Past Innocence Revisited.....

Everyone in some point in their lives gets a flashback moment into their childhood where things were worry free and had not a care in the world. A time when you wish you could go back and start all over again knowing the things you know now. Whether it's a scent, an object, a taste, or a song, that piece of memory wakes you up inside triggering your past happiness. Not to exclude past bad memories for anyone who's experienced them; but I talk about the good ones because those are the ones everyone should hold on to for as long as they can. For my friend Andrea and I, that past memory was……..Hanson!

When Hanson first came out with their chart topping single "Mmmbop," Andrea and I were sucked into their music just like the rest of the little girls. All throughout eighth and ninth grade (1997 and 1998) it was all about Hanson. I was embarrassingly obsessed! I say that I was embarrassingly obsessed because…..…well…..…I was literally embarrassingly obsessed! Together, Andrea and I traded posters, listened to their music, and secretly admired this trio of blonde boys. It was the best time of our lives. Although we could never afford to buy tickets to a concert nor did we dare ask our broke mothers to do such a thing, we admired them from a distance. We were secretly in love and only told our closest friends. To relatives, it came easy to find out how much we loved the group due to the massive posters decorating our bedroom walls. But as we got older and their music slowly faded, we began losing our interests in them. For one, it wasn't easy entering high school admitting that you were obsessed with a band that mostly had a fan base of pre-teens while we were already teenagers. And two, we began moving on to other types of music. By the time we were sophomores in high school, it was Hanson no more and hello Backstreet Boys! However, the obsession with Backstreet was not as heavy as Hanson's and quickly faded. It was sad to admit, but our Hanson memories were behind us and we moved on.

Throughout the entire time I've known Andrea, no matter what we have been through, whatever fights we may have had, whatever great friendship moments we've experienced, between living together and living apart, our Hanson days always reminds us of two dorky friends who shared this great thing in common. I have always felt that this common interest in the band gave us a great start to our friendship. Since jr. high, Andrea has been a best friend who I can always count on to be there for me and I feel extremely lucky to have that because not many people can talk about one person like I talk about my Andrea. That is why I was so happy to surprise her with two tickets to Hanson's concert in San Diego.

I had purchased the tickets about two months early and the anticipation was unnerving. The moment I clicked on "purchase tickets" the sudden child-like excitement went through me just as if I was still in eighth grade! When the day finally came (11/16/2008), we were so excited that we listened to their CD, that I still had from 1997, all the way to San Diego. When they finally started playing on stage, I kept telling Andrea "They are right there! They are right in front of us!" I asked her "If this were ten years ago, would we have cried?" She said "Oh yea!" Throughout the concert we were dancing, screaming, and putting up our lighters – well…….I put up a fake lighter from my iphone. We were having so much fun that it was beyond expected. Andrea said "I feel like I lost ten years!" And I completely agreed with her! Even though we only knew three of the songs they played (because everything else they played was from after we had lost interest in them), we were filled with girlish excitement and the memory of our "Mmmbop" days.

After the concert was over, we waited outside the House of Blues building by the tour bus to see if they would come out and sign autographs. I took out my camera to get it ready to take pictures, but with the luck that I have…….IT DIED! And I did not have extra batteries. I couldn't believe that my pinchi camera died! Disclaimer: for those of you who don't know "pinchi" is a bad word in Spanish. I apologize if I offend you. Anyway, of all the times I've had it, it had to die at this very moment when I needed it the most. Luckily I had my iphone camera as a last resort. So, the first one to come out was the youngest one named Zac. While all the girls, and some boys, rushed to get in line to get his autograph and picture, I quickly cut in front of a lot of people and wasn't too far back from him. What? Hold your judgement! A girl's gotta get her picture! So once I got up to Zac, he was nice enough to sign his autograph on my ticket, take a couple pictures, and record a message on my iphone for my sister Vanessa who was a fan as well. As we waited for the other two Hanson brothers to come out, it was getting really late and we were feeling really tired. We were thinking about leaving, especially since it was 12am on a Sunday night and we had to work the next day.

Right when we were about to leave and give up on the other two, I heard one of the guys who was loading the cargo say "that's the last of it." I knew they were about to come out since they finished packing……..AND THEY DID! I quickly followed Isaac (the oldest one) to wherever he was going but he went straight to the bus as well as Taylor (the middle one). All the other girls started crowding around the bus and I was surrounded by the other fans. About a couple minutes later, they both come out and began signing autographs. I kept pushing and pushing my way in trying to grab Andrea so she can take my picture with him. This reminded me of the time when I was at a LeAnn Rimes concert and at the end of it, I pushed through all the little girls so I can cut in front of them and shake LeAnn's hand. It was worth a few dirty looks. Anyway, so after I got a picture with Isaac and his autograph, I proceeded to go around to the other end of the bus where Taylor was. However, I was stuck right next to Isaac and couldn't get around because of all the fans surrounding us. Honestly, I didn't mind being stuck there. I brag about the fact that I stood next to him shoulder to shoulder for like two minutes! By the time I got the where Taylor was, I had lost Andrea and I was yelling out for her. When she found me, I kept telling her to push her way in so I can get a picture with her and him.

