Politics – Dispatches from Storyville

When Her Birthday Comes

Tomorrow (the 13th) is my birthday. My 48th birthday, to be exact. Today marks three years since I sat in the orange leather chair in the living room of our sweet little cottage in Shreveport and listened to my (now) ex-husband enumerate the many ways he felt I had failed him and our two children.…
Read more: When Her Birthday Comes
Squared Away

Getting a blog post out this week has been hard. Charlotte and her younger daughter move next week, and I start a new part-time job (!) two days before they do. Add in a full schedule of classes and life in 2025 (Jesus, just this WEEK), and I have been struck with the worst anxiety…
Read more: Squared Away
La Tricoteuse

Neither the threat of a looming recession nor monthly economic blackouts can keep a real clothes horse down, so, at the start of Mardi Gras Break, I committed to doing less doomscrolling and more sewing. In addition to keeping my wardrobe nice and full, sewing calms my mind in a way even writing can’t. Writing…
Read more: La Tricoteuse
On Perspective

A few days ago, Charlotte came across this quote by Toni Morrison and sent it to me. Authoritarian regimes, dictators, despots are often, but not always, fools. But none is foolish enough to give perceptive, dissident writers free range to publish their judgments or follow their creative instincts. They know they do so at their…
Read more: On Perspective
The Cure

The past couple of weeks have tested my ability to manage my course load, writing, working (or trying to), my contributions to The Resistance, my commitment to overdressing, cultivating community/a social life, and, most importantly, being a mom. There’s obviously the challenge of being present in Harper and Truman’s lives when I live six hours…
Read more: The Cure
Excellence

Your grammy, your aunty, your momma, your mammyI’ll take those flannel zebra jammies, secondhand, and rock that motherfuckerThe built-in onesie with the socks on that motherfuckerI hit the party and they stop in that motherfuckerThey be like, “Oh that Gucci, that’s hella tight”I’m like, “Yo, that’s 50 dollars for a t-shirt” Limited edition, let’s do…
Read more: Excellence
Lavender Haze

Restarting this blog has been a balm to my soul, especially these days when, you know…<gestures wildly at everything>. When the chips are really, truly down in my life, there are only three things for it: Aaron Neville singing Ave Maria on repeat, cookies dunked in liquor (e.g., Oreos and whiskey – don’t knock it…
Read more: Lavender Haze
Going Boldly

Last night, Charlotte told me she prefers Star Wars to Star Trek. I would’ve rather she punched me directly in the face. In fact, I told her so. As a lifelong Trekkie, this revelation was far worse than finding out she likes McDonald’s McRib and powdered coffee creamer. Growing up in rural East Texas, my…
Read more: Going Boldly

Category: Politics