Storytelling. Fact and fiction. One word at a time.
Last night from the balcony of my bedroom in Thessaloniki, Greece, I felt a familiar calling from the long-ago times. I looked over the neighborhood and the city with its stacked dwellings---a very different vision than the city I'm from in Canada. The buildings in front of me felt older than they actually are. I... Continue Reading →
Puns The title of this blog post is a shameless pun and it is so very intended because life is about having fun with the little things...annnnnd the big things....annnnnd everything in between. I accept that you may have rolled your eyes. You may have chuckled. I hope that you can forgive me and continue... Continue Reading →
To all immigrants, newcomers, refugees, or anyone who has discovered what it is to love more than one place, this one's for you. This year's holiday observations feel a bit deeper. I just took it all in because I became amazingly aware of what a gift it was to even be on a holiday after... Continue Reading →
Dear Motherland: Thank you for your sizzling sun and unapologetic winds. Thank you for your complicated curvy streets and narrow passages. Thank you for your complex and diverse fragrances of honeysuckle, jasmine, roses, spice, food, compost and exhaust. Thank you for your diverse history with layers (literally) upon layers of architecture, revealing histories, peoples, conflicts,... Continue Reading →
It's summertime! As a teacher, my life runs on cycles. Fall---start of school. Winter break. Semester change. Spring break. SUMMER! I look forward to each stage as they all move me forward. And well, truth be told, I don't know anything different as I've been in the cycle of education since I was five, which... Continue Reading →
The task I assign a basic exercise in my art class at the beginning of the semester, where I have the students make a list of 20 things they love. It's personal and useful. This assignment was initially created to resolve the frequent phrase I hear whenever I assign a new art project: "I don't... Continue Reading →
There is so much learning in class ---curricular and non-curricular. Both categories are equally important. I often like to know where my teaching lands in my students' learning. As part of their final evaluation in the English class, I asked them to tell me what they learned related to English lessons. Happily, they learned a... Continue Reading →
Summer Solstice was a couple of days ago---the longest day of the year. The day I chase the light, spiritually, metaphorically, and sometimes literally. I get out there somewhere and watch the sun drop past the horizon. Her long lazy slow journey. It's like she's saying 'Hey there, isn't it nice out? I think I'll... Continue Reading →
My life is the "Yes and..." improv game, just on a really life size scale. Here's how you play Yes and... An improv player makes eye contact with another team member and makes a statement such as: I found a box on the road. Player two says Yes and...we should open it. The conversation goes... Continue Reading →
This Angie Counios blog is a meandering of thoughts. Sometimes there is a destination and sometimes there isn't. Sometimes I talk about the food I ate yesterday and sometimes I talk about my author life---that life I'm trying to nurture and grow with all the love and effort of an attentive parent. And like a... Continue Reading →
Angie Counios 