Do You Have an AMEX Card?

This won't cost you a sent if you do, but it will help a great program, DonorsChoose, provide funding to individual teachers across the country. I used DonorsChoose successfully in the classroom to fund a variety of proposals including cameras, hockey equipment, books, and so much more. Now, American Express will provide one dollar for each vote on the DonorsChoose site. If you or anyone you know possesses an AMEX card, please click here and vote for DonorsChoose. Thank you!

We Went On a Date!

Wow! Aunt Shannon (YaYa to Lucy) came up to watch the girls to allow Kerry and I to go see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Great time. I, of course being the Potter geek I am , had plenty of comments/opinions on the movie, but we totally enjoyed the opportunity just to get out and enjoy each other's company. And that's our moral of the story to all of you. Yes, we love love love our girls, but it is so nice for the 'adults' to get out and enjoy themselves.
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July will end and another busy month will begin. I will criss-cross the state for two weeks on a variety of workshops, then we will head up to PA for a nice visit. Feels so good not starting the 'I don't want to go back to school' dread.

I Didn't Want to Be Batman...

You Are Batman

Billionaire playboy by day. Saving the world by night. And you're not even a true superhero. Just someone with a lot of expensive toys!

What Superhero Are You?

Where Does Time Go?

Wow! Hard to believe we head into the last weekend in July. What a great month! All these things seem like they just happened though. Nana visited for a week while I attended my IMPACT Academy. We visited the Aquarium, Pullen Park, and Aunt Shannon'. Lots of fun. That's really what we try to do with the girls--just come up with lots of neat activities and places to remember. In August I will be tied up with my August Workshops for two weeks, but then we will go up to Pennsylvania for a nice long weekend and visit everyone up there. Maybe some Eat-N-Park. Mmmmmm....chicken fiesta sandwichhhhh. (-: And yes, The Simpsons' Movie comes out soon, too! Then the next month, September, my little girl will attend pre-school. *Sniff, sniff!

Ahhh....the 80s

You Are 88% A Child of the 80s

There's hardly a moment of the 80s that you missed out on. Was there ever a better decade? As if!

Are You a Child of an 80s?

Continuing the Open Source Cause

Open Source, Open Source, Open Source. I continue to get head-scratching looks when I mention this or Linux. Family and friends cannot understand why I gave up Windows in place of something free. "Surely that cannot be as good, since it's free," they tell me. What a sad state of affairs when this thought process happens. I would think the same thing. We are conditioned to think that you must pay (and pay handsomely) for software to work properly. You are also then locked into that publisher of the software to their 'vision.' Have an idea to use it better? Too bad. Maybe they will implement that in the new version, of which you will pay once again, but too bad for you in the immediate future.

That's where all who do not know about Linux are wrong. Linux just gets me. I definitely cannot see all these huge amounts of paid software. For instance, working in just one school, to purchase one piece of software for approximately 100 computers totals $30,000. I could buy a car for that. And do we receive training for this? Nope. Ways to integrate? Nope. Do they come and install? Nope. They send a disc, and even a file through email these days, and that's the end of it. Well, Linux does not give you any of those things either, but then they don't charge you either. Come to think of it, the communities for the different OS distros (operating system distributions, think Windows XP, Windows ME, Windows NT, etc for Linux: examples of Ubuntu, Edubuntu, SUSE, Fedora, etc) provide more and better support. Many have call centers to use for FREE, forum boards, email lists, and even support groups in major cities.

Then software. You can pretty much find a comparable piece of software in a Linux version. Want Photoshop? Use the Gimp. Want Dreamweaver? Then check out Quanta, Screem, or nVU. Inspiration? Look at Dia. And that's the power of open source. Yes, these are free, but open source means that the source code is available to you. You can make changes to the code for your own benefit. The question becomes can you do that? Yes, but make sure to provide a copy of the revised code to the developers, and allow others the possibility to use your changes.

How cool! I will continue to update you on this in the future!

Chris on the Simpsons

So, what would I look like if my dream came true, and I appeared on the Simpsons? Well, enjoy this image of me, with my Linux t-shirt on!

The End of Harry Potter...

So I finished the book. Received it yesterday from the UPS guy (don't know why Mr. Larry, our mail carrier did not bring it). The UPS guy, a closet comedian says, "Let me tell you how it ends...he finds out he's a Jedi Master." Funny UPS guy! (-:
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Finished it in one day, or by 12 AM the night I started. Overall, I enjoyed the book. It nicely tied up many of the dangling issues, but at times these explanations seemed forced. One major thing that bugged me was the need for so many pages. I think we could get by in the story with 200 less pages. The whole middle, with Hermoine and Harry camping across the British Isle really leaves a lot to be desired.

I enjoyed the final battle scene, which when made into a movie could rival the final LOTR battle, if directed correctly. JK definitely left herself an out if she wants to have another book. The 19 Years Later epilogue was pretty basic as well.

Fishies and Trains

Had a good two days. Yesterday we met some friends at Pullen Park. It was hot (90s by 10 am, it is July afterall), but we still played, rode the merry-go-round and train, and ate a great lunch. Today we went to the Fort Fisher NC Aquarium. I love spending time with my 3 girls!

I Miss My Girls!

Who would think a week away from my three girls would be this difficult? Here I sit at a conference in Sunset Beach, NC. It's Thursday, and I've been gone since Sunday. Tomorrow is the big day that I get to go back home, and I cannot wait. When you look at these pictures of my girls, you see how tough it would be to leave them for any extended time. I know what will happen this weekend though--a FULL WEEKEND OF DADDY TIME!

Enjoying Our Summer!

Lucy, Mommy, and Myra (those are her legs in the blue chair) enjoy the 'mega-fort' Daddy built.











Lucy's Bling

Today (or actually Tomorrow) We Celebrate Our Independence...

July 4th--the traditional middle of summer. We have been enjoying the recent coolness in Raleigh. The past two days' highs were 84 and 87 respectively. That just does not happen in Raleigh in July. This morning I actually shivered on the way into the office (65 degrees). The girls and I spend a fun day together last week. We stopped at my office, then went to the Natural Science Museum. Tomorrow we may visit Wake Forest for a parade.
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The marathon training goes well. I run 8.5 miles out in Umstead State Park on Saturday. About 6 of the miles followed the 'actual' marathon course. Pretty tough--some long, steady hills. I continue to get excited about it though. My right calf is a little tight and sore, so I will try to move it around gingerly and see if it can heal some. Figures I would finally get an injury after years of no running...
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And the big news--NANA FLIES DOWN ON SATURDAY! We're so excited!