Still a use for dead trees

Rhyme time

When I've been writing all day, the last thing I want to do when I get home is, you guessed it, write. Which is too bad because I really do enjoy it when I can just write for fun. The hardest part, as with any writing, is getting started. 

If your poetic pump needs priming (alliteration, sweet), I highly suggest The Teachers and Writers Handbook of Poetic Forms. It lists all sorts of poetic styles and terms, which, for me, serve as a proxy for a writing assignment. As a nonfiction guy, my imagination often needs some help to get going, and I find if I have some template to work with, the going is much easier -- and fun. There are other books about poetic form, but the Handbook is the one I usually reach for because of its clear writing and wide range of ideas. 

Last weekend, while flipping through the book, I landed on a form called bouts-rimes, French for "rhymed ends." It kind of sounds like a kids activity: Someone writes down a bunch of rhymed words in alternating sequence and the other fits a poem to them. 

Jen helped with this one, giving me the following words in this order: dance, handle, pants, candle, breathe, vamp (ouch, that's a hard one), leave, camp, fine, stoop, wine, regroup, dusk and musk. 

Well, here goes nothing:

Do you remember the way we used to dance,

the way we used to drink more than we could handle

and gain a pair of shoes and lose a pair of pants,

the way we'd light a candle with another candle

for your birthday cake and let the flames breathe

in your breath, the way you used to to vamp

down A1A after 2 a.m. made you leave,

the way we used to sleep beside a camp-

fire, how the smoke made everything fine,

the way we had to stoop

to get inside the tent without spilling our wine,

the way the mosquitoes would regroup

at the dawning of dusk,

their hungry dance in the midnight musk?

OK, now everybody play.

Any suggestions for a title, by the way? 

Responsibility...

I did my civic duty today and voted.

I wish I could do it again and again.

Voting is a great reminder of a core belief of mine: great responsibility, great reward.

Voting was a bit taxing. Here is the line:

This is the second time I've tried to vote. The first time, the line was even longer.

It took about 10 minutes of standing in line outside the "voting room." Then, there was another 20 minutes inside while my ballot was prepared.

Aside from the glitch that arose with my and a couple of other ballots that caused us to have to wait longer, I was ecstatic that there was actually a line to vote! People are taking this election seriously, and I believe the turnout will be record breaking.

Gov. Crist actually declared a state of emergency, because so many people were participating in early voting that extra hours were needed. That is AWESOME!

When I finally got to cast my ballot, here's where I sat:

One disconcerting thing was the lack of privacy in this room. I could clearly see who the man next to me voted for (and it wasn't my guy!). 

I voted for the candidate I believe is best for the job: Barack Obama. I've been reluctant to reveal my voting preference here, as I know several of my friends support John McCain, and I respect their decisions. I never want politics to be something that causes a rift between me and my loved ones, which is why I'll only talk politics with someone who asks (and then I won't shut up!).

But, I feel like revealing my choice at this point is necessary. I'm sure my friends who disagree with my choice will respect it and me just as I do them and theirs.

In the end, this is what it's all about anyway:

Dog Days of Autumn...

We finally got a chance to take Oscar and Nacho to a dog park today. The drive was about 45 minutes, but it was worth it just to get them some exercise. 

Nacho made friends (some were a bit TOO friendly...)

Then he tried to cloak himself in the scents that all his new friends left on the ground...

We brought Oscar a tennis ball, and he was the star of the park. We had to make him take breaks, because he was playing so hard.

As you can see, he was a happy camper...

And when we got home, the puppies dove right into their usual position...

Finally Facing My Waterloo...

I've decided I was born in the wrong decade. 

I have always loved some of the big 70s disco hits: "Stayin' Alive," "Get Down Tonight," and, of course, "Dancing Queen." But ever since I went to see Mamma Mia this summer, Abba fever has swept over me.

Last weekend, my condition advanced to Abbamania!

Since I've had Abba Gold playing nonstop in my car, I've been an addict. Even Jeremy couldn't resist some of the catchiest tunes, like "Lay Your Love on Me" and "Voulez Vous."

So, being the wonderful husband he is, Jeremy sucked up his manly pride and surprised me with tickets to Abbamania Friday. 

We were told the show would be symphonic versions of Abba songs, which was partially true... 

Little did we know, the symphony orchestra was accompanied by four singers, dressed as Abba look-alikes.

(Yikes...)

Some highlights from the show:

- The lead violinist got the giggles at the start of the show and couldn't stop laughing throughout.

- A group of ladies, clearly on a "girl's night out," were jumping and dancing in the balcony across from us, which was situated directly above the stage.

- The entire audience consisted of bored septuagenarians, who were clearly annoyed that their symphony season tickets went toward a show like this.

- But even the oldies got into it when they played "Fernando," and the entire audience was swaying back and forth with their hands in the air.

It was a great night, filled with tons of fun numbers and great memories.

And if anyone dares question the merits of Abba, I leave you with this album cover:

Enough said!

Jeremy's readables

You lead a busy life. You're forgiven for not keeping up with my stories. 

Here's what you've been missing over lo these past few months:

I wrote a lot of stories about breast cancer. Turns out, October is breast cancer awareness month. (Psst, that's what's up with all those pink ribbons.) I profiled some men who have had breast cancer, checked in with imaging centers to find out how long it takes to get an appointment for a routine mammogram, and wrote about the disparity between the number of women who could avoid mastectomies but get them anyway.

When I wasn't writing about breasts, I was looking at the low but potentially more serious incidence of melanoma among African Americans.

I drove to Orlando to hear some political heavy-hitters smack health insurance around for a while. Oh, and I got to meet Tommy Thompson.

A doctor rehabbed his love for medicine by volunteering, and the story turned out to be much more interesting than that description sounds. 

