I doubt my eyes will be open at midnight tonight. I know for sure I won’t be wearing yellow panties, despite the good luck they promise. (I don’t own yellow panties. Bad color for me. But, on this New Year’s Eve of 2011, I will be mopping and throwing the dirty bucket water out the [...]

Dear free-born, democratic country-living American friend…or stranger, here is something you can read before you once again utter the statement: “But at least in Cuba they have free health care and free education.” Not really true. And at what cost? Check out the photos from a 6th grade classroom in the Rocky Mountain state. They [...]

Please don’t call me Selfish I discovered a great essay by Susan Newman over at Babble that made me think a lot — again — about being the mother of An Only Child. The title was “Is it Selfish to Have One Child?” Selfish? Que-Que? The idea of being labeled selfish stopped me, made me [...]

The following is my talk from the Latism 2011 panel titled Social Media Disruption: Finding Your Voice.  It was my pleasure and honor to be with panel leader Julio Ricardo Varela of Latino Rebels, Lisa Stone, co-founder and CEO of Blogher and Catherine Connors of Her Bad Mother and Babble.  If you attended, you’ll see some words and [...]

Maria announced, quite proudly: “I know The F-Word!” “Really? What’s the F-Word?” “You know the F-Word, Mama.” “Fun, fudge, flip?” “Mamaaaaahhhh.” “OK, why don’t you tell me what you think the F-Word is?” “It’s a bad word.” “It’s OK. You’re not in trouble, I just want to make sure we’re talking about the same F-Word.” [...]

This essay is part of the first #HablaTalk writing prompt series I am doing with Latina Bloggers Connect. They’re a way to inspire the writer, bring out the video star, and promote the community of talented voices. Check out the community and join in. A few weeks ago, I escaped on an overnight to Atlanta [...]

Hey, American South, look what is happening: A new cuisine is emerging, born of Southern and Latino cultures. Que? Tamales stuffed with greens, corn ice cream topped with hot praline sauce, brownies with chile, sweet potato and plaintain casserole. Welcome to El Nuevo South. The ingredients of our people are joyfully intermingling with traditional Southern [...]

…meet your future mandolin player. She can kind of play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. And tune the thing. Get ready. So yes, city folk, we’re taking mandolin lessons around here. Even I grab the lovely piece and hit it some. La Nena also is taking two other classes after school. That’s three extra-curricular activities…There are [...]

Maria tentatively spoke up. “Mama, her voice sounds kind of funny,” she said nodding toward the stereo. The voice she heard belongs to a pop singer without much range, a young woman who once melted down publicly and is attempting to come back. The voice on her latest single is most definitely not completely human. [...]

Hallmark came to Nashville last week and I snagged an invite to a small gathering they had with local bloggers. It was mostly conversation about celebrating the little things in life, and getting to know a little bit more about how they go about creating the cards and products that help us express words and [...]