make some noise

I LOST MY NOSE RING LAST NIGHT WHILE SLEEPING!!!
and so starts another week...

this weekend was so much fun. i did a little bit of everything, including going to church, which i had not done wholeheartedly in about... two years. it all started friday when, after watching pirates of the caribbean 2, i headed to bikes blues and bbq with some friends. i ate bbq ribs. they were delicious. it was pretty neat because i got on picture-taking mode-- which i hadn't been in quite some time. i also got to see a lot of bikers... most of them big, bearded, and leather-wearing dudes. and they just make me smile... i went back to dickson st. on saturday, then with a different set of friends, but good friends still. we had fun. i took another bunch of pictures and ate some more ribs. i really think the even should have the name changed to bikes booze and bbq... cause i just heard some blues at the place where we bought the food, other than that, the blues were not very present in the event. it was so much fun!

and now, looking back, it seems like i spent my whole weekend on dickson st. cause on sunday i went back there for church with Anna. it was a different deal from any other church i've ever been to. it was interesting... and for the first time ever in a church, i didn't feel underdressed. the sermon was not very in-depth in my opinion, but it was ok.
after church Anna and i went around dickson taking pictures for our typography class... that was a good time! Anna cracks me up, mainly, because she laughs at everything.

oh, i have a quiz today. so help me God.

Midnight coloring session

It all started when I looked at the mirror and saw the black roots... dang, it was bad. I needed some help, but El Chapulin Colorado was nowhere to be found, so I had to think of something else... fast....


...because, look at that hair... it's almost orange!!!


But could that Soft Black #30 Garnier Nutrisse Nourishing Color Creme with Fruit Oil Concentrates really be the answer to all my hair-coloring problems?!


Let's try it. Don't forget to read the instructions... even though it's always the same deal. Make sure you have everything before starting...


... don't forget the little comb! You don't want to start looking for it in the middle of applying the color cream, cause then you would get EVERYTHING stained.


After the contents of the little thingy are gone, you have to wait 25 minutes if you are retouching, but 35 minutes if you've gone for more than 3 months without color or if you have any gray hair. You saw my black roots... I saw them too, so I left it for 45 minutes.


And then... enjoy! Can someone say "even color"?!
I love it! Now I might even blend in with the Bikes Blues & BBQ croud.

About adulthood.

The day I turned 20 years old I had a conversation with some older friends at the office on campus, one of them was saying how he knew he was a grown-up once he didn't run out of gas anymore.

All I have to say about that conversation today is that it doesn't really count when you're gas meter thingy doesn't work properly.

I need a new car.

A test that drove me to profanity.

It feels like I have been gone from my own life. I have been studying straight since Saturday morning. Well, I babysat Emma on Saturday, but as soon as she closed her little blue eyes I hit the freaking books. I had a test first thing Monday morning, and then I had a quiz... that really felt more like a second test on that day. THEN I had a test this morning. For this particular test, I had been studying since last week.... and still, it was very difficult. I enjoy that class a lot, but man, that test really DID drive me to profanity. Needless to say, I have had very little sleep for the past week. And this morning I woke up feeling very sick, I guess it was my body protesting all this mess.

And still, after all that, this week is a very busy one. I have some reading to do for tomorrow and I need to have my painting done by Thursday.

Plus, there some stuff going on at home that's not helping my emotional stability. I mean, last week was just very hard for me. I had to deal with a lot of things.

Anywayos (that's Spanish), I am taking some time for me and coloring my hair. I'm going back to my espresso dark self. I figure, I'll feel better with no black roots and red/orange hair.

Down the to-do list

My Consumer Behavior exam 1 is tomorrow, and later in the day I will take the Typography quiz for which I have not yet read. Then, on Tuesday I have my History of Graphic Design exam 1. I could handle one of these, but all together are a little too much for my brain.

I better get back to studying... I was just doing the weekly typo entry on my blog.

