Storytelling. Fact and fiction. One word at a time.
I found the following quote cut up and taped together in one of my bins of collage materials that I’ve been curating for over three decades. A completed sentence ends with a small black dot, but that’s how epiphanies begin. A coffee bean. A tiny, good thing from the earth. But the best ones have... Continue Reading →
One of the staple rules of my class is that students are expected to leave their phones on the table near the door. I introduce this rule at the beginning of the year. In the fall, a lot of kids groan about it, buck against it. But rules are rules, and with a little nagging... Continue Reading →
On my way to Edmonton for the Oilers–Bruins hockey game, my friend Ashlee sent me a message wishing me a safe trip. She included a screenshot of a conversation she’d had with a colleague on their work chat platform. Colleague: Good morning, Ashlee. Are you the Ashlee Ballan that Angie Counios acknowledged in her book... Continue Reading →
*Stories that did not make it into My List, My Rules: The Year a Checklist Changed My Life *Goal #67 may be inaccurate as far as numbers of my list go. If so I'll fix that later. Goal #67Make a Drawing While Blindfolded In all my years of teaching, I’ve had a lot of unique... Continue Reading →
I’m not a fan of shopping or buying much, but what I have bought into is Christmas. It took some time, but I did it. I love Christmas. I fell in love by the spoken law of a beautiful older Greek woman. You can read about it here. And over the years that I have... Continue Reading →
I burned past agendas and day planners in the fire pit in my backyard. On a social platform—don’t ask me which one because I don’t remember—I came across a woman who said something like, “There are things in your home you should get rid of, even if you don’t think your place is cluttered.” She... Continue Reading →
New Year, New Me?Nah. I like the current me quite a bit. I like the tenacity I’ve shown over the years of teaching and writing—lugging heavy boxes of books to book fairs, chatting with new readers and fans of our books. I like the openness I bring when welcoming new folks into our book world.... Continue Reading →
Fan mail that is... Paranoid about spam, I clicked on an email I didn’t recognize. The name was Ali. I do not know an Ali. Turns out it was not spam at all. It was a forward from my WordPress contact page. And it was fan mail! I got FAN MAIL. Here’s what she said:... Continue Reading →
My List My Rules is about the year I did 101 things and the funny and challenging lessons I learned from it. It's full of hope and the f-word.Angie Counios Dave is really good at knowing what needs to get done. When My List My Rules: the year a checklist changed my life was complete,... Continue Reading →
Living a silly little life and mastering the art of enjoying the small things, I’ve reconstructed my life over many years, and now I find fun in almost everything. I try to say yes to as many opportunities as I can. But once in a while, I do have regrets. If I recall the lessons,... Continue Reading →
Angie Counios 