Well, for better or worse, here's my attempt to catch up. It's been a crazy year, both professionally and personally. Time passes by too quickly. Man, if I could only go back and convince my younger self of that fact! I thought time would never hurry up. Now, a year goes by in the flash of an instant.
So somehow, it has been almost a year since I captured any of my supremely wonderful musings on this here blog. Maybe I was busy? Yep, that's probably it. I have been very, very busy. Still, you would think I might have come across something important to say in all that time!
Well, for better or worse, here's my attempt to catch up. It's been a crazy year, both professionally and personally. Time passes by too quickly. Man, if I could only go back and convince my younger self of that fact! I thought time would never hurry up. Now, a year goes by in the flash of an instant. It occurred to me today that my life has just reached a major milestone. It can be argued that we all pass one of those every day we're still alive, but this is one of those major ones. Like when you finally land the career you want, when you finally save up enough to buy that boat you've always wanted, or when your last kid finally moves out of the house (I suppose), this is one of those signposts in life where I feel like I will be able to look back and measure time that occurred before and time that has come after it. Thanks to the awesomeness of infographics, now everyone can understand how that crazy multi-level dream episode in Inception actually worked. Enjoy! Courtesy of Visual.ly.
"Destiny is for people who are too lazy to create alternate timelines."
- R. Stevens "When a person cannot deceive himself the chances are against his being able to deceive other people." - Mark Twain "A failure is not always a mistake, it may simply be the best one can do under the circumstances. The real mistake is to stop trying." - B.F. Skinner "I have an existential map. It has ‘You are here’ written all over it."
- Steven Wright "I cannot call to mind a single instance where I have been irreverent, except toward the things which were sacred to other people." - Mark Twain “If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they’ll kill you.” - Oscar Wilde “Some editors are failed writers, but so are most writers.” - T. S. Eliot "In dwelling, live close to the ground. In thinking, keep to the simple. In conflict, be fair and generous. In governing, don't try to control. In work, do what you enjoy. In family life, be completely present." -Lao Tzu My wife says that one of the things she likes most about me is how easily impressed I am by almost anything. I must admit that this is true, to a point. You know that guy who just likes being sad, depressed, and terrible to be around? Well, I'm not that guy. I'm the other guy - the guy who really likes being happy. Because I like happiness so much, I sometimes get a little over excited about things that most people would find mediocre to just down right dull. Luckily for you, this post is not actually about my happiness OCD problem. Last weekend I made the arduous drive - some eight teeth-pulling hours - to my hometown in Alabama. I took the wife, the little child, and the boxer dog. (The elder child was already there on sabbatical.) The occasion of my journey was the college graduation of my little sister, Bethany. Why, you ask? Bethany impresses me. Bethany had this childhood dream of becoming fluent in German and working for the U.N. For a kid in middle school, that's fairly ambitious and quite detailed. She stuck with this dream, went to a college with a program that would perfectly fit her plan, and worked as hard as she could to make her plan work out. But just like me, when Bethany got to college she realized her dream wasn't exactly what she had envisioned. She could have given up, got a "husband degree," and moved on, but she didn't. Bethany decided she wanted to be a teacher. She transferred to the University of Alabama, and she got accepted into its elite Multiple Abilities Program (MAP). She applied herself; she did well; she helped others succeed. She studied abroad in South Africa for a semester; she applied for a job in our hometown school system; she got it. Her first class of students arrives in two days. Last weekend, Bethany graduated summa cum laude, or for the English speakers, "with the highest honors." We've competed with each other for years in terms of who got a better grade or a better ACT score, but quite honestly, in this case, she bested her brother. I'm proud of her and for her. She will make an excellent teacher, and she will make a difference in the lives of the kids she comes in contact with everyday. I'm excited to see what all she can accomplish. Congrats, Bethany. |
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