Juan of Words

Mexi-Style: Piñatas for Every Occasion

Now that the school year is pretty much over and thousands of children will be sitting around our homes, all summer long, why not start thinking fun and interesting ways to keep them busy as well?  One sure fire way to almost always achieve this goal is the piñata.  You can’t really go wrong with these mostly paper mâché creations... especially if birthday parties are just around the corner as well.  Kids of all ages and sizes will come together for a chance to bust one of these babies open and grab as much candy as they can for their personal stashes.

One other great thing about the piñata: there never have been so many great innovative designs to choose from!  Whether you want to do it yourself or just buy one, here are some unique takes on this traditional mainstay of Latino celebrations.

As originally pinned by C. on Pinterest

The Beehive.

As originally pinned by Clare Armstrong on Pinterest

Giraffe.

As originally pinned by Sophie Sinclair on Pinterest

Pavo Real.

As originally pinned by Heather Critchfield on Pinterest

Angry Bird.

As originally pinned by Sara Michelle on Pinterest

Mustache.

As originally pinned by Mélanie BR on Pinterest

Miniature Burritos.

A Life Saver For All Your Portable Devices: The ZAGG

On purpose, I don’t generally do a lot of reviews on tech products.  One, because I am not the most tech savvy person to begin with.  And two, because outside of my phone, I really don’t have a lot of cool techie gadgets or gizmos at my disposal.  I know.  Poor me… in case any techie sponsors are out there reading this right now, haha!  I’m not proud.  I do take handouts when it comes to technology.  Anywho, my computer moves at glacial speeds and throws a fit every other time I sit in front of it to type a sentence or two.  Oh no… now it’s really going to give up on me for saying that!

“Oh that’s how it’s gonna be ¡pendejo!”

I'm in love with the Zagg!

In all seriousness, it’s a miracle I’m able to blog so much considering all of the technical difficulties sometimes.  Either that, or a testament to my patience and persistence.  Pero bueno, that’s neither here nor there.

Muy convenient!

The thing about the ZAGGsparq™ 2.0 Portable USB Charger (pictured above) that really has me all gaga about it is just how convenient and portable it is!  I’m telling you, from the moment Radio Shack sent me the ZAGG and it came in the mail, it has not left my side.  My cell phone has not gone uncharged again either.  That’s pretty much as good as gold when you use your phone as much as I do.  Por lo menos it’s as close to gold as I’m getting right now.  If you notice the second picture above, you plug in your device’s USB into the ZAGG and it charges your gizmo or gadget like any other wall or car charger would.  You can even charge two phones or any other two devices simultaneously.  Ha!  It’s what I was missing in my life and didn’t even realize.

To charge the charger, you plug it in for a couple of hours, and it pretty much lasts all day.   Here’s what the folks at Radio Shack have to add about the ZAGG:

• Takes an iPad® from 0 percent to 60 percent at the same rate the iPad wall charger charges the iPad.
• Fits easily in a pocket or bag, making it the perfect size for travelers and business people.
• Top USB charging port is optimized for smart phones and other devices like iPhone®, iPod® & iPad ™
• Bottom port uses the standard USB specification for devices that do not utilize optimized charging.

This is not a sponsored post.  Radio Shack provided the ZAGGsparq™ 2.0 Portable USB Charger for my review.  I was not compensated for this review and was not required to write a positive review.  The opinions expressed are my own.

What do Latinos Want on New ABC-Univision News Network?

Soon there will be a new news network in town.  As you’ve probably already heard, Univision and ABC have decided to come together to create a brand new television channel that will cater specifically to one demographic and one demographic alone.  English-speaking Latinos who prefer to obtain their news en ingles rather than español.  While the project sounds incredibly interesting, it also begs the question what exactly to these English-speaking Latinos want?  Do we really need another news channel dedicated only to Latino news?

Do we want to see ourselves in this new venture?

Myself, I don’t really watch the news much these days.  Except for CNN, most of the news I consume comes from the internet.  More specifically from social media networks like Facebook and Twitter.  There’s a certain control in knowing that the power is in my hands to decide what I do want to watch and when.  Today, for example, me perdi JLO’s performance on American Idol, but as soon as I got home I watched it on YouTube.  Her entire participation on Q’Viva The Chosen still shows up crystal clear on my Univision app.  I don’t even have to watch the stinking commercials if I don’t want to!

What makes these shows addicting for me – more so Q’Viva than Idol – is that they are innovative in their own right.  No longer are we watching the Puerto Rican cashier on South Central, the Mexican housemaid or nanny taking care of children and homes that are not her own, the shady Latino who’s always up to no good on TV dramas and film.  There’s a deeper connection with the Latinos on screen these days.  They’re spicing up scripts and transcripts with Spanglish and Spanish.  They’re talking about and starring alongside families like our own.  A few – i.e. Jenni Rivera – are even opening up the same kinds of businesses we might have had or wanted to have one day.  You can’t buy that type of connection!  Okay, that one could just be me since my family also owned a taco truck once upon a time.

So how does that translate to the news we consume?

I honestly don’t know.  What I do know is that whatever consumption we will be expected to partake in should reflect, more and more on an increasing level, who we are as a people and a community.  There aren’t really any hard and fast rules, but it’s nice to know the big players are willing to at least try.

10 Celebrity Latina Mamacitas

We’re still honoring our own madrecitas for their hard work and dedication in raising us all of these years, but what would Mother’s Day be without recognizing a couple of mamacitas too?  From JLO to Jenni Rivera, Salma, Jessica Alba, Ana Barbara, La Chule, and yes, even the one and only Sofia Vergara, among others, these Celebrity Latina Moms make being a jefita look effortless and flawless all of the time.  Sure, we all know raising kids “is not no picnic,” but it’s nice to be able to see so many Latina mothers taking center stage in our popular culture.  Especially touching, for me, the nurturing and support that takes place between Latina mothers and their daughters, as is the case with momma Crafty Chica and her daughter Maya in the Moment!

