Last year I had a brilliant thought. Why don't I let my lawn die?

I realized that by trying to keep my lawn alive in the summer I was fighting overwhelming forces of nature like the all-powerful sun and even more powerful weeds. It was a losing proposition. So I stopped the flow of water and let it die.

Success! My lawn gracefully evaporated in the summer heat and then graciously returned six months later when the next rains came.

You could say there is a flaw in this design. By letting my lawn die I'm left with an unusable eyesore for half the year rather than a luscious green play rug. But the truth is, my lawn has always been 80% weeds and many of those weeds turn into thorns and prickly balls of pain. In other words, even when my yard is green it's still not very functional, and it's not even pretty much of the time.

So last year I let the lawn die and I've followed that recipe this summer as well. Green grass, I'll see you next year!

How many times did Capri have to climb the rock wall before I successfully captured her conquest on video? Well, being a concerned parent, I got so nervous every time she neared the summit that I would take my eyes off my video assignment and watch her final steps. As a result, I kept dropping Capri out of the frame and missing her special moment. We repeated this process several times before I finally got it right, risking my daughter's life and limbs over and over again.

This was me: "Uh, Capri, can you climb the wall again?"

But "being a good parent" is not an accurate excuse for my video problems. At the Teachers vs. Students soccer match I was taking some video when the teachers broke away with the ball and flew towards the goal. As Mr. Espinosa passed the ball off his right shin to Mr. Ramirez in front of the goal, I got so excited that I took my eyes off the camera in anticipation. GOAL!!! The crowd went wild, I shouted my approval, then realized my camera was pointing to the back corner of the field, just to the left of the net. I had missed the shot!

This was me: "Oh dude, you are such a dork!"

Experience has shown that placing the toothbrushes in the cabinet directly above the toilet was not a good idea.

I've read a couple books on the financial collapse of 2008-09.

"A Colossal Failure of Common Sense" was an insider's view of the collapse of Lehman Brothers. I totally enjoyed the book, and as I was explaining it to a couple from church one of them (Monica P.) said, "You knew I was a Wall St. derivatives trader for Merrill Lynch in the '90's, didn't you?" So awesome!

"When Genius Failed" was about the collapse of Long Term Capital Management, a hedge fund in the 90's which was filled with genius, nobel-prize-winning, computer-model-creating traders who leveraged themselves so massively that they had to be bailed out when their models failed or they would conceivably take down the entire financial system....Basically a pre-deja-vu to the events of 2008.

I've also been reading "How to Teach Like a Champion" by Lemov, which is a book filled with extremely useful techniques that great teachers often use. The point is that being a great teacher is not simply something you are born with, but you can learn techniques which will make you markedly better, and there is nothing magical about them. So far I am very enthusiastic about the book, although I haven't been reading it with much pace.

To top it off I've been reading through the Bible this year, and I have paced myself to finish the whole Bible in half a year. It really can be a daunting task, but of course I love it. After I finish reading the Bible I'm going to start reading through the New Testament again but at a much slower pace (and in a new translation), and I'm going to try to make simple outlines of each chapter as I go.

I consciously let this blog slide into oblivion last year. I wasn't doing much with it and other social sites were beckoning with their "quick update" promises. However, after using Facebook and Twitter to post quick thoughts and dorky one-liners their inadequacies became more and more apparent.

Primarily, some of my thoughts need developing. It's tough to concentrate everything down into a sentence or two. The format doesn't always suit my voice, and a blog is much more accommodating in that regard.

Secondarily, it's hard to follow thoughts from long ago. The time line on Facebook is really deprecated in favor of the here and now. I like how easy it is on the blog to look back in the past to see what has been written before.

Thirdly, the blog is hardly read by anyone, though people may stumble upon it from time to time. That makes me feel a bit more freedom of expression. I don't have to consider who my immediate audience is quite so much.

So, having said all that, I still don't expect to be a frequent contributor here, but when the desire strikes, I've given myself permission to post.