My report: who would have thought Rambo could still be good? The blood scenes were original. I’ve never seen bloodshed like the ones I saw in this movie. Silverster Stalone didn’t try to play a young guy who could still do it all, that was the best part. Rambo was the same GI he’s always been, but wiser and not exactly looking for confrontation. I remember a scene from the old movies were Rambo heals a battle wound by sticking a heated knife inside of him… I didn’t see anything like that on this one and that’s a good thing. No love scenes either, it was all about the the interruption of the legendary Rambo trying to live a peaceful life on his own means. Nice.

Rating:

About it: When a group of missionary aid workers in Myanmar disappear into the vast green inferno, vigilante Vietnam War veteran John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) leaves his job as a Salween River boatman behind to accompany a group of mercenaries on a daring rescue mission. It’s been 20 years since Rambo helped mujahedeen rebels fend off Soviet invaders in Afghanistan, and these days the former soldier lives a simple life in northern Thailand. Meanwhile, the world’s longest-running civil war rages into its 60th year on the nearby Thai-Burma border. One day, human rights missionaries Sarah Miller (Julie Benz) and Michael Burnett (Paul Schulze) show up asking Rambo to guide them up the Salween so they can get some much-needed food and medical supplies to the desperate Karen tribe. According to Sarah and Michael, the Burmese military has planted land mines all along the roads leading into the tribe’s village, making it virtually impossible to reach the tribe via land. Two weeks after Rambo drops the group off in dangerous territory, pastor Arthur Marsh (Ken Howard) arrives with a chilling message: the aid workers never returned from their mission into the jungle, and the embassies refuse to help Marsh and his fellow missionaries find their missing friends. Now, despite the fact that Rambo has long since sworn off all forms of violence, the knowledge that innocent missionaries are being used as pawns in a brutal war leaves him with no other choice than to venture behind enemy lines on his most dangerous mission to date. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

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…

It seems like people just want to find other people and hold on to them. We find someone we’re comfortable with and we don’t want to let them go. We call these people friends, girlfriends, boyfriends… pretty much the same thing just a different level of connection.

I guess my “problem” is that I don’t feel like I need somebody in order to survive. I’m not saying I’m better. It’s actually a miserable life because there are not too many things besides enjoying the company of others that we can really do in this life. So my life goes on and I realize that I should mingle a little more, but mostly what I can see is just dollar signs and a tunnel that leads to either a one night of passion or nowhere.

I don’t know about this world I live in some times. It can really be a boring place and dying is not an option because maybe something better is just around the corner…

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

I talked to a Muslim girl today at the library and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. Not just because she was Muslim, but because she’s also a very beautiful woman. I’ve seen her many times before. She’s always at the library studying and I’ve wanted to talk to her many times before, but she feels…. I guess untouchable is the right word. With that veil that covers her hair, which I know now is called a hijab, always dressed to cover and nothing shows except for her face and hands, but today I just said “fuck it, I’ll talk to her just like I would do with anyone else and if she doesn’t want to she’ll let me know.” So I did, and as I approached her I could see details about her beauty I could never see before because I always looked at her from a distance. I liked her eyes and her face looked smooth; she also has a beautiful smile. I broke the ice by asking her what her major was, she looked at me and I disarmed her with a smile, she smiled back and told me she studies Political Science. I detected an accent, and I liked it. I could tell she was busy so I didn’t want to take much of her time. My job was to brake the ice and get her to notice me, the mission was accomplished so after talking to her a bit longer I said goodbye. I also learned that she’s not a student at SDSU, and she’s only comes to study. I didn’t ask her why. It can make for conversation some other time, but I don’t really care about for the answer that much.

I like knowing about the unknown. I want to know more about her and even though it was just a few seconds of conversation, it was enough for me to decide if she would be interesting. I can look at a girl and just based on the way she carries herself, the way she’s dressed and her friends, I can tell what she’s probably like and most of the time I’m right. I’m not the only one that does this, we all do. I know so little about Muslims that it makes this girl that much interesting, even though I’m already attracted just by looking at her.

