Good evening. It has been a
while since we’ve spoken at length and much has happened in the last few years,
so please, allow me to re-introduce myself. . .
I was born into a family of mechanics, engineers, world-travelers,
and explorers. Granted, most of the
world-traveling was by ancestors immigrating to the United States, or relatives
in the military, though I have put my fair share of arc-seconds behind me on
this tiny globe of ours. Like so many
others, I take with me as much of that familial experience as I can carry.
I fancy myself a “professional amateur”--I am a
woodwright, an engineer, a blacksmith, an author. I have been a personal trainer, an
electrician, a computer tech, and I also cook.
I am a father of four, grandfather of one, and of all I have
accomplished in life so far, that is what I am most proud of.
Now that the children are grown and slowly moving out into the
world, I have been slowly turning my focus toward all those things I love to
do, but haven’t done much of because of priorities. Kim and I are remodeling the home in which we
plan to retire, we are looking to travel more frequently, and my shop, though
an unmitigated disaster at times, gives me an outlet for my creativity even
now, as I am building my personal library.
To that, though my bochord is extensive, my most enjoyed subjects are
science fiction, history, and science.
I have written short stories, published poems in anthologies, and
published one book. Among other
projects, I am currently working on three books—a sequel to “Cooking for
Adventurers”, a small science fiction adventure, and a rather
lighthearted take on people-leading, as that has been my occupation, most
recently.
I have an unnatural love for Indian cuisine, am involved in a
torrid, unending affair with coffee, I do enjoy a gill or two of Irish whiskey,
now and again, and take my tea warm to piping.
I take great pride in the fact that, among other things they’ve learned,
my children can all cook well for themselves.
I am a lover of the outdoors, cycling, camping, and am a trained
and practiced survivalist and am competent in works of bushcraft. Despite the fact that my joints have begun
complaining incessantly over the abuse I have imparted upon them in the last
half-century, I still enjoy a good distance hike, and am training to begin
distance cycling again.
So why am I telling you all this?
Though it is coming at the twilight of one year and the dawn of
another, this is not a ‘resolution’. I dislike New Year’s resolutions, as they are
milestones for procrastination. If you
want to improve something about yourself, why wait until an arbitrary ‘start point’,
rather than starting now? As the agglomeration of experience and
hobbies noted above (and note that it is an abbreviated
telling) will tell you, I am the poster child for ADHD and OCD, which are the
two great tastes that really suck
together. A long time ago, I resolved to
myself (not on New Year’s Day, by the
way) that, no matter what, I would make a mark on the world, regardless of how
small it might be. In that my children
are grown, capable of independent thought, and not, in fact, axe murderers, I
believe that I have accomplished that. I
am, however, only a half-century on this planet and, the Great Bird of the
Galaxy willing, I will be here for at least another half-century. I plan to spend that time learning,
discovering, and, most importantly, teaching.
Thanks to the whole ADHDOCD mess, I have struggled my entire life
with terminal boredom. I was labeled as one of the “gifted” kids in
school, but the truth was that things came easily for me due to the amount of
reading I did because the world as it presented itself to me was dull.
I would read stories of explorers and adventurers, then research their
findings, independently. I would read
historical accounts, then spend time at the library diving into other books to
determine if the findings in them were accurate. I was convinced from an early age that
encyclopedias were watered-down trash, because they were not as illuminative as
listening to a lecture by Carl Sagan. This
all happened to me during the formative years when children usually learned
interpersonal skills. I had learned
manners from my family, but something as basic as starting a conversation was a
bit out of my grasp. It took a while
before I developed that ability to a point that I could use it with confidence
but, as a result, I had a very small circle of friends through my school
years.
We, as a society are sort of in that boat, right now, though for
other reasons. Our access to unbridled
information is as unfettered as it has ever been, but that has robbed us of our
objectivity. One thing journalism
classes hit home for me was the mantra, “confirm
through two sources”.
I have since amended that to, “confirm
through two reputable sources”. In the days before the internet, you had to
prove you knew what you were talking about to become published. Nowadays, anyone with an internet connection
and a conviction can publish anything they want, and somebody is going to read it.
I’d like to say that the crackpot stuff is an obvious spot, but we have
people pouring boiling water on their icy windshields and drilling holes in
their phones, because someone with a Tictoc or YouTube told them to do it. I grew up watching Star Trek, and had faith that we would be in a much better place by
this age; smarter as a society.
I am not so conceited, nor self-important to think that I could
change this in the world. My goal,
rather, is to attempt to do my best to impart good information to those I can,
work my art, write my stories, and help those I can help. A quote that comes to mind is from Bertrand
Russell: “Love is wise;
hatred is foolish”.
Let’s try to be a bit more wise. . .
