Hi Martha,
You're beautiful... solid proof that both parents contributed to your gene pool... :)
Your father and I have been best friends for a long time, and this is my version of how we met.
A little background... back in our day, shortly after the dinosaurs became extinct... there was no childhood obesity problem because kids actually played outside... with other kids even.
Baseball, football, tennis, ping-pong, basketball... if a ball was involved we played it.
And "staying in shape" was not a motive. If it was fun and kept us out of reach of our parents for awhile, we were in... and the competition was fierce.
One afternoon, David and I were on opposing sides of a full court, pick-up game in the North Augusta gymnasium. I had the job of covering your Dad and was on him like a Spandex body suit... a complete surprise considering my "nickel-plated" basketball skills.
But God blessed your father with the strength of a bear, the heart of a lion, and the speed of a glacier.
There was another reason. Your dad was pumping serious iron back then and had quite a physique. So, every time David would start to drive the basket, he'd pause to admire his reflection in the gym door windows. Once he asked to borrow my comb.
Late in the game, catching me in mid-yawn, he finally managed to pull down a rebound. Then, spotting an open man standing under the other basket, David wheeled and whipped the ball as hard as he could, .. right into my face... not the whole thing... just my nose, mouth, and eyes.
The pain was excruciating. I wanted to squawl like a toddler, but there were too many witnesses. So I shook it off, and kept on playing.
This made such an impression on your Dad that he returned my comb.
We've been best friends and boon companions ever since.
Now, if your Dad has a different recollection of the event, don't be too hard on him.
David has a vivid, humorously delusional imagination that auto-engages whenever he's regaling an audience with "Ray Head" tales.
I've always thought that your father would make a great fiction writer... ;-)
Please tell your David that I miss him and look forward to seeing him again.
Monday, July 11, 2011
For Just This Point In Time
For just this point in time
You are snippets and bits of...
Everyone you've ever loved
Plus all the ones despised
You're all the laughs that've creased your eyes
Plus the tears that seared your soul...
You're all the places you've ever been
And just those that touch your dreams...
You're every note of every tune that's fallen on your ears
And every word of every page you've read for all your years
You're snippets and bits of all of these things
For just this point in time
You are snippets and bits of...
Everyone you've ever loved
Plus all the ones despised
You're all the laughs that've creased your eyes
Plus the tears that seared your soul...
You're all the places you've ever been
And just those that touch your dreams...
You're every note of every tune that's fallen on your ears
And every word of every page you've read for all your years
You're snippets and bits of all of these things
For just this point in time
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Where's my car?
I'm a frequent business traveler, and here's what I don't understand. No matter what time my flight departs, I have to hunt forever for a parking place. Yet, no matter what time my flight returns,I walk by dozens of empty parking spaces on the way to my car.
Or where I thought my car was... I've "lost" it more than once... "Dammit!" Then I start nonchalantly ambling around the parking lot... you know, like I just happen to be taking a stroll, not looking for anything in particular, certainly not my car. People that I remember from the shuttle that have already found their vehicles drive up to help me find mine, "No,no, thanks, it's right over there... just giving my legs a little stretch" or... "Thanks anyway...I love walking in a gentle sleet."
Or where I thought my car was... I've "lost" it more than once... "Dammit!" Then I start nonchalantly ambling around the parking lot... you know, like I just happen to be taking a stroll, not looking for anything in particular, certainly not my car. People that I remember from the shuttle that have already found their vehicles drive up to help me find mine, "No,no, thanks, it's right over there... just giving my legs a little stretch" or... "Thanks anyway...I love walking in a gentle sleet."
Advantages of ADD
More and more adults are being diagnosed with ADD, Attention Deficit Disorder. There's been a lot of negative press written about it. But, ADD does have it's advantages.
People with ADD have the ability to multi-task. Which means they can do a lot of things at the same time. But, they also procrastinate. Which means that they can do a lot of things at the same time…later.
To folks with ADD, the Latin term, “carpe diem” means, “seize tomorrow!”
Some ADD patients have an inability to focus on the task at hand…eyeglasses help.
People with ADD are disorganized. But they save a lot of time that would otherwise be wasted making plans.
It’s not unusual for ADD patients to start talking about one subject, switch topics in mid-sentence, drop several rapid-fire ideas in succession, then bring it all back together to a close with the original subject.
