Still in our summer storm pattern, we are enjoying pretty days and stormy nights. The big dogs really do not like the stormy nights, but the love the pretty days…especially when I take a few minutes to kick the ball for them. I know it has to drive the neighbors crazy because Tchaik and Blackie are really enthusiastic when we play their version of soccer. I kick, Blackie hits it back with her nose, I kick, they chase, and bark-bark-growl-bark. They will do this for as long as I will kick the ball.

. . . and when the clouds move in, the dogs start asking to come in.

When I visit Nicole’s spot on the web I often view images of deer that she encounters on her walks. I am fascinated by the numbers that she encounters. It is not often that we encounter wildlife in my area. Maybe a bunny or squirrel here or there, or the occassional deer that hops across the road, but not much is seen while living in the city.

Driving in Mississippi and Alabama there are stretches of road where you really have to keep your eyes open and continuously scan for deer. Driving the Natchez Trace from Jackson to Tupelo we one time counted 52 deer. It is a dangerous stretch of road to travel at night. When travelling with Jem it was part of my job to keep him awake and to keep my eye out for deer. Here’s the thing, I saw a deer I couldn’t blurt “DEER” without him thinking I was getting on to him. Instead of deer, I had to say “ANTLERS,” even if it was a doe. Hey, it worked. You have to be careful, a deer can total your car! On several occassions I have been very fortunate that they can also jump. One time I hit a small deer, probably a doe. I know it was not a direct hit because she kicked my Mercury emblem out of the grill of my car as she jumped out of the way and ran off in the woods. The other time I was driving down highway 78, just outside of Winfield, AL. I saw the biggest deer I have ever seen. I am travelling almost 50 mph as the highway changes from two lanes to four and I see this deer in the road. Crap. Decision time. If I swerve I will spin and lose control. There is nothing behind me so I brake hard and brace for impact, hoping to slow enough and turn so that it is not a direct hit. I KNEW that I was going to hit this deer. There was not enough room to miss! I really don’t know what happened, but I didn’t hit the deer and it did the leaping deer action into the woods. Rather scary though.

Travelling to the local supercenter I frequently notice a herd of deer that gather on what I believe is Phillip Morris fields. I am frustrated with myself every time I pass and see them because I never have my camera. This time, I remembered to grab it just in case. Lucky me

The guys with the antlers…NOT happy that I stopped for this picture. They ushered everyone else back into the woods.

The summer is flying by and will be gone before I know it! We are planning to make a visit home soon. I’m looking forward to seeing the family and relaxing. There will be school prep to work on, but it will all be made better by reading poolside.

Techno geek that I am, I’m playing with a few things lately. First, I installed a wordpress mobile edition plugin that I think I’m going to like, and I would like to encourage my blog friends who can to install it on their sites too. It allows people who read your blog on a pda/mobile device to actually see your content without frustration. It seems to work great when I view with Mobile IE, but I’m not happy with it on Opera Mobile. I’m a little shocked that I prefer Mobile IE over a different browser. On that note, I am playing with Opera as a web browser and really like it. I can make it function like Firefox, with my beloved button bar, but the widgets are terrible. Mozilla add-ons are so much better. I’m not sure I will be making the switch on my personal computer, but certainly on my work computer where I have to use Opera for other things.

Several months ago I read about Photoscape on Nicole’s blog. I like that there is so much you can do to play with your photos, but I am still learning how to actually use it. There are several options that I just don’t know what they do. It isn’t difficult to use, it is just my lack of photo knowledge that gets in the way. I’m used to Picasa (which I still love for quick fix color fun) where you just click and it does something for you, or you can customize on your own. I must say though, not having a great camera (Kodak z612) I like the ability to enhance your images using Photoscape. Don’t get me wrong, my camera is perfectly adequate for point and click, document the moment, photography. It just isn’t capable of much more, and to be honest neither am I.

I did capture a disturbing glamour shot of Tiki finishing her peanut butter. I was laughing too much to capture her face prior to cleaning. She had it all over her doggy lips and teeth. It was like a toddler eating spaghetti.

Not to be outdone, Alli posed for her moment in the flash.

Obama: ‘I could’ve calibrated those words differently’ – CharlotteObserver.com.

