09.05.10: Doming Newsbytes...

We hope you are unwinding and indulging on a lazy Labor Day weekend! This week I had the opportunity to sit down and lunch with Sylvia Puente, Executive Director of Latino Policy Forum, at the Park City Grill in beautiful Millennium Park. We took a moment for ourselves and over iced tea reflected how hectic the year has been.  Slowing down requires extra effort to squeeze it into busy schedules and sometimes you need to bring everything to a screeching halt to maintain your sanity. If you are a hyper-busy Latina what do you do to catch your breath? Speaking of Latinas...

08.29.10 Domingo Newsbytes...

Since mid-summer I’ve had my mind on September because with it comes the culmination of two wonderful and exciting projects.  Consider this your official invitation to come out and join me, so, mark your calendar for the second weekend in September to enjoy two events that promise to be a ton of fun–and if we’ve never met, maybe now’s the time to come over and say hello. Friday, 09.10.10: Vida Breve, opening night celebrations for the annual Day of the Dead exhibit at the NMMA, there will be an altar by El Stitch y Bitch honoring our crafty...

08.22.10 Domingo Newsbytes...

Photo via MeanlittleBumbleBee We had a fantastic Proyecto Latina this past week at Catedral Café featuring guest curator Sandra Treviño who decided to spotlight some Latina artists she was very excited about including:  Elizabeth Colin of Grupo Atroz, Mariel “La Gitana” Zavala, the women of bomba group Buya.  For a full recap we encourage you to read MeanLittleBumbleBee’s blog. Next month, in light of a special program, we are having an opening night for our first featured visual artists–also our first featured artists via an art exhibit– we will be...

08.15.10 Domingo Newsbytes...

Ever since my mom pointed it out in a norteña song long ago I’ve been smitten with the accordion.  I happened to mention this to Sandra Treviño earlier this year, when I first sat down with her to explore the way in which we could feature her on the Proyecto Latina platform .  Her eyes lit up and she expressed an affinity for the instrument as well.  For now I’m going to live vicariously through her since she’s about to embark on learning how to play it–this was one of the factoids that emerged when I hung out with her earlier this week.  She...

08.08.10: Domingo Newsbytes…...

Photo credit: Lea Nuñez On Friday I strolled over to the Tejer y Poder showcase put together by students of the six-week program led by our very own Irasema Gonzalez and Thelma Uranga at at Dvorak Park in the Pilsen neighborhood. The program consisted of 30 students, both teenage girls and boys, coming together to learn to knit, crochet, and work collectively on fiber arts and learn that both can be used a form of art and protest. I was blown away by the effort the students put into their projects. It made me reflect on the wonderful things that happen when you give kids...

08.01.10 Domingo Newsbytes...

“They’ve towed my car with Chisme Box in the trunk!”  That was the alarmed text I sent Diana and Coya on Wednesday afternoon when I walked out of work and discovered that street parking had been restricted due to a neighborhood festival and I had missed the (minute) signage in the morning.  Both stepped in like champions, you see I was due at the  Guild Complex’s, B.Y.O.P event.  Proyecto Latina had an invitation to present with Dancing Girl Press. While I navigated a huge dusty yard of impounded cars, in my brand new sandals, trying to recover...

7.25.10 Domingo Newsbytes...

Cast of Thirst: Left-To-Right: Claudia Martinez, Josie Dykas front Diane Herrar and Diana Pando in the back I woke up this morning  reflecting on this week  and I can’t help but be blown away by the amazing amount of Latina talent and creativity that is emerging. Here are some quick highlights: This week our reading series was packed over at Café Catedral. Folks got to see our feature writer Cristina Correa read her work and hear some new emerging Latina talent during the open mic portion like Awilda Gonzalez and Laura Nuñez. Later during the week, I had the...

07.18.10 Domingo Newsbytes...

Last week Diana lamented that summer is passing her by much too quickly.  I’m glad to report that she’s managing to get some fun into her schedule. I got to catch up with her yesterday when she invited me to join her for the Goodman’s Latino Theater Festival’s reading of El Nogalar by Tanya Saracho. Afterward we strolled down to Millenium Park and enjoyed a beautiful summer afternoon sipping cocktails and people watching.   We caught up with our perspective projects and I realized that our crew of women is a busy bunch this summer. Thelma...

07.11.10 Domingo Newsbytes...

In the last week I’ve had a few folks tell me that “summer is over”. How can I have missed summer? This can’t possibly be true, summer isn’t over. It reminded me that we need to be in the “now” to truly enjoy summer. It also dawned on me that between presentations, emails, texts,  phone calls and Facebook I haven’t been doing anything fun. Like most hyper-busy Latinas we get caught up in the hustle and bustle of our work and family life. So, I decided to be spontaneous and I went to the “Memory of Fire”...

07.04.10 Domingo Newsbytes...

This Domingo Newsbytes is brought to you by the letter I.  The words independence and irony are resonating for me right now.  I know most of us are in holiday mode so I’m gonna keep it short and sweet. In Bioshock, a role playing video game my husband played last spring, your character is  left to survive in an underwater city, one of the merits you earn as you fight your way through the game is a badge of irony.  When I first saw this I got a kick out of it.  I first learned irony from my mom, as I was growing up she loved to point it out in an array of...