Miscellania

I had to go shopping because I didn't have any shoes that matched my Class Night/ Graduation dresses. I ended up getting two pairs, Shirley Temple's shoes, and Helen of Troy's. Don't tell them. The adventure started when my mom came home with the brilliant idea of heading to the mall to buy some shoes. JcPenney had nothing, and smelt kind of bad, but I bought Sam a shirt and told her happy birthday, a few months late. So we made a quick stop to McDonald's where I was checked out by a cute boy at the drive up window, who followed us to the second window, so he could talk to us again,. The food wasn't very good, greasy fries, and too crunchy chicken nuggets. Hi-C was great though, it never lets me down. So then we headed over to Pay-Less, where we did just that. I got two pairs of shoes, and my mom got one. Sam and I giggled at some Hannah Montana socks, and I took a long time. I hate shoe shopping, I have a system. -Buy a pair of shoes at Mass Bay Co...

Politics of love poetry syllabus Week 1 - 2 Identity How are our identities formed and sustained? How does love poetry reflect conceptions of "I" through poetic techniques or traditions? Reading: I am a Strange Loop Week 3 How have women writers used their identities in writing love poetry? How does a feminine identity entail multiplicity and how are some identities "inherently political?" Reading: Irigaray, excerpts from "The sex which is not one", selected poems from British women  Romantic Poets anthology Week 4 Continue analyzing the inherent politics of identities and of some identities in particular. How does poetry and even specially love poetry work as a historical mapping of political climates and oppressions of marginalized groups and identities? What poetic techniques assist with this? Reading: continued exploration of British romantic poets, highlighting poetic techniques they use and how these are representative of class, ...

Hey there, my previous poem post seemed to be a success so I figured I would share another. I have written over 10 poems this summer (which is actually half the requirement for thesis, but not all 10 are good obviously!) But I thought I'd share this one, written on week 5. Easy Sun (Week 5) There is a skinny cat blinking slow stretched out in a triangular patch of sun. At an earlier hour, this kind of heat would pull the driveway to a taffy -- a perfect quicksand for green plastic soldiers. But it is late afternoon-- golden hour The way my skin feels after soaking in million year old light. I want to fill my tub with your heat so that when I sit upright the steam continues to rise from my knees. I feel sweat form on the small of my back my sunburn itches and I blink slow. This is one of my favorite songs lyrically but I always love MewithoutYou, especially when I'm working through anything emotionally or mentally. Th...

Vessel My fingertips prune once I break the skin of the water’s surface. The pulp of a peach against the white-calcium smile of a claw foot tub. My spine rounded by the hull of my bath, I sink. Lower into the groan, breathe into the deepening. The peaks of my breasts stand stoic as bare floating islands. I capsize, my palms ripening and chest tightening. ”Comadrona, ahora.” M. Mazzaferro 2015

I wish I could pretend I was some sophisticated film lover who pairs their wine with the right foods. But I'm not. More often than anything I watch a film based on who is in it -- this is the reason why I watched a very depressing movie about Mark Ruffalo being a sex addict. It was like an anti-rom com. Anyway, I do LIKE movies. I just have really poor taste in films. This is why when Jazmyn has a film to watch for an Independent Study, or class, or fun I am always down. She has good taste. Anyway, yesterday I was procrastinating going to the gym and I saw an event nearby on Facebook for a short film showcase. It was at the theater nearby that I've been meaning to check out so I decided to go-- plus, it was $5! The films were great! It was cool to recognize some of the actors from around town. Although I have to be honest, being the film noob that I am, I was especially excited for this vegan strawberry milkshake I got: I also met a couple from Minnesota who actually...

North & South We are North and South, respectively. You are stoic, rocky terrain. All corners and edges, the buttoned collar pinned below your adam’s apple, your throat’s summit. I am soft clay fields, yielding and sinking. The kind of humidity that unties itself, a wet you’re not quite sure you’re feeling, near-steam. You are resilient pine and I am sloping dogwood. I am the choking heat and brutal burning sun. You are brittle biting cold and white paper blank sky. But we can reach stretched fingertips-to-toes and I will pass you a bit of me. Will you exchange with me? Lend me your shorebirds, dutiful aviators guided by sun-compass as it sets over us. I will save the dots of my lower-case i’s and send them to you scattered across a blackboard sky. Though the distance stretches between us, I am wrapped in you as a cold breeze drops evening temperatures. Your composure once bouldered, is collapsed sand beneath me. Our differences...

