Throughout the past three years I have often felt like an island, isolated in my little world, focused on the tasks set before me and disconnected from much of my past. It can get very difficult sometimes, having no frame of reference except for the bobbing sea around me.

Today I had several opportunities to reconnect with this past, to swim back to the mainland. I feel so much smaller, and I'm so very thankful. It's good to be a factor in the equation, a step in the process, a part of the whole. It's nice to connect, to look into familiar eyes and remember the fondness I have in my heart for certain things, people, and places.

Ideally, I'd like to be a peninsula ... shooting outward yet connected, but for now I'm afraid that I just can't have that luxury. I must serve where I am and cherish what God has given me. It kind of makes me sad, but I know that this is a big ocean in need of as much dry and stable land as possible. I'm gonna stay where I am, struggling to grow palm trees that produce fruit for generations to come.

This is standardized testing week. I love it ... I get to get so much work done and barely teach any classes. All I really have to do is make some rounds through the hallways to give teachers "drink & drain" breaks as needed.

The kids, on the other hand, are miserable. Almost all of them are getting done with each test with 1-2 hours left, so they just have to sit there in silence until the time is up. I think this photo, which I took during my latest round, sums it all up:

Winners
   8 queens of death
   oj mayo
   webel
   lance webel
   lpsci
   summercamp/toledo,ohio
  rebekah bowling
  this holiday life married
  basketball ghetto
* jésus + lance
  how many people use macs on the net
  tom swifty phrases
  how many people use macs
  "Famous resumes"
* quonsot home
  Texas sidewalk paintings + 3d
  What are the names of the Dilly sextuplets?
  transparent volkswagon factory Dresden
* pappizan chair
  oj mayo

Whiners
   webel isp project
   famous people pro-choice
   oj mayo pictures
   pictures of women in newspaper advertisement
   the passion of the christ.mpeg
* don't mess with texas women march t-shirt
  picture of Oj Mayo
  webel and bob
* plank+"dunk tank"
  passion of christ steven speilburg
  "the way things go" Peter Fischli dvd download
  wedding vowels ideas
* song Dela wear a New Jersey
  "wireless internet" free bw3
* jesus robot photo gibson
  oj mayo website
* blabadi
* who is operates big bird
* chinese "praise the name of Jesus"
  oj mayo pictures

   * my favorite searches

"It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education."

-- Albert Einstein

Tony's most recent phone post cites a very interesting NYTimes [i know, i can't stand them either] article called Hug an Evangelical. Kristov, the editoralist, seems to have a well-balanced view with food-for-thought for everyone, especially Christians.

On a different note, Tony just got back from the March for Women's Lives that I blasted earlier in the week. Don't take it personally, Tony, but I still don't get it ... how killing our children (half of which are female) preserves women's lives. It's not like those children have any choice.

This is one of the only "hot issues" that is black and white for me. In fact, the only intelligent argument that I've ever heard for abortion has the basic assumption that the "lifeform" inside the womb, although human, is not yet a person. In other words, our society has not yet granted it the status of and rights associated with "personhood". This is obviously true (because abortion is legal), but that does not make it morally or practically acceptable (and on that point the whole argument crumbles).

I'll digress now ... but if you understand the "pro-choice" viewpoint, I'd love to have a respectful, intelligent conversation with you.

I've posted about This Holiday Life before (it's a band with a couple of college friends) ... well, it seems that they're starting to make the rounds. They'll be playing with Switchfoot & Copeland tonight and tomorrow night and were just at my friend Ezra's last week. Plus, they'll be playing at The Balcony (in Oxford) on Thursday with Griffin House (who I've also posted about recently). If you're in the Oxford area and are over 18, check it, yo.

Oh, and THL was just featured on Relevant. It's good stuff.

"Let us endeavor to live so that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry."

--Mark Twain

The National Education Association is sponsoring the pro-abortion March for Women's Lives. I simply don't understand. How on earth can the NEA, of all organizations, support the killing of children? What an embarrassment to the teaching profession. We might as well just throw our kids out the window.

