Youth Impact Summit

So big news to share with everyone, tomorrow and Thursday I will taking part of the Youth Impact Summit. What is that you may ask, well let me tell you; a collection of young minds from across the province coming together to brainstorm, hear, talk about ideas to change communities. And yours truly applied a few times in the past and now I have the opportunity to take part of this big game changing opportunity. For a few years I've wanted to see what I could do to help out those who need help, be that volunteering at charity events or donate clothing or food. And now I can learn how to take that energy to the next level, and I am super excited for this experience.

For those reading for the first time, welcome! My name is Alvaro Cruz, or as I go by on most forms of social media, ChileanStorm. I was born in Toronto, but my family history hails from Chile, so I like to represent for Chile and all of Latin America, very proud of my roots and culture. I am an artist who is currently back in school and working part time as a barista. At the end of the day, I still need to pay my bills. I am currently working on a few personal projects like the Glass Prison and currently working on my first comic book, Brewgatory. My goal is to have a comic ready for summer 2017.

In this page here you will find a lot of entries on comic books that I've read and few opinion pieces as well. In the future entries I will probably talk more about things on my mind, the most important Nicolas Cage films and Nintendo 64 games. So if you like any of these things or just want a fun read, by all means give me a read and a follow and be sure to drop a comment if you'd like as well. 

You have to be able to laugh at yourself as well. 

Keep chasing the storm. 

Try Hard Die Hard

I am just going to open up with saying that Bruce Willis will not be the topic of today's blog. Although I think we can all agree that the first three Die Hard films were pretty awesome action movies, worth watching if you haven't seen them yet. No, today I wanted to ask you to think about this, what does winning mean to you? And I am asking on every possible level, how badly do you need to be the very best...like no one ever was. And yes, that was a Pokemon reference. But I want to talk today about our desire to win, to be champions and to be the best at everything. And I think most geeks experience this on a daily basis. How many achievements do you have? Did you catch them all? Did you win that tournament? What rank are you? What level is your team? But you get the idea. We aren't allowed to enjoy things anymore. No, we have to win. I guess I want to understand the theory of the carrot, why does it have to be involved with everything we do now in days...? 

Take it from me, time is short. Every day we only have so many hours to do whatever it is we want to do and well everything that we need to do as well, be that work or school or family. And then consider all the things you do because you want to do them, like playing your favorite online computer game or going to the local card shop for a game of Commander Magic. When you are done, are you satisfied at all? Well you should be, win or lose. But holy dead Jason Todd to we have people that really want to win and completely ruin the experience. Maybe this is me realizing that family, friends, partner and career are much more important than a weekly Friday Night Magic result or trying to collect every single Pokemon. I am not going to be a League of Legends champion anytime soon, and that is totally awesome. I think what I am trying to say here is, let's try to enjoy the experience. If we all try to be champions, this world is going to be filled with a whole lot of salt and resentments. Who cares about completing every single game achievement on your Xbox One, will you be awarded a purple heart and have a parade? Probably not. All these imaginary brass rings are presented to distract you from the bigger picture, that is you, What are you going to be in this world? 

That being said, if you truly feel and know that your goal is to be a champion in some video game or card game, all power to you. I mean Adam Copeland (WWE`s Edge) always wanted to be a WWE Champion and he did it. You focus on your goals, you give everything you have and you become the person that you know you are. But if like me you are an artist or a writer or anyone who isn`t making a living off gaming tournaments, try this and just don`t give a f*ck. Enjoy the time off and the hobby itself. Aim to win, but aim to have a great time and remember why you love whatever it is you love. It`s okay to lose, just don`t lose human dignity in your climb to the top of the mountain. I have seen Rock Paper Scissors tournaments, don`t mess with them tossers. 

Keep chasing the storm.