A crust of bread and a corner to sleep in...

...and that is life. That's enough Paul Lawrence Dunbar for one day. I'm in a bit of a weird mood. I am definitely stuck in a rut. I think a move and a career change would be good for me, but perhaps not as good for my family. I'd also miss our little church group terribly. So I'm probably going to be here for a while longer. I like the area; there are plenty of lakes, small mountains, smiling faces, decent food, and I love being in a college town. However, I feel stagnant, like I've been stuck in the mud for the past 18 years. Everyone around me is progressing - graduating, finding meaning in what they do, finding jobs that match their passions, building homes, preparing for retirement... I don't feel like I'm growing at all - especially professionally. Of course, graduation would probably change that feeling, but graduation's not on the horizon. As a matter of fact, the grant that funds me is up in April/May, so a career decision might already have been made for me. We'll see. Just in case, I've dusted off the resume and I've begun checking to see what's out there in the job market. I'm particularly interested in forensic lab/DNA testing labwork. We have a Genetics Center about an hour from here that does prenatal testing, but I'm not interested in dealing with the ethical issues associated with that line of work. Let's just see how things go.

At least I've begun to exercise a little lately. I've discovered that middle-aged professional men are the best basketball players in the world, and there's an inverse relationship between the amount of grey hair they possess and their desire to run non-stop the entire game. Now I always try to defend the youngest-looking person on the other team. My knees ache afterward anyway though. This getting older is not all it's cracked up to be.

Hoyas us, Heels down

The NCAA men's basketball tournament is dead to me.

Off to see the NIT

I'm taking the fam to see Clemson vs Syracuse tonight in the NIT. The boys are pretty excited; I just hope they're not holding out hope for more of the $3 drinks and pretzels that we had Monday at the Clemson/Ole Miss game.

Go T-I-G-E-R----S!

edit: That was waaaay too close. That's what 17-34 from the free throw line will get ya, I suppose. At least we won. That was the worst-oficiated game I've ever seen.

Re: Duke

Why the animosity against the evil empire known as Duke basketball? Hmmm... Lemme think

• Growing up as a Tar Heel fan, it's sort of a requirement
  
• Attending Clemson, it's sort of a requirement. They've beaten us 21 straight times, including one buzzer beater this season when time was wrongly added to the game clock.
  
• The unceasing worship of the Dookies by one Dook Dick Vitale of ESPN, and
  
• The foul-mouthed and vulgar tirades of that leader of men, Michael Sha-chef-ski. (You couldn't have possibly expected me to spell that last name, did you?)
  
• The Cameron Crazies
  

Been AWOL

I'm back from an unexpected trip home and to Fayetteville, NC due to a death in the family. It was good seeing cousins I hadn't seen since we all were kids. I just wish the circumstances weren't so dour. Nevertheless, I appreciated the opportunity to re-establish contact with family.

For most of last night, the TV was on but not being watched by anyone. My cousin (the son of the deceased) suddenly remembered that the NCAA tourney was in progress and we caught the last 1:42 of the Duke/VCU game. The house was suddenly tense as we rooted for VCU, all the while afraid that Duke would find a way to pull out the victory. A huge collective roar went up when Paulus missed the potential game-winner and Duke was officially eliminated. For a couple of minutes there were smiles on every face in the house. UNC, Clemson, MD, and other miscellaneous fans rejoiced as one for a few minutes; all sorrow was temporarily set aside. I love this game.

Late-nite blues/R&B

Etta James is good for the soul. I highly recommend her double-disc anthology, The Essential Etta James.

Concubining?

I found this while surfing the web. All I can do is shake my head. I think the article's from the Cincinnati Enquirer...


Ricky Lackey has six children on the way.

Don't call them sextuplets - they're each with different women.

When Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Melba Marsh asked Lackey during sentencing Friday on a charge of attempted theft how many children he had, the 25-year-old said, "None, but I have six on the way."

A stunned Marsh tried to clarify. "Are you marrying a woman with six children?" she asked.

"No, I be concubining," he said.

Prosecutors said Lackey is the expectant father of six children with six different women. The women all are expected to deliver in August, September and October.

Lackey's lawyer, Stephen Wenke, stopped his client from saying more.

Marsh said she wasn't sure how to respond, so she let the issue drop since it wasn't relevant to the proceedings.

Lackey, a music producer who told Marsh he was on the cusp of a $2 million deal that would net him $300,000 upfront, was convicted Friday on a reduced charge of attempted theft.

Prosecutors say the Avondale man defrauded U.S. Bank out of $3,975 by depositing empty envelopes into ATM machines, claiming they contained cash, and depositing bad checks before withdrawing cash on the falsely inflated balances.

Lackey has repaid the money, according to court records.

Marsh ordered no other sentence, because restitution had been paid.

