Well, I finally did it. After putting it off for quite some time, I finally went to AT&T and bought a new, black 16 GB iPhone 3GS.
It wasn’t entirely my fault, I was locked in contract with T-Mobile, the carrier I had been with for the last 7+ years. There were several instances in which I had the money in hand to get the Apple gadget, but I usually spent it on other things.

I must admit, I was divided between the Motorola Droid (Cause Droid Does) and the Apple iPhone 3GS. Both are great smartphones and both have features which are better in one over the other. After comparing the specs, I ended up favoring the iPhone. There is just something that inspires confidence whenever I see the Apple logo.

Apple iPhone 3GS

vs.

Motorola Droid

Well, there you have it. What is ridiculous is that you can’t go wrong with either of these phones. They helped raised the bar on what a darn good cell phone SHOULD be. I will spare you of all the lame accusations bestowed on Steve Jobs, how he is Hitler-ish and wants his way or the highway. He is by no means perfect, but Apple has shown what it is capable of and the quality of its products are known all over the world. Like any company, there is always room for improvement. The fact that Google entered the smartphone business will only result in better technology for us, the consumers. Why did Google take this step? Money. It’s no fun to see someone make tons of money on things you have the power to do yourself. We all know how powerful Google is, a look at its stock alone would make any other company tremble. After testing both phones, I decided to go with the iPhone.

Why? The graphical user interface is pretty sweet, and it has stuff I have been growing accustomed to. Safari, Mail, iTunes, App Store, etc… I can check my e-mail, change my Facebook status, tweet on Twitter, and check a restaurant’s reviews in under 3 minutes! Mind you, you also can with the Droid as well. The only two things I like more about the Droid are the 5 megapixel flash camera and the Droid platform, open software. Both are small prices to pay, as the iPhone is an iPod, a.k.a. the BEST mp3 player in the planet. You can never compare Amazon with iTunes. So, while the Droid is an awesome phone, I still preferred the 3GS. The battle in the upcoming generation of phones promises to be very interesting.

One of my most memorable memories from my childhood is when I was nine years old. I overheard my father and older brothers talk about the atom bomb and nuclear weapons, how they could wipe our cities out and possibly destroy our world. All this information blew me away, it sparked my interest profoundly. I decided to make my own “atomic bomb”. What I did was, I kept an empty aluminum coke can in my room. When nobody was looking, I would sneak material into my room and put it inside the can. I would get matches, cut the match heads and dump them inside! I would also add lighter fluid, small pieces of coals of charcoal, and alcohol. The can started to get heavy as the days went by. The problem was that I kept it hidden under my bed. One day, when I got home from school, it was gone—my mom had thrown it away! I have always wondered if my “atomic bomb” would have detonated… or at least light up as a Molotov. Come on, give me a break! I knew nothing about plutonium and uranium enrichment or fission and fusion reactions. The weird thing is that I would still love to build such a bomb and just keep it under my bed.

There were several books I read as a child that eventually were forgotten but, somehow, life inexplicably spurred me to remember them. Files lost in my hard drive were not lost at all, my mind just needed some shaking to remember things from my childhood. I remembered The Giving Tree, Amelia Bedelia, Where the Wild Things Are, The Stinky Cheese Man, and of course, Nate the Great. All these children books helped make the Mickey-Oscar I am today. The Giving Tree was one of the first books that introduced me to the human condition of growing up and how we eventually cease liking things which used to thrill us. Amelia Bedelia was a riot to read because of her goof nature, she was the maid that did all the chores wrong but could never be fired because she was a tremendous pastry cook! Max from Where the Wild Things Are fed my imagination as to how I would rule the world but eventually needed to compromise and obey my parents. And Nate the Great, wow, the kid detective who would always solve any tough crime or (case) after eating some pancakes! Nate thrilled me to no end. If I ever have kids, I would want them to be smarter than me, I will sit with them and read all the books I loved as a child with classical music in the background. The Nate the Great series invented by Marjorie Sharmat and Marc Simont is truly a work that has touched the lives of many kids everywhere. I remember how Nate would follow the clues alongside his dog, Sludge to solve crimes, the actions of Nate were very memorable, and the pancakes he ate always made me hungry!

