Sometimes Take the Path Less Traveled

 I wrote this while on a Walk and Write with the Central Utah Writing Project about a week and a half ago.  It was a beautiful walk near Bridal Veil Falls with two of my very favorite people.  Writing always fills my cup and this night was no different for me.

    Sometimes you can take the path less traveled.  You can leave parent teacher conferences early to go and do something you are passionate about.  Sometimes you must take a different route because somebody's lack of breaking reaction causes a pile up in the middle of Bull-Cougar Boulevard.  Even a river at times needs to change its run to find the least resistance, I guess we should be wise and learn to do the same.  

    The past year really has been a very long lesson on going with the flow, flying by the seat of my teacher pants, and being flexible.  But within all this change of course, I have gained a different perspective just like having no choice but to walk a different path to the falls tonight helped me to distance myself and back into an even more majestic view of the water cascading through the fall colors and dividing the rock.

    Taking a step back and changing my course made me realize that we can do things differently.  We don't have to play sports everyday in PE class, there is room for midweek meditation. We don't have to rush through every topic in Health, there is room to concentrate on essential ideas and let kids absorb those concepts deeper.

    Diversion from the normal path can often sound and seem like the wrong path but I'm starting to realize(just like my dad taught me long ago) there are many paths to the desired destination.  Some paths just take longer and have different scenery. 

    Sometimes diversion is what we need to gain a better perspective and more wisdom. So, even though I have often felt like there is only one path an one way to do things, I am changing that view just a bit and making room for other thoughts, other feelings, and just space for a general slow down and enjoy the journey mentality. 

    There is room for all ideas, and room for every path!

Craving September 12th.

     It's been 20 years since the world changed.  Or should I say the world stood still.

    I lived in The Salt Lake Valley in Utah on that day, September 11, 2001.  I can remember most of that morning, as we first were confused by a "small plane" hitting the first tower, and then utterly shocked when a second plane hit the other tower.  We knew we were under attack.  Two more planes went down that day, one into The Pentagon, the other into the countryside in Pennsylvania.  

    Where I lived was on the flight path for the Salt Lake International Airport and the next few weeks were so eerie, as plane traffic halted.  It was weird.  We, as Americans, were in shock.  We didn't know how anybody could hate us so much as to attack us in such a horrific way.  

    As I reflect on that time, I am always reminded how such a tragedy united us.  There were no colors, no religions, no divisions, we were Americans and we came together.  We were proud to fly the flag and we changed.  We looked out for our neighbor a bit more and we related to each other. This is something I miss now.  I miss the America we were on September 12th.  I miss patriotism.  I feel like we have lost what it truly means to be American and proud, because how dare you be proud of being part of something so privileged.  Truth be told, I am proud and I am not ashamed.  How wonderful to live in a place where I get to chose my destiny and I also have a voice.  

    Now, we have lost quite a bit of our pride and we are very divided.  My biggest hope and prayer today is that we somehow find a way to look past our divisions.  That we can see eye to eye on the basics and can be like the America we were twenty years ago.  It will take work, but it is necessary to keep our republic going.  Do not be quiet and let your freedoms be taken away, because I feel those wonderful freedoms this great country was founded on are fragile and many of those freedoms are slowly being taken from us.  

    Today I am proud to wear my gear from a great company: Nine-Twelve United.  Check them out HERE.

    My shirt is this one:

Ready or Not...(A bonus post)

    Well, we blinked and it was August.  Here we are again, just a week and a half until school starts.  Summer is waning.  Today is officially my last day of summer break.     

     I have done this a few times.  This is the beginning of my 20th year of teaching.  That is a miracle in and of itself, but much of the miracle is that I am going to be going back after the rollercoaster of a year we had last school year.  A few of my fellow teachers at my school aren't.  Many in this profession have chosen to walk away.  

    I feel it.  I understand all the reasons one would leave these days.  We are different; the kids are different.  Our capability to deal with stress is weakened.  Our sense of care is dwindling.  And the saddest part about this all is that we had a summer, it was quick, even too quick to mend the exhaustion of last year, yet most of us trudge back.  

    Granted, I am almost 20 years into my retirement and that has a big play in all of this, yet it isn't the only reason I am going back.  I still care about these kids.  I still am motivated by helping them see potential and their own ability.  I still have hope that we will get through this never-ending, fear packed pandemic.  I still feel like teens need me.  They need my strength and my patience.  They need to hear my voice cheering for them and quieting their self-doubt.  They need to hear that fear isn't the answer and that we get to choose to be happy here and now.  They need hope.  They need to see a demonstration of perseverance and survival.  

