Negroes Sweet and docile Meek, humble, and kind Beware the day They change their mind ~ Langston Hughes Ten For Today – Now What? This week, we’ve celebrated the birth of our nation. We’ve robustly sang along to the National Anthem. We saw children become United States citizens. We also watched two men be executed. […]
Learning a New Language
In yesterday’s ESL class, we read an article about literacy journalism pioneer “Dr Bob” Laubach. Laubach was born into a family that had literacy in their blood. His parents were missionaries in the Philippines and they taught the Maranoa people to read. This article reminded me of this meme I keep seeing on my Facebook […]
My Name is Raya
When I used to hit the gym in the morning, I would catch the tail end of “My Name is Earl“. The show was funny and helped me power through the 3 miles I tried to log on the treadmill. Scaling back my finances, I eschewed the gym for outdoor walks when the mood hit […]
Volunteer. Like a Boss
About three weeks ago, I received an unsolicited email from a young man who got my name from the library. His message explained that he would begin work in September in DC, and he wanted to fill his time before he began work. We made an appointment for him to meet the class, and he […]
Resilient Beauties: Taking Care of Yourself
My friend and fellow Toastmaster Pamela Elaine made me promise to be more authentic to myself. Spending time with Pam, I learned that being selfish isn’t always a bad thing. In fact being selfish is a good thing because it helps to recharge your batteries and allows you to give back to your self and […]
Sound Off 2015
Way back when, aka last year, I decided that 2014 was going to be MY year. This new year was guaranteed to be the life changer I had been waiting for. Things were going to fall into place and everything was coming up Milhouse. Life sometimes likes to keep it funky and throw curve balls […]
Churning
Thoughtful Thursday Churning. That’s the sound the wheels of the El train I’m riding home from a meeting in Philadelphia. During my ride, I manage to check my email, send a tweet, and decrease for the toe of the sock I’ve been knitting since October. These are the times that I miss working in Center […]