What have I been up to?

I know all of you have been asking yourselves that. It's only natural when you know someone as coolio as me. Well, the 17th we had an ugly sweater party at our home in Milwaukee. Lots of ugly sweaters, deserts, and holiday beers to be had. Sunday, after church and football, I went to my first Posada. I didn't know it existed. Maybe it's a Mexican thing.

You go door to door with Mary and Joseph lookng for a place to crash before she burst. You get a lot of 'no's and 'not here's until you find that special lady who says you can use their garage/stable. Jesus is born, then you beat up pinatas and eat candy. Just like 2000 years ago. Monday was work and celebrate my roommate Kyle's birthday. Went to a bar called Wolski's to play darts. Tuesday, Marquette basketball with floor seats c/o my coworker. Dwyane Wade was there, but I was too busy to say hi to him. Plus, he'd have a hard time getting through my security. Wednesday was a Christmas dinner chez JV Milwaukee. We had all seven of us, one of our community-night helpers, her son, and a friend. True to Polish tradition (c/o Dorota) we had an extra place-setting in case any body showed up, in honor of those that can't join us, and of course for Elijah. Maybe not that last part. He never makes if for Christmas anyways. Thursday was to celebrate Erin, my coworker's birthday. Went out with another coworker and my roommate Mathew to do the trick. And yes, she was there too. It'd be weird to celebrate a birthday without the birthday-ee. Though, my mom and dad did it this past Thanksgiving. Friday I went to work and then home. Yes, home. Tampa. Since then I haven't done much. Watch some football today. Shopping with dad yesterday. Beach today, though most of the time was putting together an electric grill. Kinda felt like the stereotypical assembling of the bicycle Christmas present.

The needy

The afflicted and the needy seek water in vain,
their tongues are parched with thirst.
I, the LORD, will answer them;
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
(Is 41)

AWESOME!!!

Wednesday

For some reason, all day today I have been thinking its Thursday. It's not. Just Wednesday. For today's treat, I spew all the randomness of my mind.

There was an explosion today in Milwaukee. I don't know exactly what happened, but my windows rattled all the way in the south side where I work. I wonder what blew up. I haven't hear about people dying, only being hurt. I hope no one did.

The show 24, with Jack Bauer, is the best show I have seen on TV in a long time. Well, actually, its on DVD thanks to one of my roommates. I don't think I would watch it otherwise b/c I don't have a schedule that conforms to TV for the most part. I started to with Law and Order SVU, but that fizzled out. Jack Bauer entertains me on weekend mornings when other people are still asleep. That's cool.

The Tampa Bay Bucs are a terrible football team. I hate to say it, but they just aren't getting it done. We don't have a QB that works for us. We have a young offensive line (which will hopefully get better with age). We have an old defense that have games where they show their former selves. I think it has a lot to do with how long they are on the field thanks to a sloppy offense. But people score a lot of points on us. Back in the day, when our offense was even worse, Warren Sapp said that if the offense could put up 10 points on the board we would win the game. Those days are gone and so is Sapp.

Monica might be buying a car. A yellow VW Bug if she can get it done soon. I don't know if it will happen just yet, though. There are too many little things that need to be done and the car is in Milwaukee (where she is for this week) and she lives in Minneapolis. But, I am hopeful that she will get it. She loves it, it is safe, and there seem to be no problems. Just a priincess' old car that she needs to sell before she gets a new one...so her brothers are selling it for her cause she's a princess.

Christmas is coming up. I was telling Monica, and she returned the sentiment, that Christmas lights should not be put away after Christmas. Or at least there should be some other lights that people put outside their house. I am a fan of a green Christmas, but Christmas lights in Florida after Christmas are tacky. But up here, where thers is snow, where there is overcast skies, lights really spruce up the place. Maybe there should be Valentine lights or Easter lights.

That is all.

Hope is Good

I like this.

Before Nicaragua's Nov. 5 presidential election, U.S. officials had suggested U.S. aid to the Central American country could be cut off if Ortega won. But in the weeks since the leader of the leftist Sandinista party won the vote, the U.S. has adopted a wait-and-see approach to the incoming government.

The Associated Press

By FILADELFO ALEMAN

New Nicaragua...or same old?

