I've Been Lonely Too Long!

I hear much about students and young people being into technology. Perhaps! It's because I am "just" a Digital Immigrant but why don't my students seem to share my enthusiasm for using the internet as an academic tool. OK! So they are teenagers and they have that hormone thing going on not to mention the large quantity of artificially colored beverages they drink. Is three out of 20 students emailing me for the class website link a good response?
This obstacle won't stop me from scaling new heights. It's too much of a rush.
By the way, if you noticed that your English teacher is using quite a few contractions it is because this blog is an example of informal writing. As I mentioned in class, if I was writing a research paper I would avoid the use of contractions.

Julius Caesar and the Presidential Election 2008

In the opening scene of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, we meet the cobbler and carpenter. They are celebrating the triumphs of Julius Caesar. They, like most of Rome, are on the crest of an emotional wave where reason steps aside and desire takes control.
Recently, I walked the same streets via the internet. This was not the cobblestone roads of ancient days but the political landscape of an America excited about a presidential election. I watched a live feed of a complete speech by one of the candidates. It was one of those occasions when on a casual stroll on the internet, you, by happenstance or is it by fate?, discover a piece of gold. The air was full of the driving beats of contemporary music. There was no sign of lethargy as they chose the right music for the intended mood of a hopefully triumphant campaign. I am reminded of the flourish with which Caesar was announced.
Immediately after watching I was ready to vote for the candidate who also demonstrated strong oratory skills. Then I realized that I was being caught up in an emotional wave and not using reason to make my choice.
No one candidate will be the answer to all that ails or protector of all that is well. For me,
I will examine their stands on the issues that concern me most, issues that may not impact me directly but are important. I will not necessarily vote for the candidate who will do the best for my pocketbook. There is still time for the right candidate to win my mind but my heart belongs to one greater.

Buddy! Can you spare a minute?

Somehow! I thought computers and the internet were supposed to make life easier. I guess they do in the sense it's a lot easier for people to understand my handwriting. Even I can understand it better. I don't see the end to the journey and often I will go to my computer with a specific goal, spend a half hour (really an hour) online, log off and then a few minutes later realize that I never
did what I planned on doing. Where did the time go? Please email me some time but you probably could use some also.
In the rush of doing this blog, I ended up with a couple of travel maps. Sorry about that! Let me know if you know an easy to remove the duplicates.

Updated

My Travels