Don't break your arm Brick

My son's first "All-Star" appearance. 

 
     When my son was 8 years old we signed him  up to play baseball with our local park district.  He played for the Cubs.  He was bigger than everyone else on the team and he did well enough to make the "All-Star" game, it was cute.  When he was 10 there were a few fathers that thought their kids were good enough to form a "part time travel" baseball team that had tougher competition than the park district league and therefore it would allow the kids that played to get better, quicker.  My son was asked to play with them.  That team did so well that the next year we went to "full time travel" which meant that we only played other travel teams and that it was a longer season and we actually did travel.  We went to Omaha, St. Louis, Indianapolis, and Cincinnati.  This team was pretty successful and I began to hear people talk about taking this team to an "elite" status which meant that we would play even better teams and travel even further.  The team was the Lisle Wolves and all of a sudden I began to have visions of my son one day stepping onto the field at Clark and Addison.  Not really, but I did see some great potential for our high school program.  The only problem was that only two of the twelve kids on the Wolves would actually go to Lisle High School.  But a seed had been planted.  If the high school program was going to be successful when my son got there then we needed to do something to improve the feeder system.

Third place finish in the Illinois Junior High School
State Baseball Tournament 2008.

     

       So when my son was entering 6th grade I determined that our Junior High should begin participating in the state Junior High league.  Now I don't claim to be the person that first thought up the idea, but I was the one that decided to make it my mission to make it happen while it could benefit my kid.  I first approached the new Junior High principal with the idea and he was very amenable.  The High School coaches who had attempted to start a program at the lower level several times before liked my enthusiasm and encouraged me to keep at it.  So I did the research, created a proposal and we approached the school board.   They agreed to pilot a program over the next two years.  That was perfect.  During my son's 7th and 8th grade years the Junior High would have a baseball (and to keep things equal a softball) team.  That meant that the core group of guys would have to opportunity to play together for six years instead of just four.  It turned out better than I could ever have anticipated when during the 8th grade season the team caught fire.  We went on a winning streak at the end of the season that saw us finish third in the state tournament.  

     Before my son was born I coached baseball, basketball, track, and tennis at one time or another for Lisle.  We were generally not very good.  But that didn't mean that we didn't try or that we didn't have pride in what we were doing.  It's just that to be successful you need to have a level of commitment on the part of the community to support feeder programs that will allow the athletes the time to develop before they get to the higher levels of competition that are found in high school.  So I am grateful for the community and its' support of the baseball program at the Junior High.  And now those same kids are juniors and seniors in high school and the team is off to one of it's best starts in our history at 16 - 4.  I know that my arm is in danger of breaking if I keep patting myself on the back, but I feel like I do have some small part in their success.  And I am completely enjoying this season because when my son reached an age where he could participate in sports I quit coaching so that I could be a fan.  And I am a great fan.  In the four years of his high school career (4 years of football and baseball and 2 years of basketball) I've only missed two games that he was in and that was a double header last season.  And it tore my heart out to miss. 

About to clock a double.

     I don't know how far our team will go this season, they have the potential to compete for a state title, but who knows.  What I do know is that I participated in my kid's life.  He has had interests in many things and I have tried to support him in all of them.  Again, I'm not trying to brag.  I'm just basking in the experience.  I love being a father.  And I am completely aware that I have a pretty exceptional kid, but I determined a long time ago that I was going to be his biggest fan regardless of the arena.  So I'm grateful and proud and a little cocky about the baseball team this year.  I promise to work on my humility after the season.  

Another Brick in the Wall

Signed copy of Mr. Stossel's latest book

     "I'm so mad at you."
     "But why Mr. House?"
     "Cause I really wanted to go to New York."
     "Ugh, I didn't win the essay contest?"
     "No but you were named a FINALIST!"
     "Really, that is awesome!"
     "You did a great job."

