I noticed my own personal stuff was overwhelming our main page (much as it does our lives), so I decided to create a page of my own (yeah, yeah, Narcissus was a selfless altruist wussy by comparison).

I don't spend a lot of time re-editing the stuff below, so some of it may be a little out of date.

Just to make things easier to follow, I'll put a date mark at the end of this paragraph, signaling the most recent additions. Please note the text below is in chronological order with the most recent stuff at the bottom.

Updated 02/14/10.

I'm happy to announce the publication of my first book, "Men, Women, and Other Mistakes." It's a collection of short stories and essays written over the last few years. Some of the stories are based on real events in my life, and while I changed the names to protect the innocent, the guilty parties may still recognize themselves. Let's just hope the authorities don't…

I was surprised to find that I'm not too happy with the book, but the established authors in my family told me the feeling is normal, and will go away over time. I guess I now understand Jean-Luc Goddard's comment: "Movies are never finished, they're just abandoned." I got tired of editing the book and just tossed it out.

So much for the sales pitch. Those interested in buying the book can get it through Barnes and Noble, Amazon, or their local book store. I am presently working on a novel, which I hope to finish in a year or two. It's (what else?) a sci-fi satire of the Bush administration. [UPDATE: I gave up on the Bush thing (as did much of the rest of the country, thankfully) and am working instead on a guide to Chicagoland ethnic restaurants.]

Let me thank my friends & family who helped me win the People's Choice Award at Chicago's Windy City Regional Chili Cook-Off (sanctioned by the International Chili Society). I distilled the flavors into a dry seasoning mix, packaged it with the award-winning recipe, and am selling it under the label "Alfonso's Unusual Chili."

After years of assuming, I finally applied, got tested (see me in a Chicago Tribune article), and was admitted to Mensa, the high-IQ society. I've been to some meetings, met Mensans, and decided that being a genius ain't all it's cracked up to be. Still, if you thought I was insufferably arrogant before, you should hear me now…

We moved to give the kids the best school and environment we could afford. Daisy didn't take it too well at first, but Danny is now "A" Honor Roll and Erick's average has climbed to a solid "B." Our Versailles on the Lakes apartment complex has two outdoor pools, tennis courts, grills, fountains, and an exercise clubhouse with private theatre and computer center (see a Google satellite photo here). It's nice, but I still miss city life. It's hard to sleep without the noise of traffic accidents, sirens, and gunshots to relax by…

I had been working towards a business degree (hoping for an eventual Master's in Hospital Administration from the University of Illinois), but got bogged down. I need only three more credits to apply. If I could just get off my ass I could finish them part-time at a community college in one semester. Sigh. My current excuse is that our recent move to the suburbs has drained my brain, sapped my strength, and weakened my will to think...

My fascination with less-than-savory characters in my family continues. When "The Motorcycle Diaries" came out, I dug up some information on my Dad's cousin, Gen. Joaquín Zenteno Anaya, who was the commander on the scene at Che Guevara's execution.

An e-mail from Jon got me to try to list the books I've read. Before coming to the US in '84, I inventoried my books and found more than 1,000, but that list is lost, as are the books I read in high school and college between '84 and '91. The list above includes only books from '91 through today. Also, thanks to Netflix, I've developed quite a list of movies I've seen. Obsessive? You bet!

I'm pretty good about birthdays and anniversaries (every year I buy gifts and write cheesy poems to Silvia). Last year, though, she forbade me from spending any money, so I wrote the cheesy poem, then recorded the absolutely cheesiest love song ever: Silvia's Na-Na Song. The title is a reference to my belief that no songs with "na-na" in them can be bad. I proved myself wrong.

Finally, after decades of longing, Chicago has a Bolivian restaurant. Sort of. Part-time. Cuban Island Restaurant (773-588-9922 at 3446 W Peterson Ave) serves Bolivian food only Sundays, and the menu varies weekly -- the rest of the time they serve Cuban food. Still, we've been deprived so long we're too busy slobbering over delicious salteñas and picante de lengua to care. UPDATE: Alas, it's closed. The Bolivian community wasn't quite able to support it.

