Rolando Blas | Blog

Day 21 Danced, child. No one church visit. Phone i me call  help. There. Computer file download ACTA. Future censorship. Help mouse. You uncovered. Disc run ran me hide escaped. Night child danced. Code open source YOUTUBE. Watch China. Truth kidnapped. Go, see future all. Mouth, voice silenced. Head, imagination creativity killed. Old, very old no understood. Me help, me transform but you open eyes. Baby revolution but they no want. Please help. Tear your eyes. Moved, opened window. Open source code help all in globe. Change, transform only one and, only one button. Girl danced you helped. Everyone got their voice again and you helped to transform the world where Zoe is dancing now. She listens to your old vinyl discs and remembers you, she plays the tapes and she sighs, she plays the CDs and she laughs, she reads your SD cards and USB sticks and she amazes. She visits you but she cries. You helped to transform this world.

Day 20 Pérez was a very hard-working man. He used to wake up early every day, take the only bus in town and travel two hours to go to work. Unfortunately, because of some strange circumstances, he became a homeless in town. Pérez lost his prestige as a hard-working man and gained reputation for being a thief. Everybody in town began to judge him and anytime something disappeared, he was to blame. His clothes were worn out and he never wore shoes again. He always carried a white sack on his back and mothers used to scare their kids by telling them that if they misbehaved the man with the sack would take them away. That's what your mother used to tell you and you were always scared as a kid. When you grew older and were in high school you named that man differently. He was not Pérez anymore but Peye. He was always in trouble: sometimes with no food to eat and sometimes in jail but he was always freed because nobody presented charges. One day, however, he stole things from a judge an...

Day 19 That was a curious day. Everybody was sitting around a fire. They had already set the rules before you arrived. All the participants had to tell something: stories, jokes, anecdotes, puzzles, whatever you thought was worth telling. You were frightened because it was the first time you were camping to open air, alone, far away from home, and with no mobile. The first participation was a silly anecdote; then, the second was a tongue twister that you could not tell. Everybody had told their story but you. You were frozen. Nobody knew what was going on with you until someone pushed you softly. It was your turn. You began to tell that old story your grandpa told you about the man who got lost in the corn fields. As you told the story, everybody was holding somebody else's hand. The man was alone walking under the moonlight but he started to hear distant screaming as the air was whistling. The man walked faster and faster and as he moved the screaming was closer and closer. The...

Day 18 Miguel was one of the homeless in town. He had dark skin and had a shaved head. Everybody used to say that he was crazy. But you and your family believed the opposite because he used to help you with some home chores. He used to take you to school and in the afternoon he helped your father in his shop. When he was not in your house or with your father, he would go to the countryside just to have a walk. He always carried a machete with him but he used it only when he was in the fields. When it was evening, he disappeared and returned the following day. You witnessed this routine for many years until you were an adolescent. One day you left town and moved to another city. In one of your visits, your mother was talking to you and you asked for Miguel. Your mom said he had died but nobody knew about it. Somebody announced that the police had found him in the countryside under a tree. He had no injuries or any other sign of being killed by someone else. Your mom said with a break...

Day 17 One afternoon you saw Zoe crying because she had fallen off her bike. Then you sat by her side and started to tell her your old story about learning how to ride a bike. She was sobbing but she changed humor after telling her about how Spots had bitten you and how you had lost a piece of your favorite jeans. She got up, took her bike and asked you to support her so that she would not fall off again. You said yes but you warned her that you could not run very fast because of your walking stick. She said it was okay but once she balanced her weight in the bike she kept pedaling until you could no longer support her and set her free. You were tired and had breathing difficulties but Zoe was so thrilled that she forgot you were behind her. When she realized that nobody answered while she was talking she turned around and saw you many meters behind. She became worried because she knew about your breathing problems so she took her courage in both hands and pedaled to go back and...

Day 16 The first time you had a bike, you wanted to ride it right away but it took you more than four years to learn how to ride it. You were only one year old but your father wanted you to have this brand new bike. Once you learned, you began to ride around the neighborhood, especially at night. Remember that night when you took your bike and visited Anna's house? That night you had imposed a new record to the time it took you to move from your house to Anna's. You decided to tell Anna about it but you did not know that 'Spots' --Anna's dog-- was free that night and was taking care of the house like a ferocious beast. You left your bike against the fence, opened the gate and walked filled up with emotion; suddenly, Spots began to bark and then to move towards you and then run towards you and you tried to be calmed because your great fiends had told you that staying calmed was the best in case of a dog attack but they did not know Spots. When it was closer to yo...

Day 15 A flood is an overflow of water that submerges land as Wikipedia defines it, but according to some local experts who have been in floods, they define it as a disaster that causes great losses. When Sarah told you about her story, you were astonished. In September last year, the news focused in a small village that attracted the attention of many people and organizations all around the country. You were the last to know about it. The day you checked the news in the net, it was too late. Your hometown was completely flooded. The pictures showed a devastated place. People were fighting for food and clothes. You did not know anything about your family. You tried to make a call but there were no telephone or cell phone lines available in the area. You began to become panicked. The net was the only way of being connected because a blog was opened and someone from a nearby town visited the devastated zone and provided information about the situation and about some people he...

