Part of the homework I was working on today for my Spanish class was reading an article by Cristina Peri Rossi and she believes that men love women that are superior to them and women also love men that they see as superior. It got me to thinking about it ’cause it just doesn’t sound right. No one with enough self esteem will actually admit that the reason she is with his or her partner is because they are superior. In fact, I think we all prefer to believe that we fall in love with people we see as our equal.

It’s not that we look at someone and feel they are superior, what we see is a person that can bring something to the table. Nobody likes having a partner they feel they are carrying or babysitting. We all want someone we can depend on and will have some qualities we either lack or are not as strong. This is the reason why men and women with money and fame prefer to marry someone like them. It is also the reason why men who have money, but are not very handsome will most likely marry a trophy wife and good looking women with no money are looking for men with deep pockets.

Like I said, it’s not superiority that makes a person fall in love. It’s that feeling of completion the other person brings. I think Cristina has some issues she might need to work on… she never used any names in her story, but she was way off about my feelings as a man.

My first day of school… I’m actually glad to start school again. I like have responsibilities and being more productive. I know I haven’t exactly done nothing with my time off, but now I’m doing more.

I saw a lot of good friends. For a minute I was feeling popular, talking to friends while others stopped by to say “hi” and so on. Ha!

I’ve only got one problem right now and that’s trying to get into the Spanish 302 class. It would be good if I can take that one because I would be taking it with Elizabeth, a friend I met last semester, and some other students I recognize from Spanish 301. Right now there is only one available spot and about 10 students who want that spot. Three of those students have priority and I am one of them. We’ll see what happens.

Tomorrow I get to meet my Marketing professor for the first time. Everybody that has had his class keeps telling me how hard he is and that I’m going to shit my pants… I’ve never met a person that made me feel that way. Especially someone I was paying to teach me something, but I guess there is a first time for everything. We’ll see…

I’ve been tagging all my photos on the Life Gallery for the past 4 hours. After tagging almost 400 pictures I am finally satisfied with the results. I still have a lot of pictures to add to the gallery, but I’m gladd I’m done tagging for now. Going forward all I have to do is tag the new photos.

I should be sleeping right now, since tomorrow I have classes starting at midday, but the thing is that I’ve been going to be everyday around 5:00 a.m. so I’m not tired at all. I’m going to watch another movie and maybe start tagging my posts. There is still a lot to be done and a lot to write about, but it’s getting done… and that’s what is most important.

I studied last night from about 8:00 p.m. till 8:00 this morning for my first Marketing test. I think I did well, but we’ll see when the results come how well I did. I came back home after the test around 10:00 a.m., ate breakfast and went to bed around 11:30 till 3:30 p.m. Then I read an article for my writing class and I just got home. I got a 14 out of 15 on the first essay for my writing class. That’s an A so I’m happy about that, however, I’m missing a point… The professor is giving us students a chance to review the essay and turn it in again. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I’m going to correct the few mistakes I made and turn it in again. I’m just not into mediocrity at this point when it comes to writing for  a great. I think I understand the general concepts well enough to demand a 100% on my grade and that’s what I’m shooting for.

I think I’ve said this before, but I finally feel free to socialize more again. For a while now it’s been about upgrading myself, and I will continue to do that, but now I can also spend time talking to others and getting to know people better. There are a couple of girls I’d really like to get to know better. There is one in particular that I’ve never talked to before that has really caught my attention. I’m just waiting for the right chance to tell her that and then ask her out.

My report: This is about something we all know, but we are made to believe is not really true. It’s about fighting for the interests of a politician and not a country. The film is split into the story of three characters in three different classes. There is the story of the U.S. senator who knows the war in the Middle East has gone wrong and now he pretends to make things right by confessing to the public the government has made some mistakes and proposing a new battle plan. The second character is about a college student who has all the tools necessary to win, but instead is wasting the opportunities in something else. Then finally there’s the story of the African American and Hispanic friends who were born with very little opportunities and have been ignored, in their own country, by the same government who now wants to recruit them to go fight a war overseas.

