Hi- sorry for not keeping up with this. There are several reasons:

1. Some of my thoughts I am writing in a private journal-something I have done since about the age of 12. I don't feel comfortable sharing those all with everyone.

2. This doesn't happen always, but sometimes people do attack or ridicule me- and I really am not strong enough all the time to withstand it. Sometimes people are buttholes but I really don't want to be inviting it, which is what I sometimes did. So I will keep up with things that everyone can know...more private issues are just going to stay that way. If I feel comfortable talking about something with someone, I will. I will email you or talk to you in person. I guess when you stick out your thumb (by having a public blog) you expect it to get shot at a few times. The blogosphere is the venue for such things and by having a public blog one does invite such comments. I will still keep up the blog but will refrain from exposing opinions which may hurt people or invite others to do the same to me.

3. Nathanael's back at Grinnell and he's in a sub-free dorm at his request. This is a completely different type of place than last year. Last year he really did live at Animal House. Stumbling over drunk people, people inviting people inviting people to smoke pot in his dorm room, people spilling food and beverages and never cleaning them, him walking in on unknown folks drunkenly doing stuff...guess it's funny for the first minute but then gets tiresome. He DID have his private area and they did have at least the wherewithall to respect that. Well now he is in a sub-free place and the kids who tend to request such a place are, well, not nearly as crass and crude and loud as those who don't. Talking in general here. But I met his roommate. What an outstanding kid this is. He's in about 349875 student organizations. Helps direct campaign for Obama, in Student Democrat organization, and leads a Bible study. OK I expect he will definitely run for office one day. They won't be able to go back to his college days and find a single negative thing. Name a politician these days who can say that. (snicker) Thought not. Whoops, thought I was gonna restrain from too many personal views. OK, just one slipped out.

4. I've been going to a Quaker church. :) That IS a long story. Sometime I will tell you more.

5. Micah's talent has been making things from metal. Today he made a metal lock cover for his motorbike. I mean he sawed and bent and polished it, drilled it...he wasn't made for metal, metal was made for him.