May 18, 2010

From the Great Big Girl Archives, Part the Third: The Fall of Little Bully

Sometimes a SuperHero hits bottom. Rock bottom. Bottom-of-the-frickin'-Grand-Canyon bottom. And as she's sailing towards the hard earth at a rate of 9.8 meters/second (squared), the main thing on her mind is, "How did I get here?"

It's all so simple:

1 Woman. 2 Identities.

First, the mild-mannered Lulu O'Brien--aspiring artist, aspiring educator; fond of new ideas, clever plans, funny people, staying up late, checking it out; known to smile a lot and laugh loudly; partial to puppies, kittens, little yellow chicks and other baby animals; in short, a friend to all. Well, or almost all. She's not a total Pollyanna.

Second, the SuperHero Great Big Girl: Feminine Avenger! Great Big Girl: Pink Collar Hero! Righting the wrongs done to her sisters! Fighting the injustice of the pink-collar life! Demanding that The Man get his dirty jackboot off her fabulously accessorized neck! (For a complete list of extraordinary powers, see entry #2. I mean after all, it's a narrative, people.)

May 6, 2010

From the Great Big Girl Archives, Part the Second: Ain' Nothin' So Sad as a SuperHero on the Skids...

Listen up, my little lambs: there ain' nothin' so sad as a SuperHero on the skids.

Seriously, yo. Great Big Girl has hit the rocks.

Let's go back a little ways...I had high hopes for the whole situation. There I was, mild-mannered receptionist Lulu O'Brien, newly freed from the evil clutches of her nemesis Little Bully at The Company only to fall into another pink-collar trap: adjunct teaching at community colleges. There I was, fresh-faced and optimistic, ready to spread the joy of learning throughout the Introduction to Theatre sections at Hometown CC, and through the Composition 1 sections of Kountry Kollege. There I was, a newly-minted Ph.D. with a spring in her step, a song in her heart, and a passion for arts and letters...only to discover that the world of community college adjuncting was not the utopian escape I thought it would be.

From the Great Big Girl Archives: Poor Pixie's Come and Gone



It was bound to happen sooner or later; I was just hoping for later. I know man, yeah, all good things come to an end and twilight is golden and the last of the summer wine and all the blabbity you want to stick in there, but I've been absolutely dreading this moment.


My car has finally died.


So if you'll indulge me, I'd like to take a moment to honor the life of the charcoal gray Honda Accord LX known as Pixie 21.