This is a thoughtful story. It is a contrast between social and economical classes. It’s about Lions (the poor and the brave) being led by lambs (politicians). This is a wake up call.

Rating:

About it: Robert Redford directs this dramatic tale of intersecting lives that weaves together the stories of an idealistic professor’s attempts to inspire a privileged student, a former student of the teacher who is wounded behind enemy lines in Afghanistan, and a congressman whose interactions with a seasoned journalist reveal much about the man behind the public persona. Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep, and Robert Redford star in a film scripted by Matthew Michael Carnahan. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

This is part of the project I’m working on right now for my Marketing class. It’s on ethics:

Company X has been barred from entering the market in a large Asian country by collusive efforts of the local bicycle manufacturers. The company could expect to net $5 million per year from sales if it could penetrate the market. Last week a businessman from the country contacted the management of Company X and stated that he could smooth the way for the company to sell in his country for a price of $500,000. If you were responsible, what are the chances that you would pay the price?

Just by reading this summary it seems Company X has more to gain than to lose from paying the businessman and selling in the foreign country. However, if this was a real life situation, I would need more information before I could make a decision:

1- What does the $5 million represent to the overall profit of the company worldwide? It could be that the company is neting over $100 million a year. If that’s the case then risking being on the bad side of the foreign country is not worth it. Bigger investment opportunities in the future with the country could be lost.

2- Who is this businessman? Is he reliable? What kind of contacts does he have? What happens if this man decides to double-cross the company? Could the company end up paying him more money? And what does “smooth the way” really mean? Will the company be able to enter the market or just be a step closer? I definitely need to know more about this person.

3- How much would Company X have to invest to enter the market? Are we looking to import or set a division in the country? I need to know what the company will be left with after all expenses are paid.

To me this is a numbers decision and not an ethical one. Be ethical to whom? If Company X is entering the market then it means local customers can expect to get same price as before or better. The government will continue to charge their taxes so they don’t have anything to worry about. If anyone is being unethical it would be the local businesses for not allowing a free market to prosper and the local people to get better prices at a greater quality. Company X would be creating new job opportunities, we are the good guys. As for the businessman, if he checks out to be trustworthy, then it’s 100k now and the rest when the job is done. Money.

Antonio Bullen

Dave Smith is developing an advertisement for a new housing development his firm is about to start. The development is located in a low area which has flooded in the past. The company has recently done some work to reduce the danger of flooding in the future. In the preliminary advertisement, Smith has included a statement indicating that the firm has solved the flooding problem. The fact is that if a flood occurs, the homes are still likely to be flooded with up to five feet of water. If you were Smith, what are the chances that you would include the statement in the advertisement?

Stop! What is Smith thinking? He has got to think about the long term image of the company. My number one rule is “everything is possible,” and in this case what is possible is not good at all. Sooner or later  the development is going to flood. What does he think is going to happen next? Let’s assume for a second the homes never gets flooded, he still has to live with the possibility that it could and the company could be in big trouble then. Unless he 100% solves the flooding problem, he shouldn’t say the problem is solved. Better yet, he shouldn’t say the problem is solved, period! Well… not unless people already know of the problem. Why tell people they would be buying houses in an area that could have been flooded? Smith is suicidal, he needs medical attention, STAT!

The chances that I would include the statement on my advertisement are zero. The chances that I would stop investing in homes on that property are very good, at least until the flooding problem is completely solved. This should have been taken into consideration before buying the land. This is not so much an ethical problem, but one of stupidity. What bank lent money to Smith? This is exactly why we are on a recession.

Antonio Bullen

Joan Brown is vice president of marketing for Tangy Spices, a large spice manufacturer. Brown recently joined in a private business venture with Tangy’s director of purchasing to import black pepper from India. Brown’s private venture is about to sign a five-year contract with Tangy to supply its black pepper needs, but the contract is set at a price three cents per pound above contracts available from other spice importers that provide comparable service and quality. If you were Brown, what are the chances that you would sign the contract?

