Abstract Musings

Weekend in Connecticut

2007-02-14T16:46:27Z

Earlier this month, Rachelle and I visited her brother Philip and his family in Connecticut. While we were visiting, a blizzard happened. You can read more about our trip to Connecticut in my blog, Abstract Musings. The trip also gave me an opportunity to use my new camera, a Canon Digital Rebel XT.

The principal reason for our trip was to meet our yougest nephew, Nathaniel, who was born in December of last year. The little guy is resting comfortably in his Aunt Rachelle’s arms.

But we also came to see his older brother Caleb. As you can see, Caleb was very happy to see us.

The two boys are huddled under the baby blanket Rachelle made for Nathaniel.

In addition to seeing our family, another highlight of the weekend was being around for a record snowfall.

Authorities have reported a one-eyed snow bandit was in the area. Caleb was excited to have so much snow in which to play. I must confess, so were his aunt and uncle!

Weekend in Connecticut

2007-01-02T13:46:23Z

Earlier this month, Rachelle and I visited her brother Philip and his family in Connecticut. As we prepared for our trip, we heard that wintery weather was on its way both to Tennessee and then on up to the New York area. So we decided to leave town as soon after work as we could, and make it as far north as possible that evening to stay ahead of the white stuff. We stopped in northern Virginia without seeing any snow. So far, so good…

The next morning, we awoke to discover a blanket of 2 inches of snow covering the ground and our car. We packed up and headed on, determined to get into Connecticut as early as possible to avoid driving in any more snow than necessary. The interstate was fairly clear of snow and ice—well, the right lane, at least; the passing lane had a slushy mix that made passing other vehicles a risky proposition. After about an hour, we crossed the state line into West Virginia, and must have crossed an invisible boundary, as the sky cleared, the sun appeared and the snow completely disappeared, except for what we brought with us on our vehicle.

We managed to arrive at my brother-in-law’s house well in advance of the storm. So, we hunkered down and waited for the snow to come. And it did come—about sixteen inches of the white stuff fell on my brother-in-law’s neighborhood.

I have posted some photos from our trip to Flickr. You can view them in my photoset on Flickr.

Catching Up with Photography

2007-01-03T12:36:43Z

For the past two years I’ve owned and used a Canon Digital Rebel. Last month, I upgraded to the Digital Rebel XT. It arrived on the 10th. On the 11th, I took the morning off of work to drive up to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I’ve posted some of the photos I took that morning on Flickr.

View this photo on Flickr

This photo is my favorite from the drive. It was taken from Newfound Gap. Ordinarily, you would see Fontana Lake, but on that day the surface of the lake was completely covered by fog.

The next week, my wife and I spent a weekend with some friends in a cabin up in the mountains near Pigeon Forge.

View this photo on Flickr

This photo is one that I took of the view from the deck of the cabin. Unfortunately, it was rainy the entire weekend, so I wasn’t able to get out and photograph much else. But even with the inclement weather the view was still awesome.

Lastly, the week after that, I brought the camera to work and took some photos around campus. The following photo is of the Torchbearer statue in Circle Park on the University of Tennessee, Knoxville campus.

View this photo on Flickr

You can view all of these photos in my Flickr Archive for January.

Picture This!

2007-02-26T13:40:00Z

View a larger image

My contribution to InstaPunk’s Rewrite the Cartoon Contest. Does this cartoon have impact, Mr. Toles?

Inspired by Doug Petch.

Autumn in Cades Cove

2007-01-02T13:28:11Z

I recently spent a morning visiting Cades Cove in Great Smoky Mountain National Park to see the autumn colors. The scenery was absolutely spectacular. I couldn’t have asked for a prettier day, nicer weather or more glorious colors on the trees. I have posted some photos on Flickr. Although, they really don’t do justice to the incredible scenery.

Here’s a teaser from the photoset:

View this photo on Flickr

Happy Veterans Day

2007-02-22T20:33:31Z

This is a photo of my grandfather’s gravesite at Arlington National Cemetery, taken during Memorial Day weekend 2002. He served our country through World War II, Korea, and Vietnam until his death in 1962.

