I Think I Saved Someone.

I consider myself atypical, which is a good thing, according to my psychologist professor. I like helping, especially animals. I consider them to be creatures that cannot speak for themselves, and therefore, need humanity to be their voice. But tonight, something happened out of the norm. I was not rescuing an animal from a human, instead, it was the other way around.

As I cruised down in my control-accessed neighborhood, I saw a mature lady walking down the sidewalk. Two big dogs were jumping at her side, trying to grab her arm with their teeth and barking unnecessary. Even if my neighborhood is control-accessed, people tend to drop unwanted animals near and they pass through the short gate. All of them were friendly, or at least I thought, until today. I stopped my car and did something that my parents would advise me against it. I let a stranger in my car at night. My adrenaline started rushing, and I realized that if I let that woman at the dogs mercy, it would be my cross to carry if something happened to her. The poor thing was in a nervous havoc; And so was I. As I drove to my house, after leaving her at her own home and assuring that she was okay, I could not help but think of the irony.

I am always so focused on animals and the threat humans present to them, that sometimes I don’t consider that some people may get attacked without any reason. Either way, animals are not entirely at fault. They are acting in instinct, or simply, they let their inner wild being take over. The lady is not at fault either. She must have been so scared or intimidated, that animals smelled her fear and responded in a defensive mode. I realized something though. We all live in this world, human and animals alike, and there must be a way to live all in cohesive peace. Plus, helping someone out of instinct  feels good. Word of advice: always help, never think the opposite. 

Lifting Weights (Not Only for Guys)

The word weights is usually combined with an image of a guy that has so much muscle that he almost resembles an Arnold Schwarzenegger in his bodybuilding era. Sadly, many girls are influenced by that antique image (the concept and the image of dear Arnold).

I have been going to the gym for almost 6 months. At first, I joined the crowd with the preppy, stereotypical girls doing excessive cardio. I rode that elliptic as if my life (and my body) depended on it. It was a race to the finish: a celebration to the long gong fat. I could just feel it burn and cry for help in every sweat drop. Or so I thought. While I saw relative progress in the way my body held itself, I still felt flabby. The weeks passed by and all the girls progressed to the back of the gym to flirt better with the trainer while doing some weight training.

I always associated weights with guys. Tough guys, wannabe guys, and progressive guys. I felt that my already wide arms would grow into hairy, manly stubs. Either way, I was curious.

And I tried it.

And I liked it.

Then I loved it.

My body has changed a lot. Well, maybe not that much, but I feel and see the slight difference of my toned body. I may not have ripped arms, legs, or abs, but I love the slight bump that appears on my biceps when I pick stuff up. I love how my tricep looks when I stretch my arms downward; it is firm and has this lovely curvature.

And let me tell you: I do not look manly and my body is taking a more feminine contour.

P.S. Going to the gym and still haven’t tried weights? Then what are you waiting? GO! Have fun!

How I Decided to Become an Ovo-Lacto-Vegetarian

It was approximately 2:00 in the morning when I stumbled across an outrage on Instagram. Marius, a baby giraffe from a Danish Zoo, was killed cruelly in front of a crowd just for being genetically similar to the other giraffes in the zoo. He was shot, cut into pieces, and fed to lions. I could not stomach it. The thought that this would be the case with other animals that are raised exclusively for food traumatized me and it was then that I decided to stop eating meat altogether.

I live in a culture where every entree must contain at least a piece of chicken or ham. The word ‘vegetarian’ is considered to be a crazy and laughable tree-hugger person, someone who is not right in the mind for denying a piece of meat. It is hard. As a child, I had the horror of listening to pigs and rabbits getting killed for consumption. Their cries were similar to those of a child falling down and crying as his scraped knee burst with blood. And while I stopped eating pig and rabbits after the occurrence, I still incorporated chicken and turkey in my diet. Maybe because I had not been present in their killings or maybe because I just turned a blind eye to the meat in my plate.

In recent years, I have been an advocate of animal rights. I find disgust in how people treat domestic animals, like cats and dogs. I find that anger overpowers me when I see a mangled animal in the streets after a conductor commits a hit-and-run. I find anguish at seeing a dog or a cat walking in the neighborhood with just a sheet of skin over its body. But I never did once think at other animals that suffered this kind of abuse.

