Slice of Life Day 30: On Ruining Movies

Today’s Slice muses on the difference between my husband and me when it comes to watching TV and movies. He just sits and likes to watch. I, on the other hand, am a classic overthinker. I’m analyzing camera angles, picking apart the holes in the script, looking for patterns, symbolism and the like. I’m theContinue reading “Slice of Life Day 30: On Ruining Movies”

Slice of Life Day 27: The Days are Numbered

(a triple-nonet for a triple-nonet type of day) Today seems like it’s the perfect timeto play with nines and their nine-ness:perfect groups of threes, bundledin three more groups besides:three by three by threetwo and seventidilysummed upthere. Maybe it’s because I love numbersjust as much as I cherish my wordsthat I sit and ponder thepoetry ofContinue reading “Slice of Life Day 27: The Days are Numbered”

Slice of Life Day 25: Golden Shovel

Today’s post is a golden shovel, inspired by a quotation from Sylvia Plath. I heard someone say it in a podcast, and the words stuck with me all day. It’s a keen observation on what words can – and cannot – do in times of grief and struggle. Mix in the grief that keeps poppingContinue reading “Slice of Life Day 25: Golden Shovel”

Slice of Life Day 22: A Heart Swells

A few months ago, my good friend and colleague Kurt came to me with an idea. Kurt teaches music at one of my schools, and he’s a guy who likes to take an idea and run with it. And if there’s anything I also like doing, it’s taking ideas and running with them. It is,Continue reading “Slice of Life Day 22: A Heart Swells”

Slice of Life Day 21: That Moment When…

…you realize exactly HOW many sessions you have left with your fifth grade students …you realize your dogs are at home, waiting for you to love on them …you kind of wish you had brought snack with you …you’re perhaps regretting doing alllll those sit-ups yesterday …you’ve messed up your scheduling and you wind upContinue reading “Slice of Life Day 21: That Moment When…”

Slice of Life Day 20: All it Takes

When you get up on the wrong side of the bed,And you’re a crabby ole patty,And your worries And your anxietiesBall up in your belly,And you want to say nice thingsAbout people,Or you want to say nice thingsLike hooray! the forsythia’s blooming!But your mood is a dark cloud looming,And you’re pretty sureThat even if theContinue reading “Slice of Life Day 20: All it Takes”

Slice of Life Day 19: On Identity

Yesterday, I wrote about planning a workshop on identity writing. The goal was to explore: How can I teach young writers about the power of the “default” where it comes to writing? How can I have them realize that characters without identifying traits still get identified – as whatever the mainstream culture would have readers picture? HowContinue reading “Slice of Life Day 19: On Identity”

Slice of Life Day 18: In the Nick of Time

I’m not going to lie…the last several days have been DOOZIES where it comes to getting my writing posted each and every day. So, I’m going to preview a little project I’ve been working on, and I’ll give you an update tomorrow – that is, of course, assuming that some other post doesn’t pull meContinue reading “Slice of Life Day 18: In the Nick of Time”

Slice of Life Day 17: Progress Check

At the beginning of the year, I posted about my One Little Word: quiet. I had chosen this word for the second year in a row because, quite frankly, it got gotten the proverbial short end of the stick. So how am I doing this year? Have I paid more attention to my One LittleContinue reading “Slice of Life Day 17: Progress Check”