Sammy's Musings and Insights

I know as a single woman, it is expected to be with a family on Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Well, on Thanksgiving I am covered because friends always invite me somewhere, sometimes but not always.  I decided that regardless of that, I still keep these holidays special to me in my own way and so I made a list of traditions I love and some I think I may incorporate: 1) No After Thanksgiving Black Friday shopping--this is thanks to moving to the Bay Area and seeing how crazed shoppers are here. (This is like Ramadan for me as a recovering shopaholic) 2) Celebrating Advent by going to Mass on Sunday 3) Putting up the tree and decorations 4) Lighting my candles on Winter Solstice 5) Watching A Christmas Carol and Miracle on 34th Street on DVD 6) Go see the Nutcracker 7) Attend Christmas Eve Mass 8) See a movie on Christmas and eat at Denny's (I started this in 2002 with my sister) New ideas for this year: 1) Attend Las Posadas (Spanish-American trad...

Despite my disappointment and frustration I had at the Anne Rice signing, I have to give her credit for this: for the best writing advice I ever got from her.  This advice was is that there are no rules to writing.  I am glad she has said that because there have been times in class where I felt like I was restricted in my writing and my creativity and felt like my writing was being hinged.  This happened to me again last week in my American Women's Literature class.  Our assignment was to write a memoir piece that shaped our identity cultural, spriritually, etc.  It had to reflect on our gender identity and values.  Unfortunately, my first draft of my essay, it was not acceptable because it did not meet her requirements.  So I had to ask myself what experiences shaped me as a woman and my gender identity.  I ended up writing about an experience about being bisexually curious.  I was off and running on this and the ideas were comin...

Can I even call it a meeting?  More like I just had a quick word while she signed my copy of her latest novel "Prince Lestat", on Wed. over at Books Inc.  The only word I can sum up my experience is disappointing. I have been a eager fan of her books for fourteen years, since I was an accounting student over at Solano Community College.  Her Vampire Chronicles began to heal me from a depression I was feeling about myself: a 20 year old college student who was unsure of herself and what she wanted to do with her life.  Especially when I was being encouraged to take up accounting and was not completely sure if this was the career choice for me.  Of course, I still finished the accounting program at the college, but I was still feeling empty.  Then came the days when she became self-proclaimed Catholic again.  My knowledge of religion and faith were foreign to me.  Trying to understand the mystery of faith was something I never could grasp or eve...