New Brazilian AIDS Awareness Campaign

A new AIDS awareness campaign launched in Brazil earlier this week. A poster featuring a naked man, laying down on hundreds of red condoms (reminiscent of American Beauty), is sure to attract attention...which is always good, right? Sex sells. Let's just hope that safe sex sells, too. The main message above the guy translates to something like "Do What You Want, But Do It With A Condom."

(click for full size)

From the official site:

"For the first time the Brazilian Ministry of Health has launched an action plan to contain the incidence of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases among gay men, men who have sex with men (MSM) and transvestites. During the launch of the plan, on Tuesday (25), Health Minister José Gomes Temporão emphasized the importance of the measure. “It is fundamental to recognize the magnitude of AIDS among this population and to prioritize effective actions in this area”.

The plan has eight objectives for gay men and other MSM and six for transvestites. The document prioritizes issues such as the reduction of the vulnerabilities associated with sexual orientation, guaranteed access to AIDS prevention, increased information regarding this population and guaranteed actions by all three levels of government. Behaviour studies commissioned by the Ministry of Health indicate that gay men and MSM are 11 times more likely to become infected with HIV than heterosexual men.

During the event an education campaign for this specific public was also launched. 100 thousand adhesive posters and 500 thousand folders containing information on STDs, AIDS and correct condom use will be distributed. The posters and folders will be sent to the State and Municipal Health Departments, which will be responsible for distributing them locally.

The graphic materials centre on the language and identity of the target population. Posters and folders will be distributed in gay bars, nightclubs, parties and other places frequented by gay men, in addition to civil society organizations that work with this public."

To read more about this, visit www.aids.gov.br

Go Digital February 2009!

I got my two "coupon" cards for the digital converter box today! My TV doesn't actually need it, since it's an HDTV and I'm getting my signals through HD broadcast channels. It's an older model HDTV...but still HDTV nonetheless! lol

As you may or may not know, on February 17, 2009, all television signals that are currently being broadcast through analog signals (those that use regular old fashion "rabbit ear" antennas) will be converted to digital signals. Will you be ready? If you have an old TV that doesn't support any digital signals (HDTV) then you're going to need a converter box. I'm not sure if they're still accepting applications for the coupons, but you can give it a try at www.dtv2009.gov if you don't already have them. Check out this site, www.dtv.gov for more information about this whole digital TV revolution. lol If you already are receiving HDTV or Digital cable/satellite, then you may not need the converter box....but hey, maybe the parents or grandparents or other not-so-digitally-advanced people will, so why not help them out? I've seen these going for about $50 or so at Wal*Mart, so with the $40 coupons it'll help.

This concludes my public service announcement for the day! lol If you have any questions about all this, feel free to ask me. I tend to read up a lot on this. lol

Food Court Musical

A couple days ago I posted a video about a group of public pranksters who did some random musicals in a school library and a lecture hall. Well, today I ran across this other public musical prank, done by people over at the site by the website improveverywhere.com. This one was done here in L.A., if only I could've been there! Would've been a fun surprise. lol You should check out the rest of their site, they have done several other public pranks (or "social experiments" if you would) which are all pretty fun to watch.

Life's Coincidences

It's kind of funny the way things just seem to "connect" some times. The other day, my friend Felipe hit me up in an IM. "Hiyee!" he said. For some random reason, that one word brought up an image in my mind. My brain immediately went through the many years of pop culture information that have been stored in it and that one phrase, as I imagined it being pronounced in a super-perky sort of way, made me think of Bonnie Brindle. Name doesn't ring a bell? Well, if you didn't grow up in the 80's then you probably never watched a little show called Small Wonder. The show starred Tiffany Brissette as Vicki the Robot, a AI robot created to resemble a not-so-average little girl. It was a corny show, if you look back on it now, but I (along with many others in my age groups) loved it and it brings back some oh-so-wonderful memories. lol But anyhow...on that show, just as with many sitcoms, they had some nosy and kind of annoying neighbors, the Brindles...Bonnie Brindle (played by Edie McClurg) was the mom.

