Adteacher

Wow. This has been such a long few days. They say there is no rest for the weary, but I am about to disprove that old saying. My body is almost numb from dealing with all of the projects and competitions this week, but I am about to deliver the projects for judging, and I submitted the website for District judging last night at about 8 pm. I am ready to put SkillsUSA behind me for awhile! If curious to see how the students in District 4 did, you can access the site that the judges from Leo Burnett in Chicago are looking at by visiting this URL: http://djcc.lisd.net/adskills2010 I will talk later about how our four kids from DJCC fared, but since judging is ongoing at this point, the students are only identified by number. I was proud of how they did with such a short amount of time. (Less than 3 hours total.) The awards and project display take place next week in Waco, so there will be a short trip out of town next weekend, but it won't be for long. We intend...

Nobody in a non-agrarian society should be awake at this hour...yet that is precisely when I woke up this morning. 4 AM is the time of nothing better than infomercials. It is actually considerably before even the sun has decided to make an appearance, and therefore, the entire world except the graveyard shift is sound asleep. These are the hours that I rarely ever see anything except the inside of my eyelids, but for some inexplicable reason my body thought it was the time that I should get up and get going today. I tried and tried for several hours to will myself back into unconciousness, which on most "normal" days is not really a problem. Today, no dice. Therefore it is now 10 PM, and I feel like I have been awake for about three days. I really need to keep today's entry short and head to the comfort of my waiting pillow. I promise to regale you with stories of the day at some later date, but this is the most stress filled week of my entire year, due to preparations fo...

I got a nice visit today from Jason Diaz, a graduate of DJCC and Hebron HS, '09. He came by to tell me that he was leaving for Georgia on Sunday, headed out to the Atlanta campus of SCAD. We have had several DJCC students go to SCAD in the past, but Jason is the first one with an interest in motion graphics and special digital effects. It is always such a nice feeling as a teacher to watch students head off toward their futures. Jason will be studying Motion Media Design and was awarded a $10,000 per year portfolio scholarship. He earned this scholarship for his State blue ribbon motion graphics project that he entered in the Ad Design contest last year at SkillsUSA, and also some excellent work that he did as a student in Mr. Ruuska's media technology class. I think that Jason's ultimate goal is to work in advertising, specifically producing special digital effects for commercials. He especially admires the work done by Digital Domain  and is trying to prepare himself fo...

The shower that was held at the TimesTen Cellar (a Dallas winery) for my son and his fiance Hailey this weekend was "tres elegante"...very nice indeed. My guess would be around 60 or so in attendance, perhaps more. Rooms can be deceptive in how many they hold, and it was very full. Standing room only for many people there... lots of family, lots of friends. A really nice blend of older and younger people, and a great chance for us to all get to know each other before the wedding next month. Wow, it is hard to believe the time is almost here. We are still busily remodeling the house and finishing plans for who will be staying with us and when they will arrive, etc. I am very glad that quite a few people plan to be there. It is going to be decided this next week where we will be hosting the rehearsal dinner, and right now, it seems that Cool River in Dallas may be gaining favor. We will discuss it with Hailey and DJ next weekend, our dinner with them on Valentine's Day got ...

I have a lot of news about Hailey and DJ to report... what a wonderful weekend for them and for their friends and families. I will write a lengthy entry about their shower and post some photos tomorrow. Until then, I hope that you all are enjoying your day with someone you love. After 32+ years, I am still celebrating my Valentine's Day with the same person, and I feel very happy to be able to say that I have gotten older and grown to realize that it isn't really a day that should be any different than any other day in terms of enjoying the person that you have chosen as your Valentine. I think that every day should be a celebration of the fact that you have someone special in your life. How fortunate you are if you have someone that you can share your life or even a part of your life with. For those who have yet to find that "someone" - well, stay on the search. I have heard it said that there is someone out there for everyone, but that the trick is in the search to ...