The Rhetoric

Yesterday Kirsten “called out” so we could spend the day as a family. I’m glad she did. Our work and school schedules rarely allow for us to be together during the day. And the day was absolutely gorgeous. Fleece weather, my favorite. We brought the cameras along.

Enjoy.

Kirsten made a wonderful breakfast of scrambled eggs with cheese, toast, grits, bacon, orange juice and coffee. How lucky am I?!? Jenna read to us the book, “Fairly Stupid Tales”, which is hilarious, especially the way she reads it. At different parts she is quiet, loud, fast, slow, and inflects her voice where appropriate. It was great fun to listen to, and watch, her read this super silly story.

After breakfast we all went to church. Kirsten hasn’t had many experiences with church outside of Mormonism and I really wanted her to see how religion is done right. Hayley and Skye went to Sunday School after the children’s sermon and Jenna stayed with us up on the balcony. It was nice to be alone with her for a short time. Kirsten enjoyed the experience, as did I.

Related posts:
An Atheist and the UCC - Oct. 3, 2008

Skye didn’t have to twist my arm too much to get me to take the family to Portland Head Light. I’m so glad it is becoming one of their favorite places, too.

Related posts:
My Favorite Place - Oct. 14, 2008
My Cathedral - Oct. 27, 2008

We did a family photo then shots of the girls together and individually before releasing them to go play on the rocks. Kirsten and I enjoyed each other’s company as we talked, watched the girls play, and relished being Mainers.

I always tell the girls, “just one more”, while we’re doing a shoot. It’s never just one more. It’s become a running joke. After every shot I told them, “just one more”, and by the time I took this they were all in stitches.

My first trip to Maine was a stopover in Bangor on the way to England. We were dragging across the pond a couple of F-16 fighter aircraft the Belgians had recently purchased. The Maineiacs of the 101st ARW were very good to us. I noticed their sticker on the flagpole at Fort Williams State Park a while ago and have been meaning to take a picture of it ever since.

To get their picture walking back to the car I repeatedly told the girls to “freeze!”. Skye seems to have overacted just a bit. :)

The girls always love going to the Children’s Museum of Maine. And, since we have an annual pass, we go whenever they ask. They played for a long time as Kirsten and I talked and flirted with each other. They enjoyed themselves so much they didn’t even get to the second floor by the time we had to leave.

I hadn’t eaten since breakfast so Kirsten made me one of my favorite meals, a Reuben sandwich. It was wonderful!

Be sure to leave a comment.

family, hayley, jenna, kirsten, skye brent, children's museum, lighthouse, maine, phl, portland head light

Skye has been asking me to take her to Boston for a while now. She loves the city. Her GT (gifted/talented) class is going in four years and she’s wonderfully excited. She said she loves Boston more than she loves Maine.

I have most of this week off work and about a bazillion Choice Privileges Points so I decided to take the girls on a mini-vacation before it gets too cold. Kirsten, unfortunately, had to work. :(

Sunday morning we drove to Boston, parked the car at Quincy Center, and took the Red Line train into Park Street Station. Skye wanted to check out the Granary Burying Grounds so we headed over there. Then we strolled around Washington Street before heading to Marriott’s Custom House (my favorite Boston building) where we would see the city from the 26th floor observation deck.

After the girls were too cold to stand out on the observation deck at the Custom House Tower we walked over to the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway. The girls enjoyed running around a fountain and playing on the concrete structures.

When they finally tired of playing and decided it was time for swimming we walked to Government Center where we boarded the Green Line. At Park Street Station we switched to the outbound Red Line (Braintree) train. The drive to Hull from Quincy was nice. Our hotel was the Clarion Nantasket Beach Resort Hotel and Spa. Our room had a balcony with ocean view, fireplace and whirlpool tub. The girls were very excited! After spending a long time in the swimming pool Jenna and I played Battleship while Skye and Hayley watched Cartoon Network.

Monday morning we got all freshened up, went downstairs, and enjoyed a long breakfast in the hotel’s restaurant. The girls, especially, loved the buffet. After breakfast we got a late checkout so Skye and Hayley could go swimming again. After a brief swim (and bath) we strolled along the beach in front of the hotel before again driving to Quincy Center to catch the inbound Red Line subway.

