Okay, well if the subject lines sounds a bit pretentious and dramatic, there’s a reason for that. It is! If you’ve ever met me in person you might just realize this is just my wacko sense of humor (or what I call it anyway) slipping out. So anyway, I really have been “wandering” so to speak. Bluntly put, it is more like delving into rabbit holes. What I sort of took a break from is, of all things, writing. Lately I’ve stepped that up again somewhat. Mostly posts to my TLC blog. I’ve set aside the fiction writing for a bit and I’ve more or less abandoned publishing my second book on life insurance. The second book is geared more toward agents than consumers. As for the version above, maybe it is my ego but I still think it is a great value for anyone who is thinking about buying insurance. Onward.
The latest rabbit hole I dove into is chess. I’ve considered myself a chess player since I learned the game in sixth grade. This year was particularly interesting as I was part of a group who volunteered to be part of a “self-contained” classroom taught by one teacher – Mrs. English. (Yes, that really was her name.) One day, Mrs. English brought her brother into the classroom. He was a chess player and taught us all the game – or at least those of us who wanted to learn it. I cannot tell you what he taught exactly, but I first learned the basics at least on that day.
It wasn’t until I was eighteen that I ran across another fellow who was a serious chess player – the first USCF (United States Chess Federation) member and thus rated player I ever knowingly met. He taught me much, much more. My strength in the game jumped by leaps and bounds and then I drifted away.
It wasn’t until I moved to Virginia in my 40’s that I picked the game up again. I joined the local chess club in Culpeper. During my time there, I coached two school chess clubs and entered my first and only chess tournaments. (Okay, one “quad” run by the club and the Charlottesville Open.) Then we moved. A few years later I started another chess club at the middle school. I was hoping to get my boys interested in the game. That idea flopped and once again, life intervened and my interest waned.
Fast forward to a couple of months ago. One day, I was faced with a long wait with nothing to do so I brought my chess board. I got hooked again.
Why bring all this up?
For one thing, I am planning some articles on chess. I may well publish them here but my goal is to publish them in the local paper to generate some interest in some over the board (OTB) play and because I enjoy writing about it.
I also plan on uploading some videos on YouTube and Rumble. Now wait just a doggone minute! You say! Are you THAT good Andy? Well, actually, no, I am not. Sure I coached chess at the elementary and middle school level. I’m not so sure what I would have done had those any students displayed any natural talent for the game. BUT my videos are not going to “teach chess” but rather show how to navigate some of the awesome resources available online today. I mean, here I am a reasonably tech-savvy guy with loads of experience navigating sites online and “I” am overwhelmed by the mere volume of chess resources available today. I think it might help others to have some sort of guidance there.
If I’m wrong the videos will languish online until they fade away in obscurity or vanish comp lately. So be it. I’ve rather enjoyed making them. I’ve got two completed so far but I haven’t uploaded them yet. I’ll let you know.
So, once again, I’ve rambled on. I’ll stop now and hopefully have something more than “background” to post next time.
Andy
P.S. For those of you who are having conniptions about the solution. You can find it here.
1 thought on “Wanderings and My Triumphant Return!”