March 30, 2005
Okay. So I've sucked at the
updates lately, and apologies for that. Honestly, I just haven't
much felt like updating the site lately...it's not that much exciting
has been happening--in fact, quite the opposite...I just haven't
much felt like sitting in front of the computer and typing about
my week. And, again, it hasn't been that bad...the kids have been
their usual disagreeable, argumentative selves...I think my mood
has just not been as tolerant as usual this week. Not sure why.
Maybe the upcoming doctor appointment (next Friday) will help,
and I can get on some medicine that works better, but I guess
we'll see...
The week itself has been okay. Getting back to work
after a nice week of spring break went better than expected. I've
gotten nicely back into the swing of things, and apart from the
mood problems, pretty much all is as it was before the break.
The kids, too, seem to be back into the school rhythm...a good
thing indeed. Which means, naturally, that we're all counting
down to the weekend...
Last night was fun, tho. Today is Maria's birthday
(happy birthday, dear), but since she won't be home tonight until
late, due to her Harry Potter class, I decided to surprise her
last night. She came home to a cooked dinner and a DVD set of
the third season of Felicity--nothing amazing, but well
within our budget, and I surprised her and let her relax for the
night, which is what I wanted. Today she's pretty much spent in
class all day...she did buy a cake for her night class to split.
As for the traditional Mills/Ford family dinner...well, it's still
in the planning phases. (One other note on Maria: for those of
you who were asking, she starts her new job on April 18th.)
Looks to be a good weekend, too. Sin City
comes out, and I'm looking forward to that muchly (although I
will be quite sad to see the Jessica Alba posters leave theaters...sigh...);
BH is coming up, and that's always welcome; may go see Angie Aparo
in concert Saturday night; and the big PPV get-together is Sunday
afternoon, and as much as I hugely enjoyed that last year, I'm
quite looking forward to it again this year.
Oh, one last thought: for all of you who posted
my drag pictures on your site, you're sick bastards for exposing
others to that terror.
Anyways, having fulfilled my nagging sense of dereliction
of my site maintenance duties, I'm off to fold laundry--have a
good night...
|
March 27, 2005
Happy Easter, all! Hopefully
it was a nice holiday weekend for all my faithful readers (I think
I'm up to about seven a day--WHOO HOO!) Sadly, my Spring Break
draws to a close tonight, but it's been a nice time. I got very
caught up on my movies, clearing off some serious DVR time (more
on that in a minute), and got to see my Mom and Kevin this weekend.
As mentioned, they came up to take Maria out for her birthday--we
ended up going to a new restaurant in Cool Springs called "Buca
di Beppo". Strange name, and I've probably misspelled it.
But it was all family-style Italian--that is, every entree was
designed to serve at least three people. It was goooooood...
Today: big Easter meal with Maria's family. Good
times. Gabby got to play with the other dogs (nothing funnier
than watching my tiny 3-pound puppy chase around dogs twice her
size), and the food was quite tasty (my wife made her chocolate
cheesecake again--I like MUCH, MUCH). So a nice day today--and
tonight is the season finale for Carnivàle, and
I am PUMPED...if you're not watching this, you can't imagine how
much it's been building to a kick-ass finale, and I'm antsy about
it. So, you know, not a bad way to close out the break, I guess...not
long enough, but that's okay. I can live, given my nice relaxation
over the past few days.
Only sour note of the weekend--I mentioned how much
DVR time I had been clearing. Well, part of that has been that
my FREAKING DVR has been randomly erasing movies! Very irritating...I
know it's deleted at least three movies that I can think of, and
probably more. An extremely frustrating thing for it to do, especially
since I don't have any real idea WHY it's been doing it (and neither
do the Dish Network people, really). Hopefully it's fixed, after
resetting the system...but regardless, it is satisfying to only
have 11 movies left to watch (after having 40 or so at Christmas).
Still, I would rather have actually watched all of them...
OH! The big, BIG
news: Maria has a new job! She got offered an accounting job on
Friday, working for Nashville Tomato company. It's a food supplier
that supplies--big shock--tomatoes! They're a fairly large company,
having been started by a couple of entrepreneurs, and now being
so big that they were recently acquired by Sysco Foods, International!
So that's a very cool deal...not to mention, she'll start off
making far more than I do--good for us! She will probably start
on April 18th, more than likely, and will work part time until
she graduates on May 14th (incidentally, we're not sending invites
to that--if you're really just dying to go, let me know and we'll
talk). So send her a congrats sometime, dammit! Good for her--I'm
very proud of her!
