Watch this. NOW.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSwV.....eature=related

I don't care how bad your day is going, this will make it a little better.

-also-
check out the first addition to my vocal repertoire this semester:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apg8wR8ErRw

Don Giovanni. I'm excited. I'm also a bit terrified of fucking up the Italian, but that comes with the territory, heh. X3

Let's frame this whole thing first:

I went as a counselor for my church's annual youth retreat last weekend. I was watching 6th graders.

*shudder*

anyway, I got maybe an average of 5 hours of sleep over the next 5 days, and in the midst of physical exhaustion combined with the wacky weather shifts that have been wreaking havoc on NYC lately, I caught something nasty.

Just bad enough to make me wish I had stayed home but not bad enough to actually warrant me doing so. I absolutely hate being sick. My body aches, so I can't work out, and I feel...just...off my game.

I need a hug. And some soup. -_-

I just found my copy of Watchmen that I had misplaced at work. It's a little bent, but who the fuck cares? I found my copy of Watchmen!

*fistpump*

See, I was annoyed at the tedium of the work I've been doing all afternoon, and my wrist hurts because I fell running to catch the train and sprained it, but some good music and the realization that I now don't have to buy another copy of one of the best graphic novels ever written has brought a smile back to my face.

Yes.

sitting in a dark living room, lights off save the bluish glow of a laptop screen, soul music playing through the speakers.

Introspective attitude taking over, smooth vocals taking me to a place where I can look into my own soul and ask the questions that have been burning holes in my brain for a while.

Why does my friend seem to never find love where she looks for it? Will she ever be truly happy?

Will my friends an I end up succeeding with our music? How are we supposed to break into such a hard business and last in this era of one-hit wonders and 31 flavors of the week?

Why is there still injustice? Why is equality and universal love nothing but a pipe dream?

Why is my father sick? What's going on that his life has had to change so drastically? What has he done to warrant this attack on his body?

Why...just why? What the hell is wrong with everything? It seems like there are problems everywhere with no solutions...

What is it going to take for this country to escape the debt rapidly crippling it? Who else has to suffer because of the greed of the rich? Are things going to get better? Will they stay better?

Why can't I cry? Sadness with no outlet can only get worse...

getting darker in here, sun must be going down. Part of me wants to turn the light on, but the other needs to keep typing...

Where has the love gone in this world? Why does it seem like so few people care about the well-being of the rest of humanity? Why are there still systems in place to take advantage of the weak and needy? Will we never escape this downward spiral? When will the suffering end?

Who is going to step up to enact change? Will no one take up the mantle of a hero and rise against the oppression and injustice that pervades this world?

Hell, maybe it'll always be a pipe dream. That doesn't mean I can't keep dreaming, though.

sometimes you just have to let the feelings out, run with what bubbles up from deep in your chest and just go. not trying to depress anyone, just being real for a minute.

have an awesome day, and keep on dreaming of that better day. It'll come...it just has to.

I performed well, everyone had an awesome time, and I'm now officially done with my junior year of college. Only 24 more credits until I get my degree!

I'll see about maybe posting some video from the performance online if I get a chance. Until then, I'll catch you all later. ^_^

I'm so freaking hyped up, it's not even funny. Tomorrow is my junior recital as per the requirements for my Bachelors of Music degree. I'll be performing with a very nice lady who's finishing up her college run this semester. We've rehearsed our music, prepared a really nice duet, made the programs, and have everything set. I'm just a little anxious, as I haven't had a serious performance in a long while. Karaoke SO doesn't count, lol.

IF you wanna check out some of the stuff I'm doing, you can search the interwebs for the following:

Franz Schubert: Der Atlas, Heidenroslein, Der Doppelganger
Allesandro Stradella: Pieta Signore
Francesco Durante: Danza Danza, Fanciulla Gentile
Allesandro Scarlatti: Le Violette

Broadway: "The Impossible Dream (The Quest)" - Man of La Mancha
"Try To Remember" - The Fantastics
"Not While I'm Around" - Sweeney Todd

I'll be doing the last two with this other student as a duet piece; it was originally done in the show "Three Mo' Tenors". Wish me luck!

