The Pigeons Wanted Me To Watch Them Make Love

Memorial Day was kind of interesting for me.

I was a little down yesterday during the holiday. It was a combination of being stressed out along with remembering what the holiday was about. I honor the troops for their courage and determination to save our country. So to continue hearing the number of troops that passed away to protect our country, it gets me at times. Since I was stressed out yesterday, the holiday came down on me, and made me extra miserable.

I couldn't write any ideas. All I could do was walk around the city and try to gather my thoughts. It worked out a little bit. Walking always does. I stopped by a park and sat down on a bench under a tree where the shade was. For thirty minutes, I was gathering my thoughts. Doing my best to put a smile on my face again.

While sitting down on the bench, I looked down at this crowd of pigeons that were just hanging around, looking for food. The everyday thing that pigeons do. I always tend to look at the babies more. I laugh every time they speak bird tongue. Plus, they're incredibly quick. They'll fly away and be out of the park within seconds.

Two people were sitting on the other side and feeding them fries. Once they hit the ground, the pigeons are grabbing them within seconds. It was hard for me not to watch this fun show going on in front of me. It was helping the smile return to my face.

I looked to the right and there were two pigeons that stood out in the crowd. I was able to tell which one was a male and which one was a female just by looking in their eyes. They started going through a lovey dovey phase by getting all affectionate towards each other. I didn't want to disturb them. So I looked away.

As I'm looking away, I could feel something staring real hard at me. You just have that gut feeling that someone or something is staring at you. I turned around and there I saw the two pigeons staring real hard at me. It was a three second stare down, which they obviously won. When I saw they were looking at them they started becoming affectionate again. I turned away and thought it was a coincidence. Then they began staring at me again when they thought I wasn't looking at them. I automatically assume that they wanted an audience to see how they express their love.

By the fifth turn, the male pigeon decided to jump on the female. That was when I knew it was time to leave. I knew they wanted me to be affectionate, but I didn't know it was heading to the point when they wanted an audience to watch them go all the way to third base.

Ain't that something to see on Memorial Day?

Fitting Room Disaster With The Skinny Jeans

I walked into the store Gap one day for the first time. I was cruising around the city and happened to walk into the mall. Walking into that store felt like exploring an expensive world. Everything around them was crazy expensive. The reason why I went there was due to the fact that it was the only place where I could buy skinny jeans.

I have a small 28 waist. Everyone knows it's hard to find pants for men who has a waist below 30. I'm naturally thin and I ain't getting bigger. Blame the metabolism. It's hard for me to find pants my size when they assume every male in this world is going to be huge.

When skinny jeans came up I thought it was a miracle. I thought someone has finally heard my whispers for shorter pants. I took the opportunity instantly.

I walked into Gap and asked for a pair of skinny jeans. They had a whole section made for skinny jeans. I asked her for a size 28 and I instantly walked into the fitting room. I was so excited.

Little did I know that when they say they are skinny jeans, they're not kidding. The size 28 couldn't fit me at first. The first ten minutes was all about putting them on and stopping it from fighting with my long johns. It was mid-winter. Give me a break.

It was halfway up to my waist. I felt the only choice I had was to jump. So with all my power, I jumped and pulled up the jeans. It came all the way to my waist, but I forgot I was wearing socks. When I landed, my socks made me slide and I fell down while hitting my head on the fitting room mirror. 

I may have had a temporary headache, but at least my skinny jeans fitted.

I Can't Look At Hand Sanitizer The Same Way Anymore

It's been weeks since news broke out about this. We are supposed to be over it, right? For me, that's impossible.

You remember the news about the teenagers who were drinking hand sanitizer because there was 65% alcohol in it? In the beginning, it was a media firestorm. I wanted to figure out who started that movement. I would've personally said to him "What makes you think the alcohol in the sanitizer is the same alcohol that people drink?"

That's insane.

It's been weeks since that happened. Teens stopped consuming them ever since they found out that two were hospitalized for doing it. It was a tiny moment that we expected to leave our heads. That's just not the case with me. Ever since that incident it's been hard for me to look at hand sanitizer. Every time I see a bottle of it, I get a automatic flashback, and feel disgusted.

I walked to the general store and there were these tiny bottles of hand sanitizer in full display. It felt like a jinx. Right next to them were matches. My first thought was to grab a match and set them on fire. But after realizing what happens when alcohol and fire comes together, I changed my mind.

Eventually, I'll get over this phase of feeling disgusted by hand sanitizer. But right now, I'm just turning my head.

Submarine Diving In The Lady's Restroom?

Three days ago, I was hanging out at the mall, trying to get all of my writing done. I was giving my best friend from Pittsburgh a helping hand at the same time. It was a unique balance between writing, emailing my best friend, and consuming a colossal amount of root beer at the same time. Sounds like a 21st century western film. Who wants to make one?

