Intermediate Spanish Stories

On this rainy Saturday morning, I received a phone call from you, we will chat casually while I prepare my morning coffee and tell you about my plans for today and the many things I like to do.  Also, I will tell you about some of the wonderful places I like to visit around here. Join me for a casual look into my day.  Send me a text but know that I can’t respond here Updated official intro withou...

Close to 80 years ago,  a horrific murder scene, in the quiet neighborhood would shock the neighbors, puzzle the police, and forever stain the pages of the history of United States crime books. Elizabeth Short, known posthumously as the Black Dahlia , was an American woman found murdered in the Leimert Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, on January 15, 1947, her body was cut in half and...

Taking time to reflect on the past and think about what you want in the new year is essential for many reasons. First, it allows you to gain perspective on your life and identify areas where you want to make changes or improvements. Looking back on your experiences and achievements, you can better understand what works for you and doesn't and use that information to guide your decisions. Refl...

This is part 3 of the National Park Series Joshua Tree National Park is a vast protected area in southern California. It's characterized by rugged rock formations and stark desert landscapes. Named for the region’s twisted, bristled Joshua trees, the park straddles Two distinct desert ecosystems: the cactus-dotted Colorado Desert and the Mojave Desert, which is higher and cooler. Keys View lo...

Zoot Suit Riots, a series of conflicts that occurred in June 1943 in Los Angeles between U.S. servicemen and Mexican American youths, the latter of whom wore outfits called zoot suits. The zoot suit consisted of a broad-shouldered drape jacket, balloon-leg trousers , and, sometimes, a flamboyant hat . Mexican and Mexican-American youths who wore these outfits were called zoot-suiters.  Pressures r...

The following episode includes graphic content that may not be suitable for some audiences. Listener discretion is advised. During the month of October, during the Halloween season, I have put together a series of the most terrifying horror Halloween movies, where you will hear about the creepy monsters all wearing their iconic masks that hunt you in your nightmares. This is the last story. This i...

The following episode includes graphic content that may not be suitable for some audiences. Listener discretion is advised. During the month of October, during the Halloween season, I have put together a series of the most terrifying horror Halloween movies, where you will hear about the creepy monsters all wearing their iconic masks that hunt you in your nightmares. This is the second story. This...

The following episode includes graphic content that may not be suitable for some audiences. Listener discretion is advised. During the month of October, during the Halloween season, I have put together a series of the most terrifying horror Halloween movies, where you will hear about the creepy monsters all wearing their iconic masks that hunt you in your nightmares. This is the first story.   Thi...

Before you start on this second part, please listen to E52, part I: Cesar Chavez Co-founder of the United Farm Workers Association, Dolores Clara Fernandez Huerta is one of the most influential labor activists of the 20th century and a leader of the Chicano civil rights movement.   Born on April 10, 1930 in Dawson, New Mexico, Huerta was the second of three children of Alicia and Juan Fernandez, a...

Cesar Chavez  (March 31, 1927 – April 23, 1993) was an American labor leader and civil rights activist. Along with Dolores Huerta, he co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), later to become the United Farm Workers (UFW) labor union. Born in Yuma, Arizona to a Mexican-American family, Chavez began his working life as a manual laborer before spending two years in the United States N...

On  February 6, 2023, at 04:17, local time, a 7.8  earthquake struck southern and central Turkey and northern and western Syria .  making it the largest in Turkey since the 1939 Erzincan earthquake of the same magnitude, and jointly the second-strongest recorded in the history of the country, after the 1668 North Anatolia earthquake . The confirmed death toll stood at 57,658: 50,399 in Turkey, and...

Fort Ord is a former United States Army post on Monterey Bay on the Pacific Ocean coast in California. In its prime, Fort Ord was once one the most coveted military training grounds in the U.S. Founded in 1917, Fort Ord was the first stop for many new recruits in many different wars such as WW2, Korea, and Vietnam. The fort closed in 1994 due to Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) action. Most of...

