History Nerd

I've mentioned it more than once, I love history. It was my favorite subject in school. I still think it was lucky that I grew up in Oregon because we studied the Oregon Trail extensively in the 4th grade. I also did some reading on my own, of course. The Oregon Trail rules.Mr. O'Donnell was maybe 47 the year he was my AP US History teacher. Rumor was he'd been a therapist before he began teaching high school. He was a quiet but steady guy who laid out his subject in a thoughtful and engaging way. He had a good though subtle sense of humor. And he told me the secret to understanding the world.It's not about names and dates, history is about themes. Basically, the same themes are working themselves out over time. An example; 'race in America' is a theme found throughout the record of our 227 years as a nation. From the minute those Europeans laid eyes on Native Americans, race was an issue. Tragically in 1860 as a nation went to war with itself. One hundred years later, Martin Luther King, Jr. was organizing stand-ins to protest discriminatory voter registration practices. And of course, last week when we elected Barack Obama. A few other common themes: religion, war, technology, immigration, etc. When you think of it this way, knowing that current events are just an unfolding of what was begun a long time ago, the world makes more sense.Better understanding the times in which I live is why I'm still a student even though my school days are long over. So when I had a fantastic 'lifelong learning' project idea last week, I got really excited. How awesome would it be to read one biography of each American president?! Now I know most of you are like "dude, that would not be awesome at all." And I get that. So for you, how awesome would it be if someone else did it and then told you the interesting parts? Now you're feeling it....My free copy (courtesy of Paperback Swap) of Washington: The Indispensable Man should arrive any day now. Though this ambitious curriculum will take years to complete, it won't be long before I'm dazzling people at parties with my unique historical perspective and interesting tidbits. History nerds are always really popular at parties...Nerd Bonus: Scroll through this timeline of Civil Rights action in 1960. It's really inspiring.