Well, Nicaragua picked Daniel Ortega to be president again. I'm not sure if saying "again" is legit, cause his first election sure wasn't. That is not to say the most recent one wasn't. He definitely beat out a fractured Right in the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. The future is uncertain, though. He has a checkered past. I wrote before on this blog that I think my parent's biases on the Sandinistas were sometimes just that, biases. They seemed closed to any of the positives that the Sandinistas brought to the country because of the negatives that came with it, not least of which (in their eyes) was a socialist system. Ortega had a rough first go in part due to the troubled circumstance that he began his rule: world recession and US support of the Contras. But reading about or talking to priests who had supported Daniel in the past, some of the biases my parents had seem to be spot on, or at least shared by some smart men. They tell of how they support the Sandinista ideals, but that Daniel ran and will run the country for his own personal betterment without regard to the people. An example is the Sandinista land reform which ended up giving the rich supporters of the Sandinistas the good land and giving bad land to poor people without training on how to financially manage a farm.

I consider myself lucky to be removed from the experiences from my parents and the experiences of these priests. Lucky in that I have not been scarred by a past Sandinista government and current scandals. Lucky in that I can be hopeful and optimistic that Ortega truly learned his lessons, has sincerely changed, has grown as a person and a president. Optimistice, but always critical.

What about me?

Allen Iverson. Any sports star? What is their debt to society? What good acts can they do that aren't considered a publicity stunt? What mistakes can they make that aren't blown up?

Read this article (click on the picture) and tell me that Iverson wasn't trying to be a good guy. And Charles Barkley. And other people. Its another type of stereotyping that happens. Yes, sport athletes have greater priviledge and therefore greater responsibility. Lets not scoff at them when they decide to act rightly.

Besides, A.I. went to the legendary Jorgetown. You can't go there and not be the coolest.

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Funny Joke

What happened when the school band played Mozart?
Mozart lost.

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You make me happy

And I do....

Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city. - George Burns

Miss you, family. Happy belated birthday to Silvio Delgado, who I am quite sure does not even know this blog exists.

An Economist's Sentiment

The Economist has brought up an intersting point about white-collar crimes. With regards to the conviction of Jeff Skilling of Enron, they had this to say:

Prosecutors and the public seemed delighted by Mr Skilling's long sentence. Yet there are growing worries about the severity of America's white-collar sentences, which treat bosses more harshly than drug dealers and some murderers. Twenty years ago, Mr Skilling would have got just seven years. America also treats white-collar offenders more severely than other rich countries. (http://economist.com/displayStory.cfm?story_id=8082101)

Now, just reading this w/o the whole article does not do it justice, so let me bring up an idea that is mentioned later in the article. This kind of punishment is meant to be both retributive--that is, as a punishment for the billions of dollars lost and millions of lives adversely affected--and a deterrent to others. Not to say all punishments come out like that, but this one seems to have both aspects. We must ask what the goal of deterrence is, what are we trying to avoid. Coorporate scandal and unqualified risk-taking is not least among the goals, but is this the best way to acheive that? It seems that this kind of punishment might deter cooperate heads not only from excessive risk-taking, but might even make them play safe and pass up on some potential moves. That is not good for the economy as a whole, especially when other countries do not have as harsh of punishments and their companies would eat up this potential. More comprehensive reform and accountability schemes would do more to prosecute the problematic players and keep others safe.

Two more questions (at least) arise. First, who will make up this comprehensive reform? Not me. Second, should our moral and economic decisions be influenced by others? Absolutely, because morality is hardly black and white. Furthermore, we are required to think on the macro scale when decisions will impact it. That means looking at decisions' effects on local and world economics, poverty, employment, etc. If no man is an island, then what about coorporations?

All that being said, I think that Skilling, if really guilty, got a just punishment for the lives him and his decisions ruined. I just think that it should be clearer that his punishment is his and his companies. Not cooporate America's. They just need to know that changes are coming and that they should learn a thing or two of what not to do.