I also want to note my brothers’ service in the United States Marine Corps, which celebrated its 230^th birthday yesterday. And that of my father-in-law, who served in the United States Navy and Naval Reserves. I also want to include my friend Johnny, who just returned a couple of weeks ago from a year long tour-of-duty in Iraq. Thanks for your service.

Please remember to take time today and thank any veterans you know for their service. It is by such service and sacrifice that we and the freedoms we hold dear are protected. To those who have served, both past and present, I want to say thank you for your time and commitment in protecting our nation and on behalf of the cause of freedom and liberty.

History of Veterans Day
Veterans Day FAQ
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Day page

LaShawn Barber also has lots of links to other bloggers observing Veterans Day.

This is a repost with some additions from Veterans Day last year.

Happy Birthday, Marines!

2005-11-11T04:14:11Z

Today is the 230^th birthday of the United States Marine Corps.

Congratulations to all Marines, past and present, and thank you for your service.

Semper Fi

Ready, Set . . . Reboot!

2005-11-02T20:15:42Z

Whew! The funkyness should be over now.

I still have a few loose ends to tie up, but for the most part the redesign is done. I have worked out all the quirks I could find. If you notice anything amiss, please let me know.

And a special greeting from my fellow CSS Rebooters who are visiting. I can’t wait to browse and look at some of the other designs.

A few notes about the redesign. I really started with the goal of transforming my old site’s fixed-width layout into an elastic one, which once I heard about the CSS Reboot turned into a full scale redesign. I took all of the header photographs during my various travels. One of my loose ends is to build some kind of AJAX-y widget to let visitors surf through the photos and to display some information about them, like the date of the photo and the location or identity of the subject.

Plus, while I was redoing things, I also rebooted my linkblog, Excursions, which was one of the more significant changes. I was using a second install of WordPress to run it, but I discovered a nifty plugin called wp-recent-links. A bit of hacking later, and I had a nice solution to eliminate one extra interface for posting.

Prepare for Funkyness

2005-11-01T13:25:58Z

Reboot is underway!

Happy Blog Birthday to Me

2005-10-19T17:13:04Z

Today marks a milestone for me. One year ago, I started Abstract Musings on Blogger. Actually, I posted two entries on October 18th of last year but they were the typical first post kind of blather, so I’ve chosen today to mark my blog’s birthday. Thanks to all the kind people whom I’ve met online, who have visited my humble virtual abode and have been so kind as to link to me. And a special thanks to my wife who has been very supportive of my blogging habit, and constant tinkering of both my blogs and my website. Here’s looking forward to another (hopefully, more productive) year.

To follow-up on the idea of looking forward, I decided a while back to spruce up the design of my blog. So, I joined the legion of people participating in the CSS Reboot Fall 2005 planning to unveil a new standards-based design on November 1st. So, come back then and see my new look.

I have also posted a new entry, Return to Cataloochee, in my Photos blog. My wife and I spent spent an afternoon in Great Smoky Mountains National Park a few weekends ago with the hope of spotting some elk during the rut. We were not disappointed.

Thanks again for stopping by and celebrating my blog birthday with me.

Return to Cataloochee, October 2005

2007-02-26T19:18:53Z

Last spring, Rachelle, her parents and I spent an afternoon at Cataloochee in Great Smoky Mountains National Park in search of elk. In 2001 and 2002, two separate herds of elk were relocated from Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area to Cataloochee in the western/North Carolina portion of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Cataloochee is a relatively isolated portion of the national park, similar to the much more frequently visited Cades Cove in the eastern/Tennessee portion of the park.

The name Cataloochee is a corruption of the Cherokee name for the area, “Gadalutsi,” which means “standing up in a row,” and could refer either to the mountains which surround the valley, or the abundant trees which cover them. Cataloochee was comprised of two separate communities, Big Cataloochee and Little Cataloochee.

After our previous trip, I wanted to head back in the fall during the rut (mating season) in the hopes of hearing the elk bugle. So, my wife and I planned an October trip to the mountains. Like our previous visit, we spent our time in Big Cataloochee. We picked a spot on the side of the road, unpacked our stuff and waited for the show to begin.

As the sun began to fade, our vigilance was rewarded. We spotted a group of five elk come out of the protection of the trees into the field near us. The group was composed of three bulls (male) and two cows (female). The male elk in the photograph above was very agressive and chased the other two bulls away from his harem.

