Thursday, June 26, 2008

Miradas Claves

Durante una cena improvisada en la noche, tuve la oportunidad de conversar por primera vez con alguien con quien había cruzado miradas en dos ocasiones anteriores. Desafortunadamente, creo ahora, las dos veces habían sido en momentos poco o nada oportunos para tomar cualquier tipo de iniciativa -- además yo no estaba buscando nada más. Sin embargo, hoy se alinearon las estrellas y él me pidió mi teléfono al final de la cena.

¿Emocionado? Sí.

Me he dado cuenta que las primeras impresiones para mí son muy importantes. Y no es tanto de lo que se dice o lo que pasa... sino las primeras miradas intercambiadas en esos primeros instantes. Y bueno, tengo que confesar que hay tres detalles que se combinaron de manera perfecta...
1. Ojos intensos combinados con un look intelectual a la despreocupé.
2. Esa sensación de fuerte atracción sexual animal combinada con una inmensa ternura e inocencia.
3. Personalidad no totalmente definida, donde la curiosidad sobre conocer más sobre esa persona simplemente crece.

En fin. Veamos qué sucede.

Monday, June 16, 2008

Las apariencias

Cada vez me da más tristeza que las apariencias sean tan importantes en México. El qué dirán aún tiene un gran peso.

Platicaba con mis papás acerca de la próxima boda de un familiar y de los gastos que están incurriendo mientras otros problemas económicos están presentes. Mientras el lado de mi familia tiene varios problemas económicos, o al menos esa es mi impresión-- la otra familia es bastante pudiente -- o al menos esa es la impresión que tengo de acuerdo a lo que dice mi mamá.

Sin embargo, llegó un momento en la plática donde el hecho de que la otra familia tuviera mucho dinero y fuera muy sencilla me empezó a causar mucho ruido. ¿Dónde está la sencillez cuando las celebraciones y gastos siguen expandiéndose? Una cosa es no ser altanero o presumido, y otra muy diferente es ser sencillo. Y el hecho de preocuparse tanto por cuestiones tan superficiales no es mi definición de sencillez.

Aún tengo un largo camino por recorrer, pero poco a poco quiero alejar mi vida de tantas presunciones, apariencias y envidias de las que sin darme cuenta vivi rodeado.

Househusband

Frecuentemente bromeo que mi objetivo final en la vida es ser un "househusband". Supongo que el hecho de que tenga la opción de elegir serlo lo hace muy diferente a ser el camino establecido. Además, me gusta mucho escuchar las reacciones de las personas cuando les revelo mis planes.

En fin, ayer escuché una canción que básicamente fue robada de mi cajón. El cantautor es Jay Brannan, y aquí les va el coro de la canción Housewife.

i wanna be a housewife
what’s so wrong with that
i wanna be a housewife, yeah
and that’s just where i’m at


Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Del SIFF y algo más

Estas últimas semanas he sido muy activo en mis salidas al cine, así que voy a comentar un poco acerca de las últimas películas que he visto.

American Teen
I went back to high school while watching this film. It really feels as an honest representation of the storm of feelings and thoughts you had during that time: building your identity and making decisions that may completely change your life. Also, the formula of the movie really works out as the story flows very smoothly. Furthermore, all the animated sequences portraying the kid's dreams are very refreshing and artistic. I loved the film!

Blood Brothers (天堂口)
When you start hearing laughs during a sad movie, you know something is going the wrong way. 'Blood Brothers' starts so beautifully... there are some scenes remarkably artistic and so innocent and bold that I can still remember them with joy. Nonetheless, the story is too simple for its duration and in an attempt to make it more complicated or who knows what -- it starts getting worse and worse by the second. At the end, I was waiting for Jackie Chan to appear, but I guess they ran out of money.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
I wish I can look like H. Ford when I am 40 -- but besides this fact, this movie is no fun. About the Adventure: Since scene 3 you knew the guys were invincible, so there is no excitement about "will they make it?": you know they will, so no fun. About the story? Where can I complain about movies that take millions of dollars to tell stupid stories that involve ancient civilizations? I don't care what the purpose of this movie is, but there is no point to spread more ignorance in the world.

Kiss the Bride
Having a predictable movie is bad, but having a movie trying so desperately not to be predictable changing the plot without any coherence is worse. I'd seen better sketches when I was in high school -- the difference is that my classmates didn't have a six pack.

Le Voyage du ballon rouge (The Flight of the Red Balloon)
This movie made me think so much about my life. I asked myself questions like... Who I am? Am I happy with my life? You know... I had so much extra time while waiting for something to happen that I had to invest it in something more interesting. This is a snapshot in the lives of another classic dysfunctional French family where there is no beginning, no climax, and no end --and by the way, no story. Yes, it is beautifully shot and I loved their apartment in Paris-- I like the 'mezzanine' concept.

Meduzot (Jellyfish)
I had very high expectations after watching the trailer of this Israeli film so many times, but I was disappointed. This movie is about three interesting stories with no clear connection among them. Yes, there are three women and they are somehow disenchanted with the world -- but there is no real plot development and something coherent or evident to join them. The climax arrives and it feels like a non-desired orgasm with the wrong person-- you know it was supposed to be good, but it was not and at the end you just want to stand up and leave.