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Happy

"Happiness is always a by-product. It is probably a matter of temperament, and for anything I know it may be glandular. But it is not something that can be demanded from life, and if you are not happy you had better stop worrying about it and see what treasures you can pluck from your own brand of unhappiness."
  - Robertson Davies

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My Weekend

Again, y'all, life is good. My folks are coming up this weekend and we get to play. I hope to take them to the art museum here, which has this pretty cool picture from the inside. We are also going to eat at a little restaurant next door to it, hopefully for brunch on Sunday or something. Monica and I have had pretty super telephone call conversations too, which always makes the evenings pretty nice. Also, the St. Louis Red Birds (aka Cardinals) seem to be tearing up the World Series. Coming from Tampa Bay, it's nice to have a baseball team to be proud of because the Devil Rays, who I wholeheartedly support, are terrible. And will probably sell their team like any good major league farm team would.

I also printed out a list of 100 things to do in Milwaukee, which should add for hours of entertainment...if most of the events are free. I have done a few of these things already, like go to Miller Park. And I probably won't do others, like sailing Lake Michigan (though I can dream). But it's cool to have this list and see how much I can accomplish in one year.

With that, I leave you. I might be writing some more thoughtful things later, instead of just updates on my life. The updates are mostly for the people that don't get to see me or talk to me all that much, but the politics and religion and economic ideas in my head are also a part of me and probably intersting to at least some. Don't hold your breath, though. I might just do some ranting.

Peace.

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Forgive me if this is boring, but I think I downloaded a sweet blogging tool that let's me blog much more impromptu and add quotes and whatnot much more clearly despite the fact that I have beta.blogger, which is infinately less developed (though easier to use on the website itself) than the orinigal blogger.

Or maybe I'm just a big toolbag.

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Been a while

Funny, but that's a song. Remember? By Staind. It's kinda depressing.....

I'm not depressed. In fact I might be classified as giddy or happy or the like. And I'll tell you why. There are many reasons. First, I got to go see some friends this past weekend that rocked myworld. I hadn't seen some of these kids in over a year and it was good to see them. One of them even ran a marathon. So that's good. Then the Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Monica O'Malley Eagles. That means I win the bragging rights war. And I'm prettier than her. Then I find out that I did 16 points better on my LSAT this year than a year ago. Now, although I think my score was great and I was suprised to see it, it is only partially a testimate to how I studied this summer for it. Cause I did. Hard. But I think it also shows, maybe show more, how poorly I did the first time. It was a big drop from my practice tests even then. Anywho, that sparked my life and life is good. My roommates even made me cake to celebrate. So that's my update and I'm stickin' to it.

PS- Milwaukee is cold.

Happy God

So, I talked to Orlando today and life is good and I got to see Monica this weekend and I have done two good things at work and I won a fantasy football game this weekend and I moved up the rankings in another league and I'm going to eat chicken tonight and today was just a good day. Thus, happy pictures for all to see. And to replace the mean looking gun below. Pics are c/o Monica c/o Monica's dad c/o someone with too much free time.

Shots fired

Well, today was quite a day at work. In fact, I'm still at work but I felt the need to write something right now. The day involved affidavits with people who were the victims of domestic violence. A few tissues later, when my last client had just left, there were shots fired outside. I thought it was a crappy car backfiring, but one of my coworkers say she saw someone running in the alleyway b/n my building and the next, while someone else said she saw a silver accura and a group of people running the other way. Thank God my client had already left. But to think that some random group of teenagers are trying to kill each other right in front of this property is ridiculous and scary. Sad more than anything else. Why is shooting the only option? What happened that they can't talk? Too much pride? Retaliation? Turf wars? Whatever it is, its bullshit. And it's, above all, tragic. I don't think that anyone died or was actually hit, at least I don't know of anyone who was, although I haven't strolled around outside yet. But I do know that people heard it. And they are scared, or worse yet used to it and indifferent. I'm going to think about this all day. And I have to come back tomorrow and act like nothing happened. Cause I got two clients tomorrow too. That sucks. Thank God all those in this building and my community are ok.

LSAT

Good luck Daniel. Good luck Lev. Good luck me.

Really fast

Ok, I have been at work for over two hours and have only made coffee and two appointments, not any work. Thus I just wanted to drop a quick line to tell people to look up this song. It comes from the senior project of two Gonzaga theater kids. It's the trailer song to some video they made. I found it randomly by having a youtube video sent to me and I went to the people's website. Pretty funny guys, but the song is pretty mellow and cool. Just thought some people may like it. It's all acoustic and relaxed and whatnot. That's it. More to come. September 30 is only a few days away. LSATs are fun!

