Milena Thomas is 27 going on 80, has the mind of a savvy financier, the soul of a wandering gypsy, and a heart of melting ice. Her childhood obsession with never going broke meant turning 15 was the highlight of her life as she was legally employable and has since had at least 2 or 3 jobs, “just in case.”
Milena graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in Voice Performance and Comparative Literature. As luck would have it, her ability to sing opera in eight different languages, interpret the poetry of Borges, and acumen at fashioning unwieldy Excel spreadsheets landed her a job at a Fortune 500 company on a team of brokers providing financial advice to high net worth private clientele in 2004.
Though she recently left her steady corporate job, she’s not ditching the education and experience. She plans to blend her passions for teaching, performing, and having a secure retirement to carve out a new career.
She teaches out of her home studio and performs regularly throughout the Metro Detroit area with the duo she formed with her husband Michael, En Passant.
Her blog, Shouting to Quiet the Thunder, is about living as a newlywed 20-something surviving her father’s recent death and the Michigan recession economy all while attempting to keep a smile on her face.
Milena Thomas's blog is Shouting to Quiet the Thunder.
Quitting my full-time job obviously led to a drastic reduction in commitments, but what I didn’t anticipate was the craving to fill my calendar right back up with new ones. I’m like a project-junkie. Your problems…mine? I’ll try to fix them, just after I’m done with dinner.
Over the past few weeks, new or proposed policies from local and federal governments have been encroaching upon unsuspecting citizens that are so far beyond the bounds of rational thought I cannot contain myself. What follows is a brief compilation of the most asinine ideas locally and nationally that I’ve heard of lately
There is a catch phrase that has been floating around self-improvement circles for years: How Good Can You Stand It? Like other overused mantras pushed by self-actualization gurus, it makes my skin crawl when I hear it.
While I don’t fundamentally dislike humanity, my socializing half-life is short and the fewer people around me, the better. It might be considered odd that I love singing to crowds, but I rarely interact with anyone directly, and I’ll duck away from the audience at the end of a show like a bootleg DVD seller who spots a police officer heading her way.
At Starbucks, my father would hand me his cup, tell me to pour out almost half of the coffee, replace with cream and then hold the jar of sugar upside down for a slow count of 10. Think about it.
I’ve been asking this question a lot lately. No, it’s not because I’ve embarked on a string of one-night-stands.
The New Yorker has tried to pedantically explain the cover to the public, “We’re mocking the mockers.” Oh wait, forgive me, I didn’t realize the most liberal magazine in the country tried to make an ironic funny. Well, not funny. On so many levels. This requires a numbered list.
A President and his First Lady should be keenly aware of embracing American diversity by respecting individual rights. This is not achieved through policy-making that is limited in scope at best, narrowly focused on singular communities, black or otherwise.
I’m a singer and private voice teacher. I’m a part time grad student. I’m a stay at home wife. I’m a blogger. I love all these activities, but only one pays cold hard cash.
I feel like I’m stepping into a completeness I never imagined I would have. Not because it’s not possible, but because it’s reserved for people a bit more sane than I. More deserving.
