Hello...It's Me, Distracted

Why hello everyone...long time, no write.  Forgive me Lord, it's been three months since my last post...  

I miss writing!  There have been so many distractions in my life lately that have gotten in the way of writing.  Besides, the inspiration just hasn't been there.  Hopefully, this'll get me going.  At this point in my story, I don't even know what I'm about to write, but here goes...

The Move

The last time I posted anything here, I was preparing to move out of the house after selling it.  Well, that was three months ago and I am all about the new place these days.  I really lucked out in the end...selling so quickly and finding a comparable (and hella cool!) spot to call home.  

I'm now living in the village of Patchogue, about a mile from my old house, which is probably the best place I could have found myself.  I always wanted to live a city life, and this is about as close as I can get to that out here on Long Island.  

For those of you not from these parts, the village of Patchogue is a former major shopping destination turned neglected, depressed area turned revitalized minitropolis about twenty years ago, give or take.  It is today the most popular spot on this sprawling 118 mile island, with trendy bars and restaurants, cool housing, fun events, and shopping, too.  I am just outside of the main district, and also about 1/4 mile from the water...both great for walking.

Alive After Five in Patchogue

I mentioned above the hella cool spot I'm living in.  Well yeah, the square footage is comparable to my old place and it's one of five apartments in a big, old, Victorian house.  Lots and lots of character, plenty of space and tons of windows to make it bright and airy.  Here's a photo of my living room that I just took:

Nice, right?  I could post more, but the only ones I already have are a little light on the furniture, and it's too dark to take any more now.  Maybe when I take some new, homey ones, I'll share.  So this has been one of my distractions, but it's brought me to a happier place.  

Him

Yeah, so there's a him in my life.  For a change.  For the first time in a very very long time, there is a him.  And almost six months now, too!  Who'd have thought?  Not me.  Anyway, out of respect for his privacy, I won't say much about him except that he is a beautiful person both inside and out and for him to even have gotten this far into my life, he's got to be a special one.  Again, distraction, but also, a happier place!    

Professoring

It still feels weird for me to say that I am a professor at a well-known university, but it's already been three years now that I've been doing it.  It's weird where life takes you, almost as if I've just naturally grown into the type of person who can do this, but let me tell you, even though my teaching life made me well-prepared for it, professoring is hard!  I must be decent at it because they keep asking me to do more and more at the university and I am very conflicted about it.  

Currently I am teaching a brand new class, which causes me about ten hours of work per week outside the three-hour class.  And I've been asked to teach three more for the remainder of the school year.  Ugh!  But how do you turn down the money?  Teaching college classes helps afford me the opportunity to enjoy the summer without work and I have to keep telling myself that, but this is probably the biggest distraction of all, and it doesn't make me a happier!  Double ugh!    

The United States of America

The one, overarching distraction lately is the amount of attention I give and its resulting dismay I feel about the state of our country.  Multiple times a day, I follow news feeds on Twitter, watch news bytes on YouTube, and read news articles, all feeding into what I feel is this dark, ominous cloud hanging over all of our heads.  It's quite maddening all of the crap I see out there, and it makes me afraid for our future.  I'm scared to see how this craziness ends, and I could write pages and pages on this, but I'm going to leave this right here...for now.  

Well okay, I think we've got a post.  Hopefully I'll be around again sooner rather than later.  Lots of stuff inside my head!  I just have to learn to work around those distractions...  As always, thanks for checking me out.

Staring at Another Blank Page, And it Looks Promising

Even though I've been back at work for two days already, it all really starts tomorrow.  That's when the kids come back to school, and now I'm finally getting excited.  I had the roughest end to a school year in my fifteen years of teaching back in June, and I left it behind thinking something would have to change.  I had a great summer, but when I got back yesterday, it felt like I was in the same bad place I'd left two short months ago. 

I came into a new classroom, the remnants of the tornado that was my last week still evident all over the place, and in between all of the beginning of year meetings, I've somehow managed to make it presentable for the students.  Coming back to school this year has not been what I envisioned it to be so far, and I'm hoping that once I'm with my kids, it will all come together, and this time it'll be better than ever!  Big change is happening in my life, good change, and I want to bring that feeling of optimism into my classroom, as well.  The blank page of this year is full of possibilities...

I usually post Natasha Bedingfield's Unwritten on John's Music World for the beginning of the school year, and I still may.  It's one of my all-time favorite songs and to me it contains some pretty perfect words of wisdom for life:

Staring at the blank page before you

Open up the dirty window

Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance

So close you can almost taste it

Release your inhibitions

Feel the rain on your skin

No one else can feel it for you

Only you can let it in

No one else, no one else

Can speak the words on your lips

Drench yourself in words unspoken

Live your life with arms wide open

Today is where your book begins

The rest is still unwritten

I've spoken about these lyrics many times and this time I let them speak for themselves.  For me they take on a new meaning at the start of this particular new school year.  I am being cautiously optimistic, but I've been telling my friends lately that I feel I am at the beginning stages of a long-awaited Renaissance in my life.  Though plans I had been making had all fallen to the wayside over the summer, new doors are opening up for me.  My professional life is clicking on all cylinders, and even my love life is showing some signs of well, life, and I feel like everything is starting to fall into place.  

These sentiments are partially evident in my last two posts, It's Happening and You Get What You Give, and now that summertime is over and I'm back to the grind, it's time to carry these feelings into the new school year and beyond.  I want to make this the best year ever for both myself and my students, and to reach for and get what I've been looking for so long...a better place!  And it all begins tomorrow.

Good luck to all of you teachers out there in this new school year.  Here's hoping the blank pages of yours are filled with nothing but happiness and success.  You deserve it!  

Writing Wednesday, May 23rd, 2012

Well it's been two weeks once again since my last WW, but at this time last week I was in the hospital after my surgery, so at least I've got an excuse.  In the past week that I've been home recuperating, I've been doing a lot of writing, mostly for Examiner.  Check it out:

Gay Pride is Coming

June is Gay Pride month.  Ever since the Stonewall riots in June of 1969, gay people have stood loud and proud every year to commemorate the event and show some unity in the face of hatred and discrimination, something I feel very strongly about.  New York City, the birthplace of the gay pride movement has the biggest such celebration in the world, and Long Island's is not too shabby either.  Here's the lowdown on both events:

NYC Pride Week 2012 events

The 2012 LI Pride Parade and Festival, Saturday, June 9th

R.I.P. Donna Summer

Just six days ago, iconic singer Donna Summer lost a bout with cancer, something no one really even knew she had.  Donna Summer was one special singer.  She was music royalty, and she was one of my favorite divas.  I've been paying tribute to Donna ever since, both with a week's worth of Songs of the Day and some pieces I penned.  Currently I'm planning just one more piece, which has yet to be written.  I'm just waiting for both the time to do so and deciding where to put it.  

So yes, the Donna Summer tributes will continue, at least for a little while.  I think she's worth it, and I believe the coverage and tributes to her have been too little for such an icon.  She was low key, but she deserves a bit higher key for all she's given us in the form of great music.  Here's a tribute piece I penned in honor of her and the gay community that loved her so much:

Remembering Donna Summer, an atypical gay icon

And here are some great Donna Summer tunes that have been featured this week:

I Will Go With You

MacArthur Park

Could It Be Magic

Carry On

Romeo

No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)

Defending My Own

Most of my readers know that I am a teacher, and a proud one at that.  After seeing yet another newspaper article about teacher jobs being cut in the latest round of budget votes, I was motivated to write this piece:

In defense of teachers

Summer Concerts at Jones Beach

The Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, Long Island is my favorite place to see a concert.  Every summer, the theater puts on a summer festival of the best of music old and new and this year's schedule can be found here, of course with a little commentary by me:

The Jones Beach Theater Summer Concert Series 2012 lineup

New Coasters

Roller coasters and theme parks are a big part of this John's world, and here's a rundown of the newest thrill rides coming to an amusement park near you:

Theme parks newest roller coasters for 2012 Season

There's been plenty more posted here on John's World, but I think I've already given you enough to read, lol.  If you like, just take a look at the sidebar to check out some new coaster videos, a hateful speech against gays by a North Carolina pastor, an obituary for the Bee Gees' Robin Gibb, who passed away last Sunday, and much more.  As always, thanks for checking in with me!  have a great Thursday!

Image Sources:

Gay Pride - J. Myers

Donna Summer - stereogum 

Jones Beach Theater - gatewayinnlongisland

Verbolten, Busch Gardens Williamsburg - MSNBC

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December 28th, 2011 - A New Year Approaches; My Students, My Family; Writing Wednesday

It’s Wednesday, the “Hump Day” of Christmas vacation week. It’s been really nice having these past few days off and even though I haven’t accomplished as much as I would have liked, it’s nice to just kick back and do nothing every once in awhile. It’s especially nice not having to wake up early in the morning…I’ve found that it’s quite easy to get into the habit of being a night person again, so I’m going to enjoy it while it lasts…




A New Year Approaching

Well it’s almost the New Year and it’s time to start assessing my life and formulating some new goals for 2012. I’m not one to make resolutions…they only end in disappointment, so I plan on just getting myself together once again and moving forward hopefully in a more productive and positive way. I’ve got another few days to really plan things out and get stuff done, so I’d better get going…

Of course I want to get back once again to reaching for my goal of moving into the city. My house is just killing me financially and unfortunately I think the only way for me to get comfortable again is to rid myself of it, if only I knew how. Other things I need to think about is writing, of course. I’m contemplating narrowing down the scope of the sites I write for in order to get more bang for my buck, so to speak, though I’m still not sure which sites to give up and which ones to keep.

There are plenty of other things to think about for the coming year, as well. Health is a priority once again. I made a promise to take better care of my health going into this year and I was definitely more successful than in the past. I just need to keep it going in 2012. I’d really like to pursue another relationship one of these days, too. I want to find newer and better ways of meeting people in the coming year. 2011 was a dud in that department, for sure. Any suggestions? Stay tuned…


Me and my extended family, from left to right Gerber, Mayela, me, Arnoldo and Jorge

I Love My Students!

I know I’ve said it before, but I’m going to say it one more time. I love my job and the joy it brings me. For the past two nights I’ve spent some time with some of my former students and I appreciate all that they bring into my life. The Sandoval family and Max are some of my oldest students and although none of them are in school anymore, they each remain an indelible part of my life. They are my family!

Writing Wednesday

It’s been three weeks now since I’ve shared what I’ve written online. Now that the Christmas crunch is behind us, here’s some of the more relevant stuff that hasn’t been time sensitive:

Examiner

Fun ways to ring in the New Year on Long Island

I’ve got to say that these event pieces I do for Examiner are not really challenging to my writing skills, but they do get a lot of hits. For the past several weeks, Christmas and New Year’s event articles have brought in an average of 600 hits per week each which is phenomenal. In addition, researching them gives me great ideas on things to do, too! Good stuff!

6th Annual Outlook Awards: Best Nightlife Nominees

This January, Outlook Long Island will be holding their annual awards ceremony for the best of the best of LGBT stuff on Long Island. Since I’ve penned so many articles on nightlife, I thought I’d start off this mini-series on the nominees for best bars and nightlife here on Long Island. Stay tuned for more in this series.

Gather

New Music Singles from Coldplay, Foo Fighters, Drake and more

After the second week of December, the new music releases have really gone just plain boring. At least there were some exciting new singles being released last week that I could share with my readers.

Madonna’s Super Bowl set list

This one was fun to write. Madonna released the set list of songs she’ll be performing at this year’s Super Bowl. Click the link above to check it out.

The Latest Buzz on Madonna’s new album

This one is hot off the presses, with the latest exciting news that Madonna fans are hankering for. The new Madonna album is gonna be epic! I can feel it!

As for Yahoo Voices, there hasn’t been anything new on there since the last Writing Wednesday, though I just submitted the first of several music retrospectives I have planned to publish on the site. Boy, do I miss being a featured music contributor!

Well that’s all for now. Heading out to see if I can catch some clearance sales on Christmas ornaments to replace the many I lost last week. Wish me luck! I’m also going to be heading out to the clubs finally, starting with tonight at Circus. It’s my bud Ozzie’s birthday celebration and I’m looking forward to checking out the festivities, and then tomorrow night is Splash Thursdays, something I look forward to whenever I’m off on a Friday. Can’t wait! Have an awesome day everyone!

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Image Source: The Year 2012

September 15th, 2011 - A Post Presentation High

It’s Thursday night and we’re in the middle of a big weather change at the moment. Right now, the wind is kicking up and the skies are dark…a cold front is moving in. Yes, it’s supposed to get quite chilly tonight, with temperatures, gulp, plunging down into the 40’s. Yikes, way too early for temps that low, but cooler is definitely welcome after the hot, sticky days we’ve been having around here…


My Three Heroes

A Post Presentation High

All last night and today I’ve been on one of the highest of highs ever! I told you the other day that I had a presentation to do for the faculty at my school yesterday and I was one hot mess all day (What else is new?). After having done two well-received presentations last year, I felt pressure that I had to top them and I had trouble deciding on what to do or how to do it. Luckily for me, my pal Rita teaches a couple of classes in my classroom and it was she who pushed me to do what I ended up doing. It ended up better than I could have ever imagined.

The whole idea behind the presentation was to advocate for my students. As one who teaches English as a Second Language, part of my job is to make sure that my students get as much empathy as they can get from their teachers. They’ve got it hard and I can’t imagine being in their shoes, having to go from class to class, walking through the rough and tumble halls of high school not being able to understand or speak English. Teachers, though, have it hard enough themselves, with big caseloads of students and the pressures of “teaching to the test,” so my students often get the short end of the stick, so to speak, and end up falling between the cracks.

At the advice of Rita, I decided that the best way for teachers to understand my students a little better would be to let them hear my students talk about what it’s like to be them. I enlisted three of them to accompany me to the meeting. Two are current students of mine: Yunus, a 9th grade intermediate level English speaker and Eli, an 11th grade beginner. The third is a former student of mine, Kevin, who I first met when he was just six years old.

I asked them some practice questions beforehand and I have to say I was impressed that they were brave enough to help me out, but they knew it was also going to help them and their fellow students as well, so they went along with it. I was introduced at the start of the meeting and I in turn introduced Yunus, Eli and Kevin, letting the audience know why they were there.

I started by asking them about their first day at school here in the US and from there it went. The three of them were eloquent, honest and articulate and they had everyone’s undivided attention for about twenty minutes. Of course I had to help them out here and there when they became a little nervous or stuck for words, but all in all they did an awesome job. A few of the teachers had their own questions for the kids and I sat there like a beaming parent watching my students make the best cases as to why they need special attention. I couldn’t have been more proud!

As we wrapped up our discussion, a couple of teachers chimed in with some unexpected, but welcome accolades for me and my students. One of the special education teachers, a colleague and a friend named Dan, openly stated his appreciation for me and what I do and the room burst out into applause. I had to stop him because I was starting to get all choked up, but another teacher raised her hand to commend the kids directly for our yearly magazine and how she loved reading it. She wanted them to know how it showed their progress through the years and that they should be very proud of it.

After one more complement by the principal followed by even more applause, the four of us felt like rock stars, if only for a moment. Though the whole thing was a little embarrassing and I am a little bit of a sap, it was nice to get such recognition from my colleagues, especially with the principal and superintendent in the audience. It just goes to show that way back in 2000, when I quit my 15-year career in banking, I definitely made the right choice. I love what I do and I am so proud of my kids!

Needless to say the euphoria that came afterwards carried into today, and I just wish I could bottle up that feeling and keep it for whenever I need it, but life happens, ya know? Yeah, problems persist and moods swing, but I’m definitely gonna try and hold on to this one for awhile.

Some pictures of me and my kids:










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A field trip...

Thursday was a long-awaited field trip for my students. As an ESL teacher in a 7-12 school, I am in the unique position of teaching the same core group of students year after year, and so we all get to know each other pretty well. At the beginning of each school year, they always ask me if we’re going to go on a field trip and I always start out with good intentions, but invariably I get caught up in the day to day duties of my job and I haven’t necessarily been a good teacher as far as field trips have been concerned.

This year I made a promise to myself that we’d take at least one, and I wanted to make it a good one, so I planned a long day trip to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island with my students. We took the two-plus hour journey into the city on Thursday, April 7th and it was a great experience.

My students and I are very much like a family. We have fun together. We learn together. We argue and make up together. All of the personalities in the group are well defined and every single person has their place within the unit, and so the trip was more like a family outing than your typical school field trip.

Once we arrived in the city, we walked across Battery Park towards the streets in search of lunch, and that was where the real fun began. Perched on a pedestal near the entrance to the park stood Lady Liberty herself. She was one of those neo-peddlers who earn their wares dressed up as statues and posing for pictures with unsuspecting tourists. Of course this one was decked out in a green robe and crown.

Once the kids spotted her the cameras came out. They started clicking away as some of them made their way towards the figure to be in the photos. Lady Liberty wagged her finger in a no-no motion…she wanted money. Two of my students, Jaqi and Sonia, went to pose for a picture with the figure. Jaqi hadn’t noticed the finger wagging, and from my vantage point I could see Jaqi arguing with the statue. Within seconds, she pulled out a $5 bill and the cameras got busy again. The two of them went into model shoot mode as Lady Liberty struck funny poses for the cameras. A couple of other students got into the action and laughter was everywhere. It would be the first bit of genuine fun we’d get from the day.




After a quick lunch at Burger King, we had to head back towards the ferry to catch our boat. On the way, some of the kids were drawn to the many street vendors stationed on the sidewalk. As I crossed the street back towards the park, I turned back to see that some of the students had stopped to peruse the tables. The other teacher was with them, so I wasn’t worried about, but I knew we didn’t have much time to catch the ferry.

“C’mon, we’ve gotta catch the ferry!” I shouted back at the shopping students.

“We’re coming, we’re coming!…Ooh, Mr. Myers,” Sonia said, “look what I got.” She proceeded to show me the ten rings that she had bought from a costume jewelry peddler down the street. All I could do was roll my eyes and move on as I lead a dash to the ferry terminal. In the end, we missed the boat, the first of three we’d miss.

Even though the little shopping spree took us off our schedule, I took it in stride and just enjoyed every minute. We went to Liberty Island to see the real statue, where we had a group picture done and then went up inside the pedestal. A trip to the gift shop was the culprit for us missing our second ferry, and we ended up staying on the island until almost three o’clock, the time we were supposed to meet the bus driver at Battery Park…and we still had to make a stop at Ellis Island.



After a quick call to the driver, we hopped on the next ferry and sailed over to Ellis, where we’d only have a half an hour. We skipped the bulk of the museum and headed straight for the famous “Wall of Immigrants.” The kids did some etchings on the wall before we headed back to the ferry, which we ended up missing too. Another half-hour’s wait and we were finally headed back to where we started from. Soon we were on our way back to school.



All in all, the day was great fun. During the long ride back, some kids slept, others did homework, while still others had some more fun together. Without prodding from me, they all pitched in to clean the bus before we got back to the school. That’s the kind of kids they are. They made me proud throughout the day. We pulled into the school parking lot around 8PM and the long day was over.

The kids came in to school Friday morning exhausted and exhilarated, just like I was feeling. Many of them thanked me for the day, and I reciprocated. I had as much fun with them as they had with me and I feel honored to have given them a memorable day that they’ll keep in their minds for years to come. I love my job!

Here are some photos from the day:























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January 24, 2011 - Dieting, Great Classroom Moments, and a Cool Quarter Mil!

I’m always happy when Monday is over. Getting past that very first ‘hump’ of the week is always a little bit of a relief for some reason. Any way you cut it, I’ve got a short week anyway…for a few days now they had been predicting more snow for Tuesday night into Wednesday (on some accounts I even heard up to another two feet). So even before the week started I had ‘snow day’ on my mind for Wednesday.

That’s all changed now, as today’s deep freeze (yes, it was COLD out there today!) is supposed to disappear tomorrow, bringing rain instead. So a snow day is unlikely, but that’s okay, because I’ve still got a conference on Friday and I not only get to miss a day of school, but I have an opportunity to do some serious networking for a new job, the newest focus in my quest for big changes.

Diets Stink



I’ve written in the past about how I hate the word “diet” (check it out here) and a visit to my mother’s for dinner last night further solidified my feelings. You see, my mom and my two sisters have been on the ever popular Weight Watchers diet since the New Year, and I had a chance to see it all in action firsthand. My sister made macaroni and meatballs for dinner, a Sunday staple for many an Italian family, and I’m glad I didn’t have to do all of that measuring and counting.

Within moments of sitting down at the table, the measuring cups and notepads were taken out in preparation for the ritual they must go through every time they wish to consume any type of food.

“How many points if I put cheese on my macaroni?” my mom asked my sister.

“I’m not sure, let me check…”

And so went the meal. I was stunned and saddened at how anyone could suffer this way through life and knew deep inside that this diet, like all diets are doomed to eventual failure. How could anyone make this a daily ritual for a lifetime? After dinner, my point was proven as mom was tallying her daily points while my sister was counting pretzels, her dessert.

“Ann, I did alright today, only…”

“Ma,” my sister was angry. “I lost count and now I gotta start all over again.”

The frustration was evident. If only they could see the truth about dieting. Oh boy, this one’s definitely worthy of a YCN article. Stay tuned…

A Cool Quarter Mil



Today I penned my 500th article for Associated Content/Yahoo Contributor Network, which is pretty significant, though I’m not as excited about that milestone as I am for another impending one. You see, within a few days I will have achieved a quarter of a million page views on my articles. That’s 250,000! Though I knew it was coming, it’s approaching a lot faster than I had imagined.

I must have been using really good SEO (for those of you not in the know, SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization) on some recent articles because my page views have risen dramatically of late. I remember when I hit 100,000 page views and I wrote an article to commemorate the occasion. A fellow writer who’s a lot more seasoned than me burst my bubble by pointing out that my pieces averaged around 280 page views each, which is not really optimal.

With the recent surge in page views and more consistent, quality writing, I have attained a page view average of almost 500 and I’ll be hitting that quarter million by the end of the month, for sure. I hadn’t projected that to happen until the end of February, so a big HOORAH for me!

Life Lessons in the Classroom



Today was a good day at school, and possibly another opportunity for a YCN piece. Every week, on Mondays, I give my students a question of the week, which they have a few days to think about and answer in their journals. Sometimes it’s hard to think of new questions that are worthy of thought provoking answers and so I often use the people around me for suggestions.

Last weekend, I asked him (I think I might have to give him a moniker soon!) if he could think of something I could ask my students, and he gave me a good one which I took off with and made into an entire week’s worth of lessons. The question I ended up using ended up something like this: “If you could grant a wish to someone, what wish would you grant, who would you grant it to and why?”

On the way to work last Monday, I was thinking of a fellow writer named Maria Roth. Maria has a daughter, Audrey, who’s been fighting leukemia for more than a year now. I’ve come to know Audrey’s story pretty well thanks to Maria’s candid, yet tender articles about her bout with the deadly disease. Well, Maria’s family was recently given a trip to Disney, which Maria proudly shared with her readers. The story got me thinking of the wonderful Make A Wish Foundation and I decided to have my students take a look at some of the stories of the children who’ve been recipients of wishes from the charity.

To make a long story short, the idea behind researching some of these heartrending and uplifting stories was to give my students fodder for their journals and boy did it work! This afternoon, they each shared stories they had been following on the Foundation’s website and read their journal answers to the class. Needless to say there were tears (mostly on my part, sap that I am!) and lots and lots of interest in what they were doing. It was one of those moments that made me very proud of what I do!



Christopher James Grecius, The Make A Wish Foundation's very first wish recipient.


Well I think I’ve said enough for one day! As always, thanks for reading and I look forward to sharing again soon!