The Adventures of Kinky Reggae: A Vagabond for Beauty

My assignment this week for my current grad class is to create a collage representing my past and present as a reader and writer. I wrote a little essay to go on the collage about the first book I read by myself and thought I'd share it here. I remember quite clearly the day I read my first book. We’d been learning to read in school, and I loved it, but had never read a whole story all the way through. I was just too lazy; I got bored easily. My ENFP personality was shining through at an early age. I knew I had conquered reading, so why finish a whole book once I knew that I had the ability to read it? But this day, I knew something momentous was going to happen. I carefully considered my options and decided on a Dr. Suess book. I grabbed Green Eggs and Ham and The Cat in the Hat and sat down to read. I remember reasoning that they were easy books, so I’d get through them quickly without any problems. After all, the purpose of this wasn’t to read for fun; it

"You're not a typical white girl." Thanks, Michelle. The context of this comment: New fourth grade teacher at work (first year out of college) asked me where I live. "18th and Halsted," I reply. "What neighborhood is that?" "Pilsen." "Isn't Pilsen like, the ghetto?" she says in a slightly incredulous/condescending voice, laughing a little. "No, actually it's not. But East Pilsen is maybe a little nicer than West Pilsen, and that's where I live." "Oh, then I must have been thinking of West Pilsen." "But West Pilsen isn't bad either. I spend a lot of time there. Some people just think it's ghetto because the population is mainly Hispanic." "Oh... I must have been thinking of another neighborhood." At least she had the sense to look slightly embarrassed. I related this exchange to Michelle later, and it was at this time that she made the typical white girl comment. She

After work today I had a hair appointment with Jorge. I love the things he does to my hair. By the time I got to Whole Foods to do my grocery shopping, it was rush hour time, so it was very busy. I noticed that most of the people at the South Loop Whole Foods are tattooed hipsters, which seems kind of funny to me because I always perceived it as kind of a yuppie store, and I thought hipsters were supposed to be broke. One tattoo-covered girl in particular looked familiar. I pulled up to my apartment and starting unloading the bags from my back seat. I noticed that my next door neighbors (who I have never met) were arriving home at the same time on their bikes. They unloaded the baskets and I noticed that they had just been at Whole Foods as well. Another car pulled up across the street, and the familiar-looking tattooed girl got out, also toting paper bags from Whole Foods. I really wanted to say something, but wasn't sure exactly what to say. I just thought the situation

1. We know each other so well; we can be completely comfortable and real with each other, no matter how long it's been since we've seen each other. 2. When I was pregnant freshman year and hot all the time and wanted the windows open in November, Paula would just put on another sweatshirt and not complain at all. 3. She has an amazing capacity for forgiveness. 4. She gave me a card about becoming little old ladies together when we were having a huge argument. She also made me an awesome card with a frog on it that I would scan and display here if it wasn't at my parents' house. 5. She's from Iowa. 6. She is really good with kids and has endless patience (with both kids and adults). 7. She does her best to live a Godly life, but doesn't judge you when you don't. 8. In college, Paula was a morning person and I was not. She would try SO hard to be quiet in the mornings and not wake me up. I would wake up anyway and be extremely grouchy about my s

It was HUGE. And so close. It looked you could reach out and grab it and eat it. Just like Cookie Monster. P.S. This song made me cry when I was little. I thought he really ate the moon.

Today was our first day of school. I only had 15 students, which was delightful. Unfortunately, more will come and I'm sure I'll have 27 (our class size limit) in the next few weeks. I have a few comments about this. First of all, why can't parents get their kids there on the first day of school? I understand there may be some confusion and registration issues, but this goes beyond that. Usually what happens is we get a bunch of new kids the day after Labor Day, which is when CPS starts. A lot of parents live in the city and lie about their residency, or just don't pay attention to when school starts in the suburbs. It is so frustrating because if I'm missing half of my class, what can I really do with them? I did a few getting-to-know-you activities today and briefly went over the rules. But I'll have to go over the rules again tomorrow. And Monday. We are not supposed to pass out any textbooks until after Labor Day. But I can't afford to lose

After a long day of working in my classroom and tutoring, I am exhausted. I spent the evening working on lesson plans and watching an old Doris Day movie. It's not even 11:00, and I'm ready for bed. It's Friday night. I'm so boring.

