I dream of rain

Our proposed property tax bills were sent out last week. I got mine. ...I got that sinking feeling.

Jeff Parker draws political cartoons for my local paper, Florida Today.

The burning desire to live and roam free
It shines in the dark
And it grows within me
You're holding my hand but you don't understand
So where I am going, you won't be in the end

I'm dreaming in colors
Of getting the chance
I'm dreaming of China; the perfect romance
In search of the door to open your mind
In search of the cure of mankind

Help us we're drowning
So closed up inside

Why does it rain, rain, rain down on Utopia?
Why does it have to kill the ideal of who we are?
Why does it rain, rain, rain down on Utopia?
And when the lights die down, telling us who we are?

I'm searching for answers
not given for free
They're hidden inside, is there life within me?
You're holding my hand but you don't understand
So I'm taking the road all alone in the end

I'm dreaming in colors, no boundaries are there
I'm dreaming the dream, we all seem to share
In search of the door, to open your mind
In search of the cure of mankind

Help us we're drowning
So closed up inside
Why does it rain, rain, rain down on Utopia
Why does it have to kill the ideal of who we are?
Why does it rain, rain, rain, down on Utopia?
And when the lights die down, telling us who we are

Why does it rain, rain, rain down on Utopia
Why does it have to kill the ideal of who we are?
Why does it rain, rain, rain down on Utopia
And when the lights die down, telling us who we are
Why does it rain? 

Utopia, by Within Temptation.

This song seems appropriate given what happened last night. Heard it for the first time this afternoon when fetching lunch.

In other news, I now own a massage table.

Taken a few years ago at a county fair.

My Confederate Jasmine bush is in full bloom, and this set off a nectar-fueled fit of binge-eating. The honey bees were the perfect size to force the tiny flowers open, and the considerably larger paper wasps happily enjoyed the sloppy seconds.

Taken in Osgood, Indiana, which is located about halfway between Napoleon and Versailles (that's Vur-Say-Ell-s for you hoity-toity folks)

I love the way this turned out...

Maybe it wanted to get jiggy with the dish and the spoon? ..I just hope whoever finds it treats it with the love and abuse it deserves.. It gave me a good five years of cut-y goodness.

Funnily enough, this one was itself a replacement, The first I lost after having it about a year and a half, while "running" a marathon. It was identical to this one except the first had a dual serrated/straight edge, and the newer one had a straight edge only.

Five years of daily carry and use takes it toll; I've replaced its opening spring once, and had to fashion new grip inserts after the orignal rubber ones disintegrated from the abuse.

I suppose there's the off chance it'll turn up in the home, but it's far more likely that it's lying amongst some sea oats (yes, the ones pictured below) or in someone else's pocket now. I didn't realize it was missing until nearly 48 hours after I'd likely lost it somewhere along a path roughly a mile long.

So now I'm trying to get lucky a third time around and find another sample of this wonderful, fits-my-hand-like-a-glove knife. It's trickier than it looks, as the original manufactuer went bankrupt before I'd bought my first; indeed both of the ones I ended up with were "made" by the folks who bought out the manufacturer's remaining inventory.

That said, this knife was originally desined by one Keith Wood, and sold under the following models, if not more:

• Paragon ATKO-8 (Aluminium handle, ATS-34 blade)
• Asheville Steel/Paragon ATKO-8 (bought the name, maybe rights too)
• Ruger All-Weather Knife (Composite handle, 440C blade)
• MGE Companion (Composite handle, ATS-34 blade)

Both of the ones I'd owned were the MGE Companion model. Digging around the 'net it looks like I really can't afford to be too picky, but most of what I'm seeing are really high-end limited-edition fancy-inlaid not-meant-for-use-as-a-daily-beater knives. Such a waste..

There's no way I'm buying a different model knife without handling it first, but if I can find another one of these online somewhere for a resonable price, I won't have to. Nothing on ebay at the moment, but GunBroker.com has a combo-edge Companion listed for $85.. Hmm.... Alternatively I could spend $150-200 for one of them fancy-schmancy versions, but that offends my sense of utility. Not to mention my wallet.

