Saturday, June 21, 2008
Reverand, Doctor, Brother
Dr. Howard P. Giddens died on Monday Brother Howard P. Giddens died on Monday I remember the first time I came to know about Dr. Giddens. When I first started at Mercer University I learned quickly that a few professors had houses on campus and literally across the street from my dorm. These professors were everyone's favorites, like "Papa Joe" Hendricks, Tom Trimble, as well as Mercer President, Kirby Godsey. But there was another house, a big house, with perhaps the best location. I once asked an upper classman who lived in that house. I was told "Dr. Giddens lives there." I was also told that Mercer had given Dr. Giddens that house to live in as long as he wanted. I made a mental note: "Dr. Giddens must be important." A couple of years later, when I finally had my own car (truck) I became keenly aware of Mercer Police (aka MerPo) and their eagerness to write you a ticket if you parked anywhere near the student center where you weren't supposed to. Yet one day I saw a man in a large car pull right up the the yellow curb, park his car, and get out to slowly walk to the post office. I asked another student how he could get away with it. I was then informed that THAT was Dr. Giddens. I was then told: "If Dr. Giddens wanted to do donuts on the Quad, President Godsey would strap on a helmet and ride shotgun, and MerPo would block off traffic for him." Dr. Giddens must be VERY important. That was more or less all I knew of Dr. Giddens until after I graduated from Mercer. That summer I got a job working in the Post Office. Almost immediately I began to learn just how important Dr. Giddens was. Mailboxes at Mercer are always a premium. When I first started, students had to share mailboxes with another student. Yet there were a very select few non-students who also had boxes. Dr. Giddens had one and it was very close to the front counter. Daily, Dr. Giddens or his wife Gladys, would pull up front, and come in for their mail. Because Dr. Giddens often had trouble working the stupid combination lock, it was fairly standard practice for whoever was working the counter to retrieve his mail and hand it to him. USPS regulations (the fabled DMM) say you should NEVER hand someone's mail across the counter. But Dr. Giddens was important. (Watch Brian flinch when I say "DMM!") That summer, I had also transitioned from being an undergraduate member of ATO to an ATO Alumnus. As an undergraduate I'd been mildly interested in my chapter's alumni, and in particular why we never saw any. Now that I WAS an alumni, I was determined to do something about that. I requested from our national headquarters a full list of Alpha Zeta (Mercer Chapter) alumni. As I went through the list a familiar name and address popped out at me: Dr. Howard P. Giddens. He was also the oldest living Mercer ATO as far as records and research could find. Brother Giddens was very important. As you read through messages left on his memorial guestbook you will see that he touched many many lives. He touched mine, too. I never got to take one of his classes. I never got to hear one of his sermons. But I got to enjoy his brotherhood. Some days I would be sitting out on the porch in front of the post office while on break. If I saw Dr. Giddens pull up, I would hop up to run and get his mail. He didn't move especially fast so I would beat him every time. He'd always greet me with a "Hey there, young feller!" On a few occasions he'd pull up a chair on the porch for few minutes and we'd talk about Mercer in the old days and sometimes ATO in the old days. He was absolutely fascinating, and a complete and true southern gentleman. I valued the time I got to spend with him. He was one of the few professors at Mercer I never got to take a class with, but will always wish I had. Any time I had the opportunity to be talking with a younger ATO when Dr. Giddens came around, I always pointed him out and explained just how important he was. In hindsight, I had assumed the roll of that senior who advised me my freshman year. I finally started to grasp just how important Dr. Giddens was a few years later as Mercer began their out of control building spree. All of the faculty houses that were across the street from my dorm were now "in the way" of Mercer's master plan to build a unified Greek Village for the fraternities and Sororities. Nothing stands in the way of that kind of "progress" so some people simply had to move. Papa Joe and Trimble moved to new houses. Not Dr. Giddens. As I got off work one day and started walking back towards my apartment (from the PO in Building 15 to my apartment in Building 87 in the map below.) I saw something strange. There was a lot of construction equipment and work going on at the Gidden's house. I wandered over to see what was going on. It was then that I found out that Dr. and Mrs Giddens weren't moving, their house was. Mercer was going to move their house! That might not seem such a big deal until you see just how big the undertaking was.  The Giddens' house had been sitting where the red circle to the left side of the map is, on the edge of what is now the Greek (Fraternity/Sorority) Village. They had to jack up this 3 story house, load it onto a truck, roll it down the hill on Edgewood Ave. This required cutting down a few trees that had been planted in the middle of the street a few years back, and lifting powerlines up and over the roof of the house. They then had to turn 90° counter clockwise and travel up College Street before depositing it in on the corner of College and Elm St., where the other red circle is. At one point I thought the whole thing was going to topple over as they made the turn onto College in front of the Library. Brother Giddens was always a very quiet, gentle, unassuming man. Quick with a smile, a quiet laugh, and a hand shake. ON occasion, he came to visit the ATO house, oddly enough built almost in his old back yard. I was always amazed that simply by entering the room, the room seemed to get bigger. Everyone lowered their voice, and a sense of calm just seemed to flow out of him. Brother Giddens was very very important. Maybe Brother Giddens didn't want to do donuts on the Quad after all. Maybe he just wanted to drive his house through the middle of campus and in the "pedestrian walkways" that everyone hated. As that Senior had once predicted, MerPo did in fact block off the streets for him. |
Labels: ATO
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
The last Resort
After my waterlogged tour of Lake Blackshear, I decided to take the hour or so before Andrea arrived and take advantage of the fact that the rain had let up. I grabbed my camera and went out for a little walk around the resort.    On my walk around the lake I also discovered that there are quite a few families of geese.    |
Labels: ATO
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Don't miss the boat!