Take for example, the “USA Today” newspaper. Shouldn’t they call it, “USA Yesterday?”
Breaking news, the FDA has just approved the latest, high tech “escape” drug, the temporary amnesia pill.
Addiction is impossible because users can’t remember why they can't remember...
And the 2nd Amendment is always in the news, “The right to bear arms.” It’s such a stupid thing to argue about. The right to bear arms is practically a birthright…especially here in the South. I don’t know about you, but nobody is going to tell me, whether I can or can’t wear a short-sleeve shirt!
Let me conclude by saying that ADD does have a lot of life enhancing advantages; but only if it's managed properly. So, if you think you may have ADD, don't let it go untreated.
Take immediate action and call your health care professional RIGHT NOW!
That was a test... if you just picked up your phone to make the call... stop! You don’t have a thing to worry about.
Otherwise, just do it tomorrow!
Evolution versus Intelligent Design
Evolution versus Intelligent Design…
What difference does it make anyway?
It don’t…which makes it just as much a hot topic amongst the regular grade scholars as well as us intellectuals.
Biblically speaking, here’s my revelation.What if evolution is part of the intelligent design?
Why stop with evolution. We might as well go on and mosh the “big bang” theory in there to boot. Somebody had to light the fuse, didn’t they?
Besides, I ain't never been comfortable with that term, “intelligent design” anyway,
Didn’t God say that he made man in his image?
Well, judging by the health of the arguments made by the folks sittin’ on both sides of this scrap, God might not be as smart as we think He is…
Either that or some of His “images” done the “designing” after the fact and pinned the blame on Him.
Something else, I ain't aiming to be disrespectful to the Almighty, but I don't believe God created everything in a week either.
Of course... he could do if he wanted to!
That ain't the question.
I reckon anybody important enough to sport a capital pronoun right in the middle of a sentence can do what He wants!
It ain't how he did the blame thing in a week... it's why would He want to!
It ain't like He was running late for a meeting.
God invented time!
If He found Himself running a little short, He could just whip up another batch.
There ain’t no alarm clocks in heaven!
And another thing... God never intended for the Bible to be a bonafide accountin' of the history of the world.
He had to leave something for man to lie about...
And for anybody itching to fight about the Bible, it starts with Genesis.
For a book that ain’t got but fifty pages, Genesis covers a lot of ground, from the creation of everything living or dead in the infinite universe, to populating the Middle East and running the Israelites out of town.
You'd a thought they could've found an easier bunch to tackle than God's chosen people.
Here’s the thing…
When God told Adam and Eve to, “be fruitful and multiply”…they took Him seriously and commenced to begat like crazy through about ten more chapters. And when they petered out, the fruits of their labor continued the tradition they had fertilized a crescent and made a mess of Potamia doing it.
Populatin' the world was a big job, but it got done in record time. Sure the people enjoyed the work, but it was mainly 'cause they hadn't discovered the word, "No" yet.
Noah’s wife invented it when Noah told her he had to go back and pick up that pair of flies he left behind.
When she told him, "No", he asked her, "Why not?", and then she said, "Because I have a headache."
Don't worry, it didn't make no sense to Noah either... so he went back for the flies.
What difference does it make anyway?
It don’t…which makes it just as much a hot topic amongst the regular grade scholars as well as us intellectuals.
Biblically speaking, here’s my revelation.What if evolution is part of the intelligent design?
Why stop with evolution. We might as well go on and mosh the “big bang” theory in there to boot. Somebody had to light the fuse, didn’t they?
Besides, I ain't never been comfortable with that term, “intelligent design” anyway,
Didn’t God say that he made man in his image?
Well, judging by the health of the arguments made by the folks sittin’ on both sides of this scrap, God might not be as smart as we think He is…
Either that or some of His “images” done the “designing” after the fact and pinned the blame on Him.
Something else, I ain't aiming to be disrespectful to the Almighty, but I don't believe God created everything in a week either.
Of course... he could do if he wanted to!
That ain't the question.
I reckon anybody important enough to sport a capital pronoun right in the middle of a sentence can do what He wants!
It ain't how he did the blame thing in a week... it's why would He want to!
It ain't like He was running late for a meeting.
God invented time!
If He found Himself running a little short, He could just whip up another batch.
There ain’t no alarm clocks in heaven!