President Barack Obama has called the white policeman who arrested black Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. and says he believes the sergeant to be an outstanding police officer.

On Friday the president said that he continues to think both the officer, Sgt. James Crowley, and Gates overreacted during the incident — but Obama also faulted his own comments.

Making an impromptu appearance at the daily White House briefing, Obama told reporters: “I could’ve calibrated those words differently.”

The president caused a stir when he said at a prime-time news conference earlier this week that police in Cambridge, Mass., had “acted stupidly” by arresting Gates.

Yep…could’ve, but you didn’t.  It is only when the back lash started that you started back peddaling.  Think before you speak Mr. President.  Your friend could’ve handed over his ID when first asked, but he didn’t.  Both parties over reacted, but stepping in and questioning the integrity of the Cambridge police,  not cool. It looks a lot like you and your friend put your race cards on the table and you regretted that it didn’t make you look too good.  I would call your comments acting stupidly, but that wouldn’t be PC.  I’m sure you just misspoke.

***update***
This story just keeps getting better.

Gates has said he returned from an overseas trip, found the door jammed and he and his driver attempted to force it open. Gates went through the back door and was inside the house when police arrived. Police say he flew into a verbal rage when Crowley asked him to show identification to prove he should be in the home. Police say Gates accused Crowley of racial bias, refused to calm down and was arrested.

Gates, 58, maintains he turned over identification when asked to do so. He says Crowley arrested him after the professor followed him to the porch, repeatedly demanding the sergeant’s name and badge number because he was unhappy over his treatment.

So that white woman wasn’t too far off base then when she reported a break in. It just happened to be the owner breaking in. Easy mistake to make.

One more thing I would like to point out…

Sgt. Leon Lashley, a black officer who was at Gates’ home with Crowley at the time of the arrest, said he supported his fellow officer’s action “100 percent.“

Does this make the black officer guilty of racial profiling and trying to keep the black man down? Really Gates? Really? You played the race card on a member of your own race too? What if the white cop hadn’t been there? What would you have called it then? Gimme a break.

Lately, I have been complaining that NC thunderstorms are rather sissified. Not all of them, I understand. I can recognize that there are areas that receive major thunder boomers. Our particular area has been in a thunderstorm slump. See, in AL and MS it was not uncommon to spend some part of the day under a tornado watch. (No, I am not praying to God for tornadic weather.) Back in the spring I had a student come into my room with great concern. *alarmed teenage voice* “Mrs. Ummm, did you know we were under a tornado watch.”
As a matter of fact I didn’t, but it really wasn’t that alarming to me. I’ve spent most of my life under a tornado watch. It’s just part of life in the Deep South.

The past twenty-four hours I have been rather impressed. In fact, this afternoon with the wind blowing rain into the front door…and the back, I was a little alarmed. One storm moving north and the other south, you know there is rotation in there. It has been very nice. Rattle your windows thunder with the strong patter of rain. Love it.

The only issue, this area tends to flood in heavy rain. Fortunately, our neighborhood has decent drainage.

The ‘unfathomable’ arrest of a black scholar – CNN.com.

Selected excerpts I found interesting:

Gates was arrested last Thursday in broad daylight at his Cambridge, Massachusetts, home for disorderly conduct — what the arresting officer described as “loud and tumultuous behavior in a public space.” The charge was dropped Tuesday on the recommendation of police, and the city of Cambridge issued a statement calling the incident “regrettable and unfortunate.”

The officer asked Gates to “step out onto the porch and speak with me,” the report says. “[Gates] replied, ‘No, I will not.’ He then demanded to know who I was. I told him that I was ‘Sgt. Crowley from the Cambridge Police’ and that I was ‘investigating a report of a break in progress’ at the residence.

“While I was making this statement, Gates opened the front door and exclaimed, ‘Why, because I’m a black man in America?’ ”

According to the report, Gates initially refused to show the officer his identification, instead asking for the officer’s ID. But Gates eventually did show the officer his identification that included his home address.