     That is paraphrase of a conversation that took place in my room yesterday afternoon.  One of my Economics students entered an essay contest that was conducted by John Stossel.  If you are not familiar with Mr. Stossel he is a Libertarian leaning journalist with his own show on Fox.  He is not obnoxious the way most of the commentators on Fox tend to be, rather he is a traditional reporter that asks common sense questions with people that he is at odds with and plays the devil's advocate with guests on his show that are like minded.  I like his journalistic style.  I also like his take on Economics.  I was trained as a traditional Keynesian in college, as was almost everyone that took Econ classes in the second half of the 20th Century.  But after I started following the career of Representative Ron Paul in the late 80s and 90s I became very interested in the Austrian School of Economics that Mr. Paul advocates.  If none of what I just said makes any sense to you, don't worry.  Schools of economic philosophy are not daily conversations for most people. If you would like to see a funny (to nerdy econ people) video that pits the two leading philosophies of John Maynard Keynes and F. A. Hayek click here. 

     Mr. Stossel also provides educational materials to teachers to use in their classroom and I have on occasion used some of his resources.   So one day a few months ago in the middle of a lesson I mentioned that when I was looking at the "Stossel in the Classroom" website I saw that they were conducting an essay contest.   I suggested that some people in the class might want to enter it because the 1st and 2nd place winners would get a trip to New York to be on the Stossel show and even better they would get to take me with them and, "that with a sweet deal like getting to hang with me in "The Big Apple", it would be off the hook".  I didn't understand but not everyone jumped at this opportunity.  But one kid did and he wrote a fantastic essay.  I sent it in and they sent him a certificate and a check and they sent me a signed copy of the newest Stossel book.

    Yesterday was one of those moments teachers live for.  It was an opportunity to share in the thrill of someone's academic success.  I knuckle bumped him, I smiled with him, and I told him that I was proud of him.  And I watched him as the realization of what he had accomplished unveiled itself to him.  It was über cool!  A teacher usually does not get to experience these moments everyday.  So when an event like this does happen and you're lucky enough to be there to share it with a student, you savor it.  When I received the package in the mail and I realized what it was I was already smiling in anticipation.  We are a medium small school, about 500 -600 students, so I was able to tell my principal, the councilors and other teachers about what this kid had done and without fail they were all happy for him.  I use a day like yesterday as motivation when I read an article about how teacher retirement promises are bankrupting state budgets and I won't be able to retire until I'm 75 or that we don't compete on standardized test scores with the Japanese.  Yesterday was a gold brick day.

adapted from The Star Thrower by Loren Eiseley (1907-1977)

     Once upon a time, there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work.

     One day, as he was walking along the shore, he looked down the beach and saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself at the thought of someone who would dance to the day, and so, he walked faster to catch up.

    As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, and that what he was doing was not dancing at all. The young man was reaching down to the shore, picking up small objects, and throwing them into the ocean.

     He came closer still and called out "Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?"

     The young man paused, looked up, and replied "Throwing starfish into the ocean."

     "I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?" asked the somewhat startled wise man.

     To this, the young man replied, "The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don't throw them in, they'll die."

     Upon hearing this, the wise man commented, "But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can't possibly make a difference!"

     At this, the young man bent down, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it into the ocean. As it met the water, he said, "It made a difference for that one."

List of finalists in the Stossel essay contest.  Sorry but they wouldn't list me as Brick House.

Brick on Facebook

     According to the Facebook Timeline I joined on Nov. 11, 2008.  My first posts were in July of 2009.  Since that time I have become a daily poster to Facebook.  It is part of my normal routine.  If I don't have anything to say for myself then I usually find something to comment on from someone else.  I wish happy Birthday to whoever is having one, I like people's pictures and posts about their kids and their vacations and their new stuff, I try to find funny things to say when that is the direction of the post, and I usually follow the links to the Youtube videos that seem to be in the least bit interesting.  I used to review books that I read, I play Words with Friends (I never did Mafia or Farmville or any of the other popular games on Facebook, but I was never derisive of the people that did), and I've posted hundreds of pictures and videos in my "Albums".  I have a group I created called "Brick's Rules of F@cebook Etiquette" and another called "Howell's History Alumni".  I have run several 30 Day Challenges for people to post consecutively about a specific topic for 30 days in a row.  When I first started I even ran a "Can you guess this movie from the soundbite" game.  Occasionally I will just post three things (think Tribond) with some kind of connection and see which people prefer.  Facebook even helped me plan my vacation last summer when I attended the First Rockford Files Fest with some people from the show that I met online and now I post soundbites from that show so people can identify the episode.

