flying solo

inspiration

2011-03-25T08:12:00.003-04:00

thirty things before she's thirty.i've got a list to make, and lots of work to do...people to catch up with, lots of love to show, apologies to make, cookies to bake. getting on it.

stomachache

2011-03-20T18:08:00.003-04:00

rough weekend behind me. one word comes to mind:escape.

mint.com

2011-02-26T23:30:00.002-05:00

debt free by 2012. that's what i wanna be. i spent this week talking to my far-more-financially savvy work associates in boston and realized that i have a LOT to do before i can consider myself financially "grown up." when a friend is 25 and has $40K in liquid assets, and i'm still wondering how to afford a vacation every year, houston, we have a problem. granted, i'm one of the few teachers i

i did it

2011-02-18T19:57:00.002-05:00

i submitted something. it probably won't be winning me any awards, but i did it. i climbed up over my fear and timidity and fatigue and submitted a final draft of a personal essay, written by me. i'm proud of myself, darn it! and now i'm in boston, beginning a week of networking and teaching and socializing and learning. things are good.

yeah. what she said.

2011-02-14T21:00:00.003-05:00

right?i don't give a s***.i shouldn't feel any lonelier today than i did yesterday right? or than i'll feel tomorrow? right?

28 is hard

2011-02-08T19:20:00.003-05:00

duro. dificil. hard in french, whatever that word is. you get my meaning. this late-20's/early-30's stuff can push a lady to her limits. as i spend time each week supporting my dear, wonderful, smart, thoughtful and mostly single ladyfriends, i recognize that the struggles i face aren't just mine (even though they feel that way sometimes :)). this is just that time of life when all the

last but not least

2011-02-06T20:29:00.002-05:00

f'awesome TED talk: **hi brave star! i missed you...and the blogosphere...**---boy, this blog has been around awhile...on the wonders of griefthe past comes to visit

these are a few of my favorite things

2011-02-06T20:10:00.002-05:00

i've been reading bianca for years now (since 2005, in fact) and her beauty as well as her eye for it never cease to amaze me. she is, as always, way cooler than me, and therefore has a tumblr that you should REALLY check out. suenos.mmm. my name is joy. and i fancy myself a baker. so when i want to bake or cook or just luxuriate in something, i often go looking for joy the baker. some of my

i'm a fan

2011-02-06T18:01:00.001-05:00

habitpretty pictures, pieces of life.

things still aren't quite flowing...

2011-02-05T22:28:00.002-05:00

so here's an old love poem i ran across in my google docs. the person this is about is long out of my life and my heart, but it's one of the few poems i've written that i can read without wincing (not quite true, but still).missingmissing youmissing you is like a phantom limb,the spot in my chest where my love for you residedaches on rainy dayswakes me up on muggy nightscatches me in the middle

all of the lights

2011-02-05T21:42:00.002-05:00

kanye and i are having one of our many moments as i write this post. i'm just sayin'.as i come to the end of the portion of my weekend that belongs to me (sunday belongs to lesson planning and grading and cooking and, hopefully, cleaning), i am sitting in my apartment peering at this screen and wondering if it is finally time to face my fears. there's this essay i've been writing for about 6

in the thick of things

2011-01-28T18:32:00.003-05:00

self-motivation is a much larger part of this adult life than i ever expected. i find, more and more, that the only one in my life who can truly and meaningfully challenge me is me. at work i feel endlessly bored or bogged down by tasks that feel meaningless and unengaging, and it is only over the last few months that i have taken it upon myself to initiate challenges for myself. it's like HS

i miss the women in my life

2011-01-14T19:26:00.002-05:00

the good ones. the smart ones. the ones that will tell me how fucked up i am. the thoughtful ones. the ones that think faster than me. the ones that will take care of me when i mess up. the ones that know which boy i'm staring at. the ones that know my weaknesses, the ones that hear my muttered comments to myself. the ones i trust. there are so few of them in my daily circle, in my weekly

this is the end of the innocence

2010-09-29T21:09:00.002-04:00

i'm entering my 6th year of teaching (as in, it has already begun). i started my first blog during my first year teaching, which started about 6 years ago. my journey with words written into boxes on my computer screen and shared with the world has had its stops and starts, but i would really like to spend time spinning phrases and ideas into lines in this space as much as possible.growing up

why did i get married?

2010-03-19T20:10:00.002-04:00

both makes me want to avoid marriage...forever...and to be reborn as a non-black person in some country other than the united states. in "song yet sung" james mcbride uses the visions of a "two-headed" slave to represent his feelings on the current state of black life, and it's not a pretty picture. according to liz, mcbride's character, black men are dressed like boys for their whole lives and

random post?

2010-03-12T22:59:00.003-05:00

i'm not sure why i'm posting, but i am. i'm just home from fun after work, contemplating saturday school tomorrow, and i'm okay. okay with my boyfriend being far, far away, okay with my at-work crush being all crushed out, okay with the huge stack of papers awaiting me, okay with students who struggle to be all they can be, okay with the frustration of life right now. okay with my 27-ness.

the fear that comes

2009-06-07T09:40:00.004-04:00

i'm a little scared. i'm about to help start something big, and it's scary. as the launch of the school i'm helping to start comes closer and closer, i'm starting to feel the high expectations closing in on me...and i'm a little worse for the wear. i'm beginning to splinter and break up, to lash out at people i'd rather keep close, to show my fears through my actions without adding the

it has been a long, long while

2009-05-01T21:16:00.006-04:00

and for the first time in a long time, i feel like writing. i feel like writing about this new life that i have created.i've been teacher for, oh, 3 years and 8 months now. 8 months since the end of my year-long break, 8 months since i returned to my calling. it has been a rocky road. nothing about teaching at a great school in a high-performing charter network is easy. writing lessons isn't

maybe this recession isn't such a bad thing after all

2008-12-11T08:08:00.002-05:00

MLB's 125th Street Tower Project Cancelledless harlem gentrification due to financial concerns? i'll take it!

lo hicimos

2008-11-04T23:58:00.001-05:00

and i'm ready :)

i know i've been gone awhile

2008-10-28T21:45:00.002-04:00

and i think i'm close to making a full return. :)tonight, though, just a quick note on me- i think i'm one of the most emotional people i know when it comes to beautiful live music. i went to a dartmouth college alumni event tonight, and hearing some of their amazing student vocalists sing brought many a tear to my eye. everyone else was stomping along with the gospel choir, and i was crying.

again

2008-08-26T21:43:00.002-04:00

again, a new classroom.again, a new place to live.again, a new roommate (though this one is also an old roommate- yay!).again, a new boy.again, new beginnings.again, this unsettling apprehension/excitement for things to come.it's the beginning of the school year, folks! and i'm not ready...***i've taken a long hiatus. it's been interesting to sit with all of my thoughts instead of typing up

ROFL!

2008-08-01T15:17:00.003-04:00

not really. but this is funny and i've never actually typed "rofl" before, so i thought i'd try it out. newayz...cue "birth control as period control video":

challenge to self:

2008-07-24T21:21:00.003-04:00

eat my way through new york mag's "ten best new eats under $5."that's my month of august in a nutshell. :) and no worries, i will bring back pictures! and hopefully a verrrrry happy stomach (though i'm not so sure about the goat...)

"bringing back" paddling sounds like a bad idea,

2008-07-23T16:40:00.004-04:00

no?but i guess a school district in georgia disagrees. little did i know, georgia school districts actually get to decide whether or not they want to use corporal punishment! also, only 28 states actually have a ban on corporal punishment in schools? really? wow...this is problematic:"The Twiggs County school board reinstated its corporal punishment policy this summer to allow students to be