I asked Hayley, “Do you not like mornings?” “I do like mornings, I’m just really tired.” She is always the last daughter awake and is usually the last to fall asleep at night. Interesting.

The girls insisted that we go to the Custom House Tower again so, after getting off at Downtown Crossing, we ran and walked as fast as we could through the financial district. We got to the Custom House right at two o’clock, which is when the daily tour starts. We were all a bit tuckered out after that. The views were impressive and the weather significantly warmer this day.

After the girls were done at the Tower we took the Blue Line from Aquarium to Government Center where we switched to the Green Line to Boylston Station. Our waitress at the hotel told us we could ride the Swan Boats for a dollar but they weren’t running. So, we walked around the Boston Common and Public Garden and took lots of pictures.

From the Common and Public Garden we made our way up the Commonwealth Avenue Mall to Copley Square and the Boston Public Library.

When we were done at the library the girls and I were tired and missed Kirsten. Besides, it was getting dark and the mercury was falling. We decided to call it a couple days and head home. On the way home the girls were very hungry (they hadn’t eaten since breakfast) and Jenna asked if we could have dinner at Hooters. We had a great time there (is there any way to not have a great time at Hooters?). Hint: if you ever go to the Hooters in Saugus, Massachusetts, be sure to sit at Tia’s table. She’s stunning and sweet.

It was a wonderful two days in our favorite city, but we were all glad to get home and give Kirsten a great big hug!

These photos were taken with my DSLR, phone and video recorder. Quality varies accordingly.

family, hayley, jenna, skye boston, brent, vacation

Birthdays aren’t a big deal to me. This year I spent mine watching the first presidential debate and hanging out at the new Hooters in Saugus, Massachusetts.

It was nice to return home Saturday evening to one of my favorite meals and my wonderful girls. Kirsten baked macaroni and cheese from my mom’s old recipe. Yummy! She also made my favorite black forest cake. The candles were the trick kind that relight themselves after they’re blown out. Fun.

Kirsten gave me a flourescent light so I (we) can read in bed at night. Skye gave me a small Rubik’s Cube. Hayley gave me 9¢ to buy my favorite (candy) bar. They each made me a card. How cool is that? I love those girls.

Kirsten dressed extra sexy, as she does whenever I’m returning from a road trip. I appreciate that a lot!

Several friends and family called or left messages on my Facebook page. I guess if there’s one thing good about having a birthday it is having an excuse to reconnect.

family, hayley, jenna, kirsten, skye birthday, brent

Yes, that’s a keyfob. And, because it’s a Volkswagon Jetta keyfob, it’s also the key.

Last Sunday the girls asked me to take them to Portland Head Light to climb on the rocks, hike and take pictures. The answer to that request will always be an enthusiastic “yes”. While I took pictures the girls made a “house” out of driftwood, mangled lobster pots and rocks. I climbed all over the cliffs and boulders trying to capture the lighthouses from new and interesting perspectives.

I laid on a rock about six inches above the surface of the water to get this shot.

And got really low to capture this reflection.

Then I waited for the girls to be done playing. After a long while I suggested we go play on the swings before heading to the hospital to get Kirsten. The sun was getting low and the tide was coming in and I was getting a bit chilly.

Skye and Hayley headed to the playground while Jenna and I went to get the car and drive it down. I couldn’t find the key! It wasn’t in my pants, jacket or camera bag. Nowhere. If it were down on those rocks the tide would, in a very short time, completely cover it. Besides, it was getting dark and there were about a bazillion round rocks it could have fallen between. And, it was getting dark. And, the park would be closing at sunset. And, Kirsten needed a ride home after her twelve hour shift at the hospital. Fuck.

Jenna and I walked to the playground to get her sisters then headed back down the tall granite cliffs to the rocky shore where we had spent most of the afternoon. I scanned the ground in what I knew was a futile attempt to locate the missing key. I suspected it had fallen out of my jacket pocket in either of the two places I had laid down.

The girls were too slow over the cliffs and boulders so I told them to go to the top of the cliff and walk around. That way they wouldn’t slow me down and I could keep an eye on them.

At the first location, where I had laid on a rock to shoot Ram Island Ledge Light, the rock was submerged by the rising tide. I looked through the clear water but couldn’t see the key. I hurried to the second spot and, when I rounded the last corner, saw the bright red PANIC button of the keyfob at eye level. Whew!!! After snapping a few pics for this blog post I retrieved the key and headed back to tell the girls the good news. I had no idea the adventure had just begun.

