Two Roads Converged...

Trying to eat an Elephant

I'm not sure from where the phrase takes it origins, but if you've lived for a few years and taken on any task that may have appeared greater than you were prepared for there's always some part-time sage who will inevitably offer you their cracker-jack advice: How do you eat an Elephant? One bite at a time.

Seems to be sound reasoning, although I'm more of "eyes bigger than my stomach," and a "bite off more than I can chew," kinda guy. So as I've embarked on the journey of becoming the writer that I've always wanted to be, I started 3 blogs over the last few years. I was going to try just one...but that's not who I am.

There is no one all-encompassing title or subject matter that IS me. I have a wide variety of interests which I enjoy fully (as fully as one can when one has many interests.) I am ever the student of whatever catches my fancy for any given period of time but there are a few interests which have carried me through the years.

You can call me coach

If the world would befall some catastrophic end tomorrow and the only way to save ourselves was by utilizing sports equipment, I've got you covered. I could just about outfit just about any soccer team in a pinch. I have youth and adult jerseys, at least 20 soccer balls, a dozen pair of cleats (various sizes,) shin guards, goalie gloves, cones, goals...you name it, I've got it. I have every baseball glove and bat that I've ever played with from the time I was 7 years old...and then some (we won't give a count here because it's simply obscene.) I have several basketballs, a few footballs, four tennis rackets, street and ice hockey sticks, three bowling balls, and enough golf clubs that we could modify to survive a zombie apocalypse. Bo knows nothing compared to me.

So I started working on a sports-themed blog, "Common Sense From the Fence" (http://csfsports.blogspot.com) which stemmed from my love of sports but having to be an outsider looking in as my work prevented me from continuing to coach, but my passion for teaching young athletes, especially my daughter, could not be contained. In order to be a good supportive parent  I had to hang my whistle somewhere else. Turned out that place was the internet.

The original rant

My first blog a few years ago was "Occasional Ramblings of an Old Man" (http://occasionalramblingsofanoldman.blogspot.com) and was really hit or miss throughout. I even tried to chronicle my stretch with Cancer and chemo back in 2013, but most of my energy was either depleted or spent trying to get back to living life again, so I didn't write much. It's really my place to just vent, but my last entry was sparked by what I was about to delve into here, namely Semantics.

As I reflected on the moments over the last 3 years, I looked at the ways that Semantics drive everything I do. It impacts the way I speak, the way I write and even the way in which I interact with people. Let's just cover some basics here.

It's all Semantics

Semantics is the study of meaning in language. It's been a long time since I tackled the subject as an intellectual; I'm more into practical application at this point. But I do enjoy a good position paper that stimulates thought and prompts discussion.

In the Spring of 1993 I was attending UNC-Greensboro and enrolled in COM 502 - Semantics, with Dr. Thomas Tedford which made such an impact on me at the time that I saved my notes from the course all these many years. As I sifted through my treasures of words, I came across an essay that I found delightful, and very apropos to my undertaking here. The essay is entitled, "You can't write writing" by Wendell Johnson. I think it will speak to a number of readers, writers, and teachers. It also gives credence to my particular writing style. So stay tuned as I will shortly reveal yet another glimpse into my workings...as The Incomplete Writer.