I’ve been thinking about Hestia lately, the virgin goddess of home and hearth. Basically, her story goes like this: she was pursued by both Apollo (the god of the sun) and Poseidon (the god of the sea), but rejected both of them and chose to remain a perpetual virgin in order to keep the peace. As a reward, Zeus gives her the duty of maintaining the fires of the Olympian hearth. Oh, and the hearth isn't portable, so she was rewarded with a life in the kitchen... forever.
I grew up in Houston, Texas. If you've never been to Houston, I can describe it for you like this: just imagine any dystopian movie and then replace all the crazed brain-eating zombies with crazed brain-eating conservatives and there you go. To be fair, Houston’s come a long way lately, but when I was growing up there, it was the late 80's/early 90’s. And Houston in the 90’s certainly wasn't known for its picturesque parks, art scene, or lesbian mayor. Houston in the 90's was largely known for its suburbs and its malls, neither of which I felt particularly drawn to. I knew there had to be more to life than to grow up, live by a big mall, and then die.
There are eggs cooking in a pan. Why are there so many songs about rainbows and what’s on the other side? The notes drift into the kitchen and I feel them in my chest, know them by heart. There’s a special joy in unexpectedly hearing a song you love right when you need to hear it; a little gift from the universe. Serendipity. He heard it too and runs to me; his 6 year old hands outstretched, inviting me to dance. I move the half cooked eggs off the burner. Breakfast can wait, my dance partner can’t.
This is where I'll be on Wednesday night. Part of the FronteraFest Short Fringe, Bad Parents, will be at Hyde Park Theatre on Wednesday, Jan. 22 at 8 pm. The show is hilarious and was written by the über talented Max Langert, whom I met as an Austin cast member of Listen to Your Mother last year. He and Tristan told touching stories about their mothers, while I was sharing one of my finer parenting moments: The Vagina-Mommy Incident.
He wanted to ride the carousel at the mall. He’s five now, so I got on with him intending only to help him find an animal and climb up. The carousel was old and small, and wobbled as everyone climbed aboard. I put him on top of a brown horse with a flowing mane and wild eyes -- It was a good fit.
Earlier this year, I was chosen to read an essay about motherhood as a member of the 2013 cast of the Listen to Your Mother Show. It was an amazing night full of wonderful stories by talented writers all celebrating motherhood. I was so honored to be a member of the cast this year. Here is the video of me reading my essay, The Vagina-Mommy Incident. It's about the time I thought it would be a good idea to tell Kai the proper name for our genitals and how great that went
I drew this comic last year and thought I would re-post it this week in celebration of the supreme court ruling on the defense of marriage act. I spent a good portion of my week at the state capitol building protesting a bill that would restrict women's freedoms in Texas. When you try and explain things like sb5 and doma to a 5 year old boy and he looks at you like you're crazy... not because you are fighting them... but because they even exist in the first place, it really puts it into perspective. Let's all stop trying to control each others bodies and hearts. No one loses when we let others pursue happiness.
Seeing as how today is the first day of summer, I feel it would be appropriate to celebrate this day by saying, omg, I can’t stand summer. I’m not a fan of summer for a lot of reasons, but mostly because I get SAD in the summer. Seasonal Affective Disorder (or its cutesy acronym SAD) is depression that occurs during certain times of the year. Most people who have the disorder get it in the winter because it gets dark and they get mopey and are all, Maaaaaan, I miss summer, and I’m like, Whatever losers! Woo Hoo! Dark and cold rocks! Let’s run naked through the woods! - right in their sad faces.
When you’ve been on the internet long enough, you’re eventually going to talk about cats. This is our cat, Athens. We adopted him last September, and he is an unabashed jerkface. We got him while kittens were on sale for $20 and have taken to calling him discount cat. As in, “Oh, he’s pushed his water bowl...
One of the main perks of being a parent (aside from all the love and stuff) is getting a new holiday. In celebration of Mother’s Day on Sunday I thought I’d share my top 3 reasons why I love being a parent: