Shayne's Domain

Weekend Wedding in Houston/The Labor Day Gang Explained

Wow.  What a wonderful weekend in Houston (and yes, Houston rose a few notches from its "Least Favorite City of Mine" due to the four days of GORGEOUS weather!).  I not only got to be a guest at the beautiful wedding of Clayton and Elizabeth, but also spent some great time with my family and I FINALLY got to see some of the Labor Day Gang!  The WHAT Gang?  For those that don't know this story, let me explain, 'cause it's pretty darn cool....

So once upon a time, a looooong time ago (hee!), my mom was a wee college lass at Texas Tech University.  It was there she met eight other fabulous women, and the whole lot of them became great friends.  Starting Labor Day Weekend, on the tail end of the summer of '73, they decided to plan a camping trip together - no children at this point, but a few husbands and significant others.  Well, fast-forward 36 years, and they're still  camping....(albeit, a few less tents and more trailers involved).

Of all nine women and their spouses, six still attend regularly.  There are sixteen children in all (yes, yes, once again I'm the oldest...), and now grandchildren are gracing the scenes.  There have been years when not everyone could make it - life has interrupted, parents have passed, children have had crises.  But there have always, always been folks there - even if just one member of a family could make it.  The family representative, so to speak.

I have grown up with these people, literally, my entire life.  I have more godparents than I can count.  I have had to miss many a Labor Day, but I always hear the Labor Day Scoop, and if I'm lucky, I'll get to see a family here and there during a holiday pass-thru, or a beautiful wedding such as this one.

I can't think of a more inspiring example of true friendship than this story.  I know that any one of these families could ask anything of each other.  Through differences and distances, their friendships have remained a priority.  I have seen these people laugh and cry together, argue and hug, pitch tents and throw horseshoes. 

So to them ALL, I say thank you.  What a delight to be there this past weekend.  And to those I didn't get to see, here's to hoping it won't be long!

To Elizabeth and Clayton:  Congratulations!  I wish you both the very best!

To my family - the Kohouts and ALL the Labor Day Gang:  I LOVE YOU!

Two Great New Books

I have two great new book recommendations:

Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson

This is the very cool, inspiring, sort-of biography of American Greg Mortenson, who has devoted his life to building schools in the remote mountains of Pakistan.

From Publishers Weekly:
"Some failures lead to phenomenal successes, and this American nurse's unsuccessful attempt to climb K2, the world's second tallest mountain, is one of them. Dangerously ill when he finished his climb in 1993, Mortenson was sheltered for seven weeks by the small Pakistani village of Korphe; in return, he promised to build the impoverished town's first school, a project that grew into the Central Asia Institute, which has since constructed more than 50 schools across rural Pakistan and Afghanistan. Coauthor Relin recounts Mortenson's efforts in fascinating detail, presenting compelling portraits of the village elders, con artists, philanthropists, mujahideen, Taliban officials, ambitious school girls and upright Muslims Mortenson met along the way. As the book moves into the post-9/11 world, Mortenson and Relin argue that the United States must fight Islamic extremism in the region through collaborative efforts to alleviate poverty and improve access to education, especially for girls. Captivating and suspenseful, with engrossing accounts of both hostilities and unlikely friendships, this book will win many readers' hearts." (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

a mercy by Toni Morrison

The latest book from one of my all-time favorite authors; a short, lyrical, but beautifully intense story.

From The Miami Herald:
“A grand tragedy writ in miniature . . . Women, men, Africans, Native Americans, whites, masters, slaves–all are cast into the hard world that is the New World in Toni Morrison’s lustrous new novel. In the same way, the Nobel Prize winner casts us into her hypnotic, many-voiced narrative set in the 17th century in a nation yet unformed. . . . We’re beguiled from the opening sentence: ‘Don’t be afraid.’ The speaker is Florens, black, barely out of childhood, a slave but literate, whose eager-to-please ways and lyrical language endear her to us and to the Virginia household of Jacob Vaark. . . . The subject of [A Mercy] is slavery, and [Morrison] brings to it, along with some of her most haunting language, elements of history and mythos. . . . A Mercy is kindled by characters who are complex and vulnerable, full of what she describes in Beloved as ‘awful human power.’ . . . This novel’s release coincides with the presidential election of Barack Obama, a shining moment in our country’s history of which Morrison’s characters can barely dream.”
–Ellen Kanner, The Miami Herald

Enjoy!  And thanks for sending all your book recommendations.  Keep 'em coming!

World's Best Places to Live 2008

I just ran across this article on MSN.com that ranks the world's best places to live.  Take a look at the slideshow to see the cities that made the top 10...(note the highest-scoring U.S. city is Honolulu, which came in at No. 28...shocking...)  I've been fortunate enough to visit a lot of these top 10 cities, and even though I haven't stayed in any one city for all that long, I could definitely see, just through a short visit, why these places are the top-ranking.  Maybe it's just because I'm itching with a major case of the travel bug, but don't be surprised if you get a Change of Address card for me from Switzerland!