| Over at Krystalist they recently put up a post about the "perfect" way to spend Memorial Day. Essentially the Krystalist folks had stumbled onto The BBQ Donut. While I applaud the effort, I think it may be in poor taste to suggest using a product MADE IN GERMANY for Memorial Day. (Not to mention those goofy Germans can't spell "Barbecue anyway!) Might I suggest a down home, American made idea that Penny sent to me a couple of months ago. It's called The Floating Fishing Gazebo. Pros and cons? The Donut does have a grill, however, ask anyone who goes boating and they'll tell you that fire on board a boat is probably the worst thing ever. I guess you could theoretically set up a grill on the gazebo if you wanted, too, but it's wooden and thats an even bigger concern. I suggest putting a portable generator on there and getting a George Foreman Grill. The donut offers no room for people to stand up, walk around, and be social. What is a barbecue where everyone has to stay seated? Let me answer that for you: a stupid barbecue. But all of this boating discussion brings me right back to my trip to Lake Blackshear, for my fraternity reunion earlier this month. There's really only one way to lead into this, so sing along, everybody! Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, A tale of a fateful trip That started from this tiny dock Aboard Frank's tiny ship.  The skipper brave and sure. Two passengers set sail that day For a two hour tour, a two hour tour.   The tiny ship was tossed, If not for the courage of the fearless crew The minnow would be lost, the minnow would be lost.   Since Andrea was running late, she didn't make the boat ride. Probably a good thing since she arrived in her nice dress for the party and had she been on board when the rain came roaring in I suspect she'd have thrown me overboard. And unlike Ginger, I doubt we would have mysteriously had hundreds of glamorous dresses and gowns on board for Andrea to wear. Sadly, without Andrea we had a severe shortage of female passengers. Most people would believe Andrea to fill the role of Ginger the movie star, since Andrea stars in and produces Georgia Life and Style. But really when you get to know her you find she's really more of a Mary Ann, girl next door sort. Frank would have to serve as both the Skipper since it was his boat, and also Mr. Howell since he brought his wife along, who would be Mrs. Howell. For obvious reasons I have to be The Professor, though some would say I make a better Gilligan. I suppose David would then have to be Gilligan, or maybe the nameless, faceless announcer? Either way, once we'd gotten to the north end of the lake and past the dam the weather did in fact start turning rough. We had to stash our delicious snack of tortilla chips and seven layer dip. The Skipper then decided to pull into one of the many boat houses along the lake. Apparently "any port in a storm" is really a rule. He happened to know the people at the place we pulled into and he called them with his cell phone. Sadly they were on their way out to a baseball game and couldn't shuttle us back to the resort. A vote was taken among the castaways and we decided that, even though the Weather Channel was showing we were going to get rocked, we could handle it. We put all our cell phones in a zip lock bag, climbed back on board, and the Skipper floored it. Between the rain pouring down, and the spray from the wave as we plowed into the wind, we were all soaked once we got back to the resort. We all laughed about the fact that when we got back to the dock the rain had pretty much let up. I also pointed out that, just prior to leaving my room for the boat tour, I had been watching Jaws on TV. I guess that's better than watching the Perfect Storm. Despite the outcome of the tour, it really was a good time. I am quite certain that a few years from now it will be the source of many stories among the brothers at a future reunion. And because Andrea was running very late, I had plenty of time to take another shower and change clothes before she arrived.  |
Labels: ATO
Monday, April 21, 2008
He's not an ANGRY kind of Mad Scientist
| About two months back I got an email from Chris with a very simple question in it: Neither is Dr. A. Many years ago while I was still at Mercer my fraternity was running rampant without any sort of advisor. As you can probably imagine, a group of college fraternity men without ANY adult supervision can be a dangerous thing. That's probably why, at least for ATO you're not allowed to have a chapter without advisers. I am unsure where the suggestion originally came from (oddly enough I think it may have been a different Chris) but Dr. A wound up being our advisor for about a year. During that time I got to know him and his wife, Pam, very well. Dr. A has the coolest job ever. Looking back after so many years, I realize that I, too, have perhaps the coolest job ever. I get paid to be a geek, and hopefully interest and entertain people with my geekiness. And maybe, just maybe, I can convert some people into geeks, too. The reason Chris was asking was that he'd had lunch with Dr. A that afternoon and found out that Dr. A had been at Mercer many years ago. Why was Chris having lunch with Dr. A? Well Chris works for a school system up in Atlanta and had the opportunity to film one of Dr. A's lectures. Go here and click on Dr. A'a Science Show Please be aware the entire video is about 75 minutes long, but entertaining from start to finish. Obviously Dr. A is kind of a nerd. But he is one of those rare scientists who can speak the language of the common man, or more specifically, the common child. I am often asked why I like to teach. The explanation isn't really that easy. I can explain it in scientific terms easily. At a point in time, we'll call n my student