This is the same elk grazing in peace after he had runoff the interlopers.

These are the two cows he was “protecting”.

Things that make you go hmmm…

2007-02-08T21:11:55Z

I have always wondered what the little pocket was for — Now I know!

Yahoo, Microsoft link IM services

2007-02-03T18:49:05Z

Yahoo, Microsoft link IM services

So Long…

2005-09-27T19:05:07Z

Arthur Chrenkoff signs off with his last post. Thanks for all you’ve done, Arthur. I’ll miss your voice in the blogosphere.

But the work he started by reporting “Good News” from Iraq and Afghanistan will continue.

Ben Stein: More on Katrina

2007-02-03T18:49:40Z

Ben Stein: More on Katrina

Remembering 9/11

2007-02-22T21:22:07Z

Lorie Byrd has a post “in honor of those who lost their lives that day, and to those who live on and through their actions have vowed ‘Never Again’”.

I will always remember the Twin Towers like this:

I took this photo a couple of months before the attacks.

My Heart Is Broken

2005-10-12T16:47:44Z

Over the past couple days, I have had a knot in my stomach that has tightened every time I have watched television coverage of the devastation, read a news article or seen pictures of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. I haven’t been able to write about this terrible tragedy, because the scenes of destruction, the stories of lives lost and ruined have been overwhelming. It has hit too close to home for me.

My heart is broken for them, not just because of the horrible conditions in Louisiana and the Mississippi Gulf. The devastation December’s tsunami left behind was tragic, but I didn’t feel this way. And hurricanes hit Southern Florida, where my family still lives, and the Gulf Coast last year—but I didn’t feel this way. No, I am so troubled by this tragedy because I have lived through similar circumstances. In the past few days I have been reminded all too often of the horrible days, weeks and months after Hurricane Andrew ripped through my parent’s home and turned our lives upside-down and everything just seemed wrong. All I wanted then was for life to return to something close to normal.

Today, there a multitude of Americans who find themselves in that terrible situation. Their lives have been turned upside-down and inside-out. And life won’t be normal for them for weeks and months, if not years.

I wish I had the words to describe how much the generosity of strangers helped my family and I cope with our ordeal. Days after Andrew one of my parent’s co-workers gave us a propane stove so we could cook. Many, many others donated the supplies that they had put away before the storm. My father’s employer gave us a jug of water from their water cooler, so that we would have drinking water. Our local Coca-Cola bottler gave away bottles of water to all comers. Many others gave generously and it made life better. My cousin’s house was destroyed; a friend of his gave he and his family the use of a condo. I heard all kinds of stories of people opening their homes and their lives to help. I wish I had the words to say how much that meant.

But I don’t, so what I will say is this: Give! Give now, give later, and keep giving. Give until it hurts. If you did without eating lunch out next week and took peanut butter sandwiches to work, how much money would that be? Then give it away. If you go out for pizza once a week, then skip it for a while and give that money away. Even if you ate only rice and beans or tuna fish sandwiches next week, you would still be eating better than many of people along the coast next week. Give away the difference. Turn you air conditioning up, or turn it off altogether and open your windows. You’ll still be better off than many of people in Louisiana and Mississippi. Give away what you save. Carpool and give away the extra. Yes, it is inconvenient and yes gas prices are rising, but it’s still a lot less inconvenient than having your car and home swept away, and at least you still have a gas station to buy gas from.

If you are an employer looking to hire, consider hiring someone who has been forced to leave their home—even if only for a short term—to help them press pause on the chaos and uncertainty of their lives. Consider opening your home to people who have been displaced. If you are looking to take someone in Bill Hennessy’s Homes for Katrina Victims, Katrina Home Sharing Registry or Operation: Share Your Home are great places to start looking. Even if you can’t take people in long term, even a warm meal, air conditioning and a hot shower will make a difference. After Andrew a friend of my father’s invited us over for a meal and a hot shower. That afternoon was blissful, even though I knew it would end all too soon. Somehow that shower seemed to transform me; here was something normal—the way life was supposed to be—I felt human again.

Looking for other ways to help? Try the KatrinaHelp Wiki, where you can offer your help and find information on ways to help and immediate needs.

