one of these days

 The only class I didn't pass in my entire educational career was 9th grade English. I failed that class because I failed to submit a required piece of classwork. At the very beginning of the year, we were told to select a topic to write a paper on. This paper was to include footnotes. All I remember about that was we had the entire school year to get that done and I didn't. Oh, I threw something together in the last week of school and it was pretty obvious. Fail! Yup, I failed the whole year on account of that and it was my fault, no one else's. So, the next school year I took 9th and 10th grade English. I passed them both.

 I thought about that as I sat down to write my morning essay. I feel like that is what my blog really is, essays. I thought how strange that is. When I was in school, I always dreaded the essay questions. Multiple choice was the preferred format. If you were unsure of the answer at least you had a one in four chance of being lucky. Essays however required some thought. And, in most cases, you had to know what you were talking about. Today I write an essay nearly every day. I guess the difference is, I don't have to know what I'm talking about, I can just talk. I'm not getting a grade. I might get judged, well I do by some, happens all the time, but I can't get a failing grade. But I take that as any reaction is a good reaction, at least they are reading, and there is hope for them. I'm doing my part; the rest is up to them. 

 Essays have fallen somewhat out of fashion in the modern world. It's pretty sad really but Twitter gets most of the attention. As a people we have become lazy. Go on social media and post a lengthy post as proof of that. We all tend to scroll on down when we see that. We have become so lazy that acronyms replace our words so often some don't really know what the acronym stands for in the first place! It's a sort of pet peeve of mine. The use of acronyms doesn't impress me, doesn't make me feel like you are smarter, it just means you are too lazy to spell it out. That is especially true when you are speaking to those outside your area of expertise. Don't expect others to understand that jargon. I'm impressed when you explain it to me. 

 Most people famous for their essays are famous for something else, mostly novelists. Can you name any essayist? I couldn't until Google came to the rescue. Of course, then I have to go elsewhere to fact check that information. A lot depends on what library you are using. I suspect that has always been true. What I mean is, in the old days I'm certain the libraries in one nation differed from those in another, it all depends on who is writing the information down. Whether it is a historian, a novelist or an essayist, the story will have differences. It is something we hear a lot about today. There is even a name for that Alternative Facts. You have to love that turn of a phrase. It's like saying the water is dry. It's an alternative fact. Lots of those these days.

 I have started writing a book, I think about completing that. I get excited about it, then lose interest. My mind wanders off in another direction. I did assemble a very small volume of my poetry. I wrote them, bound them, and gave them as Christmas gifts to my grandchildren. You might say they are limited editions. I have the first edition on my bookshelf. Lately I have been thinking about just selecting some of my blogs and putting them together in a book of essays. The issue there is selecting the ones I would include. I have posted in excess of 4300 essays. I certainly don't remember them all and I don't have enough time to read them all again! I need an editor! What theme should I select? They should center on a theme, shouldn't they? I named my blog random thoughts because that is what I feel they are. The memories contained in them are sometimes random as well. You know how that is, one thing reminds you of another. 

 You know I had the same problem in the ninth grade, I just couldn't decide on a topic. That's why I didn't get it done. That's what I've been telling myself since 1967! I don't believe that requirement was in place the next year of ninth grade English, I had a different teacher. Back in those days the teacher really did have quite a bit of latitude in what was taught and class requirements. It was also his/her decision to make. If you failed, you failed! There was no appeal process, no, it isn't fair. You either passed or failed. Truth was, I was lazy, I kept putting it off. I received the grade I had earned. I keep putting my book off too. Guess some things just never change. Are you putting anything off? Something you figure to get done some day? Yeah, one of these days. I'll get it done.