Monsters, Zombies + Addicts by Gwendolyn Zepeda

The first thing that attracted me to Gwendolyn Zepeda’s first published book was the hilarious title, To The Last Man I Slept With and All the Jerks Just Like Him. (Houston: Arte Publico Press, 2004) It’s a great collection of short stories that are candid and comical observations on life.

I’ve always loved the titles of her books. When she was recently named Poet Laureate for the City of Houston she published Falling in Love with Fellow Prisoners, (Houston: Arte Publico Press, 2013) another great title. In her second book of poetry, Monsters, Zombies + Addicts (Houston: Arte Publico Press, 2015) Zepeda has written an exceptional collection of musings about life in the big city.

She writes about the mundane activities of life but adds an interesting point of view to things as common as going to the dentist in “New Teeth.” She shares her experiences as a working woman and the challenges we sometimes face with our identity as a woman in a male dominated profession. We also get to know more her Aunt Sylvia, whom Zepeda obviously loved very much.

The “Ringmaster’s Daughter” is written in a wonderful lyrical verse that is both intriguing and haunting. I had to read it a few times and it left me wondering who is the true Ringmaster of her poem. This was one of my top favorites.

Her “No Title” poem about the dog in a yard, dumb, drooling and flea bit, is a sad contemplation on life.  The last two lines evoke so many thoughts and feelings, “blocked by fences that nobody else can see.”  This reminded me of the saying that sometimes we are our own biggest obstacle.

Houston is a big city and a lot of things happen. We encounter so many different characters day to day and sad experiences. A few years ago a co-worker who worked in the office across the hall from me didn’t come to work. Later in the day his boss got a call from his wife that he had died. We learned that he’d taken his own life. “Sad Shock” reminded me of that experience and how we all felt that day and it made me wonder how many people have had a similar experience.

The book ends with “Aunt Sylvia’ almost as if Zepeda put it there as a tribute to her beloved aunt. It made me laugh out loud when I read it because I fondly remembered Westheimer near Montrose.

My daughter went to middle school down the street from that main drag area and I’ve told her, “Kids used to cruise this street on the weekends.” She looks around unimpressed, with no idea why we would have done that. Now trendy restaurants line the street right in that area where kids used to hang out of their cars having conversations with kids in other cars that passed them, blocking the street and slowing down traffic to a crawl. I think the city finally cracked down and prohibited that past time. It was the place to go and see “marvelous things” like Zepeda says. It was a rite of passage for many Houstonians in the 80s. It was part of our city's history.

That is why I love Monsters, Zombies + Addicts. It reminds me of Houston and all of our eclectic experiences, from going to the dentist, to our neighborhoods with flea bitten dogs, our work place where we struggle with our feminine identity and to the memories of growing up here. It covers all of this and more. I can't wait to see what else Zepeda has in store for us in her next book.

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My Life and My Proposal to Myself

My life is insane. It's crazy busy and I'm always going 100 miles an hour, especially during the week. That's why on the weekends that I don't have the kids I just want to sleep late and not do anything. Of course it doesn't always work out that way because inevitably things come up even on my kid-free weekends.

My kids and my dad keep me really busy. My daughter with her drama rehearsals and lacrosse. My dad with my repetitive trips to and from the little restaurant where he likes to hang out and everything else in between that I do. Even my son is going to get busy now with the school newspaper. And I like to do things for myself too.

I like to go to book readings and art shows when I can. Sometimes I drag the kids along with me. Then there's my career of course, especially now with the long commute that I have to and from Tomball. I'm home in the dark with no time to exercise like I should. I need to make accommodations for this new schedule so that I can exercise and take care of myself. I also need time for my writing, my blogging and my video project with my dad #dichoaday.

Mama with her Kids

I can't even imagine adding another person to the mix at this point in my life and having to worry about his needs. As harsh as it may sound, I'm so glad I don't have that added stress in my life and I don't know if I'll be ready for that any time soon. I'm so busy I don't have time to feel lonely or bored. I don't even know the meaning of the word bored. If anything I wish I had more time.

It's been three years since my divorce and it doesn't even feel like it's been that long. The time has gone by so fast and there's still so much I want to do. I want to be married to myself now. I want to do what makes me happy, despite all that I have to do taking care of everyone else.

