Boots with the Fr

Two things you should know about my nephew, Ethan (my cousin Jennifer's son) to set up this story:

1. He is six years old and working on writing in his class;
2. He's been a hip hop fan since birth.

The other day, Jennifer and her mama (my aunt KK) were driving to our Nana's house with Ethan in his car seat in the back.  Prior to getting in the car, Ethan requested his notebook so that he could use it in the car.

All the way to Nana's, he was quietly scribbling away in his notebook, practicing his writing, except for when he paused to ask, "How do you spell big?"

When they got to Nana's, Jennifer asked Ethan what he'd been working on, and he proudly presented her with this:

Enlarge it if you can't read it.

I don't think Ethan understood why Jennifer burst out laughing . . .

Hate to say I TOLD YOU SO

Cause I swear I really do have a soft spot for Brit Brit, buttttttt

remember when I wrote this post about how she was a copycat?  Well looks like the Bellamy Brothers agree, cause they're suing her plagiarizing ass:

Click here for the story.

Brit, I love you, but I hate plagiarists.  I've already accepted that you're never gonna actually write your own songs, but at least keep your songwriters in check.  Stealing ain't cool, especially when it comes to creative material!

p.s. I promise a post about my trip to NYC tomorrow with lots of pics!

Tell me about your music!

So I just read my friend Jessie's post (if you don't follow her blog, you should--we've become good friends & I can't wait to meet her in June!) in which she gives us a taste of her iTunes.

Remember that facebook survey that went around for a while with prompts, and you were supposed to answer with random songs from iTunes shuffle?  That was the only facebook survey I enjoyed.  Cause I love hearing all about what people are listening to!

It's very rare to find someone who listens to one genre of music.  Most of us are more dynamic than that, and therefore have fascinating iTunes libraries!

Here are my first 25 songs from iTunes shuffle:


Case of You--k.d. lang
Shaky Town--Jackson Browne
Carefree--The Perishers
The Great Escape--Patrick Watson (swoon-worthy song, btw)
Miss Independent--Kelly Clarkson
The Moon is a Magnet--Jon Foreman
Gone Till November--Wyclef Jean
Doesn't Mean Anything--Alicia Keys
Swing Low, Sweet Chariot--She & Him
A Matter of Minutes--Shawn Colvin (remember that song?)
Just a Memory--Notorious B.I.G. feat. The Clipse
Miss Misery--Elliott Smith
Best for Last--Adele
Nos Da Cariad--David Gray
For What It's Worth--Buffalo Springfield (the anti-war song?)
Goodnight L.A.--Counting Crows
Southern Man--Neil Young
Swallowed in the Sea--Coldplay (without a doubt my favorite Coldplay song)
Black Poppies--CocoRosie
Hummingbird--Wilco
As Long as You Follow--Fleetwood Mac
Building a Mystery--Sarah Maclachlan (I ran into her in a shoe store once)
In This Temple, As in the Hearts of Man for Whom He Saved the Earth--Sufjan Stevens
The Pretender--Jackson Browne
Heard it in a Love Song--Marshall Tucker Band

NOW SHARE YOURS!

When Your To Do List Makes You Want to Hibernate

Ever have that feeling?  After an incredibly restful (& fun!) weekend with my friend Elena, it was back to the grind this week.  My To Do list looks like this:

[ ] finish grading (all the student work from the past 6 weeks that I've ignored)
[ ] send out deficiency notices
[ ] finish planning the quarter's classes for San Quentin
[ ] write feedback on poems from this week's San Quentin class
[ ] call about dental insurance
[ ] email my doctor about my f'ed up back
[ ] finish writing & editing the narrative for Voice of Witness (a 10 hour project, minimum)
[ ] take bags upon bags of clothes I don't wear to the Goodwill
[ ] get oil changed since it was due about 3 months ago
[ ] call the parents of several students
[ ] pay multiple parking tickets (including the $360 bus zone violation)
[ ] write poem for next Cobras meeting
[ ] clean & organize my office
[ ] . . .  not to mention my house
[ ] mail several letters & packages
[ ] finish reading Snooki's book

As you might guess, there is only one thing on that list that interests me.  But given that I'm babysitting tonight (after I leave school) and quarter grades are due tomorrow at 3 pm, looks like I better get crackin.  So I'm off to attend to this:

while listening to this:

Hope your day is less work-heavy!

Copycats!

