If you're talking about flying standby, then the answer is no. Sure, I'll volunteer for all kinds of things: bringing napkins and utensils to parties (not food; I'm sure the guests want to live to see another day); picking people up or driving someone to a destination; taking my sister's place so I can fight some kids for food. …
Throwback Tea-sday.
Look, a cup of tea fixes everything. It's a scientific fact. (It's not, but let's just agree, shall we?) The best part of my day at the OK Corral is getting up from my desk and grabbing a cup of tea at the cafe we have here in the building. Sipping that warm, vanilla-tinged liquid …
Government Names: Random Memory #4
No, I'm still not going to tell you what mine is. Just know that very few people can spell it. By people, I mean most of the young women and men who work behind the counters of Starbucks shops in my area, in other areas, in all the areas in the world. (For the record, …
would you like a magazine?
When I was a teenager, the answer to that question would have been yes, yes, a thousand times, yes. Back then, I was a connoisseur of all things glossy reading materials: the goal was to spend every bit of my pocket money (the African parent's version of allowance) on any magazine I could feast my eyes …
relax…relate…release…
This past weekend, I had a much-needed, long-overdue massage. Incidentally, one of my former masseuses mentioned that I should be doing these once a month. As lovely as that sounds, since Idris hasn't yet proposed, my income just doesn't allow for that yet. But with the increase in my exercise regimen (I've joined the back-to-back …
Honorable Mentions.
Sometimes in life, people, strangers, pass through and offer us what we need at the right time. Whether it's a smile, a seat on the train, or offering you half of their sandwich because they caught you eyeing it on an airplane and heard your belly grumbling angrily and likely wanted to avoid some type of violence (true …
[Pardon the Interruption]…
...But I'd like to deviate from the daily Parisian round-up and share my new poem with you. Enjoy. Birthright Before I could even learn to appreciate you, I was desperate to shrug you off, this mantle that clung to the nuances of my dark skin like birthplaces and legacies. You were the mirror I was ready to turn …
shopgirl?
I don't know what it is about entering a store and looking through racks of clothes and trying them on that fills me with pre-root canal-esque queasiness, fear, and disdain. Most of my friends hear my "I detest shopping" complaint and are shocked that my recent weight loss didn't translate into a complete change in mindset, …
Rallying.
In high school, I loved pep rallies. There was something electric about all of us gathered in the gym, screaming for the basketball team or the football team and the loud music and the cheerleaders and all of that. Never mind that in four years of high school (and college, too), I never attended one …
The Mild African Woman.
My name is This Square Peg, I am an African Woman, and I cannot eat spicy foods. {Moment of silence} It's weird, right? That when I eat anything spicy I see my life flashing before my eyes? It's been like this since I was a wee lass. (Apparently, I'm also Irish.) I have memories of my …
This Square Peg. 