I have a lot to be grateful for. In my childhood I had it worse than some, but most certainly better than many others. I grew up poor, and insecure, and it probably didn’t help that I was always a little weird. I was a short, scrawny little Mexican boy in a rural Colorado town, who up until about eight years old would sometimes go … Continue reading Gratitude for a Quiet Man
What can I say? I hated “The Last Jedi”. Not an uncommon take, I know, but it also made me appreciate other aspects of my life in an almost existential sort of self-reflection. However, if you think I’m some sort of Juanito-come-lately that isn’t a true Star Wars fan who’s riding the current Last Jedi Sandcrawler of Hate, allow me to submit: Exhibit A: A … Continue reading Thank the Force for Rian Johnson
Do you like cake? Sure you do, cake is awesome. Now, imagine you’re on your way to a friend’s party and decide last minute to get a cake. You stop at a small bakery, go to the counter to pick one out. You want white and blue frosting. You want it yellow and custard flavored for just the right moistness. And round, it has to … Continue reading You’re Not a Computer (So Stop “Thinking” Like One)
Integer i = 0; while(i < 100){ //Do something here } As a computer programmer and writer, I enjoy when I see parallels between coding structures and real-life phenomena. The perfect example of this is the While Loop. Now, for those 3% of readers that don’t know computer programming, I’ll break down what’s going on at the top of this post. “Integer i = 0” … Continue reading Infinite Loops
<<Note: I wrote this piece a few years ago, and was thinking of it recently with regard to media (social and otherwise) reports of the division in America.>> I can still remember the day that I turned onto my street, saw my new neighbor in the midst of his move-in process, (garage door open, the garage itself still half-filled with boxes) and also saw that … Continue reading American Glimpse
As I continue finding ways to promote my anthology, I keep being reminded of why I’ve always enjoyed both the writing and the reading of short stories. I remember as an elementary student reading short stories such as “Leiningen Versus the Ants” and “The Cold Equations”, as well as short excerpts of longer stories like “The Hobbit”. As my love of reading began to grow … Continue reading The Joys and Heartaches of Short Stories
The Animal Kingdom. Majestic. Breathtaking. Also, masogonistic and racist and outdated. Even the name, Animal Kingdom, amirite? It should at least be the Animal Hierarchy, or, better yet, the Animal Republic. Aside from that, however, are scores of animals saddled with horribly white male-centric naming conventions and embarrassing references to the whims of early explorers. There are hundreds of animals that should be renamed for … Continue reading 10 Most Offensive Names in Nature that Need to be Updated
“Looking? Found someone, you have, I would say, hmmm?” – Yoda Why do we love Yoda so much? What is it about this little character from Star Wars that intrigues us? And more importantly, what can we learn from him that is applicable in real life? In short, a lot can we learn. <<NOTE: I speak here of the The Empire Strikes Back (and to … Continue reading The Tao of Yoda
I didn’t have a chance to know my father growing up. My parents divorced when I was very young, and circumstances (and my mother) kept him away most of the time. I would see him sporadically, but he always had a kindness about him, a spark of warm joy, that I will always associate with his presence, and that joy was always memorable to me … Continue reading In Remembrance
Abraham Lopez 