doesn't know/understand something. At another point in time, we'll call n+1 he does understand. Good Old Newton's First Law of Motion essentially says: An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion continues in motion unless acted upon by an outside force. This is often called the "Law of Inertia." If we tweak this a bit and think about the student. His mind was essentially "at rest" at time n and in motion at time n+1. The "outside force" that acted upon him was me, the teacher. I am the "agent of change." You often hear about a metaphorical "light bulb" coming on when someone "gets it." While you don't usually see an actual light bulb, I assure you that you CAN see the moment when someone "gets it." It shows in their eyes, in their posture, in their energy. It is an incredible event to witness and even more incredible to be involved with. I just can't seem to get enough of that moment. That's why, much like Dr. A, I see every moment in life as an opportunity to learn and an opportunity to teach. I have said for years that if "You live and you learn" then the moment you stop learning, you die. Or taken another way, if "you learn something new every day" then any day you don't learn something new, you never really lived that day (and you've lost that day forever.) Obviously I am a big fan of life long learning. You don't "get old" because the calendar drags you through time. You get old because you willingly let go of your childhood curiosity, wonder, and thirst for knowledge. (But always wear your safety glasses, just in case!) |
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Lets get Square at the Fair!
| In case you haven't been paying attention, the Krystal Square Off qualifying tour has been going for a while and there's been some amazing results so far. Much like last year, Humble Bob is putting up amazing numbers, and last weekend in Atlanta, Pat Bertoletti blew the previous qualifier record away with 85 Krystals, the third highest total ever. (And if you hurry, Brian, there's a great picture of Pat with Krystal Kitty on the Square Off Web Page.) I have decided that tomorrow will be the official "unofficial Wilmington, NC Krystal Square Off Qualifier" hosted by me at an undisclosed location in my kitchen. I do realize that I have an unfair advantage given that:
Next weekend happens to be "Fall Break" where I work. It coincides with the Azalea Festival here in Wilmington. "Fall Break" means "Friday off" but since I always get Friday off, it's not that special. However I will be taking advantage of the long weekend to get out of here once again. It's going to be a big weekend. The same weekend, the Square Off will be returning to Perry, Georgia, and the Georgia National Fair. The first set of dates posted on the Square Off site listed the 5th (Fri) to the 7th (Sun) as the dates, but like last year they have added Thursday the 4th in, too. At first I felt I could make it, barely, if I left immediately after work on Thursday. But since then I have been scheduled for a class on that Thursday afternoon that wont be done until 4pm. Yes, college profs have to take classes too. If you work in the medical or heath care field, you know all about "HIPPA." In fact if you GO to a doctor or dentist you should know about HIPPA. (And no that's not a large aquatic mammal in snazzy clothes.) Well for schools, we have FERPA. Basically FERPA says we can't share educational records with anyone except the student without the student's prior written permission. So mommy and daddy cannot call me and ask what junior made on the test. Well I suppose they CAN call and ask, but I will tell them to ask junior. FERPA is lawsuit sort of stuff, so I can't skip class. (And skipping class is a bad bad thing, kiddies!) So with that said, I will probably be leaving right at 4 on Thursday and with the 7 hour drive I will arrive super late at night. But not too late for a late night Thursday Krystal run!! Friday the Square Off doesn't start until 5pm, so I will spend the morning in Macon and Warner Robins visiting with friends. Krystal Sunrisers for breakfast, I think. (If you'll be available during the day on Friday and want to catch up with me, email me.) I will certainly be stopping by my Krystal on Vineville Ave to see Bernida and the gang. I have a new recipe I want to try out, and where better to give it a swing? Wanna come have Krystals with me for Friday's lunch? Email me! Friday evening, it's to the fair. See the Krystal folks, Kenny, Brad, Kitty, Keith, etc. I also hope to eat some burgers and get another t-shirt, even though I look rather horrid in yellow. (If you call me "Big Bird" or "School Bus" I'll kick you in the knee.) Saturday, while the fair and Square Off are in full force in Perry, I'll be heading down to Vienna (after a Krystal Scrambler for breakfast) for the Big Pig Jig, and an ATO alumni event. Brotherhood and Barbecue. Can it get any better? Well sure it can! That's why I'll be bringing my own barbecue sauce! I'm getting hungry just thinking about it! After the Pig Jig I might hit the fair again, or go visit with more friends in the area. Sunday morning I hope to sleep in, but not so long I miss the Deluxe Breakfast at Krystal! Then I head back to the fair for the Regional Square Off Finals at 4pm. Then it's back on the road to Wilmington, with a stop in Pooler, GA, to restock my Krystal supply and stuff some chili pups and chiks down my throat. While I was planning this road trip, I had hoped to stay up near Macon. But I reconsidered after I read this article yesterday: View Larger Map Given recent events, I believe I will be stayin in Byron, GA this trip. It's a nice central location between Perry, Vienna, and Macon. Plus I'll be smelling distance away from a Krystal and Hotlanta Wings (great wings and the a great Philly Cheesesteak). The reason to go through all this trouble? Well sadly, the Square Off Finals this year are on a Sunday. I teach class at 9am on Monday. Throw in the 8 or 9 hour drive between Chattanooga and Wilmington, and the fact the Square Off will end at 5pm, and I think you see my problem. I will be there in spirit, and I will be glued to my TV, but sadly, I will not be there in person. Were you counting how many time I'll be eating at Krystals on my trip? Can you tell I'm missing FRESH, hot, small, square burgers? Oh it's gonna be a good trip. Except for the South Carolina part. |
