We’re so proud we baked you a cake!

Matt received a Drama Award tonight at the Blair High School Honors Convocation. He is an Honor Thespian and also grabbed the Best Technician Award.

MissCuteDress also came to cheer him on. Thanks, Meg! And way to go on your science test grade today. Good On You!

Our nephew, Spencer, also gathered up a pile of awards in the smartness categories. He’s the one in the middle in the blue shirt.

This Honors Convocation is a really nice ceremony and honors not only the seniors, but students in each academic category. Languages, Clubs, Sports, Academics, Drama, Music, Sciences. Lots of great things happening at our schools. Another neat thing to see were the friends of the students who came to clap and cheer and admire the success of their fellow classmates.

Title and Register Boat.
CHECK!
Meet with Landscaper and talk about the yard at the HouseAtTheLake.
CHECK!
Get a JetSki
CHECK!

My Iowa Glass collection really grew this winter, thanks to Ebay.

We are IMPATIENT for our boat to get in the water. Our dock is in, we are just waiting for the hoist guys to come.  Here’s our boat, all alone, waiting to drive home for the summer. It has been in storage, getting oiled and bufffed and waxed and shampooed.

It looks a little lonely there!!!

It was a really quick, really nice trip to the lake. Megan and I came home early because we had TeamMates Bowling this afternoon!!!

Remember last year, when I ate dinner with Steve Wozniak?
Same event, different date.
THIS year, it was Kevin Mitnick.
He’s a Hacker. He calls it Social Engineering. ( Scroll down a bit to find his thoughts on it.)
MITNICK: Social engineering is using manipulation, influence and
deception to get a person, a trusted insider within an organization, to
comply with a request, and the request is usually to release
information or to perform some sort of action item that benefits that
attacker. It could be something as simple as talking over the telephone
to something as complex as getting a target to visit a Web site, which
exploits a technical flaw and allows the hacker to take over the
computer.

So, he gets people to do what he needs them to do.
I
could
be
easily
manipulated
because I’m a "good girl".
I’d be the helpful receptionist, believing he is who he says.
I’d be the sympathetic person on the other end of the phone, "helping him out".

It kindof made me think.
I’m not good at manipulating others. But I’m sort of good at BEING manipulated.

He was an excellent dinner date. Like Wozniak, he didn’t eat the salad. He liked the dessert. He seemed like he was very comfortable speaking, but did not glorify his own hacking. He seemed reformed. He seemed sincere in wanting to help spread the word of "being careful" and vigilant and smart.

Because, as he said, there is no Microsoft patch for Stoopid!

My 8th grade English teacher, Mrs. Halverson, who happened to be the Iowa State Hogcalling Champ, used to say "Nothing is certain…’cept Death and Taxes."

I mailed the taxes today.
Man, that sucked.

and then
BASH!!!!