Chicana on the Edge

I apologize in advance if this post is disjointed and confusing. It's time for my annual Christmas free association. Merry Christmas, 2004. My favorite Christmas movie is Bad Santa with Billy Bob Thornton. It was in the theaters last year at this time and it's great....

Have you ever heard of what happened on the front of World War I on Christmas Day 1914? The Americans and Germans stopped killing each other just long enough to spontaneously celebrate Christmas together, right on the battlefield between their trenches. I’d never...

Click here to go to my music website, and then click on the icon of a Christmas gift for my version of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." It's for all of us who are single for the holidays, don't have children and might not even have family in the area. Here's...

Every time I see that movie I think, "Why don't they just let the poor guy jump?" But I do like the original, animated "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." I bawl every time.

Oh my god -- now I remember what life is like when you have a real job at which you can't just sit and blog all day long. Look at how many days go by in between postings! I feel terrible about this, but doubt there's any remedy. I started this blog last June when I...

Last Sunday I attended a little Christmas art fair at Old St. Pat's Church. I handled a shimmery-golden woodcut of a nativity scene from Bangledesh, marvelled at eggshells with miniature nativity scenes set inside them from Peru, ran my palm across bright green and...

I reached my limit months ago: I was sick of seeing people litter, specifically on the Red Line el train. This is what I did: I saw a woman unwrap a package of gum and let the paper fall to the el platform. It particularly bothered me because she had a child with her...

When I bought my usual lipstick at the Prescriptives counter at Marshall Fields, they gave me a free sample. I tried "Emperor" on and realized it was a shade I had been looking for. I had been wearing a lighter version of it that had never looked quite right on me....

Last week at my Christmas performance at Uncommon Ground, my theme was the experience of the holidays when you are single, have no children and have no family in the area. Many of my friends in the audience are in this situation and they appreciated my version of...

I worked a seven-hour shift tonight. I enjoyed it. I'm becoming more a part of the team and the work is more familiar. The restaurant was busy and I had several tables and served lots of people and never even had a chance to sit down and eat my...

Somehow I made it through college, graduate school and 11 years in Chicago as a musician, without ever once waiting tables. Sick of corporate America, I have recently taken a job at one of Chicago's fine restaurants. I'm grateful they hired me with no serving...