the bilay family

remember this story?
well here's an update.

this family received over $50,000, including clothes, toys, food, etc...
they have located family in salt lake city and will be moving up there with them. while i will miss seeing these sweet girls at school, i am so glad they have found a true home. i am also very happy to see how our small community rallied together to help out this family. it really warms my heart.

"I leave Dallas happy because so many people have helped me. I was lonely and grieving, and they came here to visit me," she said through a translator.

Her family are members of the Kunama people, who speak a language unrelated to that of other Eritreans in Dallas. She and her children speak no other Eritrean language and either limited English or no English at all.

People have contributed $50,000 to a fund established for the family at the Wells Fargo bank, besides giving money, people have donated food, clothing, toys for the children, even sleeping bags. Mr. Dago said a steady stream of strangers has come to the family's apartment to bring donations.

Some have come just to pray with the family.

Honoring another tradition, family members welcome the visitors with a nod and a proffered plate containing a gift – usually a bottle of water.

To the end, volunteers showed up with offers to help.

"There was something so precious, standing there holding hands with people who had come from across the world," Ms. Hall said.

The family, meanwhile, took pains to express their gratitude to the people of North Texas before they left town.

"We are blessed for what so many people have given us here," Mr. Addas said. "The people here are so generous. We will always remember and pray for Dallas and all of America."

does anyone read the sidebar?

in case you don't, i had to post this educational piece by rod dreher because i'm intrigued.
read and learn!
Wednesday May 28, 2008

Your summer drink list
James Poulos is a sophisticated tippler, and helpfully provides his summer drink list here. I was pleased to discover that he's also an aficionado of gin and grapefruit juice, which I've been a seasonal fan of for many years. I add a splash of club soda to mine, though, to give it a little lift.

My summer drink do's:

1. Vodka and club soda, on the rocks, with lots of lemons smashed in the bottom. I don't like sweet drinks, as a rule, and there's nothing quite so refreshing as a vodka and soda. This summer, I'm going to try infusing some Tito's with hot peppers, and various herbs from our garden. I'm curious also to try lemon grass-infused Tito's. A couple of summers ago I infused some Tito's with kaffir lime leaves, and let me tell you that stuff was terrific. Mixed with a little cranberry juice, grapefruit juice and soda, it transports you to the Long Bar at Raffles. Or what I imagine that must feel like.

2. Rose' wine. No, seriously. If your idea of rose' is Lancers, think again. There are some excellent, bone-dry roses available now, and for not much money. I bought a pale pink one from Touraine for Memorial Day sipping, and it was spectacular (and only $10).

3. The non-girly caipirinha. I don't make this at home, because it's too labor-intensive, but when I go to La Duni in Dallas, I always order their caipirinha, without sugar. Just fresh-squeezed lime juice, crushed limes, pinga and ice. Sour. Strong. Cool. Refreshing.

Summer drink don'ts:

1. Frozen margaritas and frozen daiquiris. Being anti-margarita is heresy in Dallas, but I'm sorry, they're just Slurpees for dipsos. Ditto on daiquiris. Go ahead, hate me.

2. Beer. I find it hard to drink beer when it's hot. Makes me feel like I've eaten a loaf of bread. Though I will say when you're eating chips and hot salsa, there's nothing quite as good as an icy Tecate in a can, with lime and salt. If you must drink beer in the summer, drink wheat beer with a slice of lemon (not Hoegaarden, though; it's the PBR of its class).

3. Brown liquor. This is idiosyncratic to me. I love whisky, especially (in the summer) Scotch and soda. But it gives me a headache. Pray for me, in your charity.

Summer can't decides:

1. Campari and soda. Love the bitterness and the effervescence. But it's very light.

2. Dirty vodka martinis. Delicious stuff, especially with Grey Goose. But they go down too fast, and always lead to regrets.

