And the Jukebox Plays: Brave

Music is such a big part of my life and my writing. "And the Jukebox Plays" is a fun little label to highlight some of the music that moves me, that inspires me - emotionally or physically. I hope you find some music that does the same for you. 

In continuation with yesterday's blog... this, Miley, is how you stand out! Recap: NO to Miley - YES, YES, YES to this, Sara Bareilles! 

BRAVE

You can be amazing
You can turn a phrase into a weapon or a drug
You can be the outcast
Or be the backlash of somebody's lack of love
Or you can start speaking up
Nothing's gonna hurt you the way that words do
And they settle 'neath your skin
Kept on the inside and no sunlight
Sometimes a shadow wins
But I wonder what would happen if you

Say what you wanna say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave

With what you want to say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave

I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I wanna see you be brave

I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I wanna see you be brave

Everybody's been there, everybody's been stared down
By the enemy
Fallen for the fear and done some disappearing
Bow down to the mighty
Don't run, stop holding your tongue
Maybe there's a way out of the cage where you live
Maybe one of these days you can let the light in
Show me how big your brave is

Say what you wanna say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave

With what you want to say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave

Innocence, your history of silence
Won't do you any good
Did you think it would?
Let your words be anything but empty
Why don't you tell them the truth?

Say what you wanna say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave

With what you want to say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave

I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I wanna see you be brave

 

Moves like Miley

Let's remember this Miley

Sadly, I guess we can add Miley Cyrus to the list of kid stars who thought it a good idea to focus more on image (and trashing it) and less on talent (and honing it).

Yes. Today I am yet another blogger writing another disapproving post about Miley's performance on the MTV VMA's. But here's the catch:

1. I did not watch the VMA's
2. I haven't even seen Miley's perfromance via youtube or other media channel.

And here's what I find pretty amazing about this: The press from her colossal train wreck of a performance is so huge that I didn't even have to see it to know about it. I didn't have to be witness to it to know how mangled a mess it was. Which in turn means that in this day and internet age it only takes 5 minutes to ruin your image and have the whole world know it. 

At this point, I know some of you reading this might say in her kind of "defense" that ANY press is good press and isn't that the point? And yet others will say that by writing about it, I am feeding the fodder and giving her even more press. That's fine people. But really my point today isn't about press it's about Miley.  

What I want to say here is specifically for her. Poor, confused, immature, wanting to express herself in all the wrong ways, Miley. 

Miley. I know you want to stand out, be remembered, be an individual - all of those things that that sadistic entertainment world can tell you you have to be in order to make a name for yourself. But you can stand out without wearing less and showing more and without taking the road of so many kid stars turned symbolic porn star. You don't have to wear tight bikini outfits and flap your tongue while grinding on men twice your age to prove that you're an adult because the truth is I don't know any adults that wear tight bikini outfits and flap their tongue while grinding on men twice their age. Because that would look silly. And here's the thing about standing out: it's a figurative phrase. You can do it with clothes on because it actually means that your personality, your intelligence, your humor - your essence should do the standing out, not your ass.  Just a thought.

Now let's talk about being remembered. You were. I will give you points for that. You were remembered. People will talk about this performance for weeks, heck, years to come. Like Jennifer Lopez's green Versace dress to the Grammy's in 2000. But not like that. Less iconic than that (as it has been described). More trashy than that. So, I guess not at all like that dress because that was a defining moment for Jennifer Lopez. And this moment for you... let's just say it wasn't your finest. But I digress. Because you were still remembered, right? And wasn't that the point... to be remembered? But did it turn out the way you hoped? Were you remembered the way you thought you would be, the way I hope you wanted to be? I mean, is this how you want to be remembered? Because this is how I saw that others remembered it...

Via freerepublic.com and buzzfeed.com

Via reddit.com and buzzfeed.com

Via Twitter: ChloeGowanx and buzzfeed.com

Good gosh... I hope not.

And Miley, I'd like to point out that you are not the first child star to try and blow up your wholesome image by being raunchy or controversial. So... you've lost the "be an individual" thing too. That performance wasn't you being an individual. It was blasé. It was been there, done that. It was Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan. It was the exact opposite of what you should be striving towards if you are looking to be an individual.

Warning: Mother Position in 3...2...
And to add the mother card, I wish that young, female entertainers would consider that what you do impacts the little girls that look up to you. The little girls who think you're cool and want to be you and think that in order to be liked and awesome they have to be remembered in whatever way makes them remembered. You don't make the battle for sexism any stronger when you wiggle your ass in a grown man's crotch or wag your tongue like a panting dog. You make my Mother job to my daughter so much harder when I have to explain to my daughter that what you did was trashy and ugly and that no one really respects girl that do that. And then I get to hear my daughter call me lame and old and tell me that I'm so out of touch because I think what you did makes you look silly. Thanks for that Miley. Moms to daughters everywhere really appreciate that.



