I've Been Away but not Gone

So much has happened since my last post...

• I was elected Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner for Single Member District 5D01.
• Mayor Vincent Gray appointed me to the Ward 5 Industrial Land Usage Task Force for the District of Columbia.
• Commission 5D elected me Secretary.
• The planning of numerous events & celebrations.

and a pleathora of community meetings, working full-time and activities for the children.  I have been quite busy but truly blessed for the many opportunities received.

During this time away from my blog I have used Facebook and public meetings to engage my constituents however my blog has always been a venue for me to showcase my pageant adventures so as I prepare for the 2014 Ms. All American Pageant I have decided to end its dormancy and get back to blogging so stay tuned for updates of my year as Ms. District of Columbia All American.

Master Bedroom Gets a Makeover

I am finally making my way to create a bedroom design that encompass both William & my taste in our new home.  Below is a photo of the bedroom.

Summer's in Full Swing so Let's Get Reading

Are you in search of a good reading list?  Well, here are some really good suggestions (thanks Marcus at RIF) so grab a cool corner and ENJOY!

■“The 20 Most Beautiful Children’s Books of All Time” via Flavorwire

■“7 (More) Obscure Children’s Books by Famous “Adult” Lit Authors” via Brain Pickings

■“88 Books That Shaped America” via Huffington Post

■“9 Books That Make You Undateable” via Flavorwire

■“10 Olympic Books”

■“Seven Top Trailers to Hook Kids on Books” via Digital Shift

■“The Reading Lists of Your Favorite Fictional Characters” via Flavorwire

■“The Books HuffPost Staff Are Reading This Summer” via Huffington Post

■“9 Unintentionally Terrifying Children’s Books” via Flavorwire

■“Dark Reads for Your Bright Summer Day” via Huffington Post

Need more lists to keep you and your kids reading this summer? Check out RIF’s Multicultural Booklist containing 45 children’s books and activities celebrating cultures from all over the world.

ANC 5D01

Today, Vanessa and I turned in my petitions for Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner for 5D01, the single member district that encompass Ivy City and the surrounding neighborhood.  What does that mean exactly?  My name will be on the November 2012 Election Ballot for Washington, DC.  This is a HUGE deal to my family.  This will be a first for us since I am a first generation American by way of naturalized citizenship. Here's to me becoming the first Lewis to hold a political appointment in the United States!

Be Book Smart

For the next 6 days, you can save big and help RIF get 1 million books to kids.

Now through July 31st, vist your local Macy's and give $3 to help provide a book for a child.  You'll receive a $10 coupon off an in-store purchase of $50 or more.  Macy's will give 100% of every $3 to RIF.

This campaign is the biggest RIF fundraiser of the year!

How Libraries are Reinventing Themselves for the Future

Many branches of these public institutions are dying from lack of funding—and reinventing themselves in surprising new ways
Beyond the Book Mobile

by Allison Berry

Today’s libraries aren’t just trying to fulfill what a March study by the Pew Charitable Trusts calls the institutions’ “shadow mandate” of bridging the widening gaps in social services that used to be provided by non-profits and public agencies. Libraries are also trying to meet people where they are. The cash-strapped Free Library of Philadelphia, a stalwart system founded in 1891, has set up six “Hot Spots” to expand its reach in underserved areas. It’s much cheaper to open these freestanding mini-libraries, which are equipped with computers, printers, and a reference collection, inside facilities owned by community organizations than it is to open a new branch. In a similar move, the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh has opened what it calls a “library without walls” in the Pittsburgh Public Market in an effort to deliver library services on the weekends in a place where a lot of people do their food-shopping. Some libraries are even venturing outdoors. In response to recent branch closures in Detroit, the University of Michigan this spring partnered with students at a local elementary school to set up six outdoor libraries, whose waterproof bookcases, unlike book mobiles, don’t come with expensive gas bills.

*The above article is not the works of Peta-Gay Lewis but republished on this blog as a means to encourage children to read.

King James Loves to Read to Focus

How LeBron James focused for games: Reading books. Tell the kids.

By Valerie Strauss

Miami Heat star LeBron James had a somewhat surprising practice that he used to focus before games, including during the final series in which he led his team to the National Basketball Association championship: He read books. Tell the kids.

There was “The Hunger Games,” and the other books in the science fiction trilogy by Suzanne Collins. There were, according to ESPN, books on history, biographies, psychology and more. He read sitting in front of his locker “The Pact,” about three boys from tough backgrounds deciding to go to college and then medical school.

According to this story by ESPN’s by Michael Wilbon (who used to be a colleague of mine at The Washington Post), James decided that he could focus on his game better if he spent some time alone reading, so he called up his friend and business associate, Maverick Carter, and asked for some book suggestions.

Carter recommended titles such as “The Post-American World” by Fareed Zakaria and Malcolm Gladwell’s “The Tipping Point.” According to Wilbon, James came up on his own with the “The Hunger Games” trilogy as well as a book titled “Decoded” by his friend, Jay-Z.

Wilbon wrote in this story:

“Where cynics saw a ballplayer doing something for the cameras, I saw a chance, whatever LeBron’s motivation, for a role model to use his influence to make an impact, intentional or not.... If LeBron is reading, then reading must be fairly cool. Is there a better message the world’s best basketball player could send?”

I can’t think of one offhand, except, perhaps, to be gracious and humble, which James was in his public remarks after he led the Heat to the championship on Thursday night and was named the most valuable player of the final series against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Tell the kids that, too.

*The above article is not the works of Peta-Gay Lewis but republished on this blog as a means to encourage children to read.