karinasaucedo.com

So recently in my Web Publishing class we’ve had to develop our own website and create the code from the ground up. All I have so far is this plain website with a few pictures, videos and some paragraphs of information about myself.

The screenshot above shows what i’ve written so far for the page you get when you visit karinasaucedo.com. It’s really simple right now because it’s only the first week. I actually got a chance to play around with code for another class before so this is a breeze.

This week, we learned more code. CSS to be exact. It stands for Cascading Style Sheets. It’s basically all the code that will style a website. My website.

Now, with that in mind, I had to start thinking about what kind of look I want for my website. Something that represented me. Then it hit me. Cacti.

For as long as I remember, people have told me “tienes el nopal en la frente” meaning that I have a cactus on my forehead. Basically, people were saying that no matter how much I assimilated into the American culture, I would always look/be Mexican.

I don’t know how embracing American culture means forgetting my Mexican heritage but whatever. Thats a discussion for another post. Lol.

So now i’m going to embrace that little phrase.

Plus, “nopales” remind me of home. My mother had tons of them in our front yard growing up and my grandparents have a field of them behind our backyard back in Mexico that produce sweet prickly pears.

My Father and Brother in San Luis Potosi, Mx.

They make me happy. So how i’m gonna take this new found inspiration and inject it into karinasaucedo.com. I am beyond excited!

Below is a picture of what my laptop screen looks like. It’s chaotic and messy, but it’s mine.

I’ll keep you all updated on how its going, whoever is actually reading this…

 

 

Update: My Recent Epiphany

Hello world, i’m back. It’s been awhile but ya’ll know how chaotic things get. Lets see if I can get all my thoughts in order here.

So, i’ve been feeling a little empty lately because of the recent holiday break. Guess a whole month of unproductiveness really gets to ya. I actually started to get really anxious like a week after finals. I knew I had to start looking for internships, editing my resume, looking for grad schools, etc. but the true procrastinator in me couldn’t do it.

I needed to go, get out. Do something different and not typically me, like when I took a trip to Marfa, Texas. Ya know, the place with the Prada store in the middle of nowhere (which ironically is like 20 min west of Marfa, but whatever).

Prada Store

I went for just the weekend in November but it was great! It reminded me of how much I have always wanted to travel and how done I was living vicariously through my best friend (who gets props for the writing of this blog post).

Now, it’s been about a month since that trip and i’ve been itching to leave again. To just go without any hesitation. Watching JacksGap videos only made me that much more anxious to get out and make videos.

Make memories.

JacksGap, and my bff Edith, lead me to this great epiphany. I should continue to develop my blog and let all my feels out on here while actually getting out there and doing what I want. Let it all coincide. Nothing is really holding me back. Even Eslie, who you’ll meet in the video below, has inspired this recent epiphany. (I love you!)

So without further adieu, here is the video from Marfa. Hopefully this newfound inspiration follows me into 2016. Thanks for reading!

-K

Sticky Notes

So, I’ve totally been M.I.A. for a while, but ya know. School catches up with ya. On the bright side, I have some really cool ideas for posts coming up, so I’m really excited about that! (STAY TUNED)
Well, let’s get to the point. Here we have a video I did for my video storytelling class. It has nothing to really do with Latinx’s or Hispanics like the other posts on my blog but it’s definitely personal. I started this small project a few years back with pictures of my friends holding out a sticky note. I asked them to write something that would help me remember them. Anything was up for grabs. My friend Jackie (who I interviewed in my previous post) wrote “I like when cats lick me”. Others like Jaime wrote down something a little more poetic like “People who don’t believe in themselves… will not get true value from their efforts”.

Since then, my friend Jaime passed away. It was really hard on everyone, but that little message on a sticky note really resonated with so many people and because it did, I was always really afraid to ask more people to do it. It had now become something that was supposed to be really meaningful when I hadn’t intended on it being that way.

Now, instead of asking complete strangers to write something to help me remember them by, I asked “If you could do anything with out the fear of failure, what would you do?”. It’s my tiny way of keeping my Sticky Note project alive while sending a message to Jaime that says “I wish you were here”.

Sticky Notes from Kari on Vimeo.

