Lucky me; it seems I have been given the opportunity for a second dance with my old friend, testicular cancer. For those that aren’t familiar with my story, when I was 22 I was diagnosed with testicular cancer the first time. I permanently lost one testicle, temporarily lost my mind, and went on sort of a destructive binge until I figured out what I needed to do to pull out of the nosedive I was in. Fast forward…..
Disclaimer: This is NOT about being pro-Democrat or anti-Republican. To be honest, I am not a fan of either, but it’s pretty much all we have. Those of us in the military are used to being part of something bigger than ourselves. We sacrifice our individual rights (and our egos, if we are doing it right) for the greater good. We are taught from a relatively junior rank that leadership is about doing what is right for the group you…..
Sometimes, a moment in history is so important, so all impacting, so all encompassing, that it gives us a moment to teach huge groups, even generations, important lessons that will serve them for all time. This corona pandemic is definitely one of those historic moments. Because of it, we had a chance to teach virtually every student important lessons about self-discipline, about pride in work, and about getting the job done even if it was a bit harder than planned……
For several weeks, I have been trying to come up with something worthwhile about my quarantine experience, and to date, I have failed. Basically, I sleep in, get up, do my job, work out, and then try to study SOMETHING. Working on Spanish and reintroducing myself to American Sign Language are at the top of the list of my studying. For workouts, I am bike riding or doing martial arts, usually with my son (who, at seven years old,…..
Well, thanks COVID-19. You are making things interesting, that’s for sure. The stock market has been more exciting than any roller coaster, unless of course you have money in it. France closed the Eiffel Tower. Italy just plain CLOSED. Here in the US, we have closed schools, cancelled concerts, and cancelled athletic seasons. In typical American fashion, there has been intelligent discussion at several levels of government, and of course grandstanded gasbagging from both sides at the highest levels. I…..
Before I roll into this, some holiday humor, reprinted with permission blah blah blah from my first (and so far only) book. It was written a LONG time ago, about my then-girlfriend… _______________________________________ Last Christmas my lovely and wonderful girlfriend decided that it would be nice if she and I spent some quality time “bonding.” I agreed, and immediately suggested covering our bodies with chocolate sauce and sticking ourselves to each other. She politely corrected me. “No, you cretin. …..
Another week. Another school shooting in America, which some say USED to be the greatest nation on earth. (You can still argue that it is, but more and more you can argue that it isn’t. Topic for another day). And as I sat down to write this, I saw that there was another shooting, this time at a high school football game, resulting in a ten year old boy being in critical condition. I can only handle one…..
First, I want to say hi to a LOT of new followers. Not sure why, but my Facebook page is really getting a lot of likes lately. If you are one of those people, THANK YOU. Just recently, I returned from my 25th US Naval Academy reunion. It was wonderful to the point of being surreal, and to be honest a lot of the events left me without words. But since this is a blog, I have to try. One…..
So, recently a colleague commented on what he (and now I) both consider to be a disturbing trend among our students. More and more, he relayed, his students are coming in with strong opinions about social issues based solely on what they are told at home. He’s been teaching social sciences for close to twenty years. While it was not unusual in the past for the freshmen to have strong, biased, but unfounded opinions heavily influenced by mommy and daddy,…..
So the world hasn’t heard from me in a bit. And look at that, it’s kept right on spinning, so I guess it wasn’t a big deal. And that’s part of the problem. I was sitting around the other day (they sort of blend together) and realized I felt like I didn’t have much of an impact on the world around me anymore. Let’s face it; I’m not really making big decisions anymore, and if we are being honest, I…..