First of all, there wasn’t a non-compete clause set by Tangy Spices? That was a big mistake. I was a little confused as to the roles Brown and Tangy are playing. If Brown is going to be importing and then supplying the black pepper to Tangy, then he’s got nothing to worry about. On the other hand, if Tangy is the one supplying to Brown, then he should never sign that contract. It doesn’t matter that he works for the company. Whomever is on the receiving end of the deal is going to lose and should not sign. The price is higher yet the quality and service are lower than the competition? That’s a no-brainer.

Ethics… where does it play on this one…? Well, buying low and selling high is not unethical, it’s business. Given that this is B2B, ethics are even less important. Businessmen should know better. Eventually somebody has to go out of business even if it is by getting duped. The party supplying the black pepper has everything to win, but it could also damage the relationship on the long term. Luckily they will have five years to come up with a solution.

Antonio Bullen
John Garcia is working in product development for an auto parts contractor. Garcia’s firm received a large contract last summer to manufacture transaxles for use in a new line of front wheel drive cars. The contract is very important to Garcia’s firm because prior to obtaining it, half of the firm’s employees, including Garcia, had been scheduled for an indefinite lay off. Final testing of the assemblies ended last Friday and the first shipments are scheduled for three weeks from today. As Garcia was examining the test reports, he discovered that the transaxle tended to fail when loaded at more than 120% of rated capacity and subjected to strong torsion forces. Such a condiditon could occur with a heavily loaded car braking hard for a curve down a mountain road. While the driver would not lose control of the car, the resulting damage to the car would cost several thousand dollars to repair. The manufacturer’s specifications call for the transaxle to carry 130% of its rated capacity without failing. Garcia showed the results to his supervisor and the company president both of whom indicated that they were aware of the report. If they did not deliver the assemblies on time, they would lose the contract. If you were Garcia, what are the chances that you would notify the auto manufacturer of the defect?

What’s that smell? Smells like something burning… Oh I know! That’s the rubber burning after my Bridgestone tires exploded! Sounds familiar? This is a simple case: Garcia’s company shook hands on 130% not 120%, they need to live up to their word if they plan to stay in business over the long term.

What the company needs to be doing is figuring out how much time it will take them to fix the problem and deliver the parts as contracted. Can’t deliver on time? Fine, setup a call with the auto manufacturer and let them know before the due date comes around, but not before having at least one solution for the problem on hand. After all, Garcia’s company has some leverage on this situation: they could argue that it would take them less time to fix the problem than it would take another company to start from scratch. They can even use this opportunity to build a better relationship with the auto manufacturer by reducing the price, of course, offer only if it came down to it.

Since the question was about Garcia, I would say he doesn’t need to notify the auto manufacturer. That is not his job. Ultimately it is not his responsibility, but that of his supervisor and the president of the company. What Garcia needs to do is make sure his ass is covered and find a new job. With contract or not, the company is already in bad shape. This Titanic is sinking, grab a life vest while you can and jump! Sooner or later this thing is going to “explode”, and Garcia needs to make sure he has prove he notified his superiors.

Antonio Bullen

I spent most of my day running around the college campus trying to get my classes for the summer registered. Got it done though and I start May 28th. It feels good to know that I’m that much closer to finishing. At the same time I also recognize the necessity to act more. I’ve been wanting to learn as much as possible about many things. Recently my biggest infatuation has been music. I called it an infatuation because usually once I learn something well I tend to jump into doing something else, something I don’t know yet. But music feels different. It is as dynamic as computers yet it has a larger connection with people, and that’s the reason why I believe music will become a life affair and not just a short term passion.