Day 14 Patulht's father died one Monday afternoon. You and Quique decided to collect money to help him pay some of the funeral expenses. At the end of the day, you saw Patulht down and somehow out of this world. You and Quique accompanied him and another of your friends joined you. You were suffering the same loss. Patulht suggested having a beer and all of you went to the closest bar. It was one beer for each one, then one more and one more and then, you all were a bit drunk and penniless but you wanted to continue drinking. Suddenly someone had the brilliant idea of taking some of the money you had collected for the funeral expenses and keep drinking. It would have been an irresponsible act if it hadn't been for one of you who decided to keep a record of all the money you were spending at the bar.  Fortunately, Patulht decided that it was too late and that he had to be at the funeral. The following day, you added the missing money and ga...

Day 13 One day you met Mago's sister, a tiny thin smiley child who only had two of her front teeth. She was very shy at the beginning. She barely spoke to you whenever you used to eat at her mom's restaurant. In one of your visits to the restaurant, you saw her with lots of red pimples over her face and limbs. Her mother explained to you that she had an allergy to insects but even so, she had a couple of grasshoppers in a small cup. You stopped going to the restaurant, but one day, after some years, you were back at the same place. Things had changed drastically, the small restaurant was now the best restaurant in town and Nancy ran it. Her mother had inherited it to her. She accomplished her dream of becoming a professional cook. Everybody talked about the restaurant and its chef but you had not been there yet. You and went dining and finally met Nancy. She was now a young woman in her twenties and not only did she run her mom's old restaurant but she had created now a...

Day 12 Remember that day: You and your new three friends were trapped because of the rain. It was the first time you met and it was also the first time you felt scared because you had never seen so much water. The streets were wide rivers and you thought the place would flood and you would be in danger because you cannot swim. There were people around you but they were calmed. They knew pretty well that this would be one more rain in the history of their town. But you did not know that. They saw your scared faces but after two hours, you saw that everything was as normal as it was before. There was still plenty of water flowing but the level decreased little by little. It was getting darker and darker till night showed up. You all took the way home and had to walk three kilometers of water, stone and earth. By the time you reached home, you had to cope with the experience of having no electricity at all. That day you became aware of the place you were at, the comfortable life you ha...

Day 11 The picture of the baby is really beautiful. Not the picture but the baby herself. When you learned about the news you were shocked because you had never been so close to knowing about a pregnancy. You did not say anything and did not visit the mom until moths after the baby was born. The picture you saw motivated you to see Zoe. She looked beautiful in her mom's arms and the look she has in that particular photo transmits that she is protected. It is a really touching image. You traveled thirteen hours and took some presents for her. Among the material presents you carried, there was a hand-made book with two stories in it. The illustrations were colorful and the language was easy to remember because of the silly story. When you saw the baby and held her in your arms you stared at her as if you had never seen a baby that size and that old before. You couldn't keep your eyes off of her but she didn't see you because she was asleep. The following day you left the p...

Day 10 You had a serious problem that day. You had to deliver a new entry in your blog but different circumstances did not allow you to complete the text by the time you had planned to post it. It became a difficult task to achieve as time passed by. So you decided to watch a video on your screen. Then, you had an idea and started to create something. You were in the middle of the activity but suddenly, your mobile rang and an old friend was calling you. You left everything incomplete again because you had to meet him. It had been more than two years since you talked to him for the last time. In your way to the place, you continued writing on your mobile phone and added some more lines to the entry. You got to the place and waited for that old friend. While you were waiting for him, lots of ideas were spinning around your head. Your friend was in front of you with Marissa, his girlfriend. You all sat at a table, Marissa took out a tablet from her bag, got connected to the net using ...

Day 9 She is not the most beautiful woman on earth, but there is something about her that is appealing to you. You stare at her anytime she is close to you. She has big eyes, some wrinkles in her old face, fake teeth and two beauty spots in her left cheek. She is so similar to the girl you met over forty years ago in the elementary school where you studied. By that time she was a caterpillar in her cocoon. You never talked to her because she was older than you. She graduated a year after you met her and moved to another county.  It has been a long time, probably fifty years since you saw her for the last time, but you still remember those beauty spots in ther left cheek. A young lady is always with her because of the difficulties she has when she walks. You have made a decisión: next time you see her, you will approach her no matter if you have to ask for some help from the nurses. 

Day 8 When you and the other four walked down the hill, you never imagined it would take a long time to go up again. The morning and its shiny sun were perfect that day. The first place you visited was the old bridge that was supposed to be over a hundred years old. It was a mystery and became a myth in the end. When you were finally there, you saw a plate with the date of construction and it was younger than you supposed. Later, you were fishing and walking along the river trying to go back to the place where you would camp. But things became complicated. The way uphill was tough; you in particular were tired and fell many times. You rested more than you walked and had difficulties breathing. Your friends had to wait for you and someone took your bag and your tent. When you reached the top, things became a bit better, you were tired but you managed to keep walking. It was dark by this time. You reached the campsite, set your tents, built a fire and talked for a while. You went to b...