Now, back to the chat with my friend. I told him how that phrase, when he said it, made me think of Bonnie Brindle. To me, it sounded so much like something she'd say. He got a kick out of it. lol I'm not even 100% sure if she ever actually said it, but she could have! I do know she had a catch phrase, "No, no no no, no no!", which she said plenty of times. lol I even left him a little comment with her picture, as a little inside joke. hehe

While I was searching for her picture online I ended up finding a little more info about her. I found her IMDB profile, her official website and a bunch of other random fan-created Small Wonder sites. I even checked out a few clips on youtube, which actually lead to my trip down memory lane about a few other shows I liked back then, which I posted their theme songs on the post before this one.

So there I was, having my own little Edie McClurg moments. It had come and gone. Or so I thought. Last night I go over to Juan's and we're just chilling, having eaten some pizza, and watching a new show he likes, Miss Guided. The second episode we see is about this teacher, Ms. Pool, that nobody likes. She's like the school bully-teacher. She puts people down, picks on fellow teachers and makes men run errands for her. I'll give you one guess as to who was the special guest star playing this person! Think hard. Yep...the one and only Edie McClurg! lol I couldn't believe it. lol I just thought it was so funny and crazy how I'd spent a few moments just recently looking up stuff on her and now there she is again on TV, in glorious hi definition! Checking out her IMDB I did see that she had done many things, including a lot of voice acting, over the years. But as of now, Miss Guided isn't listed on her page.

I just find it kinda funny when this happens. And I notice it happens every now and then. Some new person, thing, place or idea will enter my knowledge. Something or someone that maybe I haven't heard of before or not in a long time, and it's freshly stored in my mind. Then all of a sudden I see this same thing appear somewhere else, mentioned by someone else or read about it. I know it's really all about the knowledge. Because I've just learned about this thing (or been reminded of it recently), if I see it again it will obviously stand out. Whereas if nobody had ever told me about it or I'd already forgotten it, if I saw it I probably wouldn't have noticed it at all. Hmmmm...or maybe there's some magical powers all around us that connect our everyday thoughts in a way that none of us will ever understand. I'd like to think the latter. ;)

My Childhood Friends: Vicki, Evie & Andrew

Ahhhhh...these intros bring back so many TV watching memories of my youth! These were three of my favorite live-action shows. Even then I was already into girls made of steel, half alien girls and guys who could fly. lol No wonder I love the kind of shows I watch now. hehe Also, they just don't make theme songs like they used to! :) Nowadays you'll be lucky if you even have any opening song at all! lol

Gay Marriages

There was a time in my life when I saw myself getting married. Living that so-called American Dream. Having a happy wife, a few smiling kids, a hyper dog running around the yard, which is surrounded by a white picket fence and situated behind a big house, with the sun shining bright in the distance, birds chirping in the trees, and two cars parked in the garage. Hmmm...well ok, maybe that wasn't exactly my dream. lol But I did believe I'd end up married with children. *cue theme song*

I always knew I had these "strange" feelings for other guys. Those thoughts I secretly carried about certain neighbors or classmates or just random people. They would always be just that, my secret thoughts. I'd grow up, move on past them, and finally realize how crazy I was to think such things. But oh how wrong I was. lol Call it confusion, denial or just a plain self-discovery process. In the end, I grew up to learn who I truly was and that there was nothing wrong with it. I discovered so many new people just like me, whereas before I felt like I was the only one that felt this way. I never would've imagined that in my city there were probably thousands that felt this way. Hell, I didn't even have to look too far. My own neighborhoods had others like me.