Hopefully I’ll get to know her better. We’ll see…

My report: I wish I could easily find more movies in Spanish like this one. Great story, I think it’s about things many of us have gone through even if it is to a lesser degree. I’ve seen this movie before, but for some reason I remember it having more nudity in it. That was something that I liked about the movie the first time I saw it. It goes to show how much my taste has changed. I’ve become very particular about what I like in a woman. I honestly feel like I can have any woman in the world and so I have upgraded my taste and become much more selective. People can make whatever they want about what I just wrote, but I demand a lot of myself. Shouldn’t I be allowed to ask my other half to try just as hard?

Rating:

About it: The romantic foibles of two young couples in Mexico — whose professional success has not led to personal satisfaction — forms the basis of this comedy with serious undertones. Carlos (Victor Hugo Martin) is a student of new age spirituality, while his wife Ana (Susana Zabaleta) is a good bit more interested in the pleasures of the flesh, leading to no small amount of conflict. Tensions increase when Tomas (Demián Bichir), an old friend of the couple and Ana’s former lover, comes to pay an extended visit. Elsewhere in the neighborhood, Andrea (Cecilia Suarez) is angry with her husband Miguel (Jorge Salinas), who doesn’t appear to put much stock in monogamy, and she’s even more annoyed when he announces that his former girlfriend Maria (Monica Dionne), who has just left her husband, will be their house guest for a while. After a great deal of arguing and soul searching, a temporary agreement is reached between the two couples and their friends — the men will stay in one apartment while the women will stay in another until cooler heads prevail. Sexo, Pudor Y Lagrimas/Sex, Shame and Tears was written and directed by Antonio Serrano, who adapted his own successful stage play. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

My report: this is not the kind of film the average movie person would like. The first half of the film is very boring, or serious I should say. It start getting more interesting on the second half, but don’t expect major action. I liked the end. I think it’s necessary to understand the history behind what was happening in order to really appreciate this movie. The entire movie was in German.

Rating:

About it: A man who has devoted his life to ferreting out “dangerous” characters is thrown into a quandary when he investigates a man who poses no threat in this drama, the first feature from German filmmaker Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. It’s 1984, and Capt. Gerd Wiesler (Ulrich Mühe) is an agent of the Stasi, the East German Secret Police. Weisler carefully and dispassionately investigates people who might be deemed some sort of threat to the state. Shortly after Weisler’s former classmate, Lt. Col. Grubitz (Ulrich Tukur), invites him to a theatrical piece by celebrated East German playwright Georg Dreyman (Sebastian Koch), Minister Bruno Hempf (Thomas Thieme) informs Weisler that he suspects Dreyman of political dissidence, and wonders if this renowned patriot is all that he seems to be. As it turns out, Hempf has something of an ulterior motive for trying to pin something on Dreyman: a deep-seated infatuation with Christa-Maria Sieland (Martina Gedeck), Dreyman’s girlfriend. Nevertheless, Grubitz, who is anxious to further his career, appoints Weisler to spy on the gentleman with his help. Weisler plants listening devices in Dreyman’s apartment and begins shadowing the writer. As Weisler monitors Dreyman’s daily life, however (from a secret surveillance station in the gentleman’s attic), he discovers the writer is one of the few East Germans who genuinely believes in his leaders. This changes over time, however, as Dreyman discovers that Christa-Maria is being blackmailed into a sexual relationship with Hempf, and one of Dreyman’s friends, stage director Albert Jerska (Volkmar Kleinert), is driven to suicide after himself being blackballed by the government. Dreyman’s loyalty thus shifts away from the East German government, and he anonymously posts an anti-establishment piece in a major newspaper which rouses the fury of government officials. Meanwhile, Weisler becomes deeply emotionally drawn into the lives of Dreyman and Sieland, and becomes something of an anti-establishment figure himself, embracing freedom of thought and expression. A major box-office success in Germany, Das Leben der Anderen (aka The Lives of Others) received its North American premiere at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Sometimes I feel like I can’t do it all
Most times I feel like it’s all on me
Whether I fail or not, it’s on me
People tell me to leave it up to some divinity
But I’m afraid that if I start doing that I’ll end up with
Less than what I ask for, yet grateful for what is given
As if this is what was really my dream
And what if it is forsaken?

