Letter to my Friends

Hey Friends,           

 

            I am T.J. or Thomas. I know in my self-characterization I voiced my internal battle of whether i should go by Thomas or T.J., I will just leave it up to everyone though. Call me whatever you feel is fitting, hell make up a nickname. I was born in the valley. For those of you who do not know what "the valley" is referring to, it is Phoenix. I generally hate Phoenix by the way. It’s like a big city that tries to hard. Chicago, New York and L.A. are like the original big cities and then Phoenix. Phoenix was like, "Hey I should be a big city too, except with less to do and way hot, I'm talkin 120 degrees during the summer." That’s how Phoenix became a city. 

           Now that you know my stance on Phoenix I will tell you some more things about myself. I am officially a half Mexican. I am a mutt. My mother is Anglo, Caucasian, Dutch and all of the above. My dad is full Mexican. It is kind of funny watching a white woman and Mexican male argue about their ideals. I won't go into details but it’s interesting, I'll leave it at that.

 I still live in my parent’s house here in Tucson. Sometimes I get brave and talk about moving out; I even get friends involved every once in a while. Once I get over my bravery I remember that I get free meals and don't pay rent. Ya moving out right now would be stupid. If anyone wants to come live with me though that’s fine, you would have to pay me rent. 

I have a dog, and her name is Amber. Some people give me shit about naming a dog a human name. I'll name my dog what I feel is appropriate. I stole the dog from Rocky Point, Mexico. I found her on the beach while I stayed there one weekend. I remember when I decided I needed to take her back with me. One of my buddies and I decided to walk down the beach to this bar and check it out. All of a sudden this dog comes out of nowhere and starts following us. Her coat is a shiny amber color with eyes to match. Anyways she follows us all the way down the beach until we get to the bar. She tried to follow us inside the bar but I made her stay out side. We went inside, grabbed a couple drinks and went back outside. At first I had assumed she had gone back to wherever she came from. As we stepped outside she ran up to us and looked me in the eyes. If she could talk in that moment she would have said, "What up guys? How was it in there? You get your buzz on? Lets go for a walk on the beach!" That was the moment I knew I would take her back with me.  

I started reading a book recently by a monk named Thomas Merton. The book is a collection of passages from his personal diary. I have to say for a monk, that dude is awesome. He writes spontaneously, some passages are purely recalling old memories others are his observations and the questions spawned by his observations. Once I started reading that book I went out and bought myself a journal and started writing about everyday things asking questions and just free writing. I bought a pack of three little journals, labeling the first one I started writing in "Part 1". I secretly hope I become important for some reason and after I die somebody stumbles upon my amateur  journals and decides to publish them. Then some kid in the future will say, "I bought this book today, its a collection of personal journal entries for T.J. or Thomas Aguilera. You know, the famous monk or movie star or charity supporter?" That is not going to happen, but imagine if it did. 

Thanks for reading my letter. I hope it didn't bore you too hard. I look forward to reading your letter as well. 

T.J. or Thomas