I've been meaning to link to two stories from the Times Union. First, from July 4, these three essays on what it means to be an American. Impressive writing, especially considering they are kids. I am using the piece in my class, since right now we are discussing the meaning of culture.

Then, this bittersweet essay. Sniff. Reminds me of all the dogs I love (Sophie, Sam), and have loved (there have been so many! Rudy, Penny, Howie, Hobo, Pud, Pepe, Duke, et al) but especially Howie, since he was half-Schnauzer, lived to be 15, and he was the first dog I got after moving away from home.

Unrelated, but something that occupied some time this week: last week we had a terrific thunderstorm that must have struck near my house in Samsonville. It zapped my mother's ethernet card, and she thought it killed her monitor too. She was unhappy with using her old spare, so I got her a "new" one (really it is used, but it is a decent 17" Dell, amazing how cheap they are). When I was there last weekend, I replaced the NIC in her computer, and discovered that her monitor is fine (luckily my nephew needs the used monitor I bought), but that the lightening also burned out my ethernet and on board video, and it ruined two of the ports on my router. It's an old machine, but since I have a wireless laptop and the desktop is for light use only, I didn't want to buy an entirely new computer. So I took the CPU back to Castleton, and earlier this week I replaced the NIC and video card. Luckily, that worked, since I hated the idea of spending too much on that old machine. I also learned that the router is still under warranty, so I will be able to get a replacement. Luckily the wireless and two remaining ports are working, so we are still in business there. We both had surge protectors, but they aren't foolproof, so from now on my mother will unplug everything when there is a storm.