Home | Projects and Publications | Photo Gallery | About Me | Contact

All the Stuff that Wasn’t in the Christmas Letter

Posted on | December 22, 2015 | Comments Off on All the Stuff that Wasn’t in the Christmas Letter

In my Christmas letter, volume 54 of the Kerchner Chronicle, I promised readers an extension of the narrative here on the Mindworkers blog.  That was probably a mistake.

Christmas letters are a difficult genre.  They veer from cute to seriously boring, and it’s hard to say anything substantive about family issues—no, no, too much information—religion, politics, economics, anxiety, sickness, or death.  Which is why there are lots of vacation pictures.

There are a few memorable variations.  A friend of my parents used to draw clever cartoons and produce them on blueprint paper.  One particularly foolhardy relative devotes most of his letter saying snarky things about his wife, which he doesn’t believe, or says he doesn’t.  But for the most part there are straightforward narratives about the past year, and particularly about family gatherings and travels.

I thought I might say more.  Forget talking about anxiety.  We’re not Kerchners, not the Kardashians.  Living in full public view holds little appeal.  And we’re not going much into family revelations, not that there are many.  I write about politics every day in ‘On California.’

So, like other folks, I’m back to exploring the year; reliving some of the best parts of it and sharing some pictures with you.

For a little fun, read the Red Sock Caper below.

Comments

Comments are closed.

About

Charles Taylor Kerchner is an Emeritus Professor and Senior Research Fellow at Claremont Graduate University. My daily musings appear in the blog. The archives of my EdWeek blog are available via link under the 'On California' head. Some of my photography can be seen by clicking on 'Gallery.' And numerous links to academic work and other research and commentary can be found by clicking on 'Projects.'

Search

Subscribe to my Blog

Archives

Blogs I Read