I don’t trust, I won’t trust, I can’t trust
Friends come and go,
Family stays but sometimes won’t show up,
Girlfriends take me on an emotional roller coaster
And the only constant is me

I’m filling my head with experiences I won’t forget,
Hoping that in return they’ll help me get to places
That when I look back I won’t regret

I don’t stop, I won’t stop, I can’t stop!
Friends will keep on smiling,
The family will keep on embracing
Girlfriends will keep on loving, then asking, then nagging
And the only variable is me

As I am capable of determining my own future
Son, that was the past now look at this future
And I know I can do it all…
I take a little bit of this and that and make gumbo with it all…

Sometimes I don’t realize how basic some concepts are until I actually think about them. It just came to mind today that as long as I desire to be Numero Uno somebody is going to try to keep me from it, and when I become Numero Uno many more will try to take that away from me. I never looked at it this way before, but for sure the days of trying to please everyone are over. To try to please everyone means that I am constantly sacrificing myself for others. How can I ever get to be the best at anything if I’m always helping others be that?

The way I look at things right now is that I need to put my instincts before anything that anybody tries to tell me. And the key to becoming Numero Uno is in this formula I came up with:

[ Power * (Friends - Enemies) ] / Getting What I Want = Numero Uno

What’s the one constant that comes with being Numero Uno? Power. Whether that power is used for good or bad is subjective and I leave it to Jesus and Adolf Hitler to discuss. If you don’t want power or don’t know what to do with that power once you get, don’t even try to be Numero Uno. It won’t work. Even Fidel Castro, while he preaches equality for all in the form of communism, understands this.

Power is determined by our ability to amass something, usually the source is the positive appraisal of others. A businessman with a product that cannot win his customers’ positive appraisal will soon go out of business. Bill Gates has made billions of dollars by gaining the positive appraisal of the products he develops. The Windows Operating System (OS) was created around the concept of making “user friendly” software so that the goal of a Personal Computer (PC) in every home would become a reality. Before the invention of the computer mouse, a PC user had to learn geekelicious (new word Webster…) commands that to the average person where simply a burden. Remember those special rulers you used to put on your keyboard that were full of commands for your word processor? Those born before 1985 know what I’m talking about.

My point is that winning the positive appraisal of people is very important. Hence, we should all try to make friends, not enemies. If you have an attitude that gets you nothing but a whole bunch of enemies, you will never be Numero Uno. It won’t matter how many skills you have or how much you know. Remember how I said at the beginning that there will always be people trying to bring down Numero Uno? The reason why Bill Gates is still Numero Uno is because his products still have more positive appraisals (friends) than negative (enemies). The minute his enemies become more than his friends Windows will no longer be Numero Uno in the OS business.

I’ve met people who have a personality that makes it easy for them to make friends, but don’t use that to their advantage ’cause they don’t know what they want. I’ve also met people that are very smart and know what they want in life, but are real dumb when it comes to dealing with people and making friends (I was one). The person who knows what he/she wants, even with a small group of friends but fewer enemies, can do more than the previous two. Getting what you want is about having goals and using what you have. If you don’t have goals then Getting What I Want = 0. That means that when you apply that number to my formula you get nothing. Your operation is meaningless and you might as well give up ’cause you’re just wasting time. Now, If [ Power * (Friends - Enemies) ] equals a negative number, how the hell are you going to divide it by Getting What I Want and expect a positive result? That doesn’t work either.

I’ve explained all variables and the one constant necessary to become Numero Uno. Here’s the gist of it:

1. Have a goal.
2. Enemies are inevitable, but making more friends than enemies is very doable. So make some friends will ya…

It’s all making sense after thinking about it. Now my path to becoming Numero Uno is that much clearer, and I’m working on it.

