Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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Am I the only person on the planet who was sincerely shocked to hear this week that the most common password for secret passwords is “password?” Duh! If your “becoming-more-complex-by-the-minute life” is anything like mine, then you’ve started to notice you need a filing cabinet to keep track of all of the secret passwords you need to access important things like your bank account, cell phone account, credit or debit card, Amazon.com account, your school grades and class schedules, your child’s school grades and class sched...
Am I the only person on the planet who was sincerely shocked to hear this week that the most common password for secret passwords is “password?” Duh! If your “becoming-more-complex-by-the-minute life” is anything like mine, then you’ve started to notice you need a filing cabinet to keep track of all of the secret passwords you need to access important things like your bank account, cell phone account, credit or debit card, Amazon.com account, your school grades and class schedules, your child’s school grades and class sched...
Growing up in an ethnocentric world, the barrio of north Portales, my ethnicity was a major factor in my early life. Now, it’s not color of skin or language that unites me with people. It’s common Christian beliefs. But in my adult life, I’ve learned you cannot entirely separate the two factors of ethnicity, namely race and religion, although you can look at them more openly. And so I have a few thoughts to share as we observe National Hispanic Heritage Month, which kicks off on Sunday, the sixteenth of September, more commo...
Growing up in an ethnocentric world, the barrio of north Portales, my ethnicity was a major factor in my early life. Now, it’s not color of skin or language that unites me with people. It’s common Christian beliefs. But in my adult life, I’ve learned you cannot entirely separate the two factors of ethnicity, namely race and religion, although you can look at them more openly. And so I have a few thoughts to share as we observe National Hispanic Heritage Month, which kicks off on Sunday, the sixteenth of September, more common...
Here’s the dilemma: I envision a nice dinner and dance on commencement night for my daughter and niece who graduate from Portales High School in May. My daughter envisions a night of going to other people’s parties. High school graduation may seem far away, but it’s not, and already, I see a can of worms opening. My daughter and I started talking about this big night and it turned into a debate of tradition verses going against the flow and my exercising parental discretion. I see this as also breaking cultural tradi...
Here’s the dilemma: I envision a nice dinner and dance on commencement night for my daughter and niece who graduate from Portales High School in May. My daughter envisions a night of going to other people’s parties. High school graduation may seem far away, but it’s not, and already, I see a can of worms opening. My daughter and I started talking about this big night and it turned into a debate of tradition versus going against the flow and my exercising parental discretion. I see this as also breaking cultural tradi...
Once upon a time, a warlord rampaged throughout the countryside, killing every peasant until only a monk remained. Furious, he ordered the monk brought before him and shouted, “Do you know who I am?” “I am he who can run you through with a sword without even batting an eye!” the all powerful warlord declared as he looked down at his seemingly helpless victim. But the old monastic, looking the warlord straight in the eye, said, “And do you know who I am? I am he who can let you run me through with a sword — without eve...
Once upon a time, a warlord rampaged throughout the countryside, killing every peasant until only a monk remained. Furious, he ordered the monk brought before him and shouted, “Do you know who I am?” “I am he who can run you through with a sword without even batting an eye!” the all powerful warlord declared as he looked down at his seemingly helpless victim. But the old monastic, looking the warlord straight in the eye, said, “And do you know who I am? I am he who can let you run me through with a sword — without eve...
Like many aspiring writers, I turn to the works of some of the most brilliant writers of our time for inspiration. I also turn to some of the worst writers of our time for inspiration — or at least for consolation, knowing that my writing couldn’t be any worse. Every year I get a kick out of reading the winning entries in the World’s Worst Writer Fiction Awards. Surprise though, these bad pieces of writing are not as easy to compose as they look. And they’re often more entertaining than intellectual kinds of writing. One of... Full story
Like many aspiring writers, I turn to the works of some of the most brilliant writers of our time for inspiration. I also turn to some of the worst writers of our time for inspiration — or at least for consolation, knowing that my writing couldn’t be any worse. Every year I get a kick out of reading the winning entries in the World’s Worst Writer Fiction Awards. Surprise though, these bad pieces of writing are not as easy to compose as they look. And they’re often more entertaining than intellectual kinds of writing. One of... Full story
Life came to a standstill this past week as I went under the knife and had surgery as far down as you can go, on my foot. It didn’t matter what pressing matters I needed to attend to or not. I wasn’t going to be going anywhere, at least not very fast, and certainly not on my own for awhile. The most humbling part of this experience has been adapting to crutches, a simple pair of walking devices that I’ve never had to use in my life; devices I had no problem making harder to use than was necessary. But I finally did get the m...
Life came to a standstill this past week as I went under the knife and had surgery as far down as you can go, on my foot. It didn’t matter what pressing matters I needed to attend to or not. I wasn’t going to be going anywhere, at least not very fast, and certainly not on my own for awhile. The most humbling part of this experience has been adapting to crutches, a simple pair of walking devices that I’ve never had to use in my life; devices I had no problem making harder to use than was necessary. But I finally did get the m... Full story
Know what I hate about back to school? The superficial commercials that try to make school seem so cool and hip by showing kids rapping and dancing in the latest fashions. You have to have the right shoes, the right look, the right gadget, IPod, IPhone, laptop and designer shirts in order to be ready for school. No mention about brains. As a child, I hated back-to-school commercials because they were a stark, in-your-face reminder of the inevitable. Now I hate back-to-school commercials because I hate back-to-school...
