Sure, McCain and Obama are running for President, but the most important election just happened this week on the campus of Jackson Academy in Jackson, MS. Will Brown ran for President of the 7th Grade. It was a hard fought race (seven students battled it out), and unfortunately, Brown was not the winner. His remarks following the results of the election proved to me he is handling his defeat just fine: "Mom, none of my friends won their races either so I would not of had the staff I wanted," and "Mrs. Keenan (faculty adviser to the 7th grade) said after the results were announced that she wanted to see all new student council members in her classroom during break on Monday morning because quote "We have a lot of work to do." Maybe it is good I didn't win." Words of wisdom if I have ever heard any (whoever loses on the first Tuesday in Nov. may not be as upset about it as we may think because the winner is going to have a lot of work to do and the loser can just kick back and have break!
On the reading front: I had stalled out as I attempted to read Skinny Bitch and The Duchess. Both were unreadable for me: The Duchess was a dissertation in a pretty cover (sleeper!) and the bad language in Skinny Bitch, which is its distinguishing trademark, is simply gratuitous. Both were terrible. So I moved on Richard Yates' Revolutionary Road, a beautifully written novel about a marriage in the 1950s and I am currently rereading Pride & Prejudice because I am teaching it and it never gets old!
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Sam's Movie Recommendations
Sorry I have not blogged in a while but I have 5 new movie reviews for you. I have seen Men in Black 2, The Lord of the rings The Two towers , Jumper , The Rocker and The Mummy Returns. Lets start with Men In Black 2. I thought the movie could have been a lot better. I thought the idea was stupid and the movie was not funny. From now on I will rate The movie a review on a scale from 1 - 10 Men in Black 2 is a 3.Well next let's do The Lord of the Rings The two Towers. My word for that movie is Brilliant on a scale of 1-10 I'll give that movie a 8. Next let's do Jumper. I actually just watched Jumper last night. I thought it was a real good movie. I thought the story was good and so was the acting. On a scale of 1-10 I'll give it a 9. Next The Rocker. The main character played by Rainn Wilson from The Office. I thought Rainn Wilson played the part really good and the movie was Hilarious. I would not say it was better then Jumper but on the scale I'll give it a 7. And last but not least The Mummy Returns after seeing the first and the last Mummy movie I wanted to see the 2 one. I thought Brendan Fraser was good and Dwayne Johnson played a good villiain in the movie. But I thought the first one was best then the second then then the third. On the scale 8. More reviews to come. Sam
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Bike Ride on the Trace
9/6/08
I took a ride on the Natchez Trace this morning. All my fellow biking friends in Greensboro were supposed to be riding the Tour to Tanglewood, but I read where the Saturday ride (the fun part of the event) was cancelled due to Hanna. So, I put on my Tour to Tanglewood jersey and drove out to the Trace Overlook Park to do what I used to do in Greensboro....ride a bike in the dark.
I have grown to love riding on the trace early in morning and enjoy the quiet and the wildlife. MS is pretty rural, so you don't have to go far to be in the middle of nowhere. Typically, there are very few cars...maybe five in an hour' s work of riding. This morning, I missed three deer crossing the road about ten feet in front of me. Deer in MS usually die at that range from encounters with people, but I was armed only with a water bottle, and besides, the hunting season doesn't start for another month or two. They surprised me, I surprised them, and we parted company.
The trace is flat, and the road is smooth, so the ride is quite pleasant and fast unless the wind is from the north..not usually the case in the summer. It's a great time to think. Good investments, bad investments, yelling at the kids, not yelling enough at the kids...it all gets analyzed and re-analyzed until a moment of wisdom strikes me or I get distracted by something like..a snake!
Or an alligator, or a turtle, or wild turkeys....I have had encounters with all of these things in the early morning hours on the trace. Usually, they are dead from encounters with Fords and Chevys.
Early in the morning as the sun is coming up through the pine and oak trees, while the mist is clearing, the trace is like a diner for turkey vultures. Every mile has a gathering. I see them ahead...freshest food in town! I pass them; they have no interest in me. (When it's this fresh, you just have to eat.)
