a Sony vaio, and compared to other brands I've had before this one has been my favorite. I use my computer for many things and I truly need a workhorse with a great graphics card that is very speedy (thus the reason I added more RAM).

Well enough geeky talk, I just hope I can back-up everything up before it gives out on me. I had a bad crash once before that caused me to loose many pictures from other trips as well as other important files. I definitely do not want that to happen again!

Happy Labor Day

I know this post is rather late in the day, but nonetheless why not wish for the best. My labor day was a bit laborious. After cleaning out some very old e-mail from various accounts, I also decided to organize some pictures.

I finally uploaded some pictures from my trip to Spain on my Flickr account. I touched up some pics and upload pics from Madrid and Granada. While in the system I figured I should post my pics from Iceland as well. Flickr has become somewhat of my picture backup placeholder. A while back I lost a large amount of pictures from my other trips after a bad hard-drive crash. I was never able to recover them and had I had them in Flickr I wouldn't be missing them as I do now. It took a couple of hours but many are now saved. I still have a few to go, hopefully I'll have those up by the end of the week.

Enjoying The New Sofa

I buy the couch but someone else is enjoying it greatly..

Busy Travel Day

Many planes took off today for the Labor Day holiday. As I rode the orange line train to Midway airport from work, I saw many travelers excited about their upcoming trips. Even though I just came home from a nice trip to Spain I must confess I was a bit jealous wishing I was traveling out for the holiday as well. I normally like to take advantage of a long weekend and travel somewhere within the States, unfortunately not this weekend. Hmm, maybe I'll plan something for next month.

La Oreja De Van Gogh En Gira

Aun no estan de venta los boletos pero espero con anticipacion para compralos! Se espera que La Oreja De Van Gogh vendra a Chicago el 24 de Noviembre. Datos sobre gira y mas informacion en su pagina - laorejadevangogh.com

LODVG sigue siendo mi grupo favorito y el disco reciente (Guapa) contiene temas que me encantara ver en vivo. Mira el nuevo video de mi cancion favorita de ese disco - Dulce Locura:

Hola Desde Madrid

I am into my third day here in Spain and all in all it had been a sightseeing frenzy. My friend Lid ("Tapadera") and I have been walking all over Madrid exploring to what feels like every nook and cranny. The architecture has been amazing to gaze at. We have been into beautiful palaces, gardens, museums and ate yummy Spanish food. The wine I had thus far hasn't tasted as well as I expected. However, more the reason to go on a hunt and drink more wine.

Lidi's food has been bland to her taste buds, but she recovered while flirting with a very young short Spaniard. (We think) She felt pressured to finish her 2 course meal - and I thought I ate slow - she has me beat. She claims to savor her food, however she was displeased by her gazpacho being cold - then realized IT"S supposed to be cold. J/K she's just silly that way. I enjoyed my paella, but perhaps it was because I haven't had one in a very long time, truth be told it was probably dry as Lids told me so. (Although she's never tasted paella before in her life)

Some guys are really nice to look at, but over all they aren't that friendly. The vendors are actually a bit intimidating. They quickly scold for not placing a book perfectly perpendicular to the bottom pile. I hate that damn Spaniard!
J/K - I bought some cheap souvenirs from him. Lids continued her flirting extravaganza with a street performer, I have the picture to prove it. I won't post it but ask me about it later.

Anyway the time here is 3:45 am - what the hell are we doing up! Actually the people here do everything later than expected. The good news is that the streets are filled with people at very late hours, so staying up and being out is more fun that way, and probably safer. Gotta go, to be continued.

Hanging Out With Jules

Jules is getting bigger and taller day by day. This past Friday my sister and brother-in-law went out to dinner and Jules and I went to Haunted Trails. I still like video arcade games and let me tell you it was very convenient to have the "excuse" to go to the arcades with a small kid. Jules and I raced together in many car racing games (my favorites) and played a lot of skee-ball as well.

Jules is at the age where he completely understands and listens when I tell him to obey. Of course there are times when he can be a brat - but he's still a pretty cool kid to hang out with.

My Photography Exposure

Once in a great while I do receive request from different websites to use my pictures. This one caught my attention.

www.nowpublic.com/node/81530

Web 2.0 websites

I am amazed coming accross so many new websites that have sprung up under the web 2.0 new world. There are many innovative uses of many wiki's/APIs.

A large contributor has been google maps and the many ingenious ways to make use of them in various websites. Take for example a beta site I came across randomly while following some photography links - Frappr! - allows it's users to create their own (google) maps, mapping people of different interest. When I clicked on the about us link in their footer it seems that their purpose has grown further than the initial plan of mapping where college friends had moved to. A very short snippet from their about us link reads...

Frappr was created by Brian, Kun and James at Rising Concepts, who wanted to see where all their high school and college friends went after they graduated.
Frappr (Friend Mapper) lets you see the zip code where your friends live or work, letting you find out who works in the office building next door and who lives in the apartment complex across the street.