As a writer, I have a serious problem with plagiarism.  I mean, if we're gonna have a prison system in this country, we might as well throw plagiarists in there with the drug dealers and thieves.  Perhaps my deep hatred for plagiarism is rooted in guilt; you see, when I served as Editor of the Tulane Review, I published a plagiarized poem.  Of course I had no idea that the "poet," whose name by the way is emblazoned in my head, had plagiarized her lines right out of a well-known short story that had been published in the New Yorker.  Suffice to say that when I was alerted to this situation, I furiously tried to hunt down the "author" of this poem and give her a piece of my mind.  But she dodged me well.  


Universe, I am so sorry for this wretched error!  I still carry guilt from it!

Which brings me to pop music plagiarists.  I'll start with the most minor offender (albeit still annoying):

Miss Jordin Sparks

from

Her song:  Battlefield

Lyrics in question:  "Why does love always feel like a battlefield/ a battlefield/ a battlefield?

Original song:  Pat Benatar--Love is a Battlefield

Lyrics in question:  "Love is a battlefield . . ."

I mean seriously, girlie, that metaphor HAS BEEN DONE BEFORE!  And not only has it been done before, but in one of the standard 80's hymns.  Why on earth did you rip it off???

***

Baby Bash feat. E-40

from

His song:  Go Girl

Lyrics in question:  "California face with a down south rump"

Original Song:  Sir Mix-A-Lot--I Like Big Butts

Lyrics in question:  "LA face with a Oakland booty"

Baby Bash, you may be kinda cute, but this is clearly a rip off.  Sure, you're broadening the scope a little (California/south vs. LA/the bay), but nonetheless, you're a copycat!  Well, I mean, your songwriters are copycats.

***

And the worst of all . . . although it pains me to say it, cause I love me some Brit Brit . . .

Miss Britney Spears

from

Her song:  Hold it Against Me

Lyrics in question:  "If I said I want your body now/ would you hold it against me?"

Original song:  Bellamy Brothers--If I Said You Had a Beautiful Body

Lyrics in question:  "If I said you had a beautiful body/ would you hold it against me?"

Sorry Marianne, I know she's your girl, but damn!  That is one unoriginal pun.  I just don't understand why singers (and/or their songwriters?) think it's okay to straight up steal someone else's lyrics without so much as a nod to the original song.  All it does is remind me of the grave error I committed when I published that godforsaken poem eight years ago.  Geez.

My Womb Aches

when I see something this cute.



Seriously, the first time I saw it (last week), I got really teary in my office!

Serious nostalgia.

My last 24 hours in New Orleans were incredible: the event went swimmingly (click here for a picture and a brief review!)--I forget that although I sometimes get nervous before talking in front of people, all the anxiety goes away as soon as I begin talking about something about which I feel passionately.  It was a great crowd, lively questions, and ultimately, I think, a great success.  Here's a pic from right before the panel discussion of me with my two college creative writing professors (so dear to me!), Peter Cooley and Dale Edmonds:

After the event, I hopped back on the street car and headed to an old haunt, the Maple Leaf, to see

There's something really liberating about wandering around a city on your own . . . so many things to do and people to meet . . . but I guess it helps being in a city you already know well.  Rebirth was, as always, incredible!  I didn't get to take any pics inside cause it was SO DARK I just knew the camera wouldn't do them justice.  I (barely) made it back to my hotel Tuesday night, and then Wednesday I experienced what may have been the highlight of my trip: lunch with old English professors.  Oh man--I was totally overcome with sweet nostalgia, and found myself wishing I was back in the Tulane English Department having conversations about Ernest Hemingway with these folks.

On the way to the airport, we stopped by my old house!

Ohhhh 7820 Birch St., how I miss you!

College is such an incredible time in your life, and you have no idea how to appreciate it while you're there.  It's the tragedy of growing up: you don't know anything else, and so you don't know to savor every single moment.  Seeing students walking around my old college campus made me almost impossibly sad, for just a minute, just knowing that I'll never be back there again.

But then it was back to the Bay Area where I got to celebrate the Giants' incredible victory over the Rangers--WHAT A GAME!--and then again last night??  I have to admit, I kind of felt sorry for the Rangers (and for Micaela and Marianne, the prettiest Rangers fans around!)--once they started walking people, it was just . . . embarrassing.

Happy Friday, and happy (soon-to-be) Halloween!