Marius death opened my eyes to what this world really is towards animals: cruel and un-emotional. His situation is the same as many other animals killed only for the consumption of humankind. For some it is even an amusement or a hobby. It is hard to stomach such a situation.

Many say that being a vegetarian will not stop the consumption of meat in the world. And they are right. My stand against meat may seem lonely for now, and while the goal seems so far away, I am hoping that one day people will open their eyes and see that animals are beings who love, suffer, and live. They are part of God’s creation and they deserve respect. For now, this change is for my mental and physical well being. I can now speak words that burst sincerity. I can now be a true animal advocate.

Tourists.

The clothing store where I work for is situated in a mall that attracts many tourists world wide. I’ve had the luck to attend Asians, Spanish, Germans, Australians, Mexicans, etc. It brings me a sense of happiness that I get a taste of other cultures for a few minutes.

 But I’ve noticed something, Germans are the friendliest people ever. Like common misconception, portraying them as angry people, I have found that they are kind and really talkative. They are the best clients and they don’t mess the whole store looking for a non-existing jean. It really makes me want to go to Germany even more.

 So for all of those Germans reading my blog, I salute your awesomeness!

Stop Shivering and Grab a Jacket: A Shiver Review

I admit, I was not keen on reading the book Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater. After all the whole Twilight crazy fandom and overly annoying publicity, I was a bit tired of vampires and werewolves involved in love triangles with humans.

So after a few months detaching myself from the whole Twilight debacle, I decided to take the book Shiver from my sister’s bookcase and start engulfing in its words. And oh boy, what a trip that was.

Shiver is basically a love story between a human girl and a wolf. But trust me, it isn’t bestiality, because in reality the wolf is really a boy that turns into one every time winter comes. It is a very charming book, filled with curiosity over these werewolves, heating romance and a tinge of bitter sweetness at the realization that maybe the boy will never be hers.

I must admit, I was gleeful reading this book. I could not put it down and finished it in two days. There were moments were I would just have to bite my pillow to not scream in joy at a very romantic part. I deeply enjoyed it.

The series is a trilogy, but in my personal opinion, I would have preferred for Miss Stiefvater to just leave it at the first book. The ending was compelling and closed nicely. I did not see any lose end and it brought a smile and a bit of tears to my face.

Rating: I give it 4 sheriff stars!

Meanwhile, here is the trailer to the magnificent book, Shiver!

A Response to an Average Article

Today as I scrolled on Facebook, I stumbled upon a link the Huffington Post posted in the Timeline. The title, “When did we become average?“, caught my eye immediately. It basically explains how we are destined for an average life, even if in the past we were coddled and praised of how amazing we ‘were’ and how unique our life was going to be.

I understand where the article comes from. We live in a society where we need to work daily to survive in society. Everything revolves around money, therefore any chance of doing a part-time job or having a job that does not pay much is not an option.

Nowadays, we cannot work in the, for example, art industry because there is a high chance of underemployment. Instead of artists, musicians, writers and painters, we have to chose to be doctors, lawyers, sales associate, teachers, engineering, etc. Common jobs for the average lifestyle. Now, I am not saying that those last jobs are boring or not needed, I am just recalling how average and normal they can be to some. Basically, they are jobs society expects us to do.

As much as I can relate and understand the writer’s annoyance at society and our sad predicament, there is a line that bothered me a bit. And I quote “Are we all destined to be mediocre? No. But most of us will be, and the sooner we accept this, the sooner we’ll learn what a reasonable definition of success is”.

Unlike the writer, I will say that none of us are destined to mediocre. None of us. Our future is what we make of it. If we work for it, we will receive it. Besides, none of us are mediocre. We live better than some. There are other society where people does not have a chance for a decent meal nor a just paycheck. I do not think, in the back of my mind, that neither of us are average. At least, all of us do something un-average in our lives, something that makes each life special.

Even if it isn’t the glitz and the drama we expected it to be, everything we do is something special that we learn to love and see as the uniqueness that separates our lives to those besides us.

Things I Would Say

If I had a reader now, I would probably say hi. Hello and welcome to this little place I like to call home.

I will use this humble space to diverge my constant ramblings of life, education (my major in College), literature, grammar, romance, video games, music and the most non-important one, me.

So, hello again. I do hope you enjoy your stay.