Welcome to Ishmael’s Legacy
The Final Curtain Call
I wasn’t supposed to be in the show at all. I was supposed to be on summer vacation. My daughter auditioned for two roles in the musical “Matilda,” got one of the roles she auditioned for, and my involvement was limited to dropping her off and picking her up. Given that the greatest joy about … Continue reading The Final Curtain Call
Beating Inflation 101
I have a very good friend who drives a ridiculous pick-up truck. He’s over 30, yet tricks this thing out like he’s a teenager whose dad is Jeff Bezos and he has unlimited money to burn. It has an embarrassingly loud engine, huge wheels, and performs like a dragster as he makes his way down … Continue reading Beating Inflation 101
The Truth About Abortion
Right now the story dominating headlines is, of course, the leaked Supreme Court memo indicating that come June, Roe vs. Wade will no longer be the law of the land. This really shouldn’t come as a surprise, since Senate Republican majority leader Mitch McConnell blocked President Barack Obama from appointing centrist Merrick Garland to the … Continue reading The Truth About Abortion
Cell Phone Zombies?
When I was a kid my parents had some fairly strict guidelines for me as far as how much time I could spend staring at a screen. For a lot of my childhood there were no video games and smart phones were decades away, so it was mostly about television. I was allowed to watch … Continue reading Cell Phone Zombies?
Thoughts On Resurrection
As my regular readers know, I am not the kind of person who believes things just because a bunch of other people believe them. I ask questions, I read exhaustively and study everything I can find to study and then come to my own conclusion. Even as a kid, the idea that a guy was … Continue reading Thoughts On Resurrection
America 2.0 – Reimagining Public Education
It seems like every week or so I’m being sent another article about another teacher who has quit the profession who details the many reasons for the decision. The stories are all essentially the same, and as I read them I find myself nodding along with them, laughing at times, at other times throwing my … Continue reading America 2.0 – Reimagining Public Education
America 2.0 – Reimagining Democracy
If you’re familiar with the Old Testament, you’ve at least been exposed to the Book of Exodus, in which Moses led the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt and into what they believed to be the promised land. The way of life that had evolved for the Israelites in Egypt worked quite well for their … Continue reading America 2.0 – Reimagining Democracy
The Truth About Gas Prices
For as long as I can remember I have had insatiable curiosity. When I don’t understand something I seek as many sources of information as I can find in my quest for understanding. Thankfully, and not coincidentally, my family has always been a great starting point. During the COVID-19 pandemic it was extremely helpful to … Continue reading The Truth About Gas Prices
Racism and America’s Classrooms
It seems like every time we turn around America is eating itself. In Tennessee people are burning Harry Potter and Katniss Everdeen (books) at the stake because reading about them supposedly evokes The Devil (cue Mussorgsky’s “Night on Bald Mountain”). In cities across The South former President Donald Trump is pretending he’s still President and … Continue reading Racism and America’s Classrooms
What Biden Should Admit About COVID-19
Some things really just shouldn’t be political. I understand that the American culture has become all about marketing, attention keeping and preaching to the choir, but when it comes to public health it seems like we should call a timeout. We really need our public health officials to just level with us about the latest … Continue reading What Biden Should Admit About COVID-19
Off White and the Seven Ummmm…
I had a bad feeling about this from very early on. The tipping point for me when it came to subscribing to Disney+ was the arrival of Lucasfilms’ “The Mandalorian,” but I was also looking forward to seeing the (sort of) live action version of “Lady and the Tramp.” The latter was one of my … Continue reading Off White and the Seven Ummmm…
The Myth of “Free” Money
My brother-in-law has made a habit of living with us for much of the last five years. I really don’t mind so much, as we have the room and he’s very quiet and respectful of our space. He’s been fighting cancer off and on, winning for the most part, and it’s good for him to … Continue reading The Myth of “Free” Money
The Real Magic of Harry Potter
“Happiness can be found in even the darkest of times, if only one remembers to turn on the light.” – Albus Dumbledore I will never forget the first time I encountered a lifechanging iteration of the literary template of The Hero’s Journey, or the monomyth in collegiate parlance. It was 1977, I was about to … Continue reading The Real Magic of Harry Potter
A New Christmas Story
I recently broke down and added Paramount+ to the array of streaming services we have in our household. You see, I watched as one by one the Star Trek entities beamed up from Netflix to their new mothership and we finally hit critical mass. I mean, I have all the classic series on DVD, but … Continue reading A New Christmas Story
Brief But Spectacular: Santa Claus
My daughter Riley is 10 years old and she still believes in Santa Claus. Some people look at me funny when I say that, but that’s because they haven’t met the REAL Santa Claus. Riley has. In fact, she has been visiting the real Santa every year since she was a year and a half … Continue reading Brief But Spectacular: Santa Claus
Sunrise, Sunset
For Roger Ingram on his 80th birthday. Last weekend I made something of a flying road trip from Dallas, Texas to Owensboro, Kentucky for my dad’s 80th birthday party. For a teacher in a district that struggles to find substitutes, that meant taking just one day off for a trip that meant an 11-hour drive … Continue reading Sunrise, Sunset
The Next Great American Plague
It’s no secret that the United States is in a state of frenzied, ever-widening division. It’s also no secret that social media is the top culprit in accelerating the spread of this division. If you haven’t seen the Netflix documentary “The Social Dilemma,” you should really do yourself a favor and check it out. For … Continue reading The Next Great American Plague
The Truth About Critical Race Theory
One of the hot topics in educational news these days in Critical Race Theory, which is, in essence, a study which shows that America’s legal system has systemic racism built into its very foundation. The aim of the study is to raise awareness in order to combat the issue and to work to bring the … Continue reading The Truth About Critical Race Theory
Some Real Talk About the Minimum Wage
An outsider watching American news networks would think that there is a divide the width of the Grand Canyon between our citizens on most issues. This is the natural result of the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine, which made news a for-profit enterprise instead of a public service. (For more on that, click here!) The … Continue reading Some Real Talk About the Minimum Wage
Conspiracy? Or Conspiracy Theory?
“Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” – President John F. Kennedy One of the great things about being a parent is that sooner or later your kids start asking the right questions – the ones you’re hoping they will ask, but don’t actually want … Continue reading Conspiracy? Or Conspiracy Theory?
Rational Adulting is Getting Harder
My 10-year-old daughter is an aspiring Broadway stage actress. It may sound like just a kid’s childhood fantasy, like playing professional sports or being President, but she takes her dream very, very seriously. When she starts a new show she doesn’t just read through the script, she devours it, highlighting her lines, underlining choreography, and … Continue reading Rational Adulting is Getting Harder
The Real Reason for Record Unemployment
Full disclosure, I have never been one to fully immerse myself in pop culture phenomena. Perhaps it’s because at a very young age my dad instilled in me that “because everyone else is doing it” was not a reasonable impetus for doing something. Perhaps it’s because my parents infused in me a strong penchant for … Continue reading The Real Reason for Record Unemployment
Facebook is Not the Problem with America
There is a growing consensus that the root of America’s divisiveness problem is social media giant Facebook. The most-viewed documentary in the history of Netflix (and if you haven’t seen it, you really should) is “The Social Dilemma,” which digs deep into how the major social media platforms have grown into the equivalent of Frankenstein’s … Continue reading Facebook is Not the Problem with America
The Lost History
Do we live our lives remembering a past that didn’t actually exist? “Where I’m from we believe in all sorts of things that aren’t true. We call it history.” – The Wizard of Oz – Wicked A couple of weeks ago a colleague recommended that I read Wright Thompsons’s book, entitled Pappyland: A Story of … Continue reading The Lost History
Special Education: Handicapping America
I have spent much of my adult life working with special needs kids, in one way or another. I’ve tutored and taught mildly disabled students and now work with severely disabled students, and throughout that spectrum I have found kids to be delightful, loving and appreciative, for the most part. The best thing about special … Continue reading Special Education: Handicapping America
Armchair Quarterbacking Afghanistan
One of the world’s favorite pass times is sports. In America it tends to be football, in many other parts of the world it’s soccer, and in some places it’s even cricket. No matter what your favorite sports may be, your second favorite pass time is probably armchair quarterbacking. This is the wonderful phenomenon that … Continue reading Armchair Quarterbacking Afghanistan
Is It Time to Mandate Vaccines?
One of the most celebrated authors in the history of British literature is none other than Charles Dickens. Perhaps most famous for A Christmas Carol, which has been made into countless movies, he also wrote such classics as Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, A Tale of Two Cities, and Bleak House. What you find consistently in … Continue reading Is It Time to Mandate Vaccines?
Seashells and Waterfalls
I am a huge fan of video games, going way back. When I say “way back,” I mean I can remember the first time I saw a Pac-Man arcade machine and the immediate addiction that ensued upon insertion of that first quarter. That was before there were video arcades with dozens of machines lined up … Continue reading Seashells and Waterfalls
The Order In Which It Was Received
Summer has always been my favorite time of year. As a teacher, it means I have a few weeks off work, but even when I wasn’t a teacher I dearly loved the hot summer days, warm and breezy nights, the smell of neighborhood barbecues and freshly mown grass, days spent at the pool and enjoying … Continue reading The Order In Which It Was Received
Social Media Is NOT News
Lin Manuel-Miranda is a musical genius. If you don’t know, you better ask somebody. After watching and listening to “Hamilton” dozens of times I read the book by Ron Chernow that inspired the musical and I was blown away by Miranda’s ability to take complex relationships and situations and boil them down to a few … Continue reading Social Media Is NOT News
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Ishmael's Legacy 