Ikea will break your spirit but classic rock will restore it

There are many things with which I have a love/hate relationship.  Like:

this beast

and 

sake

And one of these things is most definitely Ikea.  On the love side of the love/hate spectrum, Ikea is nearby and incredibly cheap and has frozen yogurt and lots of really cute things for the home, such as:

this Cupid pillow I've been coveting

among many other things.  But Ikea can be soul-crushing.  You enter the maze that it is and follow all the brightly-colored arrows through the entire store until you can no longer see straight.  Should you choose to purchase furniture, you have to lift the incredibly heavy, disassembled, boxed pieces yourself, schlep them to your car (into which they might not fit), and then carry them into your house.  

Yesterday afternoon, Eric and I took a trip to Ikea in an attempt to make his apartment more . . . habitable.  We came armed with a list, which fooled me into thinking we could get out of there in a reasonable amount of time, but let's just say that didn't happen and we were ready to wring each others' necks by the end of the experience.  We bought a huge entertainment center, a desk, desk chair, and bookshelf, and lots of little household things.  Pretty sure Eric was more excited about the candles and vase he bought than any of the bigger, more practical stuff.  

More than two whole hours after entering the neon labyrinth, we pushed our carts to his car and loaded it up, me nearly in tears from hunger and exhaustion and frustration (okay, fine, I was literally in tears, not just "nearly"--ha!).  Thankfully, Eric had the sense to take me to dinner immediately after, where I had broccoli lo mein and two lemondrop martinis.  My happiness meter skyrocketed.  

That is, until we had to drag all the million-pound boxes up to Eric's second floor apartment, resulting in my back being nearly broken (I wore a back brace and flats to work today: seriously).  The good news is, we built some furniture while rockin' out to a pretty amazing playlist, that resembled this:

1. Unknown Legend--Neil Young

2. If I Laugh--Cat Stevens

3. No Woman No Cry--Bob Marley

4. The Only Living Boy in New York--Paul Simon

5. Blue Sky--Allman Brothers

6. Angel from Montgomery--Bonnie Raitt

7. Gypsy--Fleetwood Mac

8. Drift Away--Doobie Brothers

9. Who'll Stop the Rain--CCR

10. Running on Faith--Eric Clapton

11. Ready or Not--Jackson Browne

12. Out on the Weekend--Neil Young

Make yourself a copy of that pronto--I promise, it will work wonders. ;)

20 Albums

Do y'all know Kara at Sunshine Cupcakes?  She is one of my faves.  She and I are shoe twinsies and we like to have raucous, unladylike conversations during morning chat sessions.  If you don't read her blog, quit sleepin!!

Kara has made a list of her 20 Most Influential Albums and encouraged us all to do the same.  I have to confess that I find this a pretty intimidating challenge (inevitably, as soon as I hit "publish post," I will throw my hand to my head in exasperation, having realized I left out something crucial).  But here goes my first attempt!

In No Particular Order:

Counting Crows, August and Everything After
Hole, Live Through This
Bob Marley, Legend
Neil Young, Harvest
Nirvana, MTV Unplugged
Allman Brothers, Dreams (does the whole collection count? If not, then disc 3)
Alanis Morissette, Jagged Little Pill
Billy Joel, Greatest Hits
Emmylou Harris, Red Dirt Girl
Jackson Browne, For Everyman 
Jump, Little Children, Magazine
Citizen Cope, The Clarence Greenwood Recordings
Lauryn Hill, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
MC Solaar, Cinquieme As
Morcheeba, Parts of the Process
REM, Automatic for the People
Rolling Stones, Hot Rocks
Bonnie Raitt, The Best of Bonnie Raitt (if greatest hits don't count, I'll go with Nick of Time)
The Cranberries, No Need to Argue
U2, Achtung Baby


Now . . . this list leaves out some spectacular individual songs that are deeply rooted in my heart, but the list said albums.  So there you have it.  I can't promise that there won't be revisions.

Sooooo . . . give me yours!

Friday I'm in Love!

summergirl

Mostly I'm in love with the mere fact that it's Friday.  There will be no happy hour for me today, but there will be vodka & house-made tonic at Pizzaiolo before my folks and I head to the David Gray/Ray Lamontagne show!  I swear, their tonic is so dang good.  Full of herbs & all kinds of yumminess that makes it actually not taste much like tonic water at all . . . but it's still DELISH.

