Today is my daughter Lucy's graduation from high school. She graduates with a 4.07 grade point average. It's better than an A average because of the Advanced Placement Classes. She is Valedictorian, in a small class of 59. We are looking forward to hearing her speech. Naturally, there won't be much time for blogging today, but I would like to point out that much of her natural intelligence arose from an early engagement in crafts and the fact that we, as a family, have rarely watched TV. We live in an area of poor reception, and are rural, so there is no cable. When my wife and daughter were lobbying for satellite TV, I asked the pertinent question, "Would that mean we would watch more of it?" "Well, yes..." "Then, no."

A friend told me that a recent issue of USA Today featured some of the top US high school students. It interested her that most of the students were Asian or East Indian. Does that mean that typical American children don't measure up? No, it means that they are growing up in a culture that doesn't care about their success and in families where entertainment and distraction are valued more highly than education and achievement. This simple cause and effect relationship is a "no-brainer" but very few people seem to get it or care.

One last sentence for today! Americans! Turn of the TV and get busy making beautiful things.