P.S.: Numero Uno means Number One. Just in case…

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.

I am who I am
I am the man who crawls into your bed in the middle of the night
And the same way I come, I leave when I like
I am the moon light you need so you can see at night
I am the sun that brightens your skies
Don’t ever think of me as your other half
Nor come to me when you need advice
I am not your friend nor your father
I am not your creator nor your messenger
I am not your brother nor your lover
I am who I am
I am the man who comes to you in the middle of the night
With a mood that supersedes my actions
I can be gentle or rough, but never expect me to act with hesitation
I make you feel good… and then I leave you to cry
I do not want your love nor do I need it
You know what I want and you will keep on giving it
Why keep asking for my name when you already know the answer
Wanting another answer is simply asking for more pain
I am who I am
And you must leave it at that
If you ask me one more time I will never again cross into your path
You see, in a relationship like this only one can have the feelings
The other is simply the perfect definition of a realist
I am the honest person that you’ve ever come across
I never lie to you, I don’t put anything on a cusp
If you have to leave me because I didn’t lie to you
I understand, and best of lucks to you

One of my cousins gave birth to her first child this morning at 1:30 a.m. I’m an uncle, even though it’s hard to feel that way. I think it’s only because I’m not close to my cousins or anyone else outside of my immediate family, but that doesn’t mean I don’t think about them. It’s still a little crazy that it feels like it was just yesterday when we were playing Nintendo and watching E.T.. When the biggest worry was getting to level eight on Mario Bros. and having a birthday party at Chucky Cheese.

Even though it has been so many years since I last saw my cousins, I can still remember the thoughts going through my mind at the time we were closer. Before I even turned eight years old I remember, for example, that I wanted my mom and dad to become American citizens. This was because my country, while it was occupied by the American military, had territories that were limited to Americans, primarily military personnel. With my uncles being part of the American military, it always bugged me how they could easily cross into Panamanian territory without needing id’s, but for my family to go to their side of the fence it was always much harder and pretty much impossible without the vouch of my uncles. Even at an early age I realized how unfair things could be. Why did I need permission to explore my natal country when others born outside didn’t?

My determination to get American citizenship grew even more when I started traveling overseas. Everywhere I went it seemed like the dark-blue American passport would always open doors much quicker than my light-blue Panamanian passport. At times I was embarrassed of my nationality because it didn’t seem to do anything for me. My American friends were always more at ease crossing borders than I was. They knew that everywhere they went they were well represented. I knew that if something happened, I was on my own. But this the world we live in, isn’t it? It’s not always fair. After 20 years of wanting that American citizenship I finally got it. I used to look at the United States of America from the outside, now I write from within. And in my heart there will always be a special place for that country who gave me my first breath of air, who thought me so much with so little. It’s hard to describe the way I feel about my beautiful Panama, but my eyes water when I think of her like this. I wish she could have given me everything I ever wanted…

I came to America with a different reality. A reality that broadens scales a bit further than the average born American citizen. This reality is the one that tells me that poverty goes well beyond not having a good education, and that dictators, not citizens, really do control the destiny of nations at times. This dark-blue passport I own represents a lot more than a greater freedom to cross imaginary borders. It represents more opportunities and the accomplishment of a life dream.

I would be a fool to not take advantage of the opportunities that have been given to me. It is true that every day presents itself full of opportunities, but if we can’t see them then how can we take advantage of them? We just don’t see things the same way if we’re accustomed to them. We don’t think of every breath unless we’re gasping for air the same way we don’t think of every heartbeat unless we’re having heart problems. This is our world, and as unfair as it can be, it is also a beautiful experience, and I know my nephew already holds the better hand. Welcome to this world nephew.

Saturday was the day that me and Tracy had planned to go to El Valle. I was more exited about the idea of being away from home than going on a trip with her. I really didn’t think of her in a sexual way. I guess it was my innocence.

