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Kevin's Interests
General
Check it out! My first ever video. This one's about finding poetry written by my father that I never knew he had written. A poet? I certainly didn't know it! He never told me. So ten years later, World Audience Publishers in New York City liked the poems and published them in the book To the Prairie and to God by Harold L. Gray and co-edited by Kevin Gray and M. Stefan Strozier.
Music
Why Bruce? There's more to this than "He's the Boss!" Just enjoy the videos! Otherwise, I'm not about to list every single band/artist I listen to. I grew up a Beatles/Beach Boys/Stones fanatic, but my listening went much farther. Starting with my first two 45s (yeah remember those little black "disks"?), I found Ricky Nelson and Elvis Presley. From there, the videos tell the story. Enjoy. In not particular chronological order except for the Ricky (first record I bought) and Elvis (my second record). I was about 10.
Yeah, this photo is for real, although a bit grainy and worn. After all, it's 38 years old. Bruce Springsteen is at the left with long hair and Vini "Little Stevie" Van Zant (The Sopranos) had just joined the band, Steel Mill, for this pre E-Street Band gig at the Hullabaloo Club in Richmond, Virginia in 1970, when I took this photograph.
About me:
People keep telling me that MySpace is for young people; Facebook is for adults or something like that. What? Young people are people, too! I'm a retired (I call it "chose to get out") English/journalism teacher from a small Kansas high school. I happened to care about my "kids" and had a great rapore with them. I still say the only good thing about teaching is/was, "the kids!" But rather than continue clashing with the powers over education philosophy, I deemed it wiser to get out and pursue those very same things I wanted to do with kids -- but do them for myself and my family.
My life now is busy. I'm not sure how I used to get it all done. My wife, a former kindergarten teacher, takes care of twin girls (just turned two), which means I help a lot with them. They're so much fun, a lot of work, but so much fun and this gives me a chance to continue working with kids -- this time with counting and colors and so many other skills those little brains are soaking up.
As for me, I spend the other part of each day writing, marketing and building. Before leaving teaching, I had already completed a master's degree in Creative Nonfiction from Antioch University. My thesis, a memoir, will publish later in 2008 thanks to World Audience Publishers at worldaudience.org. I spent the fall of 2007 in a final rewrite. There will probably be one more rewrite to trim.
I also published a book of poetry (posthumously)that my father had written between 1936-1941. I never knew about this poetry until after my Dad's passing in 1997. See the book To the Prairie and to God by Harold L. Gray at totheprairieandtogod.com. I also have created colorful posters using my photography and Dad's poems. Check'em out at totheprairieandtogod.com. The To The Prairie website has just been revamped, so for that reason check it out right away. Now, I'm anxious to meet new people, young and old alike, and to promote Dad's poems of youthful optimism mixed with a realization of his pre World War II mortality (hey -- he was in his teens when he wrote most of his poetry!). And, then, there's my own book, titles Waking Up in the Studebaker. This one takes the reader to Richmond, Virginia, where I grew up. Like I say on my book cover, "There was more to the 1960s than sex, drugs, and rock and roll." Oh yeah, the sex, drugs, and rock and roll are a part of this book, but "Man" it took more to live those days than a reliance on those three things. Much more! Waking Up, though, is an a coming of age story that runs from 1952 to 1968. Let's put it this way, "If I could survive the hurdles those days threw at me, anyone can do it!" So go ahead and check out the poetry book website and be looking for more on Waking Up in the Studemaker. And be patient. This MySpace site isn't the easiest thing to construct. But,then, this is another one of those things I didn't have time to deal with back as a high school teacher. How I wanted to take the high school paper and yearbook to an online format. How I foresaw creating an online newspaper and magazine, doing something unique online with the yearbook...but more on this and so much more later. This is why I don't understand what the big deal is about young and old and MySpace and Facebook. We're all people. My kids called me Gray or KGray. Simple enough. My father had been Mr. Gray. Not me! No way. Hope you like my mug shot this page. That's not my real hair, just a wig, but this seemed to fit the slot. Just havin' fun. But isn't that the point? Gotta go.
Check these out! I'm making posters. My Kansas/prairie
photography and Dad's poems. At totheprairieandtogod.com, you can see how much and how to order. And as I get more time, I'll be making more posters.
You're so funny...You posted your message meant for me on your comment box silly! You need to delete that ;o) Anyhow, I have been trying to figure out my camera settings this week....I love photography but I just cannot seem to understand all the "technical stuff" It's driving me crazy. I am doing a couple weddings this month and I am scared out of my mind :o( It's defintely a pssion I have but I just wish I had the confidence to try to learn more....I try and I just panic cause its so much to take in....Ehhh oh well, I guess I keep going by trial and error.
Thanks Lisa for some comments in the Comments box. For being "retired" I am so busy. I just started "part-time" as a photog/writer/driver for the Miami County Republic. I've had three stories/pix in last week and more going in this week. I see so many things I want to add to this site, but I also have my poster making business I'm trying to get moving on. For example, what's the best way to go if I want to accept credit cards? It's taking time to explore various options. So to anybody reading, I'm not being a snot, I'm just not getting to this site as I'd like to be doing. Ah, and I still spend half of each day helping my wife with the two-year-old twin girls she baby-sits for. Now those two are fun! I'm known as Keben-Daddy! Kevin
Check these out! I'm making posters. My Kansas/prairie
photography and Dad's poems. At totheprairieandtogod.com, you can see how much and how to order. And as I get more time, I'll be making more posters.
