buy a mexican christmas tree and stop the immigration!

"More than 100 agents are to be posted along the US-Mexico border.

This time, rather than US officials trying to stop Mexican migrants heading north, it is Mexican agents who are stopping illegals from coming south.

But these are no ordinary immigrants - they are insects carried on branches of Christmas trees for the festive season."

that's the way an article by claire marshall on the bbc news website begins. and i love it. it reminds me of the movie "the day after tomorrow". and brendan made it very clear that everybody in the movie theatre started laughing when they showed the shot above -- and i laughed too, but his remark was meant to make me feel bad or something and point out how ridiculous that was... that irish-american biatch.

but that's not the point. the point is that the mexican government has enforced controls to keep away those undesirable bugs together with the more expensive christmas trees that are grown in the u.s. and canada. at the same time, in recent years they have offered subsidies to mexican christmas tree growers.

this means that people in mexico now have the opportunity to buy mexican trees that are beautiful and a lot cheaper than the imported ones. plus, they get to help the incipient local christmas tree industry and avoid deforestation.

read mr. lópez's business story and how marthita's tree lit up her eyes with joy. and read about this place that grows christmas trees in mexico state.

so, if you are in mexico, when you go buy your christmas tree, make sure it's a mexican tree.

heard on the street

i have heard a lot of cool/random things on the street lately:

- the 2004 picture of my elementary school principal is not photoshopped: my sister's friend sees her often at her gym.

- monterrey is the most expensive city in mexico (mercer hr).

- monterrey is the safest city in latin america (same source).

- monterrey has the best quality of life in latin america (same source). -- woohoo!

- rayados (monterrey) is one of the favorite teams in the mexican football playoffs. -- woohoo!

- mexican presidential candidates felipe calderón (pan) and andrés manuel lópez obrador (prd) are virtually tied in the polls, according to the grupo reforma november 2005 poll.

- amlo is leading the el universal november 2005 poll with 34%. felipe is trailing with 22%.

- madrazo (pri) is third in both polls. -- woohoo!!!

- the canadian government fell yesterday.

- classes are over this week (except for engel's macro, of course).

- women do not talk about masturbation amongst themselves.

- p is not dead.

- teto and mónica just had a daughter.

- arturo and manétt just had a son.

- harry potter 4 passed the us$200 million mark faster than any of the preceding movies -- and i saw this movie twice already.

- mya got into harvard law.

- madonna rocked the mtv european video awards -- google up her video!

and that's enough for today.

most random webpage ever

i can't think of a more random website that i've come across with in my entire life. i was curious about what's happened to my former school in mexico and decided to browse the web and see what i found... and i found some great pictures:


together with the following testimonial:

“Tengo 59 años y llevo 2 años tomando Anti-Edad®. Me siento y me veo mejor que hace 20 años. Las dolencias que comencé a tener hace 10 años han desaparecido, mi piel y cabello se ven mucho mejor, tengo mas claridad mental y he aumentado mi masa muscular de manera espectacular. Nunca terminaré de agradecer a Anti-Edad® todo el bienestar que ha traído a mi vida.”

which basically says that she's 59 years old and she's been taking this anti-age treatment for the past two years and her overall health has improved spectacularly, from her hair and skin to her muscular mass, as the pictures attest.

the crazy thing is that this is my elementary school principal!!!

i doubt i will ever have that much muscle... damn, i'd better start that anti-age treatment!

the best gift ever

today was not my birthday. still, it felt like it. not only that, it felt more like my birthday than last week. people in school wished me a happy birthday and reminded me that they'd be at caffe' adulis tonight for our birthday celebration. i got birthday hugs and kisses. it was weird. i had never had two birthdays so close to each other. it was great.

the weather was great too. fall being my favorite season and loving me so much had to offer me a great weather on my birthdays. last week, on the 1st, we had an unusally warm and sunny day... it was perfect. today, it wasn't sunny or warm, but it felt very much like autumn. the air was crisp and cool. i forgot my bike at the department and walked on the fallen leaves--my favorite activity of the season. i felt like taking pictures on hillhouse in front of the department, then on wall street outside of the law school, then on cross campus in front of sterling, and then on high street by the gate to the residential colleges. i was too lazy, though, and thought that it would be more memorable to observe things and keep the memories for myself. a leaf slapped me in the face and i laughed.

and as if the multiple congratulations, the double birthdays, and the great weather were not enough, i got three amazing birthday gifts.

after class, i went downstairs to see if people had left me checks in my mailbox for the wilma hurricane relief effort i'm coordinating -- but, as expected, there was none. instead, there was a huge box waiting to be opened. i don't remember ever receiving a birthday gift wrapped in such a big box, so it was very exciting. have you seen what i've got? i asked james, and he prompted me to open it. the gift came wrapped in a very pretty bag and another big box. it had attached a super cute note from my sister:

Felicidades mi hermosura
preciosa... espero que disfrutes
esta madre que no se que es! te
amooooooooooo,
tu hermana bonita.

and it was a cordless keyboard and mouse that i've been wanting for the past year or so. this thing is amazing. i can go to my e-mail, my itunes, my pictures, the calculator, my documents, browse the internet, and order a pizza just with my keyboard! it has volume control and now i basically leave my speakers on the highest volume and control it from the keyboard... and i can even mute it! i love it! dana, you are the best!

