Sunday, January 29, 2006

Coral Beach

Here is my third Afghan for the Year in Memory of Scott. I have to take advantage of when I have energy and no pain and I will now take at least a month break in making afghans. My goal is to make one per month in memory of my beloved friend. I am also working on other simple things that I will be able to share with you. I want to thank you for stopping by.

I also want to thank everyone who wrote me about my vacation picture and how they enjoy travelling with me. For me it was a great experience to share my life with the world and then some. I have encrypted all my logs so that the cylons don't get my location.

May the Gods smile on you.

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Emerald Ocean


This is another Afghan that I have made in Scott's memory this Month. So far this has been a very easy to make afghan and can be done in three days or so. I am aiming at cutting the yarn I have from him in half by the time the summer gets here and donate all afghans to charity in his name. I am thinking of him as I make them , it is impossible not to, but nevertheless is fun.

Thanks for stopping by and remember not to be complainers. What I mean by that is in no way to curtail you from complaiing, but from being a non action complainer. Do something for the sake of the Gods and don't just lay there like you deserve the whole galaxy. Whining in my book is so uncalled for.

Well I hope to be able to make more pretty stuff for you to see and for people to enjoy. It is by choice and dedication thatI a doing this in Scott's name. Have a great week and come back soon.

Sunday, January 22, 2006

Purple Trellis



This a lapghan in memory of J. Scott Hooper Jr. It's the beginning of a series of projects I am hoping to make in his name. This Lapghan will be donated to the Shanti Group for people with AIDS.

On the other hand, I am also participating or having a Crochet-Along for the 63 Easy Crochet Squares that I think is a great asset to any crochetter that wants to refine the art of crochet. This will be held at http://groups.msn.com/crochetdepot . If you feel inclined to join, you just neet a .NET passport account.

Saturday, January 21, 2006

Puerto Rico Vacation Part Six


I just love walking by the beach and breathing the fresh ocean air. The Sun felt so nice and gentle on my skin. The sand under my feet was a remembrance of times past. All my aches and pains were almost gone, on a scale of one to 1o , ten being the most pain, I had one. Very little discomfort from my joints, bones and it was easier to breathe. Of course the air is warmer and easier to breathe. I never used the water heater while I was there, that was very nice.

I used to live in one of those condos behind me, and I got to be in one of them for this vacation.
Time seemed to stop while I was on that rock. I was just engulfed in the pure hedonistic pleasures of indulgence with the environment. I was one with the waves and the rocks, the sands and I were one. It was like the sand knew what it was to be sea and the sea knew what it was to be sand. My life was been shown on a movie screen as I evaluated my life till that day. I was pleased. I could meet my Gods in peace if that was the case. Living without regrets and without attachments, it takes time to learn to do that.

From the morning untill the night I embraced the Sea and the Sand every day I could. I did not overdo the sun. That night here I was at the balcony on the 14th floor, there is no 13th floor in that building. If you got out on the 13th floor you definitely stepped into the Twightlight Zone.
I had a great time and wish I was not alone. Nevertheless I am very comfortable being by myself and enjoying life's little pleasures. Life's illusions and creative sceneries. During my visit I saw a friend from High School which I have not seen in almost 30 years. That's a longtime not seeing someone . We were talking about our class reunion for 2008 which will be our 30th reunion. Here she is Karina and yours trully. We talked about past class reunions and about the future class reunion. Some of our classmates have passed on to spirit, so they will not be physically present. Some of the other guys and gals are struggling with their health as am I, but they don't really know yet what it is I am struggling with. In their eyes I am retired that's it. From the ARMY I learned to use the "Need to Know Basis" for disclosing information. It is not a secret we hispanics are very nosey and disclose more information thatn needed. In the plane the senior couple that sat beside me almost gave me their address, where they have money in their house and how secure it was. People are very naive. On the other hand talking about peers, AIDS has a strange effect on people. I have seen people that were very eager to rekindle a friendship with me until they know how I got infected. They can deal with the disease, but not with the way of transmision which in my case if through being gay or more explicitly gay sex LOL.

If and when I move I will have to rely on my savy HIV friends to re-learn how to deal with people there. Anyway it was a wonderful time and coming back to San Francisco was nice as well. Two worlds apart connected by me and who I have become. May the Gods of Kobol be with us until the end. Life shall continue and I shall continue until my time is up. Thank you for stopping by and remember to visit often. I will have a new project to start this Sunday and I am finishing one of my charity afghans this week in memory of Scott Hooper.

