Reunions

So 20 years have flown by and I'm going to my 20th college reunion this weekend.
Twenty? Really?
Am looking forward to seeing people I haven't seen since the 10th. Sadly, some of our crowd can't make it but maybe we'll catch them at the 30th. (A shoutout especially to Kelly and Jeff.)
Things we didn't have 20 years ago: Blogging, the Internet, Facebook, Twitter, iPods, iPads, iPhones, etc. etc. No personal computers.
However, I distinctly remember that bag phones for cars were coming on the scene (this would have been in '89 or '90); and a friend of mine put one of those fake antennas on her car, to make people THINK she had a car phone.
Fads change, but the instinct to copy fads--or look cool in school--does not.
I remember that my dad wrote me letters several times a week and included copies of the Far Side cartoon (which I still miss) in the envelope.
This is where I went to college. I was very fortunate to have gone there.

Tiger Woods: Ryder Cup

Newport, Wales--It's an unfortunate concept but, sadly, a truth, too, that in golf, nice guys aren't always as successful as their talent suggests.
Adam Scott is a nice guy, as are Freddie Couples and Sean O'Hair. But are they too nice to step on people's throats Sunday afternoons?
Phil Mickelson ruffles the feathers of his peers, as could Vijay Singh. Jack Nicklaus wasn't too friendly when a championship was on the line, and let's not even talk about Ben Hogan.
And be sure that Tiger Woods earned his stripes in that league, too.
"No matter how friendly you are with him, he wants to slit your throat on the golf course," said O'Hair after Woods beat him last year to win at Bay Hill.
An interesting analysis by Robert Lusetich at FoxSports.
Read the rest here.
Isn't this true in any profession? Sure, golf is played on the world stage (and the Ryder Cup will only further secure that); but think of the really successful people you know: The ones at the top of the heap GENERALLY aren't so concerned with their competitors. Or is it the focus that makes them seem, well, prickly?

A portrait of grief

From one of my all-time favorite movies, "Steel Magnolias."

Nutrition 101: What's healthy, what's not

This is a great link on the Duke University Web site.
So many times, you go to research calories or meal portions or what-have-you and you land on a site with products for sale. It can be discouraging.
Thanks, Duke U, for compiling this list.

Fast food wins bout with veggies

It’s been a busy week for vegetables.
The baby-carrot industry tried to reposition its product as junk food, starting a $25 million advertising campaign whose defining characteristics include heavy metal music, a phone app and a young man in a grocery cart dodging baby-carrot bullets fired by a woman in tight jeans.
On the East Side of Manhattan, crates of heirloom vegetables with names like Lady Godiva squash were auctioned for $1,000 each at Sotheby’s, where the wealthy are more accustomed to bidding on Warhols and Picassos than turnips and tomatoes.
Both efforts, high and low, are aimed at the same thing: getting America to eat its vegetables.
Good luck. Despite two decades of public health initiatives, stricter government dietary guidelines, record growth of farmers’ markets and the ease of products like salad in a bag, Americans still aren’t eating enough vegetables.
Read the rest of the Times article here.

Swiftwick cycling socks

Bought some of these socks today.
They rock.
Wicking, as you probably know, keeps moisture away from your skin. I always wear shirts that wick--usually some combo of polyester and rayon--and your shirt can be soaking wet but it doesn't cling to you.
Hope everyone's having a super weekend. Supposed to be 80 degrees here tomorrow. We'll take it.

Maryland candidate for Senate hit, killed while cycling

This is so sad.
Natasha Pettigrew, a Green Party candidate, was cycling early Sunday and was struck and killed by an SUV. She died Monday evening.
As much as I'd say "be careful out there" (to cyclists and drivers), accidents can still happen. We have a good friend who was hit here a few years ago. He, too, was on an early-morning ride and a driver didn't see him. I seem to recall it was foggy. He was not killed, thankfully, but broke his back. Word to the wise: Practice defensive driving and cycling, y'all.