Somehow we ended up meeting a Native American girl from Saskatchewan, Canada, Louise was her name I believe. Ha… I just remembered having the hardest time trying to say her name right. My English then was not as good as it is now. but anyways, on the way to El Valle we exchanged a lot of interesting stories and got to know each other a lot better. This is, by the way, one of the coolest things about traveling: getting to meet people from other cultures and learning from them. I love that. There we were, a white girl from California, a Native American girl from Canada and a black guy from Panama, all speaking in our own accents and getting along just fine. I would really like for everyone in this world to get the opportunity to experience other cultures and countries.

I had been to El Valle many times before, so I took them to the zoo and we had a nice walk around town also. I remember being worried the whole time because I hadn’t told my parents where I was going. I knew that if I would have asked, they would have given me the usual answer: no. So I had stopped asking for permission on many things for a while now. I would just go places behind their back and hope that I could make it on time for my parents not to find out what I had done.

Tracy, Louise and I were having a good time and before we knew it, I had to catch the last bus home. The two girls were thinking about spending the night and they enjoyed my company and wanted me to stay, which I did. They had already paid for a room at a cabaña, which is like a hostel but you get your own private room with a shower and bathroom. The owner of the cabaña had charged the two girls about $20 for the night. She had said that if I was staying there would be an additional $5 charge. I was trying to stay in without having to pay, but when the last bus back to the city had already left and she saw me there, she didn’t miss the beat and charged me. I mention this because at the time it seemed like a lot of money to me. I had taken that trip with about $11. It always amazed me how people would come to Panama and spend money quite freely, especially if they were from the U.S.. Now I know why.

That night the girls had the big idea of going salsa dancing. I wasn’t into that idea because I was the only guy. If one or both of them got drunk or whatever, it’s all on me. But I wanted them to have a good time, so we went down to this local bar and hung out for a good while. I just kept looking everywhere and watching their drinks. The whole bar was full of guys and a few were brave enough to come talk to us. They would try talking to me in English first to try to figure out which one I was dating. As soon as I replied to them in Spanish they would feel more comfortable and had a few more friends join the conversation. The girls didn’t really get what they wanted ’cause it wasn’t really the kind of bar you go to salsa dance. I was actually glad. We bounced from there, the girls bought a cheap bottle of wine and we headed back to the room…

Yesterday I was telling a friend how I really want to start making big money, so I told her I wanted to be a rapper. She said to me that I was a little late on that one because most artists start young and it’s not so much what they sing, but who they know in the business. She says that’s why some songs that should never be on the radio, make it there.

I never really thought about the need to know people in the music industry that much. But it makes sense. I woke up this morning and the first thing that came to mind was that and ever since she said that I’ve been having this feeling that I need to make things happen now. I feel confident about my business skills, but I have no product that I can sell right now. I want to sell my music, but I feel I’m not at the quality I need to be yet. I’m working on it.

My report: I liked everything about this film. The story was great, the actors, the scenes… It was interesting from beginning to end. Sometimes it was funny, others tragic or educational. Parts of it reminded me a lot of Panama’s countryside. I really want to start traveling again because it’s something that I really enjoy. Watching this movie reminded me of times when it was all about me and also that it doesn’t have to stop being that way. The end reminded me that life is too short to be wasting it doing things we don’t want to do. When people are constantly doing things they don’t want to do, they are not being responsible, they are being submissive.

