On Homosexuals
I have always wondered if homosexuals are born as such, or if through life experiences and choice… they become gay. Perhaps, both? I do not know, but I would like to share with you my view on the subject. It has been known throughout centuries that homosexuals have always been around, maybe since the beginning of man. Boy lovers in ancient Athens ran rampant, even Socrates himself was accused of being homosexual and was charged for perverting youths. Heck, homosexual behavior has been observed in several mammals, primates being no exception. Some of those chimps really go at it! Male to male attraction or female to female attraction has always perplexed me. We were designed by God (or evolution, depending your taste) to be a plug (man) and socket (female) combination. Anatomically, you have no need to look any further, men are designed for women and vice-versa, it isn’t as complicated as the Dirac Equation or Lev Landau’s superfluidity work (don’t ask)! Structurally, our sex organs and reproductive systems guarantee the propagation of the human race only in a male-to-female pairing. This is, to me, how nature always intended it. When push comes to shove, be it a successful life or a mediocre one, the one thing we share with most other humans is the ability to reproduce and to leave progeny on earth. Of course, it is not always this way but that is usually how it is and the main idea… wether we realize it or not is irrelevant. We just fuse DNA (egg+sperm) and out comes the next generation.
If we analyze a male-to-male pairing or a female-to-female pairing, we would arrive to the conclusion that these combinations do not function in the reproduction, propagation, and survival of the human species. It sounds harsh, but a two plug combination or a two socket combination… is not what nature intended. If all the peoples of the world became homosexual, our species would be in big trouble. There is a possibility that we would cease to exist, or reproduction would become a “burden”. Just to be clear, I am not implying that homosexuals contribute nothing to humanity. There are many great people with great hearts and charisma, who help and contribute to society in countless ways. I do believe everyone is entitled to live life as they want, personal lives are private and to each his own. Most of the time, I care not for how people decide to live, as long as they do not affect or interfere in my own life.
However, one can always be curious as to why people adopt a homosexual lifestyle. Perhaps, a gene sequence in people’s genome is faulty, implying a genetic disease. It is a possibility that we cannot rule out and it kind of makes sense, especially with cases when the child exhibits homosexual characteristics from early on. There is a lot of controversy regarding this theory as correlated twin studies (one twin being homo and the other hetero) discredit this approach. Still, I believe that even twin DNA can vary ever so slightly, expressing different genes. We still have so much to learn about our 3 billion base pairs in our DNA, full of genes and “junk”. Another approach to answer why people adopt a homosexual lifestyle involves choice. It is a much easier concept, people of the same sex find each other attractive and choose to be together. Maybe they were not ‘born’ gay but they, at some point in their lives, feel an inexorable attraction to the same sex. Sexual activity between said individuals only adds to their attraction and feeling of love. For instance, a male gay couple will get addicted to stimulation of their prostate and so on. We all can get addicted to some sort of physical stimulation but in my view, as a man, nothing can replace the pleasure a woman can give you. Most men (and women) out there will agree with me, but not gay couples, and that is understandable. Lesbians, I regard in a different light, this being so because no man can truly understand the female anatomy as well as another woman. Lately, the world has become more liberal and the gay community has risen to get things like gay marriage laws to be passed. I know I said that everyone is entitled to whatever life they want, but I am divided on this issue. If all the states allow gay marriage, it would fuel an upsurge and many will come out of the closet… gay numbers may increase. This is just one scenario, mind you, I am no expert on such things. Gay people on the same terms as heterosexual couples is not something I agree in, to tell you the truth. Moreover, in the decades to come, if more and more gay couples are seen in public holding hands and/or kissing, what are little children to think? Would they assume that homosexual behavior is normal? Would those children be inclined to follow such lifestyle if they see it all over? We function on a monkey-see/monkey-do basis much of the time, and I can almost be sure that precisely that will happen. In the end, it is a deviation from our intended design, giving over to physical lust. Allowing gay couples to adopt is also something I do not agree with, but that is just me. I know there are gay couples with great honesty and integrity that should be able to adopt, but as it is in this world, some ruin it for the rest. Mine is only but a mere view on such topic. What do you guys think on these topics?
Building an “Atomic Bomb”.
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.
Girls… just want to have fun!
There is a particular song by Cindy Lauper called Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, that pretty much summarizes what most girls want. You could be the sweetest, most sincere nice guy out there, but if you do not know how to have fun or live like a hermit—guys, you are screwed. Women are special individuals with special needs; they love to have fun and love to be loved. It isn’t rocket science! I will be the first to admit, that I used to be an introverted lout lost in his own little world, reading books and doing outlandishly nerdy things, until it hit me… it sucks to be alone, it really does. Thankfully, I learned of a way to balance my interests and be more outreaching and extroverted.
Girls love to have fun, to go out and drink at a nice bar or a club and just unplug from work and/or school routine. Heck, not just girls, but guys as well. To tell you the truth, if we are single, we go to a bar and hope to find someone. We all yearn to find someone that we can love and be loved in return. For a guy, that is no problem, we drink and can hold our liquor (most of us anyway). If we find someone, fine, if we don’t… then there’s next week. Personally, I do not think like this, but for the sake of simplicity I will write how guys are in general. Guys are dogs, women! Never let your guard down or let yourself be deceived. I know what you are thinking, “heck, Oscar, you ARE a guy”. True, but I am not like those guys… neither am I a saint, of course.
Guys generally go to clubs to hook up for one night stands, contrary to what you believe, most are not looking for a serious relationship. How do I know? One, I’m a guy, and a lot of friends were like that, and two, I can observe guys at any club I show up and predict what they are going to do. I know, I know, still a nerdy thing to do, but bear with me. A girl drinking in a club is like a sheep entering a wolf’s lair, especially, if she is alone or only accompanied by girlfriends. I know the thinking patterns of guys; they will soon approach such a girl (especially if she is gorgeous) and will start getting their game on, smooth talking like Joel Osteen or Barack Obama, and sporting their tight douchebag clothes. If you start conversation with them and they aren’t cheap, they will gladly intoxicate you further. After all, that is what they want, to get you drunk and turn into an octopus before you know it (you girls know what I mean). That is why, if I were a girl, I wouldn’t trust any stranger at the club. All they want is sex, not the person within you. A true man waits.
Trust the guys at the library or Barnes and Noble. The mathematical probability of them being more honest and having integrity is much more elevated than some random stranger at a bar. Game theory attempts to mathematically capture behavior in strategic situations, in which an individual’s success in making choices depends on the choices of others. Therefore, the choices you make as a girl directly equate to the success the guy obtains. At the bar, women can make choices that will make the douchebag win. As for the nerd at the library, don’t take him for granted. Despite his uncombed hair, his badly need for a haircut, and crappy t-shirt, he could very well be a party animal if you give him the chance. The douche, sporting the appealing bad boy image and silver tongue will always be beaten by the nerd in the long run. Nerds go places. The other guys get stuck with child support and/or working like mules the rest of their lives, consequently, girls cease having fun.
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).