J2 Content – Perspectives

A varied collection of thoughts on education and parenting

Who’s the (new) King?

Being the King of TV is certainly a full-time job but it isn’t as glamorous as you might think. In addition to watching some great TV, there is also a lot of crappy TV I am forced to watch. Unless you’ve spent a summer watching every hour of Big Brother After Dark, you don’t know…. read more

A Lesson in Family and Heritage

It was August of 1887 when a young married couple and their two month old infant son packed all of their belongings into a covered wagon and headed west toward the Dakota Territory.  They had assembled a cover by affixing hickory sticks and muslin (a thin fabric) to the wagon.  Two horses pulled the wagon…. read more

A Father’s Day Gift – The Green Lantern

In July 1983, at the age of 12, I bought my first comic book: Green Lantern #166. It was a great introduction to comics for me. Earth’s Green Lantern was summoned to combat three renegade lanterns: equal vs. equal. The same year, Flash vs. Reverse Flash and Batman vs. Manbat were going on in other…. read more

Lemonade Game

As an honors elementary school student in the 70s, I had the privilege of being allowed to use the school’s TRS-80 and Apple II computers. I moved the turtle around in Logo, played Zork, and was allowed to play the Lemonade Game. The Lemonade Game was a very, very early precursor to the Sim City-style…. read more

What Part of Awesome Don’t You Understand?

When my first child was born, I like most parents, became reacquainted with television for children. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Sesame Street had a new character that shared a name with my oldest and at the same time, disappointed at not being able to find anything as entertaining as Electric Company….. read more

The Real Tooth Fairy

“Mommy, is the tooth fairy real?” I should have known this question was coming! My eight-year-old daughter, Ashleigh, has lost three of her front teeth in the past few months, and she is in third grade – where kids start questioning what their parents have told them about the tooth fairy and Santa. I paused,…. read more

Godzilla, King of the Monsters

Having been born in 1970, I was exposed to some of the greatest fandoms of the last century in their hey day.  I was able to experience Star Wars, Star Trek, Indiana Jones, John Cusack films, MST3K, Marvel and DC comics, Saturday Night Live, the Rolling Stones, the Police, not to mention a bevy of…. read more

Is Our Childhood Coming Back to Haunt Us?

The other night, I was at the movies with my girlfriend and she stopped to peruse a poster for the new Smurfs movie. She expressed concern that the Smurfs were drawn to look fuzzy, as if they were covered by  short blue fur. I said to her, “That’s what concerns you? Not the fact that…. read more

It’s the Season for “Seniorits”

My father was a school teacher for 32 years. Although he spent 2 years teaching at the middle school level (which he refers to as a time when he thought of changing professions), he spent most of his career teaching high school students.  My dad would often share his wisdom about high school, and there…. read more

When 4th Place is Better Than 1st Place

I’ve enjoyed 10 years of being my son’s idol. He wants to grow up and be the person I am: work at the same job, do the same activities, be the man I am. So many of the choices he makes stand out to my wife and I as having “what would Dad do?” in…. read more

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