It’s Easter Week and as Catholics we’re supposed to go to Confession. I didn’t go, but here are some innocuous infractions. Committed recently or in second grade.

1. I donated blood for the first time in a few years on Monday. My motivation? I wanted a cookie. Now I have a bruise where the needled was.
2. I carry around a brush in my bookbag, but don’t bother to use it. I still believe combing my hair is a waste of time. Friday was the first time all week that I combed my hair.
3. I’d rather have short hair, but el novio likes it long. To be fair, I like his hair long too.
4. I’ve seen my roommate about 3 or 4 times in the last month. It seems that when she’s in town, I’m away and when I’m in town she’s in Costa Rica or Mexico.
5. In second grade, I ditched a reading lesson with Mr. Cantu, the third grade teacher because I didn’t want the 3rd graders to make fun of me. I didn’t know how to use a dictionary or write cursive.
6. I want to have a party just so I can play Ozomatli’s new album Don’t Mess With the Dragon.
7. Since Lent began, I’ve had three dreams about eating tortillas. What should I eat to break my 40-day tortilla fast?
8. I’ve got over 5,000 songs on my iPod, but most of the time I use it, I’m listening to podcasts. My favorites are This American Life, Latin Roll, and PRI’s The World GeoQuiz.
9. I was really looking forward to enjoying the nice spring weather in Chicago next week, but it seems like it’ll be a cold April. Meh.
10. I read for several hours at the Coffee Bean in Westwood last night after missing the screening of Volver on campus. Too many of the songs the baristas were playing were also on my iPod. Maybe my music taste is kinda trendy and mainstream. Oh no.

One
I’ve gone two weeks without tortillas, tortilla chips and tostadas. The most difficult days were the first few when I was at receptions where they had quesadillas, tortilla chips, and tortillas to make tacos with fajitas and carnitas. Both of those receptions were on days where you’re required to abstain from meat too, so it was even more difficult because I couldn’t just have chicken fajitas or carnitas with arroz y frijoles. I think I miss tortilla chips more than tortillas.

Two
I’ve conducted four interviews for my study on Latino science students. I need several more students, but just thinking about having to transcribe their interviews makes me lazy about doing some more recruitment.

Three
I went to Houston a month ago. I miss it. Rather, I miss my cousins and taking shots of tequila with my tía Nellie and tío Jesus. There’s just something really nice about being with people who you feel completely at home with yet rarely see.

Four
My mom is already back at work and has already bought our tickets to Cancun for our family trip. Woo hoo.

Five
I spent a lot of time late last night reading up on Turnbull Canyon for my contribution to blogging.la’s list of Top 25 LA Legends (here’s the post). Can I just say it’s not a good idea to read creepy stuff right before going to bed?

Six
I had a dream a few weeks ago. In the dream I was shamelessly flirting with Marcos, one of my parents’ ahijados (godson) and long time friend. At one point Marcos made a move and I freaked ’cause I couldn’t kiss him since that would be cheating. The dream was weird on a few levels and I told my friend about it. She told me not to worry since being a flirt was simply a part of my personality. I heard the same comments later. I think that bugs me.

Seven
I’ll be going to Chicago and DC in April. Who wants to hang out? If the Chicago bloggers made time for HP, I hope they make time for me.

Eight
I think it sucks that the LA Times cut La Cucaracha from the comics page. It’s definitely one of my favorite comics. They also cut another one of my favorites, Candorville. Lalo Alcaraz, the author/artists behind La Cucaracha, was rightfully pissed and his plea for help was on LA blogs on Monday. By Tuesday afternoon, the LA Times had responded by bringing La Cucaracha back to the funnies. Woo hoo. (more)

Nine
I have two presentations next week, two papers due the week after, at least three interviews to finish transcribing and lots more to do. I don’t want to do any of it. I’m tired of school.

One. I woke up late. Okay, we all know I’m not good at waking up on time, but I woke up late and missed a work meeting at 11:30. You know what’s worse? I thought the meeting was at 1 pm.