All right--I'm outta here. Have a nice night, and
a good week...
|
March 24, 2005
I don't want to type too much
today--I'm enjoying having little to do, and plan on spending
the day continuing to watch movies (already watched Auto Focus
and am halfway through Talk to Her). But I do
want to share what I told you all was coming: Ryan's twisted Photoshop
fun at my expense.
While not as far-reaching of an effort as he planned
(he'll explain why), the results are still pretty entertaining.
(The album cover is my favorite.) Anyways, check out Ryan's twisted
fun here.
Incidentally, to all those who have clicked on the
pictures below: I'm so, so sorry.
Addendum: I know I said
don't mail me about Terri Schiavo. And I stand by that. But my
dad passed this article along to me, and I really would like to
share it. It's exactly why I'm so tired of the whole
spectacle: because people's emotions are running rampant, and
they're ignoring the way government was designed to act, and in
their misguided effort to help someone, they're willing to throw
out everything our government is designed to protect. Anyways,
the following write-up from CBS news says quite nicely what I
wanted to say. (It's available here
if you like.)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Courts Push Back
March 24, 2005
by Attorney Andrew Cohen
When the White House declares war overseas the judiciary backs
off. When Congress passes a budget the judiciary backs off. So
why is it so hard for people to understand that when judges interpret
the law the other two branches ought to back off? That's not just
a good idea backed by common sense -- it's the law, a part of
the Constitution that even big fans of the "original intent"
doctrine cannot deny.
On its most fundamental level, stripped of all the passion and
emotion and desperation, the Terri Schiavo saga this week was
a story about the push-and-pull between the branches, on both
the federal and state level. The executive and legislative branches
tried to hijack the courts to achieve a particular political result
and the courts fought back and won, as they should have, as they
must have if we are to continue as a society ruled by law and
not political fiat.
Congress and the White House and the politicians in Florida illegitimately
pushed the judiciary far beyond the point of reason and the judges
rightly and justly pushed back. From Pinellas County, Florida,
to Tampa to Atlanta to Washington, good for all of them.
The week's battle was ugly, it was disappointing, it was a growing
sign of the "legalization" of politics or, if you wish,
the "politicalization" of the law. But in the end, it
was another example that the system we have in place works even
under the most arduous stress. I know that many of the
politicians who supported the power grab on behalf of the parents
of Terri Schiavo now will crucify "activist" judges
for failing to order her feeding tube to be reconnected. When
they do, and you hear them, just remember that it was the courts
that held the line in this sad case; that it was the
judiciary that kept intact the law.
Activism? Try pinning it on a group of lawmakers who put this
case, this issue and the Schindlers above the notion of separation
of powers and co-equal branches. Try pinning it on a White House
that enabled and encouraged lawmakers in this effort to the point
where federal lawyers were
arguing in federal court for the type of expanded jurisdiction
that has been an anathema to conservative jurisprudence for as
long as there has been conservative jurisprudence. Judging from
the polls that have come out over the past week, a vast majority
of Americans are, indeed, seeing the forest for the trees; people
simply don't think it was the necessary and proper business of
the feds to load the dice in favor of Terri Schiavo's parents
and against her husband.
The judicial system, in Florida and in Washington, fully and
fairly considered the claims of Michael Schiavo and Bob and Mary
Schindler, the parents of Terri Schiavo. The Florida courts ruled
for Michael Schiavo, time and again, over the course of many years.
That should have been the end of it and, if it were, it would
have meant that all of the parties in the case had received no
more and no less constitutional due process than anyone else in
a similar situation. It would have meant that Terri Schiavo, and
Michael Schiavo, and the Schindlers had received everything the
law owes them.
But it didn't end there. Congress ordered an unprecedented federal
review. So the federal courts, deferring as much as they must
to their co-equal branch, gave the Schindlers that rare review.
Three separate courts -- in Tampa, Atlanta and Washington -- looked
at the matter and determined, with varying degrees of explanation,
that if Terri Schiavo (and, by extension, the Schindlers) did
not receive fair due process rights no one ever has. This should
have been the end of the matter and, if it were, it would have
meant that all of the litigants in the case had received more
rights than you or me ever could hope for. But it didn't even
end there.
What makes this case so unusual, so startling even, is the length
and extent to which officials in the other two branches were willing
to go to try to circumnavigate the dictates of the law on behalf
of a single individual. Capitol Hill's tailor-made legislation
on Monday was just the most visible
example of this special treatment. The President's decision to
interrupt his vacation was the most curious example. Governor
Bush's attempt to take custody of Terri Schiavo on the flimsiest
of abuse allegations, and upon the conclusion of a doctor who
did not evaluate her, was the most serious.
