.... I haven't blogged in over year. It's been a very transitional year for our family. A very rough year, but a very blessed year at the same time.
I've been out of work since May of last year. That's been really rough.
At the same time, we've watched our daughter grow into a beautiful, energetic, comical, independent, stubborn, and awesome little 19-month old. I look at her and I see so much in her future. I see someone that my wife and I can't imagine not having in out lives. She's the best part of us. She has made this past year a very blessed one for us.
I've been thinking lately about revisiting blogging. So here I am. Again. No more excuses this time.
As in the past, you're going to find a variety of post topics, views and observations on here, going forward. But I let my domain name slip, on purpose actually.
So I'm going to be changing the name of the blog sometime in the very near future. I just need to come up with something that adequately captures what I want to do, what I want to say, and who I am. Any suggestions would be appreciated. The layout is also going to change. I have some ideas but haven't decided on any. Again, suggestions would be appreciated.
As for now, my daughter has carried her folding chair into the kitchen, sat down beside me and is playing with one of her puzzles. Time to get back to playing identify this animal and where does it go.
See you at the next post.
Showing posts with label change. Show all posts
Showing posts with label change. Show all posts
12 November 2012
10 September 2011
Six Months (Almost)
Today was the first time my wife and I left our daughter with a babysitter. Granted, we actually babysat our babysitter, ourselves, when she was a baby - but she is more like family to us now. We even refer to her as one of our daughters when she is out with us somewhere.
Even still, its been almost six months since my wife and I have been anywhere together without our daughter Ashlyn. My wife handled it better than I thought she would. Admittedly, we were both a little nervous. But we were only going to be gone for a couple of hours. And we knew we could trust "our other daughter" Abby with her. They love each other and we knew she would take good care of her.
The six-month thing struck us though. It's hard to believe our little girl is nearly that old. She's changed so much. Now she's trying to skip crawling and go straight to walking; she has this fire in her that she wants to be able to do so much more than she can; she's eating baby food, teething, sitting up almost with no support, has more than doubled her birth-weight, and is, overall, just awesome. My wife and I have been blessed with a beautiful girl who we adore, loves 80s music and prunes, laughs at Elmo, and burps and passes gas like a champ. She is truly the light of our lives.
We've had some challenges in the past six months though that she has gotten us through.
My wife has some severe complications from her c-section and developed an infection which required several surgeries. She spent nearly two additional weeks in the hospital and then spent her maternity leave at home recovering for a month and a half unable to do most of the things she wanted to do with Ashlyn. Breastfeeding was out of the question because of all the meds. And she couldn't really pick Ashlyn up and play with her hardly at all for the first several weeks of her life. My wife had an incredibly hard time with that. I took almost all my vacation and sick time from work to stay at home and take care of my girls. A few days before I was going to go back to work, my boss called me in and told me they were eliminating and outsourcing my position to an agency that we had been using for some other services as well. Nice.
So I've been at home being Mr. Mom since the beginning of June - taking care of Ashlyn, job hunting, doing housework... I decided at the start I wasn't going to be bitter or angry about being out of a job because it would do me no good. Doesn't mean I can't be stressed though. Sometimes I feel kind of useless since I'm not working at a job - but then I get over it. My job right now is to find a job, take care of my daughter, and be the best husband and father I can.
Everyone says a baby will change your life. Truer words have never been spoken. I adore my nephews and nieces, love them, and would do anything for them - but being a dad takes those feelings to an extreme. I tell my daughter all the time "I love you from the moon to the stars and even further." She has brought so much joy into our lives.
She's such a character.
There are so many nuances of her personality that are hilarious to watch. Sure, there are things that are challenging about her personality - she's impatient, stubborn, and sneaky. But she's a very happy baby, who loves to laugh and smile, meet new people, show off all her new skills,and is very attentive at church. She amazes us more and more every day.
Being parents have changed us and taught us a lot. Our first thoughts in the morning are not about hitting the snooze button anymore, but of going into her room and greeting her for the day. On most days, she's already up and waiting for us to come get her. She greets us with this electric smile that literally makes her body shake in excitement.
She has taught me that despite whatever else is going on, family is number one. She's taught me to love more; not only toward her. She's taught me that some things I would have been bothered by in the past that other people do aren't really worth my time to be bothered by anymore. (Although being a parent brings a whole new set of things to the table that people do that bother me now, like disregarding the fact that there are children nearby by being loud, obnoxious, stupid, smoking in a public area, etc). She's taught me to treasure the blessings in my life even more.
She's taught me so much already , just in six months - and I can't wait to teach her new things every day to come, as well.
Even still, its been almost six months since my wife and I have been anywhere together without our daughter Ashlyn. My wife handled it better than I thought she would. Admittedly, we were both a little nervous. But we were only going to be gone for a couple of hours. And we knew we could trust "our other daughter" Abby with her. They love each other and we knew she would take good care of her.
The six-month thing struck us though. It's hard to believe our little girl is nearly that old. She's changed so much. Now she's trying to skip crawling and go straight to walking; she has this fire in her that she wants to be able to do so much more than she can; she's eating baby food, teething, sitting up almost with no support, has more than doubled her birth-weight, and is, overall, just awesome. My wife and I have been blessed with a beautiful girl who we adore, loves 80s music and prunes, laughs at Elmo, and burps and passes gas like a champ. She is truly the light of our lives.
We've had some challenges in the past six months though that she has gotten us through.
