Where's The True Holiday Spirit?

The day after thanksgiving usually signals the beginning of the holiday shopping season and this year was no exception. People lined up for hours braving the elements to get the first shot at “doorbuster” deals all across the country. What this leads to many times is people behaving like savages over places in line or the right to get the latest hot item for a good price. Times like these make me wonder, where has the holiday spirit gone? People seem to be more concerned about the material things and forgetting the true meaning of the holidays.

The people at my job decided to hold a Secret Santa gift exchange this year and I enthusiastically decided to be a part of it. One week after signing up, I noticed that someone had come up with a wish list where people could write down some suggestions for people giving them presents. It seemed like a good idea in case you got someone you didn’t know well. I was surprised to see, however, that most of my co-workers had written down that they wished to receive gift cards. With the limit being thirty dollars, many of these people specifically wrote down that they wanted thirty dollar gift cards, with some even specifying what store. This whole thing was just ridiculous to me because I asked the people asking for gift cards what they planned on giving as a gift and most responded by saying “A gift card”. WTF? If you’re going to give a gift card and hope to receive a gift card OF THE SAME VALUE, then why even join? You’re just exchanging money and to me, a gift card just doesn’t have the same sentimental value as a gift someone actually put some thought into.

Because of this, I had thoughts about pulling out of the gift exchange. But I figured I would just do my part and hope that the person I got would appreciate a gift that I chose for her (luckily, she actually put some helpful suggestions). I hope that as we get deeper into the holiday season, people remember that these times about more than just shopping. They are about spending time with loved ones and celebrating what is good about life.

I Hate Loving You

When you and I first met that May of 2004, you were unlike any other I had ever seen. Your inner beauty was equally matched by the outer beauty that attracted me to you. Whenever we were together, heads turned. It was amazing. It hasn’t been an easy ride of either of us, but I fear that our time together is slowly, but surely, coming to an end. My affection, my unconditional loyalty, have not been reciprocated in the past months. I hate to say this, but I did the unthinkable and sought in others what you no longer gave me. Yes, Chevy Tahoe, I will no longer put up with this crap of you not being there for me when I need you the most! But it’s so hard to leave you after all we’ve been through together.

I never thought it would come to this, but I am seriously considering getting a new car. The craziness known as high gas prices coupled with the fact that my Tahoe is greatly contributing to the cause of global warming were making me consider trading it in for a smaller, more fuel efficient car. While I was driving back home one weekend, I noticed my brakes were not functioning like they once were. Weeks later, I took it to the shop weeks later after noticing the problem had worsened. The good folks there informed me that it would take 1,800 freakin dollars to fix my problems! That’s a decent down payment for a lease in some cases. Were they kidding me? I didn’t have the money at the moment, so I declined the service for now so I could go to the parents for some advice.

Fast forward to the present and here I am, convinced that I am going to get a new car. I hate thinking about it though. Although it’s not my first car, I have grown extremely attached to this piece of junk. Every scratch hurt as if it had been a scratch on my body. I have made my decision, but it is not effective immediately. I’ll probably wait until the new year comes in and I find a better paying job so that I can afford this new car. In the meantime, I will reflect on all of our good times together while looking forward to the prospect of having a new toy to play with in the coming months. Even after all we’ve been through, it will always have a special place in my heart.

Image credit: www.chase-1.com

This Weekend Is Saw Weekend

“This weekend is Saw Weekend”. That is all I have seen this week whenever I have hopped on some of my favorite sites such as YouTube. I was having doubts about catching the fourth installment of this now yearly “gorefest” (Yeah I know its not a real word but I couldn’t find another to describe it) but I must admit, the marketing campaign and the fear of being labeled a wuss by my peers made me catch this movie on opening night. I am not a big fan of horror movies because they usually end up having dumb plots or predictable finishes. My preferences are more along the lines of gangster or mafia movies such as Casino or The Departed. The Saw series, however, has always managed to keep my attention because of the inevitable plot twist and because it always leads to an animated discussion with friends about the movie, the killer’s motives, and possibilities for the sequel (plans are already under way for a fifth and sixth part in the series).

