This quarter of teaching has been a real time-sucking experience. Because I've been traveling so much, I haven't had the time necessary to prepare for my classes. Plus, the online class that I'm teaching takes too much time. I spend about 6 hours a week on average with a regular class. This includes planning, grading and 4 - 4.5 hours of teaching. Over the past two days, I have spent almost 6 hours on the online class and I'm still not finished. Because it is an online class, the students have a week to complete their assignments. I basically have to grade stuff every day. Because of this my time to develop the web site is very limited. However, I have managed to add a new entry into the Old School. It's time to remember the most popular robots of the 80s: The Transformers. I expect to have new trivia up Friday and a review of Spiderman 2 this weekend.

This summer I've been the biggest traveler. Already I've been to New Orleans and Tuscaloosa. I just got back from Boston for a wedding. Had I the availability to be off work a day, I could go to Montana and Yellowstone. Unfortunately, I have to teach on the day everyone else is leaving. I had fun in Boston for the most part. I got to visit some sites and go to the Red Sox game.

While in Boston, I came to realize two things. The first is that kids do not change. They all go through the same growing process. Sitting behind two siblings (boy and girl) on the subway into Boston, I watched as they invented the stupidest game. Each seat had a metal bar spanning the back of the seat. Each child would rub the bar from end to end gaining points somehow. The little boy happened to touch the girl with his elbow as he was running his hand along the bar. Of course the little girl made it seem like the little boy slapped her. She whined about him hitting her and eventually got him in trouble by complaining to her mom. The little boy didn't do anything but TOUCH her. This brought back too many memories of me and my sister when we were younger.

There other thing I came to realize is that when my family went on vacation as I was growing up, my parents weren't kidding when they said they were tired. For the past few trips, I've been absolutely exhausted when I returned. Walking around Boston was a killer. We walked around for about 5 hours. I have no clue how many miles we walked. That combined with little sleep over the weekend made me a practical zombie Monday morning. Vacations really take a lot out of you as you get older. But I wouldn't give it up unless I had to. I'm still looking forward to Cedar Point this summer and any other trips that I may go on, especially Disney World and Universal Studios.

I must admit that I miss New Orleans. Not so much for the atmosphere, the drinks, or the history, but for a casino. Having gone to a casino and actually won money at a table made me want to try again. Alas, Ohio has no casinos. It is illegal to even play casino games unless you are a non-profit organization trying to increase your revenue. Those tend to pop up occasionally through the summer but you have to know where to look.

Well, needing to satisfy the urge, I have turned my attention to online casinos. I admit I'm not looking to be a professional gambler by any means. You aren't going to see me dropping down 20s and 100s. I'm the guy that sits there playing with the minimum bet every time. I sit and play for an hour or until the table gets cold and moves along.

But, most games of chance you can play for free. Why risk money? Well that's part of the compulsion. I can play and actually be rewarded for it. In the hour or so that I played blackjack in New Orleans, I managed to make $30. And, in the last few hands I managed lose most of it because the cards were not falling in the right place. But, I was able to get up and walk away. Better to leave with a little than nothing at all. In seeing this, if a play occasionally, I might make $100 over the course of a year. No harm in that. And, since I'm playing with real money, I know better than to take high risks. I want to keep what I make so I can spend it on frivolous things, not give it back to the casino.

I'm pretty serious about not losing my money. I've already invested a few hours in research. I'm checking for the best payment options. I've checked with my credit card company to see how they handle credits. I've even done some research to find a beginner's guide to online casinos. The last thing I want to do is have this turn around and bite me in the @$$. This is definitely not something I want to rush into.

I doubt seriously that anyone I know would approve of my actions. But, my parents did instill in me the value of a dollar and common sense. People pay $50 to ride rollercoasters all day. What's wrong with paying $50 to try to make another $50? It's much easier to win at blackjack instead of trying to guess numbers on ping-pong balls.

The review for May's Blockbuster movies. Check out Now Playing to read about the summer's first major movies. I'm still trying to catch up after being gone for several weeks. After this week, I hope to be back on track and able to work on the Dragon Metamorphosis.

Ahhh, what a vacation enjoying the sights and sounds of New Orleans and then taking a few days to bring back vivid memories of 6 years spent in Tuscaloosa. Of course upon returning, I was dropped in the middle of work. I've spent the past two days trying to get caught up as the new quarter started. I had to learn a new online system today in order to facilitate an online course. It took some work, but I think I managed to get everything organized and a plan of attack set.

Because I've missed so much recently, I'm going to do a rush job to get caught up. In lieu of 4 individual movie reviews, I'm doing them in one lump sum in order to get caught up. I hope to have reviews for Van Helsing, Troy, Shrek 2, and Day After Tomorrow up by the end of the week.

Once that is posted, I will catch up on the Trivia, Game Room, and Old School.

After that, prepare for the Dragon Metamorphosis!

It's going to be a few days before I can add anything. With a new quarter starting and vacation planned, I just won't be available to do it. BUT, when I get back expect a modified design and 3 movie reviews to kick off July.