...and if anyone's gonna be around nyc on saturday, you're more than welcome to stop bye, lol. It's at Calvary Baptist Church, and we'll be starting around 6PM. ^_^

I'm stepping up my game this year; between me and my little sister, we're cooking all the food for Thanksgiving dinner.

She's taking care of the desserts, and I'm doing all the main courses with her as my 5-foot soux chef, hehehe. So far, here's the menu:

Appetizers: Tomato salsa and guacamole with tortilla chips, artichoke-crab dip with pita crisps

Main course: Turkey (20 pounds, baby.), two pork shoulders (oh yeah. Can't be a Puerto Rican Thanksgiving without pernil), turkey dressing (think turkey empanadas without the dough), Mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, macaroni and cheese, mixed salad, cranberry sauce (was gonna do it from scratch, but decided to cut that corner for the sake of my sanity, lol), rice with pigeon peas (arros con gandules, my sister's on rice detail), white rice (ditto), dinner rolls.

Dessert (all courtesy of my sister): Bread pudding, brazo de gitano (that might be a typo...rolled-up cake with guava and cream cheese frosting), pumpkin pie, pecan pie...I think that's it.

I have three cans of Red Bull in my fridge for that morning. This is gonna be fun.

21 today. Kinda cool, not gonna lie. I spent the weekend being treated to shows and dinner by family and friends, and so far I've received a slice of cake and a small boxed cake from people in addition to the small tiramisu that my little sister made last night.

The inner fat boy is freaking ecstatic right now, lol.

Although the day's been pretty dull (been working since 2, was writing a term paper from noon), it's been an awesome weekend. I'm gonna hop down to Times Square after work and play some celebratory DDR in Dave & Busters now that I don't need to be with someone 25 or older to get in, heh.

So yeah! thanks a lot for watchin, and take care, everyone! *hands out slices of cake and shots of coconut rum*

I'll be turning 21 on November 17. It's one of those things that makes you sit back and really think about your life, heh. It's not even like I'm that old or anything, but...man, this is kinda cool. I'm taking time every now and then to think about the kid I used to be, the things I've changed in my personal and social lives, and the plans I have for the future. It's just interesting to be able to sit back and contemplate where I've been, where I am now, and where I'll hopefully be going. I have yet to release a demo album to producers or audition at the Apollo Theater's Amateur Night, but I have a few years of voice lessons and two years of classical training under my belt, and that's definitely counted for something. I'll be graduating with a Bachelor's in Vocal Performance by the end of 2009's Fall semester, and I'll have a few months to myself for hanging out and scoring a full-time job before hopefully working another summer at Mont Lawn Camp (I love that job!).

I dunno, I guess 21's a nice little milestone to take inventory of my life and see about changes I need to make. Plus it's cool to know that I can pretty much go out anywhere and not have to deal with bullshit (seriously, how the hell can't I play POOL just because I'm not 21? What kind of retarded roll hall has an age requirement?).

*chuckles* This is gonna be fun.

and I'm listening to Brahms' 4th Symphony, MVT #4 as I write this...epically fitting, lol X3

So I had this kickass idea for a Riddler costume this year, and I was all gung-ho to implement it. I was gonna bleach and redye an old suit green, spray-paint on some badass question marks, plus a whole bunch of other little adjustments.

Until I find out that the bleaching agent had little to no effect.

And that spray paint doesn't stick to cheap-ass suits.

So now I'm kinda stuck in the lurch, trying to revamp my costume at the last minute. I have a really good idea, but I need to find a good, CHEAP suit vest that's either green of susceptible to spray-painting. And I have like tomorrow to do it; No more free time after tuesday (school and work)...then halloween's on friday.

fucking awesome. >_<

I heard that it's impossible to win the game by yourself because they spread the winning pieces out in different states. If anyone's looking to score some cash. I'd be MORE than willing to share the winnings for certain prizes. I'll let you know which ones I have when I get home; I'm writing this at work. ^^

EDIT: Here's what I have so far. The prize amount, then the quantity that I have followed by the number of the piece and the ones that I need. I would likewise be glad to share any extra pieces with people that need 'em, I'm just asking for a little kickback.

