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I always get very overwhelmed with emotion during the last few chapters of Divas Don't Yield. I dont' know why?

 I've read it three times now and each time I get so invested in the characters. At first I thought it was because I could relate to some of their struggles.

Then I thought it was just the great writing.

This time around I think it's because I hope that when or if my daughter ever feels the same way they did, the same way I DID at their age or whatever... I hope she's able to make the same good choices the characters in Divas did.

OR if she makes bad choices like I did, I hope she survives through it all.



Anyways...

What do YOU think? Is there a book that makes you feel the same way?

I was shopping at the local supermarket where I selected:
A half-gallon of 2% milk
A carton of eggs
A quart of orange juice
A head of lettuce
A 2 lb. can of coffee
A 1 lb. package of bacon

As I was unloading my items on the conveyor belt to check out, a drunk standing behind me watched as I placed the items in front of the cashier.

While the cashier was ringing up the purchases, the drunk calmly stated, "You must be single."

I was a bit startled by this proclamation, but I was intrigued by the derelict's intuition, since I was indeed single. I looked at the six items on the belt and saw nothing particularly unusual about my selections that could have tipped off the drunk to my marital status. Curiosity getting the better of me, I said, "Well, you know what, you're absolutely right.
But how on earth did you know that?"

The drunk replied, ''Cause you're ugly."
 

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Have you had a chance to finish Divas Don't Yield by Sofia Quintero yet?

Discussion is almost coming to an end. Yes, I know! I'm sad too.

I've had a lot of great participation through emails, myspace messages and face to face. It's opened up a lot of great dialog about religion, tarot card reading, spiritualism and what it means to you and me, and racism.

Yeah!

Heavy hu?

All this and a great adventure too. I hope you've all enjoyed this book as much as I have!

So now CLICK HERE to join in the MAS BOOK CLUB discussion. AND have your name entered in a drawing to win NEXT month's book, Lords Part One by N.L. Belardes.

Thanks!
~Twinkie

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I was really surprised to see a LINE in front of Fish Lips Monday night. Well, not really surprised. I mean, they had a great line up. And it WAS St. Patricks Day. But still.

It's MONDAY for Pete's sake.

While waiting in line Sal "El Patria" Placencia and his lovely honey were passing by on their way to get something to eat. They stopped and chatted for a bit.

I gave them St. Patty's Day buttons from my goody bag and off they went. It was really great to see them. They're good people!

The line stood still for a while and my sister The Raven sorta hinted that maybe we should go somewhere else, but I was happy right where I was. IN LINE at Fish Lips.

See, through the doors you could hear some awesome music and through the windows you could sorta see Hectic Films clips playing in the background. I was excited!

That was my mission that night! To witness the genius short films of two very talented local film makers.

My other mission was to watch Black Dog perform but that didn't happen. I got there too late. I also missed the Dalloways which I was dying to see since they came out with their new CD called Dirty Money and Filthy Love. (which you can buy now off their myspace page)

Oh well, I still had a chance to watch the films, and Mento Buru later that night. In the meantime, we were in line, listening to the very talented 80's cover band, Mystic Red. I have to admit, I'd never heard them before and I was really impressed by them!

My friend Goocher got there late as always, but luckily she caught me and The Raven while we were still in line. She walks up to us and proceeds to CUT to the front of the line to stand next to me so we could walk in together.

I immediately glance at the people behind us to see their reaction.

It wasn't good, I'll tell you that! They were mouthing foul words at us and I think one of them was getting ready to shank us. NAH, just kidding! After I apologized for my friend cutting in front of them and offering St. Patty's Day buttons they were all smiles!

"You're lucky you're too adorable to kill, Goocher, otherwise I would CHOKE you right now!"

We finally walk in and catch one or two of Mystic Red's songs then the genius mixes of DJ Mikey! After that was the Iron Outlaws. I'd seen them one time before, when they first got together and I have to say that they've really found themselves.

They sounded like they've been playing together forever! The Bakersfield sound at it's finest right there!

My sister The Raven was happy to see Nick Belardes. And he was happy to see her as well. They hadn't seen each other for a while. He's always interesting to talk to.

They met at our Chicana Book Club meeting, when we discussed Nick's book Lords: Part One. That was probably our longest and most interesting discussions of a book other than the one when we discussed Caramba, A Tale Told In The Turn of the Cards, by Nina Marie Martinez.

*HEY! Who's the dude standing next to Nick? Oh yeah! It's talented Mr. Jason from Hectic Films! As soon as he saw me he said, "Hey Norma! Rickey has a t-shirt for you!"

COOL! FREE STUFF ROCKS!

