Jeremy Sicile-Kira's High School Commencement Speech

This video moved me beyond words. Jeremy appears to be so much like my son. This video gives me hope and renewed strength. It shows me that I am doing the right thing in not accepting what the public school is willing to provide for my son. I am home schooling him and working on teaching him the skills that Jeremy has learned.

I thought we were alone in this struggle. I thought that my son’s intelligence locked in silence was only our struggle. After watching this video and listening to Jeremy’s Commencement speech, I have a better understanding of what is going on in my son’s head. I have a renewed determination to give my son the tools he needs to communicate and achieve all of his goals.

My son is 11 years old. It is my hope that by the time he reaches high school age, he will be able to return to public school. It is also my hope that he will be able to demonstrate his intelligence and ability to everyone that he interacts with. My son deserves my best and he deserves to be his best.

College Students Protest BP

A group of college students protested BP. Members of the group hope to raise money for the Gulf Restoration Network, a group works toward protecting the natural resources in the Gulf area. WRAL reported on this protest. You can watch the video below for their story.

I came across this on the WRAL website and was surprised by some of the comments that were left in regards to the protest and WRAL’s reporting of it. The protest consisted of ten college students. This may seem like a small amount, but they got their message heard. They stood up for a cause they believed in. Isn’t that what a protest is about?

I think WRAL did a great job reporting on this protest. It’s a local human interest story and it speaks to an important issue.

One comment that was left, “Do you know why WRAL reported on this non news worthy story? Liberal media.. Liberal agenda…” appears to be from someone that isn’t concerned about anything outside his/her own little world.

Another commenter said, “10 people?? you gotta be kidding me. no question the gulf situation is dire and there ll be hell to pay as we move forward in time.

two points.

first bp has a lot of $$$$$$$$$$$$$, so i imagine they ll be standing for a lot of what has gone on and what will need to be paid for as days go by.

second obviously some college students have too much idle time on their hands.

ps. wraltv...............this is NOT newsworthy!!!”

I believe that these people have missed the importance of the protest and of WRAL reporting on it. Right now, the oil spill is not affecting us in NC. However, in time, that may change. The oil spill is still out of control. There is a real possibility that it may get caught up in the Gulf Stream and head around FL and up to our coast.

These 10 college students took time to protest. They took time to help raise awareness of what is going on in the Gulf. I think they should be commended and hooray for WRAL for reporting on them.

Computer Products to Make Things Easier

I was sent the following products to review and keep from Honestech:


Easy Video Editor 3.0
Claymation Studio 2.0
Audio Recorder 2.0
VHS to DVD 4.0
Fotobox Plus


These are programs accessories to use with your computer. The Easy Video Editor 3.0 and the Claymation Studio 2.0 are programs to create videos or movies. The Easy Video Editor 3.0 was easy to use. I thought that it was similar to the Windows Movie Maker that I had been using on my computer. The Claymation Studio 2.0 was difficult for me. I tried, but I just couldn’t figure out how to use all of the features.

My favorite items are the other three. The Fotobox Plus for creating slideshows is easy to use. The VHS to DVD 4.0 was one that I was not able to use, because our VCR no longer works. Thanks to little kids with crayons and coins, nothing we did would fix it. I am sad about this, because we have a lot of VHS tapes that I would love to convert to DVD’s. DVD’s take up a lot less storage space.

The Audio Recorder 2.0 was my favorite and my husband’s. You can use this to record albums and cassette tapes onto a CD. There is a negative to this product, (this applies to the VHS to DVD 4.0 also). You have to have your stereo

next to your computer. You have cords that you need to plug into the stereo and into the computer. If you are using a laptop, no problem. If you aren’t, which I wasn’t, you have to move some things around.

When using the Audio Recorder 2.0, I highly recommend doing all of your sound adjustments before setting it to record. Once you start recording, you can not adjust the sound quality. When done correctly, the sound quality of your new CD will amaze you. You have to really listen hard to your new CD to tell that it is a recording of an album. Recordings I did from a cassette were high quality. I love that my music sounds better, and that I can’t tell that my new CD’s are recordings made from a cassette. To find out more about Honestech and their products, please visit www.honestech.com.

Number One Country Music Song and Video of 2009

For me, one song and video stands out above all country music creations of 2009. The song lyrics touched my heart the first time I heard them and brought tears to my eyes. The video actually made me cry. I’m talking about John Rich’s song Shuttin Detroit Down.

The song touched me even harder after I heard about the rumors at my husband’s work about the upper management getting big bonus’s while employees, like my husband, took pay cuts and weeks and weeks off. We were struggling while the few increased their bank account.

The video for Shuttin Detroit Down was extremely moving. The first time I saw it, Kris Kristofferson’s performance took the lyrics to a whole new level. Kristofferson is an amazing actor and singer. His portrayal of an aging employee that is let go after over 30 years of working for the same employer was reflective of what was and is going on in America now. Then, at the end, you see him getting evicted from his home and having a heart attack. Not surprisingly, his main concern was how it would affect his wife.

I think that John Rich deserves recognition for giving us the song of the year. A song that we all can relate to. He also deserves recognition for taking this song and producing a video worthy of the lyrics. If you haven’t listened to this song yet (where have you been?), then you can click on the lyric video below. John has a great voice and is one of the best male singers of our era.