"New Moon" Soundtrack

I will probably see the movie but I will definitely buy the soundtrack.

Bon Iver & St. Vincent? Thom Yorke? Are you fucking kidding me? Yes please.

I'm alive.

I moved to America when I was eight years-old. Unlike my American counterparts, I didn't know how to swim. Even though the Philippines is made up of 7,100 islands, I had never seen the beach or a swimming pool.

It was May when I landed in Dallas, TX, so learning how to swim was top priority. Everyday, my family took me to the apartment pool where I learned to swim underwater and doggy paddle--basically enough to enroll me in lessons at the YMCA.

My teacher there taught us basic strokes--freestyle, back stroke, and side stroke. I was good at side stroke, decent at back (though I swam into other lanes), but terrible, just awful at freestyle. Tilting, breathing, kicking, and stroking--all while trying to breathe in water--was too much for me.

In order to pass the class, we all had to jump into the deep end and freestyle down the length of the pool. We had to do this alone, one at a time, in front of the class. I passed, but just barely and it took me forever. It is, by far, the hardest exam I've ever taken.




Being a first-year teacher makes me feel like that eight year-old kid who is trying to catch her breath before going under again.