Tag: behavior

  • Home Alone (Yeah, not that one…)

    Every now and then—usually when I’m sitting around minding my own business, sipping something cold, letting the world drift by—I’ll get hit with one of those memories from way back. No warning. No reason.Just… poof. A moment from my past rolls in like a lazy tumbleweed, makes itself comfortable, and says, “Remember this, dummy?” And…

  • The Hierarchy of Everyday Life (According to an Overcaffeinated Educator)

    Or: A Day in the Life of Someone Who Wakes Up Already Tired Let’s be honest: adulthood is basically a group project where nobody knows what’s going on, and the teacher—ironically—is you. And before any of that noble, inspiring educator stuff starts, there’s coffee. Always coffee. The alarm rings. You open one eye. The world…

  • Epic Quests Require Fries: A Charro’s Story

    After our performance at the closing of the Cattle Call Rodeo in Brawley, I rolled up to In-N-Out thinking I’d grab a quick bite. The place looked packed to the gills. Maybe not the best decision I’ve made, but hope is a dangerous thing.  I was still in my green traje de charro—embroidered jacket, gold…

  • Cooking: the world’s most delicious dehydration project

    Did y’all know that cooking is basically just strategically drying your food to a preferred edible status? That’s it. That’s the whole operation. We’ve spent centuries building cuisines, writing cookbooks, and inventing culinary arts, but at the end of the day, we’re just negotiating with moisture. Ever notice how we describe our food like it…

  • The Curiosity of Curiosity

    Curiosity is one of the first languages children learn. Long before they master full sentences, they’re pointing, tugging, and asking questions in a hundred different ways—“What’s that?” “Why?” “How come?” A child doesn’t just accept the world as it is; they poke at it, twist it, and try to make sense of it through their…

  • A Writer’s Manifesto

    (Or Am I Just Rambling?) I remember, when I was still a teacher, how I answered the question: What makes a good writer? I always said, “Just write every day. Practice it.” Now, with many years of surviving life on this rock, I see how naïve that answer was. And honestly, a bit lazy. Writing…

  • Rain, Memories, and Mischief

    Not too long ago, I wrote about memories and how they have a way of popping up when you least expect them. Maybe it’s because I’m — how shall we say — a little older now, but I find myself looking back more often, sifting through the good, the funny, and the slightly bruised. I…

  • Tinkering

    Once upon a time, every kid was a tinkerer. We learned by unscrewing things, prying them open, poking around inside. Radios, bikes, door hinges, cassette decks — if it rattled, clicked, or hummed, we had to know why. There were no YouTube tutorials or step-by-step guides, just a screwdriver, a roll of tape, and an…

  • Why We’re Holding the Line on Phones and Dress Code

    As both a parent and a school administrator, I often stand at the intersection of two worlds. At home, I want my own kids to laugh with their friends, make mistakes, learn from them, and discover who they’re meant to be. I remember what it felt like to be young, testing limits, eager for freedom.…

  • Between Covers, Beyond Pages — From Reader to Writer and Back

    Awaiting the publication of my first book has changed something I never expected: the way I hold a book in my hands. I’ve always loved books. As a kid, I devoured them. In college, I would lose hours wandering the library aisles, pulling random titles off the shelves and skimming their pages for knowledge. The…

  • Sleeping In: A Universal Law

    Sleeping in is not a character flaw. It’s not laziness. It’s not poor planning. It is a cosmic law, etched into the fabric of existence—right up there with gravity and Wi-Fi never working when you need it most. No one escapes. One day, like Thanos promised, it will happen. The circumstances vary. Sometimes you forget…

  • Grills, Jerseys, and Armchair Geniuses: Why Fall Rules

    Fall is my favorite season. The summer heat finally packs up and leaves, and cooler weather slides in like a welcome relief. Hoodies return, pumpkins appear everywhere (sometimes in places they really don’t belong), and—most importantly—football season takes over. Sure, Major League Baseball is making its late-season push. Division rivals square off, playoff spots are…

  • The People in Our Lives

    I got to thinking about friendships recently—not the surface kind, but the ones that quietly (and sometimes loudly) shape who we are. I’m not even sure what sparked it. Maybe it was the long road trips to gigs and the conversations that filled those miles. Maybe it was scrolling through friends’ posts, those little glimpses…

  • The Pause Between Words: How Nothing Becomes Something

    There are days when I simply cannot think of anything to write. Writer’s block isn’t just the absence of words—it’s a heavy stillness, like standing in a quiet room where nothing moves. You sit there, pen in hand or cursor blinking, waiting for the spark that refuses to show up. It’s frustrating, almost personal, as…

  • First Days Without Cell Phones in School

    Over the past few years, it’s become obvious: our students were living in two worlds at once—the real world, and the endless scroll. Heads down, thumbs flying, eyes glued to screens; friendships measured in likes, self-esteem dictated by notifications. Social media had them hooked, and let’s be honest—a digital addiction had quietly taken over hallways,…