The girls hadn’t gone up to the cliff, but were still down on the beach. Apparently they hadn’t heard me or communicated to each other. And they couldn’t hear me now, they were too far away. When they were in range I called out to Jenna and Skye and asked them where was Hayley. I figured she was behing a large rocks and was just out of sight. All I got was a shoulder shrug. I yelled for Skye to go find her and off Skye went. When I finally reached Jenna I was missing two girls, but was confident Skye would find her sister and we could finally leave.

As Jenna and I climbed up the cliff there were about fifteen people standing on the edge watching us. When we got close to the top a women asked if I was the dad. I told her I was a dad. She said they found my daughter, which was nice. I didn’t think they were lost, really. Pretty soon Skye rounded the corner and everybody looked quite pleased about the reunion. Until I told them I have three daughters. Those happy expressions instantly changed back to concern and panic.

With Skye and Jenna close behind I walked around the top edge of the cliffs yelling for Hayley. After only a few very long seconds we heard a man yelling that he had found her. I could tell by his voice that she was okay. She had a huge smile on her face as he carried her up to us. Everybody was relieved and happy our little family was back together. Hayley had been several hundred yards away from where I had left her. She was trying to find us but was going the wrong direction over very large, sharp and treacherous boulders.

I was never as concerned as any of the spectators. The girls are very good on the rocks and hardly ever fall off them.

family, hayley, jenna, skye 2008, adventure, cape elizabeth, emergency, found, keyfob, lighthouse, lost, panic, phl, portland

“How did you do that?” For some this questions is probably simple to answer. The following explanation is for those of you still scratching your head.

The idea for this shot came to me in the shower yesterday, where I do some of my best thinking. I was inspired by a photo I saw on Flickr a year and a half ago. In that picture two men are holding a large picture frame that appears to make them invisible inside the frame. It is obvious to me now which techniques were used and how, but at the time I was puzzled and impressed.

Many people have remarked that applying the Orton Effect to an image results in a picture that looks like a painting. I figured we could take it a step further. The idea was to shoot two pictures–one with Skye holding a large picture frame and another without Skye and the frame–and combine them. A portion of the second picture would be placed inside the frame of the first to make it look as though it was mounted in the frame when we took the photo. The first thing we had to do was take the two base photos. Skye and I hauled two tripods, a huge white/yellow reflector card, camera gear, and the large picture frame over the snow and ice to a spot far away from the lighthouse.

While Skye held the frame I shot a few test shots and adjusted the settings on the camera and the speedlight. I controlled the camera’s shutter with an infrared remote. The tripod mounted Nikon D70s controlled the SB600 speedlight, which was also mounted on a tripod. The flash was positioned at about the height of Skye’s chest and just out of frame left. I held a large yellow card just over Skye’s head on the right. We fought the wind and braved the bitter cold until we were satisfied with the results. (manual mode, manual focus, ISO 200, f/5.6, 25mm, 1/125 sec.)

With the hardest part over, all we had to do was have Skye step off the bench and move out of the frame so I could get a couple shots of the unobstructed lighthouse.

Post-processing was the fun part. First, I put both images through Dynamic Photo HDR to make them pop and bring out color and detail. Then I stacked the resulting JPEGs in Photoshop and straightened the horizon. With that bit of housekeeping done I turned my attention to the lighthouse layer: the one that would be placed inside the frame.

First I applied the Orton Effect to give it that surreal dreamy painting look. Then I added a dry brush filter to give it the look of painted brush strokes. Then I added a canvas texture to make it look even more like a painting. Now it was ready to go into the frame.

To get the proper width/height ratio I measured the inside dimensions of the frame with my tape measure: 19.5 x 15.5 inches. Then I selected the Rectangular Marquee Tool in Photoshop and set the style to Fixed Ratio with a width of 19.5 and a height of 15.5. Then I simply dragged a rectangle around over the picture frame Skye was holding at approximately the same size and position. I needed this selection so I could grab the portion of the lighthouse layer I needed. When the selection was positioned where I wanted it, I switched back to the lighthouse layer and created a new layer via copy (Ctrl-J). Then I moved this new layer above the picture of Skye holding the frame.