Astonishingly, all of these actions took place after the courts
had reached their final conclusions over matters entirely within
the jurisdiction of the courts to decide. They all took place
after the other two branches should have recognized that judges
and not politicians get to decide individual
cases.
That's not to say that it is unusual for an executive or legislative
branch to challenge the official actions of the judiciary. We
see it all the time on both a federal or state level. It is all
part of the interplay between the branches, the natural tension
and vital dynamic that is supposed to
ensure that no single branch assumes or takes too much power or
control of government functions. Congress passes laws that judges
interpret. And if those interpretations are not to Congress' liking
the lawmakers sometimes can change them again. And once the laws
are set the executive must enforce them, fairly and evenly, lest
he be hauled back before a judge. It's the
political and legal and national equivalent of the cycle of life
-- like the cruel world on the Serengeti plains.
But what happened in this case was not that. It was an order
of magnitude different from that. How would you like the whole
weight of the White House and Congress coming down against you
and in favor of your opponent in a lawsuit you had just won? How
would you like to have to worry about state officials coming to
take custody of you even though a judge had ruled, over and over
again, that you were beyond the reach of those officials? How
would you like it if the Constitution itself and 200 years of
law were changed, in a week, in order to try to deprive you of
your rights? You wouldn't. That's why, thanks to the judiciary,
the law does not permit these things.
Another aspect of this case that was different, and disturbing,
was the lack of public rhetoric about the true and noble nature
of the courts and the place of judges as final arbiters of our
disputes, large and small. Throughout this long week I kept waiting
for federal and state leaders to say the sorts of things we typically
hear from government officials during and after controversial
cases-- that everyone must respect the courts, that judicial decisions
are final, that the rule of law is more important than the results
of any particular case. Those statements simply didn't come, or
at least didn't come until after the litigation was effectively
resolved and it became clear that it was time to concede.
That sends a terrible message to young and old alike about the
place of the judiciary in our system of government. It sends a
message of disrespect toward judges and the rule of law; a message
that final judicial decisions can be mere way stations along the
road to a political result. Judges don't have a soapbox in which
to compete in this fight for public perception in the court of
public opinion. They do not have a bully pulpit and they don't
appear on cable television or on talk radio. The can only speak
through their rulings. This week, those rulings quietly spoke
volumes about what is right about our government, even as all
the white noise and hot passion surrounding them spoke loudly
about what is wrong with it.
|
March 22, 2005
Okay. A couple of days since
the last update, and not much has happened--then again, isn't
that the joy of spring break? I have gotten a bunch done
at work--lesson plans for next week, seating charts, and whatnot--but
largely I've just been enjoying some time without the kids. It
was so relaxed, in fact, that I brought the adorable Ms. Gabby
with me to work today--obviously, all the ladies at work loved
having her, even if she drove me a little nuts today--as
much as I love my little dog, the nice thing about cats is how
much less needy they are...
Other joys of the week:
- I have been stealing wireless internet like crazy from the
hotels around Clarksville to update Maria's/my laptop. This
has led me to realize two things: a) I love wireless internet,
and b) I hate having dial-up.
- My mom and Kevin are coming up this weekend! No, they're coming
up to treat Maria to a birthday dinner--her birthday is a week
from tomorrow! (Have I gotten her a present yet, you ask? Of
course not--what kind of procrastinator would I be if I had?
Do I know what I'm getting her? More than likely...)
-
For those sick, depraved individuals that
were asking, I finally have copies of the pictures of me in
drag. Let me make this perfectly clear:
THE MANAGEMENT OF CLYDEUMNEY.NET
TAKES NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY NIGHTMARES, MENTAL ILLNESS,
FEAR, NIGHT TERRORS, DRUG OR ALCOHOL ADDICTION, OR ANY OTHER
COMPLICATIONS THAT MAY RESULT FROM VIEWING THE FOLLOWING
PICTURES.
That being said, if you're still dying to look at them, there
are two of them. I like to call them Horror
Number 1 and Horror
Number 2. (I like that I seem to look pregnant. Ahh, the
joys of a beer gut...) And I give it about two days before
Ryan has me in awkward positions as a result of my stupidity
in putting this on the Web. (Actually, there was talk this
weekend of a weekly feature of "The Stupidity of Josh"
or something like that...)