Miss Love,

This date last year was your funeral. I guess that was our good-bye, or our until-the-next-smile; except I didn't get to see your smile that day. I just saw your picture, your coffin, many flowers, and your family. They were crying and that broke my heart. And I wanted to cry so much, but I couldn't-- I couldn't because there were all these people that also were crying and sad and I just know that I couldn't cry, that I needed to be strong for you and for me because you were strong for both of us many times.
It was the hardest thing to be there and think I wouldn't hug you again or see your face or hear your voice again. I couldn't stand that thought, I just wanted to sleep to see if when I woke back up I would realize it was all a horrible dream, and that really, I would see you the next day or so.
It was hard to see your mom cry, and to see your dad and his eyes so red from tears. And your sisters were so sad... I wanted to stop all that. I wanted to stop the pain.

That day, when we were driving back from Hope I saw the moon in the darkest night I have ever seen. It was so rare for the sky to be so dark when there was a full moon out. And that made me think of Heaven being sad too-- I wanted to reach for that moon to see if I could find you there, laughing... so happy and beautiful.

I thought about you and the moon. And I cried in the darkness of the back seat of the rental car that got me back to Fayetteville.
I wrote a poem about that night a few days later.

And now, a year later, I still cry when nobody can see me. Because I want all this to go away, and I want you to be alive and well, and happy like you always were. And I think of you so much.
We did a balloon release in your memory.... and it was all so sad and wrong, because one should not be doing a memorial for a young, intelligent woman that had so much more to live. I celebrate your life, but I miss you and I wish I could change all that happened. But Someone knows better.... or at least that is what I should believe.

April, I love you and miss you.

http://cafeconvos.blogspot.com/2005/09/poem.html

10 minutes to blog... GO!

Man, it's been quite a week. I've been working hard and next week will be awful with a bunch of tests and quizes. I've been pretty good this week doing everything I'm supposed to do, except putting together my canvas. I'm still to do that, so tonight I will be ripping 2x4's in the woodshop and putting them together. I'll do only one because I want to go to the lecture for Hispanic Heritage Month tonight-- plus, they will have Salvadoran food for the reception. Can't miss out on that!!!

I'm tired, I woke up extra early today because I had to hit the hardware store at 7 am to get the plywood, and all the other stuff I need to make the canvas and the panels for painting class. I ran into my Tio Manuel while in there and so he's getting me the 2x4's I need. That was nice. My tio is scoring points big time with me... not that I keep points or anything, but I just wanted to say that he's been around a lot lately, and we've been talking a lot.

I got a call from Juanca, my bro, yesterday. It was a little bitter-sweet. There were some bad news that required some urgent actions from us-- and there were some good news too. And it was really nice to hear from him. He's working hard and trying to help out my dad in El Salvador. He's working a couple of jobs. His English is really good, too. From that, I called my dad this morning and we talked.

Oh, man. I'm tired-- it's hard to rest during the school semester because there are so many things going on at once. Tomorrow we have a balloon release in memory of April. I talked to her mom...

I need to go now, but before I log out, I need to share what I found on the student affairs website. If you go there and keep reloading the page I will eventually appear on the header of the page. http://studentaffairs.uark.edu

Latin Soul Night

Last night was the Latin FNL. It was fun. There was a Cuban band (www.havananrg.com) playing that, Ay Dios Mio, was so gooooooood!!! I had some paintings in exhibit and there was lots of food-- Salvadoran food. Oh Yes, we didn't have Chartwells cater for a change, we had food from Savor Latino in Springdale. So I had 2 pupusas with salsa and curtido, and that just made my night a little more special.
I also saw Gigi and LaTrice. I hadn't seen LaTrice in awhile, so it was nice to see my chicas again. It was really neat, I saw many friends from around. I have to admit, though, I was a little scared for my life... I didn't know if the Cuban men from the band were gonna do something to me if they were to see the Che painting I was displaying inside the union.

More Latin Soul Night photos here.