The last 2 weeks have been crazy busy and I am still in recovery mode.

It took a few days to prep for four days of classes up at Bead Fest Santa Fe. And one of my nearest and dearest, Gail Crosman Moore, came to stay at my house while she taught there as well.

The classes went very well indeed and I could not have been more pleased at the accomplishments of all of the students, everyone made some beautiful things. I get a great deal of satisfaction in teaching and seeing each person do things that they could not do at the start of the day. To me, there is not much that is more exciting.

I had one or two disappointments during the weekend, each professional as well as personal. My biggest disappointment came when I discovered that I had a full tool set-up removed from my classroom after I had closed up my room for the day and locked all of the doors as I left.

For any of you that know how I teach, I provide ten full tool set-ups for students to use. I max my classes at 20 so the ratio of tools to students is really very good and each set-up has cost me about $485.00. Times that by 10 complete set-ups and you can all see that I have invested a great deal in making sure that the students that take classes from me have an excellent experience. This hit is a big one and more than anything else it just saddens me deeply.

I had a great time hanging with my friend Gail and getting to spend time just with her before and after the craziness of teaching.

Now don't think that even through all of the busy times that I have not had the chance to keep up with all of the craziness that is happening in the world around me. Man has it been a fascinating week or so…

The GOP still is acting like a bunch of self important self absorbed, self aggrandizing jack-asses. It is truly amazing to watch as their dialog is solely centered on annihilating anything that is not a mirror image of themselves. I find it depressing that the only thing that matters is this touted ideal of smaller government that actually has nothing to do with smaller government and everything to do with them prescribing my morals. What ever happened to "The Land Of The Free?" I guess it is just freedom for them and not for anyone that does not agree with them.

We are all Trayvon Martin

What I cannot accept or even come close to understanding is the senseless death of Trayvon Martin. I have listened in stunned amazement to the details of what Mr. George Zimmerman did leading up to his gunning down this young man for no justifiable cause. All Trayvon needed was 2 minutes to get home to safety. Is was a mere 70 yards that stood between him, the door to his house and his continued existence.

Let's break down 2 minutes out of one day… there are 60 seconds in one minute and 60 minutes in one hour and 24 hours in one day, this breaks down into 1,440 minutes or 86,400 seconds in one day. All this young man needed was 2 minutes out of 1,440 minutes or 120 of those 86,400 seconds. 

All Mr. Zimmerman had to do was heed what the 911 operators requested and not follow him.
All Mr. Zimmerman had to do was show a modicum of restraint and not pull out a gun and pick a fight.
All Mr. Zimmerman had to do was be a responsible citizen and not act like a Neanderthal.

I was hopeful that after the shootings last year in Tucson, after so many lost their lives, that we might actually be able to have a dialog in this nation about real gun control. But if you have followed the laws that have been passed it is just letting things get worse.

There are now places in our nation that let people carry concealed weapons onto the grounds of elementary schools and pre-schools. There are now laws that let faculty and students carry concealed weapons onto college campuses. The Bills keep being passed, the Governors keep signing them into Law and it just goes on and keeps getting more extreme. When is enough going to be enough. When are we going to stop allowing a lobbying group decide what is good for our nation and let the people say what is logical.

This really does come down to the NRA having too much clout. I do not see the need for extended clips or semi-automatic handguns or the need for hand guns that can fire the 30 plus bullets from that extended clip in a matter of seconds. No "hunter" needs that… I grew up with and around hunting.. no true hunter I knew growing up or know now, needs or uses that type of firearm to "hunt" with. That firearm is only used to hunt one thing…. another human being.