What are you up to this week? I’m hoping to spend as much time outside as possible (and maybe find time for some margaritas and a trip to the dollar theater to see…the Lego movie : ). Summer break have you twiddling your thumbs already? How about some stay-cation inspiration or a vicarious adventure through this great book! Have a wonderful week. Here are some links for you to check out…
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice.
meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.
Be grateful for whatever comes.
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
Hello dolls! I don’t know about you but my throat and sinuses have spent the last week revolting against the pollen count and weather fluctuations. Argh! Not to mention, it SNOWED yesterday AND I was at work ’til after midnight. Double argh. Luckily, I have an exciting staycation planned starting on Friday with special guest star, Chet. I can’t wait!!! Posting may be a bit intermittent and slowed so bear with me. I shall catch you up on all the hikes, food, events and bourbon as quick as I can. And in the mean time, you can follow me on Twitter here and Instagram here, if you’d like. Happy Spring, Happy NFA, Happy Easter! ❤ Now on to the links…
P.S. New feature! I finally realized setting these links to open in a new tab would make this round-up thing a whole lot more fun and navigable. Duh! Hope it helps. : )
P.P.S. Have a lovely rest of your day and thanks for reading my little corner of the interwebs. It sure means a lot to me.
This month in the Finding delight. virtual book club we’re traveling back to the world of cliques and cafeterias with the help of Alexandra Robbins’ journalistic prowess in The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth: Popularity, Quirk Theory and Why Outsiders Thrive After High School. This week, I’ve found some extended watching–in the way of interviews, movies and other internet gems–to help us nail down the answer to our over-arching questions: Why do things get better once you’ve taken off that high school cap and gown? How did our own differences suddenly elevate our social experience when before they felt so demoralizing? Check out the videos and review the questions raised throughout this post…remember, we’re traveling back to high school here so there may or may not be a test. ; )
More with Alexandra Robbins
An interview with the author herself in which she discusses why cliques are so prevalent, how schools help instead of hinder the teenage social hierarchy and what parents can do to dissuade their kids from feeling like social outcasts…
What would you tell a high schooler today if they confessed they feel flawed for not fitting into the social in-crowd?
Robbins delivers a quick PSA on why “You’ve got to be proud to be an outsider.” She rattles off a laundry list of now famous individuals who identified with the outsider label as children or young adults. Now that I’m far enough into “Geeks” to feel like I really know the youth Robbins follows for a year, I have begun to recognize the qualities in their teenage selves that really COULD set them apart as adults. In this video, Robbins talks about Taylor Swift being ostracized in middle school for her intense love of country music. Similarly, the outsiders have qualities which will no doubt put them ahead of the pack in terms of employment, relationships and all sorts of social standing metrics.
“Being different makes you awesome and some day people are gonna appreciate you for who you really are.”
What qualities do you exhibit which exemplify Robbins’ “quirk theory”? Can you think of more examples of individuals who went from outsider to success story?
How do you think this quest for academic success/college acceptance as end goal affects social inclusion/exclusion?
Cinematic Renderings of the High School Experience
My top 5 favorite “High School Movies”:
1. Ferris Bueller’s Day off
2. 10 Things I Hate About You
3. The Breakfast Club
4. Mean Girls
5. crazy/beautiful
And if you have a lot of time on your hands just watch all of Friday Night Lights!
What do these films get right about the high school experience? What do they get wrong? What’s your favorite movie about high school? Is there a movie that shaped your own teenage experience simply because it was about teens and you watched it WHILE you were a teen? #meta
Remembering the Past/Help the Future
In the end, this book strikes a cord with so many because we’ve all been there. While it may be easier to come out the other side and benefit from “quirk theory,” I’d like to challenge you to peek back through that tunnel at the person you were. Have an old VHS tape of a choir competition? Watch it. Did you keep a journal full of poetry and essays? Read it. Look through old photo albums, class assignments, defunct for a decade Livejournals. This little trip down Nostalgia Boulevard could hold valuable information for how you interact with struggling teenagers in the future. It’s easy to put the past behind us and just say “Yeah, high school sucks but it gets better.” But a more concrete answer can be a lot more enlightening. After my own excavation of high school artifacts I’ve found this example: Yes, it was crazy weird that I felt the need to deliver a rather dramatic monologue for a talent show Fall semester of my freshman year of high school. Considering all the popular kids treated speaking in public like a joke and were more focused on sports than spotlights, this was in-crowd suicide. Yet, fast forward four years and speaking in public would get me into college and earn me all kinds of resume boosting awards. Fast forward four more and things like job interviews and work-place negotiations feel like no big deal. With the clarity of over a decade’s removal from that example I can see the difference between me and the in-crowd, in that instance, was bravery.
