This is the first post on this blog. As such I suppose I should lay out my purpose in initiating this project in the first place. As much as anything, it is an experiment, a proof-of concept sort of thing. I am enrolled in a class on 21st Century technologies, and our professor has encouraged the class to see what new technologies await us out there. What better way to “kick the tires on the 21st Century” than to start a blog of my own?
Now, many blogs have a central purpose, a raison d’etre, as it were. This one is way more random than that. The only organizing principle at work here is that it’s all spilling out of my mind. Well, whose mind is this, anyway? Not to identify myself too completely (and take the risk of identity theft), I’ll just frame myself as a world-weary boomer, an educator, and a person with lots of hobbies.
There. I think I’m safe from that identity theft bugaboo now. I mean, who wants to be that guy?
But my life as a public high school teacher has offered me the opportunity to observe quite a bit of what we’ll cal “human behavior,” for lack of a better word. A public high school is one of the best places there is for observing our culture, popular and otherwise, and how it affects us whether we like to admit it or not. Experience in that environment put one in touch with how we Americans raise our children and how we put value on the various aspects of our lives, and that is a big part of who we are.
Beyond cultural commentary, as an educator, I might have something to say about education from time to time. I have a two-year-old child, so I might talk about him a little. (I’ll try not to go on and on about him, though; I know how tedious that can be.) I spend a good bit of time outside, too–fishing, gardening, running, that sort of thing–so topics like that might find their way into the mix.
As I have said, though, I also spend time observing my fellow man (and woman). I find myself constantly amazed at what we are capable of, both the bad and the good, but mostly the odd and incomprehensible. When I can’t figure out why folks do the wacky stuff they do, I might just ask for input from the the world of blog readers. They seem to be a pretty literate bunch; they might offer some worthwhile insights for us to consider.
Oh, yeah. The name of the blog. With a name like mine, you’d think I would have gotten a lot of teasing growing up. Not so much, really, even when I found myself on the same soccer team as a guy named Sellers. Hey, that team won two high school state championships. Maybe that had a way of deflecting criticism, I don’t know. Anyway, when I Googled the phrase, nothing came up except misspellings of the more familiar term. It’s fair game! I nailed it down first!
Hey, big deal. Get over yourself.