then at caffe' adulis, i got the cutest birthday card from julita. i won't transcribe the text because it's sexy and i don't want to make joel jealous. but i loved it!

but kenya and perro gave me the best birthday gift ever. when they handed me the bag, i decided not to look and try to guess just by feeling it. and i felt it. and i guessed. and people urged me to take it out and i said no. i said it was private and i just wanted to keep it that way. i'm sure someone thought it was lingerie. i wish. still, it was private, very private. i wanted to keep it only for myself. do you know what it is? kenya asked, and i chuckled and said yes, even though i did not believe it was what it was. a tennis ball, it's just a tennis ball, i thought. still, i kept it private and put it away. i did not succumb to the pressure, open it, open it! i wanted it to be private.

and it was private, and still is. only mine. my best gift ever.

day of the dead

much for the enjoyment of perro, we put up pictures of el enmascarado de plata in our day of the dead altar. in spite of our announcement that the altar was built in honor of the victims of hurricanes wilma and stan in mexico and central america, cantinflas, frida, and diego were also saints of our devotion. but neither the photos of el santo and our much beloved mario moreno nor my posters that read "47 cents is enough to feed one child in southern mexico and central america for one day... 20 dollars is enough to feed one entire family for a week" were enough to touch the hearts of passersby.

in almost 6 hours, we collected about 60+ dollars of donations. and beinecke plaza, where we were located, is one of the most transited areas of yale. the responses did not vary much: "i have no cash on me," i don't have any money," "i forgot my wallet." do these people really think that we believe that? i know that's the usual answer people give to the homeless and beggars. but this is different...

or is it not?

anyway, it still strikes me that most of the money i have collected comes from people in (or with strong links to) developing countries. friends, acquaintances, and passersby from the rich countries either ignored or were indifferent to our request. it's like being in a doha round of negotiations but at a micro level, with regular people and on a random day. so, if the "average" joe in one of the most selective schools in the world, where education levels are amongst the highest one can find anywhere else, and where awareness of the issues in the third world is more than that of the average person from a developed country, what can we expect from the populace? what can we expect from their leaders?

now, it is true that media coverage of these disasters in southern mexico and central america was poor, given that the major news agencies were more worried by the possible effects that "the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the atlantic" might have in florida a couple of days after it hit the caribbean. but do we really need a tsunami-like disaster to agree to donate ONE DOLLAR? have we become this selfish?

listening to backstreet boys' songs will never be the same

not even the bb's sing with this much feeling:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6739710473912337648&q=chinese&p

thanks, yali, for the birthday gift.

and now that we are at it, here are some other old videos that are in my top-ten funniest videos list.

tunak tunak
http://homepage.mac.com/jstansbury/iMovieTheater1.html

numa numa
http://www.jeffiscool.com/numanuma.html

star wars kid
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/starwarskid.html

there are better (sound/image) versions on the web but you need to download the files. these links will just play the video...

i gave myself in the mother

i don't really know how it happened. somehow the front wheel of my bike stopped while i was pedaling hard and the back wheel went up in the air and then i just flew in the air like this guy, except the bike did a 360-degree flip too. i landed on my palms and knees and remained on the floor for like 3 seconds wondering what had just happened. then i stood up super quickly and like 3 cars and a couple of pedestrians stopped by to see if i was alright. if this were mexico, these people would have most likely laughed in my face... but no. they were genuinely concerned about my well-being.

these americans are weird...

at least now my jeans have that cool torn, ripped look...

it might be wise to start wearing a helmet that matches my jeans, though...

twenty-seven and the prisoner of azkaban

not that i am too selfish and self-centered, but the world really needs to adjust to eastern standard time... at least on my birthday.

not calling at midnight but waking me up at 7h???

grrrrrrr...

no, i'm kidding. thanks, kristelita, you are the best!

and guarani h.d.p., i just heard you were in geneva and were about to call but you didn't. bitch. let's see if you ever get a call from me again when i'm roaming the streets of grenoble...

my dad, of course, called first thing in the morning. he has to make up for not being able to jump on my bed at 6am, as he has always done on each one of my birthdays that i have spent in mexico, ever since i can remember.

and chicho, SEÑOR, thanks for the pre-groundhog call.

i thought it would be a good idea to get up and start getting some work done. the phone kept ringing and i thought i was better off working between calls than trying to sleep. but apparently, procrastination is the same at 8h or at 2h...

twenty-seven reloaded

ok, it's past 1h and nobody from mexico called.

kenya did, though. that's why she's getting the nobel prize.

twenty-seven

it's the first year since i can remember that i don't receive a birthday call right at midnight. it's not a big deal, i guess, since officially i turn 27 until 15h20. still, going against l'habitude makes me feel weird...

i love that word, habitude.

anyway, i'm sure someone is going to call at 1h when it's midnight in mexico...

alright, i was googling up pictures related to birthdays to accompany this post. i searched "birthday boy" under "images" and came up with several funny pix. these are some of them.





can anybody please explain to me how google came up with michaelangelo's david? what does it have to do with anything? birthday boy?!

and i love the yo-quiero-taco-bell-wannabe birthday dog.

and i want to be friends with the 5th birthday boy... it seems he's cool.

not with birthday boy #8, though.

and i could be more than friends with birthday "boy" #6...!