Off the health topic, I read a book about the civil rights movement in St. Augustine (with a cameo by MLK himself) and reviewed it. 

As you can tell, my head's getting kind of full. I'd better start deleting some old files. I can start with this one way in the back with all that old calculus junk in it. Won't be needing that. Oops, I got the "how to type" file instead. That could be a probffffff feino annei ioa eyt42 asn FDDDDDDDDDDDD

"Falling" in Love...

Things I LOVE about fall!!

Pumpkin bread:


Sitting outside in 60 degree weather:


Sipping a Starbucks skinny hot chocolate with whipped cream while wearing a light jacket, surrounded by shade trees in the quad:


More to come...

Trick or Doggie Treat...

Well, we thought of some unique ways to torture the bears (Oscar and Nacho) this weekend.

Halloween costumes!

Here's our adorable pumpkin (Nacho):

And our bumble bee (Oscar):

Look how much they LOVE it!

Normally, we are not "those people" who dress our dogs up. However, there was a great dog festival in the park, and we couldn't resist!

Mom, Rich, and the kids came up for a visit this weekend, so we thought it would be a great way to enjoy the cool Autumn day.

Here's Rich and Nacho:

And mom with the little guy:

Oscar, who was actually calm for a moment between snapping at the big dogs who dared look at him:

We entered them in a costume contest, which was fun. Unfortunately, there were 85 entries, and some of them were really original, so we didn't win.

Here I am parading the bears in front of the judges (anyone else thinking of Best in Show?):

And last, but not least, we brought our family friend, Sue's, daughter, Delany (sorry about the spelling!), with us to enjoy the show: (you can really see Nacho's one blue eye well in this picture!)

It was a beautiful, adorable day!

Pretty in Pink...

Jeremy and I spent Saturday afternoon enjoying Jacksonville while volunteering downtown. 

The Florida Times-Union, where Jeremy works, decided to create a special "pink" edition of the newspaper to sell downtown. The proceeds went to help women dealing with breast cancer pay for their treatment.

Here's what the pink paper looked like: (a few old people complained that they couldn't read it, even though the printing was clearer than usual!)

Here's Jeremy, peddling our wares:

And here's me doing the same:

We were stationed at The Landing, a cool restaurant/entertainment spot right on the St. John's River downtown. There was an "art festival" going on while we were there (I put "art festival" in quotes, because there were only a handful of exhibits.)

Here's one of the artists reading the paper:

While we were working, we were entertained by cool jugglers...

We also got to enjoy a nice view!

Overall, it was a great day to be a do-gooder!

Time After Time

SO sorry I have been absent for awhile. Things have been really busy with school, but I'll try not to be so slack in the future.

However, I will be spending a bit less time with this blog, because I have started a new one. My new site, www.78picas.tumblr.com, will deal specifically with journalism issues (mostly pertaining to new media and convergence). I'm doing this in an effort to get my research topics organized and to stay abreast of the changes in the industry. I hope you'll check it out.

Anyway, a few weeks ago, Jeremy and I went to my 10-year high school reunion. Woah...

We had a great time visiting with my old friends and acquaintances. But, I must mention something a bit odd...

I went to my reunion hoping to impress (as most of us do). I figured people would be wowed by my going back to school or my cool career in journalism or, mostly, my hottie of a husband.

Strangely, none of those things seemed to matter. 

No, the most impressive thing was -- wait for it --

We took a train to the reunion.

It's all anyone wanted to talk about! 

Really?!? 

The train ride was actually enjoyable. It took about 10 hours, but, as we traveled overnight, it didn't feel that long.

The seats were comfy, there was plenty of leg room, and the lounge did not fail to impress.

It's funny how things change so much in some ways, but not at all in others. 

Here's a group of us that were close in high school. Funnily enough, we chose to meet at Las Margaritas, our old hangout from back in the day.

It was just assumed we would meet there.

(From left: me, Allison, Laura, Becky, Melissa, Jenny, and Katie).

It was great catching up with everybody. Even though we're all in very different places in our lives and so much time has passed, we were able to conduct a conversation like we had just seen each other yesterday.

After lunch, Jeremy and I dolled up for the reunion.

I had a great time catching up with old friends...

But what was even cooler was the time I spent talking with people I really didn't know that well in high school.

It's funny how people seem so different, so out-of-touch, when you're all crammed in a high school. Yet, in the real world, without the barriers of cliques and frenemies, we are able to connect with people with whom we truly share interests.

What's even cooler is that since the reunion, I have been in touch with several classmates via Facebook who I didn't even get a chance to chat with at the reunion. I've even been able to forge some friendships there, including one with a former cheerleader I barely knew, who is also getting her PhD. and has offered me some valuable advice.

I must say, the real world is treating me much better than high school ever did!

A Walk in My Shoes...

Jeremy and I traveled to Gainesville last weekend for a picnic with some of my fellow graduate students. We had a great time chatting with my classmates and professors at Gainesville's private lake, Lake Wauberg.

Afterwards, Jeremy and I went over to the university so he could show me around the parts of campus I have yet to traverse. 

Here we are in the music building:

UF has one of the largest pipe organs in the country. Here's Jeremy demonstrating its enormity: 

And here's the famous bell tower. It might look familiar if you remember the movie Parenthood. It's from the scene where Kevin Buckman goes on a shooting spree in Steve Martin's dream!

This is my home away from home: Weimer Hall. All of my classes are here, including the ones I teach. The other day, I never left the third floor in eight hours! Sad...

And this is the semi-new duck pond amphitheater. I haven't been around to see anything happening there, but I'm told it's pretty cool. 

By the way, in case you missed it, the Gators are 3-0 after our major triumph over Tennessee this weekend! GO GATORS!!!