Current users have created maps for such things as their myspace friends, tv show fan locations, band tour gigs. I can't wait to see what's next.

Kazaa settles suits with more than $100 million

The music industry has reached a legal settlement with veteran antagonist Kazaa, one of the world's best known file-sharing networks and a longtime source of illicit music and movie downloads.
Under the terms of the deal, Kazaa owner Sharman Networks will pay the world's four major music companies--Universal Music, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, EMI Group and Warner Music--more than $100 million and commit to immediately going legal, the international recording industry organization IFPI said.
'There are very substantial damages being paid--in excess of $100 million--and Kazaa will go legal immediately. They've had time to prepare for this,' IFPI Chairman and Chief Executive John Kennedy said.
The music industry has pursued an aggressive legal strategy in its attempts to curb Internet piracy, filing lawsuits against file-sharing companies like Kazaa and Grokster, as well as individual users who uploaded copyrighted material.
Meanwhile, legitimate music services like Apple Computer's iTunes have become wildly popular, offering legal alternatives to illicit file sharing.
In June 2005, file-sharing services such as Grokster and StreamCast were dealt a major setback when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that they could be held liable for copyright piracy taking place over their networks. | source: Tech News on ZDNet

Otro Dia Mas?

Todo me es trivial. La muerte de mi querido tío me da ánimos de mejorar mí vida…pero a la vez me quita las ganas de todo. Hoy tuve en frente de mí un gran numero de correos electrónicos que leer para el trabajo, pero no conteste ni uno. Las preguntas quedan sin contestar. Me digo, ¿que conozen ellos realmente de la importancia?

Mañana empieza otro dia de regreso a la normalidad, unicamente que ya nada sera como antes. Almenos esos son mis pensamientos de ahora. Veo todo con una diferente luz. Mis prioridades han cambiado un poco. Al ver todas las amistades de mi tío y el dolor en tantos rostros, me eh dado cuenta de la realidad del tiempo. La vida no dura para siempre y para algunos se les acaba mas pronto inesperadamente.

Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez Bid for Governor of California

Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez (D-CA) has created a gubernatorial committee: People for Loretta 2010, contemplating an unprecedented bid for California governor in 2010.
Best of luck for what could be
THE FIRST LATINA GOVERNOR IN THE U.S.The Chicago Latino Network is hosting a celebration for this historic event.
Host Committee (In Formation)
Joseph DeLaGarza, Martha-Victoria Diaz, Diego Estrella, Luz Adriana Giraldo, Jessica Jaramillo-Habeck, Irma Martinez-Snopek, Juan Ochoa, Veronica Resa, Christopher Sala, Manuel "Manny" Sanchez, Dan Shomon, Rodrigo Sierra, Maya Solis, Homero Tristan, Jaime Viteri, Maria Wantuck-Pedroza, Claudia Zuno

FRIDAY, JULY 28, 2006
VIP 5:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
General 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
IMCE Gallery
702 N. Wells
Chicago, IL

Individual: $40 (includes two complimentary cocktails and appetizers)
VIP: $300 (private reception with Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez)
If interested in attending please RSVP to RSVP@ChicagoLatinoNetwork.com

YouTube - Evolution of Dance

Rather funy clip - enjoy!

Chicago up for the 2016 Olympics?

By the end of the week, Chicagoans may know if their city is considered a top U.S. contender to host the 2016 Olympics. ABC7 has learned the Olympic committee could drop several of the nominees pushing Chicago to the top of the list.
The U.S. Olympic Committee told Chicago committee leaders they expected to narrow the field of five cities competing for the games to two or possibly three by either the end of this week or early next week. Committee members are reluctant to talk about the bid publicly, but we are getting the first look at part of the presentation they used to try to sell Chicago.
...
Chicago is competing against Philadelpia, Houston, Los Angeles and San Francisco for the chance to bid on the 2016 games. And committee leaders believe Chicago stands a strong chance. | source:ABC7Chicago

How awesome would this be? It's hard to imagine what city I will be in 10 years from now, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed for this. Having the Olympics here will truly be good for the city of Chicago.

James Blunt Buys Mountain

Singer James Blunt is leaving Britain to live with donkeys in Spain. The star, who had a huge hit with ballad You're Beautiful, is escaping London's hustle and bustle to live the life of a mountain farmer. A relative revealed: He has bought this mountain and a beautiful old house. He wants to get away from it all. He wants to live the rural dream with only donkeys, chickens, pigs and ducks for company. | source:The Sun Online

Holy crap sing a catchy song and you can purchase a whole mountain. I can create a song with a catchy hook, if only I could carry a note. Any volunteers? Common I'll share my moutain with you.

Charlie

It's been several weeks that I haven't posted an update to Charlie. This summer Charlie is enjoying his short fur. I'm enjoying not having to comb him freaquemtly. It's been a month now since his trim and in another week or two I think he'll need a touch up. I had vowed the last time that I would not personally cut his fur, but I rolled up my sleeves and went for it again this time around. The main draw back from short fur on him is that he always looks 10 punds skinnier.

