Fencing Masters NYC 2012 –)———

After a great athlete’s reception at the New York Athletic Club, I’m excited for today’s event. Fencing Masters is the largest spectator event for fencing in North America and, possibly, in all of the Americas. This event will make history as the largest that Fencing Masters has ever been!

I was lucky enough to get a sneak preview today/yesterday (it’s late and I haven’t gone to bed yet) of some of what will be happening tomorrow evening and it is quite literally going to be epic. I’m so proud to be a part of the team that helped to organize this! For more info click on this link. I’ll give everyone another update tomorrow! Good night:)

The Zen Fencing Master On My Olympic Journey

I came across this cute image of a Zen Fencing Master

A fencing master once ordered his student to drink a cup of tomato juice. “Once you imbibe its contents, tip the glass and report back to me,” he said.

The student, expecting his usual tactical lesson, exits the room to begrudgingly fulfill his fencing master’s request. He drinks a full cup of tomato juice, as dictated and then tips the cup.

“What did you see after tipping the cup and looking inside?” asked the fencing master.

“I only saw the bottom of the cup, of course,” answered the student.

“Then you did not do as I instructed,” the fencing master patiently replied and then promptly ordered him to conduct the same task. Once again the student reported having seen the same bottom of the same cup and once again he was ordered back to the tomato juice.

Twenty-six cups later, the student returns bloated from the heavy fluids and nauseas from the heavy salts his body now contained. After the reporting the same answer for the twenty-sixth time, he is once again patiently ordered to repeat the same task.

The fencing student is now feeling quite ill but obediently hobbles away to perform the task.

This time however, he is able to see differently. As he pours the tomato juice into his cup, still woozy and nauseated and barely thinking about finding the “right” answer, he notes the brilliant red color of the tomato juice and the smell that, although sweet, now makes him want to gag. As he sips it, he feels his thoat closing around the pulpy juice and his stomach begins to tighten. As he peers into the now empty cup, he observes that it’s not empty at all and that a thick layer of pulpy red still remained loosely layered at the bottom of the cup.

He sat for a moment and watched the streams of fleshy juice particles collect at the base of the tipped cup. He watched even longer and saw tiny pulpy pieces that seemed to be sliding at their own pace down the smooth glass surface. Some formed their own streams and the joined other pulpy beings to forge their journey together. Still others resisted gravity and remained for a great while holding onto that glass wall until its collected potential energy turned kinetic and it formed its own tiny stream. Sometimes the pattern of the stream looked straight, other times it was more curvilinear, and still other times it was a wild zig zag, or perhaps it was a combination of the three. That withstanding, every stream was begun by one pulpy leader and then followed and forged by other pulpy pieces who joined the first pulpy piece. Most importantly though, every path was unique and so had to form in its own time.

The fencing student then reported this to his fencing master and the fencing master seemed pleased. He said, “That is your tactical lesson for the day. Next time that you want to win a medal, or make a National Team, or qualify for the Olympic Games, remember those pulpy tomato pieces. Most people finish a cup of juice or finish out a season or an Olympic quadrennial and think that their cup is empty; But if they observe more closely, they would see that the most interesting process has just begun and that, like the pulpy tomato pieces, each being moves in its own time and in a unique stream.”

The 2016 Olympic Games will be hosted by Rio de Janeiro. One of my favorite cities and the first Olympics held in South America, where much of my family lives!

So here I am in Virginia Beach where US Nationals is being held. I’m ranked in the top 8 nationally but it’s no longer numerically possible for me to make the 2012 US Olympic Team. I should probably feel distraught but I actually  feel more motivated than ever. I am going into the 2016 Olympic quadrennial armed with the experience of the last quadrennial. I’ve come so close that I could taste it and I still know in my heart that this is totally possible and that with hard work and the right attitude, my Olympic dreams could come to fruition. Thank you to all of my friends, family, and sponsors who have been behind me this far. As the fictional zen master said in a story drawn up from my sometimes overactive imagination, “the most exciting part of the journey is just beginning.”

In celebration of my favorite fruit, the tomato, I just had to share these images from the largest tomato celebration on the planet, La Tomatina!

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What I Discovered Under the Weather

The well-known Sheraton Hotel in Doha is one of the first hotels for tourists and was built before the recent tourist boom. Also, it is one of the few places in the country where one can order an alcoholic drink. There is a loophole in the law that allows private clubs within hotels to sell alcohol.