$50 - Electric Company x2 (#280) [missing #279]
$100 - Baltic Avenue x2 (#252) [missing #251]
$500 - Reading Railroad x1 (#275), B&O Railroad x1 (#277) [missing #276/278]
$1,000 - Oriental Avenue x1 (#253), Connecticut Avenue x1 (#255) [missing #254]
$2,000 - St. Charles Place x1 (#256) [missing #257/258]
$5,000 - St James Place x4 (#259), New York Avenue x1 (#261) [missing #260]
$10,000 - Indiana Avenue x3 (#263) [missing #262/264]
$100,000 - Arches Avenue x1 (#272) [missing #271]

So I'm a pretty big Max Payne fan, right? I beat both games and jumped off the couch when I saw that they were making a movie out of it.

Then I see all this stuff about demons and angels and crap. I go "...okay, if this is about hallucinations or dream sequences, it might not suck too bad...but how is this gonna fit into the storyline?"

Lo and behold, I go see the movie last Saturday, and I was absolutely correct; the movie had very little if anything in common, storyline-wise, with the first game. There was, however, one extremely fascinating thing that almost made up for it: the characters were spot-on.

I mean seriously, everyone was freaking perfect in their roles, even Ludacris as freaking Bravura! Even though the storyline had nothing to do with the video game, the characters were so good that I barely cared!

Also, bullet time done in-movie is freaking orgasmic.

My two cents on Max Payne, the movie. If you haven't seen it, do so, and don't forget to stick around after the credits.

I had a really nasty cyst in my chin for the last week and a a half or so, and today's the last day of my 100-day antibiotics course to clear it up. The swelling in my jaw has gone down almost completely, and I won't have to deal with the side effects of 875 milligrams of amoxicilin twice a day, hehe.

Plus, now that my face is back to normal, I can get a haircut/shave. My beard is CRAZY overgrown right now, lol.

I work at Mont Lawn Camp during the summer, and have done so for the past two years. The first year I was there, the director at the time just told us to refere to him as "Coach". He was a really cool dude, and someone I looked up to as...maybe not a father figure, but more of like a really chill uncle. He bought a Wii and hooked it up in the big meeting hall for staff between camp sessions, always looked out for us...and he died last night. He had cancer.

I wasn't tremendously close to this man, but I did see him as a friend, even though he was my boss. Due to various shit that's happened in my past, I have an extremely difficult expressing sadness, and I barely ever cry. I had tears welling up when I heard this news.

Cancer took my grandmother, it took Coach...hell, it took my fucking dog. This shit hurts.

Rest in peace, Coach. You were loved by many.

I'm a massive R&B and soul music fan, and Robin Thicke has consistently shown me that a white guy can throw down with the best of 'em, lol

Seriously though, the guy is good at what he does, and his new album came out a few days ago, with one of the new singles being "Magic":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w80i2NOT2Gc

I freaking LOVE this song. When I audition for the Apollo, which will be as soon as this infection in my chin clears up, I am using this song. I don't care that it's new, I don't care that people will be comparing me to Thicke; I NEED to sing this song!

The horns and strings mixed with the congas are a definite throwback to the Curtis Mayfield era, and the vocals are just so damn smooth. Seriously, as soon as I get a chance, I'm grabbing the background music for this song and covering it. When I do, I'll post it in here for everybody.

*grooves out* I got it, you got it, we got the magic...

I figure I'm mostly here to BS around and chat with people while uploading/viewing art and stuff, so this meme looks like it might be fun. *shrug*

You know the drill, ask me anything and I'll answer it to the best of my ability. If nothing else, this might be good for a laugh or two, and maybe someone new'll stumble onto my page or something. Whatever, I'm feelin cruddy due to a cyst on my chin, and I'm currently bored as hell. Have at me.

I saw this on a few pages already, and decided to jump on the bandwagon because I like the idea.

1. Guys and/or Girls?
Definitely girls. I'm straight and loving every moment of it.

2. What turns you on, furry and real life?
As far as anything specifically furry goes, I love felines and canines, with vulpines coming in a close third, hehe. Guess that's pretty standard for the fandom, but I don't discriminate. When it comes to art, it's all about how it's done. In terms of actual characters that people play, it's about how they do it. I don't discriminate; if you want it, chances are you can get it, heh.
Both furry and in real life, proportions. So many guys are all about the biggest ass/tits on a female; I'm more about how everything looks as a whole. Petite women with small curves are HOT. So are thicker girls with serious curves. I saw a woman on the subway the other day. She was maybe 5'2", barely 120 pounds.

with DD's.