3. A real mint julep. I have a recipe Walker Percy wrote down, the secret ingredient of which is a dusting of fresh nutmeg. Seriously, this is a major sit-down-on-the-front-porch summer drink, and I can't recommend it highly enough, provided you use lots of mint, really good Bourbon, and pack the ice in pretty hard. Unfortunately, it's liquid hangover for me these days. Still, the occasion will present itself about once a year, usually in a situation involving a rocking chair, and I'll through caution to the wind. That's why the good Lord made Advil.

posted by Rod Dreher @ 7:39pm

top 10 reasons

that prove i'm a bad parent:

10. i don't always dilute their juice
9. i use bubble bath so i only have to rinse them after a good soak
8. i serve pop tarts for breakfast
7. i bribe my children
6. i will consume alcohol on a weeknight
5. i use the tv as a babysitter
4. i leave them at daycare so i can go home and watch tv uninterrupted
3. i yell
2. i spank
1. i work and i like it

memorial day

today should have marked the first day of summer. but, we still have 2 weeks of school left! oh well, rather than beat you down with "good ol' days syndrome", i'll just leave you with these from our day. . . .the fake first day of summer.

who's the einstein now?

i do have issues. i have deep insecurites. i have come to terms with 46% of those issues. . . . and that's without the upcoming therapy.

issue #16: must not appear stupid
issue #12: must fit in with the cool kids
issue #9: must never be last
issue #3: must appear aloof and nonchalant at all times

so i've started taking grad classes right? now mind you, this is grad school. in mesquite. so far i'm 2-0 in the cool dept right?
no offense rob.
well, don't think so fast. apparently, some people took the "i graduated undergrad in 4 years, taught the required 3 years while taking grad classes, so i'm 1 day away from becoming an administrator. . .all before i turn 30" route.
#16, #9

last night
so the "cool kids", head off to the library to begin our take home final. as i watch them walk out the room ala t-birds and pink ladies style, i turn to my friends (the over ~35 crowd) coach, mom and home-ec (as i lovingly have nicknamed them in my head) and we follow. it does take us a little longer to get out of those desks you know.
#12, #9, #3
so we're in the library, going through each question and we hear the cool group just whizzing through. they have some heated discussions trying to land on some answers, but they are beating us!
#12, #16, #9
we power through, but the witching hour hits(9pm) and we are beat. calling it a day. we exchange emails and cells, promising to finish together tomorrow.
#3
today's emails

coach: Ladies
I thought I would initiate the email so that we all had each other’s contact information. It was great working with you all. Wish I did not have to worry about this test today. I did not get much done last night when I got home. Getting the boys ready for today took much of my attention.
Anyway, let’s be in touch.

mom: I stayed with the other group until the library closed - they literally kicked us out
The other group was so helpful and I am happy to share their strategies with you
There are so many ideas to share that I hate to have to write them all in email.
I would like to suggest that one person call me at 555-123-4567 after 12:30 then a friend can call a friend and so on like the old shampoo commercial. (what commercial?)

mom: Hi
Just wanted to make sure everyone got this sent earlier
I did not mention that with what I learned from the others that I was able to finish

so how much more do i hate the cool kids now? no big deal, i have 2 and a half hours before my first class, i'm relatively intelligent. i can finish.......3 hours later, i call coach, we compare answers. he did not finish the test, but got answers from mom, who got answers from the cool kids, who's answers differed from mine.
#16, #3

as coach and i went through and compared answers i showed him where i found them in the book, verbatim, the answers that matched my test, not the cool kids' tests.
booyah! #12
insert cabbage patch dance here! #12
oh yeah, what else surfaced? issue #1: must never be wrong

must. . . .beat. . . . oprah

and i'm not the only one with this goal.
yes, i have begun training for another marathon, much to the chagrin of my knees.
but this time its different.

1. i have real live running partners. which, makes getting up at 5am a little easier. . . .it seems to validate the craziness of it all. plus, if a coyote attacks, there is someone there to take pictures for the blog.
2. i built in some non-running time in case i get knocked out by a large metal bar again and am sidelined, or go to colorado. lord knows i can't handle that elevation!
and
3. i am actually going to eat like i'm in training. last year, i kind of gave myself carte blanche in my diet. i would justify eating an entire keller's special by myself because i had run 12 miles that day. well this year, if i'm going to beat oprah, i gotta get serious.

so you'll notice on my sidebar i'm listing my daily exercise and food intake. like i said, this is nothing more than an effort to keep myself honest about my training.
i have already had to cut out dairy. . . .for personal reasons
i'm trying to cut out that sweet nectar of the god's. . .that will hurt. and yes denise, when i order from menus, i may be looking only at the items with the little heart next to them.
so here goes.

if i'm out to eat with you, make sure i've run that day before you call me out. that can ensure i'm too weak or sore to punch you out.

