South Side writer weighs in on Citizen Illegal a newly released poetry book by José Olivarez

Check out my most recent review on Jose Olivarez's "Citizen Illegal."

South Side writer weighs in on Citizen Illegal a newly released poetry book by José Olivarez

I don't know about you but I'm feeling 22......

For my 22nd birthday, I was lucky enough to explore the American Writers Museum with my friends. Embarrassingly enough, I was late to my own celebration, and although a couple of friends were not able to meet up with us that day, we enjoyed our time with each other nonetheless. As soon as I stepped inside the building, I saw all my friends united and they hugged me despite the fact that I was late. We were all very confused with the levels of the building. Turns out the museum is small and only occupies one floor in that building. There are other offices and even medical facilities which we awkwardly discovered as we were playing with the elevator buttons. Once we got off on the correct floor, we received a friendly welcome. We got in line to purchase our tickets (I messaged everyone beforehand to bring their school ID!). With my Student ID, I paid $8. This is the same admission fee for seniors. Kids are free! So if you know a young one who loves literature, this would be an amazing place to bring them! If you are not a student, senior, or a kid, then regular admission is $12. The museum is opened Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 10-5, and on Thursday from 10-8. If you want more information click here.

Right after we paid, there was a wall of complimentary bookmarks. Truth is, I grabbed more than one bookmark. It was so hard to choose among many writers! There were bookmarks of Hemingway, Dickinson, Thoreau, Fitzgerald, just to name a few. I'm a sucker for bookmarks, and I was even more excited as I explored the museum and found out that I was able to personalize my own bookmark! (it was e-mailed to me and I had to print it out. I chose Sylvia Plath books in case you're curious). One of my favorite things about the museum was the wall of words. There were two projectors by the ceiling that filled the wall with words that created poems and quotes from different writers. I spent a good time chatting with my cousin and my friend while we sat down to watch the wall display change. Below is a picture of me standing next to the wall.

Besides the wall, I loved how interactive the museum was. It was like a literary "museum of science and industry" for adults, but of course, kids would enjoy this museum too. They actually have a section dedicated to children's books. We had so much fun playing a "madlibs-style" poetry game, in which we had to guess the words in a poem. That game had my favorite poem, "One Art" by Elizabeth Bishop. I learned that day that I do not know the poem well enough, unfortunately. We took the most pictures at the section where they had the old-fashioned typewriters and the modern ones (a laptop). Below is a picture of me pretending to write but actually trying to figure out how to work that typewriter.

I joked with my friends that if I was a writer back then, I would have given up already. There were different styles of typewriters and I struggled with each one. If anyone that works at the museum is reading this, please put instructions next to the typewriters! At the top,^ some of my friends have figured out how to use the typewriter. One of my friends wrote a poem about my birthday and another one wrote a poem to his girlfriend.

To tell you the truth, it was not until college that I realized that there are people in this world that are like me. When I was in high school, I was the weird kid who read psychology and philosophy and would join the drama club every year. But now I have friends who might not share all my interests but have a strong appreciation for literature. I have friends who I can yell "BAE!" with when we see Gwendolyn Brooks (who was in the museum and very much deserved to be there), and friends who I can talk about confessional poetry to and will not get annoyed or weirded out. I'm finally 22 and I have wonderful friends who support my writing goals and are on their own literary journey as well. That being said, if you have a friend who reads, you have a friend worth keeping.

Trying Thai food for the first time!

Two Friday's ago, I hung out with one of my fellow college graduate friends. Before we met up, we were texting each other back and forth on what we should eat. I told my friend that I had never tried Thai food. We looked up different places and came to the conclusion that we should go to Silver Spoon. Before we headed to the restaurant, we chatted for a while inside the Holy Name Cathedral (the setting for one of my short stories.) I sent pictures of the organ to one of my best friends who is a pianist (the main character of the story is a pianist/organist- and is based on her). My friend and I felt comfortable as we were observing the beauty of the Cathedral. We were not the only ones there, people were setting up for a ceremony and there was a man praying as well. It's nice to know that this cathedral is open and welcoming.

The outside of the Cathedral is beautiful. This photo does NOTgive it justice. I felt the need to take pictures outside  (haha). 

That day was rainy but we got to the restaurant just before it started to rain hard. The place was small and there were a couple of people there for it being a Friday. The food I had which is the first to be seen above was the Pad See Eiw which had noodles with chicken and egg, and Chinese broccoli and bean sprouts. I had the spring rolls for an appetizer and my friend had the fried tofu appetizer. The appetizer and noodles were together for the lunch special which was $8.95, a really great deal! I do hope to come back to this place and try different noodles!

Here is a link to the menu if anyone is interested: http://www.silverspoonchicago.com/menu.html

Macaron Class!

On January 8 2017, I learned how to make macarons! I made them but they weren't perfect. Actually, they looked like blue macarons with unicorn horns sticking out. It was my first time making them so of course, they were going to be imperfect. I wouldn't say I failed at making macarons, in fact, on the contrary, I learned a new skill. That is, a skill I will need to work on.

Now here's a little review of that day: I remember it being a rainy and cold day, but the place where I took the Macaron class was very warm and cozy, and very decorated! I mean I kept on getting distracted sometimes during the class because there was so much to look at! There were posters of macarons and different pastries and of course there were lots of Paris and French decorations as well. I remember seeing Marie Antoinette many times. My sister and I were early to the class but as we waited, we saw a couple come in as well and another woman by herself. So it was all five of us taking that class. Here is a picture of what was already prepared on the table for us: 

Overall, I enjoyed the class and so did my sister. The instructor was wonderful and informative with every step of the process. Although the directions were on the packet, I took lots of notes because I always need to be very specific with everything I do. So even though the macarons did not turn out perfect, my sister and I learned our mistakes! And gladly I have it in a picture, We were supposed to let the macaron flatten out instead of leaving it with it's "unicorn horns." 

If anything, I do recommend this beginning macaron class! It lasted 2 hours and we got batches of macarons in the end (mainly because a couple did not show up so we used their materials as well and got extra macarons!) so make sure to show up to the class! I paid a total of $150, it was $75 per person. Originally the class is $85 but using Coursehorse.com I received a discount! So I recommend using Coursehorse for signing up for classes. 

The website for Give Me Some Sugar is: https://givesugar.com/

I miss Quiche!/ Magnetic Poetry

I'm the President of the Creative Writing Club at my University and on Saturday, three club members and I went to the Chicago History Museum. This was the first time I create the club's first off-campus event and the first time I've been to that museum. The main exhibit we wanted to see was the "Chicago Authored" exhibit. There was a board full of magnetic words. Anyone was able to write poetry using the limited amount of words that was there, this is the poem I came up with! I had so much fun, although it was challenging creating a poem with a couple of words that are available. 

After hours at the museum, we stopped by to "Le Pain Quotidien" where I ordered Quiche Lorraine, It was delicious, although the quiche portion was quite small for what I paid for. The dressing of the salad was delicious, I forgot to ask the waiter what the dressing was called. 

After eating at the restaurant, I met up with my mother and my sister downtown. This was the first time I got on top of a post to have a good view of the parade. I enjoyed watching everyone have their own moments as well!

I have not been out for fun until that day during the weekends because I've been bombarded with homework, Honors projects, exams, and plans after graduation. I guess I've gotten used to staying home so that's why I felt so overwhelmed after being out for one day. By the end, I felt that I survived that day indeed.