The semi-professional personal bio
Cindy Mosqueda (aka Cindylu) is a Chicana PhD student and blogger born and raised in Los Angeles. Since 2001 she has blogged at Lotería Chicana, a personal blog exploring the many facets of life as a young Chicana, both personal and political. She is a writer and webmaster for Puro Pedo Magazine, a Chicano satire magazine. Over the years, she has been a contributor or guest blogger at several blogs including blogging.la, LA Eastside and VivirLatino.

In addition to working on a PhD in Education at UCLA, Cindy also works on campus as both a research analyst and coordinator for an academic support program. When not writing, she can be found cheering for the Dodgers, running around LA, going to concerts and spending time with her family, friends and fiance.

The blog bio
I started my blogging efforts in November 2001 at Diaryland. My initial posts dealt with crushes, rants about school and thoughts on being a student leader. My blog evolved as I aged. I changed titles from Pensamientos to the current Lotería Chicana. I bought my domain name and began self-hosting in 2005 after realizing that I need more from a blogging platform than Diaryland offered.

I’ve continued to blog for over nine years simply because I love writing and sharing. Through blogging, I developed a strong sense of community with other Chican@ and Latina@ bloggers around the country. Although some of these friends have since discontinued blogging or decreased the frequency of posting, our friendships have continued to grow. Additionally, I’ve had the good fortune to be invited to speak on blogging in college classrooms and at national academic and journalism conferences.

I know my blog will continue to change just as I go from a college senior to a working professional to a grad student and then… quien sabe (who knows). I just hope people keep reading.

Why Lotería Chicana?
The title comes from a collection of essays by José Antonio Burciaga (RIP) entitled, Spilling the Beans: Loteria Chicana. I love Burciaga’s prose and poetry. Spilling the Beans and Drink Cultura continue to be some of my favorite collections of essays, and not just for the great titles.

I love the metaphor the Mexican game of Lotería offers for a writer interested in various topics. Lotería is the Mexican version of bingo, but better. The game consist of 54 cards with different images of people, plants, animals, and everyday objects. It’s all a mix, just like my blog. Some days I may discuss my favorite foods (La Sandía) or may discuss my favorite bands and review a recent concert (El Músico).

As for Chicana? Well, that’s just who I am.

Digital portrait by Rio Yañez.