Fragmented Friday

Weeeell, I was planning on doing a "Friday Fragment" post, but it appears that Mrs. 4444 has decided not to continue this series. Funny, her reasons for not blogging mirror mine!

Nobody has offered to pick the series up, so I'm on my own!

~ There's a lot of controversy over this new logo for the state of Tennessee:

It took somebody 9 months to come up with this, and the state paid $46,000 for it. Honestly???  I'm no graphic designer, but I could've done better than that using Word, I could've done it an hour, and I wouldn't have charged anything for it! The Tennesseean (Nashville newspaper) is conducting a poll: 94% thus far have said they don't like it. They pretty much paid a teacher's yearly salary for this monstrosity.

~ The Small Town High School will open a new high school next month. It's pretty, but...I still don't think it was necessary. {{cough, cough...tuition students...cough, cough}}

~ There has been a change at the swimming pool.  This is what it looked like when the pool first came into being:

(For photo credit, link on the pictures)

This is what it looked like a few weeks ago:

It's so sad to drive by and see "the tower" gone, but apparently the concrete had eroded to the point of not being safe, and it would cost too much to repair. 

~ Orange is the New Black is on Netflix starting today! Yeah, looks like not a lot is going to be accomplished today!

~ I read another book yesterday. This one is actually in the "YA/Middle Grade" genre. The librarian at one of my schools said that that genre was good to read because of the restrictions that are put on those authors. Caught is the 5th book in The Missing series by Margaret Peterson Haddix. When MS was in elementary school, he got hooked on The Magic Tree House series. I sat down one day with one to see what was so fascinating about it, and I ended up not moving until I had finished it. The Missing is along those same lines, just for an older audience. It was actually quite good, once I got into it. Reading the first 4 probably would've helped, but it's not necessary! Now I'm on to the next book!

Hope everyone has an awesome weekend!

Catching Up

I'm having a very difficult time getting motivated to do anything. I've watched an awful lot of Netflix & Hulu...I'm up to date on Blue Bloods, Bloodline, Grace & Frankie, Tyrant, and Between. All of them are good shows & I would recommend. It's a little hard to watch Martin Sheen & Sam Waterston on Grace & Frankie...they just don't make a believable couple.
I've read a couple of books & just got through with my 3rd. I would highly recommend Ghost Boy by Martin Pistorius, if you haven't read it. As a Speech/Language Pathologist, it really struck home. I just finished The Rosie Project; I'd recommend this one, too.
I managed to get in a walk with 2 of the girls yesterday. After that I grabbed my camera and walked back over to the park to play around with some of the settings. CH convinced me to take a beginning photography class at a community college. The price was right ($109); it's 5 weeks long and is taught by a man who used to teach at the university. He has photographed celebrities and political figures (including Al Gore). I have to post a couple few of my favorite from my walk in the park:

I grabbed my camera after a rain on Tuesday & snapped these pictures of my Balloon Flower:

(I think I had my camera on automatic for the flowers, but I did the park pictures on the manual setting.)
That's just about the extent of my summer so far. Just taking it easy and enjoying my time off!

Being Tolerant of Tolerance

I was thinking the other day: When did it become cool to be tolerant? And, not just be tolerant, but to let everyone know that you're tolerant?
Before I continue, I want to remind you (or let you know if you're a new reader) that I have family members who are part of the gay/lesbian community. And I accept them for who they are. Do I go shouting it from the rooftops? No. Am I ashamed of them? No. I love them with my whole heart.
Now that I got that out of the way...
The recent gender-change of a certain former Olympian, or rather, the publicity of the change, really has me wondering what the heck is going on? This is just my opinion, of course, but what I see is a deeply troubled, confused senior citizen who is making a huge profit from this life change. I guess that's what I have trouble with. I really feel for the man...I really do. Not just to have this turmoil in his life, but to have his life played out for everybody to see. I realize it's his choice to be in the limelight...which to me makes it even more troubling. And then he should win a sports award for bravery? I just have a huge problem with it. I think he has mentally been through so much...as have many people.
It seems that a lot of people are bending over backwards to say they're okay with all of this. To say, See how tolerant I am? See how cool that makes me?
As I was flipping through the few channels we get (after getting rid of cable), I stopped briefly on a ladies' talk show when they were talking about an episode of  The Bachelorette. One of the ladies (whom I believe is a lesbian) said that it was time to have a gay bachelor. Why? So we can show how cool we are as a nation by showing that on tv?
In this day of public figures having such an impact on young peoples' lives, I worry about our nation. I worry that they are completely missing the real heroes in our country...the ones who lay their lives on the line for us every.single.day. . Our military...the policemen...the firefighters. Regardless of sexual orientation. They don't get paid nearly enough for what they do to protect us, and they definitely don't get the notoriety. I think it all points to the parents. I said parents...not parental units who think they should be their children's friends.
I think there is waaaay too much emphasis on a person's sexual orientation. Does it really matter? We are all humans. We should all try to love each other and get along with each other. As Pope Francis said, If someone is gay, who searches for the Lord and has goodwill, who am I to judge?
As I was looking for that direct quote, I found this one that really fits with the whole gender change thing going on:
Men and women are sacrificed to the idols of profit and consumption: it is the "culture of waste". If you break a computer, it is a tragedy, but poverty, the needs, the dramas of so many people end up becoming the norm.
I know this post is going to hit a chord with some people...and that's okay. I'm just getting my thoughts out there because it's been weighing on my mind.