AMAZING TEACHERS...

OK. IT'S LATE. I KNOW. THIS IS JUST A REFLECTION. NOTHING FUNNY TO SEE HERE :)...But I forgot to thank someone... 

Tonight is Thursday night which for me, this week, is like a Friday night and I’ve finally had a chance to reflect on the happenings over the last two weeks. Outside of my family, one of my greatest joys is the gift that teacher Mr. Trần (KP) gave me when he invited me into his South L.A. High School class. His 34 students were crammed into the classroom eager to talk about my story that they had read before I got there and weren’t sure they liked :) then “interviewed” me and let me talk with them for a long while about life and craft. It felt like a party. The one-on-one’s felt personal. 

Last week, they submitted their beautiful short stories to me for judging. Every story was full of hope and heart and youth and some were plain brilliant. That’s a testament to their teacher, Mr. Tran. He cared. I could read the lives of each student in those pages, read their hard work. And in the end, when it came time to judge last week, it was hard to decide on a winner. So…since I’m also a mom…I decided that there were (two) third place winners, (two) second place winners, one first place, and everybody else were honorable mentions. :) And next week I’ve been invited to a "Winner's Dinner" with those who placed. Sorry Mr. Tran's for the extra 2nd and 3rd place mouths to feed but they deserve it. YOU deserve the praise and your position as teacher. I've seen your results. THANKS FOR LETTING ME SHARE THOSE MOMENTS WITH YOU.

OH MY GOSH! L.A. WEEKLY!

So…I was standing there with Baby Boy’s barf on my arm (apparently he’s allergic to waffles) when my phone rang and I picked it up, listened, and said, “OH MY GOSH, ARE YOU SERIOUS?!!” Then, the second thing I said was a more sheepish, “Um…How do you know me?”

Today, I am still beyond belief and honored…No, beyond honored, to be recognized and named by L.A.’s Premiere entertainment magazine, L.A. WEEKLY, as a 2013 person of interest in their annual “People Issue” which celebrates artists, entertainers and visionaries who are helping to shape the city of L.A. I’ve been recognized for my work in law, as a writer, and a community servant. And I have to say, they treated me like a rock star. Not only that, the company in this Issue is amazing and includes the smoking hotness that is Tyrese Gibson, L.A. Poet Laureate Eloise Klein Healy, and actor/Star Trek superstar George Takei (I am a Trekkie, eeee!) Completely, totally, utterly humbled.

I hope you’ll check out the issue, or go directly to my interview or pick up a copy on the newsstand tomorrow, May 16th!

Thanks, y’all! And special thanks to The Last Bookstore for allowing us to do the shoot in your amazing space. Most of all, THANK YOU L.A. Weekly!

THE FUTURE IS BIG...

Here's another quote I had to share. Maybe one day, I'll do less sharing and write my own prolific statement. Ha! But I've found that the more I try, the less prolific I become. :)

This inspired me today. It is part of a speech delivered this past weekend in Oakland, CA by writer, activist, Rebecca Solnit. She is a force:

“The future is bigger than our imaginations. It’s unimaginable, and then it comes. To meet it we need to keep going, to walk past what we can imagine. We need to be unstoppable. You don’t stop walking to congratulate yourself. You don’t stop walking to wallow in despair, even though that’s a very fashionable wallow these days. You don’t stop because your own life got comfortable or rough. You don’t stop because you won. You don’t stop because you lost. There’s more to win, more to lose. You keep on walking. You don’t stop walking because there is no way forward. Of course there is no way. You walk the path into being, you make the way, and if you do it well others can follow the route. You look backward to understand the long history you move forward from, the paths others made, the road you came in on. You look forward to possibility: that’s what we mean by hope. But mostly you just walk, right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot. That’s what makes you unstoppable."

--Rebecca Solnit