I went shopping today. I needed a couple of gifts, something for my wife who was not feeling well so she did not come with me and a couple of things for my soon to be Godson. I found everything I needed at amazing good prices and not a lot of browsing. I am a sniper shopper, I know where my target is and go for the kill.

A cholo is a Chicano who dresses like a gang banger. They are not necessarily criminals nor up to no good, but their style choices makes them stand out. They obviously want to portray a tough persona that does not want to be taken lightly. I have not seen many cholos in KC, but I also don’t really hang out in malls or arcades anymore.

My wife has had a stomach ache all day and was taking a nap to try to feel better so I was on my own for dinner. I decided to go to the food court at the mall after I finished shopping. I walked with my bag trying to avoid all the kiosks with the latest gimmicks. I see a couple of cholos sitting on the massage for a quarter chairs and then a couple of more leaning on the hood of the car on display from the local dealer. One of them gives me the stare down but I keep going.

For some reason some Hispanic people have a hard time picking me out as Hispanic. I am not sure if it is my built, I am huskier and a little taller than your average Central American, or maybe my eyes, they are lighter than average. I keep my summer tan all around and always speak Spanish when around people that I suspect speak it. I prefer to be wrong and switch to English than not use Spanish, still today I was once again singled out.

I stopped at an Asian food place, as Asian as Taco Bell is Mexian food, and ordered something. The cholos happened to follow me to the food court and a couple of them decided to order at the same place. As soon as they got in line the Spanish guys behind the counter started to joke with them informally. They did not sound like they knew each other, but they were being friendly.

I tried to order my drink in Spanish but like the hicks on the gas stations in the middle of nowhere that yell “Whaaaat” before I even open my mouth, he spoke in broken English back to me without even listening to what I had just said. When he handed my drink to me I said “gracias” and it finally clicked in his head that I spoke Spanish and maybe that I was also Hispanic.

I sat down in a table where there was not a lot of people around me. Put my bags on the table and started to eat my meal and people watch. A couple of college guys sat adjacent to me with some sandwiches and the cholos sat right in front of me. A couple of them started staring right at me but I ignored them and looked elsewhere. All of a sudden I saw a couple of kids on full punk wear and purple hair.

The cholos kept up their staring down at everyone around them and I thought of the time when my friend Travis actually had a physical confrontation in a mall. I have at least 100 pound on even the bigger one out of the group and I doubt they have any other experience but street fighting which is still dangerous but people tend to freeze after an elbow is dislocated or a wrist is broken. I certainly did not want to get into a fight, so I continue to ignore them and finish my meal.

Then a sad thought entered my head. I actually would have felt more comfortable sitting with the purple hair girl and the kids with the ripped jean than with the cholos. I see no point on trying to be tough or intimidate people or wear clothes that are way too baggy. I am glad I have so many friends and they are so different from one another, I even have a lot of Hispanic friends but I cannot seem to be down with the cholos.

For the first time I did not get talked to about my flossing, and guess what… I actually have not been flossing more than my usual twice a week… so what changed. Mouthwash, twice a day has actually improved the health of my mouth per my hygienist!

That is the Logtar tip of the day. Move along.

Appetizer
What is your favorite carnival/amusement park ride?
Any kind of roller coaster, the faster and higher the better

Soup
How do you react in uncomfortable social situations?
I talk more, and since I already talk a lot that is saying something.

Salad
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how much do you enjoy discussing deep, philosophical topics?
100. I enjoy nothing more than a good conversation about the meaning of life. Seriously, I love it.

Main Course
Did you get a flu shot this year? If not, do you plan to?
No and neVer… I get my flu airborne like everyone should.

Dessert
Approximately how many hours per week do you spend watching television?
Depends on Gilmore Girls… this week is like a record, like 30, like totally cool.

The generation entering the workforce has the wrong ideas. I am going to make the cut off pretty simple. If you played sports as a little kid and they did not keep score you are in the demographic I am talking about. Lets refer to them as the generation of non-losers.

