first things first. where is my young cuban friend? if you have an clues to his whereabouts, please contact: me. via e-mail. crazed and derranged responses regarding someone other than the ¨b¨ will be accepted but not necessarily replied to. ok. yes they will.

here are my thoughts on the disappearance of the¨thomas magnum of the caribbean¨: i imagine one of six things(the first three have decidedly deserty themes and the reasons are either obvious or necessary): 1. headed out into the desert on a peyote run and have been tripping for two or more weeks. when you wake up, sweaty, emaciated, dehydrated and with little prickers stuck in your feet, flag down the nearest 4x4 and hitch a ride sho-low. 2. like cain, from ¨kung fu¨ you have decided to walk the earth vanquishing evil and helping the downtrodden in each town you come across (isn´t this kind of similar to bruce banner and few others?). 3. you went hiking in the grand canyon, and a) found a cuantity of beer, whiskey and food stashed, you thought, by steve, but really was left years ago and you fell ill only to be nursed back to health by wild goats, or b) met some hot nymph who lured you into a cave where you have been living as a love slave for the past 7 years (kind of like odysseus but different because the uncrossable sea is just hot-ass desert and she swiped your shoes) 4. finally took advantage of being the son of a pilot. you have been hopping planes for two weeks with no end in sight as the peanuts are free and the in-flight movies just keep getting better. 5. you tried to go back to chicago but were abducted somewhere near phx by the phoenix suns and have been travelling with the team ever since. your only hope is that they lose in the playoffs, otherwise, you may become the new gorilla maschot and all hopes of a phd program will either dashed or indefintely delayed. 6. this new roommate of yours has barracaded you into the ¨compound¨ and the only outside contact you have is the fratelli´s pizza delivery guy who also supplies sierra pale, and the occassional demand to the flag police department for 1 william dollars or ¨else.¨

i had an interview yesterday with puebla. it went well. i will know in a few weeks if i have the job. i am in line for an interview with a catholic boys school in san luis potosi. here is snippet of an email i received regarding the position: ¨I am Norma Dávila Iglesias and I work for Grupo Integer, Coordinación de Gestión Educativa which is affiliated with the Legionaries of Christ, a congregation of Roman Catholic priests. The Legionaries of Christ operate more than 125 catholic schools and colleges of excellence in 14 countries around the world....Centered upon the sound principles of the Catholic faith, the Legionary method of education seeks to educate the whole person, addressing all aspects of the person, and therefore providing an integral formation helping the student to fulfill the mission for which he was created.¨

so i got that going for me. i am also considering a position in DF(mex city) at a private language school. options, options.

my interview yesterday was the first interview i have had since this time i went to a place called millberry on parnassus ave in san fran, level i. there i was met by two sisters named hulia and katerina de wit(pronounced vit, like the skater) who showed me around until our meeting with wayne ¨not the flute player in the lobby, dammit¨ hiroshima. i remember being asked, ¨if i were an animal, what animal would i be?¨ i chose to be a fish. thus began two years of lifeguarding, love, and locker duties (combinations, clearing, renting, harassing calls). good times.

but really, that was my last interview. of course i interviewed tons of peeps with jules, but being on the other side of the table is different. actually, i think it made me a great interviewee. we shall see if puebla thinks the same.

i watched ¨an officer and a gentleman¨ for the first time last night. not sure if i ever mentioned this, but they show free movies on campus every thursday in this huge auditorium, which has a.c., that has, to my knowledge, only ever been used to show movies on thursday nights. normally the 350-400 person capacity auditorium holds about 6 people for the movies. all of them instructors. however, word got out that richard gere would be naked and about 30 people showed up last night. almost all them female, not surprisingly.

i wont offer my criticism of the movie, but i guess i knew what i was getting into.

in general, thursday is the most exciting night of my week because i get to see a movie. sometime they are horrible, angelina jolie and antonio banderas- dubbed into spanish- in ¨original sin¨, but some are great- ¨american beauty¨ which i had never seen, and another called ¨los amantes del circulo polar¨ it is from spain but i ihighly recommend it. actually, i really think you should try to find it at the video store if they have a foreign film section. it is kind of a romance but is fantastic nonetheless.

i cannot believe i am saying this, but go hoos! i hope dom starsia´s team kicks syracuse´s butt this weekend in the lacrosse semifinals. i am not going to discuss the duke thing, but i believe we should all wait until the trial ends before judging. and, no matter what the result, one team should not mar the reputation of an entire sport. lacrosse is the best team game i have ever played, and i hope its popularity continues to grow. dont disrespect the entire sport if a few idiots screwed up in an unforgivable and unpardonable way.