    So, I will set my alarm tonight.  I will sit through hours of meetings that usually make me sleepy and I will look for the glimmers of usefulness.  I will focus the next week and a half on getting into the mindset of teacher.  I will wait for them to again walk the halls.  Souls on the brink of adulthood and seeking direction and inspiration.  I will go.  I will fake it until I make it. I will be there.  Here's to the 2021-2022 school year.  Here's to hope. Here's to perseverance. 

Write a Postcard, Create a Smile

     I left a Nebraska postcard on my Aunt’s kitchen table today in Green Bay, WI. I’m not sure when I bought it, but I love to write postcard notes and I always have one handy. It’s one of my things. 

     I have a collection of postcards that I keep in a bin in my office. It makes it easy to send a quick note to somebody for a variety of purposes. Postcards are very handy here are five reasons why:

• 1. Postcards are small. There is a very small time commitment to writing one. You must be concise, and don’t need to get all personal and stuff. They are perfect for thank yous. 

• 2. Postcards are cheap to send. The going rate to send a regular letter is currently 55 cents. To send a postcard, only 34 cents: instant money saver. (You could buy a fancy hotdog with the money you save? Ask a politician for fact checks on that.)

• 3. Postcards have cool pictures on them. (See some examples at end of post!). You can send one from a tourist trap or from your hometown and they are still fun to receive.  I guarantee!

• 4.  People have to work to respond to you. You can find out real quick who your real friends are because you can’t fit a return address on a postcard. Your recipient will have to do a little bit of committed work to thank you for your thank you postcard!

• 5. They are fun. You smile your recipient smiles. It truly is a win-win situation! 

     I really haven’t found many cons to postcard writing. Well, maybe one thing, it can cost more for the actual postcard than the postage to send it. I bet you can afford 50 cents though?

     As always, if you would like a postcard from me, feel free to contact me via comments or social media. You never know what you’re gonna get!

Hot, Cruel Summer.

 Writing Wednesday is a place for me to write whatever I want to write.   

    The following is a piece I wrote in my summer writing class last summer.  It kind of goes along with my post from last week as it was also inspired by summer warmth.  As I am typing this, it is about 93 degrees and I have braved the outside warmth a few times today, each time coming into my air conditioned house being grateful for central air.  Yes, I am a spoiled brat.  Enjoy a little piece from the past:

    The girl from Wisconsin isn't made for the heat.  You know, the blazing, I'd rather just jump out of my skin into a pool filled with icy pops and ice cubes kind of heat.  The pops would be so much more tasty but the cubes would offer a bit more wetness with its cold.  And it is always nice to have a grape ice pop on hand when the taste and heat inspires.

    Now, a pool filled with ice cream would be cold, I'll give you that, but it wouldn't be as pleasant.  Being creamed doesn't feel like it would be my life choice.  Now, chilled, yes a lifegoal, sticky and creamy, not so much.

    An ice cold drink is my also help with feeling too hot, but through a straw is best way for an iced drink, in my opinion.  I'm against the too cold embrace of my upper lips on ice as the liquid battles for space into my mouth.  And my drink of choice is definitely going to be the carbonated goodness of soda.

    Now, there's another thing to battle.  Is it soda or pop? I've seen maps showing which states use which label.  I think it is about 50/50.  I used to care about "right" answers but I now find diversity or variety the right answer, although I may be less bugged by soda.

    I think my favorite solution is the way my high school friend's dad would offer me a "soda-pop," with a tiny emphasis on the POP, on warm summer days.  It was endearing the way he would push the sugar filled drinks on us teens.  He was like a cute 60s hair slicked back kind of a drug dealer.

    Now, the only soda term from that map that I do not stand for is Coke. When they say "want a coke?" in the south it doesn't necessarily mean a red can with swirly Coca-Cola embedded on the side.  Nope.  It is like asking: "Want a soda, or want a pop?," but bringing back some milk.  Maybe I prefer Pepsi.  Will I end up eternally thirsty because I didn't want a Coke?

    So, in crazy places where they ask you if you want a Coke, is there a follow up question?  Like "what kind?" Or is it just a lottery style, you get what they give you, or what they have in their fridge?  At least when you say want a soda(or pop)? you know there will definitely be a follow up, usually offering what the options are in the fridge.

    Maybe people in Cokeland only like Coke.  Or maybe they have seen all the cute polar bear advertising and have assumed that Coke just makes everything better and therefore is the only answer.

    Maybe I am not just hot right now, but maybe I am also very thirsty.  I guess those often go hand in hand.