Labels: ATO, Chiks, Chili, Macon, Pups, Recipe, Scrambler, Warner Robins, Wilmington
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Art and Kamels
| This *may* be my last post for a few days. My parents arrive tomorrow afternoon we go get the truck and the packing will kick into high gear then. I am sure the desk my computer sits on will be one of the first items to go, so Goliath will be taken apart to be transported to NC and reassembled there. I might have time to crank out on quick post tomorrow. I am sure you're hungry for some Krystal Koincidences before I hit the road. Have I got a doozy for you tonight. You'll recall my recent post about my visit with Jen to Eric and Brian's studio for First Friday. I also explained that I have an utter lack of artistic talent. I don't know anything about art. (I only learned one thing in my Art History class and somehow you can't ever seem to work "Classical Contrapposto" into a conversation. While Jen and I were looking around Eric was describing some drawings of a pipe organ he'd seen in Italy. That led quicky into him asking her if she'd ever heard of our fraternity brother, Art. As soon as anyone mentions pipe organs you know someone will bring up Art. You see Art has a family business of building and repairing pipe organs. The first time you hear it you think it is such an odd business to be in, but then, once you see his work you understand completely. It's really quite amazing stuff. His company did the work on the pipe organ in Newton Hall at Mercer several years back. I am sure you are wondering how I can recall such an obscure conversation I wasn't even involved in. Well, yesterday about 5pm I am busy packing when the phone rings. Expecting it to be my parents I quickly grab the phone, "Hello?" The voice on the other end was not either of my parents and it startled me for a moment: "Hey Jason! This is Art!" Thinking this was some bizarre practical joke, I played along, "Hey Art, how are things?" Art then explained that he was driving around as he usually does. Apparently he puts almost 80,000 miles in a year for his business. No that is not a typo. All that driving he get bored on occasion so he starts randomly calling old friends and yesterday I won the jackpot. We talked for about 30 minutes on all manner of things, including how lucky it was that he actually caught me as my phone will stop working in 5 days. He had questions on what I was up to, who else I'd seen or talked to lately (and oddly enough up until last Friday the answer would have been almost no one). Art gave me his company's web address (I wont post it here without his permission, but trust me if you have or want a pipe organ, or need repairs, I got a connection, just let me know!) I promised to get in touch with him once I arrived in NC and perhaps sometime in the next year or so he'd get up to NC and we could go hit the outer banks. Here's two more coincidences: I had just 2 days ago, while packing, found my "Outer Banks" visitors guide I've had for years but never been able to use. Also, the last class I taught on the base has a short section on the Wright Brothers and their first flight at Kill Devil Hills on the outer banks (not Kitty Hawk and everyone apparently believes). Once I got off the phone I immediately called Eric. Just to confirm I wasn't in the middle of some bizarre fraternal nightmare. But Eric agreed with me that as always strange things are afoot when it comes to our brotherhood. And its just one more sign that things are headed in the right direction for me. Eric is headed out of town for a little while, so it was our last chance to really talk before I move. He has roots in North Carolina, so that just one more thing we have in common. He asked if I'd been eating at Krystal every meal and I said I hadn't. In fact I was almost sick of them. Since Brian wasn't going to be able to make my Krystal Party, we went to Krystal on July 4th and had some. The next day at work was my last full day, so to give me a send off, they brought in a bunch of Krystals. And I do mean a bunch:  Eric then remarked I needed to be stocking up on my Krystals now cause it may be a while til I get some fresh ones. He said something to the effect of "filling up the hump." It was then clear to me. I am transforming from the Krystal Kid to the Krystal Kamel. Once a month I shal stuff my hump full of Krystals to help me survive in Burgatory until the next Krystal Oasis when I can refill. I am the Krystal KamelYou may recall a year ago, I stupidly came up with the phrase "I'd Walk A Mile For A Krystal." I did, in fact walk a mile, and it almost killed me. However perhap if we took the standard Camel logo and made the hump square like a Krystal, and changed the wording, it would make a rather funny logo. So there's my idea, now run with it! Email Me your submissions and we'll see what we get! PS-Almost no one knows this, but Art was the first ATO I ever talked to. And it was before I even stepped foot on Mercer's campus as a young wet behind the ears freshman. The summer before I started college I got a phone call. I was at work (selling seafood) so my parents took the message. It was Art, who was "Rush Chairman" for ATO that year. he was inviting me to come down to Mercer for a summer "pre-rush" party. That sort of event was common back then but strictly forbidden by rush rules these days. My parents, of course, said no-way. So I never gave it much mind. Until rush started in the fall and I met Art first hand. The rest is history. So I guess I better stop saying I don't know anything about Art. I've known Art for over 18 years now! And Art calls me on occasion. In fact, I think Art's great! |
