“It suffices to say, that the compilation was devoured within the hour of the first page flip. With bare emotion, and introspection Ms. Barbosa captures the essence of moments, generating the sensation of being present in the very space they unfold.”

-Nosalikes re From Jump

beyond appreciated.

let’s go!

my honey has more info

A Lucky Year.

When We Were Young

Love shouldn’t hurt.

That’s the message Sisters Teaching About Relationships is putting on the street. STAR, part of Casa Myrna Vasquez, New England’s largest domestic abuse program, is a peer education group designed to teach teens about healthy relationships.

“I think a program like this is great because you don’t have a class in school to tell you how to have a relationship,” said Divya Kumar, STAR coordinator.

Dating violence is a big problem. One in five female Massachusetts high school students reported being physically or sexually abused by a dating partner in 2001, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The group’s peer educators undergo 23 hours of training and lead workshops at community centers throughout the city. They discuss signs of abuse and how a healthy relationship works.

“We help a lot of people and touch a lot of people,” said Shauna Barbosa, 15, of Roxbury. “It’s about knowing. It’s hard for teenagers to know when they are in an abusive relationship.”

Barbosa and fellow STAR member Jenny Tavares, 17, of Dorchester led a workshop last week at the Agassiz Community Center in Jamaica Plain. Their audience was three girls, ranging in age from 9 to 12.

“Batterers don’t glow in the dark or hit on the first date,” Barbosa said as she explained the cycle of violence.

The cycle has four major points: normalcy, tension, explosion and then back to love and flowers.

“The explosion always gets worse,” Barbosa said.

Though the group was young, the message was not lost. When asked to identify elements of healthy and unhealthy relationships, the girls easily offered answers.

“Even at young ages there are girls and boys being abused in relationships. If we can give them help now, it will help their future,” said Cheneka Hobbs, the community center’s youth worker. “It’s issues that they see at home.”

STAR’s message is not reserved for girls only. The group also speaks to boys.

“This one workshop, there were a couple of males,” Barbosa said. “(One of them) said he was controlling with his girlfriend, but he’s not like this anymore.

STAR is working on recruiting male peer educators.

Kumar said power and control are two key factors in an abusive relationship. The abuse takes five forms: physical, mental/emotional, sexual, verbal and financial.

“Keeping checks, controlling an allowance, that comes in the cycle of violence,” Barbosa said. “They (the victims) are staying because they are thinking it will change.”

“Abuse is never the victim’s fault,” Kumar said. “The goal of the program is to let people know that they aren’t alone.”

If you feel threatened by dating violence, call Safeline, a 24-hour live-response hotline for abuse victims, 877-785-2020.

via the Boston Herald Newspaper

my man is in the band playing keys shaking knees lead vocalist mouthing every word to me

replaced winters.

For seconds in the shower she thought about what it would feel like on the balcony. On the stairwell. Vegetable bin. Bed. Couch. Office. Closet. Bathroom stall. Under the tree. With one. Just one. Whom she loved. Her man. Her husband. Her friend. He who makes his bed. Makes their coffee in the morning. This one, who she looked forward to sitting next to at the theatre. There would be the stairwell. Vegetable bin. Bed. Couch. Office. Closet. Stall. Tree.

Aviva Klein

photo by Aviva Klein. First checked her work out on Tuesday and now Google has listed her as one of my most visited sites.

http://avivaklein.com

where’s elle?

via j. cole

old but awesome! <3

He gets the highest honor.

Allure; On the Couch in Memphis

Fingers clenched deep in his skin. His mannish form spread out on the couch we purchased off a street in Memphis. It happens often, the clenching, the grabbing, and holding on to the back of his sweatshirt. I like to feel what’s mine. He likes to know I’m here. He reads aloud a letter I wrote him when he left for college – You’re Leaving Tomorrow. I ask him to stop reading.

He rises. Grabs my legs. They are around his waist. My lips on his chest. His hands fingers getting tighter. He is here. I want to speak. Ask him to finish the letter. Feels like college. Want to know those words again. Lips are between his. He stops.

Do you remember the last line of your letter?

The taste of sweat from my lips’ last kiss to your forehead.

Some graceful laugh we share. I close my eyes. Feel his face high. Feel his face low.

and now we’re lethal

via split infinitives

today

he said he’ll say a prayer for me. but it will be in french. i said okay, held his cold hand and watched his face while he spoke high, words i could not understand

***

“i also tend to not care for people who don’t sweat the hell outta me.”

***

quotes of ‘10

housekeeping.