I am not the squeamish type. Something has to be super gross in order for me to close my eyes or turn my head the other way. As I was watching this, I was reminded of the time I saw the first installment of the series. It was on a date with a girl who I had been seeing for quite a bit of time. She told me she wasn’t a big fan of horror movies, but it was the only movie on. Needless to say she couldn’t take the graphic violence that these movies have become famous for. Sometime during the movie, she asked for us to leave. I was so consumed in the movie however, that I decided we should stay. That ended up being our last date. It’s funny thinking back how the movie and my decision to stay there probably led to her not wanting to see me. Because of that, I’ve decided that a group setting with friends is probably the better way to go watch this other potentially bloody movies.

As far as the movie is concerned, it ended up being a pretty damn good one. It wasn’t as disgusting as the others, thankfully. And once again, the swerve near the end tied up loose ends, while also preparing us for the sequel. If you are a fan of this type of movie, make sure you catch Saw 4.

Is Hip-Hop Dying?

As a lover of Hip-Hop music, I consider myself a very lucky man to have lived through the genre’s “Second Golden Era”. I did not know it at the time, but the artists that introduced me to this music, such as Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z, Nas, Outkast, and many more, would eventually go on to become Hip-Hop royalty. These artists put out classic albums and songs that have stood the test of time (Hip-Hop doesn’t seem to respect its past like other genres, such as Rock) and have influenced most of today’s current crop of rap artists. After discussing with my roommate about the current state of Hip-Hop, we came to a conclusion that saddened us both; Hip-Hop just isn’t what it used to be.

For the past years, we have been subjected to such atrocious hits such as “Shake That Laffy Taffy”, Been told to “Walk it Out”, and have had to hear some kid named Jibbs talk about how his “Chain Hang Low”. This year it’s been nothing but “A Bay Bay” and the newest song making me turn off the radio, “Crank Dat” by Soulja Boy. It looks to me as if the concept of making a Hip-Hop song has been lost. Back in the day (Even five years ago), much more thought went into making a song. Subject matter ranged from the street life, to the political, the struggle of living in the ghetto, even love songs! Today, rappers seem to focus on making catchy jingles that will earn them nothing more than fifteen minutes of fame and a plaque for selling the most ringtones to mainstream America.

There are a couple of names out there making music for the sake of music and some artists have a message in the music they make. However, these people are few and far between. I do support these people by going out to buy their music and attending their concerts. But until the music industry and rappers step their game up, I will only listen to the timeless classics and only pay attention to artists who don’t sell out and have more to offer than just a catchy hook or the latest dance.

F*** You Injury Bug!!

Fall is usually my favorite season because of two things, football is getting under way and the baseball playoffs are in full swing. Since my Oakland A’s didn’t make it into the post-season, most of my sports attention has shifted toward football. This year, I decided to join in on a fantasy football league to see what all the fuss was about. I must admit, the thing has me hooked. Because of this league, the first thing I do when I get on the internet is go to my league’s page to see what new events have transpired since the last time I checked in. I think I’m bordering on addiction. I am currently one game behind the team in first place and have pulled off some miraculous victories.

Like when many things are going well, life finds a way to f*** things up. My top receiver and my two top running backs have gone down to injuries. These are the players responsible for some of those miraculous victories and now I have been left scrambling to look for acceptable replacements to these players so that I can put up respectable numbers on Sunday and not fall further behind the “Grid Iron Beast”.

Previous years I couldn’t have cared less for players not on the Oakland Raiders’ roster. But this year things have changed in a major way. As I’m writing this blog, I find myself looking for a running back that will play this Sunday. As if that wasn’t bad enough, I have to make the gut-wrenching decision whether to cut one of my injured players. Should I ride it out and hope that he comes back next week? Or should I cut my losses and hope that my new player will provide respectful numbers? Who knew owning a football team was this hard? And this is just a fantasy football team! Because of this, I want to scream so that everyone can hear me: F*** YOU INJURY BUG!

