It was the first time in my entire life that I went to an Apple Orchard. It was fun and delicious. Living for 20 years in Costa Rica I got used to the perception that going to pluck apples was just like climbing 20ft high slimy trees infested with bugs just to pluck mangoes. I loved it and expected a challenge. But once I got to the Orchard I was amazed by the endless lines of trees running trough the horizon. It was a good day, we had breakfast, we ate fresh apples. Juicy apples. We had a coconut custard pie with a cold cup of cidron apple slush and had fun playing with many animals. It was a good day to spend before my birthday. Jersey Apple Orchards, changes your perception of apples. Don't wanna miss out.

Many things happened that made the entire day much enjoyable. I got to meet Xenia's entire clan and apparently I boosted up my stock with the family. If you ever want to do something new while eating free fresh fruits, go to an orchard :)

Drawing

 Drawing is one of my biggest passion, followed by music and business. I never grew up from it and to this day I enjoy very much drawing. Stories of another planet or distant humans were part of the endless stretch of my imagination. Whenever I couldn't form a story in my head I would draw them and whenever I couldn't draw them I would write them down.

Today I have three books written, three different stories and universe with its own trilogy. Each one of them full of life manifested in words, ready to be read and resurrect within the mind of the reader.

I am sure when I say that fellow artists, screenwriters, directors, novelist and so on feel the same as I do when I begin anew story, world, universe. I am sure the thrill and the bucket-full-waterfall of ideas that falls upon their minds, running down their arms to their hands and ultimately on paper.

This isn't only a picture. For me, what is drawn here is the expression of my thoughts, the story of my imaginations, a whole universe with variables and life. Perhaps, my life that I will never be able to achieve if it.

"Imagination, a world without boundaries."

Soccer past time

Last week two acquaintances from my native country, Costa Rica, came to visit and enjoy New York for their summer vacations. Long story short, on their last day here we went to Woodbury Premium Outlet with more than 200 stores located at upper state New York. It took us hour and half to get there from brooklyn. Everyone shopped except me. I was looking, drooling for clothes, but lvied under a tight budget.
           I began thinking I was not going to buy anything until we went to Nike factory store... I saw many accessories I wanted to use on the days I went to the gym, but still I wouldnt buy them. Nonetheless there was this soccer ball...precious soccer ball sitting on a shelve amongst his half a dozen brothers and sisters. He wasnt premium but he was of legue. Needless to say I bought that ball. I was joyfull and satisfied that I found this ball since I couldnt find any of my liking in Manhattan.

Soccer (also known as football in Latin America) is the official sport in Costa Rica. I used to play it when I was in Elementary school throughout High School until I had knee problems in 9th grade.

Futbolin

          I was frustrated I couldnt play anymore and I knew I couldnt do nothing about it. My frustration grew bigger at first, but as time passed, my anger slowly dissipated. Yeats later I dropped all kind of sports, only to long about a sport I never practiced, snowboarding.

It happened couple weeks ago when I was at the beach with my friends and girlfriend when I saw some guys playing soccer on the sand. "That looks fun." I thought and suddenly I wanted to get myself a soccer ball and return to my hobby.

It wasn't until last Sunday when I saw this awesome round object sitting on a dirty, old shelf, sad and depressing, waiting for the rightful owner to buy him... A day later (yesterday) I walked to Bryant Park to meet my girlfriend. There, I saw the coolest "Fuzz Ball" (she calls) or "Futbolin" (as I say) and made me glad to have bought my soccer ball. I'm happy.

Unity is the Soul of Fellowship

The following post is Christian related. This post was written for Christians and interested visitors.

I own a book called "The Purpose Driven Life" written by Rick Warren. It is a great book for a daily life thoughts, not only religious, but also personal experiences related. As I read I came across with this awesome chapter that I wanted to share with you all. It goes like this...

We must remember that it was God who chose to give us different personalities, backgrounds, races and preferences, so we should value and enjoy those differences, not merely them. [Think of it as you and I. You like ice cream and I like chocolate. When we mix our differences we make Chocolate chip ice cream!]

We must remain focused on what  matters the most --learning to love each other as Christ has loved us, and fulfilling God's five purposes for each of us and his church.

[When we lose that focus and attend to disputable matters, conflict arises and conflict creates division within a fellowship.] Paul pleaded for this: "Let there be real harmony so there won't be divisions in the church. I plead with you to be of one mind, united in thought and purpose."

People become disillusioned with the church for many understandable reasons. The list could be quite long: conflict, hurt, hypocrisy, neglect, legalism and many other sins.

"Longing for ideal while criticizing the real is the evidence of immaturity."

Rather than being shocked and surprised, we must remember that the church is made up of real sinners, including ourselves. Because we are sinners, we hurt each other, sometimes intentionally and sometimes unintentionally.

Divorcing your church at the first sign of disappointment or disillusionment is a mark of immaturity. God has things he wants to teach you, and others, too. Besides, there is no perfect church to escape to. Every church has its own set of weakness and problems. You'll soon be disappointed again.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor who was martyred for resisting Nazis, wrote a classic book on fellowship, Life Together. In it he suggests that disillusionment with our local church is a good thing because it destroys our false expectations of perfection. He said, "He who loves his dream of community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter."

Choose to encourage rather than criticize and avoid gossip. Focus on what we have on common, not our differences.

This book is sold on Barnes and Nobles at a reasonable price and I encourage you to get it because it helps you meditate about life in a very broad perspective.

4th of July's Lesson

 Happy 4th of July, or may I say Independence Day?

