11th Post GIVEAWAY

This is my 11th post!  WooHoo!  So, to celebrate and drum up some readers, I'm having a giveaway!  One lucky winner will win a free book! Here are the details and directions...

Anyone over 18 and living anywhere in the world can enter.  You have three chances to enter...

1.  Read something. Leave a comment with your name.

2.  Click the follow button to become a follower of my blog and then leave a comment letting me know that you follow.  If you are already a follower, then you can leave that in your comment.

3.  Visit and follow me on twitter @Dr_Pendergrass (while you are there visit and follow the program I teach in @TLUS_Vanderbilt)

Please do not put all of this in one comment.  Leave at least 2 separate comments.  The winner will be chosen using random.org on Tuesday, May 1 2012. I will message the winner and mail him/her a great read.

Yay for the end of the spring semester!  And Happy Reading!

P.S. I stole most of the framework for this giveaway from my long-time friend, Angie. Since you are blogging and tweeting today check her out at Life with Ike http://ang4332.blogspot.com/ and @ang4332. Her jewelry is amazing!

Poem in my (virtual) Pocket Day

So in honor of Poem in My Pocket Day, I'm wearing my favorite pair of jeans today. However, this is not a picture of my back pocket, but I didn't want you to feel that you missed out on the pocket part of poem in my pocket.

Enjoy!

Simile by Billy Collins

When he told me he expected me to pay for dinner,

I was like, “Give me a break.”

I was not the exact equivalent of give me a break;

I was just similar to give me a break.

As I said, “I was like give me a break.”

I would love to tell you how I approximate give me a break

without being identical to give me break,

but the best I can come up with is I was aware of a certain similarity

between me and “give me break.”

And that was ok with me at that point in the evening,

even if it meant I would fall short of standing up from the table,

and screaming, “Give me a break. For god’s sake will you please give me a break?”

No, for that moment with the rain streaking the restaurant windows

and the waiter approaching, the most I felt like I could be

was like to a certain degree

“Give me a break.”

If you want to here Billy Collins, himself, read the poem click here. He's a Poet Laurette two times over and is a great reader.

Pull Your Skirt Down

As many of you know, I went to Las Vegas for a teaching conference at the end of February. And you know the saying, "What happens in Vegas; stays in Vegas." Well, I am breaking the rule because I want to shout to the mountaintops, "GIRLS, have some respect for yourselves." 


Apparently, I missed the memo for proper Vegas attire since I was wearing jeans, ballet flats, and blouse under a pea coat. Walking down the ever popular strip, my mother gene joined my teacher gene, and I desperately wanted to walk around covering up young girls who had made the choice to walk around outside in the freezing cold basically naked. I wanted to pull out my ruler and measure their skirts and admonish them for them for wearing skirts shorter than three inches above the knee. Or at the very least their skirts needed to be longer than their fingertips. Sincerely, I worried about them; I wanted to do something to help. But what?  I had no power or authority over these girls (just in case you were wondering, these were not working girls, which is legal in Vegas, but tourists dressed for some occasion). So what did I do?  I left the Strip! 


Yes, I walked away feeling dirty and helpless. Back in the comfort of my hotel room, I began reading up on what makes Vegas, Vegas. hm... Double the police force of Nashville and Atlanta combined (with the same amount of people). Legal prostitution. Incurring debt. Drunk teenagers. High levels of homelessness. Doesn't sound like a great tourist locale to me. 


So back to the original reason for the post:
1. Girls, wear skirts/shirts/clothes that protect your body.
2. Girls, if you want to be considered a lady, dress like one.
3. Girls, decide to be considered a lady and follow #1 and #2.