I want to believe that my biggest problem has always been self discipline just so I can prescribe myself something that will take me to where I want to be, but the truth is that I’m disciplined in my own way. Nobody has ever had to tell me to keep pushing. I do that myself. Nobody has said “write every day so you can become better at it.” I prescribed myself that medicine and I’m following it. No… my biggest problem, which I also believe believe is a great strength, is my need to have everything be perfect. I can’t put shit out there that is not right to me. The same way I can’t be that guy wearing fake jewelry. There’s people for that and I’m not one of them. Things like that just don’t set right in my mind. Either I have/do/am the real thing or I’m working on it, if I want it that is… So does that mean that time is really my problem then? That motherfucker just keep running up on me. Ticking when I would like it to stop or at least slow down for a… second??? How could I ever have time stop for a second? Imagine that… asking time to stop for a second, so time stops and measures a second… then keeps going. As if a second wasn’t time itself still running…

Hmmm, since time is always going to be moving what I need to do is make everyone else’s time less precious. And I only know how to do that by increasing the speed by which I take advantage of time. Practice, practice, practice, practice, practice… until what I do is so much better than what my neighbors do and I can do it that much faster. Some people say quality over quantity. I like to say quality in quantity.

I got all of my grades back for the spring semester. I’m happy about most of them, but of course there’s one that bums me out. Here’s what I got

It’s good enough to increase my GPA and keep it at the level it needs to be to get in the International Business major so I’m not going to sweat it that much. Hopefully I won’t have to see another accounting class again in my life. The way I feel about accounting is that it’s important to know so I’m not blindfolded, but knowing all the details is not that important if I’m not planning on being an accountant. As a business manager I will hire the accountant to do the bookkeeping. My job is to oversee operations and make the business as profitable as it can be.

Tomorrow is the last day to register classes for the Summer. I need to take two classes and then I have one more semester here at SDSU before I move to Mexico to finish the major.

Ah yes… I’m finally over the hardest part of the semester. How did I do? I don’ really know yet. I feel like I did pretty well, but we’ll see when the waves come in. I got the last exam exam on Saturday for my Spanish class. Luckily, yo hablo un poquito de español so it shouldn’t be a hard test. I’m kidding, it’s my first language, bitches…

Relationships man… they are the key to a lot of things. People always go easier on you when you’ve got their emotions on your side. I have a reason for saying this, but I promised my professor I wouldn’t tell. Ya dig?

Even if it seems like it, what I’m about to say now is not related to the previous paragraph: I just discovered Facebook. I mean, I’ve had an account for a while, but I never actually gave it a try. Now I see the power it has to connect with old friends. I mainly use Myspace, but what I like about Facebook is that it makes it so easy to find people I know. I just had to put in some major events that go on in my life like high schools and universities and it found a whole lot of people I know from the past and the best part is that it tells me when I may know somebody else.

I had forgotten all about my friends from Panama. Looking at all those faces it makes me realize how much I left behind when I came to the U.S., how many people I actually know from around the world even though I’m always simplifying my life and how good looking I still am. A lot of them have gotten fat. I’m not even going to try to sugar that. Some of them were already ugly so they got nothing to worry about.

This one friend I found was always tall and skinny. The kids used to laugh at her because she was so skinny. Now I see her photos and I know nobody making fun of her now. I remember she was so excited to ware a bra. In classroom she told me once that she was and let me take a peek. She used to let me watch her get undressed in the ladies locker room after gym class. One time I got caught coming out of there and the professor gave me a detention. That meant I got to stay in school doing some bullshit for however many days my punishment was. It was one of my first detentions and I must have been in 7th grade. Having to stay in school extra long on birthday wasn’t fun. I remember that. Ha!

I see some of my old friends are married. Some pursued their dreams and are actually making them happen. Some I can tell have the same personality they always used to have… shy, friendly, cool, whatever… Some have also moved to other countries and still study just like me… It’s good to see everybody doing well.

The RWS final was easy. I know I’m good on that class and now I’m about to go study for the next one: Micro Economy on Monday. Economy and Accounting are going to be the hard ones. At least I know that even if I don’t do well I will pass the Econ class.

I’m well rested. I ended studying until about 5:00 a.m. then took a couple hours nap, studied some more and did my exam. I’m going to eat something now then head out to the library. I’ve had some good thoughts about things to write, but I’m pushing for good grades right now so I’ll probably go back to writing more after this week.

