The Gloom of Bloom.

Ahh yes! Late bloomers unite! Later for Johnny..SHELLEY come lately they'll say to those who arrive after the bell rings! Yes, I am a late bloomer. I didn't hit puberty til I was 13, I barely kissed a boy at 16, and I still have a baby face and baby hair. But it hasn't crippled me-NOOOOO! I find all the humor in the world in being asked "where's your pass?" or "Where do you think you're going?!" When I walk the halls of the school where I work. Oh! Oh! Oh! or how about eating in the teacher's lounge with you and then having you ask me in the hall the next day, "Why aren't you in class?" For the last time, I WORK HERE YOU ASS WIPE! AND why are you staring at my ass?! Ooh! Ohh! ohh! it doesn't stop there, what about that beggin' ass lady who lives down the hall who knocked on my door to ask for a cup of sugar, and when I answered asked to speak to the lady of the house? Bitch I am the lady of the house! Yes There's nothing I love more than to be constantly underestimated because YOU'RE an idiot. Just accept that YES I am THIS and THAT. I am multifacited and could possibly be better at YOUR job than YOU. So word to the wise if you don't wish to be called an old hag, then I suggest you don't call me a young buck. Recognize what I bring to the table and judge me on THAT.

Respect my hustle BEEEITCH.

In the Morning Light

shhh...

I have all these thoughts echoing in my mind. I wish I could sleep. 11, 12, 1, 2...
When my hair is like this I get all nervous from winding it back and forth. So much my wrist hurts. I am great during the day working and bursting with ideas, so much so that I fear the end of the day's arrival. There's so much work to be done. I'm grateful for every next day.

It'd be nice to have someone like him, only not him..to put his hand on top of mine and calm the erradic heartbeat inside me and to give balance to the weight of my thoughts cuz thank God; we share a common vision. and shit, just for the simple fact of knowing someone else is there.

or if only I would drink the tea.

or if only I would trust.

or if only....and if only and and and and and and and and and and and and and

shhhhhhhhhhhh

hush child I can't hear the silence.

damn

Home.

Moving is OH SO STRESSFUL. I am DONE finally. I am ready to put up pictures and make my house a home. =) sigh. I am back in the community where I grew up. I am glad to be back in the city. I love the sounds. I love the people and the kids all up and down the block. I love the street ball and bar-b-ques and braiding hair on the front steps.

I am so grateful for the direction in which my life is going. It has been somewhat of a slow process,but if it was written; then I am right where I am suppose to be. All praises be to Allah.

I'm back up in that thang!

HOLLA HOLLA SCHOLAR!

S.P.E.A.C. Celebrates: The Listening Session Project

I guess this is as good a time as any to remind you (or inform you if you don't already know):

SPEAC and Hope Community present: Listening Sessions, The Findings. Come one and all to hear, listen and share in a community discussion about what’s really going on in the Twin Cities! SPEAC members spoke with over 200 young people from all over the metro area about what is important to them. We took notes, sifted through the info, and gathered the themes. What are the youth of Minneapolis and St. Paul saying about their communities? What do you have to say? Come and share your ideas about the next steps we need to take to bring the Twin Cities to a bigger and brighter future!

[Wednesday March 19th 5:00-7:30pm. For more info or to RSVP e-mail or call Kristy Clemons: kristy@hope-community.org, 612-435-1683]

BE THERE OR BE SQUARE.

YMCA Youth in Government Model United Nations Conference 2008!

Hello all! I am back. I am not fully recovered from my health complications of last week, but I am surely getting there any day now...with that being said I was hard at work this weekend regardless. That's the way the cookie crumbles! So here's some info on the fun I had this weekend. I have to say it helped to be occupied even though I was not well. Check it out!


I have just returned from the 2008 YMCA Model United Nations conference. It was my first year as an advisor and I have to say I absolutely LOVE the program! What a great opportunity to get youth involved in global politics and government. It was a real treat to watch all the students pretty much run the entire conference. They were articulate, and knowledgeable about their countries.

--let me back up for a second for those that don't know...

The Model United Nations Conference is a YMCA Youth in Government program. It gives students the opportunity to participate in a replica of a United Nations General Assembly. Before the conference the students choose a country as a delegation, do research and prepare position papers based on topics chosen by committees as it relates to their country.



