Runway - A Poem

The music and the movement from Project Runway finale inspired this attempt at poetry.


Runway

a succinct saunter
serves seductive swerving
slide to side to slide to side
synchronized swishing and swaying
in singular sonic stomps
silk sounds a sudden snap
strands swing
shiny skin smiles and smirks
step spin stand
you succumb

By Allan S.

I've Got Life

The past few days have been heavy. I wonder what I still have within me to thrive. The musical Hair came to town recently and reminded me, I've Got Life!

A wink and a smile to Renee for reminding us that Nina Simone was earth-mother manifested.

GLBTQ Teens - It Gets Better!

My darling GLBTQ youth, it is very true that it does get better. It breaks my heart that many of you live in a world where you are silent, invisible and/or persecuted. Do not embrace self-hate! You are beautiful and capable of amazing things. Reach out and find the community and support you need. It will get better.

As a teen I had struggled with the idea of suicide, but I was fortunate to have found other options early on. I was lucky. Today, I wake up and feel so much gratitude for being here and living my life. Even on crappy days I remind myself I am blessed, and will continue to overcome any challenges that come my way. I am surrounded by many people that love me, and you will find that in your life. Keep on keeping on.

Because I Care About My Good People: 2

While some of the food shots may not look appetizing, the concept makes total sense. Good people, let us enjoy our carbs!

I know we can do better than the howcast.com folks when preparing the animal-based proteins and veggies.

When preparing this meal use sensible fats, olive oil is our friend, and cooking methods. I would have grilled the meat and roasted the veggies.

The Ying and Yang of Teaching: 7

So, I am six weeks into the new school year and here are some thoughts:

- We have all been bogged down with administering pre-tests and assessments of our students. I work in a data-driven district and the collection of data on each student is endless. The result has been very little teaching and a lot of probing. Ugh!

- I have a student living with Autism that has the most interesting abilities. One of his talents is being given a random date with a year, and being asked what day of the week it was, and what he did that day. His is able to recall the day of the week and activity within seconds. He has been able to recall as far back as 2006, when he was just six-years old.

- My caseload has doubled and I'm kinda freaking out. I have to spend the weekend revamping my master plan to do my thing with the children. This plan will change a few times over the school year, but teaching is a dynamic thing, it is never static.

- I adore all of the kids, even the challenging ones. I get so invested in them so quickly. My heart will break several times over the year. One of my kids already spent two-weeks locked up in prison. I will heal and get back at it.

My Body & Universe Talking

On the heels of some tremendous success, I decided to keep the momentum going full-steam ahead. The result has been rather mixed. I came down with a cold, and have generally felt out of step with what I've been doing. Today, I've decided to listen to my body and the universe, and do some course correction.

I realized that now I have to put certain things regarding my graduate degree on pause, and relish my new teaching position by pouring all of my energy into serving my new students. By continuing to stretch myself thin, I'm compromising what I give them and me being able to truly learn from this experience.

I'm blessed because there's been a hiccup in my financial aid, and each time I have a problem with it, I hear the soft voice of the universe telling me to "take a break." I also see my students struggling and once again the soft voice tells me, "their needs are greater than what you think you may need for yourself."

I have a vision of what I want to be doing, and I accomplished a huge part of that vision. Now, I have to settle into this thriving life I created and learn from it. I must trust that the same inner-love that propelled me to get this far is building up another message for me to receive and put into action.