There's a place called Yakanookany (I think...never can actually remember the place) where I turn around. It's really, really in the middle of the most remote definition of nowhere possible. It's ten miles north of nowhere. I have never encountered another sign of man there, other than the road under me.
I have my snack, a drink, a quick stretch, then it's back through the woods, across the big field with the wild turkeys, under the two bridges, more woods, the hill (one of only two, and not steep), more woods, more turkeys, cypress swamps, past the reservoir and back to the car. I've ridden it enough to know how many miles I have to go when I cross under the second bridge, how long it will take me from the boat landing on the upper Pearl (if I'm going 17.5), and when I can expect to get pelted by dragonflies from the lake.
I've ridden about 2000 miles on this 30 mile stretch of the trace. I know it very well, as well as I used to know Yanceyville Road, and Highway 150, and Spring Garden, and Summerfield Road. I certainly miss those roads, but I will also miss this 30 mile stretch when I quit the bike or move somewhere else. I know that road well. I would be easy to assassinate.
So, I had a nice ride, and Hanna rained on Greensboro. My gain and a loss for the TTT. I may ride in the morning, or I may sleep late. Either way, the wild turkeys will be there, and there will be plenty of fresh kill for the vultures.
I took a ride on the Natchez Trace this morning. All my fellow biking friends in Greensboro were supposed to be riding the Tour to Tanglewood, but I read where the Saturday ride (the fun part of the event) was cancelled due to Hanna. So, I put on my Tour to Tanglewood jersey and drove out to the Trace Overlook Park to do what I used to do in Greensboro....ride a bike in the dark.
I have grown to love riding on the trace early in morning and enjoy the quiet and the wildlife. MS is pretty rural, so you don't have to go far to be in the middle of nowhere. Typically, there are very few cars...maybe five in an hour' s work of riding. This morning, I missed three deer crossing the road about ten feet in front of me. Deer in MS usually die at that range from encounters with people, but I was armed only with a water bottle, and besides, the hunting season doesn't start for another month or two. They surprised me, I surprised them, and we parted company.
The trace is flat, and the road is smooth, so the ride is quite pleasant and fast unless the wind is from the north..not usually the case in the summer. It's a great time to think. Good investments, bad investments, yelling at the kids, not yelling enough at the kids...it all gets analyzed and re-analyzed until a moment of wisdom strikes me or I get distracted by something like..a snake!
Or an alligator, or a turtle, or wild turkeys....I have had encounters with all of these things in the early morning hours on the trace. Usually, they are dead from encounters with Fords and Chevys.
Early in the morning as the sun is coming up through the pine and oak trees, while the mist is clearing, the trace is like a diner for turkey vultures. Every mile has a gathering. I see them ahead...freshest food in town! I pass them; they have no interest in me. (When it's this fresh, you just have to eat.)
There's a place called Yakanookany (I think...never can actually remember the place) where I turn around. It's really, really in the middle of the most remote definition of nowhere possible. It's ten miles north of nowhere. I have never encountered another sign of man there, other than the road under me.
I have my snack, a drink, a quick stretch, then it's back through the woods, across the big field with the wild turkeys, under the two bridges, more woods, the hill (one of only two, and not steep), more woods, more turkeys, cypress swamps, past the reservoir and back to the car. I've ridden it enough to know how many miles I have to go when I cross under the second bridge, how long it will take me from the boat landing on the upper Pearl (if I'm going 17.5), and when I can expect to get pelted by dragonflies from the lake.
I've ridden about 2000 miles on this 30 mile stretch of the trace. I know it very well, as well as I used to know Yanceyville Road, and Highway 150, and Spring Garden, and Summerfield Road. I certainly miss those roads, but I will also miss this 30 mile stretch when I quit the bike or move somewhere else. I know that road well. I would be easy to assassinate.
So, I had a nice ride, and Hanna rained on Greensboro. My gain and a loss for the TTT. I may ride in the morning, or I may sleep late. Either way, the wild turkeys will be there, and there will be plenty of fresh kill for the vultures.
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