Living Proof

Last night as I'm scrolling down my Twitter feed, I saw a bizarre news headline that read, "Florida Man Shot by Police After Eating Another Man's Face".  I had to click on it to see if it was a spoof, but as I kept reading it, sadly, it was true. Witnesses say this naked man was chewing off the face of another man. They went to get the Miami police. The officer warned him to get off the man, but instead, this insane zombie kept chewing the flesh off from his face, looked up at the policeman and growled. That's when the police finally shot the man dead. Larry Vega was the first to witness this bloody attack while riding his bicycle into downtown Miami. He said, "The guy was, like, tearing him to pieces with his mouth, so I told him to get off. The guy just kept eating the other guy away, like, ripping his skin." He then said, "It was just a blob of blood, you couldn't really see, it was just blood all over the place." Police assume it wa...

It's not that I'm not aware, it's only because life is too short to be worrying about "wealthy" people or those who don't do enough for society. I read about it, watch it on the news, see it on Facebook threads and think, why are we all so caught up in what other people are doing? But there are people who point out a very logic and valid point: it affects us in some way. But my question is: can we control it? There is absolutely nothing we can do. Look at Occupy Wall Street - they have camped out, protested, made scenes and even sadly, have closed down mom and pop stores do to the chaos. Not only have they tried to make their point, they closed down small businesses to which they were for. It backfired. This is how I see it... We live in a society full of greedy people and those who hate the greedy people. But, there are so many people complaining about "wealthy" people - those who have earned it. This country was built on enterprise and if we take...

For years now, I've been arguing with "judgmental Christians" who mostly have a narrow view of the world and society. It became my mission to "correct" them -- as well as to protect those who were confused, belittled and hurt by these so called loving Christians. I still try to protect those who are hurt by religious and judgmental people, but there's more to it. There's the understanding of other people's "religious truth". The fact that religion in itself, spirituality in itself, has no scientific evidence, which is ironic that they call it "truth". I guess it's to make a much more persuasive impact on mind control, or perhaps brainwashing. Although my faith (my truth) cannot budge due to someone else trying to convince me otherwise, I no longer try to convince people to ~walk this way~.  God gave us all a choice. It's not up to me to point to whichever direction, because who knows, maybe my direction isn't the bes...

There's something to be said for animals sensing your emotional state. I found out Dad wasn't feeling too well. He seems to becoming much weaker. It's very hard to see someone you have always thought as "the strongest man in the world" become weakest person you know. The gradual, perhaps rapid progression of his illness is starting to show, as I denied it while seeing him happy and in no pain for about two weeks straight. When I came home yesterday, I opened the door to the happiest puppy I've ever seen. We ran on the lawn together, I let her play with her toys and then when she got tired, she joined me on the deck to relax. Mommy needed a glass of wine or three. We have an awning (oversized rafter) that extends from the house, so if you sit out on the deck, you can watch the pouring rain and not get wet. I wrapped Lola up in a fuzzy blanket that my niece Sophia gave to her --- (Sophia's baby blanket) which I thought was incredibly sentimental. Lola and ...

Say hello to Lola Felicidad Pasquella, an 8 week old Chihuahua mix from Puerto Rico. She was found in a field abandoned with her brother who was also adopted. I picked her up at a nearby rescue shelter and right away, I knew she was the perfect little addition to our family. I'm welcoming her on my blog because you'll see a lot of her in my posts since she has brought so much happiness to not only my wife and I, but to my entire family who she loves so much. She's great with my sisters' kids and all she wants is to be near you, even if she's leaning up against you chewing on her rawhide drooling all over the place. Most of you know how OCD I am about 'cleanliness' and 'germs'...  Since she's been here - not. one. concern. And the thing that baffles me is, my allergist told me I was highly allergic to dogs. After a few days of sniffling and itchy skin - all my allergy problems have disappeared - in fact - I don't have wheezing or inner ear p...

Yesterday, Mom was crying. I asked, "What's wrong?" Stupid question on my part perhaps, yet I still wanted to know why my mother, who hardly ever cries (at least in front of people) would be so sad. She was sitting on the couch that was across the room from my dad, who was lying on his bed which hospice provided. During the past couple of weeks, they've been cracking jokes, laughing and really enjoying their time together. Yesterday was different. My mom doesn't like to "upset me" as she thinks. She doesn't want to burden me with "stuff" - but for me, how can I possibly help not knowing what she needs? I asked her again, "What's wrong?" She nodded her head with no words spoken. I asked again, and she said, "Nothing," nodding her head and fumbling with her tissue in her hands. I asked her if she wanted me to call a hospice nurse so I could take her out for an hour or two, but she declined. I felt powerless. She look...

