Blackmans on the Web (log)

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Tomorrow’s the day. Sam graduates. After a lot of planning, hard work and dedication, Sam has finally achieved his goal of graduating a year ahead of schedule. He commented on Wednesday evening, after we watched this slideshow, that it “hit him” that afternoon – he really had finished high school. It hit us, too.

We couldn’t be more proud of you Sam! Next stop: The University of Texas at San Antonio, School of Architecture.

The song is “Over the Rainbow” as sung by Israel Kamakawio’ole from the Album Alone in IZ World

(L-R) Cavi, Sam, Mikayla and Joe in action!

The school year is winding down. The last Centennial Sweetheart performance of the year was the Spring Show. One of the traditional performance for the seniors is a dance routine with their “honor guard.”  After a number of weeks of practice, Sam was ready to go. It was hilarious and fun to watch. More photos from the show are in our MobileMe Gallery.

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Ann, Sam and I took a long weekend a couple weeks ago and visited Alex at Tarleton (conveniently it was parents weekend) and then on to Lubbock to visit Texas Tech.

It was the first chance we’d gotten to visit Alex at the ranch since he took up residence part time (soon to be full time) in one of the trailers that Kobie Wood has on his property. It was nice to finally have a picture in our head as to where he was living. We had a nice weekend in Stephenville and Lingleville (where the ranch is located) and even went to Cowboy Church with him on Sunday in Dublin, TX.  

Sunday we drove to Lubbock for a Monday visit to Tech. LONG way out there to be sure. We’d heard about all the wind turbines that are out in that part of the state, but had never seen them. Once you get to Sweetwater, TX there were wind turbines for as far as you can see and they seem to go on forever. It was pretty amazing. Texas Tech is a big place. over 1800 acres of campus. A little too big according to Sam. But it was worth the trip.

Sam with Mike Lish CGS Board Chair

As in past years, we enjoyed attending Camp Grady Spruce’s Camp Crockett Reunion in December. This great annual event was made even more special this year when Sam was chosen as the 2008 Youth Volunteer of the Year. It was great to see the time and devotion that Sam has cheerfully committed to various projects recognized.

Alex was honored last May when he was recognized as a 2007-2008 All-State Teens Serving Texas Finalist. His high school principal, Randy Spain, nominated him based on Alex’s commitment and enthusiasm for his Frisco Horse Park volunteer work.

Our boys are very different in many ways but we are gratified and humbled to have such public affirmations of their shared core values. I pray a lot. One of my prayers since before Alex was even born has focused on my desire for my children to be honest and caring. As the boys began school, I added “responsible” to my daily prayers of petition. As they entered their teen years, “gratefulness” seemed to round out my hopes and dreams for my boys.

I know I should probably care more if they make money or other material evidence of success. I really do believe, though, that if they have the strength and will to always be honest, care about others, take personal responsibility for not just themselves but the world as a whole, and finally to regularly take the time to experience the joy of gratitude, they will be more successful in more ways than they can ever imagine.

As young adults, Alex and Sam remind us regularly how independent and self-sufficient they are becoming. They’re still in my prayers; I’m just enjoying the prayers of thanksgiving.

Merlin Mann and me on the Expo floor

One of the other benefits of getting to go to the ICT Conference with Ann was that it also happened to be the week of Macworld Expo. I had always wanted to go but could never justify the expense. I only had one day to go. It was great fun and I got to see lots of cool stuff. Not to mention to be amongst the Mac Faithful. Very interesting event.

Coit Tower as seen from the top of Lombard Street

Here are a few more pictures from SF. Heavy on the the Golden Gate and Alcatraz, but that represents a good bit of our one full day. We had a great time on the cruise boat. 

Click the image to see more photos on Flickr.

At "The" Bridge

Ann and I celebrated our 25th Wedding Anniversary last week in San Francisco. We both ended up there by way of the Winter 2009 Educator Conference which was jointly sponsored and organized by the National and Mid-Pacific ICT Centers. She as a participant through the Convergence Technology Center and I as a presenter representing my company Avalon Consulting, LLC where I’m the e-Learning Practice Manager. We offer a variety of e-Learning solutions to our clients.

Ann had been going to these conferences for several years and I’d never had the opportunity to go. The stars and planets aligned and things work out for us both to be able to go – and during our anniversary no less!

One of the great benefits of going together was to finally have a chance to meet many of the folks that Ann was forever talking about who were deeply involved in Information and Communications Technologies (ICT). I encourage you to visit the links in this post to learn more about the work that the National Center for Information and Communications Technologies is involved in. It’s fascinating and important work. Those involved in the national and regional centers are passionate about what they do and it shows in their enthusiasm when they talk about their mission.

One of the people I had heard Ann talk about a lot was Mike Qaissaunee. Mike is an Associate Professor of Engineering and Technology at Brookdale Community College in Lincroft, NJ. Mike and I hit it off and enjoyed having some time to “talk tech”. Mikes the “real” geek. I’m just geeky enough to be dangerous! It was great to meet him. Ann was left to watch in horror as her worlds began to collide! But let Mike tell you about that. You have to read his When Worlds Collide post. His Seinfeld analogy hits the nail on the head.