I was a bit under the weather in the 2 weeks leading up to the first World Cup of the season in Doha, Qatar. That meant that in training I didn’t have quite the same amount of energy as usual so I had to really reserve my energy for when it would be most important to do so. I stuck with the few actions and preparations that I do best and I hardly ever veared away from that. I learned in those two weeks the value of sticking to a game plan and the benefits of having a limited yet focused game. Instead of jumping to brand new and oftentimes little practiced actions when something didn’t work, I instead adjusted my action slightly to better suit the situation.

Christian Rivera (who is my teammate, strip coach, friend, one of the best at

Before the discovery of oil, Qatar was a British protectorate whose economy relied on Pearl Fishing. The boats pictured are Pearl Fishing boats, an industry that still exists in Qatar. Many of the fencers bought strands upon strands of beautiful pearl necklaces at the Souq for very cheap.

athletic mental preparation (I sincerely credit him with helping me through my Division 1A Nationals win  years ago) says that the French grip requires a very disciplined game. We’ll see how the season unfolds with regards to this newly-found philosophy.

A Series of Catastrophic Events… Man Pinned to Tracks and Killed by L Train!

New York, NY– Early this Saturday morning, after a 2-hour journey that turned out to be a wild 6 am goose chase, alternating from snow-trekking to subway riding (long story), I began home hoping to recover what was left of a tired, snowy morning. I take the 4 train downtown to Union Square and when I get to the last leg of this arduous journey I see that there is pink (not red, not yellow… but pink!) tape blocking off the entrances to the L-train ramp. The day started off in a tragic way and I had a weird feeling when I finally got home to my Brooklyn apartment. “A man died on the L this morning!!!” my roommate explained. So here is the answer to my question as to the unexpected rerouting earlier that morning.

According to the Associated Press a man was pinned onto the L-train tracks between 3rd Ave and Union Square. A Brooklyn-bound train seems to have struck him shortly after 8am on today’s snowy morning. There was an announcement on some L trains that there was an “investigation” along the L-train which caused tracks between Bedford and 8th Ave to get shut down. This of course perked-up everyone’s curiosity. MTA and NYPD officials stated this morning that they had not yet known why this man was “pinned” to the tracks nor who or if anyone was responsible for the pinning.

Information on this man has not yet been released but the rumor on the street however is that this man was 20 years old. I take the Brooklyn-bound train everyday from practice and from work. This seems to be the second man killed by a Brooklyn bound L train near Union Square (the last one was a 69-year old man last May) in less than a year. I think that occasionally I will not help it and I’ll come to think of these sad incidents, especially the latter that seems to be riddled by questions and mystery. 

Celebrate New Years Latina Style

Fireworks are common throughout the world for New Years as in this beach in Mexico

For years growing up my mother would tell me that New Years is a family celebration. This was quite contrary to the American partying tradition that I was exposed to every year. For years this has been a minor debate, yet a debate none-the-less. So the question is party-time or family-time? Also what are some other Latino traditions?…

The answer for Latin America is both and it just depends on where you are. In some countries like Argentina and Costa Rica, New Years is family time. In Ecuador, people take to the streets and party it up at the discotequas… And in some places, like much of Mexico and Spain, you begin the evening with your family perhaps even at another family’s house. Then after midnight (once you’ve eaten all of your grapes), you party up the remainder of the night.

When Latin America was colonized by Spain and Portugal, a number of Native American traditions mixed with the Spanish and Portugese ones. Below are some   of my favorite New Year’s traditions that epitomize the Latino New Year’s traditions:

12 uvas/ 12 grapes the most Latino of all New Years traditions comes directly from Spain

12 grapes… This tradition originally comes from Spain. Make sure to eat 12 grapes and to make 12 wishes with each one. In Mexico, one downs a grape with each of the twelve chimes of the bell during the midnight countdown.

Wearing underwear of a certain color. In my Argentine family we’ve always worn red underwear, por amor y suerte. Typically, however, blue underwear is worn in Argentina to signify prosperity. In Mexico, yellow is the color of choice and in Mexico yellow is worn to signify luck with money or happiness (depends on who you ask) in the coming year.

The luggage run… So I did this last year at a 2010/2011 New Year’s celebration and guess what? I traveled more than I ever have! In 2011 I visited 11 countries on 4 continents… Which means that this one must work! Originally, the tradition comes from Costa Rica but is now celebrated across Mexico, Central America, and much of the South Western United States too.

