This trip was memorable because of the sheer beauty of the place. Also how can I not mentioned Reggaeton. Being one of the homes of Reggaeton, a genre I saw taking off before my eyes and then becoming this sound that reached the whole world, that music that was the soundtrack of my teenager days was the first genre I felt I could identify with, so; yes, Reggaeton was a big reason I felt allured by this place.
El otoño del patriarca en muchas maneras es una interpretación de la historia, pero esta no termina ahí, esta novela esta llena de excesos: el primero es la manera en que esta escrita; de una manera muy-pero muy densa y casi sin ningún punto o coma, la conocida exageración del autor llega a sus limites, el personaje principal no solo esta aquejado por un montón de plagas, también tiene rasgos de animales, tiene un poder que va mas allá de lo político, es un poder que se asemeja al de un dios.
El otoño del patriarca by Gabriel García Márquez My rating: 5 of 5 stars
In this novel, as in most of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s work, history is at the center of the story, The Autumn of the Patriarch takes us trough the history of a whole continent through one character. Very different from any of his other work, this book is unlike anything he has written because if his collections of short stories feel as if they were literary exercises, his novels express themselves with narratives full intention, in them there is a clear story that opens and closes itself. So, after finishing one of his novels there is no traces of ambiguity or spaces for doubt, something that doesn’t always happen in the short stories.
It’s was a Sunday night in January when I wrote this, it was forty-eight degrees outside, It was a warm night for a winter. That night I found myself unemployed, in love, and young; and like that winter night I felt rather optimist. The ambiguity that surrounded, and sort of still surrounds, my immediate future doesn’t affect my mood, it is a concern but nothing more. I like all the free time I have. It gives me space to unwind, to think about writing, and of projects of my own. I haven’t written for all this past year and that made me feel that I have been missing something. For example, it had been a year since I left college, I worked at my first full-time position, and I met someone I really enjoy being with. One would think I would have loved to write about these experiences, however, that year I have been absent for myself, I had no motivation to write much at all. The routine was killing my spirit, at least that is what I thought, but it wasn’t. Routine can be a good thing. What happened was that the work I was doing was minuscule, I was making changes and barely creating anything. I was doing so much of it did not leave me energy for myself to burn. This past year, at my job, I learned new things and I made good friends but after all it was too little reward for too much demand. The longer I seemed to stay the more comfortable I felt about the work I was doing. I did not like that conformity. Even though it was appealing because it came with a steady check and healthcare!. I felt I was at the verge of feeling miserable, I know I never reached that point. But, my character was being doll down. In that time learned I am curious about many thing outside design and dwelling into those things, for me, are a creative fuel of some sort. Unfortunately, the curious side of me was not being replenished when working on things I do not appreciate. Ideally I like to learn about the subject matter I am working on. Perhaps the search for a meaningful work of art, for a great movie, for an inspiring book, or even meeting interesting people. All that makes me feel creative. I draw inspiration from appreciating other people’s work as much as my own, and above all I have to care about the subject matter. I was not doing a lot of that. Now, in hindsight, I know of few things I will look for in my next jobs. Just so I avoid feeling like that again. I will look for places where I can appreciate the work, where I can work with people I can learn from, and; if is not asking too much, a place with projects that involve advocacy, storytelling, and/or technology.
Peter’s father was always present, although he only knew of him by the sound of his voice on the phone and couple photos from an old album.
Peter grew up in a house of all-women; he had two sisters and his mother. Being the only boy, he always felt sort of a loner despite tha he was never really alone.
At home, Peter, always felt he was under a constrained set of rules: be polite, take a shower in the mornings and one in the evening before bed, don’t chew with your mouth open, hold the knife and fork properly when you eat, never leave the house without your mother’s consent, take care of your little sister, bring home good grades, and so on.
One thing is to travel and be captivated by a new place. In your eyes everything is new: the landscape, the costumes, the faces speaking a different language. All those are fascinating moments that leave you craving for that very thing even more; more traveling. Now, it’s a completely new feeling to visit your own country and find yourself just as moved by it. I was euphoric, home-sick, and curious all at the same time. In the past I only ‘liked’ the idea of visiting the ruins in Tiwanaku or walking in the salt flats, but I only ‘liked’ those ideas because I was born in Bolivia, these places were always close by. They never felt as alluring as seeing some foreign land that is far away. Today, having lived in another country, I get to come back and see Bolivia with the same allure that a tourist would.
This summer the idea of start looking for a job was sort of uncomfortable. It was not too excited about looking for a new job because despite of the gratitude I have towards my first graphic design job; which was just this past summer. The experience was not what I expected, and yes; it was a rewarding experience, rewarding in the sense that it helped me grow, taught me how to be more marketable, and I gained a lot organization skills. However, It was not creatively fulfilling. That is one thing, but another factor was that the abundant of work that school gave me, had left me with no time to actually start applying for jobs, I did not wanted to just apply anywhere. So I really wanted to research the places I was going to apply for. In my head I had planned to search for studios with a culture around their work.
The day before graduation I spent all day finishing an idea that I had come up with a long ago. I wanted to make a thank you card for my class. Unfortunately, I had not put too much time on the card until that day. Months before I had written the thank you note, made some sketches, and finished some of the illustration in the computer.
All these awesome people, they are the best part of my school experience. The photos turned out great! I love them all. The black and white setting in my camera was something I wanted to try but I had not gotten a chance to really capture something important, and graduation was the best opportunity I have had so far. Black and white photography just adds this layer of communication that enhances the subtle signs, a layer that color photography does not always have. Either this is because, the elegance of the monotone or the way in which the excessive color-punches seem to be iron out of the image. A black and white photo just highlights the moment’s atmosphere.
My thesis project is finally coming to an end. I only have one more week of classes and the printed version of my thesis is done, now I had turned the publication into a DPS, this is an acronym for the adobe products pack named: digital publication suite. This is the last assignment I have to do for school and I could not help but to think of that while I was completing it. Who has not thought of that time when your last-last assignment is complete. when all the assignments are over and is time to say I am done with school.
I know I did couple times, but this does not mean I disliked my assignments, I might have disliked something here and there, but thanks to them I put long days of work and also fun days of work. I enjoyed most of them because they gave me reasons to come to school and ask for feedback, troubleshoot problems, and spend time with my friends all at the same time. How can I not think about it, the fact that I am graduating it did not happened just by chance. All these past years I saw myself, and my friends, putting hours and hours of work into school projects like this, so that I see this last assignment with a bitter-sweet feeling.
Peter Verastegui 