      But before any of you start checking your calendars to plan my intervention I want you to know that I still bathe regularly, I hold down a steady job, and my family does still remember my first name.  Facebook for me is what I do instead of vegging out in front of the television or at times what I do simultaneously while vegging out in front of the television.  With a smart phone I can walk and play Words at the same time.  I don't get convulsions if I have to be away from my computer for a couple of days but I do focus more on what I'm doing to consider if there is anything in it to post.  I take way more pictures of my life events than I ever did before and I have become more of an observer of things going on around me scanning for interesting tidbits that I might share like my "over heard in the halls" comments.  So many commentators decry social media as the downfall of western civilization that I feel like I need to come to its defense or at least try and justify my involvement with it.  I agree that there are some bad trends associated with putting your whole life into the public domain and who knows how it might be used in the future, but for the most part I don't think too many people care that I ate at the Slurping Turtle last month and I just don't see how that fact is going to bring me to ruin, at least not my review (which can be seen at Brick's Picks on this very blog).

     I benefit from the "social" part of this social media.  I really like interacting with people in a casual, friendly way and pretty much on my own terms.  I think it is very cool that when I checked a while back I had at least a couple of former students from each of the 27 years that I have taught on my Friends List, in most cases they sent the friend request to me rather than the other way round which I really appreciated.  Facebook was where we organized the 30th Reunion for the Muncie Southside Rebels.  I have colleagues and former students that share ideas and links with me for my teaching, I have former student teachers as Facebook friends, I have made deals and offered significant advice and opinions on it.  Many times I read about things on Facebook before I read about them on the news websites.  So I'm a fan.  I don't really get bent out of shape when they change formats or force a timeline on us, I just like that it's free.  It is opening up possibilities of interacting with people that frankly were out of my life and had Facebook, or something like it, not come along would have been out of my life forever.  The fact that so many are back in my life is nearly miraculous.  So I'm willing to take the good with the bad and risk someone tagging me in an unflattering picture (most of the ones I post of myself fit that description anyway) just as long as it gives me the chance to say "lol" to someone that chances are I wouldn't have the chance to interact with in any other way.

Sleep like a Brick

Pretty much what
a CPAP makes you feel like

     I love a good night's sleep. But I have sleep apnea.  If you don't know what that is MayoClinic.com defines it as, "a potentially serious sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts."  In other words I stop breathing in the middle of sleeping.  I don't know that I do this because I'm asleep, but apparently it is usually accompanied by deafening snores and the startled wake up bed shaking jerk when my body realizes that it isn't getting that lovely aerobic respiration that it so craves.  I only become aware of what I'm doing when this woman I know starts to hit me and tell me I'm keeping her up and that if I don't stop I might lose the option of ever waking up again.  So over half a dozen years ago I went through a "sleep study" that Torquemada would have been proud to have designed.  The end result of which has been that since that time I have used a device known as a CPAP to help me overcome my sleep apnea.  A CPAP machine consists of a fan that blows air down a tube that runs into a mask that you strap on your face and it sends air down your nose all night long and believe it or not it helps you to sleep.  I'm sure that at this point this blog entry falls under the heading of TMI, but I think this background is necessary to understand the full impact of my opening statement, "I love a good night's sleep".  I love one because I went for so long without one.  And so now on those nights like tonight when I can't sleep I feel horribly deprived.

