On New Newsletters (Eventually)
Writing beyond the classroom.
I once read something from The Onion ten years ago. It featured a blogger with a small audience who gave a tear-drenched post about how he didn’t blog for a while and how he let his (counts) ten readers down.
Well, I’m not there, but I did feel like a short post, since my tagline says I try to post weekly.
When the school year ended, I had ideas all mapped out for the summer like a sterling sparkling curriculum map. What were those rough goals? (Glances to a sticky note on the desk.)
1. I wanted to finish the dozen or so posts just simmering in my blog folder. I’d use the results a second post each week.
2. I wanted to use Substack to draft ideas for upcoming conferences. Specifically, I’d like 10,000-15,000 words on one topic before presenting at the AMLE Conference in Nashville in November.
3. I wanted to finally tackle a series called “English as a Fine Art” where I propose a different framework for secondary English. (My post “Fast Food Workers of the Mind” was an appetizer with a different metaphor.)
Sadly, uh, none of that has happened so far. After my wife’s maternity leave ended, I’ve learned why mommy bloggers exist. My grandpa died after three long months in hospice, so at least a week was spent meditating on his eulogy. And then there’s just using summer for recovery.
And I’m not quite complaining. Word counts take second place to the only summer I’ll get with my first child as an infant. Hospice was the last time I would spend with my grandpa. And frankly, if you refuse to rest during the summer, if you refuse the occasional nap and movie “just because,” then you spend the next year running through waist-high water.
I think I’m just… adjusting.
This spring I watched my son born and this summer I watched my grandpa die. Essays are allowed to age in the wooden barrels of notes. That’s fine. Sometimes the best thing you can do is simply stare at the ceiling. Enjoy those moments where absolutely nothing happens. Reflect and catch your breath.
This week my little boy turns four months old. His toothless, gummy grins shine brighter than any sun I’ve seen. He twiddles his little hands and actually plays with toys. He will roll halfway, and I’ve been working to help him roll over all the way and be comfortable on his belly. Speaking of that, he coos and babbles and tries reading along to books. It’s so adorable sometimes I just can’t stand it.
(I wasn’t going anywhere with that last paragraph. I just wanted to say something happy.)
So the title. I started this blog in part to better flesh out ideas I’ve presented at teaching conferences. That and I’ve compulsively filled notebooks about education in my ten plus years, and I’d like to throw out ideas to anyone who would find them useful.
But not all my ideas are “on topic.” Many times I’ve started posts, only for my wife to be the voice of reason and remind me that they don’t fit the stated purpose.
So soon, when life calms a little, I’d like to start a second newsletter. This is no different than a YouTuber making a second channel, and this really isn’t a big deal, but I’d like to keep the education blog about education and the other blog about life and culture.
No politics.
(But I might devote a post to why both parties are horrible and we’re all brainwashed to vote for the lesser of two evils in a one party system, but I digress. Right now my politics are the 2004 South Park episode on the presidential election. Okay, I really digress.)
This might impact posting on this blog, but everything must fit to its proper category. Again, not a big deal whatsoever, but when that second newsletter arrives, I wanted some warning at least.
At least I have Notes so far as previews:
So when that second newsletter starts, be sure to like and hit the Subscribe button. Maybe some day I’ll be big enough to present an ad for Raid Shadowlegends or something. Do an ad for all-natural dog food, even though I don’t have a dog. Do an ad for Jeremy’s Razors. Or run my own ads saying the testing companies abuse children. Wait wut?
I’ll end with a song that’s been stuck in my head lately…
Post Script
What will this new blog be? Maybe Spacecat and Windows 95 themed, but featuring side dishes?