It wasnt one of the best days of this year and yet somehow I could find peace and joy amongst my friends and close ones. Through the troubles and continuous change of plans, we managed to enjoy the day and the fireworks of Hudson River from the rooftop.
It began on July 3rd when one of us began to argue for another place to go for 4th of July instead of the one we had decided almost a week ago. I was frustrated because we had to switch places four times and I didnt want to bother the rest of the group on the new places I kept on telling them we would meet. Long story short, poor planning. The next day, I began taping our day. Our first stop was Downtown Manhattan Seaport, where I will forever remember what Emmanuel said to me...

"Even on Hollidays we go to school, what the hell!"

We arrived at the Seaport and went walking to the ferry to governor's island only to realize it was closed. Sucks for us because the people that told us they werent goign to the beach in the morning WENT to the beach while we were stranded in lower Manhattan, redesigning our plan once more. We decided to go to the beach and without wasting time we headed towards Grand Central 42st, where we would take the Babylon train to Jones beach (two hours trip from manhattan) in public transportation. It went fine until I accidentaly erased all the videos of my camcorder (including my sister's graduation) and that would have upset anyone.

Having dinner at Xenia's home.

Three Juicies at Jones Beach.

But the day wasn't that bad at. I still had some of my sister's graduation videos, the majority of the crab we caught were alive and I spent the time with people I care. I believe that is the spirit of the 4th of July. I believe that no matter how poor the planning may be; no matter how many bad surprises the day may bring; no matter whatever circumstances, none will matter more than how you see the day yourself. What matters the most is not the past events, but rather how we will embrace future wonders (good and bad) together as a group. For me, what saved my day from being a whole disaster was the adventures against adversities with my friends and my adorable crush, a day at the beach and the Hudson River's July 4th's fireworks.

Awesome people.

"It may seem easy to believe your ideas if they are not tested. Isolation breeds deceitfulness; it is easy to fool ourselves into thinking we are mature if there is no one to challenge us. Real Maturity shows up in relationships."

Fortunately, I learned this lesson through the fights and debates from my friendships and family relationships. I have learned to be patient, to be considerate and to be understanding. There was once I used to ignore peoples advices and believed I owned the world. That my elder family member's advices were no longer a perk I could use to the benefit of my life. But thank God I learned through both easy and hard way to mature.
 Shouting no longer leads you to victory if there is such; and the power of listening is greater than any words your mouth can pronounce. There are those who in their head they always win, but in reality it is just a fable within their dreams.
I invite you to open your mind and receive ideas. "You have the right to acknowledge opinions, but you are not forced to adopt them."

Blood Donation

Just now I finished donating a pint of my blood to a good cause worth contributing. As a 9gager, my "faith in humanity was restored" when I sat in line amongst dozens of other students who wanted to save lives. But as a person I was really proud of both staff and donators.

I registered last week's Friday at Pace University for my first blood donation. I am not a needle phobic, but to be honest, a 16- gauge needle surprised me a while. Needles to say, these needles were bigger than conventional needles used for blood work. Simply picture a pic pen, take it apart and look at the tube that holds the ink. That should be as large as the needle gets.

Blood Center at Pace University

I do not know why I even thought of donating my blood, but then I realized that everyone's body had a pound of reserve blood; and by donating my blood I would be able to do a selfless act for somebody else who would need it. Just think about it, a pint of your own blood could do so much! The medics could use it to transfuse it to needing patients, or they could filter the blood into platelets, white blood cells and others for medical research. Contributing for humanity as God intended me to do. I was more than glad for my choice when I saw many of my friends and acquaintances doing the same as I.

It has been a long time since I last played my guitar. I miss it too and having been born in a Lating American country, I used to write lots of my songs and poems in Spanish. Today I wanted to share with you one of the last poems I wrote and the story behind it,
                    

Luna Opaco I.I

"La luna esta opaca,

         La cubre nubes y nieblas

       Y a mi corazón la cubre

         La trocha y falta de roce

     Su carencia de brillo,

Por infinito calina

   Mi falta de sentido,

      Por distancia maldita"

"Misty Moon I.I"

"The moon is dull,
                Covered by clouds and fogs
   Likewise my heart
            By trail and lack of beat

         Her lack of brightness

By infinite haze
  My lack of sense,
     By cursed distance"

This poem was written almost a year ago. Ever since then I have stopped writing poems and turned to novels. I write whenever I have spare time, whenever I am done with my college works and personal projects. I thought of this piece on one usual night when I gazed at the moon from my apartment window. Out on the streets was foggy and up near moon was cloudy. The moon was blurry and out of nowhere it hit me. I had to write about it even though I had no reason for it; and so I did.

Sarah D. Roosevelt Park

Who on Earth would think of walking under the blazing heat of the summer sun? Well, sportsmen and women of course. As I was walking on the streets of "my people" (Chinatown) I stumbled upon this group of people, lined up facing the fence towards the park. Curious I gazed where they were looking at and saw an even larger number of people. They were playing basketball and volleyball. I wasn't surprised, but I was glad at least to know see young kids having fun with their friends out in the court. This place is called "Sarah D. Roosevelt Park" dedicated to the mother of former president Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1934. Located between two streets, (chrystie st and Forsyth st) it is a great place to play basketball with your friends and then chill at one of the many delis around.

                  Yaya Tea Garden is a small tea shop in China Town in New York City. Recently it moved to Chrystie St. next to a park near the D station. This is the place my brother and I went to when we decided to go out for lunch for the first time in years. What I like most about this small cozy shop is their ability to surprise you with a simple note seen when you finish up your Jazmin flavored ice tea. This place is also the first place in Chinatown I went when I first came to New York. I recommend this place for the onigiri they sale; cheap and satisfying.

Summer

As the golden rise of Summer returns, so am I! I am back full with stories and experiences to share. This season is going to be AWESOME!