Category: my life

Friendship, my life

Friendships or Just Ships?

I feel like I have no choice but to keep saying that I am not perfect, because really I am not. But, I find myself in interesting situations this summer. I have always considered myself somewhat lucky with the relationships I keep with the people I know. I feel that I knew a number of people that I can call friends in one way or another. I do not mean it in the Facebook way, in which everyone befriends us. I mean it it more a bonding type of way.

I am a true believer that everyone is put in our lives for a reason, whether it be for a short time or for a very long time, people play pivotal parts in our lives. We also play roles, sometimes in ways we do not comprehend, in the lives of others. Its the way the universe works. I have been fortunate enough to bond enough with some people that I would consider friends in a very real way. I consider myself a selfless friend who will do just about anything for his friends. I love to talk, laugh, and socialize, so I am always entertaining at the least.

However, there was a time this summer in which I took a break. Sometimes I do that from time to time in which I take time for myself. This wasn’t just a break from friends and such, it was also a break from this blog. I needed to think about my life and about my employment situation. I will say that during that time I did have two interviews for a University in Manhattan and it looked promising at the time. While, I did not get it, I learned a lot about myself and my resolve. Other things changed for me as well that I am not going to get into at this moment, but point being, I was not particularly looking for anyone and some people took exception to that. I did my sincere apologizing to an old friend, but apparently that did not work and I cannot beg someone to be my friend, so be it.

Then there is another person that I hit it off with a few months back. I began to think there was a good friendship emerging but as my life continues to change, things turned sour. When a friend crosses a line more than once then you have to evaluate whether or not there is a friendship there. Many do not seem to realize that for how nice I can be, I can cut a person off if I need to. Lately, it has becoming easier and I am almost sad by this fact. So that is another friendship that has seem to perish in a short life.

The final scenario is a situation of an old friend that I cannot seem to get along with for long periods of time. Not really sure how this happens. We get along great. When this person needs to vent I am there. When I need encouragement on writing…this person is there for me. It is a back and forth type of deal where there are certain hot button topics that will send us over the edge. The funny thing is, we will probably still be friends from years to come no matter what.

So what is my point? Well, do I have friendships or ships that pass in the night? I am not that difficult of a person. I love my friends dearly. Some I talk to everyday and some I talk to every few months. My college friends are people that I adore. No matter how much time passes without communication, it always like no time passed at all when I finally do see or speak to them. But, it saddens me that it seems I lost a very good friend. There is nothing much I can do about that fact. I feel that all relationships are a two way street and while I make mistakes, I do not feel I need to pay for those mistakes all the time. More importantly, friends also forgive each other. If I can forgive my friends for the dumb things they do then why am I the one that seems not to be forgiven? We are either friends or not.

I am a loyal friend. I have always been, at times you cannot get rid of me. I am the type to text someone after weeks of not hearing from them. I care about the people who come into my life, even if it just for a short amount of time. I would like to think that most people are like ships in the night that pass each other, but with friends…those are ones that should want to sail with you through good times and bad.

job search, my life

Questioning Myself

There is one thing in my life that is for sure, I am not perfect. There is nothing that I can do that will ever be perfect, but I think that I can come close if I really tried. I feel that I am that type of person that takes pride in the things that I do. I love to write and I stand by every letter on this blog. My poems have only gotten better the more I write them. The stories that I write is something that I take great pride and I will always fight myself to make them better. More importantly, I take pride in my job and the work that I do.

Again, I realize that I am not perfect. I make mistakes on the job just like everyone does. Sometimes I get caught up on a project so much that I fail to come up for air thus something slips by me. I try to improve then I move forward. One thing that I make sure of is that I am good at what I do. I have become a problem solver of sorts and during my 10 year run at my current position, I have been through things that I cannot even write about. I have seen things that to this day I still shake my head at and I have had some of the beast times of my life. I love this place and the students.
With that being said, I rarely question myself or my abilities. My resume speaks for itself. The recommendations on Linkedin are there for all to see. The problem I having is getting a new position. I begin to wonder what it is I am doing wrong. Are my skills and abilities not being brought to the forefront for employers during the application process or the interview? I am a very personable individual, I can carry a conversation and if you and I are speaking about something we can both relate to then that’s even better. But, I end up looking at emails telling me that although my skills are ideal, I’m personally not the ideal candidate for said position.

