Attention All Writers! You Must Read "Word Up!"

I appreciate Marcia Johnston's book, Word Up!-not just as a lover of words and language or as a writer, but also as a new mother. There are some poignant lessons learned through the author's interaction with her own children that I found rather touching and useful. I learned fascinating facts about the history of words, and how powerful they can be when used correctly. It is easy to take this fact for granted as a writer, but this book deals with grammar and usage in a way that I was never taught in school or any workshop I ever attended. Word Up is informative, educational and entertaining, containing useful information for any and every kind of writer. As Ms. Johnston's book implies, it's important to ask each word: why are you here? Essentially that's every reader's question and as a writer, it is our duty to put those words exactly where they belong in order to reach our readers and have them truly get what it is we are trying to say. I expect my writing will become more powerful as a result of reading this book. Simply put, Word Up! gets both thumbs up! For more information on How to Write, please visit

Almost 5 Months!

I know I said that my next post would be about immigration, but it's been weeks since my last post and so many things have gotten in the way since then: i.e. Zach and Noah, my infamous, beautiful twin boys. TThey'll be 5 months on Thursday, getting bigger by the day. They have become so demanding lately-not to mention their personalities are beginning to come through. Noah is pensive and somewhat suspicious, while Zach is laid back and happy-go-lucky (except when he's hungry). He is always laughing. Noah smiles and laughs too, but he's selective about what he finds funny and he has a big mouth. They are sleeping a little bit better through the nights,though we still have some rough ones: last night Zach refused to sleep and practically wailed the entire night. I didn't know what was wrong with him. The only thing that soothed him was my boob, which he was sucking on the whole night. And to make matters worse, he's become quite the fighter. His legs and feet flail wildly (reminds me of when they both used to kick and punch inside my tummy) through the night, and he's taken to wopping me pretty good, which he did all last night. I got very little sleep, which makes mommy quite cranky in the morning. So, mom stumbles out of bed at 5:00 am, kisses daddy goodbye as he goes off to work, and then runs around the house hoping to get the baby food together, do some writing, say my prayers, do some chores, and exercise before they wake up. Oops-forgot breakfast has to make it's way in there as well. Usually, this never happens, and what's worse is that the boys are always awake and hungry at the same time,usually interrupting one of the activities I just mentioned. This means I better have their food ready for them as soon as they wake. If they wait too long when they are hungry, you would swear that somebody was beating them to death they wail so loud. This morning, I was almost finished my workout when I heard a faint whine. This pissed cranky mommy off. "Just a couple minutes," I call out, "mommy's coming..." The whine gets louder until it sounds like they are screaming, "HEY! FEED ME NOW!" I have to cut the work out short and tend to my children. I burst into the room in cranky mommy mood, and see little legs, and arms pumping in the air. I'm all set to give them the "mommy needs a break," lecture, but they both start jumping about with excitement at seeing me. They have the most radiant smiles (for lack of a better word)-what else can I say-the room lights up, I light up and all is well in my world. So, we've been giving the twins solids