And so it begins...

Paul surveys the beach, dips his toe in the water, maybe goes shin-deep...

Tap-tap-tap…is this thing on?…tap-tap…

Let’s get this show on the road.

My name is Paul. I like to write. The first writing I remember doing was a story called “The Dancing Monkey” in first or second grade. The plot was about a monkey who wouldn’t stop dancing, and the other animals decided he needed to stop, so they had him play football—and that’s where the wacky hijinks began.

Bill, a classmate of mine, laughed because he thought the title was dumb. He laughed at my expense for at least 5 minutes. But where’s your Substack, Bill? Boom!

Writing has meant poetry, one unpublished novel, a longtime website about my travels to baseball parks (it lives here as of this writing, but I may shut it down and re-post the material here here sporadically), a daily letter to a friend or family member every day for the last four-plus years—that one was life-changing.

I also had and loved a couple of old blogs. I have abandoned both. The one on sports officiating (which had an earlier precursor) sort of fell by the wayside, and won’t be coming back (I refereed my last HS basketball game in February), but I love sports officials and will likely have occasional thoughts about the pariah du jour as they arise.

I had another one for about 7 years: it popped up when blogs were in fashion (2004) and I kept at it until 2009 ended. I stopped because social media (Facebook) started being my outlet for thinking and because I had a kid that year. I just looked at it again and realized my relationship with the internet is different now. Almost immediately, I found stuff that I wouldn’t write today.

But I miss the long-form stuff. And I am finding I have a ton of thoughts about some things, presented here roughly in the order I anticipate talking about:

—Instructional Coaching, especially. I’m starting year 6 of that this year, and I’d like to see about finding some like-minded thinkers on here. How do we maximize what teachers and students can do? What should that coach/teacher relationship look like? How about coach/principal? I won’t be able to get terribly specific, since I value confidentiality a ton, but I would love to share stuff here.

—Education in general. I am fascinated by what we learned—and unlearned—during the pandemic, and what “normal” means now.

—The Seattle Mariners. Been a fan since 1996 when I moved to Washington—was in Seattle until 2007, then moved to beautiful Vancouver, Washington (the Vancouver which has never hosted an Olympic Games) because I could afford a house there. I miss Seattle, sometimes fiercely, but still get up there at least once a month during baseball season to continue my sick, sad relationship with this team.

—Parenting. Kids are 14 and 12. I respect their confidentiality, too, but man, parenting is tough and joyous and interesting. You may see some stories here.

—Ballpark travel. I have been to all 30 active MLB parks and 20 that aren’t used anymore, and have written about my experiences at each. I have now been to minor-league ballparks in 42 of the 50 states—that frivolous life goal of getting to all 50 is so close I can taste it. My plan is to transfer the writing from there to here over time and to write about new ballpark experiences as they arise.

—Other stuff. The stuff I blogged about in my 30s. I could still blog about that in my 50s, too. Within reason. (My George W. Bush rants probably are no longer that interesting.)

In any event, I’m going to see how I can make this a part of my life. I like writing, and this may be a place to do it.

Welcome aboard. Let me know you’re here, okay?