Mom joins the club

I talked with my mom yesterday after a trip to the emergency room for stomach pain. She's been under a lot of stress lately, and she appears to have re-ignited an old ulcer. While they were running tests on her, they discovered she has diabetes. Let's tally 'em up:

Diabetes
Mom,Pop, maternal Grandpa (died from complications), paternal Aunt Berta, paternal Grandpa (died from complications), paternal Grandma, paternal Uncle Del, and I'm unsure about my 15 other aunts & uncles.

High Blood Pressure
Everyone above the age of 40.

Of course, the heavy consumption of refined starches and sodas, as well as even heavier consumption of fatback, fried pork chops, chitlins', and ham is probably not helping much.

For the past few weeks I've been trying to diet, and I think I've done pretty well. I think I've passed the craving stage, and as long as I don't skip meals I don't struggle with cheating. I've FINALLY started to exercise a bit too. A quick recap:

• Sunday: 1 hour of full-court basketball
  
• Monday: incline sit-ups, 1st day of couch-to-5K
  
• Tuesday: incline sit-ups, 1.5 hours of full-court basketball
  
• Wednesday: incline sit-ups, 2nd day of couch-to-5K
  
• Thursday: incline sit-ups, 30 minutes of full-court basketball
  
• Friday: sometime today, incline sit-ups and 3rd day of couch-to-5K
  

Hopefully I can keep this up as well as incorporate some weight lifting. Right now I have negative muscles.

The new melting pot?

I find my bus rides to and from work to be pretty interesting. I spend a lot of time just looking at people (not staring, stalker-like). As opposed to many small southern towns, being in Clemson means that a substantial portion of the CAT-bus-riding community is international. I get on at the first stop so I have my pick of seats, and I get to watch the faces come and go. My street has a heavy Chinese population. The next stop, Goldenwoods, offers a variety of passengers; some white Americans, some black Americans, some Turks(I think), and some Chinese. We then travel down Cochran road, which is heavily populated with Chinese and Koreans. The bus travels through an income-based apartment complex, (Sterling Woods) where the residents are mostly lower-middle-class-to-poor black and white Americans. There are also some Mexicans who get on here too. We then hit the LeMans apt. complex, or "Little India" in Clemsonspeak. This is where the bus fills up, unless you're riding in off-peak hours like I usually do. The route then takes us through downtown, and from there on to campus. After I get off I think the route continues on to the grocery stores and out past where Summa works.

I enjoy looking at the beauty and variety in the different ethnicities and nationalities I see living here. I enjoy comparing and contrasting the different hues, accents, hair textures, eye colors and shapes of my fellow bus riders. Back in my hometown, everyone was either black or white, with a few Native Americans thrown in. I kid about the public schools here being like the United Nations, but I'm glad that my kids get to interact regularly with those who are different from them. The boys recognize ethnic differences, but they know (without me telling them) that people are people, and that neither ethnnicity nor race lessen a person's worth.

Interesting articles

Dublin, Ireland (LifeNews.com) -- A scientist in Ireland has made a major breakthrough in the field of adult stem cell research by producing insulin needed by diabetic patients from the stem cells from the umbilical cords of living babies. The result provides real hope for diabetics because the insulin from embryonic stem cells doesn't work as effectively and involves the destruction of human life... (click to read more)

WASHINGTON - Circumcising men routinely across Africa could prevent millions of deaths from AIDS, World Health Organization researchers and colleagues reported Monday... (click to read more)

LDRs

My long distance relationships hurt.  There’s nothing like the buildup as the opportunity to see the object of one’s affection approached.  There’s nothing like the release of emotion when you finally get to see, hear, and touch that voice on the other end of the phone, or the hand that wrote those letters.  After the first day, the little monster called Dread would show up in whichever room the two of you occupied, usually starting out in the corner.  Its rate of growth was inversely proportional to the length of time remaining for the visit, and as it grew the monster would creep to the middle of the room.  One developed the art of pretending Dread wasn’t there.  Eventually though, Dread would force the two of you to acknowledge its presence – with said acknowledgement usually accompanied by a tear - or thirty.  And parting?  Food didn’t taste as good, comedies weren’t as funny, hanging out with friends wasn’t as desirable… …not, at least, until the planning for the next visit had begun.

The internet age has dulled somewhat the excitement of walking quickly (running) to the mailbox as the postman drove off.  Ooooh, and if you actually received a letter from your baby… … life was good.  Of course, there was the slight disappointment to deal with if you didn’t have any mail, but there was always the next day to look forward to.  Of course, IMing and cell phones with mega-minutes have made long distance relationships easier (and cheaper) to manage, but one still has to deal with emotional highs and lows.  I think I’ll just keep the M.R.S. close by.

Put some South in your mouth

The Food Network is becoming an obsession in the Hot Buttered Soul household.  It seems like every time the TV’s not on ESPN or Sci-Fi, it’s on the Food Network.  I must admit that I’ve even been caught watching the channel by myself once or twice.  It’s sort of like the weird attraction the M.R.S. (and certain other bloggers who shall remain nameless) had for Trading Spaces.  Weird.  I’m finding myself particularly fond of Good Eats and the show that shows how common food products are made.  I guess if I were one of Isaac and Rebekah’s twins, I would be Jacob.  I’m DEFINITELY stopping by Paula Deen’s restaurant The Lady & Sons on my was down to the Feast.

There is some intrigue going on here at the Institute.  Without going into details (since I don’t know them), my advisor is changing positions and will no longer be the director of the Institute.  Since this just happened today, no one is sure what the fallout’s gonna be.  My advisor is remaining on staff, and is still on the tenure track, so I shouldn’t have to change advisors.  I don’t know yet how (or if) this will affect the proposed Brazil trip, or the direction of my research project.  I know this interests absolutely no one out there, but I needed to pad this blog entry.

Desiree, I apologize for stepping away from MSN Messenger w/o letting you know.  I was recruited to help set up some cubicles and I forgot to return to the computer before dipping out to the library.  My bad.

The day after

The 4th was OK. I should've been here working, but after making a cameo appearance I dipped and went to a cookout at my (wife's) uncle's place. Most of the family made it over there, and there were plenty of cousins for Nick and Noah to play with. Noah was quite the cranky one yesterday, as he's being weaned by the M.R.S. and apparently this was causing withdrawal symptoms. That also led to he and I spending quite a bit of time together, as everytime he was near his mother he almost ripped her shirt off. (sorry honey). Things did not get any better last night; we finally had to drive him around for a while to get him to go to sleep, and when he woke up in the middle of the night the M.R.S. had to leave the bed and go sleep on the couch whilst the Tiny Terror and I fought in the middle of the bed until he went back to sleep. He awoke pretty early this morning, but seemed to be in good spirits as I left.

I spent the end of last week and the early part of this week trying to compare some of my cotton DNA sequences with protein sequences in an international database and just couldn't get it to work (even though it's not complicated). Turns out that as editing the Perl submission script in Wordpad, the text editor was inserting extra characters at the end of each line. Apparently UNIX doesn't like these extra characters. Our systems admin finally figured out what I was doing wrong, and now I'm good to go.

I'm waiting on my labmate to come back to the office. She's been in a meeting with here committee for the past 2.75 hours getting grilled on her research grant proposal. Hope she does OK. I'm sure she'll cry, as she's very emotional - but I'm also sure she'll pass, as she's very, very smart. Guess I need to go about scheduling mine. Yuck.

I don't want to be at work

The fireworks display @ Clemsonfest looked awesome - from my office window.

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.

