It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.
Why start the 21st edition of the Texas Times with Dickens? To remind us all of the fact that we are not special? That every generation has the (false) conviction that the problems it has to deal with are Oh My Gosh So Different And So Much Harder than the last? That the human condition is completely invariant to time, space, and culture? Maybe. But mainly I just hate writing introductions. Not as much as I hate writing conclusions, mind you (just ask my co-authors), but still ...
Thus begins the year in review.
Hollis – Hollis, who is now in sixth grade, spent most of the year singing. As a member of the Children’s Chorus of San Antonio, he practices about 10,000 hours a week during peak season. He also was selected to be one of four kid leads in Opera San Antonio’s production of The Fantastic Mr. Fox back in September. The opera experience was intense, but he really enjoyed it. As for the Chorus, I think we may be done with it. Not entirely positive yet, but the time commitment has gotten too great and we would sort of like for him to just be a kid for a while. I dunno. We'll see. Hollis also does piano, band (percussion), Minecraft, and Clash of Clans (not necessarily or even often in that order). He's pretty into school, which is a good thing, and finally has transitioned from Spanish Immersion (all Spanish, all the time) to Spanish Immersion Light (only Reading and Social Studies are in Spanish), which is an even better thing. Health-wise, things continue to be great. We feel incredibly blessed in that regard and appreciate your continued prayers.
Hadley – Hadley is a junior at Alamo Heights High School. She plays soccer, watches Netflix, and walks in an artistic manner across the tops of sand dunes. Her high school team was undefeated last year (her club team most emphatically was not) and was ranked in the top 15 in the nation (ditto) before losing to a team they shouldn’t have lost to (because it’s soccer) in the state tournament. It will be interesting to see how things go this season, as three key players graduated. She’ll begin serving her two-month sentence of SAT prep in January, which will also coincide with the beginning of soccer season. While those activities undoubtedly will seriously compromise her progress in both Criminal Minds and Grey’s Anatomy, I imagine she will manage a full recovery during Spring Break. She continues to be a good kid who likes us and stays out of trouble (knock on wood). Five semesters down, three to go …
Hunter – Hunter graduated from high school in May and managed to survive his first semester at Trinity. Apart from being in Chamber Singers, periodically hosting a late-night Indie show as part of his university radio station internship (of course he absolutely hates Indie music), and prowling around campus with a tripod like a complete dork (Digital Photography class), we’re not real sure what he did with his time … but he enjoyed himself. He's totally stoked about this spring’s two-course Method and Meaning of Medieval Metalwork sequence (one studio / one lecture). No, I did not make those courses up and yes, this is a top-ranked liberal arts university. I suspect that everything else will go by the wayside, but if the zombie (or any other) apocalypse comes and you need some chain mail, he just might be your guy. Spoiler Alert: One of Hunter's Christmas gifts this year is a gen-yoo-wine Medieval morning star head that I picked up from an antiquities dealer in England. All he has to do is fashion a wooden shaft and he will be ready to do battle ... while playing accordion and riding a unicycle, obviously.
Us – Paige and I celebrated 25 years of marriage on the 16th of December. Seems forever ago and also just like yesterday [doffs Hat of Triteness]. I could be really gushy and obnoxious and all, but instead I’ll just say that it has been both awesome and Providential, because clearly I've done nothing in my 47 years on this planet to "deserve" it. In other news, we've made a bit of headway with some important initiatives in the now-one-year-old School of Business here at Trinity. The jury is still out on whether the university is going to take Business seriously, but I would say that we are cautiously optimistic. OK, Paige is cautiously optimistic. I try not to think about it. But this year's Master's class is good and I'm having fun with them. That is worth a lot. We like San Antonio fine and the kids love it here. The city itself is far too big for me (truth be told, Mayberry would be too big for me), but 78209 is a bit of an oasis in the middle of it all. It certainly could be a lot worse.