And another thing... God never intended for the Bible to be a bonafide accountin' of the history of the world.
He had to leave something for man to lie about...
And for anybody itching to fight about the Bible, it starts with Genesis.
For a book that ain’t got but fifty pages, Genesis covers a lot of ground, from the creation of everything living or dead in the infinite universe, to populating the Middle East and running the Israelites out of town.
You'd a thought they could've found an easier bunch to tackle than God's chosen people.
Here’s the thing…
When God told Adam and Eve to, “be fruitful and multiply”…they took Him seriously and commenced to begat like crazy through about ten more chapters. And when they petered out, the fruits of their labor continued the tradition they had fertilized a crescent and made a mess of Potamia doing it.
Populatin' the world was a big job, but it got done in record time. Sure the people enjoyed the work, but it was mainly 'cause they hadn't discovered the word, "No" yet.
Noah’s wife invented it when Noah told her he had to go back and pick up that pair of flies he left behind.
When she told him, "No", he asked her, "Why not?", and then she said, "Because I have a headache."
Don't worry, it didn't make no sense to Noah either... so he went back for the flies.
Well, even though it’s been rumored for thousands of years, it took Einstein and his theory of relativity to actually prove we was all kin for sure.
So there you go! The “evolution” folks, and the “intelligent design” folks doing all the arguing might as well seek some common ground. No good ever come with fighting amongst family!
But, that’s just my opinion.
Dilfer Brainard
An Uncommon Beauty- Letter to Whitney... 16th Birthday
An uncommon beauty, inside and out... the best thing your mom and I ever made together...
You have been a joy to me all of your life. I'm so proud of the young woman you've become, the successes that you have achieved, and the limitless opportunities that the future holds for you.
It's been sixteen years, but I'll never forget the day we met. It was Oct 7th, 1994 in the delivery room of Presbyterian Hospital... The second I held you in my arms, you had my heart forever.
Even as a baby, you had an "old soul" level of intelligence that was (and still is) a constant source of wonderment, not only to your mom and me, but to everyone in your life.
You said some remarkable things as a wobbling toddler,
You were two years old when we had one of my favorite conversations...
"Daddy, does the trees' moving make the wind blow?"
"Honey, I think it's the other way around. But I love the way you think and I love your question for another reason... "
"Why, Daddy?"
"Because for the rest of my life, I will never look at trees moving on a windy day without thinking of you."
And I never have...
You have been a joy to me all of your life. I'm so proud of the young woman you've become, the successes that you have achieved, and the limitless opportunities that the future holds for you.
It's been sixteen years, but I'll never forget the day we met. It was Oct 7th, 1994 in the delivery room of Presbyterian Hospital... The second I held you in my arms, you had my heart forever.
Even as a baby, you had an "old soul" level of intelligence that was (and still is) a constant source of wonderment, not only to your mom and me, but to everyone in your life.
You said some remarkable things as a wobbling toddler,
You were two years old when we had one of my favorite conversations...
"Daddy, does the trees' moving make the wind blow?"
"Honey, I think it's the other way around. But I love the way you think and I love your question for another reason... "
"Why, Daddy?"
"Because for the rest of my life, I will never look at trees moving on a windy day without thinking of you."
And I never have...
Addicted to H
I don't believe that helium should be legalized for use as a recreational drug...
I say not just no, but a thousand times no!
Look at me now, and you'd never guess that I was once hooked on that devil gas...it started innocently enough... but one or two balloons a week turned into a five or six balloon habit, then before long I was crashing strange children's birthday parties, doing Minnie Mouse and Munchkin impressions... I knew I'd hit bottom when paramedics found me in New York City's 5th Avenue, unconscious, on my back, during the Macy's Day Parade... my lips locked around the little toe of the Donald Duck float...
I need to stop now... the memory is too painful.
I say not just no, but a thousand times no!
Look at me now, and you'd never guess that I was once hooked on that devil gas...it started innocently enough... but one or two balloons a week turned into a five or six balloon habit, then before long I was crashing strange children's birthday parties, doing Minnie Mouse and Munchkin impressions... I knew I'd hit bottom when paramedics found me in New York City's 5th Avenue, unconscious, on my back, during the Macy's Day Parade... my lips locked around the little toe of the Donald Duck float...
I need to stop now... the memory is too painful.
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