Wed-nes-day

So I handed my attorney a check for $750 and proceeded to watch him open a Microsoft Word document, add some names, add some addresses, print it out make a copy for me. That was just the retainer fee; there's at least $250 more in my future. And if we have to make more than one court appearance, he gets $150 an hour. He's helping me out though. I must remember that. Yes, he's helping me. The legal papers will be served tomorrow, so I should be getting cussed out by phone sometime tomorrow afternoon. C'est la vie, I guess.

Ah McKellan... How I love thee

Upon arrival at church around 1:30 for 2 PM services...

Nick: Daddy, where is everybody?

Me: Nick, everyone's not here yet. We're early. People will get here soon.

Nick: Wow! We've NEVER been early before!

Anderson folks will appreciate that one.

NBA action is fantastic

The NBA playoffs have been absolutely amazing. All of the big guns for the playoff teams have performed as expected, and in some cases, beyond what was expected, even for superstars. Dwayne Wade of the Miami Heat is shooting near 70% from the field against one the defending Eastern Conference champions, whose trademark is (was?) defense. Shaquille O'Neal, also of the Heat, has forgotten that he's supposed to be on the downside of his career. Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks has crossed the threshold of mere very-goodness to great with one play against the San Antonio Spurs; likewise, Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns has shown that maybe he did indeed deserve that MVP trophy. Detroit, the team with no superstars, the team that epitomizes the word TEAM, teeters of the verge of elimination, while their first-year coach is hearing the ghosts of playoff failures past. The games have been exciting and hotly contested. As my squad (the 76ers) didn't even make the playoffs, I've adopted the Miami Heat as my favorite to win it all. That way Shaq gets a championship without Kobe. Yes, I know that's petty. Here's to 3 more weeks of give-and-goes, pick-and-rolls, and alley-oops!

Quickie

A quick blurb before I run to meet the bus. The church picnic in Charlotte was fun - they learned not to have it in August, for one. Guess who pitched for the first time ever? My line: 1 IP, 9 runs, 28 hits, 6/7 errors, 5 ER. Of course when I came up to bat it was time for the blessing of the food, and the game never resumed. I think we only had one casualty - let's just say that time is catching up to Mr. Lyons' ankle. Nick and Noah had a blast; Noah fell asleep in his seat before we could even make it out of the parking lot. The trip to my folk's place was pretty uneventful and quite hot. I must get the A/C fixed this week. That is #1 on the to-do list (not counting my meeting with my attorney tomorrow to set up legal visitation). I'm definitely asking for the Feast - wait, it's 8:16 and the bus comes in 4 minutes. Bye!

Edit: I hurry to the bus stop to find out that the schedule is different in the summer... The next bus doesn't arrive until 8:50.

Checking in

Check out our new kitchen with the avocado green countertops. It definitely has a 70s feel to it.


The living room before the boxes.



Future $20,000,000 man




Nick has oficially been turned on to Spaceballs. Today he's being indoctrinated into the adoration of all things Godzilla. I've gotta run now; we've got some shopping to do before sundown. Maybe we can finish unpacking over the course of the weekend. Oh wait, we're going to Charlotte Sunday, and probably on to Clio Sunday night/Monday. Dad's all giddy b/c he finally has a computer. It's full of architectural drawings and software, but at least it's a functioning computer. It's much better than the Commodore 64 he bought 10 years after they became obsolete.

Withdrawal

Post(s) forthcoming. No internet access at the new crib.

Fool me once...

...shame on me. Fool me twice, shame on you - and I guess that means I'm stoopid.

Noah tends to get up in the middle of the night and makes his way to our bed to feed nurse. I always wake up on the edge of the bed with his feet in my back, our bodies forming the letter 'H'. Yesterday, I wake up to find a nice, cold, wet spot in the center of the bed where his diaper overflowed. Too much H₂O the night before, I guess. OK. This morning I wake up to find another wet spot in between us; this time with lumpy white particles on the sheet and pillow. Let's just say that I think Noah OD'd on milk and poppy seed rolls last night. I think it's time he learns to sleep in his own bed.

Oh yeah - FYI: Young kids and venetian blinds don't mix.

Biblios

Some books I loved as a kid/young buck. Some I need to re-read, as my memory of them is somewhat sketchy. These will be in the kids' library. Definitely.

• A Wrinkle in Time, The Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet - Madeleine L'Engle
  
• Robinson Crusoe - Daniel Defoe
  
• Hunchback of Notre Dame - Victor Hugo
  
• The 21 Balloons - William Pene du Bois
  
• The Martian Chronicles/The Illustrated Man - Ray Bradbury
  
• Island of the Blue Dolphins - Scott O'Dell
  
• Julie of the Wolves - Jean Craighead George
  
• Journey to the Center of the Earth - Jules Verne
  
• The Chronicles of Prydain - Lloyd Alexander (The Book of 3, The Black Cauldron, The Castle of Llyr, Taran Wanderer, The High King)
  
• Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH - Robert C. O'Brien
  
• Sounder - William H. Armstrong
  
• To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
  
• Animal Farm - George Orwell
  
• The Cricket in Times Square - George Selden/Thompson
  
• Old Yeller - Fred Gipson
  
• The Mouse and the Motorcycle - Beverly Cleary
  
• Where the Wild Things Are - Max Sendak
  

Thank you, English teachers, Mrs. Powell (4th-grade Gifted and Talented Teacher), Childcraft/World Book Encyclopedia, and the Troll book order program for introducing me to the wonderful world of lit. Oh yeah, and my favorite children's Bible. There's nothing quite like losing yourself in a fascinating world that someone created in their head and captured on paper. Too bad journal articles don't excite me the same way.

Monday

About a year ago, I posted something of an autobiographical sketch which covered my early years. (It was May 6, '05 if you're interested.) I was sitting here reading old posts when I realized I'm glad I started this blog. Reading the archives brought up memories and feelings that had been buried since I initially captured them on "paper". I'm looking forward to reading them again a few years from now, and see how I've changed over time.

We went by the Brooks' after services this week for one last hang-out with Ashley before the move to Ohio. We had a great time as usual, and finished off the night with an airing of "War of the Worlds". It was... interesting. I didn't like many of the characters in the movie, though Tom Cruise's character becomes tolerable by the end of the movie. The ending, while true to the H.G. Wells story, seems sorta rushed and the movie seems to end as if the studio just ran out of money and decided to wrap it up wherever they were. The Martians were pretty cool, although they appeared to me to be the same aliens from "Independence Day". I wonder how they rigged up those death rays to not damage clothing at all.

Luckily for Charlotte, the softball game this Sunday was rained out. Now the offensive juggernaut that is Anderson will have the opportunity to practice once or twice before we head up to make up the game. Maybe that rainout wasn't so lucky for Charlotte after all. Especially with our dead-eye pitcher having another few weeks to prepare.

I do not like green eggs and ham.

Warning: Title of post has nothing to do with the actual post.

It's been some week. I've started the Couch-to-5K program again, and I'm trying to drag the M.r.S. along. We both made it through day one with a little residual soreness. We're going out this afternoon for day two. Hopefully Nick can keep Noah occupied by pushing him around in his stroller; if not, well, we'll figure something out. The prospect of jogging while carrying 25 lbs. of jiggling boy around on my shoulders is not appealing.

We're supposed to be moving in 10 days. I guess we should start packing. Perhaps we can have a big get-together at the crib 2 days before we move again. In reality, everything will probably just get tossed into boxes on Mother's Day. Hopefully this is our last move before I graduate and purchase our first home. I'm really looking forward to having grass to mow, a garden to plant, gutters to clean, etc... I think I'll start looking now for some garish oil paintings for the walls. Something that has dogs playing poker or something like that.

Well, I've got to run and take my daily dose of The Cream and The Clear, and my daily injection of human growth hormone - after all, I've got a softball game to prepare for. Have a wonderful Sabbath, dear reader.

