By itself, nostalgia isn’t a bad thing. When we base our primary motivation off of nostalgia, that’s when things start getting dangerous.
Well time slips away, and leaves you with nothing mister
But boring stories of – Glory Days.
-Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band “Glory Days”
I’m beginning to dread Thanksgiving. Not due to the holiday itself. I like Thanksgiving. It’s much better at this stage of my life than Christmas and the “Winter” holidays.
“The high school, the junior high, the elementary school, we went down six times a year. And not just me, the whole school went down to watch the National Symphony. And that’s where I learned that I had no interest in classical music. But it was an effort! It was arts in the school. And now you have to fight to get arts in the schools. Because nobody wants to pay for it. Nobody wants to pay for anything anymore. That’s the way I look at it. Nobody wants to pay to get the things that would allow to have a great education for children. And I had that education. And they were middle class. It wasn’t some wealthy neighborhood.”
–Lewis Black, April 14, 2014 at the National Press Club
I’m starting off by quoting Lewis Black. Suffice to say, I’m not necessarily in a good mood. Continue reading “Measuring Sticks”
When you get inspiration from the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, it’s a good day.
“The average age in our platoon, I’d guess, was nineteen or twenty, and as a consequence things often took on a curiously playful atmosphere, like a sporting event at some exotic reform school. The competition could be lethal, yet there was a childlike exuberance to it all, lots of pranks and horseplay. Like when Azar blew away Ted Lavender’s puppy. ‘What’s everyone so upset about?’ Azar said. ‘I mean, Christ, I’m just a boy.’” –The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien
OK, so this issue isn’t THAT serious.
This is two years too late. I’m careful about what I reveal to my students, just like I was careful what I revealed to my patients. If it’s pertinent, I think it’s fair game, even if it just makes the point of “hey, I’ve dealt with something like this, too.”
In all likelihood, I’ll never be famous. Which is probably a great thing for me. It’s not an aspiration of mine. It kind of surprises me that people actually WANT to be famous. Aside from enjoying my anonymity, there are certain things I couldn’t do anymore. Such as…