Peace…

I was up for about 32 hours between Wednesday and Thursday working on my Spanish class project. Me and three other students did a news announcement on this animal nobody is sure it exists called the Chupacabras. It turned out great and I learned a lot about editing videos. Something I can use later on for sure.

I’ve just woken up with a headache after about a 12 hour sleep and I’m about to head back to the library to study for my Economics and Writing exams. I’m going straight through tonight ’cause my Writing exam is at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow Saturday and if I go to bed I’ll probably not make it.

I need breakfast…

My report: I’ve had this movie laying around for years now and I finally got to watching it. It was one of those movies that didn’t spark my imagination. Except for the part about breeding horses, I’d like to get into that when I’m rich. As soon as I started watching the movie I knew exactly how it was going to end. It’s supposed to be based on a true story so that’s a plus.

Rating:

About it: Actor Viggo Mortensen made his first starring appearance in a film after his breakthrough performance in the Lord of the Rings trilogy with this period adventure. Frank T. Hopkins (Mortensen) is a U.S. Cavalry officer who earned a reputation as one of the fastest and most daring riders in the West; however, after taking part in the bloody massacre at Wounded Knee, Hopkins becomes disenchanted with the Cavalry, and once his hitch is up, he takes a job as a rider with a seedy touring Wild West show. During an engagement in New York, Hopkins meets Aziz (Adam Alexi-Malle), an associate of wealthy Bedouin Sheikh Riyadh (Omar Sharif), who knows of Hopkins’ talents and wants him to take part in “The Ocean of Fire,” an annual 3,000-mile desert horse race running from Arabia to Iraq. Hopkins accepts the invitation and sails to the Middle East with his trusty mustang Hidalgo without knowing just what he’s getting himself into. Once he arrives, Hopkins learns that the punishing race course claims the lives of nearly half its contestants, and that most of his competitors ride pure-bred Arabian stallions and do not regard Hidalgo and his master as worthy adversaries. Temporarily exiled to a land where freedom eludes the multitudes and class and wealth define one’s fate, Hopkins finds himself riding for both honor and principle, with the support of Riyadh and his beautiful, headstrong daughter, Jazira (Zuleikha Robinson), though the Sheikh’s nephew Katib (Silas Carson) is equally determined to see Hopkins go down in defeat. Hidalgo was directed by Joe Johnston, who previously worked with animals on the run in Jumanji and Jurassic Park III. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Frank Hopkins

My report: It was alright. The whole story was predictable from beginning to end, but it got me thinking about how careful we all need to be. In my HIV class last semester we talked about how women were rapidly getting infected with the disease because of men that go behind the backs of their girlfriends/wives and sleep with other men. This is not just a homosexual disease, it’s an everybody disease. Men and women need to always use protection. I won’t deny I’ve done some stupid shit in the past. I’ve been lucky and I’m not jeopardising my life again.

Rating:

About it: At the time of its release, Jonathan Demme’s Philadelphia was the first big-budget Hollywood film to tackle the medical, political, and social issues of AIDS. Tom Hanks, in his first Academy Award-winning performance, plays Andrew Beckett, a talented lawyer at a stodgy Philadelphia law firm. The homosexual Andrew has contracted AIDS but fears informing his firm about the disease. The firm’s senior partner, Charles Wheeler (Jason Robards), assigns Andrew a case involving their most important client. Andrew begins diligently working on the case, but soon the lesions associated with AIDS are visible on his face. Wheeler abruptly removes Andrew from the case and fires him from the firm. Andrew believes he has been fired because of his illness and plans to fight the firm in court. But because of the firm’s reputation, no lawyer in Philadelphia will risk handling his case. In desperation, Andrew hires Joe Miller (Denzel Washington), a black lawyer who advertises on television, mainly handling personal injury cases. Miller dislikes homosexuals but agrees to take the case for the money and exposure. As Miller prepares for the courtroom battle against one of the law firm’s key litigators, Belinda Conine (Mary Steenburgen), Miller begins to realize the discrimination practiced against Andrew is no different from the discrimination Miller himself has to battle against. The cast also includes Antonio Banderas as Andrew’s partner, Joanne Woodward as Andrew’s mother, and Stephanie Roth as Joe’s wife. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Buddhism is a way of life that attempts to identify the causes of human suffering. In its teachings, the goal is to achieve enlightenment in order to help others attain the same state, as opposed to mere personal liberation. In the film “Little Buddha”, a group of Buddhist monks lead by their Lama (spiritual teacher), Norbu, travel the world in search of their physically deceased teacher, Lama Dorje, whom they believe has reincarnated in the body of a young American boy. Reincarnation is the belief that once a living creature dies, its soul is reborn in a new body. While the belief of reincarnation is widely spread in Asia, it is not a shared belief among many in Western countries.

