I’m growing less cynical as I get older.  That’s probably backwards.

I noticed this while going through the latest issue of Razorcake.  I’d written a column about getting hired on the tenure track at Cal State Channel Islands.  Now, for me, that column was finished on December 1.  Since that time, I spent about a six weeks doing other things.  In late January, I picked up the latest issue from Razorcake HQ.  I read everything in it except for my column.  Which isn’t to say I ignore my column.  I don’t.  Every issue, I flip to my column first, check out the illustration Brad Beshaw did, feel lucky that he illustrates my column, then move on.  At some point, my wife usually comes across the magazine.  This tends to happen after I’m already done reading it.  She reads my column, says something to me about it, and I have go back and read it to remember what I said.

It’s not so much that I’ve forgotten as that, by this point, I’ve written another column and I’m in the process of idly thinking about what the next one will be.

Anyway, I re-read my latest column and it reminded me of a piece I’d written for Clamor Magazine a dozen years ago, when my experiences teaching in Arizona and Florida left me so jaded that I got out of the business altogether.  When I wrote this article, I wasn’t teaching at all.

I’m a much better teacher now than the guy I portray in this article.  Much better.  I hope.

Still, I think it’s a nice time capsule that I found lingering around the internet.  You may find it worth reading.  It’s called “Teaching the History of All Wars.”