While joining the rest of the world in mourning Pope Francis, there has also been another Francis weighing heavy on my heart and mind these past two weeks. A few days before Pope Francis passed away, my cousin Frank succumbed to the aggressive form of brain cancer he had been fighting these past few months.
Category Archives: Life
Watching for White Smoke, Waiting for a Call
At some point in the next few weeks, my church is going to select a new leader. If called upon, I will serve to the best of my ability. If not, I will do the same.
A Mile In My Shoes
This week, turning 66, it’s shoes that are on my mind. As the poet said, we are shaped by the lessons of humanity taught to us by our elders and will be known forever by the tracks we leave. In my case, a lot of those lessons and tracks they helped shape involve shoes.
Suffering Fools Gladly
It was fun when April Fools’ Day came once a year. But what do we do to survive when every day feels like April Fools’ Day, when you’re sure that virtually every report, post, or announcement must be a joke.
Public Education as a Metaphor for Opening Day
Opening Day of the 2025 baseball season is upon us. Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack, I don’t care if I never get back! But we do have to come back; and when we do, there’s a lot of work to be done in public education. Put me in coach. I’m ready to play today!
The Fair, Reliable, & Valid Sex
In the midst of all of the current chaos and disrupted careers, I thought this a good time to step back and reflect on the question that LinkedIn has been posing at the top of my feed in honor of International Women’s Day and National Women’s History Month: Who are the women who have influenced your career?
To Every Thing There Is A Season
This week gave birth to another season of professional football. It’s the 105th season for the National Football League, the second in the league’s Taylor Swift Era, and my first without my Uncle Sal who passed away in June. I cannot think about football without thinking of him.
Writing To The Rubric: Gymnastics Edition
Order has been restored to women’s gymnastics. Team USA and Simone Biles have their gold medals. But as I watched the events unfold in Paris this week, I couldn’t help but feel that something important was missing.
Artificial Intelligence: It’s Only Human
We’ve been dealing with artificial intelligence our entire lives – but in human form. Is it really all that different this time around? Computers may complicate the issue a bit, but in the words of Pogo, “We have met the enemy and he is us.”
A Long Time Coming
Too bad I used “Party In The USA” as the title of my last post, because we are certainly partying in our part of the USA. The Boston Celtics are back on top of the basketball world – where they lived comfortably for the first three decades of my life.
Embrace the Absurd 