Blogging Will Be Slow For a While . . .

. . . on account of the terrible twos. For Resha Kate, the terrible twos are a strange mix of fierce independence (insisting on doing all sorts of things for herself, many of which she is physically incapable of doing) and even fiercer dependency (refusing to leave the side of one or both parents). We've survived this phase before, and we'll have to do it again, so I'm sure we'll be fine.

My High School in the News

You may recall the popular movie Freedom Writers starring Hilary Swank. It was based on the book The Freedom Writers Diary, a compilation of writings by teacher Erin Gruwell's "at risk" students at a Long Beach, California High School. Students, teachers, and librarians in the state of Indiana nominated the book for the Eliot Rosewater Award.

Anyway, teacher Connie Heermann at my alma mater—Perry Meridian High School in Indianapolis—decided to use The Freedom Writers Diary in her class of "at risk" students. She got permission slips from parents, but the school board never officially said "Yes, you may teach this book" or "No, you absolutely may not." They fired her. Well, they put her on 18-month unpaid leave, but you know.

The Man used to get me down when I went to PMHS—I used to write about it in the school paper, The Focus—but never did anything this ridiculous.

This all went down a few months ago, but this week it became the subject of Anna Quindlin's Newsweek column. Go Falcons!

In more positive PMHS news, Perry Meridian's favorite daughter Katie Douglas picked a good day to have one of her best games of the season. Douglas went for 20, 5, 4, and two steals as the Indiana Fever beat the New York Liberty in from of 19,000 at the WNBA's outdoor game.

The Kids

• She says, "The beach is good."


• He works hard. He plays hard.

Tell UN Security Council to Hold Sudanese President Bashir Accountable for Genocide

The Save Darfur Coalition is circulating a petition to pressure the five permanent members of the UN Security Council to hold Sudanese President Bashir accountable for genocide the Dafur region of his country by fully deploying UN peacekeepers in the area. This petition is partially in response to the International Criminal Court prosecutor charging Bashir with genocide.

Player Leaves New England Revolution for Priesthood

As a believer in vocational discernment, listening for God's call, and not selecting a profession solely based on salary or benefits or convenience, I found this story encouraging. From the AP via ESPN Soccernet:

"I felt called to something greater," Hilgenbrinck said. "At one time I thought that call might be professional soccer. In the past few years, I found my soul is hungry for something else.

"I discerned, through prayer, that it was calling me to the Catholic Church. I do not want this call to pass me by."

Hilgenbrinck accepted the calling on Monday when he left the New England Revolution [of Major League Soccer] and retired from professional soccer to enter a seminary, where he will spend the next six years studying theology and philosophy so he can be ordained as a Roman Catholic priest.

(For what it's worth, the Revolution are in first place right now.)

Tinleys on the Beach

I Think This Guy Will Need to Sue the Holy Spirit

From WSMV, channel 4:

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- A man said he was so consumed by the spirit of God that he fell and hit his head while at a Knoxville church.

Now he wants Lakewind Church to pay $2.5 million for medical bills, lost income, and pain and suffering he said he's endured from his injuries.

Assorted Thoughts

I've been on vacation and mostly without Internet access. Once I got past the withdrawal phase, I came to appreciate my Internet sabbath. I should do it more often. At any rate, a few things:

• I've decided that I'm no longer interested in the presidential election and won't be until running mates are announced.


• I'm also no longer interested in the Tour de France. Cycling may police itself better than any other sport, but by so effectively catching and punishing dopers, the International Cycling Union has given casual fans the impression that the sport is full of cheaters. I should applaud the UCI for cleaning up the sport, but the organization has done its job so well that professional cycling seems tainted.


• I've decided that Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives on Food Network is one of my favorite television programs, which is strange because no menu item featured on the show is compatible with my vegetarian diet.


• Also in television: New episodes of Monk and Psych this week! It's sad how much I'm looking forward to Friday night for this reason.


• I'm getting tired of reading stories like this. There've been way too many of them this summer.

Choose Your Boycotts Wisely

The American Family Association is boycotting McDonald's because the company gave $20,000 to the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. (There are probably much better reasons to boycott McDonald's, but whatever.)

Meanwhile, several other people—including many Christians, albeit none with a voice as loud as the AFA's—are boycotting major chocolate producers (Hershey, Nestle, and Cadbury most notably), protesting the tens of thousands of child slaves working on chocolate plantations in Cote D'Ivoire, from which these companies purchase much of their cocoa.

While the complete success of either boycott is unlikely, if the AFA's boycott is successful, McDonald's will no longer give a tiny fraction of a percent of its profits to gay-friendly organizations. If the other boycott is successful, thousands of slave-owners will go out of business. I'm just saying.

An aside: I wonder if The United Methodist Church could use its considerable presence in Cote D'Ivoire to do something about slavery on cocoa plantations.

For What It's Worth, I'm OK With a Candidate Who Has Flip-Flopped

Based on what the cable news people are telling me, both major presidential candidates are being accused of flip-flopping on their positions regarding Iraq. Without discussing whether these accusations have merit, I would like to say that flip-flopping, in and of itself, doesn't bother me. I respect anyone who can admit that he or she had been wrong or who can discern when changing circumstances warrant changing his or her stance on a given issue. Granted, many politicians have changed their positions solely for political reasons. But before chiding a candidate for changing his or her mind, we should first consider his or her reason for doing so.

Doing the Backstroke Across Lake Erie Would Be Hard Enough . . .

. . . but 14-year-old Natalie Lambert swam the butterfly for 20 kilometers (over 12 miles) across the Great Lake. And she did so in record time.

I swam the butterfly in high school and 100 yards (or meters during the off-season) wore me out. 200 meters, the longest competitive distance for a butterfly race, hurt me for days. This girl swam 20,000 meters, or 100 200s. That's ridiculous.

Why did she do it?

She dedicated her swim to raising awareness for Y-Knot, a YMCA program that allows physically disabled children and their siblings to participate in sport together. Her 17-year-old sister Jenna, an avid marathon swimmer who crossed Lake Ontario two years ago, has cerebral palsy, and the program allows the sisters to train together.

Happy 30th Birthday Ashlee

My wife Ashlee turns 30 today. Here's the video birthday card the kids and I made for her:


(I should note that I am nearly two years older than Ashlee.)