¡Felicidades to you all, Divas of Motherhood!

Salma Hayek and her daughter, Valentina.

Sofia Vergara and son Manolo.

Jessica Alba with daughters Honor and Haven.

Jennifer Lopez with twins Max and Emme.

Thalia with son Matthew Alejandro.

Jenni Rivera with her brood.

Christina Aquilera with son Max.

Crafty Chica with daughter Maya in the Moment.

Ana Barbara with her children and then some on Cristina.

La Chule with Luis Miguel's sons Daniel and Miguel.

Oh Mother: A Mother of a Mother’s Day Dedication

Madre no hay más que una.  Definitely!

Mother and Child by Lisa Monica Nelson

If you’re fortunate enough to have grown up with a mother like mine, who has always been willing to give every single ounce of herself for her children, even now, you’ll appreciate this very special Mother’s Day dedication.  It started with a partnership with Cricket Wireless for a Mother’s Day giveaway, but once your song dedications started coming in it was clear we had to do just a little bit more.  Estas son las canciones that you all dedicated to your madrecitas for their special day – today, for many mothers around the world, including those of Mexican descent like my own.  I’ll warn you que ya me la he pasado chillando part of this morning listening to some of these wonderful selctions.  Thank you for sharing them!

1. Oh Mother by Christina Aguilera
2. You Are My Sunshine by Jimmie Davis
3. I’ll Always Love My Mama by The Intruders
4. Las Mañanitas by Lola La Grande
5. Wind Beneath My Wings by Bette Midler
6. Amor Eterno by Rocio Durcal
7. Señora, Señora by Denise de Kalafe
8. You And Me Against The World by Helen Reddy
9. Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel
10. Mama by Spice Girls
11. Te Amo Mama by Marco Antonio Solis
12. Querida Amiga by Pimpinela
13. A Song For Mama by Boys 2 Men
14. You Gotta Be by Des’ree

We’re also dedicating special messages to our jefitas on Twitter… in all of 140 characters using the hashtag #DiadelasMadres.  So please, feel free to share your own corazonadas about your mom with us as well.  Here are some of the tweets so far:

Mexi-Vocabulario: Words For Conquering a Woman’s Heart

I was originally going to call this post Mexi-Vocabulario: Palabras Para Ligar, which basically means the same thing as the English translation above, so let’s go ahead and start there.  ¡Ligar!  To conquer.  To make the object of your affection fall madly in love with you… or at the very least pay attention to you.  Ligar is one of those words that can be used either by the suitor or the person receiving all of the attention.  For example ¡me lo voy a ligar! or he just wants to ‘ligar’ with me.  Okay, I accept these aren’t the greatest examples, but you get the point!

Always treat a lady like a 'dama.'

Here are some other good Mexi-Vocabulario words for love:

Mango – As in ¡estas bien mango! meaning “dayumm you are fine!”  Mango is most commonly used to describe a person of the male sex, but I guess you could use it for either gender.  It may sound kind of funny though to call a woman a mango.  One thing I do know for sure is that so many of you have said William Levy “está bien mango“.

Mona – ¡Ay chiquita estas bien mona!  Oh honey you are so mona!  Now as many of you might already know, in a lot of Latin American countries mona means monkey.  So you might be wondering why would I call the woman I’m interested in a monkey?  In truth, you’re not.  In this context mona means doll… like saying “you are so beautiful you look like a doll (a beauty that is too good to be true).”

Chula - As in beautiful.  A woman who is gorgeous to look at and who should be admired for her sheer beauty.  You should also know, however, that other definitions of chula do include insolente or insolent in English.

Chiquilla/Chiquita – Little one.  No!  Not as in small-minded or feeble, but as in precious, cute, adorable, etc.  Note, this word is not necessarily reserved only for petite women.  Lots of mujeres with “real curves” actually love being called chiquilla.  Probably the same amount hate the reference of being chuiquita.  I’m telling y’all!  Sometimes us guys can’t win for trying.

Gorda - This one comes with a big old warning slapped all over it because if you don’t use it with extreme care you might end up with a big old cachetada yourself.  Gorda means fat… but in just the right context it can mean everything but that.  Usually you’ll hear a guy call his girlfriend, wife, etc. ¡Gorda! if she is anything but that.  A term of endearment really.  I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed a man call his more voluptuous partner this.  I don’t think I want to either.

Hermosa/Preciosa - If you’d rather do your conquering on the safe side, preciosa or hermosa are probably as safe a bet as any.  There isn’t really any room for misinterpretation.  Both words mean beautiful and are probably universally understood as simply that: a complimentary word meant to compliment a women on her beauty.  If you mess that one up… pues que te puedo decir.

That’s a pretty good start I think.  If you like this version of Mexi-Vocabulario let me know and we’ll play again real soon.  Hope your having an awesome Hump Day!  No sean mal pensados… I mean it in the most innocent, clean sense possible

I’m always on the hunt for new mexi-vocabulario.
What other words would you like me to include in the mexi-vocabulario?  If you have one that you would recommend please share it with me here.

Writer’s Disclaimer: When I say mexi-vocabulario I don’t necessarily mean these words are exclusively Mexican, or only used by Mexicans.  This is simply an expression of how they were introduced to me in our Mexican Spanish.

More Mexi-Vocabulario 

• Mitotero
• Arrullar
• Solovino
• Pipirisnais
• Chusma
• Rifandomela
• Guey/Wuey
• Chale / Huevón / A Toda Madre
• Alcahueta
• Fodonga
• Rola
• Tamalona