The film makes a clear contrast between the cultural patterns of Tibetan Buddhists and the American culture. Illustrating the differences in norms, beliefs and social practices. The Buddhists monks lived with a sense of collectivism, encouraging conformity and interdependence. All monks dressed alike, regardless of seniority or country of residence. Their dress code consisted of a robe known as a zen and occasionally a hat.

The way of greeting included no physical contact or verbal communication. Placing both hands together and a gentle bow was the usual greet. This greeting is known as the wai and it is considered to be a sign of respect. There are three different types of wai. These were all shown in the film and depended mainly on ranks and genders.

1. A wai to Buddha is considered the highest level of respect. Males bow low while raising both hands with palms pressed together up to the face and forefingers touching the forehead while females move a foot backward and bend the knees, raising both pressing palms to the same position as men do.

2. The second level of wai happened when a woman approached Lama Norbu, a high ranked monk. She bent her knees and bowed almost to the floor. This was a sign of deep respect towards the Lama. Norbu didn’t return the greet. Usually such act might be thought as offensive, but Buddhists monks are considered the highest class in their society and as such are not required to show equal respect to others. Even kings should wai monks.

3. The third level of wai is between people of equal age and social status. Bending the head a little bit and raising both hands until the forefingers touch the tip of the nose is customary. This was the typical form of greet shown in the film and it was seen between the monks and also the American family once introduced to the cultural patterns of the Buddhist monks.
Throughout the movie, Lama Norbu presented a book, a watch and a bowl as gifts. In all three occasions the gifts were presented using both hands and the gifts were also received with both hands. This is also considered a sign of respect. Similarly the monks took off their shoes when they entered the home of the American boy, even when the homeowners didn’t.

In one of the scenes, Lama Norbu explained to the father of the American boy the purpose of Tibetan sand painting. The art consists in making beautiful images out of millions of grains of sand, laid into place on a flat platform over a period of days or weeks. As Lama Norbu explained, the paintings are made with sand to “show the impermanence of all within the universe, and when completed it will be destroyed with one gesture.”

The main difference in interpersonal communication between the Tibetan monks and the Americans was in their sense of group. While the monks always talked in terms of “we”, the Americans didn’t. Religion, of course, and death had a different level of importance between both groups. Cultural patterns affected interpersonal culture because it was hard for the American father to understand the concept of reincarnation.

REFERENCES

Little Buddha (1993). The life of Siddartha is paralleled with the story of Tibetan monks seeking his reincarnation in modern day Seattle. DVD.
The World in a Grain of Sand. www.chinaculture.org
Tibetan Buddhism. Wikipedia. www.wikipedia.com

I like what Will says starting on 4:43 when Charlie asked Will how he decided to do the roll of Muhammad Ali. Will says he had doubts at first because he couldn’t see the road from doing the T.V. show “Fresh Prince of Belair” to becoming a legendary and world renowned boxing champion on the big screen. That was until he was given the blueprint, or the step-by-step guide to how he was going to reach that goal.

Having a plan is very important. To me, there’s nothing great about going from point A to point B if you can’t do it again and again. If that happens, it means there’s a great amount of luck involved, and how many times can one person get lucky?

