Comic from 'Darth Vader and Son'

You might remember from a couple of days ago that I told you about the book, "Darth Vader and Son" that I purchased for us. Here's a comic from it that I think you'll like!

My fourth email to you

I'm posting my fourth email to you, sent via email to you today, in case you don't receive it.

Hi Kieran,

How are you doing? Hope all is going well from you. I haven’t received any of your emails since Sept. 24; I’m hoping that you could resend them to me.

I would love to hear how kindergarten is going. Do you go to all-day kindergarten? I only had to go to half-day kindergarten when I was your age. Hopefully soon you’ll be able to show me your classroom and introduce me to your teacher and friends. It’s very important for parents to be involved in their children’s schooling.

Today I’m listening to a radio program about the Beatles, called “The Beatles Years.” Sometimes we would catch it on the car radio Sunday mornings when I lived in Encinitas. The show today is about all the big things the Beatles did during the month of October.

I bet you remember the Beatles concerts we went to. Of course, they weren’t the real Beatles, but they looked and sounded a lot like them, didn’t they? They’re called “tribute bands.” There are lots of Beatles tribute bands where we live now in the Twin Cities, and once you and I are able to see one another again, I’ll take you to see some of their shows if you should like.

I bought you (well, really “us”) a new book a couple of days ago while shopping in downtown Hudson: “Darth Vader and Son,” by Jeffrey Brown. It’s a series of comics about what Darth Vader would have been like as a dad if he had raised Luke Skywalker as a little boy!

Besides being very funny, the book seemed really special to me as we both like “Star Wars.” You might also remember that one Halloween we went trick or treating together with you dressed as Luke Skywalker and me as Darth Vader. And I’m certain you'll recall all of the great light saber battles we had in which you were Luke and I was Darth!

Some of the comics might not make too much sense until you’re a daddy yourself. That's okay - I'll be sure to save the book for you to enjoy with your own little boy one day!

How is the bicycle riding come along? Have the training wheels come off yet? With school and the colder weather, I bet you don’t have as much time anymore to ride your bicycle except on weekends. There probably will be some warm days yet before Halloween sets in to ride your bicycle. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you.

What costume do you plan to wear for Halloween this year? Is your school planning a Halloween party? I always looked forward to my school’s holiday parties because you got to eat lots of different cookies, bars and cakes that the others’ kids parents made but that my own mom didn’t!

Well, that is all for now. I look forward to hearing from you and receiving your other missing emails.

Love,

Dad

New book: 'Darth Vader and Son'

I bought you (well, really "us") a new book yesterday while shopping in downtown Hudson: "Darth Vader and Son," by Jeffrey Brown. It's a series of comics about what Darth Vader would have been like as a dad if he had raised Luke Skywalker as a little boy!

Besides being very funny, the book seemed really special to me as we both like "Star Wars." You might also remember that one Halloween we went trick or treating together with you dressed as Luke Skywalker and me as Darth Vader. And I'm certain you'll recall all of the great light saber battles we had in which you were Luke and I was Vader!

Some of the comics might not make too much sense until you're a daddy yourself. That's okay - I'll be sure to save the book for you to enjoy with your own little boy one day!

During the next few weeks I'll post some of the comics from the book here for you to enjoy. I can't wait for us to get together again so we can read the book together!

Recall Scottish festival in Ventura?

Two years ago today we attended the Seaside Highland Games - a celebration of all things Scottish - in Ventura, Calif. Since you're Scottish (on your mother's side), I thought it'd be a fun festival for you to attend and learn about your heritage!

The photo at right shows you standing by your family emblem. You're a descendant of the Clan MacDonell of Glengarry (a branch of Clan Donald).

The big thing that you really enjoyed at the festival was the parade of bagpipe players! I lifted you up onto my shoulders so you could see the whole thing! You also liked watching the border collies herd the sheep in some of the demonstrations of old Scottish arts being held.

There was a fun little playground as well. One of them included a ramp that would slant in different directions depending on where you stood on it.

Here's a bunch of photos of us at the festival!

My years working as a teacher

You probably remember from a past entry that I mentioned I was a teacher for a few years. When I first went to college, I earned a degree in education so that I could teach English and journalism to grades 7-12. While in collegeat the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, I taught for several weeks at Park High School in Cottage Grove, Minn., under Joe Adams, the head of the English Department there.

I decided to go into journalism after graduating but then went back into teaching. From 1992-94, I taught at Deming High and Middle schools in Deming, N.M. My first year there, I was named teacher of the year at the middle school thanks to an essay written by one of my best students ever, Chris Martin Briseno.

I then moved back to my home state of Wisconsin and taught at Merrill Middle School. I mainly taught English to eighth graders. During that time, I earned a master's degree in education at UW-Stevens Point. In 1999, though, I went back into newspapering.

Remember the Pumpkin Festival?

Pumpkin Festival 2010

Two years ago today we attended the Pumpkin Festival at Lombardi Ranch in Santa Clarita, Calif. It was a Saturday, a little warm even for California, and we had a great time!

You got to walk through straw bale mazes, touch and feed llamas, goats and a calf at the petting zoo, took a tram ride through the corn maze with its scarecrows, and played on an old fire engine. We even brought home a pumpkin for Halloween!

I always liked to go to the Pumpkin Festival because with autumn and its farm setting it reminded me of the Midwest where I grew up. But given the vegetables sold at the market there and the heat, it definitely was a California experience!

One neat thing about us now both living in the upper Midwest is that there are tons of autumn and Halloween festivals to go to. I can't wait to take you to a whole bunch of them next year when (hopefully!) we finally can be together again.

Some good advice on succeeding

Today I read a great quotation by the Chinese philosopher Confuscius: "Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall."

There is no shame in failing, Kieran. Often we lack the knowledge or skills necessary to succeed, but rarely do we ever know what we need to understand or master a chllenged until we've tried it and come up a little short. Failing is way of learning. For example, did you know that Thomas Edison tried 999 times to invent the light bulb but failed each time? On the 1000th time, he finally figured out what was wrong and got it right!

Today, no one thinks of Thomas Edison as a "failure." Instead we think of his great successes (inventing the light bulb as well as dozens of other inventions, such as the ability to record electronically). Arguably, though, he failed many, many more times than he succeeded.

What would have happened if Thomas Edison had quit, if he'd never rose again every time he failed? No one would know who he was. And maybe we wouldn't have the light bulb today!