Diverdowndoc

A good time was had by all

so the party was tonight and we had  a great time, but I gotta sayt hat it is really hard typing this.

Happy 4th of July!

In a long-standing tradition today, I will be celebrating the 4th of July in my traditional way -- working.   When people  cut  themselves while slicing the traditional watermelon, injure their necks diving in too-shallow water, blow body parts off with fireworks, vomit from potato salad food poisoning, go into heart failure from dietary indiscretions, go into labor, or do other crazy stuff that seems like a good idea at the time but isn't, because the first part of the sentence either starts with, "Hey y'all- WATCH THIS!!" or , "Hold my beer" (or both), I'll be waiting with the rest of my staff to try to save folks from themselves.  So have a great holiday. 

And be careful out there!

Twisting by the pool

Being such an uber geek, I have recently discovered how much fun it is to bore others with my home movies, especially when they (the movies, not the bored people) are set to catchy music.   My latest offering is a brief compilation of video and pictures illustrating the building of our Major Project last year- the picking up of all the dog poop in the yard.  No, wait!  We never pick up the dog poop! Actually, building the pool was our all-consuming task last year, and we had a darn good time doing it.  I helped dig and carry heavy rocks, then I would perform the laborious task of taking pictures and yelling encouragement at the crew.  It was exhausting!

Happy birthday, Mr. Diverdowndoc

I have the best Mr. I can imagine and, since I didn't run out to get him one of those canned Hallmark® cards, I thought I would make one to surprise him when he wakes.  Here it is.

Happy birthday, honey!

Video of Aquarium dive

Here is the spliced video from my dive with one of my favorite songs.  'Nuff said.

Diverdowndoc lives up to her name

Graceland

Many of you who know me know that my grandmother has been very sick lately.  She died peacefully after much suffering in her final days.  I had a last, mostly one-sided, talk with her the day before she died and assured her that I loved her and that I would look after my father, who has also been severely ill though slightly less gravely so.  So male docling and I piled into the bug and drove to Memphis for the memorial service.  It was an informal affair, since she had willed her body to the medical school and she would not have wanted a huge to-do. Ever practical, she had insisted I not take time off of medical school to come for a similar event when my grandfather died about 10 years ago.  She couldn't refuse this time, so we settled in with my ex-stepmother (XSM) for the trip. XSM was an amazingly gracious hostess, even extending her home to her ex-husband, who required assistance to stand and can't walk at all, and her ex-stepdaughter and ex-stepgrandson (i.e., male docling and me).  All of the "Ex steps" mean nothing to her, and the trip really was a celebration of Mimi's life.  My favorite stories I heard about her, aside from hearing stories from everyone whose lives she touched with her art, were told by XSM and by the pastor at the service.
    The pastor was discussing the mural that Mimi would paint in the narthex over the doors to the sanctuary. Mimi considered the space and said, "Well, you know, you're gonna want Jesus in it."  That brought the biggest laugh at the service.  My other favorite story was one that XSM told me privately the morning I left.  XSM was without a job at one point and was feeling bad about how little control she felt she had at the time.  Mimi, who read extensively even after the first stroke took most of her eyesight, told XSM that there was a growing need for goat farms and that she should consider that as a legitimate career choice.   We both  laughed  until  we had tears  rolling from our eyes because we both knew that if Mimi were in XSM's spot and decided that goat farming was the way out, then she would have done it and been the best at it and written a book about it.  That was the kind of woman Mimi was.

UPDATE: Type Pad deleted the rest of this post- I will rewrite and re-post the remainder of this ASAP.  Sorry.

Show 'em how to hit your mango

Some very reputable people got their groove on at the conference this weekend.

Just thought you should know

see more funny graphs

Garage Talk with diverdowndoc

I have a friend in another time zone, so she and I frequently talk on the phone when I am on my way home form work, but our conversations are invariably longer than the drive. So I end up talking to her sitting in the car in my garage, and usually with the lights out because the automatic door light times out. Silly, right?  Of course, if you laugh as loudly as I do, you'd better do it in your car in the garage so you don't wake your family.