Writing, Photography, and the life lessons I learned from Street Academy
Ahmed Naqi taught science and mathematics and almost every other subject at the Street Academy of Albany. He was there when Harriet Gibbons was the principal (the school was renamed Harriet Gibbons High School after Ms. Gibbons’ passing), and he helped change and inspire young minds at the alternative high school for decades. And he…
Read MoreIt seems strange – the passing of three and a half decades of time. Three and a half decades. Thirty-five years. Time that passed almost like thirty-five seconds. And our lives in thirty-five years all went in thirty-five different directions. And last night, some of our lives returned from our journeys throughout the diaspora. We…
Read More
Nearly 35 years to the day of its first – and only – broadcast, a rare and treasured piece of my history has resurfaced. The tape’s recovery and its contents… make for one of my most reflective blog posts of all time.
Read MoreLast March, I was contacted by one of my blog readers, Wendy Diefendorf. She enjoyed reading my blog, and wanted some tips on how to get her own Times Union blog. She had already contacted the TU’s blogging majordomo, Michael Huber, and hoped to join the TU family of community bloggers with her prospective blogging idea…
Read MoreI realize that new Times Union community blogger Ken Screven has reported on maybe fifty thousand stories during his stint as a WRGB reporter. And I can’t ask him to remember all fifty thousand of them as if they were baseball statistics. But I do remember this one instance. And it’s the time when one…
Read MoreToday, Walt Frazier will be signing autographs at the new Ollie’s Discount Warehouse in Crossgates Commons. That’s cool. Especially since Walt Frazier was the first professional basketball player I ever met in person. EVER. True story. It’s the spring of 1980, and I was a high school student at the Street Academy of Albany. I…
Read MoreSunday, October 28. The pre-Superstorm Sandy sky was surprisingly calm, and I had plenty of shootable 120 camera rollfilm in my freezer. Yep, the freezer is where all photographers should keep their film, so that it can be used without worrying about it going too far past its expiration date. Don’t laugh at me, you…
Read MoreWhat a beautiful night. That’s really all I can say. The Albany City School District inducted its eight members into the 2012 Hall of Fame, and the emotion and memories that each inductee shared – of teachers that guided them, of classmates that inspired them, of coaches that encouraged them, of students who motivated them,…
Read MoreThis is kind of odd for me, and it’s still taking a while to process. As you regular blog readers know, I attended twelve different secondary schools from kindergarten to high school, so the idea of “homecoming” is still very alien to me. I do recall attending a homecoming rally in 10th grade at Abington…
Read MoreThis is the fourth year of the Albany City School District Hall of Fame inductions. Last year, I became the first Street Academy of Albany / Harriet Gibbons High School student to earn enshrinement, a moment for which I will be eternally grateful. But myself getting in the Hall means nothing, unless I can find…
Read More
Chuck The Writer 
You must be logged in to post a comment.