Mio fratello è figlio unico (My Brother Is an Only Child)
It's refreshing to watch a story that subtly captures the differences between political ideals and the supporters of those ideals. We are witnesses of a typical Italian family involved in a non-so typical fight. At the end -- it is another example of the fuzziness of the enemy and the drive of a fight. Good acting and very memorable scenes.

Savage Grace
This movie is disturbing... not because it is scandalous, but because it is pointless and fully surrounded by two dimensional characters. Even though we follow this family through 25 years, there is no real character development. The music is pretty, the locations are pretty, and the actors look pretty -- but that's all... a pretty facade that never gets revealed.

Sex and the City: The Movie
I enjoyed the chick flick. Nonetheless, it is difficult to judge it as I knew so much about the story and the characters from second one. The plot was coherent with the show, but the emphasis on brands and material satisfaction was excessive. They should have talked less about brands and let the men had longer dialogues. Nonetheless, I had to admit that I had a great time and the dresses were spectacular -- and that counts as I don't really care about fashion.

Tropa de Elite (Elite Squad)
This is a thoughtful and creative movie. Yes, it is about favelas, drugs, and violence... but the movie goes beyond being descriptive-- but analytical, critical, and artistic. There is such a complex story behind the screen and this movie screams talent! This is the kind of movie you can write essays about it and keep discussing it for hours.

Error de Cifrado

Durante el mes pasado estuve saliendo varias veces con una persona que conocí debido a un comentario relacionado con una "clave simétrica".

El sujeto no estaba de mal ver. Francés, judío, inteligente, interesante, culto, con un muy buen trabajo y una carrera prometedora. Después de varias comidas, cenas e idas al cine, la pregunta llegó de su parte: ¿Qué estás esperando de esta relación?

Una vez más me vi enfrentado a lo inminente: pese a todos los pros... no había entusiasmo de mi parte. Ni una pizca. No estaba saliendo con Mike.

Tomando como referencia algunos vagos conceptos colegiales mezclándolos con tres copas de miel. Todo parece indicar que es el sonido de la voz de Mike la clave que sigo buscando. Su voz tiene la resonancia perfecta para descifrar el palpitar de mi pecho. Lo extraño es que aún y teniendo el mensaje descifrado, sigo sin saber qué hacer con él.

Monday, June 02, 2008

Loving for All

Loving for All
By Mildred Loving

Prepared for Delivery on June 12, 2007,
The 40th Anniversary of the Loving vs. Virginia Announcement

When my late husband, Richard, and I got married in Washington, DC in 1958, it wasn’t to make a political statement or start a fight. We were in love, and we wanted to be married.

We didn’t get married in Washington because we wanted to marry there. We did it there because the government wouldn’t allow us to marry back home in Virginia where we grew up, where we met, where we fell in love, and where we wanted to be together and build our family. You see, I am a woman of color and Richard was white, and at that time people believed it was okay to keep us from marrying because of their ideas of who should marry whom.

When Richard and I came back to our home in Virginia, happily married, we had no intention of battling over the law. We made a commitment to each other in our love and lives, and now had the legal commitment, called marriage, to match. Isn’t that what marriage is?

Not long after our wedding, we were awakened in the middle of the night in our own bedroom by deputy sheriffs and actually arrested for the “crime” of marrying the wrong kind of person. Our marriage certificate was hanging on the wall above the bed. The state prosecuted Richard and me, and after we were found guilty, the judge declared: “Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. And but for the interference with his arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix.” He sentenced us to a year in prison, but offered to suspend the sentence if we left our home in Virginia for 25 years exile.

We left, and got a lawyer. Richard and I had to fight, but still were not fighting for a cause. We were fighting for our love.

Though it turned out we had to fight, happily Richard and I didn’t have to fight alone. Thanks to groups like the ACLU and the NAACP Legal Defense & Education Fund, and so many good people around the country willing to speak up, we took our case for the freedom to marry all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. And on June 12, 1967, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that, “The freedom to marry has long been recognized as one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men,” a “basic civil right.”

My generation was bitterly divided over something that should have been so clear and right. The majority believed that what the judge said, that it was God’s plan to keep people apart, and that government should discriminate against people in love. But I have lived long enough now to see big changes. The older generation’s fears and prejudices have given way, and today’s young people realize that if someone loves someone they have a right to marry.

Surrounded as I am now by wonderful children and grandchildren, not a day goes by that I don’t think of Richard and our love, our right to marry, and how much it meant to me to have that freedom to marry the person precious to me, even if others thought he was the “wrong kind of person” for me to marry. I believe all Americans, no matter their race, no matter their sex, no matter their sexual orientation, should have that same freedom to marry. Government has no business imposing some people’s religious beliefs over others. Especially if it denies people’s civil rights.

I am still not a political person, but I am proud that Richard’s and my name is on a court case that can help reinforce the love, the commitment, the fairness, and the family that so many people, black or white, young or old, gay or straight seek in life. I support the freedom to marry for all. That’s what Loving, and loving, are all about.