A PERIOD PIECE

The other I realized, almost by accident, that my life can be divided into separate periods, which sometimes overlap but seldom interact with each other... it's just like living in alternate or paralell universes... that's how my life sometimes feels... so I decided to take some time and write down all the most prominent and influential periods of my life... here they are:

The Radio Days Period

Time Frame: 1977 - 1978
Salient Characteristics: Co-Host of “Futbol Politico Popular” on Radio Centroamericana
Usual hang-outs: Radio booth
Proudest moment: Hosting a show all by myself, becoming an editorial in La República, Being interviewed on Channel 4.
Things I’m not so proud of: Sounding like a girl on the radio, my choice of music, never actually pursuing a career on radio
Beverage of choice: Root beer
Representative songs: “Pasión” by Los Hicsos

The Disco Duck period

Time Frame: 1979 - 1982
Salient Characteristics: Loud Music, Sweat, Disco, Smoking
Usual hang-outs: Leonardo’s, Top One, San Jose 2000, High School dances…
Proudest moment: none really
Moments I’m not so proud of: paying money to see The Trammps & Celi Bee live at Leonardo’s, not making out as often as I could, my choice of music
Beverage of choice: Rum & Coke
Representative songs: Copacabana (Manilow), Rapper’s Delight (Sugar Hill Gang), Crazy Little Thing Called Love (Queen), Voulez-Vouz (Abba)

The OPUS DEI period

Time Frame: 1983 - 1984
Salient Characteristics: intellectual discussions on religion and communism
Usual hang-outs: Kamuk
Proudest moment: Winning a debate on whether or not Jesus Christ Superstar was a heresy
Moments I’m not so proud of: chanting in latin, going to mass twice a week
Beverage of choice: Beer
Representative songs: Jesus Christ Superstar


The Headbanger Period

Time Frame: 1983 - 1985
Salient Characteristics: Leather, Chains, Smoking, Drinking…
Usual hang-outs: Garage Band Rehearsals, Parties, Parks, the Streets of Rohrmoser
Proudest moment: Being asked to be the lead singer of a band, being labeled a “bad influence”
Moments I’m not so proud of: Going to metal parties with blood on my face & a cow bone, getting thrown out of La Copa del Café for imitating Rob Halford,
Beverage of choice: Beer, Guaro
Representative songs: Shout at the Devil (Motley Crue), Rainbow in the Dark (Dio), Ace’s High (Iron Maiden), Say You Will (Fastway), Breakin’ the Law (Judas Priest)

The Wild Child Period

Time Frame: circa 1984 - 1988
Salient Characteristics: getting wasted, smoking pot, etc.
Usual hang-outs: El Copa’s Bar, El Pollo Cervercero, La Gauchada, Calle 12 at midnight, anywhere where there was booze…
Proudest moment: Getting out of “Hollywood” alive, not being killed, never getting caught, 21 beers in four hours, getting a 68 in a Differential Equations test I took totally drunk after having crammed all day long…
Moments I’m not so proud of: 21 beers in four hours, standing my gf up because I passed out drunk, being at Calle 12 at midnight repeatedly…
Beverage of choice: Booze.
Representative songs: The Price (Twisted Sister), Princess of the Night (Saxon), Crossroads (Scorpions), Paradise by the Dashboard Lights (Meat Loaf)

The Bohemian Period

Time Frame: 1985 - 1989
Salient Characteristics: poetry, music, bars, philosophy, angst
Usual hang-outs: “El Pretil”, Copa’s Bar, El Ballenato…
Proudest moment: Surviving a near fatal car crash, surviving an incident involving my gf locked behind a door in my house, getting laid
Moments I’m not so proud of: Jealousy attacks, making a “scene” in the middle of National Park and on the streets of Escazu, making my gf choose between her best friend and me…
Beverage of choice: Beer, Vodka
Representative songs: Confesiones de Invierno (Sui Generis), Un Velero Llamado Libertad (Perales), Thick as a Brick (Jethro Tull), Karn Evil #9 (Emerson Lake & Palmer), Closer to the Heart (Rush)