Toothy Trouble

Once again I see that Lubbock has made national news..."Lubbock Ranks Last in Bad Teeth Study."  Well, there's a shocker...Men's Health magazine says Lubbock has the worst teeth of the 100 large U.S. cities they examined.  I guess some people are saying it's the high level of flouride in Lubbock water.  Ya think?!  Most of what I remember from childhood friends are all the stained teeth...(and some people are questioning the study...please!)  I lucked out (by the skin of my teeth! ha!) and made it to adulthood without any stains...this is even more incredible when you consider that I spent time in Japan, a country that uses NO flouride.  I guess the God of the Ivories is on my side...But really, has it taken people this long to realize that the water in Lubbock is so awful??  I can stomach it; I grew up on the stuff.  But bring a total stranger out to the Hub City and they're likely to gag over one sip.  Well, it's interesting, to say the least.  Now go stock up on some bottled water!!!

A Sad State of Affairs

In light of this horrible shooting that occurred over the weekend, security here at the Temple has greatly increased.  Not that I really think anything will happen here, but it's still a little scary.  Brings what's happening halfway across the world a little closer to home.  Click here to read another article.

Beware the Deadly Lettuce Leaf

Egads!  No wonder we're all junk food addicts.  You try to eat healthy and you end up with some gene-mutating fungus.  And really, who actually has time to cut up a head of lettuce?  No thank you.  This is the perfect excuse I've been looking for to subsist entirely on french fries and milk shakes, never having to worry about sharpening my already stellar cooking skills.

I received the following very scary message from my sister:

Packaged Salad Mix Warning

I just received this and thought I would pass it on.  I checked Snopes.com and sure enough it is True!!!!!  So, stay away from packaged salad mixes.  Which is very disappointing as they are so handy!  I know we all like to cut corners from time to time!

Packaged salad mix

NBC Dateline did a documentary on cut-up lettuce and spinach packaged
in plastic bags. They took us through the whole process and talked
about how the Ecoli bacteria is now showing up in the salad mix in
bags. They don't know yet how the Ecoli got in, but they do know that
deaths and serious sicknesses are occurring in many states.

One woman told about how her child was near death from the lettuce and
was sick for a long time. They warned us not to buy any bag salads
until they find out from the investigation what is causing this
contamination.

The Dole Company has recalled their bags. See the link below.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12536902/
Please pass this one on...and perhaps save someone's life.
http://www.snopes.com/food/warnings/salad.asp

Smells A Little Fishy Out There

In case you were getting a little too bogged down with the news of World War III, I thought I'd try and provide a curious respite.  I was driving to work yesterday morning and heard an interesting story on my favorite Atlanta radio station involving none other than good ol' Lubbock, Texas.  Apparently, a local Lubbockite was fishing in a local Lubbock lake and caught a nice 20-pound fish.  Not just any ordinary 20-pound fish, mind you, but a fish with human teeth.  Of course, my first reaction is that something like this would only happen in Lubbock (although I think a few other fish like it have been hooked in Colorado, and-- the backwoods swamps of Louisiana, was it?).  Anyhow, you can check out this video, or take a look at this article.  Pretty crazy, eh?  I'm thinking some dumb-ass just jumped into a lake, got eaten by a big fish, and the fish just thought it would try out the human's teeth for grins.  Or maybe the whole monkey story is a load of crap and we really just evolved from a bunch of slimy, brainless fish.  Well, I suppose it's just a part of human nature to make such conjectures (or is it the fish in us?)  Hard to say, isn't it?

Blaine's Pain

If you don't watch TV (or you're just completely out of touch with the world, kind of like me), then maybe you missed magician David Blaine trying to break a world record by holding his breath for 9 minutes, completely submersed in a big tank of water (and handcuffed in 8 places, and basically a floating prune after "living" in the tank for a hundred and seventy-something hours beforehand...).  Well, I got suckered into watching as they managed to stretch 9 minutes into 2 hours (and yes, I watched the whole thing).  Man, he looked like he was in pain.  Have you ever tried to hold your breath that long?  Of course not. You are probably a normal human being who appreciates and understands why we have lungs and not gills.  But curiosity always kills the cat, they say.  (Don't worry, I'm still alive.)  So I timed myself along with Blaine.  One minute and twenty-three seconds...You know, it looks a lot easier than it is.  But I am certain that if I were submersed in water, where they say you can actually hold your breath longer, I could've pulled off 9 minutes, in my bathtub, easy.  Go ahead, try it.  Try to break MY record.  (I will not be held responsible for the outcome.)  I really just like to imagine everyone trying to hold themselves completely underwater in a little bathtub.  Kinda funny image, actually.  But since David Blaine is a professional, I guess I'll leave the record-breaking up to him.  I'll go devote myself to the eating glass trick instead.