Edit: It's 7:34 and the M.R.S. is in Wal-Mart. Looks like Couch-to-5K is out for today.

Busted!

I went to Jalen's school for lunch today. He was quite surprised to see me - especially since he happened to be sitting at the "lunch detention" table for talking in class. I talked with the teacher who sent him to detention while I was there, and she assured me he wasn't usually a problem. Of course, by the time I see him again, I'll probably have forgotten this transgression.

I just met with a faculty member to pick her brain about a direction for my project. She gave me a couple of ideas which I'm about to read up on; hopefully, I'll still be able to get out of here next year. Now it's off to read some microsatellite papers. Ciao!

Feelin' old

My body shouldn't feel this bad after 3 games of basketball. I don't know what kind of shape I'll be in after this Sunday's softball game in Charlotte. Some practice beforehand would be nice, seeing as how I haven't played competitive softball since I was 18. (Well, there was one failed attempt to play intramurals in 2000, but I'd rather not talk about that.)

Today I became the father of a teen-ager. *sigh* Where has the time gone? I now know why parents make videos of their kids doing random things like playing in the living room. We watched a video last night of Nick playing in his walker and taking a bath in the kitchen sink when he was a baby. Again, where has the time gone? And man, could you ever see the resemblance between him and Noah!

Oh, and for you Anderson folx, this week's sermonette will either be about sin, God, or some combination thereof.

My education

Things I learned from my grandparents:

• No matter how sweet and docile they may appear, every old person in my family at one time was a hellion. Every one. Especially my two grandfathers.
  
  
• Every grandmother, no matter how sweet and docile they are now, at one time pulled a gun or a brick on a grandfather to help him reign in his stay-out-all-night tendencies.
  
  
• Clouds are to be feared.
  
  
• Clouds does not mean "clouds", but actually means "thunderstorms". All electrical items are to be turned off AND unplugged. No sitting on the floor is allowed. No loud talking or boisterous playing is allowed - for "The LORD is doing His work." (Does that mean he's vacationing when it's sunny out?)
  
  
• Jooging (stabbing) people and chunking (throwing) rocks are bad things.
  
  
• Sugar (diabetes) is prevalent in my family.
  
  
• The size of one's feet is directly proportional to the amount of time spent running around barefoot.
  
  
• Throwing bones into the slop bucket is a no-no. As an aside, I learned that it costs 25 cents to get your little brother to remove said bones from the slop bucket.
  
  
• Snuff is the nectar of the gods.
  
  
• Every part (and I do mean every) of a hog is edible.
  
  
• If it can be shot, it can be cleaned and cooked.
  
  
• All hand-held fans must have either a picture of MLK, JFK, or "Jesus" on the front, and an ad for the local mortuary on the back.
  
  
• No home is complete without a picture of the "Lord's Supper" on the living room wall. In the 70s, it was preferable that said picture have lights around the frame.
  
  
• Jimmy Carter was a good president; Ronald Reagan was the devil incarnate.
  
  
• Goody's powder cures anything.
  
  
• Addendum: Cornbread, rice, and fish scraps provide all the nutrients a family of cats needs. Old hubcaps are their favorite dishes from which to eat.
  

I think I'll go visit the family next week. It's been far too long.

I think the boys are excited by my musings. Agree?

Philadelphia

Kids = Crumbs

And I haven't even started on the truck yet.

Slurp

Caught him as he was working a popsicle to death. The look says it all.

As the M.R.S. has posted, we've settled on Daytona. Choosing this site eliminated the need to buy plane tickets or passports or the need for a rental car. That means mo' money, mo' money, mo' money! (Don't get excited - I'm a struggling graduate student, remember?) Anyway, it looks to be an 8-hour drive, which is not too bad. I'm strongly thinking of spending a night in Savannah on the way down and taking the fam to Paula Deen's restaurant. I wonder if her hoe-cakes have lard or bacon fat in them? It's a question that didn't come to mind until after I left her restaurant last time.

We found a place we liked, also reported by the M.R.S. Nick was all excited about the split-level floor plan. I was smitten by the thought of having a kitchen in which I could actually move around in again. The fact that I'll be able to open the fridge door without hitting the kitchen table is just an added plus.

I hate it when I let myself get caught out there starving! I just called China Wok and ordered a large chicken fried rice, fried chicken wings, and an order of sesame chicken. As I typed that last sentence, I realized I was perpetuating a stereotype again. I guess I'll dance my way to the restaurant, pick up my dinner, and chase it with the seedless watermelon I bought Friday. Oh yeah, and lust after a white woman. *sigh*

For the uninitiated

Jheri curl info from http://memorylab.deanlabs.com/FashionDetails.aspx?ID=221:

Once the natural (unprocessed) afro lost favor, the wet-look jheri-curl took over. Popularized by Michael Jackson, the jheri-curl is a chemical perm process that relaxes the natural kinky curl of black hair, leaving loose curls in its place.

Hair care product manufacturer Jheri Redding created the process and a series of gels and conditioners to help maintain the distinctive wet-look. Having a jheri-curl required constant care and upkeep, as well as a hearty heap of oil activator conditioner to keep the hair soft and shiny.

Unfortunately for bus seats and car headrests, the jheri-curls oil activator left behind an unpleasant greasy residue. But such is the price of looking good.



S-curl info is from Wikipedia:

S-Curl is a trademark for a line of hair products designed to slightly straighten the natural hair texture of a man of African descent, so that natural wave and curl patterns are looser and more prominent. The term "s-curl" soon came to describe the hairstyle that resulted from the use of the S-Curl line products and the products of competitors.

Depending upon the strength of the application, an "S-curl" hairstyle has hair texture either only slightly less kinky than natural African hair, or more closely approaching the curly hair texture of a mixed or Latino person. Similar to a woman's permanent, an S-curl is applied using relaxers containing lye, and, like a jheri curl, requires continued use of specialized shampoos and conditioners to keep the chemically altered hair from becoming dry, hard, and brittle.

See what you're missing, Desiree?

Yesterday as we cruised through neighborhoods looking for "For Rent" signs, I guess Nick had had enough. Blue was still hanging in there though.



Noah, on the other hand, was a little perturbed at the M.R.S. for taking a picture of his brother without taking one of him. So, to insure peace and domestic tranquility:



OK, so I really just wanted to share pics of the boys. I like them almost as much as I like King Kong.

Feast possibilities

Ocho Rios, Jamaica, Daytona, or Oxnard.  I must have warm weather.

A wordsmith I'm not.

I usually type my posts out without thinking in advance what I'm going to post. When I read them later, I almost always hate them. I've thought of going back and editing them, but I'd end up editing them to the point that they would no longer reflect what I was thinking about when I typed the original post. I guess I'll leave them be, except for egregious flaws.

Great. [/sarcasm] The Lady Tar Heels have lost and Duke is winning. I guess I'll root for Maryland to win the Ladies' NCAA basketball championship, to go along with Florida for the men. I hope Aaron, Kristen, Zac, & Lindsay don't party too hard if the Gators win. Actually, I'd be amazed if anyone other than Kristen knew their school was playing for the national championship tomorrow night.

'Twas Beauty Killed the Beast.

And lo, the beast looked upon the face of beauty. And beauty stayed his hand. And from that day on, he was as one dead.

