happiness, european shuttlecocks, and well-meaning grants...

the other night as i was leaving the office and driving home through downtown (if you can call it that) albuquerque thousands of folks were on their way to a rally at the plaza in support of the day without immigrants. something struck me, and apparently i was not the only one to immediately recognize this...all those people were happy, very, very happy. reading accounts from other places in the country, it seems the same good cheer was present all over the country. that kind of open happiness is infective...and ever since i got stuck in traffic watching scores of cars with people hanging out the windows cheering and waiving flags in the back of pick-ups i've been in a much better mood. we can't ignore these people anymore, we can't pretend we don't know about the folks doing those jobs we like to forget about...they out...get used to it, and find a way to deal with it.

my friend shannon is headed to europe to train for the upcoming olympics in badminton. anyone with any money and/or ties to anyone that does and wanting to do something good should visit her site and do what they can to extend her stay in denmark. shannon is one of the most purely beautiful human beings i know...i love her and miss her (even if i am bad at showing it sometimes)...and nobody deserves this shot more than shannon, even if it means i may not get to see her for awhile. so help her out...if you don't you must not have a soul.

the feds put together a bit of a program to help out students heading to college in math and science. the grants will apparently be available to students who participated in a rigorous curriculum in secondary school. that sounds all well and good, but there is a part of me that worries that these grants will end up going to students that don't need them as much as others. afterall, the students most likely to go through such a curriculum in high school will also be the ones that will tend not to need the help as much as their struggling peers. i worry that it may end up with negatives like the lottery scholarship here in new mexico (which, for the record, i think is a great idea...when it helps those that need it) and end up passing out free education to students that could afford to pay for it. but maybe when they finalize the requirements for these grants they will emphasize potential and need more than past performance in a curriculum that may not be offered in many schools in poorer neighborhoods...

there's a treasure in your heart, just like a pirate's booty...