Update

Well, life for me is still pretty good, but work is busy. That's how I like it, though, or esle I would be bored. I take the LSAT (again) in less than two weeks so the studying for that has really taken off. I am not working out from now until then to be able to get maximize my study time. I hope to do well, because I feel that I need to options in schools. Monica will find work in so many places and I want to be able to learn wherever she needs to be. That means I need to look for schools in LA, Chicago, Minneapolis, New York, Boston, DC, Philly, or wherever else she may go. This is not to say there aren't schools there I would want to go to. Besides most of those places have phenomenal programs, I am mostly done with caring where I get my education as long as I get it. Someone, I forget who, just wrote an article about how few of the CEOs of American companies went to Ivy League schools. Though they are present in slightly higher proportions as a whole, they aren't dominating. And more and more I see how much connections, experience, and the right kind of both are the most valuable part of success, whatever you choose that to be. Those are today's thoughts.

Milwaukee Community

Milwaukee 1
Originally uploaded by jvc_mw.

This is a picture of my housemates and me at orientation. We are all dressed up with nowhere to go b/c they asked us to get ready for this picture. It gets sent to people who will donate and they like to see happy people with smiling faces wearing fabulous clothing. Nonetheless, lets's run through it. Mathew is on the top right. He's a little bit California wrapped up in Britain. Meaning, he is a Cali-kid, but spent some of his best years in England; Kent, I think. He's got a wonderful sense of humor and plays guitar like I wish I could. He also seems to need lots of naps after a long day of dealing with pre-teen girls. To his right is Cassie. She's Eastcoast to the core. Grew up outside DC and spent most of her life in the area and the rest of Maryland. She most definitely can kick my butt, but usually just lets me sleep on her on our coach. She also has never won intermural co-ed basketball. The comes me. I work with immigration law stuff and am wearing some else's shirt. I am hugging Kyle, my roommate. Dallas by birth. Creighton by grace of God. He is really into social justice and has been since college. He has lots of heros like Che and some guy from the t.v. show M.A.S.H., and he has read most every book ever written. He's got the list to prove it. Below us is Dorota. She's a Polish lass brought up Midwest style. She too has been active since before college with things like building houses for people in E. Tenn and such, forcing the Vagina Monologues on the Jesuits, and all around good-deedery. She is also pretty easy going and bad at keeping in touch with. Don't worry, it's because she hates you. To her right (our left) is Ashley D-D-Davis. Though she has no relation to Mr. Davis (unless you mean her father in MI), she is still pretty awesome. She is also very easygoing and doesn't seem to stop smiling. She works with kiddies all day, though they are usually the troublemakers so she beats them with rulers. She has also thown me forcefully on the couch calling out, "Ho down." I am shamed. Finally, Jeff. Jeff is the artistic type in the sense that he paints very well and really sees deep things in art. Not in the sense that he wears barrets and listens to beat-nik jazz all day. No, he's a pretty sporty guy, touting the KC Chefs as the most delicious team in the NFL (oogaly-moogaly). He's helping people at a clinic.

So that's our crew. Thanks for watching. Stay tuned for the next episode of Jorge's world.

Quick note

Well, I just finished my second day at work and it rocked. Before I get into that briefly, here is a pick of me and one of my (3) boyz from MDA camp. We rock!
Nonetheless, today I had my first client. We filled out citizenship papers as best we could. Apperently you have to be thorough. They pick it apart with a fine-toothed comb. But things ran well. My office is a bit of a mess thanks to the lady who was here before me. She filed lots of stuff that is out of date and pretty useless to me. But soon enough it will be my office. Tomorrow I have one more client, some translations to be done, and some bad news to bear for on family. So is the nature of the immigration buisiness.

I'm off to the community that I love, my JV kiddies. Gives a letter, care package, or better yet, beer any time. Just call me up and I'll give you the address. Stay cool kiddies. Shalom to Atom.

PS- Monica is one hot tamale!

Jorge's Back

Welcome to all those that were sent here via Orlando's email (ojc14@hotmail.com). I don't ahve the best history of being on top of this blog, but now I have more reason to be.