Today I'm in love with:

1. The Greek Theater

Berkeley's finest amphitheater.  Is there anywhere better to see a concert than an outdoor amphitheater?  I was lucky enough to see Jackson Browne there at the end of July, and now these two?  I'm musically blessed.  Only not when it comes to talent. ;)

isn't it pretty?

2. Edamame

Can't get enough these days.  I ate an entire bag the other night, for real.  It's so good.

3. These blogs (but don't forget these and these that I mentioned previously!):

Jessie's

Tillie's

Phoenix's

Annie Cristina's
Melissa's


4. The Brazilian Blowout

Seriously, my hair is curly & frizzy.  There's no getting around it.  Once upon a time, I had pretty waves, but that was before years of dyeing & blow drying & flat ironing.  Now it's damaged and frizzy.  I'm taking steps to reverse it, though . . . I haven't dyed it in a year (hello, dishwater blonde, didn't miss you at all!), and the Brazilian Blowout is making it so that I don't have to blow dry or flat iron it EVER.  My hair normally looks something like this:

I haven't been able to just get out of the shower & go since I was a kid.  But now it looks like this:

Voila, frizzless beachy waves!  I know it's kinda hard to tell (I'm terrible at taking pictures of myself!), but it's mostly straight with a little wave, has no frizzies, and is so smooth and silky.  Easiest hair in the world!  I am kissing my blow dryer goodbye . . . for the next 12 to 16 weeks, anyway.

Happy Friday!

Good Week

Despite the fact that, having had a little too much fun with friends and neighbors on Labor Day and taking a late-night spill, this is an actual picture of my hip:

it's been a great week!  You can't really go wrong when you start with Monday off work, though, right? Thanks to all us laborers.  We had a little impromptu BBQ at our house, and it was fun seeing everyone, eating delicious food, and drinking sangria.  There were even a couple babies in attendance (and five dogs, some of whom behaved).

Tuesday I got to go into work a little late, had an easy day, and a yummy takeout dinner with my roomie from my favorite veggie Chinese place.  And today I woke up happy as a clam, cause in one short hour, I have my Brazilian blowout with my girl Lauren!  So excited to bid adieu to the hairdryer.  And frizzies.  Pics to follow.

And Friday I'm going with some of my favorite people in the world to see these brilliant crooners in action at the Greek Theater:

David Gray & Ray Lamontagne

Hopefully one or both of them don't make me cry.  Ha.  

And now I have a request for you all . . .

Please go read this post of Summer's.  This is Summer and her Daddy:

Her daddy, Mr. Butch Bailey, has cancer.  He is going through all kinds of harsh treatments, and has been rendered unable to work due to loss of energy, memory, and burns on his head and ears.  Summer is doing everything she can to help him, but she lives in NYC and Daddy Butch is in Plaquemine, Louisiana.  She's asking anyone who can to send a card and a dollar to her dad . . . times are tough in the Bailey household!  And I, for one, believe that we humans should take care of each other whenever we can . . . 

There is more info on Summer's blog, but Mr. Bailey's address is:

Mr. Butch Bailey

39865 Hwy 75

Plaquemine, Louisiana 70764

If you have the time and means to send him a card and a dollar, Summer (and me, too!) would be very grateful!

Hope everyone's having a great week, too.  Be back tomorrow . . . with better hair!

A "Genius" Idea

Friday night, after a fun happy hour with coworkers (hello, cucumber vodka cocktails, I love you), my dear friend Doro and I had a belated birthday celebration over a fantastic meal at Zero Zero. We had grenache, one of my favorite salads of the summer (heirloom tomato, avocado, pickled onion, and bread), and pasta they make in-house. Mine was full of eggplant and cherry tomatoes and ricotta, and I ate every last bite!

Doro gave me a lovely pair of earrings that I've worn twice but have yet to take a picture of, but even more awesome than that . . .

She made me a genius cd.

