Homegirl Quel (kel) in Austin

Big Ups to my sibs!

I went home to Memphis for my twin brother's college graduation this past weekend. He'd worked so long and hard for his BA, so Big Ups, Twin, for doing your thizzle!

He sang (he's a really good singer) a sweet-sweet song to my son (it was also my 11 week-old son's first visit to Memphis to meet his kin). We're a singing family, so it wasn't out of place for me to hear him singing at a random moment. When I heard him singing I expected it to end quickly, but he sang the whole song, and my Zack was just there watching him the whole time. The lyrics were about Zack finally being here and the song was slow and sweet...it was special.

The highlight of the weekend was at my brother's graduation reception, when he presented our sister with a cake that read, "Congratulations Dr. Adriane Williams". (She's receiving her doctorate, so we celebrated her graduation this weekend too.) It was her first time seeing her name like that and she was totally overwhelmed with the moment and hugged him and started crying. Then he started crying. It was awesome. It went something like this...

He presented her with the cake...surprise!

Proud parents look on...pleased.

Hugs...that's me in the background like, "aaaww?!"

Me..."Is he crying too?! Aw! I feel left out, I wanna cry too!"

I didn't cry, but was deeply touched. Thanks to my husband, Billy, for being on his toes to document everything. Later this week it's Wisconsin-or-bust for my sister's hooding ceremony. Fun times.

Hear y'all, hear y'all!

My sister officially finished the first full draft of her dissertation at approximately 2:00PM CST today! 

I seriously needed to document and announce this to the world.

YAAAAAAAAAAAY, Adriane!

We're 30!

I'm in Memphis having the best time ever with my twin and the rest of my family celebrating our 30th birthday. Pictures, etc. to come!

Update: Post Birthday Recap

This past weekend was awesome. It felt good to be back in Memphis with my peeps. Thanks to my sister we had a beautiful dinner at Folk's Folly Steakhouse. Click >>HERE<< for pics. Thanks to my pregnancy (I'm blaming it on that, but pregnant or not, outburst would have been the same), I went from laughing and clapping with glee at the sight of the birthday cake and candles, to bawling in less than one second when I saw what was actually on the cake...

...it's us at our first birthday party, with our first birthday cake all over our faces.  Anybody who knows me understands why the sight of this cake broke me down. I love my brother so much and I'm beyond sentimental about any random memory I have with him growing up.  This was the first time many of my folks saw my baby bump too. I'm really touchy, especially with my family, so I didn't mind at all when hands gravitated towards my torso. :)

Check out my Honeymag.com blog to read "R.I.P. My Twenties" .

Have I told you lately that I love you my sister is awesome?

An excerpt from:  HigherEd.com News

Adriane Williams, who is finishing her dissertation for a doctorate in educational policy studies from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, sees parallels between the experiences of many of the minority girls striving to be the first in their families to attend college and the SisterMentors women. The lack of tradition and lack of role models can eat away at ambition at all levels, she says. “Even just as someone who was once these girls, I know how important it is to be able to say, these dreams that I have, this desire that I have to do something better, can be a reality. When you come from certain neighborhoods and low economic backgrounds, there’s no way for you to know that it’s possible. You don’t even know what a Ph.D. is.”

Happy Birthday Adriane!

You're awesome in general and you ROCK as a big sister. I hope you have a wonderful day.

Mom says, "Happy birthday peachy fuzzy face new baby at 12:57pm 32 years ago. I had the peach fuzz baby!"

She's so goofy.

Love you!

Happy Birthday to Us!

Well, me and my brother, Rodney, are officially 28 today. He's all grown-up...doing his thug thizzle in Little Rock. That's my bro. He's awesome. Meanwhile, I'm just down here still trying to figure out what I wanna be one day...the textbook "baby of the family". That's me.

Here's an abbreviated photographicalogical (I know that's not a real word, but it works for me) history of us. Enjoy!

Then...

This picture is in pretty bad shape, but what's a photographicalogical history without the beginning? That's me on the right rockin' a mean mohawk.

That's me on the left.

I wasn't the cutest kid, but I think I turned out alright.

Us, circa 1981.

Doesn't Rodney look extra pimperish? Don't hate on the fly collar. I was taller than him until we were in grade 5 or 6. He's 3 inches taller than me now, so...

Yadayadayada, 24 years pass.

And now...   

   
Happy Birthday Rodney!   

I'm hanign' with my big sister this weekend in D.C. Here's a picture of all of us. She was chillin' in the cut until "the twins" came along and stole her thunder. Then she had to go get all genious on everybody...

