Wood Dragon, as a matter of fact...

Pong...and I hated the game, because it reminded me of tennis, which I also hate.

Yes, I do. Leave out the morals, let the parents discuss those. Sex, though is something that generates profound implications for so many lives. Understanding how it works is crucial to keeping those implications in their proper place.

I won't debate the actual merits of abstinence. I will say that for abstinence to work, you must know what you are controlling...or it will end up controlling you.

I would tell him that if he doesn't have a passion for teaching, he should not be an educator.

I turn around and laugh at them.

I was only 19. Something for every politician in my country to think about.

This past New Year's Eve I went to see a movie, "The King's Speech" (As a rule, NYE is a non holiday for me.) I wanted to see this movie for three reasons. One is that I love historical films, especially those set in the pre-war and WW2 eras. A second reason is that King Geo. VI and his Queen, Elizabeth, are two of my heroes, standing strong with their people during the Second World War.

In the film, as in real life, Prince Albert, Duke of York, had a very strong speech impediment, a stammer that caused him great grief. As the second son of George V, Rex, he did not anticipate ascending the throne of England; but he did have public speaking duties, including over the air in the emerging medium of wireless. To say the least, this caused huge distress in his life.

To later add to his stress, his elder brother Edward, Prince of Wales and heir to the throne, had taken up with a woman, Wallis Simpson, whose status as divorcee was unacceptable as a potential Queen Consort of the Realm. Among other things, her marital status could have rendered future heirs illegitimate and ineligible for Kingship (or Queenship, as the case may be.)

In the meanwhile, Albert begins therapy with a rather unusual therapist, Lionel Logue. They form a stormy relationship, later to blossom into real friendship.

When Geo. V passes in 1936, Edward is seated. Because he intends to marry Ms. Simpson, Edward VIII abdicated, and Geo. VI, the extremely reluctant Albert, ascends. In the meanwhile, his therapy is helping him cope.

The real life George VI is one of my heroes for the way he guided his people through WW2. This story (which I basically knew) cemented that. He had to step to a microphone precious few of us could ever imagine having to address.

For the third reason I had wanted to see this film, previously alluded to, is that I have had a stutter all of my life, though never anywhere near as bad as portrayed in the film.

Stuttering, as we all should know, is not a matter of intelligence. It is a disorder, a behavior, which requires some work to overcome. It took me years of work to overcome mine, including forcing myself into doing theater, debate, and forensic speaking. Things have worked out for me, although if I am angry or very excited otherwise, it will come out.

This film shows the pain that often walks with a stammerer. We are assumed to have no voice, no articulation, and more often than not, no intelligence. Those are foolish assumptions, but they are visited enough upon people with speech impediments that they are often taken to heart, and believed.

This can be very detrimental to treating the disorder. Once that is overcome, however, life can go on, and become very good, even wonderful, for the person who might stutter.

It's really hard for me to say what will work for any given person with a stutter, except to say that it is very worthwhile to persevere. You are most assuredly worth it.

Remember, a stammerer heartened Great Britain in its darkest hour of war. Precious few non stammerers can say that. Oh, and Winston Churchill, in addition to HRM, also stammered. Just sayin'...

http://www.nsastutter.org/

See the movie, btw. It's profile in courage and dignity. It will make you cry, too.