This is the beginning of the week; a beginning which comes right on the heels of a very busy weekend … one of the those that leaves you feeling totally exhausted and needing of a, well, restful weekend to recuperate… Except that there won’t be one. It is late already in the day and this morning there was an English ESL class to give. Truly, it was not one of my better efforts and when the next class time comes around on Wednesday, I promise to give them twice as much … not of the same … but of the right stuff… This seems that is going to be one of those days when time moves awfully slowly, with every minute taking an hour or so; one of those days when the sun shines a little darker and the wind puffs a little stronger … and colder. Have you ever lived through one or two of these days? I think we all have, or will… there is no explanation, although in my case I will blame the long night and short sleep, following the long two weeks and the seemingly insurmountable amount of ad...

The above, the working motto of every addict in recovery (a lifetime journey), applies to personal situations as well. Especially when those situations touch the core of the individual, rocking the foundations of faith, of living, of believing. I have to admit that, in this area, much was learned from my son as well as from the many people who crossed my life path through him, and who were undergoing the same struggles he was. The concept of managing pain, anger, angst and just plain simple shock, goes back to minute by minute mind control. No, I do not refer to the kind of control which leads to forgetting what is the cause of this unbalance … that would be very selfish and impossible to do. I refer to the type of mind “control” which allows the process of digesting, accepting and, eventually, learning to coexist with what has happened.   Yes, we must come back to regular days and regular life, whatever that means. There is work to do, bills to pay, people to see an...

I am not sure why this topic came into my mind; as things stand, I am happy to be able to open my mind to subjects other than the one which has kept it painfully occupied during these past days . Perhaps because this is something I have dealt with for several years; perhaps because this morning I was able to go back and continue a “hobby” class that takes place a couple of mornings per week. The fact is, I thought about it when the computer opened to its customary blank page.  It has been over 30 years since I stood for the first time before a group of people from different countries and different walks of life and tried to understand what they were expressing, as well as trying to begin the long process of having them understand me. In that first class there were two students from France, one from Italy , two from Japan and one from  Russia . The classroom was a small room in a converted apartment on a 4 th floor, on East 46 th Street in Manhattan . It was tru...

It is said that it is best to, in order to be able to put life’s truly bitter moments behind, immerse oneself in whatever it is that will occupy the mind and –in this case- the heart as well. While there is really no possible way to ever fully put behind the events of this past week, we must go on; we must continue to struggle with our newly accented difficult circumstances and learn to cope with them at a functional level.  If  I do not do this, I am going to defile what my son’s life meant to me and this will not be done, so I will do what must be done. It will never cease to amaze me as to the incredible and truly unfortunate relevance of the different issues we liked to discuss and to “argue” about of late ( albeit in a friendly and joking manner ) whenever we had a chance to talk; whether in person ( far too few times since I came to NC ) or on the phone. This last communication medium allowed us to talk to each other for long periods of time; Eric really enjoyed be...

An Open Letter to my Dear Son… This past week, as your physical presence was taken from us, brought much pain into our lives; not only your family’s lives, but to all those lives whose path you crossed and, in doing so, made better. This past Saturday we had a celebration of of your incredible accomplishments son. The people who knew you and who loved you; those who knew you as a young man … and those who stood by you throughout your more difficult times. They were all there. Yes, I know … you definitely would not believe these many folks would come to remember you and to tell all how much they loved you and how much you impacted them; because of your constant inner struggles you were always self effacing my son, yet you had grown to be incredibly strong and made that strength an impacting presence in your relationships. I had a chance to think about the many different aspects of your life; about your inquisitiveness, your curiosity about all things … your thirst for knowle...

I wasn't sure I would write about this and put it on the blog … Yet, you who have read these entries have become sort of my extended family; some of you I know personally, some I haven’t but still you are all a part of this enterprise. This will likely be the last entry for this week; I hope to be able to resume next week … Eric Charles Alcazar 09/19/1978  -  10/18/2011   He had just turned 33 years old, his birthday being the day after my own 65 th … a wonderful birthday present many years ago; grown into a man-child who had just recently begun to experience the possibilities of looking ahead, and to dare think that his troubled world would permit him these illusions. As a young man, many issues and inner demons brought him often to the brink of desperation and well into the realm of frustration and depression. Yet, he always managed to remain a loving child, who simply craved that someone would care for and love him in return. The time we spent ove...

Well, not really … but it’s not a bad one liner to get the motor started and, in doing so, prove to myself that, indeed, an empty day it is not. Actually several issues are at the forefront,  some of them deal with the ever ongoing fight to get one of these transactions, which seem to be ready one day, only to find out the next that it was an illusion of sorts. The latest roadblock seems to be the ongoing financial crisis in Europe … major banks are hesitant to issue guarantee documents and minor, fringe banks are not acceptable. Maybe because these last are always ready to issue guarantee documents, even when these go beyond their declared assets … If we did this in our everyday account, we would be hit with an overdraft surcharge … but some of these same banks get away with the proverbial murder. I received last night an e-mail offer to have my name “numeroloread” ( there goes another coined word!!). It was a “free” offer to look at what the numbers have in store for ...

It had been some 30+ years since I had the opportunity to actually reach out and “touch someone” through the airwaves. Last night we had a chance to start a 30 minute weekly cast of this blog and it was well received by many of you, who took the time to write a note. Thank you… There were some definite rough edges with which to contend, but these I hope to be able to smooth out as time goes on. It was in New York City , around 1974, where my last opportunity to “do radio” came around. In fact, as my mind was wandering around just before the time for the cast, thoughts about those days came bounding in … The Studio ... a favorite place My life as a recently made bachelor was OK; during the day I would work in sales, the weekends were devoted to the local radio station in Stamford , CT , where I then lived and 3 nights a week there was school to tend to. Pretty full plate … One of my pastimes back then was geometric design … this is a cool way to say that I couldn’t dra...

Hi ... today is an off day, but this is just to remind YOU that THIS Sunday (10/16) we will be "On Air", coming to you through Blog Talk Radio ... this momentous event will happen at 6:30pm (18:30 hrs) Easter Standard Time (GT - 5Hrs) and all you have to do is follow this link ... if this doesn't work ... then cut and paste ... but BE THERE!!!  I look forward to talking with you and making this crazy idea grow like wildfire...   Remember ... your comments to :  otherboxp@yahoo.com                            http://www.blogtalkradio.com/theotherbox     Be There!!!

Yesterday was an off day. As usual, this was so due to unforeseen circumstances, not really planned. I guess I could blame Cheito… He had told me that I would receive something in the “easemail” to put in, about the time he was away … nothing came in and as he said when I finally got a hold of him… “Mi’rmano.. the little princess wanted to go see “Mini an Micky” mouse at the Hialeah Park Fair… How can I say no to my little princess?” … I wasn't ready to fill in. He sent something last night and promised he would finish it “as soon as I can” … … “CACHITA, M’ija… mira que no encuentro las chancletas…” ( Ed.Note… lose translation: “Cachita, baby… I can’t find the flip flops” ) “Caray, cuantas veces … how many times I gotta tell you to put them unner the bed?” Just this morning I tol’her not to mess with my flips. “Man!! When I NEED THEM, I NEED’M” We just come back from a trip to the Everygleids ( EdNote… SIC!) and we had a cool and roff ( EdNote… just sound these th...