-
Speaking of this weekend, one final update
on the HorrorCon: Ryan has a
more in-depth account of the festival than he had last
time, as well as some different and cool pictures. Why do
I bring it up again? A) I had a really good time, and enjoy
sharing; B) his account has more detail about the celebs themselves;
C) his site is cooler than mine, and should be seen. Besides,
you don't have to go. Jeez. Quit complaining, people.
- Finally, let me just implore you: do not, not, not, not, NOT,
NOT, NOT, NOT, NOT, NOT talk
to me about the freaking Terry Schiavo case. I am sick of it.
I'm tired of countless people on both sides presuming to know
what is going on in a complicated medical case and just assuming
that everyone else is wrong; I'm tired of lawmakers drastically
overstepping their authority to be involved; I'm tired of whiny
parents and complaining spouses--essentially, I'm tired of seeing
a heartbreaking family problem become an "issue" rather
than a person. It pisses me off, and I do not want to hear anything
else about it. (I'm even turning off the news when it comes
on. Except The Daily Show. Because I need to laugh
about it, you know?)
Okay. That's all--back to your normal, everyday lives. |
March 20, 2005
Just one brief update today:
yesterday, I wrote about a great story that Debbie Rochon told
about how one of her movie performances opened doors for a couple's
private life. I mentioned that Ryan might have a video of it up
soon, and he's come through with it today. Go to his
videos page, and click on "Me & Debbie part two".
Quite entertaining.
Incidentally, Ryan's got his own account of the
festival up at his blog page, so go check it out here.
|
March
19, 2005
Life has been pretty dang
great the last few days, people. First off, I made it through
the week, which means that DADDY IS ON SPRING BREAK! WHOO HOO!
Now, yes, I have to work for some of that...but I plan on using
two free days off that I have this Thursday and Friday, giving
me a four day weekend. Very nice indeed...and, as I've mentioned
before, days at work when the kids aren't there--hey, it's like
having the day off anyways.
Also: earlier this week we had our awards assembly...the
kids (for the second term in as many) voted me as the best teacher!
Very cool indeed for me...I'm pretty proud of that award, since
the kids pick it themselves. Make me very happy to get it.
But today really was a blast. At about the last
minute, I decided to join my friend Ryan
in going to the Full
Moon Tattoo and Horror convention, and let me tell you, it
was a complete blast.
We started off the day meeting Ryan and his fellow
comedian Rob
"Hotsauce" Haynes for lunch at the local Chinese
buffet, where our discussion ranged from the age-old rivalry between
monkeys and clowns to our newest ambassador to Nigeria, George
Wendt's enormous...um...male member. (And yet, in all of this,
Maria's only repulsed comment was when Ryan hugged Hotsauce in
a creepy manner. Nothing else fazed her. Man, I've toughened her
up.) Afterwards, my wife (who did not understand the coolness
of meeting Leatherface) went her separate way, and off to the
convention we went...
...and it was pretty friggin' awesome. Among the
highlights:
- I got to meet and chat with Debbie Rochon, a renowned B-movie
actress. Mostly she's shown up in Troma movies--ultra-low budget
horror films, mostly (The Toxic Avenger is a Troma
film). Ms. Rochon was super-cool, remaining friendly, kind,
and humorous, even when Rob told her that she was in the first
adult movie he ever saw. In fact, this spurred a long story
in which she told how one of her movies led to a man's wife
being more open to threesomes. (Ryan may have a video of it
up sometime. Her story, that is, not the threesome. Perverts.
Jeez. This is a family site...anyways, I'll keep you
posted.) Debbie was very funny, and super cool to chat with,
giving us free autographed
pictures as well as taking pictures with all of us, including
yours
truly. A very cool lady, even if Rob did creep her out by
a) "accidentally" kissing her when she took her picture
with him, and b) asking her to trace her hand so he could get
it tattooed on his back (as a hand turkey, like we made in kindergarten)...oddly,
the one time we saw her after that, she averted her eyes...anyways,
a neat lady. Maybe I'll have to check out more of her stuff--apparently,
Ryan owns it all anyways...
- While we're talking about Troma films, we got to hang out
for a bit with Lloyd Kaufman, president of the company. He's
a really cool guy--very laid-back, very friendly, and generally
a fascinating figure in the world of film. In thanks for Ryan
helping him learn to work his own digital camera, he attempted
to give away some stuff, and did take
pictures with us (but only with a subtle bit of product
placement)...and, no, I don't know who the girl was. Just a
random Troma helper...
