Time to Act

I’ve written a lot of stuff, and now it’s time to act upon it. Perhaps I’ll check back here later when I have more time. If not, thanks for reading.

Take care,

Joe

Summer of Change

“Quarter Pounder” has been changed to “Summer of Change”, because it’s more than just dropping some pounds that I want to accomplish. It’s going to be a motivating documentary on how to achieve your goals, how to remain a kid at heart, and how to really appreciate life.

So many days go by where we all just take things for granted, and it usually takes something tragic to make you appreciate everything. Well, everyone says to live everyday like it’s your last, and to work towards your dreams because with hard work you can achieve anything. Are these statements true? Or are they just nice things to say to somebody who is down in the dumps? These are things I want to figure out.

I have everything I could possibly want in way of a family, home, and toys. But there is still a void inside that I want to fill. I want to fulfill my personal goals while maintaining my priorities of a husband and father. People use the excuse that they didn’t accomplish what they wanted in life because they had kids or got married young. Well, I got married at 23 and we welcomed our baby girl a year after that. Those shouldn’t be excuses, they should be added motivation to live up to the potential that God gave me.

I want to do well in my statistics course, I want to become a better surfer, I want to get back down to around 185 lbs, I want to read to my daughter more, I want to make my wife smile everyday, I want to have a positive attitude at work, I want to stop worrying about stupid stuff, I want to be more involved in the lives of my younger siblings, I want to make an extra effort to see my Mom more often, and I want to have a closer relationship with my in laws.

For me, it’s all going to begin in the summer, The Summer of Change.

Quarter Pounder

I’m currently brainstorming a concept for a documentary that would show me losing 20 pounds in 90 days. Details may be coming soon…

Joke and Look-alike of the Day

Josh told me a joke today that gave me a good laugh:

How many “Emo’s” does it take to change a light bulb?
Answer: None, they all want to stay in a dark room and cry.

And how’s this for a look-alike. I heard this today on AM 570:

Cleveland Cavs coach Mike Brown:

 

 

And America’s favorite Weather Man, Al Roker:

Paris Hilton Going Back to Jail

Believe it or not, I’m really torn on my emotions about this whole Paris Hilton thing. At first I wanted nothing more than for Paris to go to jail. I thought perhaps this would be the start of something significant as far as how celebrities are treated. When Paris was sentenced to 45 days in jail, I still didn’t think she would actually have to go to jail. When the day came that she was actually incarcerated in a cell, it made my day. Finally, some accountability for these people who think they are larger than life.

Unfortunately, the message behind all of this has been lost due to the mishandling of the case by the Los Angeles Sherriff’s and the Los Angeles Courts. The focus has been taken away from the crime Paris committed, and the point everyone was suppose to take from this. Instead, we are now viewing a bunch of finger pointing between the Judge and the Sheriff’s Department. I don’t have to go into the whole story about it, because I’m sure the story has been shoved down your throat by now.

So, why do I care about this? I care about this case because I have had a very close family member in jail since March 1st (that’s 3 months!) for a couple of bounced checks. With him in jail, the immediate family has been going through severe distress both emotionally and financially. This member of my family is one of the nicest, most caring and harmless people you will ever meet, yet he has been locked up for 3 damn months and that sickens me.

Let me ask you a question, what’s worse, a 26 year old girl driving drunk with a suspended license in violation of probation? Or the breadwinner of a family bouncing two checks (which were not intentional)? Who is the bigger threat to society? What is the fundamental purpose of jail; it’s to keep those who are a threat to society isolated to learn a lesson.

When I heard Paris Hilton had a medical condition, I immediately suggested what it could be to my wife. I said, “I bet you she is having anxiety problems and panic attacks.” Now, as of this writing we don’t know what’s up with her, but I still bet this is the medical condition in question. As somebody who has suffered from generalized anxiety disorder, this would be the only way I would feel bad for Paris at all. I’m not saying she should be able to go home, because I’m sure almost half of all inmates suffer some kind of anxiety problem from being locked in an 8×10 cell, but I would at least understand the emotions that are leading to this:

People will say, “Look at the crying spoiled brat”, but I don’t see that. For once in this whole ordeal, I see a human being who has been dealt a blow of reality. I don’t feel bad for her going to jail, but I am very disappointed with the way this was handled.

This pretty much sums up how I feel about the situation:

California Attorney General Jerry Brown criticized the Sheriff’s Department for letting Hilton out of jail, saying he believed she should serve out her sentence.“It does hold up the system to ridicule when the powerful and the famous get special treatment,” Brown told The Associated Press in an interview before testifying at a congressional hearing in Washington.“I’m sure there’s a lot of people who’ve seen their family members go to jail and have various ailments, physical and psychological, that didn’t get them released,” he said. “I’d say it’s time for a course correction.”

And yes, my family member is still in jail awaiting home detention.

Kobe Bryant

The Daily Breeze is a local newspaper here in the South Bay. Their question of the week is: “Do you think it’s still possible for the Lakers and Kobe Bryant to heal their differences, or will the frustrations Bryant expressed in the media make a trade inevitable?”

Here is what I submitted:

Kobe Bryant will remain a Laker. Kobe wants to be here (as he expressed on AM 570 last week) but was infuriated with being lied to by management. With Kobe Bryant, you will find that people are either really for him, or they are really against him. You will rarely find somebody who’s on the fence about number 24. This isn’t just about Kobe crying because the team isn’t competitive. When Kobe re-signed with the Lakers a couple years ago, one of the reasons he re-signed with them is because Lakers owner Dr. Jerry Buss promised to bring in support that would help the team win now. In reality, Laker management was focusing on a 5 year rebuilding plan. On top of that, a Laker “insider” was behind the whole notion that Kobe forced Shaq out of L.A. Now, I realize these people make more in one game than I do in a whole year, but it should be fully understood why Kobe went through with this media circus.

The Lakers are going to keep Kobe because without him you are going to lose a lot of money in the seats. You will also be hard pressed to find a deal that would work out benefiting the Lakers which would lead to an even less competitive team. Laker fans should be prepared to lose Andrew Bynum and Kwame Brown in a trade, and they should look forward to either a Ron Artest or Jermaine O’neal type of player to come and compliment Kobe Bryant.

Laker nation is in a bit of disarray right now, but once everybody calms down and takes a step back to realize they are just one or two pieces away from really competing for the title, things will get done and they will get done now.

A year from now we will look back on this and thank Kobe for taking a stand and turning this thing around.

Love Shouldn’t Die

Love Shouldn’t Die
By Joe Chacon

The Sun is setting, but my love is rising
I know you are the one as we sit here staring
DC is playing, and your touch is impairing
Your hair so blonde, your face so bright

A life can be made in 48 months and you are proof
Proof that one woman can change so much
There’s nothing I could buy to show you the importance
The importance of you in my life, the importance of us

So caress me now as if tomorrow wasn’t certain
Remember the smell of the beach, the glare of the sun
The touch of my hands as I rubbed your back
Because we will not fall into the same marriage trap

As couples age, so do their feelings
They get stuck in a rut, and they never return
For you and I will be so much more
So much more than what people expect

Why does love die between two people?
It’s because people change in a way they said they wouldn’t
It’s because they gave false promises, a false sense of themselves
So if you are the same, and I am too, why can’t we be like we use to?

So caress me now as if tomorrow wasn’t certain
Remember the smell of the beach, the glare of the sun
The touch of my hands as I rubbed your back
Because we will not fall into the same marriage trap

Saying I would die for your is an understatement
Saying you make me happy doesn’t do my feelings justice
To put you on a pedestal wouldn’t be enough
You are my world, you are my girl, and you are my love