The whole job searching process seems like a social experiment in puzzle pieces. Everyone is looking for a perfect fit to any group dynamic in order to make their company or workplace better. The problem is that you are not the piece that they believe will fit, no one tells you why. I would like to think that it is common courtesy that if I were to go as far as two interviews that I should at least be given the opportunity to have that explanation as to what I could have done better. Otherwise, I could end up really questioning myself.

It becomes a point of asking myself if I spoke too much. Perhaps I made a comment that was not favorable. I know it wasn’t my style of dress, I have 2 new suits that I rocked very well. I did ask enough question because I came with written questions. Was I not witty enough? Was I too witty? Then I start thinking the outlandish, even though it is still very possible. What if I was too Black? What if I was too Latino? People always think that being a diversity candidate is an advantage but in actuality, as long as an employer can prove that they interviewed a person of color, it may not matter in the end.

However, it turns out that the exact opposite has been happening to me. While all those questions have entered my mind, I do not question myself because when it comes down to it, we all know if we have done good on a test or an interview. Sure, some times we may get too cocky and think we did well and actually flopped. But in my last interviews, I was not cocky nor was I overconfident. I researched and put in the work days and weeks prior the interviews so I can understand what I may be getting myself into. This way, there is no real way I can blame myself for not getting any position. Perhaps there are certain things I need to tweek, but practice makes perfect.

I have often equated job searching to dating because in my both cases we are trying to establish a personal relationship with a person or a company. Work is a very personal thing and we spend so much time at work that it is important to love what you do. It is even more important to make that right connection and being that I have been on both sides of the interview table, I can understand the need to make a perfect fit.

So then it just comes down to faith. How much faith do I have in myself to continue down this path with the failure and the standard emails telling me I am not a good enough? I can come up with millions of quotes about failure and success. I can read books about fate and how things are meant to be, but in reality it all comes down to me and my power to endure. 

job search, my life, resume, social media, social networking

Social (Media) Skills

I had this amazing thought last week. I have been working hard on applying for jobs and getting interviews that I have been trying to add skill that I have to my resume.  What hit me like a ton of bricks last week was the fact that I should add Social Media to my list of skills. While this may be a relative no brainer for some, this is a new thought to me because I have been doing this like it is second nature.

I figured out that I manage 3 twitter accounts, 4 Facebook pages, 3 Blogs, and a Google+ account. I also started doing stuff with Instagram and there are talks about a possible 4th blog. I am not sure I would count Linkedin too, but some would. I laugh when people in my family look at me like I am crazy because I “put my sh*t out there,” but let’s be real about all of this: people are making money doing these things that some consider to be just fun.

If I may indulge a little bit. This how the social media life started for me back in 1998, when I was doing a crappy blog about my life in New York City. Then at some point I got a Yahoo Profile that I still have and only use for Fantasy Sports. During that time, I mostly played word games and met people through chat. From there life moved on to Migente, where it seemed liked all Latinos were going instead of Black Planet (which I never felt the need to join). These sites seemed cool and I got tired of them quickly because people are dumb.

Then Myspace came along and that changed the game. By this time, I wasn’t doing much of anything social media wise. I think moved my blog a couple of times from Blogger to Xanga and then to Myspace. At first, I liked it. It was a cool way to feature your life and have a blog with it. At one point before the move to Xanga, I purchased the domain name of AnthonyOtero.com in which I had randomness of my life and then the blog highlighted. It was ok, but Myspace was much better. Then Facebook came along and that changed the game…again.

I began to like Facebook more than Myspace even though people were trying to face that it was for kids (like Myspace was really meant for adults). But, what hooked me was when I started connecting to people I have not seen or heard from in years….including family members. Deleting myspace was easy after that. Clearly, I became more serious about blogging and even wrote about Social Media a few times.

Then Twitter came out and Social Media became a way to market yourself as a product. This has become a great way to get a message out that and to network with people. I know that I have been able to get my blog more traffic due to twitter alone. Once you know how to get an audience or at least get the right people to follow you then sites like Twitter become more engaging.

Of course, companies and places of business take notice. Which is why I have always made sure that my job has always been up on its social media game. We have a Twitter account and 2 Facebook pages (which is apart my original count). The internet is a free enterprise, if harnessed correctly, you can do you about anything you want. Imagine if you are a company and you want to get people to buy a product or at least try a product then you will need people who know how to navigate all the traffic. I think about the Old Spice Guy. He has an hilarious twitter account where he posts links from youtube to show his commericals. That is pure genius.

