by way of an update...

to quickly tie up the loose ends from the last two posts: a police report was filed. we met with the principal, who expressed great concern, said she would follow up on it and talk to the teacher to see if this was perhaps a trend of which no one had become aware. she also informed us she would have to call the mother and talk with her. we said that was fine.

a few days later, no. 1 gets off the bus and said, "dad, i think me and [charles manson] are friends now." well, o my beloved non-existent readers, it goes without saying that i expressed great consternation at this, but asked him why he felt that way. he told me that the offender had apologized to him, and they had shaken hands. i attempted to be magnanimous, and said, "well, that is very nice of him." but here my graciousness ended: "but i still don't want you hanging out with that kid, or talking to him, understand?" no. 1 nodded assent.

on that front, let's hope that i never have any more to report.

in other news, school keeps me busy, the two classes i am taking having abnormal homework loads, but i keep on top of it. i got my graduation paperwork today, and if i maintain a's in both (we're halfway through the school year and i currently have a 100 in one and a 97 or 98 in the other, without any signs that this should change in the next two months) i will graduate with honors, despite an atrociously poor showing my very first year of college at byu. (they wanted to stick me on academic probation!)

s the drummer and i met up with a couple guitarists, one friend of mine, k, and one friend of his, m, to try and create a new band from the ashes of the old. apparently, s the drummer didn't like k, or his musical style, or something, as he only wants to jam with m. and apparently s the drummer and m are ok with just jamming in my garage and not really doing much to branch out further than that. k is more than interested in fleshing out the veritable cornucopia of original songs i have been dutifully jotting down over the years, with the intent of playing out. so i had one fun jam with s the drummer and m, where little was accomplished beyond blowing off some steam and having a good time, and then another weekend had a jam with k and another of our friends, sc the drummer, in which we nailed down two songs, one an original of mine, and the other a potential cover, and they agreed that emptyhead was a perfectly good band name, and we discussed regular practices with plans to work on a setlist. and, at the same time, we blew off some steam and had a good time.

the boys have, overall, been doing pretty well in school lately; as well as in life. i feel like they are making headway in following my directions and accomplishing the things i want them to accomplish. no. 1 is talking about cub scouts, and while i think i might get roped unfairly into doing much more as a scout leader than i really want, i think the benefits might outweigh the grumbling aggravation this might cause me.

not much of a post really, but for now, better'n nothin'.

darth sardonic