Pues yo tambien soy artista...

I don't mean to knock it because it really does look beautiful, pero cascadas en la ciudad de Nueva York? Pues yo voy a poner una canasta de platanos en Times Square como una forma de arte. It could be a cultural, nay a political work of art!

Maybe I don't get the waterfalls because I'm not artsy fartsy, but here's the skinny on the waterfalls. "The New York City Waterfalls" is the city's largest art project since 2005 when the artists Christo and his wife Jeanne-Claude drapped Central Park with their art installation "The Gates" (another project I didn't get). The waterfalls are located in 4 areas at the Brooklyn Bridge (one at the base of the bridge's Brooklyn end and the other between Piers 4 and 5 at Furman and Joralemon streets). The other two are located in lower Manhattan at Pier 35 and on the north shore of Governors Island. The artificial waterfalls will be up through October 13th.

Out of curiosity I'll probably go see the art installation. Maybe I'll see them in a different way after experiencing them in person. The artist, Olafur Eliasson, hopes to "evoke experiences that are both individual and enhance a sense of collectivity". Whatever the hell that means hopefully I'll find out. On the plus side, mabye some money can be pumped into the economy. More than 5 million people saw "The Gates," including about 1.5 million out-of-town visitors, putting $254 million into the economy.

Lo mas chistoso es que de noche se apagan las cascadas. Porque? Another little fact, the tab for the project was $15.5 million dollars. Senor, si no encuentran que hacer con el dinero, por favor que me lo den a mi!

If you've been living under a rock and have not seen or heard about the waterfalls, check out www.nycwaterfalls.org.

Busy in the city.....

Well, summer is officially here and I'm trying to keep busy this summer. I'm going to try to continuously share interesting events, in New York City, that I find and want to go to myself. If you know of any great events please feel free to share with the rest!

EVENT: Jeremy Fish
DATE: Exhibit through July 26th
ORGANIZATION: Joshua Liner Gallery
LOCATION: 548 West 28th street, suite 334
INFO: JoshuaLinerGallery.com

EVENT: Superheroes: Fashion & Fantasy
DATE: Now - September 1, 2008
ORGANIZATION: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
LOCATION: 1000 Fifth Avenue
INFO: 212-570-3951 or www.metmuseum.org

EVENT: Campaigning for President: New York and the American Election
DATE: June 24 - Election Day
ORGANIZATION: Museum of the City of New York
LOCATION: 1220 Fifth Avenue
INFO: 212-534-1672 or www.mcny.org

Seven words you can't say on television....

I know I'm about three days late in writing this, but I still can't believe George Carlin is dead. I remember the first time I heard of George Carlin was in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. For some reason, don't really remember why, I became a fan after then.

What I enjoyed most about him was that first off, he's a fellow New Yorker (grew up right on West 122nd street), second he lived his life like his comedy fast, without censorship, and with major enjoyment, and third he became a social critic in the most effective way possible, through entertainment. You have to have a lot of respect for honest and unapologetic people, and that he was especially in his comedy (I try to live like this but find it very difficult sometimes).

HBO and “Saturday Night Live” will pay tribute to George Carlin this week. “SNL” will re-air the 1975 premiere episode that Carlin hosted at 10:30 p.m. this Saturday. HBO will air Carlin’s most recent special, “It’s Bad for Ya,” at 8 p.m. Friday. HBO2 will air 11 of the 14 HBO specials he did beginning today.

I think what makes comedy funny is that fact that there is truth in every jest. He has so many great one liners that I'll leave you with a couple of my favorite ones. Enjoy!

-Inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed idealist.
-By and large, language is a tool for concealing the truth.
-Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?
-"I am" is reportedly the shortest sentence in the English language. Could it be that "I do" is the longest sentence?
-I have as much authority as the Pope, I just don't have as many people who believe it.
-I was thinking about how people seem to read the Bible a whole lot more as they get older; then it dawned on me - they're cramming for their final exam.
-I'm completely in favor of the separation of Church and State. My idea is that these two institutions screw us up enough on their own, so both of them together is certain death.
-If God had intended us not to masturbate he would've made our arms shorter.
-People who say they don't care what people think are usually desperate to have people think they don't care what people think.
-The reason I talk to myself is that I'm the only one whose answers I accept.
-Ladies, leave your eyebrows alone. Here's how much men care about your eyebrows: Do you have two of them? Okay, we're done.

All in the name of music.