That is my point. People get paid for that. I think it is time for me to cash in on obvious experience. I will have to update my online resume. 🙂

book club, my life

Books, Books, and Nooks

My appetite for reading books seems to be ever increasing. I don’t recall being this excited about books when I was in school when they were required reading. My argument is that if I had a choice in books being read, I would have read every book on the list. The fact of the matter is that not every book is going to be a great book. Some are harder to read than others. Just because a book is consider an American Classic doesn’t mean it is a good read.

I find comfort in being able to escape into a good book. The fact of having a Nook makes my reading experience worthwhile. Sure, It is not the same as buying the actual book and having it on display for no one to see in a library no one looks at, but I like the concept of reading an entire book in a small space. It has also shown me the importance of the e-book format. I think it is very important that moving forward, all books should be available in this format.

I think about how expensive text books are for college students. Imagine having them on an e-reader where students can read at their discretion. That would also avoid the whole book bag problem. I hated to carry books from class to class, it was a problem. The best part of having something like the nook is that it reads PDFs. So if I had to read something for work I can load it as a PDF and I would be straight. However, I tend to just use my e-reader for personal reading only.

I also tend to read books that now only come in the e-reader format. It saves paper for those who are environmentally friendly. One thing that I really try not to do when I did buy real books was bend the cover or break the spine. I paid for it and I did not want it to look horrible. Now, I do not have to worry about that.

Some people have asked me what books am I reading and what would I recommend. First and foremost, I recommend that people join the site Goodreads. This is where I have cataloged most of my read books. I can track what I read and what I want to read. I think that if you are into books then that is the place to start. I have read six books this year and I am currently on my seventh. My goal is to read 15 and I am behind on that mark. Goodreads allows me to track and know that type of information.

Out of the 6 books I have read I would recommend The Hunger Games, The Shack, Fish Out of Agua, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Fountainhead. I picked these books to share with you because they have all had an effect on me in some way. For example, I read the Hunger Games in less than 24 hours and The Fountainhead was an epic journey. The one book that really spoke to me was Fish Out of Aqua by Michele Carlo. I enjoyed that book so much that I am working on bringing her to speak at Syracuse University for Latino Heritage Month.

What has me bugging out is putting something that I wrote into the e-reader. It becomes a great place to store all my written information in case I need to show someone a poem or a short story that I have written. It makes what I am trying to do a little more tangible. This is a piece of technology is something that I am glad I got my hands on.

my book, my life

ISBNs and Things

Been doing some research over the last few weeks in regards to doing some actual publishing. I want to publish something soon and in order to do that I need to look at all my options. So my first thought was to go to createspace and start with the a basic design of my first book. I decided a while ago to put all my poetry into one volume and go from there. The only thing left to do wast to start the process.

So, I did some playing around and I realized I need to do some template work since I have to decided what sized book I want to publish. That was something that seemed pretty easy, of course I would have to reformat whatever I pick, but I think that is something that just comes with the territory. Of course, I would have to figure out a cover. This is a point in which I feel I need to take a picture of whatever I feel really displays the essence of my book and the poems within. In terms of the title, I have already thought one up.

It took me awhile to get to a title. I had been thinking about it for months actually, but last week it just hit me. I have decided to call it My Twisted Life Through Lines of Poetry. It just hit me when I thought about all the poems that I have written over the last few years. When I give some thought to the things I have written, I try to imagine the frame of mind I was in when I wrote them. I came up with the scattered works on a canvas. Since I am very much a Gemini, my work seems to be random but yet with a specific purpose. I feel the title embodies me. I just need to work on getting a picture that will speak to me as well.

Creating the actual book seems to take as just as much creativity as writing the text within. So, I have come to fully expect that this process may take awhile. I do not want to rush getting this done, but at the same time…I want to get this done. Which brings me to the part about a very interesting thing about something called an ISBN.

