An ATM card comes home, and a mundane day in the life…

The first thing this morning, my caller ID read: “Incoming Call” instead of displaying a number, and after debating on whether or not to pick it up, I did. “Mr. Martin?” “Yes, it is,” I replied. “This is Gladys at the Coastal Federal Credit Union and…” “You have my ATM card?” I interrupted. “Yes, we … Read more

My first professional collaboration with my sister— the 2007 NC Teaching Fellow Conference…

Clyde arrived at 5:40AM, and we were on the road to Greenville five minutes ahead of schedule. We met Vivian at the McDonald’s on 10th street, followed her to her office, where we picked up some audio-visual equipment, and then headed over to the building where we were presenting. She had a cart with her, … Read more

Breakfast with Steve, an eating ATM I hope, STC widgets turned, and kind words from Susan…

I met Steve Nelson for breakfast this morning up in his new ‘hood in North Raleigh. He’s found an independent coffee shop, Percolator, which is in the Quail Ridge Shopping Center, not far from his new place. Since the IBM credit union is right across the street from Quail Ridge, I brought Joe’s check to … Read more

A literal metaphor, a long-awaited trade, a convo with my bro, dinner out, and out to the clubs…

This passage, lifted from A Prayer for Owen Meany, is a perfect “literal metaphor” (an oxymoron?) for the emotions I was feeling about the screaming kids and their parents, on both my flight to and from Austin: The other thing preferable about the weekday services is that no one is there against his will. That’s another … Read more

Austin Trip—Day 5

Reading This Will Make You Yawn Sometimes, even thinking about yawning will make you yawn. And when the person next to you does it, forget about it—you’ll yawn, too. With all this talk about yawning, in fact, you’ve probably already yawned. “A yawn is an instinctive behavior: You don’t have to learn to do it, … Read more

Austin Trip—Day 4

Irene kindly drove me into the IBM Austin office today, which was a longer ride than I’d anticipated. After some initial drama finding building 901, I hooked up with Mary, and our first deed of the morning was to get me a temporary badge for the day. I completely forgot about bringing mine with me … Read more

Austin Trip—Day 3

We slept in this morning after the big, successful, pahtee last night, and we started the morning off with a little hair of the dog—mimosas. We rode out to Rob’s and Jennifer’s lake house in Wimberley. The ride was pretty, and their lake house was so nice. Here’s a shot in the backyard looking down … Read more