Thank You, Alice Walker

This is long, but I love this article from Slate.com. I have been wanting to post my ideas about race for awhile now, but I'm still mulling over how to do that. In the meantime, this is an eloquent explanation of support for Obama, especially for my feminist sisters. Have a great weekend!

I Love My Little Girl. . .

. . .And I think it's awesome that she comes from such diverse cultures. Todd contributes Yankee-ness and Japanese culture, whereas I provide the dose of Southern- ness (with a little white trash for good measure!) that will make her very popular amongst her peers. I believe these two pics illustrate my point beautifully. (That's Pepaw giving Emiko barbecue ribs, and Papa Fuji feeding her noodles.)

My New Favorite Video

I was at the HIP -- Harlem Irving Plaza for those not in the know --on Wednesday, and passed by a Hot Topic. This video made me laugh out loud a lot.

Back From Arkansas!

Emiko and I got home from Arkansas Tuesday afternoon. Our flight was supposed to leave XNA at 10:30 am, but we didn't leave til 12:30 pm. Which isn't too bad for flying into Chicago, but still sucked. We sat on the plane for an hour. But Emiko was adorable and the flight attendant loved her, so it was all fine.

I'll try to get some pics posted soon, but here are some highlights:

*Eating fried catfish and a billion hushpuppies at Catfish Hole. But I totally forgot to order fried pie!

*Getting cheese dip to go from Marlo's Taco Shack.

*There's a new bbq joint -- Whole Hog Cafe -- and their pulled pork and their ribs are awesome.

*Getting through security at O'hare was fine -- a TSA agent yelled at me to hurry up after we got through the line and I was trying to get Emiko back in her stroller. But getting through security at XNA was tougher. According to TSA's website (tsa.gov, if you are bored), you don't have to put baby food and bottles of milk in quart bags, you just have to declare it. So I declared it, but the agent made me take all the baby food and milk out of my bag. Then she made me take off Emiko's shoes! She let me keep Emiko's hoodie, but the agent at the metal detector patted Emiko down to be on the safe side! That seemed a little ridiculous. Not that I'm going to argue with TSA.

*Walking around Northwest Arkansas with my baby girl in her Obama, Baby! onesie.

*Seeing my friends Martha and Justin and Alannah. I went to college with Martha and high school with Justin, and they are engaged! So we'll be back in Arkansas in May for their wedding.

*Watching my Hogs beat Tennessee to make it to the SEC Championship game. (The championship wasn't as great -- Georgia way out-played us. But we are in the big dance, so it's all good.)

*Hanging out with my sister and her kids.

It was a great trip, actually. My family didn't drive me too crazy, although my dad tried to get my goat with politics talk.

I can't remember. . .

. . .the last time I listened to a presidential candidate speak for 37 minutes. And was riveted the entire time. Barack's speech brought tears to my eyes. If you get the chance, you should check it out, if even for only a few minutes.

So tired....

I haven't blogged in forever. I'd like to say that's because I've been doing so many fabulous things and just haven't had the chance, but that's not actually the case. I don't know what my excuse is.

Let's see -- Emiko turned one. We had a few people over to celebrate, including Granny and Papa Fuji. So that was fun. Watching Emiko eat her cupcake was hilarious.

Todd's birthday was Sat (3/8) and Butternugget babysat for us. (Thanks, again!) We went to Uncommon Ground on Devon and had dinner and watched our friend James Curley and his band perform. That was a lot of fun, but I drank too much (two glasses of red wine) and so was ruined all day yesterday. It's amazing to me how my tolerance has changed so much. I used to be quite the partier, but it seems the universe thinks I should stop drinking. Since being pregnant with Emiko, I haven't had much to drink, but the few times I've gone out since her birth I've had a lot of fun, yet was completely shattered the next day. And moms don't get to be sick. Emiko doesn't care that I'm totally nauseated and exhausted and feel like crap.

School is still tough. I am having a really hard time feeling positive about my job. I do really like some of my students, but so many of them are just awful and it's so hard to focus on the few good kids when the assholes are so vocal and hard to ignore. I'm trying, though. It just gets harder every day. My students (freshmen) are reading a memoir called Hole in My Life, about a guy who spends time in jail for getting caught running drugs. It's a good book, and the author (Jack Gantos) is now a well-known children's author.

Anyway, I asked the kids to write down about the worst thing they've ever done in their lives, and the answers were not fun to read (I should have known better.) One kid wrote about stealing $1000 from his grandma. He didn't feel bad, but he got caught because he brought the cash to school and was showing off and a teacher turned him in. How can you steal from your grandma???

Another kid wrote about pulling a gun and holding it to the head of another kid to steal his stuff. That kid (who I do really like) feels bad and says he's learned his lesson. I recommended him for honors classes for next year (he's a great writer) and he was so excited and couldn't wait to tell his dad. So I really hope he'll stay on the right path. It's just hard to do that -- takes a lot of courage and no one is going to give him much support, I'm afraid.

OK, that's enough babbling for this week. Emiko and I are off to Arkansas Sat to visit the family. I'm nervous about traveling with her by myself (I wish I had four hands!), but I'm really excited to see everyone. And about eating hush puppies and catfish at the Catfish Hole. Plus ChickfilA, sweet tea, cheese dip. Fried chicken. It'll be awesome!!! I'm sure I'll have some adventures to share!

New Barack Star Video

I'm really starting to like will.i.am.