What If...

...We could freeze time, make it stand still, back it up, replay our lives?

I realize that if the human race survives the climate changes that are coming on this planet, by a century from now, that question will probably seem naive. But stuck here in the present, when the problem of time remains unsolved, it's a way to focus attention on the only two parts of time we have any control over -- the present, and our view of the past.

It's a Saturday night, which means I am alone. Ever since my last girlfriend left me, abruptly, a ways back, my Saturday nights have become empty of human company, and therefore time slots open to fill however I wish to fill them.

Back when she was still hanging around, we'd go to movies and eat meals out, the typical things couples do. Sometimes, we'd take in a live performance; or stay home, cook and watch TV.

Just like everyone else.

But for more months than I care to count now, Saturday nights are nights only for me to be with me.

Tonight, in that spirit, I have decided to revisit my childhood and make this a hockey night.

Unless you hail from the frozen north, hockey is probably not one of your passions. But I hail from that frozen north, so it is one of mine.

Accordingly, I'm watching my college team, the Michigan Wolverines, play hockey on TV, and soon, I'll watch my professional heroes, the Detroit Red Wings, in a second game.

It's just like being a kid again, back home in Detroit and Bay City. Me and my dad, and maybe my sisters, watching hockey. My Canadian dad.

A long time ago and a long way away. Some things change. Others don't. You can take the kid our of Michigan, his dad can die, his sisters can live far away, but you can't take Michigan (or hockey) out of the kid.

-30-

Cutting Across the Night Sky

This is the time of year we generally get our most spectacular sunsets. As the west turned orange and yellow last night, and the kids were doing their homework, I watched a jet cut across the sky last night at sundown.

It's been a week of long meetings and frequent phone calls, as the start up I'm helping start up begins starting up. These are frantic periods with all kinds of details that need to be managed, and surprises both good and not so good.

Anyone who thinks entrepreneurs like those active in the Bay Area these days have it easy haven't tried it themselves. The only thing easy about this process is failure; It's quite easy to fail.

Thus, success, under such terms, is sweet indeed.

Stay tuned.

-30-

Math Homework, Ugh

Whenever I work with my kids on math, I invariably confront the gap between where they are coming from and where I am coming from. This is hard for me, because math is a secondary, not a primary interest for me.

Words and stories are my primary concern, so naturally I quite easily gravitate to reinforcing their own interests in words and stories. All six are great writers and story-tellers, BTW, but only a few are "good" at math.

In that context, let's consider Fibonacci numbers.

They represent one of the lovely mathematical patterns that I'd forgotten about until recently when a math-teacher friend reminded me during a visit to a coffeehouse on Clement Street.

Here's how they work -- the first two numbers in the Fibonacci sequence are 0 and 1, and each subsequent number is the sum of the previous two.

Thus, these are Fibonacci numbers: 0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55,89,144...Do you copy? At the higher levels, they become more interesting and complex, and therefore useful in algorithms.

But what's more interesting and complex about Fibonacci numbers to me is their occurrence in nature. They show up in the branching in trees, the arrangement of leaves on a stem, such as in pineapples, artichokes, ferns and pine cones.

Therefore, it's worth considering when and where they were "discovered" by our ancestors. The Italian mathematician Fibonacci wrote about them in 1202, although Indian mathematicians had described them even earlier than that.

The very concept of an algorithm, so central to everything we experience these days online, dates back to an ancient Persian mathematician.

Which brings me back to my main point, which is the beauty of math. I struggle day after day to try and find ways to get my teenagers to appreciate math more than they seem willing to do.

Hour after hour, I labor with my youngest, waiting for the moment that a light bulb goes off over her head and she sees that math is not just an irritation, but music, art, design. Things that she truly cares about.

It's just so hard to bridge the gap from onerous tasks like homework to the world of Fibonacci numbers, or for that matter, Pascal's Triangle.

But that's a story for another day.

G-O-A-L!

When you're part of a team, you rise and fall with your team.

I played softball for 29 years with an outfit called the Michigan Mafia. Although I never totaled it all up, even though I was the team stat-head, I'm pretty sure we lost just a few more games than we won over those decades.

We made the playoffs a few times, and the championship game just once, where we got creamed.

My only claim to fame personally is I went 3 for 3 in that championship game, in September 1994, just a few weeks after my second son was born. (He was at the game.)

So I can say my lifetime batting average in championship games stands at 1.000. And there's no chance it will go down from there because my playing days are long over.

***

Now on to a real athlete and his accomplishments, not just his Dad's. Aidan's winter soccer regimen consists of futsol, an inside game played om basketball courts.

It's very fast-paced and intense. Today's opponent for Aidan's team, the Seals, was Jamestown, the local powerhouse.

The Seals had never beaten Jamestown before in four seasons of trying until today.

Aidan scored a goal and played great defense as the Seals prevailed with a goal in the final the seconds, 8-7.

***

Sports, in reality or as metaphor, will only take you so far in life. What really matters is connection. By that, I mean, humans connecting with one another.

I tell stories like those I post here, and at other blog sites, hoping just to connect.

If you are a parent, you know about the pride of seeing your child do well. If you are competitive on any level, you know how nice it is to win. If you are breathing, you know how important it is to not feel alone.

At the base, this blog is simply about trying to remind anyone who stops by that you are never actually alone, even when you may be physically alone. You can always visit a place like this, read a story like this, like it or not like it, depending on your preferences, react, comment if you wish, but remember:

These stories are for you. Not me.

Love, David