Master Jeep

Tue, 13 Jun 2006 06:01:28 GMT

"And the boy in Winnetka, Illinois, who wanted to know: Is there a train so long you can't count the cars? Is there a blackboard so long it will hold all the numbers?"- Carl Sandburg

Knowledge is Light

Sun, 11 Jun 2006 03:46:45 GMT

"There should be no element of slavery in learning. Enforced exercise does no harm to the body, but enforced learning will not stay in the mind. So avoid compulsion, and let your children's lessons take the form of play." - Plato, The Republic

All Shapes and Sizes

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 10:38:11 GMT

One evening before the sun had set I was out walking the dogs in our beautifully manicured neighborhood. I had Nikki, our Miniature Pinscher, on a leash by my side. A few steps ahead, Kevin was walking Saté, the latest addition to our little family. As I watched this goofy, gangly pup with his scythe of a tail curled over his back amble along, a smile crept across my face at the absurdity of the image of the four of us.

Saté had just joined our family. This creamy, cottony tail-wagger was too much of a handful for our friends as he entered that delightful adolescent chewing phase for which Labradors are renown. Their minds were made up with the mouthed destruction of some favored piece of furniture. With teenage black humor, Kevin’s sons renamed him Saté after the Indonesian shish kebobs often served with a fragrant peanut sauce.

His haunches swayed from side to side as he stealthily glided along the sidewalk. Like a white jaguar slinking along on the hunt, he has the faintest brown spots on his otherwise pure cream coat as if someone had spilt a café latte on him leaving splattered stains. Foreshadowing the size to which he will ultimately grow, his oversized paws tread carefully on the pavement still nervous of his surroundings. Naive to the world, he exhibits the courage of the Cowardly Lion from the Wizard of Oz.

With the attention span of a gnat, Saté’s mind leaped onto a squirrel scampering by. He turns his head towards me and I see those mournful amber eyes with fine white lashes. He bears a doleful demeanor except for when he has his mad minutes during an intense “Wrestlemania” session with Nikki. When he rolls on his back, this madcap grin smiles wildly traced across his black lip liner mouth. Prone on his back, with his flexible limbs askew in positions that only a contortionist could assume, the white of his eyes become visible making him look downright loopy like an insane albino clown.

His age is apparent due to the folds of loose skin around his neck making a ruffle or mane of downy fur. Occasionally, his youthful abandon does get too much for Nikki, so she scuttles under the skirt of the daybed. This is when he releases the most resounding, deep-throated bark ill-matched to his lean frame, pleading with her to play with him.
A neighbor’s voice woke me out of my reflection as she and her husband came walking towards us. Echoing my thoughts she exclaimed, “What an odd mix of dogs!”

I look at the short, roly-poly black-and-tan one by my side and the lithe, snowy tall one by Kevin. ‘Not only the dogs, ‘I thought as I wondered at how she sees us, a disparate couple ourselves. We are a ragtag bunch, but we make a family: two men two with their hand-me down dogs living in a family neighborhood. Somehow, we all get by.

also posted at the makepeace media blog http://www.mpm.org.au

Tue, 09 May 2006 11:23:59 GMT

We had a nice weekend. I even got some study in. I only have one exam and a small assignment left to do. I don't have to be anywhere today so I hope to get that out of the way. Then I can concentrate on my education classes.

I did enroll but I'm not sure if I will stick with them in a Composition and PE class - requirements for my degree. We will see if I can juggle everything. Although I am out of work at the moment except for a little tutoring. I have a couple of possibilities. We will see what happens.

Anyway I better hit those books before I waste the day away.

MakePeace Media Opinion Piece

Fri, 07 Apr 2006 11:08:54 GMT

The issue of this article involves legal immigration and a Senate- proposed bill increasing the number of green cards bestowing permanent residency and the quota of work related visas to meet labor shortages in critical areas.

http://www.mpm.org.au/blog/2006/04/07/the-legal-immigration-debate/

The Dogs

Mon, 03 Apr 2006 08:23:59 GMT

They are cute and they have made life just that little more interesting. It's almost like having two kids...but not quite. The photo of Napoleon in his basket is a classic.

Napoleon sleeps on the floor at the foot of our bed, which is just a mattress on the floor (we have never gotten around to buying a proper bed) and the past two nights Nicki has decided she wants to sleep on his blanket with him. This is very unusual because Nicki is not very affectionate and is normally very content to sleep in her bed in the far corner of the room. Well this morning I wake up to find Nicki wanting to jump in and sleep with me. She has never ever shown any sign of doing that. It's amazing what a little competition for attention and jealousy will do.

I'm sure you'd like our new baby! He sure is a handful. The size of his paws! I thought there is more dog to come. He and Nikki and Khoa are all flaked out on the floor right now. We have to exercise that white wolf because he just has so much energy. He is pure puppy. We have to do obedience training because he is a handful. I did borrow a DVD on dog training and I am surprised at how easy it is. I have already taught him to sit and some other basics. I think it comes easy to Labs. While he is not destructive or too naughty yet, he does have some habits that need to be nipped in the bud.
\We do love him so much already. He is so sweet when he is not too frisky. It's not his fault, he's just a widdle boy who needs to play. He is a bit of a scaredy-cat about strange things but he's getting better.

Nikki tolerates him. He wants to play with her and he's just such a goober he clobbers her. I am worried he might accidentally hurt her. She gets real snarky and puts him in his place. I think she does like him deep down. She loves it when Sate/Napoleon gets in trouble. You can see her snickering in the background. It's like having two bickering children. He is very jealous of any attention we give her. She just seethes in the corner when we pet him. She starts the trouble sometimes herself. A couple of times I've caught her pouncing on him when he's just being innocent.

We just got back from Whiterock Lake (www.whiterocklake.org) the only really natural thing in Dallas, with the dogs and my French teacher friends. It is so sad that to see my friends I have to exercise. I was looking at the big lakeside houses thinking I would much rather be sitting on the verandah having Concepcion serving me Mimosas with brunch. What is the world coming to?

It is a lovely spring day and we might cook some fish on the barbie tonight. We're inspired because we say these huge fish feeding in the lake. However I have to study before that can happen so I better sign off and crack open the books.

I did a crazy thing and sent all the drafts in my email out yesterday. My brother and sister in law probably think I am caught in a time loop thinking Jet is not yet born. Which is okay, but there was a half finished job application sitting in there. The principal is going to think I'm crazy. I can scratch that school off my list!

MakePeace Media Opinion Piece

Mon, 03 Apr 2006 07:00:19 GMT

In which I wax lyrical in an earnest yet sassy way.

http://www.mpm.org.au/blog/2006/04/03/same-sex-marriage-public-opinion-and-public-policy/