Swimming… This one is from my beloved Argentina, especially along the coasts. In Puerto Rico this is also common and I’ve even heard of certain PR coastal towns that practice running to the beach backwards and then jumping into the water backwards as well.

Toasting with a bill of high value is also another way to ensure luck with money in the coming year.

The New Years Fireworks Show on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro

NAACP Has Dragged Its Feet in Saying “No Mo ‘Paio”

Sheriff Joe stands in front of a group of prisoners on the chain gang

Reverend Warren Stewart, Phoenix City Councilman Michael Johnson, and nearly 2 dozen Black community leaders, along with leaders from The National Urban League and the NAACP stood on the steps of the US Courthouse yesterday to call for Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s resignation. The outcry came nearly 2 weeks after the US Department of Justice released a statement following a 3 and a half year Civil Rights investigation on the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office. While the media is semi-congratulatory I’m left wondering why the NAACP has waited this long to take a definitive stance???

Phoenix NAACP President Oscar Tillman has puzzlingly been a long time supporter of Sheriff Joe

As a Native Arizonan, I have participated in a number of immigrant rights and civil rights events. I have only seen the NAACP at 1 event ever! Present at the US Courthouse calling for Sheriff Joe’s resignation was longtime Joe Arpaio supporter and President of Phoenix NAACP, Oscar Tillman. When asked about Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Tillman seemed to be giving lukewarm responses to the media and even said that he considers Joe Arpaio to be a friend. Is this really a leader of one of the largest and historically most respected civil rights organizations in the US?!!

Since June of 2008 the US Justice Dept has conducted an exhaustive investigation on Civil Rights violations at the hands of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office. They released a statement on Dec 15, 2011 stating the they have “reasonable cause to believe that MCSO engages in a pattern or practice of violating the Constitution and laws of the United States in 3 areas.”

In one of his many publicity stunts, Sheriff Joe holds up a pair of his famed pink underwear given to inmates in Maricopa County.

“1. We found that MCSO engages in a pattern or practice of unconstitutional policing; specifically, MCSO engages in racial profiling of Latinos, and unlawfully stops, detains and arrests Latinos.”

“… 2. We found that MCSO unlawfully retaliates against people who criticize its policies and practices.

“3. We found reasonable cause to believe that MCSO operates its jails in a manner that discriminates against Latino inmates that are limited English proficient.”

Additionally, the report states, “…our expert found that Latino drivers were four to nine times more likely to be stopped than similarly situated non-Latino drivers.” The Dept of Justice says that the investigation is ongoing as it also found other areas of “serious concern.”

• 1. use of force. We uncovered a number of troubling incidents involving use of excessive force, and we will continue to look carefully at this issue.
• 2. failure to provide adequate policing services in Latino communities; and
• 3. failure to adequately investigate allegations of sexual assaults.

Angered Arizonans have been attending protests and rallies by the thousands following contentious laws such as SB1070 and the 287(g) program. In this 2010 Anti-SB1070 march an estimated 50,000 protesters attended, including me!

The statement from the Department of Justice concluded that,

“In short, MCSO is broken in a number of critical respects.    The problems are deeply rooted in MCSO’s culture, and are compounded by MCSO’s penchant for retaliation against people who speak out against them…  It is clear to me that this community is divided, and it is time to heal”

The Department of Justice is currently conducting community outreach to Maricopa County and its surrounding areas. If you have relevant stories, information, or comments to share to this investigation please contact the USDOJ at 877-613-2137 or community.maricopa@usdoj.gov. Also, make sure to read the statement that the Department of Justice released earlier this month.

Christmas in the Desert

 Growing up as a desert child I felt that the way that Christmas was portrayed on television and in story-books was completely irrelevant to my own experiences of Christmas. In these far-away New England settings children whose parents would tell them not to track snow into the house would sip hot chocolate under warm blankets perhaps even by a brick fireplace. Snowmen would come to life and their yards would be blanketed by glittering snow. Christmas lights would fill icicles with brilliant colors and a sled would be an appropriate gift to receive on Christmas morning.

