I had another post in mind, however I had to change it after what I saw this morning. As some of you know, Times Square can be a very interesting place, you never know what you can find. Since there's so many people walking around (natives and tons of tourists) marketing people have a lot of crazy, innovative promotions. It also helps that the ABC and MTV studios are right here. Well, a lot of times I saw stuff that always made me think "damn, I wish I had my camera to get a picture of this". Well, I've been doing this, capturing people in crazy costumes, celebrities or just weird stuff.

This morning while walking from the subway station to work (about 2 blocks) I saw a big American flag hanging from a car. The closer I got, I started to see some signs and a few pictures. The first picture I saw was showing a close up of two soldiers hugging each other, smiling. I got to the corner, and the light was red, so I got more time to really check the truck (a brown station wagon). The second picture was showing the body of one of those American soldiers from the first picture. He was wearing his uniform and the coffin was covered by the American flag. It was then when I finally was able to check the whole truck. The back door was open and inside there was a coffin covered with the flag. On the right side you could see the boots and his tags around them. Hanging on something next to the truck was his uniform.

I don't know what the intention was with the display. I honestly don't know what else to write, besides that maybe there should be one truck in Times Square for each one of the more than 3000 soldiers killed in Iraq. Maybe, just maybe it is time to rethink the plan (was there a plan to begin with?).

We'll be back with regular programming later on.

Sometimes have you had one of those nights when you are a few hours of going to bed and it seems like the day is gone? Like nothing else will happen during that day? When the only surprise that can appear in your life is a funny new commercial or a good movie that you didn't expect to see?

Well last night it was one of those nights, until almost 8pm. After that, I was gladly surprised for 4.5 hours. Here's some inside info. I have problems falling sleep, but I do try to go to bed around 11 or 11:30 if I have to work in the morning, otherwise I know I can regret it the next morning. Last night I went to bed around 1am, still woke up before 6.

I LOVE to be surprised! little things like that can make your whole week. So it is fucking freezing outside, but my smile this morning could melt whatever snow fell over night.

What happened this morning?

Did I:

a.- Hit this




with this?














(that is my head with the border of an open drawer)

b.- Hit this:














with this:














(good 'ol little toe with the border of a desk/table/corner of the wall/border of the shower or tub)

c.- Hit this:
















with this:

















(A little elbow vs border of the desk or chair action)


Sadly the answer is "B". So since a 9 degree weather (or minus 10 if you add the wind) wasn't bad enough, now every step I take hurts.

Way to start the weekend!

While talking about the work life, my brother used to say that things get easier the higher that you get. Ironically he has never been able to hold a steady job in his entire life, so all I can think is that he pulled that idea from his ass. Don't get me wrong, I think my brother is one of the smartest guys I know, he is extremely creative and a true artist. As so, he has a huge problem with authority, and that's the reason why cannot keep a job for more than a few months.

Then there's me. I know how to play the game, and I was able to climb the corporate ladder pretty fast. I'm not that high (it is difficult to do so in such a huge company) but I'm getting there. After thew few years that I've been "kind" of up there I can truly say that thing's don't get easier.

I'm in the middle of a "negotiation" with my salary. for the past year and a half I've been changing the way the company does the business that I'm handling. Things have improved, money have been saved, clients are happy. I know i deserve to move to the next level, money and title wise. I am the best at whatever I do (my dad always told me that I Can be a clown if I wanted to, but I had to be the BEST clown); when I was waiting tables while going to school I was the best waiter, I fucking hated that job but I was the best at it! the money was awesome and I got to met tons of women.

Now I have to bargain for more money and a better title, which sucks, but I seriously doubt that it would happen if I don't push for it. A very good friend of mine (he is a top guy, but not above me, yeah I know this sounded gay) told me to play the "I got a job offer" card. I did get a job offer, but I didn't really pursue it because the money was about the same I'm making here and I would have to move to California. I know that with my knowledge and experience I could get another job, but I like the one I have.

I guess sometimes you have to ask and fight for what you want, apparently I've been spoiled since I never had to beg for raises or promotions. The next step is to talk to my boss and see what happens. I know they cannot afford to lose me, but I don't want to reach the extreme of giving them an ultimatum. There's a popular phrase in Spanish" el que no llora, no mama", which means that if you don't cry you will not suck (referring to a kid crying t be breastfed).

I guess I have to start crying!

ps... the girl from the Christmas party invite me to lunch today. She's a vegetarian, it would never work!

ps2. I need to start making a list of the blogs I read! there are so many so good! I try to comment on most, but trust me, I read them constantly.

I'm so glad it is Friday!

I'll be watching football and drinking beer, because I deserve it! I also deserve to receive dirt text messages, but apparently that is not going to happen this weekend (enjoy your margaritas tonight anyway!).

I just received an IM from an old, OLD friend. He used to live across my house since I was 12 or so. We were very close, then puberty hit and somehow he became a better friend of my brother, go figure. Still, he just asked me about the ex. I haven't think about her since "The Office" story, and before I wrote that story I didn't think about her for the longest time. I think I'm going to give her a call, she is a wonderful woman, just not the right one for me. Maybe I should send her a dirty text message! (joking!!!). He also told me that this girl that we used to know from the early years said hi, that was odd...that girl hasn't been on my mind for more than 15 years!! one of these days I have to write her story, it is related to spin the bottle, yeah it was a long time ago!!!!

Anybody up for a friendly game of spin the bottle?

* 4 tequila based drinks + 3 Vodka Martinis and 1 Corona = $78


* Delicious and incredible cheap Chinese food for two = $5.50 (yes you read it right, and it was damn GOOOOOOD)

* Spending the night with an amazing, totally cool and hot woman listening to erotic stories, meeting and have a conversation with a professional dominatrix from Texas and a lawyer from DC all in the same place and night = Priceless!!!

