Shadow Void

Turkey Run State Park

Nature Weekend: Turkey Run

This weekend after a three hour drive, we arrived at Turkey run state park. My mom, dad, and of course me made the trip to check out a park that mom and me had never been too. My dad had been there at some point with the boys in his scout troop. He was so impressed with it that he decided to share it with us. It has a wonderful hardwood forest mixed with a few conifers mixed in. Some of the trees that fill this park are for lack of a better word giants. I would like to make a return trip so I could measure the tree trunks with a tape measure. Suffice to say, that I was in awe. We broke a little rule and tasted some pawpaw. OHHH...man is that good stuff! The park has some eastern hemlock trees which I'm sure that I saw but just didn't know it. Now there were plenty of animals around us, but about the only thing that I saw was snake, fish, and a chipmunk. Oh...wait, I forgot that we saw three raccoons late Saturday night. I'm going to post a slide show of the pics via youtube tonight. I highly recommend visiting this park.

No Child Left Inside Act of 2009 ( S. 866 )

Thank you for contacting me regarding the No Child Left Inside Act of 2009 (S. 866). I appreciate hearing your thoughts and understand your concerns. Education was a top priority of mine as Governor and it remains one of my highest priorities as your Senator. This is demonstrated by my consistent support for adequate funding and accountability for programs that increase educational outcomes for all of our students. We need to prepare our students for the challenges facing our nation as we compete in the global economy. Our future depends on the investments we make in our children today. S. 866 was introduced on April 22, 2009. This bill would require states to develop environmental literacy plans for pre-kindergarten through grade 12 that include environmental education standards and teacher training; create grants to states for activities involving teacher training and the development of more rigorous environmental education curricula; and create competitive matching grants for certain activities to improve and support environmental education. S. 866 has been referred to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. While I am not a member of this Committee, please rest assured that I will keep your views in mind as Congress debates these important issues. So what do you think of this act?

You Hit My Brother

I don't know who the hell gave you permission to take to the streets with alcohol ruling over your body. I want to know what you the right to get into your car and drive. You know the laws that govern what will happen if you get caught. You know the dangers of being behind the wheel with your blood thick with the devil's brew. So was this your first time, you know driving drunk?

 

Was this the first time that you decided that you're better than all of us? Is this first time that you decided to let your drunken ass make your decisions for you. If I'm right then the answer is "NO!" it's just the first, second, or hey maybe even the third time that you've been caught. More than likely, it's the first time that you had to ask someone "Where did you come from?" asshole. You got into the car, you turned the key, and you pushed the gas. No one twisted your hand to those drinks. No one forced you at gun point to get into your car, but then again you didn't call a cab. No one made you do this, asshole! Yeah I like that name don't you.

 

If the name fits own it! But more importantly, you did it. You took away my brother's toes. To make it worse, you can't even give them back. You can't give back the hours of missed work, though I think you should be paying him for hours missed. My brother would still be working; he would still would have the use of his legs. (No guys he's not paralyzed see this link http://shadowvoid.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/07/brother-was-hit.html ) Asshole! You did because you just had to have those drinks. I don't ever want you to forget that that 4:15 am wakeup call that you had out on the highway. In fact, I want every single god dam drunk driver to remember the they hit someone. I hope you suffered the world's worst hang over. I hope Justice thrusts her sword and that you serve your time without the chance of time off for fucking good behavior.

 

My mind bounces between hate and sorrow on your behalf. Yeah right now, I hate you and you're going to be on my mind for a very long time. I made mention above that I don't want you to forget. I hope on some level that you feel remorse but knowing what booze does to your brain, I wonder if you can remember what you did. OH but I hope you do. I hope it weighs on your soul! Knowing that you're the cause of my brothers 4 hours of surgery, the cause of my brother's broken legs, and the cause of my brother's toes being gone. You want the effect of all of your stupid, selfish and (pardon the use of this word) but the retarded, yes I said it retarded decision. The effect of your pathetic action is that know my brother won't work more than likely for the rest of the year. I hope if you don't feel guilt that all of this haunts you.

 

I'm not one to hold on to hate, but until he's home and able to walk, I'm going to hold on to a scrape of the emotion that went into writing this. I hope you're sitting there with tears streaming down your fuckin face in fear. I hope you're sitting there wondering what's next. Yeah, I feel sorrow like I mentioned above. I feel sorrow for those people who love you. I feel sorrow for the wife, the girlfriend, and your kids who have to deal with your drinking. Who have the face the future in the sort of the same way that you do. Right now, they have to suffer too because of your stupid and weak moment. Your family deserves more from you. It's funny but I suppose that they'll continue loving you, which I suppose is okay but isn't that what family does. At least you can take that with you when you're facing Justice's balance in the courts. By the way, have a pleasant day!