    I don't care what you call it, just get me a drink already.  And make it cold, like my heart, but not as cold as ice.  Please and thank you.

What Does the Heat Make You Thirsty For?

       Thirsty-Thursdays are a place to talk all things thirst. Thirst can be actual, physical thirst and direct us to the subject of tasty drinks, but it can also drive us toward a mental thirst, the thirst for information.

It is going to be hot, hot, scorching hot the next few days here in Utah.  It's the beginning of June, and seriously 90s?  I know, I am very much a wimp when it comes to heat.  I think it is the thick Wisconsin skin.  I can handle negative temps, but get close to 100 and I die, or at least melt. 

    It was also a little toasty nine years ago at my wedding reception.

Reuben and I at our Utah reception

    Just like the heat, I am also not a fan of the typical Utah wedding tradition of a reception line.  This basically is where the groom and bride, their parents, and anybody else in the wedding party line up and people come through the line and greet the wedding party people.  I have walked through many of these lines, and they can be so long and plainly a little boring.  You usually only know one person and that is the bride or groom.  You awkwardly(at least if your me) talk to everybody in said line, but really, you are there to talk to that one person you actually know, for two minutes.  Anyway, I digress.  Not my favorite, but it is tradition and you do things because of tradition sometimes.  

    Anyway.  It was also hard to be the bride in a reception line.  There were many people who I did not know but they were genuinely happy for Reuben and I.  Don't get me wrong, I am very glad they came to celebrate us, but it did make for a long day.  But, there was one special thing that happened at that reception, Diet Coke.  See those cups in our hands?  I have always been a fan of soda and it fit well with our baseball themed wedding.  A friend of mine kept coming to me with a new cup every 20-30 minutes the whole hour and a half we stood in that hot line, and it was a godsend.  It made bearable the roasting necessity that was that line. Refreshing, revitalizing and restoring bubbles got me through that line.

Me and my Dad at the Wisconsin reception

    Now, we didn't have a line at our Wisconsin wedding.  (We did have a softball game though!) But it was July in muggy Wisconsin(as you can see by my hygrometer hair), so a thirst quencher was also needed to survive all the fun.  This time it wasn't Diet Coke, but 1919 Root beer*.  It is my favorite draft root beer and it is found in many Wisconsin bars and restaurants.  I think it is a big part of my childhood and has carried into my adulthood because of my non-alcoholic drinking ways. See, in places where they make good beer, they also make amazing root beer.  My mom specially ordered a half of barrel of 1919 for the occasion and it truly was one of the highlights.  

    Now, as it is getting warmer, water is probably best.  We all know it, but there is just something about having something a little more delicious to sip out of an ice-cold sweating glass.  Comment with the drinks you love to enjoy in the heat.  Maybe you will inspire somebody across the internet waves to try something different.  Also, feel free to share your memories attached to your special drinks.  I want this space to be one that can connect us all to one another.  So, here is me begging for comments...beg, beg, beg, grovel, grovel.

*Stay tuned to the next Thirsty Thursday to learn all about 1919 Draft Root Beer! 

Flashback Friday: Being Inspired by Iron Cowboy.

 

  Flashback Friday is a place for all things reminiscence.  Flashbacks can be personal recollections or they can also be looks back to the “Good Old Days” of our collective past.

The pic that started it all!

If you follow me on social media, you may have seen the above picture.  The caption I posted with this pic was: "Great day for a ride! 10 miles...nothing compared to what @ironcowboyjames is doing everyday...but it's a start."

James is in the black shirt holding #82
Felisha is on the bottom left.

    You may be like me, who had no clue who The Iron Cowboy was until just a few months ago. James Lawrence, aka The Iron Cowboy, is this amazing individual who is doing 100 full triathlons in 100 days.  That means he swims 2.4 miles, bikes 112 miles, and runs/walks 26.2 miles(yes a marathon!) Every. Single. Day.  When my friend, Felisha, told me about James a few months ago(she is also one of his massage therapists and his friend), I got interested and have been following him and his journey to "Conquer 100" since.  If you would like to know more about James and his journey to 100 full triathlons, click HERE.

    So, after that ten mile ride on April 3rd, I was thinking: What could I do that would push myself and actually get me more motivated to be moving? I came up with 1000 miles before summer was over.  Yeah....that would be a lofty goal, but then I instantly remembered that May 17th was the day of my hysterectomy to rid myself of the fibroids and ovarian cyst that have been making my life horribly uncomfortable.  I was going to be down for a bit this summer and maybe wouldn't be able to get in those miles, but wait, I could set a goal for the next month.

