Last week when we got our new magazines, I could not stop looking at Tom Cruise on the cover of Details. This guy is forty six years old and he is beautiful. I wasn't born yesterday, I know there is a lot of hocus pocus that goes into creating these covers. The real Tom might fall drastically short of the mark this photo impresses us with. I bought the issue cause I wanted to figure out why it so captivated me. The article dealing with Tom dealt with his new movie, Valkrye; a story about some guy in Nazi Germany who wanted to kill Hitler. It did nothing for me. I wanted something to explain to me my man-crush. The magazine wasn't a total waste. There was an article in there about a writer's sense of nostalgia regarding a time of his life where life was 'normal'. It touched me.

I have mentioned somewhere else my fascination with the show on AMC Mad Men. It follows the doings of an advertising firm in a time right before Kennedy. It is a great show, if you have time go rent the first season. There is a character on this show, Don Draper: this guy is a "man of wax". Chiseled to perfection in all aspects; always looks good and always says and does the right thing.

Here I am once again, I wouldn't say infatuated, but drawn to a member of my own gender.

Is it okay for a man to be impressed by another man?

A long time ago, a previous version of this blog-author read a short story by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It was called The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World. It told the story of a village by the sea that found a drowned man on its coast. The villagers were all amazed at how big and handsome the drowned man was. They threw an elaborate funeral for the man who was a complete stranger. When all was said and done they started to rebuild their town to fit the dimensions and beauty of the man they had buried. The point was this, the drowned man was a catalyst for change to the town. It made them see better things hence aspire to better things.

I am hoping that this is the reason I find myself staring at these guys. Not that there is anything wrong with same sex relationships (key word=relationship) but I most certainly do prefer the, how do you say, fairer sex. But Tom and John bring home the point that I surely could be a better man. My favorite picture face is one where I frown and create the illusion of prominent cheek bones. We went hiking yesterday and took pictures. I think I finally gota a good one of Milo and me. It is a difficult task since we go by ourselves and I have to use a tripod and set a focus without an actual subject.

Sorry for the crazy layout. I am still not used to Blogger. It was a good day for pictures. There was a marine layer extended over the basin. It gave me this view where it looks like the ocean has covered most of Los Angeles. I hiked up Grandview in Glendale in case you know the area. It was weird because up in the hills it was sunny where down in the city it was kind of foggy.
Got lucky with this shot. That was Milo's water bottle. He gets the good stuff. Just kidding, it was filled with regular water. Don't want you dog enthusiasts jumping down on me because of all the sugar I am giving my dog.

There is a time of day where light is golden. This time comes when the sun's rays are hitting us not from up above but from the side. Hence, light is coming at us from the horizon and not from above. The light is filtered to be more softer then than when it comes directly from up above. This filtering is caused by light traveling through more atmosphere. This time of day is usually sunrise and sunset. Since I like to sleep in when I can, I rarely get a chance to take pictures at sunrise. But when I am not working, I try to take time to capture golden moments. Those of you on Facebook will recognize my profile picture above. I took this two weeks ago up above the Griffith Observatory. Can you spot Milo close to the right margin of the picture. I have been meaning to drop the word picture from everyday speech. I like using jpeg better.

Here is another jpeg from that day. If i wanted to impress you, I could say that I took that from a Helicopter. And, you might believe it, given the angle and position.





Here is Milo in that same golden scene. But Milo never seems to look at the camera for pictures. Maybe he is camera shy or easily distracted like my nephew who always seems to be interested in something else when pictures are being taken. Hence all picture of him have him looking away.









So are you excited about yesterday's turnout/results (election)?


I guess I am interested but lately my perception of things has grown jaded. I worked last night in close proximity to Democrat (I hate when people use Democratic to refer to Democrat, one is an ideal the other is a political party, non-inclusive) Headquarters. I gotta say the cheering and jubilation reminded me of a sporting event where the home team won. I would like to think that Politics is not about being on the winning team but creating the dialectic which in turn would lead us to a better system of government. In this light, I believe the right person won the presidential election. Not going to say anything else, that would be political. By the way I didn't vote. I was reprimanded for that many times by many people and the whole time I thought, "you think you're smarter than me?" I think I will let silence do the talking for me in this new age.


