Help A Writer

You've probably seen this posted around the interwebs, but in case you haven't...

Dave Freer, a fine writer and a fellow member of sfnovelists, is emigrating to Australia from South Africa -- not generally a problem, except that Dave wants his dogs and cats, some of which are rescue animals, to make the trip with him. That, unfortunately, is a rather expensive and lengthy process. So to raise some cash for the effort, he is posting up chapters of a novel on his site -- http://savethedragons.nu/ -- for contributions.

Go forth and check it out!

Empty-Nester (Again)

As of yesterday, Denise are I are once again without children at home. Devon moved out into an apartment in Clifton with two of his friends, so for at least the next year, it'll just be Denise and me. It'll take a bit to readjust once more... and we'll see if we remain empty-nested now. Both of our children (hopefully) know they will be welcomed back at need, but that we also hope they find their independence and their own places.

Of course, we have lasting memories of both Megen's and Devon's stays with us, in the form of Stuff. Stuff in closets, Stuff in boxes, Stuff in drawers and piled in their respective old bedrooms. We really need to go through (or they need to go through) the Stuff so we can get rid of it.

Though I've told Devon that he needs to leave at least one drum set here in the practice room in the basement, so that the various bands can practice. Some Stuff is eternal... :-)

It's Dangerous To Expose Kids To The President

When it's considered a horrible thing for your child to have to listen to the president tell him or her that they should stay in school and get a good education, when you'd rather pull your kids from the classroom than let them hear the current president speak, when it's controversial to have the president talk to school kids about the value of a good education, something is seriously wrong.

Strange how when Reagan or Bush Sr. or Bush Jr. talked to school children, no one was howling bloody murder about 'indoctrination'