Have you ever wondered what other people think of you? Have you ever had the chance for someone bold enough to tell you? It's quite interesting what we 'think' people think of us, as opposed to what they really think. We put ourselves on a lesser scale most of the time, but that's kind of normal. I couldn't believe what happened to me yesterday though. I used to date this guy when I was only 19 years old. We parted because he was very umm ---"passionate" --- to the point of going into fits of rage about whatever. He was very intelligent and extremely into Christianity. But there was that fine line between intelligence and insanity. I actually mean that as a compliment. He has philosophical, religious, conspiracy theory-like views on the world and it makes for a really great conversation at times, but somehow, he can take it to a whole new level, one that may possibly offend. On Facebook he was going on about rich people and how they were all evil. He sa...

I've had the great pleasure and opportunity to be one of the first to screen and review, Finding John Smith written by Jennifer Fontaine, Marlo Bernier & Tim Anderson. It's one of the first indie movies that had my emotions teeter-tottering from laughter to tears. There are so many special parts to this film that it's hard to narrow down which scene I loved the best. The story is based upon a young girl named Aaseamah Khalid, (played by Dominique Joelle) who finds herself in the middle of a chaotic bombing in Iraq, where two journalists quickly snagged her up into their truck for safety by Jake and Jody, (which are played by David Mattey and the beautiful Jennifer Fontaine).  Thinking they had left the young girl behind with Iraqi officials, they quickly learned after their flight back in a midwest airport bathroom that Aaseamah had snuck her way into the U.S. to get help in finding her father --- John Smith.  This is where the movie gets quirky and gives off a sligh...

In a strange way, rain seems to be healing for me - mostly on an emotional scale. I get to shut down, withdraw or perhaps just regroup, recharge and start all over again. While I don't expect life to be a complete bed of roses, I know there are going to be challenges ahead. It's not a matter of "if", but "when".  I've been praying and praying for a span of calmness, happiness, togetherness with my family and friends and God has given that to me. I know that any given moment, I can get a call in the middle of the night saying, "Dad's in the hospital again" or "Come down, Dad's sick - what should we do?" We all anticipate these occurrences and somehow pull through it, but there's a tiny part of me that "stays awake", even if asleep, as though I'm waiting for the call or waiting for the 'alarms' to set off. My shoes are always at the end of the bed with a pair of jeans just in case I have to slip in...

Creating an aura of “welcoming” to people of different faiths, religions and backgrounds is very important to me. Although I stand strong in my faith, I respect others’ as well. I believe it’s wonderful to share our views and beliefs, however there’s a fine line between sharing and persuading. The importance of keeping other people’s faith as valuable as your own tells me that that you’re confident and strong in what you believe in. Many Christians who I have come across have tried “persuading” me into thinking and believing their beliefs in terms of how to pray, how to live and how to live “the right life”. They’ve also tried teaching me how to be intolerant to other people of different faiths. Isn’t this contradictory to what Jesus did? I can’t tell you how many times I have taken many positive messages in different religions and have used them for my own personal use, yet still remaining faithful to my belief as a Christian. I received an email from someone who came across...

With only four words, I can finish this post by saying: all politicians are liars. --To add one more word to it: ALL. Before I get all excited, jumping up and down waving my big, loud rainbow flag into everybody's face, I also want to point out the obvious. How did Obama get elected in the first place? All minorities and those living in not so kept neighborhoods finally got off their couches, or punched out of their factory jobs to vote for someone who can actually relate to them. Let's face it - Obama's one of us. He's real. He's compassionate and seemingly, ~seemingly~ has a big heart. We didn't know how much ass he would kick during his term, but I'm sure he surprised many republicans, whether they want to admit it or not. And for the record, I didn't vote for Obama. I voted for McCain, however I was biting my lower lip watching Sarah Palin give Tina Fey loads of material for SNL. To be blunt here, that was desperation on McCain's part --- sinc...

I just love people. I love their quirkiness, their unique ways of doing things and the ability to not give a flying rat's ass about what other people think. Catherine Scalia aka, "Long Island's hotdog hooker" has to be the funniest woman ever.  She says that she's a stripper, not a prostitute. She's out of jail and back on her wheels selling wieners again. As I'm watching the news, she was on there telling the reporters, "Dese' are real yanno", pointing at her breasts. "Strippers in Florida ask me if dese' are real too - dare' awl' mine! So come visit me, I'll be in front of Pep Boys today selling wieners. Sabretts & strips! Das, what I'm doing. Das' muy bawl game!" she says, laughing into the camera. It was hysterical when she was walking out of jail flashing the camera crew. I remember a friend of mine who had moved to Texas years ago used to have this same 'throw caution to the wine & see w...