I mean, literally, it's an iTunes "genius" cd, but it's also just genius:

My sweet (and smart!) friend Doro took my very favorite song in the world, Nightswimming by REM, and plugged it into iTunes' Genius, which finds similar sounding songs in your library. The result (with some sharp-minded editing) was this:

1. Nightswimming--REM

2. Fake Plastic Trees--Radiohead

3. The Boxer--Simon & Garfunkel

4. These are the Days--10,000 Maniacs

5. Pictures of You--The Cure

6. Tonight, Tonight--Smashing Pumpkins

7. At My Most Beautiful--REM

8. No Surprises--Radiohead

9. Colorblind--Counting Crows

10. Disarm--Smashing Pumpkins

11. Caring is Creepy--The Shins

12. Stay--Lisa Loeb

13. Close to Me (Closet Remix)--The Cure

14. Drive--REM

15. Just--Radiohead

16. Ode to My Family--The Cranberries

17. Blowin' in the Wind--Bob Dylan

18. This Must be the Place--Talking Heads

19. Lovesong--The Cure

20. Fall at Your Feet--Crowded House

I guess iTunes' Genius really is a genius cause those are some damn good songs. Disarm has always been my favorite Smashing Pumpkins song--throwback to 9th grade--and Colorblind is on my top 5 songs of all time list, I'm pretty sure.

Oh, and re: the Emmy's, this pretty much sums up my opinion:

Happy (manic) Monday!

Transport me to my childhood, please

My mama and daddy LOVE Jackson Browne, so I grew up on The Pretender, Saturate Before Using, For Everyman, Running on Empty, and in my teenage years, I'm Alive. Last night, Cari and I had a lovely dinner & drinks in Temescal, and then headed to the Greek Theater, which is definitely my new favorite concert venue. Outdoor amphitheaters are the best, especially when you live in California and the weather's perfect all the time!

I'd been stressing so much lately (job, apartment, relationship, some family stuff--it all comes at once, huh?) that I can't even keep my food down :( . . . but then Jackson Browne took my sorrows right away as I sat straight ahead of him in the beautiful Berkeley evening air and listened to my favorite crooner (who doesn't sound any different than he did 30 years ago, might I add. And he's still pretty hot for a 62 year old--just sayin').

Other bands/singers that take me right back to my childhood:

Allman Brothers

Neil Young

Van Morrison

Carole King

James Taylor

Bob Marley

Doobie Brothers

Billy Joel

Eric Clapton

Crosby, Stills, & Nash

What about you? Do you still love the music your parents brought you up on?

In totally unrelated news, I'm a little mortified to admit that I've been watching The Real Housewives of New Jersey this afternoon, and therefore have discovered Teresa Giudice . . . who I think is a little scary looking. If Tyra Banks has a five-head, Teresa has a two-head:

Right???

Friday I'm in Love!

I figure today's the perfect day to participate in Summer's Friday, I'm in Love series in order to put off thinking about the job search I'm spearheading today . . . Craigslist jobs nonprofit/writing & editing/education, here I come . . . and I'm gonna try to keep a smile on my face about it.

(Still no word about funding for my job--SF's Department of Children, Youth, and Families is taking its sweet sweet time--and if they don't have a decision by the time teachers have to report back to school on August 11th, then it's a no-go).

So here's what I'm in love with today:

(Milo)

Sure, he may talk about his penis all the time. And he may grab my boobs and say "I wanna see BOOBS!" And there's the food-throwing at dinner. But . . . I love this kid so much! Here he is, yesterday, posing proudly beside his favorite thing in the world . . . a truck.

(Plus, when I took him on a walk to the fire station yesterday, he said "WHERE ARE THE HOT FIREMEN?" cause he's so used to hearing his mama & me talk about the hotties up there at the ol' fire station).

(roses on my back deck)

Don't get any wrong ideas: I definitely did not grow these. That's all my neighbor Doug's handiwork. But aren't they pretty? I'm especially in love with them when I cut them off and put them in a pretty vase on my dining room table.

from sfgate

The Pizzaiolo margherita pizza that will be MINE tonight!! My girls, Doro & Hauna, are trekking East for a much-needed ladies' dinner & drinks night in O-town, and I've had Pizzaiolo on the brain ever since Anna and I ate at its sister restaurant last week. I am serious, y'all . . . if you live anywhere near the Bay Area, head to Pizzaiolo pronto! It's cute, they play good music, they make their own tonic for cocktails, and their pizza is outta control. Also, they use all local ingredients, buy from local farmers, etc. (I mean it wouldn't be California if . . .)

(old school Jackson Browne, i.e. when he was still hot)

And although those days are gone, I am still so excited to see him in concert at the Greek Theater in Berkeley tomorrow night (I'm going with my dear friend & Milo's mama, Cari!). For years, whenever faced with the ever-important question, Who would you choose to see in concert if you could see anyone in the world?, I have firmly answered Jackson Browne. (I mean, I've already seen Neil Young, Mos Def, u2, Van Morrison, and Counting Crows, among many other greats). So tomorrow night, with a pretty dress, high heels, and some wine, that dream will become a reality!