**anything made by my children, given to me for free, or made by my grandma doesn't count.

the racoon

this morning was the first day back running.
time: 5:45 am
with my kids, this is about the only time of day i get to be by myself.
i mean i can be sitting in a chair with the kids all over me, while dave lounges on the couch. i can surrender the chair to them, incorrectly assuming its the chair they want, move to another chair and bam! i'm back to jungle gym status. did i mention dave is all alone on a 4 person couch stretched out with drink in hand?
anyway, returning from this morning's run, i come home to a quiet house and this:


let me zoom in on a, and i quote:
"mommy, i made a cereal mountain!"

i need therapy

no really, i do.
apparently somewhere around 90% of people that pursue counseling as a profession do so because they seek answers to something within themselves.
interesting.
our professors strongly encourage (which we all know is code for mandatory) that those of us walking the counselor path need to do so with a partner. and we all know how good i am at being introspective, opening up myself to feelings and makeing myself vulnerable.
oh wait, there i go with the sarcasm and attempt at humor.
well, at least we know i'll ace defense mechanisms 101.

i guess they really want to make sure we aren't going to become the thelma to someone's louise.

so, that being said . . . .i'm off to google a therapist.

whew!

see, i have these friends. they stop by once a week. different night, different friends. here's the thing, i really miss them when they don't stop by. or when their visits are interrupted by weather warnings, presidential speeches, or ugh! the playoffs!
sometimes, i don't always pick the right friends. the friends i pick, aren't liked by the majority, so they don't come around again. sometimes there are friends that i think, "really? other people like you"? so i give them a second chance. sometimes it takes, sometimes i just chalk it up to a personality disconnect.
let's face it, i was never any good at hanging with the popular kids.

here's what i hate. waiting all summer to see who will get to come back to visit. . .
wait no more!
tv lineups!!
summer and fall!

while i hate to say goodbye to the
cashmere mafia, miss freely
and the gang from the ridge, i know summer is froth(?) frought(?) full of reality fun and hijinx!
and c'mon you can't tell me swingtown doesn't intrigue you just a bit. is this real? gross.

i will be happy to see samantha, christine, eli and chuck return.
they were kind of iffy. of course, all the walkers, the oceanic 6 and the staff of both seattle grace and dunder mifflin will return. duh! and don't forget the Crime Stuff In-locale shows will return, and who can say no to science?

oh, did i mention the return of 90210?!?!?!?!

An edgy, contemporary spin-off of the iconic drama "Beverly Hills, 90210," the new 90210 looks at life through the eyes of Annie Mills and her brother Dixon, whose first day at West Beverly Hills High School leaves no doubt they're not in Kansas anymore. For Annie and Dixon, the awkwardness of being the new kids is made worse by the fact that their dad has taken a job as the high school principal. The school is one big culture shock for Annie, a sweet and friendly girl with a passion for the theater, and Dixon, a star athlete and scholar who was adopted by the Mills family after they took him in as a foster child. Annie and Dixon have a close sibling relationship, which they'll need to help them cope with all the new cliques and classmates, including Naomi, a hot, spoiled, rich girl; Ethan, a popular jock whose abilities rival Dixon's; Navid, an aspiring reporter who heads up the school's daily newscast; and Silver, a rebel who produces and stars in a YouTube-type video series. Even the faculty seems hip and sophisticated at WBHHS, such as smart and funny teacher and beautiful guidance counselor Kelly Taylor (guest star Jennie Garth, the original "Beverly Hills, 90210"). The Mills family has just begun to realize how much their lives are about to change.

i may cry.