It was freaking disturbing.

I'm also a big fan of girls with a bit of meat on 'em. Nothing's hotter than a little bit of pudge and some thick thghs.

Good God, thick thighs...

*ahem* Full lips are another thing. Also, belly button piercings on flat/flatish stomachs. I just wanna lick 'em.

3. Dominant, or Submissive?
A little bit of both. As a pretty large individual (6'1, 200 pounds), it's easy for me to be the dom, but it's sometimes fun to just let myself be used. Pretending to be powerless (or giving up power by means of some sturdy bondage straps) is one hell of a good time every so often.

4. What gets you the most randy? (i.e. a long workout, or some kind of smell/taste)
Anything done to my neck. It's like one huge, ungodly sensitive erogenous zone. That, and belly rubs.

Seriously, when's the last time you had someone scratch and rub your stomach? It's freaking awesome. srsly.

Also, good chocolate and a handful of prefumes. I'm pretty sensitive to pheromones, so it's always fun to be standing next to someone who smells good. Summer's fun for me; Beach Bum tanning lotion smells like sex. mmmfff...

5. What are you most likely: The Romantic, The Pervert, The Whore
I'm more of a flirt than anything else, but online I'm a bit of a slut. The resident boytoy at your service, lol.

6. You like fore-play, or just get straight to it?
If you don't know how important foreplay is, you might as well just give up on trying to have meaningful sex. Noted, sometimes two people just connect and it goes straight to business, but that's rare. Building up to sex makes it that much more explosive and orgasmic, especially for the opposite sex. Also, I tend to think it's more fun to let the females have a little more fun than me, which leads to point 7...

7. What's your #1 thing to do before sex?
Eat her out. I will never decline to do down on a female, and I'll eat for days. Seriously, I have to be told to stop or else I'll just lay there with my arms around her thighs and my head...well, you get the idea. I just REALLY like cunnilingus. ^_^


8. Do you do it clothed, or butt-naked?
Nekkid, please. Socks are nice if you forget to take 'em off, though.

9. Lots of noise, or keep quiet?
Eh, relatively quiet. I'm pretty vocal, but I don't go all screaming out names and junk. I don't find having my name yelled out too hot, to be honest. A loud whisper, however, is sexy as HELL.

10. Where would you want to have sex at? (excluding the bed)
Anywhere that won't get me arrested for public indecency, and even then there are plenty of places I'd go ahead and take that risk.

11. What's your favorite position?
It's a three-way tie between cowgirl, reverse cowgirl, and doggy-style. Missionary comes in a very close second. Something magic happens when you're kissing someone at the same time you're pushing yourself into them, IMO.

12. Any kind of fetishes at all?
Let's see...
Exhibitionism...
Roleplay...
Light Bondage...
Furry-type? (A friend once had me over, left the room, and came back wearing ears, paws, and a tail. It was a wrap.)

I'm very much a freak, so chances are I'll try anything once if offered.

So yeah, hope you all enjoyed this little bit of reading, heh. gotta love TMI.

My boss hands me a huge-ass file filled with forms that I need to extract information from. She was thinking that I should do it all by hand.

Fuck that.

Broke out Excel, blasted some Flying Lotus (seriously, I could listen to this beat FOREVER: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zogV.....eature=related), and built the spreadsheet from the ground up. I'm betting that she's thinking it's gonna take me more than one day, and I'm gonna hand it to her by the time I get outta here...after being done for 2 hours, hehe. Here's for high productivity and the subsequent gratification of getting paid to sit on your ass every now and then!

I'm all for a hard day's work, but sometimes you just need a day to veg, kna'mean? ;)

And as a final note, today's friday, so I just got paid. How sweet it is! XD

I mean seriously. If there was ever a need to have a concrete definition for chocoholism, I'd be the test case. The stuff's freaking amazing. I'm also a bit of a foodie, so I love trying new foods. This place I go every now and then...it has what just may be the best chocolate I've ever tasted.

I went to Max Brenner's Chocolate Bar the other night; it's a favorite place of mine when I happen to have some disposable income. They have great comfort food for decent prices (it's Manhattan, what are you gonna do, hehe), but the shining star of the place is the chocolate: it's their own blend, and it's mind-blowing.

