Males spend most of their teenager years trying to learn how to handle erections. Its probably one of the toughest parts of going through puberty to have to deal with erections that we cannot either control nor take care of. This lead to one of the more weird instances of impromptu “sexual education” in my young life.

We were in Spanish class and the teacher was going on about his lecture. We were a particularly misbehaved group that was not only mean to each other, but also to the teachers. We got in our share of trouble and a lof of highschool was about who could do more mischief at one time or another. As the teacher continued with his lesson which sadly I cannot remember, one of my classmates yelled “Gonzalo (the teacher)” has a hardon.

Laughter ensued and even though all of us could relate since it was an all male school, the teacher was really disturbed by the acussation. His face changed and now that I remember the incident as an adult I can imagine how mortified he was. Back then I did not know the difference between a “shower” and a “grower.” Gonzalo got visually more upset and redder as the seconds continue to pass. Then he repeated the accusation trying to probably look for a reaction from the culprit but we had our “no snittching” rule in place for quite some time by then.

Then he went on a long tirade about how the penis multipies in size during an erection and seemed even close to just losing it during it. He looked so upset that we stopped laughin altogether and just listened about how if he had a hardon we would have “really” noticed it. He eventually cooled off and continued the lecture but it was an intersting reaction by an adult losing its cool over an obvious erroneous claim of “hard on.”

As adults we learn how to control erections and don’t walk around with a full flag pole salute unless we are about to perform; but during those teenage gears where if the wind hits just the right way we sported one it was a lot harder (lol pun) to conceal. Heavy books seemed to always be a good cover, but it was rather embarrasing when it was not Gonzalo that got called out for a “chubby” (not sure why but that word when referring to an erection still makes me giggle) but one of us. I certainly would not want to deal with aunt “flo” coming to visit every month, but uncontrolled erections were no fun to deal when during those years.

Most people prefer to give advice rather than receive it. Years ago I had this thought about it being human nature, that we just like to find things on our own rather than have someone give it to us. When I go back and read something that I wrote back in 2004 and I still feel the same way it makes me feel good, but I get a lot more excited when I find that I have changed my mind about something.

The older we get, the more set in our ways we become. I think that its not so much that we cannot take advice anymore, but rather that we think we know all there is to know. I don’t know if it is my Grandpa being very gentle with his advice and always making a little story out of it, but from a young age I learned that it is easier to take advice rather than make the mistakes on your own. It has been surprising to me how many people just want to do it on their own and make the mistakes themselves rather than take the advice.

I can count on my hand the people that I have met that have been very willing not to take advice, but truly listen to it. Those people have been very successful as the years have gone by, that and some of the happiest I have seen. The people that are not so willing to listen to advice seem to have a more cynical disposition and are almost paranoid to hear any advice.

Willingness to hear what others have to say is a basic principle of a community. If we are not willing to participate in that process, then we are doomed to not truly be a part of a community. I have seen people go as far as doing the complete opposite of what someone else has advice because the want to “find their own way.” I don’t get why some people like the “hard” way better than the tried one.

Sure, what works for some does not work for others; but there is always room to at least discuss the advice that others are trying to give you.

My favorite teacher gave me a piece of advice about education that applies to much more in life. “Don’t ever swallow whole; any time you get information try to understand not just what it tells you, but how the information was gathered.” This same principle applies to advice. When you hear someone giving you advice, think about where they are coming from and ask them if they have a situation or example where the advice came from.

Simply discarding what others say because you want to do everything on your own is not just pride, but simply arrogance. The more willing you are to listen to others idea, specially advice; the more we would make all relationships in life that much better.

Before it all went down I did notice several changes in his attitude, it was not just bad, it was almost mischievous. He was constantly poking some of the people in the group to start drama and seemed to always be looking for an argument. It got to the point that I talked with some of the people in the group about an intervention, but they told me that they had tried over the past couple of year and nothing seemed to work. I kind of let the situation be, and slowly distanced myself. Then BAM!, they were getting a divorce.