Lastly, I would suggest giving to Samaritan’s Purse, The Salvation Army or the American Red Cross. The Red Cross website seems to be slow as I post this, so if you live in the Knoxville Area, you can also give donations to the Knoxville Area Chapter, specifying your donation to be used for the National Disaster Response Fund. Glenn Reynolds also has a list of other relief organizations. N.Z. Bear also has a list up of relief agencies. I have joined the list of bloggers participating in Hurricane Katrina: Blog for Relief Day. You can find more bloggers and the charities they are supporting at N.Z. Bear’s special relief page. Please pick one, and donate now.

I hope this hasn’t been too maudlin, but I find that I can’t help it. I have been on the verge of tears for days now. Everytime I hear news about New Orleans or the Gulf Coast, I find myself fighting back tears. Katrina blew through my parent’s neighborhood thirteen years and one day after Andrew. And I can’t adequately express how grateful I was Friday morning when my mother called to tell me that they were fine. Our conversation turned to Andrew and that dreadful time afterwards, and I was happy that they were spared this time. But the Gulf Coast wasn’t spared and their lives will never be the same. Katrina will stay with them for years just as Andrew stayed with us.

More Ways to Help

2005-09-04T05:23:01Z

If you are in the Knoxville area, here are some opportunities to donate to the Red Cross over the weekend.

The University of Tennessee Student Government Association will be at the following locations from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 1 and Friday, Sept. 2:

Joe Johnson Pedestrian Mall (near the Library)
Presidential Courtyard
University Center (back plaza)

Before and after the football game Saturday, Sept. 3, fans will be able to donate to the Red Cross:

Prior to the game from 10 a.m.â€“12:30 p.m. at Circle Park
From the forth quarter onward, Red Cross Volunteers will be located at several gates outside Neyland Stadium

Finally, Monday, Sept. 5, the football team will hold the second annual “OrangeAid.” Players will be giving autographs in return for a donation to the American Red Cross at both West Town Mall and Knoxville Center Mall from 6-7 p.m. T-shirts with the inscription “One Heartbeat” will also be available for $15 with the proceeds will go to the Red Cross’ relief efforts.

Hats off to my colleagues in the University’s Public Relations Department for promoting these opportunities.

UPDATE: I should mention that these opportunities will be for cash donations only. Do not bring items such as bottled water, food or clothing. The collection volunteers will not be prepared to handle those items. As this FEMA press release (via Glenn Reynolds) indicates, right now cash will be the biggest help to those who are affected. Donate to a relief agency and let the agency disperse the funds. I am recommending Samaritan’s Purse, The Salvation Army or the American Red Cross. If the Red Cross website is slow then make a donation to your local chapter. Donations to the Knoxville Area Chapter can be made online. Glenn Reynolds and N.Z. Bear both have posted lists of other relief organizations.

UT to Admit Displaced Students

2005-09-04T05:23:18Z

The University of Tennessee System has agreed to take in students from schools in the areas affected by Katrina.

The Knoxville campus has committed to accept all graduate students, up to 500 undergraduate students, and a total of 50 law students â€“ 20 first-year law students and 30 students from other years. Because of the recent record freshman class size, there is a housing shortage, but university officials will seek accommodations.

In Chattanooga, the university will accept up to 100 undergraduates.

In Martin, the university will accept 50 students, and has available housing for 25 students.

“We fully support the governor’s efforts, and our campuses are enthusiastically responding in various ways to assist in this time of national need,” President John Petersen said.

Josh Britton also lists some other schools taking in students: Georgia Tech, U of Tennessee, Rice, Arizona State, U of Arkansas, ULL, Centenary, McNeese St., Louisiana College, UL Monroe, LA Tech, Spring Hill, Arkansas State, Ole Miss, Mississippi College, Texas Christian, Baylor. Vanderbilt, UC Berkeley, U of Georgia are working out details to admit students.

Wow! Way to go! I am proud to be a Volunteer.

UPDATE: The other UT—Texas, that is—will also be admitting students.

UPDATE II: The University of Wisconsin-Madison will also be accepting displaced students. (Via Ann Althouse)

Michael Yon: Gates of Fire

2007-02-03T18:50:06Z

Michael Yon: Gates of Fire — Via Hugh Hewitt