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Ask your mentee what kinda of mentor they are looking for.  Do they want a facilitator?  Or do they want a dictator?   Many believe they want a facilitator only to learn later they wanted to be told what to do, how to do it and when to do it.   Others want to know you […]

Recognition I start this article by recognizing influences by so many around me on this topic:  My extended family, my parents, Corina Zavala, Jonathan Guajardo, Mary Cantu, Kaye Cruz, Aimy Steadman, Sandy Stone, Elena Foulis, Fredrick Luis Aldama, Mark Barnett, Mariah Villarreal, Mary Lanoue-Gers, Mark Solis, John Frazee, Rick Polus, Ruth Buentello, Emily Rosen, Hector […]

Don’t Feel Like Reading this??? Watch it! Like To Read? Check it out! It has been over 12 years since I successfully defended my dissertation. While I am not officially a graduate professor over the past year teaching here at Texas A&M I have been working more and more with graduate students through various Media […]

In Academia “Collaboration” is a word used to inspire.  It is thrown around and used to “break down silos” on campuses and create “Cross Collegiate efforts.”  But all too often in actuality it is just a Buzzword…  Zip! Zap! Boom!  For the powerpoint presentations, the academic theorists, and administrators they are just catchy words without […]

Introduction It’s now 2019: approximately ten years since I first attended the SEMA Conference in 2009.  For those who are unaware, SEMA stands for Specialty Equipment Market Association. This is quite an ominous acronym, but in some ways, such a moniker is almost a necessity. SEMA is an industry only, automotive trade show/conference/celebration.  Whether it’s […]

Note:  This is a response to the distinguished scholars of the NCA who oppose changes being made by the executive committee.  It should be noted that I appreciate the efforts by the admin of the NCA to make such changes. National Communication Association (NCA) This name and acronym has been something I have rejected as […]

After being unemployed for a year, I accepted a lecturer position at Texas A&M University-College Station last summer for the Fall of 2018.  After writing my last article, I was down to two jobs, one in Idaho and one in College Station. After a lot of thought, my wife and I decided I would take […]

A jobless year as an academic.   The point of this article is not to have people feel sorry for me, but to provide a quasi-autobiographical ethnographic report of my experience this year looking for another academic gig.  As with my dissertation, I will provide photo and video documentation of the journey. I will also […]

Writers Note:  I was about to write an article about my feelings of how hard it has been dealing with the University I worked for killing one of my best students, but then I ran across this piece I had written in 2015.  I feel it does a good job getting across how I felt […]

I am super excited to announce that I am producing the 2018 ACTLab New Media Conference.  The last one we threw was in the spring of 2012.  Like the 2012 conference, this too will be an academic peer  reviewed conference.  I posted the call for papers on the Convergent Media Collective’s website. This conference means […]

Academia has always been a foreign place to me.  I have always felt like a visitor, never a proprietor.  Whether it has been the Academic “speak”, the alienating “readings” at conferences or the “Ivory Tower” approach to a communal practice, I have always felt like an “other” within these spaces.  As an undergraduate and graduate […]

After attending a week’s worth of meetings where diversity and inclusion have been hot topics I decided to write some thoughts on it.  I noticed that privilege, aka the inherit socio and economic mobility one has, was often over looked and not reflected upon enough by those who hold positions of power and agency. Below […]

Here is an car profile video I shot for Tito, a customer of JMS Racing. He wanted to get a dyno video because a lot of people had been saying that the M4’s were coming under rated from the factory. Their stock horse power supposedly being 420hp at the crank. As you can see in […]

Here are some photos I took while at the Texas 2K14 stay tuned for a video and write up soon!

