Poe at 200

Today marks the 200th birthday of Edgar Allan Poe, the first great writer America produced. This date and this writer are special to me because Alyse and I went to Poe's grave in Baltimore on our very first date. We returned on Poe's 179th birthday seven weeks later. The Poe 'toaster' was several hours ahead of us.

Mr. Nerd

Friday morning, the temperature outside was 12 degrees. I had to run by Esther's school for Awards Day at 8:30, and then I needed to go work out. When I dressed for the morning, my objectives were to stay warm and go straight from the school to the gym.

Proud Daddy watched as Esther received her award for making all A's last semester. Of course, all the fifth graders received an award for something, but I think Esther's hard work and her A's were special.

Just as the ceremony ended, I headed toward Esther to give her a big hug and tell her how proud I was. She greeted me with, "Daddy, you look like a nerd!"

After being taken aback for just a moment, I thought of my reply: "I've reached a point in my life when I no longer care if I look like a nerd." That's at least partly true.

I walked out toward my cold car and suddenly remembered the great moment in the film In the Heat of the Night when the racist sheriff confronts the African-American detective by asking what they call him up in Philadelphia. Sidney Poitier's pitch perfect reply is, "They call me MISTER TIBBS."

My ego can handle my daughter criticizing my nerdish attire so long as she remembers that it's "Mr. Nerd" to a whole generation of students I've taught as well as my talent and skill allowed.

Inaugural Addresses

This New Yorker article asks the question "Have Inaugural Addresses been getting worse?" and then gives an interesting account that runs from Washington to the present. Lincoln probably gave the best inaugural -- not once, but twice -- while William Henry Harrison may have given the most consequential (Harrison purportedly caught a cold during his two hours of oratory, and he died a month later).

I learned a lot about President James Abram Garfield, who had been President only a few months when he was shot. Poor doctoring may have led to Garfield's death almost 80 days later.

Garfield was an extremely accomplished man. He was an ordained minister, a teacher, a Civil War general, a mathematician, and the only man in U.S. history who was simultaneously a U.S. Representative, Senator-elect, and President-elect. Legend still holds that he could write in Latin with one hand while he simultaneously wrote in Greek with the other. More's the pity the nation didn't have a chance to see exactly what our 20th President could have done.

A New President

I was watching television with Ezra, my five year old, when a news clip ran of the 44th President. Ezra said, "Daddy, I know who that is."

Curious, I asked, "Ezzie, who is it?"

"That's The Rock Obama."

Solid, indeed.