Hobbies..

Hobbies are a good thing if we think it through. If our hobby involves collecting items, whether they be vintage or new, it can be a whole lot of fun but it can allso get very expensive. If you have the means to keep up such a hobby without hurting your financial situation, then it is a good hobby. However, if it is causing you to spend beyond your means, then the joy will soon end when you find yourself in financial problems. As

Hobbies don't need to cost much at all, in fact, they can be free.

Reading books can be a hobby. And we can get all the books we want at the Public Library. We can have a hobby of watching old movies on the tv service we already have. If you like to sew, knit or crochet you can easily make one of these your hobby.

Taking a walk on a daily basis can be your hobby. Riding a bike is another.

You see a hobby is something you enjoy doing for yourself which takes up some of your spare time and brings you joy and relaxation. It is a time to release some of the stress of work and everyday things. If your hobby starts to cause you stress, then it is time to look for another. You see that is where having a hobby which involves purchasing items can get stressful, and zap the joy of the whole thing.

Find something you like to do and do it. If you get tired of it, that's fine. Changing the way we do things can really benefit us and will aid in preventing boredom....

My year at Irving School...

My 7th. grade was at Irving Washington school in the WestSide. It was the only grade I attended that school. It was a school made up of Hispanic and Black kids for the most part. There were some Italian and White kids as well.

My teachers name was Ms. Bruni. She was a good teacher. I remember some of the girls in my class at that time. It is interesting that all the girls I remember were Black girls. They were, Angela Ford, Penelope Jones, April Washington and Denise Banks.

They we all very pretty girls. I remember Denise and April the best. Denise was a heavy girl but she was the nicest. She always had a smile. I recall letting her see my blue ring and how she took it and put it on and did not return it for over a week. I guess she liked me. April lived across the street from the school. Even though she lived so close, she was late most of the time. I remember how Ms. Bruni would look out the window after we had all sat down at our desk and she would say, "Well it seems Ms. Washington decided to join us after all" You see she could see when April left her house. April would come in quietly and she would take her seat. After Ms. Bruni would welcome her in April, who sat behind me, would tap me on the shoulder and hand me some homemade vanilla cookies. We would wait for the teacher to look away and we would eat our cookies. I never asked her to bring me these cookies but I never said no either. I guess in her own way she was telling me she liked me.

These were nice times. I am glad I lived in that area. I lived among all sorts of people so I grew up accepting all people, regardless of their color as humans just like me. I understood they had the same or similar thoughts as I did along with the same fears. I was able to at an early age learn that fundamentaly we ar all the same...

The white cane..

Last Friday, October the 15th., was white cane awareness day. I appreciate having a day set aside for folks who are blind or visually impaired. But did you know there was such a day? Did you know on Friday it was such a day? Chances are you did not. This is not your fault, not enough people are aware of this. We need to be more public about it. It would be a good thing since many folks out there not only did not know of the white cane day, they don't seem to even know what a white came carried by a person means. I can freely say this since I am blind and use a white cane. I have experienced on more than one occasion where my having a white cane means absolutely nothing to a driver or a person walking. It really is upsetting since I don't feel I should have to explain what the white cane means. The use of a white cane by the blind is international so there is nothing different from my white cane or that of a person on the other side of the world.

What does a white cane mean?

Well, a white cane first of all aids a blind person or visually impaired person to identify objects in his or her path. Finding curbs, stairs, doorways and ramps are just a few. What should it mean to you? It should let you know the the individual with the cane cannot see you, that he or she may need a little extra time to find the up curb or sidewalk while crossing the street. While most of us are fully aware of the flow of traffic and would not walk into traffic, it is your responsibility to look out for me. You must come to a stop if you see me crossing the street. Don't start blowing your horn as if to indicate I should not be in the street. I will not forgive you if you hit me with your car. And if you kill me it is your fault even if I am in the middle of the street. So if you aren't aware of the laws regarding the use of a white cane, then first you should not be driving, and if you want to keep your priviledge to drive, then I suggest you read up on the white cane laws and while you are at it, read up on blindness...

Vintage...

Vintage, this is a very interesting word. At least it is to me. I have notice how people use it to describe something old which carries some value, whether that value is sentimental or a monetary value. I have been shopping for fedoras online, my search has educated me on not only fedoras and their place in our society, but also the pride of wearing a vintage one. I normally don't ever consider purchasing a used item which is to be worn by me, I will by a used computer or phone, but never clothing. Well, not til recently, I found some vintage fedoras dating back to the '50's and '60's, which I could not pass up. I recieved one in the mail which feels and looks as new as the day it was purchased. Someone really took great care of this hat which shows the value it had for it's previous owner. Yes, I know that the previous owner is most likely dead, but so what? I will wear his had-me-down with pride as he once did. I have ordered a couple of more which I found online and I hope they are in the same condition as this one. I did not pay a whole lot for these, but I believe that the quality surpasses that of the fedoras today, or at least I am now aware that to purchase a fedora such as the one I now have at today's prices I would have to pay over $150. So you see vintage is not junk. I even find myself thinking about all the places this hat was worn to by it's original owner. If this hat could talk, man I am sure it has plenty of stories. Well, now it belongs to me and I don't know for sure but I believe it gives me the same feeling it once did to another gent.

So much talk about a hat you might think I am nutts. Well, maybe I am but I certainly am having fun learning about them and their origin.

I love to learn and not everything we learn needs to be earth shattering. Simple things and the reasons behind them interest me very much. When a story can be written about a piece of clothing, I think that is pretty cool!