Know what I hate about back to school? The superficial commercials that try to make school seem so cool and hip by showing kids rapping and dancing in the latest fashions. You have to have the right shoes, the right look, the right gadget, IPod, IPhone, laptop and designer shirts in order to be ready for school. No mention about brains. As a child, I hated back-to-school commercials because they were a stark, in-your-face reminder of the inevitable. Now I hate back-to-school commercials because I hate back-to-school...
Wednesday not only marked the beginning of the month, but the beginning of back-to-school training for 11-year-old Christian Smith of Portales. That means no more late movie nights and lights out at 8:30 p.m. With only a little more than a week before area school bells ring, school counselors and principals, as well as other educational experts, recommend parents start getting their children and themselves ready for school now. That doesn’t just mean shopping for clothes and supplies. Arts Academy at Bella Vista Principal S...
Wednesday not only marked the beginning of the month, but the beginning of back-to-school training for 11-year-old Christian Smith of Portales. That means no more late movie nights and lights out at 8:30 p.m. With only a little more than a week before area school bells ring, school counselors and principals, as well as other educational experts, recommend parents start getting their children and themselves ready for school now. That doesn’t just mean shopping for clothes and supplies. Shelly Norris, principal at Arts A...
A hot-off-the-press study shatters the myth that women talk more than men. Did you hear that men? We are not chatterboxes. Although the more-than-likely over-funded, waste-of-taxpayer-money study is flawed because it was limited to college students, I’m inclined to believe it because, well, because I’m a female, and because I’ve been accused on a few rare occasions of talking too much, especially when in the company of certain males who shall remain nameless, OK with you Dad? How about you, Bernard? This latest findi...
A hot-off-the-press study shatters the myth that women talk more than men. Did you hear that men? We are not chatterboxes. Although the more-than-likely over-funded, waste-of-taxpayer-money study is flawed because it was limited to college students, I’m inclined to believe it because, well, because I’m a female, and because I’ve been accused on a few rare occasions of talking too much, especially when in the company of certain males who shall remain nameless, OK with you Dad? How about you, Bernard? This latest findi...
CNJ staff photo: Tony Bullocks Betty Gonzales of Uvalde, Texas, leads her class during circle time at the Texas Migrant Council Head Start. Every July, a sometimes empty schoolhouse on Sheldon Street in Clovis becomes busy as children from South Texas and surrounding areas migrate here with their families and attend preschool while their parents harvest crops. The Texas Migrant Council (TMC) Head Start offers a unique and fast-paced preschool program from July to November. The program, which accepts children from infants up...
Every July, a sometimes empty schoolhouse on Sheldon Street in Clovis becomes busy as children from South Texas and surrounding areas migrate here with their families and attend preschool while their parents harvest crops. The Texas Migrant Council (TMC) Head Start offers a unique and fast-paced preschool program from July to November. The program, which accepts children from infants up to kindergarten age, is designed to accommodate the mobile lifestyle and needs of children of migrant farm workers. “People come to Clovis t...
We were not told, we were ordered, to pack light this year. And so I did an amazing act, which was nothing short of a miracle, making all my stuff fit into one huge bag. My daughter, Laura, and I recently went once again to a church youth conference, Steubenville West, in Tucson, Ariz., with a group of 24 other people from St. Helen’s Catholic Church in Portales. Under direct orders from Elvia Garcia to lighten our loads after last year’s overpacking near-disaster, I decided I could somehow manage in the desert without a jack...
We were not told, we were ordered, to pack light this year. And so I did an amazing act, which was nothing short of a miracle, making all my stuff fit into one huge bag. My daughter, Laura, and I recently went once again to a church youth conference, Steubenville West, in Tucson, Ariz., with a group of 24 other people from St. Helen’s Catholic Church in Portales. Under direct orders from Elvia Garcia to lighten our loads after last year’s overpacking near-disaster, I decided I could somehow manage in the desert without a jack...
CNJ staff photo: Helena Rodriguez Ernie Kos of the Clovis/Curry County Chamber of Commerce shows one of the first donations to the future Curry County Historical Museum — a handgun used in a 1920s or 1930s feud. Roswell draws hundreds of thousands of visitors to its UFO museum every year. In Lubbock, they flock to the Buddy Holly Museum. Clovis officials hope to get visitors rolling into town, too, with the Norman and Vi Petty Rock ’N’ Roll Museum. “One thing we have that is unique to Clovis is our history of music and our...
Roswell draws hundreds of thousands of visitors to its UFO museum every year. In Lubbock, they flock to the Buddy Holly Museum. Clovis officials hope to get visitors rolling into town, too, with the Norman and Vi Petty Rock ’N’ Roll Museum. “One thing we have that is unique to Clovis is our history of music and our Norman Petty Seventh Street Studio. Once we get a museum up and running, the museum, combined with our Clovis Music Festival, we hope to get a large increase in people driving through,” said Chase Gentry, Clovis... Full story
Before the month is over, I must write about how popular the name Julio is in my family. My dad is named Julio. His favorite uncle was named Julio and he has cousins named Julio. Many males born in July on my father’s side of the family are named Julio. In case you have not figured it out yet, Julio means July in Spanish. If my daughter, Laura, had been a male, I would have named her Julio, too. Laura will turn 17 on Sunday. She was born one day after my dad’s birthday, which is Saturday. Happy Birthday Dad! Feliz cum... Full story