As Lackey left the courtroom, a group of teenage girls there for another case appeared to know Lackey.

"Oh, there's Ricky Lackey!" one swooned.

Lackey shrugged the attention off with one word and a wave of his hand.

"Fans," he said.

It was inside that I cried

Ah, it was far too easy to get re-accustomed to home internet access. Alas, all good things (except the kingdom) must come to an end. The systems admin needs to use the work laptop, so I brought her back today. *sigh* I guess always interact with those three people I keep seeing in my apartment.

All is not lost however; after all, Duke did lose last night.

Me & GMC (or is it GMC & Me?)

I bought a van. As much as I agonized over the official shift from “young couple with kids” to “soccer dad” status, it actually felt pretty good to be in a vehicle with sufficient room for the family (and then some). The transaction was carried out in an Asheboro, NC Golden Corral; the seller signed the title, and the buyer meekly affixed his John Hancock to the check. Then the aforementioned seller and buyer hit the trough as only Americans can, piling plates high with trans-fat and partially-hydrogenated-oil laden goodies. The boys love the novelty of the new vehicle, even though prior to the purchase Nick had been brainwashed by a certain someone to refuse anything less than a 2010 Honda Odyssey.



I don’t think I’m ever moving back to my hometown. First of all, there are no jobs – but even if there were, there’s no church close enough. There are 4 LCG congregations in the general vicinity, but the closest one (Asheboro) is exactly 100 miles from my parents’ home. Raleigh (actually Warsaw) is 110 miles away according to Expedia, Charlotte 120, and Walterboro, SC is 135-140. There is a UCG congregation 30 miles away near Florence, SC. My wife and I attempted to go there once, but I made a wrong turn. We got there just in time to hear 6 minutes of sermon, sing a song, hear a prayer, and that was that. The brethren there were nice though. Had I grown up in WCG I would’ve attended church with most of them.

Anyway, I’m at work now and the kids have been behaving themselves pretty well. It seems that many professors give tests the same week at the university; this must be one of those weeks because everyone is studying. Facebook and AOL IM are lonely tonight.

And as a further blessing, Duke girls AND boys lost this weekend. And it looks like the Tigers just might be in the Big Dance again after two straight wins to close out the season. I need to go through my Rolodex of friends with big-screen HD TVs.

Oh, my new niece is gorgeous.

This made me laugh

Spotted on a poster while having lunch:

Justin Timberlake for President in '08

He'll bring the troops and the sexy back!

Personally, if I was a voting man, I'd go with General Zod.

Enterprise

I talked to a very close cousin of mine Wednesday night for the first time in several months. We grew up playing together at Grandma's, went to school together (she was 1 grade ahead of me), and hung out together as teens/young adults, until things like college and marriage got in the way. The fam would stop by her home in Enterprise, AL (she married a guy from there) on our annual trek to Panama City for the Feast. That changed a few years ago, but we still try to keep in touch. Imagine my surprise when, after not talking for several months, the very next day Enterprise is all over the news thanks to a terrible tornado that struck town, including a school. I immediately called to see if they were OK (they have two school-age children), and to my relief they were. I must've called her about 2 hours after the storm, so she didn't know the full extent of the damage. The timing of the whole scenario was a little eerie. I have another younger relative there as well at Ft. Rucker. I think she's fine too. I really feel for the families of those who died in the storm. I probably shouldn't have let Nick watch so much of the news coverage - he's terrified of floods and hurricanes after seeing the Katrina damage, and the end of the movie Deep Impact has given him a healthy fear of tsunamis. I think I'll hold off on the Revelations prophecies until he's a little older. :-)

And the floodgates were opened...

We had rain all day yesterday (along with a couple of peals of thunder). I love a good summer thunderstorm, but I'm not a fan of cold, wintry days. One good thing about the rain(well, it might not be a good thing) was the creation of all the miniature class-5 rapids caused by the runoff. In this town we have plenty of hills and plenty of pavement, which leads to much runoff. I always want to get out of the car, put on some rubber boots, and put toy boats in the water and follow them as they go with the flow; each riverlet connecting with other riverlets, growing and picking up speed along the way. As a child we used to go out in my Grandmother's yard as soon as possible after a good summer rain, and we'd dig canals and connect mud puddles with one another, build mud dams, etc... I think I'd still have fun doing that with the boys - if we had some dirt.

I'm going home to see the folks and the new neice this weekend now that everyone's healthy on my end. I'm also going to look at a van one of the Asheboro brethren is trying to sell. I guess this is officially the beginning of middle age. *sigh* Of course, I'm not quite ready for the alternative.

Prayers would be welcome for a righteous resolution to the current visitation drama we find ourselves facing.

Not long enough for a title

Maybe it's best that I become a professor. I've already got the "absent-minded" part down pat.