The Evolution of Dance

I want to learn his routine ;-)

Comings & Goings

I am perhaps too tired, and the work load of this semester is not quite over enough for me to write this post. But the moment will soon pass, and then I won't want to write it, so I'll give it a go.

It's quite boggling to think it's been a year since I was, literally, a few doors away from this very house I'm living in now, walking around Southside with Lauren, Ryan, Shanna, and Steph partying at my friend Liz and Paul's house and then hitting up every bar on Southside to celebrate our last day of classes at Cal (as undergrads, in my special case).

It was the night Lauren and I both remember for being scared we might get arrested. The cops were checking in on Liz and Paul's party so we walked around the corner and waited it out. One of them found us because Shanna had fallen onto the sidewalk and was just laying there. Nothing was wrong, she just wanted a rest. The cop came out of the car to ask us if we knew where we were going. He was just checking up on us, but me, Lauren, and Shanna all thought we were about to get arrested for being drunk in public (haha). Shanna quickly got up, we told him we were going to Northside and Lauren I think repeated our address 2 or 3 times *just* so he'd know for sure we knew where we were going.

We didn't go home. We went back to the party. Then we went to Henry's and partied with the other seniors until last call, drinking cheap Long Islands.

Special times.

And boom. It's already a year later. I was in studio till 1:00am tonight, and on my walk home I saw groups of students, much like us a year ago, wandering around being stupid on Southside. The sound of parties drifted out from numerous apartments and houses the entire walk home, and in the windows you could see groups of friends hanging out and talking.

People are constantly coming and going from this town. It's always in flux. Entire communities and networks of friends are constantly forming and breaking up every year. It's pretty amazing and more than a little bittersweet. It's like life, but condensed.

Todos Somos Una Voz

I feel bad that I did not, in any way support the events which occurred yesterday across the country. I even bought lunch and dinner after meaning to support the boycott. I'm a bad, bad, half-Latino.

I would have very much liked to have been here with some of my family, packing the Civic Center Plaza in Downtown Mountain View:

Credit: Steve Parkinson

I love this photo. I can, from now on, use it as a tool to describe how Mountain View is different than say, Palo Alto, or Sunnyvale, or Los Altos. Something like this just wouldn't happen in those other cities, and it's quite a remarkable assemblage of people for a city of only 70,000.

I often joke about how un-Latino I am, especially after failing miserably when it comes to dancing at club's Latin nights. Deep down, I feel a certain degree of disconnection on a lot of levels: I'm mixed, I don't speak Spanish, I'm a third-generation native, and my socio-economic background is different from the vast majority of the people out there protesting yesterday.

But at the same time, I do feel connected. Half of my family can trace its roots here to my great-grandparents crossing the Rio Grande during the Mexican Revolution. I know my family's history well, and I know that we're not very far removed from the people that will be impacted by new immigration legislation.

I'm truly amazed by what is happening and very hopeful about the long-term outcome of such a widespread and peaceful movement. I've spent the afternoon watching videos and photos from the various protests, especially San Jose's...where between 50,000 and 100,000 people marched down Alum Rock/Santa Clara Street into Downtown San Jose. There's a lot of joy there, a lot of hope. A bunch of e-mails went out to my family's list about the rallies happening in San Jose and Mountain View and who was attending which. I'm proud that some of my family members were able to represent us at both rallies.

Es hora de reconocer que

Todos somos una voz

Abraza el concepto

Venimos de las misma voz.

It is the hour of recognizing

That we are all one voice

Embrance the concept

We come from the same voice.

[migra - santana]

Long Day, Funny Article

I got up at 8:00. I was in class by 9:00am. I was either at work, working, or in class until 12:45am.

Gah!

Anyhow, for those of you who are/were a fan of the OC, this is a funny article:

Latest 'O.C.' drama revolves around UC

Excerpt:

"LAST WEEK'S episode of television's uber-trendy "The O.C." was greeted by derisive laughter as tens of thousands of California teenagers and UC Berkeley grads watched Marissa Cooper stroll the Cal campus as a newly admitted freshman-to-be.

OK, it wasn't actually Cal, but how, they asked themselves, could Cal admit the gorgeous young drama queen, even fictitiously? Like, did she even go to class?

"As a Berkeley rejectee myself," one irate viewer said in a posting on the TelevisionWithoutPity.com discussion boards, "it just sucks seeing that Marissa got into Berkeley and I didn't."

-Contra Costa Times