safety tats

oh. and i just found these.
safety tats.

they're tattoos for the kids so if they're too young to know they're phone number and you get separated, bam! someone can help them.
they have different designs and you personalize them with your number, not the child's name, just a contact number for you.



totally eases greatest fear #2.
ordered!

ceviche

denise started a summer salad share.
well one of my favorite dishes is
ceviche

and i am not a seafood lover, but this little mixture of fish, scallops, crab, squid (sometimes) that's been sitting for days in a lime juice marinade. that's how its cooked, the acids. crazy!
it is so yummy and refreshing and you don't even realize you've eaten a whole basket of chips with it!
here's the thing, i don't cook, so i really couldn't tell you how to make it. i could find a recipe and cut and paste it here, but then someone would ask me how to make it, or ask me to make it and then my cover's blown. so instead, i am including a list of some places that i have had some yummy ceviche.
enjoy.
gloria's
uncle julio's
la calle doce
machu picchu

i hear stephan pyles makes a mean ceviche and la ciudad is pretty good too. i'll have to check those next.

i'm sure there are more out there, and i intend to find them!

got a story for you ags.....

april 29th.
the big announcement.
may 2
marlee emails me to say that she and "the kaz" are in!
i email maurie and she's in!

sweet!

wait, who? well, let me introduce you to some of the raddest chicks in the world. . . my college roommates.

marlee jordan helbig, kelly pipher kazakauskas, maurie duderstadt gray.

good times!

san antonio will be the first time in years that all 4 of us have been together. various combinations of this aggie greatness have seen each other throughout the years.
but all 4? together?
you can almost feel the spirit of aggieland burning through your computer screen.
i know!



by the way, thanks for calling me out on the movie lines marlee. i think that photo session was so traumatic, i blocked it out. as i'm typing, i realize i should have posted that pic. . . .no, only good army. no bad army.

top 10 moments of greatness:
10. couch covering 101
9. miller lite carboard cutout girl
8. working out at 5 am
7. silly boys
6. the higland house
5. sweet eugenes
4. the cranberries
3. wolf pen creek
2. late night laughs
1. the bench

honestly, that could be top 1,000,000 moments of greatness, so i tried to be as general as possible to include as much as possible.
thank you girls for giving me the best 6 years of my life!
i am so looking forward to san antonio!

speaking of chris parnell. . .

have you seen miss guided?
well, in about 18 months this will be me....the school counselor.
sure i probably look more like
but i digress. . . .
tonight was my first official night of grad school. he let us out 2 and a half hours early.
i can work with that.
granted i have a 9 page paper due in a week. . . .did i mention it has been over 10 years since i did any type of research?

why counseling? yes, i had a dream to go to nursing school. . . oh, that's next!
but, as stated earlier i enjoy the my unique teaching position in that it allows me to be on a personal level with my students. now i want to be able to connect on a deeper level. we'll see how this goes.

mr. pibb + red vines = CRAZY DELICIOUS!

d-dub did it!!

he did it! dave is finished with school!
did i mention?. . . . with honors!!
he won't brag, so i will!!
magna cum laude thank you very much!


the proud parents and grandparents
yay! daddy!





and a great celebration afterwards.
mr. wilson, i am so proud of you.
love, mrs. wilson

my house is clean

it only took two days. its a process.
day one: pick up everything and put it in its proper place.
day two: clean! clean! clean!
(keep in mind everything is done at full speed, it has to be done before thing 1 and thing 2 come home and return it to its natural state.)

how clean?

hospital clean?
nope.

military clean?
nope.
grandma clean!

i am about to clome clean. . . . no pun intended.
in every effort to better the world we live in, our family does certain things.
we recycle

we use these:


but there is one area i will not cave. . . .i use chemicals to clean. my product of shoice?

there is a certain smell associated with clean, and fragrance free, dye free, earth friendly products just don't cut it. i can go natural, i can go earthy, but have you seen pictures from the earthiest time ever. . . .the 70's. . . . . . . .they just don't look clean to me.