The Going Nowhere Period

Time Frame: 1987 - 1988
Salient Characteristics: Solitude, wandering alone at night…
Usual hang-outs: streets of Heredia, Joaquin Garcia Monge Library,
Proudest moment: none
Moments I’m not so proud of: none
Beverage of choice: Tea, Cognac
Representative songs: American Pie (Don McLean), Luces de Bohemia para Elisa (Emmanuel), Dali (Mecano), Tonight Is What It Means To Be Young (Fire Inc)



The Great Frustration Period

Time Frame: 1987 - 1991
Salient Characteristics: diarrhea, stomach disorders, intellectual frustration
Usual hang-outs: UCR
Proudest moment: Getting a 90+ in courses like “Mecanica de Materiales” and “Topografia”
Moments I’m not so proud of: failing every single course I was taking, repeating Grafica four times, repeating Fisica III three times, repeating Mecanica 2 three times…
Beverage of choice: Beer, Vodka
Representative songs: Chimes of Freedom (Bob Dylan), Born to Run (Bruce Springsteen), Space Oddity (David Bowie)

The Cool Period

Time Frame: 1992
Salient Characteristics: Self-reliance, adventure, freedom
Usual hang-outs: Delaware, Philadelphia, Washington DC, New York
Proudest moment: Facing NYC on my own
Moments I’m not so proud of: Almost being arrested
Beverage of choice: Beer, Dr Pepper
Representative songs: Wild Eyed Girl (Van Morrison), Smells like Teen Spirit (Nirvana), anything from Cats.

The Creative Period

Time Frame: 1992 - 1995
Salient Characteristics: creativity, professional success & validation
Usual hang-outs: Taco Bell, Giacomin, La Parrillada Los Yoses
Proudest moment: NCTE 1995, CATT 6, Nicaragua, Honduras…
Moments I’m not so proud of: no regrets
Beverage of choice: White Russian
Representative songs: What I Did for Love (A Chorus Line), anything by Weird Al Yankovic.

The Literary Period:

Time Frame: 1994
Salient Characteristics: poetry, drama – the works…
Usual hang-outs: poetry readings, bars…
Proudest moment: being valedictorian
Moments I’m not so proud of: some of the things I wrote
Beverage of choice: vodka
Representative songs: People are Strange (Doors), On the Dark Side (Eddie & The Cruisers)

The Golden Period

Time Frame: 1995 - 1997
Salient Characteristics: professional & intellectual respect, freedom
Usual hang-outs: Shampoo-Banana: Café Royale, Murphy’s, the Quad…
Proudest moment: getting married, graduating, being selected for publication, TESOL ’97, MWALL ’97, co-chairing the 1st ever CALL-IS internet faire…
Moments I’m not so proud of: living in Orchard Downs for a year
Beverage of choice: Corona’s, Bud on tap, Jolt Cola, Mountain Dew
Representative songs: Jeremy (Pearl Jam), Run-Around (Blues Traveler), I Only Wanna Be With You (Hootie & The Blowfish), Original Sin (Pandora’s Box), Thunder Rolls (Garth Brooks), Thunder Crashes (Live), Where Have all the Cowboys Gone? (Paula Cole), Desperado (The Eagles)

The Lost Period

Time Frame: 1998 - 2003
Salient Characteristics: zombie…
Usual hang-outs: none really
Proudest moment: Getting the lab off the ground, Salt Lake City, Alegria
Moments I’m not so proud of: and the days pass by….
Beverage of choice: Bloody Mary, Long Island Iced Tea
Representative songs: Alegria (Cirque Du Soleil), In the End (Linkin Park), Californication (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Adam’s Song (Blink 182)

Right now, I'm on yet another period of my life... I will refer to it as "The Renaissance Period", but since it's very recent, I do not have sufficient data right now to fill a period rap sheet... so that would have to wait for another time.