The Girl from the Ghetto

Why did I pick the name The Girl from the Ghetto?

People often ask me why I picked the name The Girl from the Ghetto and I am finally going to tell give you the honest answer.  I have three reasons, and none are because I like to pretend I’m black or claim to have grown up in the hood.  Granted, I grew up close to Detroit, my mother was an unmedicated bipolar, and my neighborhood was a little rough; but at least I lived in a house north of 8 Mile.  Sure, mice slept in my bed, I was raised on welfare cheese and wonder bread sandwiches, I had a step-father who was an abusive alcoholic, and my brother grew up to be a probable serial killer, but at least I had a social worker to look after me in the suburbs to keep me safe.  This is why you see a picture of me, the little white girl who desperately wanted to look like Laura Ingalls on my homepage rather than some gangsta logos. 

But, I digress.  Reason one for the Ghetto Girl name is simply that I wanted to pay homage to my Italian relatives who first settled in the Little Italy ghetto of South Philly many years ago.  Even though I am a blonde with blue-green eyes, I grew up Italian and as much as I try, I can’t hide or change who I am or who my family was.  The second reason is that I needed something sarcastic yet approachable, because that is who I am in real life.  But the main reason behind my choice of The Girl from the Ghetto name is from the night I first met my husband.  For reasons unknown, I flashed him a gang sign when he asked me where I grew up, and the joke stuck between us.  Hubby has teased me for years during my rare moments of crazy by telling me “you can take the girl out of (hometown edited) but you can’t take the (hometown edited) out of the girl.” 

Why the duality of writing about culture and pop culture on the blog?

Besides having ADHD you mean?  Even though my family was dysfunctional, I grew up surrounded by both culture and pop culture.  I collected stamps from foreign countries, went to plays with my step-grandparents, took calligraphy lessons after school for years, and I sketched on real parchment paper.  At the same time, I was a Girl Scout, I adored Judy Blume, I owned 63 Barbie dolls, and was a huge TV and movie junkie, not t mention my whole music fascination.  I even had a subscription to Rolling Stone Magazine by age 11.  I may have read Shakespeare and Jane Austin for fun, but I also watched The Brady Bunch, Welcome Back Kotter, The Facts of Life and The Dukes of Hazzard religiously.  Besides my weird no pants rule until age eight, I was doing a good job raising myself, as I had no parental guidance.  Sure, there were missteps, like the time I read Wifey to my first grade class during lunch, but there were good times like when I taught myself how to do my own taxes by using the public library.

What is my work ethic, education and work background?

I began working two jobs by the age fifteen because I understood that education was the key to getting out of the dysfunctional life I despised.  By age eighteen I managed to escape my mother and attended Michigan State where I had a chance to start over.  That is, until I ran out of money and student loans to pay for my senior year of college, just thirty credits shy of my Parks and Recreation degree.  It breaks my heart to this day, but at least I managed to graduate many years later from Central Michigan University with a B.S. in Community Development/Public Administration and a minor in Recreation, Magna Cum Laude.  In my lifetime, I have worked as a Casino Bartender, Cocktail Waitress, and Cabana Girl in Las Vegas.  I’ve had other office type jobs in several different fields that I don’t share here for privacy reasons.  I have many years experience as a waitress, as well as being a former flight attendant.  I recently worked in civil service until losing my job due to Michigan’s economy in September 2009. 

Why blog?

I have always wanted to write professionally and beginning this blog was a way for me to get some much needed writing practice, as it has been over nine years since I had published anything.  I thought if I wrote a little each day, it would get me moving on completing the memoir I began writing back in college during my English major days.  As I am deathly afraid of my brother and random stalkers, I blog without revealing my real name or sharing certain facts.  I’m even considering turning my memoir into a work of fiction under a pen name just to avoid retribution from my brother.  At times this blog has become my own therapy rather than entertainment for my readers, but somehow in under two years I’ve seen over a two million hits.  For whatever reason, people read my blog, so I keep writing it.  Even better, people sometimes send me items and products to review, thus allowing me to write more about the things I love. 

All I know is this – I want to experience the world, and hopefully blogging will help me do so.  I dream of being everything – a writer, a screenwriter, a librarian, a teacher, or even working in public relations or the Michigan film  industry.  On my blog you will find me writing about all the things I enjoy, such as photography, world travel, movies, nature, walking, museums, television, listening to music (Especially The Beatles) and reading good books.  And as always, I adore anything British. 

 To contact me, you may email me at thegirlfromtheghetto@gmail.com