My wife has some severe complications from her c-section and developed an infection which required several surgeries. She spent nearly two additional weeks in the hospital and then spent her maternity leave at home recovering for a month and a half unable to do most of the things she wanted to do with Ashlyn. Breastfeeding was out of the question because of all the meds. And she couldn't really pick Ashlyn up and play with her hardly at all for the first several weeks of her life. My wife had an incredibly hard time with that. I took almost all my vacation and sick time from work to stay at home and take care of my girls. A few days before I was going to go back to work, my boss called me in and told me they were eliminating and outsourcing my position to an agency that we had been using for some other services as well. Nice.
So I've been at home being Mr. Mom since the beginning of June - taking care of Ashlyn, job hunting, doing housework... I decided at the start I wasn't going to be bitter or angry about being out of a job because it would do me no good. Doesn't mean I can't be stressed though. Sometimes I feel kind of useless since I'm not working at a job - but then I get over it. My job right now is to find a job, take care of my daughter, and be the best husband and father I can.
Everyone says a baby will change your life. Truer words have never been spoken. I adore my nephews and nieces, love them, and would do anything for them - but being a dad takes those feelings to an extreme. I tell my daughter all the time "I love you from the moon to the stars and even further." She has brought so much joy into our lives.
She's such a character.
There are so many nuances of her personality that are hilarious to watch. Sure, there are things that are challenging about her personality - she's impatient, stubborn, and sneaky. But she's a very happy baby, who loves to laugh and smile, meet new people, show off all her new skills,and is very attentive at church. She amazes us more and more every day.
Being parents have changed us and taught us a lot. Our first thoughts in the morning are not about hitting the snooze button anymore, but of going into her room and greeting her for the day. On most days, she's already up and waiting for us to come get her. She greets us with this electric smile that literally makes her body shake in excitement.
She has taught me that despite whatever else is going on, family is number one. She's taught me to love more; not only toward her. She's taught me that some things I would have been bothered by in the past that other people do aren't really worth my time to be bothered by anymore. (Although being a parent brings a whole new set of things to the table that people do that bother me now, like disregarding the fact that there are children nearby by being loud, obnoxious, stupid, smoking in a public area, etc). She's taught me to treasure the blessings in my life even more.
She's taught me so much already , just in six months - and I can't wait to teach her new things every day to come, as well.
29 December 2009
The 2000s
They say that this was the worst decade ever.
I didn’t live through the Great Depression, but I have a feeling that the 1930s could give the 2000s a serious run for its money as being the worst decade ever.
I just wonder who DIDN’T vote for the 1340s to be the worst decade ever --- despite the fact that it was in the middle of the Dark Ages, a time when belief in science was considered heresy, and it was a decade when nearly 200 million people died of the bubonic plague.
I would tend to think that the 2000s was not the worst decade ever.
It wasn’t exactly the greatest decade ever, I’ll give it that.
I think most people will find that as they grow up, they look back on one or two decades during the life as their own personal favorites. But I think a lot of that is just due to the natural changes in people’s lifestyles, life stages, and outlooks at any given point.
You go through a decade of your childhood – when you just enjoy being a kid. You go through a decade of transition. You go through a decade in the real world when you get what’s left of the recklessness of youth out of your system, establish your identity as an adult, begin a family and begin a career.
Then you go through a few decades of being a provider, father or mother, family leader, and also experience career growth or changes.
And as that goes on, you watch the next generation go through the same cycle.
A lot of people think the 1980s was a cess pool of greed, excess, and debauchery.
It may have had its problems. But I think most of my generation will defend the 1980s to the teeth as a great decade. Was it the greatest decade ever? In some regards maybe, in others probably not.
We experienced the birth of MTV, the video game industry, countless fads and trends – and lots of other cultural changes, new ideals, and role models – all of which helped to shape our outlook, serve as a backdrop for our youth, and mold us into who were are today. We did have one thing going for us though in that the U.S. had its second greatest president ever to lead it through the majority of the decade.
And I don’t think most of us Children of the 80s turned out too bad.
Not that I don’t think that the children of the 2000s will turn out bad as a whole, but something tells me they won’t be as quick to defend the decade of their youth as the Children of the 80s are.
That being said, again, I don’t think the 2000s were an entirely bad decade. It had its pros – and it had its cons.
I just hope as we all have all gone through this decade that the things we have all learned through our shared experiences will help make the 2010s a much better decade.
So here’s to a new decade. It can always be worse than the one before, but let’s hope not.
02 May 2009
Thoughts on 35
People always say that turning 30 is a big deal, but 30 didn't really phase me. Let's see... I turned 30 in 2004. W was running for reelection. I was too busy hoping he would be reelected than to even remember now what I did for my 30th birthday.
It was one of those days that was just another day.
My 20s are a blur. Despite the fact I can't remember what I did on my 25th birthday, it was a milestone because I got my auto insurance break. I do remember that on my 21st birthday, my buddy Blake and I went to Applebee's where they burned my steak.
16 and 18 are milestones for anyone, but I can't remember what I did on either birthday - other than became old enough to get my license and then old enough to vote.
What's happening to my memory?
I don't know in another 35 years if I will remember what I did today on my 35th birthday. If Blogspot is still around and this blog is, then I guess I can go back through the archives. That's an interesting picture -- me blogging at age 70. That's if my senility holds.
If I remember this birthday for anything it will be for just feeling old.
My wife and I helped administer the SAT this morning. At one point, I realized that most of the kids there were born in 1992 or 1993. I graduated high school in 1992 and now they're about to do the same this time next year.
I feel old.
The little kindergarten girl whose picture I took with David Beasley in James M. Brown Elementary School's library on the first day of school on my first favorite day of being a newspaper reporter in 1997 could have been one of those students in my classroom today - and is probably excited about next year being her last year of school.
I feel old.