But it gets even deeper ... many top NEA officials, like Randall Moodey (the top NEA lobbyist and the treasurer for Planned Parenthood's political action committee), are serving in leadership capacities with abortion advocacy groups while working for the NEA.

I will never ... I repeat never ... associate myself in any way with the NEA, attend any of their conferences, or condone membership in their organization. If you're a teacher, contact your state NEA affiliate and tell them what you think. You can see some backlash in Utah, New Jersey, and Michigan. And check out Teachers Saving Children.

It's sick.

Here's to the crazy ones.
The misfits.
The rebels.
The troublemakers.
The round pegs in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently.

They're not fond of rules.
And they have no respect for the status quo.

You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them,
disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing you can't do is ignore them.

Because they change things.
They invent.
They imagine.
They heal.
They explore.
They create.
They inspire.
They push the human race forward.

Maybe they have to be crazy.
How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art?
Or sit in silence and hear a song that's never been written?
Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?

We make tools for these kinds of people.
While some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.
Because the people who are crazy enough
to think they can change the world
are the ones who do.

If you've got a few minutes to meander, check out this website. Not only is this stay-at-home dad hilarious, but this kid is gonna have quite a scrapbook by the time he's able to read it. I especially love Jeremy's invitation:

"If you are a well-known person and are in, or will be in, the New York area and want to have your picture taken with me, please email my daddy ..."

Sorry, I forget how I originally found this site. I never was very good with bibliographies. Or with famous people ... I tend to pick fights.

Does anyone know why beef jerky is so expensive?

So a couple of weeks ago Evander Holyfield came to speak at our middle school (fyi, he's the only four-time heavyweight boxing champion of the world). He was great ... he had a very unique way of relating to the kids, taking their perspective as he talked about fighting, adults, decisions, and friendships. Afterwards I had the chance to just sit and talk to him for about 8 or 10 minutes as the school cleared out and people were passing by. We mostly chatted about kids today and about the way his "mamma" raised him.

Right in the middle of our conversation, I suddenly had the urge to take a swing at him. I'm serious. I wanted to see what he'd do ... if he'd flinch, block it, dodge it, or even swing back. Yes, I was fully aware that I would end up in the hospital if his reflexes were as good as I thought ... but I've learned that these sort of urges are the ones that produce life-long memories. You can't ignore them. I had to do it.

So I quickly changed the subject ... I said, "Hey, Evander, we're considering instituting a new discipline policy here at school." Then I totally lunged at him with a right hook. My shoulder went into it and I bit my bottom lip in a menacing manner, hoping that would push him over the edge ... but to my utter suprise, he totally just stood there. He didn't even flinch. It was like he didn't notice that my arm was cocked. Incredulously, I had to finish my statement ... "Do you think you could train our teachers to use a mean uppercut?"

He declined. He must have been trembling ... I know I was overwhelmingly threatening, especially with that hungry look in my eyes. Hungry enough to consume an ear, I'd say. Mmm ... ear.

That's right, big guy. I talked about your mamma then took a swing at you, and you just stood there. Don't mess with Texas, baby.

"Prayer is not a way of being in charge of God."

-- Carla Sue

I just want to say how proud I am of my track team. Those boys and girls are so gracious, hard-working, passionate, and encouraging. It's such a blessing to challenge them and pull back the reins, to test their limits then delight in their personalities. I feel like they've sacrificed so much for me, like they're constantly working their little buns off to "raise the bar" (figuratively and literally). Hey, a group of them even made me a t-shirt (it's absolutely hilarious) this week.

And they're getting so much better with each passing day ... the boys just got 2nd (of 9 teams) and the girls got 1st (of 9 teams) in our meet tonight, even with several runners feeling very sick. Simply amazing.

Most of all, I love seeing their courage ... fighting illness, insecurity, peer pressure, and even the clock itself. This is a hard sport, especially at the junior high level ... so many eyes and so much weight resting on them, so much at stake with every burst of energy. But their character shines through it all ... they pray together before the starting gun and compliment their competitors after they cross the finish line.