    So, I thought about it for a little while and came up with 200 miles before May 17.  It wasn't 100 miles a day or anything, but for me, a non-trained cyclist, it was a great goal.  So, I wrote it down and planned it all out.  I had to get in 30 miles a week, which is about 3 hours on a bike each week.  3 hours to squeeze in with my two full time jobs: teaching and momming.

The bike.

An adventure with a good friend.

So, I started on my journey.  In just a month, there were tons of highs and lows.  Two great rides with one of my friends from work, Kristen, definitely a high.  Sunshine on my face and getting to look at this all the time:

Utah is pretty!

Definite high!  But then there was the wind: low.  The rain and cold that would shatter my motivation some days: low.  The day I found out one of my students had died of an accidental overdose the night before: huge drowning low.

Therapy ride.

    I remember almost that whole ride that day.  I took a different route.  I didn't wear my helmet or my clip in shoes.  I rode slow.  I cried.  I swore. I mourned. And I healed, a bit.  The sunshine was out, it was pleasant weather, a homeless man told me to have a good day, and the river rushed by. I am so glad that my boss was okay with me taking the time in the middle of the day to have the tender mercy of that release ride.  

    He also allowed an early ride the day a fight broke out in my class. Wowzer, I had forgotten how exhausting a five minute situation can truly be.  That ride was another one that happened to seem low at the time, but pedaling as fast as I did that day made it easier.  Movement definitely can be therapy.

    On my last ride I also took that different route.  It was a short ride, only 4 miles left to my goal.  I was so proud to have made it.  The week before I had to push myself a little harder and ride a little further than I had the previous weeks.  I wanted a celebration, so I asked for it.  Nobody was thinking, hey, Alice should have a party after her last ride. It just wasn't their journey, it was mine.

    So, I had a coworker be in charge of the ribbon I would ride through at the finish, and I had another make signs with 200 on them.  I also invited anybody who had actually stayed a little late at our school that Friday to come and celebrate with me.  On the ride I also reached out to Reuben and my kiddos, remembering I hadn't invited them, and they all came!

Crossing the finish line!

The support

My Biggest Fans.

    This Flashback Friday is truly a special one.  Be sure that you make yourself a goal.  Do something in the near future that you love to do.  Challenge yourself to do something that makes you a bit uncomfortable and have to work a bit.  Be inspired and inspire others.  I promise it will brighten your life and make time fly.  And you'll have something big to look back on and say: "Hey, I did that."  There is nothing like that feeling!

Haiku Obsessed

  Writing Wednesday is a place for me to write whatever I want to write.    

    

    Have you heard of haiku?  Maybe you know it is Japanese in origin, that it has three lines, that each line has a certain number of syllables(5-7-5), and that they it is traditionally about nature. Sure these  poems that originated in the 1600s would seem to be just about painting a picture in one breath about some nature scene, but in reality the new haiku is whatever you want it to be about. 

    I was first introduced to haiku through the Central Utah Writing Project and BYU English Professor, Chris Crowe.  He is a master of the haiku, having written an entire novel in haiku, but his most popular among the CUWPers(those who are members of the Central Utah Writing Project) is his Zombie Haiku. I hope one day he will publish them and all of us can enjoy them.  

    I do not write much zombie haiku but I do love writing haiku because it is short and I can write them even when tending to all of my children's needs, like the million times a day they ask for juice or snacks.  Not that I don't love helping with those needs, it can just sometimes interrupt the writing process.

    Anyway, here are a few of my favorite Haikus that I have written recently.  Feel free to comment by writing your own haiku, I would love to read what you can come up with.

Correlation

With COVID-19

No toilet paper or food

Good! Correlation!

Ruining My Life

Coronavirus

Cancel, cancel everything!

You’re ruining my life.

Always Stealing

Whose honey is this?

Honey Badger never asks;

He’s always stealing.

My Happy Place

Splish Splash splish splash splish

Relaxing moving water

This, my happy place.

Reuben at the Beach

Bucket hat; smooth cast

A checkered, button-up shirt

Reuben at the beach

Zarah at the Beach

Wet seat of her shorts

Pyramids, casting, and songs

Zarah's at the beach

Ellis at the Beach

Piles rocks in carns

Then heaving the at boulders

Ellis at the beach

My Day at the Beach

Mirrored sunglasses

Pen strokes writing poetry

My day at the beach

Cling to Every Moment

Thinking I'll forget

I cling to every moment

Babies do not keep.

Peace in Paradise

Cotton candy clouds

Marinate about palm trees

Peace in Paradise.

Now...seriously....write me some haiku, people!