“Hindsight is 20/20″… that stupid quote is both true and annoying. I knew that there were money issues, but the now glaring beacon on the whole thing is the pr0n. I don’t dislike pr0n and have had my own collection at times, but in my experience its a cheap replacement for actual fun with your partner. If you partner and you enjoy it together, awesome… if its an escape once in a while, cool… if you spend more time with the digital version and only get analog with yourself, there is a problem.

Those are only signs of the distress behind the scenes, that now I wish I would have been able to identify… not to save a marriage (which can only be saved by the couple’s commitment to stay together) but at least to be there for him as a friend when it was going down the slide. I know he is happy now and building a new life, I don’t know much about her.

The thing that I find interesting is how the lack of control in the situation created so much frustration. The fact that it was handled by just trying to make others miserable seems to be pretty common. It has to be pretty hard not to be able to talk your emotions out loud with someone, or maybe even understand them. Situations where we feel out of control are probably the worst, because we look to regain control in places that probably don’t matter instead of facing the real situation and solving the real problems.

I am a firm believe that people that love to create drama hate their lives. When you are content with your situation, there is no reason for you to be poking others unless you are simply starved for attention. So be careful and try to recognize that when someone seems to just trying to be pissing everyone off, they might just be crying for help… they might just not know how.

It is hard to put into words how many thoughts go through my head when I start thinking of it. This will be a mental dump of some of them. In Chicago, I spent shaping my life as my adult. In Chicago, I finished high school, went to college and worked (and work) for some amazing companies. I have a lot of friends here from school, college and previous jobs… in reality it is too many to even count. Most important, I have all my immediate family here and most of my extended family.

KC is still a home for me, because not only did I leave some great friends there but Bea and I lived the first years of our marriage there. In many respects KC felt more like home for the two of us than Chicago does now. It feels goodto go back there and know that we have many people that would be thrilled if we said we are moving back.

But then we go to Colombia and nothing else feels more like home. Even the polluted air when you get into traffic behind a not-so-well maintained public service vehicle seems to not smell unpleasant but familiar. The weather is just so mild compare to the harsh changes that sometime plague our life here. I swear that yesterday I did not feel like I was breathing but rather drinking air; it was so humid. Then there is the people… the people is what makes living here so difficult sometimes.

Colombia is one of the happiest countries in the world, sometimes even being the number one. From year to year the United States is well bellow 100. When someone asks you, “hey how are you doing?” they do care. Here is a little story that illustrates what I mean.

Don Hernando (Er nan do, no Her.. silent H) is the doorman at the building where Bea’s family lives. He opens the door for you as you arrive or the gate to the garage. If I walk down the street to get something from the store I get to chi-chat with him. If someone arrives with groceries, he helps bring them up. He still remembers that last time we were there we gave him a tip when we left and is very thankful for it. He understands that the people that live there pay his salary and not some management company in some undisclosed location. He knows that each day he does not have to bring coffee to work, because someone in the building will call him up to have some coffee and bread. I think those little deeds are what helps you stay connected and happy.

While we were there Bea’s Mom had a little problem with her blood pressure and had a hard time making it up the stairs. Don Hernando was there every step as we helped her up (she refused to let me carry her.) He stayed vigilant by the door until the ambulance arrived to help stabilize her. He came back often and checked with us and seemed extremely worried, almost as much as we all were. He seemed to actually care.

In today’s world of iPhones and Androids we are supposedly more connected than ever before, but with hundreds of Facebook friends I felt more connected to that doorman every day there than with the people that could reach me even an ocean away.

I cannot help to think back of my next door neighbor in KC that died of cancer and I only found out days later when her son’s whom I had never met were moving out her belongings.

Going down there is not just fun as you will see from the pictures I will post soon; it’s heartbreaking when I know I have to head back. Whenever I think of pace of life I think of Travis’ face, and his face when after we had dinner I told him to relax and have a cup of coffee with me. He still remembers that just as fondly. That is my pace of life, being able to connect, being able to have conversations… I think that is happy living.