All that was left to do was to position the painting inside the frame. To do this I used the Transform Distort tool from the Edit menu and zoomed in so I could position the painting precisely. I dragged the handles to the inside corners of the frame and, voila!

Easy as pie. It turned out just the way I imagined (albeit with more gray clouds than I would have liked). If you have any questions please leave a comment.

photography, skye illusion, layers, lighthouse, maine, phl, photoshop, portland head light, processing, technique, trick

Last Sunday we drove to Hampton, New Hampshire to attend a Hillary Clinton rally. We stood outside the local high school cafeteria for an hour or so, then stood two more hours inside before she finally arrived. After a brief speech she spent the remainder of her time answering questions. The room was so packed that they had an overflow area in the gymnasium. At one point an aide handed her a note which began, “Fire department extremely upset…” Doh! Too many people, apparently.

Skye elbowed her way up to the railing and enthusiastically raised her hand until Hillary eventually called on her. Skye asked, “I’m eight and I skipped second grade. It’s still easy. So, how can you make it more challenging?” After some laughter and much applause, Hillary responded.

Did you all hear her? She skipped second grade and it’s still too easy. So, how does it get more challenging?Well, my daughter Chelsea who is here with me tonight skipped third grade. I remember this question. That is really touching. I’m been asked, I don’t know, a million questions, I’ve never had a young person ask me that question.

We need to help each child live up to his or her god-given potential. If you’re not being challenged enough we need to make it challenging for you. You should be going as fast and far as your hard work and your natural abilities will take you.

[APPLAUSE]

I think we need to have much more personalized education. We are living in an increasingly personalized customized world. You get to look forward to the not very distant future when your genome is going to be analyzed and your doctor’s going to be consulting it because you may need a different treatment than your cousin or your neighbor because you’re genetically different. We can go online and design all kinds of services that are particularly suited for you. Education is still an industrial model. You enter a classroom, you have a curriculum, and everybody kind of goes along at the same pace. I don’t think that will work for our kids in the future. I think we’ve got to reimagine education.

[APPLAUSE]

We’ve got to think about how we take a young woman like you, who’s eight years old and wants to be more challenged, and make sure you are. That means we’ve got to reconfigure our schools. We have to deploy our teachers differently. You can’t impose these kinds of changes, you have to be a partner with our educators and with our parents and with our families. Let’s start thinking about what twenty-first century education will look like to makes sure that you are challenged.

I think it’s a good question (I should, I helped her come up with it). As parents, Kirsten and I have long been frustrated with the school systems in which our daughters, Skye and Jenna, have been enrolled. The girls are bright and we work with them constantly. As a result, they are generally far ahead of their peers academically. Their teachers have had to work harder, as they would with a struggling child, to insure they are progressing. We have been fortunate to have had wonderful teachers who have made great efforts to keep the girls challenged.

Skye is a third grader in a third/fourth grade multi-age class here in Saco, Maine. She does math with the fourth graders. What will she do next year when she is a fourth grader but has already completed fourth grade math instruction? We still don’t know. Jenna is a first grader in a first/second grade multi-age class and doing assignments with the second graders. We’ll face a similar problem with her next year.

Obviously, I cringed when Hillary mentioned “god-given potential”. I do, however, like the rest of her response. Education should be customized to each student. Students should progress at their own speed. I can’t imagine any system being able to achieve this goal without more educators and more bureaucracy. Then agian, I’m not sure that’s a bad thing. Education is perhaps the most important investment this country (and any other) can make. I don’t think Hillary Clinton–or anybody else–could “reconfigure our schools” this way. I am glad, though, that she understands my frustrations and the deficiencies of our current education “industrial model”.

politics, skye campaign, clinton, democrat, education, election, hampton, hillary, new hampshire, primary, rally, school

Jenna and Skye started school today. We are excited the girls are in great schools and have excellent teachers. Jenna is in a multiage (1st and 2nd grade) class at Fairfield and Skye is in a multiage (3rd and 4th grade) class at Burns School. We had never heard of the multiage concept but think it will be great. Not all the classes in their schools are multiage so we are fortunate they were placed in them. The advantage, we’re told, is that the younger pupils can be assisted by the older ones or work at an advanced pace while the older pupils benefit from tutoring their younger classmates. We’ll see how it works but I think it’s a promising idea. Being in a multiage class environment with two teachers also means they’ll have the same teachers and classmates next year. It was neat to see the teachers and students interact at the open house last night. They knew each other and had a good rapport. I think the continuity will be beneficial especially early on in the second year.