We are all Poets

Write me some haiku

It is easy if you try

We are all poets

    

The Pen is Mightier Than The Sword: A Low Tech Love Affair

   Tech Tuesday is a place for all things technology.  Here we will discuss both low tech and high tech thing-a-ma-jigs.

    

    I am a pen addict.  I collect them like some people collect coins, except I am really particular about what kind of pen I collect.  (I guess there is some particular coin collector out there only looking for pennies, what a weirdo.)

   

Jinhao 321 Fountain Pen
(I have three of these pens: black, red and yellow)

    I love fountain pens.  I have three of them and I even have ink bottles to refill them. There is just something about dipping the tip into the ink and puling up to fill the cartridge.  You can buy pre-filled cartridges, but what fun is in that? I love that fountain pens are thin tipped because I tend to write very small and very quickly(I lose my thoughts and to avoid the loss I must rush).  

   

Happy Day Korean Pens
(can still be purchased on Amazon)

    I bought some Korean pens that I really loved on Amazon a few years ago.  The main reason for the purchase was because the pens were thinner tipped than any pen in the U.S. at a very thin .3mm.

    You may or may not be a pen nerd like me, so you may or may not know that pens come in different tip measurements.  The smaller the number the thinner the tip.  In America, our pen tips are typically .7mm or .5mm,  .5mm are okay for me, but the .3mm Korean pens were a game changer.  Fountain pens come pretty close to the .3 so I write with them a lot.

   

A close 2nd The Pilot G2 

    I also have a few name brand pens that I gravitate to.  At work, it is hard to carry around my fancy fountains, so I resort to mainstream store bought ones.  Cheap Bic pens are not a preference, in fact, ballpoint pens of any brand are just meh to me.  I love the G2 Gel Pens by Pilot.  Gel pens often write smoother and Pilots are top of the line, in my opinion.  

   

The Paper Mate Flair

    The other mainstream pen I have always liked is the Paper Mate Felt Tip.  Currently I have about six black .7mm Paper Mate felt-tips.  They were on sale and I have a weakness both for pens(obviously) and for sales.  (By the way: I just spent about 10 minutes looking for thinner Paper Mate pens, I found that they have an ultra-fine felt tip that is .4mm.   Somebody may be spending ten dollars on eight new pens today.  I think I may have a problem.)

    I get it, some people may just think a pen is a pen and any pen will get the job done, but for me pens are much more significant.  The pen is what takes my ideas from a neurological spark to a tangible symbol on a piece of paper.  I want that tangible symbol to look a certain way.  I also want to feel a certain bit of feedback from the paper as I write down those neurological sparks. (Don't even get me started with paper.  That is an entirely different post. )

Media Monday: Book Edition

  Media Mondays is a place for all things media.  From social media to news media, music, movies, and art we will cover everything concerning creativity and communication.

Book Cover Selfie: Drink, Slay, Love

    Books are wonderful things.  They take you away. They take you to new places.  They create a different reality.  I used to not read novels much; I would pick non-fiction instead. But in the past few years, I have needed that escape from reality.  

    This book was given to me by my school's librarian, Nancy.  She had gotten a bunch of books donated and had many copies of this particular book.  I was intrigued when  I read the back cover:

"Pearl is a sixteen-year-old vampire...fond of blood, allergic to sunlight, and mostly evil...until the night a sparkly unicorn stabs her through the heart with his horn. Oops."

    I instantly flashbacked to The Twilight Series, but thought: "wait, a unicorn?"

    I took a few copies from Nancy as a joke and shared one with a friend, the cover totally making me think the book was a joke. Then I had a crazy idea.  Why not give the book to a few other friends as well and have a reading group.  I actually was joking, thinking all of them would hate it, but they all read it, and we all actually liked it.

    This very entertaining read has lots of fun high school drama mixed in with vampire drama.  It takes a vampire through a life crisis where she must decide if she is more loyal to her family of vampires or to the greater good of the world. 

    And it has a UNICORN in it.  Hello.  

    You should find a way to read it.  Lifetime also made this literary masterpiece into a movie and you can stream it in various places, including Hulu, Amazon and iTunes. 

    I give Drink, Slay, Love ten pints of type O negative.

Flashback Friday: Menacing 30th Birthday

           Turning 30 was hard for me. I felt that I was officially becoming old. I was single which made the transition even more difficult for some reason. Looking back, I realize 30 isn’t old and there is nothing wrong with a person who happens to be single and 30.  The more birthdays I have, I realize age is just a number and numbers are often relative. 