Now I'm grown up. I've gotten through most of those stages of confusion. I know who I am, no ifs ands or buts about it. But then new thoughts and questions arise. One of them being the big M word. Marriage. Some of us want it or need it, others don't really care, and the rest just don't want it at all. I think I probably fall in the middle somewhere. I wouldn't say that I don't want it at all, but I also wouldn't say that I "need" it. There's so much debate about all this, I really won't get into that. My thoughts on this are usually more on a personal level. Do I really need a piece of paper, a certificate, to prove my love? Yes, if legal, it would carry with it some legal "rights". But I'm not even talking about that. I guess the way I see it, if I truly love someone, that person knows it. My friends will know it. My family (if I can ever get the courage to tell them) will know it. That's all that would matter to me. So on that level, a marriage wouldn't matter as much. Still, I guess I can see why the whole ceremony itself is something people like. It is nice, it's special and memorable to share that moment with your friends and loved ones. But then there are all those issues of planning it, paying for it and dealing with all the dramas leading up to it. lol I'd much rather just do something quick and simple with a small group instead of a big event. I'm a romantic...but I like to keep it simple. hehe It's the little things that count.

So if gay marriages ever become equal with straight marriages, who knows where I'll stand. Will that change my feelings toward getting married? Maybe the new "rights" would convince me. hehe In the end, my love for him wouldn't change. I'd still love and cherish, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, just as much as I did before any "I Do".

Perfectionist Dreams

Anyone that knows me quite well can tell you that I tend to be a perfectionist. I want things to be perfect. I like things neat, ordered and all in the right place. I like my room to be organized (although that needs to be worked on lately), my desk to be neat at work and my car to be clean and litter-free. I often get comments on how neat my car is. lol I also try to be as "correct" as possible when it comes to writing and grammar. Yes, I'm not perfect, but I try. When I write on these blogs, for example, I always look for any spelling mistakes or things that just don't make sense. Still, this IS a blog, so it doesn't matter too much. But it represents me, after all. I want it to be a good representation. I don't want to seem like I'm sloppy. lol I keep the tone of the whole blog casual though, I don't want to use "big words" because honestly...I can't think of "big words" to use half of the time. lol

Long story short...my point to all this...I noticed that even in my dreams these tendencies of mine have started to creep in. Last night I was having another of my random weird dreams. I can only remember bits and pieces now that really wouldn't make sense to anyone but my own mind. But the key scene took place out in some sort of back yard. I was being held prisoner there by some people, who were looking down over us from a balcony that wasn't that high up. I believe some of my family and friends were there with me. I can't really picture their faces anymore...but I know they were people that I know and were close to me. We always had a "guard" looking down at us from the balcony, so we couldn't escape. At one point, somebody we knew appeared and was talking to the guard. We then got the idea to write out a note, saying something like "Help! We are being held prisoner!" and try to get it to the person we knew. So I grabbed a pen and started writing it out on some paper scraps that were scattered throughout the yard. But then I kept making spelling errors, or my writing wasn't neat enough, or the pen started to run out and it wasn't an even ink tone...and I kept crumbling up papers and started from scratch over and over. In the end, I took so long that our friend in the balcony left and we lost our opening. lol So because of my wanting the message to be perfect and without any errors or scribbles...I screwed up our plan. How sad is that? lol

Life: The Musical

So you're going about your day as usual, nothing out of the ordinary, same old routine. When all of a sudden you start to hear some music. Out of nowhere a random guy starts bursting into song, as if you're in the middle of a musical or a classic Disney animated movie. He starts to sing a song related to the location or event you're in. Now wouldn't that be cool? LOL

There's a website, www.prangstgrup.com, where they did pretty much just that. They film pranks (social experiments?) involving unsuspecting people. Take an ordinary setting (a library and a lecture hall) and then have someone burst into a song. People look on, half confused yet probably more amused than anything. And the lyrics and music aren't all that bad. LOL Sure would help brighten up my day, that's for sure. Still, after a while if there were too many songs I'm guessing it'd get annoying. :)

Anyhow, check these out...

