(17)Jeanette Santiago

Hello my fans and friends!

Wow, we are 17 now! I am excited! We are almost grown ups!!! I hope you guys had a great week! I know mine was pretty good. 17....17...17....man!

17 was a depressing age for me. I had asked a girl from my neighborhood to be my girlfriend-I am , after all, bosexual!-and she turned me down. I had to see her every day because she was my neighbor at the apartment complex I lived at. In order to get my blues off, I decided to ask my good friend Carmelo and my other friend, Pablo, if they wanted to form a boy band with me-cause, as you all know too, I am a trans girl!-and so they both, who wanted to be singers as well, thought it was a good idea. Pablo was 21 and Carmelo was 14. That night, rumors flew across the apartments that we were forming a band and in about an hour or so, I was approached by three others-12 year old Josue, 11 year old Eduardo and my 10 year old brother Jose, who asked if they could join. I was popular among the girls in the 13 to 17 year old range. I know this because many times, my neighbors and their friends from those ages would come and say I was sooo cute..lol aso, in short, Carmelo was handsome too, Josue was also popular among the 10-12 year olds range -again, he was 12-and my 10 years old brother Jose had plenty of 4th and 5th grade girls crazy for him. Eduardo was not as lucky but he was a great rapper and we thought we could use him to record some hip-hop songs. In one week, we had seven members after another guy, 14 years old Marcos, asked if he could join. Marcos was not from the neighborhood but he attended the same church we did, and lived in a neighborhood that was just across a bridge from ours by car. In one week, we had assembled a group that we thought could possibly be the next Menudo and be teen idols across Latin America.

Despite my depression, I had hope and dreams. The only thing I wanted to make it perfect and to get away from my depression was for that girl to fall in love with me. We started practicing, started taking acting, singing and dancing class at a place downtown in which they offered free classes, and then, one day, i went to the offices of Rafael "Rafo" Muniz (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafo_Mu%C3%B1iz)- who you will see next to me on his Wikipedia page after our show-,ar Promotores Latinos and Muniz said he did not have anyone for his next show so he told me to get us together and that , as the representant of Chantelle, a famous Merengue group of the time, he could allow us to cover a Chantelle song. That Friday, we got in my dad's van and arrived at the Wapa-TV studios in San Juan. A group of girls thought it was Xavier Serbia arriving, and they started rushing our van Serbia had himself been a member of Mendo years before so he was a teen idol. The rest of the boys decided that since Chantelle was a girl group and we were assigned to sing one of their songs, Ising it! Must be because I'm a girl? lol..Anyways, that night, Xavier introduced us, he spoke to us briefly, and then we performed! After we finished, Serbia grabbed the microphone and exclaimed, ladies and gentlemen, we have competition! (an obvious reference to Menudo, which brought one new member to substitute the oldest one every six months and thus had continued without him and was still a major group in Latin America). Rafo Muniz asked me to write a script for a project and submit it to see if he could get us a regular television show. We spent the next months practicing more and me writing songs and that script, but things got to a halt when my family decided to move to the US. All the while,I was still fighting depression but also dreaming of the big time. And attending college, which I hated because deep in my heart, I was still a kid, a teenager. Luckily in college I met a group of adults that were super cool to hang out with and we spent our free time laughing at the world. Calderon banged my head against the walls once or twice at the Polytechnical College in Caguas even when, insside, I was still crying!

That was 17 for me!

Anyways...soooo...the news! The news! The news!!

I think I just sounded like Tatu on Fantasy Island..."The plane!, the plane!" lmao!

First, we start with very serious, tragic news that involved a singer, various athletes and a politician. On April 8, we read the news that a roof collapsed at the Jet Set Nightclub in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. It truly was heartbreaking news. Quickly, some people went online to say it was punishment from God because people there were sinning, by drinking and dancing. But a pastor posted a video refuting them and reminding them that many people who died were Christians, including some of the musicians and club workers. In total, we lost-and I say we because I mean we as in humanity in this case-231 people, with more than 200 others injured. Among those who died was merengue singer Ruddy Perez, whose career spanned about 50 years and several albums and who was there that night performing, as well as former Major Leagues Baseball players Octavio Dotel, and Tony Blanco, the former member of the Dominican Republic;s national Association Football team Luis Guillen, noted fashion designer Martin Polanco and the governor of the province of Monte Cristi, Nelsy Cruz, who was a beautiful 43-year old woman. Ten Venezuelans were also reported dead.

Our hearts and prayers go out to the people who died, those injured and their families.

Another death was that of super model Lucy Markovik. Markovik, an Australian of Croatian descent, died on April 10 in Berlin after a surgery to try to save her life. She had learned in 2021 that she had an arteriovenous malformation, which is a disease in which brain vessels are tangled and abnormal. Despite the discovery, she courageously went on with her life. Markovik was discovered when she was 17 and got invited to participate in 2015's Australia's next Top Model's 8th season, where she placed in second place, losing in the finals to Brittany Beattie. She was, however, noted by the Elite Model Management-the same agency I was with briefly during 1998-and became a famous model internationally, appearing on the cover of Vogue Singapore, and working for Armani, Versace, Givenchy and for ex-Spice Girl Victoria Beckham's label, among others.

