Women's History Poetry

Women’s History Poetry

Hello all again! In light of Women’s History Month, there was a lot that I wanted to write about. But since March is coming to an end and I don’t see myself having the time to write because of my school and work schedule, I decided to include two poems that can be reflective of this month. I wrote these two poems a while ago. Maybe almost a year ago I think. The first one titled “Champoo” is about my cute mother who mistakenly took a shaving cream bottle as shampoo and used it to wash her hair for several days. My mom has done so many little things like this that just make you love her sincerity and her innocence. She is a wonderful and powerful woman even though she can be a little funny sometimes. This was probably by far the funniest thing she’s done so I thought it would be cute to form it into a poem. I hope you like it!

The second poem titled “W*O*M*A*N” came from an inspiration that I can’t quite explain. I’m not a hardcore feminist but I do believe in women’s rights and the power of women. I don’t mean to de-humanize men in any sort of way even though that is how it may sound like. Please don’t be offended, but if you are, I deeply apologize. So, read it with attitude, read it with care, and read it with the message that it brings. Enjoy!!!



Champoo?

By: Jessenia Lua

My mom’s a real funny lady
She’s always been her entire life
She speaks with a Spanish accent
And is a devoted wife

She doesn’t understand a lot of things
And isn’t up to this modern world
She doesn’t know how to use a computer
Or things without a cord

One day I was playing with her hair
And it felt really rough
I asked her what she had been using
She thinks its pert plus

Then my sister came in screaming mad
She doesn’t like to share
She wants to know who used her skintimate shaving cream
Cause she’s got legs full of hair

The bottle is more than half empty
It’s likely she’ll need one new
Then my mom looked up at me and said:
“CHU MEAN DIS NAT CHAMPOO?!!!”

W*O*M*A*N

By:
Jessenia Lua

I am a WUH - HU……MUH - HAN!
That’s right!
I am a woman!
And I’ve got it all
I have the curves and the nerves
The steels and the heals

I know what I want
And I know who I am
I have the power to give life
And the heart to heal strife

I’m voluptuous and kind
No need to press rewind
On my life because I don’t regret
None of my events, you bet!

I can do ten things at a time
Listen to you cry
Put my emotions aside
And wait til you’re all cured inside

I can run and walk through rain
I aint’ shallow nor vain
Can take any kind of pain
Cause baby, I am a woman of this DAY!

Don’t tell me I can’t commit
Just because I don’t have your little “bits”
I don’t need three little parts
I’ve got my big ass fuckin’ heart!

Woohoo! I'm published!

Hi Everyone,

So I've been with the University newspaper since the beginning of the semester and had not been able to publish anything. That is until......YESTERDAY! I know that it's a university newspaper and nothing like the San Diego Union Tribune but I bet those writers got their start at their universities as well. Anyway, here's a pic of the article. It's not exactly my favorite topic to write about, but this was my first assignment to cover. I couldn't fit the whole thing in it so just click on the link below and you'll be able to read the whole article. And, let's hope that this is the first of many!


http://media.www.thecsusmpride.com/media/storage/paper1149/news/2009/02/17/FacesPlaces/How-To.Build.And.Keep.A.High.Credit.Score-3633654.shtml

Time to get personal.......

Don’t worry! Not that personal!

Today marks two very special anniversaries for my family and me. Today is my late father (apa′ to my siblings and I) Rafael Lua’s birthday. He would have been 83 years old. Following the first few years after my father’s death, my mom would always tell me that he no longer had a birthday because he’s in heaven now. But, I always acknowledge it because he is the oldest memory I have as a child. If I look back and think about the fun times between my seven siblings, my father, my mother and I, my father sticks out like a bright candle. As a kid, you don’t pay attention to much except for the people who take care of you. Since I am the seventh child out of eight, I had a lot of people (my parents and brothers and sisters) take care of me. But my dad always had this fun and endearing side to him. He was a nurturer by nature and his memory is so precious to me.