After I took a picture of Andrea and Taylor, a sense of accomplishment came through me. I had been longing this kind of experience ten years ago and even though I'm not a devoted fan of theirs today, it sure felt like I was. But the overall best thing about that Sunday night……….is that I got to experience it with Andrea. It is truly a gift when you have a best friend to share the imporatant details of your life with. I have been blessed with many. You know who you are! Cherish those dearest and closest to you, for they fulfill parts of your life you didn't even know you had.


Up next? Who knows…..maybe Andrea and I will go to a Backstreet Boys concert when they go on tour! Thanks for reading!

WARNING! THIS ARTICLE IS NOT FOR MCCAIN SUPPORTERS!!!

Relax, I'm not gonna badger the guy! This is just pro Obama

Ok, so I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted and I do apologize to my few loyal readers. It’s been a little hectic lately but things are calmer now and I can continue. I do have a few topics I want to cover; however, I have a young reader that this may not be appropriate for so I will leave this out. If you have spoken with me lately and know me pretty well, you know what I am talking about. Hint: had to do with this year’s propositions and the outcome.

Ok now let me just jump into Tuesday’s experience (11/4/2008), as I am sure many bloggers have blogged about this. I am joining them in this pool of thought because it’s too great to pass up. Everybody in the world is going to know where they were the night Barack Obama was elected president. I’m going to tell you my experience that I’ve already shared with all of my sisters because I called all of them (including my cousin Elias in L.A.) because it was such an important moment in our lives that I had to talk to everyone. And since I live alone, my cell phone was my only means of communication even though I had wished I was with my friend Melissa watching it at her house!

I was still at work when the first few electoral votes were being counted. Almost every website had the updates. Had I known that that the results were going to be announced that night, I would have been with Melissa! So, after work I got home around 7pm and turned on the TV to see the latest updates. At first, McCain was winning. He was ahead by getting all the hillbilly states (please don’t be offended). South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, etc. were all for McCain. However, Obama suddenly caught up! I kept hoping and praying for it to stay that way and I was thinking about what a wonderful thing it would be if he were to win. Suddenly, I had a flashback to when I was a little girl. I remember putting my hands together and praying “please oh please oh please let me get this toy!” The same feeling came over me. I sat at the edge of my bed closing my eyes and praying silently “Oh God please let this happen!” So around 7:40pm I called my mother to talk to her about the election. She was watching it in Spanish on the Telemundo channel in her living room and I was watching it in English on CNN in my bedroom. She kept saying “ojala mija, ojala” (hopefully my daughter, hopefully). So we got to talking about other stuff like how my dog is doing and what she did that day. Usually the last words I say to my mom at the end of any phone conversations are “I love you.” But just as I was about to say “I…” I paused and said “Esperate Ama! No me cuelges!” (Wait mom! Don’t hang up on me!). She said “Que? Porque no! Aqui Estoy! Que paso?” (What? Why not? I’m here! What happened!). Then I tell her “LOOK AT YOUR TV! LOOK AT YOUR TV” And all of a sudden my mom lets out this victorious scream “AAAAA! HOOOOOOO AAAAAAH!” It was the cutest thing ever - hearing that big scream from this tiny little Mexican lady!

After I congratulated my mom, I proceeded to call everyone. I was so excited that I just had to involve as many people that I can reach on my phone. I felt like I had to tell everyone and talk to them about it because one day I want to go back and say “Remember the night when Obama won and we were talking…” His victory means more than just having a black president. His victory makes the impossible possible. His victory truly defies that America is the land of opportunity. His victory is the American dream where anything is possible. His victory has changed this world completely.

Remember when the movie Deep Impact was released? I was in high school when it came out. This is relevant, I promise, just keep reading. As a kid, the world ending with the strike of a massive comet was my biggest fear. I used to have nightmares about it. So when the movie came out, I wanted to see what Hollywood produced to be something that could possibly happen. I went to go see it with my best friend Andrea. During the middle of the movie, I turned to her and whispered “Yeah right! Like there would ever be a black president!” And she sarcastically said “Like we would ever get hit by a comet!” That is the first thought that entered my head when I found out that he won the Democratic Party nomination. It was a proud moment where I can easily say with a smile “I was wrong.” And, I’ll say it over and over!

Following his announcement of elected president, there were clips from all over the world showing triumphant cheers. This is why I say that the world has changed completely. Never in my life have I seen other countries so proud and excited for another country. I think that it gives them hope. Hope that one day their country can change like ours has. Hope that they can one day hope for themselves. Hope to dream big and make their difference. Hope that we can all be color blind and solely judge people on the contents of our character. Hope that Martin Luther King Jr. had.