home: [hohm] the place in which one's domestic affections are centered.

I went home to Maryland this past weekend. While at home I hung out with my wonderful parents and brother. I watched my brother make some solid football tackles and lacrosse plays. I must say (and he would agree) the most entertaining part about the lacrosse game was the opposing team's obnoxious parents. When I am a parent I hope to never set such a bad example. What happened to teaching your child good sportsmanship? My brother is all grown up and will be going to college in the fall. Scary! I wish we were closer but I think that will naturally happen as time goes on. This past weekend was homecoming and I had the honor of taking pictures of him and his girlfriend prior to the dance. My brother sure lucked out with Katie; she is adorable!

I also got to see one of my dearest friends from high school. Courtney!!! I miss her! I cannot believe I have known her for ten years now. Silly.

One of the best parts about being home was my Mother's fabulous cooking! On Sunday morning she cooked brunch for cousin Sandy and my Aunt and Uncle and their children. My mom cooked German pancakes and a delicious vegetarian strata. Hmmmm... It was so nice seeing everyone especially cousin Sandy. She is one of those people that simply makes you feel great by walking in the door. I have always loved her and hope to get to know her better as I get older.

Unfortunately, my dad and I did not see a movie while I was home. I think that is the first time that is happened. Whenever I come home we always go and see a movie. It is tradition. I suppose that just means we will have to see two movies the next time I am home. However, my dad and I did play scrabble. He beat me by about 200 hundred points. I guess that is what happens when you play against a librarian. Overall the trip was great and just being with my family was exactly what I needed. I am so happy my parent's house is a place I always feel welcome and want to come back to.


Maryland will always be my home but wherever Chris and Ziggy are is also my home. It is interesting how my definition of home has continually changed over the past five years. Maryland to Morgantown to Athens. While all of these places are different they are/were all considered home because of the people. The people in each place are always in my heart and have shaped me in various ways. For the next four years Oxford, MS will be my home and I am very excited to eat at all the restaurants, meet new people, and grow as a person. I hope the adventure is a good one. So far things lead me to believe it will.
(Pictures to be posted soon.)

Music on My Mind

I have been holding back from doing a post just about music until I had some life updates to get the blog started, but now I think the time is right to babble on about some seriously good music I have been stumbling upon.

To start I have to mention the best few days of music I have ever enjoyed, All Good Music Festival. This past July I spent three days doing nothing but listening to music and hanging out with good friends. I know a lot of people who went to the festival with me would disagree about this, but my three favorite shows were Bob Weir and Ratdog, Robert Randolph and the Family Band (I caught the drum stick from the drummer after the show!), and Soldiers of Jah Army (SOJA). It was awesome getting to see one of the original Grateful Dead members and SOJA provided the festival with some much need reggae tunes.

All Good Music Festival

Recently I have been listening to some really good stuff. My favorite CD as of late has to be Phish's "Joy." It's there first CD in several years and it was great! I got to see Phish last May and they rocked! This new CD is just more in the same jam rock tradition. Really good stuff.

Phish Concert at the Post Gazette Pavilion

Another cool CD and show I caught recently was the Black Crowes. Abby and I go to see the Crowes in Oxford, at a really cool venue called The Lyric. The Lyric reminds a lot of the 9:30 club in D.C. for anyone who has been there. The Black Crowes mostly played tracks from their new CD "Before the Frost....Until the Freeze." Really good southern rock and bluegrass tinged stuff.

Well, that's enough music news for now. Get out there and listen to something you love!

Roses

Found a vase!

The Leaves That Are Green

In one of my favorite Simon & Garfunkel songs Paul Simon sings," I was 21 years when I wrote this song. I'm 22 now, but I won't be for long. Time hurries on. And the leaves that are green turn to brown." I first started listening to this song when I was about 10 and I remember thinking that one day I would actually be old enough to sing it. And now....I'm too old!

That's right. This Thursday, Oct. 15th, I turned 23. It's been my first birthday ever out of WV and I must admit it was a bit weird. Still I had a great birthday thanks to my many new friends in MS. One of my classmates even bought me a cake. And of course Abby did lots of little things to help make it a special day.

In the evening, I went out to a local Mexican restaurant with a group of new friends. There are tons around here, but we went to one called Casa Mexicana. Overall, I can't complain about margaritas, chimichangas, and cookie cake!

One thing that has remained constant about my birthday over the years is that it arrives about the time the weather changes every year. Even in MS, the weather has cooled off dramatically and is down to the low 50s during the day. My friends up north will say that I have nothing to complain about. That much is true. But still, even here in MS, the leaves that are green turn to brown.

3 Years and Counting...

Yesterday was our 3 year anniversary and its always nice to take a moment and reflect on occasions like this. We both laughed and agreed that we could never have imagined ending up together in MS when we first met. It's funny the winding paths you follow in life. I'm just glad that I have someone to walk beside me.

