Author: TheSecretLifeOfPandas

Writer, dancer, complainer, cheese enthusiast, Karaoke Queen, lover of doges & hopeless romantic. I have magic hair that glows when I sing.
“This is a Blue Line Train to O’hare”

“This is a Blue Line Train to O’hare”

by TheSecretLifeOfPandas ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

It’s 10 am on a week day and I’m the same train I take to work, only by this time I’m more than an hour late and I’m skipping the second to last stop on this train for the last stop on the line.

I’ve lived all of my life in this city and I’ve never actually taken the train to O’hare with the intention of getting on a plane and going somewhere else. 

When my friends and I were in high school we thought it was fun for some reason to take the blue line all the way to the airport and then back.

Good Lord, why are we such dorks as teenagers?

My usual stop is next and I’m so happy to not be gathering my things right now and making my way to the doors. Instead I get to sit here with my incredibly well packed carry-on and wave goodbye as we pass up the suburb I spend every day working in the exciting international shiiping industry, and take my happy self to security gate (because I checked in online) and board a plane for beautiful Miami.

I dropped my spoon

I dropped my spoon

by TheSecretLifeOfPandas ♥ 13 Comments

And I’m seriously considering just using it anyway to eat my pudding.

That’s right ladies and gentlemen, I have a pudding snack in my lunch. Because when you’re a grown up you can have whatever you’d like.

*note* I totally used it and ate my pudding. It was delicious.

My coworkers are being entertained by an app called Rando.

If you’re like me, you’ve never heard of the app before I mentioned it.

It’s an app which allows you to take a photograph of whatever is around you and send it to any person in the world (who has the app as well) at random.

It seems fun, I have yet to download it because, well, I don’t care enough to.

I’m feeling icky and I seem to have a strange case of the blues.

Tomorrow there is no work to be done.

Thank God.

Aside

Xanga Writer’s Spotlight–

by TheSecretLifeOfPandas ♥ 8 Comments

So this was posted on Xanga and I thought I’d share it here cuz some of you aren’t on Xanga anymore. In case you are there and you want to go over there and rec it here’s the link— Xanga Writer’s Spotlight

And the Xangan in this month’s spotlight is…

@thesecretlifeofpandas !

 

Her Favorite Piece:  I loved this, I wrote it for a scavenger hunt…a lot of my favorite things were products of the scavenger hunts. Scavenger Hunt II 33  and if you’ll bear with me, this one too: Scavenger Hunt II Numero 20 

1)    When did you first become a member of Xanga?

I started my first blog December 1, 2003. Kastlerulz.xanga.com. Everyone in my tiny school had one. I cannot remember why I started it exactly or who told me about it, but it was a thing so I jumped on that bandwagon and never looked back.

I made my first post as the secret life of pandas on January 20, 2005.

2)    How did you begin writing? What inspired you? Who inspired you?

I guess it started with bedtime stories. I come from a family of avid readers. My parents and my sisters would read to me all the time. I fell in love with the written word. I fell in love with telling stories.

In first grade, I was part of the bilingual program, briefly, at my elementary school and due to the encouragement of a counselor,  I entered the young author’s contest (http://www.illinoisreadingcouncil.org/yac.html) with a story called “A Day Without a Friend.”  I wrote it because one of my neighborhood friends had moved away and I was upset about it.

Kiddie coping mechanism.

I won 1st place at my school and was invited to go to the state conference and accept my award.

It was at the age of seven that I decided I wanted to write.

3)    What’s the meaning behind your Xanga username?

I heard about the book “The Secret Life of Bees” and thought “The Secret Life of Pandas” was funnier. I was also tired of Kastlerulz. I figured a blog should have a clever name. Kastle rulz seemed a bit egotistical.

4)    Who’s your favorite author/poet/writer? Why?

It’s so hard to chose a favorite. I know that sounds like a cop out.

There are so many that I love– to say that I love more than the other wouldn’t be fair since they are all so different.

But I will throw a few names out there because they are inspiration.

Sandra Cisneros, her writing is so relatable and soothing and it flows like cool fresh air. She’s also one of the most adorable people ever.

Edgar Allen Poe, I made my sisters read The Raven to me over and over again before bed that I had it memorized as a little girl. It was The Raven and Goodnight Tiny Dinos by Guy Gilchrist (after much Googling I discovered it was part of a series from the 80s, MAGIC) that were my night time favorites. Greatest line from Goodnight Tiny Dinos, which I will always remember is “not the palm tree sandwich, not the mango mush, but the toothpaste and the brush.” Gold.

Stephen King, he is a master of creeping me the fuck out and I love it.

5)    What’s one thing, if anything; you would tell everyone about yourself that they may not know?

That’s hard too. Especially here in this place where I over share in ways that are probably incredibly obnoxious. Hmm… I have a huge birthmark by my bellybutton that kinda looks like the island of Crete.

6)    What’s your preferred genre or style? Why?

I really enjoy writing in first person narrative. I like writing in such a way that makes the reader unsure of whether or not what they’re is reading is fact or fiction.

7)    What inspires your writing now?

Mood. My surroundings. An interesting word or phrase or sentence.

8)    What do you plan to do with your writing in the future? Ex: publication, starting your own literary magazine, writing as a hobby, etc.

Well, I’m trying to get something published. Anything at this point would make me happy. I’m currently working on a novel and hoping I get around to finishing it.