- Moving on. While there were a lot of cool horror
celebs there, like Sid
Haig (House of 1000 Corpses), Kane
Hodder (the guy who's played Jason more than anyone else),
Ken
Foree (from the original Dawn of the Dead, as well
as a cameo in the remake), Bill
Moseley (Corpses again, as well as some of the
Texas Chainsaw sequels), and Matthew
McGrory (the giant from Big Fish and Corpses--he
is literally 7'6"...and scary)...
- ...the big highlight was the trio of stars from the original
Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Gunnar Hansen, the original
Leatherface; Edwin Neal, the crazy hitchhiker; and Marilyn Burns,
our heroine Sally. All three were very friendly (Neal most of
all--you could tell he loved these kind of things), and not
only did I get individual pictures with Hansen,
Neal,
and Burns,
but I also got all three to autograph my
Texas Chainsaw DVD. AWESOME...
So, all in all, an awesome day. If you're curious to see the
whole horror-con picture gallery, it's set up over
here. In the meantime, I'm off to go crash on the couch and
watch a movie with my wife. |
March 16, 2005
So, let me tell you...as I
mentioned yesterday, today was cross-dressing day. So we woke
up, and, yes, I did try on some of Maria's dresses. The results
were...well...um...it's really best if we don't go into it here,
as it all turned out pretty damn horrifying. It was really pretty
traumatic--not Silence of the Lambs dancing guy level
of creepy, but not far off. So I thought that plan was abandoned...
...until I got to work, and one of my co-workers
brought in a small black skirt and some sort of Hawaiian looking
top.
Yes, I wore it.
So as not to expose my whole back, I did turn my
plaid button up shirt into a halter-top kind of thing...the results
were pretty entertaining. Especially when combined with the black
mullet wig that I had on.
"But Josh," my faithful three readers
ask, "where is a picture of this hilariously humiliating
event, so that we may mock you for months to come?" Patience,
my pets...Ms. Colleen took one of me, and I will have a copy ere
the week is out, so
Ryan can Photoshop me in horrifying ways. (One could ask why
I would post it if I know this will happen. I don't really know...)
On a separate, less entertaining note:
The good news: The Tennessee committee for Family
Services voted down a proposed law that would make it illegal
for gay/lesbian couples to adopt children.
The bad news: it was voted down by a margin of 11-9.
Eleven to NINE????? NINE????
I really can't say how depressing it is to me that
so much of my government thinks that we shouldn't let the sheer
number of children abandoned in orphanages be adopted by some
loving, caring parents who desperately want children because of
some irrational fear that "OH MY GOD THEY MIGHT CATCH THE
GAY".
What's more, the bill's sponsor is upset it didn't
make it to the House floor, because he knew he had enough support
there for it.
Need more to irritate you? The "watered down"
version of the bill that did make it through "only"
gives preference to heterosexual, married couples over all others.
Which is better than an outright ban, but hardly cause for celebration.
Thank God Tennessee has no bigger problems than keeping kids from
finding homes! I mean, thank goodness our health care isn't in
crisis, and we have no budget worries to concern ourselves with
at this point...
I hate the South sometimes.
|
March 15, 2005
Well, two days into the new
term. It's been an interesting week so far. I don't know if the
kids are just having a drama-filled time, or it's the restlessness
of spring break being a week away, but they have been handfuls
these past two days. Add into this the normal stress of teaching,
and factor in the slew of new classes I'm learning (not to mention
teaching three literature classes during one period), and you
might have some sense of how stressful it's been so far. In all
fairness, tho, the kids get better as the days go on...but the
mornings have been a little crazy, to put it mildly.
Otherwise, life continues on. Tweak seems to have
finally gotten over his bizarre fear of Gabby, and is happily
chasing her around the house and sometimes even playing with her.
So that's something nice to see--I know it makes Gabby happier,
and I think it'll do Tweak good to have a playmate around the
house.
Odd note today: all of the kids in our GED program
wrote pieces about what they would do if they met themselves as
a young child. One of them--a kid I used to teach in regular ed--wrote
a long piece about how he would kill the younger version, or at
least kidnap himself to get himself away before "all the
pain began". He then went on a rant about how he didn't want
to write anymore about his past, and why he couldn't just leave
it alone without his teachers constantly making him write about
it.
Kind of heartbreaking. Cast a pall on the rest of
the day, to some degree.
Man. Don't want to end on a depressing note...oh!
