the joj show
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the joj show is an excuse to talk about my life as a former Welfare kid living in the south of France. It’s my mission to let y’all in on all things REALLY French as seen through the filters of someone whose pre-France life was itinerant and on the lower rungs of American social class. Segments include fun stuff like, “French News” (the abbreviated lowdown on mostly U.S. news stories presented in France); “Yard Junk,” (wtf is going on in my yard); “Weird French Sh!t,” (stuff and junk I’ve only ever seen or used in France); and “Bitchin’ and Moanin’” (gripes about things in France that get on my everlovin’ nerves).
the joj chillin’ in France
I grew up in the States. Mostly the south, a fat chunk in the Ozarks. Sometimes in a trailer, other times in a camper on (or caravan behind) my mom’s pick-up truck, a few times in my own car or tent. Rarely in a house. In other words, we moved a lot. This planted in me an irresistible wanderlust. Happiness always seemed Somewhere over the Rainbow.
TV and movies convinced me that Somewhere was France. I hustled and faked (and sometimes actually worked) my way here only to discover the place portrayed in all those glossy ads, commercials, movies and textbooks was a MYTH.
After the initial suicide-caliber disillusionment, I made some lemonade (and four kids). The six of us have moved back and forth between France and different places in the U.S. (Pennsylvania, Texas, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland) over the past 20 years but have now settled (probably not for good) in a modest “compound” in the Luberon area of Provence.
who’s the joj
I was born in Ohio but didn’t stay long enough to merit being a true Buckeye. Y’all already know I grew up poor. I have a B.A. in French from Missouri State, an MATESL from Penn State, an MLS from Texas Woman’s University and an MA in English Creative Writing from Ball State (class of 2020, BABY!) SO BASICALLY, I COLLECT UNUSED GRADUATE DEGREES AND DEBT. I participated in NaNoWriMo successfully every year from 2004 to 2014 and thought I was destined to be a YA fiction writer (we’ll see, maybe some day). Now, I write (mostly) nonfiction in various forms and lengths. I have three memoirs in various stages of “finished”: LIKE SHELLIN’ PEAS (the story of my first pregnancy and subsequent adoption experience); LOAD UP (the story of my four-ish years becoming a teenager on the road); and HOW I LEARNED FRENCH (THE book—a braided memoir combining my first year in France, the childhood that made me wanna run and the shows and movies that convinced me France was the destination). I have three other memoirs in the chute. All will be illuminated in time. I also write poetry and shorter nonfiction and am trying to crack the lit mag code. I have five living children (an adult one I share with his amazing parents and four who mess up my house) and five ghost babies (I’ll try to remember to add content warnings when I talk about infant loss). I have a million hobbies but I’m a master of none.
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Facebook: JojTheFirst
Instagram: @jojthefirst
Twitter: @jojthefirst
Email: jojthefirst@yahoo.com
