“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.” ― Rumi

I think many people might be wondering how it was that I got to do these interviews, or how I was able to successfully conduct them. I was very, very lucky to have been granted access, but factors that helped me were that I was legitimately conducting a research interview, I had legitimate questions (which sometimes I was denied one or two questions; due to the artist and managements decision), and lastly I did have legal documents that proved that I wasn't coming by to just meet these performers.

At the end of the day I wasn't walking into welcoming spaces with candies and butterflies and unicorns.

Not everything went smooth all the time either, I sometimes had issues with management, record companies, the artists/groups. Schedule changes, artists/groups running late, set-ups we had organized and set-up weeks before broken at the last minute.

All of these things had a lot to do with catering to their availability and time. Sometimes I would schedule something at a specific time and get a message or phone call that they wanted to move it up or move it down. At times I found this incredibly frustrating but I was flexible, or I would lose my one opportunity.

For many months I sacrificed weekends to travel back and forth, or get to every entertainer who was coming through. Sometimes it was easy, other times I would have to wait a long time to get the interviews done.

But, I managed....I think I had so much to prove that I zombie'd my way through a year and a half of missed sleep, missed time with my babies, time away from my family. I was exhausted, but my desire to prove that I could do this, was my sole motivation.

Again, my stubborn ass ways wouldn't let me stop. There was one night I hurt my leg so badly, I still kept on. I had a huge ball/lump that formed. It lasted several months to completely go away. This became my reminder of the interview with Gerardo Mercado.....I remember I felt like I had fire in my leg......I tried to touch that area but it hurt so much I had tears in my eyes. I told myself it will go away, just get good footage and then it will be worth this pain you have.

Another thing that still hurts is my shoulder and neck. I was interviewer, camera person, etc. So carrying and lugging around a huge camera bag with me, eventually created some problems for me. To this day, I have pain, though I continue to ice and apply natural remedies to see if I can make most of the pain and pressure go away.

So I suppose while I am proud of myself, and happy I was able to get this far, I am only missing two interviews, Mr. Gerardo Ortiz and El Komander. I've been fortunate enough to interview the older groups who set the stage for the current entertainers.

I have made this my last goal for this research. Without Ortiz, I fear my work will lack the full circle. I have used his personality and his music to create my whole research, so of course I would feel devastated to not have him in it.

But, I have also come to the dreadful conclusion that this might never happen, and so I am thinking of how to manage that with the amount of information I have compiled about Mr. Ortiz and how I had wanted to format my documentary.

But.....I am still gonna try......cause like my papacito Raul tells me and has so articulately placed me in this category of women; "crazies and chingonas." Ay voy Gerry...