You know what’s worse than being a hopeless romantic? Being a hopeless romantic who can’t figure out social cues and has relationship drama worthy of a Taylor Swift song. Back when I was in college, I had a crush on a different guy every year. Before that, I had a couple of boyfriends in high school. Sadly, my relationships ended badly and my feelings for the crushes were unrequited. The good news is that I learned a lot of things... Read more
There are some things you should know about me. For one thing, I am a cradle Catholic, which means that I was born into a Catholic family, baptized as a baby, and was raised with the teachings of the faith. I went to Catholic school from Kindergarten all the way to 7th grade and later on went to a Catholic university. Throughout all that time, I was raised to love Halloween. Never have I ever heard any of my teachers... Read more
In my honest opinion, butts are overrated. It baffles me to this day that people write songs and lyrics about a person’s hindquarters. Seriously? How is a butt more beautiful than a person’s eyes or hair or voice? Or for that matter, what about personality? But then again, Top 40 songs aren’t what you call “deep.” On the other hand, celebrities are making such a big deal about the importance of body positivity. While I support the idea of appreciating... Read more
I wanted to take this blog in a new direction. I want to publish my poetry and I think the best way to do that is through this blog. I plan to follow up this poem with an additional blog entry that tells the story behind the poem in question or what I think the poem is about. You’re free to use your “death of the author” card, but I hope that at least you can share this poem with... Read more
So my dad was channel surfing through the news stories and my ear catches a sound bite about a man who has an autistic son who learned to communicate through watching Disney movies. As I watched the story, I saw a lot of myself in the autistic child, who I learned is now 23 years old. The news piece about Ron Suskind’s son mentioned something called “affinity therapy” in which role-playing is used to develop social skills. As I thought... Read more
I know that I have shared this quote from CS Lewis before, but it bears repeating as it is relevant to this post. To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it... Read more
This summer has been surprisingly busy. I’ve been spending a lot of time writing a lot of different things. I am currently in Camp NaNoWriMo, editing my novel and putting another project together that I’m planning to announce at the end of the month. I also made an attempt to pay more attention to what I eat and how often I exercise. And while making an effort to improve my health and fitness is all well and good, I learned... Read more
You know a tradition from school I really miss? Summer Reading. Not the part where I was required to write book reports, but just the idea of getting to read books over the summer. This summer, I signed up for my library’s adult summer reading program. I’m also doing a reading challenge on Goodreads. Aside from one re-read (Eat, Pray, Love), all of the books I read this year were new ones. The list I have is a mix of... Read more
Monique Ocampo Writes
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