Pity, he had talent but his hubris did him in . . .

Facebook is a wierd and surreal other world.  I have quite a few friends and most of whom I don't even know that well.  That's okay, I know who I can rely upon and who would be so understanding of me that they would ask me for my help.

But I saw a post by Gustavo Arellano of the OC Weekly, saying that he was approaching the 5,000 mark on Facebook and basically was putting the last 10 spots up for grabs, when he posted:

"has a request for ustedes who have submitted a friend request to me, who can read my status updates, but whom I've yet to approve due to me having too many already: I have space for 10 right now—message me your case as to why you should join my bola de cabron@s! Best ones get snuck in!"

I read that and realized . . . no, he's not a real friend and frankly, I'm tired of his ustedes schtick, as well as the myriad of "friends" who think whatever Gustavo does or thinks is soooooo right.  And if that means going agsinst, say the Dream Act, well, then, we're Know-Nothings and racists.  Okay, fine by me - time to move on.  Because, seriously, it's a fucking Facebook friend thing, which - as my late father would say - that and a buck-and-a-quarter gets you on the subway.

So I said I'd defriend him, while still "liking" his "Ask a Mexican" page to "take one for the team."  To which I received the reply:

"Stephanie: You ain't going nowhere—you contribute, even if I don't agree with you sometimes. After all, who else but you will do Photoshops of Brownie [Bishop Tod Brown], or of me as a fat Mexican?"

Who, indeed.  That's when I thought I was no more than a useful prop in his agenda.  So I said, no, it's time to shut this down, and I was tired of the approximate 4,999 who think he's the greatest - used the big word "sycophants", I did. 

To which I got this:

"Stephanie: What you call "sycophants," I call truth-tellers. Keep at it with a church that protects pedophiles, and see how far that gets ya!"

Whoa, Spanky!  And he defriended me before I could do the same to him (I was stuck having lunch with my family and couldn't perform that function on my iPhone).

Ah, I see . . . as soon as I challenge "Gus", look to what level he sinks - now I'm best-buddies with pedophiles.  Wow, from "ain't going nowhere" to complete condemnation - who knew an ego could be so fragile.

I think the real problem is that Gustavo has become a broken record - viva la raza! and any criticism means that person becomes anathema and fair game for low blows.  Which, now that I think about it, is pretty much what Scientologists do.  It is a shame, really - Gustavo once shared with me an outstanding article he wrote about a charismatic, faith-healing service he attended which was wonderful journalism.  And I give him credit - he recently scolded Claudia Alvarez for her "Hitler" comment at a Santa Ana city council meeting - although I cannot really tell if he condemns her statements for what she said or because it means she lost ground against Irv Chase - whom he calls a "member of the Tribe" (as if that isn't anti-Semitic!) - as exemplified when he wrote:  "Thanks a lot, Claudia, for now making criticism against the Chases nigh-impossible."  See, Claudia, you gotta learn the ropes with those damn Jews, else you ruin it for all of us trying to keep development out of Santa Ana!

But now that someone wants to bring "Ask a Mexican!" to Broadway, I suspect that "Ask a Mexican!" has grown beyond the OC Weekly, because that has the potential to make him some serious dinero than just being the managing editor of an alternative weekly whose income is largely derived from advertisements for medical marijuana attorneys and Botox specialists.  And therein lies my problem - it's boring.  Yeah, George Lopez was once edgy but really?  His stand up has become repetitive and so too has the whole Arellano ustedes thing.

So, adios, Gustavo - yeah, I'l continue to attend Mass in a Catholic Church (you know, you said if God granted you a certain favor, you'd attend Mass once again - I believe He held to His end of that bargain, did you?) and "keep at it" with the pedophiles while you "bring a little Brown" to the Great White Way, as Broadway is known. 

A shame - I used to enjoy reading his work, until I realized I was reading the same sentence over and over . . .