Chicago is home for now. When answering that question I cannot ignore that Colombia would feel like home the minute I get the chance to move down there permanently.

Bullfighting is a violent sport, just like boxing or martial arts the attendants watch and cheer as blood is spilled on the middle of the scenary in a spectacle of pure animalistic emotions. We have explored this subject here in the past and found out that it all comes down to how much you value life… some value human life more when its someone they know, and not so much when they are a world away.

While Catalonia’s motivation for banning bullfighting might be more about politics and separatism it still sends a strong message. Even a province inside of Spain where bullfighting is still popular (even though not as much as before) can chose to do the less barbaric thing and stop the spectacle. I am sure they are not quite banning meat yet, but is that where we should head?

I enjoy mixed martial arts. I am not sure if that feeds some kind of human bloodlust inside me, but it is exciting to watch in a roman gladiators kind of fashion as people beat the crap out of each other. I liked boxing, but think that MMA are more entertaining even when they get as close and almost as fantastic as the wrestling can be.

If the world was free of violence and nobody eat cows I could see how we can draw the conclusion that ending bullfighting is the civilized thing to do. I think modern society is still very rooted into the, hey if I don’t see it, it does not touch me.

I am almost indiferent at the ending of bullfighting as a sport, however I do hope that the running of the bulls never stops. I get a lot of enjoyment from reading of the tremple count every years, specially when the ratio of non-spaniards is higher in the injury list. I mean, you have to be a genious to come up with an event that becomes world famous and you eventually become just an expectator when other idiots come and become your bull’s pin cussions.

Within minutes of arriving at my Mother in Law’s house we have a router hooked up and all of our devices were wirelessly connected to the web.

One of the things that Colombia has over the US when it comes to cellphones is that you don’t get charged for “airtime.” Only the person that initiates the call has to pay for those minutes. So you can get an inexpensive cell phone with little minutes and it will last you the whole trip. People will call you and you will not use many of your minutes. This pay model was even present when there were only land lines, and if you initiate the call, you pay for it… whoever gets it pays nothing.

The broadband market still not as big as in the US but it is widely available. The price is still prohivitive to most of the pupulation which makes the whole concept of internet cafes a lot more viable here vs in the US where it died as soon as computers becames just as common as TV sets in the US.

We are lucky enough to have broadband availalbe and it gives me the flexibility of being able to call back to the US using VoiP. I also can upload any pictures I take with the phone directly to facebook when I get home at night. There are still many things that technology wise are not available to everyone, but if you have the money you can get it. Like netbooks and iphones.

So far with everyone that I have talked to, facebook is the site… twitter is not really used. Social media is in full force here and many businesses big and small are really getting into the whole facebook page thing.

We had the pleasure of traveling with an editor of one of the local papers and talked about the impact of the web on the printed media, but he felt like they were years away from being replaced. I told him about how many local papers are closing or being downsized considerably there, but he explained that even though the availability of technology is there it is still not widely used. I guess the penetration is more along the side of 3DTV and Blueray, than just computers.

We still have a lot to see and visit, but so far being here has not made me feel disconnected at all. I am still playing online games and using the computer to the same capacity that I can in Chicago. There are a number of sites that do see your IP range and deny you content, like TV sites and Netflix. Other than that everything is pretty available and at a very decent speed.

I figured 2 hours between flights would be plenty even if there was a delay or congestion in Ohare, but in relaity I should have chosen an earlier flight. When we arrived at the gate in Chicago the plane was already there which is a good sign of leaving on time, until the gate agent announced that they had to perform some “maintenance” on the plane.

The waiting game started and almost an hour later the words equipment change made us start wondering if we would be able to catch our connection. I was hopeful until we arrived at the gate and the plane was still there… the close to the tunnel was not closed yet, however the plane door was… there was no way we were getting on that plane.