I’ve been thinking about the “wall” metaphor Will uses to answer the question on 22:25. He says his parents thought him not to build a wall, but instead to concentrate on laying out one brick at a time the best way possible. Soon enough there will be a wall. I learned about concentrating on the small picture a while ago, but I still think it’s important to know where I’m going. I like to dream first and then lay the first brick. I feel that without well-thought goals there might be a problem later on in terms of self-motivation. Suddenly we lose interest in something or we just stop because we don’t know how far we actually want to go. My problem, as I see it right now, is getting into the habit of following my plan without interruptions. I’m always working, but I’m always dreaming too. It’s hard for me to continue working on something all the way to the end because I get excited about new ideas and I can’t wait to start working on those too.

Right now, for example, I’m reading the scriptures of John from The Bible, Malcolm X, Pablo Neruda Poems, I’m working on the design of antoniobullen.com, I write poetry and music, I am trying to market geecho.com and I write about all these things. I want to do every single one of them and I also have the responsibility of going to my classes and soon I will be working again. I do spend most of my days on my music so that’s a good thing.

To me dreaming is important because that’s how I have set the standards to be not just number one, but also the first to do something never done before.

Will says something really good around 30:04 when he says that he hates the feeling of fearing something. The fear to pitch an idea or meeting with someone for the first time; and that he didn’t want to even take that meeting because of that fear. So he developed an attitude of attacking things that he was scared of. I admire him for that and I wish I had that at my age. I realize that’s a problem in my life and I’m working on it. In my case I feel like I will only attack things when there is no other route to take. In Spanish there is a phrase: “entre la espada y la pared,” it translates to “between the sword and the wall,” and that’s when I usually start pushing back.

Last night I had the bright idea of practicing my rhymes by writing poems. So today I did the first one and I actually didn’t take much time. I was in my accounting class and bored and this is what I came up with:

Variable Expenses and Cost of Goods Manufactured
I have to hear it in the Tuesday morning lecture
They’re teaching the tools I need to work for the rich
Are you serious? I don’t plan to be a bitch

I could give two fucks about inventories and overhead
Show me what it takes to be rich instead
They tell me if I sit in class with a whole bunch of dummies
By the time I get out I can double my pennies

Believe me, I’m fighting to get real money till the day I die
I’m making my money here on Earth or in the skies
Next to Jesus they say, that’s where he’s waiting for me
So I’ll repent from my sins, then sell crack to the kids

The only good thing in class right now is the professor
She’s got a cute little ass I wouldn’t mind tapping into
Hmmm… I hope she’s got a shaved tight pussy
And those perky little tities, I will suck them silly

Hello! I guess it’s time to go
The class has been dismissed so I’m ‘o go home.

Peace

I was making small talk with the professor after class. She’s a TA so she’s really young. I told her I wasn’t into the class today so instead I wrote a poem. She laughed and said nobody seemed to be into the class. Damn it I wanted her to ask me about the poem. Just to see her reaction. If I could I would have sucked them tities silly right there in the classroom.

I feel like I should start explaining why I’m starting a new journal… I decided to take on last trip before I started classes again even though my father asked me not to. I’m very glad I decided to take this trip. So far it has been very exciting, and I’ve had many new experiences.

A couple of hours after I got to San Jose, one of Tracy’s bags was stolen. It had like $600 worth of things in it. I can replace everything I had in that bag, but Tracy can’t. I try not to think about it anymore ’cause it doesn’t do me any good.

We spent like 5 days in La Fortuna and then decided to take a trip to Belize. The original plan was that we were going to visit a couple of places in each country and finish our trip in Belize. After spending some time thinking we decided it wasn’t going to be possible and that we were going to go directly to Belize.

Well off we went to Belize. After road trippin’ for 3 days we decided to stay in Guatemala and I’m glad we did. I’m in Panajachel right now and it’s beautiful. I’m thinking of coming again and spending some more time here.