Author Archives: Kevin Walsh

About Kevin Walsh

Kevin began MyMediaDiary.com in 2013 as an experiment that was as simple as "What's a blog?" and ended up becoming a forum for fellow writers. He's been a high school teacher for 28 years and worked as an administrator and instructor in colleges for 10 years since then. Contact him at: kevin@mymediadiary.com He is also the producer of the web-series and blog, www.DiggingDetroit, founder and producer for MMD Productions at www.mmdphotovideo.com which offers quick, professional photography, video and multimedia solutions for individuals, organizations and businesses. His high school media production text, "Video Direct," has been used in 40 states--and he occasionally still sells a few. He is the current president of the non-profit DAFT (Digital Arts Film and Television) which sponsors the Michigan Student Film Festival. He lives in Royal Oak, Michigan, is married to Patrice and is tolerated by his two kids Aidan and Abby who have all graciously allowed him to write about them on occasion.

No Surprises: Raising a Son with Asperger’s–and Training His Dad

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A trip to Disney Land–what could be a better gift for your small child? Certainly Parent-of-the-Year awards were likely–if not for originality at least the East German judge would most likely hold up a “7.8” for enthusiasm.

My wife and I had been giggling to ourselves for over a month as we prepared for the look on our four year-old’s face when we pulled into the parking lot. We knew he’d see Mickey Mouse on some billboard and it would be magic time.

Wrong.

Again.

Aidan didn’t see a mouse; he smelled a rat. As my wife unpacked the video camera during a supposed routine morning drive while in Los Angeles visiting friends, he looked suspiciously at her. It was third day of our visit … Read More… →

The Four Ignored Elephants of Quality in the Classroom & Teacher Retention

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HeffaI was reminded of Winnie the Pooh and his hallucinogenic-trip, envisioning heffalumps and woozles, the other day…

My priest was giving me an update on contract talks with his elementary teachers. “I tell them, ‘You only work 3/4 of the day and 3/4 of the year, why should you expect full-pay anyway?’”

I wanted to say “Yeah, Padre, and you only work three hours on Sundays and get free clothing, room and board.” But then I’d have to escort him to the confessional right … Read More… →

Film-Strips, Ventriloquism and Skipping Class – My Tenth-Grade Idol

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I was nearly hit by a golf ball Sunday and I laughed, remembering one of the funniest guys I ever knew.  It was a scramble but apparently not fast enough for the guy behind us. We heard that unmistakeable plop you shouldn’t hear without “Fore!” yelled first.    After a couple quiet expletives aimed at the jerk, I told my buddy Dave about Jim, who would simply walk up to the errant ball, driver in-hand, and proceed to pound it into the fairway. Jim always did what I still just dream of doing.

He was a year behind me in tenth grade–and miles ahead of me in everything else.  He was hilarious in class, always ready with the funny observation–just skirting the edges of detention … Read More… →

Woodward Dream Cruise: Happy Days, Unhappy Neighbors

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My wife and I started a Yahoo Group in our neighborhood that’s grown to over 100 residents.  It’s come in very handy as a local Angie’s List for handymen and landscape companies.  It’s also found many a lost pet and alerted folks to local burglaries; we even sold some furniture and donated a piano to a little girl around the corner.

But like any forum, it can get a little dicey–particularly with the boon (or bane) just down the street from our Royal Oak home–The Woodward Dream Cruise.  This southeastern Michigan 18-year tradition of classic cars from the 1950’s through the early 1970’s involves close … Read More… →

Kid-with-Fish Picture: Leon, Jerry and a Free Ticket

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There’s something very romantic and nostalgic about a kid holding a fish–especially if it’s a first-catch.

There’s that mix of pride, fear and joy that is far different than you find with most any other kid-meets-creature encounter.  Far different than the parent holding a camera shouting: “Nope.  Go back to where you just ran over that worm with your bike.  Get down on your hands and knees and smile!”

It’s nothing like stepping on a spider or worm-steamrolling–both instances are necessary for sanity or unavoidable just after a rainy day…or one of my more vivid bits of cruelty as a child–Ray-of-Death with a magnifying glass and a pedestrian ant.

And I’ve been that parent.  When we’re on the dock and accidentally actually catch something, … Read More… →

“Fabberglasted” – Local Legend of Baseball and Fertilizer, Rod Allen

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MarioRod

I blame Justin Timberlake. Without the Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction with Janet Jackson, there wouldn’t be such a long delay of live television broadcasts–and I could just turn down the set and have the radio playing.

