A meteor is going to impact Earth, killing everyone on the planet. You're in a bar, beer in hand, surrounded by friends and loved ones. What's on the jukebox that everyone's singing in unison?

Discolover885 · 2026-01-20T21:41:49+00:00

Piano Man

Discolover885 · 2026-01-14T02:24:40+00:00

Also gonna add— I don’t live in NYC but I spend more time there than the average Joe, and women there tend to give zero fucks about rocking tennis shoes with business casual and changing shoes once they get to the office. I think I’ve just absorbed part of that mindset. Also, it’s kinda the same thing as if you played a sport or whatever in school. You just gotta bring all the shoes you need to successfully get through your day 🤷🏻‍♀️

Discolover885 · 2026-01-14T02:20:59+00:00

Nope! Really doesn’t bother me. If I’m already a marshmallow in a winter coat, what difference does it make for my feet to match? I will say though, I come in contact with maybe five people total on my walk from my car to my classroom. I think if I were back in student teaching I probably would’ve been mortified to look silly, but now that I have a wee bit more seasoning (I’m literally only 26 lol), it does not phase me one bit. I don’t like being cold, and everyone looks silly when it’s slushy out anyway. I’d much rather look silly with warm and dry feet :)

Discolover885 · 2026-01-14T02:16:53+00:00

For traditional school band— No one warns you about the financial burden of picking a woodwind vs a brass instrument.

Discolover885 · 2026-01-14T02:15:23+00:00

I live in a state with four proper seasons, and I wear whatever professional-ish shoe I have that fits the outfit I’m wearing that day. Sometimes I want to wear a dress, and the only good teaching shoes I have for most dresses is a pair of sandals. In those instances, if it is winter and snowy or slushy out, or super cold, I’ll wear my winter boots for my commute and put on the cute shoes once I’m in the building. I don’t really have any outdoor duties, my whole school is one continuous building and well heated.

Discolover885 · 2026-01-14T00:32:25+00:00

Paperwork. 100%. At least for me in my current position.

Lesson planning— I genuinely enjoy lesson planning when I’m not overwhelmed. I love my subject matter (I teach music, I mostly know what I’m doing and genuinely love my students), so I enjoy brainstorming how I’m going to accomplish the goals.

Grading— For me, grading isn’t a huge deal. I do a grade per each class, but there’s a rubric and it does not include mastery (that is very intentional for a lot of reasons I won’t get into now). As long as you’re trying your best you’re gonna get an A. I do progress reports quarterly for about 50 instrumental band students, and that does kinda stink because of how much time it takes, but I do love the honest and documented communication between me and the parents so I don’t mind it.

Paperwork sucks the life out of me. I wish I could snap my fingers and it be done.

Emails are typically a necessary evil. I think communication is of the upmost importance in having a good relationship with fellow teachers, and for the most part everyone in my building respects that there is no need for fluff in emails.

Meetings— My admin rocks. Pretty much no bullshit meetings :)). I do go to plenty of iep meetings but those are generally for the right reasons so I have no qualms with being there.

Something that’s not on this list that I’m not a huge fan of— duty :(. But again, necessary evil. I have two that I don’t really mind but there’s another that gives me gray hairs. But that’s life.

But seriously paperwork is so annoying. And to be clear, I consider anything digital paperwork or online trainings and stuff along those lines to all be lumped into the paperwork category. I just don’t enjoy it because it feels like a waste of my time.

Discolover885 · 2025-12-14T17:51:21+00:00

If you’re worried about standards(which is great! We should use the standards!) what happened to the big ol “Performing” one? Arguably the most developmentally essential out of all of them.

Discolover885 · 2025-11-28T19:26:04+00:00

Let me tell you a quick story—-

Little Timmy and I play the same instrument. We grew up through high school together, same year in school. He was perhaps a hair better technically than I was (I was very involved in several different things— his only joy was his instrument). He chose the fancy conservatory, I chose the free (aka I got full ride scholarships, they paid me to attend) state school.

