Oral Fixation, Vol 2 - Released

Last night I picked up my little one and headed straight for Tower Records to buy Shakira's latest release Oral Fixation, Vol 2.

My official review:

Track 1 - How Do You Do - The intro is a bit much, especially for a U.S. audience. But once you get passed it the richness of sound you expect from Shakira comes through.

Track 2 - Don't Bother - They've been hyping this for a few weeks on t.v. I just don't care of the overly sweet voice interlude in the middle. I really like the video. They never show the dude's face. Its a really interesting choice. You often see videos will show a woman's body without a face. Shakira turns the table and I took notice.

Track 3 - Illegal - Even though the song is in English, Shakira's voice is as natural as it is in her Spanish albums, so the English doesn't become distracting. The song is also slow enough to sing along to. That is always a plus for me.

Track 4 - The Day and Time - She did this song in Spanish on Volume 1 and I love it. In fact, it was may favorite song from Volume 1. I am sorry to say that it is extremely painful to listen to in English. A lot of the song's words in Spanish end in vowels. She draws them out and gives it this rockin' twang. It just doesn't happen in English.

Track 5 - Animal City - With a middle eastern flavor we expect from Shakira, she rocks it out. And I LOVE the chorus..."Its an Animal City. It's a Cannibal World....And I'm ready to fight." The trumpets kickin' and I get lost in the music.

Track 6 - Dreams for Plan - "What do you think darlin'?....Have you felt the melancholy, baby? Wishin' the time hadn't passed....Can you tell me how it used to be?" Shakira's smooth sound and beautiful lyrics are striking in this song. Its a soulful sound. I love it.

Track 7 - Hey You - I don't think I've heard Shakira sing Ska before. She does it really well. This song could have been done by Gwen Stefani as well. It's fun.

Track 8 - Your Embrace - Shakira does great songs of love and heartbreak. This is a great example of her style. The power of her lyrics really comes through and the chorus is beautiful.

Track 9 - Costume Makes the Clown - Shakira rocks. But if you don't rock, you won't like this song. It is a rock ballad and that may sound too 1989 Bon Jovi to you, but that would be an inaccurate description of the song. You'll need to listen to make up your own mind.

Track 10 - Something - Another song from Volume 1 translated into English for Volume 2. I like the Spanish version better. That being said, I have to out myself as a pocha so my Spanish is not as strong as it could be. So I do like that I can sing along to this song with the English version a bit better. But on sound and emotion alone, the Spanish version is much better.

Track 11 - Timor - This song gets Amaya's seal of approval. 'Nough said :)

Much to be thankful for

I made an executive decision to stay home for Thanksgiving this year - no mom and dad's house or visits to friends. I cooked up a 3lb turkey breast, served some mashed potatoes and gravy with some corn and stuffing on the side. Just me and my little one all day long -- it was nice. We did puzzles; spent a couple of hours in the park; watched movies and took a long afternoon nap. It was picture perfect.

On Friday we headed out to Christmas in the Park with Jose and Brandi. Richard met us there after he got out of work. Good times.

Celebration of Craftswomen

The Women's Building in San Francisco is hosting its 27th annual Celebration of Craftsmen festival Nov 19-20 and Nov 26-27 at Fort Mason. I can't make it, but you might. The quality looks amazing and the variety is impressive.

A Life Lesson

I picked up my little one from school. We were going to get gas and then pick up some groceries before heading home. I pull up to the gas station pump. When I get out of my car I find a crisp $100 bill on the floor. I bend over, pick it up, and put it in my pocket like it was no big deal. Inside I'm celebrating. Free groceries!!!

I pumped my gas, got groceries and headed home with my munchkin. When we open the door we see that our cat has diahrea and gross out at the wet poop in the middle of the living room floor. I spend the next 45 minutes cleaning it up and laughing. The cat crap was nasty, but I just found $100. I wasn't about to complain.

