As a kid I never really
understood how people chose to do what they wanted to do for a living. I mean,
sure, I was asked on numerous occasions what I wanted to do for a living. My
answers were pretty normal; a cop, an astronaut, a cowboy, batman, a sailor, an
engineer, an architect, a pilot and for a while, a deep sea diver. I guess I
got my inspiration for what I wanted to do from watching television.
I
never thought I’d be able to do some of those things and I never thought I’d
end up working in a museum. Which is what my primary occupation is. It’s pretty
cool. Matter of fact; I love my job. I don’t think there is a better job in the
world. Yet, never as a kid did I ever think I’d be managing antique toys and
toy trains for a living. Preserving a part of the past that brought so much joy
to so many children’s lives in a more innocent time in our history.
I
know where I got my love of trains from. I got the bug as a kid. I’ve even
written about it on this blog. Yet I can’t honestly remember the one person or
people who introduced me to them. Or, for that matter, many of my other
interests. Electronics, video games, horror movies, books, motorcycles and
football. Okay, the football interest comes from growing up in Green Bay and
hanging out at Lambeau Field. I’m also sure that my love for trains can be
somehow traced back to the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay as well. Yet
loving trains, real ones does not necessarily equate to learning the history of
toy trains and toys in general.
I
listen to a ton of podcasts on all sorts of topics. One of my favorites is
StarTalk Radio, hosted by Neil DeGrasse Tyson. I look forward to each and every
new episode as well as any new youtube videos that are released featuring him.
I usually learn something from what is talked about on his shows. Not to
mention, Neil is very passionate about his job and has the rare ability to
convey knowledge in an interesting, fun and well thought out manner.
He,
Neil DeGrasse Tyson, has spoken on numerous occasions on where he fell in love
with astronomy. He has also spoken of the men and women who’ve influenced him.
I’m a bit jealous of this fact. He has someone he can go back to and point at
and say “This person, right here, changed the course of my life and I am
grateful to them.” That’s pretty fucking cool.
Now,
in my life, there are a few folks I can point to and say they encouraged me to
do things. Influence me? Not really. Take my writing for example. I never would
have started unless an old shipmate of mine told me I should write. That I had
a good voice. The fact he is a writer had a bit of an influence in my life but
he did not influence my style of writing. No, it took a lot of trial and error
to get to where I am right now, and I hope I can only improve with each and
every passing sentence I put down.
I’ve
been writing this blog for five years now as well as writing some fiction and
selling some of my short stories to publishers. Which is really cool. My
daughter, my offspring, my compass needle that points to the north of my life,
took up writing over a year ago. Mostly fanfiction on the internet. Also, she’s
written several movie scripts and has even produced a couple into ten minute
shorts. Very impressive.
Today,
she sent me a text message, it read “Dad, what are some good blog sites.”
I
responded with “I use blogspot, some people use wordpress. It’s all in your
preference. Why?”
“I
want to start a blog.”
“Awesome.
What kind of blog?”
“One
like yours. A life blog.” As I read that, I teared up. Seriously. I had an
extremely intense moment of pride and honor.
Somehow,
someway, through all my fuck ups in life, I had managed to influence my
daughter to not just write fiction, but to write about life in general. To
reach out to the greater world and share her views and experiences in life with
little or no filter.
Mr.
Jefferson, the third president of this country once was quoted as saying “The
earth is for the living.” I believe that statement to be accurate.
I
know, at my age, there is little I can do to change the world and the views of
people in and out of my life. But, to see someone of her teen years, wanting to
write, wanting to produce something of substance makes me proud. She’s not
doing the youtube videos that are so popular, or the vines, nope, she wants to
learn how to communicate with the lost art of the written word. It’s not easy.
I know.
So,
I am going to include here the link to her blog. Why? Because she’s my daughter
and she makes me proud. I hope you go and read it. I hope you understand this
is her first blog and like a lot of firsts, it’s not polished, it has grammar
errors as well as some spelling errors. Which is okay, she is learning and I’m
extremely happy she has decided to make an attempt at taking up the mantle of
so many great writers before her.
MadisonNova.blogspot.com
Have
a great week. Also, if you’re a parent, I’d love to hear of a proud parent
moment from you.
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