Special Events
Snow Apocalypse
Presidents’ Day: Monday, February 15th, 2021 My battery-operated alarm clock sounded at 6:30 AM. Presidents’ Day: Monday, February 15th, 2021 My battery-operated alarm clock sounded at 6:30 AM. I blindly slept walk to my bathroom, flipping on the light. Except there wasn’t any light. Just the empty gesture of moving the light switch. Even in my morning brain … Continue reading
2021 Inauguration
Never has an inauguration been so riveting since when Obama was first elected. Back then, I lived and taught at an American school in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. In order not to miss the historic moment, I got permission from the high school principal to organize an assembly just so I could watch it. This time around, … Continue reading
Snow Day?
Usually when I advise someone to “take a picture, it’ll last longer,” I’m being sarcastic. This time though, I was being practical. Austin normally gets ice storms and flooding rains. So, when I prepared the living room for my daily virtual yoga class and witnessed a light dusting of snow, I figured it would melt … Continue reading
Im-Peach-Mint Cocktail
On January 6th, some Christians celebrated Three Kings Day, to commemorate when the three wise men brought gifts to baby Jesus. I’ve never observed this celebration, but I thought it was fitting that the two democratic Georgian senators, Warnock and Ossoff, officially won their elections on this day. There were many factors that led to … Continue reading
2020 Capital City Black Film Festival
Last year, I volunteered for the CCBFF for the first time because I had never heard of this festival before. This year my very first short film, There’s Always Something, had been selected to participate. With giddy excitement, I experienced the behind the scenes activities of being selected, starting with participating in a prerecorded panel … Continue reading
On Friday the 13th
Exactly eight months ago on Friday, March the 13th, 2020, the president finally stopped denying the truth: we were indeed in the midst of a pandemic rather than a hoax. So, I hoped that he’d once again, lift his veil of denial to concede that he’d lost the election. After all, it was Friday, November … Continue reading
Halloween 2020
Given the fact that half of my closet is costumes, I could have easily recycled a past character. Yet, the past four years, culminating in the existential crisis time period known as “2020,” inspired me to pull together my art and costuming supplies to devise a new character: Ms. Information the Pseudoscientist. I decorated my … Continue reading
Original Tales of Terror
Here’s another fine example of showing up being half the battle. I submitted the one and only spooky poem I’ve ever written, which was about my hat. My submission was supposed to go into a box with other submissions from members of my woman-identified film group. The writer of the randomly drawn submission would represent … Continue reading
Pet Sematary Drive-In
I bought my ticket to this fundraising drive-in event as if my life depended on it. Since my mental health received a healthy boost of sanity, who’s to say it didn’t. After all, once I decided to dress up as Anubis, Egyptian god of the underworld in honor of viewing “Pet Sematary,” I had a … Continue reading
Wine HH
A friend recently invited eight of us to attend a backyard, socially-distanced happy hour with plenty of wine, hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes. Plus, there was a mask requirement until seated. With all that precaution, only five of us RSVP’d. I arrived first and had my pick of seats in this backyard oasis. In addition … Continue reading