Notes from the Apocalypse - The Educator's Episode

 

So here is a scene from one of the virtual-classrooms I used during summer school, hence me in shorts and a t-shirt. Yup, Mr. S keeps it casual during the summer. Let me catch y'all up on the haps.

• I spent the summer teaching myself how to use technology to teach students remotely. This remote learning was never a part of my coursework when I did my teaching certification. I am grateful that this older dog was able to learn some new tricks. 
• My district started the school-year with us doing remote teaching for the first 10 weeks. This decision by the Board pissed off the superintendent...She then tried to lay a guilt trip on the Board by saying parents need "childcare" in order to go to work 😠 and if we didn't go back parents would start home schooling their kids 😂 and the cherry on her whack sundae was her saying if the teacher really did love their students they would come back🖕. She is not ready for prime-time. 
• BTW, the Board voted for remote teaching because the buildings were not ready with PPE and not fully compliant with CDC and OSHA guidelines. Yay for safety first!
• My K-3 students are adapting to our interactive Meets session. The first few days they were intrigued with seeing themselves on the computer screen, therefore I was entertained while seeing the kiddos make all kinds of funny faces. Ya gotta love 'em.
• I had to remind a few parents that when their child is off of mute, the other students and I can hear their private conversations and the use of profanity in the home. So this week I learned that Mrs. So-and-So thinks her older son's girlfriend is a "lazy bitch." LMAO.
• I hope when these 10 weeks are up we have the green light to go back into our buildings...remote teaching is double the work, and some of my students need the in-class teaching. Learning remotly aint for everybody.

Notes from the Apocalypse.

• REM's It's the End of the World as We Know It, has becoming this unwanted earworm that I have been battling with for weeks. The only cure is long-sessions of listening to other music that puts me in a different headspace (stay tuned for that post).
• Without any warning or preparation, teachers in my district have been asked to utilize various platforms to provide "distanced learning" for our students. What has blown up is the long standing issue of the digital divide. I work at a Title 1 school, our students are on the have-nots side of that divide. Many were given Chrome Books, but don't have wifi service at home. 
• Plus, I work with grades K-3...my little friends are confused, and their parents are overwhelmed. It sucks.
• I now know two people that have died from COVID-19 related complications. 
• My BFF since 1985 is home sick with it, and my play-niece's 46 y.o. uncle is in the hospital for 4 days now, battling this damn virus.
• My sister and nephew are on edge in NYC. Thank god they are both germaphobes and are obsess about avoiding other people's cooties. 
• Since March 12, I have been out of the house only 4 times. When I do go out I just feel anxious. Luckily, where I live we are not densely populated. 
• I had to put my FWBs on pause. So between not going outside and social distancing (no FWBs), I am vitamin "D" deficient. 
• I thought about harm reduction and only bought healthy food for the quarantine. No junk food, because I would have probably ate it all in one day. 
• I am curious to see what the world and my world will become when we come out of this plague. 
• Stay healthy. Stay safe. Stay home (as much as possible).

Delaying My Reaction, Turning to Distraction

I am going to wait a couple of days before I peep some of this impeachment hearing stuff. I continue to feel this "aint nothin' gonna happen" ache in my belly. The GOP is operating as if it said, "Devil take the wheel."

So, what I am going to do is show up for life. Give it my best. Then, when I peep and have to defuse from the madness occurring in the cesspool known as DC, I will turn to music, because ya know music is the answer.  Here are some tracks that put me in good types of feelings:

Jamie XX - Gosh

Depending on my mood my interpretation of this video ranges from it being about the second coming of Christ; the rise of a cult leader, or, alien beings taking control of the planet -- city by city.  Check it out and tell me what you think.



Sun Glitters - They Don't Want To Let You Know

This track makes me kinda sorta want to hang with Esther while grooving to it. There are some great remixes out there, but here is the pure and uncut version.



Millionyoung - Chlorophyll

I find the lead singer's voice very sexy. The beat is sexy, The vibe is sexy. Go feel sexy.



Lonnie Liston Smith - Expansions

I gotta have some positivity in my playlists at all times. I gotta hear lyrics that speak of love, peace, hope, and happiness. I went deep in the crates for this classic.



Herb Alpert - Rotation

Okay let's wind it down good people. You can chill and chat with this jam at your next get-together with fam and/or friends. It will put everyone in the right mood.

He Continues To Come Up Short.

Karl's Turn at Metamorphosis

You can't ignore two things about Karl Lagerfeld: he created amazing fashions for over 30 years, in an industry that is always ready to give you the chop, and from his mouth came wit and at times venom. He created a world around him that was beautiful, excessive, so not PC, and uniquely all his. A true iconoclast, inspiration, and complex human. I wonder if in his metamorphosis if he will go to a new realm where he finds a world where all of his fantasies have manifested or come back as a Birman. 

Here are some images that alway stayed in my head after I saw them in magazines or videos. 

Voila! the Chanel woman enters into the 90s with the micro-mini. Karl you were saucy!

Ines - Karl's first muse for Chanel. Get into the pearls being the new ruffled collar.

The Chanel woman rebelling...kinda sorta.

All eyes on her! Perfection!

Feel this fantasy!

Oppulence! You own everything. 

When two icons collide.

Cindy's daughter Kaia continues the legacy. 

This is how a fashion house with over $5 billion in revenue puts on a show. Karl was not trying to hear about a budget.

And the Fendi woman gets a taste of Karl's passion for design.

Feeling This Fantasy

Alejandro Gómez Palomo, whose namesake label, Palomo Spain served up some gender-fuck/gender-fluid eleganza at his recent NY Fashion week show. I am so feeling this fantasy. I am ready to live in this world!