I gave him and Nick a button for being so nice! Nick's button says, "GET LUCKY" I wonder if he did?

My cousin Annabelle and her lovely hubby met us there. They got there earlier so they didn't have to wait in line. She's my sister's age which would make her ten years younger than me and I have to admit, I don't think I've ever really "hung out" with her. So it was really nice to spend some time with her outside of the "family" gatherings we may have been at together. I hope we hang out again soon! Hey ANNABELLE! CALL ME!

Like I said before, I was really bummed I didn't get to watch the Dalloways perform. BUT at least I got to say "hi" and LOOK!!! A picture.

It's funny how you forget you don't really KNOW certain people just because you're on the same networking site and have mutual friends. I went right up to them and started talking to them like I'd known them forever!

I mean, I've met Gary before, at the Noveltown Mixer and even took a picture of him but that was AGES ago. Anyways, I think Courtney thought I was a groupie and was after her man because she put me in a headlock and screamed, "GET OFF MY MAN BIOTCH" then she smiled and said "Sure" to my picture request and we posed! Ok, it probably didn't happen quite like that, but it definitely could have. She's one tough chick and can kick my ass in one karate chop, I'm sure of it.

Goocher's brother and his wife also met us at Fish Lips. He immediately asked where Mr. Twinkie was. Way to go, bro! Good lookin' out! Well, Mr. Twinkie was home where he belonged. ha. Just kidding. He actually goes to bed really early because he works VERY early. Lucky for me, he didn't mind if I went without him.

I was happy to see Goocher's brother and his wife. I hadn't seen them forever! Unfortunately I didn't really get to hang out with them too much because by the time they'd showed up, it was time for me to go. I had a long drive ahead of me and I didn't want to get home too late.

The whole night was fun, but here's where it gets tricky! See.,,,, I walked out of Fish Lips, turned left and started walking.

WAIT!!! Where is my car? I could have sworn I parked it RIGHT THERE!!!! On Eye Street.

"DUDE! WHERE'S MY CAR?"

It took everything in my power for me not to panic. As I'm trying to calm myself down I see Kindra!Before I even get to ask her where my girl scout cookies are, she informs me she forgot them.

It's ok! I know what it's like to forget stuff. After all, right now I can't even remember where I parked my car! I took a couple of deep breathes, thought for a minute, then remembered that I parked on H St, not Eye. What a dork, right?

Ah well! I got in my car, laughed a little, and headed home.

OH Wait...

P.S. Goocher, in case you're wondering... YES it IS freaken annoying when you're texting the WHOLE TIME we're hanging out.

We took the kids to Round Table the other day. They spent all their quarters on football cards then proceeded to spend their time trading cards with their friends.

Aparently trading cards is a VERY SERIOUS business. ha. Look at their serious faces here. Cracks me up. I don't remember being that serious about trading barbies or barbie clothes when I was little.

So they tore down our old Target. They are building a new one. Rumor was that it was going to be a Super Target or whatever it's called. I was excited because we only have three supermarkets and while each has a department that I like best, I'd love to have more options.

Turns out that, NO, it'll just be a REGULAR Target. But bigger. It will include a vision center and a pharmacy.

WHOO-TEE-DOOOOO (insert sarcasm here)

SERIOUSLY? Your tore down our Target just to build... ANOTHER TARGET? That's a joke. In the meantime, we have to go to Wal Mart or drive 30 minutes to the nearest Target.

Does this make sense to you? Ah well. C'est le vie

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I just want to publicly thank Nina Marie Martinez for the FREE signed copy of her book CARAMBA! A TALE TOLD IN THE TURN OF THE CARDS she donated for the MAS BOOK CLUBcontest winner, our very own bakotopian, HappyFeet.

Thanks so much Nina!!!

Just because we're no longer discussing CARAMBA by Nina Marie Martinezdoesn't mean you can't go out and buy the book and read it, yah here!!!


And now it's also available in Spanish. So if you know anyone that reads only Spanish here is your chance for a great gift!

Click HERE for more on Caramba and my book club.

I'm having a lot of fun with it and I'm thankful to everyone that has participated so far. It's only getting better and better and every month presents itself with a new chance to join so keep asking what book we're reading, maybe the next one will be the one you're interested in, right?

~twinkie


 

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A few years ago my daughter brought a friend home and said, "Mom, she needs your advice. She's scared and doesn't know what to do and she wants to run away from home." 

Turns out her friend had a secret she was keeping from her parents. This secret was eating her up sooooo bad for sooo long she eventually felt she had no way out except to run away.

