The Musings of a Latte Queen: Narratives of Everyday Life

Writing, working in coffee shops, thinking, all part of the plan this morning when I set out to find the new local coffee shop opened in the city's north side. I am not from here, in that I did not grow up here, left at the ripe old age of seven and didn't return for decades.  I need GPS and before that, Mapquest, to guide me anywhere outside the nine-mile-confines of my west county suburb. Grand, I know that boulevard, it houses my late grandmother's church, it runs past both highways that take me east, and it goes to Powell Symphony Hall.  Finding something near Grand Center shouldn't be that hard, I thought, even as Chronicle Coffee, didn't show up in any local searches on my phone for coffee shops. I had a full tank of gas and my passenger seat overloaded with all my work for the day.  It was to be a good long morning of undistracted work and hopefully, good coffee. Driving past Delmar found me in a very different St. Louis. We read about what decaying...

My husband and youngest son I've been shopping for a camera every since the Kirkwood Children's Chorale Holiday Concert when, in the excitement of the college student's return home, my  husband and I fumbled the pass as we were trying to take photos in the beautiful surroundings.  The result...this is the last photo of my Canon, 14 megapixel, 12mm zoom digital camera...handsome, aren't they? The hunt for a replacement began, three years after the purchase of the other one, and unwilling to spend another $300, I started looking.  In the meantime, my husband used his really good smart phone to take photos of the kids during the holidays.  I, on the other hand, was image-less, and quite sad about it. Target, where I live, has a cute little photo department with helpful employees.  They had a Nikon on sale for $99 about three or four weeks ago and I started eyeballing it.  It turned out the one on display was the only one they had and they couldn't sell...

It was a busy day and an historic day. Today is the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. An entire generation has taken the last 40 years for granted that this simply is and always has been and will continue to be. There have been the protests since the inception of the law and throughout the lifetime of the law, each year gaining and losing momentum...on both sides. Roe v. Wade. Just the mention of the case is enough to separate families and divide friendships, certainly tear this nation apart. But does the fact that it was part of Nixon's "Northern strategy" to win the Catholic vote really play into the dialogue, that it was never about the life of the fetus, the baby, the woman, the whatever, but about winning a political election? Does the fact that the ones originally covered and protected under Roe v. Wade were the doctors who feared for their practice if they performed a medical procedure that was legal in some states and not others? Roe v. Wade to this writer...

At the dawn of the morning, I looked at the light streaming through my bedroom patio and smiled. Hope and promise and dreams were coming together on a crisp Monday morning in the only place where this story could take place. While the morning coffee was being poured-over and emitting a welcoming scent, my gaze went skyward and outward to the unity of the Union. It is the National Holiday for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Second Inauguration of the Nation's 44th President, Barack Hussein Obama.  It is definitely a moment to feel the warmth and ray of history in this day. The thing I thought about the morning and even now, in the evening, as I watched the activities - this is what makes us unique, the us that embraces and enjoys freedom.  This is America. As a woman, a black woman, I could not help but feel a great sense of sisterhood and pride in seeing Mrs. Obama and Mrs. Robinson guiding Sasha and Malia to their fullness. It is a big deal. ...

It is a beautiful Sunday morning in St. Louis. The sun is streaming into my bedroom from the patio window, my coffee is a freshly made pour-over Sumatra in one of my favorite mugs.  My husband is downstairs making his famous Sunday morning spreads.  My older son is here visiting, nice to have him home. It is a beautiful day. I am sitting here thinking about tomorrow, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as well as the Second Inauguration of President Barack Obama.  I am watching my girl, Dr. Melissa Harris-Perry, discuss implications of the second term, and something struck me, the collective us. The us with one voice, the us with everyday life, us with a mission and purpose beyond money, power, and control. We believe that this term will have an even greater opportunity to broaden the landscape for everyone. There is a chance to recognize each other as humans, as people with hopes and dreams, and reach beyond the barriers. That is if we can reach around race, ge...

If there is anything I know for certain, it is that things are not as simple as they appear. I was listening to the news yesterday, NPR to be exact, while driving to yet another thing I had to do, and it was reporting about the French army moving into Mali to fight against the "rebels" who were coming in from the North. Mali is a former French colony. My immediate thought was something is not right in the croissant. Why is France, a European country, concerned about what is happening in Mali, an African country? Could it be because of Mali's rich natural resources? Could that be the reason a lot of European countries are in an all-out-effort to recolonize parts of Africa under the auspices of providing aid, opportunity, or protection from Al Qaeda? Are we still fighting the previous administration's world-wide demonization of all things Islam and their false "war on terror" that includes almost literally everything everywhere. The media is cor...

Why would you do that? The question entered my mind as I was signing my name on the line to file my candidacy for the school board in  my little west suburban community. I have never aspired for political office, although, my late father told me that when I was born, my late mother wrote "Chairman of the Board" on the back of my baby picture.  Prophetic, perhaps? Service has been a part of my middle name for a very long time.  I have mentored youth in my community, volunteered as a tutor, helped kids enjoy summer reading, and lead a group of really innovative little girls in a robotics-focused Brownie troop.   My life, my message, can almost be summed up in my little company's trademark -   Read.Write.Think.Connect. ™.   I moved to my little community in 2007 and while I was still finding my way to the grocery store, was in a community struck by mass violence in 2008.  That one thing catapulted me into the public arena in a way that my simple...

There are so many times I wish I could turn back the clock, redeem a moment, a period of time, slow it down. This feeling is never more true than when it comes to my sons. My firstborn was gone far too soon, he and I still discovering our song, now his essence is in my heart and his memorial is on my end table. The older two sons were raised with an "18 and out" philosophy.  I thought it was my job to prepare them to be men, to be warriors, to take on their mantle and go out into the world.  I wonder if I had them take on too much too soon? My youngest son has barely left the nest and there are moments when I feel like he isn't ready, I'm not finished teaching him yet.  He has been home for the winter holiday break and for the most part has been a hibernating bear.  I look in his room and want to go and fold his clothes like when he was little, forcing myself to back off and let him be the young man he is becoming. I looked into the room of my two daughters...

I greet the New Year with the anticipation and eagerness of a writer staring at a blank page of possibilities! The story I write, the story I read, the story of my year, your year, is yet to be, only a few hours old! How many dreams and wonders are waiting, like the fresh fallen snow, to be enjoyed and discovered. The turning of the clock from December 31, 2012 to January 1, 2013 brings excitement and possibility. My family and I brought in the new year sitting together in our TV room, watching The Lorax, and filled with warmth.  It was better than a big crowd or a bunch of activities, we were together and after all that 2012 was, it indeed was the summation of our year and the promise of the new one. I wish for everyone the wonder of newness, the chance to expand on a dream, to break out the new crayons and open the new pack of paper, to create a tomorrow of your hopes!