Labels: ATO, Cheese, Chili, Mercer, Pups
Saturday, June 30, 2007
This is Macon (long and ramblin')
| One of my biggest concerns about moving, and probably one of the things that has kept me in place all these years when I knew darn well I should be moving on is my memory. I never claim to have the greatest memory. In fact I always bring a shopping list to the grocery store even if it is 4 items. I have found that once I arrive I get distracted and always forget one. My most recent trip I forgot to get mustard. You'll know why that is important on Monday, most likely. The memory I have is for the friends and events of my life. Due to the fact i have lost a lot of friends in my life, I know darn well the value of friends and friendship. When I left Conyers, I left for college and just never really moved back. I was only about 75 miles away anyway so I never really felt like I'd lost anything. Leaving Macon is a whole new ballgame. In arranging my party at Krystal (Friday the 5th at 5:30pm) I learned that my friend and fraternity brother Brian won't be able to make it. His family will be out of town. So we've been trying to work out arrangements to see each other before I move. In the phone calls and emails it is becoming clear that we both are realizing that all the time we thought we'd have just isn't there anymore. Its not just Brian, I have countless other fraternity brothers and friends in the area and my existance as a hermit these past 5+ years have really made me miss out on things. Its memories like those that you won't ever have that make you value the ones you do have. I was lucky however I sort of saw this coming, and Krystal Koincidences helped drive it home. Back a few months I happened to run into a fraternity bother of mine, Brian (no the other Brian) at Kroger. We talked and of course Krystal came up. Within a few days I was in downtown Macon for Cherry Blossom Festival. By that point I knew I would be leaving Macon fairly soon, destination unknown and date unknown. While downtown, I decided to go take a picture of where the Krystal used to be in downtown Macon. I'd known for a while where it was just never bothered to post it here.  As I was walking down Cherry St. in another of those Krystal Koincidences I happened to run into Clint. I went to school with Clint many years ago and he pledged ATO way back when as well. We talked for a while and he also brought up the whole Krystal thing. Since he's from Macon he also confirmed that the location across the street was a Krytal ages ago. And in another very bizarre twist we figured out that I live in the same apartment complex his father lived in many years ago and as a kid he'd run around all over this place. Too many koincidences, I felt, and I knew something had to be done. Krystal Karma had set in so I called Eric. Eric is also a fraternity brother of mine. We share birthdays (he's a year older) and we also have the same fraternity "Big Brother" (Rich). We discussed the fact that I was having "ATO Sightings" all over and that something must be happening. "Strange juju" I called it. I suggested we get together and catch up. So arrangements were made.  I have people around me in my life who are convinced that I have reached some level of greatness. I often disagree. Part of it is a rabid sense of modesty, but mostly it is because I have grown up around greatness. I know what it looks like and it's not what is in the mirror. Rhett is an English major. Brian is an Art major. Since I am a computer science major, I was brought up in the environment that english majors and art majors were not destined to be "productive" members of society. They don't build buildings or cure diseases. Rhett and Brian were entrepreneurs while still in college. They were running a successfull internet business before Amazon.com was even a goofy idea someone once had. If you are sitting near Brian or Rhett when they see this, you'll certainly see milk shoot out of their nose:  Many evenings I would get phone messages with only one word: "Loganberry!" Sadly, that was all it took. In moments I'd be knocking on their door, cash in hand, for some of that wonderful water. Looking back on it, I was an idiot. But in reality they were just very crafty. Not bad for an art major and an english major. Eric is another on the list of the greatest people I know. One of my first introductions to Eric was in a philosophy class we had together. We were reading over each other's papers, and I noticed that Eric (who lived in Panama City Beach, Florida) used the word "dude" in his paper. Not once but a few times. Now I am no english major (Rhett is) but "dude" doesn't seem like a "college level" word. Not only did "dude" work out for Eric's paper, Eric wound up being one of the top graduates from Mercer. He's just that great. The fact that Eric is an art major and again my first insinct was that society would wind up supporting him some day. But then you tack on his minor (major?) in Philosophy and I assure you, any conversation with Eric will stretch your mind. Eric and I on paper are probably exact opposites. But in reality we're so similar its almost funny. We both love teaching and have in fact we both have taught at Mercer. We both have a passion and thirst for knowledge. Clint was always hard for me to "get a grasp on." He never seemed stressed, he never seemed to