      I know the reason that I can't sleep is the fact that I was absolutely out of control yesterday at the Easter brunch we attended and I ate myself sick.  So this is a self inflicted wound and I have no one to blame for it but myself, but that is almost always the case.  I have met the enemy and he is me (my apologies to Pogo).  Never the less, I am already dreading the day ahead.  Not sleeping is going to throw off my entire schedule.  I will be lethargic at work, I won't feel like getting my workout in later because I will be too tired.  I will probably have to fight the urge to nap.  It's just going to make today stink.  So why don't I just go back to bed?  I've tried twice and from long experience I know that I'm up.  So to kill time until I start my normal morning routine I've decided to write.  I find that I'm enjoying writing these little missives.  Like I've stated earlier I don't really expect to be widely read, but the few of you that are reading have been kind with your comments and I've re-read my posts several times seeing if I like my wording, correcting grammar, and determining if I'm making an ass out of myself yet.

     At this point I think the sleep deprivation is turning this into a stream of consciousness piece, but I do remember that before I started I did have a point.  We went to Hawaii two summers ago and it was the best trip of my life.  In fact I have been exploring the possibilities of retiring there when that time comes.  The only bad part of the trip was the return flight.  It was really long and we flew through the night.  Everyone on the plane slept except for me.  I couldn't use my CPAP and I have grown so accustomed to sleeping with it on that it is literally impossible for me to sleep without it.  So I watched while others slept.  It's such a simple thing but I was so envious of the people on that plane that were off in dreamland while I counted down the hours until we landed.  On nights like tonight I almost always reminisce about that flight.  The good times of the week previous  weren't lost because of that night, but it opened my eyes to the significance of how basic human needs as simple as a good night's sleep dictate so much of our lives.  Awareness might be half the battle and maybe I can still talk myself into having a good day, but one thing is clear to me right now - I love a good night's sleep.

Brick on the Stump

Marine One just dropped me off

     I think it's time to take up the topic of politics.  If this doesn't get me in hot water than nothing will.  But really all I want to do is to do some exploration of my beliefs and priorities when it comes to the authorities.  By both vocation and avocation I am politically interested.  I see the actions of government as worthy of study, thought, and discussion.  After all, in a democracy the government is the handmaiden of the people.  (I just did a Google search to see if I stole that line from someone else, but it looks like it's mine.)  Our Constitutional rights include freedom of speech, freedom to petition, freedom to assemble, free elections, very few restrictions on running for office, and in many cases the right to initiate laws, approve spending measures, or even recall an elected official that is making us unhappy.  The office holders have rules that they must operate under, there is a system of checks and balances in place so that they can oversee each other and the powers they hold have been separated to ensure that no one person or branch of government has the responsibility or really the opportunity to take full control.  With these as the foundational principles our government should be sound and should work better than it does.


     So here is a list of the priorities and beliefs that I hold:

