Category Archives: Personal history

My History with Science Fiction

Posted on Sunday 12 April 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

Here’s another autobiographical post, probably repetitious with some of the others, about specific events or circumstances that triggered interests or beliefs, some brief, some that have lasted a life. 3500 words just today—a draft. Science Fiction There are several phases … Continue reading →

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My History with Astronomy

Posted on Sunday 12 April 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

How did it start? There was a specific event: in the 6th grade, I noticed a row of textbooks in a closet, a basic astronomy text called A Dipper Full of Stars. (I already wrote about that here: http://www.markrkelly.com/Blog/2014/05/01/cosmos-and-my-amateur-astronomy/.) I … Continue reading →

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My History with Books

Posted on Saturday 11 April 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

(As I said in previous post, this is an essay that will be cross-post as a page, accessible through the drop-down menus above. For now it’s just a post.) Anyone entering my home over the past 30 years, maybe even … Continue reading →

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My History with Bicycling

Posted on Saturday 11 April 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

I’ve been writing a series of autobiographical essays recently, to supplement the photo sets of scanned slides and prints I’ve promised to gather on this site. Most will be installed as WordPress “pages” which then automatically appear in the menu … Continue reading →

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Boy Scout Paraphernalia

Posted on Sunday 5 April 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

In scouts you earn lots of awards, merit badges and rank badges and patches for every significant scouting event. So many that your scout uniform shirt, and even the merit badge sash, had no room for all of them. So … Continue reading →

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Family Dynamics and Social Withdrawal

Posted on Friday 3 April 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

Family Dynamics I wish I could say more about what my younger sisters and brother were doing, the whole time I was growing up. I didn’t pay close attention mostly due to the age difference. I was the oldest, my … Continue reading →

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Models, of Cars and Spaceships

Posted on Friday 3 April 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

At some point at around age 10 or 11 I developed an interest in building model kits, especially of cars. (I’d always had a fascination with cars. In the early ‘60s, when I was 7 or 8 years old, I … Continue reading →

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My Religious Upbringing, Such As It Was

Posted on Wednesday 18 March 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

My upbringing was not especially religious; my parents attended church, and took their kids to Sunday school, but more out of social habit and propriety, was my impression, rather than from any deep-seated faith. My parents both grew up in … Continue reading →

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A note about book notes

Posted on Sunday 2 February 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

I’ve always intended to post notes about my reading on this blog. It’s a way of making my reading not just a selfish, personal endeavor, but a way to pass along the my experiences, along with my reactions, to books … Continue reading →

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Status mid-October 2019

Posted on Thursday 17 October 2019 by Mark R. Kelly

I’ve been light posting here for months now. Here’s the arc of where I’ve been this year, and where I’m going. It’s now just about 7 years since I was laid off from my 30-year career at Rocketdyne. It’s nearly … Continue reading →

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