I think the 2 stories together are great comedic metaphors for my life. Sometimes I am very lucky, and other times I seem to find someone else has left their shit for me to clean up. It might take a while to clean, but once the work is done I'm still $100 better off.

:-)

Who I Walk With

A Mexican dicho: "Dime con quien andas y te diré quien eres."
In English: "Tell me who you walk with and I will tell you who you are."

and

A famous poem - Footprints in the Sand:

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.
Sometimes there were two sets of footprints,
other times there were one set of footprints.

This bothered me because I noticed
that during the low periods of my life,
when I was suffering from
anguish, sorrow or defeat,
I could see only one set of footprints.

So I said to the Lord,
“You promised me Lord,
that if I followed you,
you would walk with me always.
But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life
there have only been one set of footprints in the sand.
Why, when I needed you most, you have not been there for me?”

The Lord replied,
“The times when you have seen only one set of footprints in the sand,
is when I carried you.”

I resolve to choose with whom I walk.

I will remember I no longer walk alone.

Frappr!

Look what I found! This is a cool app that mixes geography and community. I also find it cute :) Add yourself. I want pics of all my friends.

The good, the bad, the hip momma trying to make it in this crazy world

I really enjoyed reading this hipchickmamma's site.

Links to feminist sites

To be continued...
http://www.she-net.com/modules/mylinks/viewcat.php?cid=55
http://www.bitchmagazine.com/
http://www.feminist.com/
http://www.feminist.org/
http://feministplanet.com/
http://www.amazoncastle.com/feminism/feminism.htm
http://www.cafepress.com/cp/store.aspx?s=exotic_tees.121162
http://www.ifeminists.net/index.php
http://www.msmagazine.com/
http://www.offourbacks.org/
http://radicalwomen.org/
http://grrrlzines.net/resources/artandmusic.htm

Chicana Artist Carmen Lomas Garza

I took Amaya and her cousins to the Children's Discovery Museum last Sunday. It is a fun place where the kids can learn and I don't have to stress out about them running around or breaking things. One of the exhibits was called My Family/Mi Familia. It is based on the book and artwork of Chicana artist Carmen Lomas Garza. I was completely taken by surprise by how the images she has created are such close reflections of my family. I bought the book at the gift shop for Amaya as a birthday gift. We've read through it twice. I like watch Amaya as she looks at the pictures. I can tell she identifies with some of it and some of it is really foreign. Her favorite picture is of a party. Amaya tells me it is like the parties her Tia Karen has. It is nice to see art imitate life.

? Blogging Narcissim ?

Blogging has become an interesting hobby for me over the past couple of months. In some ways it is like keeping a journal - but without the lame pastel, flowered book or need to divulge too many "deep" thoughts. I've tried many times to keep a journal but always found it to be a lame experience. I'd end up doodling and writing a to-do list....hey, that would be cool functionality to add to blogging - doodling. I should jump on an implementation and go get a job a Blogger. I need some more scrilla $$$!

Anway, back to what i was saying, blogging is a bit of a narcissitic experience where I document the mundane and assume everyone around me wants to ease drop on my random thoughts and moments of intense emotion, and view yet one more picture of me. There are so many people doing blogging now. Are we all self-absorbed geeks or does blogging somehow feed some human need for attention, even if it is lame? I guess it really doesn't matter because at the most basic level it is fun.

The ultimate benefit of the blog - it gives the illusion of productive procrastination. I push publish and the last 15 minutes of my life are forever documented in 0's and 1's. Technology freakin' rocks! Kip Dynamite was right.

Hip Momma

This last Saturday my momma took me and my baby and her cousins to Chuck E. Cheese for my baby's 5th birthday. I flaunted my hip momma coolness while I took a ride with my homie Chuck E.

Thanks Ms. Brandi for the pic.

More Disney Magic

If you didn't get enough of our trip to Disneyland on Amaya's blog, here is a bit more for you to enjoy. Tinkerbell welcomed us as we entered the Magic Kingdom.