I dare say all the kids in my classroom this morning were born after our first foray into Iraq - after we turned tail and ran home, leaving the job unfinished for another 12 years.
But the world changes. Styles change, cultures change, attitudes change, leadership changes, music changes, technology changes, idols change and seasons change. But the one thing we can always count on is getting older.
As I listened to and took pictures of one of our professors at the college I work at teaching one of his religion courses recently, he asked "Who here can tell me about David Koresh and the Branch Dividians?" The room was silent. I remember the whole Waco thing going down on TV - sitting in the dorm room and watching the news clips of the fire and the entrance into the compound.
I feel old.
There are a few grays here and there. It's a little harder to get up off the ground now. My knees feel it when I get up from standing on them to shoot photos. I don't feel nearly as conscious about wearing my glasses.
I still drive fast though - and I'm as impatient as ever. I don't think even with age either of those qualities will change.
My metabolism has changed. I used to be able to put down a whole pizza plus more. Now I generally stop at about 5 slices.
I get ornery easier. I can't stay awake as late as I used to on a regular basis - I find myself falling asleep to the TV more and more (thanks Dad for that gene). I will actually listen to NPR now. And I don't mind Barry Manilow as much as I did when I was little.
What really bugs me (because it fosters that feeling of being old more than anything) is that they now consider 80s msuic - the music I grew up with - as oldies. Turn to an oldies station now and you've got a mix of Bobby Darin, The Supremes, CCR, and Tears for Fears or Rick Springfield. What is up with that?
I'm now my favorite Jimmy Buffet song - "A Pirate Looks At (or will be in five years) 40". I guess that's not a bad thing. Age brings wisdom. One of the few benefits. I do try to impart some here and there when I have the chance. Not that many people probably care what I have to say. If I wore jeans and a black t-shirt all the time and spoke with a British accent, I could be Simon Cowell. Not many people really care what he thinks. Although he's right a lot more than the other judges.
Nobody likes to think of their own mortality. But hopefully I have at least another 35 years of getting older ahead of me.
OK, now I feel tired from writing all of this -- where's the Geritol?
It was one of those days that was just another day.
My 20s are a blur. Despite the fact I can't remember what I did on my 25th birthday, it was a milestone because I got my auto insurance break. I do remember that on my 21st birthday, my buddy Blake and I went to Applebee's where they burned my steak.
16 and 18 are milestones for anyone, but I can't remember what I did on either birthday - other than became old enough to get my license and then old enough to vote.
What's happening to my memory?
I don't know in another 35 years if I will remember what I did today on my 35th birthday. If Blogspot is still around and this blog is, then I guess I can go back through the archives. That's an interesting picture -- me blogging at age 70. That's if my senility holds.
If I remember this birthday for anything it will be for just feeling old.
My wife and I helped administer the SAT this morning. At one point, I realized that most of the kids there were born in 1992 or 1993. I graduated high school in 1992 and now they're about to do the same this time next year.
I feel old.
The little kindergarten girl whose picture I took with David Beasley in James M. Brown Elementary School's library on the first day of school on my first favorite day of being a newspaper reporter in 1997 could have been one of those students in my classroom today - and is probably excited about next year being her last year of school.
I feel old.
I dare say all the kids in my classroom this morning were born after our first foray into Iraq - after we turned tail and ran home, leaving the job unfinished for another 12 years.
But the world changes. Styles change, cultures change, attitudes change, leadership changes, music changes, technology changes, idols change and seasons change. But the one thing we can always count on is getting older.
As I listened to and took pictures of one of our professors at the college I work at teaching one of his religion courses recently, he asked "Who here can tell me about David Koresh and the Branch Dividians?" The room was silent. I remember the whole Waco thing going down on TV - sitting in the dorm room and watching the news clips of the fire and the entrance into the compound.
I feel old.
There are a few grays here and there. It's a little harder to get up off the ground now. My knees feel it when I get up from standing on them to shoot photos. I don't feel nearly as conscious about wearing my glasses.
I still drive fast though - and I'm as impatient as ever. I don't think even with age either of those qualities will change.
My metabolism has changed. I used to be able to put down a whole pizza plus more. Now I generally stop at about 5 slices.
I get ornery easier. I can't stay awake as late as I used to on a regular basis - I find myself falling asleep to the TV more and more (thanks Dad for that gene). I will actually listen to NPR now. And I don't mind Barry Manilow as much as I did when I was little.
What really bugs me (because it fosters that feeling of being old more than anything) is that they now consider 80s msuic - the music I grew up with - as oldies. Turn to an oldies station now and you've got a mix of Bobby Darin, The Supremes, CCR, and Tears for Fears or Rick Springfield. What is up with that?
I'm now my favorite Jimmy Buffet song - "A Pirate Looks At (or will be in five years) 40". I guess that's not a bad thing. Age brings wisdom. One of the few benefits. I do try to impart some here and there when I have the chance. Not that many people probably care what I have to say. If I wore jeans and a black t-shirt all the time and spoke with a British accent, I could be Simon Cowell. Not many people really care what he thinks. Although he's right a lot more than the other judges.
Nobody likes to think of their own mortality. But hopefully I have at least another 35 years of getting older ahead of me.
OK, now I feel tired from writing all of this -- where's the Geritol?
11 August 2008
And This All Has What in Common? Umm....
I've had a crazy summer. I finally got the magazine done that I've been working on. But I've still got a hundred other things to do this week before our students come back to campus. There's been a lot of stuff keeping me busy at work; and during most of our weekends this summer my wife and I haven't really had a whole lot of spare time to just relax. To top it all off, I've wanted to blog this past week - but haven't really been inspired by any particular topics of interest.
