Go Heels! Go America!

WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD

I Hear America Singing by Walt Whitman

I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,

Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong,

The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam,

The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work,

The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat, the deckhand singing on the steamboat deck,

The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the hatter singing as he stands,

The wood-cutter’s song, the ploughboy’s on his way in the morning, or at noon intermission or at sundown,

The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work, or of the girl sewing or washing,

Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else,

The day what belongs to the day—at night the party of young fellows, robust, friendly,

Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs.

I hope you all voted!!! It’s my first presidential election that I can vote in! WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Go Heels! Go America!

All things American:

Love ya.  Miss ya.  Mean it.

Kane

Salt and Pepper Beard

WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD

“Good things come to those who wait.  Good things come to those who work their asses off and never give up.”

            While belated, I wish my dad a very happy 46^th birthday!!! I’m not really sure how to praise my dad on such a special day or give accolades to such an important life and prominent figure in my own life, but I guess I’ll start by sharing what my dad has taught me…besides how to flip the bird J.

#1: Work hard.  If I’ve learned anything from my dad, it’s that you must work hard.  Nothing comes easy but the things that come to you as a result of hard work make the effort worth it.  There are/will certainly be days you want to blow off and it can be frustrating to watch other people slack off around you, but a strong work ethic not only leads to high reward, but great passion for doing what you love and what is right.

#2: There is no right way to love.  There’s a running joke in my family that my dad is the most charismatic person in the whole entire world…to strangers.  I have people approach me each time I’m out and about in Charlotte (and sometimes on plane rides from New Orleans?!?) about my dad.  They recognize me from our uncanny resemblance (minus the graying beard and zip off cargo shorts) and they stop me to recount stories about my dad.  Sometimes they’re stories from high school and college, my dad’s “glory days” as they call them, and they talk about his wild, fun love for life and disregard for rules.  But other times they’re stories about my dad’s adult life, times when he has helped them to build something or other at their house, lent them tools from his vast collection in our garage, or made them laugh at some (what I’m sure was an inappropriate) joke.  Regardless of the setting or the person, each story has the same underlying themes: your dad is kind, he’s helpful, he’s funny, and he’s been a good friend.  Well, if you know my father like I do, you know that he’s not a big hugger.  He doesn’t say “I love you” each night before we go to bed and sometimes, if he really isn’t expecting you to touch him, he tenses up.  (I type this laughing because I do the same thing…people really should warn you if they’re about to infringe on your personal space)  Anyway, he’s not the typical affectionate dad.  He’s the kind that walks 5 paces ahead of everyone in our family but holds out his hand behind him for us to reach out and grab so he can pull us along with his unreasonably fast stride.  He invests in scare the crap out of you and show you how truly physically weak you are before you go to college “self-defense” classes so he can rest assured that you will be able to protect yourself when he’s not within arm’s reach to protect you himself.  He’s the kind of dad that will drop everything to come get you when your car has been “stolen”, anger-free.  He’s also the kind of dad who laughs off a brutally car wreck in our own driveway in which the driver (WHIT) backed his truck into my dad’s truck.  I repeat myself: IN OUR DRIVEWAY.  He doesn’t smother us with hugs and kisses but he is an ever-present source of love and caring in our lives that seems somehow stronger than any other love I’ve known.  So maybe it’s unconventional, but who am I to say it’s wrong?

#3: One can never have too many shirts. Nuff said.

#4: Be happy.  Take everything everyone says with a grain of salt and then do what you want to do anyway.  There’s no way to please everybody so just do what you want.  Be a good person and try to do the right thing, but do what you love.  Make your own life and your own family and your own kind of happiness but at the end of the day, go to bed having proved something to yourself.  I like to look at my dad’s life and think that he’s ended up exactly where he’s supposed to be.  Sure, his job his stressful and everyone in our family is 14 different kinds of crazy, but he gets to go fishing on the weekends, he has fat, cute dogs, and children that are healthy and here.  So hats off and drinks in the air for you, dad!

Love ya.  Miss ya.  Mean it.

Kane

You'll Be Missed...

WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD

“How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”

-Winnie the Pooh

            Sometimes God tests us.  He sends us hardship and disappointment and often it is hard to know why.  Last night, a member of the Myers Park and UNC community, as well as a dear friend, passed away.  While it doesn’t seem fair, it is important to remember all of the wonderful things about David and to recognize that God never gives us something that we can’t handle.  My thoughts and prayers go out to David’s family and friends.  May we cherish and look out for each other and always treasure the time we got to spend with sweet, goofy David.  Heaven got a good one yesterday.  I will miss you every day, David.

“Thomas Edison’s last words were, ‘It’s very beautiful over there.’  I don’t know where there is, but I believe it’s somewhere, and I hope that it’s beautiful.”

