2005

2005
Springfield, PA

My age: 49- 50 (half a century)

School: now I am only taking adult courses at Main Line Night School.  I am taking Photography and I just can’t remember the differences and functions of aperture, f-stop and ISO.  I am good at composition but I will never improve my technical skills.

Work- I am the Principal of Springfield High School, Springfield, PA.  There are 1200 students and 100 staff members.  We started an early college entrance program.  Seniors got to start taking college credit while thy were still in high school.  This was a great opportunitiy for some of the students.

Music- I am listening mostly to world music at this time.  I go to Border's Book Store and wander around the music section, listen to something different and buy a new CD each week.

Popular musicians- and I don't even recognize most of them:

• Mariah Carey 
• Green Day 
• 50 Cent
• Kelly Clarkson 
• The Black Eyed Peas 
• Coldplay 
• Rascal Flatts 
• Gwen Stefani 
• The Killers 
• Kenny Chesney 
• Keith Urban 
• Carrie Underwood 
• Faith Hill 
• Sugarland 
• Toby Keith 
• Eminem 
• Dave Matthews Band 
• Gretchen Wilson 
• Usher 
• Foo Fighters 
• Hilary Duff 
• Madonna 
• Shania Twain 
• Weezer 
• Destiny's Child 
• Guns N' Roses 
• Franz Ferdinand 

Movies

• Walk the Line
• The Upside of Anger
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
• Transamerica
• Chicken Little
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• Good Night, Good Luck
• Wedding Crashers
• Grizzly Man
• Match Point
• Memries of a Geisha
• Munich
• Must Love Dogs
• The Producers
• Rent
• The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
• The Squid and the Whale
• Why We Fight

books

Travels
·      Viet Nam and Cambodia, 
·      Wyoming- spring break- I went dog sledding,
·      CO (Steamboat Resort- 50^th bday celebration), 
·      Turks and Cacaos- (Thanksgiving)- I contemplated buying a condo here for my winter retirement months, 
·      Iceland- (winter break), 
·      England (London for a four-day weekend)

News events- It was a busy year

• Hurricane Katrina bombarded the Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama coastal areas. Levees were breached by the surge, ultimately flooding roughly 80% of the city of New Orleans and 1600 perished 
• Oil prices rise sharply throughout the year caused gas prices to go over $3 a gallon.
• George W. Bush starts his second term as 43rd President of the United States. How did we let this happen again?
• The video-sharing website "YouTube" was founded. 
• Pope John Paul II dies; over 4 million people travel to the Vatican to mourn him. 
• Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger has been elected as the new Pope, he has taken the name Pope Benedict XVI 
• Tony Blair elected for third term 
• Britain implements The Civil Partnership Act granting civil partnerships "which include same sex partnerships" with rights and responsibilities identical to civil marriage. This is the beginning of gay marriages.
• The Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles finally marry. 
• The IRA announces end to armed conflict and gives up its weapons to independent weapons inspectors 
• Israeli settlers are forced to leave settlements in the Gaza Strip as part of peace settlement 
• Lance Armstrong won his seventh straight Tours de France.  It would be a few more years before we learned that he cheated.
• Following 8 years of legal wrangling in the courts Terri Schiavo's feeding tube was removed and she died 13 days later.  I was riveted by this story.
• Eric Rudolph (Olympic Park Bomber) sentenced to multiple life sentences. 
• Michael Jackson was found not guilty of child molestation charges which came as a surprise to me.
• Live 8 concerts happen around the world to put pressure on the Leaders of the G8 countries to do more for the world's poor. 
• Research by the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) suggests that women who take Hormone Replacement Therapy are more at risk from breast cancer, heart disease and stroke. 
• London Bombings Four explosions rock the transport network in London, three on the London Underground and one on a bus. Over 50 deaths were reported, and over 200 injured 
• Multnomah County, Oregon announced the county would begin granting licenses for same-sex marriages. The Oregon Supreme Court nullified nearly 3,000 marriage licenses issued to same-sex couples.
• ( Bird Flu ) H5N1 strain of Avian Flu claims more lives in Indonesia and other countries around the globe. 
• Prisoners went on hunger strike at the US Guantanamo Bay prison camp .
• United States Supreme Court ruled Medicinal Use Of Marijuana users can be prosecuted for violating federal drug laws. 
• President George W. Bush acknowledged he'd personally authorized a secret eavesdropping program in the U.S. following Sept. 11 
• President George W. Bush signed the new act making it harder for those with large debts to wipe clean their financial slates by declaring bankruptcy under Chapter 7 "New Bankruptcy Law" 

Family and Friends

•      In February, my dad had a bad case of shingles and ended up in the hospital for a few days. He suffered too much but didn’t complain.
•       My dad died on March 5. He worked on Friday, got up to pack for a trip and just dropped dead from a pulmonary aneurysm.  It was a kind way for him to go but he left us too soon.The week prior to his death, I was in a conversation with friends about him.  I told people that if my dad just dropped dead, I would never complain.  As people came through the receiving line at his viewing, they mentioned our conversations and I felt like telling everyone, “But I didn’t mean I wanted him to die next week.”
•       The Sunday after the funeral, my friends come get me and take me kayaking.  It is still cold and the creek is still frozen in some parts so we have to use our paddles to break through the ice. It was absurd to be out there under these conditions.  But it was exactly what I needed to help lift up my sad soul.
•       We sold our family beach house on Long Beach Island, NJ. I hated to give up this house but it had become so sad to go there now that both of my parents are gone.