Christopher Ramirez

Matheny Elem School, Attended 1979 - 1981
Wilcox Elem School, Attended 1981 - 1985
Lanphier High School, Attended 1987 - 1991, Class of 1991

University of Illinois, University of New Mexico, Universidad Fray Luca Paccioli

University of New Mexico, Attended 2005 - Present, Class of 2008, Master's Degree, Community & Regional Planning
University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign, Attended 1991 - 1996, Class of 1996, Bachelor's Degree, Urban Planning

Educational Activist & Graduate Student

Community & Regional Planning Graduate Student Association, Graduate & Professional Student Association, Planners Network and Raza Graduate Student Association

Mexico City, Albuquerque (watching the sunset on the volcanoes or the Sandias), Barcelona (las Ramblas & Metro), Paris (the Eiffel Tower may be ridiculous to some but to me, it's great!), Santiago de Chile (Providencia), biking, reading, movies, meals with good company & conversation, yoga and activism (did you participate in a marcha as an ally for 'fair' & 'just' immigration reform?)

"House on Mango Street" by Sandra Cisneros, "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez, "To Kill a Mockingbird, " anything by Dorothy Allison, Sherman Alexie, David Sedaris, or Luis Alberto Urrea

Akeelah & the Bee, Bring It On, Cielo Divido (Broken Sky), Crash (Alto Impacto), El Norte, Goonies, Like Water for Chocolate, Machuca, Planet of the Apes (old school), Real Women Have Curves, Selena, Valley Girl, Whale Rider, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

ABBA, Allison, Amaral, Belanova, Cafe Tacuba, the Carpenters, Dolly Parton, Fangoria, Fey, Jennifer Lopez, Julieta Venegas, Kudai, Los Prisoneros, Mana, Missy Elliott, Moenia, Morrisey, Nina Simone, Ozomatli, Paulina Rubio, RBD (Rebelde), REM, Ramones, Robin Hitchcock & the Egyptians, Scissor Sisters, Selena, Shakira, the Wedding Present

Degrassi, Gilmore Girls, Grey's Anatomy, Namaste TV, POV, Project Runway, Que Pasa USA, Rojo (Chile), Todo Quieren Con Marilyn, Ugly Betty, West Wing and yes -- Sex & the City

I'm just a queer Xicana/o (yes with an x and an a/o) trying to give it back to the world. I have returned to Albuquerque to go to graduate school in Community & Regional Planning after five years on the East Coast and an almost move to Mexico City. I also was fortunate to spend part of the past summer in Santiago de Chile studying Spanish and Globalization/Economic Development and the impact on education in Chile. My life restarted in 1999 the day I heard a now good friend (yet a stranger at the time) asked at a workshop, "Have we forgotten that we can still have a revolution?" So, that's me, set to have a revolution of minds, hearts and bodies that includes connections to all of the world -- or at least the part that is made visible to me each time when I read a great book, watch PBS (and occasionally the other networks) and when my eyes are opened by the news, email or other media. It gets wider and bigger every day! I like to use exclamation points, dance, eat Thai food (and Mexican -- of course), be silly with friends, and I also love to learn -- reading, classes, teaching, watching movies, listening to people or music. I get power from realizing I am part of something much bigger and older than "me." So, muchos thank yous to my family and ancestors, friends and lovers, and of course the organizing I have learned from UFW, UIUC, HIV/AIDS, LGTIQ (we need more acronyms) and then there's a whole lot more but I don't want to hit you over the head. I'm quiet, when I am not paid to be loud at work, and like to think of myself as polite, crazy, a good friend, a good brother/son/uncle/cousin and someone who needs to eat less meat, do more yoga and -- oh yeah -- FLIRT A LOT MORE!

WHO? Well, that's easy, I want to meet people who know a Selena song (or want to learn), drink cafe con leche (or not), dance (or watch me), agree with me (and challenge me too) -- so I guess I am looking for the person/peoples who I realize I cannot live with/without who can "flip my pancake" (thanks Liza)!