Day 7 You never said who was the person whom you met at Cristina's party. Everybody believed the story you told them: “it is an old ex-classmate from high school”. But you cannot fool me.   The man you greeted that night had something to do with some of the problems in town. However, you had to lie   to everyone because your job depended on telling the truth or keeping secrets to save someone else's interests. Picture this, in five years all you knew will have disappeared from town. No more open libraries to take the kids for a reading show, no more dove-feeders sitting at the park benches, no more kids riding bikes around the town because of the insecurity. You knew for sure that this could be consequences of lying but your pockets needed money. We are still five years from seeing this town become the worst in the district and it will be owed to you.   You can still do the right thing. Don't let your kids live full of fear because of your bad decisions and the mone...

Day 6 Who caught finally the walking headless hen? Was it your brother? Maybe your sister? or Was it you? You might not remember anything about that day but I'll tell you exactly what happened. It was Christmas and you were going to prepare dinner for because it was a special date. You and your family gathered to plan how to kill the hen that you would prepare for dinner. Your dad took the hen by the head, put it in a piece of wood and held a small axe while you and your younger siblings were holding the hen. When your dad cut the hen's neck you all got scared and set the animal free. It started to run and you started to laugh but it wasn't really funny. Anita started to cry. Your mother got really angry, your father ran after the hen and then you and your brothers disappeared from the scene. You might not remember anything of this because you are too old but I assure you that I used to tell this story about you and your family every Christmas eve and all of us laughe...

Day 5 You woke up shivering this morning. It was not simply the low temperature in the atmosphere but the effect of the nightmare. You were in your grandpa's house -an old house made with mud blocks and having a very ugly design in the exterior but beautifully designed in the interior. You saw the wood table right in front of you, the green walls and the big container with  octli . Then, a person dressed in black appeared in your dream and started to walk around the house. You thought of the stories your parents told you about the evil in that town. You opened your eyes, started to shiver and could hear your heart pump out loud. You are thinking that this makes sense now. Is it possible that you are moving from the unreal to the real world through the series of dreams you began to have over a week ago? If so, please don't you dare to dream of me because I will stop writing about you.

Day 4 When you met that day, things were very strange. There was some untold tension between you two. The words you told were meaningless. There was no fluid conversation and anytime someone tried to soften the situation, the other made comments to take the conversation back to the same point. The tension reached the tipping point and suddenly your voices broke and tears started to run down your faces until things were as they had been before. You realized that you two had created a problem that each interpreted to their convenience. After a long period of serious talk, each of you understood the other and finally you were laughing again. You gave back the toy and she thanked you from that day until something similar occurred years later.   

Day 3 You wake up that morning and the first thing you saw was a rainbow behind a hill. It was the first time you saw one and your curiosity obliged you to ask for that thing you saw in the blue sky. Your grandpa told you it was a rainbow and he also told you the stories around them. One day, after a rainy afternoon, you saw one of those things your grandpa named along with the stories and wondered whether it was real so you ran towards the end of the rainbow and as you ran, your house in the countryside disappeared from your sight. You reached the top of the hill, went down again and kept running and running but you were unable to find the end. The rainbow disappeared. You were lost by that time and the sunlight began to fade. You tried to come back home but there was no single road that you recognized. You became desperate and your eyes began to be filled up with tears. You were scared, desperate but on your worst moment grandpa and I showed up. We asked you why you were ...

Day 2 Lucero was not alone that day. She was accompanied and pretended not seeing you on her way to the table. You did not like her attitude at all but you could not do anything. Some months later you began to develop a piece of writing that you still keep in your old torn notebook and anytime you read it you have flashbacks and flashforwards that make you miserable and happy at the same time. Years later you did something unintentionally but probably your subconscious was telling you to do it. It had consequences that made a change in you life and in her life. Things are different now. Everything has changed to this day. You barely care about things you used to care before. Nobody tells you anything, nobody really knows where you are and nobody knows that the old shell you used to wear has now cracked and someone you were not is coming out to face the world.

Día 1 La vez que Luz te enseñó a construir barriletes. Utilizaste las estructuras que sostienen las hojas de las palmas de coco. Recolectaste las que estaban completamente secas. Las limpiaste y comenzaste a unirlas atándolas con hilo de algodón en el centro. Utilizaste periódico porque no tuviste para comprar papel de china de colores. Creaste una estructura con hilo alrededor de las estructura y pegaste con engrudo los bordes del papel junto con el borde de hilo que habías atado. Todo estaba listo pero faltaba ponerle cola al barrilete. Los pedazos de trapo viejo eran mejor material que el mismo papel periódico y finalmente ataste el carrete de hilo al artefacto. Corriste creyendo que se elevaría por los cielos como lo hacían los barriletes de Luz pero no conseguiste lograrlo. El tuyo giró muchas veces y te decepcionaste. Hoy sabes construirlos mejor y se los das a Zoé. Ella te sonríe mientras los elaboras y ella se regocija cuando los vuela.