Home > Buenos Diaz > These are Just Some of Her Favorite Things

These are Just Some of Her Favorite Things

By Gloria Diaz

Check out Gloria's Blog — Edge of Gloria!

Fort Wayne Reader

2012-08-02

Occasionally, I get grief for being too negative. Well, excuse me, but when you are really poor, and have bathed using literally one gallon of water because your water got shut off, and you know your job situation isn’t going to radically improve unless you get more education you can’t really afford to pay for and you are a bit worried about your digestive system, it’s kinda hard to be positive at times. When I look back on the past 12 years, it seems like something majorly bad happened EVERY SINGLE YEAR. When you feel like life is a never-ending shitstorm of frustration and disappointment, it’s hard to stay positive. So, here’s a list of things that make me happy. Like, REALLY make me happy.

Vice Magazine: I used to pick up free issues whenever I wound up in a big city. Since I haven’t been in a big city in about six years, I have been reading the one issue I have (devoted to tidbits) over and over again. I also have the Vice Guide to Sex, Drugs, and Rock and Roll and Street Boners. The guide has a collection of dozens of articles from Vice over the years. They’re really interesting, well written, and have the ability to make drugs sound awesome and awful at the same time. The founders used to be heroin addicts from Quebec, so they know. There’s an article about Ronnie Spector, and a history of U.S. foreign policy that clarifies just why the rest of the world hates us so much. This is the kind of history not taught in high school, or college, for that matter. There’s also an article on Latinos, and how lumping everyone with Spanish ancestry together is kinda like lumping all the white people of the world together. Just because they may look like each other, doesn’t mean they’ll get along. Try singing “God Save the Queen” in Belfast and you’ll see what I mean.

The photography is awesome and while they are interested in what people are wearing, there are no makeup tips or pix of anorexic models in designer clothing. American Apparel shows up a lot in the pages, because they pay for a lot of the advertising (which is how the magazine survives). But this is like a toned-down version of Answer Me. There’s just a little bit of anger, but they write about whatever the hell they want to write about. I’m probably older than their demographic, but I don’t care.

Cedar Point: If I could bottle the way I feel after I get off Millennium Force, and shoot it into my veins, I’d be smiling all the time. I love this roller coaster. I try and sit in the front row, and since I usually go by myself, I get the row all to myself. The thing is so steep, it feels like you are going up while you’re still in the start house. Then, when you reach the top, you are looking down and I swear, you are not only going down, but you are angling backward as you are going down, just for a little while. So it’s BEYOND straight down, if you know what I mean. I keep my arms up while the train is going up, then when we go down the hill, I spread my wings and fly. I swear to God, that’s what it feels like. I am a bird, soaring through the air. The coaster is super-smooth, too. A ride on Magnum XL was so bone-jarring, I don’t know if I ever want to ride it again. Millennium Force is like the best drug ever. Ride it when it’s dark out, and get an extra adrenaline rush.

Plus, the park itself is so happy and clean, and Snoopy and Pals are everywhere. And the weather always seems to be perfect when I go. Even if it’s cloudy in the morning, they dissipate a few hours later. My dream is to spend maybe a week at Cedar Point, or at least a long weekend. If I win the lottery for some huge sum of money, I’m buying an apartment in Sandusky, or maybe a little house so I can live here during the summer. I was lying down on a bench below Windseeker, and it was like a big, happy spaceship descending in the park. I got some amazing pictures of it too. Their new show, Luminosity, seemed pretty cool but the dance party after the show was a great idea. It’s like a big club, only outdoors and you didn’t have to be rich or beautiful to participate. I heart Cedar Point.

My garden: I have 23 tomato plants and just the other day, I ate five tomatoes, with a side of bacon. Home grown tomatoes are the best, and I love just going out there to the garden, picking some, and eating them right there. It’s the best when they are sun-warmed. I dump a bunch of salt and pepper on them, and I eat them like they are apples. Juice runs down my chin like I’m some sort of pathetic slob, but oh my God. I stuff myself full of tomatoes, and look up at the blue sky through the branches of the trees (one’s dying, one’s not) and I am content.

Grilling out: I discovered salmon, and I’ve been grilling it, and yum. Er, actually I mean YUM. I pat a salmon steak with brown sugar and curry, and maybe some pineapple juice and grill it, and it’s so good. Throw in some corn or potatoes as a side dish, and it’s Heaven on Earth. Hamburgers, hot dogs, even those humble foods taste great over charcoal. There’s that great feeling when you build an actual fire and it stays lit, and you throw pieces of dead branches in to stoke the flames. Then, you put the food on. I’m getting hungry thinking about it.

Next column, I’ll talk more about stuff that makes me happy. I CAN be happy; it’s just that I think I get off on negativity. Something I saw in one of my favorite ‘zines pretty much summed it up: “I love to bitch, criticize, and analyze.” Yup, I’m right there with ya.