That's why Gwendolyn Zepeda's poem "Proposal" resonates with me. I think that's what I'll do. I'm going to propose marriage to myself and I'm going to propose that I live the life I've always wanted doing the things that matter to me. Maybe I'll even buy myself a wedding dress and get myself a cake.

I love the last stanza of this poem. "I've finally captured the girl I deserve." I am ready to be my own bride.

Proposal

I'm ready to be my own bride
and lie in my wedding dress in my own bed.
I'll lock the rest of the world outside.

It won't be you at my side.
It won't be Jesus, it won't be the sea.
I'm ready to be my own bride.

Once married, there's no need to hide
myself from my spouse, there's no need for shame.
I'll lock the rest of the world outside.

I gave myself a merry ride
but the chase is finally over.
I'm ready to be my own bride.
I used to feel lonely inside
but I figured out the cure for that.
I'll lock the rest of the world outside.

The day has come and I swell with pride.
I've finally captured the girl I deserve.
I'm ready to be my own bride.
I'll lock the rest of the world outside.

By Gwendolyn Zepeda from her book of poetry, "Falling in Love with Fellow Prisoners."
Reprinted with the author's permission.

Falling in Love with Fellow Prisoners by Gwendolyn Zepeda

A few years ago before Gwendolyn Zepeda was Houston's Poet Laureate I heard her read at Inprint's First Friday. I've pretty much followed Gwen Zepeda's writing since I read about her in the Houston Press and attended her "Quinceanera I Never Had" reading event. By the time she read at "First Friday" she had already published a few books, but I had never heard her poetry.

There was one poem in particular that spoke to me. It was her poem "Proposal" that can now be found in her new book of poetry, Falling in Love with Fellow Prisoners. I loved that poem from the moment that I heard it. The funny thing was that I was married at the time so someone could ask why I loved the poem so much or how I could relate to it.

I think that many women can relate to the poem, even married women. I believe that as women we are socialized to grow up, get married, live happily ever after and sometimes women put their dreams on the back burner. That has always been an idea that I have struggled with because even married women should be married to themselves first. How else can you love yourself and in turn love your spouse and your family? I know many people don't agree with this idea and that's okay.

I subscribe more to the idea that a woman should put on her oxygen mask first. If I didn't do things to keep my sanity I wouldn't be able to take care of my kids and now more recently my elderly father. I have to be very sane in order to do what I do every day. If a woman is committed to herself she can be even more committed to her family.

Fast forward in time. Gwendolyn Zepeda published her book of poetry and I went to her reading. She didn't read "Proposal" that night, or she read it before I got there, so I didn't know it was in the book. She read a lot of other great poems like, "The Mexican in Me/The White in Me" and one of my other favorites, "His Son is His Everything."

I pre-ordered the book that same night but life carried me along the way life does and I never got to the bookstore to pick it up.

I was reminded about it on Facebook again and I mentioned "Proposal" to Gwen in hopes that I didn't sound too much like one of those weird obsessive nut/fans. (I had mentioned it to her before and that I lost my copy.) That's when Gwen told me that the poem was in her book and I remembered that I never went back to Brazos Bookstore. I made it a point to go pick it up and as soon as I got in my car with my book I turned the pages to the poem and I read it to my sister, as my son listened in the back seat.

It had been so long since I had read the poem that I had even forgotten the title. As I read it I was moved again by Gwen's words.

I've been divorced for two years now and the words never rang so true to me. I don't plan on remarrying and if I ever do, it won't be until the kids are in college or at least nine more years. I know that I don't know what can happen in nine years. I realize that. But for now, that's the plan.

I'm a single woman again and I want to be married to myself more than ever before. I am the woman I deserve and the last stanza of the poem is my very favorite.

"The day has come and I swell with pride.
I've finally captured the girl I deserve.
I'm ready to be my own bride.
I'll lock the rest of the world outside."

I'm ready to be my own bride.

First Week of School, Structure Again & Blog Themes

Every year I can't wait for the school year to end so that I don't have to wake up so early every morning all stressed out in the rush to get the kids to school on time. I look forward to the summer break. But as I get into summer I start to long for the structure that the school year provides. I look forward to Fall and Winter!

