Miscellaneous – Page 12 – Random Connections

The Phantom of Genevieve’s

May 25, 2014May 28, 2014 Tom 2 Comments

Entertainment, Miscellaneous, Restaurants

Phantom of the Opera Program — Photo by Carin Perretta

Continuing the impossibly busy weekend…

Today we had friends drop by for a visit. We were happy to have Steve and Linda Serkiz come by for coffee. I hadn’t seen them in years. I was at Furman with both of them, and Steve was in one of Laura’s first classes that she taught there. Steve is now down at the Savannah River Site as a research scientist, doing some very cool things with carbon nano tubes and other nano technology. I may have to wrangle a visit so that I can get a closer look at Ellenton and some of the other SRS ghost town sites.

In the evening I was supposed to be two places at once. I was SUPPOSED to be singing the National Anthem at the Greenville Drive game with the Greenville Chorale. However, the opportunity to attend Phantom of the Opera at the Peace Center came up, and we opted for that instead.

Great Scots Parade in a Mini Convertible

May 24, 2014May 28, 2014 Tom 1 Comment

Local, Miscellaneous, Weirdness

Great Scot Parade Minis-008 — Great Scot! Parade in front of the Westin Poinsett Hotel

This Memorial Day weekend actually started Thursday morning, and it’s just barely getting started. So far I’ve been kayaking, gone to a midnight movie to see X-Men: Days of Future Past, attended a history lecture on old maps, looked for mythical meteors, visited an Irish pub, and had coffee and a great visit with old friends – and it’s only Saturday. The highlight so far, though, has been our participation in the Great Scot! Parade through downtown Greenville with the Upstate Minis.

A couple of weeks ago Jeff Goodman had posted on the Upstate Minis Facebook page about the group participating in the parade. I asked Laura if she were interested, and she jumped at the chance. So, Friday afternoon a little after 5:00 we lined up with ten other Minis on Townes Street. We would bring up the rear of the parade.

Momentous Weekend

May 13, 2014May 16, 2014 Tom 1 Comment

Family, Miscellaneous

As a follow-up to my “too busy to post” post, thought I’d explain some of the goings on that I couldn’t discuss prior to the events. In that previous post I mentioned that Furman Commencement and the Greenville Chorale Concert were scheduled for the same time. What I didn’t mention was that I was supposed to be at both of those events.

Here’s the deal – Laura won the Meritorious Advising Award for Furman University this year. The award recognizes professors and administrators that have worked with students in planning their coursework throughout the year. In 2009 Laura had won the Meritorious Teaching Award. Now she has received both of Furman’s top honors.

Standard “Too Busy to Post” Post

May 8, 2014 Tom No Comments

Local, Miscellaneous, Music

How many things can be crammed into one weekend? On the agenda for this one upcoming there’s Mother’s Day, a kayaking trip with Lowcountry Unfiltered, a photo walk with the Upstate Photographers, Artisphere is happening in downtown Greenville, it’s Furman Commencement… …and, oh yeah, we have a concert at the Peace Center Saturday night and … Read More “Standard “Too Busy to Post” Post” »

Ten Years of Random Connections

May 1, 2014May 16, 2014 Tom No Comments

Internet, Miscellaneous

It hardly seems possible. This month marks ten years that I’ve been blogging at RandomConnections.com. The new website was announced on May 6, 2004 on a post on my previous website as follows:

I have a new website….

www.RandomConnections.com will be online shortly. The new site will be the host for my web log (which will be replicated here, as it always has) but I wanted something without my name plastered all over the place. I’ll move my workshop information to the new site, and leave all my personal stuff here – resume, personal interests, etc., etc. The only personal item on the new site will be the blog.

With the new site in place, I’ll be able to create blog entries for specific categories, probably one for each of my alter egos that I use on various bulletin boards. I’m also going to post our travelog and vacation gallery there.

I love the Internet! Instead of boring just one small set of humans with your vacation pictures, you can annoy the entire planet!

The first post on the actual site was on May 14, and went something like this…

The new website is now active (Duh, obviously). This site features a much more interactive weblog than my old site, while keeping things lean and clean. The other site turn [sic] into self-indulgent blathering, was over-designed, and cumbersome. I make no guarantees about this site, but at least the blathering will be categorized.

I also don’t intend to plaster my name over everything on this site. Certain portions will be kept more professional, and will focus on Education Technology and Web Design.

Yes, both of those posts are still online, as evidenced by the links above. I haven’t fulfilled the promises in those early posts, but I had no idea I’d still be doing this ten years later, or what those ten years would have brought.

The Anonymity of a Common Name

April 18, 2014May 16, 2014 Tom 1 Comment

Miscellaneous, Rants

One nice thing about having a VERY common name is that I’m harder to track down online. If you do a Google search for my name I’m fairly far down on the list. Throw in a couple of variables, such as kayak, photography, or music, and it might get you a bit closer, but you’re … Read More “The Anonymity of a Common Name” »

Live Steam

April 14, 2014May 16, 2014 Tom 3 Comments

Local, Miscellaneous, Photography

Model Steam Trains-47 — Sandy River Narrow Gauge Engine

Last week fellow singer and explorer Tommy Thompson had been invited to tag along with one of his friends, Steve Baker, as they visited Jim Pitts, retired chaplain of Furman University and expert on live steam model railroading. I knew Jim from when I was a student at Furman, and we’ve have kept up with each other through Laura in the many years since then. Tommy invited me to come with them as a tag-along tag along. I jumped at the chance.

We started with breakfast at the Travelers Rest Inn, then headed on up to Jim Pitts’ house in Travelers Rest. Steve was running a bit late, so Jim invited us in and gave us a tour of his extensive collection. The first room we entered had shelves lining the walls and cases with multiple types of model engines. Jim gave us a running description of each.

Steve arrive in time to join us for coffee and doughnuts, after which Jim took us out to see the rest of his collection. We thought we had already seen it, but there was a separate garage out back with even more trains.

New Themes and Updates

February 26, 2014May 16, 2014 Tom 1 Comment

Miscellaneous

I’ve decided it’s time to throw a fresh coat of paint on this place. I’ve had the same theme on this website for several years, and I’ve been looking at some new ones. Over the next several days, if you visit the site rather than read it in an RSS reader or Flipboard or something, … Read More “New Themes and Updates” »

Triggers

February 25, 2014May 16, 2014 Tom 1 Comment

Miscellaneous

Interesting what an innocent-looking clump of daffodils can do. They look so sweet and innocent, but in me they used to trigger major panic attacks. That’s the funny thing about triggers. You never know what or when something will set you off. I say “used to.” I’ve been taking lots of photos of daffodils lately … Read More “Triggers” »

Snowpocalypse 2014

February 15, 2014May 16, 2014 Tom No Comments

Miscellaneous

Backyard Snow Panorama — Backyard Panorama

Winter is one of my favorite times to get out and about and do some cool stuff. You can see so much more without leaves and undergrowth in the way. I was hoping to have a couple of blog posts in the pipe by now, but things kept getting in the way. Subsequently, I’m doing a catch-all post this week. I’ll try to do better, but I’ve got some healing to do first.

We missed our second Saturday outing with Lowcountry Unfiltered, and last weekend I was battling a nasty head cold. That was one blog post down. We did have a good day on Sunday. There was an excellent party with neighbors and friends from Furman. Had a great time catching up with both groups. That evening I attended a benefit for my friend Russ Morin, who is batting cancer. Gene Berger from Horizon Records put on an excellent gathering at The Bohemian. I was able to catch up with a long-lost cousin, and saw even more friends from Furman.