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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Mexican-American-Proarchive.Com Is Proud To Announce The Best Occupations For Mexican American Professionals During This Decade

Mexican American Pro Archives (https://www.mexican-american-proarchive.com) is proud to announce the best occupations for Mexican American professionals during this decade.

The U.S. Bureaus of Labor Statistics has listed occupations with the largest job growth. This data as compared with the latest American Community Survey for 2012 shows the following results.

Here is a selected list of professional workers with their percentage growth for the years 2010 to 2020.

The American Community survey has consistently showed during the past three years that Mexican Americans are making good progress in Business, Science and Art occupations. Their numbers have moved from 16.2% in 2010 to 16.6% for the year of 2012. These numbers still pale in comparison to the general population which grew from 35.9% in 2010 to 39.6% in 2012. Nonetheless, there is progress and that is always welcome.

Listed below are listed some of the occupations that the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects as having the largest job growth for the years of 2010 to 2020:

  • Medical Assistants will grow by 30.9%
  • Physicians and Surgeons will grow by 24.4%
  • Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses will grow by 22.4%
  • Registered Nurses will grow by 14.3%
  • In addition the latest American Community Survey showed that College and/or Graduate School Enrollment has continued to grow from 16.8% in 2010 to 18.2% in 2012. This percentage is growing at a faster rate than the general population which grew from 28.3% in 2010 to 28.8% in 2012

Some of the jobs that the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that could be filled my Mexican American Professionals include:

  • Postsecondary Teachers will grow by 17.4%
  • Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education will grow by 16.8%
  • Accountants and Auditors will grow by 15.7%
  • First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers will grow by 14.3%


  

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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