Ben-Gay required

Two days in a row in the gym, doing incline sit-ups and playing basketball.  I ache.  I reek.  I can barely move my legs.  And my truck got towed today b/c I didn’t make it out to the meter in time.  Guess I’ll go home and drown my sorrows in a big plate of turkey wings.

Roots

Roots is a fascinating book.  I highly recommend it.  It is the story of Alex Haley’s maternal lineage, from his Mandinka ancestor Kunta Kinte to the birth of Mr. Haley.  The book covers the time period from the mid 1700s to the early 1900s.  The section covering the slave voyage from Africa to the US is particularly chilling.  There’s tons of slave dialect, so the slaves’ conversations might be difficult for someone who’s used to reading only the Queen’s English.  I never saw the landmark TV mini-series, but I think I’ll rent it or better yet, see if our library has it.  If you’ve got some time to kill, I highly recommend giving it a look-see. If you enjoy it, you might also want to read Queen, which is an account of the author’s paternal side of the family.  Both were written by Alex Haley.  Queen was also made into a mini-series in the late ‘90s, with Halle Berry playing the title character.  Reading the books has made me wonder where I come from.  Am I Mandinka?  Wolof?  Ashanti?  Maybe I’ll know one day.  Also, I wonder how much European is in me?  (I don’t think I have quite as much in me as the M.R.S. does).  I have been in contact with a relative who’s been doing some genealogical research, and she’s traced my paternal grandmother’s family (The Cabbagestalks) back to slaves on a plantation in Manning, SC.  As an aside, I’m sure glad we don’t have the custom of passing along the mother’s name in this country.

One of these days I need to get around to reading Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

Not 100% sure I'm not Stupid

So, picking up where I left off, I had the proverbial happy childhood. I went to school and really enjoyed the public school experience. Classes were pretty easy, though from time to time I would struggle with things most others found simple. One thing that stands out is the problem I had working with percentages; specifically, converting fractions into percentages and doing word problems involving percentages. Finally Mom had to get the college daughter of a co-worker to show me some tricks, and eventually all was well. I think that was around 8th grade. Somewhere around that time, I also developed a keen dislike to being perceived as "smart." I was entering that troubled time known as adolescence, and in my high school "smart" guys didn't get the girl - particularly "smart" guys with thick glasses, HUGE feet, and parents who didn't give in to pleas to be allowed to do everything the other kids were doing. Anyway, I stopped raising my hand so much in class (not that it mattered much; whenever the class was stumped, I invariable got called upon by the teachers), and distanced myself from any behavior that could be labelled "geeky". I must've done a good job, because by the time I got to college, NO ONE thought of me as "the smart guy". I was perfectly content to focus on the social aspects of college life, just as I did in high school. Unfortunately college classes were a wee bit harder than the classes at good ol' Clio High School.

In reality, I did think I was very smart when I was in high school. It would've been pretty hard not to after hearing it for 18 straight years. The best summers I had were the summers I participated in Duke University's Talent identification Program, where I was housed with kids who'd taken the SAT in 7th grade and had scored above a certain percentile on the SAT. If I remember correctly, I scored an 830 or so (almost all of that was Verbal; my math score was in the low 300s). I realized quickly that I was nowhere near the top of the food chain there, and I was perfectly content. I was free to release my inner nerd! There were 15-year olds who were earning college credits there; I think most of the participants either ended up attending Duke or one of the Ivy League schools. Now, I don't think I'm so smart. Many of my life decisions are evidence of that. Actually, I guess most of my life decisons would land me in the "stupid" category. Also, I think my ability to remember random facts, and to know a little bit about a lot of things, was misconstrued as "smartness". I am not very analytical, and I learn that more and more with each passing day of grad school. If you need someone to memorize someone's email address though, then I'm your guy.

It's funny watching people's reactions when they find out I'm in grad school. The peeps who knew me from back home pretty much expected me to go off and become a lawyer or doctor or something that required an advanced degree. The peeps who know me from my Clemson undergrad days, or from the 6 years I was on academic "hiatus", well they tend to look as though they'd been told that the earth is indeed flat.

Grrrrr!

Brazil is trippin’ hard!  Apparently, they want me to physically go to one of their consulate offices to obtain a visa.  The consulate with jurisdiction over South Carolina is located in … … MIAMI, FLORIDA!!!!  For those not familiar with east coast geography, that’s a loooong drive.  Or I could go to DC, a shorter, yet-still-long drive.  Perhaps I could coerce the boss to fly me to DC for a day.  This Brazil trip might go the way of the India trip; i.e. not happening.

