***TW: rape, sexual assault, PTSD *** Despite living in D.C., I am still finding it difficult to get a letter to my former senator. To be completely candid, that is in part due to the fact the submission form on his website limits my character count. My objection to Senator John Boozman's support of Brett... Continue Reading →
***TW: anxiety, disordered eating, self-harm*** In kindergarten, I was recurrently tossed off the top of a five-foot slide by the same boy while his friends watched. Relief did not come when the principal intervened, but rather when the boy finally moved away. I re-visited that school this past summer while substitute teaching. The same playground... Continue Reading →
Over the past few months, I have noted that in the process of keeping up with legislation and policy, I haven't taken a moment to write a personal blog post. While the aforementioned activities are entertaining, I aim to not spend ALL my time with my nose in a bill book. Just most of it. Finding... Continue Reading →
Hello everyone, After last night, I am taking a short break from writing and social media. For those that have encouraged my writing and discussions in the past, I want to say thank you. I don’t know if I can fully express how much that means to me. When I say it keeps me going,... Continue Reading →
Tonight is opening night for Jonesboro High School Speech and Drama's production, EAT (It’s Not About Food). As someone who has been out of high school for five years now, it may seem a little odd for me to be posting about such an event. Off the top of my head, I can’t say if I... Continue Reading →
It has been a month or so since I penned my XOJane article, “Street Harassment Forced Me to Stop Playing Pokémon Go.” I consider it to be a successful article- not because everyone agreed with it (they didn’t), but because it spurred a conversation that I had dabbled with in the past but never really... Continue Reading →
We are about halfway through our long trek back to the South. In the past few days, we have gazed at the Grand Canyon, ogled the Painted Desert, and backtracked through the Petrified Forest National Park. All this was done with cat and dog in tow. Traveling with pets isn’t something that is new to us. We... Continue Reading →
This weekend I pulled out a ruler, a tape measure, and graph paper. After an hour or so, I had a list of the furniture we were transporting to Arkansas, the dimensions of each piece, and a scale model of the U-Haul shipping container I rented. As I sketched a layout to determine the most... Continue Reading →
My sexual assault occurred on a street by a bookstore. When I talk about it, I never discuss if I was drinking that night. I do not tell people what I was wearing. I do not comment on my past sex life. I do not mention any of those things because they do not matter.... Continue Reading →
Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson has surprised me throughout his term with some of his legislative decisions, in both positive and negative ways. Arkansas state Senator Jason Rapert, however, has stayed true to form and only ever surprises me when he is threatening someone with a weapon on Twitter. Today Senator Rapert shared a letter he received... Continue Reading →
Expositions 