Image credit: annie b., annieb-art.co.uk

…It’s real, and sometimes it fuckin’ hurts, but it’s sort of all we have.

~Garden State

Hello, loyal readers!  First a little Homeless News for you, then a brief glimpse into my personal life, as if anybody’s salivating over that, haha.

One story from each coast:

Rosa Bracero, a homeless high school student in New York, has finished all required credits a semester early and has been accepted to college.  However, the NY Department of Homeless Services required every member of the family to attend an hours-long shelter application process on the same day as her Regents exams.  The DHS would not allow the application to be rescheduled, nor for the family to attend without Rosa.  Rosa’s school allowed her to take a makeup exam, but the Board of Regents has now refused to validate the results even in the presence of clear extenuating circumstances, which means that Rosa will not be allowed to graduate.  Readers who would like to write to Mayor Bloomberg petitioning for Rosa Bracero to graduate can do so here.

An advocate for the homeless in Sacramento, Mark Merin, is suing the capital of California over a camping law he says is only enforced towards the homeless, depriving them of their rights to due process and equal protection.  Followers of the Sacramento saga may already be aware of the various tent cities, such as Safe Ground (featured on Oprah), which have sprung up in the city and been hastily disbanded or moved by law enforcement officers.

* * * * *

And now to take things in a little more personal direction:  I’m single again.

I suppose if there’s one thing in life every girl should have, it’s at least one “broken engagement” notch in her belt.  At some point, we all learn that not everyone is who they hold themselves out to be, and there’s nothing like observing a person in his natural habitat to make you realize that love doesn’t necessarily transcend all.  Not everything translates well across the ocean, life has never been and will never be a fairytale, and there are some people you can’t help.  That’s when it’s time to take a deep breath and save yourself.

No questions about it, please, although comfort dates with stunning hotties are always welcome (take a number, guys – I’m partial to intellectual types!)  What’s done is done, onward and upward.  Life is waiting and it’s going to be amazing!!!  I’m bursting with ideas and there’s so much more to think about than that person.  That’s all I have to say on the matter.

…At least until the book comes out  ;-)

Image Credit: Tony Piro, Calamities Of Nature