Things you can learn on the internet

Yesterday I was really bothered by the Justin Berry story. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/19/national/19kids.ready.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5090&en=aea51b3919b2361a&ex=1292648400
I hadn't really heard about this story until yesterday. I guess I must have had my head in the ground or something. Anyway, I had been watching TV the night before trying to get myself drowsy enough to sleep (damn the time change anyway), when I caught a glimpse of Nancy Grace talking about the Justin Berry story. I was shocked by the brief snippits I picked up from watching for a few minutes. I can't take much more than a few minutes of Nancy Grace. Then on the way to work the next morning I heard a audio bite of his statement during congressional hearings. I was so piqued with curiosity that I had to do a google search once I got some work done. I found the article at the New York Times which made this boy's story mainstream. I was riveted in my chair while reading the entire article whilst breathing sighs of incredulity of what this boy had gone through from the time he was 13 years old. I could not stop thinking about it the rest of the day and felt nauseous all day because of it. I am not so naive that I don't know there are horrible people preying online, but I had no idea to what extent they went. I don't know what can be done overall to stop this stuff from going on, but I do know my children will not have internet access in their rooms. That was something my husband and I had agreed upon long ago, but this definitely set it in stone. My brain is having a difficult time grasping the mind set of individuals involved in this stuff. I just don't get it at all. They must be incredibly sick individuals, but it is a sickness for which I feel no empathy. All I feel is loathing disgust. Most of these people are persons you would not think were doing these kinds of activities. It is a very scary thought. In the meantime, my head is still spinning.

I had another internet epiphany this morning. I was thinking of a teacher/librarian I had in high school. She has since passed away at the young age of 54 or something due to ovarian cancer. She was always so full of life and fun to be around. I miss you Penny Hennessey. Anyway, that got me to thinking about this silly skit her and I choreographed and sang in the library for one of the teachers when he returned to the library. His class normally came in once a week to the library, but they hadn't been there in several weeks, so when they returned she and I did our song and dance routine. We used the wooden dowels for off newspaper hangers for our prop canes, and we sang our song to the tune of "Hello Dolly". We instead sang it as, "Hello Arthur", as the teachers name was Arthur. It was a hoot and the teacher enjoyed it. That got me to thinking about Mr. Hicks and if he were still alive. I did another google search and found that there was an article in the local paper just on February 8th about him talking with some students about his experiences as a Tuskegee Airman. I had no clue he was a Tuskegee Airman. Actually, it wasn't until just a few nights ago that I even knew what a Tuskegee Airman was, when my dad and I watched a story about them on the History Channel. It was an interesting show, and I was a little sad that I wasn't able to watch the entire thing. I came into about half way through. I had to call my brother Steve to find out if he knew about Mr. Hicks. He said he did and was astounded that I never saw the movie "Tuskegee Airmen". I never even knew there was one. Anyway, that brought back lots of fun school memories with Mr. Hicks. Now, I know when J reads this, she will differing opinions as she knows a different side of Mr. Hicks through people she knows. Anyway, I just find it so fascinating the things you can learn in less than a minute on the internet.

...And, it is NOT raining today! Hooray!