(Photo borrowed from Manteca School District)

This year the summer flew by. It seemed like I always had something going on and I rushed forward to reach our family vacation to the East coast right before school started. We had a good time and we had some challenging times but I'm sure it will be a vacation we will remember for a long time. Next one is to the West Coast.

I came back to the "Back to School" rush, buying them their uniforms and school supplies and suddenly here we are. They started this past Monday. I woke up at 6:30 every morning for a week and this evening I finally crashed and burned. I fell asleep for about 2 hours.

I crashed because of the structure. Every day I stayed up all day and I worked. I had a couple of meetings and I worked on a project that I'm finishing up. I didn't come home and take naps like my friends may have thought. I'm not going to say I wasn't tempted, but I didn't do it. The results were that I got a lot of stuff done but my fuel ran out around 8 tonight.

Now here I am awake at 2 a.m. and I realized that I started this blog a few days ago and forgot about it. I'm kind of tired but I took a shower and my hair is still wet so I'm going to wait a little longer.

One of the cool things I did this week was to go hear Gwendolyn Zepeda read her poetry. She was awesome as always and extremely entertaining. Whenever I listen to people like her and like Jenny Lawson, The Bloggess, I'm always struck by how funny they are and I wish I could be funny like that. But being funny isn't that easy. You either are or you aren't and sadly I'm not really. At least not like them.

And I've said this before. I'm not brave like them either, especially not brave like Jenny Lawson who will say ANYTHING and I do mean anything. I want to blog like that. But I don't. I blog like this because this is who I am and I can't blog like Loida Casares pretending to be Jenny Lawson. It just wouldn't work. All of you who know me would be all, "Why is she talking like that all of a sudden." Yeah, that's not good.

Here lately I've also been hearing about how a blog should have one theme. Like Julie & Julia's blog was all about cooking. Then there are crafters and sex writers. I don't have ONE solid theme. I'm all over the place, but I kind of like that because really, that's who I am. That's why at the top of this blog I list all the things I'm passionate about. I like to blog about all these different things.

But I still worry that I'm supposed to be blogging about one certain theme and that if I did I would have millions of followers. What do you all think? My lovely readers who never leave me any comments. I know y'all are out there even if you don't comment. My Google Analytics tells me you are. Unless you just all happen to come across my blog because of my awesome Nike quotes and then leave.

So if you can, drop me a comment and give me your opinion. Should I stick to one topic, like the kids, the challenges of HISD, the challenges of having a son with Asperger's, my daughter who has been part of the Vanguard program in HISD since Kindergarten. There are a lot of things I can talk about or I can just stick to an education theme. Decisions, decisions....

MECA Made a Difference in Poet Laureate's Life

The very first time I heard Gwendolyn Zepeda read was at MECA Houston (Multicultural Education and Counseling Through the Arts) in Houston's old Sixth Ward. She was wearing a wonderfully tacky gown at her "Quinceañera I was Too Poor to Have" event where she read some of her essays about her experiences growing up in that same neighborhood. It was amazing and I fell in love with her as a writer.

Photo courtesy of Gwendolyn Zepeda and Photo by Lawrence P. Lander

Gwendolyn Zepeda was announced as Houston's first Poet Laureate by Mayor Annise Parker in April of this year. She will serve a two year term 2013-2015. She is a published author of chap books, novels, and children's books, including Houston, We Have a Problema, Lonestar, Better with You Here, Growing up with Tamales, Sunflowers, and I Kick the Ball.

One of the coolest things about Gwendolyn Zepeda is that she's a Houstonian and grew up attending MECA and she believes this shaped who she is today.

"I was there *all the time*, after school and throughout each summer, and there were so many experiences that affected all aspects of my life -- artistic, academic, and social," she said.

When I asked her about her greatest experience at MECA Gwen said that the important experiences she had were really "cumulative," and she goes on to list some specifics.

"MECA partnered with Discover Dance to provide ballet classes for several years, and those classes fixed my knocked knees and bad posture, and improved my confidence for the rest of my life."

One specific experience that she remembers fondly was the time they went to Baybrook Mall when she was around 16 and performed songs from Leader of the Pack as part of a summer show. She said, "afterwards a little girl of about 9 came up to me and told me that she wanted to be like me when I got older."