Dios mio, I always say the same thing everytime I do this. But I think I mean it this time, I'm never going back to Brooklyn!!!!!

Boys and girls if you can believe it I went out Thursday night, on a weekday (I payed for it the following morning but who cares). I went with a friend to Studio B to see a band by the name of Crystal Castles.

First we got lost going to the place, then we really got lost coming home. I hate getting lost in Brooklyn; I really don't like to let on that I'm lost and I hate how the streets are not in a logical progression like on my beautiful island of Manhattan.

Anyway, back to Crystal Castles. I had never heard of them until Thursday, but I'm glad I went because it was a good surprise. Their sound is electro-dance music heavy on synthesizer type sounds with a little rock feel. They really amped up the crowd. I've had my fair share of mosh pit days, but people were going nuts for them. I was in the front of the stage, but not for long, once my glasses flew off my face I knew it was time to go off to the side. Sadly that was the best pic I could get under the circumstances.

I'd like to give you some background info (courtesy of Wikipedia) on Crystal Castles because I think they are worth taking a good listen to (you could go on myspace and look them up to listen to their songs). Crystal Castles is a Toronto based band, consisting of multi-instrumentalist Ethan Kath and vocalist Alice Glass. Crystal Castles formed in December 2003 as a project started by Ethan Kath. In April 2005, Alice Glass recorded vocals for five original instrumentals by Kath. The band's first single was recorded "accidentally" and released through MySpace. The rest in history (in progress). Just as an aside, so incredibly interesting how MySpace has become this great tool to get your name out there be it music, fashion, or any business for that matter.

I definitely would like to see and hear more from Crystal Castles. Too bad I can't say the same for Brooklyn.

Summer reading...

I must admit that I fancy chick lit. It's fun, sometimes unrealistic, but hopeful at the same time. For sometime I kept on passing by the same book at Borders,"The Dirty Girls Social Club" by Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez. I finally picked it up last summer and I'm glad I did.

For those unfamiliar with the book, it's a story about 6 Latina friends from Boston University who have been keeping in touch regularly for the past 7 years since graduation. The women (Sara, Lauren, Rebecca, Usnavy, Elizabeth, and Amber) all have different backgrounds, character, and careers.

What I love most about this book is how Valdes-Rodriguez keeps that story funny and optomistic while touching on serious subjects such as racism, homophobia, sexism, and violence against women.

I am anxiously awaiting the sequel, "Dirty Girls on Top", which hits shelves on July 8th. I hope to laugh, cry, and be touched even more so than from the first book.

If you want to take a look at other Valdes-Rodriguez books, currently I'm reading "Playing with Boys", check out her blog http://alisavaldesrodriguez.blogspot.com/.

Great news!!!

I'll make this short and sweet cause I'm almost running late for work. If you did not know already, "In the Heights"won a 2008 TONY award for Best Musical last night. Also, Lin-Manuel Miranda won a TONY for Best Original Score Written for the Theater (music and lyrics). "In the Heights" also received a TONY for Best Choreography, and Best Orchestrations. I guess the little neighborhood at the top of Manhattan is making a very big impression!

Why is it so hard to forgive and forget?

I was watching the 4th hour of the Today Show on Tuesday at work. By the way, I thought I wouldn’t like the 4th hour, but to my surprise I watch it everyday I think Kathy Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb quit enjoyable. Anyway, there was a segment on relationships with Today Show contributor Dr. Laura Berman. I stopped working and started listening to the segment because I for one suffer from forgiving but there is no way in hell I’m going to forget. I have to be honest and admit that I hold on to things for way too long.

Here are a few of the reasons given as to why we don’t have an easy time forgiving those we love:
§ Depends on the crime
§ Depends on our own emotional state (If raised in a family where forgiveness was rare and grudges were long, we unwillingly carry that)
§ Depends on how we are able to express difficult emotions (that’s my stumbling block)
§ The most important one (drum roll please), depends on our sense of responsibility for our own lives and relationships (as much as it kills me to say, no adult is ever a completely innocent victim)

One thing that struck a chord with me was that one forgives out of selfishness than anything else. Whoever does not agree with is a liar and full of shit. I started to think about why I forgive people and why I press people to forgive me. And I won’t say that it 100% selfishness, but I like to forgive and be forgiven mostly to feel better about myself and to be a peace with myself.

I’ll leave you with this lovely thought. If you feel love and a connection to the person you are angry with, then it’s time to forgive and forget. It may take time to heal and rebuild, but if you commit to honestly communication with that person and yourself you'll likely make it through the other side in a better place in your relationship than before.


