Sunday, September 30, 2012

Keeping the Past from Disappearing

Lack of time and atrophied writing skills have discouraged me from starting a blog. But this seems like a good way to record some thoughts and experiences before they disappear from memory. I have no illusions of attracting a significant number of readers; that's not the point. This is a place to prevent too much of the past from disappearing, and perhaps to share a little bit of my life with a few people.

I was surprised to find so many possible website addresses for the blog already taken. I was even more struck by how many of these blogs had one only post or none at all. I mean, if you're going to take up a good blog web address, at least use it, right?

But to be honest, I wrote the above two paragraphs on January 10 and just took this up again today. So, yeah, I've been one of those non-writers. Ironically, as part of my job at Lafayette College, I oversee a student blogging website, and I'm always reminding my students to write because it's been too long since their last post. Let's hope none of them stumble across this!

How does anyone find the time to write a personal blog anyway? Between work, family, church/volunteering, a little bit of exercise and a little bit of TV to relax, I don't get enough sleep (like most everyone), much less have time for a blog. But let's see if I can manage my time better and write here from time to time.

A little background: I'm 41, married to the most beautiful woman on earth, Janine, and have a 10-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son. We live in the College Hill neighborhood of Easton, Pa., where Janine and I graduated from Lafayette College.

Janine works part-time advising the international students at Lafayette and enjoys cooking, Japanese culture, Disney World, and the TV show Lie to Me, among many other interests. She loves her work with the students and does so much to make their lives better.

Isabelle began at Easton Middle School and loves reading, anime, and spending time on the computer, where's she's started and abandoned three blogs herself (guess you know where she gets it from).

Oliver is in first grade and began playing soccer on a team this fall after playing baseball in the spring. He loves playfighting with me and our dachshund, Rupert.

This year I joined the elder board and the missions committee of the church I've attended since 1993, Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Easton. I started and led a two-church ministry to a Burmese refugee family for its first 14 months in the United States, after which they moved. I enjoy playing basketball, reading comic books, and watching superhero cartoons with Oliver. I work at Lafayette as associate director of website and video content. Previously, I worked at a newspaper company and then a magazine company in writing and editing capacities.

Thanks for reading my first blog post. I'm sure you're in select company.

2 comments:

  1. Good luck, Dave! Remember, it's not so much about frequency, but a consistency of purpose to the blogging. Sounds like a good start!

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  2. It's good to see you writing. I've found that writing is a very good way to just dump out your thoughts and clear your head. Things are much calmer without dozens of half-formed thoughts buzzing around in my head. On a related, I've found the best way to keep the past from disappearing is to pay more attention to the present. Often I'll get to the end of a day and ask myself "What have I done today?" and have a long pause before I can think of anything worthwhile. I find that question is easier to answer if I take a break every few hours, think about what I've done and how it affects what I'm going to do next. That way I can at least try to maintain a coherent narrative of my day and I'm hoping that will grow into an equally coherent narrative of my life.

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