Every book has an identifier that seems to very much be a bar code on the back cover. This is a code that identifies this book as whatever it is. I can choose one or have one chosen for me, but there is a catch. See, I can get a free ISBN and publish by week’s end, the only problem is that it is not a universal identifier. It would only be recognized by Amazon and sold in that manner, thus I would have issues if I wanted it sold by a chain like Barnes & Noble. However, if I wanted a universal ISBN that is recognized by all (including libraries), I would have to pay a fee of $99.  That does not seem too bad, however I am currently trying to work through my budget and that is something that I simply have not planned for. I have often made the joke that when you are broke…everything seems to cost a thousand dollars…lol

So, I asked a friend who is currently selling his book on the Barnes & Noble website. Andre Cole is the author of The Unholy Servants and a very good friend of mine. We both attended Syracuse University and survived. I knew that he had self published and quite frankly this seems to be the way to go. I knew that he would have some answers about the ISBN thing for me. Not that I did not believe what I was being told, but I need to talk to someone who went through this process.  He basically told me that he bought a bunch of these! I am assuming I got this correct when he told me that every format will need its own ISBN. Hmmm….this is proving to be an investment (nothing wrong with that of course).

It made me think a little more clearer on a another project that I started. I would really want whatever it is that I write to be in as many formats as possible. What would be the point of any book if you cannot provide the reader with a format they may find convenient. So now,  I know what it is I need to do in order to get my work published. I cannot help but feel very proud that a good friend of mine has published. No, he is not the first person I know, but Andre is the closest, which gives me the motivation to work harder on this.

It is not easy to find the time and the energy to sit down and write. I have plenty of ideas in my head and I wanted to use the collected poetry as a starting point so that the second time around I know what I need to do. My countdown to get things done as begun in my head. I will need to focus on this and this is something that I know I can do because I have already written the material. With that being said, I do plan on writing new material so that all the poems published are not all from my blogs.

Please take time to click the link to The Unholy Servants. The e-book is only available at the moment but  we are eagerly awaiting the hard and soft cover editions. I have not read this book yet, but I plan to add it to my book club reading list. This way I am helping him out as much as he is going to help me out in this process.

my life

28 days later…

Something funny happened during my 28 day vacation from this blog. I think I found something that I haven’t had in a long time. As a matter of fact, I do no think it is something that I have ever mentioned on this blog in the 2 years that I have been writing. While, I am not entirely sure that I have been searching for this and I hardly think I have even mentioned that is was what I was looking for… I think I found a way to be happy.

Before the realization of this sets it, there has always been a certain understanding that I have had with the universe and that was that my life would continually be difficult. I have felt on numerous occasions that my luck has run out, that I reached the threshold of things to pray for. But then, things just seemed to click. It was as if I woke up one day and the world around me was moving just a little bit slower and I was still going at the same speed.

This is not to say that I am not plagued with the same everyday issues that I had just 28 days ago, I am just more in tuned with myself. I see things differently when it come to the goals I have placed for myself. There is no more “ifs” in my world there is only “when”. For far too long I have been living in a world where I talk about if things will happen. They either will or will not. I will either make things happen or I don’t. It is really that simple.

I have also taken the time to smell the roses. Stressing about things is not going to make my life better. Thankfully, I have never been one to panic in any given situation, but I have been known to over analyze. During this 28 day stretch, I have not over analyzed a thing. I have let things come to me. I have also trimmed the things and the people who have been a distraction to my goals. Unfortunately, I have also been very quiet with family and friends which has led to false impressions on my intentions and for that I sincerely apologize. I believe everyone needs a break from their lives and from themselves.

I have kept to myself for the same reason that I stopped writing on this blog, I wanted to stop talking about things…and actually do the things I said I would do. I do love the people in my life who have been there for me. I am not snubbing them or disregarding them in any fashion. I just needed to time to get my head straight. I need time to see the me for the individual that I am. How can I expect anyone to love me if I am not willing to see myself for who I am? How can I expect a bunch of strangers hire me if I cannot show them how dynamic I can be? How can I expect to gain and retain the respect of people I work with if I cannot consistently be creative and innovative?

28 days later… I realize that living in the moment is more important than living for the moment.

My silence is now broken.

my life

A Vague Silence

I found myself in a position in which I have not written much. Well, that is not true. I have written, just not on here. It seems that I have taken an unofficial break from public writing. I have been dealing with a few things that I cannot yet speak about. This isn’t a life or death situation, but something that I just need to do.

So at this point I will just be my normal vague self. What I can say is that I have come to realize that perhaps I have been taking my life and myself too seriously. One thing I have noticed in my multiple trips to New York City is that I have not had genuine fun in quite sometime. I use the word genuine because I think we can have fun in just about anything we do. But the “genuine” I am referring to is about letting go and just being.

