Morning Music…
Posted in Music
Blind Melon – No Rain
Month: March 2026
Morning Music…(two today)
Posted in Music
Cracker: Happy Birthday to Me
The Vandals: Happy Birthday to Me
My Morning Routine (Not That Anybody Asked)…
Posted in Sharpen the Saw
Nobody asked for this, but that has never stopped me before.
I’ve fallen into a pretty consistent morning routine, which is either a sign of discipline or that I’m slowly becoming my father. Jury’s still out.
First thing: I drink a glass of water. Hydration. Health. Also, because every article on the internet says that if you don’t, you’ll die immediately.
Then I go downstairs and make coffee. Real coffee. While I drink it, I read the Bible. Yes—every single day. I’ve been doing that for about a year and three months now.
Last year I read it straight through, cover to cover. This year, I’m mixing it up—four chapters a day from different books using a reading plan (M’Cheyne plan, if you care). It makes me feel both spiritual and efficient, which is really the goal.
After that, I read the newspaper while eating something light. I also take my vitamins at this point, because apparently I’m now the kind of person who has “a vitamin routine.”
Then I get dressed and head to work early. On the drive, I listen to an audiobook. So technically, I’ve already hydrated, caffeinated, prayed, eaten, supplemented, and read the Bible, current events, and a book. I should feel good about myself by now, productive, but I’m me, so I don’t.
At work, I usually have about 45 minutes before the day starts. First up: journaling. I know. Younger me would absolutely roast current me for this. But it works. It helps me focus on gratitude, clears out the mental clutter, and gives me a few minutes of actual quiet.
Then I do the daily chess puzzle. Current streak: 215 days. At this point, I’m less interested in improving at chess and more interested in not breaking the streak and having an existential crisis.
After that, I prep for classes like a responsible adult.
I track a few of these habits, so by this point in the day, I’ve already checked off:
- Drink Water
- Read Bible
- Vitamins
- Journal
- Read a Book
Not bad for before the first period.
During my first prep period of the school day, I’ll pick up my bass guitar for at least 30 minutes. I don’t need to prep because I came in early to do that. During lunch, I do the New York Times crossword, because nothing says “relaxing break” like being humbled by a clue about a 1970s opera. During my second prep period, I go for a run a few times a week or I practice ASL.
After school, I work out and practice ASL if I can’t do them during the workday. And that pretty much wraps up all my “habits” and to-dos for the day.
Now, if this sounds like I’ve got everything dialed in and live a perfectly structured, productive life…just know this is the same person who still considers sitting on the couch the gold standard of “real free time.”
Balance.
Morning Music…
Posted in Music
Naming Rights…
Posted in Work
In the wake of the news, a CPS school is exploring changing its name from Cesar Chavez Elementary. I’m once again suggesting we do away with school names, ala NYC.
Just give them numbers.
P.S. for elementary schools and H.S. for high schools.
Start with P.S. 1 and keep going until you run out of elementary schools. Same with high schools.
I doubt the number 3 or 76 will ever be cancelled due to uncovered misdeeds (but I wouldn’t put it past Twitter or BlueSky these days).
Random Act of Kindness
Posted in Something Good
When I came to work yesterday, there was a mailer envelope on my desk with a post-it note saying “Hope this brings a smile to your face.” No name. No mailing address or return address.
Inside was a t-shirt that had a picture of an eagle and the words “Bald & Magnificent.”
It did bring a smile to my face.
I still don’t know who gave it to me. Nobody recognizes the handwriting on the note or admits to it. I wish I knew so I could thank them.
I have to admit that it meant a lot to me. I’ve been going through some things (all minor in the world) and feeling the emptiness now that I’m not actively parenting. A bit useless, a bit left behind. Anyway, someone out in the world thought of me, thought enough about me, to go out of their way (time/money) to get me something. It was just what I needed.
Whoever that was, thank you. It’s appreciated more than you know.
I will also take what it meant to me and pay that forward.
Morning Music…
Posted in Music
Professional Development BINGO…
Posted in Work
There are few things worse in education than sitting through a useless, all-day professional development session.
Yesterday’s installment? Multilingual education.
Now, to be clear, that’s not a bad topic. It’s an important one. The problem is, we already had four separate PDs on it last year. At this point, it’s not professional development, it’s professional déjà vu. I didn’t learn a single new thing. The only thing that happened was that some outside agency cashed a nice district check.
And that’s kind of the game, isn’t it?
Almost every PD I’ve attended follows the same script: bring in consultants to teach teachers how to talk to kids…as if we don’t do that all day. As if many of us don’t also have kids of our own. As if the building isn’t already full of experienced teachers, deans, and counselors who actually know our students.
But no—let’s keep feeding the consultant industry at CPS’s trough.
The real highlight, though, is always the lingo.
So for the next PD, I’m making BINGO cards for my friends. First one to BINGO wins a beer.
Squares will include:
- “Equity”
- “Seen and heard.”
- Free space “Bio break” (just say break…we can all decide if we need to use the bathroom or not)
- “Collaboration”
- “Oppression”
- “Community”
- “Thank you for sharing.”
- “Let’s unpack that.”
