Kenny playing the trumpet in a jazz concert at the high school last week...At fourteen years old he sings,plays the trumpet,guitar,drums,a little piano and probably whatever else he applies himself to. Hendrix to Haydn...he's a natural ham who enjoys being onstage, and as he goes through puberty will likely end up a baritone. The arts scene in Warren is surprisingly rich for a small community, with the theater and some local clubs playing an integral part in promoting talent. If Kenny eventually can make money for doing what he loves (...beyond door receipts he has already earned for playing drums)-all the better. But it's a tough way to make a living anywhere, so at the least his goal is to develop his talents for both pleasure and personal growth.

Suzuki DR70's

Bought his and hers mini trail bikes to play with in the mountains this summer, figuring that there are hundreds if not a thousand miles of old paths and roads to explore. I chose little bikes for their fun, un-threatening character and the ease with which we will be able to fit them into an a van or onto a small hitch carrier when we eventually travel the country. Our mountain bikes will fit onto the same platform, although sometimes distances both here and in the deserts will be too far for bicycles and the dirt bikes will enable us to explore further-at least so long as our backs hold up. At 80-100 mpg and with plenty of power to climb hills, the most essential accessory was higher handlebars to make them more comfortable for our adult proportions. I decided a few years ago that I was finished with road riding due to slowing reaction times, and the manufacturers no longer produce dual purpose motorcycles smaller than 200-250cc- which weigh 260-270 pounds fully gassed. Anything over 220 pounds is too heavy for the dirt in my experience, so these small bikes at 120 pounds seemed like the right compromise between comfort and portability. At any rate, adults race these things so there is a huge market of aftermarket accessories such as stiffer shocks and all that, but I think we'll be fine for slow trail riding.
POSTSCRIPT: 4/9/10 - Had fun riding them over the weekend with no problems. Plenty of power and comfortable enough with the high bars for at least several hours. Stiffer rear shocks/springs would help the bottoming due to our adult weight, but that can wait until the stock shocks wear out. With proper maintenance I expect these machines to last the rest of our lives, because being Japanese they reflect one of the few remaining examples of quality left on the planet. Honda also makes good machines, as does Yamaha, but I noticed that small Kawasakis are now made in Thailand, and the Chinese motorcycles(Pep Boys)are thus far mostly junk, with a terrible parts and service network.

Disney

Beth and I spent ten days in Florida last month, mostly at Disney World but also with a visit to Cape Canaveral, where a scheduled shuttle launch was canceled minutes before liftoff due to weather. Florida was a mixed bag, for although we were happy to be out of the Warren winter gloom and into the warmer and mostly clearer southern air, by weeks end the parks became a 'been there, done that' affair, and we will henceforth visit other places. Generallyit was great simply being away from winter, relaxing on the most comfortable bed we had ever experienced-a Simmons Beauty rest in the Comfort Inn in Lake Buena Vista- and meandering around the area at a personal pace. As tourists we concluded that the food and other essentials-in and out of the park- were too expensive-even in so called supermarkets-and service was fair at best. Florida had been hit hard by the recession so competition for business seemed desperate, but that was not reflected in prices. Our few complaints about Disney World included some rude employees and a monorail that reeked of urine, but two favorites were the Mt. Everest ride in Animal Kingdom and the Mexican restaurant in Epcot. Honestly, the most fun we had was setting up pictures on our camera with the ten second timer and concealing our ( too fat? ) bodies behind objects. Laughter does not describe the craziness... Many of the park visitors were from other countries,so we joked with a Chinese couple that they probably were surprised by how overweight everyone was-regardless of place of origin. Obesity definitely is a world wide pandemic,at least among middle class people who can afford Orlando area vacations. Our rental car was a Hyundai Accent, which seemed to be a decent if not exciting small vehicle, and we flew on Allegiant airlines out of Elmira, NY, which is a regional carrier that provides non stop economical package deals to major tourist attractions. They were on time and friendly coming and going, and the smaller airports were hassle free for both crowds and security wait times.