Friday, November 30, 2007 | by nathan

Go Deacs!

Click the photo for a larger version.

Friday, November 30, 2007 | by nathan

Inside Wait Chapel

Wednesday, November 28, 2007 | by nathan

In My Mind I’m Going To Carolina…

I’m not sure who took this photo of the WFU Quad. If it was you, let me know and I’ll give you full props.

At 7:05 tomorrow morning Brian and I will board a plane for North Carolina. I’m not sure how to put into words my excitement at the prospect of this trip, but suffice it to say, it’s a pretty immense one. Also, I’m excited at the many dollars Brian & I will save now that my friend Jason has talked me into staying with him & his wife. He coaxed me with promises of grilling and daily coffee.

However, I already wrote this post once and WordPress 2.3 lost it and is invited to kiss my ass. So, I’ll recap with this:

J-MONEY: Call me, I don’t have your number and I want to hang out. Mine is on my facebook profile.

Things I’m looking forward to doing in North Carolina:

• Getting as many people as possible together for a dinner, possibly at the West End Cafe? Possibly Saturday night? I’m really up for anything that’s not the Olive Garden near Hanes Mall.
• Getting stocking stuffers at the Deacon Shop. I can finally act like the petulant, arrogant, put-upon, douche-baggy alumnus whose ass I always had to kiss when I worked there! Yay!
• Wake Forest basketball game? Is anyone else going? I can’t decide.
• Hanging out with people at George’s Garage in Chapel Hill tomorrow night. Who’s in?
• Making out with my boyfriend on the 8th floor of ZSR.
• Davis Chapel.
• COOK-OUT COOK-OUT COOK-OUT COOK-OUT COOK-OUT COOK-OUT

Seriously, though, it’s going to be fun, and - hopefully - relaxed. I’m thoroughly stoked.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007 | by nathan

A Prayer For Owen Meany

I saw this awhile ago at Byrneunit, and I kept clicking on it and then not taking the quiz, possibly terrified to find out I was some douche-baggy book like "The Fountainhead." But I took it, and I have to say, the results were an absolute scream. Does it still count if I’m TOTALLY FRACKING ADDICTED TO THE CAPS LOCK BUTTON?

You’re A Prayer for Owen Meany!
by John Irving
Despite humble and perhaps literally small beginnings, you inspire faith in almost everyone you know. You are an agent of higher powers, and you manifest this fact in mysterious and loud ways. A sense of destiny pervades your every waking moment, and you prepare with great detail for destiny fulfilled. When you speak, IT SOUNDS LIKE THIS!
Take the Book Quiz at the Blue Pyramid.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007 | by nathan

Moravian Star

To augment our Christmas decorations a bit, and to set us apart from the tacky fun-but-not-very-me two-story high snow globes that are inflating throughout our neighborhood, I just ordered a Moravian Star to hang above our door this holiday season.

Winston-Salem, NC., where I went to college, was originally settled by Moravians, a German group of Christians with some very neat holiday traditions, including the Moravian Love Feast, which I’m attending at Wake Forest this Sunday night.

The stars are especially beautiful, and in North Carolina you know it’s the holidays when you start seeing them hanging above people’s front doors. The history and meaning of the star is especially interesting:

Although the Star originated in the church’s schools as a geometry lesson, it was soon adopted throughout the Moravian Church as a beloved Advent symbol. At the time, Moravian Congregations were inhabited exclusively by Moravians and the church owned and controlled all property. All of life was formed by their Christian faith and there was no distinction between secular and sacred even in their daily activities. All of life was considered worship. So it was that the Advent Star went effortlessly from a pastime for boys into the Congregation. Properly called the "Advent Star" the Moravian Star remains a beloved symbol of the Advent-Christmas-Epiphany holiday season. They are often seen in Moravian nativity and putz displays as a representation of the Star of Bethlehem. (via Wikipedia)

I briefly considered buying one in Winston-Salem while we’re there, but decided I’d rather not lug a giant, fragile Christmas decoration home on a plane. So I did a quick internet search and found the one above, which I actually ordered from Target online. The exterior lights on our house this year are going to be blue, and on our front-porch Christmas tree we’re doing blue and white C-9s, so I ordered the blue one. Photos of its warm holiday glow will be forthcoming once it’s up and lit.