Anyone unfortunate enough to watch a Tiger game beside me knows that I’ve got a collection on my phone’s note-pad.  It’s a three year-old assembly that was created as a little therapy.

The title of the list: “Rod-isms.”

Rod Allen is a former Tiger who batted .333 for the club–for his 15 games.  At an ’84 reunion of the last World Series champions in the Motor City, I was very … Read More… →

Father’s Day Legacy: Jim’s Love of “Now”

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I was doing some vital, long-forgotten yard-work in 1995 when my neighbor Beth yelled across the street, “Happy Father’s Day!”

It took me a minute to realize she was talking to me.  Aidan was already a day or two over-due, so officially the greeting was premature.  But I smiled and realized that she was right.  I was in the club.  And someday, if I did things right, my kids would dread that holiday, as much as I did.  Jim Walsh was impossible to buy for and it didn’t help that his birthday fell on June 28th, so we needed to double our futile efforts as soon as school got out.

I have taxing memories of Saturday odysseys through the sporting goods and office-supply aisles of  … Read More… →

1980’s Court-Jesters During Crisis: Airplane, The Blues Brothers and Caddyshack

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As Kale Davidoff wrote yesterday of true perspective when looking at movies, I was reminded of the recent success of Argo, this year’s Best Picture, as it brought the paralysis of the Iran-Hostage crisis fully back to our collective frontal lobe.  It was the story of a heroic rescue that Jimmy Carter couldn’t use in his re-election bid . Instead, the ill-fated rescue involving the helicopter-crash was also Carter’s.

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The real magic of Argo (with its sci-fi movie pitch creating the smokescreen for the rescue) is its absurdity. 

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Paper Route Days & The Creepy Underwear-Man Under the Stairs

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Kids with paper routes didn’t make it past the eighties.  And probably odd guys like The Grouch didn’t help matters…

***

I don’t have high hopes for my first encounter at the Pearly Gates…

“Let’s see…Walsh…Walsh…” as  St. Pete examines his pearl-handled clipboard.  ”You’re not Kevin Walsh, are you?”

“Yeah.”

“Not the one from Clawson?”

“Um…yeah.”

He shakes his head and grabs the lever.  ”You had to go there, didn’t you?”

Knowing exactly what he’s referring to, I feel the floor suddenly give way.

***

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This evening, at the age of 48, I was a little nervous looking down these stairs, … Read More… →

Are Fire Hydrants Too Socialist?

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There were bodies everywhere. I’d never seen anything like it before–especially on a dog-walk…

HydrantPile

It was a dream of mine since I’d first read the <em>How and Why Wonder Book of Dinosaurs</em> to work on a dig. I dreamed of buried treasure–triceratops horns, a mummy (without a curse), a Neanderthal skull or my sister’s bracelet that I buried in the mud under a neighbors’ swing-set. I checked on it periodically for the mud to turn to stone with the … Read More… →

Museum Yard Sale? Detroit’s Deficit & Denial

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MelWoman

 ”How much for the Picasso with the grumpy old lady?”

“$4 million.”

“Would you take two?”

“Umm.  Let me ask my wife.”

The painting reminds me so much of an estate sale my wife and I dropped in on in Bloomfield Hills.  It was a fabulous house with riches galore–all at marked down prices.  The Coach handbags, for example, were only $250 for crying out loud.

And there, in the dining room, in the corner glaring at us vultures, was the … Read More… →

The Power of a Well-Placed Smart-Ass: Roger Sterling, Lord Tyrion and the Dowager Countess of Grantham

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“What’s the definition of a smart-ass?” began one of my dad’s favorite jokes.  

“Someone who could sit on ice cream and tell what flavor it is.”

In 1998, the internet was new in our school and I was doing a demo in class of how cool it was.  We had the projector on and I was discussing how easy it was to find information.

“For example, if you wanted to check out the President’s website, you just had to www.whitehouse.com,” I dictated proudly to my student at the keyboard who typed it in. I could see from their expressions that they also … Read More… →

Uncommon Sense: YouTube Teacher Resignation Reaches Nearly Half-Million in a Week

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commonSense

“No wonder teacher burnout and turnover are at an all-time high.”

Few people turn pages of newspapers.  Fewer people flip their phone apps to the editorial button to read letters to the editor.  And the only thing smaller than the audience for a school board meeting telecast is the audience at an actual school board meeting.

