The Gulf of Mexico

Been awhile since I’ve blogged; so here’s an awesome...

Fri, 23 Nov 2012 21:33:18 -0600

Been awhile since I’ve blogged; so here’s an awesome crazy weird video. Keep it weird. Keep it real.

Hey, I'm a valley native too, small world, huh?

Thu, 07 Jun 2012 06:43:34 -0500

It sure is!

These photos show the Valley Morning Star’s awesome...

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 10:02:00 -0500

These photos show the Valley Morning Star’s awesome redesign. I was lucky enough to have the package story that day.

The article was about community policing. I went on a police-ride-along with several community resource officers who took me to seemingly abandoned buildings that were used as a place for people to do drugs, participate in prostitution and for some people - just a place to sleep.

While I sympathize with squatters down on their luck needing a spot for rest, I do not sympathize with the drug users or the people participating in prostitution. They left places near where children played littered with needles, used condoms and other hazardous materials.

I must say, though, it was fun to explore this really old, beat down factory where the sun could shine down from the fourth story to the basement in slender golden rays that illuminated twisted, damp rubble and graffiti-covered walls. And not the artistic kind of graffiti. All of this stuff was gang related.

After climbing a dark, narrow stair four stories to the roof, we came out onto a tar covered roof that sunk a little bit with each step. And to my surprise, amidst so much decay and disrepair, palms and other trees were growing on the roof of this building.

Anyhow, I thought this package was one of the best I’ve seen from the newspaper since I have been home in the Rio Grande Valley.

Before, after and for good measure - a pirate ship. I caught two...

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 23:42:26 -0500

Before, after and for good measure - a pirate ship.

I caught two nice size whiting at the pier in Port Isabel today. I also caught 10 speckled trout, but they weren’t big enough. The largest one I caught was 14 inches. They need to be 16 inches to take, which brings to yet another reason I no longer peruse or upload original content to reddit.

A while ago, I posted photos of speckled trout that I caught and released, because they weren’t of size, to reddit. And some self-righteous redditor - because they are all self righteous - chided me for taking under-sized speckled trout >.<

Anywho, fishing rocks and reddit is dumb. Enjoy the pirate ship.

I do A LOT of work for the paper shown in this photo: The Valley...

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 12:55:00 -0500

I do A LOT of work for the paper shown in this photo: The Valley Morning Star.

They have a talented editorial staff and I think the copy desk does a great job. The package story is mine. I barely remember writing it. But I think the gals at the copy desk did a better job on the layout than I did on the story, which can be found here.

Being your own boss is interesting, and often times frustrating. It’s a scary deal, to be your own boss. But I’m trying to embrace it as I can make more money freelancing than I can working at a restaurant or as a library assistant, which are the only other things I know how to do - unless another opportunity presents itself.

I never and ever thought I’d work for myself. The scariest part of all this? Figuring out how to do my taxes and saving money owed to the states and feds.

PORT ISABEL - I went down to the South Marina in Port Isabel to...

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 16:45:12 -0500

PORT ISABEL - I went down to the South Marina in Port Isabel to see to replica Christopher Columbus era ships: The Nina and Pinta.

The Nina is an exact replica of the vessel from Columbus’ time. It’s small and was made with the same ship building techniques and tools used in the 15th Century. It is held together with pegs and dowels. But it doesn’t have a steering wheel. It was a tiller and rudder. The first mate on the Nina, Vic Bickel, said those weren’t invented until 80 years after Columbus’ death.

Both ships were very cool and it was good to get out and do some freelance work. I haven’t written anything in more than a week.

For more information visit: thenina.com

The ships sail all around the Western Hemisphere in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, through the Panama Canals and in the warm waters of the Caribbean Sea.

There will be a story in the Valley Morning Star March 22.

Kurt Vonnegut, a Monarch butterfly and the newspaper business My...

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 11:34:54 -0500

Kurt Vonnegut, a Monarch butterfly and the newspaper business

My life has been frustrating. I had a job, but couldn’t absorb corporate’s cuts. So, as a financial decision, I cut out a lot of bills in my life and moved home so I could just deal with the student loans.

I did a lot of freelancing here in the Valley, and will continue to do so. But it seemed probable that I was going to be hired at a certain paper. Then it didn’t happen to no fault of anyone on the local level and to no fault of my own. I won’t say anything more about that.

