Such great heights

I am not particularly tall, or so I think. I’m 5’10” and I think that’s above average. It’s not huge, it’s not small, just a good size. A friend of mine is 5’5” and says I’m delusional. When we talk about height, he says that I just can’t understand what he goes through because I’m tall. When I try to say that I’m not that tall, he says your less than a finger length from being 6 ft. tall.

You see, while women constantly battle the issues of image in regards to weight, appearance, hairstyles, clothing, and the such, men also deal with certain issues; maybe far reduced in number, though not necessarily in scale. True, a lot of men don’t care about their height, their weight, their looks or anything since the media has done a top notch job of making men more tolerable to their physical appearance in their natural state, though still, men do have issues... and as I speak with my friend, height is one of the main ones for those that don’t possess it.

I’ve heard phrases like:

“People always push up against me…”

“They don’t respect me.”

“Everyone cuts in front of me in a line.”

“Women don’t find me as a desirable mate because I’m not tall enough.”

When you hear things like these, you realize that this issue is bigger than what you could ever imagine and honestly, if you’re a woman, I invite you to think about it. Have you ever met a super nice guy you haven’t gone out with because of his height? Before you give a quick answer, really think that one through. I ask in this way because men are often accused of being superficial and I thought it’d be good to show that we can all be superficial at one time or another. I also want to bring this forth because although a feminist, I do have to recognize that some women can be shallow regarding certain issues, even if it’s not a popular thing to say. Mainly I’m just saying that women can be superficial as well and that men who don’t top the charts height-wise can be great people you might be missing out on for having a checklist of things you want in a man and for not giving a second thought to the shorter (not lesser) man.

Men are accused of being shallow because they focus on breasts, legs, a derriere or what have you… but rarely do men write down a list of specifications and requirements in their ideal mate, which is something I’ve seen many women do, and I’ll get back to this soon. I mention the list because you’ll probably never see one that asks for a guy to be 5’5”. You’ll never see it as a requisite and to be honest, I know many women for whom this could actually be a deal breaker and I’d like to propose something:

What if you had the perfect man for you, good son, great husband, fantastic lover, grooms enough to be clean and not so much he goes metro and has finger nails and eyebrows better cared for than you, has great taste in wine, drives a nice car, has and a healthy 401K, has no debt, deep blue or dark eyes (pick whatever you like), great hair, is an excellent masseuse and is always ready and willing to listen to you and your situations… but he’s 5’3”. What is your initial reaction to that “almost” perfect man?

You see, the whole tall dark and handsome thing hurts many a good man, because they see women they would slay a dragon for who do not pay any attention to them, because they’re too busy looking at 6 ft heart breakers that know they literally have a height advantage.

A bit above I mentioned the list I so often hear women writing… I know a woman who’s kept her list since she made it when she was 15… and she clings on to that, having passed on a few good men because they lacked something from that list. My question is this: how fiercely would you cling onto something that may keep you from being happy? Or maybe it’s just my invitation for each of us to see that the biggest people in our lives are not measured with feet or meters.

Young Suns

Connecting with people has always been a rewarding experience for me and during the PR Comic Con, it was even more special. I was able to meet people of all ages who were interested in my stories, who had questions and most wonderfully, who have stories to tell themselves.

Among these people, a sweet young lady by the name of Vashti was nice enough to swing by my booth on both days and is possibly the only person who took with her everything that was available at the Only Human booth. She was actually the first to take one of the Super Packs, which included all four Daydreams and both Blanc Comics and I truly hope she enjoys what I had to offer. Still, more important than the opportunity to share my work with her, she thanked me because she said I showed her that it was possible for someone to publish independently and that she realized that someday she will be able to share the stories she is working on right now.

Those precious minutes she took to share this bit of information with me were extremely touching and enriched my experience that much more. The same can be said for the deep discussions I shared with other young writers who have stories and who had questions. To be honest, I was very impressed by the level of questions I received from young people. I saw unique sparks in their eyes and rays of light waiting to shine through and touch others.

It was as if throughout the Comic Con, I met dozens of young suns waiting to shine bright and eager to create new worlds through their stories. There were questions, and truth be told, I love questions. A young lady and a young man actually started off with the classic: “this might be a stupid question”, only to floor me with the caliber of questions they had. It was gratifying to see desire and talent and like I said, I love questions. So if you have anything you’d like to ask, by all means send me an email to jdestradawriter@gmail.com or visit my facebook page.

In a time when bad news is the norm in all media channels, I was able to meet countless future sources of inspiration and good news. So here’s to shining, to sharing, to asking honest questions and to connecting through words.

Peace, love and maki rolls.

JD

The inspiration for Blanc Comics

Blanc Comics© is my tribute to Tata, my late grandmother. She was a beautiful, elegant, wonderful woman, with a cheeky sense of humor, gorgeously soft hands and beauty that carried into her 80’s. She was also blind.

Regardless of her condition, this didn’t stop her from telling colorful stories from Cuba and her life, showing me you don’t need to use your eyes to truly see. Wondering of something different to do for the Puerto Rico Comic Con, I thought of writing comics, panel descriptions, details, and full blown storylines as if I were Tata, i.e. as if I were blind and needed people of all types to help me see the story. Blanc Comics is more than something you can read, it’s my humble request for you to paint the stories I have to tell.