Random Stuff
Best Joke – Question: How are our San Antonio house and our old College Station house alike? Answer: They both have the same owners!!! No, our College Station
house still hasn’t sold, nor has it been rented since Coach Sumlin moved out
almost two years ago. Our realtors have done an incredible job of taking pictures of the house, posting the pictures on the Internet, and hoping that somebody who is interested randomly stumbles upon the listing and asks to schedule a showing (i.e., doing what all realtors do) but so far, the planets have not aligned in our favor. The mortgage will reach its 15-year terminus in 33
months, so the end of the bleeding is at
least in sight. If it hasn’t sold by June, though, our three years are up and we lose the capital
gains tax exemption. So … if for whatever reason you decide that you absolutely
cannot stand the thought of not owning a six-bedroom house in Aggieland,
I’ve got a deal for you: http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/4901-Firestone-Dr-College-Station-TX-77845/50332958_zpid/ If you can make it happen by Spring Break or so, we might take the family to England for the month of June. If you don't, we'll take them to San Antonio ("uggghhh ... again, Dad???"). This may be Reagan's last summer at home. As you ponder, think of him.
Best Legislation – San Antonio has decided to begin assessing fines of up to $200 for any driver seen holding a cell phone. I’ve been lobbying to expand that ordinance beyond the automobile and into all public
(and private) places, but so far my proposal hasn’t gotten much traction. I've also suggested that if they are REALLY serious about prohibiting cell phone usage by drivers, they should simply require that everyone drive a manual transmission car. Again, crickets. And no, I still don't have a smart phone. I think that may be my last bastion of smugness. Everybody has something, right? Red-wine knowledge, marathons, organic produce, kid achievements, art house films, yoga, grammar (OK, maybe I have two bastions of smugness), recyclable grocery bags, greek yogurt. I just happen to revel in flip phone superiority. When I told one of Hadley's best friends about that last year, she said "Seriously???? How do you do email??" My response that I use a computer was met with stunned silence.
Best Video – I have a new entry in my Top 10 Movies of All-Time list. It is called About Time. If you have kids (particularly young kids), you should watch it about once a week for the rest of your life. I am not even kidding. Even if you don’t have kids, the movie is highly recommended. Apart from that, this year’s series recommendations come entirely from the BBC – Lark Rise to Candleford (five seasons), Cranford (two seasons, sort of), and Monarchy (four seasons, sort of). The latter is a 16-part documentary tracing the English monarchy (duh) from the Dark Ages & Alfred the Great through the present time. The first 11 episodes are available streaming via Amazon Prime or Netflix, but if you don't want to be left hanging after the Stuarts and Cromwell -- and OMG who would???!! -- you'll have to buy the DVD set. On the off chance that you completely ignored me in 2012, I’ll also (re-) suggest that you check out Father Ted and One Foot in the Grave.
Best Audio – This year’s high points were Ghost, by Kate Rusby (for the uninitiated, Kate is my favorite
artist of all time and space); Bass and Mandolin, by Chris Thile and Edgar
Meyer; Times Go By Turns, by New York Polyphony; and Brother Sinner & The
Whale, by Kelly Joe Phelps. I’ve also spent the past few months rather
significantly immersed in Medieval and Renaissance music. In case you're wondering, no, that doesn’t make me any younger / sexier. Note: If you are into Chris Thile (how can you NOT be??), you will be pleased to hear that Punch Brothers have a new release scheduled for January.Best Almost Gift – A week or so ago, I read where the Texas A&M University Regents were calling a special meeting to vote on renaming the Academic Building -- the 100 year-old centerpiece of the TAMU campus -- after Rick Perry. Dead serious. I told Paige at the time that I could not imagine receiving a better Christmas present. Unfortunately, Mr. Perry caved a day later (presumably as a result of some sort of potential public opinion backlash) and told the Regents that on second thought, he didn't want to have the building named after him. Despite the cruel head fake, I was very much encouraged to see that the university's leadership continues to be as visionary as ever.
In closing, I offer the following bit of wisdom, straight from the mouth (and brain) of Hunter. Sampras, our rabbit, hates the music of Ray Charles. This has been tested. If you have a pet rabbit, be careful with its playlists.
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Joyous Whatever Else!
God Bless,
Mike (twitter @reclusivecodger)
Paige (facebook)
and the gang
