One of the more memorable moments from a college career that started and ended too long ago to be referred to as recent history was born in a class called “Film Appreciation.” I was big on “appreciation” classes, back in the day. Indeed, I appreciated film, music and theater before my days at Good Old BU were concluded – not so much because I really appreciated those things but because I generally could ace those courses. I once asked if I could major in “appreciation” and certainly didn’t appreciate the response of the academic advisor askee. I’ll admit it: I can become peevish when a person guffaws and mockingly shakes his head at me.
Anyway, back to Dr. Porter’s Film Appreciation course. It was fascinating from Day One. We got to watch classic flicks, at least once a week. We got to discuss why they were great movies. We might even have taken a test to determine if we knew just what a gaffer does; I don’t remember. But I do recall the spring afternoon in 1977 when the good professor uttered what might be the most fascinating proclamation I’ve ever heard: “Time,” he said, “is a rather nebulous concept.”
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Since that day I have encountered my fair share of nebulous concepts (i.e., the husband-and-wife dynamic whereby the words “I don’t care where we go to eat” mean “I really do care where we go to eat, and you had better choose it”). But, for some reason, I can’t seem to attach a nebulosity factor to most of my time – and certainly not to the recent past.
For example, this issue marks the beginning of our eighth year as a local publishing entity. Well, that’s what we were when we started; now we’re the publication of record for the Arlington/Mansfield/Grand Prairie area. But, regardless of definition, we’re eight years into the process – nothing nebulous about it. Further, over that time, we’ve given you 82 chances to celebrate this region. And then we’ve recorded your celebrations. You can literally look it up if you don’t believe me. Take that, you nebulous time, you!
In this particular issue, we’re recording a LOT of celebrating. There is a section devoted to Women in Business that starts on page 28. Two pages prior, we revel in the news that the World Series is coming to our fair burg; a few pages after that, we note the same about one of the biggest rodeos in the country.
We have four stories devoted to the remarkably altruistic nature of local folks, another that shows how a University of Texas at Arlington biologist is getting to the roots of COVID-19, and yet another about the fact that 150 years ago, two local churches first opened their doors. And that’s not even taking into account the staple “celebrating” of cool cars and devastatingly decorative dwellings. Yep, I’m pretty proud of this issue.
That’s the quote you can jot down in your notebook, by the way.