My advice to her was come out with it. I told her she needed to suck it up and just tell her mom. Even if she ran away, her mom was eventually going to find her secret out because you can't keep stuff to yourself forever. Right?

I gave her different scenarios and helped her come up with the right words to say. This girl's biggest fears which she had difficulties overcoming were that her mom would be pissed.

"She'll kick me out of the house."

"She'll hate me."

I told her, "Maybe she will."

WHAT? I wasn't gonna lie to her.

The thing is, you can't change people's reactions to life. You just can't. You can try by the way you come at them or the words to choose to express yourself.

What you CAN do, however, is ease your own conscience.

CLICK HERE FOR THE REST ... 

And feel free to leave me a comment here or there. Whichever!

Jackie:

*talking about a little girl that lives in her boyfriend Wil's neighborhood"

"I take her hand and lead her into the street. At the other end of the block, I see the kids playing their game. Pointing at the manhole cover, I say, "Stand over there." As I walk up the street, I pull off my sling bag and search the crowd, wondering which ones are the bullies and what nasty things they called Li'l Bit. Did they call her Brillo Pad? Bembe face? Or the one I really hate... cocola. The little snots I grew up with used to call me that because they were too ignorant to realize that being black didn't make me NOT Latina and that I understood every nasty word they were saying. And I schooled them to the fact the hard way.

Li'l  Bit's African American and probably doesn't understand the Spanish insults. Not that she needs to. Regardless of what language they use, she knows they're saying some racist shit. The venom in their tones and sneers on their faces makes bembe just as clear as Brillo." 

~Divas Don't Yield pg 13

click here to participate in the discussion going on right now!

These are Jackie's thoughts as she tries to give Li'l bit a few pointers to help her social status out in the neighborhood.

From here I automatically gathered that she's an Afro-Latina who was punked on the playground for not being "one of them." Not being one who allows herself to be taken down, she beat their sad little booties until it knocked some sense in to them.

You almost feel sorry for her until you realize that it was those events in her childhood that taught her to be the strong woman that she is today. Or is it all a front?

(click here to BUY YOUR BOOK TODAY!)

Do you ever have one of those weekends where everything is supposed to go wrong, but instead ends up being just right?

I had a weekend like that this past weekend. For one thing, my daughter was competing in Clovis with her color-guard team.

*They got third place by the way. What a ripoff!

But I couldn't make it because they performed too early and I couldn't take the time off. Waaah me~

That's when my friend hit me up! She had an extra ticket to see Oliver at The Barn Theater in Porterville. It was opening night and after the show The Screaming Moose was catering hors d'oeuvres!!!

How could I say NO to that? My only dilemma was I already planned on going to The Vagina Monologues in Bakersfield the next day.

Would Mr. Twinkie mind if I spent two evenings separate from him? That NEVER happens. We always spend our days off together. What would he say?

I worried for nothing of course. He said he didn't mind at all. And boy am I glad I went. It was a SPECTACULAR performance. Porterville has some talented folks. Who knew? Not me! I'll definitely be going to The Barn Theater again!

The only thing was my back started acting up. It hurt like a mothacracka. I almost wanted to cry at one point. The next day I took a muscle relaxer in the morning then slept all day. LITERALLY. I think I got up at about 3:00 pm and that's when Mr. Twinkie informed me that we were having problems with our ATM card.

Thinking maybe he just got a bum ATM Machine I rushed to the bank. YUP. NO MONEY. Well, I mean there was money. But it was being held hostage by the Keebler Elves and their evil cousin, Lucky Charm.

No gas and no money to go to Bakersfield to see the Vagina Monologues. I was pissed. Well, depressed more than pissed. But pissed nonetheless.

UNTIL... the tooth fairy decided to loan me the money she'd just scored from some gold teeth she'd just sold and so BAM... I was on my way. (thanks tooth fairy.. *wink wink) It was a last minute loan of course so I was rushing like a MAD PERSON. And by MAD I mean crazy. But I also mean MAD as in pissed. Because as you can remember I was in fact pissed.

I rushed to McFarland to pick my best friend Goocher up. I called ahead and told her to PLEASE be ready. I was already running late and was BARELY gonna make it in time. So of course Goocher being the great friend that she is...

WASN'T READY!

Don't worry, I didn't expect any less of her. Or of my weekend. I thought for sure my evening was screwed and there was no foreseeable vaginas or monologues about them in my near future. Ah well, I was sure we'd salvage the evening one way or another.

After all, in the end, being with friends is ALL that matters, right?

Well, ladies and gentlemen... due to some strange miracle, we actually made it about five minutes till 8:00pm. We barely got our seats, popped some popcorn and sat down when the Monologues started.