But lately, it feels as if journalism is futile. It feels like it hasn’t been worth it. I’m a young man and am very talented (I average 4.5 solid, well-written stories a day). But I cannot for the life of me get A) a job with a paper I can afford or B) a job with a paper at all. Nobody wants to hire. It doesn’t matter that I’m talented because talent has nothing to do with the bottom line.

Perhaps, like this photo of a Monarch butterfly that emerged from a cocoon on my niece’s birthday Monday, something else will happen for me. Maybe I won’t end up churning out stories in a newsroom, which would be to my dismay.

But it’s hard to say what will happen down the road. It’s hard to say I won’t find a job that I’m qualified for and would enjoy as much as I enjoy working in a newsroom.

As one of my favorite authors often wrote, So it goes. (Kurt Vonnegut)

These are Kiskadees. We have a pair in my backyard. They tend to...

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 13:39:50 -0600

These are Kiskadees. We have a pair in my backyard. They tend to come around, occasionally. I enjoy watching these birds as they are smarter then the Red Wing Blackbirds that just arrived in the Valley.

The brightly colored, sleek birds are an enjoyment to watch. They make me think of angels, a calming thought. And wherever there is one Kiskadee, there are two. They are watchful and keen, and display it through how they approach you. One glides in and looks at your for a while. A little later it flies ten feet one way, landing on the ground. Then the other one replaces it on the same perch. This one will also study you acutely. Then it joins the other and they hunt for the rather large water spiders and bugs that live down here.

If you stand still, they continue to hunt for bugs. You really need to just stay in one place and let them do whatever they are doing, and the whole time the birds are keeping a very close eye on you. I’ve had them fly within ten feet of me. As long as I stay in one place, they are brave enough to keep a close eye on you while doing the same for the rest of their surrounding. The birds settle around the pool, or any water source that obliges them, and keep a 360 degree view on each other.

So they’re a pleasure to watch because they’re incredibly sharp, and are pleasure to the eye because of the birds bright green belly, black top and streaked, white eyes.

HARLINGEN - We finally got rain. The following photos were taken...

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 17:55:00 -0600

HARLINGEN - We finally got rain. The following photos were taken in and around my parent’s house and show this morning, sunny and hot, and this afternoon, rainy and cold.

As the storm came in, all the crows in the neighborhood descended on a Chinaberry tree as if they were heralds of the storm to come.

Fun fact about Chinaberry trees, the green parrots that live down here are addicted to its berries like they were crack cocaine. My mom says the bright-green birds make a huge racket.

But the rain came with a cold front and cooler weather has moved into the area, which will be a nice change.

HARLINGEN - It looks like corruption and fraud even made its way...

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:13:00 -0600

HARLINGEN - It looks like corruption and fraud even made its way to Isla Blanca Park on South Padre Island, a place I frequent.

The Brownsville Herald’s Emma Perez-Trevino reports:

BROWNSVILLE — Money is missing from the Cameron County Parks Department, and county commissioners agreed Thursday to turn the matter over to law enforcement.
County Administrator Pete Sepulveda said they don’t have a dollar amount yet on the missing funds. As soon as officials determined something was amiss, they decided a criminal investigation was warranted, he explained.
The financial discrepancies were discovered through an electronic toll collection system that includes cameras and also a program for collecting fees for the lease of RV sites, Sepulveda said.
The system has been in place at the county’s Isla Blanca Park on South Padre Island for about a year, with the discrepancies being discovered in the past 30 days, he said.
It was through a review of reports that the system generates — and the security cameras — that it was determined that funds are missing. A limited in-house inquiry followed.
Cameron County Commissioners Court unanimously agreed Thursday to refer the matter to law enforcement.
“At this point we don’t have an amount, but we have verified that there are funds missing,” Sepulveda said. “We don’t have an exact amount because we didn’t go too far into the investigation because I felt that we needed to bring in law enforcement to take over the investigation.”
The in-house inquiry led to the recent termination of two employees, Sepulveda said.
County Judge Carlos Cascos noted that “I’m just glad that it was caught and we are going to do whatever we need to do to take it to the full extent of the law.”
Missing funds could be from tolls or a combination of revenue, which would include lease payments for the recreational vehicle sites.
“It’s unfortunate,” Sepulveda said, but he stated that the electronic system has proven to be an effective management tool.

I’ll have to go back as soon as I have some cash and see if any of the guys in the toll booths have changed because, generally, whenever I went it was one or two guys.

HARLINGEN - I haven’t been able to get down to the island...

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:48:45 -0600

HARLINGEN - I haven’t been able to get down to the island for some fresh content. So here’s a file photo of where the beach meets the jetties in Isla Blanca State Park on South Padre Island.