I have been feeling a change within me. I do not know if it is more of sense of self or just a newfound confidence. However, I do feel that things are starting to go my way and it is different feeling for me. Something that is foreign that I am not quite used to. So, I tread cautiously with some of things I do. This is not due to fear, but more of a looking before I cross the street type of caution.

Maybe it is the feeling that I am getting older and that I have a right to expect certain things from life. In any case, I have chosen to hold back certain things from people and from this blog. This is not due to fear, but more that I need to see how life plays out. I also feel like I am surveyor. I am looking at the world around me in such a different lens. Perhaps this is what is like to be another year older but my experiences in my profession as well as my life in general has given me a sense of confidence.

This type of confidence seems to be shaping my purpose more and more. I have become more spiritual as the days pass as I forge a relationship with God. I am not particularly religious and I doubt I ever will be. But as I see the universe and how it is shaping up events in my favor, I am starting to think that perhaps I need to really start giving more to the world than I am currently.

Again, I am being vague and that is my sole purpose right now. It is sort of like when a poem is written and it is up to the reader to decipher it. I find myself at another precipice that will help me figure out what I need to do. This time I feel more confident in my future. I feel that I have put so much work in that the outcome can only be positive.

My silence is only temporary.

Game of Thrones, my life, RPG

Game of Thrones

It turns out that movies are not the only thing that produces the inner nerd inside of me. The Game of Thrones is an amazing series on HBO that has driven my imagination crazy in ways that, lately, only Superhero movies have been able to do. The show is based on a set of books written by George R.R. Martin, the first called A Song in Fire and Ice that came out in 1996. While, I have yet to read the book (I am slated to in August), I am hearing that HBO’s adaptation is very faithful to the book.

I am not going to give up much information on the series or book because it is that amazing. What I will say is that a show like this make me miss movies like Lord of the Rings. If you connect the dots you will know that Sean Bean (photographed above) played Boromir in the Fellowship of the Ring. I consider the The Lord of the Ring Trilogy to be one of the greatest trilogies every made. Sean Bean played a small, but pivotal role. To see him as the protagonist in Game of Thrones already had me hooked.

What has me amazed is the character development and the many twists and turns that consistently leave me guessing on what will happen next. Considering that I do not watch much television outside of sports, it is very refreshing to see something that can stimulate my mind. When that happens, then the nerd inside me comes out. I used to role play like nerds do now except without the Magic Cards. We would grab some dice and create characters with such games like Dungeons and Dragons and go at it for hours. This became much of an addiction in my early 20’s after college. I would play just about every weekend until the time came when I realized that I liked women more (true story).

I laugh when I think about my early 20’s, before I formulated who I am now, all my characters were people of color. They just had to be. While my friends would create the “traditional” characters, I wanted to make sure that my alter ego was dark skinned. I had trouble believing that there wasn’t a knight or a ranger out there who did not look like me. My only choice was dark elves and there is no surprise that they are evil beings. So, in my own way, I always made sure that I remained true to myself whenever possible.

It is actually amazing that this game is something that I used (and still would) play during a time when video games were becoming so prevalent. The Game of Thrones reminds me of a world that only I can imagine and have created several times over. The best part is that this type of story telling does not fall within the conventional. You can almost come to expect the unexpected with this series and I am loving every minute of it.

So, my suggestion is that if you do not have HBO that you wait for this show to come on Netflix or you can pick up the book and read it. I mentioned that I am slated to read the book in August because I am in a book club and my pick come up in August, so naturally I picked this…

my life

37

I have had the last few days off. Actually, I fancied myself a five-day weekend since I have way too many vacation days that I need to take before July 1. I spent much of this time just thinking about my birthday coming up on Sunday. I haven’t really thought about my age much until recently. I am of the belief that age is just a number and you are only as young as you feel. Considering that I feel like I have never really grown up in many ways, I am feeling pretty young.

However, I was out the other night having a good time and it came to that part of the night where I have to eat food as a way to soak up the alcohol and I had a conversation with the pizza guy. I have no idea how this started but I do remember him saying that I look older than 37. I had to look at him and I wanted to tell him that he needed to take his ass way the fuck over there. I know that I do not look my age. I must admit that I didn’t shave and I haven’t had my normal hair cut, but these things together would ever make me look my age. But what it did do was make me start thinking about it.