Right now I am in Marquette University's library, in Milwaukee, WI. I'm here as a Jesuit Volunteer, and will be living in community with 6 other volunteers and working at Catholic Charity's Immigrant Legal Department. That means that I will be taking the bus everymorning to a 9-to-5 as a paralegal helping asylum seakers, people who want to get their family green cards, and domestic violence cases (most often regarding immigrants who married abusive US citizens--they can divorce and still stay in the country and get green cards). The question might be, "Why are they called green cards?" The answer, I don't know. I'm assuming the color is green. Nonetheless, that's my job for one year, while I apply to law and social work schools.

The community mates are great. Each one has a unique personality and has different work , ranging from schools to community planning to homeless and childcare. Of course, whenever one lives in community, things might take some getting used to, but so far things have gone smoothely.

I must leave b/c Marquette is kicking people out of their library soon, so I'll update more. Before that, just a few points.

--I went to Milwaukee's Irish-Fest, the second biggest Irish festival in the US. Great music and lots of craic!

--Orlando's new address is:
Ave. Balaguer
Lote #67B
Lindero Nana
Nana, Lima 8 PERU

--everyone should write to him for a belated birthday wish (Aug 14 he turned 24)

--the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have all but clinched the Super Bowl b/c I say so.

Hasta luego.

Just in case

Just in case anyone still reads this page, I'm writing a little again. I wouldn't expect great works from me, especially since I have a crappy track record w/ writing, and the coming weeks look to be very busy.

The past:
I graduated May 19, came back to Tampa by the 21st, went to Barcelona on the 26th, arrived the next day and then took a cruise to the Amalfi Coast, Rome, Cique Terre, Nice/Monaco, Avignon, and then back to Barca, which we then toured. I will live in Nice in the future. I don't know when or why, but I will. Then back to Tampa, where I lost money in poker and hung out with friends, started jogging and doing push-ups/sit-ups every other day (or so...), started studying for the LSAT (again) which comes up September 30, and then went to West Palm Beach w/ the fam to celebrate fathers' day with everyone including grandpa. Oh, and I saw the DaVinci Code twice and X-Men 3, went to Disney with Monica and Juan and Ada, all college kids (Mon, thanks for coming down), and celebrated my best friend's mom's birthday while being called Julio by his grandmother.

The future:
I leave Friday June 23rd to be an au pair/babysitter/something for the Bigg family. We do Costa Rica for a week, then go to Ecuador for two days, then get on a boat and do the Golapagos Islands for 5 days or so. All this paid for by the Biggs for me, since I'm their kids' bodyguard :). Then I'm back July 9 to Miami, where I celebrate my mom's birthday as well as my grandfather's too, then off to Naples, Fla for two nights. Tampa from July 11-14. Then I'm off to MDA Camp for a week, back July 21, off the 26th to L.A. for a wedding, back the 30th, hopefully off August 2 to see Monica, back the 4, off to West Palm again the 6th, Tampa the 11th, and working by August 13.


Hopefully I'll hit a computer up once or twice, but leave me messages anyways. Peace and turkey grease.

Go Cards

Though I wouldn't call myself the biggest baseball fan, I'm all about the Cardinals tonight. Senior night out, Card's game. This is what the school does for us, give us some good times before we have to leave. Though the girlfriend won't be there, lots, of good kids will, so here I am pregaming with a Michelob Ultra Amber (much much more ultra than amber, stick to regular beer...it actually tastes like beer). Soon we're off to root root root for the home team, if they don't win it's a shame cause of their one, two, $100+ million dollars went to waste in the ol' ball game. I wish Tampa Bay had a good baseball team. Well, my rambling of the day ends. Love.

I just graduated

Well, not really. I just took my last final, so I need to wait for the grades to come it, senior week debauchery to begin and end, family to come in, and then receive my diploma. But for all intents and purposes, I have just graduated from college. Proud of me? You should be. College was an experience. The good and the bad, all were great experiences. The late nights, the 15+ page papers, the exams, the boring teachers, the inspiring teachers, the study abroad, the study at home, the hook ups, the girlfriend, the friends, the lack of friends, its all college. Its all done. Now off to the next stage in life. Well, thats a whole nother discussion, but for now just revel in my finishedness. I'm done.