• I believe in an educated population that is aware of both our history and the current state of this country and the world.  
• I believe that our population has rights, but it also has responsibilities.  Citizens should obey our laws as well as follow the actions of our leaders.  When a leader steps out of line it is the responsibility of the citizens to speak against those actions loudly and vigorously.
• I believe in equality of opportunity which means that I oppose any special privilege.  That applies to the rich as well as the poor.
• I believe in charity.  There are people that through no fault of their own simply need help.  No one should fall through the cracks in a society as wealthy as ours and so I agree with government sponsored safety nets when private charities and individual charitable actions are not enough.
• I believe in the first principle of economics: "there ain't no such thing as a free lunch".  If you give to one it is taken from another one.  If you take from one to give to another then the compensation to the one taken from must be evident in an improvement of our society.
• I believe in public goods.  There are things that simply are not economically feasible to be privatized.  
• I believe in a strong national defense but I do not believe that the United States has a right to fight in unjust wars or to build an empire on conquest.  War should be the last possible action which means that until all other possible actions have been exhausted we should not go to war.  In almost every case that means that we should not be involved in a war unless we have been directly attacked.
• I believe in "American Exceptionalism".  Democracy, capitalism, and a dedication to the protection of individual freedoms are the best things that America has to offer to the world.  We do not have the right to impose any of these things on another country.  We set the example and we help when we can for others to reach these goals, but it is not our responsibility to restructure the world in our image.
• I believe that many of the basic concepts of Christianity played a role in our foundation, but I do not believe that we are a Christian nation.  The protection of our religious freedom is my top priority, but Christianity can not be imposed on anyone.  It is a basic relationship between the individual and God and people are individually held accountable for that relationship.  No governmental action, either supportive or disruptive, can affect God's power to deal with people individually, but as a country the freedom of Christians to act has a positive impact on our society and so it must be protected.
• I believe that people have the right to make bad decisions and when they do they should suffer the consequences of those decisions.  When those bad decisions have negative consequences for others they should do whatever is possible to make restitution or restoration to the injured party.  
• I believe the punishment should fit the crime and that justice should be no respecter of person.  
• I believe in second chances.  Once a person has paid their debt to society they should have the opportunity to rejoin that society and prove themselves capable of change.
• I believe we are a nation of immigrants and that a naturalized citizen of this country is equal to one whose ancestors have been here for generations.  I also believe that illegal immigrants have broken our laws to get here and should not be allowed to stay regardless of their productivity to our society.  It might be desirable to come to the United States for many, but it is not a right that every person in the world has.  There are legal means of coming to the United States.  They might be restrictive and even biased, but those things can be changed if necessary in a lawful way. 
•  I believe that in a democracy the greatest good for the greatest number is only achieved through compromise.  Therefore it makes the system extremely inefficient and the government should be limited.  The primary functions of government should be to create an unbiased level playing field through a colorblind legal system, provide permanent social services for those who are permanently unable to care for themselves and temporary social services for those who are temporarily unable to care for themselves, to provide public goods when there are no viable or economically feasible alternatives, and finally to protect the civil rights and freedoms of the citizenry.  

     So if you read through my "Fourteen Points" you must really be bored or you're building your rebuttal.  In either case I'd love to hear what you think.  

Brick and the Bug

     This morning I was running a little bit late for work and so I quickly jumped in my car and sped out of the driveway towards school.  When I came to the first stop sign on River I happened to look closely at my windshield and I saw a small bug directly in my line of sight.  It was hanging on to a small piece of grit that was stuck on the windshield.  As I turned onto Ogden and headed west I noticed that the bug was holding fast to that anchor and as my car picked up speed I could see the struggle that the bug was having to maintain it's grip.  With each incremental increase in speed I could see the little bug redoubling it's effort to not be whisked away in the slipstream.  It was remarkable to me that it was able to hold on as I went faster and faster.  What a herculean task for such a small creature to be able to withstand the forces that allied against it.   Finally I came to the stop light at Yackley and slowed my car to a stop.  I watched as the little bug appeared to relax it's hold on the windshield and take a few bug size steps away from the grit.  While I watched all these events unfold I thought to myself, "There are so many lessons that we can learn from nature.  Here is this little bug struggling to hold on to the known supposed safety of it's little piece of grit against a tremendous force that seems to be pulling it away.  It was even willing to risk injury to maintain it's grasp on the comfort of current circumstances rather than allow new events to take it in a direction that it couldn't conceive of or anticipate.  How so like some people that find a comfortable spot and resist change at all cost."  Then I turned on the windshield wipers and crushed him while I again thought to myself,

"nature can be so cruel."

The Brick Road

Odgen Ave knows me well.