quotes, mantras and mottos

as i've been cruising al gore's internet, i notice lots of blogs with these.
i'm not real good at remembering things.
i'm not a good movie quoter.
but you'll notice i've added something that makes me laugh everytime i say it.

this feature may change, i don't know.
i don't have a motto, other than the whole party thing. (thanks pam beasley) i don't quote people and i don't have a mantra.

so i figure when i hear funny, or inspirational, words. . . .i'll throw them at you, my public.

i love-love being a teacher

part one
today, to finish out teacher appreciation week,we recieved

a) a logo embroidered messenger bag

b) a 15 minute chair massage

and the piece de resistance(not said with a french accent)


c) an invitation to an "unofficial" staff booze cruise

now, don't get me wrong. as much as i love being a teacher.
a massage? a booze cruise? totally necessary!
which got me to thinking.
back in the days of
hardwick elementary,
mackenzie jr high,
and
coronado high school,
i loved school.
8 solid hours of social networking!
problem is, my teachers wanted to interrupt all that socializing with learning.
despite graduating in the top 10%, i fell under that "she is so bright and has so much potential, if we could only get her to focus more on school than her friends." category.
without further ado, this is a shoutout to all those teachers that after a day with me, i know yearned for that chair massage, that skinny margarita, and yes, that booze cruise.
cue "boyzIImen" and the photo montage. . . .
THANK YOU,
mrs. harrison. . . . . . .mrs. babcock. . . . . . .mrs. fore. . . . . . .mrs. bodden. . . . . . .mean dean. . . . . . .mrs. pirkle. . . . . . .coach rapstine. . . . . . .coach elrod. . . . . . .mr. cordero. . . . . . .mrs. abbe. . . . . . .senora hairston. . . . . . .coach omdahl. . . . . . .coach keener. . . . . . .mrs. barnett. . . . . . .mr. curbo. . . . . . .mr. ryan. . . . . and countless others that have taught, inspired, tolerated, loved, and sacrificed.

skinny margaritas

the real houosewives of nyc?
ever hear of it? i'm a reality tv junkie, but hmmmm, this one slipped by me.
of course, thing 1 and thing 2's late night escapades are really pushing the limits on the hourage of my tivo.
point being, some "real" housewife, because you know that ain't me! has created a "skinny margarita."

2 ounces of Silver Patron
the juice of 4 limes
a splash of Triple Sec
this recipe leaves out any high calorie, sugary, mix thus making you skinny!
its so obvious!

hmmmm, big weekend coming up. . . . .will update monday, if possible (wink, wink)

our troops-part two

in case you are just joining me, here is part one.
it seems mr huckaby was so moved by the aggie spirit, here is part two!
thanks marlee.
4/27/2008 12:01:00 AM
Darrell Huckaby - Aggies come out in force for school and country
I tell you what. Those Aggies are really something!

I related a simple little story in this space last week about a young family I encountered at Jekyll Island. The husband/father - a Texas A&M graduate, was just back from a 15-month deployment in Iraq, you might recall, and was enjoying a day on Jekyll with his wife and two young daughters and I wrote about the sacrifice that family - and untold thousands of others - have made on behalf of our country.

Now this is where the magic of the Internet takes over. A friend of mine from high school - one Jimbo Allen, high school quarterback extraordinaire - who now lives, I believe, in Houston, Texas - saw the column online. It seems that Jimbo - who probably goes by James now - has a daughter who matriculated at Texas A&M and he has become a follower of all things Aggie. He decided to link my column to an A&M message board - and that's when things got interesting.

Now let me say this. I didn't know an awful lot about the school in College Station before last weekend. I knew that a friend of mine who is now a retired Baptist preacher was dumb enough, when he was a college student at Baylor University, to let his then girlfriend, Doris, attend an A&M homecoming game with an Aggie student. I learned from him that the Texas A&M cadets kiss their dates every time the team scores and that the day Doris went to a game in College Station A&M won 70-0, or something like that. That's a lot of kissing. It turned out OK. My friend and Doris have been married for about a gazillion years.