Belgian waffles loaded with big chunks of white, milk, and dark chocolate; chocolate martinis; little chocolate cakes that they serve with a little beaker of melted chocolate to in the middle so it oozes out when you cut into it...and something called the "Chocolate Mess" for either 2 or 4 people...it's just too good for words.

Yeah, this is random as all hell, but I have a serious sweet tooth that's been bothering me lately. If you people ever find yourself in New York City, I HIGHLY recommend this place. srsly.

Anyone have places that they love going to? Little hole-in-the-wall spots that only a handful of people know about? That one fast-food spot that's better than every other one? By the way, that last one has to be this one Chipotle Mexican Bar & Grill in Greenwich Village. Those Burritos are the size of your freaking HEAD! X3

Right off the bat, lemme just say that this isn't meant to be taken too seriously, just like the title says. ^_^

Alright, so I've been a member of the furry fandom for about...4 years now. I'm a pretty young guy and a bit of a flirt, but I wouldn't mind spending some slightly more exclusive time with someone. Now, I'm a big proponent of the whole "friends first" dating pattern, and I try to use it as often as possible (tons of friends, some closer than others, that whole thing). Here's the thing though: aside from my two close friends who made fursonas of themselves, I don't know any furries IRL save two (they both have pages on here; Evilbugz is an awesome artist and you should check out her work. Lupus_Shearheart is just awesome). Sure I met a handful of people at AC, but I'm talking about my day-to-day relationships. I would LOVE to find a furry chick and get to know her a little better, maybe see something come from that, but I keep running into one of two problems...well, three, but I'm gonna have to explain the last one, hehe:

I either don't find them attractive, they're taken, or they're lesbians (but I kinda wonder about that last one, I have a sneaking suspicion that quite a few of furry lesbians are actually men IRL, but maybe I'm just running into the wrong crowd. I'm sure that there are tons of furry women out there that love the females as much as I do, lol)

I swear, EVERY time I've seen someone online and gone "hmmm...she's kinda cute!", I check their profile info or description page of whatever and I see "happily mated to so-and-so". Now I'm extremely happy to see people in committed relationships, but I can't help but wonder but ask "where's mine?"

*chuckles* Sometimes I'm apt to think that my standards are too high, but I firmly believe that everyone should be able to, at the very least, try to find someone that they honestly like. I don't think people should have to "settle". I put it in quotes because there are few times when I find that term legitimate, but that's another story (let's just say that inner beauty is EXTREMELY important. Beauty as a whole is determined by a whole hell of a lot more than physical attractiveness). I'm just sayin: I know what I like, and I would LOVE to find a person that's not only into the same stuff I'm into, but can make me do a double-take when she walks into the room.

There's one friend that I've pretty much converted into a furry (hehehehehe) who I'm slightly interested in, but I honestly don't think I'd pursue her in a serious relationship. I mean, maybe...but I don't see it right now. Maybe I'm just a horny hispanic, maybe I'm just talking out of my ass, whatever. At the very least, it feels good to get it outta my system. =^.^=

I was working at a summer camp over the last few months, and during some free time I was messing around with my parkour. I'm a traceur, someone that does parkour. I'm not as good as some of the guys you see on Youtube, but I'm pretty good (especially for someone as big as me; 6'1, 200 lbs). Long story short, I misjudged a drop and took a roughly 12-foot fall almost completely on my shoulder when I tried to roll away from the landing.

Now, it hurt enough when it first happened that my boss and the head nurse were seriously considering running me to the hospital, but we decided to just run with it and see how it goes. It's been 5 weeks since it happened, and it's still sore. After a visit to the ER and a brief visit to the orthopedic wing, I've been told that it's nothing more than a really bad sprain.

The thing is, I just wish it was a more conclusive injury. As it is right now, it's just an annoying throb in my right shoulder distracting me. I dunno, I either wish it was completely better or bad enough where I'd have to really pay attention to it, because right now it's just annoying the ever-living shit outta me. X3

Meh. I figure it'll be better in a couple more weeks, and I'll try to take it easy until then. I know I probably won't, because I'm always doing something, but here's hoping it won't take too much longer to heal.