now, which is quite fun and very messy. The doctor advised us to introduce one new food every day (only about a tablespoon's worth)to check for allergies. I'm glad that we are able to give them something other than formula because the solids seem to stick to their ribs a lot longer. They are experimenting with new tastes and textures,and since they have no teeth and they are all hands, the food ends up everywhere but their mouths. So far, they love peanut butter, bannanas, squash, and they aren't so fond of pears, peas or apples. Anyway, mommy is having fun pureeing all different kinds of food. The kids are having fun too-they grab the spoon when they are enjoying their meals, and they just won't open up when they don't. Today, I gave them avocado, I mixed a little formula in it so it would go down smoother but it seems they enjoyed it. Tomorrow it's sweet potato. That should be fun. I must admit it's been a bit frustrating, having to work around their schedule. My time is so limited. I want to read the newspaper so I can feel like I'm still connected to the world outside of the twins. Usually I can only get through a paragraph before they need my attention. As they get older, they need to be read to and exercised. It's skill developing time. It does take a lot of time and energy. I had no idea how exhausting it would be. It's funny-I knew having twins would be a challenge, but this is the biggest challenge I've ever faced in my life. It's not only having kids, but learning to be a wife, having to give up my privacy-not getting jealous or angry at grandma, who only wants to offer suggestions but I take it as my mommy skills being scrutinized. And, I am experiencing a bit of cabin fever. I try to get out as much as I can but it's a chore getting the kids dressed and my Gracco double stroller, though it glides, still feels like I'm pushing a bus. My husband and I have recently discussed me staying home another year: childcare is expensive x2! Not to mention that I'm uncomfortable leaving my boys with a stranger so soon. I know I will have to eventually but I'd prefer they be a little older and able to talk so they can let me know if something's amiss. However, I don't know if I can stay home another year-I need a life. I miss working-maybe not the work I was doing, but I miss getting up, getting dressed and feeling pretty. I miss being out. I miss the autonomy and independence that came with my paycheck. My husband has seen to it that I don't have to worry about money. He has taken care of my every need. I want for nothing. All he asks is a bit of sacrifice for the kids so that we can save a bit of money(we have to move, their is not enough room in our one bedroom to raise two growing boys.) I can get with that, but I fear that the longer I stay home, I may lose my drive and ambition. I get so tired during the days that I don't even want to write, and that is dangerous because it is the only thing I want to do with my life. Lately though, I find myself discouraged and unmotivated. I had to force myself to write this post today. When I became pregnant with the boys I looked at it as an opportunity to finish my book since I'd be home. I figured I'd have all the time in the world to write. I thought I would have finished my book by now. Thus far, I've only written the Prologue. All I want to do is watch MSNBC, and The Jeffersons marathon on TVOne when the kids finally go off to sleep. My brain is just tired, and I know I'll get interrupted when/if I start to write, so I tell myself, why bother? I know...excuses...excuses. I hate myself for making them, but isn't that what blogs are for? Besides, I finished this post didn't I? Anyway I must go-Noah is up, and here comes Zach: Neither of them are smiling.

