Month: August 2026

Music…

I Love Rock ‘N Roll

I Love Rock ‘N Roll

Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
and Words

I saw him dancing there by the record machine
I knew he must have been about seventeen
The beat was going strong
Playing my favorite song
And I could tell it wouldn’t be long till he was with me, yeah me
And I could tell it wouldn’t be long till he was with me, yeah me

Singing, I love rock and roll
So put another dime in the jukebox, baby
I love rock and roll
So come and take your time and dance with me
Ow!

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

As I approached high school, I lived on the radio.  I discovered reading science-fiction and fantasy novels, and they nurtured my imagination.  However, music fed my soul.  As a multilingual, multicultural person, I used both reading and music to learn the language and get my bearings.  Naturally, I also had television, but that’s an entirely different beast.

My fascination with the radio started much earlier, when we drove around the beaches of San Juan during the afternoon siestas.  We rode in my dad’s blue Chevy Nova with our faces out the windows.  I imagine that I must’ve resembled a dog, but the warm breeze made me happy.  This is where we first listened to the radio.  Our parents eventually got each of us a promotional transistor radio shaped like a Pepsi can.  They ran on a 9-volt battery, with the volume dial on one side and the station tuner on the other.

Continue reading “I may love rock and roll but no longer love the song” →

Music…

Rueda Mi Mente

Sasha

Sasha Sokol
and Words

Rueda mi mente
No se detiene

Casi no te conozco y no te dejo de pensar
Rondas en mis palabras
Rueda mi mente a donde estas
Casi no te conozco y no te dejo de pensar

¿Dicen tus ojos algo?
Muero de curiosidad
¿Cómo mirarte siempre?
¿Cómo saber a donde vas?
¿Dicen tus ojos algo?

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

I first studied English in Catholic school in Rio Piedras; I failed that class.  Years later, we moved to Florida, and I needed to learn English.  Though I didn’t realize it at the time, I learned English through an intensive language program.  Though my sisters continued to embrace speaking Spanish, I didn’t.  I subsequently stopped speaking Spanish, and other than speaking Cantonese with my mom, I spoke English almost exclusively.

I can’t tell you precisely why I effectively expunged Spanish from my brain, but I did.  It might’ve been because I had more to learn after failing my English class.  It might’ve been because boys bullied me (and boys’ bullying is more physical than girls’), and I therefore tried to assimilate as quickly as possible.  While I won’t tell you I feared for my life, I did occasionally fear for my safety.

Continue reading “My head is spinning” →

Music…

Carry On Wayward Son

Leftoverture

Kansas
and Words

Carry on my wayward son
There′ll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don’t you cry no more

Ah
Once I rose above the noise and confusion
Just to get a glimpse beyond this illusion
I was soaring ever higher, but I flew too high

Though my eyes could see I still was a blind man
Though my mind could think I still was a mad man
I hear the voices when I′m dreaming,
I can hear them say

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

I remember the angst and the anger.  As I grew up in Fort Lauderdale, I lacked direction.  My dad passed away when I was nine years old, a year before I arrived in Florida.  In many ways, that single event sent me into a free fall for the years that followed.  Perhaps more accurately, it changed the trajectory of my life.  Life before that was not without its complications, but it was considerably simpler.

Though my dad had little to no education, he accomplished a great deal during this modest lifetime.  He became an accomplished chef through apprenticeships in Hong Kong.  He was skilled enough that they sponsored him twice…  First, he moved from Hong Kong to Spain; next, he moved from Spain to Puerto Rico.  He learned English and then Spanish on his own, without formal education.  He eventually opened his own restaurant in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico.

Continue reading “Navigating the sea of the unknown” →