Thursday, January 19, 2006

Puerto Rico Vacation Part Five

This building atop this city wall that you see here is the Governor's Mansion or "La Fortaleza", The Fortress. San Juan was founded in 1521, the city is one of the most beautiful cities that I have ever seen in the world. It's the city I called home and so many wonderful memories.

Here as well we can see the wall that surrounds the Island Capital of Puerto Rico.
The whole city is surrounded by this wall and it has strategically placed entrances around the walls. It was almost impossible to invade and it sustained plenty of attacks from foreign pirates sent by governments to grasp the Island of Puerto Rico for it's strategic value, it is at the entrance of the Gulf of Mexico and of course the first big island that has the caribbean Sea at it's reach.

This picture that you see if two generations of my nieces, the young lady jsut graduated from Law School is my niece, and the little lady is my niece's niece or my great niece. She is the most adorable little girl I have met, very smart and lots of fun. She wanted to go to "Pigeon Park", which is the park they are in and feed the pigeons. SOme tourist were grossed out and I explained to them that this has been going on for centuries. The people of Puerto Rico love pigeons, specially if you put them in a pot with potatoes and tomatoe sauce. LOL.


This is the San Juan Door at the Paseo de la Princesa. These doors were fully functional and were the only access to the walled city. It was almost impossible to overtake the city because of the high impenetrable walls and it proved to be one of the hardest places to be invaded and sustained. It worked both ways, you were isolated from the rest of the world if you took the fortress you could be starved to death if you did not planed your invasion at the right time.

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

Puerto Rico Vacation Part Four


This is the view from one of the Balconies of the Seralles Castle. It is actually a big house, but somehow it got designated a castle. WE arrived almost at closing but were able to get the tour and took some pictures . Here is the entrance of the Castle-House.

The entrance is by the garage which is a coffee and souvenir shop. There is also at this moment a Barbie and Gi-Joe exhibition. WHy is it there it is beyond my comprehension, but it was there.

So that was the trip for that day and afterwards we went up the Turnpike toward home.

The Turnpike is very impressive as it cuts through the Sierra of the Island which divided the Island practically in two.


From the Seralles House you can see this Cross which is a landmark of some kind and they explained what it was, but I did not pay attention to it. Needless to say it has something to do with the christian religion. Puerto Rico is a mostly catholic , but other religions are able to flourish as well. There is after all freedom to worship and part take of any religion.

The picture above, is the indoor patio of the mansion. I thought it was too small, but then again I was not asked LOL. Far from the civilized world, but close enough to touch it. It was a family home. At the begining of the visit you get to watch a movie that talks about the Seralles and their creation of the Rum Industry and their Sugar Cane Haciendas.

My maternal grandfather was the biggest Sugar Cane Plantation owner in the inside of the Island, in the town of Corozal. He also dealt in cattle and had plenty of land at the time of his death. Amazingly he did not manage to take anything with him to the great beyond. The shield of the town has three palms, but they are not coconut palm trees, nor dates, they are corozo nut Palms. Near the top of the Palm Tree there are these huge thorns, monkeys will not climb to the tops as you can imagine it is painful. The thorns are also within the leaves and are as long as six inches and very hard. These palms are sometimes used for decorations on the outside of the areas where monkeys are.

Tomorrow I will continue the travelings through the old wald city of Old San Juan. The pictures are nice as well. Thanks for stopping by.

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

Puerto Rico Vacation Part Three



We kept going along to the rest of the Island where we went tothe Cemi Museum, from the Taino Indians. A Cemi is a representation of their deities. The museum is small , but it is just a place of history. Here you will see a ceremonial ring that they will use as a belt for some kind of game. Just know that it looks heavy and who knows what kind of game it was, but I bet the loser did not have a good time.

Here is another picture of some artifacts that the Chief carried that denoted power, well the long stick is about 12 to 14 inches long and I will leave it at that. The power of men seems to always be attached to phallic objects no matter what culture is addressed, I guess the chief will have a fast red car these days.

There are many more indian ceremonial parks and artifacts throught out the Island. The indians became part of our blood genetics, but the indians themselves dissappeared due to slavery and western diseases like chickenpox et cetera.


