Author: Lisa
So, The BIRD
Do you cook a turkey for Thanksgiving? Despite my flirtatious relationship with veganism, I do partake in some bird eating on holidays. But I’m wondering of other ways to celebrate a main course, sans bird. One vegetarian told me she puts the stuffing in between two pieces of bread and makes a sandwich. To which […]
Love in the Time of Thanksgiving
Last week, I attended mass in El Salvador and the priest was from the United States. He explained to the Salvadoran congregation that in the United States, we have entire day devoted to giving thanks and being grateful for all that we have. What a romantic idea – an entire nation, the only superpower nation, […]
The Physical is the Spiritual! and other things I learned during Zumba class
I smirked at the wildfire spread of zumba, a mix of latin and international music and dance moves used in group fitness classes, and tossed the idea aside. That is, until this morning, when I found myself standing in the second row of a Saturday morning zumba class. The lights were dimmed, my body was […]
Letter 15
Dear Isaiah, There are four major milestones that have occurred in the past two weeks. On Tuesday, November 9, you kneeled in front of the one-step landing which leads to the staircase and, after several minutes of contemplation, climbed your first step on your own. It took some contorting of your chubby limbs and some […]
When ‘More’ is Less: The Mistakes of Creating Fem/icons
Early this week, I returned to the United States to find More magazine running a feature on the new feminist faces and find the majority of them fair(er) skinned, dimploma-ed, English speaking, internet-friendly activists. I shake my head at the latest case of mainstream feminism’s narcissistic identity crisis, led or diagnosed primarily by US-centric feminists […]
Free Write on…”Recovery”
i keep using the word “recovery” like i just went through something that caused trauma or pain, when in actuality, i went through something that made me feel more alive. so, am i recovering from being alive? going back to being less alive or…? i am recovering from exhaustion, dehydration, fatigue, being “on” the whole […]
One Camera, A Thousand Hearts
I was seventeen when photography lured me into the world of light, shadow, color, and movement. Pretty pictures. Everyone likes pretty pictures. Everyone loves sunsets and gardens, children, and triumphant moments. Documented agony at the finish line or a warrior athlete are crowd favorites. But I never grasped the power of portrait until now. I […]
Truthout About Kyriarchy: An Open Letter To “Feminist” Writers, Bloggers, and Journalists
In April 2008, I wrote a post on my blog about and introduced the word “kyriarchy.” At the time, I was writing in response to a feminist blogosphere blow-up. The feminist blogosphere in April of 2008 was busy unveiling the torrent history of feminist-identified white women writers and presses co-opting and adopting the work of […]
Got Inspiration?
Me: I think one of the scariest things is to think of myself at 70, unsuccessful in trying to write and finding nothing good coming from me. I’m just going to feel like shit. Nick: Well, try to think of yourself at 70 and not having tried at all and finding you still feel like […]