The first time I heard about Tarrell Alvin McCraney was for his play WIG OUT!, which I saw at the Royal Court Theatre in London. The show was an unforgettable theatrical experience so, naturally, when I was in NYC and …

00053 CHOIR BOY Read more »

A few days ago I attended the production of MEXODUS, a new hip-hop play by Brian Quijada. This new production took place at Berkeley Rep in Berkeley, CA.Ā Ā  I was excited to see this production for two reasons, three really. …

00052-MEXODUS Read more »

Let me start this entry by saying that I have seen this show more times that I ever planned to see it. The first time I saw it was when it first opened at the National Theatre of London back …

00051: THE LEHMAN TRILOGY Read more »

Besides going to Italia to investigate Commedia dell’arte matters, I also have to do two more things during my sabbatical. Both are in relation to Commedia, of course. I must create a Commedia dell’arte class to become part of our …

0008: COMMEDIA DELL’ARTE CALIFORNIA Read more »

I don’t know if you ever saw the TV show “What Not To Wear.” It was a reality series where to fashionistas ambush a person nominated by a family member. This person had its own unique fashion but in the …

0007: WHAT NOT TO WEAR Read more »

My sabbatical trip to Italy comes with many different stops and visits to different cities and towns. To help me organize my thoughts and visualize the trip, I bought a planner. The last time I used one of these was …

0005: PREPARING THE SABBATICAL TRIP Read more »

Because this was a staged reading, no set was needed. The director, however, decided that the image of the show should be present as a visual. He also added two music stands and a box that served as a “table” …

0004: THE STAGED READING Read more »

I started running while attending college. Mainly because the first time I went to the college’s gym, I found myself very intimated by the other college guys who seemed to have muscular bodies, making them look like Adonis. A nerd, …

00066: Walking Bodies Read more »

Itā€™s 2006 in Arizona, USA and Iā€™m attending a social retreat with my fraternity brothers. One of the fun activities weā€™re doing is tarot card and palm readings, and I just think this is a silly game Iā€™m willing to …

00065: Self-Doubt & Second Guessing Read more »

Lately Iā€™ve been incredibly quiet. Iā€™ve kept myself from socializing and engaging with my inner and outside worlds. I have, for example, stop posting things on my social media outlets. My last post on Instagram was on April 30. My …

00064: Being Petty Read more »

I have not written in a long time. I take that back. I have writtenā€¦ a lot. But I have not written for this blog. My last blog entry was April 11; Iā€™m just one day shy of a month …

00063: Always Writing Read more »

It’s been a week since my last post. I did this on purpose because I wanted some time off from writing my personal feelings on the page. This doesn’t mean I have not been actively out there in the meta …

00062: Why not? Read more »

That’s right! Today is my birthday and unlike other birthdays that are quietly acknowledge through a small gathering or a trip to New York or Disneyland, this birthday, on April 3, 2021, is being acknowledge with humility because I’m overwhelmed …

00061: My Bday! Read more »

30 Days, 30 times! Today marks the end of my second 30-day Minimalism Challenge/Game. It was relatively easy to do but a little challenging in terms of how my life is at the moment and how the pandemic has make …

00060: FINISH! Read more »

Today I woke up feeling good. And then, suddenly, I just started crying. I know Iā€™m happy but there are moments when I simply start to cry out of the blues. I have been dealing with a lot since October …

00059: Melancholy Read more »

25 Days, twenty-five items I must say that this challenge is becoming a habit. I mean, nowadays I find myself looking at stuff and I automatically pick it up with the desire to “get rid of” it. I ask myself, …

00059: Twenty-Five Days! Read more »

Day 20, twenty items My calendar says that today is March 20, 2021, the beginning of spring. Most importantly, today marks 20 days of my 30-day 2.0 Minimalism Challenge. That’s right. I’m into the first twenty days of the challenge …

00058: Spring Time Read more »

15 days, fifteen items I have arrived to the 15th day of the 30-day 2.0 Minimalism Challenge and once again I feel excited and motivated. The second time around is much better and I feel I am slowly accomplishing my …

00056: Halfway Through Read more »

Last night my husband and I watched a new film from Taiwan, Your Name Engraved Herein. The film is about two high school students falling in love. The themes explored in the film, as well as the message, triggered memories …

00055: HEARTBROKEN Read more »

10 days, ten items I’ve reached the first ten days of my 30-day 2.0 Minimalism Challenge. It’s been easy. I see something I had not used or seen in a long time, off it goes. It makes me laugh because …

00054: 10 Days / Sadness Read more »

During the months of February and March 2018 I was rehearsing a new play titled,Ā The Cries of La Llorona. The play was an attempt to reach the Latinx audience and to introduce my own work to the college. Also, the …

00053: In Memoriam Read more »

Day 5, five items So the fifth day of the second 30-day challenge arrived. So far, so good. It’s easy. Now, instead of thinking what I want to get rid of, I just pick whatever I see that hasn’t been …

00052: Day 5 Read more »

Day 1, one item As many of you know, I’m a playwright, and as part of my writing process sometimes I travel to do research on certain topics. For a long time I’ve been wanting to write a play about …

00051: El Poster de Diego Rivera Read more »