Tech Cocktail

Frank quiets down the crowd to give out the raffle prizes. Although a bit loud many happy participants get their goods.

The first ever TECH cocktail event was held this Thursday, July 6, 2006 at State restaurant cafe, located in the heart of Lincoln Park in Chicago. Fellow co-worker and host of the event Frank Gruber welcomed many tech enthusiast

Happy Independence Day

I'm off to see some fireworks with the family -

Where NOT When

The dates are set, vacation time here I come. The only thing now is finalizing where to go. I had planned going to my favorite city that I go to every year. The plan was (may still be) to fly in to NYC stay there a couple of days. Then rent a car and visit my friends in Philadelphia and Boston. If time permitted my friend and I would drive to Canada stay there a day or two and see Niagara Falls. So what has changed? We are now thinking Spain!!

Spain has been the target of my next travel aspiration, after that comes Greece. There is a 50/50 chance that we go to Europe instead. My finances are tied up a bit because of the refinance I am doing on my house. Hopefully that will be over within two weeks or so. UGH - that process has been frustrating, so much so that we've changed refinance companies. If all falls into plan perfectly I may end up going to Europe and New York. The good thing is that I have twelve days to work with, including weekends. The Spain package we are looking at is pretty sweet. It will take us to both Lisbon and Madrid through a course of seven days. That gives me some time to head over to see some friends the weekend before coming back to work.

Whatever the options I am excited to have the time off and enjoying these upcoming summer days. Time is ticking and wherever we go we will have to purchase our flight tickets in two weeks. I must say the dilemma of where to go is a nice problem to have instead of deciding if I can go at all. :)

Relaxing Weekend

A visit to the lake can do wonders for my spirit. I think it has been over a year when I visited the sandy beaches. Granted Chicago is not a tropical getaway city, nonetheless it has magnificent beach fronts. This weekend my family and I enjoyed a day of relaxation at one of my favorite spots - Oak street beach. The water was too cold to go into however I did enjoy the lake breeze and rubbing my feet through the sand. It was very refreshing and very much needed.

Learning To Write

My nephew made us so proud as he wrote his own name and other words today.

Sol de Habana

Friday I enjoyed a nice lunch with a friend from work at the Sears Tower. To our surprise a salsa band was playing. we quickly agreed to take our food to outside anwatch the people dance.

Crazy - Gnarls Barkley Video

I love this song, I heard it about a month ago and I still can't get it out of my head. Does that make me craaaaaazy?!     - possibly!Gnarls Barkley-Crazy

Doggie Lick

I was talking to a coworker the other day as she showed me a blog for her dog. I think I might just start one for Charlie as well. Now that the summer is here Charlie and I go out a bit more and he still is a willing model to pose for my many pictures like the one here. I think Charlie saw a squirrel across the street and contemplated how yummy it would be to chase it. Don't worry no squirrels were harmed in the making of this blog.

Gooooal!

Little league soccer has begun. I think it's great for my nephew. He always has so much energy and gets himself in trouble around the house. Now he can release some of that high energy on the field with other kids his age. My brother-in-law sent me these clips from his first practice session. I wish I could have been there. He was pretty good at it, with the exception of his fall shown in the second clip :)

You may think it's pretty mean of me to post the second clip, I admit it probably is just a little bit, but I think it's pretty cute. Enjoy...

Technorati, AP partner

This is a pretty damn good partnership...
Technorati and the Associated Press have partnered to help readers of AP content on more than 440 AP member newspapers connect with bloggers.

Technorati's Peter Hirshberg says:
When readers visit an AP member Web site that uses AP Hosted Custom News, they will see a module featuring the 'Top Five Most Blogged About' AP articles right next to the article text, dynamically powered by Technorati. Additionally, when readers click on an AP article, Technorati will deliver 'Who's Blogging About' that article. Now, if you have commentary about an AP story, you can get mentioned in that module simply by linking to that AP news URL, akin to what you can do with Washington Post articles, Newsweek articles, Der Spiegel articles, and a host of other media partners that currently work with Technorati.

'Hi Tia Chely'

I know picture messaging via cell phone is not new to many. I had to wait a bit until I could upgrade my phone with my mobile service carrier. I LOVE IT! My sister sent me this pic earlier today. She knows how to quickly get me to smile. My nephew and pooch always make me happy.

A Somewhat Painful Commute

What a crappy feeling one feels when one is starving and someone is thoroughly enjoying their french fries as we both ride the EL home. I think french fries are the worst to bring with you on your commute home. They smell sooo good and the odor lingers on and awakens your apetite even more. <sniff sniff>

La Oreja de Van Gogh presenta su nuevo disco

Ya era timepo!! Que alegreia, este grupo continua siendo uno de mis favoritos...