Sorry about the lack of stuff lately. There's been a lot of not-so-fun drama going on in my life sapping away my time and energy.

Isn't it rich?
Are we a pair?
Me here at last on the ground,
You in mid-air.
Send in the clowns.

Isn't it bliss?
Don't you approve?
One who keeps tearing around,
One who can't move.
Where are the clowns?
Send in the clowns.

Just when I'd stopped opening doors,
Finally knowing the one that I wanted was yours,
Making my entrance again with my usual flair,
Sure of my lines,
No one is there.

Don't you love farce?
My fault I fear.
I thought that you'd want what I want.
Sorry, my dear.
But where are the clowns?
Quick, send in the clowns.
Don't bother, they're here.

Isn't it rich?
Isn't it queer,
Losing my timing this late
In my career?
And where are the clowns?
There ought to be clowns.
Well, maybe next year.

This morning, my local City/County Fire-Rescue folks and the US Coast Guard (and 47 other unamed "agencies") are conducting an emergency drill involving a plane crash into the Indian River Lagoon. Seems rather reasonable, right? After all, plane crashes happen, and if a plane crashes on approach or departure from our local airport there's a pretty good chance that it'll happen over water with the subsequent PITA that involves.

Until I read this:

"The drill set up says 140 people were on a commercial plane that left from Melbourne International Airport and was shot down."

Wait, what? Shot down?

How many airplane crashes in the US have happened because someone shot down the plane? Zero. How many airline crashes have happened around the world because someone shot down the plane? Three? (And those were all shot down by various militaries, including our own!).

Fortunately, whether or not the plane was shot down really doesn't affect the rescue/recovery operation, except that if it was actually shot down or otherwise blown up the odds of anyone surviving go down considerably..

A far more reasonable (and likely to occur) drill scenario would be that the plane encountered a multiple bird strike on takeoff and crashed into the Lagoon because an engine exploded or something. Given how many large birds can be found around here I'm suprised it hasn't happened yet.

Looking into the details of the drill, it seems it's being done to fulfill some sort of Federal disaster requirement -- and it's also being paid for by the Feds under a program that "helps fund response capabilities in areas considered at risk to a terrorist attack or similar mass disaster."

Given that there isn't much of a practical difference between a plain-vanilla airplane crash due to bird strike or turbulence and an aiplane crash caused by a "terrorist attack" (mainly that the former may have some survivors) I a drill involving a plane crash is a good thing, but come on folks, do disaster-preparation exercises only matter if they're justified in terms of "terrorism" now?

Yeah, it's not a "bird strike", it's "an act of domestic avian terrorism." Unless it was a migratory bird. Can we ship its remains to Gitmo for interrogation?

I swear, this country's gone completely apeshipt insane.

Yes, really.

So, the meeting with Ms. Andrea Alford, Director of the Brevard School Board's Department of District & School Security, went better than expected, which honestly wasn't saying all that much. On the plus side, I managed to avoid getting slapped with a criminal tresspass warning (or worse). On the other hand, the fact that this progressed to that point is... well, pretty damn pathetic.

The agreement basically is this: They have no legal basis for forcing me to delete the pictures I took, but they'd better not pop back up online somewhere. Meanwhile, going forward, I'm not allowed to bring "your big professional camera" onto a school campus. With that, the matter is considered closed.

And now, for a bit of a brain dump. Feel free to ignore this, as it'll probably come off as self-righteous ranting -- I'm more than a little pissed off at the whole affair..

The track they took is that I was illegally vending. This is something that I hadn't expected as I'd considered it rather ludicrous. It sort of had the aroma of "they don't have anything better to throw at me" especially when one considers what they call "vending" -- Using the definition I was given, anyone taking a picture for someone else would be considered vending, even if just as a "favor", because "favors" are a form of compensation. That's quite a stretch, but hey, whatever...