Okay, one last thought. I referred to sporting events and being reprimanded. During the Basketball championships last year, I was in a group and someone asked me what I thought. I told them I really don't follow sports and an awkward silence arose. The group broke up which was good cause we were at work and nothing was being produced. Later someone who felt close enough to me to confide, told me that it seemed arrogant that I didn't partake in sport's talk, that I should make an effort. It bugged me but I conceded that maybe he was right. So I kept my ears out for info and let myself become interested. I listened to some A.M. sport radio and heard some interesting points. The next time a group was talking about the Lakers, I interloped into the discussion and threw out this little tidbit,"The Lakers cannot be a great team because there is no 'who is the best player?' rivalry within the team. There is no Bryant, O'Neil or Pippin, Jordan dynamic." I got warm looks from everyone in the group which told me that I was no longer shunned. My point is that it really doesn't hurt to participate. People will like you for showing some interest in what they are interested in (hate ending that in a preposition, but it reads better that way.)






List of things to do:
1. Blog
2. Laundry
3. Go to Gym/ stomach, chest and 40 min. cardio.
4. Dust and Vacuum
5. Fish tank, empty and replace 4 gallons of water.
6. Rent thought provoking movie.
7. Cook a delicious dinner (thinking steak and blue cheese salad accompanied with mama belle garlic bread.
8. Watch Thought Provoking Movie.
9. Feel enlightened for watching movie.
10. Forget enlightenment and go to bed.

Thank God that I got to live one more day and for all the blessings given that day.

Proud of myself!

This is a picture of my mom and myself on Mother's Day of 2006.

I don't know if anybody realized this but I was getting fat for a little while.

My diet and excersise were not up to par. This picture best exemplifies that. Not that I hate the picture. It is my my mom and me on a special day and that is endearing enough for me save the moment digitally and in my own memory. (Remember the term 'memory banks'?) I was going through my files earlier this year when I saw it. I am suffering through a crisis of the midlife lately and it hit me, "you are begining to look older." What is the line from the poem? "Do not go quietly into the night"? I'll remember it when I am far away from my computer long after you have forgotten the sentiment. The point is that sometimes you can't just accept it. Most of the time you have a pretty good chance of changing circumstances. It is going to take some work, sacrifice and, more than anything, perseverance. I started watching my diet and increased my physical activity...

and voila!

I have gained some muscle and lost some gut. I would not have taken a topless picture back in 2006. Now I am eager to take off my shirt. I am not saying that I don't have some ways to go. I would like drop a little more weight and gain some muscle in certain areas. The point is I am headed in the right direction and progress is showing which is motivating. I am in a positive spiral. Here's where perseverance comes in. I acknowledge that it is hard to maintain, let alone change my physical dimensions. In those moments where I want to indulge in that third beer, carnitas burrito or sit for three hours in front of the tube, I need remind myself of how far I have come and then ask myself "Do you really want to go back?"

At forty you have the luxury of knowing that you'll never really know yourself. BUT, you know what is important to you. There are some things that are not going to happen for me in this world because I really don't want them that much. That's okay because the things I have come to hold as important are still there and with some work will continue to be there.

Erick's Sunday Morning Sermon has been brought to you by Subway Sandwiches and Fischer Beer. Indulge with Discretion! Do the Right Thing!

Do not go gentle into that good night. I remembered on my own. Dylon Thomas

Halloween, again.

Wow another Halloween is upon us, just 15 days away. I think it has been 3 years since I did anything Halloweeny. To many, this is their favorite holiday, something about dress up I think. I have a hard enough time dressing myself on regular days, this holiday just adds to that stress.

So I had to move my blog to Blogger.com. Aol no longer supports blogs. Makes me wonder why I pay them $10 a month. I pay apple $99 a year for a similar service which, again, I don't use. I wanted to change the name from Sono in Transito to Spezzatura. Spezzatura is another italian word. It is translated as doing without effort or apparent concentration, a certain coolness during excellence. I like the definition, "art that conceals art." Watching a proffesional athlete, think Micheal Jordan, gives one a sense of 'spezzatura'. Spezzatura was not available :(

Really got nothing to write about. Just trying to make this worth the effort. One of those days where one wonders what is the meaning of it all. Why even get out of bed?

I guess I could go out and unicycle. There is a certain sense of spezzatura in that. To do that, I have to be 100% in the moment. That contradicts the idea of not trying but it is hard to explain the fine line between trying and doing. That's it!! Deep moment!!!

My life could just cut to black right now and Journey's "Don't Stop Believin" would come on. Erick has come full circle.

Erick is hoping that he will concentrate more on his blog than his wall on Facebook :)