Christmas Cacti... Cactus Gardens are Oftentimes Decorated with Festive Strands of Light

In contrast, I would see adobe houses with wreaths on the outside and cacti would be lit up instead of trees. We consistently enjoy mid-50 to mid-60 degree weather during this time and so people are more likely to wear flip flops than scarves… Which made me really critique Santa’s outfit and why he would have to wear such heavy material with fur lining? In addition, Christmas music conjured up mere apathy rather than festive joy… And with songs like Let It Snow, who would ever expect a child in the Valley of the Sun to relate to that?

The Humble Tree off of the Interstate-17 is an Arizona wonder. For over 3 decades it has been secretly decorated, always around Thanksgiving. It's so tacky that it's precious!

Having felt marginalized from the joyous Christmas that these snow-laden creatures were seeming to enjoy so much, I never developed a taste for commercial Christmas. Instead I developed my own impressions to what the holiday season was all about and how it was best celebrated. Here are a few things that my family and I do around this time that epitomizes what a Desert Christmas is all about:

1. Las Posadas Due to the deep Hispanic ancestry of the South West, “Las Posadas” are celebrated in pueblos and urban Hispanic communities throughout the South West preceding the 9 days of Christmas… Other specific masses include Children’s Mass and Mariachi Mass. All very common to me, but unheard of in popular American movies, television, and story books.

3. Warm cups of Champurrado and a bowl of Posole. Champurrado is a Mexican/South Western version of hot chocolate and Posole is a traditional winter-time soup (I’m a vegetarian so I usually just smell the soup and watch my sister eat it).

Sedona in Late December. The High Altitude Lends Itself to Thin Blankets of Snow.

2. Sedona 5 years ago my brother joined the Marine Corps. My Mother was so heartbroken at my brother’s absence that on that Christmas we started a new, more spiritual tradition. We now spend every Christmas hiking to the pinnacle of Bell Mountain (a Mountain famed for its powerful energy vortex) where we often find trails of ice and bits of snow.

3. Decorate a Cactus. What can I say, we don’t have many trees here so we have to make do.

The LDS Temple in Mesa Has Elaborately Decorated Gardens Surrounding Their Pool

4. Visit Lit Gardens The Temple gardens at the LDS Temple in Mesa is perhaps one of the more unexpectedly beautiful sites. Mesa is a suburb of Phoenix founded first by the Hohokam Tribe 2,000 years ago and then later settled during a Mormon expedition lead by a  Daniel Webster Jones. To this day there is a strong Mormon presence in Mesa.

5. Longboarding… lots of longboarding! Why?… The weather is great during for hours-long rides on your board. Riding in downtown Phoenix and then ending up at the Civic Space Parkin time to watch the sunset next to the Janet Echelman sculpture

Janet Echelman's breathtakig sculpture at the Civic Space Park in Downtown Phoenix.

Kim Jong Il is dead, North Korea Awaits Transition!

Kim Jung Il before delivering a speach

Moments ago North Korean State Television announced that its leader (and feared dictator) has died. Most reports seem to agree that he suffered myocardial infarction (a heart attack) while traveling by train to Pyongyang. His death occurred on Saturday, December 17 but it was not announced until Monday, December 19.

Kim assumed power in July 1994 after the death of his father, Kim Il Sung, the founder of North Korea in 1948. Since Kim took power in 1994 the country has seen considerable economic decline and North Koreans have experienced widespread poverty.

Kim’s selling of arms, building of nuclear weapons and threatening to use them against entities he disliked while at the same time isolating the people of his country earned him an unsavory reputation (to put it mildly).

Hunger and Destitution are Among North Korea's greatest problems. This picture was taken in Pyongyang at about the time the North Korea celebrated its 60 year anniversary as a great power.

Personally, I was shocked when I found out! I’ve heard reports that he has been sick and might have suffered a stroke but then again I’ve heard similar reports about the failing health of Fidel Castro, the communist leader of Cuba. Kim’s youngest son, Kim Jong Eun, has been announced as his successor. Kim Jong Eun is about 27 years old and a 4-star general in the North Korean military. Is anyone else concerned that a 27-year-old will be running this tumultuous country? Then again, this could be one of the best things to happen to North Korea in 63 years! Here is a picture of the new and young  ”eternal president”:

Check out this National Geographic special on North Korea. Reporter Lisa Ling gets a rare glimpse inside this fascinatingly  isolated country:

Pulitzer-Prize Winning Journalist Comes Out As An ‘Illegal Alien’ in the Times

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas announced to the world that he is an undocumented immigrant last June…

Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas comes out about his legal status in a story published by the New York Times

Since his ‘coming out’ he has founded an organization called ‘Define American‘ which seeks to spark public debate by asking the question ‘what is American’. Like many Americans, I celebrated Thanksgiving with my family and close friends, who happen to be of mixed legal status. I found myself asking this same question, what is American? Here is a little about Jose Antonio Vargas, the accomplished journalist who is one of the many Americans that I call ‘non-citizen Americans’ and who are also sadly known as ‘illegals’.