Two. I stubbed my toe. Twice! First time was getting in to the shower. Not quite awake, I kicked the shower door sliding thingie. Later, I opened up the closet door and hit my foot. At least I didn’t throw up on el novio (thanks for reminding me, Joel).

Three. I was offered another job. Okay, that sounds like a good thing, but in my case it’s a bit problematic. I already have a half time job on campus. Grad students are only allowed to work 50% because the other time we should be taking classes and doing research. Not a bad policy. My current job is great, but it lacks one important thing: fee remission. Academic apprenticeship positions (teaching assistants and graduate student research assistants) get their fees and health insurance covered and still get an hourly or monthly wage. In order to take the job, I have to pull some strings. I guess my advisor was right, I do get everything I ask for.

Four. As I drove home from work, I switched between the Dodgers/Mets game and NPR’s All Things Considered. Neither radio broadcast made me smile. Arnold Schwarzenegger made another statement on assimilation today that reaffirms why I don’t like him.

“And that is very difficult for some people to do especially, I think, for Mexicans because they are so close to their country here so they try to stay Mexican but try to be in America so there’s this kind of back and forth and what I’m saying to the Mexicans is you’ve got to go and immerse yourself and assimilate into the American culture become part of the American fabric. That is how Americans will embrace you. That was my, I think, the secret, if there is one, to success.”

Some other bloggers and politicians already responded with the same thing I would have written (Political Muscle, San Jose Mercury article).

Five. The Dodgers lost against the Mets. They’re now 0-2 in a best of 5 series. I have a ticket (yeah, just one) for game 4. I really hope I get to use it.

I’m going to write something real and substantial soon. I promise.

• Yesterday, as I waited in the group C line for my Southwest Airlines flight from Oakland to LA, I realized something astounding. I won’t have to travel anywhere in October, well for business. Exciting.
• I miss Oso and literally keep missing him. I think my travel has something to do with it. I don’t know if I’m ever going to get that bananas tshirt.
• As much as I travel, I keep being reminded that the place I love most is home. After 6 years of living in the same apartment, I still feel odd calling it home. Home is the 3-bedroom house where I grew up in Hacienda Heights.
• You know what makes home even better? VR/Papas, our dog. I love hearing his collar jingle as he rushes to the door to greet me.
• I’ve dragged my feet on really figuring out some important things… like what I’m going to with my life. I thought I’d be able to do that during the summer, but classes start in three weeks and I’m still lost. The good thing is that I’m being less of a weenie about facing some of these tough issues.
• One of those substantial topics I’m going to write about will be the strip club half a mile away from my house. I don’t like it or the fact that the strip mall it’s located in is now called “Showgirls Plaza.”
• I’m also going to write about rafting in the Kern River with my cousins and our brush with death. Well, not really, but it was scary, risky and dumb. I haven’t had that much fun in a while.
• I dressed up like a pirate last weekend for my roommate’s second theme party Surrender the Booty (the first theme party was Black & Gold). I love dressing up in costumes and am a little stuck on this year’s Halloween costume. Any ideas?
• LA has been pretty hot lately, but nothing abnormal for late August or early September. However, San Francisco is the opposite. Folks on the streets were wearing coats and scarves I don’t get out until December (if at all). I love San Francisco, but I don’t like the cold. I like sun.
• I found out about the National Latino Congreso rather late and didn’t end register or attend. Does this mean my Chicana activist card gets revoked?

That’s it for now.

I got a tiny cut on my left pinky. In shadows, I can’t even see the cut, but I still feel the stinging sensation. Are little cuts always this annoying? This other news might be less interesting.