Monday, November 26, 2007 | by nathan

How My Dad Went to College

My dad and my grandmother, Clara Mae, in the late 1970’s.

My dad was born and raised in Hackett, Arkansas, a small burg twenty miles south of Ft. Smith, in 1935. His family were hard-working farmers. He graduated high school in 1953 and late that summer was hanging out in town with his best friend. Bereft of anything better to do, they decided they’d sneak in the back of the high school gymnasium and hear the principal’s yearly address to the student body. They had, after all, heard it every year for over a decade. "Why don’t we see if it’s changed at all?" they asked themselves.

It hadn’t, of course, and the two found themselves almost able to recite the thing verbatim. As the speech wound down, the principal pointed at the two of them in the back of the gymnasium and said, "I want to see you two in my office right now."

Thinking themselves caught and in trouble, they proceeded to the principal’s office, where they expected a lecture on finding better things to do with their time than intrude on the assemblies of a school they no longer attended.

Instead, the principal looked at them and said, "If I could get the two of you into college, all expenses paid except your own personal spending money, would you go?"

They looked at one another and thought, "Ah, what the hell?" So they said yes.

"Okay," said the principal. "Go home and pack. You need to be back here by 5 p.m."

Dad and his friend raced to their own homes. Dad started to tell his mother, Clara, about the proposition. She handed him a cardboard suitcase packed with all his best clothes and all the money she had. She already knew of the plan; the principal had been to see her.

The principal, it turned out, had a contact at the College of the Ozarks, and was able to wrangle a spot in the freshman class for the two of them. Clara waved goodbye to her son and dad and his friend were back in town by 5 p.m., as per their principal’s orders.

So that was how my dad got to go to college. He didn’t wake up that morning expecting anything of the sort.

He went on to study chemistry, and to earn a master’s degree in nuclear physics at Vanderbilt and his Ph.D. at Arkansas. He taught at a small college in southwestern Oklahoma for 30 years, which is where he met my mother, which is how I came to be.

He was one of the greatest lecturers ever there was. His voice could be heard echoing down the halls, and he engaged people with the subject matter in a way that few people could. He advised pre-pharmacy freshmen, of which there were many, and I was often told by his students how much they enjoyed his class.

There’s currently a scholarship in his name for freshman chemistry students at that university. One of my long-term financial goals is to permanently endow that fund, so that the legacy of his teaching can remain there for as long as that institution stands.

Sunday, November 25, 2007 | by nathan

New Light Fixture In Our Dining Room

Thursday, November 22, 2007 | by nathan

Things I’m Thankful For

• My family. Occasionally we make each other as mad as hornets, but we love each other, and that seems to be enough.
• Burt’s Bees Lip Balm. I wouldn’t survive from November to March without it. Okay, I’d survive, but I’d constantly look like I have the herp.
• My dog. Right now he’s lying on a rug next to me, looking at me like, "What is this thing you’re doing where you’re not petting me? What is that?"
• Pei Wei.
• This house. I’m not sure I’ve ever felt more at home, anywhere.
• Calvin, whose upkeep continues to be like Whack-A-Mole, but who doesn’t smell like old car, and who mostly runs.
• The people in my life who are as close to me as family.
• The ability to put words into the air and create something with them.
• Brian, who loves me so well, against all good common sense or my worthiness. I’m happier now than I’ve ever been.

Thank You.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007 | by nathan

Mincer, the gayest reindeer

Seen at Borders:

Tuesday, November 20, 2007 | by nathan

Centennial, Part 6

Friday, November 16, 2007 marked the 100th anniversary of the statehood of Oklahoma. To commemorate the event I’m publishing a series of short essays about Oklahoma, its history, its culture, and its people.

Part 6: Why I Live in Oklahoma version 1.01

Me & John with mom, August 2006.

Today my brother took me to lunch at Jason’s Deli. We were standing in line when this happened:

Woman at the Register: Watch out for these two. They’re trouble. I can tell they’re up to no good.

Me & John (in unison): Always.

You may not think it’s much, but a huge part of the reason I live here is so I can have moments just like that with my family. John and I sat down with our salads and bowls of chili and talked about nothing much in particular: concerts, football, New Year’s plans, Thanksgiving, and how much his girlfriend looks like Kellie Pickler. Brother stuff. Now that we’re both adults we can do that, and it’s wonderful.