Most puertorricans have in their gene pool the indian blood. Some say the friendliness, humility and spirituality has come to us through our indian genes. A lot of words, names of towns and dishes are a combination of Spanish, African and Taino cultures making puertorrican culture and amalgam of these three cultures. This is an artistic representation of the writting system the indians had. At the lower left is a collection of fragments from bowls and on the right a set of mortars for grinding yucca root and seeds.

Thank you for stopping by and come back later there is still more pictures to share.

Monday, January 16, 2006

Puerto Rico Vacation Part Two

So the vacation continued, our tour took us through the mountains and we visited the "Written Rock". This rock is full of petroglyphs, on the upper region there are plenty petroglyphs from pre-columbian times. This river is called "Saliente". I was very excited and very honored to be able to experience this with my niece and sister.

From this area we continue our travellings to the highest peak of the island in the same town of Jayuya, Cerro de Punta. Here is another picture. all of the Island's main comunication network have something up here as it is the highest peak and is on the middle of the Island.

So after being here and considering that low 70's was getting cold, we went down the road and found this beautiful falls called el charco de Doña Juana.


We have not finished our travellings, we continued on to the north toward the west of the Island to visit the Rincon Lighthouse where surfers hang Ten.

So here I am in front of the light house and our journey continues to the beach, where we will be returning through the turnpike toward the Main city of San Juan once again. The people from the countryside are very different from the city people, more gentle and with a friendlier attitude.


Puerto Rico is trying to get ahead in time and there is definitely a problem of recycling bottles and cans. You can find them everywhere. There are recycling containers, but not many people making money with it. The governement needs to educate people and make recycling appealable and accessible, otherwise this will not be a successful enterprise.

Here is a view of the beach by the coastal road and one picture of the surfers by the lighthouse.

The surfers look like sealions I can see why a shark will find them tasty.

This is not the end of the vacation, but the end of part two. There is more for tomorrow as I am getting ready to show you the other areas of the Island that I visited. The Island is about 100 miles wide by 35 accross. You can definitely see it in one day without traffic congestion, but that will be a miracle. LOL.

Sunday, January 15, 2006

Puerto Rico Vacation Part One



I arrived at 10 AM and here is where I will be staying for one week, at my sister's beach condo.
WooHoo!!! This is my sister, not a great picture, but here we are. I got one of those Ritz Cameras disposable digital cameras, not the best cameras and the worst developing you can imagine. 10 thumbs down to Ritz and Wolf camera for their terrible product, don't buy it. Next time I will buy Kodak disposable digital cameras and see if it is worth the money.



So the flight was a mess from San Francisco. I think that next time I will take ear plugs just in case the same situation happens. Well a child decided to cry every 30 minutes on the nose, no one slept a minute.


After I arrived we went to the old city, or like it's called the Old San Juan. This city was founded in 1521. The weather was so nice, all my aches and pains due to cold weather were gone for once. We spent two to three hours walking and we decided to have lunch at the Patio de Sam, and old cafe that the regulars go. The food was wonderful and very tasty.

That was it for that day. We then proceeded to go back to the beach and took a walk around the area to familiarize myself with the amenities the area had to offer. The night air was full of ocean smell and you could hear the waves rushing toward the shore.

Next day we went to the Camuy Caves National Park, great time to the caves, we were early and made the first tour.

During the great huricanes the water will come through these caves that are down in the earth and wipe out all the electrical amenities the tourist enjoy.









The place is beautiful as it is nature itself, but it stinks, is wet, slippery, humid and smells of bat feces. There are thousands of bats that claim these caves as their home, good thing they only come out at night.













This is one of the entrances to the caves. The indians use to come here during crucial or special times. The cascade below is at least 70 to 100 feet in height, as you can see I was unable to get the whole waterfall in the picture. It is the farthest you can go in the tour for now until they are able to repair the rest of the road to the rest of some of the caves there are around 15 kilometers of caves, roughly 10 miles.

After this we came back to the house around the west coast of the Island. This will be continued on the next blog entry. Thanks for stopping by today.

Saturday, January 14, 2006

Qa'plaH it's a Tattoo


Next week I will have so many pictures you will not believe it. I will keep you busy with my travelings and wonders of Puerto Rico.

I went on vacation to my native Puerto Rico and got tattooed by a Klingon Artist , El Fibs, 5900 Isla Verde Ave, # L-4, Isla Verde Puerto Rico.

