The Perks of Being a Cuban.

What if i was a famous person? Or someone important enough for itunes to ask to do one of those nifty self indulgent playlists in which a notable person assumes that their taste in music is so great that it must be shared. Well, I've always thought about what mine would consist of. Diana Ross's was all Diana Ross songs, which I found extremely funny. As if to say-- what other music is out there? You should only be listening to Endless Love, earthlings. Still I've wondered what mine would say about me. If i'd pick happy songs, sad songs... if I'd only put the indie, folksy or alt stuff I listen to in order to appear cool, or if I'd have the guts to slip in some Gloria music, because let's face it, she's a big part of my music & my life. Would I be able to represent myself properly in 15-20 songs? Or would I try and appear like something that I'm not. Well, I'm gonna try it, and I guess we'll see if i look like a douche or like Rob once it's all over.

1- Gloria Estefan "Mi Tierra" - I did it! She's here! But okay, this was the first song other than the ABCs and Twinkle TWinkle that I learned the words to. I was 3 years old, and I heard it once and was hooked. I asked my dad who was singing, he told me, and I said "Hey dad can we go to Sam Goody?" he asked why... "Because we have to buy all her cassettes."

2-Alanis Morissette "Your House"- She's a creepy crazy stalker and I love it! I love her voice on this song, it kinda feels like she actually did this crazy shit, like she recorded it in his robe, in his room, with his CDs all over the place. Intense, terrifying, but strangely pretty. I hope I never feel this way about a person.

3- The Beatles "Drive My Car"- I could pick a million, but I'm picking this one. Because it's the only Beatles song I ever admitted that I liked to my Dad until recently. He used to play it fot me as a kid and we'd sing along all loud and obnoxious in the living room, because I loved screaming "Beep Beep, Beep Beep Yeahhh!"

4- Ingrid Michaelson "Sort Of"- I'm not sure what she means, the lyrics are all over the place. Is she scared, is she in love? I guess they're the same thing, huh? "I find you stunning, but you are running me down" i love that.

5- Janet Jackson "That's The Way Love Goes"- I wasn't sure what I felt first time I heard this song. I was young. Now I know I was just turned on. This song is sexy as hell, but not gross. It's classy sexy. Her voice, that video, oh boy!

6- Juanes "Sueños"- Political, but in a nice way. It's not about America, or Cuba, but it could be. And that's why it means a lot to me. I'm not a political person, but I would like things to be as peaceful as he does in this song. He's fighting kind of, and this song always gets me riled up.

7-Kate Nash "We Get On"- I love the lyrics to this song. It's so cute, but conversational which is something I love about the way she writes. I love the throwback sound of this song. Also love how it sounds like this actually happened. She's telling a story that most of us can relate to

8- Kelly Clarkson "All I Know"- Like we weren't expecting her to show up. favorite song of her's ever, and I'm not sure why. It's stripped down, she sang it once, it's nothing special, and still i fnd it gorgeous and meaningful. i don't think her writing has ever been as thoughtful or mature as it was on this song. For God's sake, I hope it's not written about Justin!

9- Jason Mraz "Sleeping To Dream"- Gorgeous. Amazing. Who else knows how to write about such a simple sentiment with such perfection and eloquence? No one else can put that silly childish feeling of having a crush on someone and not getting them out of your head like Jason! We've all been there, trying to will ourselves to dream of someone, the person that makes us happiest at the time, just because it feels nice. One of my fave songs ever. ever ever ever

10- Jennifer Lopez "Let's Get Loud"- Before a speech or presentation in class, I put my ipod on, i crank this up, and i get psyched. This song revs me up like no other, and it still makes me happy, makes me dance, and calms me down. Jlo & a cup of coffee are my speech routine!

11- Aretha Franklin "Rocksteady"- Runner up for my get psyched song. What it is what it is!! such a fun song, with a dirty bass that gets you going. They don't make them like this anymore. Picking one aretha song was hard ass work, cause I love her.

12-Michael Jackson "Black or White"- Janet's not the only Jackson on this thing! This song, from the first guitar riff still gets me all goosebumpy. Just the beat in itself makes it a great song that superficially as a kid I loved. Then the lyrics begin to resonate and it becomes all the more powerful. Brilliant songwriting and a wonderful message for anyone whose ever felt oppressed or victimized racially. It just feels good to hear someone put it all out there and stop taking everyone's bullshit, which is what made him such a gifted writer.

13- Ray Lamontagne "Forever My Friend"- his voice breaks your heart. I couldn't tell if this was a happy or sad song at first listen until I read the lyrics just because he always sounds so shattered. I guess that's his thing, but this is a beautiful song.

14- Shakira "Inevitable"- Putting herself out there. These are all the reasons why you shouldn't be with me. There's nothing worthwhile in me other than the fact that I love you. This was back when she was brilliant, now she's a she wolf. I MISS THIS, BE AMAZING AGAIN PLEASE.

15- Sugarland "Small Town Jericho"- I don't know what a life like this is like. My town is small but urban, we don't talk to our neighbors and we don't know people's business. I just think the way this is set up is really pretty, and the way it's written is so perfect. Almost makes me wish I was from the burbs.

OK I could have put a lot more, from each artist. But i tried to use as many of the people whose music has maent a lot to me as i could. There's a million more songs from each that have moved me in one way or another over the years. But doing a second one of these is too much work. I HOPE I DIDNT END UP SOUNDING LIKE A DOUCHE. Thanks Bye.

• Got punished a lot
• Skipped instead of walking
• Made games out of nothing
• Was less bored than I am now
• Had more things to say
• Had fewer things to try and understand
• Wore sneakers with lights on them
• Wore huge glasses and didn’t feel self conscious
• Would have running competitions with myself, and I didn’t always win
• Hated coloring with white crayons
• Thought jeans were too dressy and sweatpants were suitable for all occasions
• Thought New York City didn’t go past where my mother worked
• Sang in class when I was bored
• Whistled all the way home from school
• Had more friends who weren't close to me
  
• Only said I’m Sorry when someone made me :)
• Colored on the walls. Didn’t get yelled at because I wrote “I love my parents!”
• Fell in love on the playground every single day
• Remembered my dreams long enough to share them
• Had a Barney umbrella and a squeaky yellow raincoat
• Thought my dad’s afro wasn’t weird
• Painted without being afraid of making a mistake
• Felt less awkward talking on the phone
• Memorized whole Joke Books to entertain people at parties
• Was adorable!

I like doing this, writing post its for people that are so nice or important that they can't throw them away. It's an easy space to write how you feel, it's so tiny you can't elaborate too much or get too invested. So I use post its to casually explain my sentiments. I'm only nice on very small pieces of paper. The bigger the paper, the more space I have to screw up and seem weird.

Thanks for reading, kids! You all put up with too much of my bitching :)

These are my grandparents on their wedding day. In the other photo I have of this day, she looks thrilled, and he looks nauseous. She was 32 in this picture and he was 21! Total role reversal for their era and their culture. By her age, she was considered over the hill, totally useless. At his age, he wasn't expected to settle down, he had oats to sew. But here they are, nauseous and thrilled, relieved to have someone, terrified!

He was a box boy at the general store my grandmother worked at. Several sideways glances and long stares later, he mustered up the courage to ask her out. On their first date my grandmother told him "Now, I know you're young and like to have fun, but I don't have time to waste. Do you think we'll get married?" I think she's the person I get my impatience from. But also, how ballsy of her to ask that! So not like the women of that time, or again of her culture. Cuban women STILL don't act like that. Amazing, ballsy. She may be also why I'm the only latin male feminist!

But yeah, they got married because she twisted his arm. My grandfather has always dragged his feet; he never got things done on his own. She's always been the one who pushed. She pushed to move to America, to send dad to private school, she made my grandfather learn English, etc. She's an amazing woman who's been in control of her destiny for the past 60 years at least. And still, she loves my grandfather with all her heart. He makes her sick, he makes her roll her eyes, but she can't be without him.

They have the kind of relationship that's lasted so long that they don't need to be nice to each other anymore. It's the sort of life where they say "well, that's how you are, I get that. I can't effin stand you but I'll probably die right after you do." They're remarkably connected.

This picture is something I've sat and stared at for hours, trying to recreate that day, imagine it in color, in real life. I've put together monologues in my mind of what they said to each other, or what he said under his breath that morning. I've wondered how her nervous stomach was that day, if she yelled at anyone, or if she cried. Thinking about how they met is something I do quite often, because it's a story I've heard bits and pieces of over the years as they remember it. And it freaks me out to see them there, smiling wrinkle free, before the rest of their lives had begun.

I'm poor. growing up, the TKTS line was my mom's best friend. We'd get on this line and see what they had. Now although we didn't always end up going to the best shows (Saturday Night Fever..,) it made for some great memories and was always exciting to not know what we would be going to see that night. These people are waiting on that line and I really hope they had as exciting a night as we used to have!

Looking through my Dad's old records.
My dad used to be badass, he had good taste in music and used to buy records all the time, of many different genres. Now his iPod is all Beatles, some other stuff but the majority of it belongs to "The boys" as he calls them. I had no idea dad liked Michael Jackson. I know my mother does, she has some CDs and last night she came in here and danced when I had Thriller on. But I was shocked to see some MJ in with my dad's things. He's a music fan, and over the years he's become less accepting of different genres, and his taste has mellowed significantly. He was never a rock dude, he hated when the Beatles "got loud and weird," but it's good to know that there was a time in his life where he was a fan of good music, despite the genre. Dad used to be pretty cool!

Being able to still see the lights in the city even on the sunniest day of the year. Seriously, the sun hurt even with glasses, but the lights were still ablaze in full force. When I have a bad day or a long day, I take the long way home to see the lights all over the city. Times Square, the theater district, it's all very good. It makes me feel very cheerful in a way I can't really describe. Maybe it's the same reason I sit under the tree around Christmas, the lights just make me feel really at peace.

So there's day 1, I'm giving this a shot. I don't think I did terribly! Day 2's a good one, I can feel it!

1-- Cheech Marin
2-- Ellen Pompeo
3-- Clive Davis
4-- Robert Pattinson

Likelihood of these actually being them, about zero, except Cheech who
really looked like the real one. I try and look at everyone as I walk,
ever since I saw Jason Castro or Tim Curry on the streets and missed
both chances!! You never know who's out there, so I'd hate to have
missed an opportunity, even if Clive Davis is a knobhead. I'm never
gonna be one of those people who acts cool around celebrities, I was
shaking when I met Mary Louise Parker! I couldn't even type after
Shakira said hello to me. It's bad, I get so excited and nervous. Only
person who never made me nervous was Rosie O'Donnell. She's strangely
calming because she basically started to interview me when she saw how
nervous I was.

Anyway, gonna try doing a picture post later, not of fake
celebrities... although THAT WOULD BE COOL! But no, that would also be
invasive, as funny as it would be. I wonder if anyone ever thought I
was famous? Someone at Starbucks called me Geraldo once... but I
seriously doubt he meant Rivera.