Rating:

About it: Mexican-born, New York-based filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón directed this Mexican box-office smash hit about a pair of randy upper-class buddies that sparked some controversy for its frank depiction of drug use and sexual exploration. With their respective girlfriends away in Europe, Julio (Gael García Bernal) and his upper-class friend Tenoch (Diego Luna) are looking forward to a summer full of drink, drugs, and cheap meaningless sex. During a wedding, they meet Luisa (Maribel Verdú) — the 28-year-old wife of Tenoch’s scholarly cousin — and try to convince her to go on a road trip to Heaven’s Mouth, a made-up beach paradise the two claim is on the Oaxacan coast. To their surprise, Luisa — who is looking to escape her troubled life for a spell — agrees to go along. Two days into the trip, tension starts to build between the two friends: Luisa has had sex with each, and now both lads are not-so-quietly vying for her affection. Soon simmering jealousies boil over into savage arguments, threatening to completely destroy their friendship. After an enormously successful run in Mexico and Guatemala, this film was screened to much acclaim at the 2001 Venice, Toronto, and New York Film Festivals. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

My Report: It was a good story. Many things made me think about how things are in Panama, like how all houses have steel fences to keep away strangers and intruders. It could be a true story about corruption, but not one to remember. It was missing the extra drama effect. It would have been good if the movie would have had more details on the drug business. Like how the drug packages were picked up from the seas and who picks the up in the U.S., things like that. Also include scenes with the actual bribes of politicians would have been good.

Rating:

About it: Functioning as an unofficial Spanish-language equivalent of Steven Soderbergh’s muckraker Traffic (2000), co-directors Ricardo Mendez Matta and Poli Marichal’s meller Thieves and Liars traces the web of drug money-related corruption inherent in the Puerto Rican socioeconomic climate. As in the Soderbergh ensemble picture, Marichal and Matta interweave a number of socially relevant stories on various levels of Puerto Rican society - all about the movement of drugs from the Third World to Puerto Rico to the States. In one substory, Puerto Rican man Oscar (Steven Bauer) - in an attempt to gain revenge for the death of a friend - rubs out a drug boss, and thus sinks to a level every bit as dirty and shameless as his victim. In another, two young men, Cheo and Miguel, use drug money to support their needy grandmother. In a third, single mother and airport worker Wanda Velez (Magda Rivera) attempts to navigate her way through the byzantine Puerto Rican legal system, taking on the fly-by-night company that manipulated and conned her. And in still another substory, adolescent Luisito (Carlos Paniagua) teeters on the verge of self-destruction with illegal drug use, despite the constant admonitions of his concerned mother. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Hypocrites, have you seen one lately? If you think not it is because you are being fooled, but at one point or another in your life you came to see one so you know exactly what a hypocrite does. These backstabbers, good-for-nothing double-crossers spend their time pretending to be something they are not. They smile at you when they see you and when you are not around you are the victim of their endless mockeries, insults and negative criticisms. The worst part is not their hypocrisy, but what happens when you realize their “wrong” doing. Looking for approval from your so-called friends you start criticizing your new discovered adversary: “I can’t believe she would do that to me, I would have never done that to her.” But you are doing it, right there and then. You are talking about another person behind their back. You just feel it’s different because “she started it.” The truth is, there are two sides to everything. Which side is good or bad is subject to interpretation. Perhaps, the best approach to the problem is to look at things from all perspectives before reaching conclusions.

How often are children told not to play with fire? The child usually learns not to play with fire after that first contact with an object heated at over one hundred degrees of a new experience. The day my child comes to me screaming and crying because he/she just got burned, I will take care of the wounds and ask: “Do you understand now what I was trying to tell you?”

Isn’t it much better to know why, than to follow the beaten track? To know exactly why things happen the way they do is bliss. What’s even better is that by understanding that there are two sides to everything, we can take a negative and turn it into a positive. With this type of thinking, we are not just destined to have a glass that is always half full, we are also now wired for success. Can you imagine if we focused all that energy we spend getting angry with those who critic us and put it into something else? Find out if what your critics are saying is true and then use that information to get even better! People with negative attitudes are always ready to tell everyone else what is wrong. They make for much better friends than the ones who smile but never tell the truth.

There is no reason to experiment on the two sides of everything though, you got to be smart. If you decide to rob a bank and you get shot and die, you won’t have a opportunity to try something else, unless you believe in reincarnation that is. Know that there are two sides to everything and learn to make the right decisions. It is just as dumb to believe there is only one way to everything as it is to believe in single-sided coins.