Another Spiderman

Evin, a tenth grade teacher, sent me this wonderful video of him reciting my poem to his class. I think he does a bang up job.

Evin reminds me what a powerful impact teachers have on the world. When you see his energy and passion and the way he's getting his class to react to him, you can't help feeling inspired and hopeful. That there are folks like Evin out there doing such cool stuff with the next generation should thrill us all.

Working

I've been hunkered down this summer, working on two projects. Well, three. Two book projects and an athletic one. I've been learning the modern topspin forehand to try to energize my tennis game. Here it is on youtube,a video taken by a friend while I'm hitting forehands with another friend.




It still needs some refinements. I'm hitting on the back foot and falling away from the court too much on the follow through. In a few of the strokes, I do go forward and generate a lot more pace.

It's kind of like driving a brand new car. I can't wait to go out and hit those balls. I've been playing tennis since I was ten or eleven, starting back in the dark ages when no one I knew played the sport. I was looking for a game to play in the spring because I didn't much care for baseball. I got addicted, and though there were only two courts in the town I grew up on, I managed to learn the fundamentals of the game from hours and hours out in the Kentucky sun.

My hitting partner and I used to sweep the snow off the court in the winter so we could play. We were nuts. I still am.

Last Dying Breath

I've been watching this happen for over 30 years. It's going fast.

Thorn's Backyard

Thorn's backyard.




And look what's going to wash ashore.

# Hardcover: 304 pages
# Publisher: Minotaur Books (January 19, 2010)

Jim Hitting Forehands

Right Side Up

Ah, the French! (Thanks to David Lile.)

Deny Deny Deny

Clock is ticking and the idiots are denying.


RUSH: Let's see. Yeah, here's another one. Get this. What is this from? It's the Cleveland Plain Dealer. It's their website, Cleveland.com. Here's the headline: "Tree Owners Could Reap Climate Bill Windfall -- For years, landowners have gotten paid for not farming. Now they may get paid for not cutting down trees. While US families could see their annual energy bills rise hundreds of dollars under a massive climate bill that President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats are trying to push through the House, owners of large swaths of forestland -- timber companies, large farms, even foreign countries -- could reap billions of dollars. The bill is aimed at curbing the gases, largely carbon dioxide from power plants and vehicles, blamed for global warming." I'm getting to the bursting point on this. There isn't any global warming! Since 2001 temperatures have flat-lined. There isn't any global warming!

350 parts per million carbon dioxide

Now there's a number to chew on.

And Thorn's home is slowly disappearing.

Iran

And this as well.

Thermally Yours

Global warming is taking a weird turn. Even writers at their desks are suddenly aglow.