Friends and family who know that Skye was a first grader last year may be wondering why she is in a third/fourth grade class this year. Yesterday we finally won our long battle to have her placed in a grade appropriate to her academic level. Last year in Kansas we asked to have her placed in a second grade class and were told it was against the district policy. Her teacher was able to arrange to have her attend a second grade class. She was technically still a first grader. This was acceptable to us only because we knew we were moving. We were hopeful Maine would be more accommodating.

The principle at Burns School initially denied our request to enroll her in third grade. We asked him to consult with her teachers in Wichita and scheduling conflicts prolonged their communications. When we met with him to present our case last week he again would not acquiesce. He had many concerns about “skipping” her because he didn’t know her and didn’t know us. Every parent, he said, thinks their child is a genius. He was concerned she would be overwhelmed in a class of older pupils where she wouldn’t be the star. While we appreciated his time and geniune concern we knew enrolling her in second grade was the wrong decision for Skye. So I argued my case in a letter to the district superintendent. Two days ago Skye was evaluated by a reading specialist and yesterday she met with a teacher who evaluated Skye’s abilities in mathematics. Skye did awesome!

When Kirsten and I met with the principle after the examinations he felt better about letting us enroll Skye in third grade. Although his concerns remained he allowed us to make the decision. We had made up our minds two years earlier and were elated to have finally won. We hope Skye will find challenges in her new class and learn what it’s like to have classmates who know the answers before she does.

Skye considered herself a second grader last year. Therefore, while putting her in third grade is technically skipping, enrolling her in second grade would have been tantamount to holding her back. She is where she needs to be and is excited to be there. Because her classmates consist of third and fourth graders she’ll be able to do math with the fourth graders and other things with the third graders. It’s all going to work out beautifully!

Today Skye got to open a box in class because she was so polite (her words, not mine). It contained a watermelon which the class ate outside. Also, the cafeteria is huge and she can sit wherever she wants. The fourth graders in her class are assigned third grader “buddies”, so Skye has someone to show her around. She exclaimed, “You should see the art and music rooms! They’re amazing!”

I think her favorite part, although she won’t say, is being a third grader. She finally feels validated. She was frustrated doing long division and fraction arithmetic at home and addition, subtraction, and graphs at school.

Jenna is excited about her teacher, Mrs. O’Neill, who she met yesterday when Kirsten took her to Fairfield to show her around. She is also excited that there are twice as many boys in her class as girls. She didn’t say much when she got home today but it was obvious she likes her school and is excited to be back with kids her age.

She didn’t eat her lunch today because her sandwich was squished. The lunch lady was telling kids to eat neatly and Jenna was afraid the sandwich would make a mess. She left it alone and only drank her water. Tonight Kirsten bought her a plastic container so future sandwiches won’t be smashed.

Since the end of the last school year I quit my job and we moved to Maine. All of our time has been spent as a family on one adventure or another. So today the house was quiet. Hayley especially missed her sisters. She kept bringing her toys to wherever Kirsten was so she’d have someone to play by. Kirsten softened up on the rule about leaving toys in the bedroom when she realized Hayley was lonely and missed her sisters.

jenna, skye education, maine, saco, school

Yesterday Skye came into to the kitchen to announce to Kirsten and me that her new hamster, Ginger, had babies. Now we only got this hamster a week and a half ago and couldn’t have known it was pregnant. She said Ginger was carrying one of the cute hairless babes in her mouth. When we looked we couldn’t see anything. But then…we heard tiny little squeals and eventually the bedding parted enough for us to catch a glimpse of the new babies. We don’t know how many there are but they’re very very small.

skye baby, birth, ginger, hamster, pet

The No Child Left Behind Act is, like most of President Bush’s programs, a complete failure. Money and attention that have previously benefited our brightest children are, under NCLB, being diverted to remedial programs that help students who struggle to grasp basic curricular requirements. Focusing every resource on failing students increases the likelihood that students who aren’t will never get ahead.

Kristen Stephens and Jan Riggsbee of Duke University wrote an interesting article in February about the impact NCLB is having on our country’s brightest pupils. It is the impetus for this post.