So Miley, let's tone it down a bit. Let's look at the kind of press that this actually brought you instead of the press you were hoping it would bring you and reboot. Because if the press you are getting compares you to an "In Living Color" character that was played by a man as silly as Jim Carey than maybe you should consider that sometimes no press is better press, darling.

Sincerely,
a mom that really hopes her daughter will not have Moves like Miley.

Pandora's [Travel] Box

September.

When I was a kid, September always excited me. I loved Autumn. It was - still is - my favorite season with my favorite colors and my favorite flavors. I never loved the actual school part of September but I did always look forward to the first day of it: the possiblity of a new year, the new outfits, and mostly if I'm honest, the school supplies. Ahhhh the excitement of opening new pencils and notebooks. I should have known then that I would grow up to be a writer... or an office supply salesperson.

Although September at any school lends itself to feelings of limitless opportunity and starting again, the life of an abroad teacher offers a different set of possibility. The possibility of where to go next...

I'm sure you're thinking it's strange that I could be contemplating the next few years at the very beginning of this year but here's why: In the last few days my facebook has been busy buzzing feeds with the exciting new start of old co-workers in foreign places: Bangladesh, Burma, Croatia, Colombia, Saudi Arabia, Colorado (Hi Lisa!). All of these places offer so many adventures and in another lifestyle, these adventures would be totally INaccessible but when you're teaching abroad, these adventures become totally Accessible.

It should be noted that for right now, Husband and I are still so busy settling into the new apartment that we hope will be our home for the next couple of years in Santo Domingo that moving is as appealing as a rocket ship to the eye - needless to say moving is not exactly on my mind, but the possibilities - oh the possibilities of where to go next - always have me thinking and giddy. Husband loves and hates this about me. My ability to love where I am but still want to move on - and it's only magnified by this lifestyle.

See, the teaching abroad life is in itself Pandora's Box. A beautiful container with mysteries inside that curiosity pokes at you to open. It's appealing, mysterious. You think you shouldn't but it entices you. And Nature of the Beast calls to you to take a look - a quick peek - and then close it back up. But what that beautiful box doesn't tell you is that once you open it, there is no going back. There's no way to put all it's belongings neatly back in the box and tuck it away under your bed. It's out. It's too late.

Such is the teaching abroad life.

Husband and I made the decision to go abroad before we knew we were having Rafaella. And once we found out about her, the decision was harder to make but made it we did. After all, we could always leave after his two year contract was up. We could always pack up the box and come home.

Silly mortals...

As we enter our third year, we discuss endlessly without doing any planning where our life will take us. We try to stay adult and responsible in our ideas like how we'd like our next move to keep us in a Spanish speaking country to continue gifting our children with this amazing gift of bilingualism: Argentina, Chile, maybe Peru? And we try not to let our own teenage wanderlust ideas get the best of us: Let's live in Brazil for Carnival or Germany for Oktoberfest? or How awesome would living in Costa Rica be where we could teach by day and surf by sunset? (I think we know whose wanderlust idea is whose.) And what makes the discussion - the potential decision - so knotty is the same thing that makes it so gnarly - those endless possibilities.

Damn you, Pandora and your box and your seductive ways with your temptations of beautiful cities, and historical landmarks, and crystal blue oceans, and expansive mountain ranges, and cultural differences, and beautiful people that speak different languages but have the same heart and the same center. Damn you!

There are so many things to see and so many Life's To Do's to cross off that once you get a taste of life abroad its hard to live a full life in one place. I want to drink café au laits in France while writing my novel. I want Husband and I to continue our tango lessons in Argentinian brothels (well maybe not the brothel part). I want my kids to eat Bratwurst in Germany and climb mountains in Peru and walk Great Walls in China's. And since we are not yet millionaires (come on writing career!) and can't afford to just travel to these corners of the world, the most affordable way to see these places is to work in these places.

Since we have opened Pandora's Box we have realized that we aren't the only crazies that have itched to travel the world like this. There's a whole gaggle of us. Some young, some old. Some single, some married. Some with kids, some with none, some with three! And we have realized that the kind of education we want for our kids isn't only the kind they will receive sitting in a classroom. So for now, there's no going back. This lifestyle that offers so many perks and too many opportunities is impossible to pack up and tuck away.

Our Pandora's Box is open. And I see no reason to close it.

Playing baseball with our little Dominican buddies

Playing baseball with our little Dominican buddies

Local beach lunch: as fresh as it gets

Rice fields

Drive through the mountains