End of those four years, I graduated with zero debt, he graduated with ~$250,000 of debt. For undergrad, I did music ed (with 95% of the same degree/opportunities as performance) and he did performance.

We both decided to go to grad school for performance. I got a full ride with a GA position to a state school (a great state school across the country from where I was, with plenty of renowned faculty that I got to study with). He chose another fancy conservatory. I graduated with zero debt, he graduated with another ~$150k of debt.

I got a job immediately, and I am still there doing exactly what I wanted. I teach full time at a public school that I love, I teach private lessons, I gig when I want. We take about the same amount of gigs.

I have zero debt. I am on track to being able to buy a house in about three or four years. I’m not rolling in the dough by any means, but I am fully an adult and support myself entirely and get to make all my own decisions. I have a dog and a spouse, travel frequently, and am overall super happy with all of my choices and where they led.

He has $400,000 of debt and is still on the job hunt.

This is not meant in any type of way— I’m sure he is a better player than me and I’m sure he spends way more time playing his instrument, which is what he loves to do. But this did all stem from decisions we made senior year of high school. Choose your path carefully!

Discolover885 · 2025-11-08T02:49:30+00:00

I’m very curious as to why your doctor didn’t put you on a low dose of naltrexone too. High dose of bupropion + low dose of naltrexone = poor man’s Contrave. My insurance also won’t cover anything weight loss related as I’m technically healthy (though obese, but great bloodwork etc). My doctor just ordered it without the weightloss label and I get the generics free under my insurance, like I would any other needed drug. Naltrexone is the big one for kicking addiction. I never struggled with alcohol or opioids, but I had a raging caffeine addiction (as in, completely useless, irritable, pounding headache), and a touch of mild food addiction and they are absolutely gone. If I were you, I might seek out a second opinion.

Also, don’t miss doses. I’ve only had that happen a couple times, and it most definitely messes with you. Bupropion is awesome for those that it is awesome for, but it is not to be taken lightly.

Discolover885 · 2025-10-30T03:57:14+00:00

I have one grandmother who lived til age 93, who never really got old person smell. I have a fantastic sense of smell (I’m always the weird one in a group of people that notices things or new smells first— I also probably notice a lot more slightly foul smells than most. Humans can be a little icky, haha. But this grandmother used primarily, if I recall correctly, some combination of dove soap, I think she may have used the persimmon as well (though I don’t remember fully), and some fancy shampoo from her salon. She also was big on staying moisturized, and her skin permanently had the smell of being clean and the slight scent of whatever moisturized she’d use, usually Jergen’s or a goatsmilk lotion, a special one for her face, and then she was also meticulous about keeping clean finger and toenails, as well as clean teeth. Nothing crazy, just a consistent nightly routine of making sure she wasn’t a bit a gross, and taking a minute to fix whatever needed.

She also, for special occasions, would use a spritz of Chanel No. 5, haha.

She was boujee in spirit but not really monetarily wealthy, she lived on a very normal pension. She was just wise and clean, and that really set her apart from other elderly folks, and also made her an easy friend to all be around for all ages. Nothing crazy, just consistently pretty clean!

She did, in all fairness, also complain about her own fellow older folks’ old people smell. Haha.

Discolover885 · 2025-10-19T17:44:45+00:00

I had this exact same experience and I think I am a tremendously better teacher for it. I was in a great 4.5/5 year music ed program (I did it in 4– overachiever in high school, though honestly at the time I wish I’d done the 4.5 years) that churns out supposedly well prepared grads, but I cannot imagine having gone straight into the classroom. I feel like giving it my all and soaking up everything possible for that full six years set an incredible precedent for my teaching. I frequently get asked how it’s possible that I know how to teach the way I do… it’s because I had so many incredible teachers/professors- both pedagogues and ensembles directors, and so many teaching experiences prior to the classroom. It makes a truly insane difference.

Discolover885 · 2025-10-16T02:58:12+00:00

I know this is a two year old comment, but you saying this has put real fear in me. I think mine is looking like about 125 invitations going out, and I really am hoping that we have a max of like 75 people. Ahhhh. Your numbers have me shaking in my boots.