P.S. It’s not good for the soul to be so angry and untrusting all the time, plus it adds to the aging factors (no need to rush those wrinkles)

___________________________________________________________________

¿Por qué es tan dificl perdonar y olvidar?

Yo empece a ver la cuarta hora de el Today Show en NBC. Pensé que no gustaria la cuarta hora, pero a mi sorpresa lo veo diario yo pienso que Kathy Lee Gifford y Hoda Kotb son bastante agradable. Anyway, el martes en el trabajo había un segmento sobre relaciones con la Dr. Laura Berman, contribuidora de el Today Show. Paré el trabajar y comencé a escuchar el segmento porque yo sufro de perdónar y pero hamas olvidar. Tengo que ser honesta y admitir que me aferro a las cosas por un tiempo demasiado largo.
Aquí están algunas de las razones dadas en cuanto porqué no es fácil perdonar ésos que amamos:
§ Depende de la situacion
§ Depende de nuestro propio estado emocional (si tu familia no perdona, ya lo sabes que tu tampoco perdona facil)
§ Depende de cómo podemos expresar las emociones
§ El más importante (rodillo de tambor por favor) depende de nuestro sentido de la responsabilidad de nuestras propias vidas y relaciones (tanto como me mata por decir, no hay adulto totalmente inocente, sorry!!)

Lo que yo me encuentro bien interesante es que uno perdona por egoísmo que todo lo demás. Quien no esta de acuerdo con esto es un mentiroso y un come mierda. Comencé a pensar en porqué perdono a gente y porqué presiono a gente perdonarme. Y no es 100% egoismo, el gusto de perdonar y de ser perdonada sobre todo es para sentirme major.

Los dejaré con este pensamiento. Si usted siente amor y una conexión con la persona que usted está enojado con, entonces es hora de perdonar y de olvidar. Puede tardar tiempo para curar y para reconstruir, pero si usted confía y es honesto con esa persona le va ir major.

P.S. No es bueno que para el alma que estes enojado todo el tiempo, eso agrega a los factores de envejecimiento y arrugas

Just a reminder.......

I wanted to remind everyone that this Sunday, June 15th is the 62nd annual TONY awards ceremony. I'd also like to remind everyone that the broadway musical In the Heights has received 13 TONY award nominations.

For anyone that has been living under a rock, In the Heights is a rap, hip-hop and salsa flavored musical about Latino families in Washington Heights, created and starring Inwood resident 28 year old Lin Manuel Miranda.

Shame on me for not seeing the show yet (even though I've been wanting to see it since it was Off Broadway), but hopefully I shouldn't be a rush since I don't think it's going away anytime soon......

Can the "glass ceiling" really be broken?

The issue of race and sex has been brought to attention during the Democratic presidential primary. During Hillary Clinton’s concession speech, she stated that even though the glass ceiling was not shattered, there are now millions of cracks to let the light shine through. I don’t know how much I believe that. I’m not saying that Clinton did not win the election just because she is a woman, but does this give false hope to women in the United States, especially minorities? Does this really make people think that there is not much work to do?

For anyone unfamiliar with the term “glass ceiling”, it refers to a situation where the advancement of a qualified person is stopped due to some form of discrimination, most commonly sexism and racism.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great effort on Hillary’s part trying to encourage and inspire the next generation of women. She joins a long line of women who through their actions have helped push forward in politics and corporate America, performing the oh so difficult task of balancing family and work life and being successful in advancing their careers. That being said, I still believe that a woman is limited in how high up the ladder she can go. Juggling work and family is seen as a weakness for woman and not even a factor in the equation for men. Honestly, women are still expected to be soft spoken, complacent, and family oriented and criticized for being aggressive and career obsessed. Why is it a remarkable thing and not something that is expected to happen that women run for office?

I’ll leave you with something to think about. Women in politics, as entrepreneurs, and high powered jobs has increased over the last two decades. But, as I was reading up on this issue as it pertains to this election, I stumbled across one interesting piece of information. In 1984, almost 25 years ago, Geraldine Ferraro was on the ballot as vice presidential candidate and that was considered remarkable then. Hillary Clinton, if nominated for the VP, would be the second woman nominated. With this in mind, how much progress has there actually been?