Qa'plaH

Saturday, January 07, 2006

Andy's 7 Meme



The 7 Meme


A. Seven things to do before I die

1. Spend some time in Europe.
2. Learn a third language.
3. Unfold more of my spiritual gifts.
4. Sky Dive.
5. Meet people from other planets.
6. Travel into Space.
7. Find Kobol and the yellow brick road.

B. Seven things I cannot do

1. Travel at warp speed.
2. Poligamy.
3. Go back in time.
4. Bring back the dead.
5. Be in two places at once, or can I?
6. Talk to animals, can you imagine?
7. Become heterosexual.

C. Seven things that attract me ....

1. Tattoos, they are fascinating.
2. Space Travel, I want to see what's out there.
3. Food, I am a Taurus after all.
4. Klingons, they are spiritual Warriors. .
5. Scott Bakula, Kevin Sorbo: I Like blonde or dark hair hairy men.
6. Philosophy, just because I am an intellectual.
7. Fishtanks, is like having a piece of nature in your livingroom.

D. Seven things I say most often

1. Stupidity should be taxed.
2. Thank you!
3. Nam Myoho Renge Kyo!
4. No matter where you go there you are.
5. Hello.
6. Is that a phaser in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?.
7. Yes, No.

E. Seven books ( or series or genres or topics ) that I love

1. The Four Agreements.
2. Don Quijote de la Mancha.
3. Divine Comedy.
4. Crochet or Knit books.
5. Seat of the Soul.
6. Science Fiction Books.
7. Plato.

F. Seven movies I watch over and over again ( or would if I had time )

1. Friends.
2. Dune.
3. What dreams may come.
4. Battlestar Gallactica
5. All Star Trek, Movies & Series Enterprise,Voyager, DS9, TNG, TOS
6. Cleopatra
7. Golden Girls

G. Seven things you want answers to.

1. Where is God?
2. How dare you?
3. Where is Santa?
4. What was first the chicken or the egg?.
5. Where is Atlantis?
6. Is there a Stargate?
7. Is space the final frontier?

H. Seven people I want to join in, too.

1. Granny Gone Wild
2. Lady Linoleum
3. Kenny
4. Drew
5. ColamanKnits
6. Dave Daniels Cabin Cove
7. Bitchzilla

Friday, January 06, 2006

On Vacation to Puerto Rico


I am going on vacation to my Home State of Puerto Rico, the cylons have not been there yet. Don't worry I will start my jump clock and wait for 33 minutes. May the Gods of Kobol have mercy on our souls.

Thursday, January 05, 2006

63 Easy Crochet Squares Crochet-Along

Yes there is a Crochet-Along going on at our group at http://groups.msn.com/crochetdepot . If you will like to join our group , don't click on the Icon above and join, click on the dark red link; you will need a Net Passport account. When you join put a little message letting us know a little bit about yourself and your craft. Come and share your craft with us at Crochet Depot and you will see what a great experience it is.
We have this Crochet-Along going on and there will be prizes.


There is another group in the internet, this time is for Men with Needles, at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/men_with_needles/
This is a Yahoo.com group and is for men that want to share their crafts, we drink beer, or root beer in our underwear without having to worry about offending anyone. We can watch football while crocheting or kniting, and have fun. We are a tidy bunch I can tell you that much. LOL.


Anyway thank you for stopping by and don't forget Battlestar Galactica second season starts January 6, 2006.
May the Gods of Kobol have mercy on our souls.

Tuesday, January 03, 2006

How Gay are you?

As you can tell the Movie BrokeBack Mountain has created a new trend of quizzes in the nation. This test is very interesting and I will leave it at that. You should take the test if you are so incline to see How Gay are you? LOL. It's for entertainment purposes only. At least I got entertained!




You scored as The all-round cute gay guy.

You are a cute guy who many would die to be with..........lucky!!

The all-round cute gay guy


100%

A Big Bear


70%

Straight Acting


70%

S + M guy


60%

Raging Queer


60%

Straight Queer Basher


40%

Straight


0%

What type of Gay are YOU?
created with QuizFarm.com

Sunday, January 01, 2006

The Sorting Hat




Want to Get Sorted?



I'm a Ravenclaw!

Happy 2006!!!


To all my relations Happy New Year, wishing you happiness, joy, abundance, chocolate and may we all Live long and Prosper in 2006.

Almost two years without blogging August 2020

Life can be a bowl of strawberries when cheries are not available.   It has been almost two years since I have been in this blog.  I have s...