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June 18, 2007

About

Hi, I’m Cindy Mosqueda and I write all this stuff. Sometimes I call myself Cindylu, but it’’s just a nickname and there is no “lu” anywhere in my given name. You can call me Cindylu if you like.

I am a Chicana, Mexicana, 27, Virgo, monkey, bilingual and biliterate, musical, and occasionally well coordinated. I am a graduate student/researcher, program coordinator and an accomplished procrastinator. I was born and rasied in Los Angeles (suburbs and city).

I have a huge family (don’t all Mexicans?). However, the people you’ll read most about are my Mom (51) and Dad (54), and siblings Danny (29), Lori (24) and Adrian (22). I have a chingo of tías, tíos, primos, y primas living in the Greater LA area, Texas and in Mexico. I write about them too, because I love them and they inspire me.

I also love words, haiku, music, traveling, the color red, mangos, beaded bracelets, avocados, the LA Dodgers, my UCLA Bruins, the number 31, funny tshirts, and run on sentences.

La Ciudad
September 2000-present: Los Angeles (Palms area)
August 1998-June 2000: Los Angeles (Westwood)
1980-1998: Hacienda Heights, suburb of LA County

La Educación
School: UCLA (’98-’02, ‘04-present)
Undergrad: BA in Sociology and Chicana/o Studies with a minor in Spanish
Grad: MA in Education (’05), currently in a PhD program in Education (specifically in Higher Education and Organizational Change)

El Trabajo
I used to run a retention program. I counseled all sorts of wonderful college students and supervising a staff of about a dozen crazy students. I did that for two years and stopped in July ‘04. When I went back to school, I worked part time as a graduate student researcher at well-known research institute run by my advisor. Currently, I hold down two jobs. I work with undergraduate students majoring in the life and physical sciences and am a research assistant for a college access project.

Los Sueños
Plans: I want to live in Guanajuato while I’m young and don'’t have too many things holding me down. I want to earn my PhD and go on to gain a position where I can change stuff. Essentially, I want to ensure that more students of color are graduating college and going back to help their respective communities.

The Blog
Currently, I’m the only author on Lotería Chicana, but that could change in the future. I started my blogging efforts in November 2001 over on Diaryland. Initially, most of what I was writing was about the boy I was seeing at the time, school and rants about being a student leader. Eventually, that changed and I went from a blog title of Pensamientos to the current Lotería Chicana. I finally moved to this domain after I realized that the Diaryland site did not meet my needs and got over my fear of change.

I’ve blogged and written in a semi-public forum for so long primarily because I enjoy it. I like to write. I like people reading what I have to write. I like to write quickly. I don’t like getting hand cramps. Typing helps this out. In the past few years I’ve found an incredible community online and I love it.

Why Lotería Chicana?
The title comes from a book by José Antonio Burciaga (rip) entitled, Spilling the Beans: Loteria Chicana. It happens to be one of my favorite books, and not just because of the genius title.

Lotería is the Mexican version of bingo, but it’s better. There are 54 cards with different images of people, plants, animals, and everyday objects. It’s all a mix, just like this blog. You never know what you’re going to get. One day, I can pick out a card with El Músico (musician) on it and write about the latest concert I attended. The next, it could be El Mundo (world) and I’ll be discussing my travels. The Chicana is part of it because that’s who I am.

Digital portrait by by Rio Yañez.

Filed under: Randomness | POSTED BY cindylu AT 10:41 pm | No Comments

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