Although Aaron doesn't remember when or why he was asked to write the story "Snow Hiking," tonight he received an award for writing it. Each elementary school in the S-K District selected one student from each grade to receive this award; Aaron represented the kindergarten from Lee. He and I attended the awards ceremony tonight, where the guest of honor was writer Eric Kimmel (a writer of childrens books and a resident of Portland). Mr. Kimmel gave a delightful reading of his story, "The Three Cabritos." And he didn't just read his story straight-through; he paused every few pages to relate the history of how he chose the characters, the setting, the plot, and to share various techniques for writing and living a good life. I found the reading fun and educational, but I was surprised that Aaron came away with specific ideas to improve his own writing (e.g., to think about how your own experiences could translate into an interesting piece of writing). After Mr. Kimmel's reading, each student was called onto the stage to receive his or her reward and hear his or her name mangled by the poor hosts of the event.
Like 40 years ago, when I was in the fourth grade at Gubser, I received a similar honor for my first published work, "The Creatures from Saturn," which still sits on my bookshelf in the Literature section. I read this short story to the family during dinner one day this week, and boy did I have them enthralled. By the way, you can purchase a copy of my second published work, which I know is still popular and relevant as I continue to receive royalty checks in the mail every quarter.
Aging is a gradual process, so why should I worry when the clock officially tacks on another number to my age? Perhaps I should have realized that, as my peers began turning 40, and I would post half-serious questions about their experience, that I had my own issues brewing steadily in the background. I don't think I've had a birthday party since I was six, but Meg insisted on having one for me--something about 40 being a milestone or something, despite my arguments that I had done nothing significant to warrant anything--I had simply aged another year. But I conceded the point. I offered up the idea of a roller skating party--which is probably what my last party was; see, I haven't changed a bit--but I think she laughed that one out of the rink pretty quickly. I get daily emails from Groupon and LivingSocial, and they had something for a karaoke box rental. My half-Japanese side recognized something that could be fun and probably aligned with my personality. I told Meg...
Mt. St. Helens was beckoning us the whole trip I had planned on taking a vacation day the day before Meg and I were to begin our celebration of 15 years married to each other, but Meg suggested just working through the day as she had class all morning and her job to attend to in the afternoon, and then taking the next Friday off and take the kids to the pool or something. The pool? Nah, I wanted to do something memorable, something they would remember for years to come. While that may seem like a tall order for my boring-routine lifestyle, I think I may have actually pulled it off. Back to that conversation with Meg about going to the pool, I voiced my interest to go to Mt. St. Helens and camp and go on all-day hikes. Wow, that actually sounds really good; I better figure out how to make it happen. I searched semi-casually for a camping spot to reserve, but there was nothing, which wasn't surprising given the nature of the request. There were walk-in spots available, but ther...
The free-spirited, high-flying Edward has reached the golden age of 10. His teasingly-fun birth prompted me to begin this blog , so kudos to him for that. I was happy to spend the evening of his birthday dining on fried fish and mixed fruit at Red Robin and watching the Trail Blazers (his favorite player, Robin Lopez, also shares the same birthday) lose a frustrating game to the Clippers, a team who I hope ends up meeting the Blazers in the playoffs. I marvel at the potential I see in Edward and think he can impact the world in a big, positive way. He remains highly-sensitive to the needs of those around him, and is always free with time and money and sharing his things with others. He started playing the drums in the after-school band, and he continues to be a master video game player. He hopes to translate those skills to designing games some day, and whenever we have moments to walk together he shares all of his ideas for his first game (The Lost Hero), which are not few in numbe...
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