See? Weekends are still fun when you're a teacher and you're out of school for summer and pretty much every day is a weekend. :)

XOXO!

Outside Lands

*If* I get my job back, guess when the first day of school is? August 16th, aka my birthday. WACK,right?? Forget about my dreams of having a slow brunch at La Note and finally ordering the nutella French toast that I always covet but never have the guts to order. More like waking up at the crack of dawn and running around from classroom to classroom greeting this year's new little monsters.

(Though I gotta admit, it will all be worth it if I get to keep my job).

In any case, onto the good news! The weekend before my first-day-of-school-29th-birthday is San Francisco's annual Outside Lands music fest in Golden Gate Park, which includes three of my very favorite things:

music

wine

sunshine

Now I just gotta talk Lane into flying out to San Francisco that weekend to flit around in the sunshine with plastic cups of sauvignon blanc and the likes of Cat Power, Damian Marley, Kings of Leon, Amos Lee, Chromeo, Rebirth Brass Band, etc. etc. serenading us (though we'll be skipping the $395 VIP tickets . . . ).

Happy weekend!

Thanksgiving, a few months early

My dear bloggy friend Faiza has a blog that she calls a "gratitude journal," which is just as lovely as it sounds. I get so excited when I see a new blog post from her; inevitably, I feel better after I read her posts, no matter what my mood was prior. Faiza recently did a guest post at The Perfect Compilation Tape in which she highlighted five things she's grateful for, and encouraged everyone to play along. Here is Faiza's original post (read it, seriously, this woman inspires me!), and here is my own version:

Five Things I'm Grateful For:

5. Summer is Here!

I've always loved summer, and living in California has only nurtured my love for beach season. Being a teacher (and a teacher with a second job, at that!), I'm so busy during the school year that I rarely have time for relaxation in the months between September and May. Thus, June, July, and August are all about languor, and I love it! Plus, my birthday's in August. I share a birthday with this legend:

So far my summer's been about visiting family and friends, lounging by the pool, waking up slow, and drinking good coffee (plus ambushing City Hall to give me my job back, but that's circumstantial!). On the horizon: days at the beach, drinking beer on patios with friends, summer playlists, reading & writing.

4. Blog Friends

When I started this blog on January 1, it never occurred to me that anyone I didn't know would read it, or that I'd become attached to girls across the country (and the world!) whose blogs I love to read. It's pretty amazing how that happens, and some of the connections with lovely women I've made are incredible! Here are some of my very favorite blogs to read . . . with the disclaimer that you already know that I love my long-time-friends-from-childhood, Lesley at Homemade Grits and Christina at Down & Out Chic:

Summer at B is for Brown, Breathe, and Believe

Faiza at It's Gonna be a Lovely Day

Micaela at Dolce Vita

Marianne at Royal Mail

Mayra at Life is Bananas

Hope at Hope Chella

Ashley at Hiking in Stilettos

Julie at Brown Eyed Belle

and you know who is so nice? Jeanette at Everton Terrace

There are plenty more that I will continue to share with you, but that's a pretty good preliminary list. Please go check out those blogs! They're all wonderful, entertaining, and beautiful.

3. Music

My current obsession?

I love summertime playlists! More to come on that front.

2. Forgiveness

I'm really not talking about any one specific situation here, but I have been thinking a lot about forgiveness--how we forgive others, and perhaps most importantly, how we forgive ourselves. This is one area in which I'm definitely working on myself . . . trying to be all about compassion, understand why others (and I) behave the way they/we do, and forgiving. I think it leads to happiness! I've spent far too much of my life feeling hurt by others--seems if I can just cloak myself in compassion and understanding, I'll be able to breathe, forgive, and be happy and peaceful. Maybe all this is coming from working with prisoners--a population who, sometimes, society neglects to forgive.

1. Family & Friends

(There's too much cross-over for these to be two separate categories)! At the beginning of the summer, I got to visit my family in Georgia (and some of my oldest friends), and there's just nothing like that feeling of being home. No sooner had I gotten back to San Francisco was I down in southern California visiting my dear friend Amy!

Newport Beach, y'all

And on that note, I'm off to meet another bff for a champagne brunch in Berkeley. Big toast to gratitude!!