I fell in love with the big ape as a kid. At some point in my childhood, I saw the 1933 version of the movie; I don't remember how old I was when I saw it. I was fascinated by the idea of a giant ape who fought dinosaurs and pterodactyls. The whole "love story" aspect of the movie went way over my head at the time. I saw the 1976 remake around 1978 or '79 - whenever they started airing it on NBC as the movie of the week, or whatever they called it then. (That's what they did with theatrical releases before the advent of VHS and DVDs). I picked up on the love story this time, especially when Dwan (Jessica Lange) is begging Kong not to put her down because she knows the helicopters are going to shoot him down. I loved the mighty 8th wonder of the world, even though he was quite obviously a man in a suit. Lemme tell ya something: Peter Jackson's remake is BY FAR the best of the three. (The 1980s sequels to King Kong aren't even worth mentioning, btw.) I'd heard complaints that nothing happens in the the first hour of the movie. That's not true. Jackson introduces the main and supplementary characters, and fleshes out their backgrounds and personalities. This caused me to be emotionally vested in their predicaments once they reach Skull Island and all heck breaks loose. I really felt it when things happened to the characters. Usually only books draw me in like that - it's quite nice when a movie that's so visually stunning also packs an emotional wallop.

As for the aforementioned Skull Island, it's the creepiest place I've ever seen. I would've lasted about 3 minutes there - assuming my ship wasn't bashed to pieces on the rocks. That scene when the camera crew finds out that the island isn't uninhabited is priceless. You can feel the impending doom building, and there's nothing you can do about it. Incidentally, a dentist could make a fortune on that island.

And then there's Kong. No stop motion photography here. No man in a suit, walking and standing like a man. Nope. Kong is borne out in full fledged CGI a la Gollum for the LOTR flicks. This Kong is quick, agile, and STRONG. The fight with the 3 T-rexes is worth the price of admission. Did I mention that he's holding Ann Darrow almost the entire time he's fighting? One thing is certain: Kong ain't no punk! And then when he finally gets to fight without being encumbered by Miss Darrow, he handles his business. And this Kong has personality. At times he's a monster; at times, he's a big hairy kid. There is one scene that was unintentionally funny to me; Kong and Ann are sitting atop the Empire State Building enjoying a sunrise right before the biplanes arrive for the final showdown. Ann is sitting in his hand, and I kept expecting Kong to clutch Ann and say, Gollum style, "My precious!". Well, it was funny to me at the time.

The love story between Jack Driscoll (Adrian Brody) and Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts) is pretty understated, which was good. I think that subplot seriously weakened the '76 film. Here, it's shown just enough to make you understand why Brody goes to the lengths he does to save Ann. The eventual "relationhip" between Ann and Kong is also well played, and never strays into the realm of the unbelievable (assuming of course that you can believe in a 25-foot ape and an island full of dinosaurs to begin with). The genuineness of their relationship gives the denoument its power to punch you in the gut and bring you (not me, of course!) to tears.

The inclusion of the famous deleted scene involving giant insects and a ravine was a masterful stroke. Kudos, Mr. Jackson. I just wish you'd not felt the need to invoke God's name in the manner you did those two times.

A special thanks to Country Girl for hosting the viewing party and to Mr. Country Girl and Tman for feeding us. Daily Notion and Diamonds on the Inside rounded out our group. I hadn't done the group movie night thing in a while; I need to rectify that. Who's up for War of the Worlds?

The Husband Store

A store that sells husbands has just opened in New York City, where a woman may go to choose a husband. Among the instructions at the entrance is a description of how the store operates. You may visit the store ONLY ONCE !

There are six floors and the attributes of the men increase as the Shopper ascends the flights. There is, however, a catch… you may choose any man from a particular floor, or you may choose to go up a floor, but you cannot go back down except to exit the building! So, a woman goes to the Husband Store to find a husband . .

On the first floor the sign on the door reads:

Floor 1 - These men have jobs and love the Lord.

The second floor sign reads:

Floor 2 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, and love kids.

The third floor sign reads:

Floor 3 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, and are extremely good looking.

"Wow," she thinks, but feels compelled to keep going. She goes to the fourth floor and the sign reads:

Floor 4 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, are drop- dead good looking and help with the housework. "Oh, mercy me!" she exclaims, "I can hardly stand it!"

Still, she goes to the fifth floor and sign reads:

Floor 5 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, are drop- dead gorgeous, help with the housework, and have a strong romantic streak.

She is so tempted to stay, but she goes to the sixth floor and the sign reads:

Floor 6 - You are visitor 4,363,012 to this floor. There are no men on This floor. This floor exists solely as proof that women are impossible to please. Thank you for shopping at the Husband Store. Watch your step as you exit the building, and have a nice day!

Random brilliance thoughts

It’s the ultimate tale of unrequited love! It has everything – beautiful female lead, strong male lead, and a love so strong it reaches across geographic, language, and species barriers! That’s right boys and girls – King Kong is out on DVD today!!! I foresee a DVD purchase in my future. I may as well get the original 1933 version. I think I’ll pass on the tripe that was the 1976 version w/ Jessica Lange and Jeff Bridges, and a man in a bad gorilla suit. Oh yeah, here are some random pix of the boys.



Random Stuff:

The McNairs and kids are nice people. Mrs. McNair reminds me A LOT of her sister R in L.A.

I feel like I'm spinning my wheels. I need to get out of the rut I've been in for the past 3-4 years. (I wonder if there's any connection b/t this feeling and me being in school?)

I want my kids to be musical. I looked at a set of drums, an 88-key keyboard, and an electric bass (for me) today.

UNC's Lady Tar Heels just beat my other favorite team to advance to the Final Four. I imagine Baton Rouge is off the hook right now with both their teams advancing.

I eat far too often when I'm not actually hungry. You can guess what's going to happen the the pizza leftovers at home when I get there.

When my boys were about 2, the docs told us that Jalen projected to be about 6'4" when fully grown, and Nick about 6'6". I'm guess I should scrap the books and teach them to jump, shoot, and dribble. Or I could give them cigarettes and have them end up about 5'8". I hope Noah doesn't end up being the runt of the litter - but then, someone's gotta be.

Anybody got some good credit they want to lend me?

I'll take those shiny shirts, Karl

I've got to stop letting my wife buy me clothes.

LSU 62, Duke 54

Interesting opinion by Michael Behe here, the author of "Darwin's Black Box", and a critic of Darwinian evolution. This particular article is about the filtering of scientific data through the materialistic worldview of most scientists.

Nick's hair didn't turn out to be very curly. As a matter of fact, it doesn't look very different at all. I guess a trip to the barber is now in order.

At least it's not a Jheri

My son is about to get an S-Curl. Fifteen years after they were popular. This should be interesting. At least it should eliminate the crying when we comb his hair. He's determined to let it grow long enough to be braided. Coincidentally, he first expressed his desire to get his hair braided around the time the M.R.S. braided his little brothers. Hmmmm....

Noah had his adenoids removed today. He's been asleep for most of the day, but now he appears to be back to his old self. Hopefully this will allow him to breathe through his nose now, and get rid of the Darth Vader-like breathing. I guess I should prepare to watch some hoops now. See ya after Dook goes down!

Random title that has nothing to do with the post

Nothing much going on here.  Waiting for the NCAA tourney to kick back into high gear Thursday.  I expect Duke to go down at some point this weekend.  Right now I’m on the UConn bandwagon.  As for the women’s tourney, I feel cheated – they have UNC and the Lady Vols in the same bracket.  If they both win out, they’ll have to play each other BEFORE the Final Four.  The ACC might get 3 teams in the Final Four – that would be impressive even though I don’t relish the thought of the Lady Blue Devils being there.  Anyhoo, it’s off to read some scientific mumbo-jumbo Infinity style.  Ciao!

Oh yeah – I think the M.R.S. is about to join the blogosphere.  She set it up last night, so maybe she’ll start posting soon.  I’m not on blogger right now so I haven’t linked to her yet, but her URL will be shonta77.blogspot.com.  Sayonara.

