by Matt Spence
If I were a word cloud there would be a large STARBUCKS CHAI right in the middle, surrounded by things like sarcasm, sports, politics, education, family, father of boys, flip-flops, southern barbecue & sweet tea, Catholic, husband, Florida State University, eclectic, etc.
If I were to choose an entrance song for myself (be it to the fighting ring, basketball court or most likely the batter's box) it would be either Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes, 'Till I Collapse by Eminem, Mudfootball by Jack Johnson or Conquering Fools by O.A.R. If that list made you look for dramamine, I understand. As I said, eclectic would definitely be one of the words in a Matt Spence word cloud.
I am not sure if I am proud or horrified that I just referred to myself in the third person. I think Matt Spence has been listening to too many athlete interviews...
Raised in lovely and soul-crushingly boring Seminole, FL, I have two degrees from FSU and a permanently messed-up rotator cuff to show for my adolescent/young adult years. I also worked for Bob Graham, interned for lobbyists and newspapers and spent 3 months in Iowa on the presidential campaign trail. A six year hiatus from the political world saw me get married, work as a church youth minister and have two boys (with a third on the way in March.) I am now back in the public sector, building a cradle to career education network in Pinellas County by day, reading up on education research, public policy and politics by night.
Some more random stuff about me: I can remember the most ridiculous and esoteric information. I think that great teachers should get paid a whole lot of money - and not just because my wife is a teacher, because it just makes sense for bosses to be able to reward stellar employees, not with first period planning or an easy dismissal post, but with real, actual U.S. currency. I believe that Kerry Wood's 20 strikeout performance in 1998 was the greatest pitching performance of all time (aside from many, many of my little league games, of course.) I think that last in, first out hiring and retention policies are moronic. I think Peter Warrick was the most exciting college football player of my lifetime and believe that he was robbed of the Heisman in 1999 - of course it was his own fault for robbing Dillards... I believe that the student loan system as currently constituted is an abomination. If there was a bar/table game heptathalon (darts, pool, poker, shuffleboard, golden tee, ping pong and air hockey) I would freaking dominate. Actually, that sounds like a fantastic idea. I think SpikeTV would buy the rights to show that on cable. Forget this blogging thing, I think I just found myself a career...
If that doesn't work out, I look forward to some semi-regular (as I mentioned, two little kids and another on the way...) guest posting here at The Spencerian. I hope to opine on education, politics, general stupidity and anything else Ben would like from me. I hope you enjoy it.
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