never go back

"I saw a Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac, a little voice inside my head said 'you can't go back, you can never go back.'" --Don Henley, The Boys of Summer.

Live everyday in the present and enjoy every aspect of life. Even if life is treating you negatively, you will never be able to go back - so even those aspects become memory sooner rather than later.

An amazing book, an amazing man

I recommend "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch (with Jeffrey Zaslow)! I cannot explain how beautiful and inspiring this book is. A great holiday present, and something us, in academia, probably need to read.

For those who have not heard of the book, Dr. Pausch was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University in PA, who had a part in creating the first virtual reality program, did a sabbatical as a Disney Imagineer, and had a hand in creating the computer programming package, Alice.

For those who have never heard of the book, I recommend visiting the website:

http://www.thelastlecture.com/

As an aside, I think that teaching about dreams and life's lessons does not occur enough in university/college atmospheres any more. Good reading, all!

The Greentree City

So, K-wood is supposed to be the "tree city" of the state; and although they do have laws prohibiting the cutting of trees that are over a certain "age" they will cut down any tree that is relatively new. Go figure...

I woke up this morning to find that the three trees we had in our backyard (of our apt.) were cut to about seven feet in height, thus leaving them looking like some awkward totem pole misplace in a predominately white suburb. So much for natural shade; now we must pay more for our cooling bill.

Since working from home, I have been privy to the types of "goings on" around here. Since this is a bedroom community, no one else is around all day. And so I present the following picture (above). Yes, our tax dollars hard at work. Apparently this is how we roll in K-wood. Go tree cutters!

Happy (Safe) Halloween

Happy Halloween! That is Theron's skeleton photo, I believe it is called x-ray mode on my new phone/camera.
This year, since we had no trick-or-treaters, yet again, we decided to be the traveling candy giver-outers. Yep. We walked around downtown K-wood and handed out candy to all the cute little kids dressed in costumes. Of course, parents were skeptical at first, but when we explained that no one came to our "house" so we went out, they all loved the idea. We only traveled about two blocks from our apartment. Apparently, most kids in K-wood go to the big, old Victorian houses, maybe thinking the size of the house represents the kind and brand of candy given out...? Ha, we asked some "kids" (probably 15-16 years old) what they had gotten and they were not too happy with their Jolly Ranchers and suckers. We gave out whole Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and other brand-name candy, such as Snickers and 3 Musketeers. Needless to say, after about 20 minutes, our candy was gone.
However, we did do our good deed of the day. We came upon a little girl (turned out to have just turned 8 yrs. old) who was crying and running down the sidewalk. We asked what was wrong and she cried that she lost her parents and cousins and didn't know where to go. At first, I thought, well they are probably looking for you too. So we decided to walk around and look for her family. Luckily they had two baby strollers with them, so it was relatively easy to ask other adults if they had seen her family. One family pointed us one way and we went that way and found her relatives. However, much to my surprise/dismay, they didn't CARE that she was lost! They didn't even know it! In fact, when I said, "is this your little girl?" They reprimanded her and said, "where you been?!?" I explained that her older cousins (11 and 9 yrs old!) ran off and left her at someone's house. One of the sisters thanked me. Unfortunately, the little girl started crying again and they told her to "stay with them this time." Apparently not realizing that she was LEFT and didn't merely wander off. This was about 8:00 at night, in the dark, in downtown K-wood, i.e. cars on dark streets. I couldn't believe it. And, she didn't even know her own phone number. She did know her address, but was on the other side of town and noted that her sisters drove to this side of town to trick-or-treat, and she didn't even know where they had parked.

Up until this point, I felt that the sex offender laws for Halloween (i.e., can't have porch light on, cannot trick-or-treat with their own kids, etc.) were ridiculous and served the purpose of making parents' jobs easier (not having to watch their own kids). But, this little girl was clearly the victim of poor parenting. And for that reason, I suppose the sex offender laws so save children. Very odd Halloween!

Rogue Tomato Plant Update

Apparently the plant produces Roma tomoatoes...Crazy!

come a long way...

Wow! I just had a chance to review what I have written since I started this blog. Clearly I have embarked on a new chapter in life, with new hopes and dreams. It is funny how when we are in the thick of things, we may not like it, but we don't want to leave it for the unknown. Luckily for me, this change was in the right direction. However, it is only after struggling for two years, that I am able to tell where it is that I want to go. It is nice not to have a dictator running my life and career, although that person will surely be missed and is thanked for all the life lessons taught while under his tutelage. All is (now) good.

"momma, momma, many years have gone, since I first left home."
--Greatful Dead, "Brokedown Palace"

Something's in the air...

well, some free form this morning, since my body decided to wake up at 6 am, for no apparent reason. Maybe it's Gustav in the air, (we have been having high winds and rain from the hurricane, now turned tropical storm). My dog has been on edge yesterday and today too...hmmmm, another earthquake maybe?

School and work are going so much better now that I don't work for "the man" anymore. although it defiantly had its perks, I am in a better position for me, now. I am excited everyday I wake up to be able to work on things that are important to me. Thank goodness, I was really hoping this would come soon in my career.

And, for the end, a nice little creativity that has been bugging me for the last few days. Here goes...

The Rogue Tomato Plant

Within the city of asphalt and concrete,
between two slabs of an alley,
a tomato plant thrives.
In a bed of weeds and wildflowers,
it popped its head up one summer morn,
and with no help, but from nature,
the little thing grew.
From where did this come, one wonders.
Surely no one snuck up at night
to pop a seed into the ground
for others' pleasure and feast.
For now, it grows, slowly, but steadily,
vine winding across the ground,
tiny yellow flowers budding, multiple a day,
and now six perfect, smooth, light green
tomatoes are flexing their muscles,
in anticipation of a small fall harvest
for two lucky, city-dwellers.