My Head Lately

Lately, my head has been swimming with my brother and the guy that hit him. I've been going up every other day to see him. I want him to rest up and heal. Anyway, I was talking with a co-worker today and it occurred to me that maybe I'm really not ready to say "I hope the other guy is okay.". When it really comes down to it, I don't much care right now if he is alright. Right now, I am feeling pretty dam angry at the guy who dare hit my brother. There is a very huge part of me that just wants this guy to get the book. I want him to get the book slapped across his face. I think anyone who even considers driving drunk should be smacked around. I wish there was a way to make these idiots feel the pain of their victims, the families, and friends. I hope you'll forgive for not writing more on the topic. Anyway, I need to go.

My Brother and a Spider

Okay guys, there isn't a super lot to update you guys on what's been going on. My brother had surgery yesterday to take the sharp edges off of the bones left behind by the toes. They also did some skin grafts. They took off more of the foot in order to get skin to wrap around. I don't totally understand that but that is what my mom said. I've not been in much of mood to really write anything up. We are taking this one step at a time just like my brother is right now.

In other news, I took my Orange Baboon spider over to a neighbor's house to breed her. I think she wanted to mate just as much as the male did. There were three insertions made by the male. She was very gentle which was a good thing. My neighbor's male didn't end up a dinner for her, which made me happy. What do I get out of this, I have no clue.

Brother Was HIT

My brother was hit this morning around 4:15, Friday morning. He was struck by a drunk driver who pinned him between the vechile that they were driving and another car. He actually called our house to let us know that the ambulance was coming for him that he had been in an accident. I guess the drunk asked my brother "Where he came from?". He suffered two broken legs below the knees and he lost all the toes on his left foot. The good news is that he still has his left foot. He had to have blood. He went through a four hour surgery. He is going to stay at the hospital for a week and then he has long period of rehab.

Ignorance Speaks

Once dear readers, my family proves it's smarts. My dad was watching a John Wayne flick. I said "Someone told me that they didn't think that John Wayne was a good actor.". Immediately, my kid brother spewed this piece of stupidity "It must have been some gay wad from California.". I wonder why he has to be so dam blasted stupid. Anyone else have friends or family who spew ignorance like my brother did?

Things at School

Cafeteria:

One thing that I've noticed is a zero tolerance of knives and even straws. I can understand not having knives in the cafeteria but not straws. There are times when not having knives is problem for me. How is it a problem? Well, I'm sometimes required to cut up food for a student. How do I do that in a zero tolerance setting? I have to use a spoon and a fork. Now, the students can't use straws. Reason for that is they might use them to launch spit wads. Yes, it happens. It's happened in the past and I'm sure it could happen again.

Cell Phones:

In many schools, cell phones are outlawed. In my workplace, a jr/sr high, cell phones are outlawed during the school day which does from 7:55 to 3:00 pm. They have to be turned off and left in the locker. I struggle with this policy. I see to it that it's enforced with the help of the teacher that I work with as far as our kids are concerned. Time and time again practically every day, I see kids in the hallways on their phones. If I'm in the hallways, I'm usually on the move either rushing from one end of the school or I'm with a student. When I'm with a student, I don't have time to tell each kid to put their phone away. What concerns me is that other teachers see it and don't say anything. I'm concerned about the kids. I've seen at least two videos posted on YouTube taken during school hours

LD/ LRE Students Graduation:

I don't know what other states say about LD/LRE students graduations. Here in Indiana, LD/LRE students graduate but they don't receive a diploma. They get a certificate. Students who have worked their butts off through school get a piece of paper saying that they've completed school. Those students don't get what other students get. I may work with the school, I may work with a special ed. cooperative, but I don't' agree with this issue. I think they deserve the diploma, IF these students earn it. They need to develop a special diploma for these kids. If I was in school now, I would not receive my diploma. I'm proud of my diploma. I earned it, and I deserved it. You can argue with me that the LD/LRE students don't do the same work as the general ed. kids. I guess it's an issue that I will not let go any time soon.

What do you think??:

Should LD/LRE kids recieve a diploma? If no, why?

 

 

Memory Of GrandMa W.

A long time ago back when I was just a kid, I hated loud noises. It didn't matter if the noise came from fire trucks or fireworks. In Utah, you aren't allowed to have fireworks, so when we went to Utah during the fourth of July we always went to the big fireworks shows. One year in particular, I spent most of the show curled up under my mom's coat. I remember this coat had a black lining that didn't allow any light to enter. I thought that the coat might block out the noise which of course it didn't, but what happened the following year is pure memory.

 

The next time, we were out in Utah for the fourth of July. My Grandma wanted me to be happy. Now I can't say why she decided to skip the show but she told me that it was because she too hated the loud noises. Do you know what we did instead? We sang. Nothing fancy just some songs out of her Disney songbook. A grandson and his Grandma sitting side by side enjoying the fourth of July together. I didn't have to worry about missing out on the fireworks because I had a blast. See, I love to sing and Grandma's piano. Looking back at it now, I was blessed that day. Thanks Grandma W.