When I went to high school I could point out every single burn out. I knew that most of them were going to skip college and just spend the next 5 years hanging out at the bowling alley. They will years later wake up from the stupor and do something with their lives. Some of them never did, some of them did some college but could not kick the slacker habits. Those kids to me were trying to get their parents to pay attention to them… now fast forward a little bit to the kids that their parents spoiled because they paid too much attention to them.

I know it sounds a little crazy, but I do think that the overprotective parents that never let their kids lose might have ruined them for the workforce.

I have seen this trend more and more in recent years. Kids come out of college expecting to make more money than those people that have the experience just because their degree is on the latest technology. They feel a level of entitlement that is at times a little scary. This gap is even bigger when they work for a baby boomer who is used to a totally different type of work ethic.

Most kids in these generation want an almost equal amount of play for the time the put into work. Places like google and flickr show a “fun” work environment where the dorm room mentality extends to the workplace. So what happens to everyone else that is not lucky enough to work for one of those avant-garde companies?

First they are totally unhappy because their expectations are not met. Then they become very bitter towards a place that has a ladder they need to climb. They have been told over and over how smart they are and do not seem to grasp the concept of experience and hard work seems to baffle them.

In the era of shortcuts and user friendly someone forgot to write the manual to corporate America in a language the new generation can understand. It is almost like a company has to have a facebook profile reminding the kids that you have to get to work on time, and that they might even have to work weekends.

Mediocrity and failure were never rewarded when I was growing up. Being average was almost as bad as being a failure at times, but to some of the generations now that is actually a pretty good goal. Getting a C is not just a passing grade, it is something you are content with. Those principles do not work on the real world. An accounting mistake costing your company a couple of hundred thousand dollars is not an ups, but a pink slip. Some of the kids today actually think that would be harsh, everyone should be allowed at least one mistake… right?

How can we help this new generation? Do we create a myspace profile on how to not get fired? Do we make the next WOW or Halo 4 not playable between the hours of 9-5? How can they learn about work ethic? How can we bridge this gap?

Most of these kids grew up thinking that their parents worked way too hard and they should not have to do the same. So how do you sell them the idea that hard work is actually rewarding beyond having just a paycheck?

A new niche of motivational speakers is growing, and the surprising thing is that is not just targeted at the kids but at the employers to make their work environments not fall pray to the new job hopping workforce. I am not sure on what side I really stand just yet, but I do know that experience was something I did not understand very well until I worked for 10 years on the same field.

I guess they found her offensive too, even though I think her performance in vegas was a lot worse.

Last night I got to see Blue Man Group for the second time in my life. Even thought this one was more rock concert than theater it was still an excellent time. I also got to share it with people that had never seen it before and they seemed to enjoy it. I love the sense of collaboration that Blue Man Group put into their show, they make their band and audience a part of the whole show. Even though they did not use the screen text as much as in the theater show they still had inside jokes for those people paying attention.

It was my first time experiencing Mike Relm. If you have ever seen Office Space, you need to check out the you tube of the “O” face by him, its a freaking riot. He kind of opened the show for Blue Man, but also came back during one of the songs.

Blue Man’s message is a simple one, its called “Follow Your Bliss.” Here is a little background

BILL MOYERS: “Do you ever have the sense of… being helped by hidden hands?”

JOSEPH CAMPBELL: “All the time. It is miraculous. I even have a superstition that has grown on me as a result of invisible hands coming all the time - namely, that if you do follow your bliss you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. When you can see that, you begin to meet people who are in your field of bliss, and they open doors to you. I say, follow your bliss and don’t be afraid, and doors will open where you didn’t know they were going to be.”

While you digest Campbell’s response think of why I really think that Blue Man Group is a show that attempts to change the way you think. On an interview with the creators they mentioned how kids always get to draw and color, but as we grow up only some people get to use that form of expression. Furthermore, I think that many of us cut our creative outlets and put them aside to fit our money making skills in the forefront. Not many people make a conscious effort to come home every night and start drawing, painting or writing music or poetry. Even a lesser number I think come home every night to connect spiritually with their family, God, earth or whatever is they believe on.