have to work for anything. Clint was everyone's friend and always eager to have fun. For the life of me I couldn't figure out how someone could glide through college as easily as he did while I was sweating and suffering on a daily basis. I think perhaps there was a bit of jealousy on my part. And of course the reason all of this comes up today was a conversation I was having with Brian the other night on the phone. (No, the other Brian!) I forgot how we got to the point in the conversation but Brian start quoting Stephen Hawking to me on the phone. Now I can handle a little Hawking now and then. I took a year of Physics in college and a year of Chemistry to boot. However, to have an artist quoting Hawking to me just sort of stripped the teeth off my mental gears. (You can view some of Brian's video blogs here. For those that don't know, Stephen Hawking is the greatest physicist to ever live. Sadly most folks get hung up in the fact that he's been afflicted by ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). They say if you lose one of your senses the others compensate. I believe that due to Hawking's loss of control of his body, his mind has compensated. In a weird was, ALS was probably a good thing. Because ALS usually kills its victims in a matter of a decade or less, Hawking started to feel time pressure on him. So much in his head he needed to get out. So he has "written" a lot of material. But if you have ever tried to read his original stuff, it makes you head hurt. Frustrated by his inability to express himself to the common man, he backed up and wrote an astrophysics book for "the rest of us" called "A brief history of time." It was (and is) a wildly successful book, however it still hurts the brains of most who read it. So to have Brian (no the other one) quote Hawking to me seemed a bit surreal. In high school many years ago, I took Latin as my 2 year language requirement. Why Latin? We I certainly didn't want to take Spanish as my brother dominated the Spanish department in my high school. At least with Latin there could be no comparisons. Especially when i knew I was going to stink at it. My greatest accomplishment was learning to say "Semper ubi sub ubi." (Always wear underwear) But I did find a lot of fascinating facts about Romans. in particular they all strived to be multi faceted people. Lots of our latin phrases concerned "Warrior-poets" or "Farmer-poets" and of course there were "farmer warriors." While I will never be a "warrior." I passed up on the military in favor of college and now Im too old to sign up anyway. I doubt I'll ever be a "farmer." I can barely manage to keep one potted Golden Pothos alive. The poet thing is up for debate. I have written poetry, but I do not know if I qualify as a "poet." In my opinion, if you haven't ever been paid for it, then you probably shouldn't claim to be one. I have always felt that it isn't being good at one thing that makes you great, it's being good at many things that makes you great. I once heard someone say "A human being should know something about everything and everything about at least one thing." You always hear the phrase "A jack of all trades" but no one ever hears the second half: "A master of none." I hate having to say "I don't know." So to that end if I ever find something I do not know or understand I want to learn more about it. It's not so much a quest for greatness in my mind as it is my duty is a human. If I am going to keep using up oxygen I need to at least do something useful. As you can see, I have grown up surrounded by greatness (by my standards) and that environment has caused me to try and explore areas and expand my abilities to hopefully reach "greatness" myself some day. I hope you can also now see why it is hard to leave Macon. When you have found an oasis of greatness, you just don't want to leave it. I hope I find greatness where I am going, because it would be a darn shame to give this all up for nothing. |
Labels: ATO, Conyers, Loganberry, Macon, Mercer
Thursday, March 08, 2007
South Carolina Oddities
| Sorry to be posting this so late. I was out this evening helping the Heart of Georgia Humane Society with a spaghetti dinner fun raiser. No doggies or kitties in attendance but some fantastic food and good people. They're up at PetSmart in Macon every Saturday if you want to stop by and adopt a pet, or just come rub a cute puppy's tummy for a little while. They did make me promise not to put Krystals in the spaghetti sauce. It is Thursday after all. (Stay tuned next week for my latest Krystal Kreations!!) So before I move on from South Carolina to reflections on North Carolina, I do need to mention a few things. In another of those fantastic Krystal Koincidence I love so much, on my drive back to Florence from Myrtle Beach, I decided to take a small detour. I always love to take the road less traveled. in this case that meant, a right turn. At the next stoplight I happened to look to my left and saw something interesting. I had to make a U-turn to go back and see it:  Now, once back in Florence I had a second hockey game to attend. This night I got tickets right behind the bench. If you haven't seen the Florence Civic Center lately, it is really in poor shape. Due to the storm and heavy rains there were several leaks in the ceiling, one of which was dripping on the ice, cutting a nice crater in the rink that players and officials spent the entire night trying to fill in. But I was more interested in something else. Here is how I know that my new classes I am teaching have completely "corroded" my mind. Sitting behind the bench, I notice this:  So if a computer fanatic is called "A nerd" is someone who is hung up on corrosion called "A node"? And yes that was a horrible corrosion pun. |
Friday, February 16, 2007
Did you just see that?
