Think the thoughts, feel the feels...write it down

Tumblr  is basically a picture sharing website.  You can create an account, much like you do a blog, and post things you find on the internet, pictures/videos you take, all sorts of stuff.  Here are my favorite tumblrs. 1) My Friends Are Married .   This blog is so funny and I can relate so stinkin' much with the different posts.  The older I get, the more people I know are getting married.  It's normal, I guess, but marriage isn't even in my foreseeable future, so this tumblr is perfect for me. 2) E is for Educator .   I am an educator and it's so nice to visit this site and feel understood and in good, fun, company of fellow educators. 3) The Bearded .   I love  bearded men.  When I look at this site, I think "Praise the Lord!"  I don't know who these men are, but I enjoy their faces.  Way to go. 4) Reasons My Son is Crying .   This tumblr brings me to tears...of laughter.  These kids...

Lately, I've been feeling like what I do, teach general elementary music, doesn't matter.  It's not that I don't think music, Art, doesn't matter, and it's not that I don't think education doesn't matter.  I am a strong believer that music education does good for everyone...but I'm, somehow, not feeling like what I'm doing is really contributing well to the world.  That's a problem because all I've ever wanted to do is have a positive footprint on this world (so vague).  Last Sunday I was out to lunch with a couple friends and I asked them if they ever feel like what they do doesn't matter?  Like it's superfluous, maybe selfish.  They both said yes and that if I'm feeling that way at a job that I do find to be important, then I'm probably not at the right job.  Then she said something that her roommate had told her: make a list of the things I love and that are important to me, then find a job that incorporates that list....

So I technically work for a major book store chain.  The frozen yogurt shop at which I work is attached to said book store, so I'm considered an employee of the store.  One of the perks of being an employee of the book store is that I get a 20% discount, but this month is Employee Appreciation Month; this means, amongst other things, I now get a 30% discount on most things in the bookstore (instead of just getting 30% off on paydays).  This is pretty great, but I haven't been taking advantage of it, until yesterday.  Yesterday, I finally cashed in the $60 dollars worth of book store gift cards I've gotten from different things at work.  I ended up paying only $32 for $130 worth of books with my discount and gift cards.  It was glorious.  Here are the books I got and why I chose them. 1) A Thousand Splendid Suns.   I read Khaled Mosseni 's first book, The Kite Runner, in University in some English class or something.   The K...

It's 3am.  I was asleep, but then I woke up as I usually do.  Since I don't have to get up early, I decided to peruse Twitter for a little bit and came across this little opinion piece  that will serve as my weekly list post.  Sex trafficking isn't news to me, but it's presence in the USA  was made known to me in college when I learned about it's large presence in Greensboro , where I went to school, and other places in North Carolina, when I attended some kind of informational meeting(s) or something.  Reading the piece made me sad so I tried to get my mind off of it by doing a little Facebooking.  But that didn't work because suddenly my mind was racing with nightmarish thoughts about all the evil and pain and sadness and fear and hate in the World.  Suddenly, I was back to being my 13-14 year old self crying myself in and out of sleep in the middle of the night, crying out to God, because I saw, I see, all this ho...

I'm a  vegetarian  and I really like being one.  I'm considering becoming a different type of vegetarian and have been thinking about it for the past couple weeks.  It wouldn't be a huge change for me but it would be a change and would restrict my eating even more.  A couple days ago I was talking to a friend about my considering this change and she said "Oh, you're considering becoming a legit vegetarian."  There are many people who are in this camp with her, who believe that vegetarians who eat fish (pescetarians) aren't legitimate vegetarians.  This comment insulted me because 1) I'm in the camp who believes vegetarians who eat fish are every bit as vegetarians as vegans (people who eat no animal products like honey/milk/eggs) and 2) people who aren't vegetarian have a lot of misconceptions about vegetarianism, even when close with vegetarians, that often cause them to inadvertently insult vegetarians.  Anyway, I'm consider...

There are some things in life I cheer for, silently.  I may give a solid, mental "YESSSS!" or give a mental high five, but when I really like seeing something, I affirm it even when alone, even silently. 1)  Interracial Couples.   I grew up with race being a big deal and point of contention between my parents and me.  I didn't see what the big deal having majority White or Indian or Latina friends was, but my parents showed concern.  When I was finally allowed to date in high school, I was told I could only date black guys.  That didn't jive well with me, because I didn't want to limit myself on who I was to love based on something so surface as physical features.  So when I see interracial couples I see progress.  I see love and understanding and respect; I do not see traitors or sell outs.  I will likely never understand my parents' thinking because interracial friendships and marriages are literally how we exist today.  My da...

I woke up on my Teacher Soapbox this morning.  I was in bed reading an article  a fellow educator, and a former teacher of mine, posted on Facebook.  As I read this article, I felt understood.  I felt like I wasn't alone.  Then I had the audacity to watch a movie about children/school/teacher that makes me bawl the entire time.  So all that got me thinking about my favorite, inspirational, teacher movies.  Here they are. 1) Mr. Hollands Opus.   I can't tell you how many times I've seen this movie.  It is the quintessential music class movie.  Holland goes from teaching music simply to pay the bills/support his family to becoming invested in his students lives.  He and his wife have a son who is deaf and their struggle to love and understand each other are is another storyline.  Love this movie.  Also, they've made it into a wonderful  foundation . 2) Freedom Writers.   This is the movie I watc...