- “Difficult conversations”
It’s mind-numbing.
And don’t get me started on “studies show…”
Which studies? Where? Conducted by whom? Can I read them? Or are we just supposed to nod along because someone said “research-based” in a confident tone?
At some point, “studies show” just becomes an appeal to authority with a PowerPoint slide.
This mindset is how we ended up teaching reading the wrong way for years. A study showed that certain strategies helped some students with reading disabilities, and instead of using that as a targeted intervention, the system said, “Great—let’s do that for everyone.”
And now we’ve got generations of kids who struggle to decode words, don’t recognize prefixes and suffixes, and are left guessing based on context clues, like it’s a game of educational charades.
But hey, studies showed. (fantastic podcast on that issue)
The bigger issue, though, is this: I’m not sure I’m a good fit for education anymore.
I’d put it at about 70% that this is my last year.
It feels like CPS cares more about social-emotional checkboxes and graduation rates than about actually producing educated people. There’s little accountability for students to do the work—just a growing list of reasons why they can’t. Standards get lowered, expectations get softened, discipline becomes optional, and the solution is always…more spending.
More programs. More consultants. More initiatives.
Worse results.
At some point, you have to ask whether this is about education, or if it’s just a very expensive jobs program wrapped in good intentions.
Enrollment keeps dropping. Families are voting with their feet.
And the system’s response?
Demand May 1st off so students can join the union in protesting for more funding. Really.
Comfort Creep and My 60th Lap…
Posted in Old Man Yelling at the Sky
In my last couple of posts about The Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter, I talked about prevalence-induced concept change—the idea that when problems become rare, we start redefining smaller and smaller things as problems.
Closely related to that idea is another one Easter talks about: comfort creep.
Comfort creep is simple.
Once we experience a certain level of comfort, it quietly becomes the new normal.
Then we start optimizing for even more comfort.
Not because we need it.
Just because it’s available.
Air conditioning becomes climate control.
Driving somewhere means driving to the closest possible parking spot.
Waiting two days for a package becomes an unbearable delay if it isn’t delivered tomorrow.
Comfort keeps creeping upward, and our tolerance for inconvenience creeps downward.
And before long, we find ourselves complaining about things that would have seemed like science fiction luxuries a few generations ago.
The Goal: Whine Less
One thing I’ve been thinking about as I approach another lap around the sun is this:
I’d like to complain less.
Not because there aren’t real problems in the world. There are.
But because I’m increasingly aware of how often I’m complaining about things that are really just minor inconveniences.
Slow internet.
A line somewhere.
A minor plan change.
None of these is actually a problem.
They’re just moments where my expectations of comfort were slightly interrupted.
That’s comfort creep talking.
Saturday Morning Reminder
I had a small reminder of this on Saturday.
A co-worker mentioned the day before that they were speaking on a panel about Veterans in the Arts at a local college. It sounded interesting, so I went.
And it was.
Not only was the panel interesting, but I also met a few people beforehand who had incredible stories—people who had served, people who had turned their experiences into music or writing or art, people doing genuinely fascinating things with their lives.
The whole evening made me realize something.
There are amazing things happening everywhere.
Talks.
Lectures.
Art shows.
Music.
Game communities.
Sports events.
Museums.
People doing creative, interesting, meaningful things.
And most of us miss them.
Not because we can’t find them.
Because we’re sitting on the couch looking at our phones.
Coincidentally, my best friend texted me he was on a party bus to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in some small Wisconsin town. He was doing it. Out there, meeting people, having fun. More of that!
The Doom Scroll Trap
The internet has an amazing ability to make the world seem terrible and boring at the same time.
Scroll through your feed, and it looks like the entire world consists of:
- bots
- partisan rage
- people arguing
- people selling something
- people complaining about other people
That environment keeps us glued to our phones.
Which is convenient for a wide range of interests—advertisers, platforms, political operatives, and anyone who benefits from attention and outrage.
But while we’re staring at that little glowing rectangle, we’re missing something much more interesting:
the real world.
The one where people are building things, creating things, telling stories, and doing genuinely interesting work.
My “60th Lap” Plan
So one of my small goals as I head toward my 60th lap around the sun is this:
Be aware of comfort creep.
Recognize when I’m defining problems down..
And most importantly:
Spend more time doing things than scrolling about things.
This isn’t going to be a strict “less screen time” rule.
Instead, it’s going to be something more positive.
Go out and see things.
Attend things I know nothing about.
Random lectures.
Museum exhibits.
Local music.
Art scenes.
Game scenes.
Sports.
Panels.
Community events.
Whatever.
There’s an incredible amount of interesting stuff happening in the world.
It just requires one uncomfortable step:
leaving the house.
The Antidote to Comfort Creep
Comfort creep tells us to stay where things are easiest.
The couch is comfortable.
The phone is comfortable.
The algorithm serves up things we already agree with.
But the real antidote might be something simple:
Get out.
Go somewhere unfamiliar.
Talk to people.
Listen to someone’s story.
See something you didn’t expect.
Comfort might creep.
But curiosity can creep too.
And I’m hoping to let that one creep a little more this year.