-John Green, Looking for Alaska

Love one another and remember just how precious life is.  Please keep David’s family and friends in your prayers.  Love you all, miss you every day.  I MEAN IT.

Kane

Parents' Weekend 2012

WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD

“Bottom line…enjoy right now.  Regardless of who you are and how old you are.  What you have done, failed to do, been or failed to be is irrelevant.  Right now is the best time of your life, so enjoy it.”

-Pop Whitsitt

Whoa.  I cursed myself last week by hoarding the term “uneventful”.  This week was far from the quiet boredom of last week, filled with lots of “exciting” things!

#1: Deer are faster than labradoodles.  Let me paint you a picture here:  I’m walking my beloved four-legged friend, Luca, this past Thursday, like I do every Thursday.  We are enjoying the remnants of summer in the Chapel Hill Woodlands, a tranquil neighborhood filled with acres and acres of tall trees and beautiful houses, a neighborhood where chipmunks run and play in hollowed out tree stumps and the grass is truly greener.  As we frolic among the quiet streets Luca spots something.  Alas, a deer!  One of the many white-tailed beauties in this neighborhood.  Oh but this is not just any deer, no.  It is the world’s greatest, most athletic looking deer in the whole world, a valid threat to my speed walking dog.  Naturally, Luca and I must challenge this gazelle-deer hybrid to a leisurely race through the woods.  And so it ensues…girl chasing dog chasing deer.  Eventually, to Luca’s disappointment and my answered prayers, Luca snagged his leash (which was previously YANKED out of my hand…when the streaking through the woods really ensued) on an unsuspecting branch and was forced to forfeit the race.  In what was a very unsportsmanlike display of rudeness, the deer turned back to panting Luca and me and gave as a look as if to say, “better luck next time suckers” before prancing away into the woods.  Emerging from the forest, thorn scratched and sweaty, Luca and I decided to retire our days of being deer chasers.  Needless to say, I will be keeping a very tight hold on the leash from now on. 

The Culprit:

#2: Property of the 80s: big hair, big sequins, and…terribly hot and poorly ventilated rain jackets?  While I commend the hair and sequins and appreciate their comeback, it was time to see the ladder go.  An 80s gem fell into my hands a few years back when I inherited my aunt Mary’s rain jacket.  The thing is super cute: navy blue with small white whales printed all over.  It looks like vintage J. Crew!  I’m telling you this jacket is not short on style.  What it is short on: the ability to allow its wearer to breathe.  I swear I don’t know how the production of such a jacket was ever legal!  It is made of thick (basically) rubber and has absolutely no attempt at any ventilation.  So every time I wear the darned thing I’m about as wet from sweating as I would be had I braved the elements sans hot flipping jacket!  Anyways my mom has been willing to buy me a new, modern rain jacket, which allows its owner to not sweat to death for a quite a while now.  Unfortunately I’ve been terribly lazy busy and have been unable to procure such a jacket.  This past weekend, my rain prayers were answered and mama came through with a brand new normal person rain jacket!!!! Riveting information to you all I know.  J

#3:  Parents: can’t live with them and…well ya can’t live with them.  I’m only joking but this past weekend was Tri Delta’s annual parents’ weekend and Craig and Ashley arrived Friday afternoon ready to boogy, drink, smile, sweat, laugh, and eat.  If you’ll remember, I was gone for ten weeks this summer and was not at home for very long at all.  Unfortunately my absence permitted me to forget my parents’ obscene schedule.  After partying Friday night at the Parents’ Cocktail, those crazy cats woke me up at 8:30 the next morning ready for breakfast.  I’m in college…on a Saturday…at 8:30!  After a delicious meal, we headed to the heat pit we call a stadium to watch the Heels play the Hokies.  Let me tell you it was hotter than 40 hells!  But the rents were great sports and we spent most of the rest of the weekend recovering resting!   It was really great to see them and I can’t wait for photos from the cocktail to be sent out (cause we didn’t take any ourselves?!?!?!).

Me and my roommate from last year, Mackenzie, ready for parents' cocktail!

            Anywho, this week I have a spanish presentation on the agenda as well as a philanthropy event (if you’d like to learn more about it and donate to a great cause PLEASE click on this link and contribute to the “James Alexander Low Country Boil” at the bottom of the page: http://www.trideltaunc.com/).  Our new pledge class will also be taking their new member pledge retreat this weekend and CAMPING OUT, which should be interesting.  I will also be attending my first Habitat for Humanity build of the semester this weekend, which should also be interesting.  Lots of exciting things to come!  Let me know what’s going on with you and yours!!!!!

Love ya.  Miss ya. Mean it.

Kane

Funnies for the week: