It’s my mom’s birthday.
She would’ve been 63.
And she would have been hating this year.
This year fucking sucks.
She would have enjoyed yesterday though. Yesterday was a good day. And if she was around, she would be with us.
I went with my brother, his wife, and his kids to pick strawberries in Carlsbad. The line to cross the border FUCKING sucked. But we made it on time for a beautiful day of picking delicious strawberries. And it was work at the same time. A cover picture that will be coming soon about the strawberry field (forever…).
FRESAS!
A group of fresas we are.
My mom was a big fresa. I have a picture of her and my grandma looking all posh smoking fancy cigarettes with white gloves on.
Gringa fresa tequila drinker and smoker.
And the best person ever.
I miss her a shit ton.
I haven’t blogged in over a month. June sucked. It’s like it disappeared. The whole year is just disappearing. And not in a good way. It’s a blur of nothing.
Places are opening up. And now it feels weird to be outside. It feels weird to talk to people in person. Good kind of weird though. Like we are all excited to be outside drinking beer in the same table without worries.
Not sure how long that will last.
I also lost 300 pesos at the casino on Tuesday.
I just wanted to check out the scene. I only play roulette. It took me 44 minutes to lose those 300 pesos. I think it was worth it.
The only person that sat next to me was clearly American. Straight up gave 500 pesos to the roulette person and got 25 pesos chips. Spent 200 on his first bet and put 50 on #11. First roll. FUCKING #11.
He won 1750 for a 200 bet.
Then I saw him lost it all as I slowly lost my 300. He bought in again. And I left.
I wonder how much he lost… or perhaps won.
Roulette was cool though. I should have only bet 250. I was up 450 at some point… not much… and then lost it all.
It was fun though. I don’t regret losing the money.
Speaking of money.
I got an advance for my future book. Or at least I want to treat it that way. I got money. It doesn’t matter how I got it. The point is, I’m comfortable. For the first time, the pressure of rent is not killing me. And I can buy new underwear, new jeans, and perhaps a pro-controller for the Switch.
It’s not that much money.
It’s just some money.
And more money coming because I worked this week and made some money. I should write. I told myself I was going to write. I didn’t write.
I haven’t written on my blog.
I haven’t written any news stories.
I haven’t advanced with my book at all.
Actually, one news story.
79 days of TJ Quarantine. It got published June 19 and that feels like yesterday.
June disappeared.
July is disappearing.
I also got a couple of cover pictures!
That’s a garden in San Diego at night. Pretty cool place.
That’s pastor Rolland. First time in my life I say “god bless” when hanging up the phone. I said it. He didn’t. I’m not sure why. It felt natural.
11 covers so far this year.
11 was the roulette hit.
I bet on 22 every single time. 22 and it’s surroundings the chip just touching half so I can cover two numbers. Out of like 20 rolls, I got 3 or 4 right.
Fucking roulette.
Now I want to go back.
I haven’t been sleeping well. Monday I woke up with the worst back pain I ever felt in my life. I blame Wii-Fit yoga. I’ve been doing that and planks. But nothing since Monday since my back is still a bit sore. I should try to do some right now.
That Sunday, I went out with a girl I like. She was drinking tequila and a Tecate under the sun on the balcony of Margarita’s Village. She looked stunning. She’s hot as fuck.
I implored her to move to the shade because the sun was going to kill my white skin and she agreed. She ordered more tequilas and beers. First Tecate I had in months. And the tequila shots were basically doubles.
She got drunk quick.
I never get drunk.
I drove back to my place. Just a few minutes after being at my place, she went out to the balcony and puked a little bit. Then she said she needed to lay down and passed the fuck out on my couch.
I played Tetris 99, watched Big Lebowski, and watched Bill Burr’s special while she slept. I woke up her every hour to make sure she had some water and to make sure she was okay. She would barely wake up and just give me a thumbs up.
I went to bed at around 2 a.m. and woke up at 4 a.m.
My back was killing me.
I could barely even fucking move. And the pain was too much.
She woke up somewhere around 6 a.m. I told her my back was killing me and she gave me a quick rub, then went home.
I took a hot shower and that alleviated the fuck out of me.
I slept.
Not great.
But slept.
I did another video of Drinking Beer with Matingas.
I did a few more.
This has been my favorite so far. It’s the longest video so far.
Here it is.
Hit like and subscribe and comment and what not!
Facebook shared this memory with me:
I thought I was going to blog all about my sadness. My mom’s birthday has been on my mind for more than a month. And I’ve been sad about it. Just sad in general. Life is alright. But is still the weirdest thing to say that my mom died.
That’s my mom with my nephew on her birthday 3 years ago…
We went to Valle de Guadalupe. Fuego was the place. It wasn’t very good for how expensive it was. But it was a lovely day with the family.
Today, I get together with my brother and his wife and kids again. Last year we went to Riochia 7 because mom also really liked that place. 2020 in times of Corona, it’s a bad idea to go to a restaurant, so we are getting a lasagna, some wine bottles, and staying home.
Mom also loved wine.
And books.
I have all her books.
I have a lot of her stuff still.
I’m not sure why, but I feel like my Tijuana days are nearly over.
I need to finish my other book. I need to grow up. I am 34 and still think I’m fucking 12.
AND FINALLY!
Though it feels like I’ve been doing nothing… I have been doing shit. I’ve been playing shit ton of Starcraft…
But not that.
I also turned my two-bedroom apartment into a one-bedroom apartment. No roommate. So fuck it.
The extra room is now the living room. The living room is now a studio. It’s way better than having the extra room as a studio.
There is so much more space. It looks more professional. All I need is color backdrops and I am set. I also need taller ceilings, but that’s not really possible… Until I move out.
Because I don’t have backdrops, I copied an idea I saw on Instagram. The original post is with newspapers, but I did it with my covers.
SEE!
They look dope as fuck.
The backdrop can still be better… But for my first attempt at doing some shitty creative backdrop, it is great.
Studio lights are so nice…
If you want to see more pics, follow my Instagram.
I also post a lot of stories… so you’ll see fucking everything.
Matingas 