I wondered why with the computer systems they have now they cannot arrange for the plane to wait for passengers for an international connecting flight (there was four of us). When I started thinking of the logistics though, we could have boarded the plane on time but what about the bags. In reality switching from one plane to another takes time, so in the future when the flexibility allows for it I will sacrifice sleep for arriving in the day I plan.

It is frustrating to have to cut your vacation a day short, but better that going down on a broken plane. We did end up with paid meals and on first class on our last leg of travel… I had travelled in first class before, but American Airlines first class is pretty awesome.

We are safe, sound and rested in Palmira, Colombia.

I think that envy is one of the worst feelings in the world. I think selfishness and envy can feed of each other and corrupt people to their core.

Growing up I went to a private school. Even though my Dad had a good job and he could afford a good education for me, we did not have enough for me to compete on the ratrace that some of my other classmates used to partake on. I could not get the latest Reeboks or Levis, I had to wear knock offs that were often made fun of. Back then I used to hate that, but it taught me a lot of life lessons.

We are not what we wear, what we drive or how much money we have in the bank.

I consider myself a very giving person. I really don’t get too attached to personal possesions (*excluding the ones that have personal sentimental value like the gold necklace that my Mom gave to me.) I have been in sutations where I either had no money, or lost a lot of personal posessions. That also taught me that you don’t need things, and little by litte I understood the difference between the need and the want.

Being sucessful matters little if you don’t have anyone to celebrate that success with.

I constantly see how people are very attached to “things” to the point that they forget about the really important thing, which is people. The fact that we can share both accomplishments and things with others is what makes them really sweet. I will never understand a hermit. I believe that when we interact with other people with true freedom, envy never enters a relationship. We are then able to be truly happy for what others have or achieve.

The biggest lie that envy tells people is that they are above the person they feel jelous about.

Envy comes from feeling inferior to someone else… the problem with this starts when instead of feeling equat and trying to attain the same thing we desire, we start to look for flaws in that other person and try to put them bellow us. That is where I think people begin to give into selfishness. When you start feeling that inside of a community it creates issues, but more important, it messes with your inner peace. I guess I am a little crazy for thinking that strong relationships with other human beings is what makes me rich, rather than the money in the bank or the zip code I live in.

Harry Potter has the mirror of Erised which materializes that which we desire the most. What if people were also like that mirrors, and when growing up those adults are the things we model ourselves after.

Human have many flaws, but when we are growing up many of the adults we see appear to have none. From our parents to our teachers none of them seem to have any issues and its only later in life that we start to see that there are humans behind those sturdy armors. Funny thing is that even as an adult I have met many people that really never lost their armor and did not end up looking as flawed as everyone is supposed to be.

Those people are the pillars of my life and who I have been able to model many of my personality traits after. I am positive by nature, but having people growing up that lived a life of positive thinking made that easier to develop. Seeing that people can live their life truly happy despite their circumstances is empowering. What also helps is to see how unhappy and empty is the life of someone that digs for a flaw on every person or every situation.

In recent years I have been able to curve my paranoid nature when it came to many aspects of my life, and it has been liberating to not feel like the other shoe is about to drop. Being in contact with some of those strong pillars in my life makes it easier to see that the life I chose to live is completely sane. Either that or I have found a nice group of crazy people… they are my little bee’s nonetheless.

Its rough to know that my strongest pillars is not with us anymore, and I miss him so much… however, he was a big mirror to me growing up and I hope I can be at least a little bit like him. I will continue to seek truth and good relationships like he always did.

I guess in the end we all get what we seek.

“Karma is a b!tch” is a phrase often used by people that seem to misunderstand the whole concept, it always makes me chuckle a little inside. I don’t think that many in the western world understand the concept enough to really use a motivator. The golden rule concept has the same flavor and its more in line with our society, but not many people truly live it. I will always be impressed by Christians that really “walk the walk” and love everyone, not just who their congregation sees as righteous people of God.