So I'll kind of hit a few random topics:
So I'll kind of hit a few random topics:
- The Olympics. Our swimming team is on a tear. Michael Phelps and the crew definitely went in with their game on. Of our 21 athletes so far to receive medals, 17 are on our swimming team. But I'm really not too into the Olympics this year for some reason. I tend to like the Winter Olympics more -- ice hockey, luge, bobsled, snowboarding, snow skiing, and especially ice skating.
- Election 2008. Is anyone else just sick of this election season? It's been going on for nearly 2 years now. And neither one of the candidates are at all exciting. I'm truly at a loss for words with these clowns. Not that I would want Paris Hilton in office, but at least she'd keep things interesting. I'm about at the point where I think I'm going to write Ted Nugent in as who I want to be elected president. Seriously.
- On sort of that note .... John Edwards. Okay, so it is now five days now since he admitted he had an affair. As of right now, he is currently in the 7th headline on MSNBC.com, below the 4 featured articles; he is not even in the headlines on CNN.com. However, he is the 2nd featured article currently on FoxNews.com. So what does this say? If the situation were to be reversed and, say, Mitt Romney or Mike Huckabee admitted that they had an affair, conversely, their placement in the annoying over-liberal general media would be higher most eveywhere, most likely in that No. 2 slot on nearly every news Web site, and you'd find the article buried on the FoxNews Web site (arguably, the best news outlet in the world).
- A. That just goes to show you that there is no such thing as unbiased journalism. I should know. I've been the reporter and I've written the articles.
- B. Liberal media let their people slide. So what if a democratic Senator had an affair? So what if he had an affair on his wife who was going through an ordeal with cancer? No biggie. WRONG. That is a big deal. For anyone. No matter what your political affiliation. However, I can't help wonder if this had happened with a former Republican candidate for president that the media would crucify them and this would be the story of the day for three weeks.
- Russia Invades Georgia ... I'm not really sure where I am on this. That last thing we need is another civil war going on in this world and another conflict to keep from spewing over into other countries. The Security Council needs to act quickly on this. We don't want another situation like what happened when Yugoslavia broke apart and drove the entire region into war for a decade.
- Barbecue ... We watched a show on the food network last night about the "three big barbecue states" in the U.S., those 'supposedly' being North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. Not to deny those states' influences on one of the best foods on Earth, but South Carolinians know how to smoke some good pig too. I've been to too many barbecue restaurants and pig pickins around this area to put up with people denying South Carolina its rightful place on the barbecue map. By the way, if anyone is looking for some dang good barbecue, try Just More Barbecue in Pendleton, SC.
- Facebook ... I've been on Facebook for about a year now. I like it. It's fun - and provides a good tool for catching up with people you haven't talked to in a while or just as something fun to do with your friends. Facebook is implementing a redesign right now. I don't like it. Most people don't like change. I don't really care for it myself in a lot of cases. But when it totally confuses people and doesn't really make a whole lot of sense, why do it? The new design is very confusing. The old one was pretty straightforward. There are a lot of websites that use a redesign as an excuse to make things overcomplicated. Case in point, a company I used to work for manages I think upwards of 100 television stations' websites now - when they redesigned a few years ago from the initial designs, it was just really ugly. Still is. This all gets back to if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
20 July 2008
Adventures in Vocabulary
In the last three days, I've just happened to stumble into conversations that have resulted in new vocabulary being produced.
Situations like that are fun. They stimulate your thought process.
As a baby, our vocabulary fun comes from trying to replicate the sounds coming out of the mouth of the red-headed guy looming you going , "Say DADDY!"; as a teen it's found coming up with new slang.
Then you become an adult and you just have these random conversations that are really about nothing, but the result of which does make you ponder further things, laugh about them, and then end up blogging about them.
1. Evolution of perception
Some of us were talking at work about how things change as you get older, go through life in the real-world workforce, and deal with adult issues. A co-worker involved in this conversation summed it up with the following, "It's weird. I find myself not giving a crap about things that I really used to when I was younger; and now I'm giving a crap about totally new, more mature things that I never thought would be a big deal to me." At this point another coworker walks by (he hadn't really been actively involved in the conversation, but I guess he was listening to most of it) and says, "It's called evolution of perception. Get used to it."
2. The Bubble Corollary
People live in bubbles. They socialize in bubbles. They establish bubbles no matter where they go, whether they like it or not. Sometimes we don't like to step out of our bubble. With some issues, we refuse to go outside the bubble. We often let the bubble cloud our judgment. Sometimes the bubble moves from the church classroom to the pool. This is called "The Bubble Corollary" This was the discussion we had last night during a gathering of friends from church at a pool party that lasted past midnight. This leads directly into the establishment of the third upcoming phrase.
3. Pruning point
The "Pruning Point", we established last night, is the point when your entire body has been in the water so long that it feels like your skin has become so wrinkled that it will never snap back into shape. But, at the same time, you don't want to get out of the water because you're either having too much fun or because the water is really warm and you don't want to freeze your ass off getting out. It kind of went down like this --- said party was advertised to start at 5. We got there about 6:15. The guys hovered around the man-food table (chips, salsa, pigs-in-a-blanket, brownies) and the girls hovered around the woman-food table (cheese dip, crackers and vegetables) until around 7. Then came pool-time. Mostly just floating or lounging around in the water, chatting, chicken fighting, and five or six rounds of cannonball contests up until around midnight. Then the brakes started to come on after people started realizing they had hit their pruning point and started to depart. Five plus hours of being in the pool will do that.
Situations like that are fun. They stimulate your thought process.