Accountability..

You know in this day and age people speak of accountability as far as it relates to sports and stuff which is not that important in the big picture of real life. In sports for the most part it is just about winning or losing, all get paid regardless. Only the fams and the ones who placed the wrong bet lose. However, in real life whin one does not assume responsibility for ones actions, many can suffer as a result.

Instead of beating a dead horse about why things happened, I feel ones time is better spent on fixing what has gone wrong or picking up the pieces of what is left and doing the very best we can with what we have to work with. Just waiting for things to get better will not do it. We need to take action, immediate action! No one is going to solve things for us, but in most cases their are those who can help. Maybe we need to seek for help from individuals or institutions put into place to help those with the very same type of problems we are facing. Take advantage of what is out there. Don't wait to get a flyer in the mail with all the numbers and places where help can be found. Use the PC! Find out how and what you must do to start making things better. Don't wait til tomorrow. Do it now! If for some reason or other you cannot do this on your own, then have those who are able and are affected by the situation lend a hand. If you can not contact these people or places because your name is not on the contract or whatever legal matter it may be, then you must, if you are directly affected by the innaction of another, you must do all that is within your power to see things through. Maybe this means insisting that the certain call be made, that the certain letter be sent or whatever action is required. Make it your job to push the issue til it is no longer an issue. If you don't do anything, chances are nothing will get done and the matter will get worse, much worse. Allow others to be accountable for their inaction. Don't protect someone by not letting them know that things are bad. You are not helping anyone, and you are robbing them of the opportunity to fix things before it is too late. Why would you do that? Remember things did not get to this point overnight, so they aren't going to get solved overnight. But you can and must start taking all steps to make things right. Find the proper assistance and if the first one does not work try and try again until it works. If your first phone call has no results, call again, ask to speak to the person who can best help you. Make a personel visit to the bank or store or whatever institution that is the issue, speak to whoever is assigned to work with customers in your situation. Even if you need to take a day off work, remember in the long run this is for the best. Use one of you vacation days, or a sick day. Prevent this from going any further. It will not solve itself. If you work at it however, it will get solved or you will see more clearly what you must do. No one can make us accountable but ourselves. Not acting is the worst thing one can do. So find out what it is you need to do or help the one who is in the position to act to do so! Once the wheels are in motion things will get done one way or another. And remember that when it comes to leagal matters, if something is being actively worked on, no negative action will be taken against you. If you however do nothing then those in position will do what they have to do. They will not offer any help until you ask for it, and even then you must insist. It is you who needs the help, not them, and they owe you nothing!

Getting older, or better?

You know when I was a kid there were styles that I used to like a whole lot but never really got into them cause I would get laughed at. I have always liked the newsboy caps, in my hood we would call them 'Dago' Caps" since mainly the Italians would wear them I mean no disrespect to them, I now wear these caps on a regular basis. I recall my first cap, it was a grey tweed. I thought it was so cool. I was about 9 years old. I wore that cap everywhere. I stopped wearing it when some folks started making fun of me. Believe it or not, these folks were not kids, they were adults who should have known better. But if you were raised in a Puertorican environment, you know how much shit people talk.

Well, I figured I would wait til I was older to sport my hats. I own these in various colors. I still think they are cool. But now I am adding a style of hat which I have been waiting a longer time to wear. The reason for this is because the hat I am talking about is a gentlemens hat. I am talking about the Fadora. This type or style of hat has mainly been worn by older gents. I am now fully qualified to call myself an older gent, so with that said I will wear my Fadora with pride. My first of these hats is a white Panama fadora. I am wearing it right now. It is white with a black band. It was hand-made with products from ecuador. Next I am going to get a black wool fadora. This type of hat was made popular by the Gangsters and the actors like Bogart and Sinatra. Hey if they could sport a fadora, so can I.

I think that this style of hat is coming back into style since when I was doing my research on them, I found a lot of info directed at the younger crowd. I don't care if they are coming back or not. I am wearing mine cause I deserve and have earned the right to wear what I want to wear no matter who likes it or not. Hey and if you are a pretty woman, I will tip my hat to you when you enter the room...

My Dad's Dad...

I remember much of my grandfather on my dad's side. He was a very strict man. I remember he yelled alot. He and my grandmother would argue just for the sake of arguing. I was not really close to him, I don't think anyone was. He did not mind this. He moved to Puerto Rico, or I should say, he returned to Puerto Rico in the mid sixties. He worked and saved enough to have a house built out there.

One thing I recall him doing was smoking a cigar. He would by the cigars by the box. He did not smoke these all day long, I remember he would save this for the evening. He would sit outside and just smoke his cigar.

Another thing I recall him doing was, whenever anyone would come over to visit, he would offer the guys a shot of rum. I still remember how he would offer this. He would say, "Quier un palito?" This means would you like a shot?. It is a custom in P.R. to offer a palito. I never gave it too much thought, but the rum he offered and drank was called 'Palo Viejo' I now realize that the offering of a palito was based on the name of the rum. As time went on though every shot of rum regardless of the brand is called a palito in P.R.

In Puerto Rico you could always find my grampa sitting in his rocker outside, once the sunset, with his cigar and a shot of Palo Viejo. I remember that the rum was a dark rum, this is due to the aging process, and the sugar cane molasses.

In his own way this was how he relaxed after a busy day. He bothered no one and just went to sleep after his nightly shot and cigar.