Seeds, Guns, & An Autistic Professor

It's 20 degrees outside, and the sun is shining through high cirrus clouds. The kits went out for about 10 minutes, but decided it was better inside; Banichi is watching the patio from the cat tree and Lovey is sitting between me and the keyboard. My knees are a little stiff after my fall yesterday, but they seem to be doing OK. I'm walking the Irish kids at 9:30 instead of 10 today, and will stop at the store on the way home... I need to get kitty treats and sunflower seeds - I've found I can get hulled sunflower seeds in bulk at my local grocery store, and they cost almost a dollar less per pound than if I purchased them at a bird store.

People in Colorado (especially since the Columbine High School massacre) and all over the country are very concerned about guns or what appear to be guns on campus - and with very good reason. I do not disagree with school boards in their decision to ban all types of guns or gun lookalikes from all campuses. BUT. But there is a young lady who is a Senior in the Denver area; she is a member of the Honor Society; and she is in charge of a drill team that practices with mock rifles - they appear in parades and before games, presenting the US flag, state flag, etc. She forgot to remove 3 practice drill team rifles from the back of the SUV she drives to school. The rifles were made of wood, plastic, and were pretty much covered with duct tape; another student saw them in the rear of her vehicle. She is facing a Mandatory Suspension because Colorado state laws say absolutely NO Guns or Replicas of Guns on campus. She has been forced to stop her education, and the School Board will decide her fate early next week. This young lady has already been accepted into the Merchant Marine College; and, thankfully, they have announced that even if this young girl is dismissed from her school and cannot complete her education, they will accept her with her scholarship intact. I think that denying her the rest of her Senior year is stupid; people do make mistakes - even Honor Students.

Dr. Shapiro, my psychiatrist, asked me on Tuesday if I was planning on going to the Boulder Bookstore on Monday, February 16th. I asked him why, and he told me that on his way in to work, he had heard that Dr. Temple Grandin was appearing there, giving a presentation, and signing her new book. I told him I didn't know who she was and asked why should I go see her? He replied that she is a Professor of Animal Husbandry at Colorado State University, that she is autistic, and that she is an "animal whisperer, like you." He kindly printed out some info on her and her newest book, and gave it to me. So I am going to go see Dr. Grandin at 7:30 p.m. in the Boulder Bookstore on the Pearl Street Mall. Does she sound interesting to you? Here's the URL for a review of her newest book: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/21/books/21garn.html?em I'm going to have to hit the public library and check out her books, and see if the semi-biography that HBO produced about her is also available.