The night was coming in less than two hours. I finished everything as fast as I could because I wanted to feel more sunlight before the night came. I know some people want to stay in shade. However, I want to be hit by the sun. It comes from my love for the beaches. Miami, FL is my second favorite city in the world. I just like getting in the water, swimming, coming out, laying down, and soaking up that sunlight.

Before I left the mall, I ran to the restroom to let everything come out of my system. Where I wanted to go to was 16 blocks away. I didn't want to take a chance and wait to go to the restroom then. I walked inside and sat down at the nearest toilet with the door closed and locked it.

I will admit that while sitting down on the toilet, I was having a good peaceful couple of minutes. It was complete silence in the room. No one was making any noise. The only noise I could hear were the sound of things coming out the back door.

When I was almost done, I began hearing a loud noise going off on the other side of the wall. I knew that sound anywhere. It was the sound submarines give when they are begin diving. Then I began to hear water moving at an uncontrollable rate.

I looked behind to face the wall and said "Why is that noise coming from the lady's restroom?"

I finished myself up and walked out of that restroom as fast as I could. I've heard of submarines diving, but I have never heard it coming from the lady's restroom before.

It's Raining Termites, Not Rain

I've come to the point where I don't trust my local weather channel anymore. I've given them so many chances, but my patience has reached it's limit when it comes to them.

I was at the mall doing some writing when I looked at the television they had, and saw our local news station. They told us that there was going to be a 50% chance of rain that night. I looked at my watch and saw that the night was going to arrive in two hours. So I packed up my things, went over to my friend's house to help him out, and began walking back to the house before the night arrived.

On the way, I realized I didn't have anything to eat. My stomach was growling like a monster, which made it hard for me to resist buying something to fill it up. I remembered that there was a Rally's three blocks away. I felt that was a good opportunity for me. I haven't had Rally's in a long time and I was at the point where I was missing their french fries. My only wish is that they can just lower their prices. 

I can dream. Can't I?

When I made it to Rally's, night was a few minutes away. I thought I was just going to get my food and get out. That didn't happen due to the slow employees who were doing more talking than working. Five cars were in the drive-thru for ten minutes, waiting for their food to arrive . Me and three other people were standing outside, waiting for those employees to stop getting distracted from the cars and themselves.

Eventually, I finally made my order. I realized then that it was going to take longer for my food to arrive. I had to remind them three times to make my all American cheeseburger. I was shocked at how distracted these employees could easily get. 

I kept looking at the clouds due to my fear that the rain was going to arrive while I was outside. Within minutes, the total opposite happened. The clouds cleared up and the termites began swarming. They came out of the blue and covered the night sky within seconds. It was raining alright, but not the kind of rain that gets you wet.

Since there was no inside, I had to keep the termites off me for fifteen minutes. It was one smack after the next that I was giving my body. The termites were driving me nuts. I smacked myself in the face so many times I was shocked my glasses fell off my face just that one time. There were moments when I thought I was going to break the glass and tell them to hurry up.

My food finally arrived and I ran back to the house as fast as I could. Thanks for the heads up Mr. Weatherman.

New MUSED Magazine Feature: Why I Opposed Gay Marriage-By A Gay Man

I normally back away from writing and talking about anything related to politics. I can give you a million reasons why I never want to be a part of politics, but I choose not to. However, when the editor-in-chief asked us to write a piece on same-sex marriage, I felt I had something to say about. I grabbed the opportunity and began writing this feature.

I remained as a far away from politics as I could with this feature. I didn't want there to be a single layer of it in it. What I did is give you guys a personal perspective on this topic. I talk about why as I originally didn't support same-sex marriage as a gay male myself. I talk about being a skeptic of marriage. I even talk about this wonderful same-sex couple that I met whose stories left my breathless.

Click on the picture to read my new feature. I loved writing and I hope you will enjoy reading it.

Taking The Bike Home

My bike is officially broken. There is nothing I can do. I've taken it to the shop numerous times and the same thing keeps happening. I have spent $40 on the repairs and seeing the same thing happen made me realize that this bike is officially broken. I don't have a problem with that. It was quite funny though when it broke down the first time.

I was riding into the city, getting ready to enjoy another hangout with my friends. I parked it a few blocks before the main street, so that I could avoid traffic. My friends and I had a great time. It felt like a reunion since we haven't seen each other in a long time. We all have busy schedules and it's been a while since we've seen each other. So it was great that we could just sit down for dinner and enjoy each other's company all over again.

When the night arrived we all knew that it was time to leave. We said our goodbyes and I walked back to the location where I left my bike. I grabbed each of their phone numbers so that we could be in contact with each other, and walked away.

