Zoila.

Photo Credit: Cathy Thorne

I am a writer, a reader, a community organizer and dabbler in all things art. I love to cook, do yoga, do paper crafts, crochet and collect obscure jazz LPs. I was born and raised in Bushwick, Brooklyn.

I tend to turn mundane objects and situations into grandiose polemics. As a result of such behavior my circle of friends and family tends to be small. We tend to finish discussions (arguments) with baked goodies. The bigger the argument or the more obscure the subject matter is, the higher the caloric value of the baked good.

Discussion about intersexuality : small box of chocolate chip cookies

Discussion about high rates of intersexuality in the Dominican Republic : large box of eclairs

Discussion about high rates of intersexuality in a particular village in DR that my family so happens to come from : extra large box of Crumbs caramel apple cup cakes

See? Nevertheless, I have a profound appreciation for the way that my family destroys my sanity and how they build it right up with their love.

I went to school in a tiny liberal arts school in Northern New York. My most profound intellectual experiences occured in that tiny cold slice of New York. My frontal lobe did some serious growing during those years. I was published in school once, for an article on 1965 democratic revolution in the Dominican Republic. Aside from that article most of my written work in college is on aesthetics. Writing on aesthetics is a terrible endeavor that should only be attempted by those who absolutely, positively never want to have a job.

If there is a book that captures my aesthetic, it is Annie Dillard's Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. I always mention that book whenever I am presented with an autobiographical exercise. Here is a quote. Read, digest and enjoy:

"No; we have been as usual asking the wrong question. It does not matter a hoot what the mockingbird on the chimney is singing. The real and proper question is: Why is it beautiful?"