I remember so vividly one of the sweetest things he did. He would kiss my eyes. He would hold my head between his hands, look at me and ask, “aver, cual es mi hojo?” Let’s see, which one’s my eye? And when I’d close them, he’d kiss either my left eye or right eye. It’s strange but it was a comfort to feel his warm lips on my eye lids. It was the same comfort I felt when my mom would hold me whenever I just wanted to hold her. I’d rest the side of my head on her chest while she put her arms around my shoulders and she would talk to me or sing. The vibrations of her voice going through my ear that was resting on her chest and the sound of her heartbeat were such a comfort to my soul that no fear or worries crossed my mind.

Even though my dad has been in heaven for the past fourteen and a half years, his memory still carries on in my spirit and existence every single day of my life. Every now and then I’ll slip back into the moment when we found out he was going to die and I lose emotional control. Sometimes I wonder why after all this time, I can still feel this way. About a year ago, I had a dream of a “could be” life. It was a dream where my brother, my youngest sister, and I were still living at home. I was in my junior year in high school and I was fighting with my brother Edgar (who’s a year older than me) to hurry up with the bathroom because we were going to be late for school. I kept pounding on the door and my mom yells from the kitchen, where she was making breakfast, to use her bathroom. So, I go to her bathroom and guess who was in there? My dad taking his sweet time. I ask him to hurry up but out of the frustration I tell him nevermind and yell through the door that I’ll see him after school. He yells back through the door telling me to not take my car because he has to fix it and then says to take his cacahuate (peanut)! Cacahuate was the name he had for this old brown four door car he had. I don’t even remember what model, year, and make it was. I just knew it was old, brown, rusty, and dusty! The dream pictured what I thought could have been a life with my dad. When I woke up, all I could do is cry. I cried in the shower, cried telling my mom about it, cried on my way to work, cried at work, and cried telling Mari about it. It only reminded me of the person I didn’t have in my life. The heartache in my body hurt so much. But, luckily I have wonderful sisters, brother, nieces, nephews, and mother to get me through it. Now, I could jump in and talk about how my late brother Chava stepped in and took over my father, but that’s a whole ‘nuther blog. You’ll have to read about him later.

For people who know me really well, I often talk a lot about my family. Which is why I’m hoping to write a book one day. Getting over my father’s and brother’s death were two of the biggest obstacles our family has ever been through. I’m so proud of how we handle ourselves and how we still can rely on each other in the utmost difficult times. Even when there’s tension or petty fights, we get over them quickly. So, for today’s topic I just want to wish my father up in heaven a BIG WONDERFUL HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I love you, miss you, and please send a big hello to Chava for us!

Now, for the second anniversary! Today, Savina Rebecca Gallegos is one year old! Happy Birthday Savina! In a wonderful coincidence, my sister Lupe and her husband Tony had their third wonderful child Savina on her grandpa’s birthday! Exactly one year ago, as Lupe held Savina in her arms (after being born for like 8 minutes!) the room got quiet with sniffles and tears. Everyone was just staring at this brand new baby girl. And I do mean everyone! Sisters, sister’s husbands, nieces, nephews, boyfriends, etc. were all there to witness the birth of Savina. We literally filled the hospital room to its capacity. Crowded or not, it was such a sincere moment where innocence is all that we knew and this little girl was the center of our world. It had been a while since there had been a baby in the family and from Tony’s own words “your mom just woke up in life.” I agreed with what he said. Watching my mom go through my brother’s passing was extremely hard on her. When Savina was born, a light in my mom just shined all over her spirit. She is truly a blessing as well as my family is. I am humbled by the sweet blessings God has given me and live each day with the thought of all of you in mind. Thank you!

P.S. I will post some other pictures tomorrow. Sorry, I didn't bring them with me today when I posted this blog! Stay tune....

P.S.S. If you're wondering why the address to my blog is "chenas blog," well, that's because my dad gave nicknames to all his kids and mine just happen to stick. I rarely hear my family members or close friends call me by my real name :)

Why is it always about race? Aren’t the facts enough?