Los integrantes de la banda española triunfa en medio mundo con su nueva producción discográfica "Guapa".
El grupo, creado en 1996 en la ciudad vasca de San Sebastián, está formado por Amaia Montero (voz), Pablo Benegas (guitarra), Xabi San Martín (teclados), Alvaro Fuentes (bajo) y Haritz Garde (batería).
BILLBOARD - Ya llegaron a los 10 años de su carrera, ¿que pensaron al principio, visualizaron que estarían en donde están ahora?
LA OREJA DE VAN GOGH - Para nada, todo lo contrario, cuando empezamos nos juntamos con un grupo de amigos para pasárnoslo bien y para cuando salíamos de clases, ó durante las clases, pues nos íbamos al local de ensayo a hacer versiones de grupos que nos gustaban y pues a aprender a tocar y no sé, no teníamos aspiraciones tampoco. Era pasar el rato y al final...
Continua la entrevista en MSN Latino

Ok So I Was Wrong

Taylor Hicks won - Crap! You won't see me rushing to purchase any CDs from either one of these contestants anytime soon anyway. Hey what the heck happened to the winners of "Making The Band 3"? Now that was a show I followed closely.

American Idol Finale

Tonight culminated the 5th season of American idol. Honestly I tuned in a few times, after the first season I would watch the show sporadically. I have kept up a bit on who gets voted out through news updates, this year was no different. It's always fun tuning in the final days and seeing the re-caps of the show. To me I pay attention to the beginning days when the funny auditions take place and then the season finally when the winner is chosen.

Today the best moment for me was seeing the Clay Aiken look-a-like took stage and was shockingly surprised by the appearance of Clay himself. That was true comedy. The end will soon come before it does I wanted to publish who I want to win. The one I like was voted off a while ago (Bucky Covington), so now I hope Katherine McPhee takes the crown. I think there is more potential of growth win her, which I know that cannot usually be taken seriously with 'pop' singers. It's a fun viewing tonight, what can I say. - I've given into the guilty pleasure that American Idol is for MANY!

Immigration Full Coverage on Yahoo! News

Why am I NOT surprised?! Planning and Bush just don't usually go together.
Immigration Full Coverage on Yahoo! News: "WASHINGTON - President George W Bush's plan to send thousands of National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border could spark a surge in immigration cases and U.S. courts are ill prepared to handle them, according to congressional and court sources. The administration failed to plan for the surge in court cases and did not consult the judicial branch on the impact more arrests would have on federal courts in the region, said Dick Carelli, a spokesman for U.S. federal courts. "

Joke Of The Day

A guy goes into a supermarket and while walking down one aisle, a
beautiful blonde at the end of the aisle waves at him and says, "Hello".
He's rather taken back, because he can't place where he knows her. So he
says "do you know me?" To which she replies, "I think you're the father
of one of my children."

Now he thinks back to the only time he has ever been unfaithful and says
"My God, are you the stripper from my bachelor party that I laid on the
pool table with all my buddies watching, while your partner whipped me?

Trying to hold in a laugh, she said, "No, I'm your son's math teacher."

I'm waiting for my ride

I'm waiting for my ride at the train station, as I wait I can't help but to feel and exclaim - "I survived!"

Cloudy day

What a crappy day today! I still wanted to take advantage of the day before it rained. Today was the first weekend day that I didn't have any commitments for.

I decided to take my camera
and head toward the loop to see if I could take some nice pictures and enjoy a drive by the lake. The cloudy weather didn't give me much of a view and I didn't enjoy my drive too much. This was my view on the way back home. - Taken with my new camera phone :)

Apple renews flat-rate iTunes music contracts

"If they want to raise the prices, it means they are getting greedy," Jobs said in a press conference last year. "If the price goes up, they (consumers) will go back to piracy and everybody loses." | source Yahoo! News

Smart man that Steve Jobs, I firmly agree with that statement. Most music consumers know that there are large margins of profits that the record companies make and have been making in the sale of CD distributions and now even music downloading. Although music downloads probably have less of that profit margin there is still one that is made. Today Apple renews flat-rate iTunes music contracts - Yahoo! I think this is a small victory for consumers, one that I think is required in order for Itunes to continue it's growth of the market-share.

More of Yahoo! story...
LONDON (Reuters) - Apple Computer has renewed contracts with the world's four largest music companies to sell songs through its iTunes Music Store, after blocking their attempts to end iTunes' flat-rate pricing scheme, Apple said on Tuesday.

Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs argued that offering songs for a single price -- 99 cents in the United States, 79 pence in Britain -- was essential in weaning consumers off the illicit downloads that have ravaged the music industry.
'If they want to raise the prices, it means they are getting greedy,' Jobs said in a press conference last year. 'If the price goes up, they (consumers) will go back to piracy and everybody loses.'
Of the world's biggest music companies -- Universal, Sony BMG, EMI and Warner Music -- all but Universal had pushed for variable pricing to maximize revenue from hot artists.
But in the end Apple had more negotiating power because of the dominance of its intertwined iPod player and iTunes service.
The iTunes Music Store has a market share of about 80 percent in the United States and also leads most European markets. Globally, digital music sales more than doubled to $1.1 billion in 2005, making up about 5 percent of industry revenues.

