Wave jumping and boogie boarding were big hits as was making a sand castle. Sand Key also has a huge amount of smaller shells (less than an inch). You can practically scoop them up by the bucketfuls. There was also evidence of larger shells but they were almost always broken. The south part of the beach seems to be better for the larger shells. My guess is that low tide would be a great time to look for shells.

There are more events and fun outings listed at Family Fun Life for those of you who live in Clearwater, Florida or any of the surrounding areas.

I really do love my job and I enjoy the students that I work with.  I get to be there to see the looks on their faces when they suddenly “get it” and the whole subject hits home.  It is glorious and sometimes I have a bit of a hard time not getting all choked up about it.  (Don’t tell my students that, they think I am tougher than that!) 

I get to take a student that “sucks at math” or “hates writing” and turn that around and see the look of pride when those statements are no longer truths for that student.  I consider it a privilege that when my students see me at church or at Starbucks, they don’t avoid me or merely wave and go on their own way.  They actually sit down with me for a while and we have wonderful conversations about everything from religion to soccer.  (This, according to some of my students, is pretty much the same thing.) 

So I don’t think that teaching high school students is tough, I think it’s amazing.  I also think my Washburn students are amazing.

Washburn Academy can be reached at 727-647-1668.

Seems to me that he had what was coming to him. Seems to me that they should be commending her for the fact that she wasn’t going to tolerate the crack smoking punk. Maybe if the penalty for smoking crack was being brained with a toilet seat, fewer people would do it. (Okay, I really doubt that, but it SOUNDS good, doesn’t it?) I hope like hell they gave her a standing ovation when they booked her.

The cat ate ravenously, drank some offered water and promptly hurled on the bricks and began eating again. This time we only let him have a little and drink as much water as he cared to. We decided to put him up in the garage for the night with a bit of food and some water. I said to my dad, “You know he’s here to stay.” To which he replied, “Yeah, I know.” We already had a cat and I didn’t figure that he would be too interested in having another one.

Of course he stayed. Now began the task of naming a nearly full grown cat. He was very affectionate and appreciative. In fact, within a very short time he began eliminating the rat population in our garage. (We figured that this was pretty good exchange for room and board.) We thought about naming him Damn Cat II. We thought about naming him Lucky Bastard. We thought about giving him a myriad of other names. He didn’t really seem to care what he was called so long as there was food and people. We finally settled on Killer as it soon became apparent that he was proficient in this area.

It should be noted that this cat probably DOES have nine lives and that by the time he adopted us, he had used at least one of them. Our backyard virtually opened into a vast wilderness called Angeles National Forest. Bobcat and coyotes frequented our yard, as well as racoons and owls. The fact that he avoided starvation and being eaten was pretty amazing, all things considered.

His next mishap was getting closed in the garage door. Face out, ass in. Yep, picture a yellow tabby cat protruding from the front of your garage. That would be him. Opening the garage door seemed the only logical way to get him out and as soon as he was free he sauntered off, unharmed. (Perhaps his dignity was bruised, but that was all.)

He also has a penchant for fighting. So each Spring that he has resided with us he gets carted off to the vet to stave off some infection that has left him lethargic, wounded and sick.

When we moved from L.A. to Florida he was no where to be found when it came time to put him in a crate and cart him off to LAX for the trip. At the last moment, literally as I am closing the car door, he saunters across the street. I pack him up and the next thing he knows he is on a plane to God knows where.

I have to give this cat a lot of credit for adjusting. I attempted to make him an indoor cat once we moved to Florida, but Chloe, my decidedly indoor cat, objected strongly and Killer is perhaps the whiniest beast I have ever encountered when he doesn’t get his way. He wanted OUT! Now he enjoys the best of both worlds, at his whim. And he thanked us for his freedom by decimating the rat population in our new garage. I had to ask him nicely not to bring us any cute animals such as squirrels and bunnies as token of his undying love and appreciation. He seems to have gotten the point, but not until after he had made a minor dent in these populations.

Perhaps the quirkiest thing about this cat is his habit of lying in the middle of the street or behind my car. Or worse yet, when he sees me coming down the street, he goes and lays in the middle of the driveway. He seems to know that all of this makes me crazy. You see a cat that I had previously was hit while crossing the street to greet me when I came home from work. So to ensure my peace of mind, I get out of the car and chase Killer out of my parking space, out of the middle of the street or out from behind my car. And sometimes, he promptly comes right back and plops down in the same spot, usually about the time that I have gotten back into my car. I am pretty sure that he knows exactly what he is doing.

I am happy that he chose us. I think he did well to do so. He seems pretty pleased with the arrangement. Did I mention that he drools? Well, I will save that for another time…

The social worker behind the counter said, “Your timing is excellent. We just got a job opening from a very wealthy old man who wants a chauffeur and bodyguard for his beautiful daughter.”