So long, farewell…

To my FDOM class. Not to my blog!

Overall, I feel like I learned a lot of things. One of the biggest being that you definitely need a digital footprint to get a job anywhere. These days, it’s all about the internet. You have to be able to be yourself yet still keep a good face for future jobs.

I loved getting to use Twitter and Tumblr to reach out to my friends so that they could read it. I felt nervous about it, of course, but i felt like it was the best way to get some readers. (I even got the attention of some of the bloggers I blogged about!)

Something that helped me get through blogging was having a journal where I would right down all my ideas. Eventually, I would sit down and explore them. This meant that I always had an idea, plus it helped me stay organized. I did, however, find it hard to stay on topic. I felt like I had so many ideas that didn’t exactly correlate with my initial topic. I would go back to my first post to see what it was all about.

This whole blog experience was pretty great though. I felt like I learned about how to be a better blogger and I learned a lot about myself as well. Hopefully, you guys can stick around to see what other kind of content I come up with and thanks for reading this far!

Bordertown!

Now, many of you know who Seth MacFarlane is. He’s the one with the hit television show on FOX, Family Guy. It’s either the show you hate to love or just some show that comes on late at night that you stop the kids from watching. I personally really enjoy the show. Yes, it might at times be really extreme, and it’s on FOX… but other than that it can be really funny! Sometimes you need to be able to let go and watch something that doesn’t take much thought. It’s just some good ol’ american television.

Well if you haven’t heard, Seth MacFarlane is in cahoots with Mark Hentemann in creating a new show named Bordertown. This show not only has brown people as cartoons, but it also has tons of latinx’s helping write it. Since it hasn’t been released yet (it will be in 2016, so keep a look out for it!) I can’t give it a review but i can definitely tell you i’m super excited and nervous about it!

So far, it seems to have a positive representation of the PoC on the cartoon which is always a good start. I first heard about this show long ago during a workshop/greet and meet type thing in Austin, Texas, with the great Lalo Alcaraz. If you haven’t checked out his work, you totally should! He best known for being a Chicano political cartoon artist but he is many other things (his twitter account is total fire). He talked about how much detail went into the show so that it would be as authentic as it can be.

Lalo Alcaraz and Karina Saucedo

Now, Lalo isn’t quiet about what he does and doesn’t like, so if he’s feel strongly about how good the show is, i’ll bite. Stay tuned to FOX (never thought id say that) and stay tuned to my blog! Once the show airs, i’ll definitely do a review.

For some more info on the show, here is an article featured on Remezcla where Alcaraz is interviewed on Bordertown!

My Interview with a Vampire… I mean Jackie Hernandez.

This video is an exclusive interview with the amazing  and incomparable Jackie Hernandez where she talks about latinxs/hispanics in Mass Media.

In the blogosphere

So for my Fundamentals of Digital and Online Media, we have been asked to talk about blogs similar to our own. Only problem is, every time I type latino, latina, hispanic, etc in a search bar whilst on blogs, I don’t tend to find what i’m looking for (because I just find porn) so instead i’ve decided to talk about some bloggers whose work inspired me to create this blog in the first place. They may not be talking exclusively about hispanic and latinx but they are talking about their own race and/or ethnicity.

Even though they aren’t representing the people I identify with the most with, their blogs are still so enlightening and eye opening.  I’ve learned new things about cultures that hadn’t really crossed my mind.  We have to remember that as POC, we have to support each other. You can’t expect to only look through one glass and ignore everything and everyone else.

I found out about these amazing people during NCORE. I talked about it in one of my posts early on. Who am I talking about? I’m talking about the wonderful Adrienne Keene with her blog, Native Appropriation, and Phil Yu with his blog Angry Asian Man.

(Btw, all keynote speakers at the NCORE Conference where awesome. Check them out here.)

Angry Asian Man– This blog totally rocks. He totally keeps it real, and doesn’t filter what needs to be said. Phil Yu talks about anything and everything that has to do with the Asian community from heart warming stories to stories about total fucking bullshit. There are recommendations on festivals, books, other blogs, etc. He has his own YouTube Channel and is a guest on ISAtv on YouTube. This guy is a total genius and not as angry in real life as his blogs name might lead you to believe. Seriously, check him out!