My Mom Joins In The High Tech World

What should I get my mom for Mother's Day?
I asked myself this question again and again this year. Usually every year I get a gift for my mom and then take her and my aunt out for dinner. Every year I debate on the gift. She usually likes perfumes, flowers, clothes, as you can gather that can get old. This year I wondered if she would like a new cell phone? I had already given my mom a cell phone a while back, actually it was a hand me down of one of mine. However, it is a second line on my cell phone account. Anyway....

I've been contemplating upgrading my cellphone, so I figured why not upgrade hers as well? I decided to run the thought past her. I actually expected a luke-warm response or a reply similar to "I don't need a new phone, the one I have works fine". Nope! Not my mom. Her reply was "OOOh Yeah!" or more like "Hay SI!" She then went on to say...My friend so and so has one with a camera are those expensive?

The order has been placed and express shipment will bring our new phones in a matter of days! I somehow can't picture my mom snapping pictures and sending me text messages just yet. She is sure eager to delve into technology though! Who knows soon she may be wanting to join the blogosphere as well.

Joke Of The Day

From e-mail forward...
10 Best Things To Say If You Get Caught Sleeping @ Your Desk
10. "They told me at the Blood Bank this might happen."
09. "This is just a 15 minute power nap they raved about in the time management course you sent me to."
8. "Whew! Guess I left the top off the Whiteout. You probably got here just in time."
7. "I wasn't sleeping! I was meditating on the mission statement and envisioning a new business strategy."
6. "I was testing my keyboard for drool resistance."
5. "I was doing a highly specific Yoga exercise to relieve work-related stress. Are you discriminatory toward people who practice Yoga?"
4. "Well! Why did you interrupt me? I had almost figured out how to handle that big accounting problem."
3. "Did you ever notice sound coming out of these keyboards when you put your ear down real close?"
2. "Who put decaf in the wrong pot?!?"

And the NUMBER ONE best thing to say if you get caught sleeping at desk !

1. Raise your head slowly and say, "...in Jesus name, Amen."

My Pics on NBC5.com

I shared my pictures on a local news station website. To my great surprise my pictures were posted! I scored the number 1 spot, being slide 1 of 75. This has added fuel to my photography hobby. Nothing pleases a photographer more than seeing their picture on display. Check out the slide show below, my picture is the one displayed here.
NBC5.com - Slideshow

Chicago Immigration Reform Protest - HR4437

I took part of the march today, calling for immigration reform. This march and rally as expected was larger than the one last month. Nearly four hundred-thousand people walked through the streets of Chicago. The event was a huge success with no arrest made. Many gathered at Union park as they did last month and all walked through the loop and rallied at Grant Park. My friend 'L' and I took pictures along the way and met many nice people who gladly posed for the cameras. See pictures and leave comments on my flickr account-www.flickr.com/photos/chicagoceli

Basketball Interest

The rain this weekend forced me to get back into watching basketball. A couple years back I was a basketball fanatic. I used to play basketball quite a bit actually, and have the scars to prove it. During that time I also collected basketball cards, video taped championship games, lived and breathed b-ball. Needless to say the Bulls championship years added lift to my b-ball addiction. I don't know exactly how I fell out of love from it.

Perhaps it was the loss of some guy friends I used to play with. I moved, grew up, graduated and focused my attention with other things. I would randomly watch a playoff game but I haven't followed the teams or players. Today I was rooting for my local team once more. I was actually surprised that the Bulls hung-on and have extended their playoff series for another game to attempt to beat out the Miami heat. Towards the end of the game a critical player Tyson Chandler seemed to suffer an injury and it may be doubtful that he will be able to play in the next game.

After watching that game I kept in tune and caught the second game in today's double header - Suns vs Lakers. I know I will not reach the level of addiction to the game I once had but I had fun getting to know the new players and seeing the playoff games today.

My Nikon Is Back!

Hooray, I finally have my camera back! Well not the one I bought two weeks ago but another one very close to it. Two weeks ago I had purchased a Nikon D70s - long story short I had to return it because it was damaged. I won't go into the details on that. Today I purchased the Nikon D50. I researched the features of each, and decided that the D50 was better fit for my needs and budget. I wanted to make sure I had it before Monday's rally. oh yeah - This coming Monday the streets of Chicago loop will be filled once again for protesters for immigrant rights. The main route of the march is supposed to commence at Union park and rally at Grant park. I requested a personal day - stay tuned, pics to come next week.

What's Your Month?

From E-mail Forward...
My month is July - Which one is yours?

------------JANUARY-----------------
Easy to talk to, though hard to understand. Thinks far with vision, yet complicated to know. Easily influenced by kindness. Very Sexual. Polite and loud-spoken. Having lots of ideas & friends. Sensitive. Active mind. Hesitating, tends to delay. Ususally late. Choosy and always wants the best. Temperamental. Funny and humorous. Loves to joke. Enertainer. Good debating skills. Has that someone* always on his/her mind. Talkative. Daydreamer. Friendly. Knows how to make friends. Abiding. Able to show character. one guy/girl kind of person. Loveable. Easily hurt. Prone to getting colds. loves music. pretty/handsome. Horny. Loves to dress up. Easily bored. Fussy. Seldom shows emotions. Takes time to recover when hurt. Sensitive. Down-to-Earth. Stubborn. A fighter.