For so long I have tried to make friends with people that did not deserve that title. I have talked about a couple of the people that I lost as friends in the past, that at the time seemed to create emotional void. Since moving to KC I have found a new way to make friends and inadvertently it involved following my bliss. I have really embraced my inner philosopher and made a great friend with Tom who truly has changed my way of thinking in many ways, I embraced my inner anime fan and met Biancka, Scott and Tim whom I have had some of the coolest times enjoying that hobbie, I embraced my inner sport fan and met Corey and I am now even playing in a soccer league.

In the past I had tried so hard to make friends with people that I encountered but really had nothing in common with me. I thought that my desire to establish a relationship would be enough, but in reality that is something that only goes as far as I am willing to work on it. I think that to make true friendships we have to take off our mask and show our real emotions. Of all the people I have met in my life, those that I still keep in contact with are the ones that had the chance to know the real me without the mask.

We all put a mask to go into work every single day, we have to be professionals that adhere to a series of norms. Once we leave that environment it is very simple to still think on those terms and simply put another mask on to interact on the next situation. I think it is time for everyone to follow our bliss and start living the life we are supposed to live.

I think blogs are doing just that, helping us all take off our masks. While many might think that the face behind the blog is just another mask we put on, I believe this form of expression in many ways can be considered one of the closest thing we can come to show one of our true faces. Even the most serious pundit is still expressing something inside their inner persona, even when created they are sharing that imaginary friend with potentially millions of people. Even this weird post right now that seems to be going nowhere is going to be read and maybe touch someone, I believe that is true power.

In the end all that Blue Man Group try to do is to connect with their audience and hope that in the outside they also do the same. While my message is a little more specific as in, connect but with the right people, it is still one of love. I think that we have a limited time on this earth and we should spend it with the people that are worthy of it. Hopefully this post made you think, so please comment and let me know.

What are the chances that the day you are food poisoned is the day before thanksgiving and you spend turkey day sicker than a dog that just ate a pound of chocolate.

I have hosted a weight loss challenge about 4 times. While I do not like to make my blog about weight loss I feel that it is important to motivate those around me and more importantly me. I have struggled with losing weight for a long time and tried to explain it a million different ways but the reality is that I need to control my portions and watch what I eat. The reward meals that I give myself should not be so unhealthy that I undo the hard work of a whole week.

Candy and Melissa have been eager to start another challenge and I have been telling them that it is coming. This year I want to make it not so that after the holidays we start the yearly weight loss plan, but actually start it right after thanksgiving. So Monday we will start the new challenge with the initial weigh in and we are going to motivate each other into shedding some pounds during the remainder of the holiday season. If you are interested just go here.

I have given up junk food almost completely. I have only eaten junk food about 3 times in the past couple of months. Yesterday night was one of those days and you have no idea how much I regret it. I am sitting here on turkey day sick as a dog and I have only eaten some crackers and soda… forget the turkey.

The following is a complete assumption on my part, but I think my logic is about right. I am almost tempted to call the fast food place to complain because I think what they did was unacceptable.

Last night I was on my way back from seeing one of my buddies friends play a gig at a bar. My wife was tired and she did not want to go so I ended up just meeting a friend from work there. We stayed for a couple of sets and then headed home. I had a couple of beers in a two hour period and headed back home. As I start driving my wife asked me if I could pick up a burger and fries since we did not eat dinner, we had gone to the movies and had some theather food but we were actually kind of hungry. It was 10:40 and I was about 10 minutes from home, so I said no problem.

I pulled up at the fast food restaurant and they were turning the lights off. I asked if they were there and they took my order but I had the feeling that they had already began pre-closing. I have the feeling that they actually pulled the meat from a garbage can now, it is the only explanation for me being so sick from that burger. I did not see it happen, I don’t know for sure but I have a feeling that it is exactly what they did.

After today I don’t think I will be able to stomach a burger from a fast food joint for a long time. Laying in bed after having both ends trying to disintegrate me by expunging all the liquids inside my body I feel like crap. Everything hurts, I am running a fever, I am weak and I can think about is how important it is for me not to get this sick. My brain keeps on telling me that if I do not change my portion control I am going to gain more weight and get really sick, my liver already has some fat deposits that mess with it. So I am going to take this shitty day as a reminder that I am thankful to be alive and need to really consider what I put in my mouth.