I'm Back . . . and Watch Heroes!

It has been a long time since I’ve posted a blog on here and I feel like an idiot for always remembering to do this on Saturday morning. This feels like a new beginning for me and I’ve promised myself that instead of waiting for the Friday deadline, I will instead take care of my blog whenever a random thought enters my head because coming up with a topic on Friday while I race against the clock is not the ideal way to start off my weekend.

Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, I would like to speak of another new beginning. This past Monday my favorite show on television, Heroes, began its second season. I couldn’t be happier and more excited about it. A co-worker who happens to share many interests with me recommended the show near the end of the first season and I’m grateful for that. It has great characters and a storyline that always leaves me wanting more. If you have not seen this show, I would very much recommend catching it on Monday nights on NBC. It can be somewhat confusing because of the many stories revolving around the characters, so one might have to do some homework on the back stories. This season looks to be even better than the first so go ahead and check out one of the best shows out right now.

Take My Pain Away!

Life has dealt me some pretty painful blows that have needed lots of strength and time overcome. However, the pain that I am currently experiencing is something that cannot go away soon enough. As I type this, I wonder how I even made it out of bed this morning and how I've made it through the day. Contrary to what you might believe, this is not emotional pain. The cause of my misery is none other than the sport of soccer. The sport that I have always disrespected and deemed inferior to American mainstays, such as football, basketball, and baseball, has come back to bite me in the ass. And boy did it come back with a vengeance.

I mentioned in my previous post that I am a graduating senior (crosses fingers). At the fine institution known as San Jose State University, all students are required to at least take two units of physical education. I decided that this would finally be the semester that I would fulfill these requirements and signed up for Beginning Bowling and Beginning Soccer. So far, bowling has been lecture on the history and rules of bowling. Soccer has been the complete opposite and I have the dirty shorts to prove it. I expected to learn the rules eventually play games by the end of the semester. This is Beginning Soccer after all. Boy was I wrong. We were doing drills and running laps around the field next to Spartan Stadium. The only thing I kept thinking was "I never signed up for cross-country!". After a couple of stretches and a few drills, we began to play some games. My performance was ok, but after slipping in the mud twice, running up and down the field, and missing an easy goal, I was ready to go home. My body demanded it.

Even after all of that, I enjoyed my time in that class and I am looking forward to spending the semester in this class. The sport of soccer has gained my respect and I tip my hat to all of the players from the youth leagues all the way up to the professionals. Before, my thoughts on soccer resembled those of sports-talk radio host Jim Rome. I used to think that soccer was something that brought moms together on Saturday mornings so that they could cheer on their kids during the game and then take them out for pizza. I am willing to admit that I was wrong. It is a great sport that has finally shown me why it is so popular around the world and I hope to learn more about it and become a decent player in the next few weeks. No matter how much it hurts.

My First Blog Post

Well in typical Juan fashion, here I am racing against the clock to meet a deadline for a class assignment. For the past five years, since the beginning of my senior year in high school, I promised myself that I would finally break free from procrastination's grip and become the student that everyone said I would become. But there's something about the rush that I get from knowing that its "Do or Die" time and knowing that somehow I will deliver the goods and end up getting a decent or excellent grade in the end. I feel a bad case of senioritis coming through.

Having just revealed this little detail about myself, I want to clear up my current situation as I write this blog. For the past week, the thought of writing a blog has been somewhat intimidating. Not only is this my first blog, I know that people that I see at least twice a week will have access to it and get a chance to critique it. They'll laugh at me for all I know! I finally came to realize last night that I had no choice but to post something or else I was gonna be in trouble with only one week into the semester. But somehow, life throws you curveballs when you least expect them. It was no biggie, just annoying. Last night around this time, my computer died. My charger decided it would catch a ride out of town in my friend's car. So you might be asking yourself, how is he writing this? I won't get into detail but lets just say my boss would not be too happy.

Anyways, its closing time! Gotta go before the boss catches me.

Late