Get into the conflama.

Having To Play Nice with Others....Sucks

Stomachs were turning.

Hilary giving zero fucks. Her thought bubble would read, "I don't see you bitches."

One of the things I am no longer good at is tolerating someone I despise, in order to conform to social etiquette or norms. I will sit on the other side of the room and pay you no kinds of attention. Fuck the half-ass smile, fuck the handshake, fuck a head nod acknowledging you. We don't like each other, so lets keep it real and keep apart. 

I am sure the Obamas had to dig deep to summon the let's-play-nice gesture. Proximity was not their friend this time around. However, Bill should have hanged tough with Hilary and averted his gaze away from Agent Orange. Hats off to Hilary for the laser-focused shade. 

BTW, a real hood funeral, with this much animosity among the mourners, would have ended up in a brawl.

Strega Nona and I Go Way Back

Lights, camera, action! Look at me in teacher-mode. I recently did a book talk for Scholastic on the Caldecott classic Strega Nona.  It's one of my childhood favorites.

FYI, during filming we had to stop every five minutes because the building's smoke alarm system was being tested and NYC transit could be heard rumbling through a nearby tunnel. It was a hoot!

Click here for the full video.

And The Beat Goes On

So glad Election Day has come and gone. It was stressing me out. Feeling good about the huge voter turnout and that Dems got control of the house. Phew! Here are some other highlights:

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• The first Muslim women were elected to Congress.
• Millions of people in Florida had their right to vote restored.
• A Republican beloved by the NRA lost her congressional seat.
• The first openly lesbian woman was elected mayor in Florida.
• The first openly gay governor in U.S. history was elected in Colorado.
• Texas elected two Latina congresswomen for the first time.
• A Democrat won in Kansas, beating Kris Kobach.
• The first Native American women were elected to Congress.
• An anti-discrimination bill was saved by voters in Massachusetts.
• Anti-union and anti-education Scott Walker is no longer Governor of Wisconsin
• Seven governorships went to Democratic nominees.

For the full details click here.

Betcha Mueller Had Zero Gag

The GOP is going whole hog with their fuckery. This is how it goes down in politics when you got the numbers in your favor. The GOP already hooked up the 1% (their base) with a nice tax cut, got their frat-boy-man into the Supreme Court. And, now they are trying to pull a false sexual harassment stunt on Mueller.

There was zero gag on Mueller's team when they heard about this stunt. I am sure the reaction must have been, "What took them so long?" Next step was to make that phone call.

via GIPHY

BTW, if there is no blue wave, we are soooo doomed. Just saying.

Music Is Still The Answer

It's been a minute since I posted some of the music that is taking care of my mind, body and soul. I hope you like.

This woman is cool.  Her homegirls are cool. The song brings me back to those days of young heartache and insecurity.


Some chill vibe from a group out of Wadsworth, London. I've read somewhere the lead male singer is queer. Who cares? His voice is all kinds of sexy to me.


I first heard this on SYTYCD (which has some fierce dancers this year) and was blown away. Travis Wall choreo a contemporary number to it, which was on point. I digress. This version brings a Alex-clicking-the-light-on-and-off-while-masacara-runs-down-her-face feel to this song.


Okay, enough of the sads. Seinabo mixes in thoughts of empowerment with a love gone wrong.

My Visual Medicine

During these trying times, I have found the need to put my eyeballs in the direction of something that will lift my spirits. Often, I turn to the fantasy of fashion to take me away. Here is some couture confections from Schiaparelli Fall 2018. You are welcome.

The bride's head is the bouquet!

Get into the madness by clicking here.

It Will Get Ugly Before It Gets Cute

Oba Renee and I are on the same page regarding our anticipation for the drama that will unfold in 2018. 

I am expecting the following:

1.   name calling
2.   back stabbing
3.   disappearances
4.   pleading the fifth
5.   pleading insanity
6.   finger pointing
7.   binge eating followed by purging
8.   drug use and abuse
9.   tears
10. cheers
11. retractions
12. redactions
13. people taking it to the street
14. we interrupt this program...
15. breaking news moments to the 10th power
16. frequent use of the words collusion, cabal, and conspiracy
17. mucho smdh
18. conflama
19. cutting deals
20. piss tape

Yeah. So. Like. Umm....

A lot of island Puerto Ricans are talking to me about how Puerto Rico needs a reboot, and that they hope the rebuilding will improve housing, infrastructure and most importantly, get rid of corruption. Lordy, that is a tall order. I am hoping the amplification of unity the people on the island are feeling will motivate them to fight that good fight to make that wish list become reality.

Gun laws are not going to change as long as the NRA keeps putting politicians in their pockets. There is a significant group of people in this country that follow the twisted logic that guns don’t kill people, people kill people. Plus, firearm industry makes over 11 billion dollars annually. Too many of the 1% eat off that plate. Sit down bitches! The children being killed in Sandy Hook didn’t change anything, plus all the other mass killings. Money and guns rule. You want some apple pie with that?

Agent Orange is consistently revolting to see, hear and watch. I just hope Mueller and crew are finishing up their reports. I want my copy leather-bound. That mofo Chump has a huge karma bill that is long overdue. I wish payment would have started with a Puerto Rican throwing that roll of paper towel right back at his face.

Lately, I have been indulging in a full skin-care regimen. I am keeping it organic, with a vitamin-c face wash, followed by rose water spray toner, then a vitamin-c serum, and finishing off with a shea butter moisturizer. My skin is servvvving! Hey, I’m going to be 50 next year. Gotta keep it cute. Boo-Kay!