Twenty Years Ago Today: An Introduction

Everyone told me when you have children, remember to video record everything – and I did. I have videos of birthday parties, soccer games, trips, class visits, Halloween, and so much more. I compiled these videos into DVDs and made a second set for my parents.

No one ever watches them.

So recently, I watched them. It is both a memory jog and a reminder of who we were, what was going on, and the struggles and celebrations of the late 90s and early 2000s.

Sometime around 2002, I realized that taking still photos would be better than videos. I still took some videos, but I really focused on pictures. That is the advice I would give a new parent. Sure, have a video camera for the game or concert, but take photos. People actually look at those. 

Similarly, I have been keeping a kind of journal or diary for many years in many forms. About the same time I moved to photos, I made a commitment to myself to write every single day. My purpose was to reflect on my day, record my thoughts while they were still in my head, and to think about how one day informed and shaped the days to come. I have written some kind of journal entry every day since. 

I go back to my journals for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it is mere nostalgia, but more often it is to remind myself about a specific person, event, or place. I review my journals about trips when we are returning to those places. I will use my journal as a tickler when I am seeing someone I have not seen in a long time to remind myself about our last meeting. Often, I consult my journal so I can build on my past experience and not simply fall into the same potholes all over again. My journals are a piece of my ever-expanding external memory. 

However, there are huge swaths of my journal that have sat on the computer ignored like those home videos. I decided it is time to look them over, too. So each month, I am going to read my journal from twenty years ago –and sometimes, I will write a ‘then and now piece here. 

Strangely, I can’t find any journals from 2002. I changed computers and I have a large number of files I can’t open. Perhaps some are from 2002. There was a good reason I didn’t write regularly: I was juggling teaching, parenting, and involvement in several community organizations. And I was very young and very busy

I did go back and look at my journals from 1998 to the beginning of 2001. It was embarrassing and powerful, familiar and far away. It was a bit sad and less nostalgic than I thought it would be.  

My first entries are in October of 1998. One of my former students and neighbor had suddenly passed away at college. It was a terrible tragedy and it affected me strongly. 

But the joys of parenting were just as present, my son “continues on his journey to personhood. He is such a personality. He loves strings, wires and anything resembling them. He is fascinated by the VCR. He is so playful and fun. He loves to be sung to. Parenthood is the best thing I have ever done.” 

I complained about the motivational speakers who came to my school, worried about students who were not succeeding, and reflected constantly on my teaching. My tone is so authoritative and confident. I laughed while I read. 

I reflected on a visit to the Museum of Science and Industry with my daughter, she “loved the new Pioneer Zepher train and the animatronic talking statues and mule! She was non-pulsed by the U505 Submarine and the Fairy Castle (which really surprised me). She loved the Omnimax theater presentation of ‘The Mysteries of Egypt’  -especially the fast flight over the Nile. Three times she looked at me and said ‘I really love this, Daddy.’” 

I was very focused on getting my grading completed. I planned when and how many essays and quizzes and projects and debates I could grade. Ungraded work weighed heavily on me. Although, I was a part-time teacher (and a full-time father), but I still had hours of homework! 

There were college recommendations, baby sitters, doctor visits, meals, in-services, clubs, performances, vet visits, and family trips to Florida and California. Traveling with young children is not a vacation. It is a trip – at best. 

So now, as January looms, I will open up journal entries from January 2003. I remember some things about that time. I am sure there will be more I have forgotten. I am not sure what I will find – and if what I find is not worth remembering, you won’t hear from me. 

Twenty years is a long time. We were different people then. Those people share a lot with us today– but we are no longer them. I am hoping that by looking at those old journals, I can learn about where I have been and better understand where I am so I can make choices about where I am going. We’ll see! Read on! 

Reading For Treasure: An Introduction

I read a lot. I read novels, articles, short stories and much more. Now that I am retired, I am reading even more.

For many years, I have been almost addicted to my RSS feed and my digital reading storage app, Instapaper. My RSS feed is a collection of website articles delivered via a system called Real Simple Subscription through an app that collects these feeds into a kind of personalized newspaper. I use the app Feedly. I don’t read every article on every website that I follow. Some articles I read right away. Some, I save for later using an app called Instapaper that stores them.

Often, I see an article I want to share with someone. Perhaps it would be helpful to one of my children, my parents, or someone with whom I used to teach. I had a folder of articles I would share with my students. Occasionally, I post an article on Facebook because I think it merits the attention of my friends.

Now that I am retired, I keep noting articles to share with my former colleagues. However, I can’t keep emailing them. I don’t want to be a nuisance. I used to get annoyed when friends would “spam” me by sending various internet clippings via email. I don’t want to be that guy.

Yet, like this blog, I want to share these wonderful written treasures. They may not be treasures for everyone, yet, they may be helpful, amusing, or stimulating to a reader somewhere. They may be valuable to someone out there.

So, my blog readers, I am going to return to my English teacher habits and articles you might care to read. Once in a while (perhaps once a month, but that is a goal to which I will not yet commit), I will create a curated list of articles with brief descriptions. This can be a miniature version of an RSS feed.

Looking for a quick read? Look here! No time to find a good piece to read? See what I am recommending. Free moment in the waiting room? Need a good conversation starter? Need a good piece for your students?

Read on!

Talking to Each Other, Talking To Myself

Hello! How do you do? Welcome to my blog, I am delighted you have found it. I am amazed that you have found it. Wait! Don’t leave. Stick around and see if something interests you. I am hopeful that this blog will be an opportunity for us to converse about the challenges of raising kids, being good neighbors and navigating a world where the issues are never as clear as they appear on the evening news.

Who am I that you should read what I have to say? I am the parent of a teen and a preteen who are teaching me new lessons daily. I am a high school English teacher. I have been teaching since the early ‘80s and, for the past ten years, I have balanced these two important responsibilities by being a full time dad and a part time teacher. I am also a Sunday School teacher, an officer in my local neighborhood association and an active leader in my congregation.

I am writing this blog to explore the issues that only sometimes make headlines. I want to discuss how we navigate in new and uncharted waters. As I move through my community, I find that, because I am both in the school and in the parent pick-up line, I have a different perspective on many of these issues. Whether discussing over programmed children, substance issues, civility, parenting styles, religion or taxes, I see things from many points of view. It is my goal to explore those views and issues here.

I write to explore my own thoughts. I write to help me understand a complex world. I write to exchange ideas with people interested in dialogue. So I invite you to make this blog yours as well. In many ways, it is like my classroom; we will learn together.

Since this blog is not my primary focus, I will do my best to add an entry or two each month. I will write more, if I my schedule allows. Feel free to post comments, questions, suggestions and additions to each of my postings.

I am a participant on Facebook and Twitter and you may certainly contact me through those networks. Please feel free to get in touch with me.

Finally, be patient with me. Writing a blog is new to me. For those of you who have done this before, I thank you in advance for sharing your wisdom. I do not anticipate that there will be many people actively reading this blog and I am well aware that I am talking to myself most of the time. So, dear reader, I am especially grateful that you are generously giving me some of your time and attention. I promise to work hard to deserve it.