Phil Yu

Native Appropriations– This blog is written by the total fucking bad ass Adrienne Keene. She is so passionate, it fuels my fire. Nothing about this blog put nicely or sweetly. It blows my mind.  She gets down to the point. Her blog is about Native Americans and, like the blog name says, native appropriation. In the blog, she talks about how natives cultures are exploited in fashion and movies,  (amongst other things). How people wear headdresses and native images for the sake of looking “cool” without knowing the history behind it all. She is total fire and you should totally check out her blog as well!

Adrienne Keene

Now, I know these blogs aren’t for everyone. They come from a place of being tired of putting up with peoples racism, discrimination and prejudice. Little by little, both of these bloggers are doing the work in order to teach people about their cultures ( I know because they’ve definitely taught me so much). I know that I am not extremely knowledgable about Asian or Native cultures. I don’t know what struggles they go through everyday because I am not them. On the other hand, I can always sympathize as we share a few of the same battles.

La Fea mas Bella

The word novela (short for telenovela) is basically the Spanish/Portuguese word for novel. Telenovelas are such a big part of my life. I remember entering my grandmothers house with everyone surrounding the television while my grandmother slaved in the kitchen. My entrance was welcomed with  harmonious and delicious smells and loud “shushing” from my aunts.

One novela that I always loved was “La Fea Más Bella“. The name translates to “the prettiest ugly girl”. It follows the life of Letty, played by Angélica Vale, who is at first denied a job at an advertising and modeling company because of her appearance. She gets a call back for the job as assistant to Fernando, played by Jaime Camil.

La Fea más Bella

The novela, which is available for streaming on Hulu,  takes several twist and turns in a story about forbidden love and living in a world where looks are everything.  An american version, that is less dramatic (in my eyes) but equally as entertaining, named Ugly Betty was released a few months after La Fea Más Bella’s first episode. Both shows are adapted from the Colombian telenovela “Yo soy Betty, la fea“. These two adaptations aren’t the first and only. There are russian, inidian, vietnamese, greek, german and countless of other adaptations.

That alone tells you how awesome this show actually is. While, again, like many things in Latin America telivision, this show has its bad traits. Most actors and actresses are lighter skinned latinos, there is a definite class difference (Letty is poor while Fernando is extremely wealthy), and some women on the show are sexualized to the max. I do, however, enjoy how Letty goes about showing everyone that her appearance isn’t the only defining quality someone has.

Overall, it’s worth a watch. If you wanna ease yourself into the world of telenovelas (from where there is absolutely no out) you should definitely start with this one!

Palomitas con salsa Valentina

In this slideshow, i’ll show you guys how to make one of my favorite foods to snack on when I become a total couch potato. It’s super easy, but follow me on my journey to making some delicious popcorn with some hot sauce.

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Mi Querido Viejo

With Father’s Day fast approaching,  I’d like to take a moment and let you guys in on a little movie about a father called, “Mi Querido Viejo.” It translates to “my dear old dad.”

Staring in this film is Mexico’s National Tresure, Vicente “Chente” Fernández. He’s the guy that sings really loud and has a huge mustache. When performing, he wears a traditional charro outfit with the big hat. Ring any bells yet? Also in the film is his talented son, Alejandro Fernández.

Maybe this video will help you remember who he is:

 

Here, he sings the song of the movie. (Translated Lyrics)

The movie follows the life of Luis Fuentes (Vicente’s character) and his life of superstardom. Like in real life, Luis Fuentes is a singer. Once he makes it big, he leaves his family to tour. Being gone for so long leads his son and wife to be really resentful towards him. This causes drama between the family. I won’t spoil it too much, but if you want to cry you should definitely watch it.

I remember watching it with my dad and two brothers one day. I had never seen so many grown men cry all at once, especially super machista guys. It was a great day for me though. I got to bond with men who actually had their guard down for about 96 minutes. 

This is a phenomenal movie. One of my favorites actually. (I love it so much I just bought it on amazon for like $6 for fathers day!) It reminds me of the love I have for music, my father, and obviously “Chente.”

Plus, it’s like super old school cinema (since it was released in 1991).