Who am I?
As the name implies, I’m a child of the 70’s and a geek. My wife is also a geek and she’s awesome. We are doing our best to raise 2 geek children: an 11 year old boy and a 9 year old girl. For the past 17 years, I have been a high school special education teacher specializing in the areas of learning disabilities and Autism. I currently teach Freshman Math and World History (interesting combo… luckily not at the same time). I think I used to know what boredom was… but it’s been so long since I’ve had a moment to feel it, that I may have forgotten. I love (perhaps worship… but we will get to that later) all the things a good 45 year old man-geek should love including Star Wars, The Simpsons, 80's action movies, Harry Potter (I’m a geek father so it’s required), collecting toys, fantasy books/movies, playing video games, pretending to be younger than I am, and complaining about how much better sports and music were 20 years ago.
What am I doing here?
Although I do hope to write about all of my interests, there is one driving force behind my decision to join steemit. A few years ago, during a family road trip to Disney World (our 2nd of 4... but that’s another story), I wrote a book in my head and then promptly did nothing with it. I hope steemit is a chance for me to recollect those thoughts which seemed oh so brilliant in my sleep deprived and caffeine fueled state.
The Story
Four years ago while I sat in the driver’s seat of the modern day family truckster (The Silver Honda Odyssey...I’m pretty sure proof of ownership is a requirement of the grade school registration process in every middle class American neighborhood) the rest of the family drifted off after listening to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone on CD. I had a couple of choices: stop at a hotel to get the sleep I needed or go for broke and try to cover as much distance as I could while I had complete control over everything in the vehicle. I could listen to the music I wanted (in this case The Beastie Boys), drive as far as MY bladder would allow, and most importantly I could actually think. Knowing that these opportunities are hard to come by as a dad, I chose the latter. Foregoing sleep, I kept myself awake by contemplating some pretty serious stuff. While my son and daughter snored in their seats, I started to wonder how I was going to raise 2 morally sound kids.
Then it hit me like a bludger. I’m a geek. I love pop culture. At pub quizzes, I’m a guy you definitely want on your team. I may strike out on art and geography questions, but who else is going to know that Abner Devereaux is the villain in “Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park”? Since I had already created a shrine to pop culture in my basement, why not take it to the next logical step and make it the basis for the moral lessons I needed to teach my kids?
Over the next several hours as my 2 most important responsibilities slept behind me, I tried to think of what kind of people I hoped my children would become. My wife and I knew we wanted to raise honest, caring, smart, hardworking, kind, helpful, resilient, and fun kids. But damn it is hard to teach all of that! So I decided to call on what my wife and I knew best: Pop Culture! Pop culture contains so many useful and concrete life lessons delivered in an entertaining way… as long as you know where to look. I hope this blog either gives you a place to look, reminds you of a place you've already looked but forget, or at the very least, amuses you.
And for the record, I’m not saying that I am the perfect parent who can provide a foolproof recipe for success. Heck I won’t even know if I’m an average parent until about 20 years from now.
Let’s just hope I do a better job than Han.