Holidays
Early Halloween Celebration
I love any excuse to get dressed up; so when I got the invitation to a Halloween party in the middle of October, of course I jumped on it. Funny thing is, I didn’t take a single picture, but that’s no problem. I wore the same costume I wore at the last Austin Writers Roulette: … Continue reading
Brewery Tour
I’ve always professed not to be a beer drinker, but I jumped on the opportunity to join a social group of 30- and 40-somethings for a nearby small brewery tour. I made sure that I arrived on the early side of noon since one of the social group organizers advertised that he’d have a canopy. I … Continue reading
Juneteenth Celebration: Mattie Gilmore
On June 19th, 1865 Texas slaves in Galveston heard the announcement that they were free. For this year’s Juneteeth celebration, I volunteered to do a character interpretation of one of the newly freed slaves. Although I read through all the lively character interpretations, I was assigned to by Mattie Gilmore. According to her narrative, she … Continue reading
Different Tribes
It’s been scientifically proven that the idea of race is unscientific. Even when we talk about the “human race,” what we are actually referring to is “species.” (The definition of a species is a population of organisms that can breed and produce fertile offspring.) With the influence of global media, people around the world can share … Continue reading
I’m Rich! I’m Awesome!
The annual Christmas trip back home to visit my family, including nieces and nephews, went as predicted: lots of laughs, stories, trivial bickering, far too much food and far too little exercise. Within seven days, I only managed to gain six pounds and do a half set of bikram yoga twice and something that one … Continue reading
Down Home Again
I faced a little more drama than usual on my annual Christmas trip home. First of all, the famous “Mayan End of the World” countdown came to a heads the day before I hopped on a plane. Since the world didn’t come to end, as I knew it wouldn’t, I finished up my Christmas shopping … Continue reading
With Much Gratitude
This was the first time in a couple of years that I wasn’t participating in an annual tango festival over the Thanksgiving holiday. Instead, I celebrated Thanksgiving four times with different groups of people. The first was a monthly poetry potluck that occurs every third Saturday at a private residence in Dripping Springs. This was … Continue reading
Black Angel Halloween
For this month’s Austin Writers Roulette, I dressed up as the Angel of Redemption, which worked because I introduced myself as such and then read my short story, “Renouncing the Devil.” Yet, when I put on the same costume yesterday to celebrate Halloween, my favorite holiday, I just told people that I was a death … Continue reading
Staycation 2012
The one adult thing I had planned to do during this spring break was file my taxes. The rest of the time, I’d indulge my creative passions: writing, dancing, painting, training capoeira, swimming and doing yoga. The last three things may not seem like artistic pursuits, but without the stress from the daily workplace grind, I … Continue reading
Water Wench
As much fun as I’ve had during this Presidents’ Day weekend, one would have thought that I actually had a long 4-day weekend like my students. Truth be told, without the responsibility of supervising students, I enjoyed spending Friday at an all-day professional development series of workshops. I was a little late to the first session, but … Continue reading