Not Another Homeschool Blog

It is rare to be invited to the wedding of someone you know casually, like a work chum or someone you have met thought hobbies or such, but this past weekend, I scored such an invite. I went to the wedding of a young lady who I have costumed consistently over the past 2 years in a few stage productions. I am a big fan of hers as she is hilarious. Even more so, I admire how her fiance (now husband) got onto stage at her request recently and take part in a flipped gender comedy. He was out of his element, but easy-going nature and willingness to play along won my heart. And so these two crazy kids got married. They were just a few years older than I was when I got married, but in this day and age they are YOUNG! But that's OK. There is a certain beauty in attending a wedding where you are not a relative, or where you really don't know anyone else there. I had a small group of other theatre people, but mostly we knew no one. So there's no probing questions from relatives wh...

As I showered this morning, I pondered on Maya Angelou's life and what she accomplished. (Yes, I am still stuck on that).   Then I thought on how old I am and what I still want to accomplish and realized that she wasn't much younger than 1 when she wrote her first book.  It dawned on me then to do a timeline of her life to see what age she was at when she made her accomplishments. These ages are approximate, but you get the picture. Thankfully, WSOCTV started the project and I supplemented with the timelines at softschools.com  and a few other websites, and I mostly had to do the math to figure out her age. April 4, 1928 -  born in St. Louis, Missouri. Age 9 raped by mothers boyfriend and becomes mute for a number of years Age 13 Moved to California with mother and brother, when to high school and studied dance and drama at a college program.

I am still very raw from the news of the death of Maya Angelou. I feel and deep and profound loss because for me, she was the one, the elder, at shows feet I proverbially sat. I never got to meet her, but once, many years ago, my husband bumped into her in an airport. I was home, pregnant with our first child. He saw her and he knew about my deep love her for and he stopped, gathered his courage and approached her. She was so regal, stood so tall, as he told it, and was very glamorous in her fur coat. He said, "excuse me, I just have to tell you that my wife loves you". She replied, "I love her too". Oh my word! These are the things heroes are made of. He brought her love home to me.  In processing my sadness for the loss of a woman I find to be so iconic, I began to read her work, her quotes, and wanted to see her image. Hello... Facebook, twitter, and youtube. But youtube can be a nasty place, can't it. I stumbled across a video called The truth about ...

When she spoke I listened As if she were speaking directly to me. She chose her words carefully And set and example for all to see. She told us why the caged bird sings She lost her voice through childhood trauma But found it again through poetry Then she rose above poverty with dance and drama She was as comfortable with a pen as she was on the stage Acting with James Earl Jones, Gossett, and Cicely Tyson Wrote for and worked with Malcolm X and King She lived and loved in Paris, Cairo, and Ghana And she was just getting started At the height of her career she produced movies She wrote scores and songs for Roberta Flack She won Tony Awards She won honorary degrees, and then she gave back. By the time I came on the scene at the age of 13 she had accomplished all of these things And I as a child looked at her life and her works And breathed a sigh of relief as her words gave me wings I saw so many similarities in my past and hers Downtrodden, beaten, marginalize...

Did you know that when the latest unmanned vessel was sent to Mars that a recording also went with it to be broadcast back to earth.  Will I Am of the Black Eyed Peas penned this song and recorded it with an instrumental orchestra and an orchestra of school children.  I found it fascinating. I love how the guy in the black shirt (most likely a scientist) can't clap on beat.  But I am sure his other brain abilities outweigh his lack of rhythm. While this fascinated my pants off, the reasoning behind the song and the movement that has started is of important note to educators.  Please listen to the intent behind the project and the movement that this talented musician his spearheading. It's interesting how music is taken out of schools but yet, we worship performers. It might be because there is something in those performers and their work that inspire us to be more... to do more.  They set the example of an insane work ethic, in most cases, that I hop...