That Boy

Listening to some ABBA right now, relaxing in my cubicle. Recent conversation with Nick:

N: "Daddy, when God comes back, I'm gonna ask him lots of things, like how did He open the Red Sea, how did He turn the water red... I'm not gonna tell Him you have a tattoo though."

N: "Daddy, I wish I could be like God."

HBS: "Eventually you can, son. You just have to live the kind of life He wants you to lead. You learn about that way of life by paying attention in church and by reading the Bible."

N: "But I can't read the Bible!"

HBS: "I know, and He does too. Right now it's my job and mama's job to teach you what's right and what's wrong."

N: "Awww man, sometimes I told a lie."

HBS: "That's OK son - we've dealt with that. Just try your best not to do it again. "

N: "OK." (smiles)

Randomness

I just re-read the 21 Balloons. It was still enjoyable, though it was a much shorter read than I remembered. I'm currently listening to some guy on the radio try mixing turpentine and sugar at the request of one of his listeners. While I've heard of people doing that, I'm much more familiar with the tried and true spoonful of kerosene & sugar. If you haven't had a grandma nurse you back to health with home remedies, you've missed out.

I see that the Episcopalians have elected a their first woman as leader. I wonder what her views on homosexuality will do to the denomination. She doesn't see it [homosexuality] as a sin. There's controversy a'brewin'.

Go Heat! Any other year I wouldn't mind Dallas winning, but I need Shaq to go ahead and get another ring without/before Mr. Bryant.

And now for some more pics of my kids:


Nick reading some-Mother-Goose-poem-I-can't-remember-right-now to Noah.



Nick commanding his minions



Too bad Summer was in Louisiana/Texas/Montana and Desiree was in California or the pic would've been complete.

Challenge

Try saying "Hey, Hong-hai!" as you run down the stairs. With a mouth full of sunflower seeds. Without spitting in Hong-hai's face.

Anyway, the workday is winding down, and I'm preparing to pull a Manuel. Anderson peeps: Have I given enough sermonettes to begin recycling?

Nostalgia isn't always good

I gave myself a dose of semi-depression today. I went to the library to do some reading, and picked up a copy of TAPS from 1989(TAPS is Clemson's yearbook).. It's amazing how people slip through the cracks in your mind as time passes. Of course you always remember the people you played ball with at Fike (the campus gymnasium); the people you sat with in Little Africa (the part of Harcombe Dining Hall in which many black students sat at dinnertime), the people in your major, etc... The people you passed every day but didn't interact with regularly though - they tend to get forgotten. I was amazed that I hadn't thought of many of the faces I saw in more 10-15 years. That's not what depressed me though. Depression set in when I realized just how awfully I'd wasted the decade from '88-'98. I can remember laughing about wasting my time, doing nothing with my life, and boldly stating, "I'll never regret these years! I know that others are graduating and moving on with their lives, but I'll never be able to have this much fun again - and I'm going to enjoy every minute of it!" Yes, I was that big an idiot.

I don't begrudge my old friends their success; no really, I'm happy for them. But for a while today, I was thoroughly disgusted by my inability to do what I was supposed to the first time around. I am in grad school now, but I'm still not applying myself fully. That frustrates me, but I haven't been able to change that fact. So far I've gotten by, but I think my peers and my superiors believe that I know more and I've done more than is actually the case. I keep telling myself that today is going to be the day that I focus and do what I need to do to graduate, no matter how much I don't want to. And each time the result is the same. Oh well, at least the Heat victory tonight took my mind off my shortcomings.

On the road again...

Heading to Charlotte to see my older brother and my Pop is supposed to drive over.  Yall have a profitable Sabbath.  

*note to self*  Get the A/C in the Blazer fixed.

No topic

My family (pic taken by Rebel)



I love you guys.

I'm currently starting to review old class notes as I prepare for my comprehensive exams, which look like they'll be taking place at the end of June and mid-July (writtens and then orals). I'm also trying to get my passport and visa information together, as my boss wants me to attend a conference in Brazil in September. Who would've ever thought that being a student would give me the opportunity to travel to California several times, San Antonio, Nashville, and New Orleans? Stay in school kids.

The big news here is that the alleged murderer of a Clemson student has been arrested in Tennessee. One of my female labmates lived right upstairs from the murder victim. She says things are slowly returning to normal in her apartment complex, but it didn't help that a couple of days ago resident of the complex (a grad-student in counseling) was arrested for sexual assault. I was surprised at how quickly the murder became a national story. I must admit I had my doubts about the Central Police Dept., but it appears that they did top-notch work with the eyes of the nation upon them.

It looks like I need to update my links. It's a Paul World appears to have been taken over by someone else. Paul, I hope all is well with you. Miss your musings.

Thankfully, I shouldn't have to hear random conjecture about 666 for awhile.