As an adult, I had all those books in the back of my mind. I love rock, both in Spanish and in English, classic and alternative. I ran into a character that thrilled me for being dark, moody, and strange (she is also a rocker). The character’s name is Emily the Strange. The character is owned by Cosmic Debris, a company founded by Rob Eger, a skate boarder, and Matt Reed, a race car driver. I am not going to lie, I am a big fan of counterculture characters such as Chococat, Pochacco, Snoopy, and Emily. As a guy, I don’t wear such girly things, of course, but I do like the cool designs that, like Hello Kitty, look cute on girls . Emily is a strange girl accompanied by 4 black cats, she has long black hair, always wears black, and wears white Mary Jane shoes. She has a strong fascination of dark themes and her attitude is very interesting and appealing. However, surfing through the internet, I found that Cosmic  Debris and  Sharmat and Simont had tangled in court! In 1991, Emily the Strange made her appearance, but in 1978, in Nate the Great and the Lost List, Sharmat and Simont introduced a girl named Rosamond that loved dark themes, was always attended by 4 black cats, and even wore the white Mary Jane shoes! In short, Emily is based on Rosamond! Perhaps… that is another reason I like Emily the Strange! My mind subconsciously connected Emily to a character I HAD read about in a book series all those years ago.

Cosmic Debris sued first, Sharmat and Simont counter-sued, but  both reached a civilized agreement and agreed that both were original creations. Personally, I think Cosmic Debris should pay a small percentage to the creators of Nate the Great, their profits allow for it. As for me, I am a winner, I am a fan of both Emily and Nate the Great (including Rosamond).

Share this Blog]]> http://www.oscarnuno.com/2009/09/25/current-events/emily-the-strange-and-rosamond/feed/ 2 http://www.oscarnuno.com/2009/09/23/deep-pondering/the-qualities-of-a-gentleman/ http://www.oscarnuno.com/2009/09/23/deep-pondering/the-qualities-of-a-gentleman/#comments Wed, 23 Sep 2009 21:30:22 +0000 Oscar http://www.oscarnuno.com/?p=441

I’m here at the University of Houston’s Satellite Center, eating a Chick-fil-a, and I started thinking about the qualities of a gentleman. The other day, I stumbled upon a quote by Winston Churchill, “Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities… because it is the quality which guarantees all others.”

I really have to agree with Churchill. It takes courage to execute all other virtues. I made a list of nine traits a real man (or woman) should have:

Courage

Honesty

Integrity

Compassion

Kindness

Fortitude

Imagination

Loyalty

Assertiveness

A man must have the courage to defend his loved ones and to make sacrifices. A man must have honesty to earn people’s trust. A man must have integrity, consistency of actions and morals. A man must have compassion and feel the sorrows of others. A man must show kindness and help others in need. A man must have fortitude to withstand the harsh trials of life. A man must have imagination to achieve dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before. A man must have loyalty to his wife, family, and country. Finally, a man must be assertive- not let anyone walk all over him and to stand up for the ones who do not have the courage to defend themselves.

A man with these characteristics is the embodiment of a true gentleman. So, where do I stand? It would be very arrogant and egotistic of me to say I have all those virtues. All I can say is that I try to be the best I can, but I will always have flaws like anyone else. The only way you can tell is by knowing me I guess. There are other virtues one can think of, which virtues do you like in a person?

I was driving around the city and, out of the blue, I was greeted by this sight. Spider-Man was apparently locked out of his apartment by Mary Jane Watson! Observing Spidey in such a state, I could only imagine that he was out drinking on the roof tops late at night and possibly having an affair with the Black Cat (Felicia Hardy). I felt sorry for the guy because it was pretty hot to be hung-over outside. I hope Spidey can get his act together and apologize to MJ… times are hard, even for superheroes!

This past July 4^th, my family and I were catching the fireworks in our front lawn, during the evening. Luckily, fireworks are sold in the area of town we live in and we were enjoying other people’s light shows long after we ran out of our own supplies. All of a sudden, one of my brothers spotted a small dog by the mailbox, so he walked over and pick it up. It was a white shaggy dog but the collar it wore had no name or address. Since we didn’t see anyone to whom it may belong, we decided to take care of it.

My family is far from being canine-inclined, and the last dog I remembered us having was in Mexico when I was like 4 years old. It was a white pit bull that my older brothers used to fight. His name was Chafiras, and he never lost a fight, as far as I know. He was the king of the “barrio”. Upon moving to America, we were always amazed at the way Americans loved their dogs—dressing them up and stuff, allowing their dogs to lick them in the face, and allowing them to be in their lap while driving were all things we found… weird.

As the days turned into weeks, nobody claimed the dog. The dog was a he, and he looked expensive-looking and really cute. We decided to adopt the little guy and have bought him toys, treats, food, and even a puppy bed. Now, I see how dog nutrition and care is a billion dollar industry!

I looked at Google images and originally, I thought the dog was a wheaten Scottish Terrier. However, when we took him to the vet, they told us he was a miniature Schnauzer—a breed of German origin. Apparently, there is a lot of disagreement between American and German Kettle clubs, because white is not an original color of the breed, it may be a recessive trait or a mutation. Germans acknowledge the white breed, but Americans and Canadians do not since the white mini Schnauzers are disqualified from conformation shows. My family thinks they don’t allow white mini Schnauzers in conformation shows because it would be unfair to the other dogs! We decided to call the dog Sparky (not very original, but my little nephews liked it), the vet also told us he was only 5 months old. I have noticed he is a chick-magnet, something I don’t mind in the least! I have much to learn about owning a dog, hopefully, Sparky and I will have many adventures.

