Off To The Clinic by Dazee Dizzle   4/28/2016   Some months back, I had unprotected sex on a first date.  Risky and dangerous.  I want to tell all of the b.s. that I fell for and justified but at the end of the day I had unprotected sex on a first date.  For a minute he had me thinking it was going to go differently but, he ended up standing me up.   Damn.  I made an appointment with my MD to get tested. I talked it over with my psychologist.  I was told not to beat myself up about it.  I came up clean just after the incident.…

By Joy Lynn Clark 3/9/2016 When I moved to the suburbs,  I realized that I just couldn’t afford to buy food.  I swear food is much more expensive in the burbs.  Anyhow, I had my rent, phone, gas and car.  Food was just killing me. A friend of mine told me about a local food pantry.  I felt weird about it at first like, am I taking food from someone who really needs it?  However, I looked at my child and had to accept that I am someone who really needs it. The food pantry was run by the local church.  We got canned goods, and even some meat.  The…

By Joy Lynn Clark 1/23/2016 Chicago, IL The State of Illinois still has no budget.  Chicago Public Schools are threatening layoffs.  There’s talk of cutting pensions . . . yada yada yada. Obviously, all of this truly sucks. When I first moved to Chicago, I enrolled my son in public school.  I am very low income.  I had to provide some information but, the school fee was waived.  I was floored. Let me repeat, I am low-income (I am probably in the bottom 10% ).  However, in the school district I came from that did not save me from the $290.00 school fee at all whatsoever.  And it hurt –…

By Joy Lynn Clark January 1, 2016 Months back I began to notice some of the most all inclusive dishes ever.  A hamburger with a hotdog and chips all under one bun, a fried chicken cake with mashed potato frosting, drizzled with gravy, and a cornbread center.  I thought, genius.  I have to compile a list. All year I found dishes.  A pizza with a hotdog crust, and a beef sandwich topped with cole slaw and fries.  I am starting to think, I need everything NOW. My son went into Gamestop to trade a game.  They needed my driver’s license number.  I was like damn, do I have to be…

By Joy Lynn Clark October 29, 2015   All of my life I knew Illinois meant wild onion.  I always marked the moment by when we would smell the wild onions on the southside.  We would take the Bishop Ford and smell them somewhere near the landfills.   I don’t smell those wild onions anymore.   People now say Illinois means wild leek.   I have never seen wild leeks, though.   Anyhow, my son and I recently took a camping trip in Michigan on the other side of the lake.  My son found tons of wild onions.  We also found raspberries, mushrooms, garlic, milkweed, and nettles.  My son swears…