At the conference the students caucus with other countries within their assigned committees and once they reach an agreement they write a resolution and forward it to the General Assembly where the other nations will have the opportunity to discuss and debate the resolution. Then all of the nations vote and the resolution will either pass or fail. The general assembly, and all of the councils and committees are run by trained students, although there are certain age/grade requirements for different positions (president of the GA, secretariats, council members...) you only need be in 7-12th grade to participate as a delegate and the students come from all across the state. Some students have moved out of town and continue to come back every year to participate in the program.

I have to say I was EXTREMELY impressed with how the students handled themselves, their dedication to the program and their ability and desire to take on the actual role of representing their countries; the amount of time and research that is put in, is just PHENOMENAL! I am proud and honored to have been an Advisor this year and look forward to next year's conference!

I encourage any and of of you who read this to check out the link (at the top) if you are interested in starting a delegation at your local YMCA, School, or community center and/or to learn more about this and other Youth in Government programs.

out of commission...

Cats look so peaceful when they sleep. They get the kind of sleep us humans could only dream of (ironically lol) I wanna sleep like them for just one night.ohhhhh... well I am out of commission right now. I haven't been keeping track of much. My body's going through crazy changes right now.

so if you have wriiten me, e-mailed me, called me and didn't get an answer don't worry...

you're not the only one.

lol.

Don't worry, I shall return. WITH A VENGENCE! lol. (cough cough)

peace out ninjas Hiyaa!

Tenpu Txuba...

N sta kasabi. Fika ku sodadi sol y agu.

N kre nada na bo, y kola ku bo.

Brevimenti, N vontadi.

Tenpu Txuba...ba lonji.

Hello World...

Hello fellow bloggers!

I'm Shelley. My friends call me shells. If you look at my profile you will notice that I have been here for some time. Along with my membership to the Liberator weblog (check it!) I used to actually have an active blog here.

...buuuuut I ended up starting one elsewhere with all of my writings. This blog will also contain some writings here and there, but mostly it will be focused on a day in the life of yours truly. So really anything could show up on here =)

Anyway so I'm back. So check back often and see what's new...leave comments...ask questions.

I'll be here.

btw--unlike my previous blog, the first post to this blog is entirely in Kriolu. I am Capeverdean,



and with the passing of my grandmother when I was 14; the language has seeped it's way out of my family's daily lives, so I am trying to teach myself in order to keep it alive. This means you will probably see a lot of it here.

that's it for now. Check out my profile for other details..

ta-ta for now folks! =)

on time.

Getting up early in morning puts God on your mind.There's a quiet you don't get when you lazily drag yourself out of bed--

at

10

am

people

are moving, cars honking, voices blaring, TV's talking...it's the sound of loose conversation. everyone and anyone's words all at once.But at 5am it's quiet in my house.It's cold and crispy outside. No foot prints. Just cold.The lights on my Christmas tree provide a warmth until the sun rises and wakes up the rest of the world. But I am already up. a step ahead. With God on my mind.

have you

have you ever laughed and cried real hard at the same time? had all of your emotions fighting for a space on your face? last night I felt overwhelmed. Trying to prepare for this important job interview today & Thinkin about decisions made in one realm of my life versus decisions made in another. knowing that everything is everything and that soon all of them would come to affect one another. I must be strategic. I wished for my granny. I wished to lay my head in her lap. I cried. I took from a drawer a cassette tape, one of my prized possessions retrieved from the dust of the firey aftermath 6 years ago. It was a tape she made me on my 13th birthday. I lay on the floor in my quiet apartment alone. The tape blared with voices of our childhood. Voices of our home. Where there was always someones company to enjoy and be annoyed by. there was a kind of innocence and security, cause who would have figured we'd turn out like this. Good and bad. I cried some more. We were just having a birthday party, and we just all happened to live in one house, and we just all happened to be poor, and we just all happened to be happy underneath it all. I laughed. and it just all happens so fast and to be so close and yet so far away. She connected us all. sometimes we whisper about her, we say "mecca mecca, 10-4", "kunfiada", "fastentu", "deus ba ku bo"-God go with you. "remember when we was little and grandma Dona` used to......." I wish I could have known her as a woman. I miss her. When she died a little piece of all of us went with her. When our house collapsed in the heat a little piece of my childhood went with it. A dichotomy the tape brings back to me everytime I hear it. but now I'm a grown up girl in a grown up world. Living and making my own decisions. I am okay. moments like that are bittersweet. brought peace and chaos simultaneously. I laughed and cried real hard at the same time. you know what they say...."joyyyyyyyy and pain, sunshiiiiiiiiine and rain!" lol *exhale*