I stared blankly at the text from my cousin requesting I send over my holiday wishlist. It always seems to find me at my most unprepared.

This post was updated Oct. 26 at 7:23 p.m.
You can barely hear the show, but suddenly an advertisement rings louder than anything you’ve heard. No, it’s not all in your head.

This post was updated Sept. 7 at 4:55 p.m.
As a child, I lived for birthday parties.
What I dreaded, however, was asking my parents the question that followed the festivities: “Could I stay for a sleepover?”
After many disappointments, I learned not to bother asking my parents this dreaded question.

This post was updated May 15 at 11 p.m.
The atmosphere shifts when someone hears that I’m majoring in English. Without fail, the next words to cascade from their lips are, “Why would you willingly choose to read so much for class?”
Their reasoning is that reading is not entertaining – at least not to the degree it was when our books had pictures.

This post was updated Feb. 6 at 6:57 p.m.
Sleep slips away on nights when the Santa Ana winds arrive.
The rosebush thorns outside my bedroom window scrape against the glass like claws, and dust storms dangerously dance above my house.

The California Supreme Court will soon decide the scope of two education data privacy laws.
An appellate court ruled in July that the case J.M. v.