As a baby, our vocabulary fun comes from trying to replicate the sounds coming out of the mouth of the red-headed guy looming you going , "Say DADDY!"; as a teen it's found coming up with new slang.
Then you become an adult and you just have these random conversations that are really about nothing, but the result of which does make you ponder further things, laugh about them, and then end up blogging about them.
1. Evolution of perception
Some of us were talking at work about how things change as you get older, go through life in the real-world workforce, and deal with adult issues. A co-worker involved in this conversation summed it up with the following, "It's weird. I find myself not giving a crap about things that I really used to when I was younger; and now I'm giving a crap about totally new, more mature things that I never thought would be a big deal to me." At this point another coworker walks by (he hadn't really been actively involved in the conversation, but I guess he was listening to most of it) and says, "It's called evolution of perception. Get used to it."
2. The Bubble Corollary
People live in bubbles. They socialize in bubbles. They establish bubbles no matter where they go, whether they like it or not. Sometimes we don't like to step out of our bubble. With some issues, we refuse to go outside the bubble. We often let the bubble cloud our judgment. Sometimes the bubble moves from the church classroom to the pool. This is called "The Bubble Corollary" This was the discussion we had last night during a gathering of friends from church at a pool party that lasted past midnight. This leads directly into the establishment of the third upcoming phrase.
3. Pruning point
The "Pruning Point", we established last night, is the point when your entire body has been in the water so long that it feels like your skin has become so wrinkled that it will never snap back into shape. But, at the same time, you don't want to get out of the water because you're either having too much fun or because the water is really warm and you don't want to freeze your ass off getting out. It kind of went down like this --- said party was advertised to start at 5. We got there about 6:15. The guys hovered around the man-food table (chips, salsa, pigs-in-a-blanket, brownies) and the girls hovered around the woman-food table (cheese dip, crackers and vegetables) until around 7. Then came pool-time. Mostly just floating or lounging around in the water, chatting, chicken fighting, and five or six rounds of cannonball contests up until around midnight. Then the brakes started to come on after people started realizing they had hit their pruning point and started to depart. Five plus hours of being in the pool will do that.
07 June 2008
Going Out Into The World
There is a sno-cone stand not too far from our place that my wife and I frequent. I would venture to guess it's one of only a few, if not the only one in our county, as I've never found another one around here. This particular sno-cone stand has been in operation at the same location for 21 years, and opens usually in late April. I think it's family owned.
Right now, it's about six weeks or so into its summer business season and my wife and I have been there at least once a week. The first couple summers we lived in this area, the same girls were there each day, each summer, making the sno cones. This year, there are a couple new girls working there. After about four weeks of us going there this year, finally one day the girl who is there the most says to me, "Same as usual?," before I even get up to the counter.
So we struck up a conversation. I found out her name is Amanda and she'll be going to college this fall at the college that my wife works at. I told her, "Well, my wife and I will be coming by alot this summer so you might as well know our names too," and I told them to her. Friday evening I went by there to get a sno cone and as I made my way up to the window she excitedly says, "I got my diploma yesterday!!" and I congratulated her.
We found out the other day (the idea hadn't really registered with us at any time before now) that the flower girl at our wedding (who was six at the time) is graduating from high school this weekend. She'll be going off to college next year and that is making my wife and I feel really old.
Then there's seven kids at our church that graduated high school this week. We've only been going to our church for about three years, but these kids have been fun to watch mature. Last weekend, we had Senior Sunday and they led both of our services. They're a complete trip -- some are really shy and nervous when speaking, some are comical - and one of them, Patrick, a drummer in our Praise Team who was presented his Eagle Scout award that same Sunday, performed a song that he wrote about what our church means to him. I was really impressed.
Everything with my high school graduation happened so quickly it's really hard to remember all the details of it. Frankly, I wasn't too concerned about anything that day other than getting that diploma in my hands and being totally done with high school. I was ready to move on to college.
I remember my grandparents shouting in excitement as I got my diploma, chuckling under my breath, and really wanting to call my principal something not so nice as I shook his hand. I probably exchanged more words that day with the girl sitting beside me than I had with her our entire time in high school. And one of my best friends was the only one to toss his graduation cap into the air -- all because we had been warned not to by the aforementioned principal.
Having a passing interest in politics at that point, I didn't really give too much thought to the status of the political landscape at that point or my role in the grand scheme of things. Yeah, I could get on a soapbox if I really wanted to ... but I didn't really get into politics really heavy until college.
Right now, it's about six weeks or so into its summer business season and my wife and I have been there at least once a week. The first couple summers we lived in this area, the same girls were there each day, each summer, making the sno cones. This year, there are a couple new girls working there. After about four weeks of us going there this year, finally one day the girl who is there the most says to me, "Same as usual?," before I even get up to the counter.
So we struck up a conversation. I found out her name is Amanda and she'll be going to college this fall at the college that my wife works at. I told her, "Well, my wife and I will be coming by alot this summer so you might as well know our names too," and I told them to her. Friday evening I went by there to get a sno cone and as I made my way up to the window she excitedly says, "I got my diploma yesterday!!" and I congratulated her.
We found out the other day (the idea hadn't really registered with us at any time before now) that the flower girl at our wedding (who was six at the time) is graduating from high school this weekend. She'll be going off to college next year and that is making my wife and I feel really old.
Then there's seven kids at our church that graduated high school this week. We've only been going to our church for about three years, but these kids have been fun to watch mature. Last weekend, we had Senior Sunday and they led both of our services. They're a complete trip -- some are really shy and nervous when speaking, some are comical - and one of them, Patrick, a drummer in our Praise Team who was presented his Eagle Scout award that same Sunday, performed a song that he wrote about what our church means to him. I was really impressed.