To avoid feeling pathetic back then though,  I decided that turning 30 would be much more enjoyable away from the land of “single over 30 makes you a loser.” So, my roommate and good friend, Mary Beth and I hightailed to San Francisco, the land of “nobody cares that you are single and over thirty!”

It was on this trip that I fell in love with cable cars, Alcatraz, The Golden Gate Bridge, sesame cookies, Chinatown, and Redwood trees. 

There is nothing better than a city where you can get anywhere you really need to by hanging out of the side of a cable car, feeling the balmy air through your hair, enjoying the bells of the car and clammer of the underground cable, captivated by the skill of a gripman, who carefully maneuvers the car up and down the slopes of San Francisco. I have since been back to SF a few more times and I seriously could ride cable cars all day and be content. In fact, one day I did just that, while the group of friends I was traveling with went to Alcatraz(I had been twice and didn’t feel the need to go that day!). 

As I am now mothering two little humans, I travel a little differently.  Sometimes I mourn my single days and wish I had cherished the moments a bit more. Maybe not the moment that Mary Beth and I realized the beach we were exploring was in fact a nude beach(some moments need not be cherished) but the other moments like the ones I feel I may have wasted by worrying about being judged for being single or the moments I pinned for the whole not being single anymore. 

I turned 44 this past Monday. Funny, that turning 44 didn’t make me feel old. Life often seems to be getting better and better with age. I know who I am, what I want, and what I can say no to. Aging is truly liberating. 

Whatever spot you are on the age timeline, may you take a step back and reflect on where you have been and more importantly on where you are going. Make each moment one to be cherished and enjoy the journey. 

Age is just a number after all. 

The Man. The Myth. The Legend.

     Writing Wednesday is a place for me to write whatever I want to write.  

    There are only a few conversations I have had in my life that I actually remember them word for word.  The following conversation occurred between me and my Father-In-Law, Perry Ficklin, a few years ago, just before BYU was to play Wisconsin in football:

Papa:  Wisconsin is coming to be beat by BYU in a few weeks.

Me: I heard, think you can score me a couple tickets? (He was the king of getting tickets to BYU games.)

Papa:  I could, but not if you are going to cheer for Wisconsin and wear RED!

Me:  Hmm.  What if I wore some blue?

Papa:  It can't just be blue, it has to be the right kind of blue and have BYU written on it.

Me:  If you get me tickets, I will wear something BYU.

Papa:  I guess, but I'm still not happy about it.

On game day, I went to visit him in his usual seat at halftime, wearing my red Wisconsin Football shirt and a newly purchased royal blue BYU hat.

My friend, Kari and I.  Notice the blue and red!

Me: Hey Papa.  Quite a game, huh?

Papa:  You still cheering for that other team?

Me:  Maybe, but I feel bad for your blue team and I do have the BYU hat so I can cheer both ways.

Papa:  I guess that is okay, sweetheart, but that hat isn't too much blue.

Papa in his happy place.  Lavell Edwards Stadium

    Papa passed away on February 11th, just hours after I visited him wearing  a BYU shirt and that same BYU hat.  I whispered in his ear the following as he rested peacefully under a morphine dose:

Me:  Papa, we both know I hate the Cougars, but I, from now on, I will represent them always.  It's okay for you to go Papa, you have taught me so much.  I love you.

    Papa was a true legacy of faithfulness and kindness.  He was a friend to all and will be sorely missed.  He truly was Papa: The Man. The Myth. The Legend.  Which was written on a shirt we gave to him for Fathers' Day a few years back.

    May he always be our angel now and keep us safe.

Low-Tech Tuesday: Books

   Tech Tuesday is a place for all things technology.  Here we will discuss both low tech and high tech thing-a-ma-jigs.

     I am a book lover.  I am always reading one or three books.  With the push towards online learning this year, my students have gotten really used to doing everything on their Chromebooks. I feel we have traveled far away from the beauty of books.  

    I just love the feel of books in my hand.  I like that my own kids know I am reading at home and can pause at any moment to give them attention(I don't think the same feeling happens when scrolling on my phone, even if I am reading a book on it.).  

    Here is how I always plug how amazing our textbook is when we are in Health class and using the book.  (I have used my current read Drink, Slay, Love by Sarah Beth Durst for this demonstration)

                                                               To Power On:  Open book:

To Zoom In:  Move book toward face:

To Zoom Out: Move book away from face:

To Scroll:  Turn page:

To Power Off:  Shut book:

Sometimes, low-tech is better, no?

Chromatica by Lady Gaga

  Media Mondays is a place for all things media.  From social media to news media, music, movies, and art we will cover everything concerning creativity and communication.