| As I have been saying, there were many Krystal Koincidences on my recent tip to Chattanooga. Some will require a bit of back story. About 3 weeks ago, I happened to be at my local Kroger minding my own business when I happen to run into Brian, one of my pledge brothers. For those who don't understand the whole fraternity thing, Brothers are members of the same fraternity, but Pledge brothers go thru the pledge period together and join at the same time, so they tend to be a bit closer with each other than with the rest of their brothers. Now with that said, I sadly have to fess up that I hadn't seen or spoke to brian in over a year despite the fact we live about 2 miles apart. OUr lives are going in different directions I suppose. Anyway, we took 5 or 10 minutes to catch up and inevitably the whole Krystal thing came up. Brian then related to me his adventures to try and get my Krystal Kups to give as Christmas presents. he had much the same trouble I did in locating them in large (and affordable) quantities. I asked if he had gotten any boxes (which came out before the cups) and he said sadly he hadn't. I told him I could hook him up with a few, if neccessary. We haven't yet worked out those arrangements. Well, last Friday, as I was packing to leave for Chattanooga, Brian called. Ironically he was going out of town and would be driving near one of our other pledge brothers, Alex. Alex was/is known as Boss Hogg due to his amazing white Cadillac El Dorado he drove when we were in school. Since Brian would be near Greenville, SC he felt he'd give Alex a shout. Brian, however, didn't have his number. (I guess I'm sort of blowing holes in what I said earlier about pledge brothers being close, eh?) Well, I happen to have a fairly recent copy at the ATO national alumni directory, so I looked Alex up. Just to confirm, I also checked online and both addresses and phone numbers matched. I also have a current Mercer University alumni directory on CD, but I didn't need to dig that up. With Brian leaving very soon and my pulling out of town also, there wasn't enough time to get him Krystal boxes to take to Boss. Perhaps later. Now Brian might be famous for many things, including costing me a fortune in Western Loganberry flavored Clearly Canadian bottle water back in college. (Yes *that* loganberry again!) But what almost everyone at Mercer probably remembers is that darn van, aka "Sweet Pickle." You see Brian had a green VW Van. And for various reasons it sat in the best parking place right outside the front door of the dorm for almost an entire year and never moved. It also didn't have a bumper. Needless to say Mercer and the Mercer Police considered it an eyesore and tried to find an excuse to tow it. As you might expect, they lost, sweet pickle won. So my thoughts were on Sweet Pickle and Boss Hogg as I pulled into Chattanooga. IMagine my surprise as I turned onto Brainerd Rd. right behind this:  Alrighty, so my last day in Chattanooga, I check out of my hotel and make one more trip to the new Krystal on Brainerd Rd. I don't get too far down the road before I notice a rather odd traffic pattern. There's a line of cars a half mile long on my side of the road and no traffic come towards me. To me this can only mean one thing: big accident ahead. Since I don't know my way around Chattanooga that well, I am forced to stay on Brainerd and wait it out. Slowly, we make our way forward. Locals, who obviously know the back roads, are peeling off on both sides while frustrated drivers are doing U turns ahead of me and going back the other way. I keep thinking that Krystal is down the road in front of me with a few unconquered menu items. I can't turn back. Quitting is not an option. Failure is for the weak. but COME ON!!   While Brainerd is 2 lanes in each direction, there's a tight bridge that squeezes all of the lanes so tight you can reach out your window and turn down the radio in the car beside you. I can only imagine this house blocked the entire road. What's worse is every set of stoplights the house went under, it didn't quite make it under. Several shingles were left in the street and most of the stoplights were twisted at odd angles and every single one of them scraped across the roof of this house. So let no one ever say I wouldn't go out of my way for a Krystal. While I may not be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, I can follow a slow moving house for 4 miles. Where's the Koincidence, you ask? Well the house turned left right before the Krystal In the picture above you'll see a CVS pharmacy on the right. Krystal is just on the other side of the CVS. Somehow this house had been teasing and taunting me all the way down Brainerd. Stupid house! OK, so when I said I pulled out of my hotel and followed the house all the way down Brainerd, that wasn't exactly true. I did make one quick stop, since I apparently had the time. I stopped to take this picture:   Sadly, when Checkers moved in to Macon they ran Central Park out of town. It made me very sad. That seemed to be the case all over though, as Central Park basically disappeared from the face of the Earth. But last year when I was up in Chattanooga, I saw one and almost wrecked when I did. I have since discovered that they're making a comeback. Now, contrary to what the Central Park website says in their "about" section, there are not three Burger Towers in Macon. There are exactly 0. There used to be three in Macon. It has been at least 5 years ago since the last one closed. In that time they have ALL been occupied at least once by another restaurant, and all have failed. I contemplated taking pictures of all three (Shurling Drive, Pio Nono at Rocky Creek, and the one above, across from the mall) but then I realized, no one really cares THAT much. Now the big Koincidence here is this: Central Park also started in Chattanooga, home of my beloved Krystal. It seems to me the folks in Chattanooga know something about making a good burger. But for sure the next time I get back to Chattanooga, I'll have to hit a Burger Tower at least once. Maybe I'll get lucky with some bonus fries. |
Labels: ATO, Cheese, Loganberry, Macon, Mercer
Monday, May 29, 2006
