How sad to start the day with news of a tragedy as enormous as the Columbia disaster. We were just sitting in the living room waking up for the day when a special news report announcement flashed across the screen. I thought it would probably be regarding the almost certain war with Iraq. It was shocking to find out that the space shuttle Columbia was most likely gone.

There's part of me that can't help but be drawn to the television footage of a disaster like this over and over again, and another part of me that wants the coverage to stop. An event like this just makes me feel sick to my stomach. I think what bothers me the most is when they show the footage over and over again of when the space shuttle started breaking apart. We're watching the moment those seven astronauts died. That's just too much for me. Imagine what it must feel like for the family and friends of those astronauts. The last time I saw such sickening images of a moment of death was Sept. 11 and the airplanes flying into the WTC.

And of course what happened today brings back memories of the Challenger explosion that happened in 1986 - the anniversary just four days ago. It was the year I turned 10, and I remember how somber all of the teachers were at school. They did tell us what happened, but we never discussed it that day, which I think was a mistake. Accalia was sitting on the couch with us when the news came on, and she was watching it rather intently so I told her what happened. I explained that the people she saw were astronauts (which she has a vague idea of) and they were coming back home when they had an accident and were killed ( the concept of which she probably doesn't understand much at all). She just said "oh" and went on with her day.

On a more positive note, a book I ordered recently arrived today. I'm really looking forward to reading Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling by John Taylor Gatto. If you've never read anything by Gatto or heard his ideas regarding education, please check him out!