Life of JEM: My Life In The Inland Empire

A BLOG ABOUT THE ZANY CHILDHOOD AND ADULT ADVENTURES OF A GIRL FROM THE INLAND EMPIRE WHO MOVED OUT OF THE INLAND EMPIRE ONLY TO END UP BACK IN THE INLAND EMPIRE.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Mysterious Ways

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On Saturday night, we went to the U2 concert. I had never seen U2 live. It is surprising considering that I had a long time love affair wi...

Saturday, June 18, 2011

High and Low

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For those of you who don't know the distinction, there is a high and low desert in California. The high desert is Hesperia and beyond o...

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Monday, June 13, 2011

There ain't no fairy tale endings

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I wish someone told me this when I was little. There are no fairy tale endings. People don't live happily ever after. No prince ever ...

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Saturday, June 11, 2011

Bye Bye Fat Girl

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I have my fat girl surgery in less than a month. Soon, I will be a shadow of my former self. My only fear is looking like a bobblehead. T...

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Junior College Days

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When I was in junior college in the 1990's at Mt. San Antonio College ("Mt. SAC") in Walnut, I just wanted to get through it a...

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Friday, May 27, 2011

Hindsight

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I live my life looking backwards in the rear view mirror. What I mean by this is that I never realize how good my life is when I am actuall...

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Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Stressin out

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I have been stressing out a lot lately. It seems as if I am having a mini nervous breakdown on a daily basis. The stress is not work relat...

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About Me

Juanita E. Mantz (JEM): JEM's life story is the stuff that memoirs are made of. JEM went from punk rock high school dropout to corporate lawyer to rock star deputy public defender and nonfiction writer. JEM's stories, blog and video podcast document her journey so take a look! Her YA memoir, "Tales of an Inland Empire Girl", is available via Los Nietos Press (and through all national retailers). Her book tells the poignant story of her chaotic YA life growing up in the IE. Her chapbook, "Portrait of a Deputy Public Defender, or how I became a punk rock lawyer", was also released in Aug 2021 by Bamboo Darts Press. JEM is married to her wonderful husband Adrian who is a dentist. They have two Shih Tzus, Frodo and Chewbaca (Chewie to his friends). Her work has been published in Aljazeera, The Acentos Review, The Dirty Spoon Radio Hour, Entropy, As/Us, Inlandia, & Mutha magazine, among others. Go to her author website for more info at https://juanitaemantz.com. JEM is in the creative writing MFA low residency program at UNO. She has presented at AWP, Beyond Baroque and the UCR Punk Conference.

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