Vacation's All I Ever Wanted

Yesterday I received a new catalog in the mail. It's for the 2008/09 travel season, at Contiki. I get these catalogs every now and then because Contiki was the company we used when we went on our two week European Discovery trip in 2005. It was a trip I will never forget! I loved the tour group experience because all we really had to do was make it to the starting point (a hotel in London) on our own, and from there our tour guides did most of the work. All hotels were already arranged, along with some meals and optional excursions. They made sure we saw all the main attractions in the cities we visited, along with a few others that we might not have known about had we gone alone. All the people in our group, people from several countries, were all really cool. We didn't really interact too much most of the time, but still they were all nice.

Anyhow, long story short...getting that catalog in the mail got me thinking about that trip again. I think about it often actually, along with the one we took on our own to Spain a couple of months ago. Wow....I can't believe our Spain trip was literally just a little over two months ago! I could've sworn it was longer. I guess once the trip is over, once the excitement and fun of a visiting a new country ends, everything just tends to go back to normal...time just becomes one jumbled mess of work, commuting, sleeping and random appointments. Looking through that catalog yesterday, which covers their Europe/Egypt/Mediterranean trips, and seeing all the glossy pictures of the young people all over Europe....just made me wish I could jump into the pages and magically appear in those countries. I mention they are "young people" because this particular company specializes on "Vacations for 18-35 year olds". That was pretty cool. I've got nothing against my elders, but some times you just don't have much in common to talk about with an elderly couple when travelling on a vacation. lol

I loved those trips. It is such a nice feeling to get away from everything. The stresses of work and bills and just dramas in general. Although...I don't really have too many dramas in my life, to be honest. I've been blessed with a great family and a great circle of friends, along with a great love. So really...it's more just life's demands that I like to escape from. To go and relax, start each day with a smile and end it with a smile, with nothing but smiles in between it all. It's a smile orgy! lol Plus just seeing all the new sights, peoples, food, buildings, nature...everything seems new and fun to explore. I can't wait for the next trip. I have no idea when that'll be though...or even where to. I'm not exactly Mr. Moneybags here. So I must be patient. But not TOO patient. I'm not getting any younger! lol

My TV Banners

What do most people use the Internet for? To look up things they are interested in, of course. Therefore, I'll often spend a lot of my online time checking out entertainment, music, film, animation, electronics, DVDs and television related sites, blogs or news. I have an ever growing list of bookmarks that I like to check up on every so often.

Recently, one of the television sites that I enjoy, thetvaddict.com, put up a little challenge of sorts, "Pimp Your Show." The deal was that you could submit a banner of a given size where you promote your favorite show. The banner/header image would then be used at the top of their website for a day (or more). It could be a current show, an upcoming show, or maybe a show that got cancelled and you want to show your anger over it...something along those lines. This immediately caught my attention. I love television shows and I love playing around with graphics/editing...albeit on an amateur level. So to combine two of my interests sounded like a fun project for me.

Of course, the very first thing that came to my mind was "How can I involve Buffy The Vampire Slayer?" lol Then I remembered that her creator, Joss Whedon, is working on a new show with Eliza Dushku, Dollhouse, which should be coming out this Fall (if all things go as planned). With that in mind, I got to work on my first banner image. And this is it:


I don't know if it'll get picked. Looking back now I feel like it's too simple, not much to really catch your attention. Plus, I wanted to go with a sort of "girls of Whedon" theme....showing some of his past characters and then the new one. But this new show is still quite far off. Last night I got to work on a second idea. This time I wanted to promote Reaper, one of the new shows from last year on the CW that I really liked. Unfortunately it's still "on the bubble" and could get cancelled. So I thought it'd be perfect to try and promote that one a bit. After working out some ideas in my mind, I couldn't really come up with something that great. LOL Below is what I came up with.

It's not horrible, I think. But I felt like it wasn't complete. Maybe I should've worked on it a bit more before submitting. But oh well, who knows, maybe I'll get lucky and one of these will be used on the site. It'd be the first time an image I edit makes is viewed by thousands of eyes. lol It's things like this that make me smile. lol

What do you think? If you had to pick one, which would you use? As much as I love my Buffy, I think I'd go with the second one...even though I felt I needed to add a better message in it. I'm not 100% happy with either result, but I still had fun making them. And if either one is used on the site, even better! There's no prize or anything. It's all in good fun.

Spongebob Does The Movies

I thought this was pretty funny! The voice actors that work on Spongebob Squarepants take on a few scenes from some classic movies! :)

Cobras & Cars

Where does time go, seriously? It's already Tuesday! Feels like just yesterday night I was getting ready to head out for a night at the club with some friends. But that was actually already four days ago! The weekend just flew by.

Last Friday I got home from work at the usual time, a bit tired and lazy, just planning to chill for the night. Relax and take it easy. I was finally feeling better, got rid of the cough and cold, so if I wanted to go out I could. But for whatever reason I was just planning to stay in. Felipe had invited me to Club Cobra, out in North Hollywood. But I hadn't planned on going. Then I found out a couple other friends were going too. So at the very last minute I decided to go. Would be nice to see friends again. So I took a very quick shower and shaved. I hadn't shaved all week, so I didn't want to go looking like a caveman or something. lol Then I printed out a mapquest map and was on my way! Luckily I didn't get lost or anything. In fact I got there faster than I thought I would. The whole night was fun. I saw several people I knew, more than I thought I would and met a few new people. A cool night all around. Afterward, five of us headed over to breakfast at a nearby restaurant, Coral Cafe. I actually just had some OJ though. I wasn't hungry. Normally even if I'm not hungry sometimes I'll have a bite but for whatever reason I literally felt like I couldn't have a single bite! Trust me, I've been known to eat up some big burritos after the clubs. hehe And the food did look good there that night. But maybe next time then.

I didn't get to bed until around 5:30am, and by 10:00am I was up again. lol Juan came over and we headed out to go car shopping for him. He ended up getting a new 2009 Nissan Murano, which took us well into the night at the dealership. Luckily, he's good at negotiating, and got them to give him a good price. Plus, the three guys that worked with us were very helpful. Some of those people can tend to be intimidating and make you look stupid. But these guys were all cool with us, very friendly, and helped us out a lot. The final guy that we dealt with, the one who has us sign all the forms, he was especially nice! We kinda got that vibe...wondering if he was "family" or not. lol But hopefully when I have to go back to my dealership to deal with my car's lease ending, I get someone that's as cool as they were. I'm still not sure whether I want to trade in, buy a new car, pay off my current car...or what. Sometimes I almost wish I could just go back to riding the bus and not have to deal with all these payments. But I don't know if I could. I've gotten used to the independence and being able to go anywhere I want at anytime and not having to worry about bus schedules or bus fare or if it's too dangerous out at the time.

The rest of the weekend, Sunday, we just spend running a few errands, hitting up a few stores. Then it was back to work on Monday! But I actually just worked a half day. I needed to go take my car for a service/checkup. The place was pretty empty and I was in and out relatively fast (compared to previous times). I may just have to keep going on weekdays from now on. hehe


And now another day is here. Before I know it, Friday will roll around again, and another weekend will be welcomed into my life! hehe

The Bridge

(my view this morning along the L.A. bridge)

It was a really foggy (or smoggy, rather) morning today. It was hard to see that far ahead of you. As I was driving to work today, crossing the bridge that I've crossed so many times in the past 28+ years, going over the L.A. river, looking ahead at the Downtown L.A. skyline, I noticed there really wasn't much of a skyline visible today. It was all just a big grey smokey wall. The tall buildings I'm used to seeing, growing bigger and bigger as I get closer, were gone. I literally couldn't see anything past the bridge! As if I was driving toward an abyss. It all reminded me of the movie The Mist. I almost stuck my head out my window to look up and check for any giant bugs. lol Well ok, not really. Still, I just find it kind of crazy how one day it'll be all grey and gloomy, and then another day the sun is out bright and early and the sky is clear and blue and I can see the windows of the downtown buildings glistening and reflecting the morning sun.