So, this week is "Spirit Week" at MCTLC, which basically
involves some fun clothing days. Yesterday was pajama day (I went
toting my Sopranos set), today classy dress day (no participation
from me today)...and tomorrow is cross-dress day. My thought here
is that it would be awesome to wear my wife's wedding dress...bu
apart from my assumption that she won't let that happen, I have
this deep and abiding fear that I will be pulled over on my way
to Nashville while wearing it. I can only imagine the awkwardness
of that conversation:
"Excuse me, sir...do you know how fast--wait, what are you
wearing?"
"Um..."
"And where are you going?"
"I'm a teacher!"
Then, off to jail I'd go. Teacher in a wedding dress...and I'm
sure my jail experience in a wedding dress would be memorable.
Maybe it's not such a hot idea...
Postscript: if you've never checked out Spamusement
before, it's a hilarious site. This guy basically just reads the
subject lines on his junk mail, and makes cartoons off of them.
Why do I mention this today? Because today's
cartoon cracked me up...and left me not sure which I would
choose, to be completely honest...
2nd Postscript: Thanks to Jim
for the shoutout on his page, and the effort to draw more than
three people a day. I owe you one... |
March 13, 2005
A dreadfully dull weekend,
all in all. I watched five--count 'em, FIVE--movies off the DVR,
ranging drastically in quality (check out the movie
log if you're curious). Got some reading done, and cleared
off my e-mail. That's IT...not a bad way to spend a couple of
days, I guess--relaxing and all...but it was a bit dull. Still,
with the new term starting up tomorrow, I can't say that a bit
of relaxation won't do me good before this exciting (read: stressful)
week begins.
On a side note, someone pointed me to a link about
the zombie army story I posted last time. According to this version
(sorry, I've lost the link to it), the principal of the school
says the whole thing's been pretty distorted, and that the story
he saw of the kids didn't have anything close to zombies,
that it was clearly the work of a disturbed mind. So, clearly,
there's more than one side to this, and as a teacher, I can understand
wanting to be cautious. I guess the sad thing is--and the reason
I posted it--is that it doesn't sound so implausible,
does it? In our post-9/11 world (and our Bush-fueled paranoiac
state), the idea of a kid being accused for terrorism because
of a story...well, it doesn't sound as outrageous as it once did.
And I think that's a pretty sad thing...
Oh well. Off to watch Deadwood. Have a
good week...
|
March 11, 2005
An uneventful day, but when
you work with troubled/difficult teens, that can be a good thing,
people. Got a lot done at work--the next week is all planned out
at school. And after this week--spring break for a week! So only
a week to go till a nice long break. (Yes, I work some over the
break, but I do get some time off as well.)
In other news, Maria came up to work and brought
Gabby with her. Was funny to watch my wife enter a room pursued
by a mob of women from around the office. Work stopped in that
school for about a half hour while everyone played. Naturally,
she loved being the center of attention.
Otherwise, a boring evening. My wife is starting
to feel pretty sick--seems she has a worse version of what I had,
so she's resting on the couch. (Gabby is worriedly standing guard
over her, as is Tweak. Sebastian could care less.) Me? I'm cleaning
out e-mail tonight, along with finding out how many people visit
this site on a daily basis. (On average? THREE. So I'm not really
the most popular site on the web...)
I did want to close with this
story from a Kentucky news station. It's pretty depressing
that this country's paranoia has gotten to this point, is all
I'm saying.
**********************************************************
CLARK COUNTY
Student Arrested For Terroristic Threatening Says Incident
A Misunderstanding
A George Rogers Clark High School junior arrested Tuesday for
making terrorist threats told LEX 18 News Thursday that the "writings"
that got him arrested are being taken out of context.
Winchester police say William Poole, 18, was taken into custody
Tuesday morning. Investigators say they discovered materials at
Poole's home that outline possible acts of violence aimed at students,
teachers, and police.
Poole told LEX 18 that the whole incident is a big misunderstanding.
He claims that what his grandparents found in his journal and
turned into police was a short story he wrote for English class.
"My story is based on fiction," said Poole, who faces
a second-degree felony terrorist threatening charge. "It's
a fake story. I made it up. I've been working on one of my short
stories, (and) the short story they found was about zombies. Yes,
it did say a high school. It was about a high school over ran
by zombies."
Even so, police say the nature of the story makes it a felony.
"Anytime you make any threat or possess matter involving
a school or function it's a felony in the state of Kentucky,"
said Winchester Police detective Steven Caudill.
Poole disputes that he was threatening anyone.