Photo found HERE 

You have to be careful when you say you are a Lady Gaga Fan. Like, this "lady" wore a meat dress one time, right?  She has been the champion of rebellion and out there fashion.  What most people dismiss because they can't get past the not so normal fashion and different that is Lady Gaga is the fact that she is mega talented.  She is a master of the piano, can play the guitar(and probably lots of other instruments), and has also written most of her own music. And if you haven't seen how she dances while preforming, you are seriously missing out.   Basically, she is a super genius and like most people who are geniuses, they may seem a bit weird, but who decides what normal and weird are anyway?

     Lady Gaga is an advocate for all things different.  She has not always been Lady Gaga, she was born Stefani Germanotta in New York just shy of 35 years ago.  She began playing music very young, learning piano at the age of 4 and she hasn't stopped creating and playing music since.  She studied music briefly at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.  The persona of Lady Gaga was created to escape reality and to create one hell of a show.  If you were to run into her on the street, you may just not recognize her.  In a documentary I watched about her, she drove past a school and said something along time lines of: they probably don't even recognize me driving past, I'm just a crazy old lady to them.  

Lady Gaga at VMA Awards 2020
Photo found HERE

Gaga's first album was released in 2007 and she has released a total of six studio albums.  The most recent was released earlier this year and I have been obsessed with Chromatica since I first discovered it(I had missed the release train by about two months).  I have always liked her music, yet I haven't always loved every bit of it.  But, on this album I do not skip any of the tracks.  Gaga has said that Chromatica is like a three act play, divided by instrumentals, and that each part is a different stage of her healing process as she has overcome mental illness and a sexual assult of the past. The inspiration for the name of this website actually came from  "Alice" on the album, but my favorite song lately has been "1000 Doves."

    Chromatica took about two and a half years of collaboration and work to produce.  Gaga said in the Apple Music interview that she hopes to one day "dance with people to this music...and dance through all the pain." This record is for us, her fans, just as much as it was a healing project for her.  She also said the album is a way for us all to "connect from afar."

Here is a little tour of Chromatica through my favorite lines of each song:

Chromatica I

1.  "Alice"

"My name isn't Alice

But I'll keep looking, I'll keep looking for Wonderland...

Set me free...

Could you pull me out of this alive?...

Where's my body? I'm stuck in my mind"

    Here, Gaga is speaking of being stuck in her mind.  She is stuck within her mind and feels her body is lost.  She isn't Alice but she desperately wants to find wonderland: a place of safety and freedom.

2. "Stupid Love"

"You're the one that I've been waiting for

Gotta quit this cryin',

Nobody's gonna heal me, if I don't open the door

Kinda hard to believe, gotta have faith in me"

The opening to this song seems to have some dual meaning.  Sure, it could be a romantic love that you open yourself up to and that love can heal you, but it also mentions the fact that the door must be opened and the faith has to be in oneself.  Maybe here, self-love is the love that has been waited on.  Before you can heal from something traumatic you must let the negative thoughts go and love yourself in order to heal.  We all could use some of that "stupid love," and faith in ourselves, no?

3. "Rain on Me"

"I'd rather be dry, but at least I'm alive

Rain on me"

    In her Apple Music interview, Gaga said that dry could have a few meanings.  Dry could mean dry from the tears that have frequently been shed.  It also could reference the alcohol she used to cope for so long.  Sure, you would rather be dry, but at least you are alive and surviving.  And let the tears fall, bring it: "Rain on Me!"

    And another line that I love is: Hands up to the sky, I'll be your galaxy, I'm about to fly, Rain on me, tsunami"  I just love the poetic beauty of that part.

4.  "Free Woman"

"I'm not nothing without a steady hand (I'm a free woman)
I'm not nothing unless I know I can (I'm a free woman)
I'm still something if I don't got a man
I'm a free woman"

    The whole idea here is being a free woman.  Having a steady hand, check.  Know you can, check.  And realizing you are something even if you don't have a man, check.  That makes you a free woman.  

5.  "Fun Tonight"

"What happens now
I'm not okay
And if I scream, you walk away
When I'm sad, you just wanna play
I've had enough
Why do I stay?"

    This song is pretty autobiographical and about a former relationship Gaga had.  He loved the paparazzi and she felt like a prisoner because of the fame at times.  Apparently, this guy couldn't handle the real part of Lady Gaga( or shall we say Stephani G?) and he isn't around anymore.

Chromatica II

6.  911

"Turning up emotional faders

Keep repeating self-hating phrases
I have heard enough of these voices
Almost like I have no choice
This is biological stasis
My mood's shifting too manic places
Wish I laughed and kept the good friendships
Watch life, here I go again...