Guns and Black History Month

Fellow mommy writers I'm sure you can relate and I apologize in advance for any poor grammar that occurs-the twins are screaming in my ears as I struggle to get this down. My time is limited. I can only write in increments, which makes it difficult when I have a bunch of things I need to say. I had written what I considered to be a beautiful post about gun control, and how the debate should really be focusing on the illegal sales of hand guns flooding poor neighborhoods,destroying black communities. Considering this is Black History Month, I thought it would be the perfect time to discuss the issues still plaguing our community-despite the progress we have made. I wrote all of this and more, only to have it deleted. I don't know how and I don't know why but I think it has something to do with the fact that I saved a draft to take care of the screaming twins...so I'm trying again. Again, I apologize for any mistakes. I posted a quote from Harry Belafonte's acceptance speech at the NAACP Image Awards, which eloquently speaks to my point: "THE GROUP MOST DEVASTATED BY AMERICA’S OBSESSION WITH THE GUN IS AFRICAN AMERICANS. ALTHOUGH MAKING COMPARISONS CAN BE DANGEROUS, THERE ARE TIMES WHEN THEY MUST BE NOTED. AMERICA HAS THE LARGEST PRISON POPULATION IN THE WORLD AND OF THE OVER 2 MILLION MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN WHO MAKE UP THE INCARCERATED… THE OVERWHELMING MAJORITY IS BLACK. THEY ARE THE MOST UNEMPLOYED… THE MOST CAUGHT IN UNJUST SYSTEMS OF JUSTICE… AND IN THE GUN GAME… THE MOST HUNTED. THE RIVER OF BLOOD THAT WASHES THE STREETS OF OUR NATION… FLOWS MOSTLY FROM THE BODIES OF OUR BLACK CHILDREN. YET AS THE GREAT DEBATE EMERGES ON THE QUESTION OF THE GUN, WHITE AMERICA DISCUSSES THE CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUE OF OWNERSHIP WHILE NO ONE SPEAKS TO THE CONSEQUENCES OF OUR RACIAL CARNAGE." I would go one step further. Not only are we hunted, but we are doing the hunting. This is unacceptable. I also talked about this in a controversial article I wrote some time ago about my support of the New York City Police Department's Stop and Frisk Policy called Blame perps, not cops: Politicians who endlessly protest stop and frisk are giving short shrift to the disease of youth violence Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/blame-perps-cops-politicians-endlessly-protest-stop-frisk-giving-short-shrift-disease-youth-violence-article-1.991687#ixzz2K8CIDZYwhttp://www.nydailynews.com/opinion Forget the assault weapons ban, which is the center of the debate: it's not that I'm not sympathetic to the Sandy Hook massacre. It was a horrific tragedy, which brings tears to my eyes every time I think of those innocent children. I can understand the need for a ban on assault weapons however, the whole thing has become political theater and it's quite sickening and is not addressing the real issue: illegal handguns that make their way into states like New York and Chicago, which do have strict gun laws and end up killing innocents. We, can have all the legislation in the world banning weapons but it means nothing if those laws can be circumvented, simplly by adding or deleting a feature of the gun, which is what happens when new legislation is introduced. (Also gun sales always peak whenever there is talk of gun control) We can't leave it up to gun control advocates, or President Obama to address this issue-it's all politics to them. And, let's face it, the issue of gun control has been around forever. No politician ever deals with the threat of gun violence the way somebody living in the ghetto does. Politicians, the gun lobby, and even gun control advocates can wait years for bills to pass; young Black men and women living in high crime areas can not. So I would urge all of our leaders, singers, actors, entertainers, writers: to speak the truth about how gun violence portrayed in movies and music really does influence impressionable minds, not only mentally ill, but those who are poor, or lack respect in every day life and see guns as a means of attaining power. I agree with the talking heads who blame movies, video games and entertainment for the increase in violence we are seeing. Since being on maternity leave, I've been watching a lot of t.v. I happened to be watching Good Times the other day and the episode dealt with gun control. The irony that Good Times takes place in a Chicago ghetto was certainly not lost on me. The fact that the gun issue featured on the episode was a cause of concern during the 1970's just proves that the more things change the more they stay the same. Chicago has a homocide rate of 506 deaths per year, as of 2012. Also, you are more likely to get shot and killed in Chicago, than in Afghanistan! (Since 2001 more than 5,000 people have been killed by gunfire in Chicago) The murder rate in Chicago is twice that of Los Angeles and four times higher than New York’s rate. Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/257478/more-americans-killed-in-chicago-than-in-afghanistan/#DxMf34zSkGiWuMYl.99 It is no surprise of course that Chicago, the most segregated city in America, produces such grim statistics. Is no value placed on Black life? The death of 15 year old Hadiyah Pendleton, the young woman from, you guessed it-Chicago-who played at the President's inauguration only to be shot down days later while standing under a canopy with her friends is symbolic in that she lived about a mile from where the President is from. Talk about bringing the argument home. Since I live in New York City, I have to bring the argument here: Commissioner Ray Kelly made an important point when speaking on Face the Nation. The problem plaguing us where guns are concerned, is the handgun. Kelly said "The problem is the handgun. 60% of the murders in New York City are caused by handguns, and we simply have too many of them," Yes. Simply put, there are. I have two young black boys I am trying to raise and I hate to know that I have to worry about their lives every time they walk out the door. As a patriotic American, I support the second ammendment, however, I'm not sure this is what our founding fathers envisioned when they gave us the right to bear arms...but then again-if they could see how many Black folks were dying as a result of all the guns flooding the streets, I wonder what they would have thought ...hmmm...perhaps this is the whole point of the gun lobby. An ingenious new form of genocide... Uggh oh, the whimpering has begun-and has become full blown wailing. I've got to go. To be continued...next topic: immigration...