Smoggy air and all! Home sweet home, I love L.A.!

Dream Friends

Do you ever have dreams about your friends? I'm sure you probably have, we all do...right? We dream about things we know, things we've done, places we've been to or seen and of course the people in our lives. All those things around us when we are awake, both physically and in our minds/feelings, tend to creep into our dreams.

Last night I dreamt about one of my friends. It wasn't anything too weird or crazy. We were just hanging out at Disneyland. And actually this was just a part of a bigger dream, most of which I can't really remember now. But I did remember a few parts where me and my friend were just hanging out at Disneyland. This morning I wrote him an email, telling him about the dream. I try to do that anytime I dream of someone I know. Well, as long as I can remember enough details so that it's worth telling. On the one hand, it's just fun to tell people my random crazy and strange dreams I have about them. But also, I can't help but wonder that "What If?" What if, in some strange Twilight Zone sort of way, I were to one day find out that one of my friends had that exact same dream. That we both dreamed the same thing one night, down to every detail. Like if we walked into each others dreams? LOL How freaky, yet kinda cool, would that be? Yes, maybe I've been watching too many supernatural movies...but still!

This also got me thinking about the Dream Machine invention that I wish were possible. A machine that you can hook yourself up to so that whatever you dream gets transferred to it and digitally recorded. Then when you wake up, you can push "play" and watch your dreams. lol I know it sounds way out there...but hey, you never know what's possible!? Isn't our brain (and therefore our dreams) basically a bunch of signals? Still, I don't know if I'd really want to relive ALL my dreams! Some of them....especially the nightmares...I'd probably just rather forget.

So yeah, if any of you ever have a dream about me, I want to know! :)

Life's Relationships

Never take those you love for granted. Never feel like just because you love them, they love you back, and you both know it...that you don't have to let each other know. That you don't have to show it as much, since it's already so obvious. After all, people like to be told they are loved. As humans, we crave the company, comfort and affection of others. Without that, what good is everything else in this world? What good is life if we don't have people to share it with? Family, friends and lovers. We should always remind them what they mean to us. Show them how much we love them. A little hug, an "I Love You", some time together...they all can go a long way in all types of relationships. Over the years, as we've spent more time with those we love, sometimes we think that it's all so obvious. "Oh, they know I love them." Without realizing it, those three words, "I Love You", might start to be said less and less. We just have to realize that those long time relationships, those that last for years or even a lifetime, will always need that extra TLC to keep it going.

Something somebody told me over the weekend got me thinking a bit about all this.

The Sniffles

I just can't win! Uggh! I started feeling a sore throat coming on earlier this week, and then yesterday I was especially feeling it. That nasty scratchy feeling in my throat that even hurts a bit if I eat. Last night I fell asleep pretty early, so I got plenty of rest. I forgot to take my medicine but luckily I woke up around midnight and took some. Come morning, my throat felt better. I was relieved. I thought, "Nice! My sore throat's going away!" And for the most part, it has. My throat doesn't hurt as much now. BUT...now I have the sniffles. They started to come little by little through the day, and now it's Mucustown in my face! Yeah, not cool. Fortunately I only have a couple hours left of work and then I have the weekend to recover. I think by tomorrow I'll be ok. Usually when I get a cold like this one the sniffly part only lasts about a day. ...I hope!

Cough, Cough

I really wanted to stay in bed this morning! Well, OK...I want to stay in bed EVERY morning. Anything to get out of having to go work. lol But today I woke up with my throat feeling a bit scratchy/itchy/sore. No fun at all! I started to feel it yesterday and totally forgot to take some medicine (home remedy or otherwise) before I went to sleep. At times this feeling just goes away after a day, but I woke up this morning and still felt like I'm getting a cough or something.

