Some News and Thoughts

I’ve finally finished this semester’s cluster of courses. While I was able to take two of them online, I still had a full plate with 12 credit hours. So I’m glad to have a break. I’ve got about a Spring and half-a-Summer semester left to finish up my general education requirements. From there, I’m still deciding whether to pursue a computer science degree at Northeastern Illinois, or Interactive Arts and Media at Columbia in Chicago. The pros and cons are there for each, but Northeastern is much cheaper upfront (no loans!) and is almost in our backyard. Columbia is a hatful of cash and an hour commute to the loop each way. But the program looks really great, so we’ll see what happens.

I’ve finished reading a book called “The Gum Thief” by Douglas Coupland and am midway through a collection of short stories called “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor. Each of these stories, including those in “The Gum Thief” seem to have a few themes in common.  They all deal with the world sort of closing in on either the assumptions that the characters have, or the “secure” possessions or people in life that they cling to. It’s been interesting to read these themes as discussed in the deep south of the 50′s and in the big box office supply stores of today (as in the Gum Thief). Plus I love Flannery O’Connors injection of religious spirituality into her stories as it reflects the tension between God and the Modern Age of the South, but becomes a universal foreshadowing of post-modernity, and that of the subjective morality that her characters encounter. I told Andrea that on this break from school I’m putting myself through an “O’Connor 101″ course, where I hope to read all of her writings.

Christmas is on the horizon and the kids are excited. We’ve been following an advent calendar with a series of small stockings hung across one of our bookshelfs and each drawing a family, Christmas-themed activity from it every night. We also had the kids put out shoes on the 6th for St. Nicholas to come and fill with goodies. We don’t really celebrate Santa Claus, but agreed that sharing the story of St. Nicholas was a good compromise. We’ll probably end up in Michigan for most of the week following Christmas, seeing grandparents on both sides and keeping clear of this unpredictable Chicago winter for a time.

Filed under: Family, Life, Writing, christmas vacation, college plans, family update, o'connor 101, ten gallon cowboy hats, the gum thief

On blogging

I’ve had a blog before and was actually quite consistent at keeping it updated. Once, as an 18 year old cynic, I took it upon myself to electronically deconstruct my surroundings – from the eyes of a detached, misunderstood rebellious pastor’s kid with very little to actually lose in sneering at the customers I waited on, the teachers I endured as a high school senior, and the possibilities of life outside of my parent’s house. I think a couple of people may have actually found some of it interesting and I stuck with it awhile in some form or another, but I eventually moved out, lost regular internet connection, and went under the blogging radar.

I’ve tried blogging on and off since that time, but have always run into the problem of over-thinking two main areas: the potential audience and the actual presentation. Who is this blog for? Random other twenty-five year olds who may be similarly bewildered by life’s challenges and demands? Those who know me in real life and may find it interesting to see pictures of our family trips to the pumpkin patch? Someone who accidentally stumbled here while actually searching for an online vendor for brown pants?

And as importantly – what does this blog portray about me, as the author? Is it as cynical and aware of its own cliche as it should be, having again fallen in line with a slew of other blogs about very little at all? Or should it challenge me to articulate new ideas about what is happening, why it matters and where it leads to? Do these ideas even matter? And most importantly, does my tired sarcastic wit actually translate to black and white characters?

Thus the paradox. The cynical, self aware 18 year old simply added a few years to his age, grew leaps and bounds in responsibilities, and somehow acquired a high enough level of crippling self-doubt to even make something as potentially mindless as a blog actually work. It’s no way to be. Let’s move past this.

So, all said, here’s to a transition away from blogger to a platform and blog that I hope will become home to whatever it happens to be, for whomever happens to take notice – gramps, random friends, or those with a misplaced fashion sense (trust me, I can identify).

Filed under: Uncategorized, Writing, blogging, brownpants, introductions