Mixing it up

I'm trying a new thing with this being the first post of a new blog. And that thing is called "not-looking-at-the-screen-while-typing". Of course, I'll go back at the end and fix any typos and whatnot (my typing skills are horrendous), and there are a couple of keys on the keyboard that I need to look at (these guys, for instance). But due to the nature of my newly gained employment, I need to remain attentive while typing, hence the not-looking.

What is my job, you ask? Well, I am currently a professional tutor at a community college in the suburbs of Chicago. Most of my hours are scheduled as "in-class tutoring", where I go to regular class periods and assist students with their computer-based assignments. So as I'm typing this right now, I'm making sure that I can catch the eye of any confused or exasperated student so that I might be able to give them some pertinent advice. I've tried the method of continuously pacing around the computer lab, but I think it is more distracting than helpful, and gives an impression of constant monitoring. Frankly, most of the students I work with don't need one more person looking over their shoulder. 

But anyway, here I sit, sitting with my chair elevated as high as any good computer chair can go, scanning across the room, looking for furrowed brows or complexions of relative befuddlement, ready to amble over and do some algebraic triage. Well, triage sounds too severe. More like light first aid followed by wellness techniques for future symptoms. Although now that I'm sitting here, I think it might be time to make a quick lap.

(...)

There we go. Always good to stretch the legs out. See where everyone is at. Yes, I dangle my participle. Just like any good midwesterner. 

But I digress. I decided to start a new blog rather than continue my previous blog for a couple reasons. Firstly, it helps mark a change in my life. Tangentially Related was a collection of stories from my experience on the island, and now that I'm back in the states, it seemed more prudent to start fresh, in a way. Plus, this way it's harder to tell that I haven't blogged in over nine months (eesh). The other main reason is that I was never too keen on the name of my blog in the first place. I sort of liked having a very subtle math reference in the title, but it never really clicked for me. I kept it out of necessity, but I've wanted to change it for a very long time. And it wasn't until we moved back to Chicago that I was fortunate enough to stumble across an awesome name like Ridgebark Mix.

So let me recount to you the story of the Ridgebark. As you may be aware, my wife and I have a dog. He is a mutt we adopted as a puppy on the island (as you can read in this post, true believer! -E), and we have yet to determine his true lineage. All we can be relatively sure of is that he has at least some Rhodesian Ridgeback in there; it makes sense based on the dogs brought to the island by colonists, and he has the characteristic "ridge".  So when we went to the park district to sign up fro a dog park pass, I wrote his breed as "Ridgeback Mix". But apparently my 'c' was a little sloppy. Hence, "Ridgebark". (On a related note, my color description of "Tannish brown" got translated to "Tarnish brown")

Needless to say, I'm super stoked (who says stoked? Cool dudes, that's who) with the new title, as it implies that I can use this blog to talk about a wider variety of topics beyond merely my life. Don't get me wrong: I'll keep blogging about what's going on in the old Larson household, but I will also delve into other things that catch my interest. Be it news, sports, games, I'm up for anything. 

So here's to new beginnings! Until next time, mind your r's and c's.

Eric