"There's FAMILIES Here, Too!"

"YOU CAN'T BEE A 'BE-ES-ER!' "

Those "Wise Words of Wisdom" were shared with me in my favorite high-school journalism class. Well, "POR LOS NINOS" [ A 'Peggy Hill' phrase. Peggy Hill was a character on "King of the Hill". Co-Written and Produced by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels.] [YouTube]. [Google]. Out of privacy concerns, I edited out exactly WHO said it and HOW it was said. But those words STUCK WITH ME...

"WHAT?!?"

I've been writing these past few days doing what I've always done... ever since I could put a marker, crayon, pencil, pen, paintbrush, or clarinet reed, or guitar pic in my mouth... or notebook, coloring book, canvas, book, then laptop at my fingertips. Or rag, vacuum, laundry, and at one time, yes, even food and medications in my two little hands, I've continue to have FAITH and HOPE that every moment is an opportunity to LEARN. And if I could sing THAT Taylor Swift song THEN... How am I going to eliminate the inevitable CORD/CABLE/USB-C/ANDROID SMARTPHONE CHAOS that weighs down EVERYBODY? Fairly? What is it REALLY like living here, across the border, in Northeast Indiana? Lately, I've been recalling many things about BOTH the great Mid-Western States I grew up in and love. Both "BUENO" y "NOT-SO-BUENO".

"BUENO!?"

NO HABLE ESPANOL!

I really DON'T speak Spanish. Do I continue to try and learn? Always. Or "SI!". Or "SEE". You can also click 'C' on your keyboard, "aussi". "Ou LIRE!" Now, I'm just getting my Spanish AND French Phrase Books confused...

"SO, JUST KEEP CALM... WISE WORDS OF WISDOM..."

• Word get's around in a small town like this... When you start dragging EVERYONE into your business, and nobody's having ANY FUN, at what point do you, "PARE!"? That means, "Stop" or "Arret" en Espanol y Francaise. And "BROKEN" English. Improper AMERICAN English-Grammer and/or Improper Source Citations... You would think I would "PARE!" when I'd get a phone-call! That makes sense. I DID get a phone call last Wednesday, September 17th, 2021 - the First Day of Hispanic Heritage Month - from the Latina Director herself of Reigns of Life, Inc. [www.reignsoflife.org]. I voted for her non-profit charity on Facebook.com after seeing a videoclip shown by The Northwest Indiana Times [NWI.com]. [Facebook.com]. [Google.com]. All three candidates had MORE than worthy causes, and I listened to the "NOBLE" causes ALL THREE candidates spoke of.

"VRAIMENT?"

• You "PARE!" when you're a "PARANOID RECLUSE". This was the point about "LABELS" I've been trying to write about these last few days... that and "Iatrogenic Illness", "Group Thought" but if mum is the word... Then I DO what responsible kids DO. I check in with my family, friends, and neighbors! I DON'T LIE. I TRY. And I guess I still "fail" a lot to some people. That all ties into common sense ideas, right? Does it make common sense to have my FATHER run around to do every little favor for me?

NOPE!

• What I love most about the South Suburban Illinois AND Northeast Indiana is the FREEDOM OF CHOICE. People accuse me of being "Picky" "Stupid" "Ignorant" "White-Trash" that's "Obnoxious" "Loud" "Manic" "Vapid" a "Blank-Space" a "Poser" and "CRAZY" all the time. I NEVER expected things to get EASIER as I got OLDER. But, I AM grateful. And I AM hopeful. Even when I'm "SNAPPING" on people on the phone, "FLIPPING OUT", or "STOMPING" all over town like an "IDIOT" when you're LUCKY enough to be able to take the time to thoroughly EXAMINE and READ the ORIGINAL lyrics of the song, "Born Under a Bad Sign" I think to myself, "DAMN, THAT MAN AIN'T LYING! I AM A "LUCKY" GIRL! I CAN READ AND WRITE!" THE OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN TO READ AND WRITE IS A GIFT! LIKE THE PICTURE BELOW!

• I learned to read AND write where I WAS born and raised - in Chicago Heights, Illinois. And also from my family, friends, teachers, community, and countless others along my 31 years of LIFE here on Earth - all around the Chicagoland AND Northeastern Indiana areas! From "Green Eggs and Ham" by Dr. Seuss, "Where the Sidewalk Ends" by Shel Silverstein, to "Harry Potter and the Sourcer's Stone" by J.K. Rowling in the earliest days of MY education - the books my mother INSISTED I read... to the sheet notation music I WAS LUCKY ENOUGH to be ABLE to TEACH MYSELF and learn HOW to read, and then PLAY... every parent's "FAVORITE" Elementary School Instrument's!

From the THEN Standard-Issue Plastic RECORDER... to the Clarinet. In 1995. All before the chaos of HORMONES that comes with "moody" pre-teenagers... THE GUITAR! Thank you, FAMILY, FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS, 'cause if my MAMA HATED TOY'S THAT MADE NOISE... I would've never learned how to finally take that good advice and just... shut-up. Which is why my Dad BOUGHT me headphones and a disc-man in the third grade. As well as two CD's called "NOW 3" and the lesser known, but equally delightful, "TOTALLY HITS 2" both of which featured BRILLIANT POP artists - from TLC to Destiny's Child, Britney Spears to N'SYNC, Christina Aguilera and even the Spice Girl's which played on the radio during my days of YOUTH and INNOCENCE! [1996 - 2021]. My Grandmother, Mother, Father and older sibling ALL influenced and supported my creativity, initially, too. MANY people were DELIGHTED/DISMAYED and/or SURPRISED/SHOCKED when I left THEIR basement's, cars, floors, yards, artwork, letters, poems, drawings, pictures, magnets, letters, emails and even MUSIC - be it CLEAN or DIRTY - because there ARE people that LOVE ME FOR ME UNCONDITIONALLY... They let me BEE my best by BEING creative... and STILL HANG UP OR READ MY "work" be it poetry, drawings, letters, emails and pictures I would I make for them to this DAY. So everyone that had to put up with the LOUD, ISSUES girl, can finally... RELAX.

CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE...

• That was THEN AND NOW, during the 31 YEAR period of MY life where MANY people DIE EVERYDAY. I AM BEYOND GRATEFUL TO SIMPLY NOT BE DEAD. So, yeah. Shout out to the STAY-AT-HOME people who DID PATIENTLY LISTEN TO me be well, like, an annoying little sister that HATED sitting still, as pointed out to me and my fellow students in "The Heights" by my "Black" "Old" "CRAZY" but "Wise" "Old-School" CNA teacher during my day's in college. But at one time DID AND COULD... SHUT UP, according to the librarian from my high school who looked just like my CRAZY CNA teacher, to the lady at the local grocery store that STILL works there to THIS DAY... who all knew my Mama WASN'T PERFECT, but SHE RAISED two really... smart, RESILIENT, stubborn, impulsive, SHY, MOUTHY, clever, imperfect girls. With the help of far too many names to drop... but mostly my Dad, her THEN husband, the guy loved by everyone that REALLY knows him. I was LUCKY that my family, and our neighbors, and our faith, and our community DID PUT UP WITH ALL THE NOISE and HELL HER CHILDREN RAISED while we REHEARSED those days of INNOCENCE. Thank God, I DID have a FAMILY that SOMEHOW held down the house, because I DON'T gamble. Not well, anyway...

SNARK, SNARK, SNARK, SNARK, SNARK SNARK SNARK!

• I DID have to MEMORIZE them with SOMEONE WHO HATED little "noisy" girls like me for all those middle-school plays and performances in my Elementary and Middle-School days. SHE DID help me study for my exams throughout college... probably when SHE started worrying about HER own mortality... I vivdly recall avoiding the "NOISY" cafeteria filled with "OBNOXIOUS" "LOUD" teenagers to INSTEAD read DSM-IV level Psychology, Addiction, Mental and Behavioral Health books, amongst many OTHER Fiction AND Non-Fiction books available in my local school's, home-town libraries, and with the help of my friends, family and community RESOURCES! This was, per usual, all in ADDITION TO THE EXTRA HOMEWORK I WANTED AND DID DO, WHILE IN SCHOOL TO... get good grades! The English, Writing, Journalism, French and Study Hall classes I ELECTED to take in high-school SERVED my grade point average well! I also learned A LOT from my History, Math, Social Studies, and Gym teachers, too! I learned the MOST though by just WATCHING, WRITING, NOTICING, STUDYING, DRAWING, MOVING, MAKING FRIENDS and... DOING. Some teachers in Illinois taught me WELL, and their WORDS, LECTURES, and DEDICATION to SERVING STUCK TO ME as well as a... CLINGY DRESS!

"CLINGY? YES! POSER? NO!"

• Others HAD to get by, simply by DOING THE BEST THEY COULD with the circumstances they found themselves in... If you're a PARENT and have CHILDREN of your own, then you PROBABLY understand that teaching some "subjects" to some "children" - no matter WHO they are, are going to face CHALLENGES. My Dad was right - I'M BAD AT BASIC MATH. Though I DID DO well in my high-school Geometry class and local community college Pre-Algebra class! I also remember the Psychology, Anatomy and Physiology, Cellular and Molecular Biology, Microbiology, and Early Childhood Education textbooks I read while attending my local community college in Chicago Heights, IL. and the EXPERIENCE of BEEING HAPPY AND FREE during my brief stint at Columbia College Chicago as well! This was always in ADDITION to writing/journaling in my notebooks during class, reading the paper, skimming through other books, wondering if someone was going to DIE in my family, at any given moment, taking a young child to the library to teach HIM how to read and write, writing Letters to the Editor published in The Chicago-Sun Times, BEFORE, DURING, and while WORKING and GOING TO SCHOOL as a CNA in both the South Suburban Illinois AND Northeast Indiana territories!

SO WHAT?

• During the Eight to Ten years I've been supposedly doing NOTHING, I focused MY time and attention on learning HOW to sing - from professional voice teachers in my local community, with the patience and tolerance of my family and friends, and by books written by Jeannie Gagne and Anne Peckham - both professors at Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. [Google.com]. TIME AND MONEY WAS INVESTED INTO WORKING on my guitar and piano skills, in addition to my performance and writing skills. I even gained some experience learning HOW to play the drums, PERFORM, RECORD, and TEACH myself, everything, AGAIN, too. Studying music has helped not only my family and friends tremendously, but STUDENTS just like "me" EVERYWHERE, too. I've been told before I can't afford to be a "One-Trick-Pony" but music TRANSCENDS ALL BARRIERS. Even the "ISSUES" girl like me - born under such a "BAD" sign in the pictures above, ONCE sang and RECORDED HERSELF SINGING OVER a karaoke YouTube version of the more socially-acceptable CREAM version of the Albert King classic, "Born Under a Bad Sign" performed by the much "ADORED" "MALIGNED" "HONEST" and "BRILLIANT" lead guitarist/singer, Eric Clapton. [YouTube]. [Google]. LEARNED AND ACCOMPLISHED MANY THINGS...

NOPE!