In the musical, Billy Elliot, the title character is asked to describe how dancing makes him feel. He sings one of my favorite songs from any musical ever, "Electricity". In a touching song, Billy explains exactly how he feels when he's dancing, and the audience is given a direct look into Billy's thoughts, into his … Continue reading What Writing is Like

As most (many, all) of you know, much of the world is under quarantine because of COIVID-19. There is a lot of propaganda from all sides--at least here in America where everything must be driven by politics, else is cannot exist--that says this is a media hype created by the liberals, or an attempt for … Continue reading Quarantine Chronicles: COVID-19, Distance Learning, and How I’m Dealing With it All

A few weeks ago, I drove three hours from my house to the Dallas area stay the night with my best friend before my flight to Rhode Island. I prefer flying out of Dallas, even though there is a small regional airport in the city where I live. It also gives me an excuse to … Continue reading Stay Sexy and Don’t Get Murdered: How True Crime Podcasts Helped Me Find My Voice Again

Look who's back with a book review! Me, it's me. I've been reading. And painting. And singing. And performing. And not finding quite enough time for self care, but I'm getting there. I've even found a few spare minutes here and there to play a few video games. This week, I had the immense pleasure … Continue reading Review: No Truth Left to Tell by Michael McAuliffe

Today I flew to Providence, Rhode Island, for a week-long workshop. I'm really pumped about the things I'm going to be learning and all the ways I'll be able to use them in my classroom. I love bringing innovation and excitement to my room; kids need it. And God knows I need it. This morning, … Continue reading Flying and the Art of Listening

2019 summed up: If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all. So, the long version of things is 2019 was a rough year for me. Every time I got on here to post a blog, all I could think to do was talk about how bad things were in my … Continue reading Triumphant Return

Kilauea's smoldering lava fields -- a unique place to bury the bodies.Recently, I had the pleasure of reading a new crime novel by Robert McCaw, Off the Grid. And it's like the jacket copy was made just for me. For those of you who don't know, I am the co-host of a true crime podcast, … Continue reading Review – Off the Grid by Robert McCaw

Do any of you remember the original Top Gun? Tom Cruise, the reckless bad boy in a flight suit. The killer soundtrack (my mother-in-law listened to her copy of the soundtrack so many times that it stopped working recently). The action. The needless love story. It was one of the few movies I actually watched … Continue reading Review – Lions of the Sky by Paco Chierici

So... You may have noticed I've been gone for a while. You may not have, I don't know. But the fact remains, I have been gone for nearly three months from the Pluckyverse. I took some time off this summer to recover from the busy school year and to set up my new classroom and … Continue reading A Very Plucky Hiatus