Bea and I come from Colombia; even though we would love for people to know more about our country, its hard to gloss over its history of violence and corruption. The biggest motivator for a lot of the horrible things that have happened in our country have been motivated by money. From the Banana Massacre to Pablo Escobar, evil was definitely rooted directly in greed. I even question myself for posting about such horrible things, but I don’t want to gloss over the reality that a lot of atrocities have occurred in my homeland because of greed.

Most atheist that I have talked to don’t believe in the afterlife, so karma in the sense of a next life is automatically out the window. However, this does not make them amoral or unethical people. Most of the people that I know that don’t believe in a higher being are highly compassionate and overall good human beings. Their belief system is rooted in the today and many follow the golden rule.

Many believes do believe in the beyond and some even see this existence as punishment or a just the waiting room to heaven. Their actions or their faith will open up that door to either eternal damnation or paradise.

My questions is simple. When it comes to money being the motivator for an action that affects other human beings, (from killing someone, to simply stealing millions from the stock market) do you think anyone goes back to their belief system to weight karma or faith out? Do you think that money is the ultimate motivator and enough of it will just make you put what you believe aside? Or what if as some people see it you are an atheist and you believe in “nothing” does that make it easier for you to be motivated by money?

I have been playing with Bea’s iPhone since she got it and besides some of the games on it I did not find it a “fun” device. The touchscreen just did not seem to agree with my fingers, however, the droid is very responsive and I can even type on the screen… I could not accomplish that much on an iPhone. The plus is the slide keyboard that I prefer to use for texting and other messaging.

Using the voice search feature is also amazing. The blackberry did that as well with one of the google apps, but this interface is much, much simpler.

I still need to finish up my contact transferring and start doing some picture taking, but so far I am glad I finally upgraded to a droid. Any app suggestions welcome!

Lets get what I hated about the movie out of the way. The pacing of the movie was just horrible. This movie could have been edited to be at least 10 minutes shorter, and some scenes that were supposed to add drama just ended up being boring and lets hurry up moments. I also did not have to see Beijing as a character, seriously I already saw enough of the birds-nest and the cube during the Olympics. Jaden Smith is too young for the part even though he did an excellent job with the part, the kid just looked way too young for the situations he was in.

Now with that out of the way, the movie was a lot better than I had expected. The martial arts were solid and Jackie Chan was an excellent teacher. The story was truly reinvented, and not simply because it was taken across the globe instead of across the country. While you recognize scenes and tons of little tips of the hat at the old movie, this movie stands on its own.

Smith is an excellent actor for his age. I did not think he could carry a movie on his own but the kid is great. He has a lot more charisma than Daniel San. Nobody knows how the future will turn out for this kid as an actor, but he does not seem to lack talent.

Even though I will always love the original because it was part of my childhood, this movie will probably make more sense to this generation. If you are a fan of the old one, it is respectful to it and it does not try to replace it. I believe it is worth the price of watching it in the multiplex and it might just make you feel like a kid again.

What is the last thing you downloaded onto your computer?
I hardly ever download anything to my computer anymore, I think it was the SCII beta, but I recently worked on my uncle’s computer and put some anti virus in it.

What’s your favorite restaurant?
Impossible to answer for me. Recently I have a Sushi place that is pretty default, but Los Comales just has so much awesome Mexican food… oh and The Works… Gyros!

Last time you swam in a pool?
Did not swim but actually dipped my toes in the pool at the hotel Ann and Dave were staying when they visited Chicago a couple of weeks ago. Gym decisions at the moment are being weighted based on pool availability. I want to start doing laps again, but I have not done them since high school.

Have you ever been in a school play?
Yeap, and I have actually considered joining a theater group. Actually checked a website just last week.

Type of music you dislike most?
Not just country… any kind of music that is too drowning in my tears and depressing annoys me. Upbeat country music is cool.

Are you registered to vote?
Yes!

Do you have cable?
Nope

Do you have a garden?
No but I have somehow taken over watering duty… wait a minute, how did that happen?
Have you ever won a trophy?
Martial arts medals at tournamets. I am almost tempted to commute to my old school on weekend! It has been over 7 years since I trained with Master Jang.

