Page Turner

Keiko sees herself as an essential part of her community; someone who makes sure everyone has what they need whenever they need it, and someone who keeps everything organized for their convenience. Her work is very important to her, she is very dedicated to her job to the point where it's her central focus in life. Work has been the only thing in her life that's made sense, it gives her purpose and she feels safe in that. Keiko is a convenience store woman. Obviously, her family and friends find it very concerning that she's happy working at a convenience store for seventeen years, and that she's never had a partner, which makes her an "other" in their eyes. The thing is, Keiko knows how she is perceived and she doesn't care. She continues happily working at the store until Shiraha, a new hire at the store, moves into her apartment. "Convenience Store Woman" explores the idea of relationships viewed by society, and how society can make you feel f...

Having baking as a hobby was always a challenge for me, especially because I have a habit of getting angry and blaming the recipe rather than myself. It seems obvious now, of course, that I was to blame for all the burned food I prepared. But now that I am trying to be patient with myself and not rush the process, I am seeing better results. I finally understand how baking or cooking can be fun!  I used to be jealous of people who would eat good food at restaurants and be able to recreate the dish at home. My goal is to become one of those people. Because let's face it, we can't always go to a restaurant to eat good food. Plus, something about the sense of accomplishment makes the food taste better. There's something relaxing about taking your time and cooking something you love. Eventually, you start to think of ways you can improve the recipe and add your touch to it. Like, yeah cookies are cookies but mine have coconut flakes. Which makes them better.  The euphoric momen...

I was substituting for a really great class when I ran across a book called " This I Believe ". It was among one of the many books stacked on to the teacher's desk, but what interested me was the description of the book. "This I Believe" is a series of small essays submitted by people from across the country, and it originally started as a radio show broadcast in the 1950s. People would write their essays and read them aloud on the radio, and they were required to be under five minutes so they had to be clear and concise.  The first story I read really intrigued me to keep reading the book further, and the story was called "Be Cool to the Pizza Dude". The author, Sarah Adams, describes her philosophy for empathy and kindness through the idea that everyone should be cool to the pizza dude. If they cut you off in traffic, be understanding. They have a lot of deliveries and don't get paid too much for the hard work they do. If they are a little rude t...

I'm a nerd and I really wanna talk about one of my favorite sonnets; Ozymandias  by Percy Shelley. I remember reading this sonnet for the first time in my freshman year of university, and I was blown away. I tried to incorporate it in every mock lesson plan I had as I was training to be a teacher. It's a fantastic poem that even inspired a song  by Red Vox. I've been dying to talk about it, so here we go.  The name "Ozymandias" refers to the Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II, as he was referred to by the Greeks. The poem is narrated by a traveler "from an antique land" who describes his travels; specifically, the statue remains he found of a powerful king in the middle of a desert. The only remains of the statue were two giant legs and the head which lay above the sand, and a pedestal that read "My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; / Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!". The traveler could tell the pharaoh was very intimidating in his time thro...

As a substitute teacher, I have been able to observe a variety of K-12 classes...and I have some thoughts. Specifically about classroom setup.  From the moment you walk into the classroom, you can tell what kind of day you're going to have. Not because of the students, but because of how the classroom is set up. For example; if you walked into a class and saw bean bags near a shelf full of books, lamps along the edges of the class, a great speaker system, or a spotless desk with organized cubbies for turned in work from students, you know you will have an amazing day. However, if you walk into a room with single file desks, no posters on the walls, a dusty teacher desk, and/or no speakers (!!!) then you know today is going to be a challenge. The way a classroom is set up is very important, and it sets a good first impression of how the teacher is going to manage the class. From what I have seen, and what researchers have observed, it's clear that a student-centered classroom is...

 Four years is a good enough break from writing, I think. Obviously, I kept writing for my degree and I still write a little bit today for my job as a substitute teacher, but for a while, writing lost its flair. I didn't see anything exciting about it, nor did I think anyone would want to read what I wrote.  But, what the hell. If the last two years have taught us anything, it's that we can't wait for external validation to continue our life. At some point you have to get up, dust yourself off, and try again.  So here's to trying again! Here's to writing those silly research papers that no one but me cares about--and here's no literally no one but me reading them! I do remember having fun writing down my thoughts on the most random things, maybe I'll find the flair again if I just put in a little bit of effort.