I knew that Bear Bryant coached at Texas A&M before coming home to Alabama and that he took his first Aggie team to a quasi-death camp in a place called Junction and ran off most of the team before turning those who were left into champions. And I knew that the student body still stands en masse throughout their football games - creating a rather intimidating "Twelfth Man" effect.

That was about as far as my knowledge went.

Well, I know a whole lot more now, believe you me.

It seems that Jim Allen's post coincided with a special occasion at A&M - "Muster Day" - which occurs on April 21 every year. April 21 is Texas Independence Day and marks the anniversary of Sam Houston's victory over Mexican dictator Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto.

Muster Day is a big deal at Texas A&M - marked with games and activities and a solemn evening ceremony at which speeches are given and the names of Texas A&M alumni who have died since the last muster are read. Those who knew the departed answer the roll call on their behalf. But it doesn't end there. Musters are also held all over the world - and I mean that literally. Wherever two or more Aggies are gathered, a ceremony is held and fallen heroes are remembered. This year, the names of five people were called who died defending freedom since the last muster.

And make no mistake about it. Texas A&M takes Muster seriously - and she takes the sacrifices of her sons and daughters seriously, too.

I received hundreds of responses to my column. Hundreds. Every time I turned on my computer, dozens of new e-mails popped up on my screen. Some were short and to the point. "Thank you." "Well done." "We appreciate the kind words."

But others! Others were long epistles in which men and women poured out their hearts and bared their souls in an effort to explain how much they love and appreciate their school - and their country.

I heard from mothers and fathers who had lost sons in Iraq and Vietnam and other places around the globe. I heard from Aggies who had landed on beaches with names like Utah and Omaha - and Aggies who had served on Iwo Jima and Okinawa and, well - you get the picture. I heard from men who are stationed in Baghdad right this minute; men who drove 20 miles through potentially deadly streets to be at Muster with their fellow Aggies. I heard from wives whose husbands are deployed, thanking me for putting their husband's service and their own sacrifice in perspective.

Wives of deployed soldiers were thanking me. That is so backward!

All week, the e-mails came in from proud Aggies, each and every one full of heart-felt thanks for mentioning their Alma Mater. Hearing from all those wonderful folks made me want to get in my car and head for Texas and the A&M campus - one of the few places in this great land that I have never visited. Makes me wonder what a fellow has to do to become an honorary Aggie.

Well, I don't know about that, but I know this. If the entire nation was as full of patriotism and pride and esprit de corps as the Texas A&M family, well - all of our country's problems wouldn't be solved - but we'd be a hell of a lot closer to solving them.

God bless America - and God bless Aggies everywhere.

Gig 'em!

Darrell Huckaby is a local author and educator. He can be reached at dHuck08@bellsouth.net

i love being a teacher

today is teacher day at chipotle!
all i have to do is show up with my school ID and bam! free chipotle!
now, they're no freebird's, but i don't see freebird's handing me a free burrito.
so for one day, i will switch my loyalties.

oh, and i got a free pass for the movies! yay! free stuff rules!

UPDATE

for the record, my burrito was yummy and it was free.
however, the only thing chipotle has on freebirds is the addition of sweet corn and the price.
FREEBIRDS>CHIPOTLE

an interesting read

if you saw these guys on the street, what is your reaction?
be honest.

what about this guy?

as a "generically ethnic"-(cite jenni hudson-melton) hispanic female, i can honestly say that i have not experienced high levels of racism. maybe a joke or too,
which was usually made by me.
chs is my noble alma mater. from there, texas a&m. this is how i grew up. it wasn't until i began working in disd that i realized i wasn't the only mexican in the world.
i came across this article.
read it as white 30-something male, read it as a young african -american 20-something male, read it as a teenage hispanic girl.
however you read it, it is an interesting read.


White Privilege:

1. I can if I wish arrange to be in the company of people of my race most of the time.

2. I can avoid spending time with people whom I was trained to mistrust and who have learned to mistrust my kind or me.

3. If I should need to move, I can be pretty sure of renting or purchasing housing in an area which I can afford and in which I would want to live.