Jose Antonio Vargas speaking at Campus Progress

Vargas has attained jobs and internships at The Washington Post, New Yorker Magazine, Rolling Stone Magazine, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Huffington Post, and the Philadelphia Daily News (just to name a few). While writing for the Washington Post,  Vargas won a shared Pulitzer Prize for journalism after reporting on the deadly Virginia Tech Shootings.  Soon after accepting a position at the Huffington Post, Vargas wrote a series on HIV/AIDS. The series was later turned into an award-winning documentary The Other City and is now being picked up by showtime (due to air December 1).

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Also, click here to make sure to read the original story that Vargas wrote for the New York Times where he made a public declaration about his legal status!

Watergraves: The Ivan Rivera-Betty Goodwin Connection

The first of Ivan Rivera's new series 'Ophelia' based off of his friend's mother who committed suicide over 20 years ago

It was Museum day in Montreal and I found myself crying. It was the first time that an art piece had ever made me cry. It was also the day after competing in one of my first World Cups. It was my debut tournament after making a drastic change to my game… I began using a french grip instead of a pistol grip. After receiving quite a bit of flak from the US Men’s Epeeists, I came out of my pool with 4 wins and 2 losses. I successfully made it past the first day. Despite hearing comments that I shouldn’t have picked a World Cup to start competing with a new grip, I remember that my coach back home, Adrian Calcisca, had told me to do what I felt in my heart. So I brought both pistol and french grips to the tournament and when the time came, I felt like competing with my new french and so I did just that. I had made it past that first day with one of my best world cup pool results for that time and in the second day I lost to a French fencer also called Natalie (but with an H). I wasn’t yet fast and strong enough to withstand her hard beats to the blade. I knew what I needed to work on for my next tournament…

A painting from Betty Goodwin's 'Nerves' series... Similar to the painting I experienced on Museum Day!

The next day my teammate and I made our Museum rounds and celebrated this unheard of (to us at least) holiday. I soon found myself in front of a painting crying. I had heard of people walking before artworks by great masters and lesser known artists too and just bawling but I had never experienced this myself. I thought I had fallen in love. The object of my new-found love?… A recently deceased octogenarian called Betty Goodwin. Her work focuses on life and death and is atypical in that the theme of her work never changes but she uses a variety of mediums (painting, drawing, sculpture, collage, murals, etc.) to express the same theme.

The painting was of a human form with blue and red vertical, organically shaped striations. At first I thought that these striations were tree roots, but as I peered at the painting even longer they began to look like human veins and arteries. The roots, the veins, they were one! This struck such a powerful cord in me that I couldn’t help but to just let the tears flow.

"Passing Through" by Betty Goodwin

I had almost forgotten about this experience until recently after coming across Ivan Rivera’s latest series of completed works at the Orchard Windows Gallery in the Lower East Side. I was previously familiar with Ivan’s work and I had always been attracted to one particular painting of his but it wasn’t until recently that he explained the painting to me.  ”Watergraves,” he said. The mother of a friend, Ophelia, had committed suicide by drowning and the visual that he had imagined created such an impression that nearly 20 years later he began a series called Ophelia. This two-panel piece, the first of the series and the one that I had been attracted to, has a dark form near the bottom of the painting (Ophelia) and vertical striations that look like deep tree roots. The water looks like a deep, algae-filled pool.

In the moment that he began explaining this new series I remembered the feelings I had so quickly acquired for the late Betty Goodwin years earlier. It’s funny that I had quickly began this spiral of memories as ‘memories’ is a reocurring theme in Ivan’s work. His last series dealt with memories and the loss of those memories when they are never reinforced through conversation or pictures. Memories from such events as death, divorce, and other tragedy that is oftentimes not discussed or documented become little thought islands that drift off somewhere into our subconscious. Sometimes entire periods of our lives (months or even years) are forgotten.

You can see more of Ivan’s work at www.piaculum.com

'Water Ice' from Ivan Rivera's 'Places Unknown' series