Jess: Travels, Thoughts, and Nonsensical Ramblings

English Student. Ballroom Dance Teacher. Entrepreneur. Mom. Travel Obsessed. I like photos, and books, food, Netflix and escapist television. I abhor mushrooms, raw onions, fanatics of any kind, Faulkner, and theme parks. This is a place to express my neuroses, salivate over great photos, beautiful books, and mindlessly idle away.

[oneeightfortyseven-blog]

kids, this is how the choreo is supposed to be. throw in the towel, i’m done.

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Just Sick.

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Its Dance Time

Sometimes I hate dance time. I would rather mindlessly search the internet and maybe get to work on the paper I don't want to write. UIghhhh

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My Blog

http://musingsbyjess.blogspot.com/

Go Read Enjoy

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Truth of the Day

Fact: Grass is a lie. Just ask your neighbor.

[mcclurecj-blog]

This little child, this younger you, doesn’t like things that are uncomfortable or scary or difficult. What 5-year-old does?

This little child likes things that are comfortable and safe and pleasurable.

This is the child that you were when you learned all your thinking habits, when you tried things and quit because they were hard. Who could blame a 5-year-old for being like that?

But you’re not 5 years old anymore. And yet your life is run by this 5-year-old.

Leo’s right. Life’s too short, and too full of possibilities, to ignore opportunities simply because they’re new, strange, or uncomfortable. Get over the discomfort—maximize your potential.

[the-final-sentence]

I may no longer breathe without breathing you.

Judith Pordon, from “How Will You Kiss?” (via the-final-sentence)

[jess1036-blog]

Japan, yup I am going there.

A lack of impulse control leads to great and spontaneous trips. I woke up this morning and decided to go to Japan. I have a friend staying there who I can visit. So an hour later I bought a ticket.

I have a very serious lack of impulse control or caution; as a result I have surreal once in a lifetime experiences. This is generally caused by my fear of getting older and missing out on actual life; of being 55 and never have taken risks or explored the world or lived life dangerously.

I land in Tokyo Saturday evening. I will then spend the night in an internet cafe which as I understand it is a very Asian thing to do. My friend and I will explore Tokyo Sunday and take the train to Niigata, which is a beautiful city bordered by mountains to the East and the sea of Japan to the west, where I will spend about seven days.

While I am there, I will get a chance to see what it is like to teach English in Japan; hopefully this will help me decide if that is something I want to do before grad school also known as my never-ending college career.

My friend will work most of the week so I will be exploring an entire foreign country on my own which is awesome. My hermit-ness loves it! I like exploring without worrying about anyone but me; taking as many pictures and walking as slowly or as quickly as I like. Feeling free and alone and adventuresome and brave all at once.

This is going to be amazing and will help me forget how close I am to 30.

[jess1036-blog]

So this is the plan for my 30th birthday. Perhaps the frigid temperatures and northern lights wil help me forget how close I am to death.

Cold preserves dead things right?

[hyphenatedmess]

If only it were that simple..... making lists, setting alarms, washing behind your ears: what do all of these have in common? They can change your life, but none of them cure bipolar.

guess what! my dad found a cost-free cure for bipolar disorder! MAKE LISTS! he says making lists has changed his life. he has no mental illness but is certain this is the answer. thought i’d share this information with everyone! wow my dad is really smart.

[jess1036-blog]

Tiny House Obsession

I love tiny houses. I could so live in a 120 sq ft house... I have spent all day gazing at photos and oohing and ahhing over tiny sinks, and kitchens, and toilets, and nook-like loft bedrooms.I found a tiny house on a mountain top in the Alps, a converted chapel in the UK, and the perfect home for me in Seattle. The only problem I foresee is the lack of a bathroom counter... I don't think tiny houses are made for women who like makeup or own a flat iron. Also I may need to condense my shoe collection into rubber boots or Jesus sandals.

People may think I've chosen to become a hippie and eat grass and tree sap that I have collected myself. I might be given books on co-sleeping and homeschooling for Christmas or develop an unhealthy relationship with incense and patchouli.

No really though, I think I could live in a tiny house, and I think maybe I should- not because I'm terribly concerned with my ecological footprint or consumerism or whatever. I just love tiny cave-like spaces and the idea of sleeping in a loft with a window that looks out at the sky and decorating it with little cave drawings and glow in the dark stars.

[smallrooms]

[jess1036-blog]

I love this sooo much. Add in a ton of bookshelves, place it amidst some mountains and a dense green forest and I'm sold..

[manvchild]

THE TALKING CURE

My daughter and I have been caught in a button-pushing cycle lately:  she has become a whiney complainer and I have become a hard-headed tyrant.  

Sample:  she is not getting her shoes on while we are all trying to leave to go apple picking.  ”I don’t like you RUSSSSHHING MEEeeee…” she says.  She’s dragging her feet, dilly-dallying, not even moving towards her shoes.  Her body is a limp noodle of complaint:  sloped shoulders, head lolling to one side, arms hanging sullenly.  

Then the tyrant:  ”Get your shoes on NOW.  Enough!”  I’m heated, I’m fed up.  The complaining is pushing my buttons, big time.  I’m thinking:  ”WTF, all this grousing and protest over doing something FUN?”

So now I’m reading a book called How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk.  The theory is that you can change that dynamic by how you say stuff and how you react to them.  An example:

Instead of “Turn the light off in the bathroom!” Try:  ”The bathroom light is still on.”

It’s like a Jedi mind-trick of re-direction.  Instead of bossing her around, I simply offer information that I expect her to act upon.  I’m trying to engage cooperation, not cast blame.

I’ll be honest; it’s hard!  Tone is important.  It can feel passive aggressive:

"The bathroom light is still on.  The light was not on before.  But now it is.  Hmmmmm, how did it get on?  Did I turn it on?  Nope!  It must have been someone!  Was it the kid right here before me?"

I’m trying.  Some of the advice is so good and so obvious that it’s shame-inducing to realize that I haven’t been following it.  Like “Listen Quietly and Attentively.”  Oof.  When she complains, I really can’t say that I’ve been listening quietly and attentively.  Tyrants don’t do that!  But dads do, so I’m trying…

I just tried this: Me- "The bathroom light is on..." My seven year old- "So what....." Awesome.

[markmcevoy]

[jess1036-blog]

Truth.

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Traphill, NC On a Mountain

I went to North Carolina. I didn't want to come back. I stayed in a cabin on a mountain close in proximity only to woods, hiking, curvy mountain roads, and the kind of homes where people keep goats, horses, and cows all in the same fenced in yard; far from Walmart, people, traffic, noise, and my life. It

was perfect.

[jess1036-blog]

A bunch of random pictures of some of my favorite things including Big Sky Montana, a bizarre enormous frozen cow in North Dakota, bison burgers with bacon jam and pickled tomato, twilight a couple streets away from my house: the bright blue air native only to Florida, Chicago, thunderstorms on I-4, being drunk before brunch in Vegas, and a picture of me that I actually love (even if it is clearly a "selfie" taken in the driver's seat).

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This is where I want to be.