As I had the ant pinched between my thumb and index finger, I carefully ripped both of its antennas with my other hand to observe its behavior after placing it back on the swimming pool deck. To my horror, the poor ant seemed to not know what to do. It seemed very confused and just stayed there, not moving much. I mean, it moved, but it didn’t walk away… I started to feel bad for what I did. I could only deduce that ants’ antennas are very important to their navigation, perhaps picking up pheromones and scents that lead it back to its colony. I hope the ant can forgive me and that a comrade found it and led it back to the colony’s hospital.

I once met a girl who would always claim she was going to change the world. A friend once, now friend no longer, not through any fault of mine I assure you. As far as I know I did nothing even remotely out of line, much less insult her. Life is funny like that, you put people in pedestals and then they let you down. Lesson learned. I no longer put people in a pedestal. You shouldn’t either, it would only disillusion you. So, this girl, she never told me how she was going to change the world. I think she was going to be an attorney and maybe enter politics, I don’t remember anymore. All the best luck to her. What I do remember is that she would always wear fancy clothes and take professional portraits all the time. There is no harm in that, I suppose. Her parents apparently had deep pockets. One time, I complimented her on a pair of blue jeans she had on, really cute pants to be honest. She remarked, in an conceited way, that they were 400 dollars!

Then… it hit me. How can someone wearing such expensive clothes change the world? Somehow, I cannot imagine Gandhi, Mother Teresa, or Joan of Arc (people who did change the world) wear 400 dollar jeans or thousand dollar dresses. Nah, I daresay the people that change the world are the people that never say they will change the world. They just do it. Armed with humility, people can change the world, not armed with 400 dollar pants, unless you want to change the world by becoming another Paris Hilton. When I mean change, I mean the real positive changes for humanity. Many of us are caught in our own magnificence and, perhaps, arrogance that just because we certainly know more than others, we think we can change the world. Humility is very hard to acquire, I wrestle all the time to keep it with me, but flashes of arrogance do surface from time to time. I think to myself: First change yourself, and then try to change the world. It is suffice to say that I will never change the world but, then again, that has never been my mission to begin with. Maybe my mentality differs greatly to fellow peers who have always had a privileged life. I come from nothing and I feel inferior, as I still am nothing. Yet, even if I had tons of money, just giving it away will not solve anything. The most I could do is change someone’s life. Yeah, I can do that. If I cannot change the world for the better, I would like to change someone’s life for the better.

The other day, I was discussing with my friend, Nestor, how things annoy me. I can be a grouchy lout at times, I admit. For example, I get inexplicably annoyed when, while driving, I see vehicles that have a “My child is an Honor Roll Student at so-and-so school” sticker on their bumper. Now, I do not get annoyed at a young child’s achievements, on the contrary, I spur all kids to aim for the honor roll. What bugs me is the fact that when most of those kids grow up, they don’t graduate making honor rolls. When have you seen a bumper sticker that says “My son is a pot smoking bum that probably won’t amount to anything”? It is a sad thing how some children with lots of potential get caught up with the mundane; they lose focus, and end up being utterly pathetic as grown ups. They end up as drug addicts, felons, and parasites of society, not all of them, of course but lots of them. My negative attitude is not aimed at the hard working kids but rather how society and life twists them, changes them from intelligent children to average or below average men and women. If I ever do have kids, I would never put one of those stickers if they made honor rolls, I don’t have to show the world if they are smart. I do wonder if parents would buy stickers that say, “My son was an Honor Roll Student but now he is a drug addicted good for nothing”. Still, I do understand where parents are coming from. The love of a parent for his son or daughter transcends everything, and what parent would not feel proud if their child made the honor roll? All parents I know think their young children are angels and geniuses. It is up to the parent to guide their child through the minefields of life, only this way can their child have a high likelihood of surpassing them. That is what it’s suppose to be about, every newer generation is supposed to be better than the last.

You are exquisite and your smell tantalizes me. I wish I could have you everyday but it is not possible. It is just not healthy. You have the power to kill me. The gods doth have a sense of humor in having created you. What makes you so special, that you are the center of attention? I see you, and my mouth waters. Your name starts with “B”, and you are beautiful, indeed. You… complete me. I taste you, and my brain overloads. Nothing on earth tastes like you. I want you in my life forever. I never want us to part ways, you are the perfect lover: you don’t fight back, you aren’t an over-emotional psycho, you always please me and take care of my needs. In fact, I am craving you right now. I want you, and when I get this way, there is no stopping me, I must have you…bacon. There is nothing like pork, except maybe beef.