boximon3cafenoseWe were once nice Catholics boys. But somewhere early on (we think their names were Laura and Stacy) our Catholicism began to lapse.  Our descent continued until completion with our transition from New York City to Guatemala.  Here we’ve accepted our fate as F.C.C.’s:  Fully Collapsed Catholics.

As F.C.C.’s we have no delusions about someday seeing the Pearly Gates.  We save our delusions for this world.  But as Spring is in the air this Easter Season, we  celebrate with our Christian brothers and sisters, as we do with any religion based on love and the possibility of redemption.

While not deeply religious, we are still quite spiritual.  (Just note all the spirits in the photo above!)  For us, finding communion and atonement involves peering “as through a rocks glass darkly” (Cor. 1:13) to the world of holy perfection.  And we always do so under the watchful eye of our dearly departed F.C.C. (in his case, a Fully Collapsed Calvinist) Bo Wilcox.

We keep Bo around in the form of the above pictured Boximón.  (If you are pronouncing that Boxy-moan, you’ve clearly just gotten to town and need to come, immediately, to Café No Sé for a primer on Guatemalan culture, religion, and booze.)

Like the Maximón of the Maya the Boximón of Café No Sé is a cross between a household saint and a hitman.  To Boximón we make offerings of cigarettes and gin – and in return he helps us with life’s little difficulties.

Recently, we took some of La Cuadra’s problems to Boximón.  We told him that we were in need of more writers.  We told him that we needed help with advertising sales.  We told him that we needed more artists and poets to feature.  We told him we wanted to expand our little rag up to the Lake and down to the Beach.  We prayed, we made offerings and we awaited his advice.

And then Bo spoke.

“You couple of goddamned idiots,” he said.  “If you need help with your goddamned magazine, then use your goddamned magazine to tell people what you need.  Now leave me alone, I just met Cleopatra.  She’s had a few and she’s hot to trot, and you know what? She doesn’t look half bad for  lady over 2000 years old.”

And so we take Bo’s counsel.

Friends, La Cuadra is looking for more writers, artists and poets to feature in our upcoming editions.   We’re also looking to bring on an ad sales person.  If you’re interested in helping out drop on by our office at Dyslexia Bookstore or shoot an email to:   editor@lacuadraonline.com.

The pay is lousy and the hours are worse, but you do get your very own conduit to the afterlife.  Provided he’s not trying to bed some vixen in the netherworld.

MJT and JPR

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About the Author

Michael Tallon, Editor-in-Chief, head writer and delivery boy, of La Cuadra Magazine, expatriated from the States 11 years ago. After spending a year in Antigua gasbagging about wanting to start an English Language magazine, he hit the road and wandered about South America, India and Nepal before finding himself sipping tea in Darjeeling and realizing that maybe it was time to head home and pick up the career path. That ill-fated adventure in New York lasted about 6 weeks before he headed back to Antigua, Guatemala, where John Rexer had actually started the magazine in his absence.

After a few months, Mike took over the magazine and has been going slowly broke since. On that note, Mike would like to invite advertisers, readers and potential patrons to send him free money.
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