• My nails are a little too long for me to type comfortably and I can’t find my nail clippers. On the other hand, they’re perfect for a manicure, but I’m too hasty to wait enough time to let them dry. I always screw up a manicure.
• El Venado and I had a big argument last week. I got mad first. Among other things, he was being flaky. Then he tried to be un-flaky, but that didn’t work, because according to him, I was mean and kept shutting him down. We’re cool now. We kissed and made up.
• Earlier, I was thinking about what the world would be like if you could delete friends and acquaintances from your social network like you do on Friendster or MySpace.
• I’m going to DC in early March. That weekend also coincides with el Venado’s birthday…
• I’ve been contemplating whether or not I want to run for a student government position again. If I do run again, it will be for the same position, Vice President of External Affairs. The main questions I’ve been considering are: (1) have I accomplished what I set out to accomplish in this position?; (2) what do I still need to learn about public higher education, decision making and funding; (3) can I balance my student government participation with school and work?
• I wore black pants, a black blouse, maroon coat and matching shoes with striped rainbow toe socks today. Tomorrow, I’ll wear a skirt. Yes, it’s almost laundry day.
• For my qualitative research methods course, I have to spend 4 hours a week as a participant-observer at a site of my choice. Then, I got to spend twice the amount of time typing up my notes. All this time spent writing fieldnotes and being in the field really makes me miss quantitative research and stats.
• Papá Chepe and Mamá Toni will be celebrating their 63rd wedding anniversary this weekend. The family celebrates it with a sizable get together every year. I guess there’s a fear that one late January, we’ll only be left with one grandparent or parents and we got to celebrate their lives right now.
• The Chicana/o Studies professor from Hacienda Heights, Prof R, went to the rival high school. Boo. He’s less cool now.
• I’ve been listening More Shine by Sí*Se almost non-stop since my friend sent me the album late last year. I like it even better than their first eponymous album. It makes me want to dance, hug A for introducing them to me 3+ years ago, and make amends with O all at the same time. How strange.

Besos.

I was tagged by Geo and Mariposa Atomica.

Seven things I plan to do before I kick the can:
1. Earn my PhD
2. Have a job that doesn’t feel like a job
3. Learn to do my own hair and makeup
4. Be a mom
5. Marry rich… just kidding, true love is good enough for me
6. Live in Mexico
7. Learn to cook

Seven things I can do:
1. Be a pseudo-politician
2. Counsel college students
3. Pull an all-nighter and write 20 page papers in 24 hours
4. Get an A in statistics
5. Remember obscure facts
6. Admit that I was wrong and swallow my pride
7. Blog consistently about a variety of topics

Seven things I can’t do:
1. Lie
2. Wake up on time
3. Apply makeup
4. Not procrastinate
5. Read Gabriel García Márquez in Spanish without a dictionary
6. Eat breakfast on a daily basis
7. Look my age

Seven things that attract me to another person:
1. Intelligence
2. Way with the written and spoken word
3. Non-fascist politics
4. Humor
5. Distinctive hair
6. Smile (especially nice teeth)
7. Good treatment of others

Seven things I say most often:
1. Dude…
2. Caca!
3. Damn
4. Eek!
5. Shit!
6. He’s cute
7. I miss VR

Seven people to do this little blogger game:
1. MsABCmom
2. Nebur
3. Por Completo
4. DJ Rue
5. Will
6. Mariam
7. Brenda