The día de Los Reyes is better known as the feast of Epiphany in English.  Los Reyes Magos – known as the Three Wise Men, or Three Kings in English – are three men who followed the North Star to the town of Bethlehem to welcome baby Jesus into the world. Melchor, Gaspar, and Baltasar traveled from a faraway place to gift the Son of God with gold, incense, and myrrh. While children in everywhere re...

As we approach the end of another year it is important to reflect on the experiences that one has lived, it is important to analyze the success you obtained and your failures, it is also important to make plans, and set goals to achieve new purposes, you have to put energy into things that are worthwhile, dedicate time to yourself and the people you love in life.  While some wait until January 1 t...

On the evening of 8 December 1980, English musician John Lennon, formerly of the Beatles, was shot and fatally wounded by an obsessed fan outside of the Dakota, his residence in New York City.  John Lennon and Yoko Ono returned to the Dakota Apartments at approximately 10:50 p.m. As Lennon passed by, he glanced briefly at Chapman, appearing to recognize him from earlier. Seconds later, Chapman dre...

John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack , was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination near the end of his third year in office. Kennedy was the youngest person to assume the presidency by election. He was also the youngest president at the end of hi...

During the month of October, during the Halloween season, I have put together a series of the most terrifying and creepy real-life ghost stories, where you will hear about the unexplained paranormal and supernatural occurrences that have stained the pages of the history of the United States. This is the last story This is part 3 of the Halloween Special 2022 Series For over 100 years, Gettysburg,...

During the month of October, during the Halloween season, I have put together a series of the most terrifying and creepy real-life ghost stories, where you will hear about the unexplained paranormal and supernatural occurrences that have stained the pages of the history of the United States. This is part 2 of the Halloween Special 2022 Series Inside The Real Amityville Horror House And Its Story O...

During the month of October, during the Halloween season, I have put together a series of the most terrifying and creepy real-life ghost stories, where you will hear about the unexplained paranormal and supernatural occurrences that have stained the pages of the history of the United States. This is the first story. This is part 1 of the Halloween Special 2022 Series The Salem witch trials were a...

The 1994 Northridge earthquake that struck the densely populated San Fernando Valley in southern California, U.S., on January 17, 1994, was the third major earthquake to occur in the state in 23 years and was the state’s most destructive one since the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 and the costliest one in U.S. history. The earthquake occurred just after 4:30 AM local time along a previously und...

The Pacific Northwest Coast is a geographic region in western North America bounded by the coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west. Though no official boundary exists, the most common conception includes the U.S. states of California, Oregon , Washington , and the Canadian province of British Columbia . Few areas of the United States are as diversely beautiful as the Pacific Northwest. You...

The 1992 Los Angeles riots, were a series of riots and civil disturbances that occurred in Los Angeles County, California, in April and May 1992.  The unrest began in South Central Los Angeles on April 29, after a jury acquitted four officers of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) charged with using excessive force in the arrest and beating of Rodney King. This incident had been videotaped an...

This is part 2 of the National Park Series Being dwarfed by Earth’s most massive tree , the giant sequoia, fills you with wonder. It’s hard to believe that a living thing can be so enormous and old. Also known as Sierra redwoods , the largest of these trees live in California’s rugged Sierra Nevada mountain range. Some of the largest surviving giant sequoia groves can be seen in Sequoia and Kings...

This is part 5 of the Leyenda Series Hundreds of years ago, when the Aztec Empire dominated the Valley of Mexico, it was common practice to subject neighboring towns and to require a mandatory tax.  It was then that the chief of the Tlaxcaltecas, bitter enemies of the Aztecs, weary of this terrible oppression, decided to fight for his people’s freedom. The chief had a daughter named Iztaccihuatl:...

The Linda Vista Hospital was first established in 1904 as the Santa Fe Coastlines Hospital, a prospering healthcare facility dedicated to servicing employees of the Santa Fe Railroad. During the early decades of the 20th century, the hospital flourished as did Los Angeles' surrounding Boyle Heights neighborhood. East LA was slowly transformed into a less affluent area, and the number of viole...