This is easily one of my favorite spots.

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND - It’s always interesting to see...

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 12:21:00 -0600

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND - It’s always interesting to see something normal to you from someone else’s eyes. My good friend from Omaha, Neb. too this photo from the pier in Port Isabel looking over the causeway to the Island.

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND - It’s always interesting to see things...

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 12:19:51 -0600

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND - It’s always interesting to see things that are normal to you through someone else’s eyes. The past two blog posts, not including the repost about Twitter censorship, and this post are photos taken by a buddy of mine who visited recently.

My friend is from Omaha, Neb. and had never been this far south or even to Texas. Here are some things that caught his eye while hanging out on the Island and in Port Isabel.

reuters: Disturbing development at Twitter: countries will...

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 08:35:51 -0600

reuters:

Disturbing development at Twitter: countries will silence tweets

I caught this stingray on old gross shrimp. It’s by far...

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:17:00 -0600

I caught this stingray on old gross shrimp. It’s by far the biggest I’ve hooked. I caught it at the Pier in Port Isabel.

Me and my niece fishing for hippies.

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 09:39:39 -0600

Me and my niece fishing for hippies.

Back to it

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 10:17:29 -0600

HARLINGEN - My buddy’s going back to Omaha today. It’s been fun. I will get to posting pictures and updating the blog soon.

I’m fighting a rough cold, so it won’t be right away. I need to get my bearings back and slip into my routine again. It’s always rough for me when I get off my routine for as long as even a few days.

I need to send out a few invoices, write a letter of recommendation for a former intern of mine and start calling around to set up interviews for profiles of local people. I also need to get some kind of part-time work because the evil, horrible, no good, Wells Fargo is calling me one hundred times a day again. I’ll get through it, though.

Patience, perseverance, faith and hope will get me through this rough spot.

I went to school at UNO and worked in the library that held the...

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 13:52:31 -0600

I went to school at UNO and worked in the library that held the Afghanistan collection. I’ve seen the collection and even moved it several times. I had no idea about this awful project, in which my alma mater was a prime player. I feel a little sad about that.

watanafghanistan:

These books were “gifts” and “aid” from US for Afghans during Soviet invasion, since then they tried to brainwash us as they were circulating “psychological war” on our youth and up until Taliban government these books were taught even during civil war. In refugee camps which were controlled by UN inspectors still these books were taught to us Afghans and I still remember those days, you will feel the pain only if you remember it.

Published in the dominant Afghan languages of Dari and Pashtu, the textbooks were developed in the early 1980s under an AID grant to the University of Nebraska-Omaha and its Center for Afghanistan Studies. The agency spent $51 million on the university’s education programs in Afghanistan from 1984 to 1994.

During that time of Soviet occupation, regional military leaders in Afghanistan helped the U.S. smuggle books into the country. They demanded that the primers contain anti-Soviet passages. Children were taught to count with illustrations showing tanks, missiles and land mines, agency officials said. They acknowledged that at the time it also suited U.S. interests to stoke hatred of foreign invaders.

- If out of 10 atheists, 5 are killed by 1 Muslim, 5 would be left.
- 5 guns + 5 guns = 10 guns
- 15 bullets – 10 bullets = 5 bullets, etc.

“The primers, which were filled with talk of jihad and featured drawings of guns, bullets, soldiers and mines, have served since then [i.e., since the violent destruction of the Afghan secular government in the early 1990s] as the Afghan school system’s core curriculum. Even the Taliban used the American-produced books…”
– Washington Post, 23 March 2002

Nobody with normal intelligence could expect to distribute millions of violent Islamist schoolbooks without influencing school children towards violent Islamism. Therefore one would assume that the unnamed US officials who, we are told, are distressed at these “unintended consequences” must previously have been unaware of the Islamist content of the schoolbooks.

But surely someone was aware. The US government can’t write, edit, print and ship millions of violent, Muslim fundamentalist primers into Afghanistan without high officials in the US government approving those primers.

[source]

"The beauty of things must be that they end. (My favorite Kerouac book, ever.)"

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 13:16:29 -0600

“

The beauty of things must be that they end.

(My favorite Kerouac book, ever.)

”

- Jack Kerouac, Tristessa (via honeyforthehomeless)

My buddy snapped this photo of me wandering out into the bay a...

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 11:52:33 -0600

My buddy snapped this photo of me wandering out into the bay a few days ago on South Padre Island.