Happy Easter! He is Risen! Hallelujah!

For as much as our culture has used and abused this piece, I encourage every person to stop a moment and let these strains wash over you. (Be sure you have some good speakers or headphones.) Even if you're not a Christian -- this is one of the most powerful musical expressions of triumph and joy ever composed ( Read more... )

Okay, the coffee beans I bought yesterday at the Kaffeeklastsch totally redeem all the suffering. The difference between the grocery brands of coffee (even Eight o'Clock Coffee, which is the best) and these gourmet beans is dramatic. With the grocery beans, the coffee is hot, wet, caffeinated, and consistent - I used to say that was all I needed - ( Read more... )

Last semester while working on my Civil War soldier project, I met and became friends with Susanna Leberman, one of the archivists in the Heritage Room at the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library. Dr. Kvach has apparently been pleased with my work and my enthusiasm (if not always my writing style), and since we share interests, he wants to help ( Read more... )

One time in tenth grade, my history teacher had us make a project with an egg. We were supposed to take an egg, decorate it with pictures of some aspect of history that we liked, and mount it on a base. He would then take the best eggs and display them in a case.

I was feeling creative. At the time, I was very much into NASA and the space program. ( Read more... )

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This week I wrote a paper.

If you've known me for any length of time, I'll allow a moment for that statement to sink in. This week I wrote a paper. And not just this week. This week I wrote a paper in two days. That's two days, emcompassing my entire period of research, formulation, synthesis, and writing. This is simply astounding. Never before ( Read more... )

Sarah Chapman, a student here at UAH, was killed here yesterday when an SUV struck her bicycle. She was 20. I did not know her, though it's very probable that I had seen her around. And yet I see the outpouring of grief around me and I can't help but feel it, too. My dear friends vanetian and theaterphantom both knew her and traveled to Germany with her. She was a ( Read more... )

I love animals. But I've never really had a pet of my own. Muffin, our dog when I was in high school, was my mom's; we had family cats when I was younger (Napoleon was arguably mine, since I personally rescued him); but apart from them, my life has been sadly lacking in critter companionship. Especially so since I've been living on my own.

I am a ( Read more... )

Ladies and gentlemen, I have arrived.

I just cooked a lovely, fluffy omelette (with bacon and cheese), along with scrumptious cheesy grits, in fifteen minutes flat.

It was my first-ever omelette. I only watched my brother do it last night, and I improved on his technique (in my opinion). He said that it would take me a while to get it right, but I ( Read more... )

Yes, I do occasionally blog.

Last week I went on a vacation with my parents that shaped up, unexpectedly, to be a great adventure and a grand road trip. We were planning only to get away for their anniversary (thirty-two years!) and visit our cousins in Knoxville, and drive up into Greeneville, Tennessee to visit the home of President Andrew ( Read more... )