View of Social Media 2020

In a few words: wtf.   Let’s just start by saying Instagram misses me and I miss Instagram. I can’t even bring myself to reply to my meme groups, because I don’t have the energy to sift through related pages these days and report. Plus it was so fun to […]

Continue reading
dream job

Dream Job(s)

When I was a kid, I dreamed of being the main character of a video game. The game was about saving a princess, helping helpless villagers, and destroying the evil green-faced bad guy, who would stop at nothing to gain absolute power. He was powerful enough as is, but he […]

Continue reading
my biggest mistake

My Biggest Mistake in Life and Why

“Make mistakes.” This was my boss’s first piece of advice to me. It felt strangely familiar, knowing we must lose a few tokens to win the big chips. When I told him I appreciate his wisdom, he shook his head. “It’s not my idea. I just follow the principle.” Now […]

Continue reading
life in bucharest

“Life checkup”: a routine physical of the mind

Indian flute music plays in the background. Chest breathes heavy, then soft, lungs seeking incense that isn’t there. My tongue, tingling, takes the hot iron straw of the yerba mate and draws in the vibrant green liquid. I look out the window at a beautiful Bucharest dawn, today a paisley […]

Continue reading
money

$ketche$

I was walking down one of those M.C. Escher stairs, in a museum, when I reached the end. From where I stood I could hear a young boy below, sobbing. The sound wasn’t echoing, as it should have been in such a large space. Fortunately, some of the railing was […]

Continue reading
pet peeves

Pet Peeves on Pet Peeves

No. No-o. Nope . . .  No-o-o-o. No! No-u-u-u. NO! We shouldn’t complain.   But here is a list of things that make me snarky, anyway. Some I am guilty of committing myself, while others are pure abstractions. At any rate, it’s what I’ve come up with and would like […]

Continue reading
life lessons

Notes on recent life lessons

Feel free to fail. You are climbing over a stumbling block. That’s one.   What are other, recent life lessons? Some silly things. I feel like I am holding a hot ginger tea and wearing pajamas as I explain things or muse, like some youtubers I saw recently. But on […]

Continue reading
10 things I cannot live without

10 things I cannot live without and why

Outside in Bucharest the clouds pour gentle, warm buckets of rain. Button-up shirts look three shades darker around the shoulders and back. Hair, too. The smell of flaky, crispy pastries finds its way through the wetness of morning.  It is still early, but not for long. One reads.   A […]

Continue reading
favorite love story

Your favorite love story is mine too

There was this badass coworker of mine, a teacher who skedaddled to Hungary last year. We chatted a lot between classes, in the halls of our school. Who knows where he is now (as in, I haven’t messaged him in a while, and he’s probably still modeling three-piece suits on […]

Continue reading
Christmas

A Little Christmas Introspection

It occurs to me that, were I to exaggerate, I have never needed to write. My writing comes from a place of want. I want to write. The struggle is, in this case, when one wants to write, that the quality of the work comes into question. Wanting, one invests […]

Continue reading

Write to reflect on action

Writer of many home-study courses for Time-Life Educational systems, Ron Bradley, was the English learning trainer who helped certify me to teach others. He has this to say about reflection:   “[Use] reflective practice to improve your teaching and professional growth: ‘If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll […]

Continue reading