And now that we’ve isolated some of the things which made us unique in high school and thought of concrete examples for “quirk theory” in our own lives, the final extended watching I would like you to do is….real life, current high schoolers. Go support some kids. As I’ve said before, the school system is doing everything it can to support exclusion by putting certain kids, groups and extracurriculars on a pedestal. Let’s strive to counteract this trend by building up the kids who are different in similar ways to our high school selves. Judge a speech tournament. Go to a play. Buy a piece of art. Donate to a gaming club. Speak at schools about your job. Coach something. Volunteer. Talk to kids about their interests. Cheer for the marching band. Got more ideas? Leave ’em below! I think we can all commit to doing one of these things this month. : ) Let’s do it!
If you could write a letter to your high school self what would it say? If you could sit down with one group of kids and READ them your letter to yourself who would they be?
Dear Mr. Vernon, we accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong. But we think you’re crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us – in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain…and an athlete…and a basket case…a princess…and a criminal…Does that answer your question?
Hello lovelies! What a crazy week. Lots happening at work, TWO national championship runs to keep up with and no back to back days off. The days are just flying by (even as they get longer)!
If you’re in need of a food recommendation for this upcoming weekend, I have a couple. Monday, my family grabbed lunch at Limestone Blue. Very yummy, very Kentucky. And, while watching the game at Lynagh’s that same night, I ordered an O’round burger because it made the cut in The Chevy Chaser’s Top 5 burgers in town list. Both great options if you’re lookin’ to treat yourself after a busy week!
But enough about noms, let’s check out some links! Enjoy the rest of your week. : )
Spring has sprung and I couldn’t be happier!!! Has anyone else noticed a correlation between the rise in temperatures and a rise in social invitations? Everyone is coming out of hibernation, at long last. As for last weekend, I had a magnificent time in BG, KY at the WKU Alumni Work Weekend. I visited several vAry Bowling Greenian restaurants (I started to type them out but then got a little embarr-barr at how MANY places I was able to go in the span of basically 2 days lol), caught up with my WKY fam, and saw fantastic forensics performances. I know, as time continues to pass, that team and those people will always feel like home to me. Now, this weekend is filled to the brim with my favorite spectator sports–the American Forensics Association national tournament and the NCAA FINAL FOUR!!! I’ll be wearing blue with my 4’s held high in the hopes that both the Kentucky Wildcat Men’s Basketball Team and the Western Kentucky University Forensics Team bring championships back to the Commonwealth.
Now enjoy some links in this calm before the storm aka the wildest weekend imaginable for lovers of college basketball and college forensics:
So remember when we thought winter was finally over? I stumbled out of my bed yesterday morning and literally couldn’t comprehend the snow I saw out the window. Yikes! I hope that was the last of it…FOR REAL THIS TIME. This week, I’m counting down the hours until Friday when I get to travel to Bowling Green and see so many beautiful faces. A bunch of former WKU Forensics team members are meeting back on the Hill for an Alumni Work Weekend to help prepare the current team for their Nationals run. I’m looking forward to seeing some mind-blowing speeches and hugging some loves that it feels like I only get to see once in a blue moon. ‘Til then my dears, here are some fun links to pass a few of those hours between now and Friday–a day I’m sure we’re ALL looking forward to, whether venturing to BG or not. : )
I hope everyone is having a fantastic week so far! It seems as though this back and forth weather nonsense has a lot of people feeling ooky, so I hope you’re taking care of yourselves. I’ve been popping zinc like crazy just in case. : ) In other news, HUGE congratulations to the Western Kentucky University Forensics Team for winning the International Forensics Association tournament in Paris, France. Go Tops!
Now, enjoy some link love on me and have a magnificent day. ❤
Hello lovelies! What have you been up to this week? Monday night, in celebration of the warm front, I grabbed drinks with a few friends after work. We got a bucket of seasonal SUMMER beer and even sat out on the patio for a little bit. Yesterday, I had to go to some job training (complete with many poorly acted educational videos) but the commute to and fro with the sun shinin’ and all my windows rolled down totally made it a-ok! I even squeezed in a walk around my neighborhood at sunset. Life’s possibilities seem endless to me when the weather is warm! ….We just won’t mention the fact that my weather app said it was supposed to snow today….that can’t be true, right? I hope the rest of your week is full of the promises of Spring and here are a few links just for you!
Scenes from Wisconsin. (I love the last photo with the lawn chairs arranged around a fire-pit!)
Love y’all! This blog has been such a fun adventure so far and I really appreciate all your kind words and support! I sure do know some awesome people. : )
I hope everyone had a fantastic Mardi Gras! What are your plans for the rest of the week? Today is technically day one of my weekend…but then I have to go back to work tomorrow and take weekend day two on Friday. Weird, but in the end perfect, as it’s my Mom’s birthday on Friday! Have a killer week, and here are a few Internet gems for your mid-week enjoyment. Give ’em a click, if you’d like!
Finding delight. 