My biggest enemy is me
Ever since day one
Pop a 911
Then pop another one"

    This track is all about mental illness.  I love the opening and the rhythm and poetry of it.  Then how hard it is to admit that sometimes we are our own worst enemy.  And for some people, pills are needed to help, just like 911 helps in an emergency.  Brilliant song.  I love the rawness and the honesty.

7. "Plastic Doll"

"Don't play with me, it just hurts me

I'm bouncing off the walls
No-no-no, I'm not your plastic doll...

Am I your type?"

    Dating is not cool sometimes.  I. Do. Not. Miss. It.  Sometimes there were games and I did feel like I was a plastic doll, just like all the other dolls, or at least trying to be like the rest of the dolls.  The game eventually either went on or ended with "Am I your type?", if not then on to the next doll in a box.

8.  "Sour Candy"

"I'm hard on the outside

But if you give me time

Then I could make time for your love

I'm hard on the outside

But if you see inside, inside, inside"

    Sometimes we are sweet, sometimes we are sour.  The outside of us can be sour and sassy, but if given time to show it, sweetness can prevail.  Reminds me of a lot of the people on this planet, sometimes you just have to be patient and wait for the gooey sweet soft middle to show.

9. "Enigma"

"We could be lovers, even just tonight

We could be anything you want
We could be jokers, brought to the daylight
We could break all of our stigma
I-I'll be your enigma, even just tonight"

    Reality needs imagination and play at times.  The idea of just having one night to be anything you want is cool, no? And the word enigma is super cool: mysterious, puzzling; sometimes we need a little mystery.

10.  "Replay"

"I don't, I don't, I don't
I don't know what to do, you don't know what to say
The scars on my mind are on replay, r-replay
The monster inside you is torturing me
The scars on my mind are on replay, r-replay-ay-ay"

    How often do the scars we carry get stuck on replay.  There are monsters all around and we just get stuck.  Another part of the song says: "Every single day, Yeah, I dig a grave, Then I sit inside it wondering if I'll behave."  These replays can feel so binding, like the grave and we often dig that grave ourselves as we dwell on past scars.

Chromatica III

11. "Sine From Above"

"I heard one sine from above
I heard one sine from above
Then the signal split in two
The sound created stars like me and you
Before there was up, there was silence
I heard one sine
And it healed my heart, heard a sine"

    In a few of the interviews I have watched where Lady Gaga explains this song, she mentions how sine has to do with music.  When we hear sound it actually is these sine waves that are regular and can be graphed.  Music is math, which is great news for all nerds.  And music heals hearts.  Music can be the best therapy we can have.  So listen away!  Yay Science!

12.  "1000 Doves"

"Lift me up, give me a start

'Cause I've been flying with some broken arms
Lift me up, just a small notch
And I'll be flying like a thousand doves"

    When we have pain, we feel completely broken inside.  The symbolism here is awesome.  We cannot lift ourselves when we are broken and trying to fly with broken arms.  Somebody lifting us gives us just the notch we need to be flying like 1000 doves!  Another line I love is: "I cry more than I ever say."  It is hard to be vulnerable while we are hurting and admit to how much we really do shed tears.  We worry somebody will judge us like in the first few lines of the song: "I need you to listen to me, please believe me, I'm completely lonely, please don't judge me."  There is a stigma of weakness around crying and loneliness that we all need to get over.  True healing is found within tears and within support.  It is also science.  Our tears contain toxins and stress hormones that we release through the emotion of crying.  Yay Science, again!

    Gaga said of this song on her Apple Music Gaga Radio show: "I used to skip it every time I listened to the album and it was because it made me too sad," and that she thought "it's one of the saddest vocals on the record."  I can feel that sadness but this track has really been the most powerfully healing song for me of late!

13. "Babylon"

"We only have the weekend

You can serve it to me, ancient city style
We can party like it's B.C.
With a pretty 16th-century smile"

    This song has a early Gaga sound and it references ancient history.  I think this album was a process  Stefani Germanotta had to go through in order to get back to herself and to process things. "Babylon" is like original Gaga that hasn't been around as much the past few albums.

     I'm so glad she put this process to music to share with us.  I have turned to certain songs in hard times and it has brought healing tears.  

    Some may still think Lady Gaga is different and that is wonderful, we sure need different people in this world to be creators and healers.  I am honored to be a Lady Gaga fan.  Stefani Germanotta, you are wonderful just the way you are and keep doing what you do to make this planet a little more bearable, kind and fun! I cannot wait to one day dance to all this music with you.  Anybody hear Vegas calling?  I sure do.