Everything with my high school graduation happened so quickly it's really hard to remember all the details of it. Frankly, I wasn't too concerned about anything that day other than getting that diploma in my hands and being totally done with high school. I was ready to move on to college.
I remember my grandparents shouting in excitement as I got my diploma, chuckling under my breath, and really wanting to call my principal something not so nice as I shook his hand. I probably exchanged more words that day with the girl sitting beside me than I had with her our entire time in high school. And one of my best friends was the only one to toss his graduation cap into the air -- all because we had been warned not to by the aforementioned principal.
Having a passing interest in politics at that point, I didn't really give too much thought to the status of the political landscape at that point or my role in the grand scheme of things. Yeah, I could get on a soapbox if I really wanted to ... but I didn't really get into politics really heavy until college.
The world has changed a lot even in the 16 years since I graduated high school. We didn't have cell phones or the Internet; music videos, television shows and movies weren't rampant with sleaze and violence (Ok, we had some); we didn't have presidents having affairs with interns, congressmen having bathroom trysts with members of the same sex, or governors getting it on with call girls (OK, we probably did, but we didn't really know about it); we were playing Zork and had never heard of anything called Grand Theft Auto; we couldn't even imagine someone flying aircraft into skyscrapers and killing thousands of people; Ecstasy? GHB? What's that? - we were just then starting to hear about crack. Kids and families are facing problems and issues now that even in 1992 it would been difficult to imagine, let alone in 1952.
People give the current generation of students alot of crap, saying they're lazy and lack dedication, moral character, and discipline.
It's hard for me to make that type of generalization, or stereotype, if you will, regarding this generation considering my job. I see every day at the college I work at the determination of this generation. There's a few that I just shake my head at sometimes because they're immature idiots, but they're college kids and that's what college kids do.
There are so many factors with every generation that mold each individual and help define their characater, whether good or bad. Yes, there are some bad apples among those individuals, but there's also the shiny apples.
There's a student that just graduated from the college I work at who came from a horrible family situation -- she and many of her 14 siblings were victims of sexual abuse at the hands of their father. The children are now scattered across the state, either in children's homes or foster care. As the oldest, she just became the first of her family to graduate from college. While she was at our college, she was active in more than a dozen activities or groups. And now she's off to another school to complete a Nursing degree.
I do wish all of this year's graduates good luck and success in the future; and I wish for them to develop into strong leaders with a passion for what they do in their careers and their personal lives. They've got a mess on their hands with a broken economy and a country that has lost alot of faith and trust in its leadership at virtually all levels. Hopefully they'll do a better job when they get into those positions than the vast majority of people running this country right now.
04 April 2008
Still a Journalist
One of my job duties for the college I work at is to produce our semi-annual alumni magazine. When I started in this job, I decided I wanted to take the magazine into a bit of a different direction and write some substantial articles for it. I'm in the midst of the next issue right now.
Yesterday I was talking with our new VP about his background, etc. for both a press release and an article to run in the magazine. He looks at me at one point in the conversation and says "You're good at this. Most people don't get this much information out of me. Have you ever been a reporter?"
I laughed. "Yes, as a matter of fact, I have," I responded. (Those of you reading this who know me from when I worked at that newspaper or for Internet Broadcasting Systems at WYFF obviously know this already)
So I shared a little bit of my background. Then he asked if I miss it.
I really have mixed feelings on that. There are days that I do and there are days that I don't, both for various reasons. Admittedly, I often enjoyed the byline. You won't find a journalist who doesn't to some degree.
I miss the adrenaline of it. I miss getting the scoop. I miss knowing things about situations or things about people that they don't want other people to know, whether you have found this out by them telling you or through other means; free food at various functions; or getting to talk one-on-one with Dan Quayle after a politcal rally. I miss the confrontation -- again, to a degree. I miss, although I did find this a little shocking to take in the first time, hearing other reporters talk smack about the governor, minutes before he walks into an executive press briefing.
There's a certain part of me that really enjoyed sticking the First Amendment in people's faces -- working your way into a county council, city council or school board meeting that they had no intention of letting anyone else into, only for them to realize they're against the wall, you're not leaving, and they can face some serious repurcussions both from a legal and publicity standpoint.
One of the elementary schools in our coverage area lost a student (Kindergartener, he accidentally became hung on a shoestring he was playing with when it became wrapped around a clothesline and died) and a teacher (died from from a burst brain aneurysm while she was giving birth) over the course of a school year. At the end of the year, I was sitting down with the principal talking about the year and what the school (it was new that year) had accomplished. He started crying as he was talking about these two individuals and how difficult their deaths had been on the school. I don't miss situations like that. That's one of the those situations where you can almost never find what you feel are the right words to say. I don't miss being in that kind of position.
I don't miss getting to the scene of a car accident before they've gotten the white sheet out. I don't miss being called at 8 am in the morning on a Saturday by an angry school superintendent.
I was at a professional development conference in Wilmington, NC a few weeks ago with colleagues from several dozen other colleges and universities. During one of the sessions, on new media and new techniques for news delivery, the speaker, Doug Fisher, a journalism prof from the University of South Carolina advanced to a slide saying:
You are a journalist
Whether you're writing a press release or an article for a magazine, working in public information for a college basically means you're a journalist - if you were brought up in journalism or not.
The big difference is you don't have to write about bad stuff all the time. Occasionally, yes, you have to do a press release or talk about something not real pleasant like a crime on campus, or the passing of a former faculty member. But it's enjoyable for a change to tell the stories about these kids and of the faculty and staff or the school's growth and plans for the future.
