Todd Burleson
@tburleson.bsky.social
Educator, librarian, and author with 33 years of experience, 2016 SLJ Librarian of the Year, and global speaker. Passionate about reading, tech in education, ethical AI, and finding joy in creativity through photography, design, and storytelling.
Two young men. A black bear. Nothing on but our boots.
Absurdity and terror under the Sierra Nevada stars—an unforgettable night when survival and laughter blurred together.
#WildernessTales #BearEncounter #Memoir #Adventure
Absurdity and terror under the Sierra Nevada stars—an unforgettable night when survival and laughter blurred together.
#WildernessTales #BearEncounter #Memoir #Adventure
September 16, 2025 at 10:49 AM
Two young men. A black bear. Nothing on but our boots.
Absurdity and terror under the Sierra Nevada stars—an unforgettable night when survival and laughter blurred together.
#WildernessTales #BearEncounter #Memoir #Adventure
Absurdity and terror under the Sierra Nevada stars—an unforgettable night when survival and laughter blurred together.
#WildernessTales #BearEncounter #Memoir #Adventure
The half-dome, the mosaics, the light — Union Terminal is more than architecture. It’s memory, story, and timeless design all in one.
A morning alone in Cincinnati’s Art Deco icon.
#Cincinnati #Architecture #ArtDeco #Travel #Photography
A morning alone in Cincinnati’s Art Deco icon.
#Cincinnati #Architecture #ArtDeco #Travel #Photography
September 15, 2025 at 10:56 AM
The half-dome, the mosaics, the light — Union Terminal is more than architecture. It’s memory, story, and timeless design all in one.
A morning alone in Cincinnati’s Art Deco icon.
#Cincinnati #Architecture #ArtDeco #Travel #Photography
A morning alone in Cincinnati’s Art Deco icon.
#Cincinnati #Architecture #ArtDeco #Travel #Photography
What happens when you hand over a story you’ve carried for thirteen years?
I’m learning that waiting for feedback is not idle—it’s the work of trust.
Read the full post: Before the Feedback Arrives
#WritingCommunity #AmWriting #BetaReaders #IndieAuthor
I’m learning that waiting for feedback is not idle—it’s the work of trust.
Read the full post: Before the Feedback Arrives
#WritingCommunity #AmWriting #BetaReaders #IndieAuthor
September 14, 2025 at 12:03 PM
What happens when you hand over a story you’ve carried for thirteen years?
I’m learning that waiting for feedback is not idle—it’s the work of trust.
Read the full post: Before the Feedback Arrives
#WritingCommunity #AmWriting #BetaReaders #IndieAuthor
I’m learning that waiting for feedback is not idle—it’s the work of trust.
Read the full post: Before the Feedback Arrives
#WritingCommunity #AmWriting #BetaReaders #IndieAuthor
A child with butterfly wings, pencil in hand, lost in creation. I sat with coffee and gratitude, realizing I was watching something much bigger than a Saturday morning.
#ChildhoodInnocence #ArtOfNoticing #Gratitude #Photography #Family
#ChildhoodInnocence #ArtOfNoticing #Gratitude #Photography #Family
September 13, 2025 at 12:41 PM
A child with butterfly wings, pencil in hand, lost in creation. I sat with coffee and gratitude, realizing I was watching something much bigger than a Saturday morning.
#ChildhoodInnocence #ArtOfNoticing #Gratitude #Photography #Family
#ChildhoodInnocence #ArtOfNoticing #Gratitude #Photography #Family
Painting with Light: The Furnace Within
open.substack.com/pub/whereima...
open.substack.com/pub/whereima...
September 12, 2025 at 10:32 AM
Painting with Light: The Furnace Within
open.substack.com/pub/whereima...
open.substack.com/pub/whereima...
Locked in a dead train car. No air, no way out. I screamed at the platforms flying past, pounded with my shoe, and thought: this might be how I die.
Full story: Trapped: Next Stop Humiliation
#Trapped #MemoirMoments #NearMiss #SurvivalStory #HumiliationStation
Full story: Trapped: Next Stop Humiliation
#Trapped #MemoirMoments #NearMiss #SurvivalStory #HumiliationStation
September 11, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Locked in a dead train car. No air, no way out. I screamed at the platforms flying past, pounded with my shoe, and thought: this might be how I die.
Full story: Trapped: Next Stop Humiliation
#Trapped #MemoirMoments #NearMiss #SurvivalStory #HumiliationStation
Full story: Trapped: Next Stop Humiliation
#Trapped #MemoirMoments #NearMiss #SurvivalStory #HumiliationStation
Independent publishing has felt like balancing two lives at once—writing the story and building the bridge for it to reach readers.
