Black Belt Hai!

I am a few weeks late on this but here is Jake on November 3rd testing for his black belt in Tae Kwon Do. We are so proud of him. We won't know for sure if he has the black belt until January but we are pulling for him.

Going With Anna and Jake to Greg's Party

We have just had a really nice time in Richmond. Greg was respectful, Laura was super nice. Mind you this is the nicest time I have had with Greg in a couple of years. The chase for the gold changes people and Greg is no exception. Stuff, stuff, stuff. This is the mantra of the greedy. Greg has everything he could want. Huge lcd televisions throughout the house, 9 foot hi-def projector in the basement, high-end appliances, hot tub, big workshop with tools probably doesn't even know the uses for. Believe you me, they want for very little. They are up to there eyeballs in debt but hey, that's what makes them happy. That said, they seem happier than I have seen them in a long time. Maybe having a baby is changing them some. They don't seem to enjoy parenthood but I think it is changing them nonetheless. All of this reminds me of one thing. I am in love, happy with my life for the most part and have a wonderful future step-son. Life is good! Sometimes it takes looking at others to realize what you have and to figure out just how good it is.
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Halloween and Things I Like!

Ok, so Gene sent me this awesome picture of him and Tuesday on Halloween! Man those are some great costumes! Excellent use of fabric to restrain the kids! Ok, that was out of line but man I like the angel outfit. I love the horns Gene! It is nice to hear from Gene. We just don't spend enough time with him anymore. Ah well, soon...

Tom and Anna

Me and the beautiful LOVE of my life. She thinks this picture is goofy. I think we look happy. So, there you go. Different ways of seeing the same thing.

Goodbye Mr. Falwell, you will be sorely remembered.

Good Riddence. May you burn in Hell.

As I arrived at my class last night, I noticed, as was expected, a difference in the way the students were acting. Calmer, more distracted than usual. The Virginia Tech incident was on their minds. I talked with them about it and they were clearly disturbed. They had gobs of questions regarding the possibility of this happening at George Mason. They wondered what could be done to prevent this sort of occurrence. The clear answer was that short of not allowing people with any sort of mental history in to the school (which is absurd) there was nothing to be done. Anyone at any time could lose it and wander around with a gun and kill people. The issue of gun control helping at all is absurd as well. If a person wants a gun, they will find a gun. There are many many outlets to get guns illegally. Gun control won't help that.
I feel awful for the families of the murdered students and in particular, I feel awful for the family of the shooter. They will never be able to escape this. They will forever be the mother and father of a psychopath and will be blamed (if only in secret) by those that are too ignorant to understand mental illness. My thoughts are with them and with the families of the deceased.

HPI makes one hell of a car

Ah, my new baby. This thing is fast, handles well and is just plain fun to drive. It is an HPI Micro RS4 1/18 R/C racing car. The paint job is 8 coats of Candy Blue with 8 coats of Indy Silver beneath. I am in love.