I've spent the last couple hours assembling my taxes. At this point, I owe the federal government $607, but I'm determined to decrease that amount. Eventually. I just looked at last year's returns (where the feds paid me $7 and the yocals $83) and got some tips on just how to do that. Itemizopolis, baby.

At least I'm not paying $227,490 in federal taxes. Or hiding my returns under the floorboards in my study.

[links via spare change]

Have fun today, yo.

"There are two kinds of people in this world, and I am one of them."

-- Dave Barry

Sunday

• Finished up the 24-hour teen weekend at PVM.
• Picked up a car in Cincinnati to deliver to New Hampshire.
• Drove (6-7 hrs) to New York with Matt, Amber, and Sarah to visit Steph.
• Found out who let the dogs out.

Monday

• Woke up and played some Yatzee (got a 379).
• Fulfilled my lifetime N'Sync quota while watching Steph's videos.
• Had some really pulpy orange juice and butterfinger ice cream (mmm).
• Drove through NY and Massachusetts (8-9 hrs?) to Boston to visit Therese.
• Stopped at the Glass Museum in Corning, New York. Yeah.

Tuesday

• Packed the cars back up and drove (1 hr.) up the Atlantic coast to Durham, NH to deliver the Toyota to David (a student at UNH).
• All five of us (including Therese) packed into Louie and drove another hour up Alton Bay, NH to spend a day at a cottage on a lake owned by Russ (a fellow teacher).
• Turned the heat and electricity on in the cottage then walked around the Bay a little.
• Decided to climb Mount Major ... saw some spectacular views, became a human sail in the heavy wind, tried (unsuccessfully) to start a fire with an entire book of matches, went ice-sliding and boulder-running down the mountain, and enjoyed some amazing creation in the White Mountains.
• Went back to the cabin and played Psychiatrist for a while before bed.

Wednesday

• Woke up, cleaned up the cottage, and left Alton Bay for Boston (~2 hrs.).
• Stopped in Portsmouth, NH to do some sightseeing and get a breather.
• Stopped at the public fishing pier, where Matt talked to some fishermen about getting donated fishing supplies (for this summer's pirate stuff, of course).
• Took a train into the city to do some sightseeing along the Freedom Trail.
• Got some good footage of the USS Constitution for this summer's pirate stuff.
• Had dinner in the Market, walked around the city a little more, sang Snap Crackle
• Pop a few hundred times, then took the train back to Therese's place.

Thursday

• Matt and Amber got up at 4am to drive to Maine to pick up some donated lobster cages. Sarah and I slept in.
• Left for Princeton, NJ to visit my sister and her family, driving through Rhode Island and Connecticut.
• Stopped in Mystic Seaport, Connecticut to get some more footage of old ships and enjoy the salty sea air.
• Arrived in Princeton after some frustrating traffic and a good meal at a local pie shop.

Friday

• Woke up early to play with Nathaniel, Caleb, Naomi, and Claire (my nephews and nieces).
• Took Nathaniel and Caleb to Petsmart to get them a new aquarium and a couple goldfish.
• Took a train from Princeton to Penn Station (New York City).
• Saw Times Square, Central Park, Ground Zero, Battery Park, the Statue of Liberty, Rockafeller Center, the Empire State Building, took a ferry to Staten Island and back, and almost went to a broadway show.
• Went to the WaWa (not the WaMa) for some chocolate milk (yum) before going to bed.

Saturday

• Played with the kids a little more before heading for home.
• Got some good camp program planning done (oh yeah, it's gonna be good).
• Drove through Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio before dropping Matt off in Columbus for Easter.
• Dropped Amber, Sarah, and the Lobster cages off at camp.
• Home sweet home.

Sunday

• Sabbath.

Monday

• The last day of break, I'll be setting the lineups for track this week, installing and learning Carrerra Studio (a 3d rendering program), finishing contact with some potential summer camp crew, setting some lesson plans, and working through my email inboxes. I might also be changing hosts for webeldotnet.

i'm boycotting technology for at least a week ... maybe i'll see you on the flipside, maybe not. no sense in checking back here in the next week (unless if you want to call me silly names in the comments).

holla.

"Those who dance are considered insane by those who cannot hear the music."

-- George Carlin