   

It'a all love.

Parcels by Post II

This one was even better than the last one. My sister was out one day and saw picture by a local D.C. artist and thought of her little sister. I got it in the mail last week and I LOVE it. She had it matted and framed and everything. It matches my "my space" room perfectly. It's actually the third piece of original art I've received as a gift, but the first one I've received "just because". I feel all special and stuff. The other paintings were wedding gifts: one was of flowers painted by one of our college friends and the other was a portrait of a photo that one of Billy's sisters had rendered by an artist friend of hers who lives in Jamaica. We thought he did a pretty good job with only a photo to go by. Our honeymoon was 7 days long, so we set the picture up bedside to make it feel like home...so cheesy. So anyway, my sister's significant other, who is also very thoughtful, saw frog stuff (a notebook and a refrigerater magnet) and immediately thought of me too.  Now I can republish my Frog Stuff photo album 'casue I have two new things to add to it now. There's nothing like receiving just-becasue gifts. I feel the love.

She's Published

...again.

Her brain is just so important. She's gonna make a big difference during her career. I can feel it.

And I don't think she'll ever publish anything with a title that doesn't look like a sentence...or without the words "race" and "education".

Class, Race, and Power: Interest Group Politics and Education by Adriane Williams

Sibling Braggedry

My sister's research is published! The research was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Click the link below to download the report. If you're not interested in the topic, you should at least check out her rockin' bio. It's good stuff.

Is More Better? The Impact of Postsecondary Education on the Economic and Social Well-Being of American Society by Adriane Williams and Watson Scott Swail

Parcels by post...

...brown paper packages tied up with string, these are a few of my favorite things...

I got a cool package in the mail today. It was waiting for me at my door when I got home. I love getting packages in the mail. My sister sent me shoes and books on tape with the coolest note card! The cover has an amazing photo of an orchid. It's SO pretty! So pretty, I've decided to share it with you. I put it on display in "my space" in the house on my bookshelf. I call it "my space" because it's the room in the middle of the house where all my stuff is...an old comfy sofa, my books, my magazines, my guitars, my treadmill and workout stuff. It's like how I imagine my apartment would be if I were single. It's my I-refuse-to-grow-up-all-the-way space. The rest of the house looks like a real grown-up house. It's a small space, but my favorite in the house. It's official use is meant to be a "kid's play area". Until then...

I'm excited about the books on tape. I never considered books on tape before. It's been suggested to me a couple of times, but I never really thought I'd try listening to one. I spend about 2 hours everyday in my car, so listening to a book on tape seems like a cool way to spend that time.  I do enjoy catching up with my kin folk during the drive home...and I'm sure Cingulair enjoys me catching up with my kin folk during that time, but I'm looking forward to the experience.

The first one I'll listen to is The Bondwoman's Narrative by Hannah Crafts. It's a novel written by a female African-American (I usually don't like to use that term for black Americans, 'cause most of us have never set foot in Africa, but in this case she's a real African-American) slave. According to the copy on the back it may be the first book written by a black woman period. I'll let you know how it goes.

So after I've listened to this book, can I claimed it as a novel I've read? It'll feel weird saying, I listened to this great novel. When someone asks me, "Read any good books lately?" can I mention this one? I'm sure this one is the first of many books on tape I will listen to, so maybe saying, "I heard this great book" will feel less weird in time.

O Brother

Rodney (my twin bro, for those who don't know) got his Funeral Home written up in the Arkansas Business Journal. I couldn't figure out how to cut the other business listed out of this image, so enjoy the write-up about the personal chef business too...   

    

Heareth Ye, Heareth Ye

An article from The Chronicle of Higher Education highlights a research report that Adriane wrote. This morning the article was #15 on the Top 20 forwarded articles from the site today.

Her first peer reviewed article is to be published soon...AS IS...which is apparently a big deal. Our Wellesley girl is one step closer to PhD'dom. I'm not sure how I feel about that, 'cause once she has her Ph.D., I'm going to have to learn to relate to her as a non-student. She has been is school FOR-E-VER...you know? When I go to visit her, there won't be a school to go visit...unless she ends up professorialationalizing somewhere...which is inevitable, I'm sure.

Anyway,click here see the reports she worked on. It's really cool, meaningful work. She's (You're-since I know you read my site like everyday, Adriane:)) awesome.

Rodney's Officially In Business!

My twin's new place is open and his new website is up and running. I'm really proud of my bro. He's the bomb. We all gotta go some time. In North Little Rock, hopefully, he'll be the new go-to guy. Rodney, YOU ROCK!