"It didn't mention nobody who lives in Clark County, didn't
mention (George Rogers Clark High School), didn't mention no principal
or cops, nothing," said Poole. "Half the people at high
school know me. They know I'm not that stupid, that crazy."
On Thursday, a judge raised Poole's bond from one to five thousand
dollars after prosecutors requested it, citing the seriousness
of the charge.
Poole is being held at the Clark County Detention Center.
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March 10, 2005
So the finals are now over,
and honestly, my kids did pretty darn well. It was nice to have
a group that actually tried this term as opposed to the
apathy my last couple of terms, and there's a much more fulfilling
feeling that goes along with the majority of your kids passing
with As and Bs than with about half failing and the rest scraping
by. So a good day on that score.
Also got my class schedule for next term (starts
Monday). Sadly, gone is the term in which I had two periods in
which I only taught one class at a time--in fact, this term is
pretty rough. My first and second periods, I will be teaching
two classes (Speech/Algebra I and Speech/Sociology, respectively);
third period will be three classes at once (10th, 11th,
and 12th grade English classes); for fourth, luckily, a single
class of Sociology. That leaves six different courses to plan
out, and eight classes to teach over four periods a day. Ugh.
Still, one nice thing is that I've taught two of these classes
before, which means I have old lesson plans to go off of (and
finals to use, too), so that's nice. Still, a little intimidating...and
the rest of this week/weekend will be pretty hectic, as I scramble
to get ready for a whole new term in three days. Whee!
Still, life isn't too bad. I'm feeling better, somewhat--still
stuffy, but not as miserably so; just tough to breathe, a bit,
but it's gotten better. And no kids tomorrow! So that's nice,
too...
One last note to mention: I don't discuss my music
often on here, as I don't buy much and I just sort of shuffle
from CD to CD. But when something stays in my player for several
days at a time (like American
Idiot did, and continues to do), I feel like I ought
to make mention of it, and so I bring you the next hit in Josh's
music parade: Bowling for Soup's CD A
Hangover You Don't Deserve. I'm not going to
tell you that it's a revolutionary CD, or that it's the greatest
band of all time. What I will tell you is that it's a great rock
band, it's a lot of fun, and the tunes are ingratiatingly catchy.
Besides, the great Butch Walker is helping write some of this
stuff, and you should all know my love for the Butch. So check
it out--it's nothing more than a great bar band rocking out and
being goofy, but it's a fun CD, and I've been listening to it
for a couple of days now, and enjoying myself greatly.
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March 8, 2005
Decent enough day today, I
suppose. Still not feeling great, but am maintaining...if I can
just make it till Friday, I get a day without kids (which, in
all honestly, is just about like having a day off). Of course,
that means making it through finals. The good news is, I've finished
four of my five finals, and all five study guides. Now all that's
left is copying the last final and making answer keys...man. I
never appreciated how much my high school teachers went through
until recently.
Otherwise, life is calm, which is a nice thing.
Turns out we're not having the next monthly get together
with the guys this weekend...kind of a disappointment, since I
was looking forward to it. Still, it gives me a weekend to relax...
Man. The blog gets dull when life hits routine.
At this point, my day consists of waking up, going to work, dealing
with kids all day, driving home, playing with Gabby, trying to
not neglect the cats, cruising the Web, and sleep. Good times...when
did I get so old already? My kids were jokingly inviting me to
go party with them this weekend, and I just thought about my ideal
weekend being sleep and movies. I got old, somewhere along the
way...
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March 7, 2005
Ugh. Not feeling so hot today...I'm
at that critical juncture of sickness where you're sick enough
to feel crappy, but not sick enough to stay home. So
I went in to work today...not my best day, in that a) the kids
were more irritating than usual since I was feeling bad, b) I
couldn't do as good a job of keeping them in line, since I wasn't
feeling great, leading to c) them being even more irritating...a
bad cycle. Oh well.
I am growing quite attached to our little
dog, on a separate note. Yes, she's definitely more needy than
cats...but she's still pretty great, and I have to say that she's
growing on me. (Hey, even BH likes her, and he hates all animals!)
While coming home to a whining, howling, lonely dog is sad, being
showered with puppy kisses at least makes you feel valued (even
if I know she kisses everyone the same...but still!).
Anyways. Coming out of a good weekend--didn't do
much, but it was nice. Saw a movie, finished season one of Deadwood
(I really can't say how outstanding this show is...I wanted
to write a long piece about it, but am not feeling like it tonight...suffice
to say, it's an amazing piece of television, and probably the
best TV western ever made...I'd put it up there with Unforgiven
in terms of tone...), and took Gabby to the park. Good times.
