• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Mary Fons

"Writer! Quilter! All the things!"

  • Return to Maryfons.com
  • Welcome to The PaperGirl Blog
  • About Me
You are here: Home / Archives for mary fons cashmere story

mary fons cashmere story

“But Miss Tully, This Is Cashmere.”

February 25, 2015 by Mary Leave a Comment

I have to use public domain pictures because I can't afford to buy images. So I have to use things like this. Terrifying. Photo: Siu Ooyuen, 2013

I have to use public domain pictures in PaperGirl because I can’t afford to buy images. So I have to use things like this. Terrifying. Photo: Siu Ooyuen, 2013.

I feel so grateful to have a blog. Because I can share stories like this one with more than three people.

If you’ve been reading the past few days, you know I was in Chicago several days over the past week to perform poetry and teach writing workshops in a number of schools. I’m home in DC now, where it is about six degrees warmer. I have named each of those six degrees because I cherish them like I might my very own children.

One of the schools I visited is an affluent one. Real affluent.The parents who send their kids to the school are affluent, the neighborhoods these families live in are affluent neighborhoods, and the school, which is private, is therefore well-heeled by default. It’s breathtaking to see. The student body — remarkably diverse, I’ll note — has in-school yoga classes, an organic lunch program, and all kinds of autonomy in their day, as far as I could tell. On the walls of one hallway, I checked out the art on the walls: there was a sign that said, “All these pictures were made by code!” Meaning that the kids are coding, for one thing, and through their coding are creating fractals on paper. When I was their age, I think we melted crayons between wax paper. And I thought that was great.

There were cups of grapes on trays for the kids in case they needed a snack en route from like, Spanish XVI and microbiology. Did I mention this is a middle school? I have to make sure I say that the students are delightful. They’re engaged, polite, and 100-watt bright, every last one. I’ve been the school many times and it’s a joy, but it’s also disorienting.

For example:

At the beginning of my workshops, the teacher in the room will pass out sticky-back name tags so that I can call on the kids by name. Miss Tully (not her real name) was handing them out when a concerned-looking young man raised his hand.

“Miss Tully?” he said.

“Yes, Nick?”

“I can’t put this name tag on my sweater. This is cashmere.”

I had been looking down at my lesson plan, but upon hearing this my head snapped up. “This is cashmere”? Did that ten-year-old boy just say that he couldn’t put a name tag on his sweater because it’s cashmere? My eyes were big as dinner plates. And the kid was not being a jerk. He’s ten. He was worried his cashmere sweater would get jacked up if he put on his name tag. He’s just doing him.

One planet, many worlds.

Filed Under: Art, Chicago, Poetry Tagged With: but this is cashmere story mary fons, i love cashmere too, mary fons blog papergirl performance, mary fons cashmere chips, mary fons cashmere story, mary fons creative writing teacher, mary fons high school performance, mary fons papergirl cashmere, mary fons poetry performer, mary fons slam poet, mary fons writer, mary for hire, oh boy, that kid was kinda awesome

Primary Sidebar

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin

Subscription

Want PaperGirl delivered to your inbox? I will never, ever sell your name, ever. I promise.

Email address

Donation

PaperGirl is free to all good homes, but kick a buck to the kitty if you want. It's fun!

Facebook Posts

View on Facebook

Mary Fons

2 hours ago

Mary Fons

My second-ever fiction story. Because I only write non-fiction, as a rule!!! ... See MoreSee Less

The Scene I Imagine On Days When There's No Work Being Done On the High-Rise Construction Site Two Streets Over and One Street Down From My Building - Mary Fons

blog.maryfons.com

So there’s a lot of construction in the South Loop. More all the time. Buildings being built to the south of me on State; buildings to the north of me on Wabash. So far, none of what I like about ...
View on Facebook
·Share

Recent Posts

  • The Scene I Imagine On Days When There’s No Work Being Done On the High-Rise Construction Site Two Streets Over and One Street Down From My Building April 21, 2018
  • Frozen Dinners, But I’m Good April 18, 2018
  • Things Gramma Said April 16, 2018
  • Books! Books! Books! (And Magazines!) April 14, 2018
  • I Kicked My Sandwich April 12, 2018

Archives

Categories

  • Art
  • Chicago
  • Confessions
  • D.C.
  • Day In The Life
  • Event
  • Family
  • Fashion
  • Fiction
  • Food
  • Found Text
  • From The PaperGirl Archives
  • Giveaway!
  • Joke
  • Luv
  • My Sister's Wedding
  • Nellie Bly
  • New York City
  • Paean
  • PaperGirl Archive
  • PaperGirl Essay Contest
  • PaperGirl Mailbag
  • PaperGirl Placeholder
  • Pendennis
  • Philip Larkin
  • Plays
  • Poetry
  • Quiltfolk
  • Quilting
  • Quilty
  • Rant
  • School
  • Sicky
  • Small Wonders
  • Story
  • Survey
  • The Iowa Theater Winterset
  • The Pendennis Observer
  • The Quilt Scout
  • Tips
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized
  • Washington
  • Word Nerd
  • Work
  • Yoga

Copyright © 2018 · Mary Fons · Chicago, IL · Log in