She goes on to say, "Doing the performances taught me public speaking and improvisational skills. The dance and voice classes that prepared me for the performances taught me discipline and the value of constant growth. Watching our teachers and program directors taught me project management skills. Alice Valdez and her employees and her donors put together events that I never would've imagined could happen in our neighborhood."

It's experiences like this that are great examples of how great MECA's work is in the Houston community and why Houstonians should support this great organization. Funding for this organization will help pay for these great programs that make a difference in a young child's life.

 It's no wonder they were one of the five organizations chosen by P&G's Orgullosa Project. Facebook followers can vote for one of the organizations and Orgullosa will donate to these organizations based on their ranking in the votes. So far MECA is in third place and it needs our votes to move up in the ranking. If you haven't seen their Facbook page go "Like It" and then vote for MECA Houston.

Disclaimer: I am a compensated endorser for the P&G Orgullosa Project.

Summer is Almost Half OVER And What Have I Accomplished?

It is hard to believe that the summer is almost half over. That just seems incredible, but I know I say that every time. I say it at the end of the school year and then I say it again when school is starting.

Magnet by Anne Taintor

It just seems that when summer is over half a year is over too, and I'm not any closer to my goals. Which is why I have decided to make a vision board to picture my goals and what is most important to me. One things that is important is the children's education and tonight I pulled out as many easy reader books as I could find to get my son started on his summer reading list.  We have less than two months now to get him up to speed on his reading before he starts first grade in the fall.

Also, we are almost half way done and I'm glad to report that my husband Rey has picked up his blog, You Should Blog About This again. I was starting to worry that he wouldn't record his wonderful summer experience with the kids. I tell him that they will remember this summer as long as they live. :) I'm so happy that he picked up his blog again because it will give me more writing material too. Like commentary on his blog topics! (evil grin)

I always envy people who have what I consider time to write. I envied my friends who were stay at home moms for a while and for their time living in Europe (Ireland and Spain) and I was always telling them that I wished they would keep a blog about their experience. I still tell them today that they have wonderful writing material. I'm so glad that my friend Viki is keeping a blog of her Singapore experience! I also envy my sister her summers because she only works during the school year. One of the reasons I should have become a librarian or a teacher back when I thought about doing it fifteen years ago.

I don't envy them in a bad way, but I guess how else can you view the word envy? I only wish that I had that time so that I could write full time during those periods. Then I think of Julie from Julie & Julia and I think of Gwendolyn Zepeda. Julie wrote her Julia Child cooking blog while working full time and Gwendolyn Zepeda works full time and writes full time. Which reminds me, I'm also giving away Gwendolyn's most recent book. Enter to win Lone Star Legend!

So no, I realize that working at home or being a stay at home mom (whichever term you prefer) isn't the answer. I know I can write and work full time. I only hope that one day soon I will publish something, or more than one thing, that will allow me to concentrate full time on my writing. And when that day comes I promise that after working for seventeen years I will fully appreciate that time.

Gwendolyn Zepeda's New Novel, "Lone Star Legend"

Book Cover from Amazon.com

Hello! I'm back. Yes, I came out of hiatus especially for Gwendolyn Zepeda who may or may not be my cousin. My mother's maiden name was Zepeda and there aren't hundreds of Zepeda families in Houston like Garza or Garcia. So you never know! We haven't done our family tree to find out.

Ironically enough, Zepeda will be reading with a Casares (as in Oscar) this May. My two family names together for a reading.

But on to the real reason of my coming out of hiding, or more like out of Hips 'n Salsa and skirt! I wrote a review of Gwendolyn Zepeda's new novel, Lone Star Legend on skirt! today and I wanted to point you all in that direction. If you are too lazy to click on the links I will give you a quick synopsis here.

Lone Star Legend is a hilarious account about Sandy Saavedra, a blogger who has her own personal blog (like Gwen's pesonal blog, except Sandy's is anonymous) and she also works for a Latino celebrity gossip site. It wasn't a gossip site originally. Sandy was trying to be a serious journalist before a big media company came in and took over. They not only re-name the blog she works for, they name it "Nacho Papi" of all things. They add this to their collection of other websites, "Don't Call Me Sassy," "Banana Nation," and "Hate-O-Rama.com."