The students love seeing their photos or having their names appear in the newspaper or on TV; faculty and staff enjoy it just the same. It is so rewarding to see these kids' faces light up when they know that you're there to tell the world something about them or take their photo and put it on the website or in one of our publications.
So, yeah, I used to be a reporter. But I'm still a journalist. At least according to Mr. Fisher.
Yesterday I was talking with our new VP about his background, etc. for both a press release and an article to run in the magazine. He looks at me at one point in the conversation and says "You're good at this. Most people don't get this much information out of me. Have you ever been a reporter?"
I laughed. "Yes, as a matter of fact, I have," I responded. (Those of you reading this who know me from when I worked at that newspaper or for Internet Broadcasting Systems at WYFF obviously know this already)
So I shared a little bit of my background. Then he asked if I miss it.
I really have mixed feelings on that. There are days that I do and there are days that I don't, both for various reasons. Admittedly, I often enjoyed the byline. You won't find a journalist who doesn't to some degree.
I miss the adrenaline of it. I miss getting the scoop. I miss knowing things about situations or things about people that they don't want other people to know, whether you have found this out by them telling you or through other means; free food at various functions; or getting to talk one-on-one with Dan Quayle after a politcal rally. I miss the confrontation -- again, to a degree. I miss, although I did find this a little shocking to take in the first time, hearing other reporters talk smack about the governor, minutes before he walks into an executive press briefing.
There's a certain part of me that really enjoyed sticking the First Amendment in people's faces -- working your way into a county council, city council or school board meeting that they had no intention of letting anyone else into, only for them to realize they're against the wall, you're not leaving, and they can face some serious repurcussions both from a legal and publicity standpoint.
One of the elementary schools in our coverage area lost a student (Kindergartener, he accidentally became hung on a shoestring he was playing with when it became wrapped around a clothesline and died) and a teacher (died from from a burst brain aneurysm while she was giving birth) over the course of a school year. At the end of the year, I was sitting down with the principal talking about the year and what the school (it was new that year) had accomplished. He started crying as he was talking about these two individuals and how difficult their deaths had been on the school. I don't miss situations like that. That's one of the those situations where you can almost never find what you feel are the right words to say. I don't miss being in that kind of position.
I don't miss getting to the scene of a car accident before they've gotten the white sheet out. I don't miss being called at 8 am in the morning on a Saturday by an angry school superintendent.
I was at a professional development conference in Wilmington, NC a few weeks ago with colleagues from several dozen other colleges and universities. During one of the sessions, on new media and new techniques for news delivery, the speaker, Doug Fisher, a journalism prof from the University of South Carolina advanced to a slide saying:
You are a journalist
Whether you're writing a press release or an article for a magazine, working in public information for a college basically means you're a journalist - if you were brought up in journalism or not.
The big difference is you don't have to write about bad stuff all the time. Occasionally, yes, you have to do a press release or talk about something not real pleasant like a crime on campus, or the passing of a former faculty member. But it's enjoyable for a change to tell the stories about these kids and of the faculty and staff or the school's growth and plans for the future.
The students love seeing their photos or having their names appear in the newspaper or on TV; faculty and staff enjoy it just the same. It is so rewarding to see these kids' faces light up when they know that you're there to tell the world something about them or take their photo and put it on the website or in one of our publications.
So, yeah, I used to be a reporter. But I'm still a journalist. At least according to Mr. Fisher.
23 March 2008
A Fantastic End To A Really Lousy Week
(Editor's Note: This post is a few days ovedue, but this is the first chance I've had to sit down at the computer for any length of time since then)
Several months ago, my wife and found out that on March 21, one of our favorite bands -- Casting Crowns -- would be at our local entertainment venue, the Bi-Lo Center. Yet, we also knew that we had other things that the $70 cost of the tickets could better go toward. So everytime for the past couple months we heard mention of the concert we just kind of sighed and turned the station. "Nope, don't want to hear about it. We're not going, no sense in hearing about it."
Fast forward to the day of the concert....
My wife and are at the local Crossway store right down the road from our place, looking for a birthday gift for her sister. We made our way back to the CD section where I start listening to some new CDs that had recently come out. She walks up to me and starts talking. Then suddenly we hear, "Sorry man, I haven't been able to find anyone to take those Casting Crowns tickets off your hands." Huh? We both look up quizzically.
So we go over and talk to the sales associate that we had just overhead. Turns out some friends of his are about to head in to the Bi-Lo Center with two unused (the couple who were going to use them had to bail because of lack of a babysitter) tickets. "How much do they want," I ask. "They're free. They just want someone to use them," he responds. "SWEET!", I think.
This is at 6:55 we find this out. The show starts at 7. So we tear down to the Bi-Lo Center, park near the top of the parking deck, make our way over to will-call, get our tickets, and find our seats. We miss the first act in the process... and sit down about three songs into the second act.
We were jazzed. This was just the best thing to cap off a really lousy week of sneezing, coughing, stuffy head, headaches, and sore throats for both of us, along with a missed day of work for me because I had been feeling so horrible. God knew that we needed some lifting up.
The concert ended up one of the best I've ever seen from an entertainment standpoint. Keep in mind, this is coming from someone whose seen probably more than 30 concerts over the last two decades -- starting off with a rain-soaked NKOTB-Tiffany concert to Van Halen to Travis Tritt to Metallica to MercyMe.
The best show I've ever seen from an entertainment standpoint and a worship standpoint was a Rebecca St. James - Barlow Girl show at the new Gaffney High School three years ago in their gym. It was phenomenal.