Lesson learned

There seems to have been a theme to my trip home to Georgia this time around . . .

about mistakes.

It's so easy to make decisions based on what's important in the moment without thinking about how your actions will affect others (and yourself) down the road. Part of being a whimsical, romantic, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants, intense, emotional, impulsive, passionate person who feels so much is making reckless mistakes, sometimes time & time again. I've been thinking a lot about convergences, and when a certain number of events happen at once, I can't help but think it's a sign, that there's a lesson to be learned.

In the past week:

1. I've spent many hours with four women who've made such bad mistakes that they've spent years in prison, away from their families and their own children (one of whom gave birth while incarcerated--while shackled to her surgical bed--and had to leave her baby at the hospital and return, alone, to prison). I'm certain these mistakes will haunt these women forever.

2. I've made a reckless mistake, and while it isn't anything that will send me to prison or affect my family . . . isn't guilt just the worst feeling in the world?

3. My dear friend is hurting, so badly, because of what many would call a "mistake." I'm so sad for her right now, and I wish I could take away her pain. Oh, how regret eats away at us so relentlessly.

What's the secret to always being the best possible person we can be? To not making mistakes that hurt us and other people?

I have a confession to make

. . . I really, really love Lynyrd Skynyrd.

I abhor the Confederate flag, would rather be in a room with 25 convicted felons than 25 die-hard Skynyrd fans (though it's quite possible there'd be some overlap), and adore Neil Young just as much as I do Lynyrd Skynyrd. I've even had the harrowing experience of a Skynyrd concert, where most attendees were Bud-guzzling, mulleted men draped in oversized Dixie flags. Nevertheless, I can't help it . . . maybe it's my Georgia upbringing, maybe it's the appreciation for southern rock instilled in me by my parents . . . but I think these good ol' southern boys are genius:

And DAMN did Lee Dewyze do Skynyrd some justice last night on American Idol! When he announced that his personal song choice was "Simple Man," my respect for Lee soared. Who would have thought a mainstream-ish midwesterner would be so awesome as to choose one of the greatest songs ever? As soon as he started talking about it, I knew I was gonna love it. And he was brilliant. Convicted, honest, and pure . . . it was amazing. Even if you don't watch Idol, go to youtube pronto and look up Lee's renditions of both Simple Man and Hallelujah (Simon's choice for Lee).

Speaking of which. When Simon chose Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah for Lee to sing, I was like awww man! for real?? I mean it's probably the most covered song in the world (watch out--Miley Cyrus might be next), and we've already heard the dang song this very season (though Tim's version was forgettable). But I guess the smack-talkin' Brit knows what's up, cause Lee ROCKED IT OUT. Seriously, I got the chills. And then immediately watched it again. The choir and the horns helped make the performance killer, no doubt, but Lee himself was on his A-game. INCREDIBLE!

I'm a total convert now. (Though I haven't gotten over my love for Andrew Garcia).

Other things I'm excited about this week:

*My amazing package to Micaela (I'm pretty proud of myself for this one)

*Cosmos, Cupcakes, and Couture (Ummmm OMG! SATC 2 party this Thursday night--with passes for the premiere, $500 to Tiffany's, and Jimmy Choos up for grabs!)

(I kinda want this for my living room)

*the Grey's Anatomy season finale (I'm a little embarrassed that 1/2 of my excitement this week is about tv)

We're halfway through the week! Hope yours has been a good one so far. :)

Night and Day

It's such a trip teaching wild teenagers who've had people in their lives locked up--many of whom have learning and/or emotional disabilities, anger issues, serious ADHD, bad impulse control, etc., who often don't have stable housing, healthy food, or any sort of consistency in their lives . . and then babysitting after school for little infants and toddlers who are the healthiest, most loved, well-cared for kids on the planet. Guess it speaks to the greater chasm in our society between the lucky and the unlucky, those who have and those who don't. Gotta say, I'm pretty glad that I have both in my life. Here they are, my little paradoxes:

My cousin Adam was in town early this week for business (ohhhhh how I wish I was "in town" in cool cities "for business," hahaha). He was staying around Fisherman's Wharf, and my friend Josh Klipp happened to be performing a jazz set nearby at Enrico's in North Beach, so I swung by and picked up Adam on Tuesday night, and we sat at Enrico's, semi-outdoors, and listened to Josh croon while eating yummy Italian food and sipping cocktails (well, *I* was sipping cocktails). Josh is a great singer, dancer, and def knows how to work a stage! Check out his sometimes jazzy, sometimes R&B-ish music. Did I mention he's a lawyer by day? I love seeing my talented friends perform. And, I love seeing my talented STUDENTS perform. Which they're doing tonight, at CIIS in San Francisco, at 6:30 pm! They really are so brave, getting on stage and reading their stories about the saddest parts of their lives. I'm kind of in awe of them right now (wait--maybe I should save that for tomorrow--don't wanna jinx it).