I could hear the girls next to me ask one another if they'd ever seen the monologues before. One answered, "No" to which the other responded, "You're gonna laugh soooo hard!"

And we did.

Those ladies are just soooo talented. And funny. And beautiful. And confident.

They make theater look soooo easy.

I loved every minute of it.

Julie Jordan Scott did a great job picking the girls, and directing. Jen Raven was scary hysterical in her monologue about the angry vagina.Tashkajones better known as Brooke was outstanding in her first theatre debut. Joy made me laugh and made me wanna cry with her "Flood" monologue. And of course the "If my vagina could talk.." thing always cracks me up and gets me wondering... if MY vagina could talk, what would it say?

Then my back started cramping again. HOLY mothafreakencrack! I could NOT sit another minute. We left after the intermission. My back just couldn't take it.

BUT I'd promised Goocher a good time. So I tried to tough it out and we headed out to Narduccis. We got there just in time to listen to a couple of Mento Buru songs.

I spotted this girl that looked really familiar so I asked her, "You're from McFarland, aren't you? I know I'm supposed to know you somehow but I can't remember how? What's your name?" 

She looked at me like, "Who the hell are you?" but humored me and told me her name. It still didn't' sound familiar so then we played the whole. "Do you know so-and-so?" to try and figure out how we were supposed to know each other. We never figured it out but that's OK! My only regret was not getting her phone number because her and her friend were hell-ah fun! They were there to see Underground. They'd heard 'em before and just LOVED their music.  

And I quickly learned why. WOW! AMAZING! That's all I can say. If I ever get a chance to go listen to them again I definitely will. They won me over!

Even though my back felt like crap and I honestly wish I was home at one point in time of that evening, a few great things happened to me that night. First of all, I got to witness Undeground and Velorio for the first time. (OH YEAH... VELORIO!!!) But a few other things happened.

I got to watch Tashkajones in action in her Vagina Monologue debut!

I got to see my buddy Ray!

I got to hang out with my buddy Damas formerly of the now defunct band LIKHY2. I learned that LIKHY2. is planning to play ONE MORE TIME for the last time. I can't wait!!! I LOVED those guys!

I also got to hang out a little bit with my Chicana Book Club buddy and fellow bakotopian Sugaaaaaaa! (I forgot to take a picture but here's this one so you see who I'm talking about!

AND I hate to sound like a total groupie but guess who I met, you guys? Don't hate me because you ain't me, OK? I got to meet  DeziDOO!  YEAH!!!! That  DEziDOO !!!!! Did you know that HER PICTURE and MY blog were on the very first issue of the Bakotopia Magazine? WOOT!

We were standing at the bar together and she looked at me and cracked a joke. We laughed. She looked really REALLY really familiar and as she was walking away it HIT me.

"HEY" I said!

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Are you a roller derby girl?" I asked.

"Yeah," she smiled.

LETMETELLYOU!!!! I was like, "WHOA"

"Can I be a total groupie and ask you if I could take a picture with you?" I asked her with absolutely zero shame in my game.

"WHOooooooo HOOOOOOOOO! " she replied as she put her arm around me and her beer up in the air. I of course took that as a yes and handed Goocher my camera.

I mean, that girl kicks ass and looks GREAT doing it.

I have much respect for her. I hope I get to party with her again soon because she was fun as hell. And I'm not just saying that because she could crush me with her pinkie, either. I really mean it!

Anyways, in the end I was really glad that my vagina talked me into going to the monologues. Oops, I mean... uh. I'm glad I didn't let my aching back keep me at home feeling sorry for myself and popping pills. Thanks to everyone for a great time!

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Reading Caramba! A Tale Told In The Turn of the Cards by Nina Marie Martinez was a very fun experience for me. It took me back to the good ol' days when I was a little girl and growing up with the calendarios(calendars) of the Aztec princess we collected every year since they were FREE at the local panaderia(bakery).

It also reminded me of the novelas (soap operas) I used to watch with my mom with the love triangles and the sordid love affairs and even some shoot 'em up bang bang and narcotraficantes (drug traffickers) thrown in the mix for good measure.

You see, other than the main characters, Consuelo and Natalie who have known each other since the second grade there are an array of other colorful characters as well. We have a volcano, an ugly beauty queen, a prophecy, a handful of Born Again Christian Mariachis, a crew of curanderos, a couple of convicts, a saint, and a whole bunch of like-minded individuals.

The story starts when Consuelo, better known as Sway admits to just having had murdered a man.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE ON CONSUELO AND NATALIE'S ADVENTURES