Jun
07

Kansas City

My first visit to KC was quick. I was there to interview for a job and I came in and out getting to see only highways and the airport. What little I saw I liked. Even though KC is in the middle of the great flat lands of our nation it is surprisingly hilly. A lot more than what I have seen in IL or MI. My second visit was mainly to find a place to live, looked at various places but decided on something medium sized.

One of my biggest complains about Michigan has been that there is not a lot of great places to have a good meal. The Tri-City area (Saginaw, Midland and Bay City) is horrible when it comes to good restaurants. In my 3 years here I found one good Mexican chain (Los Cuatro), one good Italian restaurant (Villa Di Alexandro) and a couple of good Asian food places (Pi’s and Genji’s). There was other places to have a good meal but nothing that was a place I would want to come back to town and say, I have to stop at X for Y.

One weekend in KC and I already have places that I want to visit again. Besides the chains that I had missed, like Red Robin and Chipotle, KC has great BBQ places. Not only that but the Mexican food that I had at Baja 600 was outstanding. They had a freshly made guacamole that was almost sinful.

The architecture in KC is awesome. There is a mixture of styles all over the place that makes the city seem almost surreal. A lot of streets have statues right as you enter them, something I have never really seen before. There also seems to be an encouragement of artistic expression not confined to just the “Art center” of the town. Everywhere you look in KC you can see either fountains or sculptures.

A ten minute drive away from the city takes to wonderful open nature. The amount of trees all around is outstanding for a developed city. The birds seemed almost eager to come and greet you, even though they were just hanging around trying to pick up half eaten chips off the floor at the outdoor eating area. Cows, yea even the cows looked happy to see us visit their town.

The people in KC were very welcoming. They all seemed to be polite, respectful and willing to help you if you needed it. Everyone we talked to was very glad to have a conversation with us and talk about whatever topic we put in front of them. Not that everyone in Michigan is rude, but trying to hold a conversation with a stranger can be as difficult as trying to dodge the rain in an open field.

Jun
06

Airport Blogging

Sitting here waiting for my flight the Kansas City airport has free wireless so I am taking the chance to do a little Airport blogging.

I found a nice townhouse to live and got to visit a lot of neat places… more details to come :)

Jun
03

Bible Saturday 2

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.”
1 John 4:7

I think that the whole new testament and the story of Jesus can be summed up by a simple message… “Let us love one another.” This simple message transcends culture, religion and language. If we had a little more love inside of us and were able to share that instead of the every day frustrations we experience I personally believe the world would be a better place.

“God is love” is a statement that is very powerful. Even if you don’t believe in God, you might believe in Love. Love is one of the most powerful forces in our lives. It makes us do things that others might deem crazy. You have to admit that a feeling as powerful as love is a gift. The tricky part is that we are also born with this thing called free will, and well, we might chose to not love one another after all.

Jun
02

A to Z all about me!

Got it from Olympus who got it from April.

Accent: Colombian+Chicagoan.
Booze: Aguardiente, JB, Margaritas+Rocks+Salt
Chore I Hate: All of them.
Dogs/Cats: (Cat) Shayla (Dog) Luke…
Essential Electronics: Putter and Cellphone.
Favorite Perfume/Cologne: Dunhill, Desire
Gold/Silver: Silver.
Hometown: Cali, Colombia – US Chicago IL.
Insomnia: None, unless you count Counter Strike.
Job Title(s): Process Analyst.
Kids: Nope.
Living Arrangements: Cat, Fishies and I.
Most Admired Trait: Respect.
Number of Sexual Partners: One.
Overnight Hospital Stays: No, Thank You.
Quote: “A Road Without Obstacles Leads Nowhere”
Religion: Catholic.
Siblings: Younger Sis(26).
Time I usually wake up: 6:00 a.m.
Unusual Talent: None.
Vegetable I refuse to eat: None.
Worst Habit: Biting the side of my cheek.
X-Rays: For the dentist mostly.
Yummy Foods I Make: Arroz con Pollo, Arepa, all kinds of Grillin.
Zodiac Sign: Aquarius.

Jun
01

Being Fat Make Me Invisible?

Weight is a hard subject to discuss. A lot like racism it is hard to hear people’s opinion if one belongs to one group of the other. I have been overweight most of my life. I’ve had some periods of time when I was a little lighter, but as I joke about my metabolism checking out with the Y2K, there is a lot of truth to my battle to staying fit.

I have always strived to be in shape and have a nice looking body, not just to be skinny or follow societies standard for beauty. I do not find overweight people repulsive like so many others do. The sad part is that a lot of people that feel that way might be right next to you and you would never know.

Does being fat make me invisible? that is something that I have wondered at times. I have encountered a lot of people that are overweight and are almost shocked when I say hello or smile if we pass by at a mall or sidewalk. I get a look of surprise mixed with disbelief. I then started to understand that sometimes being overweight makes you invisible to others… or in some cases the cause of ridicule or gawking.

While there is a certain level of personal responsibility that goes along with being overweight, there are many factors that contribute to the problem. Some emotional, some hormonal, some cultural, and sometimes all of them at once. I don’t blame Mc Donald’s for making America fat, but I do to some level blame our lifestyle. Food becomes everything but what it is supposed to be… believe me, in other countries they don’t use the term “comfort food” like we do here.

So for whatever reason you are fat… does that make you less of a person? does that make you undesirable to society? Should you then just be sent to a camp with all the other overweight people so that the “pretty, skinny people” can just look at each other?

Our society is very superficial and almost incapable of accepting anything other than the norm. The scary part is that the norm in our society is dictated by pop culture, and more recently celebrity culture. I get to talk to a lot of young people via the motorcycle message board, and I constantly hear put down towards overweight people. It is sad to know that unless you are someone that looks like Barbie or Ken, most young people today will not even look at you.

I strive to lose weight for myself, to feel better physically and mentally. I don’t deny it, I would love to have a six pack instead of a keg for a belly… but it is more vanity than wanting to comply with societies standards which are unrealistic and idiotic. Other cultures look at being overweight as a sign of health, and while that is not what I promote I believe that we need to start looking at people in other ways instead of the groups that their appearance puts them on.

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