The 2014 PRCC offered up two launch titles: Raining Dead© and Tricks and Ladders©. Each one has a life of its own and its own personality. Soon I’ll be seeing how I can get more people to help me draw a Blanc and paint the story the way THEY would like to see it. That way we’ll be able to compare lenses from around the world to see how our eyes reflect the same light.

If you were lucky enough to get your hands on a Blanc Comic and would like to show your vision of our story, send your artwork to JDEstradawriter@gmail.com. I’ll be sharing some more info about each title soon and creating a gallery on my Facebook Page to show our stories in all their glory.

We’ll be seeing each other very soon.

Human connections at the Puerto Rico Comic Con

This past weekend I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to share my book with the world in physical form for the first time. People passed by my booth, they saw my banner and were kind enough to ask: “so what’s your book about?” I told them the premise, they saw the girth of the book and on more than one occasion they had to ask twice if I’d written this book.

Eight years it’s been since I began working on Only Human, and I was finally able to connect with people and they were able to connect with my story, or actually stories (plural). I also shared my Daydreams on the Sherbet Shore and the Blanc Comics. All in all, different people found something to like in my four offerings and I heard some very positive things to say about each one.

Of special note was the opportunity to share this experience with my wife who was there in the booth with me. She has been vital in all my efforts, is the one responsible for my Facebook page and made it abundantly clear why I’m so lucky in this life. It’s also awesome to be married to such a wonderful muse.  

Going a bit behind the scenes, the reality is that each offering has its own story and a reason why they are special.

The Daydreams I actually spent a night compiling the short stories and preparing the small booklets with my wife, my parents in law and her grandmother. So basically stories I’d crafted with much love were cared for with a hands-on touch from my family. This means that people who have read them got a true family offering. 

Blanc Comics are my tribute to my late grandmother and I heard some really positive feedback from the concept, and I can’t ask for anything worthier of my grandmother than to be able to touch the lives of others and show that we can all see through the power of words. I’ll be putting up a post on Blanc Comics tomorrow morning.

As for Only Human… well it’s been an 8 year relationship, it’s my first book and people are reading it right now… what can I say, that’s a hell of a good feeling.

Throughout the Puerto Rico Comic Con, I was also able to connect with talented artists like Juan Fernández (who was my booth neighbor and a great talent) and on my other side was the Cosplayer Nation team who are still working hard to finish their documentary on Cosplay and its beginnings. I was also blessed to be able to take photos with some brilliant cosplayers who allowed me to snap pictures with Porco Rosso, Gandalf the Grey, Princess Toad, Gimli, a Tardis, K-9 from Dr. Who, Louise from Bob’s Burger and my personal favorite from the show, the Maitlands from Beetlejuice, not to mention some other great costumes that also made my experience there even better.

Back at my booth, I was able to connect with people of all ages who wanted to read my work. Although everyone was special in their own right, the enthusiasm of my first two sales is a definite highlight. Guillermo was the first person to buy my book and I’d like to thank him for his enthusiasm with this blog and my work. It was extremely gratifying to meet him and I hope to see him in other activities to thank him for the confidence he gave me to share my work with others. Michael was the second person to buy my book and thanks to his interest, at least three people came by referred by him (thanks for the vote of confidence). Like them, Keren, Mariexis, Stella, Yliana, Rafa, Christian, Harry, Ricardo, Ezekiel, Joey, Héctor, Stella, Eli, Natalie, Rolando and countless other people were kind enough to buy my book and stories and some have even connected with me on Facebook and Twitter. Some were even kind enough to visit me on both days and tell me they liked my book. In short, the words thank you may only be two words… still, they carry the message perfectly.

Throughout the Comic Con, I was also able to share thoughts with fellow Comic Con lovers and I even entered into some fascinating discussions about the book, about life, about writing, about my process and about what else I’m working on. I was also surprised by the amount of people who have a story they are working on and how many young writers I met. There’s actually one young man I wasn’t able to finish my conversation with and although people might say, hey it’s just one person, he wanted to share a story with me he’d written and I hope to have the opportunity to read his work soon because I truly believe in the power of a word, so imagine the power of a story.

As for the overall experience, it is gratifying to meet fellow readers and to see young people and people of all ages who want to tell a story. I am honored to have been able to meet all of you and I promise you this, this is just the beginning.

So to all of you who passed by, thank you for giving me the gift of a few minutes of your time and to those whom I was able to connect with, here’s to being more than Only Human.

Cheers,

J.D.

Daydreamers wanted

John Lennon said it best, “Some may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.“

Connecting with people is one of life’s greatest joys and the Daydreams on the Sherbet Shore have allowed me to craft a place where there are no rules, where we can all smile and where we can all connect. The stories came about from a silly random conversation that made me smile so much, I decided I would continue having adventures with friends while we create the Sherbet Shore together. Each episode includes characters based on writers, on poets, on friends whom I was lucky enough to be allowed to include in my stories.

As part of my participation in the 2014 Puerto Rico Comic Con, I’ll be inviting as many people as I can to accompany us on these adventures. So in the interest of sharing the wealth, here’s my humble ticket (not golden by any means), to write to jdestradawriter@gmail.com so you can come along as we discover the lands of the Sherbet Shore. I hope this message finds you well and that we are able to continue spreading joy, smiles and good dreams. 

So to finish with Lennon again, “I hope some day you will join us, and the world will be as one.”