Spanish food! That's what I think of when I imagine the scent of my house. Specifically, I'm speaking of the scent of Mexican food.That's my favorite type of food to eat. I love the smell of carne asada and beans. But I also like the scent of incense and candles, so I'm definitely going to have those burning in my lair as well. My home also reeks of serenity love and acceptance. At certain times my home smells like delicious hair oil that I use to condition my dreadlocks. My home reeks of Hip Hop and smooth Jazz. At other times my home gives off the scent of Punk Rock provided by the misfits and puerto rican salsa delivered by Tito Puente.

I used to spend a lot of my time staring out of windows,fantasizing about a beach that I used to go to. I suppose that I could’ve chosen to fantasize about anythmg in the world, but the majority of the time I had the beach in my vision. Specifically,I had Santa Cruz beach boardwalk in my vision.Years later I would find myself imagining the beaches in Cartagena Colombia.But initially,my only beach fantasy was Santa Cruz. I grew up in a city about 40 minutes from Santa Cruz. Over the years,my father used to take me and my brothers up to Santa Cruz to visit family. I always had a great time. I was always blown away by how close my cousins lived to the beach. In my eleven year old mind, they were the luckiest people in the world. The boardwalk was my favorite place in the world. It’s just something about the smell of seaweed and the crash of the ocean waves that really make me appreciate life.Then of course there’s the entertainment. I love rollercoasters and arcades intertwined with music and games and beautiful captivating people. So on occasion,as a kid I would be at the beach with me Father and brothers. As a teenager,I would travel to the beach with my friends. Those were awesome times. Not much money was involved. Just awesome energy,friendship and some good ganja. The only friends that I shared that experience with was my buddy Robert and my buddy Carlos. If I would have known better, I would have spent more time at the beach. But of course,I didn’t know better. I had no idea what was lurking around the corner.Needless to say that I was shocked when at the age of seventeen,I found myself tangled up in a web of thorns that would eventually leave me scarred both mentally and physically. It took me over 6000 days to maneuver out of that web. That entire time, I thought about the beach. Then one day,I was no longer confined to the web. I found myself free. One of the first things I did was go to the beach.This time the experience was different. I was a different person, in a different state of mind, a different purpose, a different perception, a different understanding. The boardwalk didn’t look how I remembered it. So much time had passed since I had last been there. Nineteen years. The energy still felt the same. The food still smelled enticing. The music and the sounds still tickled my ears with pleasure. The women were still gorgeous. The waves still crashed and the birds still screeched. The roller coasters took my breath away. I forgot how it felt to move at those speeds and to drop from those heights. That was absolutely the best time of my life. It was only for a few hours, but for me it was priceless. I shared that experience with my mother, Grandmother and my brother Michael. I really enjoyed walking in the sand with my brother, just talking about things that were not really imporant, but they meant something to us at the time. That’s my definition of beauty.

I'm so ecstatic to be here. Everyone has a story. You just never know about the chapters that a person has endured. There are so many different things that could happen. My story is peppered with complex chapters and disgusting interludes.But that's what makes my story unique. None of our storis could be duplicated.