31 Things I learned about myself in the 24th year of my life.

1. I don’t look too bad with a hair color other than just plain brown.
2. Blogotitlán is an incredibly comforting and often supportive place.
3. Some conservatives are actually pretty cool and nice.
4. I need a job with more human interaction than just other grad student research assistants. However, once I finally learned how to do the important statistics related tasks, I really liked my job.
5. Going 40 days without alcohol is tougher than I thought.
6. Platonic friendships with [single] male friends don’t always remain that way.
7. I have “white” music taste. Oso can confirm this.
8. Hummus is present at all grad school events (potlucks, parties, etc).
9. My mood can change quite quickly depending on how well my favorite baseball team, los Dodgers, is doing.
10. My competitive streak with Isa, the roomie, can make me rather mean.
11. I can keep secrets about myself.
12. Guys like me, but I can never tell until they do something absolutely clear like kiss me… and then it still shocks me.
13. I’m not too good at managing money. Don’t tell my dad.
14. My brother Adrian is a really good listener and gives good advice about guys.
15. If you wear a tshirt that says “Bésame que soy Mexicana,” someone might do just that.
16. Mexico is an easy place to miss.
17. Sometimes lying might be better than telling the truth.
18. My life and personal business is interesting enough for people to gossip about.
19. I really like the field of higher education, critical theory is fun, I just might have a good idea of what I want to focus my research on.
20. I feel more at home than ever in East LA.
21. Sometimes I dream things and they happen.
22. Home is where the drama is.
23. It’s quite easy to sum up a day in 17 syllables… if I’m disciplined enough to do it.
24. I feel naked without something on my left wrist, preferably a beaded bracelet.
25. I’m not working to my potential.
26. Moving is difficult.
27. Most of the time, I miss my dog, VR, more than I miss my parents, siblings and grandparents.
28. My lunares and voice are attractive.
29. My issues with procrastination are much more severe than I initially thought, but I know where to find my ganas when the time comes.
30. Getting hit with a baseball in the face really hurts.
31. I do like Mexican guys.

I figure I should number these things because I end up making similar lists pretty frequently.

• It’s a beautiful, sunny day and I can’t bring myself to do anything productive like playing softball at the park, going swimming at my madrina’s house or spending some money I don’t have.
• Nebur has a short series on encountering violence way back when he was a high school senior. No, that wasn’t a crack at his age. Well, maybe it was. Anyway, the series really is short, nothing like Oso’s “Pitching outside the strikezone” series that’s gone on forever. He’s a great storyteller and I encourage you to read Hometown Violence part 1 and part 2.
• I went to another concert last night. This time, it was Al Green, the Four Tops, and Brenton Woods (who we missed because we were still having dinner). It was kinda cool to see the kind of mix of LA I’m used to only seeing at Dodger games. The crowd was pretty diverse in age, race, and probably class leveles too. I think this is the eighth concert of the summer and I still have at least 3 more to check out. Oh yeah, my non-date, HP, behaved himself. Hehe.
• I was in our grad student lounge a few days ago and checked out the rack they have with a bunch of brochures about things to do in and around LA. I know you’ve seen them in hotel lobbies. Anyway, I noticed one about rafting in the Kern River and it made me really happy. I can’t wait to go camping this weekend. It’s been years since I’ve slept in a tent and chilled in the river all day long.
• I don’t really wanna go back to school. I don’t start classes for another six weeks, but I know once classes start I’m going to go back to being stressed all the time. I just realized that I have class on Thursday night which conflicts with danza. I really don’t want to miss out on danza for ten weeks straight. I can’t really articulate how much I’ve enjoyed ensayo for the last two months or so. My week just doesn’t feel complete without danza. When I miss it, something feels wrong and there are times when I feel I need to go. Yeah, it’s like that.
• Guess what’s coming up? Eh, I’ll just tell you. I’m having a birthday party in two weeks. Wanna come? If you’re out of LA, it’s a perfect weekend to come down considering it’s a holiday weekend. If you’re here, you can make a trip out to blue house on the street that shares it’s name with a coffee brand and experience a world famous M family party.
• I hadn’t mentioned it before because I didn’t want to seem even more nerdy, but if Derek can admit it, so can I. I’m addicted to Sudoku.
• I was thinking earlier this week that I was in Mexico for a long time. At this time last year, I was back in Salamanca getting caught in storms with my tía Gaby (she’s more like a cousin, really). I spent a few really good days with my uncles on the rancho. You know what I conveniently forgot about my trip? The fact that I kept getting minor injuries and lots of mosquito bites. It’s easy to forget that stuff ’cause the pain goes away, I don’t really have any pictures of that stuff, and all the good was so much easier to remember.

That’s it for now.