Nothing like hitting the end of the month and realizing you forgot to make this post. Also, I’m going to use the lame excuse that February only has 28 days, so it’s February’s fault for this being late. Or something. I mean is the orange guy can use lame-ass excuses, I can, too. Right?
Author: Irene Page 1 of 49
Page one of a writing assignment in 1988.
This was how my 17-year old brain thought when given a writing assignment in English class. The assignment was to describe a room using as many adjectives as possible, but without making it sound like shit. I chose my bedroom, though the bits about the drum set were in my mind. It was turned in on March 4, 1988. I thought I was edgy and cool then because no one seemed to understand what I was writing. I got an A. That’s all that mattered at the time.
Here’s a roundup of the books I’ve read over the past two months. Two good. One meh. One crap.
They always come at you sideways. The 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution gave women the right to vote. Republicans have been pushing since early 2025 to get the SAVE Act passed. It would disenfranchise millions of people, but I want to focus on women in particular.
Irene, left, and Lori celebrate Christmas c. 1973 or 1974.
On Saturday, while I was making myself a chicken chimichanga, my nephew texted to let me know my sister had passed away.
At the beginning of each week, I make a list of goals. Sometimes, they are small. Most of January was scrapped because I couldn’t sleep. Waking up from flashbacks is horrifying enough, but at least I know what they are now and can process a little and try to get some more rest. The constant headache from no sleep is aggravating. Not being able to concentrate due to sleep deprivation is, well, tiresome.
I thought I’d change things up for this month. There is a lot of talk about how YouTube is full of garbage and not worth watching. While this can be true, there are still a lot of really cool, educational videos I watch in a way to educate myself on a variety of topics. Here is a selection of some of my favorites, all of which are less than 30 minutes in length. If the videos don’t show, their titles are also a link to where you can find it on YouTube.
Poverty-related trauma isn’t nice or fun or quirky. When people think being poor is just a quirky thing you do, it creates a narrative where you are poor because of your own personal failures and not because of circumstances out of your control.
Me, age 23, in my CSO uniform, standing in front of the best car I ever had – a 1989 Toyota Corolla SR5 coupe with pop-up headlights.
About a month after receiving my bachelor’s degree in Anthropology, I accepted a position with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Police Department (UNLPD) as a Community Service Officer (CSO). The intention was to take advantage of the $3 a credit hour – max six hours per semester – the university offered to employees and get a master’s degree in Anthropology.