Just call me Bubba!

It's 7:00 AM on a Sunday. In about 30 minutes I'm going to load the appropriate tools and materials onto my truck and head off to fix a fence at my in-law's school. After that I'll swing by my parent's house and fix their TV system that somehow got all topsy turvy and they've been unable to watch their usual shows the past couple of days and I'll also help Dad with a reja he's making for a client. Ill pick up a box of pastelitos on the way for the folks and a few copies of today's Miami Herald.

Once the chores are done, at around noon, Im gonna kick back and have a few beers at ManCamp. Steve will be by. And Tommy the Official Drunken ManCamp photographer. We're gonna smoke some ribs, grill some cajun angels, drink a bunch of beers and maybe do a little fishing. Chill out the rest of the day as Monday and another week at the office are just around the corner.

That's what ManCamp is all about. A place to relax. Not worry about a darned thing. Hang out with a few buddies and not worry about spilling any beers or burping or manners or anything. Life in general can be stressfull, but add the work on this blog and all the news about Cuba and the frustration that comes long with that and you need a place to open the old pressure valve and let off some steam.

Today I'll be doing some gloating though because ManCamp has been featured on the front page of today's Miami Herald Home and Design section:

No girls allowed: Men are staking out their own spaces in their homes, with a bit of style

BY JAMES H. BURNETT III
jburnett@MiamiHerald.com

You just can't make up scenes like this one in the large backyard of Val Prieto's Kendall home on a recent Monday afternoon:

Prieto and pal Steve H. Graham grin ear to ear and grip cold Pilsner beers as they proudly survey the eight-by-ten-foot, wood chip-covered space where they stand. Both men glance up and nod with satisfaction at the sight of the sturdy white awning covering their heads. A few feet away, gentle waves from a canal lick the bank of Prieto's property.

This is ManCamp, Prieto's answer to the Average Joe's age-old nemesis: lack of private, personal space at home. And ManCamp is enough to make Al Bundy and his fellow members of the Married . . . With Children's No Ma'am group cry tears of joy.

As crude as ManCamp's design may seem on the surface, trend experts say Prieto is ahead of the curve in a growing movement of guys -- mostly married men -- who want their privacy but not at the expense of their ''manly'' credentials.

CARL JUSTE/MIAMI HERALD STAFF THIS IS HIS SPACE: Val Prieto is proud of his 'ManCamp,' set among wood chips in the backyard of his Kendall home.

Indeed ManCamp, which was built and ''furnished'' with donated materials, boasts storm-proof ''counter tops'' constructed of railroad ties secured to the ground with steel rods. And there are five barbecue grills of different sizes and styles. On this day, two of the grills are loaded with Polish sausages and bacon-wrapped prawns.

On one side of the camp there is a homemade entertainment center, complete with cable TV, mini-fridge, a dart board mounted inside one cabinet door and a Miami Heat cheerleaders poster pinned to the other door. There's also a singing fish wearing a Miami Dolphins helmet.

Patio chairs and a couple of bar stools complete the actual furniture. Just a few feet away, two fishing rods are propped up on tree stumps, their lures bobbing gently in the water.

And just when you think ManCamp can't get any cooler, there's a slight rustling. A pair of eyeballs peers over the privacy fence separating Prieto's yard from the neighbor's. Then a section of the fence pops open like the entrance to the Bat Cave. And another man, a neighbor, also smiling big, slips through before the hidden gate swings shut.

So now you all know why blogging is sparse on Sundays. It's my day to finish up whatever work needs to be done around the house, help the parents and in-laws out and then kick back and chill.

The gloating, obviously, will be ubiquitous today. But it'll be extra special for me. Remember that run-in I had with that certain someone who shall remain nameless that wrote a post criticizing the Herald for not covering her book readings in Miami? The one that posted my picture on the net and denigrated me? Said I should be called "Bubba" and then criticized the entire "right wing extremist" Cuban-American community in South Florida?

I just can't help from laughing out loud in a smoked rib eating, cajun angel munching, beer drinking, Abajo fidel! just call me Bubba sorta way.

(By the way, you can visit James Burnett's blog -- Burnettiquette -- here.)

Have a great Sunday, folks! And swing by tomorrow. We'll be having some excellent extra special blogging.

Be sure to check out this piece also in today's Herald by Frances Robles on The Cuba Archives which we've written about here before.

Posted by Val Prieto at April 23, 2006 07:27 AM

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