This kind of stuff only happens in New York. Awesome night with great company, good drinks and delicious food! oh right, and the dominatrix (a totally hot blond woman) asked me if I would like to cross dress, ha!

I am going to answer the comments on this post. Chris is right about the man part, however I think that more women are feeling the same way, still we cannot deny that the double standard is very much alive: if a man sleeps around and has tons of women then he is a stud, if a woman does the same she is a slut. As a male, somehow I have the "expectation" of sleep around, as a half Hispanic male my odds of cheating (stereotype-wise) are humongous!

Those "expectations" make me insane! But are real. We grew up on a society that can ties together love and sex, and it disapproves any kind of independence between them. Last week, while reading the Village Voice (for all of you non New Yorkers it is a free newspaper that used to be political but now is dramatically changing for the worse) I found one of my favorite columnists. His name is Dan Savage and he writes a sex advice column that has no boundaries. All topics are open and his answers are always real, even if it is not what we want to read. Anyway, this week's letters were focused on "cuckolds" (if you don't know what it, you might not want to know!). Here's the piece that caught my attention:

"For some folks, sex is about love and pleasure and possession—and there's
nothing necessarily unhealthy about the desire to possess someone. We should all
understand, of course, that we can never truly possess another person, but we shouldn't feel guilty when our hearts or genitals feel a bit differently. Human beings should be rational ("I know I don't own you") about the irrational feelings love inspires ("I own your ass!").

I don't want to hurt the SO, and I know that's what I would do if I bring up the whole "open relationship" issue. Besides, I don't want an open relationship, clearly I have a relationship. All the time I hear and read about domestic violence, scum bags that don't work or guys that don't have any respect for their partners. Maybe those guys don't sleep with anybody else, but is it worth it? It might sound as if I'm trying to justify myself, but I don't think I have to, I should be apologetic, but I'm not. I know the discussion is out of the question, I know I make her happy and I know I don't want to hurt her. Again, I had the opportunities to fuck around very often, but I didn't (even if I don't look like a model I can turn on the charm pretty easily :) ). It is so difficult to explain! Sometimes people want honestly as long as it is what they want to hear, I did the honesty thing once, the answer from that person? "Why did you tell me? i didn't want to know!". Going back to the initial point (I think I had a point somewhere!) : Males are simple creatures, pretty dumb ones by the way, so go easy on us... we might get better, eventually.

Somehow sex became this overcomplicated thing!

When there's a penis inside a vagina the heart doesn't need to be invited...but if it is, you might enjoy it more.

Cheers!

PS... the temperature dropped from 55 degrees to 30 between midnight and noon! I cannot wait for spring!!! I want to see women wearing skirts and sandals, it it too much to ask?

The S.O.

It's almost been a month since I started to write this post! So there is a Significant Other. I know I might get a lot of hate mail or lose readers (I still cannot believe that people read this!) but I want to explain the whole situation.

We've been together for around 5 years now and in general I don't have major complaints. Our issues be reduced to her hate for NYC and her hate for her job. Clearly i love this city, it might not be the easiest place to live, but I like it and I don't plan to leave it, on the other hand she wants to leave badly (she is originally from a relatively small city in the south). We met in NY and I never promise her to move back, I never lie about that, but it seems like she was hoping that I was going to change my mind, sorry it is not going to happen.

Besides that, in general we are a good couple. I might sound cocky, but I think I'm a great partner. I'm the kind of guy that brings her flowers for no reason whatsoever (and it is something that happens often). I'm that guy that wakes up almost 2 hours earlier than he is supposed to just so he can drive her to work, and then takes the subway so she can keep the car and drive back (no need for her to take the subway). Money wise, I take care of all expenses, she just has to work to pay her student loans and huge credit card debt. I'm also the kind of guy that cooks her dinner almost every night and does laundry (and pays for dry cleaners).

I am also the kind of guy that gives her orgasms whenever we have sex, and totally understands when she is not in the mood. Does it sound too perfect? I know! Sometimes when she gets pissed she calls me that, Mr Perfect... but I am not, I am just the result of my parents, if I learned something from them was that. They love each other to dead, but my dad was rarely involved on that "other side" of life, he was just the person that worked, brought the money, period. Whenever my mom had to e in the hospital for a couple of weeks, my dad was totally useless (living of take out food). The deal they had was clear, my mom didn't had to work but she was going to take of everything else. Apparently it was a fair deal, but my mom always pushed us to be independent (as in not depend on somebody to take care of us). My point is that I do what I do because I want to, and it is not a sacrifice.

So after all that, I do have what seems to be a problem. I don't have a problem having sex with other people. Let me clarify this, I don't fuck everything that moves, and I don;t do it all the time. It might had happen twice since I've been with the SO, even though I had more chances than that. here's the deal, for me it was just sex, i love the SO and in no moment the thought of leaving her crossed my mind. This might sound awful, but I was just satisfying a need, if you are hungry, you eat, if you are horny, you fuck. The 2 people I did it with were in the same boat, there were no feelings involved besides a friendship.

So even though i had the chance to score twice (that girl from the previous story has been texting me a lot) I didn't do it. Probably the question that a lot of people are going to ask is: what if she did the same to you? The honest answer is that I would understand, i would be shocked, but if she assures me that it was just sex I would be fine. A don't ask don't tell policy would be the same. We were raised with an overcomplicated idea of sex. Yeah it is better if you have sex with somebody that you love, but you cannot deny the power of a good old fuck fueled just by passion and desire.

Am i THAT weird? Am I too much of an asshole?