Oxen in a ditch

So I go outside to load the truck and go to services. I notice the truck appears to have a pronounced lean. "No way," I say. "Not today. Not as I'm trying to get to services to give my first sermonette!" Sure enough, when I get to the truck I see the front tire on the passenger side is flatter than a pancake. I have a can of Fix-a-Flat, so I decide to use that instead of changing the tire. That way I can get to services and handle the tire later. The can recommends that the valve stem be at the 4:00 or 8:00 position. I decide to back the car up a little bit to get the valve stem in the right position. I put the key in the ignition and turn. Nothing happens. I turn it again. I get a clicking noise, but no ignition. So I have a flat tire AND a dead battery? "No way. Not today. Not now." Well, I guess I can take the time to change the tire now. In my suit and white shirt, might I add.

I own a Chevy Blazer. The jack and lug wrench are in a compartment in the back of the truck. I go to open the hatch and BOO-YAH! Nothing happens. (?!?!?!?!) Now I have to climb over the back seat to drag out the equipment I need. Great. As I'm finally changing the tire, the M.R.S. calls our uncle to see if he can come give us a boost. He's working. Great. Anyway, our next-door neighbor comes home as I'm finishing up changing the tire and offers to boost us off. At first, nothing happens. Just as I'm starting to think the problem is with the alternator or the starter, the Blazer starts up. Yes!!!! We pile into the vehicle, pull off, and hightail it down the road. We have to stop to put a little air into the spare, and hightail it some more until we get to services. Thirty minutes late. No sermonette para mi! Luckily I remembered to call our elder when I first noticed the tire was flat and other arrangements had been made. So now I've got a reprieve until the end of the month. At least the sermonette's ready.

I guess the church wasn't ready for some "new truth"!

Gary, if you read this, we'll be seeing your uncle Rod next week.

Cotton: The other white meat

Thanks for all the well wishes and the cyber- group hug after my meeting/presentation. It went fairly well. The toughest member of my committee wants me to focus my research more towards answering a particular biological question - trouble is, I haven't come up with one. Oh, I have some things that I'm trying to find out, but he wants me to use the data I'm generating to address something a little more specific. It looks like I'll be taken the written portion of my qualifying exams in mid-to-late April, and my NSF grant proposal that I'll defend orally will be due at that time as well. Then again, this may not happen until July; it depends on when my 4th committee member can fly in from Washington State. Anyway, this is where the rubber meets the road; I expect to be doing a lot of lab work, data analysis, and studying for the next few months. I'm treating this sort of as my "last hurrah" weekend... *sigh*

Now I've gotta go and pull a Manuel B. Yes, that's an inside joke.

Must... resist... darkside...

I was flipping through the channels last night when I saw this band on our local PBS station.  I stopped because I thought it was Alison Krauss & Union Station, but I was wrong.  Before I knew it though, I’d spent about half an hour watching them perform!  The band was Rhonda Vincent & Rage.  Anybody out there in the blogosphere heard of them?  They were absolutely fantastic – particularly the banjo player and the fiddler!  The M.R.S. just shook her head.  I feel I must go listen to some rap to balance things out.  (Don’t worry, none of the hard-core, “gangsta” stuff.  I like rap-lite.)  

So I’ve got a grad committee meeting tomorrow @ 11:00.  I’m working on the Powerpoint presentation now, and it’s coming along quite slowly.  I know they’re gonna rip me apart, but at least it’ll be done by 12:30.  “Why are you taking this approach?”  “What biological questions are you trying to address?”  Yadda,yadda, yadda…  I also plan to schedule my written & oral comprehensive exams for sometime in April.  I guess I need to check my calendar and see when the Holy Days are again.  Then if – IF – I pass, I will officially be a PhD candidate.  After that, it’s just a matter of finishing up my research, writing up my dissertation, defending it (i.e., get ripped by my committee again)  and getting’ on through.  Wish a brotha luck.  Better yet, join me a prayer or two!  I have a feeling I’m gonna need a group hug tomorrow.

What happens in TN stays in TN

Chattanooga has been a blast! We missed the Bible study last night because it took us 5 hours to get here instead of the expected 3-3.5. Apparently the roads were especially dangerous yesterday - we were stuck behind 3 separate accidents on 285 and I-75. We finally arrived around 8:40, just as the Bible study was winding up. We checked into our hotel and as expected ran into brethren in the hall. We were starving by this point, so we walked down the street to City Cafe. Once inside, we ran into Juan, Jason, Rebekah, Leif, and Camille and shot the breeze for a minute before making our way to our seat. The diner had quite an impressive selection of food: fried appetizers, spinach & queso, fajitas, quesidillas, breakfast, Greek food, Italian dishes, and the LARGEST desserts I've ever seen. Since we were starving, of course we ordered too much food. Our server gave the M.R.S. a glass of wine, a humungous slice of strawberry cheesecake, and a chocolate chip cookie the size of Cuba (for Nick) on the house. We eventually waddled back down the street and turned in for the evening.

Did I mention the diner had a full bar?

Sabbath services were wonderful. Mr. League gave the sermon, filled with a lot of good advice. I couldn't tell you what the overall theme of the sermon was, but it was interesting nonetheless. Mr. Fritts and the choir sang a beautiful song for special music; "God Chose Us" by Paul Williams. I think there were 90 people at the Bible study, but there were at least 200 present for services. Tennessee, Atlanta, and Blairsville (GA) were well represented; I also met brethren from Laurel (MS), New York/New Jersey (including someone whose blog I read on occasion), L.A., Dallas, Charlotte, Bluefield (WV), Birmingham, and a surprise visitor from our congregation in Anderson. Most everyone stayed for the dance as well. I'm not really a dancer, but I got on the floor once or twice - once to do some incredibly difficult dance called the Bunny Hop.

I don't know what tomorrow holds. Juan is trying to put together a basketball game. I think Marshall M. a ball, shorts, sneaks, AND a jersey (?) just in case he stumbled in to a pick-up game. I'll give Juan a call in the morning to see what's up. If that falls through, we might hit the IMAX or the aquarium down the street - or we might check out the new aquarium in Atlanta. They DO have whale sharks and belugas.

To top it off, we made it back to the room just in time to see my beloved
Tar Heels spoil Senior night for JJ Redick and the boys in Cameron indoor stadium. Life is great!

I-85 to I-75 to I-74

Day 1 of the Couch-to-5K program went well. I wanted to keep on going since I didn't even work up a sweat. How am I going to find time to run this weekend? I guess I'll try to squeeze some running in Sunday when I get back from Chattanooga. Do I take the fam to the aquarium in Chattanooga, or do I hit the new one in Atlanta on the way home? The facility in Atlanta has 2 whale sharks that I'm dying to see. If I didn't know any better I'd think the decision has already been made.

I'm really looking forward to this weekend, even though I don't dance. I've contacted a few people from Blairsville and Atlanta who are going. I guess I should book us a room before we get there. How did civilization develop without the internet? I need to stick Post-it notes all over our hotel room reminding me that services will be at 10:30 Sabbath morning instead of the 2 p.m. that I'm used to. I do hate that I'm going to miss Dr. Doug Winnail's visit to our local congregation this week. *sigh*

Oh well, the Sandman beckons. G'night folks!

98.6

Now I know how the Martians felt in the original War of the Worlds.  It’s amazing how quickly a virus can bring one down!  I felt the attack coming on Friday night, and tried to fend it off with by taking Airborne and sucking on Vitamin C lozenges.  Didn’t work.  Like MJ dropping 38 on Utah while battling the flu, I manned up and made the arduous trek to my parents’ home after church.  Once there I pretty much spent Sunday and most of Monday in a horizontal position.  One benefit of being sick is that it’s a great kick-starter for a weight-loss regimen.  Anyway, now I’m all better and should be my normal self at church tomorrow (look out world!).  Nick and I are going to watch John Huston’s “The Bible” tonite, which covers the first 22 books or so of Genesis.  I remember watching this late one nite as a kid.  From what I remember, it covers creation, Asam & Eve, Noah, Sodom and Gomorrah, and Abraham & Isaac.  I remember being scared when Lot’s wife turned into the pillar of salt.  Should be fun!