------------FEBRUARY----------------
Abstract thoughts. Loves reality and abstract. Intelligent and clever. Changing personality. Attractive. sexiest out of everyone. Loves attention! Temperamental. Quiet, shy and humble. Honest and loyal. Determined to reach goals. Loves freedom. Rebellious when restricted. Loves aggressiveness. Too sensitive and easily hurt. Gets angry really easily but does not show it. Dislikes unnecessary things. Loves making friends but rarely shows it. Horny. Daring and stubborn. Ambitious. Realizing dreams and hopes. Sharp. Loves entertainment and leisure. Romantic on the inside not outside. Superstitious and ludicrous. Spendthrift. Tries to learn to show emotions.

---------------MARCH-----------------
Attractive personality. sexy. Affectionate Shy and reserved. Secretive. Naturally honest, generous and sympathetic. Loves peace and serenity. Sensitive to others. Great kisser. Easily angered. Trustworthy. Appreciative and returns kindness. Hardly shows emotions. Tends to bottle up feelings. Observant and assesses others.

----------------APRIL----------------
Suave and compromising. Funny and humorous. Stubborn. Very talkative. Calm and cool. Kind and sympathetic. Concerned and detailed. Loyal. Does work well with others. Very confident. Sensitive. Positive Attitude. Thinking generous. Good memory. Clever and knowledgeable. Loves to look for information. Able to cheer evryone up and/or make them laugh. Able to motivate oneself and others. Understanding. Fun to be around. Outgoing. Hyper. Bubbly personality. Secretive. Boy/girl crazy. Loves sports, music, leisure and traveling. Systematic. hott but has brains.

-----------------MAY-----------------
Stubborn and hard-hearted. Strong-willed and highly motivated. Sharp thoughts. Easily angered. Attracts others and loves attention. Deep feelings. Beautiful physically and mentally. Firm Standpoint. Needs no motivation. Shy towards oppisite sex. Easily consoled. Systematic (left brain). Loves to dream. Strong clairvoyance. Understanding. Sickness usually in the ear and neck. Good imagination. Good physical. Weak breathing. Loves literature and the arts. Loves traveling. Dislike being at home. Restless. Not having many children. Hardworking. High spirited.

---------------JUNE---------------
You've got the best personality and are an absolute pleasure to be around. You love to make new friends and be outgoing. You are a great flirt and more than likely have an a very attractive partner. a wicked hottie. It is also more than likely that you have a massive record collection. You have a great choice in films, and may one day become a famous actor/actress yourself - heck, you've got the looks for it!!!

----------------JULY--------------
Fun to be with. Secretive. Difficult to fathom and to be understood. Quiet unless excited or tensed. Takes pride in oneself. Has reputation. Easily consoled. Honest. Concerned about people's feelings. Tactful. Friendly. Approachable. Emotional temperamental and unpredictable. Moody . Witty and sparkly. spazzy at times. Not revengeful. Forgiving but never forgets. dislikes nonsensical and unnecessary things. Guides others physically and mentally. Sensitive and forms impressions carefully. Caring and loving. Treats others equally. Strong sense of sympathy. Wary and sharp. Judges people through observations. Hardworking. No difficulties in studying. Loves to be alone. Always broods about the past and the old friends. Waits for friends. Never looks for friends. Not aggressive unless provoked. Loves to be loved.

--------------AUGUST----------------
outgoing personality. takes risks. feeds on attention. no self control. kind hearted. self confident. loud and boisterous. revengeful. easy to get along with and talk to. has an "every thing's peachy" attitude. likes talking and singing. loves music. daydreamer. easily distracted. hates not being trusted. BIG imagination. LOVES to be LOVED. hates studying. in need of "that someone". longs for freedom. rebellious when withheld or restricted. lives by "no pain no gain". caring. always a suspect. playful. mysterious. "charming" or "beautiful" to everyone. stubborn. curious. independent. strong willed. a fighter.

---------------SEPTEMBER------------------
Active and dynamic. Decisive and haste but tends to regret. Attractive and affectionate to oneself. Strong mentality. Loves attention. Diplomatic. Consoling, friendly and solves people's problems. Brave and fearless. Adventurous. Loving and caring. Suave and generous. Usually you have many friends. Enjoys to make love. Emotional. Stubborn. Hasty. Good memory. Moving, motivates oneself and others. Loves to travel and explore. Sometimes sexy in a way that only their lover can understand.

---------------OCTOBER-------------------
Loves to chat. Loves those who love them. Loves to takes things at the center. Inner and physical beauty. Lies but doesn't pretend. Gets angry often. Treats friends importantly. Brave and fearless. Always making friends. Easily hurt but recovers easily. Daydreamer. Opinionated. Does not care to control emotions. Unpredictable. Extremely smart, but definitely the hottest AND sexiest of them all.

---------------NOVEMBER--------------------
Trustworthy and loyal. Very passionate and dangerous. Wild at times. Knows how to have fun. Sexy and mysterious. Everyone is drawn towards your inner and outer beauty and independent personality. Playful, but secretive. Very emotional and temperamental sometimes. Meets new people easily and very social in a group. Fearless and independent. Can hold their own. Stands out in a crowd. Essentially very smart. Usually, the greatest women are born in this month. If you ever begin a relationship with someone from this month, hold on to them because their one of a kind.

----------------DECEMBER-------------------
This straight-up means ur the most good-looking person possible... better than all of these other months! Loyal and generous. Patriotic. Competitive in everything. Active in games and interactions. Impatient and hasty. Ambitious. Influential in organizations. Fun to be with. Easy to talk to, though hard to understand. Thinks far with vision, yet complicated to know. Easily influenced by kindness. Polite and soft-spoken. Having lots of ideas. Sensitive. Active mind. Hesitating, tends to delay. Choosy and always wants the best. Temperamental. Funny and humorous. Loves to joke. Good debating skills. Has that someone always on his/her mind. Talkative. Daydreamer. Friendly. Knows how to make friends. Abiding. Able to show character. one guy/girl kind of person. Loveable. Easily hurt. Prone to getting colds. loves music. pretty/handsome. Loves to dress up. Easily bored. Fussy. Seldom shows emotions. Takes time to recover when hurt. Sensitive.

Chicago Latino Network Event - Schmoozefest 2006

I would say this was another successful event, Schmoozefest 2006 was filled with fun, drinks and a lot of dancing with friends and new friends. My girlfriends and I were late so we missed a few things but that didn't keep us from having fun. I was a bit scared I would be too tired, expecially since I had gone out the night before. I think two nights during the week is my limit though.

Crabby Pooch

For the life of me I cannot figure out why my sister's new dog does not like me! 'Guero' the grouchy chihuahua, pictured shown last week, growls at me sometimes. What the hheck, I love dogs and have always treated him nicely. He gets along fairly well with my dog, but when I get close to him and try to cuddle him he growls slightly. I can't help but feel somewhat hurt :( That doesn't stop me though, I still pick him up and rub his little head. He is such a cutie, even though I know he's a crab!

Computers are Like Men...And Women...

From e-mail forward...
Computers are Like Men...
In order to get their attention, you have to turn them on.
They are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the time they are the problem.
They have a lot of data but are still clueless.
As soon as you commit to one, you realize that, if you had waited a little longer you could have had a better model.
They hear what you say, but not what you mean.

Computers are Like Women...
No one but the Creator understands their internal logic.
The native language they use to communicate with other computers is incomprehensible to everyone else.
Even your smallest mistakes are stored in long-term memory for later retrieval.
As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending half your paycheck on accessories for it.
You do the same thing for years, and suddenly it's wrong.

Letting My Fingers Type

I can hear the footsteps of my past. They remind me of where I have been, but I cannot see how distant those memories are. Instead of coming closer they are walking away. Soon those cherished memories will have walked out of my life and be forgotten forever.

I remember not so long ago I allowed my thoughts to flows through the keyboard onto the screen. I tried not to consciously analyze my words and let my fingers type before I formulated a full thought. I haven't practiced that exercise in quite some time. After reading some of the nonsensical thoughts I understand why. Nevertheless, I choose put effort to continue with said exercise. My poor lonely blog is dwindling away. I feel like posting an old 90's-style gif that read 'please pardon our dust, this site is under construction'. Mine would read, 'please be patient, while I figure out what to type'.

Happy Easter

CubeBreak.com

CubeBreak.com: Viral videos for bored office workers
If you ever wondered about the inner working of cubebreak, check this video out - talk about having a multiple personality disorder! This is inspiring, with such a unique business model I want to start my own company. Check out the video of: Behind The Scenes of CubeBreak.com

Beating The Flu Bug

Finally a weekend I could enjoy! After several days of being terribly ill with a case of the flu, my symptoms are almost completely gone. We had decent weather, enough that I enjoyed being outside.  My poor pooch had been confined to staying indoors as well.  Last week I bought a new camera, but hadn't had the chance to use it. Hopefully next weekend I'll go on a photo-shoot hunt. As usual Charlie is my victim model. I may have another victim soon enough.

There is a new addition to the family. My sister has taken in a dog of her own, pictured here in my car. One of her friends gave her a little chihuahua that goes by the name of 'Guero'. I'm not sure if she'll keep that name for him, but he's an adorable little guy. He had visited the house before, so the transition has been very good. He and Charlie already get along. I wasn't worried about my dog, Charlie has always been very calm. I was scared of that chihuahua temper, but 'Guero' is also one cool-mellow pooch.