Speaking of websites, I just set up a small business webpage on this site. You can find it here. I've also included a page with links to videos I've produced, which can be found here.

Last year, my old high school buddy Chris Anderson proposed a 20th anniversary reunion in Cochabamba. I flew down to Bolivia with Danny (click here for trip pics and a brief synopsis, and click here to visit the CCS '86 reunion blogsite including pics & alumni e-mail addresses). [UPDATE: the pics have expired, but text and email addresses remain]

Before flying out, I attended my U-High reunion with Jon and Ethan. I posted those pics on their pages in my website (click on their names to see them).

After years working for Dr. Kianoosh Jafari as the administrator for the Oak Brook Centres for Health, in September 2007 I began working for Synchrony Health - a leading surgical and medical weight management organization - as administrator for the Chicago area. Beginning in December they made me Director of Corporate Development. The work is fun, and I feel like I'm helping more than just the people who come into our office, I'm helping society as a whole to understand the chronic disease of obesity and begin to address this growing epidemic in a rational, scientific, and compassionate manner. Yeah, I know, pretentious; but, honestly that's how we all feel. I have rarely met such a group of dedicated, passionate workers. We had some truly legendary overnighters (40 hours plus non-stop); there were was the time I got one day to rest in a month while averaging 14-16 hours a day seven days a week. Through all this, no one complained. We were on a mission, and I hope to follow that mission through as long as fate permits.

Well, here we go again. I recently caved in and began yet another diet program. The thing that has me hopeful is I'm doing it formally through Synchrony Health / Center for Weight Management of Oak Brook (aka my job). Dr. Ehtesham J. A. Ghani is the Director of Medical Obesity Management and in charge of my care. I really did want Dr. Brad Watkins to perform a Lap-Band procedure, but money's a little tight. I know he would have done it anyway, but I would feel like I was taking advantage of him (he really is quite amazing, as is everyone there). Dr. Ghani's pegs his success rate at 70% and the average weight loss at 53 pounds, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed and my lips sealed. By the way, I've started a diet journal blog where you can follow my progress (and learn my diet history). Click the link above to go there.

UPDATE: Well, the diet and Lap-Band surgery went pretty well! I've lost more than 130 pounds and kept it off for more than a year so far. Definitely visit my weight loss journal!

Over the last several years I've worked closely with Dr. Carlos Rotman, one of the top gynecologic laparoscopic surgeons in the world. Among many challenging projects in which I've participated have been several medical videos we produced. At professional meetings, several have gotten honorable mentions and last year one was a finalist in the worldwide WebSurg Awards for Minimally Invasive Videos. Now we've just won the First Prize at the 2009 ACOG Film Festival! With 50,000 physician members, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists is the leading women's healthcare organization. Following the award, we put out a press release, got a full page write-up in La Raza, and got interviewed on Telemundo (you can watch the interview below).

Following the hysterectomy interview, Telemundo invited be back on their nightly "En Contexto" news show where I spoke about weight loss and made the counterpoint to Martha Palacios, who sells "natural" weight loss supplements at "El Palacio de la Naturaleza".

I'm now on Facebook fairly often. View my page by clicking here.

We've moved! Silvia and Erick and I are now living in the Elm Creek Apartments in Elmhurst, Illinois. We got a smaller (though somewhat nicer) apartment and can enjoy an indoor pool, health club, and commissary. We all hate moving, but with Danny and Daisy gone to college, the old place was a bit large and needlessly expensive.

Personal website of  Alfonso del Granado and Silvia del Granado (Alfonso F. del Granado and Silvia Moreno). If this paragraph seems weird, it's because it's intended to help web indexing site searches (such as Google and Yahoo!).