No, really, I'm not complaining!

So I was lying around yesterday thinking a comment someone made to me at the Feast. The comment came after some Jamaican brethren (OK, mostly sistren) sang special music. As they sang, they swayed rhythmically back and forth. A friend (who happens to be black), commented on how you never see that. I hadn't really paid it that much attention, as I grew up Baptist, and one sees far more activity than swaying when the choirs really get into it. My friend went on to opine that some in the church would be offended by the swaying of the choir. At first, I didn't agree, but after giving the matter some thought I think my buddy might be correct. How many things are frowned upon because of cultural differences and not for scriptural reasons? For example, many brethren listen to classical music on the Sabbath. I do too - but I also listen to instrumental jazz. I don't know if I'd break out the jazz while other brethren were visiting unless I knew for certain they wouldn't be uncomfortable.

Take our hymns, for instance. I like the way they're written, and I love the arrangements for almost all of them - but I don't think that they will be sung the way their written now by every nation. You can click on the album name to hear a snippet of "Praise the Eternal". Some nations will "jazz them up" a certain way, and some nations will jazz them up in other ways,IMHO. Is that wrong? I think there are going to be noticeable differences between services in Lagos, Auckland, and Jerusalem. I think God will revel in the different flavors His worship will take among the various peoples of the world. Of course, the aspects of each culture that is counter to God's way of life must be discerned and removed. I have a CD (somewhere) by Chris Jasper, a former member of the Isley Brothers. Apparently he attended WCG for a time in the late 80s or early 90s. Anyway, his CD "Praise the Eternal" contains his versions of the title track and "Holy Mighty Majesty". I happen to like his versions, but I imagine his renditions would border on sacrilege for some.

I heard there were some naysayers a few years back when a male ensemble performed a contemporary gospel song for special music at another Feast site ("Awesome God", I believe it was). The problem was not the lyrics of the song - but the way the song was performed. I remember there being some miffed brethren at a Feast in Panama City a few years back when a guy performed a sax solo of "Amazing Grace" for special music. Now, I understand that "Amazing Grace" probably made those people uncomfortable because of its association with mainstream religion. That's understandable, I guess, considering most people in the church want to distance themselves from mainstream religions as much as possible. Still, I thought some of the reactions I heard were a bit extreme. But hey, what do I know?

Anyway, I'm rambling. I'm going to make a more concerted effort to ask myself when I see something I think is wrong: "Do I think this thing/action/idea/attitude is wrong because it is - or because it's different than the what I would do?" If I can't determine that whatever it is is wrong according to the Bible, then I guess I have some work to do on myself.

PS: Liking Bob Dylan's or Dave Matthews' singing SHOULD be frowned upon! I'm sure there's a Scripture in there somewhere that covers that.

... here comes baby sans baby carriage

Apparently our cousin was a wee bit more than 7 months pregnant.  She had her fist prenatal visit this morning.  She’s now in the hospital, dilated  cm.  There should be a new member of the fam tonight or tomorrow morning.  Whoa.

Edit: He's here! Seven lbs, 3 oz. Born sometime around 9:45-10:00.

More Nickisms

Overheard by me after Nick's class visited a local nursing home:

The M.R.S.: Nick, what did your class do at the nursing home?
Nick: We gave out flowers.
M.R.S: Did they say thank you?
Nick: No ma'am. They were too old.

Convo @ Ruby Tuesdays. We were sitting beside a map of the United States.

Nick: Daddy, it shouldn't take us long to get to Florida.
Me: Really? Why not?
Nick: Because all we have to do is drive through Gorilla and we're there!
Me: Gorilla? You mean Georgia?
Nick: Is that what that says?

For Desiree

1. Name: Michael Bernard Palmer
2. Birthday: 8/4/70
3. Place of residence: Clemson, SC
4. What makes you happy: Making my wife/kids laugh
5. What are you listening to now/have listened to last: Classic Soul/Motown Sound (AOL Radio)
6. Do you read my LJ and be truthful about it: Yes, Desiree, I do. Quite often.
7. If you do, what is particularly good/bad about it: It's always entertaining. Sometimes funny, sometimes not so. But it's always a compelling read.
8. An interesting fact about you: I almost made it to the National Spelling Bee twice (before it was televised on ESPN)
9. Are you in love/have a crush at the moment: Madly
10. Favourite place to be: Panama City, FL @ Feast time
11. Favourite lyric: "I've got sunshine on a cloudy day..."
12. Best time of the year: Summer! Long days, not cold!
13. Weirdest food you like: Chicken Feet (stewed, of course)
14. Do farts make you laugh: Depends on whether I'm the flatulatee or the flatulator.

RECOMMEND
1. A film: National Treasure
2. A book: Island of the Blue Dolphins, Roots
3. A band, a song and an album:
Band: The Temptations
Song: "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" by Isaac Hayes
Album: Emperors of Soul (5-disc compilation of the Temptations)

PLUS1. One thing you like about me: Your humor, sarcasm, and the love you extend to my boy. OK, so that's 3 things.
2. Two things you like about yourself: That's hard... Maybe my height and my taste in women. *That should secure me some brownie points with the M.R.S.*
3. Put this in your LJ so I can tell you what I think of you, which most of you won't.
4. POST A PICTURE OF yourself

Family ties.

I went to a funeral on my wife's side of the family Wednesday. The deceased family member was very respected and loved in the community and by the family. A great deal of care went into sending him out in style. After the graveside service, the family ate at the church and then everyone eventually ended up at my wife's grandma's place (she's the sister of the deceased). Within 4-5 hours of the covering of the casket the following things were witnessed:

1. A BIG argument (and near fistfight) between one of the deceased's sisters, 2 nieces, and the wife of one of the deceased's brothers. The argument was triggered by long-simmering animosity toward the sister-in-law, and by tacky comments she was overheard making at the funeral.

2. The dissolution of the marriage of said brother and sister-in-law. You can almost pinpoint the exact moment of fracture.

3. A near argument involving the who was taking home which particular flowers left over from the funeral. Did I mention all the flowers in question were identical, except for one pot held a slightly larger flower?

4. An announcement by one of the teen members of the family that she is pregnant. Seven months pregnant to be exact.

I guess this trumps the almost-fistfight between my mom's oldest brother (67) and one of her sisters (56) at a dinner for my Grandma last September. At least I could blame that one on excessive alcohol consumption.

Hot Buttered Sole

So Saturday night I was at Longhorn's steakhouse with the usual eat-out crew (minus a few)and it was quite crowded. We waited about an hour for a table, and I took up my usual spot on the end, right beside the high chair. Nick and Noah fell asleep while we waited, but by this time Nick was wide awake and in full "I want chicken fingers and root beer" mode. Noah ws still unconscious however, lying on his back across my lap. Eventually we get our food - for me, grilled chicken breasts smothered with portabella mushrooms, asparagus, and melted provolone cheese, along with a baked potato with butter and sour cream. *mouth watering at the memory* Anyway, just as I dug in, Noah woke up and began to thrash. Before I could secure him and sit him upright, UP went his right leg and then (in what seemed to be slow motion) DOWN came his right leg right on the table. My son's shoe landed smack-dab in the middle of my baked potato. His shoe was covered in sour cream and (now) mashed potato. Nothing like a little faux leather and dirt to improve one's dinner. At least I provided comic relief for the table across from us. I thought the girl who saw the whole thing was gonna spit her beer on her date.