My family has been running around with coughs lately, along with the people at work, so I'm really not surprised that I also seem to be getting sick now. Like someone said yesterday at work, it's "the gift that keeps on giving." I wish I was a little kid again, so I could just stay tucked in bed, have some chicken soup and watch cartoons all morning while my friends have to go to school. lol

Hey maybe I should take some Airborne! I've heard wonderful things about it! It's this cool miracle cure for the common cold! Oh...wait...never mind. ;) Turns out they just settled a lawsuit ($23.3 million) that was brought against them for "false advertising." But seriously, if you really looked closely at the label you can see it's not really a "cure" but more of a "preventive measure"...in other words, tons of vitamins and stuff that's supposed to help boost your immune system. It's pretty much like taking a daily multivitamin, which I already do, actually. Plus, that stuff tastes nasty! It's like Alka Seltzer, which I also hate! I don't like that whole fizzy-bubbly-mediciny crap!

Some times we really just have to slow down a bit, take some time and look at things closely and not just blindly believe what they might be telling us...or insinuating...in the ads. After all, give me a bag Lay's potato chips and I bet you really CAN eat just one! ;)

YOAV on KCRW

Just wanted to share this video from Yoav's live performance on L.A. based radio station, KCRW, during the Morning Becomes Eclectic program. I had the pleasure of seeing him perform live, in a very small intimate setting, last December. With that one performance, I was addicted to his music. I think that even the video below doesn't do justice to how cool it was to see him actually perform in person. Still, check it out below and definitely go look for his CD, Charmed & Strange! :)



* If the video's acting up, you can try this link.

Broken English

Not far from where I work, I've noticed a sign posted on a streetlight as I drive home. One of those signs advertising a service. It reads FIX YOUR ACCENT, followed by a phone number. I take it they are offering some sort of classes/training on how to be able to speak more "perfect" English, and eliminate your foreign accent.

Ok, I can see why some people would want to do this. Especially people in the mainstream media, or who are in the public eye a lot, might want to have a "clearer" English, for the sake of their job. But honestly, I love accents. I think they add something to our culture, how diverse it truly is. European, Spanish, South American, Australian...just a few of the accents I love hearing. Yes, I realize that at times it may be hard to understand someone with a really thick accent. But hey, they are trying!

Even I, who grew up here in the U.S. all my life, have an accent to some degree. I was the first born in my home, so my family spoke only Spanish to me. I didn't start learning more English until I entered school. And even then, all the way through High School, I was surrounded by students who grew up learning Spanish too, so all those hints of that "Latino/Spanish accent" went around. lol But I like it. To this day there are still a few words that I might have trouble pronouncing. But luckily, thanks to my years of education, I can find synonyms that are much easier to say. LOL

So hey, if it ain't broke...why fix it?

Puppy Love

We went to a mall today, out in Cerritos, while waiting for him to get his car fixed at the nearby dealership. While at the mall we went into a pet store where they only sold puppies, although they did have one random kitty. Being in that store just brought back those "I want a dog" feelings I've had pretty much all my life. As much as I love animals, I've never had a dog. I've had a few cats, which I did love, but still no dog.

At first we didn't have a dog because the owners didn't allow them here at our house. I don't think that's the case anymore. I could probably afford one now, I'd just have to cut back on some things. But I know they don't exactly come cheap. There's food, grooming, vets and other stuff. Plus, most importantly, they require a lot of love, attention and time. It's not like I can just turn him off like some electronic toy, and then have him wait for me to return. lol So I'm afraid I probably wouldn't be around much sometimes, to really pay him attention. I'm out a lot on weekends and sometimes even during the week. And I definitely wouldn't want to just ignore him or place full responsibility on others. Well...unless they offer. hehe For now I at least do my part to help out other four-legged friends out there through the ASPCA.

But just looking at those little puppies today, their cute little eyes and their waggy tails and playful paws...just made me wish I could reach in, pick one up and take him home with me. I've always wanted a Golden Retriever. At first I think I fell in love with those when watching Comet on Full House. lol Still, I think any dog would be cool. A smaller one would probably be better for us, since we don't really have a big yard here.

We'll see. If not now, maybe later on down the road I can get one.