4. I can be pretty sure that my neighbors in such a location will be neutral or pleasant to me.

5. I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that I will not be followed or harassed.

6. I can turn on the television or open to the front page of the paper and see people of my race widely represented.

7. When I am told about our national heritage or about "civilization," I am shown that people of my color made it what it is.

8. I can be sure that my children will be given curricular materials that testify to the existence of their race.

9. If I want to, I can be pretty sure of finding a publisher for this piece on white privilege.

10. I can be pretty sure of having my voice heard in a group in which I am the only member of my race.

11. I can be casual about whether or not to listen to another person's voice in a group in which s/he is the only member of his/her race.

12. I can go into a music shop and count on finding the music of my race represented, into a supermarket and find the staple foods which fit with my cultural traditions, into a hairdresser's shop and find someone who can cut my hair.

13. Whether I use checks, credit cards or cash, I can count on my skin color not to work against the appearance of financial reliability.

14. I can arrange to protect my children most of the time from people who might not like them.

15. I do not have to educate my children to be aware of systemic racism for their own daily physical protection.

16. I can be pretty sure that my children's teachers and employers will tolerate them if they fit school and workplace norms; my chief worries about them do not concern others' attitudes toward their race.

17. I can talk with my mouth full and not have people put this down to my color.

18. I can swear, or dress in second hand clothes, or not answer letters, without having people attribute these choices to the bad morals, the poverty or the illiteracy of my race.

19. I can speak in public to a powerful male group without putting my race on trial.

20. I can do well in a challenging situation without being called a credit to my race.

21. I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group.

22. I can remain oblivious of the language and customs of persons of color who constitute the world's majority without feeling in my culture any penalty for such oblivion.

23. I can criticize our government and talk about how much I fear its policies and behavior without being seen as a cultural outsider.

24. I can be pretty sure that if I ask to talk to the "person in charge", I will be facing a person of my race.

25. If a traffic cop pulls me over or if the IRS audits my tax return, I can be sure I haven't been singled out because of my race.

26. I can easily buy posters, post-cards, picture books, greeting cards, dolls, toys and children's magazines featuring people of my race.

27. I can go home from most meetings of organizations I belong to feeling somewhat tied in, rather than isolated, out-of-place, outnumbered, unheard, held at a distance or feared.

28. I can be pretty sure that an argument with a colleague of another race is more likely to jeopardize her/his chances for advancement than to jeopardize mine.

29. I can be pretty sure that if I argue for the promotion of a person of another race, or a program centering on race, this is not likely to cost me heavily within my present setting, even if my colleagues disagree with me.

30. If I declare there is a racial issue at hand, or there isn't a racial issue at hand, my race will lend me more credibility for either position than a person of color will have.

31. I can choose to ignore developments in minority writing and minority activist programs, or disparage them, or learn from them, but in any case, I can find ways to be more or less protected from negative consequences of any of these choices.

32. My culture gives me little fear about ignoring the perspectives and powers of people of other races.

33. I am not made acutely aware that my shape, bearing or body odor will be taken as a reflection on my race.

34. I can worry about racism without being seen as self-interested or self-seeking.

35. I can take a job with an affirmative action employer without having my co-workers on the job suspect that I got it because of my race.

36. If my day, week or year is going badly, I need not ask of each negative episode or situation whether it had racial overtones.

37. I can be pretty sure of finding people who would be willing to talk with me and advise me about my next steps, professionally.

38. I can think over many options, social, political, imaginative or professional, without asking whether a person of my race would be accepted or allowed to do what I want to do.

39. I can be late to a meeting without having the lateness reflect on my race.

40. I can choose public accommodation without fearing that people of my race cannot get in or will be mistreated in the places I have chosen.

41. I can be sure that if I need legal or medical help, my race will not work against me.

42. I can arrange my activities so that I will never have to experience feelings of rejection owing to my race.

43. If I have low credibility as a leader I can be sure that my race is not the problem.

44. I can easily find academic courses and institutions which give attention only to people of my race.

45. I can expect figurative language and imagery in all of the arts to testify to experiences of my race.

46. I can chose blemish cover or bandages in "flesh" color and have them more or less match my skin.

47. I can travel alone or with my spouse without expecting embarrassment or hostility in those who deal with us.

48. I have no difficulty finding neighborhoods where people approve of our household.

49. My children are given texts and classes which implicitly support our kind of family unit and do not turn them against my choice of domestic partnership.

