Essays, Articles, Poems & Stories by Shawn Olsonchalkboard columns, editorial, articles, poems, poetry, fiction, non-fictionChalkboard columns and essays, as well as news articles, stories and poems by Columbus Messenger writer Shawn Olson.
Journalism
Features
Mabi Ponce de Leon, Artist & Teacher*
J. Ashburn Youth Center turns 40*
Mike Redd hosts first annual basketball clinic*
Clean Sweep: The SWACO story‡
Valleyview police chief under fire*
Junk Food won't make you Chuck*
Winners on Wheels*
Fuel tank safety measures*
WHS JROTC instructor wins award*
The staggering growth of ladybug populations*
Barb Seeger retires after 18 years*
IWA comes to life in Columbus*
Essays & Editorials
While there is supposed to be a type of detached emotion in the profession of a journalist, I can’t make that step. I usually get greater satisfaction from writing essays and editorials than reports. I feel that the purpose of writing is more than communication of facts about current events. Knowing what is happening is only the beginning of the day; knowing how and why to use that knowledge is what gets us safely and profitably into next week.
Most of these essays and editorials have appeared as "Chalkboard" columns in the Westside Messenger under different titles.
Amusing
Me, Myself & Mr. PC
Empty is as full as it gets*
Going bald like a man*
Pet people*
A Yahoo speaks out
In the wake of a good night’s sleep*
Philosophy
The nature of apathy*
The mind & body*
The idea of love*
The paradox of cultural relativism*
Human ability & prejudice*
Breaking the back of boredom*
The happy worker*
Rational environmentalism*
Society’s sentiments toward evolution*
My feelings on God
The never-ending debate
My failed faith
The other end of life*
Education
The aim of education in democracy*
Some thoughts on learning*
Educational inflation*
Hirsch shoulda done his homework*
The forgotten philosopher
The price of education
Nature in education*
Tweeners*
Discipline in schools*
The call for religion in schools
My experience at Westland High School
Miscellaneous
Artists come a dime a dozen*
The philosophy of Bruce Lee*
Harry Houdini and Howard Thurston*
Psychics and statistics*
The public’s disdain for science*
The scare over silly things—like role playing*
Some observations on smokers*
Muckraking in the new Millenium*
Politics from the lawn*
Gun issues*
Integrating families
Insurance fraud—the true story
America’s New War
Problems with American Freedom*
Using the Internet*
Poetry
Readers familiar with my reports, features and columns may find my poetry somewhat disturbing. Put my cartoons down next to most of my poems, and the only indication they came from the same person is the signature and by-line.
The reason is the fact that I generally live by a creed of inspiration—I want to push myself to excel and I want to inspire people around me. During most of my waking hours, this type of mission drives me. That’s why the majority of my writing is educational, inspirational, amusing or productive in some manner.
Poetry is a different story in my life.
I don’t write much poetry. That’s a good thing, for me. It’s not that I don’t like poetry. In fact, I try to instill an element of poetic thought even in the driest pieces I put out. The issue for me is that I don’t feel poetic unless I am in a rough period of life. I usually only write a poem when I’m sad or depressed.
So if you have a rough time trying to fit these poems in with my other work, I suggest you just leave it alone.
Her shadow walks on
A bankrupt soul*
Everything fades*
Exhausted melodies
He whom I know
Veterans*
The ephemeral soldier*
These wants infernal
Void of desire
The storm within
In the end
Fiction
Samples coming soon.