My gift for Lissette (Momma Bear) from me (Poppa Bear) (with a little help from the baby, we discussed it while she slept). She’s been on a caramel candy binge so I “forced” myself to eat like 6 of them so I can quilt together some fancy candy wrapper gift wrap. 

It was only natural that her gift include a pendant of a little Osito to represent our baby bear that will make his debut in March 2012.

In return, I’m getting some delicious tamales for Christmas. Next year, we’re gonna have to make Gerber flavored tamales. Mmmm.

A big thanks to Kirsten Nunez for her great work on the bear pendant and getting it to me on time. I highly recommend her if you’re interested in some customized jewelry.

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Drive Safely but most importantly Eat Safely.

“Tron” got his/her first baby gift on Sunday. It’s perfect.

A while back, I requested that Lissette make me a mix CD of tunes. I don’t remember if I specified a certain theme or not. I actually think I wasn’t that serious about it but kind of said it in a joking manner. But then again I really don’t remember much, I’m old and forget easily nowadays. Ok, so where was I? Oh yes, caterpillars… so caterpi…wait…mix CD. That’s it.  I didn’t think she’d take it serious but she did. One day she handed me this envelope with a CD and a letter. The CD was entitled “Sleepyhead Songs” and the letter was a brief description about why she chose all 28 songs on this mix. I decided to pop this CD in my car stereo on my way to work the next day so I can play as many songs as possible. I remember reading the letter (not while driving of course) and smiling and remembering happy & sad chapters in our life/relationship but I was mostly smiling because it was clear that she took the time to not only go through her 25,000+ songs on her iTunes but then to write why and how each song meant something to her in regards to me.

I’m not good at uploading media/rar/mp3 files online to download so here is the tracklist in it’s entirety and links to where to listen (thanx, all sources). I hope you enjoy as much as I do my own personalized mix courtesy of my Nappy Head.

Sleepyhead Songs Volume 1

1. Attack in Black - Slender Loris

2. Beach House - Heart of Chambers

3. The Beatles - Sun King

4. Ben Harper - The Woman in You

5. Bon Iver - Lump Sum *

6. Coldplay - Sparks

7. Devendra Banhart - Bad Girl

8. Elliott Smith - High Times

9. Funkadelic - Maggot Brain ^

10. Grizzly Bear - I Live With You

11. Gustavo Cerati - Crimen

12. Janis Joplin - Maybe

13. Jeff Buckley - Mojo Pin

14. John Frusciante - Control

15. John Frusciante - Wednesday’s Song

16. John Frusciante - A Doubt

17. Joy Division - She’s Lost Control

18. Lhasa De Sela - Decara A La Pared %

19. Morrissey - Jack The Ripper

20. My Morning Jacket - I’m Amazed

21. PJ Harvey - White Chalk

22. Radiohead - Pyramid Song

23. Radiohead - Nude #

24.The Rolling Stones - Wild Horses

25. The Smashing Pumpkins - Mayonaise

26. Tom Waits - Chocolate Jesus

27. The Velvet Underground - Heroin

28. Wilco - Impossible Germany

* After Lissette and I had broken up, we still remained friends. We loved going to shows and having our eyes set on going to see Bon Iver we decided to still attend this show together. It was one of the best shows ever but I could have easily attended that show by myself. We didn’t fight or argue but as I stood there watching Bon Iver play an intense great show, I felt so distant from Lissette and she was inches away from me. I remember texting/emailing her later on that I’ve never felt so distant from her and that I knew it was over. A sad memory but a memory nonetheless.

^ This song will always bring a smile to both of our faces. I’m not sure where we were coming from but we got high. We got high and we were hungry. Now, being a guy, I’ll never admit that I’m too high or too drunk to drive. Usually a guy will convince his company that “I’m ok to drive…it’s just down the street.” On this particular night, I was buggin and I needed a break so I asked her “Do you mind if I pull over and we just chill for a bit?” She was ok with it. We sat there in the Wendy’s parking lot and I don’t know how this song came on if I chose it specifically or if by shuffle but it came on and DAMN…trip-o-rama. It was silence for the next 10 minutes followed by “Whoa!”s after.

% When Lissette and I found each other after high school, I would invite her to many shows for SideOneDummy. Usually, I invited Oscar and Deandre to go with me. Honestly, the reason I needed them there when she went was because I was insanely nervous around her. I mean this girl has been my crush since elementary. Yes, I said it ELEMENTARY! So, this one time I decided it’d be cool to have her pick out 5 CDs of her choice for me to listen to and 5 CDs of my choice for her to listen to. She didn’t know it, but in my head this was a total date. I remember even calling my friend Deandre beforehand and trying to get an old pep talk from him, “Dude, I’m doing this on my own. I’m nervous. What should I talk about? What if… And then…But what happens when…” It went well and I came up with this gem of a CD thanks to her.

# I was actually thinking about this thought on the way home today. The feeling of being nude with your partner after sex. Or just the feeling of being nude with your partner, lying in bed and both your handsexploring each others body. It’s probably the softest thing you’ll ever experience, the nude body of someone else. Yes, there are soft materials and maybe soft delicate flowers, but a nude soft body touches back, it caresses back. To me, there’s nothing softer than the feeling of lying nude with someone and indulging in the soothing sounds of silence.

…fade out.