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About James Howden
The Site
Hi, folks. Welcome to my little world. I hope you won’t find my stuff as self-absorbed as the eponymous site title might suggest. (Heck, nobody’s humbler than me.) My purposes are several: to force myself to wonder in public; to keep the production line lubricated; to open up my writing to an (at least hypothetical) audience and see what you think about what I think; to offer a portfolio of what I do and have done as a writer and coach; and, to bring transformation into being and challenge the universe (in between loads of laundry).
“At First Glance” is a general-ideas web log, briefs (and boxers) on things that interest me. (The range is wide, but I admit that I rarely pay much attention to politics or economics.) “It’s All About Sports!” is a second ‘blog with an obvious focus, but I promise not to bore you with standings or last night’s numbers. (You can find those anywhere.) “On Second Thought”, meanwhile, is a collection of more polished, considered and sometimes longer pieces that will surely interest somebody. And about once a week, "He Said/She Said..." offers you a tasty quotable bit from minds other than mine.
So what's the point? In an earlier conception, Mad Martin had called the site “Howden Movement”, and I was perplexed.
“What, I’m a movement already? The masses are going to rally behind my brilliant leadership on the way to, um, well, wherever it is I’m going?”
“No, no, not exactly, it was more like—“
“Howden Movement. Howden Movement. Sounds like a promo for laxatives, or something. You know, BMs? Does anybody call them that any more? Nurses, maybe?”
“No, not really, it was just—“
Not that I was going to let Businessman Martin get a word in edgewise or anywise. Because this was my website, first and only, and I’m a Name Guy, shoulda seen how long it took to name my kids (or my intramural flag football team, for that matter). I kept running prospective names by whatever unfortunate soul happened to call me or walk by. Not to mention that The Perfect Choices were already taken. Probably some greasy speculator in domain names, selfish jerk!
And then I remembered why I’d consulted My Favourite Martin in the first place – he knows how to make things happen, and JamesHowden.com is now one of them. Nifty! The whole point of the site is to get some of my writing out there, to get ME in motion toward long-imagined destinations. (Howden Movement: that would be the opposite of HowdInertia.) So, this is a shameless forum for my ideas and projects. It may prompt you to write to me, and this would be delicious. (I can't promise replies, but the world is full of possibility. If you catch clumsy thinking, heaven forbid, typos, let me know. Keep in mind that Canadian spelling does have stronger links to French sources for English words, like "centre" and "odour".) All this may make you wonder:
Who does he think he is?
What does he think he’s doing?
What happens next?
Who is on first?
Perfect. I ask myself the same things. It’s existential accounting, and we should do it every day.
The Writer
I grew up in a Canadian hockey town where the arts were more of a rumour than a reality, but there were always books. My love for reading was matched only by my hunger for sport. I slept with footballs, dreamed of spectacular saves and line drive hits, and by high school was shovelling snow to play frozen-fingered basketball. Somehow (okay, it was a blonde), I stumbled upon an unusual but deeply satisfying spiritual path, and have been trying to know and live the Bahá’í teachings since age 16. (Every once in a while a light goes on.)
I spent nearly 20 years as a chalk-stained wretch, a high school readin’ ‘n’ writin’ teacher. I was also an avid basketball coach, a community activist and the father of four mighty sons. I saw and loved the art in all of that and all of them. However, irritated by my own fitful production as a writer, in 2002 I escaped a life sentence in southern Ontario, graduated from high school for the second time and headed to Ottawa to stretch and scribble. I have been a wordsmith since. After a year writing messages and correspondence at Rideau Hall, I became Editorial Advisor to Canada’s Governor General Adrienne Clarkson, collaborating with her in the preparation of speeches and other texts. (Join the minority! If you go to the GG’s website at www.gg.ca , click on Governor General, Former Governors General, Clarkson, and finally Archived Speeches. Everything from February 20, 2004 to the end of her mandate came from our work together.)
I have emerged from behind the arras of Rideau Hall and the foggy hollows of endless high school. (I still haunt acne-ravaged classrooms, but there is an end in sight!) The lads keep me youthful and EnviroWoman keeps me (nearly) sane and green and growing. I am walking a fine and private road as a writer, educator and coach. I am learning. I love to think about how we learn, how communities change, and how the hell we got into this mess. I love fiction, film, non-fiction with a pulse, and all the meeting-places:
Where youth greets maturity.
Where sport becomes art and jocks have brains.
Where reading is doing.
Where men really love women (and their equality).
Where the spirit has its reasons.
Where the planet is home.
I am a word-watcher, a people-watcher and a senescent athlete (Is there anything else you’d like to know?)
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