On a daily basis I like to jump into many news websites to read……… well.……..the news! I often go to msnbc.com, cnn.com, but most importantly, I go to northcountytimes.com. I find northcountytimes.com to be the most important news source I read because it is the area in which I live in. I live in Oceanside, CA, work in Carlsbad, CA, go to school in San Marcos, CA and I like to keep up with what goes on in this county. Lately, I’ve been noticing something disturbing from comments that people leave after reading any article. No matter the facts, no matter the situation, someone’s race always has to be an issue.

On northcountytimes.com, readers are allowed to post comments on any stories/articles they read. I’m an avid reader on this website and often am surprised to the amount of ignorance exposed by the comments of these readers. I never post any comments myself; however, the one time I did post, I was literally attacked. I had read an article of a man who was arrested for parking in front of elementary schools for hours at a time and had been suspected as being a pedophile. I scrolled down the article and read comments from some of the readers. The article did not mention the race of the man and was just focusing on the grounds of his arrest. Immediately following the article were comments asking about his race. Several readers were guessing that the man is Hispanic and many other were complaining about how the Hispanic race commits all these crimes. I posted a brief paragraph asking the readers why the suspect’s race would matter. I stated that in the current situation the action, not the race, is what matters. The fact that these innocent children were being exposed to this repulsive pervert is what mattered. Not his race. Following my post, many readers felt that I should also care about the race of the suspect. After all, those are the people we are trying to avoid right? It’s nice to know that even with an African America president, and a widely diverse country, people let one criminal’s race define the rest of that population (notice my sarcasm here). It is just absolutely ridiculous! Who would want one person’s behavior to represent their entire race? No one! So why are these readers so quick to judge? Should we not trust Caucasian men from Texas because of the way George Bush ran his presidency? Dakota Fanning could have done a better job! I could have done a better job! And, if you have watched Fahrenheit 9/11, you would definitely side with me on this. If not, please go see it. Every single person living in America should go see it. You will be surprised and shocked by the truth behind this unnecessary war.

Ok I’ve seemed to have jumped off subject. Ok, back on now! Race alone does not defy the actions of any person. Let me give you a for instance: In this article: http://www.northcountytimes.com/articles/2009/01/05/news/coastal/vista/z4b865b40f9718b2d88257535005b578a.txt the news about a man stealing a dead woman’s purse after she was in a fatal car accident came out in order to catch the heartless thief. There this poor dead woman lies on the ground dead from her injuries and here comes a man to steal her purse. It’s a sad story already; however, the readers turn it into an argument about race. Was the dead woman legal? Was the thief white? Why are nice cities like this being invaded with people from the south? Etc, etc, etc! There’s even a picture of a Klansman representing the reader’s comments. It just goes on and on and on! So I ask myself: Why isn’t the news enough? What are you trying to dignify with such stupid questions? Why not just post a prayer or send your condolences to the victim’s family? It is a bigot world unfortunately.

This blog may seem more of a rant than anything else and I do apologize if you happen to be offended. I have much more to say on this issue and hope to one day write a book based on my experience on racism. Trust me, I have the experience! I just hope and wish that people, like those readers on that website, would look beyond a stereotype and look beyond color. We all have the same functions and organs inside but are painted differently. The red crayon is no different than the blue crayon on the inside. They may be different colors, but they come from the same wax.

In these hard times........

We all know that the economy is bad and that many people are losing their jobs and blah, blah, blah! Well, I set out to understand what exactly does it mean when people say that “the economy is bad.” I’ve come to find out that when people talk about the economy only 1 out of 10 people know what they are talking about. The other 9 just shake their heads and agree on how bad it is. I know because I used to be one of them. No, this is not a scientific study I conducted. This is just my rough estimate.

