First Words

On August 30th 2005, I took early retirement from teaching: Thirty-five years of standing, acting (all teachers are essentially actors; the better the performance, the more successful your teaching) in front of children, the vast majority of whom were an absolute pleasure to be with. I loved almost every day of it, so the inevitable question is Why did you leave early? And the answer is simple: Thirty-five years is long enough doing things for other people; it is now time to please myself. The fact that I still liked the job so much after all those years, was another reason I got out. I had seen too many teachers leaving the classroom at 65, their health precarious, their attitude embittered because they hadn't quit when they were ahead.

So why have I decided to venture into the Kingdom of the Blog? Firstly, I suppose it's vanity. Vanity pure and simple. We all like to think that whatever we have to say is of some significance. Secondly, I just like writing about the things that mean most to me. And that's why at, hopefully, regular intervals, I'm going to inflict on you my thoughts on music (from Bach to Zappa, in a pantheon presided over by Bob Dylan), literature (Just finished the amazing We Need To Talk About Kevin), the family, the dog, anything that comes into my head in this small town in the middle of Ireland....