They apparently mistook my asking questions for me being difficult, but I pointed out (repeatedly) that I was trying to understand what their policies were, how I was supposed to have known, and how I (or someone else) could work within them. A big "aaaah" moment occured when I realized they were objecting to my taking pictures, period, rather than my taking pictures of kids other than the one I'd been invited to see. That also smells a little funny, given how many other cameras were there, but again, whatever... And that sort of leads to my main observation...

...that the school disrict either doesn't really know their own polcies, hasn't fully formulated them, hasn't communicated them to those that need to know them (like the principals), and/or the policies simply aren't being properly/consistently followed.

For example: At least two of the volunteers at the talent show hadn't gone through the "registered volunteer" process, which includes being fingerprinted and a background check. One of them was even listed in the program guide.

I was told that someone should have told me I couldn't take pictures, or at least should have asked me who I was.. but that can be explained by..

The principal of the school couldn't tell me what policies there were regarding photography. One would think she'd know, assuming she was properly informed herself. And if she didn't, one couldn't expect the general staff and/or volunteers to know.

And perhaps most damning -- At one point, Ms. Alford asked, "Where did you get [the kids'] names?" I immediately replied (more than a little incredulously) "...Off the program guide?" To which she started visibly and hastily scribbled (another) note. Yup, those names that I was being given grief for publishing (and kicked off this kerfuffle) were printed in full in the program guide that anyone off the street could have obtained for the price of a $2 ticket. And therein lies my thought process -- "If this is a pulic event and the school is publishing this information, there won't be any problem if I republish it, right?" Apparently someone screwed up, bigtime.

What's sad about this is that the folks who asked me to come and photograph their daughter (and were voluntering!) were also the ones that suggested I give out business cards. They thought they were doing me a favor. No good deed goes unpunished, as they say, and their coming to my aid also inadvertantly made things a lot worse -- I think that's where the whole "professional/vending" angle came from.

Well, that and the fact that I had a business card. (oh wow, I spent $10 at Kinkos). And my "professional-looking" camera. (nevermind I could have done this with a disposable camera) And that I have an evil Y chromosome. (along with half the world) And I took pictures of children. (Oh noes!) And I live alone. (Between roomates) ....Bla-de-fucking-bla.

One has to wonder how many random photos/videos of those kids are up on facebook (or whatever). But judging by recent news and contrary to tv-crime-show-du-jour, kids have more to fear from the fully-vetted-and-background-checked faculty and staff at their schools than they do from random members of the general public. The most recent arrest? A Pinelas County Principal. Sheesh.

..There's somthing seriously fucked-up about our schooling system. Okay, a lot of things. But that's another rant for another time.

So in a little over twelve hours I have a meeting with the head of the Brevard County School Board's Office of District & School Security. It's been nearly three weeks since I was first contacted by the principal of Sabal Elementary. Hopefully we can get this wrapped up at this meeting.

According to her personal assistant, the meeting is about "photographing school events as a professional photographer." It gives me an idea where they're coming from, but... the way I see it, I wasn't there in any official/professional capacity, and there was certainly no prior contract or any relationship with the school itself.

Hopefully it isn't a ruse to just slap handcuffs on me. That may seem overly paranoid... but we've all seen situations where all sense goes right out the window because children are involved. I'm torn between worrying too much about this and worrying that I'm not worrying enough about it.

Just think, all of this happened because a parent didn't like that I took pictures of their child. A child that they entered into a talent show that was open to the general public. A talent show that, in order for their child to participate, the parents had to sign a waiver acknowledging that their child would be photographed or videotaped.

...Sheesh.

And this means lots of purty sunsets!

Just a minor update; other than a note to tell me that she hasn't talked to the powers that be about this yet, I have not heard anything new from the principal. That said, I've been conducting my own inquiries, and came up with a couple of tidbits:

• I'm pretty sure (90% certainty) which set of parents complained.
• Apparently the parents of the participants had to sign a waiver consenting to having their child filmed and/or photographed.

That last point is particularly interesting, eh?