Daniel Steinbock

Today I found some very old writings of mine — going all the way back to sixth grade — and was pretty floored by what I read. This all came about because my mother is moving out of the house I grew up in and was ready to toss my first personal computer, an Apple IIGS that we got around 1987. It’s been sitting in the greenhouse out back for about ten years. Curious to see if it still worked and if I could access my childhood word processing files, I set it up in the kitchen, dusted it off, and booted up.

It worked perfectly. I had of course attached funny sound clips from Star Trek, Robo Cop and 2001 to every single system event: windows opening and closing, diskettes inserted and ejected, programs launched, trash filled and emptied. And I found my old writings from sixth through ninth grades, up until we bought our first Windows PC, a 486 DX33. For kicks, I’m going to send my Apple data to RetroFloppy to convert it to a format I read on my MacBook Pro. They’ll even make a entirely virtual version of my old computer (a disk image) that I can boot up in an Apple IIGS emulator!

I haven’t found my oldest writings from pre-sixth grade which must be around here on some 5.25″ floppy disk. That would include my first play, a re-telling of the Greek myth about Paris, Helen and the Golden Apple.

However, I did find a number of early glimpses at my young self. Here’s one that really made me laugh…and wonder in amazement. I’m guessing it’s from the Fall of 1990, near the start of sixth grade. I can’t honestly say I remember what it was like to be that sixth grader. But reading this makes me think I haven’t really changed all that much in essence.

A Proclamation

Be it known by all people that the first week in January is hereby proclaimed to be “Philosophical Awareness Week.”

It is important to recognize Philosophical Awareness this week for the following reasons:

1. Philosophy is important in every person’s life. It is important to explore our innermost feelings and opinions, which we may hide from other people.
2. The study of Philosophy has been neglected for some time and by proclaiming Philosophical Awareness Week, we can rejuvenate this long forgotten mental discipline.
3. The development of a personal philosophy is crucial in the growth process of humans as individuals.

The following activities should be carried out this week in honor of this proclamation (in addition to any special projects, activities, or field trips that might be conducted to make this proclamation even more meaningful):

1. Single or numerous colored ribbons are to be worn on the body, signifying the observance of Philosophical Awareness Week.
2. Philosophical Awareness Week is to be observed starting with the first Sunday of the year. The following Friday is to be a holiday from school and labor.
3. While on holiday, people observing Philosophical Awareness Week for its true meaning should participate in relaxing, enjoyable activities that exercise the skills of the philosopher or of being creative, such as: painting, drawing, arts and crafts; story, play or poetry writing; composing or playing original music; conversing on the subject of philosophy; sharing one’s own philosophical beliefs and expanding on one’s philosophical thoughts.

Signed,
Daniel Steinbock