To celebrate we went out for dinner at at Greek place in town. The food was good and cheap; I had a fallafel wrap and Abby had a grilled shrimp wrap. We came home to the dozen roses and I had cleverly placed one the dining table (they were in a pilsner glass, but I couldn't find a vase big enough!). Anyway, we exchanged gifts over a glass of cheap champagne: a subscription to a music magazine, Relix, for me and a pair of purple slippers for Abby.

The night ended with us watching "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" on the couch with Ziggy. Not the most romantic movie ever, but we both enjoyed it. And I couldn't have imagined a better night.

The Grove Experience

As many of you may have heard me mention before I moved to MS, the Ole Miss football culture is a little bit different than good old Mountaineer football. I was warned when I accepted the offer at Ole Miss that jeans and t-shirts were not appropriate attire for tailgating, which occurs in a green space in the heart of campus called The Grove. With the much anticipated match up of Ole Miss vs. #4 Alabama this Saturday, I couldn't resist the chance to embrace The Grove experience.

When I arrived at The Grove yesterday morning all The Grove and surrounding areas where covered with tents and Ole Miss fans. Although, not as rabid as WVU fans, these people were certainly dedicated! Tents had to be set up the night before at around 6pm and when I showed up at 11am it looked as if most people had been tailgating for several hours.

To my surprise The Grove was not as fancy as I had expected. Although, there was a certain subset of people who were decked out in collard shirts and formal dresses, many people were dressed in jeans and t-shirts. Overall, it seemed like a good tradition, all in the name of football, of course!

Abby and I spent the morning and afternoon socializing with some of my fellow psychology students. We set our tent of right in front of the psychology building; I haven't decided if that was cool or sad. Anyway we had a great time.

We didn't have tickets to the game so we walked back home to watch the game on TV. Ole Miss lost 22-3, so we weren't too disappointed that we were watching from the comfort of our living room!

Back to the studying for me. Assessment midterm tomorrow and learning test on Tuesday. Wish me luck!

Sitting, Waiting, Wishing

Well, I'm currently stuck waiting around for an undergraduate Ole Miss student that I am supposed to be tutoring (starting 15 minutes ago!) in statistics. While I am killing time, I thought I might as well churn out another blog update.

Currently I am pushing through what is probably the hardest week of grad school so far. Statistics test on this Wed. (got an A!), huge Assessement midterm on Monday, and then another 3 hour Learning test on Tuesday. To add to the craziness of the next week, my three year anniversary with Abby is next Tuesday and my birthday is Thursday! Plus, I am hoping to make it out to the Alabama game (or at least the tailgate) on Saturday. I guess this is par for the course for a PhD. program.

I've been reading the news while I have been sitting around and I have a few thoughts on what's going on in the world:

-Obama doesn't deserve the Nobel Peace Prize based on what he has done, but he might deserve it some day if he does what he has said he will do.

-Joe Manchin can't work up the courage to say that Marsh Fork Elementary should be moved while it sits only a few hundred yards from a coal processing plant, but he calls the EPA's review of surface mining permits "cruel and inhumane." What a joke. This guy is a disgrace to WV.

-Congress is finally trying to pass legislation that would classify crimes motivated by the victim's sexual orientation as hate crimes. It's only taken them 11 years since Matthew Shepherd's murder, but I guess better late than never.

Probably nobody was too interested in my thoughts about these things but I am bored and I have a computer in my hand...a dangerous combination.

Well it's been thirty minutes now and I have given up on my student. That's all for now.

-Chris

Introducing Ziggy

Starting up, Catching up

Well, to inaugurate this blog I best start by giving everyone an update on my life here in MS. I started the clinical psychology PhD. program at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) in Oxford, MS this Fall. We've only been here for a short time, but it's already starting to feel like home. It's been easy for me to make friends here so far, considering I spend at least 8 hours a day with my fellow graduate students. School is crazy, but it's rewarding and I think I am learning a lot. Look out for posts concerning random psyc topics in the future.

Abby has had a more interesting path since we landed here. Although without a job when we first arrived, she kept busy volunteering on an organic farm where she was able to get a real taste of rural Mississippi living. She soon found a job with the Humane Society, although the oranization was very poorly run. This job only lasted for a few weeks, but the one good thing that came out of it was our wonderful new dog, Ziggy! But more on him later. Abby is now working for Ole Miss at the Student Athlete Academic Support Center. It's part time for now, but she is hoping to go full time in the Spring.

And now for Ziggy! He is a little guy, about 17 lbs. We think he is a Corgi/Beagle mix, but we can't be sure. He's your typical pound dog: he has a bb pellet lodged in one of his legs and he randomly walks on three legs (but he uses the one with the bb!). He was a little terrorist the first day we brought him home when he ripped up part of the carpet, but now he is our best buddy.

OK more updates to come soon, but be prepared for my random ramblings about assorted topics! Peace and love!

Chris