I really haven’t given this story much thought until today when it turned up in my reader.  Have we not come far enough in American society where race is not an issue?  Apparently not, because any time there is a minority involved in something of conflict the race card is played.  The article stated a “white woman” called to report a burglary in progress at a neighbors house.  Do we care what color she is?  If she was a neighbor don’t you think she knew that the owner of the house was a black man?  I don’t think she called the police b/c a black man was entering the house.  I think it is b/c she thought it was someone who didn’t belong there!  It is likely that she knew the professor had been out of town and didn’t think anyone should be messing with his property.   So who cares what color she is?!?!

The officer arrives, knocks on the door and asks the occupant to step outside and asks for identification, which the professor refused to supply.  Instead the professor is ranting about being wronged as a black man in America.  Excuse me, but the officer- white, black or purple- doesn’t know who you are and you are refusing to comply with requests, what the heck is he supposed to do?  Should he just say, so sorry black man in America I’ll let you be on your way now?

I am not saying that the professor should or should not have been arrested.  I wasn’t there and do not know if his behavior was disruptive.  From the information provided I can imagine it was, but that is only what I can imagine.  If an officer comes to your door because someone has reported suspicious behavior, common sense says cooperate if you want to clear suspicion.  It looks like the professor saw it as an opportunity to play the race card.

Blog funk, that’s where I am. There is SO much I would like to get done, but so little opportunity to get it done. The girls will be occupied each evening for the first half of this week so I am really hoping to get something done tonight and tomorrow night. I am meeting a friend for dinner Wednesday night. Woo…grown up conversation time.

I am very thankful to have my 30 hours each week to work and earn a little extra, but it is really encroaching on my summer do nothing or something or whatever-I-want-to-do time. It is also causing me to lose faith in the intelligence of my fellow humans.

People are RUDE and just not that bright. Enunciate! Do not grunt like a caveman/woman. Furthermore, it is NOT my fault that the number given for the confirmation is wrong and the person hasn’t lived there in three years! Do you think I want to call and get cussed out by you? No. I’m not calling for kicks and giggles, it’s my job. I am also not interested in listening to your favorite butt bumpin’ tune while you are reached. Nor, is it amusing to listen to your two year old leave the voice mail message. I would also like to say thank you for the blessings and scripture, but reading an entire chapter of the Bible is not necessary. Simply say you can’t pick up, please leave a message. That’s all. If you feel the need to offer blessings, say it quickly and let me get on with my day. I appreciate your faith, but really…the entire chapter? These are just a few of many things that frustrate me each day and it is taking up way more time than I had hoped. Two more weeks and I’m done…

…then one week and a few days to prep before school starts.n Where did the summer go?

Ahmadinejad: Iran will bring down Western foes | U.S. | Reuters.

The hardline president, who often rails against the West, said the Islamic Republic wanted “logic and negotiations” but that Western powers had insulted the Iranian nation and should apologize.

Iranian leaders often refer to the United States and its allies as the “global arrogance.”

“As soon as the new government is established, with power and authority, ten times more than before, it will enter the global scene and will bring down the global arrogance,” he told a big crowd in the northeastern city of Mashhad.

Maybe we should all just sit down and talk.  I mean, really, he can’t mean that he wants to bring down the United States.  After all, he is a world leader and that would just be rude.  I’m sure he isn’t being rude.  We must have hope for change, right?  Yeah…still hoping.  This guy is going to be one to watch.  I just hope we don’t have to do it from under our desks.

I took this image from my husband and then played with it in Picasa. Nothing major, just a little black and white with a color focal in the corner. Jem is a percussionist (hence the assigned name Djembe) and these are his drums. I like this pic because of the angle and good real estate usage with the lens.

After AP Summer Institute last week I am gearing up for the new year. Today I will complete my appointment confirmations and then begin school prep.

It amuses me that the last few weeks of school are spent wishing away the last few weeks and praying for summer to get here faster. Summer starts and it is relaxation time with a little mandatory house maintenance thrown in. After a few weeks, I’m ready for school. Please make note, I stated a readiness for school- NOT students. There is a difference.

Despite the frustrations of my AP workshop, I did find it inspiring. There were valuable nuggets of information in there. I do believe the five days could have been condensed into two, but either way…I received my certificate of completion and took from the time spent several new ideas, great contacts, and a few good resources.

Today my goal is to complete a planning calendar for my own preparation goals, a pacing guide for my students with test week estimations, and look at ideas for music appreciation. Not too ambitious…