Category Archives: Life of Marcos

Keep Austin Weird, Life of Marcos

Matzo Ballers

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The Matzoh Ballers
Matzoh Ballers Kickball team: Daniel, Josh, Ryan, Jason, Shauna, Marian, Jen, Brian, David, David, David, Ashley, Marcos.

The very appropriately named team “Matzo Ballers” participated in the Austin Sports and Social Kickball CO-ED league last Saturday. The 30-team league was divided in a first round of groups followed by the playoffs.

This ad-hoc team was formed with members of YAD. I joined in spite of not having played kickball since elementary school, where we call it fut-beis (pronounced foot-base), I decided to join in. Given that most teams in the league play together year-round and we were randomly thrown together, we didn’t have very high hopes.

But we surpassed our expectations by winning the first game. And the second one. And the third one.

At this point we had been out in the field for five hours on a sunny Saturday morning. This made us be both surprised and thrilled of winning yet sick of being all the way out in a park by the airport in the middle of nowhere. Read more for the rest of the story.

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Life of Marcos

Soy Marcos

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soy milk cartons

This post is not about an identity/language crisis. It’s about milk.

I heard somewhere that it’s not so good to drink a lot of milk when you are an adult and that it’s better to drink soymilk. I drink a lot of skim milk – at least half a liter a day. I buy it by the gallon, sometime two at a time, and I always finish it before it goes bad.

So I thought about trying soymilk as a substitute. I bought a bunch of different brands/types in order to try them and I’m still going through them.

But I can’t many compelling reasons why I should drink soymilk instead of milk: They have about the same calories but soymilk has more fat. They have about the same amount of calcium and proteins. The internet has not been very helpful, too much conflicting information.

Soymilk lasts for months, that’s big in my book. I can just stock up on cereal and soymilk and never go to supermarket. Also, apparently soymilk is better on the environment due to all the methane that cows produce and the energy it takes to raise them, and so forth.

I’m not going to become a tree-hugging vegan health freak… yet. But if you know more on this subject, I’d love to hear it.

Life of Marcos

Bohemia Bock

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I should have posted this back in late December or early January…

My dad, the cool and considerate parent that he is, was able to score one of only three thousand Limited Edition Bohemia Bock released late last year (not an easy feat). It comes in a beautifully designed champagne-like bottle and is packaged in a box. He got it for me through his college friend Jorge Luis Ramos, who offered to gift me the bottle when my dad told him that he keeps bringing me cases of the beers I like yet can’t be bought in the U.S. whenever he drives into Austin. A big public thank you.

More after the break…

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My very own Bohemia Bock.

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Life of Marcos

Sure Soft Solid Part III

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Sure Soft Solid and Sure Max

My supply of Sure Soft Solid has yet to run out (see this and this for background information). Recently, however, Moi and I got to compare our deodorants (this is how the Kirsch brothers bond).

Yes, it’s true: Sure Soft Solid and Sure Max are the same thing. Except the newer Sure Max has a whopping 20% of Aluminum Zirconium Trichlorohydrex Gly (anhydrous) instead of the now discontinued Sore Soft Solid’s paltry 19%. Now, I’m no chemist, but more Aluminum Zirconium Trichlorohydrex Gly to combat your offensive B.O. is a good thing in my book. Everything else appears to be identical. I’m not sure about the available scents, though. I never get the scents. In any case, this is all very good news.

Life of Marcos

My New Year’s Resolutions for 2003

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As I randomly ran a Spotlight search for the word “Playboy” on my computer (for the articles! for the articles!) I stumbled upon an old email I wrote on January 2nd, 2003 to a friend. Today I’m publishing the email. Only the recipient’s name was changed in order to spare her from the embarrassment of being mentioned here:

Dear Petronila:

As the end of yet another year rapidly approaches, one cannot help but to stop and look back at past experiences and accomplishments. Last year I did not make any new year’s resolutions, hence today I’m not a better person that I was last year (yes, there is still some room for improvement). This year will be different. I have carefully thought out 10 New Year’s Resolutions that I intend to stick to. I want to share them with you. As you will see, the bar is not too high so there is some chance for this to actually happen. I know you’re not a very good reader so I typed this very slowly so you can keep up.

My Ten New Year’s Resolutions for 2003

Continue reading My New Year’s Resolutions for 2003 →

Life of Marcos

Marcos the billionaire

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Marcos proudly holds up his authentic 5 Billion dollar bill.
Marcos proudly holds up his authentic 5 Billion dollar bill.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am happy to anounce that I have recently and proudly joined the very exclusive Billionaires Club.

Yes, as you can clearly see in the undoctored photograph shown above (click to zoom), I am holding an authentic 5 Billion dollar bill of my property. I’m also wearing a cool t-shirt and had to block the logo of a beer company with my left arm in order to keep this website kid free. But I digress.

In any case, for all of you math impaired readers… that’s $5,000,000,000 as in a five followed by nine zeroes… that’s nine as in 9. I finally made it! Mom and dad must be proud.

Life of Marcos

Wanted: A better mousetrap

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One regular morning just a few mornings ago, like any other regular morning I woke up. Except this was not a regular morning, as I heard noises up in the roof. Noises as in “little rodent feet running around the attic” noises.

Yikes. Not good.

So next thing I do is borrow a mousetrap from Mota. Not just a regular mousetrap: A battery powered electronic rat killing machine. You smear peanut butter in the deep end inside, and a hungry unsuspecting rat walks in and gets electrocuted.

The Weapon of Choice
The Weapon of Choice

I don’t like peanut butter, but I do own a jar which I bought just in case I need it for exactly this eventuality. So far no rats have eaten any of it, only Moi whenever he visits.

I went up to the attic and I set up the trap with fresh new batteries; expecting one of two possible outcomes:

  • 1. A dead mouse or rat in it.
  • 2. The trap remains untouched.
Before: The mousetrap is all buttered up, charged up, set up, and ready to do some damage.
Before: The mousetrap is all buttered up, charged up, set up, and ready to do some damage (click on image to zoom).

What I found the next day I did not expect. I did not expect it at all.

Continue reading Wanted: A better mousetrap →

Life of Marcos

Sure Soft Solid Part II

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This post continues on the same topic as this one.

Yesterday I received my shipment of deodorant. In a modern day version of the Hanukkah Miracle, the little deodorant I had left lasted just long enough for the new shipment to arrive, sparing people around me of my lethal B.O. I’m not convinced this is worth starting a yearly festival in order to commemorate it, but at least I thought it was worth mentioning.

Thanks everyone for their advice on replacement deodorant.