So, take for instance, a bank loans you a dollar. You have a certain pay back plan to pay back that dollar even though you can’t really afford it. The bank, however, got that dollar from somewhere else who has many more dollars and investors who support that bank. So now, you go along your merry way and think about the great things you can do with the dollar and you try not to overspend because you must save it for emergencies and what not. But, the bank did let you borrow the dollar in the first place because they trust your financial decisions. The bank will always be there, so you say, what the heck! I’ll spend all of it and just enjoy it. But suddenly, you made poor financial decisions and can no longer pay back the bank. What will you do? Well……..You won’t pay back the bank! So now, the bank is left with your debt to pay back to their investors. And, if the bank can’t pay back their investors, they find another bank to help them out. It’s an endless chain all connected to that one dollar bill with increasing fees of all kinds getting into even more debt. If all businesses can’t be financially supported with the help of these banks, then they go bankrupt leaving people without a job. There are other factors that contribute to the economy being bad. I don’t understand them all. But what I just explained is a big one. Just ask Washington Mutual.

The other day I read an article about a man robbing a convenient store. The man busted into the early hours of the store, pointed a gun at the cashier, his hand shaking as he demanded cash, and thanked the cashier before he left. When the cop interviewed the cashier, the cashier said that he wasn’t afraid of the robber. He said that when the robber was holding up the gun, the robber’s hand was shaky and he started to cry. The robber then apologized to the cashier and asked him to forgive him for what he was doing. The cashier knew the robber was not going to hurt him. In fact, he knew that if he didn’t give the robber the money, the robber probably still wouldn't hurt him. But the cashier felt sorry for him and gave all of the money he had. The cop categorized the robber as a non-career criminal. He figured that he must be someone who was greatly effected by the economy and saw this as an only option to get money.

In another related article, a man lost his job as well and was looking for another as fast as possible. When he wasn’t having any luck, he decided to look for a job in an unconventional way. In his downtown district, he wore a sandwich sign asking for a job with his resume posted on the back. In some time, he was spotted by a coveted executive and offered him a six figure salary job.

There are different ways that one can manage the stress and heart ache of this recession. Even though I would have felt sorry for the robber and gave him the money just like the cashier did, it doesn’t mean it was right. I did feel sorry for him, but he still committed a crime. Is this how far our economic status have pushed us? I’ve been there! I’ve had those “oh my god, I don’t have any money! What am I going to do?” moments. But nowhere near threatening someone’s life over it. Luckily, I’ve always had family and friends to bail me out of any situation. Which is why I’m so grateful for them. This holiday season, there is no one else I would rather be with than with them. So, if you happen to be hit hard with this recession, hang in there. If you’re still breathing, you’re going to be ok. Surround yourself with loved ones and get back on your feet. Have a very Marry Christmas and a Wonderful New Year!!!

Past Innocence Revisited.....

Everyone in some point in their lives gets a flashback moment into their childhood where things were worry free and had not a care in the world. A time when you wish you could go back and start all over again knowing the things you know now. Whether it's a scent, an object, a taste, or a song, that piece of memory wakes you up inside triggering your past happiness. Not to exclude past bad memories for anyone who's experienced them; but I talk about the good ones because those are the ones everyone should hold on to for as long as they can. For my friend Andrea and I, that past memory was……..Hanson!

When Hanson first came out with their chart topping single "Mmmbop," Andrea and I were sucked into their music just like the rest of the little girls. All throughout eighth and ninth grade (1997 and 1998) it was all about Hanson. I was embarrassingly obsessed! I say that I was embarrassingly obsessed because…..…well…..…I was literally embarrassingly obsessed! Together, Andrea and I traded posters, listened to their music, and secretly admired this trio of blonde boys. It was the best time of our lives. Although we could never afford to buy tickets to a concert nor did we dare ask our broke mothers to do such a thing, we admired them from a distance. We were secretly in love and only told our closest friends. To relatives, it came easy to find out how much we loved the group due to the massive posters decorating our bedroom walls. But as we got older and their music slowly faded, we began losing our interests in them. For one, it wasn't easy entering high school admitting that you were obsessed with a band that mostly had a fan base of pre-teens while we were already teenagers. And two, we began moving on to other types of music. By the time we were sophomores in high school, it was Hanson no more and hello Backstreet Boys! However, the obsession with Backstreet was not as heavy as Hanson's and quickly faded. It was sad to admit, but our Hanson memories were behind us and we moved on.