Random Survey

whats your name spelt backwards? Ollitsac Egroj
What did you do last night? Movie, one whiskey, tv, all with friends and the girlfriend
The last thing you downloaded onto your computer? A game called 'Caramba.' Monica has since downloaded picaboo something-or-other
Have you ever licked a 9 volt battery? i think so
Last time you swam in a pool? spring break in vail, colorado
What are you wearing? basketball shorts and a jesuit high school t-shirt, glasses, socks
How many cars have you owned? one
Type of music you dislike most? lame tv jingles
Are you registered to vote? yes, in florida
Do you have cable? yes, basic
What kind of computer do you use? dell inspiron 8200
Ever made a prank phone call? yes, through Ariel's influence (the guy who helped pee on my back in the day)
You like anyone right now? monica
Would you go bungee jumping or sky diving? sky diving. bungee, maybe...but i think i'm less inclined
Furthest place you ever traveled? Warsaw or Hawaii, which is farther
What's your favorite comic strip? the far side
Do u know all the words to the national anthem? yessum, thanks to orlando and 5th grade
Shower, morning or night? whenever
Best movie you've seen in the past month? lucky number sleven
Favorite pizza toppings? ham
Chips or popcorn? popcorn
What cell phone provider do you have? cingular wireless
Have you ever smoked peanut shells? um....no. what is that?
Have you ever been in a beauty pageant? no, but yes to a fashion show
Orange Juice or apple? florida orange juice
Who were the last people you sat at lunch with?
favorite chocolate bar? i sat with alarcon, juan rendon, adam, wong, and monica for brunch this morning. good group of kids
Who is your longest friend and how long? Patrick Burely for 19 years....i'm 22
Last time you ate a homegrown tomato? back when my bro was a freshman in college b/c his roommate's mom has her own garden and made tomato soup for us when we came to visit
Have you ever won a trophy? yes, in baseball, hockey, for being in a quince, a ribbon for fishing and track, and a glassed-in picture of a hotel for a hermit crab race
Favorite arcade game? spyhunter
Ever ordered from an infomercial? never, but i always wanted to. the ab-roller, the cooker that you 'set it and forget it,' some awesome never dull knives, george forman grillz, etc
Sprite or 7-UP? 7-up
Have you ever had to wear a uniform to school/work? yes...12 years of catholic education will do that
Last thing you bought at Walgreens? easter eggs and shaving foam
Ever thrown up in public? in a dumpster here in college, and on a person in nicaragua (nasty turtle eggs)
Would you prefer being a millionaire or finding true love? true love. i'm a sucker
Do you believe in love at first sight? nope
SPONGEBOB OR JIMMY NEUTRON? jimmy neutron
Did you have long hair as a young kid? i wished...and piercings and a goatee. none of which i could have due to being 10 years old and the parents
What message is on your voicemail machine? none, except that my name is jorgito
Where would you like to go right now? to eat.
Whats the name of your pet? mandy marie castillo
What kind of back pack do you have, and what's in it? a jansport i've had since 7th grade, filled with folders and one binder, and one book on feminist theology in latin america, pens, highlighters, a single decade rosary, and travel connect four
What do you think about most? what do i have to do next

Thoughts

When I think about my blog, I usually think about my brother. Curious about how often her reads it; what does he get out of it; what he wishes I could do, like write more; etc. I know, or think I know, others read this too, but I imagine that what I report thinking of him is what others might ask as well. I want my brother to know me well, to be a part of my life, and in doing so, others get to go along for the ride. I'm not saying that everything is exclusively aimed for or to him, but I'm always keeping him in mind.

Thanks being said I was thinking about his name: Jose Maria or Josemaria (I'm not sure how he spells it). Why did he choose these names? I can imagine a few reasons, speculate on a few more, and think of some bonus reasons that he might not of thought up yet. There are the names seperately, Jose and Maria. Jose is his middle name, keeps a remnant of his given name in his taken name. A memory of home, of his past, of my father and grandfather with the same name. Jose is also a humble saint, father of Jesus. A guy who takes on the mission of raising the son of God, with some struggle no doubt, and has no other recognition. A saint who every knows, everyone likes, but no one thinks about right away when people ask, "who's your favorite saint." I think that appeals to Orlando. Mary...not enough can be said about her. She is the humble servant of God, the vessel in which God brought the world his son. A woman who has had an image transform throughout her veneration. No one is praised more than her, to contrast Jose. He power to affect others is only surpassed by her influence on her son. She's cool beans. Now, there is also a saint, Josemaria Escriva. He wrote, "The true life stories of Christian heroes resemble our own experience: they fought and won; they fought and lost. And then, repentant, they returned to the fray." Basically, his schtick was that everyone can be a saint in any situation. You don't have to live the 'perfect' life, just life your life perfectly, and when you fail, which you will, try again. That's his motto, and I'm sure Orlando agrees with him. Escriva was also a big influence on my father, which brought some tension b/n my bro and him. This might be a subconscious or intended reason to include the name. I remember some of the arguements ending with Orlando saying basically I agree, but that is not the way I choose to live my vocation.

