A New Year Summary

It will be a year in February since I started this blog. I had loftier intentions at first by thinking that I would be addressing my job search and my current job situation, but I opted not to include that element of my life in detail, choosing instead to share my ennui with Ms. Mentor at the Chronicle of Higher Education. My postings initially either delved into Kansas history, particularly a writing and research assignment that my students had once engaged in, or pursued my interests in jazz, poetry, and Irish music. There occasionally have been postings in which I am more confessional about some of the details in my life, but those moments of disclosure are usually followed by the impersonal in the next several postings.

Through keeping this blog, I have learned the virtue of not describing the minutiae of my life. It’s doubtful that anyone really cares how often my poems are rejected or what happens on a daily basis in my life. Perhaps if I were commuting for almost two hours every day, as I once did before I began teaching online, I would find something to say about the idiocy of Kansas City drivers, the poor quality of the roads heading south into Johnson County, or the traffic jams that often tie up I-435, the freeway that loops around the Kansas City metro area.

My wife would say that males in general are less willing to disclose details of their private lives. I’m less taciturn now, but I’m not yet loquacious. There is no reason why I would want to describe the details of my marriage of twenty years or my previous relationships when I was single. Not much of a home repair type, I cannot describe my home improvement projects, apart from planting native flowers and grasses outside. I don’t even repair my car or my wife’s; we’ve actually been quite lucky with our vehicles and wouldn’t own anything but a Toyota.

The BBCNews recently reported that many of the blogs that have been created are generally abandoned within the first month or two because the blogger discovers how little he/she has to say after all. I’m certainly not as opinionated as Teacher Lady , the woman who provided the idea for this summary, but I have a few things to say every once in a while, mostly when I’m either trying to postpone grading a set of essays or when I’m not burdened with the demands of teaching five sections of writing, mostly composition.

Although I am less political than some other blogs, I am very much anti-war. This attitude surfaces at times. It generally doesn’t make much sense to rehash what others have said about current events, despite how maddening or how stupid certain events are in this country and elsewhere. Let it be said that the officials currently in office in Washington seldom reflect my views of government. I have to agree with Alice Walker who, after reading from her current book of essays and when answering questions on BookTV, says that there needs to be a major change in this county because capitalism neglects the majority of the people. When the economy collapses, and once the people come to recognize how government has not and will not meet their needs, some sort of major change will occur.

I confess that I want to spend whatever free time I have on writing essays and writing poems, but I still see myself maintaining this blog for a while longer. There are things I haven’t said yet about the Kidder Massacre and Beecher Island, for example. Who knows, maybe my own life will become a bit more exciting in the near future, not that I want to live in interesting times. Just a little excitement now and then could lead to a few more blog postings. Stay tuned for future developments.