Throughout the entire time I've known Andrea, no matter what we have been through, whatever fights we may have had, whatever great friendship moments we've experienced, between living together and living apart, our Hanson days always reminds us of two dorky friends who shared this great thing in common. I have always felt that this common interest in the band gave us a great start to our friendship. Since jr. high, Andrea has been a best friend who I can always count on to be there for me and I feel extremely lucky to have that because not many people can talk about one person like I talk about my Andrea. That is why I was so happy to surprise her with two tickets to Hanson's concert in San Diego.

I had purchased the tickets about two months early and the anticipation was unnerving. The moment I clicked on "purchase tickets" the sudden child-like excitement went through me just as if I was still in eighth grade! When the day finally came (11/16/2008), we were so excited that we listened to their CD, that I still had from 1997, all the way to San Diego. When they finally started playing on stage, I kept telling Andrea "They are right there! They are right in front of us!" I asked her "If this were ten years ago, would we have cried?" She said "Oh yea!" Throughout the concert we were dancing, screaming, and putting up our lighters – well…….I put up a fake lighter from my iphone. We were having so much fun that it was beyond expected. Andrea said "I feel like I lost ten years!" And I completely agreed with her! Even though we only knew three of the songs they played (because everything else they played was from after we had lost interest in them), we were filled with girlish excitement and the memory of our "Mmmbop" days.

After the concert was over, we waited outside the House of Blues building by the tour bus to see if they would come out and sign autographs. I took out my camera to get it ready to take pictures, but with the luck that I have…….IT DIED! And I did not have extra batteries. I couldn't believe that my pinchi camera died! Disclaimer: for those of you who don't know "pinchi" is a bad word in Spanish. I apologize if I offend you. Anyway, of all the times I've had it, it had to die at this very moment when I needed it the most. Luckily I had my iphone camera as a last resort. So, the first one to come out was the youngest one named Zac. While all the girls, and some boys, rushed to get in line to get his autograph and picture, I quickly cut in front of a lot of people and wasn't too far back from him. What? Hold your judgement! A girl's gotta get her picture! So once I got up to Zac, he was nice enough to sign his autograph on my ticket, take a couple pictures, and record a message on my iphone for my sister Vanessa who was a fan as well. As we waited for the other two Hanson brothers to come out, it was getting really late and we were feeling really tired. We were thinking about leaving, especially since it was 12am on a Sunday night and we had to work the next day.

Right when we were about to leave and give up on the other two, I heard one of the guys who was loading the cargo say "that's the last of it." I knew they were about to come out since they finished packing……..AND THEY DID! I quickly followed Isaac (the oldest one) to wherever he was going but he went straight to the bus as well as Taylor (the middle one). All the other girls started crowding around the bus and I was surrounded by the other fans. About a couple minutes later, they both come out and began signing autographs. I kept pushing and pushing my way in trying to grab Andrea so she can take my picture with him. This reminded me of the time when I was at a LeAnn Rimes concert and at the end of it, I pushed through all the little girls so I can cut in front of them and shake LeAnn's hand. It was worth a few dirty looks. Anyway, so after I got a picture with Isaac and his autograph, I proceeded to go around to the other end of the bus where Taylor was. However, I was stuck right next to Isaac and couldn't get around because of all the fans surrounding us. Honestly, I didn't mind being stuck there. I brag about the fact that I stood next to him shoulder to shoulder for like two minutes! By the time I got the where Taylor was, I had lost Andrea and I was yelling out for her. When she found me, I kept telling her to push her way in so I can get a picture with her and him.

After I took a picture of Andrea and Taylor, a sense of accomplishment came through me. I had been longing this kind of experience ten years ago and even though I'm not a devoted fan of theirs today, it sure felt like I was. But the overall best thing about that Sunday night……….is that I got to experience it with Andrea. It is truly a gift when you have a best friend to share the imporatant details of your life with. I have been blessed with many. You know who you are! Cherish those dearest and closest to you, for they fulfill parts of your life you didn't even know you had.


Up next? Who knows…..maybe Andrea and I will go to a Backstreet Boys concert when they go on tour! Thanks for reading!

