Tag: South Miami Senior High School
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All the Things She Taught Me
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, All the Things You Are, Creative Writing, Elizabeth Joan Owen, Elizabeth Joan Owen (Ms. Owen), Life in Central Florida, Life in Florida, Life in Miami (1972-2016), Melodies and Memories: Music, Songs, and Singers, Music, Music & Concert Specials, Personal Thoughts, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, South Miami High School in fiction, South Miami Senior High SchoolAll the Things She Taught Me Tuesday, July 7, 2026, Orlando, Florida On this exquisitely hot July afternoon in Central Florida, I find myself thinking about the lasting impact truly great teachers have on our lives—and how even the smallest things can bring their memories back. That feels especially true as we grow older, and…
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On Writing and Storytelling: Why Jim and Marty Had to Meet in the Chorus Room (And Not in Journalism)
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon UK, Creative Writing, Elizabeth Joan Owen (Ms. Owen), Kindle, Kindle Create (Publishing App), Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Life in Florida, Life in South Florida, Miami-Dade Community College, Personal Thoughts, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, South Miami Senior High School, Student JournalistThursday, July 2, 2026 – Orlando, Florida Why Jim and Marty Had to Meet in the Chorus Room (And Not in Journalism) Every so often, a writer hits one of those crossroads where two parts of his own past tug at him like siblings fighting over the front seat. For me, the tug‑of‑war was between…
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Songs Ms. Owen Taught Me (A Sunday Musicale)
Sunday, June 28, 2026, June 28, 2026 – Orlando, Florida In loving memory of Ms. Elizabeth Joan Owen (September 8, 1929 – December 28, 2025) If music be the food of love, play on; Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting, The appetite may sicken, and so die. That strain again! it had a dying…
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Summer Heat, a Mentor’s Passing, and a Memento Mori
Saturday, June 27, 2026 – Orlando, Florida It is brutally hot outside. According to my Microsoft Weather app, the temperature here in my corner of Orange County is already 91°F (33°C) under partly sunny skies. The humidity is 56%, the wind is barely stirring out of the east-southeast at 4 MPH (7 Km/H), and the…
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Remembrance: Elizabeth Joan Owen: September 8, 1929 – December 28, 2025
Friday, June 26, 2026 — Orlando, Florida “The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.” — William Arthur Ward Ms. Owen was my mentor. She was special — an amazing chorus director and someone I always wondered about long after graduation. I am saddened to hear of…
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A Fateful Morning in June of 1983: An Excerpt from ‘Reunion: Coda’
The morning of June 17, 1983, rose slowly over South Miami, pressing its familiar heat against the city long before the sun cleared the horizon. It was the kind of summer day that promised sweat, glare, and the restless energy of endings. Across the city, seniors from the Class of ’83 were waking up to…
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You Are Already Moving
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in ACX, Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon UK, Audible, Blogging, Books, College Life, Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, Life in Bogota, Life in Central Florida, Life in Florida, Life in Madison (NH), Life in Miami (1972-2016), Life in Miami….Again, Life in New Hampshire (December 2023 – October 2024), Life in South Florida, Life in the Tampa Bay area, Life in the United States, Love, Sex, & Relationships, Miami-Dade Community College, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, Personal History, Personal Thoughts, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, Sevilla (Seville), Spain, South Miami Senior High SchoolTuesday, June 16, 2026 — Orlando, Florida I don’t usually build blog posts around WordPress’ Daily Writing Prompt, but today the universe nudged me. Sometimes it leaves a note on the kitchen counter, and this one had my handwriting on it. Today’s Prompt:What is something you wish you could tell your 20‑year‑old self? Mid‑June in…
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On Writing and Storytelling: The Girl Who Wasn’t Real (But Felt Like She Was)
Writing stories that draw, even partially, from an author’s lived experience can be a bit of a double-edged sword: wonderfully useful on one side, faintly perilous on the other. Memory is generous that way. It offers texture, specificity, and the small, telling details writers spend ages trying to invent—but it also comes with baggage, assumptions,…
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On Writing and Storytelling: Clouds, Corrections, and Canon
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Monday, March 30, 2026, Orlando, Florida It’s one of those soggy, gray Central Florida Mondays that feels like the sky hit the snooze button and never quite recovered. The temperature is sitting at 80°F (27°C) under a quilt of mostly cloudy skies. With humidity at 58% and an easterly breeze at 11 MPH (18 km/h),…
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On Writing and Storytelling: The Elementary School That REALLY Wasn’t
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in Amazon, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon UK, Books, Creative Writing, Garratyverse, Kindle, Kindle Create (Publishing App), Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Life in Florida, Life in South Florida, Reunion Duology, Reunion: Coda, South Miami High School in fiction, South Miami Senior High School, Writing a First Novel, Writing and EditingThe Elementary School That REALLY Wasn’t (A Funnier Follow‑Up) So, remember how I said I fixed the Kinloch Park reference in Reunion: Coda, and everything was good and tidy and ready for KDP? Yeah. About that. It turns out Jim and Mark’s elementary school wasn’t just mentioned once in the Prologue. Or twice. Or even…
A Certain Point of View, Too 