Richard Kiel, what hath thee wrought?

There's a relatively new song out now on the airwaves by Nelly and some other rappers extolling the virtues of having a tricked-out mouth. Rappers Paul Wall, Lil John, and Baby, or Birdman, of Cash Money records are extremely proud of their platinum and diamond-encrusted dental work - Mr. Wall in particular. I don't think I've ever seen a photo of him with his mouth closed.



Perhaps I could bolster my image by donning precious metals in my oral cavity. I've found several styles which match my personality. Perhaps you, dear reader, can help me decide. Come to think of it, my new grill could double as a retirement plan. As I accrue wealth, I could bling more & more teeth. When I reach retirement age, I can just cash in my dentures. I'm liking the sound of that...



I'd be remiss if I didn't give credit to the first to sport the metallic grin. Honor to whom honor is due and whatnot.



Jaws, all dentists, orthodontists, and jewelers salute you.

No grits or sweet tea to be found.

It's been a long week. San Diego was great, thanks to brethren and my labmates. We arrived in SD around 6:00 Friday evening. It sure gets dark early in CA. Their sunset is about 30-35 minutes earlier than here. After arriving at my hotel, I unpacked (something I NEVER do) and ate a solitary dinner at the restaurant on-site. Afterwards, I read some in Psalms and passed out.

Sabbath morning I had a leisurely breakfast at the same restaurant, and made contact with Joe, my ride to services. Services were great, as usual. Mr. Way gave a sermon on the 9th commandment. After services I met his family, as well as everyone I didn't meet before services. We ended up being among the last to leave, and I rode with a professional shuttle driver to the Young's place in Crest. There we had a festive meal of green and red enchiladas and taco salad. There was lots of stimulating conversation about various aspects of our beliefs. Mostly, I listened, which is what I tend to do around people I'm just getting to know. My new shuttle-driving friend gave me a lift back to the hotel around midnight, and once again I passed out.

Sunday was my busy day. I attended the Cotton Workshop and the International Cotton Genome Initiative meetings, and managed to stay awake the entire time. I was a little worried about that b/c I ate a huge liver and onions dinner immediately before the meetings began. Later that night my old boss at Clemson took a group of us out to dinner. It was basically people who'd worked for him at Clemson and people who now work for him in Arizona. There were other scientists there as well; people with whom he'd collaborated at one time or another. There were about 30 of us altogether. I recommend the Old Town Mexican Cafe if you're ever in SD. Did I mention that I was almost late to the meeting b/c I was watching the end of the Pittsburgh/Indy game? That was one of the most exciting 4th quarters I've ever seen. Poor Peyton. I really wanted him to win and shed the "can't win a big game label." It's getting harder to defend him though.

Monday was the day I had to stand by my poster. I basically found out that my data looked like crap. I mean, it would've been considered good if I was using poly-acrylamide, but since I was using agarose the marker bands should've looked more crisp and with less background. Enough of that. We hit the Cheesecake Factory after that with some lab-mates and then I came home and passed out.

Tuesday was a free day for me. We went on a 3-hour whale watching tour that morning and saw quite a few California gray whales, along with pelicans, sea lions, and dolphins. It was quite a trip - until I ate the Hebrew National and got a little queasy. Once I hit the bay though, I was fine. The guys went to tour this WWII aircraft (the Midway), while a couple of the gals went kayaking. The aircraft carrier was cool - even though I felt like I was in a submarine inside it. We eventually found ourselves in Pacific Beach, which is in La Jolla, I believe. I eventually made it home and passed out.

It was kinda fun this year not being the only one from the lab at a conference. I guess it's back to the daily grind now. I think I'll have another glass of wine and then go pass out.

Pulling an Annette...

For the geek in you... This is the poster I'm taking to the Plant & Animal Genome Conference in San Diego tomorrow. Helloooo Cheesecake Factory!

I'm supposed to be in San Antonio...

I can't begin to imagine the anguish the people of Tallmansville, WV must feel. After being twisting in the wind as to the fate of the miners trapped 260 feet underground, the families and friends of the trapped miners were euphoric after being told that 12 of the 13 miners were alive. According to an article I read on Worldnetdaily, and according to statements given on Anderson Cooper's show, officials knew within twenty minutes that this information was inaccurate, yet did not inform the families of the true status of the trapped miners for 3 hours. With the 12 deaths, then the added pain caused by the inaccurate information, I sense a major class-action lawsuit in the future.

I just heard Ariel Sharon has had a brain hemorrhage. Didn't he have a light stroke last week? I wonder how things will change in Israeli/Palestinian relations with the advent of a new Prime Minister. I wonder if Netanyahu will regain the office.

USC & Texas are starting to pick up steam now. The fourth quarter promises to be a dandy.

Dear Coach Bowden:

Please recruit kickers like you recruit for the other positions.

Sincerely,

FSU fan watching Penn State celebrate after we missed an extra point and 2 field goals

PS: I don't blame you, Mr. Cismesia. I know you didn't miss intentionally .

Sell-out...

... or Convert? I just bought an Alison Krauss CD from Cracker Barrel.

And Kansas City is out for the kid.

And I still haven't seen King Kong.

Nick-isms

Comment from Nick as we’re sitting around the dinner table munching on homemade nachos:

“Umm, this is good!  Mama you’re a good cooker!  I’m gonna be a good cooker too when I grow up and get a job.”

“Daddy, when I grow up, who’s gonna be my grandparents?  And who’s going to be my mommy and daddy?”

You gotta love kids.

Power to the People

Several of the local brethren are without power tonight after an ice storm passed through. Luckily we weren't affected, though the dogwood tree in our yard was a casualty. We stopped by the Brooks' to find them sitting in the dark around a kerosene heater. Did I mention the giant redwood that was blocking their driveway? I'll let TMan tell yall about that. Greenville, Williamston, and Anderson were hit harder than Clemson, apparently. I know that Country Girl is without power, but her mom has electricity. I don't know about the Greenville brethren, or the Hughes, Higgingbotham, and Wakefield families. The Burdettes are OK too.

Potluck sure oughta be interesting tomorrow. I foresee lots of cold cuts and peanut butter sandwiches.

1 Little 2Little 3 Resurrections...

Hey - the Recover post link really works!

Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Rev 20:11-13, NKJV

This past Sabbath we heard a sermon from Rod King on Resurrections. I enjoy this type of sermon for a few reasons: 1) It shows God's incredible love and mercy in insuring that ALL humanity will have a chance to choose to receive His offer of salvation; 2) The Scriptures we covered are great for reviewing a "trunk of the tree" church doctrine; and 3) It helps me look forward to the day when I will see my daughter again.

Daughter? What daughter?

The M.R.S. and I had a daughter, Kierra Nicole, on August 13, 1997 during the sixth month of pregnancy. She didn't survive, but she didn't suffer either. She never took a breath. I can remember holding her tiny body in my hand; she was soooo small. I remember her perfectly formed hands and feet, and the fact that she had my nose. We had a little funeral for her, and I really remember only two things from that day: my mother-in-law bringing in a dress from a doll, because that was the only thing that would fit Kierra, and I remember her casket. It was about the size of one of my shoeboxes. The sight of the miniature coffin amidst the normal gravestones was incredibly surreal. It was almost like I was outside of my body watching the goings-on from afar. The M.R.S. took it pretty hard, but we've both recovered pretty well, I think. Forgive me for piggybacking on something the Burdette girls mentioned a while ago, but it's scary when I realize how infrequently I think of her. And I feel guilt also; not only don't I think of her enough, I remember how bummed out I was initially over the pregnancy and how inconvenient the pregnancy was to my life. So much for not being selfish and callous. But boy, am I gonna make it up to her! I'm going to be the daddy of daddies to her. I look forward to seeing and raising my little girl. Of course, I'll let mommy love her too. And change her diapers.