It’s very strange but today, being the first of March, feels like a brand new day to me. I mean, I know it is a new day but I sense a force of positive energy and a desire to shout, …

00050: Brand New Day! Read more »

30 days, thirty items Wow! I cannot believe it! I’m starting to write this post just ten minutes before 9 AM on Sunday, February 28, 2021, and I’m feeling incredibly accomplished because I was able to achieve one of my …

00049: 30-day Minimalism Game/Challenge Completed!!! Read more »

29th Day, twenty-nine items I cannot believe I’m one day away from completing the challenge. My office is almost down, but not the closet. I realized last night that the challenge was to declutter for 30 days, not declutter and …

00048: Stuff! Read more »

28th Day, twenty-eight items Books! Books! And more books coming out of my office. There are three full containers, and the one at the bottom with the white lid is bigger than the two with dark lids. I counted the …

00047: Books and more Books! Read more »

The last couple of weeks have been very emotionally tough. As I said in one of my earlier posts, I use writing as a tool to deal with my feelings. Yet, I have not written much about the burden I’ve …

00046: Emotional Burden Read more »

27 days, twenty-seven items I’m getting closer to the end of my 30-day Minimalism Game/Challenge. And the more I continue to clean, the more stuff I find that was once useful but now can be removed from my life. Because …

00045: A New Awakening! Read more »

26 days, twenty-six items Growing up I always wanted to have a portfolio for school but those things were not in a my reach. Once I became I professor, I started buying portfolios. Some where really good, others were okay …

00044: Bags Read more »

25 days, twenty-five items These two boxes have books, 122 books to be exact. Books that have already been claimed and will be delivered soon. I wanted to celebrate 25 days of the game/challenge by posting about some of the …

00043: Boxes Read more »

24 Days, twenty-four items Like everyone else, I had posters to decorate my walls since I was a teenager. Then, as I went through undergrad and graduate school, I obtained posters that said something about me in relations to my …

00041: Posters Read more »

I got my heart broken when I was a kid. I was in elementary school maybe in third of fourth grade. I donā€™t know; I donā€™t remember. My older sister had a best friend who used to come over the …

00040: First Crush? Read more »

23 Days, twenty-three items As I declutter my home office, I’m finding that I have stuff I bought many years ago and I never used. In the image, for example, on the upper right corner there is a book, a …

00039: Random Stuff Again Read more »

22 Days, twenty-two items I still cannot believe the amount of stuff I have accumulated in one single room. People, I have eight days to go and I still have not touched one quarter of my home office and the …

00038: Cultural Representation Read more »

21 Days, twenty-one items Wow! I’m getting rid of posters and things I have kept for years. And no, I’m not talking four or five years but 16 to 20 years. Somewhere among those posters, there is one of me, …

00037: Eva Peron Read more »

20 Days, twenty items I imagine I’m a very wealthy man. My husband and I don’t wear jewels at all but we do have plenty of them for reasons we don’t really think about it. We’re rich, why does it …

00036: The “Jewels” of the family Read more »

19 Days, nineteen items My family never had enough money to afford a “family doctor.” We always went to social services center to get medical attention. Needless to say, I had to figure out on my own what was happening …

00035: Self-Help Books & Graphic Novels Read more »

Every time I go to Mexico City, I go to the theatre. There are two main reasons: 1) I’m a theatre artists and 2) my late friend Luis and I loved going to see shows all over the capital. The …

00034: Teatro en CDMX Read more »

18 Days, eighteen items So far, I have dug out, not one, not two, not three, but four different bags/storage boxes with postcards. When I was younger and unable to travel, I decided that collecting postcards would be a way …

00033: Postcards Read more »

I’m four years behind this post. And if you want to know why, I ask you to read the entry titled, “000 29: Intentions,” where I explained what happened regarding this event. So, what I’m recalling now is from memory …

00032: International Dublin Gay Festival Read more »

17 Days, seventeen items Yes, I am obsessed with Dr. Who and I do have a lot of paraphernalia regarding this show and characters. Most of it is at my school office though, in fact the two boxed items you …

00031: Dr. Who Again Read more »

16 Days, sixteen items After 15 days of playing the 30-Day Minimalism Game, I’m starting to notice an awareness about the stuff I have in the house. This morning for example, I was in the bathroom and I noticed there …

00030: Finally Letting Go! Read more »

Throughout the years, I have set up many intentions, plans, goals, yet many of my desires have ended right at the beginning: at the intention, at the plan, at the wish. This has happened for many reasons; some intentions are …

00029: Intentions Read more »

Day 15, fifteen items I cannot believe I made it half way through the 30-day minimalism game (challenge!) It has not been easy, mainly because I have to move things from one end of my home office to the other …

00028: The Midpoint of the 30-Day Minimalism Game! Read more »

Day 14, fourteen items If you are closed to me, you know that I am an avid fan of Dr. Who. Actor Tom Baker, you played Dr. Who in the early 70s was the first doctor I met. Then life …

00026: UK Day Read more »

Day 13, thirteen items I have to acknowledge that I became a little too confident at the beginning of the 30-Day Minimalism Game by counting several items that were the same type of items as one single item. Now that …

00025: The Millennium Falcon Read more »