Setting: a Sunday afternoon in early October in New Jersey. Small college library music room. A week before my 20th birthday, I was a junior in college, studying to be a music teacher. I was sitting in the music room in the campus library, working on a massive score project, when my right ear started … Read more
When someone dies, those close to the deceased have an onslaught of well-wishers. When someone is diagnosed with cancer or another critical health issue, they have a similar herd of well-wishers. When someone has another unfortunate life event, they have immediate help and concern. The thing is … the support dies off well before needed … Read more
After going through a handful of ideas, I put up the display shown in the picture in both of my classrooms. In case you can’t see the photo, there’s a poster in the middle that says “take what you need,” surrounded by sticky-notes with messages. You got this! I can do it! Mistakes are opportunities … Read more
A while back, I read a few articles about complaining and how it rewires your brain. Not in a good way. Also a while back, I used to run 30-day challenges on Facebook. Two of those challenges have been “life-changing” as per feedback from people in the group. One was no added sugars (which we … Read more
Some time in the last week was my 16-year anniversary of arriving in Arizona. (I could look at a calendar and figure out which day exactly, but it’s not that important. Early August is good enough.) I came out here to go to grad school. To go somewhere hot and far away. To try to … Read more
We started with The Kid because it was easier. His toys are all in his bedroom except for his LEGOs, which are in “the LEGO Room”—a space in the living room specifically for LEGO. He was having trouble keeping his toys put away. LEGO were mostly in the LEGO Room but not entirely, and rarely … Read more
Twenty years ago, I graduated from The College of New Jersey with the education required to become a music teacher. I’ve become really good at teaching. But at music? Mediocre at best. Historically, I’ve been a fast learner without much grit. It took a lot of life before anything crossed my path that I was … Read more
August 1 marked nine months of a post here every day. I made it through the holidays, through the end of the school year, through 2.5 weeks out of town, and now through the beginning of the school year. I feel pretty good about that! There are posts I’ve written that I think are pretty … Read more
I was always a night owl. As a kid, I would sleep until 15 minutes before I needed to leave for school. Clothes on, breakfast in, out the door. Saturdays, I would sleep until 10 or 11. (Marching band at Saturday morning football games killed that.) Nights were always my best time. Best for thinking, … Read more
In conjunction with the premise behind yesterday’s post, I’ve been reducing my screen clutter. This has been an ongoing project, but I’ve ramped it up a bit in the last two or three weeks. I’ve unsubscribed from email lists that I tried out that turned out to be meh. I’ve unsubscribed from most retail. (It’s … Read more