There was an annoying disco song from the 70s where some girl kept singing over and over again, “You can ring my bell, you can ring my bell….” I wish I could forget it, but it is indelibly etched into my mind.
One day when I was in the fifth grade, our teacher was called away from the classroom. The kids sat quietly for a few minutes until we realized she had really gone far away from the classroom.…
A couple of Gloria Jones’ Beginner Ballroom Dancing students recently asked me to recommend some songs for them to practice to. They also take Gloria’s Salsa class, but we were winding down the Ballroom class when they approached me. I don’t actually have a very long list of salsa music or cha cha songs, but I suppose I should start compiling one.…
I’m no fan of the anti-war movement. Neither do I want our soldiers to stay overseas and continue putting their lives in danger. But when we leave Iraq and Afghanistan, we need to do so with the expectation that we won’t have to go back for the same reasons. The American people seem to understand that much, but they are generally frustrated with the progress of the war.…
There is more to body language than meets the eye. Isn’t that an interesting way to put it? But I’m being serious.
One aspect of body language is proxemics, the study of spacial distances between people. How do people maintain their personal space, how do they interact with other people’s personal spaces? These are questions which reveal much about who is aggressive, submissive, open, closed, confident, fearful, overcompensating, and overreaching.…
Learning about body language through the Web is very difficult because so many sites just repeat the same vapid bullet points without exploring the topic in depth. Admittedly, most people reading the Web don’t have much time for depth, but when you’re looking for new information, seeing the same old regurgitated information is not helpful.
One of the most common “facts” I have seen cited concerns sock pulling by Men.…
I have written far more essays and book-length projects than will probably ever see the light of day. Or, some of them have seen the light of day but they have slipped into darkness for a variety of reasons.
One of my first paying assignments was a work-for-hire project for a company called CyberAction. They produced interactive collectible cybercards with a unique technology that allowed you to buy specific electronic files that were branded with serial numbers.…
My father is Mexican. He was born in a little village which has long since been swallowed up by Monterrey. His family moved to San Antonio when he was about 8 years old and his father died soon afterward, leaving my grandmother to raise 10 children by herself. And she died within a few years, leaving the older children to raise the younger ones.…
Everyone has a fishing story. This one is true, I swear on my soul! It’s true, I tell you; true, true, true. It really happened.
When I was a kid, maybe 4-5 years old (I don’t remember exactly), my family lived somwehere in the south Miami area. I remember the street on which we lived vividly. There was a tall tree outside our house in the front yard.…
Social dancing has been described as having sex in a standing position. The body movements in many social dances reveal the details of their origins. For example, if you watch couples dancing the “dirty” Bachata dance style, they are obviously emulating sexual activity. The “clean” Bachata dance style is not nearly as intimate. The man stands further away from his partner, he doesn’t gyrate nearly as suggestively, and it’s just a fun little dance you could teach your kids without wondering what they’ll be up to.…
The Creationism-versus-Evolution debate has always sort of amazed me. As a Bible-thumping Christian, I’ve been known to quote chapter-and-verse to my “fellow” fundamentalists who often pick and choose the verses they want to emphasize. Christian Fundamentalists can be pretty good at distorting the teachings of the Bible, which warns people against doing that sort of thing. In reality, I rarely speak of myself as a Biblical Fundamentalist because it sounds too much like an oxymoron.…
I keep thinking that maybe I should share some political opinions here, and then I think, why? I’m sick to death of political opinionating. To believe all the ranting and raving, you have to accept that everyone involved in politics is a liar, a cheat, and a braggart, and I don’t trust any of the liberal or conservative propagandists. Why should I?…
Have I missed something, or has Hollywood failed to waste money on big screen remakes of classic shows like Green Acres and Petticoat Junction? And where is the Gunsmoke homage-flick? I couldn’t care less whose mountain has a broken back. I want some quality schlock entertainment. Give me more “bullets didn’t kill the beast; it was beauty killed the beast”.…
