If you could describe yourself by using a song, a book, and a movie, would you be able to do it? That was one of the things I thought about this past week during the two-day trip Jean and I took to Oriskany, New York, to pick up Jean’s aunt for a two-week visit.

The song is easy. Simon & Garfunkel’s “I Am a Rock” describes me precisely as a youth, and still very closely as an adult. You’ll have to find the lyrics to learn my secrets though. ☺

I had to think about a movie for awhile before deciding that Mr. Holland’s Opus could easily be about me if you replace music with fiction. He became a teacher as a necessity to earn money while he was writing music, and turned out to be a considerably better and more involved teacher than he ever was as a songwriter.

The book turned out to be easy too, but it’s a cheat. I wrote a future science fiction novella entitled “Chez Nous” in 1971, not realizing until it was finished how autobiographical it was. I do not believe I have ever revealed myself quite so deeply in writing since then, so perhaps it turned out for the better that the original anthology which intended to publish the novella folded prior to publication.

Anybody else want to try describing themselves?