Here’s what I’ve learned so far.
#IndiePublishing #WritersLife #AmWriting #BookJourney
Here’s what I’ve learned so far.
#IndiePublishing #WritersLife #AmWriting #BookJourney
September 11, 2025 at 1:08 AM
Independent publishing has felt like balancing two lives at once—writing the story and building the bridge for it to reach readers.
Here’s what I’ve learned so far.
#IndiePublishing #WritersLife #AmWriting #BookJourney
Here’s what I’ve learned so far.
#IndiePublishing #WritersLife #AmWriting #BookJourney
What happens when stone meets sky in perfect balance? My new series, Lines and Light, begins with the Al Noor Mosque in Sharjah, where morning light turned architecture into grace.
#LinesAndLight #Architecture #TravelPhotography #Sharjah #UAE
#LinesAndLight #Architecture #TravelPhotography #Sharjah #UAE
September 9, 2025 at 11:49 AM
What happens when stone meets sky in perfect balance? My new series, Lines and Light, begins with the Al Noor Mosque in Sharjah, where morning light turned architecture into grace.
#LinesAndLight #Architecture #TravelPhotography #Sharjah #UAE
#LinesAndLight #Architecture #TravelPhotography #Sharjah #UAE
The series began in wonder. It ends the same way — but deeper now, shaped by gratitude and perspective.
This is the final chapter of Streets, Squares, and Stories.
#TravelReflection #EasternEurope #Perspective #Storytelling
This is the final chapter of Streets, Squares, and Stories.
#TravelReflection #EasternEurope #Perspective #Storytelling
September 8, 2025 at 2:15 PM
The series began in wonder. It ends the same way — but deeper now, shaped by gratitude and perspective.
This is the final chapter of Streets, Squares, and Stories.
#TravelReflection #EasternEurope #Perspective #Storytelling
This is the final chapter of Streets, Squares, and Stories.
#TravelReflection #EasternEurope #Perspective #Storytelling
Friday Flora: A Summer of Daisies
open.substack.com/pub/whereima...
open.substack.com/pub/whereima...
September 5, 2025 at 11:17 PM
Friday Flora: A Summer of Daisies
open.substack.com/pub/whereima...
open.substack.com/pub/whereima...
A wooden door that felt more like a poem.
A flag carried not in anger, but in honor.
A city suspended between past and present.
Bucharest left me with fragments worth carrying.
#Bucharest #TravelReflections #DefianceAndHope #LastLight
A flag carried not in anger, but in honor.
A city suspended between past and present.
Bucharest left me with fragments worth carrying.
#Bucharest #TravelReflections #DefianceAndHope #LastLight
September 4, 2025 at 12:22 PM
A wooden door that felt more like a poem.
A flag carried not in anger, but in honor.
A city suspended between past and present.
Bucharest left me with fragments worth carrying.
#Bucharest #TravelReflections #DefianceAndHope #LastLight
A flag carried not in anger, but in honor.
A city suspended between past and present.
Bucharest left me with fragments worth carrying.
#Bucharest #TravelReflections #DefianceAndHope #LastLight
In Bulgaria, I found streets where a single step carried me through centuries. A weathered Moskvitch in Arbanasi. Fortress walls and graffiti in Veliko Tarnovo. History not behind glass, but alive in stone and detail.
#Arbanasi #VelikoTarnovo #LivingHistory #BulgariaTravel
#Arbanasi #VelikoTarnovo #LivingHistory #BulgariaTravel
September 3, 2025 at 12:16 PM
In Bulgaria, I found streets where a single step carried me through centuries. A weathered Moskvitch in Arbanasi. Fortress walls and graffiti in Veliko Tarnovo. History not behind glass, but alive in stone and detail.
#Arbanasi #VelikoTarnovo #LivingHistory #BulgariaTravel
#Arbanasi #VelikoTarnovo #LivingHistory #BulgariaTravel
At Belogradchik, the rocks resembled art pieces dropped into the hills. Step inside, and you find a fortress that holds centuries of stories.
#Belogradchik #DanubeJourney #HiddenGems #TravelWriting
#Belogradchik #DanubeJourney #HiddenGems #TravelWriting
September 1, 2025 at 9:09 PM
At Belogradchik, the rocks resembled art pieces dropped into the hills. Step inside, and you find a fortress that holds centuries of stories.
#Belogradchik #DanubeJourney #HiddenGems #TravelWriting
#Belogradchik #DanubeJourney #HiddenGems #TravelWriting
The rain didn’t hide the fortress—it revealed it. Golubac, stone against the Danube, breathing with centuries of storms.
