Rants, Things Overheard
Tom, I almost didn’t recognize you. You’ve gained so much weight! I didn’t recognize you, either. You’re so old and decrepid now. At least, that’s what I wanted to say.
Religion
The Tibetan Monks are at Furman this week, promoting awareness of their country and the Free Tibet movement. Part of their activities included the creation of an elaborate sand mandala – part worship, and part prayer. The mandala is build up grain by grain with colored sand in a meticulous process. The final product has … Read More “Sand Prayer” »
Entertainment, Music
Ask any non-musician to describe their concept of opera, and you’ll most likely get a Wagnerian Brunhilde. Ask that same person to hum a few bars from an opera, and if they are able to produce anything at all, it will probably be a snippet of Figaro from Rossini, or one of the many recognizable … Read More “Songs You Know by Heart” »
Miscellaneous, Science
Growing up as the son of the local school principal had its problems (some taunting by classmates, etc) but it also had some perks. For example, my brothers and I would often grab Dad’s keys to the gymnasium. We would go at night and leave the lights off, then throw a glow-in-the-dark Frisbee in the … Read More “Good Old Edmund” »
Recipes, Uncategorized
Mojitos are the sweet iced tea of the potent potable world. They compliment just about everything. That was our conclusion after our first attempt at making them for our Saturday evening dinner. Our recipe came from the Bicardi website. Don’t bother clicking the link – obnoxious music loads. I’ll copy the recipe below for a … Read More “Mojitos” »
Entertainment
Mid-spring, and it must be festival season in Upstate South Carolina. This weekend was Artisphere in Greenville. Usually I have a performance associated with the festival, but this time I’m off the hook. Our Chorale performance is NEXT weekend. Laura and I decided to get an early start. The morning was cool, and the weather … Read More “Artisphere 2007” »
Miscellaneous
My VW Jetta turned over 100,000 miles yesterday. For modern cars, that’s not as big a milestone as it once was. Once upon a time, before suburban sprawl, people didn’t commute as far, and so it took some time for miles to accumulate. Driving I-85 from Greenville to Duncan has helped run this odometer up. … Read More “It’s only a number” »
Restaurants
Laura’s evening ACS meeting gave me another chance to try some new cuisine. Tonight I really wanted to go back to Juju’s Mediterranean, but the thought of fighting Woodruff Road traffic was more than I could bear. Instead, I decided to head down Pleasantburg to the Pita House. I had been here a couple of … Read More “Pita House” »
Rants
The shooting at Virginia Tech has become almost an obsession. It was horrific. It was terrible. Folks are still trying to get a handle on it. I have a neice at Radford, just up the road, so there was some immediate concern about her safety. When I last talked to Glynda, Katie was OK, but … Read More “Tragedy in Virginia” »
EdTech, General Technology
We had a monthly Dean’s Wine and Cheese gathering at Furman Friday evening. As Laura and I arrived, I was been hailed by some of her colleagues as an expert in Moodle. I don’t know about expert, but I have recently installed the program on a Linux server, and we are starting to use it … Read More “Moodle on a Stick” »