Then again, I don't know what goes on in his head. Anyways, I get to talk to him on Sunday and I'm pumped. He's a good kid.

Peace.

Back to Blog

So we all thought that I would blog more since the thesis is down and out (Orlando, a copy will come your way soon), but obviously that was not the case. I had spring break, I had Carnaval, and now I have two more papers to write and one exam in May and I'm done. Let's catch up in that order.

Spring Break:

Was great. Loads of good people. Some days were more fun than others, but the trip was amazing. Highlights include a fun night of drinking and playing games and singing and whatnot in Boulder, CO; we made friends with Old Chicago bar and grills, introducing them to 'baby guiness', a sweet-tasting shot that looks like a miniature guiness drink; I snowboarded, along with most of the other kiddies; Monica actually got pretty good at it too, which I attribute to getting her away from he partner on the mountain who was more afraid to get up than anything else; Mon, once free from the fearful rants, could actually conentrate and enjoy the boarding day; We all got pretty sunbunt; the roadtrip part was awesome--Colorado east of the Rockies is WORSE than Kansas....I know! Here are some pics of the trip.


Here's Maggie and me driving 'round the mountains


Here's a lazy day


Most of the boarders (minus Mon and me), and our pretty good-lookin' teacher. He's from New Zeland





Carnaval

Carnaval was a good show, as usual. This was my first time doing it in the BIG theater on campus, though the show was done there last year when I was hanging out with the O'Reagans in Ireland. I had some 6 lines in the skit, danced lambada-chacha (chambada, we called it), bomba-reggaeton (bombaton, it was dubbed), and choreographed the senior dance. All of it was pretty fun, though a time killer for school happenings. I really think that chambada was maybe the sexiest dance I've ever danced, and the most complex. It had a great mix of the form and elegance of cha-cha, a ballroom dance, with the primal, Brazilian hotness of lambada. The choreographers did a good job of putting it together. Bombaton was just fun. It wasn't an incredible complex dance, but the practices were enjoyable and the people rocked, so we had a good time. As for senior dance. Well, let's just say it included the following songs: Can't Touch This, Come n Ride It (da train), Apache, Thriller, Grillz, Shoop, and Latinos. People flipped out when we played Thriller, and we also had super-seniors interrupt the dance, looking like supermans and we chased them off the stage. Good times! Pics below.


The quintessential Chambada pic


Here's the end of Senior Dance, where we actually spelled Seniors '06 properly


Some Bomba goin' on






Rest of School

Well, to wind up the school year, I got a paper on women in liberation theology and how the feminist angle has contributed to its development/fulfillment, one paper on Jews in the modern world, and an exam in that class. I've just wasted my hour in the library where I was supposed to research, so I'll finish here and do some work so the day isn't s a total workless day.

Peace, y'all. Thanks for reading.

lazy

I'm so lazy right now. Damn being a senior. I think I kinda love it.

biasball

As I work on this thesis of mine, which has a lot of work left, I have come to realize how biased my parents are about a situation that they see one-sided. And on top of that, how biased people get when they are one step removed from a situation. Basically, everyone has a bias. This much is obvious. But how it comes out is interesting. Let's look at my thesis for example. The Sandinistas were bad news according to my parents, so I thought so too and only got wind of their mistakes.



Turns out the conservatives and the church hierarchy also made some questionable decisions, and so much government has failed in the country because of failing to work together. Also, I noted that I ended up getting aggressive against the bishops of Nicaragua in my writing, which I guess what a way for me to counter my bias. In proofreading, I've tried to calm down both ways and just present the points of good and bad decisions by FSLN and the hierarchy a little more objectively. Writing is hard.

relay, babee

Today is relay for life, a day to celebrate cancer survivors and raising money to help find a cure.