And just as uplifting is knowing that all who have lost children, parents, friends, and lovers will see them again as well. Think of the mistakes we've all made in relationships with others; people you've left on bad terms, never to see them again. People you've loved whom you hurt in one way or another. People we weren't able to help whose problems cost them their lives. Think of how good it will be to be able to help them; to repair damaged relationships; to be able to help them achieve the happiness which is available for all. God speed that day!

Moving

Don't you love it? I came home Monday to find a notice from Family Housing. The University is shutting down our complex due to the rising operating/maintenance costs. It appears that some of the underground oil tanks are leaking, and must be dug up along with any contaminated soil. So far they've tested 7 of the duplexes, and found 2 oil tanks to be leaking. They had to dig 75 feet down to remove all the contaminated soil from the first duplex, which damaged the foundation and forced the demolition of the unit. The second duplex is scheduled to be demolished this month; it's leak did not descend as far as the first one but covered a larger area. According to figures shown at the "town" meeting last night, it cost Housing ~$360,000 to take care of the first duplex; the second is expected to cost about $150,000. There are also 36 townhouse units which need sprinkler units to be brought up to university standards. This is expected to cost another $150,000. It's estimated that to keep these facilities going would require us to pay more than $300 additional bucks per month in rent. They realized that isn't feasible, so they're shutting the units down. There are 98 families living here, and many of us went to a "town" meeting last night to hear from the Director of Housing. Needless to say, there was quite a bit of anger directed at her. I felt sorry for the lady. Anyhoo, we all have until June 30, 2006 to find new cribs. At least we have 6 months. So Tman, what are you doing around the end of June/beginning of July? lol

Thanksgiving weekend

The M.R.S. and kids


Tryptophan.


Me and my neice Ashleigh


Nick, Ash, and cousin Queen


My older brother Ronnie with his neice and nephews


Cosa Nostra

H.G. & Me

I’ve been skimming H.G. Wells’ The Outline of History (yes, THAT H.G. Wells) and came across some interesting passages.  I thought I’d share them with you.  The italicized comments are Mr. Wells’ – the rest are mine.  

We shall tell what men have believed about Jesus of Nazareth, but him we shall treat as being what he appeared to be, a man, just as a painter must needs paint him as a man.  The documents that testify to his acts and teachings we shall treat as ordinary human documents…  This is what we have already done in the case of Buddha, and what we shall do later with Muhammad. (Outline of history, page 497)

We are left, if we do strip this record of these difficult accessories (the great star that brought wise men, the massacre of the male infant children, the flight into Egypt, etc.) with the figure of a being, very human, very earnest and passionate, capable of swift anger, and teaching a new and simple and profound doctrine – namely, the universal loving Fatherhood of God and the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven… (page 498)

Now it is a matter of fact that in the gospels all that body of theological assertion which constitutes Christianity finds little support.  There is, as the reader may see for himself, no clear and emphatic assertion in these books of the doctrines which Christian teachers of all denominations find generally necessary to salvation…  …There is no evidence that the apostles of Jesus ever heard of the Trinity – at any rate from him.  The observance of the Jewish Sabbath, again, transferred to the Mithraic Sun-day, is an important feature of many Christian cults; but Jesus deliberately broke the Sabbath, and said that it was made for man and not man for the Sabbath.  Nor did he say a word about the worship of his mother Mary, in the guise of Isis, the Queen of Heaven.  All that is most characteristically Christian in worship and usage, he ignored.  Sceptical[sic] writers have had the temerity to deny that Jesus can be called a Christian at all… (page 499)

As remarkable is the enormous prominence given by Jesus to the teaching of what he called the Kingdom of Heaven, and its comparative insignificance in the procedure and teaching of most of the Christian churches…This doctrine of the Kingdom of Heaven, which was the main teaching of Jesus, and which plays so small a part in the Christian creeds, is certainly one of the most revolutionary doctrines that ever stirred and changed human thought… (page 499)

During this indefinite time (the first two centuries A.D) a considerable amount of a sort of theocrasia seems to have gone on between the Christian cult and the almost equally popular and widely diffused Mithraic cult, and the cult of Serapis-Isis-Horus.  From the former it would seem the Christians adopted Sun-day as their chief day of worship instead of the Jewish Sabbath, the abundant use of candles in religious ceremonies, the legend of the adoration by the shepherds, and probably also those ideas and phrases, so distinctive of certain sects to this day, about being “washed in the blood” of Christ, and of Christ being a blood sacrifice…  The contributions of the Alexandrine cult to Christian thought and practices were even more considerable.  In the personality of Horus, who was at once the son of Serapis and identical with Serapis, it wa natural for the Christians to find an illumination analogue in their struggles with the Pauline mysteries.  From that to the identification of Mary with Isis, and her elevation to a rank quasi-divine… was also a very natural step.  Natural, too, was it for Christianity to adopt, almost insensibly, the practical methods of the popular religions of the time.  Its priests took on the head-shaving and the characteristic garments of the Egyptian priests, because that sort of thing seemed to be the right way of distinguishing a priest.  One accretion followed another.  Almost insensibly the originally revolutionary teaching was buried under these customary acquisitions… (pages 512-513)

Jesus called himself the Son of God and also the Son of Man; but he laid little stress on who he was or what he was, and much upon the teachings of the Kingdom… (page 514)

Mr. Wells certainly did not share the COG view of who and what Jesus was, nor did he have the same understanding of the Kingdom of Heaven – but it’s interesting that he could see that that was the thrust of Jesus’ message while here on earth.

Blue-eyed devil?

My wife is convinced she’s married to a white man – although she’s the one with the pointy nose, thin lips, and green eyes.  This belief is most often vocalized when I’m singing along with those country and 70s AM Gold compilations you see offered on television at 1 in the morning.  Hey I can’t help it if my musical tastes cover several different genres.  I tell her she doesn’t have anything to worry about until I come home and start singing bluegrass tunes.  Incidentally, I DID almost but an Allison Krause and Union Station CD when I stopped by Cracker Barrel yesterday.  Almost.  Maybe she should start to worry now…

I had to make an impromptu trip to Anderson yesterday, and while I was there I stopped by the Ridgeway’s sign company.  I ended up staying there for about an hour and met several of the people who work there.  It’s kinda odd seeing people you know socially  in a professional environment.  All is I know is if I ever need a sign made, they’ll be the people I turn to.  I even got to chat with Caesar the iguana for a while.  Reptiles are sooo cool.  Patti was surprised to find out that I wanted to be a herpetologist at one time.  I wanted to curate a reptile exhibit in a major zoo or in a natural history museum.  And here I am working with cotton.  Go figure.

It was quite a pleasure seeing Desiree this past week.  Nick didn’t want her to return to California.  It was also nice to see Tom, as well as the other visitors we had at services.  Mafia was a pretty fun game.  I’ve just got to remember not to be taken in by Summer’s sad “y’all are pickin’ on me” faces.  Mr. B., you would’ve put Johnny Cochran to shame in a courtroom.

I’m really considering skipping the San Antonio conference and driving to KC.  What do I do?  The San Diego trip in mid-January is a done deal though.  Got my tix and everything…  Nothing beats San Diego in January man, absolutely nothing.  Except eating Pot Stickers at the Cheesecake Factory for lunch in San Diego in January.   One of my co-workers wants us all to go whale watching while we’re there.  Sounds cool to me.

One other thing I learned while in Anderson yesterday:   it’s amazing just how much of a guy’s crack can be exposed to the world and him be completely unaware of it.  And that’s all I have to say about that.

Incredible.

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