Roughly a week and a half ago, I threw out my back in my sleep. I have since learned that this is a thing that people do – but it had never happened to me before. One moment I was sleeping soundly, and the next moment I was startled awake in the early morning hours, arching off the bed as my low back rippled with pain. The muscle spasms lasted only a few seconds, but the tender tightness lingered throughout…
Two posts in two days! I realized in my desire to write my way out of a funk, I missed out on sharing a couple remarkable stories from last week that involved actually talking to strangers instead of moving away from them at coffee shops. To start, the AP workshop I took was full of strangers, and I did my best to talk to as many of them as possible. A good number of them were from out of town,…
I will tell you all that this week, the well is running low. Not the well of stories, necessarily, but my well of time and mental acuity. I’ve been taking an AP Lit workshop at Northwestern this week, and it’s basically AP teacher boot-camp that lasts from 8 – 4 each day. AP summer institutes are, bar none, the best professional development I have ever had – but they can be overwhelming. I am learning so much, and have so…
Those of you who are loyal blog readers will remember my story about the new friend Randall* I met in a Lyft. In early June, we shared a ride and some great conversation, and as I got out at my destination, he slipped me his business card and told me to email him so he could keep me posted on events and fundraisers he was hosting to benefit his non-profit. Subsequently, I went to the flip-cup tournament he hosted, and…
On Tuesday evening I met some girlfriends for happy hour at a bar I had never been to, but they have two-dollar tacos and five-dollar margaritas. You can’t beat those prices for a taco Tuesday. As we caught up over chips, guac, delicious el pastor tacos, and mediocre margaritas, our conversation ultimately drifted toward our dating lives, as it inevitably will when three single women gather around food and drinks. Being single and dating in a big city can feel…
My loyal blog readers: I owe you, and perhaps myself, an apology. Sometimes, we make goals and reach them…and other times we fall short. As an elderly man once told my sister, as he helped her up from an unfortunate stumble on the streets of Galway “It’s alright, my dear. We all fall sometimes, running toward life.” I’ve been running toward life the last ten days, and seven of those were spent at the North American Irish Dance Championships in…
I’m currently sitting in a business class seat on a flight from Houston to New Orleans. I have no idea how I got so lucky, but my slipshod approach to airline travel often results in my earning undeserved upgrades. You know, I book my ticket last minute, check in late, refuse to choose a seat, etc. and because I generally travel alone, I often end up with an early boarding number or a random seat with extra legroom. This is…