Michael T. Miyoshi's Blog, page 46

Christmas Traditions

Adoration of the Shepherds
by the Dutch painter Gerard van Honthorst, 1622
This work is in the public domain.

I cannot believe Christmas is already here. Where has the time gone? And where have the traditions gone?

And the angel said, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothing a...

My Fantasy Football Fantasy

My fantasy football fantasy went down the drain with no fanfare at all. It was quite the fiasco.

If you have been reading my blog for very long, you know that I won our fantasy football championship a couple years ago. It was great. Bragging rights and a trophy sitting in my room at school for a whole year. Plus, my name written on said trophy for all eternity. And, of course, a blog post or two thrown in for good measure. Fun stuff.

This year, I was hoping to do it again. In fact, I thought...

Which Which?

Publicity photo of American actress, Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch of the West in the 1939 MGM feature film The Wizard of Oz
This work is in the public domain.

Which witch is which witch?

I always liked that little tongue (or brain) twister. Mainly because you need to enunciate. You need to say each word cor-rect-ly. The “wh” sound is not like the “w” sound. “Which witch is which witch?”

Besides being a tongue twister though, it is also a brain twister. (I can just imagine people’s b...

Parenthood

It seems like parenthood ought to get easier as time goes by, but as I have experienced it so far, it just seems to get more difficult.

I always thought that our worries would be over when the kids leave the nest. Now that the first one is gone and the middle one is on his way out, I cannot imagine how I was so naïve. The older they get, the more stress they seem to cause us. Or maybe that is just me.

Part of the problem with older children is that they are not children anymore. They do not...

What a Great Day

Today is a very special day. It is today. I know. That sounds a little Pollyannaish, but I intend to make it a great day. After all, it is not what happens to you, it is how you react to what happens to you that matters. And as one of my friends says when quoting one of his coaches, “You gotta make it a great day.”

I like to say that any day your feet hit the ground is a great day. After all, think about the alternative. Your feet could be under the ground. Along with your whole body. Or if...

Saying No to NaNoWriMo

Image courtesy of National Novel Writing Month.

NaNoWriMo is a great idea, but I just have to say, “No,” to it again.

For those who do not know, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, which is November. It is a month for those who say they want to be writers to actually get a kick start to that writing. It is a month for them to actually do what they say they want to do. It is a month for them to write 50,000 words. Just thirty days. To write an entire novel. Seems crazy. I have...

Veterans Day 2017

Joseph Ambrose, an 86-year-old World War I veteran, attends the dedication day parade for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in 1982.
This work is in the public domain.

When we think about Veterans Day, we often think of a day off in November. At least if we work in an industry that takes the day off. But it is so much more than that. It is a day to think of honor and sacrifice.

I am happy to say that honor is alive and well and living in our schools. At least the school where I work. We invite a...

Write and Repeat

I do not mean to do it, but sometimes I post something I wrote before. Or close.

I have plenty of inventory as far as blog posts go (at least right now), but for some reason I just posted something very similar to something I posted a couple years ago. But I was wrong both times, apparently. Nobody is watching. Or at least nobody remembers reading my blog. Or nobody read it a couple years ago who reads it now. At any rate, few people are watching and reading. (However, the ones who do read g...

Something about Halloween

I know there are people who go crazy for Halloween. And there are those who hate Halloween. I am not at either extreme, but there is something special about Halloween for me.

I am not one of those crazy people who love Halloween (sorry if I just called you crazy). I do not plan out decorations or haunted houses or crazy getups to wear. I do not even dress up to answer the door for trick-or-treaters. But I do like Jack.

I have no idea where Jack o’Lantern came from, but I like the whole thoug...

Somebody Else Is Always Watching

I know that Big Brother and Big Business are always watching me, but there are others who always watch me too. My children.

If you have kids, you know that they may or may not listen to you. Ever. And yet, they end up just like you whether you want them to or not. That is because, while it may not seem like they are listening, they are. And more importantly, they are watching.

Like Sting sang with The Police:

Every breath you take.
Every move you make.
Every bond you break.
Every step you ta...