The Cheap Hi-Fi As some of you may know I am into hi-fi and I have been for over 16 years now.  Those who have come over have heard my various systems and music.  I love sharing them with others. One question that I always get is “how much is it?”  It’s always a tough […]

We are now connected with everyone.  Everyone is Friends… Our photos, videos, most inner personal thoughts and desires we have are part of the digital flow… Our text messages, cellular positions, automotive positions, our bio vitals close to being tracked in real time… The frequency of our actions are all measured.  The parallel and serial […]

I am proud to announce the completion of The boy made of lightning. A collaboration of artists and new media technologist from San Antonio, Tx came together to tell a children’s story about Willie Velasquez. You can now download it from iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-boy-made-of-lightning/id693813095?ls=1 Also here is an article written by the Express News in San […]

For some reason this past April/May I found myself detailing 6 cars.  It was interesting, it was definitely a snow ball effect.  It started when I was looking at my wife’s Lexus RX350 and saw how it desperately needed a good cleaning.  I also noticed it needed new headlights, I had done a cleaning of […]

In the Spring of 2012, the first ever ACTLab conference was held, CAT 22.  It was a huge success with an international attendance.  While small, (we had about 40 participants overall), the feeling and quality of the presentations were amazing.  The first day of the conference consisted of peer-reviewed papers, presentations and “working demos”.  The […]

After some experimental tuning this past spring, the MGM is back on the road.  The short block checked out fine but the heads needed some major love.  Due to detonation the heads melted a bit, the valves mushroomed, and the spark plugs did not fair well either. Previous to this build I had been noticing […]

I am excited to announce that I am helping host Central Texas BarCamp.  It will be July 7th at Geekdom in San Antonio Texas.  The goal of the event is to bring people from around the region together to talk about community, technology and creative spaces. You can find out more by heading over to […]

I am proud to announce that the ACTLab will be hosting a peer-reviewed academic conference that will revolve around the core ACTLab pedagogy:  Make Stuff, Take Risks and Be Awesome.  If you have a great project, paper, demo or panel, whether you are an amateur, professional or academic please do not hesitate to submit your […]

On October of 2011 I made it out to San Antonio Raceway with JMS Racing to watch them compete in the DSM shootout.  The day was long and a roller coaster of an event as their cars competed.  They ran great times, but were unable to beat their personal bests (however, just this past weekend […]

It is now 2011, not 2001, not 1991, but 2011 and soon this year too shall pass…. This generation’s technical revolution was not broadcast on TV.  The rhizomatic growth and distribution of information over the past 10 years has been a phenomenon.  This growth has created new social and cultural practices by the young and […]

This piece is a response to the Gloria Anzaldúa conference I attended in the fall of 2010.  The conference was a visceral experience for me and I made many friends who helped me to see my life in many new ways.  I present this piece as a personal testimonial to my past and present experience […]

This past January I received my Grand Marquis back from Boost Logic after they installed a fully built motor.  I have now put roughly 6,000 miles on the car to break the motor in a bit and \finally able to start thinking about going to the track. I took my Turbo MGM to the track […]

On Feb 10th, 2011 I attended Colloquium VI put on by Potter-Belmar Labs. I was ask to give a presentation on my “Art”. The presentation went fantastically! I had a great time, the Audience was wonderful. Each artist brought a unique perspective and truly unique work. I look forward to future Colloquiums and I would […]

So as many of you know, I have a Turbo 1996 Mercury Grand Marquis… Well it now has it’s fully built motor in it 🙂 The motor work was performed by Dennis in Austin, Tx and was installed by Jorge at Boost Logic and additional installation was performed by Ly of KC Automotive (a real […]

So I was able to make it up to the Marauder Centerville Meet this past weekend.  It was my forth time attending the event.  This time sadly I was not able to take my MGM as it was still in the shop.  On the other hand it allowed me to focus on snapping some photos.  […]

So I have officially made the move to San Antonio.  I got here in July and have been settling in ever since.  I have started a tenure track job at the University of Incarnate Word where I am in charge of a new Convergent Media program in the Communication Arts department. My life is flying […]

MyGeekyLife is getting a face lift, check back for updates soon!