I arrived back and the back tire was flat. It was totally unexpected. I walked away one minute. Then the next minute, I have a flat tire. In the beginning, I thought it was an accident or something. But I found out  later what was the reason for the flat tire.

My house was at least sixteen blocks away. I didn't want to keep my bike behind for days. After all, the bike shop was two blocks away from my house. It would be ridiculous to leave it sixteen blocks away from it.

For the next hour, I was carrying the bike back to the house with all my strength. My sides cramped up a few times. There were also moments when I had to take it down and roll to the house. The tire would come out once every two blocks and I had to stop in order to put it back together.

I finally arrived at the house. The bike was parked into the side. My hands had to be washed up because of all the oil that was covering my hands. I'm not taking it back for repairs. So it remains exactly where I left it .

Definitely The Wrong Number

There was a time when I was contacting my friends in New York City through emails alone. It was a constant 24/7 thing when it came to wanting to talk to my New York friends. If a day went by and I didn't send them an email, I would be so mad at myself. That's how it was back then when we were getting closer to each other. Now it's more like emailing each other when we get the chance. But we do our best to make sure it's as quick as we can.

Years have passed and we were still staying in contact through emails. I reached the point where I wanted to hear their voices on the other line of my cell phone as well. I knew what they sounded like, but I wanted to have their phone numbers. Emails are great, but I wanted to be in contact with them more than just one way.

Eventually, they finally gave me their phone number. I was so ecstatic. I wasn't going to blow up their phones or anything. It was just great that I had another way to get in contact with them. I felt they were teasing me when it came to that. There I was begging for a phone number and they decided to play with my emotions. Isn't that a funny way to show your friend how much you love him/her?

The day finally came that I decided to call them. I was walking around in the park and got bored. I wanted to converse with someone and my cell phone was right there in my hands. I dialed the number and the conversation began like this:

Voice: Hello

Me: HELLO PAL. THIS IS YOUR BUDDY ROQUE CASTON. I'M SO GLAD TO FINALLY GET A CHANCE TO TALK TO YOU. IT'S BEEN SUCH A LONG TIME. I'M FINALLY TALKING TO MY NEW YORK FRIEND ON THE PHONE. THE SOON TO BE BIG STAR. HOW ARE YOU?

Voice: Uh....who is this? 

Me: Sorry, wrong number.

Good job my New York City friends. Good job.

Guest Article: How-To Enjoy The Single Life

I just finished writing this guest article for the website Knoji. I can't believe it's been six months since I stopped writing for the website. It felt like a huge reunion that to come back and write a guest article for them. I'm not returning.

I wrote a new how-to article for Knoji called "How To Enjoy The Single Life". It's my 60th article, which really shocked me. I can't believe for two years, I've learned and taught people how to do 60 different things. I read the views. You guys are awesome.

Well I hope you guys enjoy this article. I loved writing it and I know you'll enjoy reading it. Click on the picture to read the article.

My Neighbors Became My New Alarm Clock

I will have new neighbors soon. They bought the houses that were wrecked by Hurricane Katrina and  restored them to their wonderful beauty. I met the people that are moving into the neighborhood and they are wonderful. When I get the chance to see them it's always great. I never have time to see them due to my crazy schedule.

During the process of rebuilding the houses, I've had to tolerate a lot of noises coming from over there. One minute, I'm hearing hammers. The next minute, I'm hearing wood getting cut. Some of the builders are Mexican. So I hear their Spanish accents all the time as well.

I've been dealing with this for almost two months. I used to think it was annoying, but I actually like it now. Months ago, my schedule used to dramatically change my sleeping patterns. I used to wake up in the afternoon all the time and skip the morning. I open my eyes, look over at the clock, and it's noon right on the spot.

Now everything has changed thanks to the neighbors.

In the beginning, I used to get incredibly annoyed by what was going on over there. I would wake up at 10 a.m. after being interrupted in my sleep by hammering and loud accents. I couldn't go back to sleep. So I had to continue the day. Five days later, it became a normal thing. I would wake up from the sound of hammering at 10 a.m. and start the day just like that. My sleeping patterns have changed and I'm now waking up in the morning.

My neighbors have become my new alarm clock. It's going to be sad when they stop building.

New MUSED Magazine Feature- Settling For Less: Love Yourself First

When I hear the phrase “settling for less,” I get automatic flashbacks from my own personal life to my family and friends. Those three words have a huge backstory behind it for me; the question is whether it’s good or bad.

Some people date below their own standards for various reasons, whether because of some insecurities or self-hatred, and they settle for someone who does them no favors, someone who is the definition of disrespect and even abuse.

Click on the picture to read the rest of my feature for MUSED Magazine.