The thing about 37 is that it is one of those in between numbers. Sure, It was cool to be 35 because that is a cool number. It just about solidifies the fact that I am an adult but yet young enough to still hang around the late 20’s crowd. When you are 36, you are one year removed from 35 and still in good shape. Now 37 means that I am in the middle, I am certainly not as close to 35 but yet 3 years removed from 40. I will say that 40 looms overhead for all of us. Let’s be real, 40 means rectal exams. That is like the first thing my doctor tells me is when I hit that age, we are talking prostate exams and I am not sure I am ready to get a tube up my ass (but I have 3 years to prepare).

At the same time, I feel that 37 means that I have to be more careful with the age range of women that I may want to date. Chasing 24 year olds may not be the best thing. It has nothing to do with keeping up, but it has everything to do with where their level is. I feel like I have been learning the hard way that there are people who are not on my level. I am not saying this to be mean or stuck up. I have had many people tell me that certain women that I may have been involved with my not be on my level. Clearly, I have many things on my mind and everyday problems that not many young women will comprehend because they are not there.

Then there are the women who are older. I am not sure I should be chasing 50 year old women either…at least no yet. I think that I can talk about certain people not being on my level, but I have to say that older women know the deal. I am not sure I am their level as well. So my age range should be no more than 10 years younger or older. I think anything beyond that may cause serious issues with general interests and maturity at both ends.

I also think about my goals and my on going struggle to complete them. I am not getting any younger and while I do feel that I am doing my part to carve out my place in this world, I feel like maybe I am not doing enough. I think I have been successful with students and my job because of my youth and energy. Of course, my energy remains, but now what? Perhaps I am over thinking, but I do think I may be on to something here. I think that this year marks a turning point in my life where I really have to consider age as a fact for just about everything. However, the best part is that I do not feel 37.

Regardless, I will just enjoy the days that come and take each day as they come. This will be an interesting year.

Afro Latino, my life

Changes.



“You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself. That is something you have charge of.” – Jim Rohn

It is the first day of June and although it is not quite summer yet, it is the season of change. This is the point in time where people start coming out of the their shells to enjoy such beautiful weather. This is a time where some students end a chapter of their lives to either enter the real world or move on to a higher level of education. This also becomes a point where people change their relationship statuses for something better or worse. This is the season of change and you can clearly see where I have started mine.

I needed something different for this blog. I liked the old web design but I just got tired of they way it looked and how it functioned for me. I will be making a series of adjustments that will make this page look better. I have also fixed the social media functionality that will allow people to share. I didn’t realize how much of a crutch it was for this not to happen. It took some one on twitter (@MissVersatile) to show me that this needs to be fixed. Believe it or not, that became the catalyst for change. I think her very much for that.

I am also of the realization that I need to change my header. I will have to work on that. I do not want to compromise the logo, so we will see what happens…

This makes me think about a lot of things in my life currently. The only thing that seems to remain relatively the same for me is my family, my job, and my dog. It seems like all other things are in constant flux. In fact, there has been so much change in my life that I don’t seem to give it the attention that it needs. As funny as this will sound, sometimes I feel like I am an agent of chaos. With all the constant change, I feel right at home and do my best work. A good example is me being able to write 21 poems in April during the busiest time of my life and yet manage 8 blogs last month when it is a relative ghost town around here.

I also think about the constant change with the relationships I choose to associate myself with. There seems to be a constant struggle to maintain something with those I have had some consistency with. But, at the same time I am always welcoming new friendship and different people into my life (no matter how long I choose to talk to them or not). I also sense a shift in myself as well when it comes to my social life. I know that I need to promote myself more and put myself out there when it come to my work, but more importantly, I have come to realize that I am more than just my work…I am also a brand. We live in a world that we all need to brand ourselves in order to be unique. I consider all this a product of my education and talent.

I have also decided to take on something that I feel needs more attention. I will not get into particulars on this post, but I created a brand new twitter account last week: @beingafrolatino. This is an undertaking that will require a great deal of change in my life and I am ok with that. I feel the need to change my game up a bit and really start to point out the conditions in which Afro Latinos live and deal with on a daily basis. I can say that I already know that I will start out small, but I plan to get a great deal of steam as the time goes. I plan on revealing the whole story of how all this unfolded in my next blog entry.

The biggest change of it all comes 12 days from now. This is indeed my birthday month once again. I feel like it was yesterday when I wrote about how I spent my birthday alone. I will say that will probably be not the case this year. I will be 37 and still fighting the good fight (which is leaving Syracuse). This puts me 3 years away from the big four-oh and I need to maintain my goal of remaining to look like I am still in my 20s.