Sublime Mujer
Una mirada, una sonrisa de una sublime mujer… tiene mas poder que el sol. ¡Eso es increíble! Los seres más poderosos en este plano de existencia son nada menos que las mujeres. Mujer, bella mujer— que alumbra todo alrededor con faro propio. Es algo indiscutible que en los temas del corazón, la mujer siempre esta en el centro de nuestros pensamientos. El primer pensamiento del día y el último pensamiento del día son igual… ella. No sabemos como se nos meten— por su belleza, por su inteligencia, por su carisma… ¡simplemente por su forma de ser! Se nos meten por las pupilas, por el nervio óptico, pasan por el cerebro y se plantan en nuestro corazón. Todo principio empieza del final de algo anterior. Me pregunto ¿como diablos puede otro hombre dejar ir a una mujer tan completa? Es algo ilógico, mucho más complicado que la mecánica quántica y la superfluidez del helio. Las mujeres están hechas para que las amemos con todas nuestras fuerzas, para consentirlas, hacerlas sentir especiales, para compartir nuestro tiempo, nuestros momentos tristes y de felicidad. Una mujer nos completa, como las estrellas completan la noche. Sin ellas, la vida no tiene sentido. Una mirada, una sonrisa, una expresión de una sublime mujer es un mundo entero.
Emily the Strange and Rosamond
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).
The Qualities of a Gentleman
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?
HBU vs. UH Main
HBU vs. UH Main
This semester has been much more enlightening than the last here at UH. I wasn’t entirely thrilled to leave HBU, but after some disappointments with certain people, the costs, and the implementation of the semester system from the quarter system, I found very few reasons to stay. HBU was a great stop for me, however. Academically, it was and is an awesome place. It is small, the classes are like high-school size, and the professors know your name! This intimate configuration of student to faculty is a blessing to most students anywhere. I once had a class of only 7 students! I couldn’t cheat! Lol. A public university will never beat that! Also, it is easier to make friends at HBU since you see the same people over and over. Heck, you even see the girl you fell in love with walking around with her new boyfriend. Oh, wait! That is a con! At UH, you meet someone and never see them ever again! I still have not run into that cute girl I met on the second day! There were several things I did not like at HBU. Many times, I felt like it was like a prison. There were a thousand rules you had to follow, like going to convo, OMG, how I hated that. Not only did I hate going, but when I went, most everyone was playing Nintendo DS, surfing the web on their laptops, or just doing homework! I was like, “what’s the point?”
I am glad I moved to UH. It is a totally different and more filled student experience, at least for me. Academically, HBU is still superior, but not as much as people think. Heck, this semester I am taking classes that are very challenging. For example, out of 130 students in my Cell Bio class, 30 failed the first test and 18 got a D! There were only 11 As! We are talking about seniors who are pursuing a bio degree! To make matters worse, the GPA-killing professor boasted that it was going to be the easiest test of the semester! Moving on, UH is huge… over 36,000 enrolled students, making it the third biggest university in Texas (only UT and A&M are bigger). You get to walk a lot, so you get your exercise! When you compare Moody Library with MD Anderson Library… well, there is no comparison, the library here is like 5-6 stories. UH is a research university, with much more money, so comparing both institutions is not fair. At UH, our Wellness Center is better than the best Bally’s Total Fitness I know! We have Chillis, 2 Chick-fil-A restaurants, Einstein Bros., Starbucks, Kim Son, Subway, Taco Bell, 2 Pizza Huts, Pita Express, and a bunch of other places to eat with friends without leaving campus! There is even a bar on campus to go have a beer after a test! I know HBU is a small Christian university, but as stated earlier, the biggest pros are that the classes are small and the friends you make are high quality (not all, but most). I think both universities are great, but I feel UH is more of a fit for me. Here, you can smoke in the parking lot or with your professor (not that I smoke much), and we have pretty good football team! I don’t have that much more before I finish here, though. My academic career has been so different compared to most students I know. I started at HCC Town & Country, transferred to HBU, and then transferred to UH Main! All for an undergraduate degree! Of course, there will always be an aura of prestige when one graduates from a private university, but I am a fond believer that it is in the student, not the institution. I feel more well-rounded by being at different schools, I can compare. You want to know the worst thing about UH? The parking. I kid you not, I spend more money in gas looking for a parking spot than driving to school! I spend up to 40 minutes looking for someone to leave so I can take their space. Finding a parking spot in UH is almost the equivalent of an orgasm. 
On another note, all universities in America are run like any business, they all want money. They all want you to stay as long as you can to milk you for money. I find it ridiculous that we live in the most powerful country in the world and students have to pay tuition. Look at Germany, Norway, Sweden… they all provide free university education to their people. Why can’t we have that over here? Epic PHAIL
Song of -Tions
Annihilation, damnation and obliteration
are things which cause me consternation,
Hence, I feel sorry for the youth of the nation.
Humanity’s nature for self destruction
is clearly evident with each generation.
I dare say God made a pitiful creation.
What is the worth of one man’s determination?
Blood and stress and perspiration
and things such as mutilation
are things the Son of God endured with mild hesitation.
Obedient to the end, he assured our salvation.
A toast to the Son of Man, our Lord and admiration.
When will Jesus come is a good question,
everyone says soon- to be ready for our destination.
Repent and pray is all we can do as a preparation.
This world was great but sin killed its incantation.
Alas, poor Jesus, he didn’t deserve his elimination.
May Christ live on in each nation and unite all denominations.