One Sick Standby Juror

The weather change affected my immune system again. I think I go through this every year. I get hit with a flu bug and it literally knocks me out. I've been sick for the third day today and had to call off work and was in bed rest all day. Yesterday I came home early and cancelled plans I had last night. Anyone that knows me, knows that I hate not keeping busy. Shhh - I'm not fond of sleeping either. I was fearing a fourth day of illness and reporting to Jury duty. Don't get me wrong I am the first person to fufill my civic duties, but feeling as crappy as I do that was not something I was looking forward to. I called in the number as directed by the standby juror summons and was relieved to know that I did not have to go in after all. For once I am glad my last name began with an 'A', since they were accepting those from 'G' on.

Joke Of The Day - Kids Are Quick

From E-mail forward - too cute not to post...
TEACHER: Maria, go to the map and find North America.
MARIA: Here it is.
TEACHER: Correct. Now class, who discovered America?
CLASS: Maria.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TEACHER: Why are you late Frank?
FRANK: Because of the sign.
TEACHER: What sign?
FRANK: The one that says, "School ahead. Go slow."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TEACHER: John, why are you doing your multiplication
on the floor?
JOHN: You told me to do it without using tables.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TEACHER: Greg, how would you spell "crocodile?"
GREG: K-R-O-K-O-D-I-A-L
TEACHER: No Greg, that's incorrect.
GREG: Maybe it's incorrect, but you asked me how "I" spelled it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TEACHER: Ryan, what is the chemical formula for water?
RYAN: H I J K L M N O
TEACHER: Ryan, what are you talking about?
RYAN: Well, yesterday you said it was H to O.
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TEACHER: Hunter, name one important thing that we have today that we didn't have 10 years ago.
HUNTER: Me !
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TEACHER: Adam, why do you always get so dirty?
ADAM: Well, I guess it's because I'm a lot closer to the ground than you are.
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TEACHER: Beth, give me a sentence starting with "I".
BETH: I is...........
TEACHER: No Beth....Always say "I am".....not "I is".
BETH: All right........."I am the ninth letter of the alphabet."
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TEACHER: George Washington not only chopped down his father's cherry tree, but also admitted it. Now Alex, do you know why his father didn't punish him?
ALEX: Because George still had the ax in his hand.
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TEACHER: Now, Macy, tell me frankly, do you say prayers before eating?
MACY: No Mam, I don't have to. My Mom is a good cook.
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TEACHER: Daniel, your composition on "My Dog" is exactly the same as your brother's composition. Did you copy off of him?
DANIEL: No teacher, it's the same dog.
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TEACHER: Parker, what do you call a person who keeps on talking to people who are no longer interested?
PARKER: A Teacher

Where the heck am I?

It seems I haven't made post in ages. There is no seeming it's true I haven't made a post in some time. The reason is always the same. I've been too busy. You've probably guessed it - WORK! Don't fret I've also kept my new year's resolution. I have made time for fun. Part of the reason why no postings have made their way is because I am not home as often as I was last year. My work schedule has increased, mainly because I am short-staffed but fortunately I've had a non work event to attend almost every week. Things are getting a bit better at the office so hopefully I will have some time to get back to my writing.

Latino Week

This past week was filled with craziness - It was a busy week indeed. My office life hasn't been this hectic in quite a while. That however would not keep me from honoring my Latino activism. I was fortunate enough to be part of a few social and potlitical events. Tuesday night I had a great time meeting many members of the Chicago Latino Network Club. It was sponsored by Heineken and filled with delicious food, beer and great music. I have attended a few events but this time I think my friend 'L' and I found new friends to go out dancing with.

Friday was a wonderful sight to see. Thousands of pro-immigrant rights activists filled the streets of Chicago to protest the bill HR4437, which offended many. Nearly 100,000 protesters marched and rallied in the loop. People from all over, even from out of state, gathered in a west side park and marched their way into the loop. HR4437 is a bill designed to "shut down illegal immigration." It calls for the construction of a two layered fence along 700 miles of the US Mexico border and makes it a felony to be an undocumented person in the US. The U.S. House of Representatives has already passed the bill but the demonstration was a cry for the bill not to pass the Senate. Never had I seen a political march of that magnitude. I've been part of a couple but the size of this one filled my heart with pride.

Saturday I volunteered for the annual USHLI conference. I enjoy volunteering for this event. This year was my third time officially helping out over the course of seven years. I have attended five times, two other times as an attendee the others as a volunteer. I am always motivated by the guest speakers and various workshops offered throughout the week. Yesterday I was seated next to judges, local politicians and fellow volunteers of different professions, while listening to highly esteemed political figures such Congressman Luis Gutierrez and Senator Robert Menendez. After helping out and listening to these great leaders we also enjoyed a wonderful dinner where we also heard from State Representative Susana Mendoza and the Director if the U.S. Peace Corps - Gaddi Vasquez. I would have taken pictures but I forgot to put a memory card in my camera! I can't wait until next year, hats off to all involved. Thanks to my friends who this year came out to volunteer with me - Thank you ladies!