50. I will feel welcomed and "normal" in the usual walks of public life, institutional and social.

a little perspective

maslow's hierarchy

this is one of the only things i remember from the 2 education courses i took at a&m. the theory basically states that we prioritize our lives based on what needs are being met and that those basice needs at the bottom of the pyramid need to be met before we can focus fully on the the ascending levels.
makes sense.
most of us can probably honestly say that the only place we "struggle" would be in the belonging, esteem and self-actulization levels. . . .that's where jesus comes in, but that's a whole other post for a whole other day.

this article was in the dallas morning news sunday, may 4.
African man's instincts led to death
on Dallas freeway

this man was the father of some students of mine. there is a picture of them in the paper, i wish it had been online. here are some cliff notes to the article that i would like to point out:

But a confluence of cultural misunderstandings, linguistic isolation and simple bad luck led to the death of a man whose widow and 10 children are now struggling to survive in a country that is both unfamiliar and, often, incomprehensible.

His wife, Signe Kallafo, still lives in the apartment with nine of the couple's 10 children. Beds and couches line the walls, there is no television, and a small coffee table and a fan serve as furniture.
The air conditioning and lights are kept off to conserve money. Only one picture adorns the walls – a photo of Mr. Bilay. Two crosses made of palm fronds are wedged in the frame.
"With my husband dead, there is no money. I am sick, and I have a 3-month-old daughter, so I cannot work," Ms. Kallafo, who speaks no English, said through a relative who acted as an interpreter.
"I don't know what to do. Everywhere, darkness is around us."
Two of the older children, who are in high school, work part time and are the family's sole wage earners.

"But obviously no orientation course could possibly prepare a family from rural Eritrea for a life in a big American city," he said.
To Mr. Bilay, a man who was virtually illiterate in his native language, Dallas was a bewildering place, family members said.
"He didn't know how to live in a city. At first he didn't know how to ride in a car," said Mr. Kallafo. "People at home ask me if they should come here. I tell them that America is a very hard country to live in."
"His only dream was to find a job," Mr. Kallafo said. "He wasn't happy because he didn't speak the language, but he was happy for his kids, that they would get an education.
"He said he hoped someday that his kids would grow up and they would have an education and get good jobs, and then he could rest."

Staff writer Holly Yan contributed to this story.

honestly, this story could have been written about any one of my students. i teach in a very unique area of dallas commonly referred to as "five points". this is a mostly unknown area of dallas, where over sixty thousand people are crammed into three and a half square miles. dwelling in apartment complexes, the majority of the population is hispanic, which together with international refuges makes the area 25% non-english speaking. In fact there are over twenty different languages spoken in this area.

in addition to all the issues stated above, you have your typical inner city woes: poverty, drugs, crime, prostituition. you can imagine the volatility of this area...

85-90% of my students struggle with the physiological and safety level of maslow's hierarchy.
they aren't concerned about the taks test.
they aren't concerned about college.
they are merely trying to survive.
this is why i love my job. if for only 45 minutes out of their day, they can put all that aside and enjoy being a kid.
they play.
they talk.
they forget.
my sphere of influence is tiny. i know that. and honestly, i don't know where most of these kids will end up. but as i get to know them, and as i listen, it really changes my perspective. they challenge me. they challenge my faith, they challenge my priorities, they challenge my views. . . . they don't know this, but they do.

HOW TO HELP
Anyone wishing to help the Musa Bilay family may send a check to the "Bilay Ebbit Family Fund" at Wells Fargo Bank, P.O. Box 3488, Portland, Ore. 97208-3488. Or call Mr. Bilay's cousin Stefano Dago at 763-443-3954.

if you haven't yet, go see this

my birthday

is today.
do i want these?

or these?

i may have both.

i got these

and


these will also double as my mother's day gifts.

i love my family!!