Okay, I've been busy for a few days. The good news is, yes, I did indeed pass my MTTCs; I passed the Basic Skills Test, and I also passed the English test. The Journalism test was the one I didn't pass. Drat. None the less, the results mean I can at least contemplate moving on with my life at some sort of reasonable pace. (Seems to me, though, that today, of all days, it's the one I'm having a hard time spelling. Go figure.) What it means precisely remains to be seen, but it's a good indicator, none the less. In other news, well......in the past I may have noted that my mother's father was one of a family of eleven, and many of them, being Jews in World War II, were executed at either Minsk or Auschwitz. A connection pretty much previously unbeknownst to me, and having just been confirmed as a Catholic, I'm in a little bit of a quandry as to how to respond to it. How exactly does a Catholic boy acknowledge his latent Jewish heritage? At some point, I'm planning on posting a version of the family tree, as I have it, so stay tuned. Beyond that, meeting relatives you've never met can always make you feel a little better too. And, believe it or not, I did that over the weekend. I saw one of my uncles, (the one who lives in Hawaii, in the event that I've bragged about him and can't recall,) and also met one of my relatives, whom I had never met before in my life, who lives in Holland. (I know at least one person who is probably laughing at this, and they know who they are, thus I shall go no further.) This is unquestionably the cool part of the family, (at least from the perspective of a relatively short holiday spent with them,) and I found myself relating to everyone pretty well. I have it in mind to check out the web addresses I was given, and I will report back here once I do regarding my findings. Once again, stay tuned, this should be interesting.

I have a lot of other little here-and-theres going on, including a little PowerPoint project relating the artists who created the BMW "Art Cars" to their "other" work; what I've got so far is actually pretty fascinating. The school year is once again winding down, ergo it's harder than hell to keep any child's attention, especially if it happens to be a nice day. If it's a lousy day weather-wise, like today has been, a birthday celebration, complete with cupcakes, (as happened today,) is a welcome diversion. Takes the edge off, if you can tolerate 25 or so second-graders who are hopped up on sugar.

Speaking of relating, I actually feel as though lately I'm doing a better job of at least making conversation, even if I haven't completely ironed out all the bubbles in my various social dichotomies. There are times when trying to get everyone moving in the same direction is like trying to get amputees to break-dance. 'Nuff said. In spite of what ever else goes on, I feel an upswing comin', and my first reflex is to just wanna ride it. Tell me I can't, I dare ya.