Every Day is Magic: Ada Limón

In her 2015 collection, Bright Dead Things, a National Book Award finalist for poetry, Ada Limón writes of moving to Kentucky: “Confession: I did not want to live here.” It’s perhaps not a surprising sentiment coming from a coastally oriented person who was raised in Northern California, attended college in Seattle, and then spent over a decade in New York City.

 

But Limón and her husband, Lucas, have been in Lexington for seven years now and the effects of settling into this place are noticeable in her new book, The Carrying (Milkweed, Aug.). It’s a phenomenally lively and attentive collection replete with the trappings of living a little closer to nature. While Bright Dead Things is marked by a preponderance of light, such as images of fireflies and neon signs, The Carrying features numerous appearances by various trees, birds, and beetles. Limón also demonstrates a greater willingness to be explicit in naming colors, particularly green. “It’s crazy green, the whole book,” she says. “Lexington is the greenest place I’ve ever lived.” Similarly, where in Bright Dead Things, Limón tells a lot of stories and anecdotes, in The Carrying she is very present in her thoughts and experiences.

As it turns out, these shifts in focus have another, altogether unexpected source. While putting Bright Dead Things together, Limón was diagnosed with chronic vestibular neuronitis, which can cause bouts of vertigo. “If I’m really having vertigo, it’s pretty intense and I really have to focus,”
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David Ramirez, Attorney at Law

David Ramirez in his officeDavid M. Ramirez, since 2010, is of Counsel with the Sacramento bankruptcy law firm of Anthony Hughes, LLC.  He earned his Bachelor of Arts and Doctor of Jurisprudence degrees at Stanford University.  He has had two successful careers.  His current work builds on his first career as a dedicated legal professional with more than twenty years of legal experience, including more than 30 jury trials, over 100 bench trials, as well as significant appellate experience and administrative law experience [Published opinion in  De La Cuesta vs. Fidelity Federal Savings and Loan Assoc, (1981) 121 Cal. App. 3d 328 (175 Cal.Rptr. 467)].  He has litigated more than 20 administrative proceedings, including professional licensee hearings, one of which lasted more than 40 court days.  He is highly skilled at dealing with diverse client and witness populations.  As a team member, he is willing to go the extra mile to accomplish the mission set for the team.  When in a leadership role, his leadership style is to take care of the team while the team takes care of the mission.

Prior to joining the Hughes firm, David M. Ramirez also had an encore career in educational management.  He recently retired from the California educational system after having served as a teacher and administrator in some of the nations toughest inner city schools, Oakland Military Institute, and Calvin Simmons Middle School.  He has contributed to the Mexican American Community by his work on the admissions committee for Oakland Military Institute where he promoted the admission of many Mexican American cadets and by his service as Vice Principal at Calvin Simmons Middle School, which was the only Oakland Middle school in 2005 which had a majority Mexican American student population.  He earned the Association of California School Administrators [ACSA] El Dorado Charter ADMINISTRATOR OF THE YEAR for 2008-2009 ACSA and the El Dorado Charter DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD for 2008-2009.

He also served in California State Military Reserve of the California National Guard, Major, as a Staff Judge Advocate, assigned to 100 the Combat Command Support Group, in 2006-2008, and as infantry officer, California Cadet Corp 2002-04.

David M. Ramirez is the author of “Guerrilla Speech Tactics” available on Amazon.com and has dedicated half of all book proceeds to the Wounded Warriors Project.


  

Poem
“…And would it have been worth it, after all,
Would it have been worth while,
After the sunsets and the dooryards and the sprinkled streets,
After the novels, after the teacups, after the skirts that trail along the floor—
And this, and so much more?—
It is impossible to say just what I mean!
But as if a magic lantern threw the nerves in patterns on a screen:
Would it have been worth while…”

T.S. Eliot
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

Mexican American Proarchive Annual Report for 2022

The American Community Survey is an annual survey administered by the federal government to help local officials and community leaders and businesses understand the changes that take place in their communities. It includes percentages of our population’s graduate school attainment and the employment of Mexican Americans in various occupations.  These important factors influence the allocation of federal resources. Mexican American Proarchives uses the data provided by the American Community Survey to better understand how Mexican Americans compare to the general population.

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