Who am I? My name is Mike Turnlund and I live in northern Idaho. I am a recently retired educator. I have taught at both the high school level (mostly) and at the college level (occasionally). I am also a freelance writer, or at least a wanna-be freelance writer. I have written for a handful of local publications in the area where I live, but nothing more than that. I do love to write as it is a wonderful exercise in intellectual athletics. And, honestly, I think that I do have some things to share that others might find valuable. Or not.
I once had an enlightening opportunity to work with professional artists. I recruited and hired them to teach art to the students at the school where I worked. The artists worked four Fridays in a row, all day each Friday. Interestingly, some of the artists grumbled afterwards about working with these students, because the students didn't sufficiently appreciate their expertise. In other words, the students didn't give them the affirmation that they thought that they deserved. This was quite telling! To me, I realized that to be a professional artist --- that is, one who makes his or her living selling their art --- one must be quite egotistical. Think about it: as if they were saying "here world, this is my art...my feelings...my thoughts, bared before you. Buy it because it is meaningful because I did it!"
I hope that I am not subconsciously expressing this same sort of hubris by blogging on this website. Perhaps I am. But...I do think that I do have things to share, but you, the readers, will be the judge.
Here are some links to articles I've composed:
Please feel free to comment on my posts. And I do enjoy emails. My address is: mturnlund@gmail.com
Thank you much!
I once had an enlightening opportunity to work with professional artists. I recruited and hired them to teach art to the students at the school where I worked. The artists worked four Fridays in a row, all day each Friday. Interestingly, some of the artists grumbled afterwards about working with these students, because the students didn't sufficiently appreciate their expertise. In other words, the students didn't give them the affirmation that they thought that they deserved. This was quite telling! To me, I realized that to be a professional artist --- that is, one who makes his or her living selling their art --- one must be quite egotistical. Think about it: as if they were saying "here world, this is my art...my feelings...my thoughts, bared before you. Buy it because it is meaningful because I did it!"I hope that I am not subconsciously expressing this same sort of hubris by blogging on this website. Perhaps I am. But...I do think that I do have things to share, but you, the readers, will be the judge.
Here are some links to articles I've composed:
- IDAHO Magazine
- River Journal
- I have also written for the local newspaper (Bonner County Daily Bee), an educational journal (IASA Perspectives), and an online Christian apologetics magazine (Mormon Coffee) and stirred the pot a bit with this (Idaho Education News).
And I've self-published to works of fiction:
Please feel free to comment on my posts. And I do enjoy emails. My address is: mturnlund@gmail.com
Thank you much!