Here's a photo of Josh at Enrico's that doesn't do him or the place justice:

So excited for the weekend, y'all! After my kiddos' big event tonight, I plan to do a whole lotta nail-painting, tv-watching, sun-basking, day-dozing, lazing about tomorrow!

Wish my little rascals luck tonight!

Also:

1. Check out Summer's delicious giveaway (sweet yellow handmade rose earrings? what's more perfect for this time of year??)!

2. Then, check out sweet Micaela's delicious giveaway (J.Crew necklace & floral pouch!)--soooo pretty! Plus, her blog is one of my faves and she's my new favorite email friend.

XOXO

Making me happy

I've been siiiiiiiiick these past few days--like "chicken" (fake chicken since I'm a vegetarian) noodle soup/ice cream/sudafed/cough drop/bubble bath sick--and a super long day at work today didn't make things any better. However, there are four things that are tickling my fancy right now and making everything much, much better! In no particular order:

My cds arrived from my lovely cd exchange partner, Char, today! She decorated this adorable package and mailed it all the way from the U.K., and what a delight to receive new music on an otherwise not-so-great (i.e. SICKLY) day. I listened to one of them on my drive home from work today, and so far I love it! Thanks, Char!

OMG! Thanks for this one belong to the AMAZING Erika of Cafe Fashionista and her generous giveaway that I won! I can't believe I now own such an incredibly high-class flat iron . . . I will try to remember to post a pic of my stick straight locks when I use it tomorrow. Thank you SO much, Erika!

My favorite girl on the cover of one of my favorite magazines. SO excited to fill up my bubble bath in a few minutes, settle in the warm water, and read about SJP. I'll even forgive her for wearing a boring dress on the cover. Have I mentioned that I have a life-sized poster of her in my hallway? Maybe I shouldn't have admitted that. I think it qualifies as idolatry. :)

The peppermint ice cream I'm allowing myself to indulge in since my throat is raspy and sore from coughing. Not only is it yummy, but isn't it pretty?

Funny student update:

For the past month or so, my students have been working on personal narratives about their experiences being arrested and incarcerated, and/or having incarcerated parents. All but one have written incredibly brave, compelling accounts, and have become sharp critics of prison and society. Some have written about witnessing their parent's arrest, some have written about visiting a parent in prison as a young child, and others have written about their own arrests and time spent in juvenile hall. I couldn't be prouder!

However . . . my most incorrigible student, ZT, has not exactly complied. He's been too busy chanting and ridiculing and cursing us out and getting kicked out of class to write his narrative. This past Friday, literally at least three weeks in, he decided to start working on his story. He did not, however, choose to do the assignment. Instead, he opted to write a one paragraph "report" on . . . Malcolm X. While this might be perfectly appropriate for a history class, it had absolutely nothing to do with my assignment. Here it is, for your entertainment:

The truth of a black man

Malcolm x death has been a tragedy to me because he was my hero in his younger days. he later changed his life around and sence he changed his life around I want to be just like he was when he was in the nation of islam. I want to be just like Malcolm because he reminds me when he was younger. i studied the hol quran every day. The best black muslim was the honerble Elijah muhhamad. He tought Malcom x every thang it is to be a muslim. Him going to jail for pimping a pandering has effect me because i wanted to be a pimp but now looking at it is not worth it going to jail for saling somebody body for cheap sex. That's why I chose Malcolm x as my hero. That's why I chose him. he is the best hero ever and he change his life around from being a pimp a burgerler and started studing the nation of islam. I would want to be a muslim one day. They believe that you cant go with white people or eat pork.

Ummmmm, awesome ZT. Not quite sure what to do with this one. Except to put it through grammar boot camp. Oh, and other relevant information: ZT typed this "paper" on a computer in the classroom on Friday. Today, another teacher informed me that mere minutes after ZT finished on the computer, there were suddenly various PORN POP UPS on the screen. Again . . . awesome.