Come see what I found on the edge of the gorge.
#GolubacFortress #Danube #TravelWriting #EasternEurope
Come see what I found on the edge of the gorge.
#GolubacFortress #Danube #TravelWriting #EasternEurope
August 31, 2025 at 5:22 PM
The rain didn’t hide the fortress—it revealed it. Golubac, stone against the Danube, breathing with centuries of storms.
Come see what I found on the edge of the gorge.
#GolubacFortress #Danube #TravelWriting #EasternEurope
Come see what I found on the edge of the gorge.
#GolubacFortress #Danube #TravelWriting #EasternEurope
I almost drove past, again. But I stopped—just once—and stepped into the light of a thousand purple blooms. Maybe nothing changed. Maybe everything. 🌸
#mindfulness #photography #nature #pause
#mindfulness #photography #nature #pause
August 30, 2025 at 11:18 AM
I almost drove past, again. But I stopped—just once—and stepped into the light of a thousand purple blooms. Maybe nothing changed. Maybe everything. 🌸
#mindfulness #photography #nature #pause
#mindfulness #photography #nature #pause
Morning mist. Prairie echoes. Pale purple coneflowers rising with stories of healing, history, and return. What flower takes you back to memory or place? 🌿✨
Read more:
#FridayFlora #Prairie #Coneflower #Mindfulness
Read more:
#FridayFlora #Prairie #Coneflower #Mindfulness
August 29, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Morning mist. Prairie echoes. Pale purple coneflowers rising with stories of healing, history, and return. What flower takes you back to memory or place? 🌿✨
Read more:
#FridayFlora #Prairie #Coneflower #Mindfulness
Read more:
#FridayFlora #Prairie #Coneflower #Mindfulness
Fortress walls scarred by bullets. Domes lifted like crowns. Bronze doors etched with prayers in every language.
Belgrade speaks in stone and light—will you listen?
Streets, Squares, and Stories: Belgrade, Serbia
#Belgrade #Serbia #TravelWriting #HistoryInStone
Belgrade speaks in stone and light—will you listen?
Streets, Squares, and Stories: Belgrade, Serbia
#Belgrade #Serbia #TravelWriting #HistoryInStone
August 28, 2025 at 9:29 AM
Fortress walls scarred by bullets. Domes lifted like crowns. Bronze doors etched with prayers in every language.
Belgrade speaks in stone and light—will you listen?
Streets, Squares, and Stories: Belgrade, Serbia
#Belgrade #Serbia #TravelWriting #HistoryInStone
Belgrade speaks in stone and light—will you listen?
Streets, Squares, and Stories: Belgrade, Serbia
#Belgrade #Serbia #TravelWriting #HistoryInStone
Sometimes a building is more than steel and glass—it feels like flight itself.
“The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.”
— Pablo Picasso
#MilwaukeeArtMuseum, #SantiagoCalatrava, #ArchitectureLovers, #ModernArchitecture, #BuildingBeauty, #ArtInspiration, #DesignMatters
“The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.”
— Pablo Picasso
#MilwaukeeArtMuseum, #SantiagoCalatrava, #ArchitectureLovers, #ModernArchitecture, #BuildingBeauty, #ArtInspiration, #DesignMatters
August 20, 2025 at 10:52 AM
Sometimes a building is more than steel and glass—it feels like flight itself.
“The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.”
— Pablo Picasso
#MilwaukeeArtMuseum, #SantiagoCalatrava, #ArchitectureLovers, #ModernArchitecture, #BuildingBeauty, #ArtInspiration, #DesignMatters
“The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.”
— Pablo Picasso
#MilwaukeeArtMuseum, #SantiagoCalatrava, #ArchitectureLovers, #ModernArchitecture, #BuildingBeauty, #ArtInspiration, #DesignMatters
“Love is the flower you've got to let grow.”
– John Lennon
#petalsandpossibility #colorinsilence #momentsofstillness
– John Lennon
#petalsandpossibility #colorinsilence #momentsofstillness
July 11, 2025 at 10:12 PM
“Love is the flower you've got to let grow.”
– John Lennon
#petalsandpossibility #colorinsilence #momentsofstillness
– John Lennon
#petalsandpossibility #colorinsilence #momentsofstillness
This is the one that made people stop and ask questions.
The one that glowed golden at sunrise.
The one that carried us toward quiet trails, lakeside lunches, and starlit sleep.
We’re ready to pass her along.
The one that glowed golden at sunrise.
The one that carried us toward quiet trails, lakeside lunches, and starlit sleep.
We’re ready to pass her along.
July 11, 2025 at 6:17 PM
This is the one that made people stop and ask questions.
The one that glowed golden at sunrise.