Hopefully the event will be entertaining and fun, though 6pm to 6am doesn't sound too appealing, especially after training for Uncle Joe's from 10am to 6pm. I'll be up for a while, but if I can get in a nap or two, I'll be fine, especially for the lunch I am going to tomorrow afternoon. Our team, which is actually Monica's residents' team, 'Fo Fo Fo Life,' took on a Hollywood theme, so we'll see how we rock it. Anyways, I got to get out of here. Training calls. Peace.

been a while

Sorry I have neglected my blog for so long. It will probably be a few more weeks still until I can be regular. Thesis is due March 10 and now its crunch time. I'm writing a conclusion tonight and reading some stuff to add to the 'secularization' section. It's coming along quite well, I think. My advisors are MIA, though, which sucks. I do have two non-Political Science kids reading it in order to tell me which are the most confusing parts so I can be clearer and whatnot. Then a trip to the writing center to look at intros and conclusions. Most of all, I have to fix up the section I wrote all last week (5-6am nights...not too fun).

Orlando, I'm glad you are feeling better about your discernment. Don't minimize your feelings of confusion, but it is good to know which feelings you should pay more attention to and which to not. Like Sunday, I was feeling pretty down and blue, but I realized it was just the day. Sometimes its just the day....or the week...or whatnot.

Here are some pics of Celeste. She's adorable. Amy likes prayers, so send 'em. Love ya, readers :)

Well I'll be Darn Tootin'

I'm not actually sure if that's how the phrase goes. I'm not excellent when it comes to cliche's. As a matter of fact, it's part of my charm, butchering sayings. But I makes said remark because it has come to my attention that there is an international audience to my emails. All the way from across the pond, some good Irish kids are tuning in to find out about Jorge. That's huge! I miss my Irish buds and hope all is well in their world. I just sent one of them a postcard because she was one of the most important and memorable people I met overthere. Sweetheart like no other. And she liked me despite my uncoolness at times. She's a winner in my book.



Speaking of Ireland, Kate brought us down to this shop one day for a nice little afternoon snack after seeing the ruins in Cashel. That is where I learned my name in Irish. Good times, Kate, and Katy who was there with us, and for some reason I think there were more of us, but I can't remember who. Maybe one of the sis's. I recall tumbling down hills (in honor of Monica who made me do it once at Wash U), almost killing a small child who wanted to copy us, much to her parents discontent. Life is good when you got time and good friends. I miss ol' Eire. I miss my Kates. I don't miss overcast days nor random rain, but you got to take the good with the bad.

Well, Monica seems to be the only other person who reads this, assuming that Tito has already begun, let's shoutout to her. She's in the show shown above in the Performing Art Department of Wash U, her first PAD show to date. She's some crazy old lady who gets attacked on suspicions of witchcraft. According to my sources (Kathleen O'Malley) she has come full circle in her acting career, having played a similar character in the Crucible as a senior in high school. As I've never seen either, it's new to me.

I am fine. Procrastinating from the thesis stuff. The topic, so you know, has been refined to examining the comunidades eclesiasticas de base in Central America to identify secularization in the society and to analyze its tendencies (i.e. religious authority is pushed away? falls away? transfers? etc). I have tons of reading and writing still to do, so I'm really getting behind. Anyways, I'm out. Stay cool, kiddies in cyberspace.

Oh yeah, if you are a cyberspacer that stumbles upon this page and want to show me yours, I'm very weary of some links. If you include something in your comments that show me that you've actually looked at my site and aren't just copying and pasting a note to lead me to your spyware infested porn kingdom, I'd be more inclined to check your sites out.

Peace

New Leaf

Well, boys and girls, whoever still reads this site, which is probably just me right now, I will be writing a little more frequently from now on, at least once a week. Why? B/c now I know my brother in Peru can read this now and again and it's an easy way for him to see what's going on in my life and catch up with me. He can't write me, but c'est la vie. He probably will be able to in a year or so. Just thought I'd fill you all in. I wish I had downloaded some pictures from the break from my computer at home to my computer at school, but alas, I have not. Nevertheless, keep checking back here now and again to see what I'm up to, what the mood is, how far the thesis is coming along, etc.

And Happy New Year!