Please indulge a bit of bragging. My seven-year-old daughter, Skye, is a first grader this year. Early in the school year we scheduled an appointment with her teacher because, quite simply, Skye wasn’t learning anything. I requested they move her to second grade and argued that she was only a first grader because of a technicality: she missed the birthday cutoff by two weeks. Her teacher rejected the request citing district policy and told me I could discuss it with the principle. We figured we’d be moving soon so picking a fight here probably wasn’t worth it. Instead her teacher came up with an agreeable compromise, Skye would remain a first grader but go to a second grade class for math and reading.

Since then Skye has had a desk in her first grade classroom and one in her second grade classroom. She is officially a first grader but spends most of her time in second grade. That worked for a while. She is now doing multiplication and division worksheets independently while her classmates learn concepts Skye mastered long ago.

Our five-year-old daughter, Jenna, is a kindergartner in a similar situation. She’s adding and subtracting in her head while her classmates learn how to identify numbers and count to ten. Both of them are marched to the library every day for individualized study away from their classmates.

The story is repeated when the subject is switched from mathematics to reading and writing.

We have been fortunate to have teachers that are flexible and accomodating. They care about the needs of our daughters and have worked very hard to provide the education Skye and Jenna need. But it isn’t enough. They are stretched thin with federal, state, and district testing requirements and helping failing students whose parents don’t care enough to provide supplementary instruction at home.

Enough is enough. “No child left behind” sounds great during a political campaign but doesn’t make good education policy. We need to insure that “no child left behind” doesn’t also mean that no children are allowed to excel. We need to encourage our brightest students and provide them with interesting and challenging instruction. Unfortunately, the simplest way to guarantee no child is left behind is to lower the standards. If we continue to do that we will continue to fall behind the rest of the first world in science, technology, education, and innovation.

jenna, politics, skye education

Skye was the final competitor to approach the microphone for the first round of the spelling bee. She nervously sood in front of a skinny microphone being steadied by her school’s principle, Mrs. Casados. “Display. D-I-S-P-L-A-Y. Display.” She spelled her first word correctly. The audience applauded and cheered as she walked away from the microphone and returned to her empty metal chair. She did it!

About a month ago Skye’s second grade teacher, Ms Manthey, asked Kirsten for her approval for Skye to participate in their school’s spelling bee. The bee at Griffith Elementary is for fourth and fifth graders. Skye is a first grader who spends the majority of her time in her second grade classroom. Being asked to participate was a big deal.

Skye passed a written qualification test two weeks ago to became the youngest–and smallest–spelling bee competitor. She has been studying every evening since to learn the words on the list provided. The probability that she’d get the first word correct, we thought, was pretty good. She could confidently spell the majority of them. What we couldn’t count on was her composure since she’s never been in a competitive contest or stood in front of a large audience. When she sat in her chair at the side of the auditorium it was obvious she was nervous. Her expression was of fear and concentration.

She had good reason to be nervous too. The auditorium was packed with parents, teachers, and students including her first and second grade classmates. I thought it was extremely thoughtful of her teachers to bring their students to the bee to support their friend and classmate. I knew it meant a lot to Skye.

After correctly spelling “display” Skye missed her next three; “independence”, “orchestra”, and “acre”. The rules stated that if a participant misspelled a word the next person would have an opportunity to spell the same word. If that person also missed the word they would both remain in the competition. A bright young girl eliminated Skye when she correctly spelled “acre”. Skye was devastated and visibly upset. She sat low in her chair and waited for the competition to be over.

When the bee was over the students in the audience shuffled back to their classrooms. I congratulated Skye on her tremendous accomplishment and embraced her tightly. She began to cry as soon as I held her. Skye isn’t used to losing at anything. The winner of the competition, an older boy, talked to Skye about being nervous, told her she had done a great job, and offered to be her friend. I applaud him and am grateful for his compassion and sportsmanship. His consideration meant a great deal to Skye.

I’m glad Skye had this opportunity to compete. She’ll never forget the hours of studying and the thrill of competition she experienced during her preparation for and participation in her first spelling bee at Griffith Elementary. The excitement and pride she felt as she walked back to her seat after correctly spelling “display” will fade slowly, I’m sure.

family, skye bee, competition, education, spelling