The one that carried us toward quiet trails, lakeside lunches, and starlit sleep.
We’re ready to pass her along.
The one that glowed golden at sunrise.
The one that carried us toward quiet trails, lakeside lunches, and starlit sleep.
We’re ready to pass her along.
“The earth laughs in flowers.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
Every year they return, like a joyful secret whispered back into the world. This one—partway open, fully radiant—reminds me how beauty doesn’t wait for perfection. Just a bit of sun and a place to grow, and here it is, laughing in our yard again.
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
Every year they return, like a joyful secret whispered back into the world. This one—partway open, fully radiant—reminds me how beauty doesn’t wait for perfection. Just a bit of sun and a place to grow, and here it is, laughing in our yard again.
July 2, 2025 at 11:13 PM
“The earth laughs in flowers.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
Every year they return, like a joyful secret whispered back into the world. This one—partway open, fully radiant—reminds me how beauty doesn’t wait for perfection. Just a bit of sun and a place to grow, and here it is, laughing in our yard again.
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
Every year they return, like a joyful secret whispered back into the world. This one—partway open, fully radiant—reminds me how beauty doesn’t wait for perfection. Just a bit of sun and a place to grow, and here it is, laughing in our yard again.
“Architecture is the learned game, correct and magnificent, of forms assembled in the light.”
– Le Corbusier
#intentionalcameramovement #citypoetry #chicagolight #abstractarchitecture #lookingclosely
– Le Corbusier
#intentionalcameramovement #citypoetry #chicagolight #abstractarchitecture #lookingclosely
July 2, 2025 at 8:52 PM
“Architecture is the learned game, correct and magnificent, of forms assembled in the light.”
– Le Corbusier
#intentionalcameramovement #citypoetry #chicagolight #abstractarchitecture #lookingclosely
– Le Corbusier
#intentionalcameramovement #citypoetry #chicagolight #abstractarchitecture #lookingclosely
“Some see a weed. Some see a wish.”
– Unknown
#wishfulthinking #quietmoments #foundbeauty #dandelionmagic #pauseandbreathe
– Unknown
#wishfulthinking #quietmoments #foundbeauty #dandelionmagic #pauseandbreathe
July 2, 2025 at 8:49 PM
“Some see a weed. Some see a wish.”
– Unknown
#wishfulthinking #quietmoments #foundbeauty #dandelionmagic #pauseandbreathe
– Unknown
#wishfulthinking #quietmoments #foundbeauty #dandelionmagic #pauseandbreathe
Pride is a celebration. It’s also a reminder.
To stand with the LGBTQ+ community.
To listen. To speak up. To keep learning.
This crosswalk reminds me that allyship is about showing up — in public, in practice, and with heart.
🏳️🌈 #PrideMonth #Ally #LGBTQSupport #LoveWins
To stand with the LGBTQ+ community.
To listen. To speak up. To keep learning.
This crosswalk reminds me that allyship is about showing up — in public, in practice, and with heart.
🏳️🌈 #PrideMonth #Ally #LGBTQSupport #LoveWins
June 3, 2025 at 11:22 AM
Pride is a celebration. It’s also a reminder.
To stand with the LGBTQ+ community.
To listen. To speak up. To keep learning.
This crosswalk reminds me that allyship is about showing up — in public, in practice, and with heart.
🏳️🌈 #PrideMonth #Ally #LGBTQSupport #LoveWins
To stand with the LGBTQ+ community.
To listen. To speak up. To keep learning.
This crosswalk reminds me that allyship is about showing up — in public, in practice, and with heart.
🏳️🌈 #PrideMonth #Ally #LGBTQSupport #LoveWins
🌈 Pride is a path.
Each step matters. Every voice counts.
📍Photographed in Seyðisfjörður, Iceland.
"It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences."
— Audre Lorde
#PrideMonth #EqualityIsForEveryone #Ally #AudreLorde #Iceland
Each step matters. Every voice counts.
📍Photographed in Seyðisfjörður, Iceland.
"It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences."
— Audre Lorde
#PrideMonth #EqualityIsForEveryone #Ally #AudreLorde #Iceland
June 1, 2025 at 1:31 PM
🌈 Pride is a path.
Each step matters. Every voice counts.
📍Photographed in Seyðisfjörður, Iceland.
"It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences."
— Audre Lorde
#PrideMonth #EqualityIsForEveryone #Ally #AudreLorde #Iceland
Each step matters. Every voice counts.
📍Photographed in Seyðisfjörður, Iceland.
"It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences."
— Audre Lorde
#PrideMonth #EqualityIsForEveryone #Ally #AudreLorde #Iceland