Anytime I describe my senior project / thesis hopeful to someone, their response is usually: a.) Woah that's a really cool project. b.) Woah that's a hell of a lot of work / a big question to try to answer. c.) A, followed by B. This reaction is totally valid. And that is why "thesis" is in big bold ambiguous quotations. My thesis project began when I took African American Literature I & II courses with my favorite (& recently retired! Woo!) professor at Mount Holyoke. In the latter of the courses I became enamored with writing from The Harlem Renaissance, which came as no surprise because this was the unit in which we read the most poetry. But I was confused. When we read men, (Of the Harlem Ren.) we read their poetry. But when we read women, we read their prose. Sure, my  class read some poetry (because my professor is the best) but there was so much poetry by men and a significantly lesser amount of women's poetry. What's up with that? I kn...

It seems the best way to do this update is to post a whole bunch of pictures. I'll go into some more detail about my writing, my internship, and that sort of thing after this spam of pictures. Here goes! I flew into Jax on June 21 and began my adventures staying with Jazmyn's family. Our AirBnB place is from June 28 - August 11, so we spent some nice quality time relaxing with the family. They are so sweet and warm and I have a special bond with Boomer, the fluffer pictured above.  Then we moved into our place! (Living Room) (Our Private Bathroom with a CLAWFOOT TUB) (My sleeping quarters) (The kitchen!) (The backyard - view from the hammock, ahhh) This place is so so beautiful. It has amazing character and it feels like home. There are three other guests staying here besides our host. There is a pilot from Germany, an accountant from Ireland, and a Jacksonville transplant. Ok, moving on to some more fun stuff: Food. Now I...

There's less than a week left before I move out of school for the summer and I can't believe I only have two semesters left. This past week has been really hectic but finals and the projects I've been working on this semester are all tying up nicely. Last week I had an accident at work and slipped on the wood staircase at my nanny-family's house while holding the 7-month-old. She was totally fine, but in order to hold onto the little one I didn't break my fall and slid all the way down the stairs nailing my lower back on each step. After an ER visit, a visit to the health center, and a visit to my PCP, I've been poked, prodded, and prescribed more than I have in my collective 21 years. The injury was horrible but short-term. I basically bruised up my lower spine, the left side of my pelvis, and my coccyx. It has really sucked but within a week I'm already feeling ready to return to work tomorrow (with less slippery socks). It's been a serious reality ...

I recently watched The 2014 documentary film, Breastmilk,  which follows the stories of several families as they welcome their little ones into the world and attempt to breastfeed. The film is really interesting because it tackles various angles with really different families including a family of biologists, a lesbian family in which both mothers breastfeed, a single mother (who produces TONS of milk!?), etc etc. The film scratches the surface of discussing the stigmas around breastfeeding in public, but does discuss in detail the cost effectiveness of breastfeeding, and the complicated relationship women have with their breasts and the line between them seeing their breasts as maternal and sexual at the same time, or not being able to. It also examines the commandment that we're told breastfeeding is better for mother and child and is the best option yet so few women succeed in breastfeeding exclusively for the first six months. (And examines why there's such an emphasi...

Hey, internet. I've decided to start blogging again. Yeah, I know. Ok so I have a few disclaimers. Blogs are stupid. I mean, I follow some peoples' blogs and I really enjoy reading them. I read blogs that are important, some that are inspiring, and some that are perhaps (definitely) just me being nosy and voyeuristic and wanting to see what peoples' lives are like. Blogs are vain. No one cares about what's going on with me, I'm sure of it. The people who care just ask me what's going on and because there's so few of them, I just tell 'em. But blogs are an interesting and accessible format for journalling. I've been thinking of a new way to do this that allows for a place for me to collect and organize my academic research and the things I'm learning as an English and Gender Studies student, my independent and personal research in birth, becoming an IBCLC, potentially becoming a doula or a birth educator; and archiving personal memorie...