Nina and Nancy and I had a scrumptious dinner tonight at People, followed by a drink at Salud. On the way home, they reflected on how much life can change in a year, and how much their lives change from year to year. Several years ago, I could have agreed with this statement. But now, I feel like my life doesn't really change. Life is good, it's just the same. Same job, same apartment, same lack of significant other... Summertime is always exciting because I'm accomplishing goals and doing whatever I want. This was a perfect summer. But during the school year, I am so predictable. Nothing much happens during the week; I'm not the type that can go out on weeknights. I'm usually just busy with work. By Friday night, I'm so exhausted from the week that I usually just watch a movie and go to bed even earlier than I do on weeknights. Saturday morning I do homework, then hang out with my little sister or clean or something else productive. Saturday night

I never used to do these, but it's taking me a while to wake up this morning, and I'm not in the mood to start on stuff for work yet. 1. What time did you get up this morning? 9:30 2. Diamonds or pearls? I heart diamonds. 3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? The second Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movie. I knew it'd be awful, because how can you cram three books into one movie? But I love all 4 of those actresses. 4. What is your favorite TV show? Ugly Betty, The Office, Gossip Girl, Jon and Kate Plus 8, A Haunting 5. What do you usually have for breakfast? Toasted bagel with organic peanut butter 6. What is your middle name? Michelle 7.What food do you dislike? Meat. And soup. 8. What is your favorite CD at the moment? Home by the Dixie Chicks 9. What kind of car do you drive? 2007 Silver Saturn Ion with a Love Wins sticker in the back window 10 . Favorite sandwich? The grilled cheese from Bar on Buena- Texas Toast, some really good k

There's this episode in season 5 of Sex and the City where Carrie decides to date the city. I have decided to do just that. Friday night I went to Millenium Park to hear Grieg's Piano Concerto which was amazing. It makes me so happy to lay on my back under all those criss-crossy beams, surrounded by skyscrapers, listening to some of the best music ever written. The pianist also performed Moonlight Sonata, which I had no idea was so involved; apparently I've only heard the watered-down version. After the concert, I walked around barefoot, because the grass in Millenium Park (at least that area) is the best in the city. Then I went and got my feet wet in the fountain, the one with the faces (I forgot what it's called). Instead of taking the el home, I walked the 14 blocks to where my car was parked at Roosevelt and State. The walk went by quickly since I was listening to new music on my iPod, including "Come on Get Higher" by Sugarland (so erotic without

I try to read my Bible daily. I go through periods where I read every day, and periods where I don't read for weeks. Unfortunately, the latter is more common. But right now, I'm reading daily, which feels good. The past few nights I've been reading Psalm 119. There's lots of good stuff in there, like verse 125: "Give me discernment that I may understand your statutes." I think discernment is something I should pray for more often. But what really stood out to me was all the talk about loving God's commands: v127: "Because I love your commands more than gold, more than pure gold, and because I consider all your precepts right, I hate every wrong path." v129: "Your statutes are wonderful; therefore I obey them." v143: "Trouble and distress have come upon me, but your commands are my delight." I started to wonder if I really love God's commands. Do I obey them because I love God and delight in what He tells me to do, or

Parker Lynn was born at 4:34 this morning. She weighs 6 lbs, 4 oz and is 19 inches long. She is completely precious. I got to go meet her this morning and fell in love right away. Jen did awesome during the labor- no epidural! Her water broke around midnight, and that's when the contractions starting getting bad. What a quick labor! Ray is so proud of both of them. Parker is so lucky to have them as parents. And I feel so honored to be the Godmother. When I met Parker, I made sure I told her how much God loves her, and that she is His beloved daughter. I will tell her this again when she's awake. :)

There are two tattoos I currently want to get. The first one would be on the outside of my left ankle. Or maybe the inside. It would be the same thing as the ring I've been wearing for the past few years- a small heart that's broken down the middle and bound up. No color or anything tacky. The second is the Hebrew symbol for grace. I would get this just a little above the inside of my right wrist. I REALLY want this one now. But, as people have said, this is a bold tattoo. I love that spot for a tattoo, but it's true that it's harder to cover up. I heard about this new kind of ink that is permanent, but can be removed easily with one laser treatment. I thought this would be a good solution to the wrist tattoo, but I've been calling around, and no one has this ink. Should I get it anyway? Or should I get the heart first? I want another tattoo on my body by the end of the week.