Patricia Thomas's Blog
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Mar.06.2013
I am currently disabled, due to a bicycle accident. As I move around the world slowly, I have noticed that not only do I view the world differently, but the world (other people) views me differently. There are basically three categories of how people view me with my disability....
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Feb.23.2013
I’m no stranger to being disabled. I’ve had hip replacements and arthroscopic knee surgery. And here I sit with a broken arm after having fallen off my bicycle a few weeks ago. Aren’t I too old to fall off my bicycle? Isn’t that a “kid” thing? Apparently...
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Feb.20.2013
A couple of weeks ago, I took a spill on my bicycle. I came to a steep hill. “Should I walk my bike down or ride down?” My inner voice said, “Walk down. You might fall.” But I did not listen. “I can do it. It will be fun.” The old push and pull of...
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Jan.02.2013
On New Year's Eve my husband and I ate dinner at a restaurant right on the beach here in Maui, Hawaii. As soon as it got dark, children, teenagers, and families started shooting off fireworks in the sand right on the beach in front of us. It was a fireworks extravaganza....
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Dec.22.2012
Since today was beautiful, sunny and almost warm, I decided to take my bicycle out for a spin on the horse trail near my house. It’s as close to the “country” as you can get in my suburban town outside Los Angeles. When my kids were little, we often walked down the trail to feed the...
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Dec.20.2012
My dishwasher blew up last week. That night ( rather that morning at 3:00am) my little poodle, Willy, started barking up a storm. The little squirt would not shut up. So my husband got up to investigate. Two minutes later he came back to the bedroom and said, “You better get...
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Dec.18.2012
I had decided that we wouldn’t get a tree this year. I had lots of good excuses, I mean reasons. It’s late; it’s too much work; then we have to take it down. Yesterday, I pitched this idea to my grown son who is home for the holidays and he said, “No Christmas tree! But we...
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Dec.10.2012
One of the rules I try to live by is to learn something new every day. It keeps life interesting and full of surprises. I love surprises. I’m sharing the lessons I learned in the Writing Center today with you. Maybe one of them will click with you.
First I learned about...
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Nov.30.2012
One of the best parts of my job as a college English professor is working in the Writing Center. Students from all areas of the campus come for help. It's like working in the United Nations. Last week I had the privilege to work with a young man from Iran who was working on...
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Nov.26.2012
Yesterday I was getting ready for my writing class this week, perusing documentaries I could show my students. I innocently went to a site that beckoned me: documentary lovers. "That's for me," I thought. I clicked on what I thought was a list of the documentary...
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Nov.23.2012
I'm spending Thanksgiving weekend in San Francisco with my family. Dinner last night at my brother and sister's-in-law was spectacular--turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, pecan pie, and red velvet cake, a Southern favorite. Plus all the champagne and wine you could drink. Everyone...
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Nov.21.2012
I wrote two weeks ago about my poodle, Willie, being attacked by a pit bull, Hugo. Animal Control came out and took our statement then, but said they could not really do anything unless he attacked other dogs! I had heard Hugo attacked another dog down the street, so I walked down and asked...
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Nov.17.2012
I teach writing at a community college. Last week I worked with a student in the Writing Center who came for help with a problem solving essay. She was allowed to choose an issue to write about from her local community or our campus. "Keep it local," her instructor had...
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Nov.12.2012
When I was in New Orleans, I bought a voodoo doll for a friend. Voodoo is popular in New Orleans, along with fortune telling. West African captives brought the practice to Louisiana when it was a French colony. Their culture was based on spirits and revering their ancestors....
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Nov.04.2012
During my last visit to New Orleans,directly across from our hotel, was a tea shop with a big blue chipped tea cup sign, which announced that they sold tea. The shop was called “Bottom of the Tea Cup.” Much more interesting to me was the small print at the bottom of the tea cup. “...
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"The biggest myth about Southern women is that we are frail types--fainting on our sofas...nobody where I grew up every acted like that. We were about as fragile as coal trucks." --Lee Smith ”
About Patricia
I am a born and bred Southern woman who now lives, teaches, and writes in California. I have taught every level of education--elementary, junior high, high school, college, university and graduate school and currently teach writing at a community...
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Causes Patricia Thomas Supports
Room to Read, UNICEF, Kiva, Save the Children, Pencils of Promise
Patricia’s Favorite Books
The House of the Spirits, Eva Luna
Patricia is a fan of