But in just over a week, nearly half a million people have heard why an Illinois teacher has had her heart broken too many times by the new politics of school systems’ reliance upon test scores and disregard for teacher worth.

It’s not slick, … Read More… →

Comic Con Rookie: Stan Lee, The Walking Dead, Lois Lane and “The Last Train to Clarksville”

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Somewhere between good dad and voyeur-geek you’ll find me.  The 24th Motor City Comic Con was this weekend at the local expo center and my son was interested.  No big surprise.  The popularity of the new generation The Avengers, The Dark Knight coupled with my generation’s Star Wars fan-base and going back another generation to Star Trek and Dr. Who, there was something for everyone there.  I’d never gone, not really liking crowds or costumed folks sneaking up on me.  But I agreed.

The bigger surprise was that my daughter and her friend wanted to go.  

Two … Read More… →

Bigfoot, Leonard Nimoy and Fears of the Dark: “In Search Of”

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It’s what kept my curtains closed each evening–even on the 2nd floor of a relatively safe suburban neighborhood, far from the Pacific Northwest the natural habitat of sasquatch and, most recently, teenage vampires.

On the eve of Leonard Nimoy’s return for another installment as the logical Mr. Spock in Star Trek Into Darkness, I am reminded of that cool, calculating, “It’s not logical, Jim” voice taking me through the late 1970’s show,  In Search Of.

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“The Meanest Mom on the Block” – Misdiagnosis of a Four Year-Old

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You wouldn’t know she would win the award to look at her–the picture of innocence at 22 years.  She even took pains to perpetuate the illusion, showering me with exotic presents like wooden mallets and fancy ribbons, my favorite chocolate cake, even my cousins Pat, Sharon and Susie standing by as witnesses on my second birthday.

I can see it so clearly now; I was already on my way out–like the crooked candle on the right.  Somewhere out of frame, lurked my upgrade–the 1966 Katie.

And in two years it would be official; the election results would be in. … Read More… →

Scary Driver’s Ed Films & Scarier Dumb-Phoners

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DriversEd

I loved driver’s ed movies.  I was taking the driver’s training summer class in 1980, back when it was offered free to students–in the days before pay-to-play sports, buy-your-own-textbook, and we-can’t-afford-hall-guards.  My mom had held me back a year in kindergarten before “young fives” was a term.  I think it was just called, “slow-kid.”  She caught hell in the neighborhood for traumatizing her child–“He’ll be the oldest one in his class.”

Finally, there was an advantage–I’d be driving before everyone else.  ”Kevin, want to go to the movies with us?”  I knew and didn’t care that I was being … Read More… →

K-Mart Kharma: Cheapskates Beware!

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Chvx

Why wouldn’t I trust her?  We’d known one another for nearly a dozen minutes.

“We’re out of the 39″ RCAs; but these ones have never been returned the whole time I’ve been manager here.”

My son and I had pooled our money, bided our time and were now going to reap the benefits of our savings and patience.  The small northern Michigan town of Charlevoix was probably one of the few locations for a K-Mart I would dare enter the day after Thanksgiving.

I figured even if the entire town was in the store at 10am, it still would … Read More… →

Card Games, Grandkids and Priorities

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We sat behind a young family in church today–three young kids and two exhausted parents. They had more courage than we ever did at their age, sitting there following the proceedings while two young girls drew and the toddler boy looked over his mother’s shoulder and multi-tasked beautifully–his thumb in his mouth and a finger in each nostril.

The younger girl was dutifully filling out the donation envelopes. In large capitals, over the neatly typed areas for “Name” and “Amount” she wrote, “I AM A CAT.” I was a little disappointed all five didn’t go into the collection basket; … Read More… →

Free Trip to Hollywood this Saturday–Join Talented Young Filmmakers at the Michigan Student Film and Video Festival

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You know their work.  And they all started right here in Michigan.

  • If you’ve seen the Star Wars prequel trilogy you’ve seen one–Oscar-Winner, Doug Chiang
  • If you’ve seen the recent Oz the Great and Powerful you’ve seen one–Aaron Lebovic
  • One worked on Iron Man 3 this past summer–Kale Davidoff
  • Two of them wrote and directed the cult zombie/comedy/road-trip/buddy Deadheads that’s been doing great on Netflix right now–Brett and Drew Pierce
  • One works for the gaming division of a prestigious LA Agency–Blake Rochkind
  • One of them just sold a screenplay after being selected by Robert Redford to attend his Sundance Writers Workshop–Dan Casey

    • … Read More… →