Special Events
Jasmine’s Visit
Every time one of my nieces or nephews turn 16, they fly out to where I’m living to spend a week with me. As soon as I whisked Jasmine from the airport, we went straight to a locally owned 24-hour diner. As much as I wanted to impress my niece, I loved my entree as well: … Continue reading
Beach Camping
I recently went on a beach camping trip with three other capoeira friends of mine. We all met up at one friend’s house who’d recently bought a truck and saw how much we could safely load up the bed. She even got all dressed up for our all-female, Texas road trip. So after loading up … Continue reading
Brewery Tour
I’ve always professed not to be a beer drinker, but I jumped on the opportunity to join a social group of 30- and 40-somethings for a nearby small brewery tour. I made sure that I arrived on the early side of noon since one of the social group organizers advertised that he’d have a canopy. I … Continue reading
Firedancing!
You know I’m on vacation when I have enough energy to go to a morning capoeira class, two afternoon tango classes and then take a firedancing class in the evening. That’s exactly what I did this past Saturday and much to my surprise, getting eight hours of sleep and having virtually no stress means … Continue reading
An Evening with Walter Mosley
Although I was not planning to go listen to Walter Mosley, I’m glad a friend encouraged me to do so. He’s a prolific writer and of course a fantastic speaker–very down-to-earth and entertaining just like his books. I arrived at the bookstore early enough to get a good seat and briefly talk with a woman who had been … Continue reading
And the Winner Is…
Years ago, I participated in an overnight bat workshop for teachers. One of the fun activities was a raffle with 14 must-have teacher gifts. There were 15 of us. Guess who didn’t win a prize? After that experience, I stated with much mathematical and scientific certainty that I had bad luck. This was beyond the garden … Continue reading
Passaporte Brasil
One of my favorite upscale grocery stores that has weekly live music groups and performances also sponsors a weeklong special, featuring foods from a particular country. In the past, they’ve had the spotlight on France and Argentina. This year, they highlighted Brazil. I sacrificed a yoga workout in order to rehearse on Monday and Tuesday for the … Continue reading
Black & Brown Don’t Mess Around
I got up extra early on Tuesday morning in order to get to school and knock out some work that had magically collected . As I drove along, watching out for the fools in the morning traffic, I listened to the latest details of the attack during the Boston Marathon. The reporter had just read a … Continue reading
The Art of Volunteering
Once again, the wonderful city of Austin has not let me down! I signed up to volunteer for an annual art show as a “floater,” which I prayed would not find me in the blazing Southern sun carrying a bunch of heavy shit. I got so lucky. The volunteer ahead of me was placed in … Continue reading
Marching Band Madness
One thing I love about Austin is that there’s seemingly a festival or three every week. This past Saturday, I actually caught one, which caters to marching bands. Although there were many local marching bands, some came as far away as Louisiana. I’d signed up to volunteer for four hours, explaining to people about local … Continue reading