     Yesterday was one of those exceptional days where I felt good, I had lots of time on my hands, and there was no good sporting event on t.v. and so I did one of my favorite things to do, I took a nine mile walk.  Now I know how ludicrous that probably sounds that I enjoy spending 3 hours walking, but believe it or not, it's true.  I have become a walker.  Growing up I couldn't think of anything more ridiculous.  I can remember once when my car wasn't running that my dad suggested that I walk to school.  It would have been about a mile and a half walk and he could have more easily suggested that I fly to the moon.  Walking back then was the last thing that I would even consider.  Even when I got older and I needed some type of physical activity I played basketball, tennis, racquetball, golf, 16 inch softball (a Chicago thing), Taekwondo, anything that didn't involve the boring non-competitive repetitiousness of either running (for younger people) or the ultimate in old person exercise, walking.   So I have to ask myself what brought about this transformation from a die-hard win at all costs competitor to a laid back in for the serenity and cardio workout walker?  My answer to this question, like the answer to so many other questions in my life lately, is that I matured.

     When I make a statement like this it might seem that I am somehow condemning of or condescending toward the life that I previously lead that found me challenging anyone in any type of sports related activity, regardless of the pretty important fact concerning if I had any talent or previous experience in the exercise.  I used to be a real hard edge (notice my clever euphemistic wording) about sports.  I hated to lose much more than I loved to win.  And overall that lifestyle served me well.  I stayed in relatively good condition, it kept me social (something I struggle with when I have to be the initiator, I'd rather just play Sudoku), and it has always been the source of my "swag". I really cringe when I hear young parents debating the merits of sports for their kids.  It's the greatest experience that they can give to their children, but that is a topic for another day.  There is something innately hardwired into most people (guys anyway), that drives us to compete.  But in our society the competition isn't as primal as fighting for food or some woman that we might know, it's in some form of sport.  We have devised organized games that allow guys to use various sets of skills, physical prowess, and mental acuity to symbolically dominate another guy or groups of guys by besting them without actually harming them.  There is nothing as exhilarating as winning, just ask Charlie Sheen.  But there is also nothing more humbling than losing, especially when you've lost after performing at your best.  And humility is both virtuous and motivating.  There really is no shame in losing when "you've left it all on the field", but believe me it doesn't feel like there is no shame in it at that moment.  I can only speak with any authority for myself but I've tried harder to get better because of how it felt to lose than because of how it felt to win.  I don't think this plays the same if we are talking about competing in science projects or piano recitals.  It's not that those activities can't be competitive and fantastic learning experiences, but without the physicality aspect I don't think the win or loss reaches the inner soul of a guy.  And here is the key, you don't have to be good.  You just compete at a level that is appropriate with your skills.  Find someone a little better than you, someone a little worse, and someone at your level and go at it.

These were the "baddest" (80's vernacular meaning "the best") shoes around.

     But I don't really compete at anything much anymore.  Oh I have a couple of games of "Words with Friends" going all the time and occasionally I'll let a couple of friends drag me around a golf course, but no leagues, no standing tennis matches, my sparing gear is collecting dust in the basement, and I don't even own a pair of basketball shoes anymore (except for the ones that I saved from high school).  So what happened, did I just get too old to be competitive?  Did I lose my "man card"?  Actually it just stopped being important to me.  When I would win it would be good, but not really that much different from when I would lose.  And  it hit me, losing no longer motivated me to get better.  Once that happened competition for me was no longer  significant because I didn't feel the need to improve.  That doesn't mean that I was so good at anything there was no room for improvement, far from it.  It just meant that I was okay with where I was and what I had done and defeating someone else or feeling the sting of defeat had very little impact on me.  At that point competing lost all relevance and pretty much took the fun out of those activities for me.

     So now I walk.  And I love it.  At first I even tried to make that a competition by buying a pedometer and tracking my mileage over time and trying to go farther, faster.  But competing with myself doesn't really motivate me either so now I walk for the shear pleasure of walking.  Exercising improves your quality of life on so many levels; physically, mentally, and spiritually.  I listen to music or an audio book and for a few hours I just let my mind wonder while my feet are on auto pilot.  I do some of my best thinking when I am walking.  And my need to compete?  Well I compete vicariously through my son and he is twice the athlete I ever was.  (key music: The Circle of Life softly begins to play while this blog fads to black.)

My main man.