March 27, 2010 : 7 Minute Exercise from a Word Pool Generated in Class

Word List:
Tortilla
Flats
Survive
War
Hover
Hallucination
Pay
Pentalty
Chueca
Respect

[Editor's Note: I hit 6 out of the 10 words. We had 7 minutes to write a story using these 10 words. This is what came out.]

"Respect, chueca. Respect."

Eyes ogled the little set wannabe as La Bruja eyed her over. Her hair was slicked to its side ponytail swoop perfection with a glittery tank emblazoned with "Princess" in large, gothic letters on it. Her jeans were painted on and her sneakers were shiny pale blue Jordans.

La Bruja hovered over her, eyeing her to her soul. She had made it to her final step to belong to the set, but she misspoke.

The ladies of the flats were tight. A feisty group of brown and black girls: trim, fierce, and always cared for their own. Nobody messed with them. Their credo was to survive.

Mari knew she'd pay for her misstep. She mentioned La Bruja's scar when responding to one of her final questions. She meant to say "car" but she stumbled. And stuttered, "Scar."

La Bruja was sensitive to her scar, a souvenir from a fight she won against a black samoan girl from the 80th block.

What would be the penalty?

Palabras para Hoy - 3 de abril 2007

[S]leep is the golden chain that ties health and our bodies together. ~Thomas Dekker

The last week and a half have disrupted my usual 6, 7, and 8 hour evening's sleep. Like clockwork I have been in bed by 10:30/11:00 pm and my eyes spring open about 2:30 am. I then try to read, turn on the BBC, toss, turn, drink water, relieve myself, and get to bed some 4 hours later.

The rest of my waking hours are then filled with extensive yawning, a gnawing sensation in my brain, and just a slight sense of not being 100%.

I just came back from a run. I had a 4 hour unintentional nap Monday evening. I woke up about 10 pm, groggy and sad to have missed such a lovely afternoon.

For an hour I lazed in my bed and then after a few moments of Love Line and a few phone calls returned (I missed 5 of them) I decided to run. It was 11:36 pm. If I am going to be awake, why not?

I put a jacket on over my pajamas and out the door I went.

The San Antonio district of Oakland is quite lovely in the evening. A few cats roam the streets as I get into the rhythm of step-step, step-step. I crossed the bridge, I went further up beyond numbered streets and onto streets with names like Ardley. Lovely homes with gardens that scent the evening air under the full moon.

During "Naked Eye" by Lucious Jackson and about 20 minutes out my iPod mini crapped out. I was about halfway out and I had no music. I was thrown off for a moment.

Could I finish my run without my rhythm?

On my return I had the step-step of my feet and my breath: in-in, out-out.

I made it back home. Cats crossed my path. Flowers filled my nostrils. A few cars sped on past my person.

I'm a little sleepy and hope to sustain sleep at least for a 5 hour stretch.