WARNING! THIS ARTICLE IS NOT FOR MCCAIN SUPPORTERS!!!

Relax, I'm not gonna badger the guy! This is just pro Obama

Ok, so I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted and I do apologize to my few loyal readers. It’s been a little hectic lately but things are calmer now and I can continue. I do have a few topics I want to cover; however, I have a young reader that this may not be appropriate for so I will leave this out. If you have spoken with me lately and know me pretty well, you know what I am talking about. Hint: had to do with this year’s propositions and the outcome.

Ok now let me just jump into Tuesday’s experience (11/4/2008), as I am sure many bloggers have blogged about this. I am joining them in this pool of thought because it’s too great to pass up. Everybody in the world is going to know where they were the night Barack Obama was elected president. I’m going to tell you my experience that I’ve already shared with all of my sisters because I called all of them (including my cousin Elias in L.A.) because it was such an important moment in our lives that I had to talk to everyone. And since I live alone, my cell phone was my only means of communication even though I had wished I was with my friend Melissa watching it at her house!

I was still at work when the first few electoral votes were being counted. Almost every website had the updates. Had I known that that the results were going to be announced that night, I would have been with Melissa! So, after work I got home around 7pm and turned on the TV to see the latest updates. At first, McCain was winning. He was ahead by getting all the hillbilly states (please don’t be offended). South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, etc. were all for McCain. However, Obama suddenly caught up! I kept hoping and praying for it to stay that way and I was thinking about what a wonderful thing it would be if he were to win. Suddenly, I had a flashback to when I was a little girl. I remember putting my hands together and praying “please oh please oh please let me get this toy!” The same feeling came over me. I sat at the edge of my bed closing my eyes and praying silently “Oh God please let this happen!” So around 7:40pm I called my mother to talk to her about the election. She was watching it in Spanish on the Telemundo channel in her living room and I was watching it in English on CNN in my bedroom. She kept saying “ojala mija, ojala” (hopefully my daughter, hopefully). So we got to talking about other stuff like how my dog is doing and what she did that day. Usually the last words I say to my mom at the end of any phone conversations are “I love you.” But just as I was about to say “I…” I paused and said “Esperate Ama! No me cuelges!” (Wait mom! Don’t hang up on me!). She said “Que? Porque no! Aqui Estoy! Que paso?” (What? Why not? I’m here! What happened!). Then I tell her “LOOK AT YOUR TV! LOOK AT YOUR TV” And all of a sudden my mom lets out this victorious scream “AAAAA! HOOOOOOO AAAAAAH!” It was the cutest thing ever - hearing that big scream from this tiny little Mexican lady!

After I congratulated my mom, I proceeded to call everyone. I was so excited that I just had to involve as many people that I can reach on my phone. I felt like I had to tell everyone and talk to them about it because one day I want to go back and say “Remember the night when Obama won and we were talking…” His victory means more than just having a black president. His victory makes the impossible possible. His victory truly defies that America is the land of opportunity. His victory is the American dream where anything is possible. His victory has changed this world completely.

Remember when the movie Deep Impact was released? I was in high school when it came out. This is relevant, I promise, just keep reading. As a kid, the world ending with the strike of a massive comet was my biggest fear. I used to have nightmares about it. So when the movie came out, I wanted to see what Hollywood produced to be something that could possibly happen. I went to go see it with my best friend Andrea. During the middle of the movie, I turned to her and whispered “Yeah right! Like there would ever be a black president!” And she sarcastically said “Like we would ever get hit by a comet!” That is the first thought that entered my head when I found out that he won the Democratic Party nomination. It was a proud moment where I can easily say with a smile “I was wrong.” And, I’ll say it over and over!

Following his announcement of elected president, there were clips from all over the world showing triumphant cheers. This is why I say that the world has changed completely. Never in my life have I seen other countries so proud and excited for another country. I think that it gives them hope. Hope that one day their country can change like ours has. Hope that they can one day hope for themselves. Hope to dream big and make their difference. Hope that we can all be color blind and solely judge people on the contents of our character. Hope that Martin Luther King Jr. had.