Jim Harris:
CLASS OF 1973
Poughkeepsie High SchoolClass of 1973
Poughkeepsie, NY
Jim's Story
Answers to your questions, assuming you ask:
1] Married. Twice; wrong wife 15 years, now right wife 11 years.
2] Son, 28, with wrong wife. Stepdaughters, 25 and 23, belong to right wife. The latter cost me sanity and thousands of dollars in hair and facial care alone. Son, married, works in Albany for Xerox [compugeek]; older s'daughter married into politics [he represents the 2nd Berkshire District in the Massachusetts General Court (legislature)] and the law [and if that weren't enough, he's also a PhD in law in society]; younger s'daughter is married, living with us, with her husband and their son born April 5, 2010, in Quito, Ecuador.
3] Quit newspapering June 2005, after 24 years editing, managing, reporting and designing. My fate is not to molder with dinosaurs and other decaying carbon-based life forms to become petroleum [although my last managing editor was a hell of a guy -- search nytimes DOT com for "Veillette"].
4] Went back to college [UConn, 9 miles from the house]; graduated December 2006 [bachelor of general studies, American Studies (what else is one to do with 110 hours in English, history, journalism, poli sci, sciences, math, psychology, French, etc., etc.?)] [3.23; dean's list final semester, 3.77]. Tambien aprendido algo de espanol. Flirted in that old man way with some classmates [No, not you, Jim! you say].
5] J'utilise souvent mon francais. Katherine is senior compliance director, Bank Security Act and anti-money laundering specialist, working for Paris-based worldwide-leading software company that enables financial institutions to follow banking compliance regulations. I touristed in '07 and '10. Best cafe: Cafe des Phares, on Place de la Bastille.
6] I teach. Certified in kindergarten through sixth grade after earning the master in education at Eastern Connecticut State University. Goal is to have a fifth-grade classroom; first clinical experience with fifth-graders confirmed I made the right choice; third clinical with more fifth-graders cemented it. Some of you remember how much I loved fifth grade.
7] Mr. Kuralt, sixth grade teacher to some of you but not to me, was a great help to me in my fall '08 semester in writing a paper on childhood fluency. It was among the highlights of my first...Expand for more
-ever 4.0 [in Process and Teaching of Reading, Educational Research, and Education and Society].
8] By the grace of my higher power, sober for thousands of days including today. More is always revealed, and more is always required.
9] Jeb Bartlet was until 2009 the best American president since our graduation. Worked all summer 2008 for Barack, and it was a great thrill. [No, we never met.]
10] Been to Taxpayer Field in Queens; Safeco is way better. So is PNC Park. Your local minor league ballpark is best; there, you might find me scouting players for my Rotisserie league team's farm. [NL only, 5X5, 12 teams, auction, keepers. 10 years, back-to-back titles (2010-11) and three 2nds.]
11] "Ugly Betty" was hilarious. "What Not To Wear" was like crack. "Battlestar Galactica" should never have ended. The resolution of the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 didn't feel all that right.
12] Mac. Since '92. MacBook now, succeeding an iBook G4, a Cube and a Pizza Box. And, dammit, I got the iPhone, wheedled into it for a birthday, actually. And I am right -- it makes me socially bankrupt, this Internet in my pocket.
13] 860 869 1996. But I screen, and Kathe knows it's not a communicator.
14] Alison Krauss. My cousin EmmyLou. Lyle Lovett. Diana Krall. Tull at Tanglewood, 2005(?) -- THAT was wicked cool, but not as cool as The Boss christening UConn's new football stadium, Rentschler Field, in 2003.
15] XM. Mostly 175 or the the best game between 183 and 189, but since the Sirius merger, it's Channel 58 for music, sometimes played really loud and sometimes quite softly, or 78, especially for Jonathan Schwartz.
16] Toyota Tacoma club cab. But I miss my Santa Fe.
17] "Avatar," "New Moon," "Good Night and Good Luck," "Live Free or Die Hard," "I Am Legend." "Iron Man" was way better than "The Dark Knight." "Doubt" was far better on screen than in the theater. "Star Trek" was flat out fantastic. But, really, buy 'em, put 'em on the 26-inch screen [unless you really need more square inches of TV], crack open a Diet Coke, get some wings, maybe some Trader Joe's chips and Newman's pineapple salsa, a Klondike bar, whateva.
18] letsgo.mets AT sbcglobal DOT net or harrisja AT stu DOT easternct DOT edu. This site won't let one embed addresses!
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