In March, she discovered that her disease had advanced to the point where she needed emergency surgery, which can only be performed in Germany, so she flew to that country, where she had surgery in Berlin. Unfortunately, she fell into a coma and could not recuperate, passing away at the age of 27 on April 10th.

Our hearts are also with her and her family.

Yet another great who died was Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa. In 2010, he won the Nobel Prize For Literature. Vargas Llosa also won the prestigious Miguel de Cervantes award in 1994. an award that is considered the most important one in Hispanic literature circles. His most famous novels worldwide include "The Time of the Hero",, "Conversation in the Cathedral", "The Green House" and "The War of the End of the World". Vargas Llosa is widely considered one of the greatest Latin writers in history, along with Colombia'a Gabriel Garcia Marquez's, Mexico's Carlos Fuentes, Argentina's Julio Cortazar and Puerto Rico's Enrique Lagerre. He was also a politician. He died on April 13th in Lima at age 89 of natural causes.

And the saga of the deaths of actor Gene Hackman and wife Betsy Arakawa continues. It was reported that several dead rats along with one that is still alive were found in their New Mexico mansion during a risk-assessment round at it in March. It's rather depressing to hear all of this, knowing the circumstances in which both died. No one should end the way they did. The round was carried out because the house is still visited by members of the police, fire department, investigators and the Arakawa and Hackman families. It's important to know that they will not be exposed to a disease or something in the future due to their visits. Erin Phipps, New Mexico's State Public Health Veterinarian, said she thinks that disease risk in this case is very low, which is very good news in the midst of everything.

And no, netrat was not among the dead rats. Thank God because we love Netrat. I, of course, love him as my online brother. So, don't be thinking nasty things about me and him, you all perverts!

Super billionaire Bill Gates announced how much of his fortune he will leave for his children when he dies. Gates, who is 69, has two daughters, 28-year old Jennifer Gates, 22 -year old Phoebe Gates, and one son, 25-year old Rory Gates. Now, I'm gonna go the Jill way here and admit, they are all super hot! My good friend Billy is, of course , the founder of Apple Computers. I am still hoping he lets me borrow 25 million for a house for me and one for my parents! But, anyways...he has 102.2 billion dollars, and he has said that he will allocate 1 percent of that to each kid....which still amounts to 1 billion dollars each! Bill spoke recently on "Figuring Out With Raj Shanani", a podcast where he was interviewed. "In my case, my kids got a great upbringing and education, but (they will get) less than one percent of the total wealth, because I decided it wouldn't be a favor to them", Gates declared.

Geez, Bill, I got a great upbringing and education too! Can you do me such a small "not favor" and allocate one tiny, measly billion dollars to me also? Pretty pleaseeeeee! That would be marrrvelooouuussss!

Holy tortilla! There are problems in Savannah Chrisley's family! The reality show star, known for her participation on the television series "Chrisley Knows Best", split from husband Robert Schriver, and now she is blaming his former wife Lindsay for the separation! She declared so on her April 15th podcast, "Unlocked With Savannah Chrisley". She said that "It's been a month since me and Robert broke up. So here it is: me and Robert broke up on March 5th. Not that I'm keeping track of dates or anything, but I have taken a lot of time to analyze things, and truly grieve the loss of a relationship that I thought was gonna be where I was at for the rst of my life"...all of us women, and I mean ALL of us, including trans women, think that way when we fall in love, whether it be with a man or a woman. I feel her pain!

We must remember that Lindsay Schriver was arrested in 2023 for allegedly plotting to murder her former husband Robert. Chrisley also spoke about her, ironically saying that "I don't wanna give her the notoriety that she has so badly been seeking, but I feel like that's the only way to go. I don't think I will ever forgive her for what she has put Robert and the boys through. I don;t believe that Robert and I would be where we are at today if she hadn't caused so much mass destruction!"

Yikes!

Hey Netrat, have you seen what she looks like? Now that she is separated, we might have a chance with her! Time to get in our cars and head to her city!!

Time for one more news item: hip-hopster Little Nas X was hospitalized in an undisclosed location with facial paralysis. He took to Instagram to show a video of himself smiling while not being able to move the right side of his face, and to make fun of the situation. "Imma gonna look funny for a lil bit, but that's it!" he said, with two laugh emojis added at the end.

We wish him a prompt recovery so he can keep making the music his fans love!

Well, until next week, the online Spice Girls,-me, Cindy, Courtenay, jill, Deb and our manager Netrat, as well as God, love you! Let's see what next week brings! Kisses and hugs, everyone!

Marvelous!!!