I think that in itself says alot about what I'm listening to these days and my outlook and spirituality now versus years ago. Years ago, I would go hang with my college friends at a Metallica concert just to have our eardrums blasted out. As much as I might leave the dial on a Metallica song just to turn it up in the car now, I think I'd turn down one of their concerts. Some of my good ol' 80s music -- REO, Night Ranger, Journey -- yeah, I'd go to the concert. For the pure entertainment value.
Now I'm listening to contemporary christian music as my primary music souce (and have five stations to choose from on the local dial).
Getting back to the Casting Crowns show, what really makes a show like theirs stand out is that they do things that I haven't seen any other artists do. They had the words to their songs up on the screen. They had a local artist doing hand paintings of images and words to go along with the music. They would take time between songs to talk about the scripture relating to the song, what inspired them to write it, how God talked to them at the time and what he is saying to us through their music. They prayed after every couple of songs, encouraged the audience to sing along with them, and truly connected with the audience on a very spiritual level. It was a very, very powerful worship experience, as well as a very entertaining one.
One of the things that really impressed me is the fact that they allow local high school strings program participants to play with them on stage at each venue at which they perform. These kids are so talented. I can't imagine how and what they felt being able to help bring the messages of those songs to the people at the concert. At one point the camerman had focused in on one of the violinists, during a song in which they were not playing, and she was singing the words along. That was awesome.
The feeling of joy in that arena was palpable during the entire show. Everyone was singing. Cellphones were up in the air (so bizarre is that fact when I look back at the Van Halen or Def Leppard concerts of high school and college when lighters in the air was the thing to do). My wife and I both left the show amazed by the performance and the message that Casting Crowns had brought.
It turned out to be an amazing night that we basically lucked into (I know that God knew that we needed it) and one that we are very thankful for. I tried to give the guy who left the tickets for us at will call some money for the tickets, but he wouldn't take any.
Several months ago, my wife and found out that on March 21, one of our favorite bands -- Casting Crowns -- would be at our local entertainment venue, the Bi-Lo Center. Yet, we also knew that we had other things that the $70 cost of the tickets could better go toward. So everytime for the past couple months we heard mention of the concert we just kind of sighed and turned the station. "Nope, don't want to hear about it. We're not going, no sense in hearing about it."
Fast forward to the day of the concert....
My wife and are at the local Crossway store right down the road from our place, looking for a birthday gift for her sister. We made our way back to the CD section where I start listening to some new CDs that had recently come out. She walks up to me and starts talking. Then suddenly we hear, "Sorry man, I haven't been able to find anyone to take those Casting Crowns tickets off your hands." Huh? We both look up quizzically.
So we go over and talk to the sales associate that we had just overhead. Turns out some friends of his are about to head in to the Bi-Lo Center with two unused (the couple who were going to use them had to bail because of lack of a babysitter) tickets. "How much do they want," I ask. "They're free. They just want someone to use them," he responds. "SWEET!", I think.
This is at 6:55 we find this out. The show starts at 7. So we tear down to the Bi-Lo Center, park near the top of the parking deck, make our way over to will-call, get our tickets, and find our seats. We miss the first act in the process... and sit down about three songs into the second act.
We were jazzed. This was just the best thing to cap off a really lousy week of sneezing, coughing, stuffy head, headaches, and sore throats for both of us, along with a missed day of work for me because I had been feeling so horrible. God knew that we needed some lifting up.
The concert ended up one of the best I've ever seen from an entertainment standpoint. Keep in mind, this is coming from someone whose seen probably more than 30 concerts over the last two decades -- starting off with a rain-soaked NKOTB-Tiffany concert to Van Halen to Travis Tritt to Metallica to MercyMe.
The best show I've ever seen from an entertainment standpoint and a worship standpoint was a Rebecca St. James - Barlow Girl show at the new Gaffney High School three years ago in their gym. It was phenomenal.
I think that in itself says alot about what I'm listening to these days and my outlook and spirituality now versus years ago. Years ago, I would go hang with my college friends at a Metallica concert just to have our eardrums blasted out. As much as I might leave the dial on a Metallica song just to turn it up in the car now, I think I'd turn down one of their concerts. Some of my good ol' 80s music -- REO, Night Ranger, Journey -- yeah, I'd go to the concert. For the pure entertainment value.
Now I'm listening to contemporary christian music as my primary music souce (and have five stations to choose from on the local dial).
Getting back to the Casting Crowns show, what really makes a show like theirs stand out is that they do things that I haven't seen any other artists do. They had the words to their songs up on the screen. They had a local artist doing hand paintings of images and words to go along with the music. They would take time between songs to talk about the scripture relating to the song, what inspired them to write it, how God talked to them at the time and what he is saying to us through their music. They prayed after every couple of songs, encouraged the audience to sing along with them, and truly connected with the audience on a very spiritual level. It was a very, very powerful worship experience, as well as a very entertaining one.
One of the things that really impressed me is the fact that they allow local high school strings program participants to play with them on stage at each venue at which they perform. These kids are so talented. I can't imagine how and what they felt being able to help bring the messages of those songs to the people at the concert. At one point the camerman had focused in on one of the violinists, during a song in which they were not playing, and she was singing the words along. That was awesome.
The feeling of joy in that arena was palpable during the entire show. Everyone was singing. Cellphones were up in the air (so bizarre is that fact when I look back at the Van Halen or Def Leppard concerts of high school and college when lighters in the air was the thing to do). My wife and I both left the show amazed by the performance and the message that Casting Crowns had brought.
It turned out to be an amazing night that we basically lucked into (I know that God knew that we needed it) and one that we are very thankful for. I tried to give the guy who left the tickets for us at will call some money for the tickets, but he wouldn't take any.
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