Author Archives: Mike Deal

Teachers leave impressions.  Some impressions are positive, some impressions are negative.  Positive impressions are not necessarily “good”, negative impressions are not necessarily “bad”.  Impressions just are.  When an artist speaks of “negative space” is that space bad? Lately I’ve been thinking about impressions made by my teachers.  These are the voices in my head. Here’s a few that stuck:  “IntroduceContinue reading “Impressions”

Chimes and beeps. Chimes and beeps, reminders that there’s someplace I need to be, another site, another page in this machine. A modern human, a body and mind, the product of 6 million years of evolution. Occasionally a chime or beep. A reminder of a time, but the destination remains a mystery. And that’s whenContinue reading “Chimes and beeps”

Recently I was helping Mikayla review for a math placement test. First off, numbers have never been my strong suit. I can get by (on a good day) and that’s about it. We got to a spot where we were supposed to review subtraction of negative numbers. “Oh boy” I thought, and for a momentContinue reading “Addition by subtraction”

These eyes had not only sight, but vision. Behind these eyes is a brilliant mind. He was said to be inflicted with “moving crust disease and wandering pole plague”. He was accused of “autointoxication and delirious ravings.” His real name was Alfred Wegener. His idea was continental drift. Today we have The Theory of PlateContinue reading “Science is human”

The day will come when I can sit down and listen to the entirety of a half-hour radio show. For now I sip media dropwise as I take care of life. I never get the whole story, just little snippets perfect for rumination. Yesterday’s 5-minute sip was on the way to the feed store; aContinue reading “Cracks and light”

Many of us are going back to class soon. There’s lots of talk on how best to engage students in the online environment; lots of techniques, lots of technology, a growth industry. I was talking to a friend recently who mentioned he was taking an online Sanskrit class out of India. It was a largeContinue reading “Glad you’re here”

We took Mikayla and her pony Cherie over to play with some cows this morning. Heat and helmets were on my side and after awhile she looked at me, beet-red in the face and said, “Hey dad, ya want a turn?” I don’t have much experience with cows, but Cherie has plenty. The time todayContinue reading “In the way”