Sandy is mortified with the new name and the type of site, but she decides to make the best of the situation and that's where the story takes off. Sandy meets Tio Jaime, who the Nacho Papi readers nickname, "The Chupacabra" and he changes her life in more ways than one. She learns more about herself, her ambitions and her ethics.

Lone Star Legend is a great read that I finished in only two days. It was one of those books I didn't want to put down because I wanted to find out what would happen to Sandy next. I'm sure you'll do the same. Check it out on Amazon.com or your neighborhood bookstore.

It's Gary the Snail!

What was this little snail thinking? I was driving to work this morning and I was just about to turn on 610 to get on the freeway when I saw this little guy staring at me through the windshield. I was so surprised! Not only was I surprised to see a snail on my windshield early in the morning and while on the road, I was also surprised by the size of this thing! I loved its little house too! It was such a pretty shell.

How did it get there? I wondered. It was probably on my truck over night and then while I was driving it decided to come out of hiding. What's amazing is that it made it all the way over near the kids' schools while I was on the freeway. Unless it climbed on while I was inside my daughters' school buying books at the Book Fair.

It was a crazy busy day at work so it's kind of nice that I have a nice memory of the morning. The other nice thing that happened today was that we had our Service Awards at work and I received my 10 year pin. It was a nice little recognition especially in view of what's happening these days in the industry. I am reminded on days like this of why I have a passion for newspaper and why I'm still here. It's a tough industry right now, but one that I believe in.

My writer friend Gwen Zepeda has a new book coming out early next year, Lone Star Legend. The description sounds really good! Read it!

Gwendolyn Zepeda Reading THIS Wednesday

If you are in Houston this Wednesday, February 18 at 7 p.m. stop by Borders Bookstore (Kirby & Alabama) to hear Gwendolyn Zepeda read from her first novel, Houston We Have a Problema. The reading is co-hosted by the super awesome literary group, Nuestra Palabra, Latinos Having Their Say. I hope you can make it!

Update for the Week

Kat Von D was very cool but there were a lot of people there, around 1,000. We stayed for a little while and then we went and got a margarita. I heard she signed books until 11! WOW!

I have a feature story in the February issue of skirt! Go there now and read it!

After you finish reading it, go to skirt! again to my blog and enter to win this book by Gwen Zepeda. I'm thinking I made it too hard, but it really isn't if you read my story about her on skirt and then google her cats on her website. If you don't want the book win it for a friend or family member or spread the word and tell people about it. I'm GIVING it away for FREE!

On to other good news. After four wonderful years on blogger I have decided to buy ShoegirlCorner.com. Yes! It's mine! I bought it today. I don't know yet when I will make the switch over there but there will be a notice on here when I do. Yay!

Rey (my husband) also bought a domain name and we'll be doing something surprising and cool with it. Stay tuned! I'm really excited to tell you what but I have to wait until Rey is ready to talk about it too.

Check out skirt! Houston

Photo by Dat Lam

Go to skirt! Houston now and check out my first published feature story on Gwendolyn Zepeda and her first novel, Houston, We Have a Problema.

Gwendolyn Zepeda's in Latina Magazine!

Pick up the latest issue of Latina Magazine (December) and check out the essay written by Houston writer Gwendolyn Zepeda. (No relation that I know of. Zepeda is my mom's maiden name)

Gwen's essay is about her father and his ideas about women cooking. It is a very touching account about their differences and how she has dealt with it. I know I could relate to her story like many of us can.

So check it out. Pick up a copy next time you're in the grocery store. I got mine at Kroger. You can read a better review at skirt.com.

Be There or Be Square!

Who: Gwendolyn Zepeda
What: Gwendolyn Zepeda's Book Party for "Growing Up with Tamales."
When: Friday, October 3, 6 p.m.
Where: MECA, 1900 Kane Street, Houston, TX, 77007 (mapquest it baby!)
Why: Because this children's book is awesome and it's not just me saying that. My 7 year old daughter and 4 year old son think so too. Read my review on Amazon if you don't believe me, OK?
How: You get in your car, or on the bus, or you catch a ride with someone and you show up at MECA at 6 p.m. on Friday.