“You’ll have to drive around in his 2007 Mercedes-Benz CL, and he will supply all of your clothes. Because of the long hours, meals will be provided. You’ll also be expected to escort the daughter on her overseas holiday trips.”

“This is rather awkward to say but you will also have as part of your job assignment to satisfy her sexual urges as the daughter is in her mid-20′s and has a rather strong sex drive,” she added.

“A two-bedroom loft type apartment with plasma TV, stereo, bar, etc., located above the garage will be designated for your sole use and the salary is $200,000 a year,” she continued.

The guy, just plain wide-eyed said, “You’re bullshittin’ me!”

The social worker said, “Yeah, well, you started it.”

You can find the full article here:
http://www.thestreet.com/story/10417905/2/six-tips-for-marketing-to-parents.html

“Al-gebra is a problem for us,” the Attorney General said. “They desire solutions by means and extremes, and sometimes go off on tangents in a search of absolute value. They use secret code names like ‘x’ and ‘y’ and refer to themselves as ‘unknowns,’ but we have determined they belong to a common denominator of the axis of medieval with coordinates in every country. A s the Greek philanderer Isosceles used to say, ‘There are 3 sides to every triangle.’ When asked to comment on the arrest, Senator Ted Kennedy said, “If God had wanted us to have better Weapons of Math Instruction, He would have given us more fingers and toes.”

White House aides told reporters they could not recall a more intelligent or profound statement by the Senator.

PETA is calling for the jockey to be suspended from the sport of horse racing. Hello? Officials have called it a clean race in which there was minimal bumping. The owner, the trainer and track officials have not made any accusations that the jockey did anything that would have led to this horse breaking down.

I am not a huge fan of horse racing. I happen to like horses very much, in fact much of my school time was spent drawing and daydreaming horses.

I think a bigger problem is handicapping. What is up with that? Why on God’s earth would you penalize an animal that has proven statistics on winning? Because a close race is more exciting? Bullshit. I want to see the animal that is the fastest and the best based on purely what the horse and the jockey can do. I don’t want a “”fair”" race. I want an actually fair race. So what if one horse is substantially faster than the rest? I want to see that champion! As adding weight increases the amount of stress on the leg bones (duh!), I believe that this contributes to more horses breaking down on the track.

I am sure that there are other innumerable factors to horses breaking down in races. But blaming the jockey seems ridiculous. Maybe if he had run his horse into the fence or into another horse intentionally, but why on earth would he risk his own neck?

I think we need to start a new group called People for the Ethical Treatment of Jockeys. Seriously. These guys practically starve themselves to keep the weight off so that they can maneuver a 1200 pound beast down a track for under two minutes. Is that not cruel and unusual?

I still hate PETA.

I recently received an e-mail “ad” for a new (fake) drug that alleviates sarcasm. While I must admit that it was amusing, I found myself thinking what my life would be without sarcasm. Not pretty.

Firstly, I am sarcastic. A lot. (No really, I wasn’t being sarcastic there!) I love nothing more than hanging out with my friends and getting a good volley going between us. Part of that involves a good bit of this brand of humor. I can take it and I can dish it out. In fact, sarcasm directed at those that don’t get it is completely wasted. I would much prefer to play with a worthy opponent.

Sarcasm is humor. It is funny. Sarcasm is a rejection of a “reality” that is ludicrous. Ludicrous is defined as “Utterly ridiculous because of being absurd, incongruous, impractical or unsuitable”. (Encarta) Does this not call for a bit of justifiable sarcasm?

I must admit that mostly the things that my friends and I knock back and forth are not serious (or real situations) to begin with and therefore the sarcasm is not directed at anyone personally or with much basis in actuality.

Can sarcasm be used for evil? Sure. (But I have NEVER done that! Okay, that was pretty blatant sarcasm.) The really awful thing is that it is STILL kind of funny. However, the effect that it can create is pretty unfunny. I don’t relish creating bad effects in others. (Except that one guy. See, there I go again!)

Here’s an analogy. Both Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader had light sabers, right? One used his for good, and one used his for evil. Sarcasm is a bit like that, don’t ya think? I want to use sarcasm for good, specifically to have a good time with my friends. Sure, there are other things we could do, certainly more constructive things we could do. But I work hard and I willingly and happily donate my time and energy to benefit others on a very regular basis. I earn my loafing time. So sue me if I choose to spend it with my other like-minded friends in pursuit of a good laugh at the expense of the ludicrous, and occasionally that one guy.

Best,
Jen Nickerson

http://www.scientology.org/index.html