Are you a good cook?
I think I am above average, my wife is excellent!

Ever order an article from an infomercial?
Yes I was scammed by the ab electrocution system. Surprisingly it works, but it cannot be good for you… I wonder where the heck that thing ended, that was an awesome party prop. I think Pictionary would be taken to a whole new level if you had to draw wearing that thing.

Would you prefer being a millionaire or find true love?
Well I found true love already, so can I get a million now? (Love always)

30 Days is a great show from the dude that stuffed his face with McDonalds and brought painful memories of my years as a burger flipper. I have seen most of season 1 and I started working on season 3. My favorite show until this weekend was when a Minute Man was sent to live for 30 days with a family of Illegal immigrants. However this weekend I watched as Morgan spent 30 days in an Indian Reservation.

My involvement with Native Americans outside of some extended family and friends that have percentages of native blood but have never been in a reservation; has been limited to a professional relationship with the Pottawatomie tribe while I worked on some of their computer systems. I never made it into the reservation when I was up there, and all of the facilities I visited were “luxurious.” Everyone I worked with up there in northern Wisconsin was extremely nice and it was very interesting to see how their facial features were extremely similar to people down many in Colombia.

My ancestry is hard to track, I know there are roots of many colors in both sides of my parents. One of those sides I did not learn about until I was 12 years old when I met some of my Mom’s distant relative during a summer trip. We spent some time up in a mountain in a small coffee town and I had the chance to learn about not just how coffee grows but also how a cow makes it in to a burger. A lot of the people I met up in Wisconsin looked eerily similar to some of my not so distant relatives. It makes sense, they are also in some ways Native Americans… you know the whole continent was at one point full of them.

My other weird coincidental connection with a tribe is interestingly enough the Navajo. I have extreme astigmatism, without my glasses I have a hard time focusing on detail. One of my ophthalmologist after letting me know that my eye color is actually pretty rare (gold and olive, her words, not mine) told me that she has only seen my level of astigmatism in one population before, the Navajo. A little research (google search) showed me that in fact the Navajo have a high occurrence of astigmatism, and while some of it can be environmental it seems that it is also genetic.

Genetics is a topic for another post, interesting subject for sure that I would like to learn more about beyond what I know from reading a lot about amateur fish breeding at one point. The thing that really stuck with me from the Navajo show though was the fact that the people from the tribe are stuck in two world with two cultures. I can relate to that quite a bit. One of the ladies that taught the language actually cried at the thought that her native language is disappearing. Also interesting was their view of mother earth and how connected they are to things that to the modern world seems to simply ignore.

I don’t know if I will ever get to discover where my roots really come from genetic wise or not, but it makes me somewhat sad that I have embraced civilization and I am almost allergic to the outdoors. Being connected to the earth we live in is not such a bad thing… who knows maybe some day I will actually get into the grove of a morning run to go face the sun before I start the day.

I have no idea why baseball is so behind. I know that tennis started to try to take the line judge’s human factor out of play back in the 1970s. They seem to be doing quite well with electronic line judges. Why can baseball do something similar? I know we have the technology.

Is baseball one of those secret things kind of like grocery shopping?

I remember being simply dumbfounded when during my time in college I heard that a test pilot for “smart” shopping carts in a grocery store was killed because people hated to be told where stuff was. I mean the cart woudl keep track of your items, how much you spent and would take you to the right isle. I had a chance to talk to the manager of the store where they tested it and he simply said, to be honest a lot of older people shop at this store and fear of technology was a huge factor.

I certainly don’t believe that explanation because I game with a couple of people over 60, and if they can slay digital dragons and my ancient friend XO can manage to blog, that is just simply a bad excuse and just trying to blame it on age.

I refuse to believe that sentimentalism or pure fear can keep us from moving forward. Or maybe it is the only explanation… I mean, don’t you love that the human factor is ever present in so many aspects of our lives?