De Escalation – Tensions are high but they could be diffused more often if we had a better outlook.

Hugo was an angry young man in Los Angeles during the late 90s and 2000s. Luckily his anger didn’t land him in serious hot water. Now at 40 plus years he has rethought his approach to dealing with situations where tempers are flaring and how that could impact the lives of his kin. Your thoughts and comments are always appreciated.
Today on the Show:
Boyz n the Hood clip: https://youtu.be/W1fv8bPOwGk
Cholo Definition by Urban Dictionary:  https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=cholo
Subscribe to the Podcast or you can find Hugo on Twitter at @hugosposts on Insta at @hugotorres or his blog at sangabrielvalley.blogspot.com  

El Tango de Hugo – Hugo is startled from a dream and suddenly he starts answering some crazy quandaries and questions.

The cold and cough season continue to plague the Torres household and after a long night of short dreams and then little sleep Hugo takes some time time to ask some pertinent questions. It’s not quite everything you’ve ever wanted to know about Hugo but were afraid to ask but we’re getting there.
Today on the Show:
Tango – Por Una Cabeza:   https://youtu.be/SJ1aTPM-dyE
Andrea Bocelli Por Una Cabeza: https://youtu.be/m8AnS9Lnpw0
Game Played is Crazy Quandaries Published by Simply Fun Games  https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/37591/qrazy-quandaries 
Subscribe to the Podcast or you can find Hugo on Twitter at @hugosposts on Insta at @hugotorres or his blog at sangabrielvalley.blogspot.com  

Princess and the Gent

At a bus stop with no shade off Route 66 and la Buena Vista sad sat a younger man than I and little girl no more than half a dozen years old. 
The wispy mustache the young fella bore barely covered the many spots he had at his lip and throughout his face and he wore a pristine cap, shoes, t-shirt and black jeans. He looked well pressed and put together. 
She was a sight. Her fingers Hot-Cheeto red from the bag of treats why balanced at her lap. She wore a loosely fitting Cinderella dress with a staged sash. Plastic

Going on Thirteen

Funny how we decide to mark certain days. Today, for instance, I choose to mark this day as the first time my son’s gaze and mine met at the same level. Standing in front of him I looked into his bright birthday eyes and realized that come this time next year there’s a good chance he’ll be looking down at me. In that transitory moment I took stock of him and still registered his renowned goofiness, sweetness, confidence and happy attitude. He is still my guy to care for and teach. He is still growing and maturing. He is a better version of me in so many different ways. That all included in the mental mark I’ve made for myself on his special day. 
Now bring on the Teen-Age years!

The Vigilant

After a long and trying meeting at our local Middle School I began the short half-block walk to my truck. At the stop light on the corner of Myrtle Ave the red-hand-light made it so that a young lady and I had to wait for permission to walk. When the light finally turned I started to take my old man stride across the Duarte Road and quickly her quick pace over took me. 
In seconds she was several paces ahead of me. That

Dance with Another

The limo dropped us off at The Beach just before midnight. By then our ad hoc group of rebel-rousers and troubadours had been partaking hard at the watered-down libations and were ready to do some real damage. The crew consisted of about a dozen twenty-somethings with Dot Com money to burn and an apropos Viva Las Vegas attitude. 
Among the throng an old man in his early 40s joined us for the adventure. Once in the club the group loosely disbanded as some sought drink, others lust and some just wanted to dance. My girlfriend was in that camp and I did my best to keep up while trying not to look too much at the ladies selling drinks in their bikinis all about us. We played for hours in this place and right upon closing the DJ suggested playing an oldie to the crowd and soon after Margaritaville came on the loud speakers. Too tired for a dance I sat at table panting with my upper lip covered in sweet Summer sweat. 
It was a this point when our 40 something friend asked my girlfriend to dance and they took to the dance floor for the last bit of fun for the night. Upon their return to the table, as we collected our things to go he came over and told me