North Carolina

After visiting Maine it was just a quick flight to visit Camilla in North Carolina where she is doing her PhD. We met up with friends --Bradley and Shalayne -- and met some new ones --Kristi and Emily. We went to Duke (a couple times), the Berkeley Plantation, and Colonial Williamsburg. I enjoyed my time with my wonderful and loving friends so much. I'm so blessed.

Maine

I went to Maine with my coworkers, Jon and Ais, for a DBT conference. The conference was great and in the evenings we got to sight see -- and eat! Maine is gorgeous, idyllic, quaint. I could see myself there.

Mads Peder Rasmussen

I've been getting more and more into my family history, trying to verify information that I've gotten. Today I was looking up some records and found a PHOTO of my paternal great-great grandfather, Mads Peder Rasmussen (1836-1887). Here he is.

Poetry

The Blur (who studies this sort of thing) says that the feeling of belonging in families comes from folklore of the family, the stories we share. In my family, if you are going away for a while we always say, "I'll miss you most of all, Scarecrow." When eating onion, my childhood "surprise over onion rings containing actual onions" must be recited for the general benefit. Or we might discuss my married-with-five-children brother's teenage make-out session with the fabled Tracy Ramirez, who was seen just once and never heard of again. Did they make out? That wasn't an important part of the story -- the truck, leaving the family reunion, and Eric Murdock were the pivotal points. But you get the idea behind the idea of stories.

In my family, my grandma little sayings and rhymes -- as well as her abnormal supply of Werthers, Tic-Tacs, and Dove chocolates -- are iconic and part of our family folklore. Before I knew it was a song I knew:

I love you/ a bushel and a peck/ a bushel and a peck/ a bushel and a peck/ and a hug around your neck/ a hug around your neck and a barrel and a heap/ a barrel and a heap and I'm talkin' in my sleep about you

She'll break out poems and sayings given any appropriate moment. I remember running through rain, reciting "I'm not sugar or sweet or nobody's honey, so I won't melt."

It was my birthday a couple days ago (Happy Birthday to me). Gram called me three times in the morning and once in the evening to wish me a happy birthday, because she couldn't remember she'd called. But get her going on her poems and she's got it all going on. For instance, a couple months ago, at my great-uncle's funeral, she popped out these two diddies, which I quickly wrote down.

From the time you're born

Till you ride the hearse

Nothing's so bad

That couldn't be worse

In my little garden bed

Raked so nicely over

First the tiny seeds I sow

Then with soft earth cover

Shining down, the great round sun

Smiles upon it often

Little raindrops, pattering down

Help the seeds to soften

Then the little plant awakes!

Down the roots go creeping

Up it lifts its little head

Through the brown earth peeping

Higher, higher still it grows

Through the summer hours

Till some happy day the buds

Open into flowers

Family members, what are you favorites from Gram?

Don't you feel closer, now?

Star Struck No More

After being all too star-stuck, I finally got the photos (with my niece Lou) I'd been long dying for. After a game I had the chance to meet some of the Real players and, in this instance, I dared to talk to them. Note: this was after the game where Javier Morales busted his ankle -- eek.

Will Johnson

Kyle Beckerman

Nat Borchers

Chris Wingert

Blind Spot

When you are running, and even if it's 630 in the am and you haven't seen anyone for a while, always check your blind spot before you spit. Otherwise, a runner will come out of nowhere, determined to pass you by running in your spit spot. Lucky for you, you will be able to catch your spit in your hand.

Helpful Advice

I was perusing a not-to-be-named magazine when I happened upon an interested article explaining various physiological phenomena and what to do about them. I knew I must pass on this helpful advice.

If you get an ice cream headache, you should "slow down when you eat." For chattering teeth, "Get warm! Remove yourself from the cold, add clothing layers (including a hat and gloves) or wrap yourself in a blanket." What about when your stomach growls? "Eat at the first sign of hunger." Head rush when I stand up? "If such dizziness occurs frequently, stand up more slowly." I thought this was all pretty great advice but I had to disagree with the next bit of advice. For itches, the magazine recommended you "simply ignore the feeling to see if it goes away. The more you dwell on an itch, the more bothersome it is likely to be." If I had written this article, I'd had recommended just scratching the itch.

I hope that you have, as I have, received enlightenment about these daily predicaments which have, not doubt, been mysteries.

High School

My 10 year high school reunion is coming up this summer. I gotta say I went to high school with some pretty awesome folks.

Some friends are doing PhDs at places like York University, UNC Chapel Hill, and Duke, to name a few.

I went to high school (and elementary school and junior high) with Susie Brown of the JaneDear Girls.

I hung out with Kiersten White, now a best selling author.

I have a classmate in the FBI, but can't say who on this blog.

Nicole takes care of her son, who has down syndrome, while dealing with her own MS. She is a great mom.

You may remember Sam Burgess, a big-time college basketball player -- yep, I have the elementary school photos to prove it... somewhere.

One former Morp date just got a part as a dancer in Broadway's Rent. Yeah, in New York.

And this is just what I came up with off the top of my head. I'm sure I'll have more stories post-August. I ran with a ueber-talented bunch. That's prolly why I'm so amazing. *Sigh*