9)    How does it feel to be in the spotlight?

Pretty darn exciting.

10) Who would you like to see in the spotlight next?

If you continue this I would love to see NoGraySunflowers. Betsy has always inspired me with her writing. I think it’s beautiful.

 

What I Like About TheSecretLifeOfPanda’s Work:  

Jenny’s writing is very raw and real. Her work relates and forms a connection with the reader. Sometimes it only tugs on the heartstrings and other times it yanks on them, but no matter what the experience is enjoyable. It’s an experience I found myself going back for time and time again.

As for her preferred genre style, while I’m not usually a fan of first person, she’s made me a believer in it once again. For a while I staunchly avoided first person because I told myself it was cliché and used only by “weak” writers. I’ve since amended my beliefs. A great writer is one who can use all the tools of the trade, and use them in such a way that the resulting work is awe-inspiring.

Her work pushes me to become a better writer and to try topics I normally avoid. Her work has also inspired me to more fully develop characters in such a way that the reader gets a sense of them without having to be told everything in a matter-of-fact way. Her work will put the bit back in your mouth if you’ve fallen out of touch with reading and writing, and if not, you’ll still find yourself wanting to sit down at a keyboard or pick of a pen and do what feels natural.

My Favorite Piece To Date: I Finally Got Around To Finishing This

Now it’s your turn, Xangans. In the comments share what you like about thesecretlifeofpanda’s writing and presence here in the community. And if you don’t know her work then you definitely need to head over to her site right now and educate yourself.

Keep Writing

—Jen

@MyHomeIsWriting

“I have a friend that cuts hair”

“I have a friend that cuts hair”

by TheSecretLifeOfPandas ♥ 5 Comments

When you are alone in a new city, especially an expensive one, you have to ask around for recommendations.

I asked the concierge last night, Alex, a fabulous Colombian man, if he knew of any good salons nearby the hotel, he said he’d check on some for me.

He works the night shift so I wouldn’t see him again until after I needed the appointment. 

A girl needs to have her hair did for a formal wedding. 

Especially when the girl in question only really knows how to air dry her hair and pray to God that it dries cute.

Which, since the Lord has been merciful, it usually does. 

However those big messy curls wouldn’t work for this wedding. I needed professional help.

So after going for a swim and sunbathing this morning I meet Ricardo, the morning concierge, and he recommended his friend Jay.

“He’s been cutting hair for years.” He says. 

After I set the appointment, in Spanish of course (this is Miami after all), he says, “You’ll know him. He’s the bald one with a tattoo across the back of his head.”

It is a credit to my parents that I don’t even blink when he says that; they raised an overly polite child. In spite of the dark sense of foreboding that last sentence gave me I smiled and said thank you before running to my room to wash off the sand and salt water.

I changed, basked in the glory of air conditioning before heading off towards the area around Lincoln Avenue. I located the salon first, but since I still had about an hour and a half till my appointment I wandered towards Lincoln mall to grab something to eat. But wandered too long, so indecisive about what I wanted and I ended up getting a small cup of gelato and sat in the outdoor seating under a palm tree.

I really cannot get over those palm trees.

Once it came time for my appointment I walked back over to the little salon.

Now, I’m not a snob, but when it comes to salons I am a super snob. I once pulled wet feet out of a pedicure tub when I saw the guy clean the one next to me with dish soap. Guys, I do not fuck around.

I like them fancy, and I like them modern. However, I don’t have South Beach “fancy” kind of money so this little neighborhood salon had to do. Also, it’s a Friday afternoon, everyone knows that’s the busiest time for a salon. I took what I could get.

So Jay, the bald man with the tattoo on the back of his head, leads me over to get my hair washed. 

There was no gentle scalp massage and my top got a little wet. Small strike. But I let it slide because of the small talk and he sent someone to bring me coffee.

We head over to his station and he starts to blow dry my hair. He doesn’t really ask me what I want, which bothered me. I am very particular about my hair, down to the point of micro managing. So I tell him I like volume and that I would like him to use the round brush.

The ladies from the salon are watching me. They like my hair color. They like my hair.

A nail tech asks Jay if I want a manicure (in Spanish). She looks at me. I say no thank you. She grabs my hands. Looks at my nails. Shrugs.

My manicure has not held up. I do need one. I will not pay for one.

I just a lot of pulling and brushing and mild teasing.

I am concerned but I don’t say anything. 

A lady is trying to sell me shampoo to brighten my red. 

She says it looks good.

I’m like ok.

He asks if I want hair spray. I beg for it. The humidity here is not a joke. Keeping my hair straight under these conditions is not a game, it is a battle to be waged.

He turns me around and I look in the mirror and I hate it.

It looks old fashioned and helmet-y. 

I don’t know how to say that.

So I smile and formulate a plan to fix it in my room. There is too much spray and my hair feels crunchy.

I cannot stand crunchy hair. 

“Have you tried having your hair longer?” He asks. “Not that this doesn’t look good. You can pull it off because you have a pretty face (tienes la cara linda), but you should try it long.”

“Thanks.” I say. “It’s usually really long. I just chopped it off.”

I go to pay. This is South Beach. It’s pricey, even for this small place. I pay. I leave a tip. I put on my sunglasses and head out.

I bought a curling iron at CVS. I combed out the hairspray.

It looks much better.