Krystal Klear Memories
| Saturday was a day I had been looking forward to for a while. Since this whole Krystal Adventure started, I have had the opportunity to meet some great people. I have met the masterminds at Krystal HQ including Kenny, and Jennifer and Tiffany from Krystal HQ (who are now running their own fun blog at krystal-lover.blogspot.com). I met Keri from Eastman. I got to meet fellow KLHOF Inductee Johnny Solomon, who is also from Macon. I hope to some day meet a bunch of the other Inductees. I made the suggestion to Kenny that they have a 'Class Reunion' of the inductees one day. He said they'd been thining about that for a while and it may happen one day. That would be awesome. But perhaps one of the best meetings so far was not someone new, but someone from my past. While I was in college at Mercer University I was a member of Alpha Tau Omega (ATO) fraternity. One of my brothers, Brian, and I wound up working together at the Mercer post office after graduation while I was in grad school. You have heard me mention Brian on occasion and likely seen him post comments here in this blog as well. Back at the PO, Brian would join me on my Thursday Krystal run and that continued even after we both moved on to other jobs. But eventually even that ended. Then one day you wake up and realize that, despite only living about 30 miles away from each other you haven't seen each other in 8 years. That's a lot of years, and memories, and Krystals that are gone and cannot be replaced. As soon as this blog got started I began to track down Brian. He of all people would 'get it.' It didn't take long for us to start e-mailing and calling and it was just like old times. Obviously we needed to get together for some Krystals. But it isn't always so easy anymore. We both have busy lives and Brian and his wife Carolyn (an ATO sweetheart) have kids now. But through the undeniable Power of the Krystal, we made it work. Bryan and I and his family finally got together Saturday for some good times and great food, obviously at Krystal.  After my recent loss of my friend Ken, I have realized, time moves too fast and memories fade too quick. What you do today will be the memories you will have tomorrow. Are you doing right now things that you will look back on fondly? If not, then stop it. Go do something you will look back on and smile about and be proud of. Every moment you waste is a wasted moment, so get started now. Brian reminded me of a few of our friends from long ago I have lost touch with so I plan to spend my memorial day tracking them down and reconnecting. I pray that you, too, will make the most of your Memorial Day, and every day! |
Labels: ATO, Cheese, Chiks, Macon, Mercer, Pups
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
The Krystal Kid Meets The Paper Boy
So this afternoon, I took my lunch hour to go meet Ed Grisamore, a columnist for the Macon Telegraph. I was extremely nervous but I had my co-worker Kimber in tow, who had also been drafted to be my photographer. We discussed when I first started eating Krystal. If you've read some of the earliest posts from the blog, where I communicated with Kenny Hammontree from Krystal HQ, you will recall that I don't know exactly when I had my first Krystal but my parents and I have traced it back to whenever the Krystal opened in Conyers, GA. We guessed about 1980 or so. Ed said he'd see what he can find out. You see? He's not just a great columnist, he's also an investigative reporter! Conversation then turned to hockey, another of my passions. And yes there are many occasions where I combine the two. Many a Thursday night I sat in the parking lot of the Macon Coliseum stuffing down Krystals just before a Macon Trax or Macon Whoopee hockey game. Years ago, the last time my beloved Red Wings won the Stanley Cup it was on a Thursday night. I, along with everyone in the hockey world, knew the Wings would win that night as they had assembled the greatest collection of players on one team in hockey history. Anyway, I bought a sackful with every intention of stuffing myself and being in Hockey-Krystal Heaven. Suffice it to say, I got to 6 Krystals by the end of the first period, but it took the next 2 or 3 hours to dispose of the remaining 6 Krystals. But I savored every bite and moment. (For those paying close attention, my Red Wings were shockingly knocked out of the playoffs last night, so I will be in mourning for a while). Anyway, Ed related to me that they were trying to get the book Once Upon a Whoopee turned into a movie. If this happens I will be the first in line. Even if it requires me to camp out for tickets, I will be first in line for that movie. Lastly, the conversation turned to the topic of this blog. Ed has been looking at doing a blog and been encouraged by the people at the Telegraph. His web site, www.grisamore.com already has the beginnings of a blog as Ed posts daily reflections and thoughts. It would just be a matter of turning it into a true blog. Most bloggers turn to blogging because they lack an outlet for expression. Ed has a column for expression, but a blog might give him a new outlet, mostly free of editorial and managerial pressures. Ed, I say try it! If you want help or advice, I am there for ya 120%. I do not yet know when the story will hit the paper. I will of course keep my eyes open and let you know. I feel certain I will have at least 10 emails from various friends both on and off this blog, who will let me know they saw it. I do want to let you know, though, Ed asked if he could put the blog address in the article and I said that would be great. So expect heavy traffic here soon! Ed also suggested I go ahead and line up ads for my blog so I could make some money off the spike in traffic. I understand where he's coming from, newspapers MUST sell ads to survive. I think I will keep this blog as non-profit as possible. I think it gives the place a tidy look, don't you? Lastly, thank you Ed! It was great to meet you and I thank you for choosing to come talk with me. I look forward to seeing your column (no big surprise since I look forward to most of em anyway)  |
Labels: ATO, Conyers, Hockey, Macon, Mercer