With that, I'm off to dinner, TheraFlu, and an early
bedtime...
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March 5, 2005
I actually don't have much
to say today. I mean, it wasn't a bad day in any way, just nothing
special...
...but I did want to share this
with all of you, in which a
good friend took one
of my pictures and played "Create a caption" with
the stars of local Nashville comedy (which, if you're not going
to see, you're missing out--I can't recommend the Native Engine
show at The End highly enough)...and the results are pretty dang
funny. Anyways, enjoy. And start watching Deadwood tomorrow...
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March 4, 2005
A good day today. Most of
it was spent on goal trip, so that meant very little classroom
time today. We left for laser tag around 9:45, and played the
first game around 11. I gotta say...I had never played before,
and it was a BLAST. I didn't do that well my first game, but did
have a fun time nonetheless, made more so by the help/humor of
my partner Susan (my student who thinks I'm gay). A good time.
The second game, I went solo, as Susan decided to
sit the game out. Did much better--managed some good sniping,
and some excellent sneak jobs for blasts from behind. The first
game, I was ranked 16th out of 25; the second, 8th out of 23.
So not horrible either time. More importantly, it was a LOT of
fun, and the kids really enjoyed it. (They also behaved extremely
well, which made the day a lot better--I fully had expected to
have to pull them out of there for doing inappropriate things,
but they were really good.)
Anyways, a really fun day. Looks to be a good weekend,
too. BH is coming up; I get to watch the finale of Deadwood,
as well as start the new season of that same show; more Carnivàle;
and, hey, maybe even a movie! Only work to do is finish another
final (two and a half done; I'd like to have at least three, if
not four, done this weekend) and do one small handout for Monday.
Not a bad set of work, really...could have been much worse.
BTW, did fix the broken link in the pets
gallery; sorry about that...
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March 3, 2005
So, last night, we went and
got the dog, who has finally been christened with the name Gabby
Ray (short for Gabrielle Ray, naturally).
It has been an adventurous time till now, to put
it mildly. Although she’s gradually warming up to us, it’s
taken quite a bit of time--she spent most of the lengthy car drive
home shivering madly in fear. But she seems to have accepted us,
for now. Now, the cats...that’s another issue. She is absolutely
terrified of them thus far...every time they come to investigate
her presence, she whimpers and cowers. But, to be fair to my feline
babies, they have been nothing but angels--hardly even a growl.
Mostly, it’s just been baffled curiosity to this point,
as they’ve struggled to find out what manner of beast we
have brought into the house...it should be an interesting time
for a while. Hopefully, Ms. Gabby settles enough that, unlike
last night, we don’t have to be kept up all night with whimpering...man,
I’m tired today...
Oh, you’re wanting pictures? Well, I'm working
on it. Check back later tonight or maybe tomorrow for the newest
gallery: the pet pictures.
BTW: tomorrow will be Laser Tag in Nashville with
the kids. Should be a memorable day...
Update (8:26 p.m.):
the pet gallery
is up and running, so enjoy!
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March 1, 2005
An odd, odd day today. Didn't
start off too great, with me discovering that, for the second
time ever, my DVR chose to malfunction last night, not allowing
me to tape the final episode from the first season of Deadwood.
Irritating, indeed...of course, the possible good news was that
the TV was telling me that Montgomery County schools were delayed
by two hours. Good news for me? Well, I would head on to work
anyways at my usual time of 6:15...
...to get stopped dead on I-24 at 6:30. Where I
sat. Until 9:30 AM. That's right, folks--three
hours sitting on the Interstate without moving. I read 250 pages
of my book, talked to people, and, oh yeah, found out that school
was cancelled for the day as of around 8:30--but, of course, I
couldn't turn around at that point, being stuck in traffic. So,
there I was--I didn't even need to have gotten up this morning,
but I was up and sitting.
The upside? I had the rest of the day free, and
with no work materials on me, I was forced (oh, the pain!) to
relax for the day. So I did. I watched some taped TV, and finally
watched all of the very good (and four hour!)
Once Upon a Time in America.
Now, it's about 6:20, I'm cleaning e-mail, and may even go watch
something else. For such a rough start, the day's turned out okay.
Two final thoughts:
One: I don't understand this
anymore than you do...but I still laughed.
Two: Good news, everyone! Stephen King officially
isn't retired! He's got an announcement on his site that he has
a new book due out in October...happy times. A pulp fiction noir
kind of thing...read more here.
Happiness is me.
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