This blog is written in a weird semi-interview-yourself style, that so many of you who read are used to. If you know me in person it’s way easier to read this in my voice. If not, please read in a Princess voice ala Carrie Fisher as a tribute to all women.

A quick note on that – she was a feminist, and in today’s fucked up and weird world (it’s my blog and I’ll swear if I want to), with questionable democratic capitalists ruling the western world, and women’s rights in question all over the earth, I think it’s important to be vigilant.

That’s why I’m submitting to this project, and you should too.

I’m even more sensitive these days to what appears online, and how careful I am myself about what I share. There’s a mass of fake news, coupled with seemingly benign, but stereotype reinforcing images that plague our social media newsfeeds every day.

I’m going to play devil’s advocate with something I’m involved with, that I find on the one hand really exciting, and on the other, makes my brain explode at times. You’ll have to read this post (which I’m still editing) to find out about that because it’s a much longer conversation than appropriate for here.

The Hiatus

I haven’t written here, for what feels like a really long time. Sure, I’ve shared the odd spotlight or post for an author, but my own writing has been quite absent. My plan is to come back in 2017 after what feels like a 3-year hiatus working for community.

So much has changed, and I’m so glad that 3 years ago when I made the switch from a retail job to community development, it was indeed a temporary one. My future sanity thanks me for it, and the result was discovering ways I can still work with the community, but on my own terms as a consultant, volunteer and in general, (hopefully) good citizen.

I went back to school in September of 2016 and managed to get A’s in all my classes the first term. What I realized quickly after going back to school, was that writing and music were the things missing from my life. It hasn’t been easy to get back to it, but this blog is my writing plan for 2017 and honestly until I’m finished with my masters (PhD to be determined).

A New Deal

So, as a promise to myself (mostly), and to ensure that I’m on task, this blog is coming back.

You’ll only see blog posts from me, if I’ve completed my work for the day.

Right now, I have two projects that need to be finished for clients locally, but I’ve already finished reviewing Educating Musically (again) by Bowman – who was one of my undergrad professors. He’s a giant in music and music education philosophy, so coming to grips with his work along with Beeman’s are essential for a thesis dealing with how to/if to/can we even? Indigenize music education curriculum. Writing this blog is my break/reward.

I have NOT written anything besides notes in the margins yet, but that’s for this afternoon, along with finishing a critique of a past music thesis of one of my advisor’s students.

This blog is ultimately the place I connect online. Social media is not where I’m at for personal connections. Emailing me, or commenting here is really the best way to connect with me. Work as a marketing consultant makes it near to impossible to enjoy any ‘social’ platform personally, and I find ads take over my feeds no matter where I go. But, I’m really good at marketing, and it gives me life-sustaining income, so I choose to use this blog as a way to connect instead.

Unpacking 2016

I’m sitting at my computer desk right now, watching Minimalism: A Documentary about Important Things on Netflix. It starts off great but quickly becomes (basically) and advertisement for the concept/book they wrote on how to ‘be happy’ with less stuff. Which is ironic, because they specifically point this out as a flaw of society in the intro, then promptly mention their book.

I’ll play devil’s advocate for a moment – “all you have to do is ask whether X object ‘adds value’ to your life”. I could define every possession in my house as adding value (except the trash/recycling) BUT even the compost has value. I chuckled at the first item they decide to feature: books. If you read this blog, you’ll know why.

Now don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a pay-per-view, shilling your product, flashy-flashy send me your credit card number now, kind of show. It’s well filmed, documentary style, and has some interesting things to meditate on philosophically. They even point out that value has a different meaning to everyone and everyone’s ‘minimalism’ looks different.

Good for them, and in a way, I’ve been doing some of this already, except I call it something much different.

UNPACKING

Yes, we bought a house a little over a year ago and we still aren’t unpacked, but we now have a spare room that someone could actually sleep in, complete with a writing desk and a chair. I even have an office where I can close the door and not disturb anyone else in the house while I’m on the phone.

Look, proof!

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That’s all for now, but should things go as planned, you’ll see many more posts this year, and possibly even a few reviews of fiction works I read in-between all the music philosophy. (There’s only so much Bowman/Beeman a  person can take at once!)

The Shameless Plug

You can help me with my dreams! It’s even easy! Share this post, let people know I’m open for new clients – the more I work from home, the easier it is to finish the masters & the more likely I’ll be able to put food on the table/pay the mortgage!

I’m well known for content editing, beta reading, project management (mostly local), social media scheduling/sharing, content creation, advertising & marketing. Email naimelessauthor@gmail.com for quotes, more info, or any questions you have about working with me and feel free to talk to this amazing woman about how I work with people.