I don’t think we should be so happy to have the “ceiling” cracked; the ceiling has been cracking for quit some time now. I hope that my cynicism is totally off the map on this one, but I don’t see the ceiling being shattered anytime soon. So when a man (or even a woman) asks if you buy into the bull shit of the glass ceiling, you tell him (or remind her) that you don’t have to buy it, you get it for free everyday just for waking up in the morning…….

___________________________________________________________________

El asunto de la raza y el sexo se ha traído a la atención durante el primario presidencial Democratica. Durante el discurso de la concesión de Hillary Clinton, ella indicó que aunque el techo de cristal no fue roto, esta empesando a partir. No sé cuánto creo eso. ¿No estoy diciendo que Clinton no ganó la elección apenas porque ella es una mujer, pero me pregunto si esto ésta dando esperanza falsa a las mujeres en los Estados Unidos, especialmente minorías? ¿Es que la gente piensa que no hay mucho trabajo a hacer?

Para cualquier persona que no conoce el término “techo de cristal”, refiere a una situación donde el adelanto de una persona calificada es parado debido a una cierta forma de discriminación.
Es un gran esfuerzo de parte de Hillary que intenta animar e inspirar la generación siguiente de mujeres. Tenemos una larga lista de mujeres que con sus acciones han ayudado a empujar adelante hacia adentro política y América corporativa, incluyendo el trabajo tan dificil de ser encargado de su familia. Pero, todavía creo que limitan a una mujer en cómo arriba encima de la escalera ella puede ir. Consideran el trabajo y a la familia una debilidad para la mujer y para los hombres la familia no tiene effecto con su trabajo. Todavía se espera que a las mujeres sean de tono suave, satisfechas, y familia orientada y son criticada por ser agresivas y obsesionada con su carrera. ¿Por qué es una cosa notable y no algo que se espera que suceda que las mujeres dominen el la politica?

Los dejaré con este pensamiento. Las mujeres en políticas, como empresarios, y los trabajos de alta potencia han aumentado durante las dos décadas pasadas. Pero, yo tropecé a través de información interesante. En 1984, hace casi 25 años, Geraldine Ferraro estaba en la balota como candidato vice presidencial y eso era considerada notable entonces. Hillary Clinton, si es nominada para el VP, sería la segunda mujer nominada. ¿Con esto en mente, cuánto progreso ha sido realmente?

Revolution and Capitalism?

I was at the doctor's office yesterday reading amNY. I came across a tiny article in the World Briefs section on Che Guevara's kids. Two of his kids said they're tired of having their father's image used to sell everything.

Now, I must admit that I all about the revolutionary image on t-shirts and hats. I even bought a shirt for my friend (who I believe was involved in some revolutionary movement in a past life). I also thought that you should only wear the shirts if you know who Che was, which most of the people wearing it have no clue who he was and what he did.

Anyway, I totally understand where his children are coming from. I for one have had it with his image all over the place and people really not understanding what that stands for. The last straw for me was when I saw a t-shirt with Che Guevara's image decorated in color patterns and rhinestones looking like an Ed Hardy shirt gone totally wrong.

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse….

It’s another distraction from work!! As if you didn’t spend enough time reading magazines, newspapers, websites/blogs, well here’s another one to add to the list.

What started as fun talk in my house (when there was nothing better to do) has now become my very first blog. As most Hispanics know, when coffee is involved there is no subject untouched.

This blog is an exploration of my adventures and mishaps as a Latina fumbling through life. I’ll be sharing anything and everything; stories, reviews, culture, style, beauty, food, art, politics, parenting and everything in between. I like so many different things, that picking one particular subject would be impossible for me.

If you have some interesting news, juicy gossip, need some sort of advice (I can usually fix everyone’s problems, and surprisingly sometimes my own), or if you just want to show some love, leave a comment or email me at esanchez177 [at] gmail [dot] com.

Hope you enjoy and come again soon!

Love,
Café Bustelo

P.S. Since my mind is written in two languages, so is my blog....

Como la mayoría de los hispanos saben, cuando el café está prendido no hay tema sin tocar. Este blog es una exploración de mis aventuras y desgracias como Latina. Compartiré de todo un poco; historias, productos nuevos, cultura, estilo, belleza, arte, política.

Si tiene noticias interesantes, un chisme jugoso, necesita un consejo (siempre resuelvo problemas de todos, y aveces lo mio tambien), o quieres hablar de qual quier cosa, deja un comentario o me envía por correo electrónico en esanchez177 [arroba] gmail [punto] com.

¡Espero que disfruten!

Tu nueva amiga,
Café Bustelo