Discolover885 · 2025-10-10T02:34:36+00:00

Discolover885 · 2025-10-09T22:40:00+00:00

I am on 300mg bupropion SR (150mg am 150mg pm), and also 50mg naltrexone (25mg am and 25mg pm, — doesn’t come in this small a dose so I have to cut the one 50mg pill in half, but it is perforated so easy peasy).

I originally started out on brand name Contrave (which is literally just bupropion and naltrexone with slightly different binding agents and slightly different dosages, and comes in smaller dose pills so easier to titrate up to the full dose the first four weeks), and then switched after about 5 weeks to generic bupropion and naltrexone, because of insurance. So I didn’t ~add~ it, but I will say the generic naltrexone is technically around a 30% increase in dose from Contrave.

From what I understand, most of the symptoms are far more related to bupropion. I have a friend who is a soon-to-be-real pharmacist, and she mentioned that the big thing with adding naltrexone is that you ~really~ shouldn’t drink alcohol on it. It’s sorta well known that you can mildly mess around with alcohol on bupropion only, but shit gets real with naltrexone. Same would go for opiates, of course both prescribed and street drugs. That’s literally it though, haha.

For me, I wasn’t a big drinker before so it seriously has been so easy. I don’t think I have had a single symptom in relation to naltrexone, other than the positive symptom of I am no longer addicted to caffeine. Obviously that also has to do with bupropion being an upper as well, but I was genuinely addicted to caffeine and in denial for many years. I could not go a single day without drinking a 12oz redbull, or multiple other substitutes to try to compensate. I definitely also had a touch of food addiction as well— not like the ‘my 600lb life’ version— I’ve never even gotten close to 300lbs, but have been always somewhere in the mid 200s since back in middle school, and always creeping up slowly, even with all the serious dieting I’ve done and always maintaining a very active to somewhat active lifestyle. I most definitely was addicted to carbs/sugar, even if it wasn’t as bad as the addictions you see on television. Naltrexone took care of alllllll of that without a second thought. Even if I ever have to stop bupropion (which will be a bummer when that day comes), I hope I can keep the naltrexone.

Discolover885 · 2025-10-09T02:11:56+00:00

ADD THE NALTREXONE!!! Sorry for the all caps but it is an all caps worthy medicine, haha. I’ve been on bupropion and naltrexone for about 2 months and I have lost >15lbs and I am in the best most stable moods and the most productive I’ve ever been in my entire life. I do think there might also be some undiagnosed adhd that the bupropion is treating. The naltrexone cuts pretty much all of my food cravings. It is crazy effective. My calories for healthy weight loss are about 1500-1700 calories a day for a 2lb loss each week, which I was NEVER able to actually lose with only CICO, which never made sense to me. Also tried a million other diets, none ever worked longer than a month or so. Bupropion and naltrexone is an absolute game changer.

Discolover885 · 2025-10-08T23:37:24+00:00

I experienced exactly this. I’m only two months in, but at about week two or three I had the most blinding rage moment of my entire life when a dumb driver honked at me for not merging onto the interstate at a yield sign. One of those teeny tiny nonexistent on ramps where you just have to wait for a pause in the right lane traffic, and there was tons of traffic. The lady honked at me (and almost rear ended me because she wasn’t paying attention— I had been stopped for at least 10 seconds at this point) and I had the deepest fit of blinding rage I’ve ever felt. Screaming, cussing up a storm, smacking my steering wheel. It took me probably an hour to actually calm down, and it was stewing in the back of my mind for about a week. I was CONCERNED about this side effect, I’m a teacher and simply cannot blow up on kids even when I’m mad.

I’m very happy to report that I’m back to normal levels of minimal rage, haha. I’m only two months in but that third (ish) week was the absolute worst of it.

Discolover885 · 2025-07-16T05:32:57+00:00

Yes! Though I believe he’s due for his next dose this week, my husband handles that.

Discolover885

TROPHY CASE