Blogged by Kathleen Hicks

How strange, to sit on a couch while watching the world speed past at a steady 65 miles per hour.

Strange, too, to drive a seemingly flat road and yet pass a sign that reads “Grant Village, elevation 7770 ft,” realizing that this flatness is over a mile above the sea.

Stranger still to wake up in the flatlands of Iowa and hours later fall asleep in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains. And yet, this is just what we have done.

On this trip, I have spent days in some of America’s biggest cities (Chicago, Denver) and passed through desolate stretches of desert and prairie. In hours, my family has traveled from the lovely resort town of Jackson Hole, Wyoming to the relatively remote wilderness of Yellowstone Park, devoid of cell phone service and wireless internet (I say relatively because, despite the overall remoteness, Yellowstone still contains gas stations and convenience stores, handy for when we run out of essentials like milk, bread, and beer -- for Dad, of course).

This morning, I stood in my kitchen, mindlessly eating my yogurt and drinking coffee, when this headline caught my eye:

Teens sending nude photos via cellphones

The subhead describes the problem further: "Pictures meant for boyfriend or girlfriend are ending up on the internet."

Here are a couple of key items in the story:

"School administrators in Santa Fe, Texas, confiscated dozens of cell phones from students in May after nude photos of two junior high girls began circulating. The girls had sent the photos to their boyfriends, who forwarded them to others, officials said."

"Psychologists said the phenomenon reflects typical teenage hormones and lack of judgment, with technology multiplying the potential for mischief. It also may reflect a teenage penchant for exhibitionism, as demonstrated on MySpace and countless other Web sites and blogs."

"Some parents are aghast."

Only some parents?

Only a few weeks until summer vacation officially overtakes the peace and quiet of my home office. Usually, I brace myself for the inevitable whining that starts within a day or two: "I'm booooored." But not this year. What's my plan to infuse adventure and excitement into my children's summertime existence?

Jobs you ask? Well, yes, for the older ones. And household chores for the younger two.

Day camps? I've signed my kids up for a few activities, but not enough to keep me driving hither and yon for weeks on end. Mom's taxi service needs a vacation, too.

No, my plan to offset those long and lazy afternoons spent glazed in front of Disney sitcom reruns is a throwback to my own childhood summers -- months I spent tooling around on my trusty yellow Schwinn visiting friends and riding to the Tastee Twist.

I'm going to loosen the reins and allow my kids some freedom.

I confess to feeling a bit out of the loop on the political front since I didn't participate in the Democratic primary. It's a bit like being a Hatfield and watching from the front porch as the McCoys duke it out among themselves. But assuming Sen. Obama will be the nominee...

I don't see scary movies or even read scary books anymore. Why should I when I can just pick up the paper and be terrified anytime I want? I decided recently that I'm going to violate my own policy against anxiety-for-entertainment and read Best-selling author Harlan Coban's new thriller, Hold Tight. If you have kids and a computer in your home, you should read it too...

Remember those ads with actor Robert Young where he said, "I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV." He knew his status as an actor didn't make him an actual expert on medical issues. Someone should tell this to actress Kate Walsh...

It rained a lot on the first few days of our spring break in Florida, so my kids spent more time than I liked borrowing my laptop to play games. But what can you do when it rains on vacation? At one point, to kill her boredom, Amy (age 10) came to me and asked if she could sign up on Club Penguin, a Disney-operated social networking site for children her age...

A while back, while surfing the net for a column idea, I ran across a web site for little film called "Indoctrinate U."

Last night I finally spoke to my college freshman on the phone...