Category: general news
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Stan Winston (April 7, 1946 – June 15, 2008)
I found out this morning that my uncle, Stan Winston, passed away Sunday night. Stan was a favorite uncle in my family, not because he was rich or famous but almost despite his fame. Stan was always kind and considerate. Even while he was winning Oscars, he kept up with Cragun family happenings in rural…
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biking the Gandy Bridge
The last couple of weeks of school were packed with grading and other activities. We are now finished with those responsibilities and have started our “summer of research” (some people get “summers of love” or “travel summers;” we get “research summers”!). We have enough research projects to keep us busy for two summers, but we’re…
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the best 375 colones ever!
I picked up a few items when I lived in Costa Rica that have proven to be remarkably durable. Alas, one of those items died a few days ago – my infamous (to Debi at least) pink flipflops. I bought these the first week or so I was in Costa Rica (which would have been…
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I’m not alone; peas, wonderful peas
I’ve been buried in classes and haven’t been doing much of anything other than school related stuff as of late, so not much to post. Here’s my round up of the last few weeks: I just received an email from a friend with this link rating Bank of America as the worst bank in America.…
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How’d you spend your Easter?
I doubt it was as fun as mine… Debi and I went to Spamalot last night. As an inveterate Monty Python fan, I felt very much at home. I knew most of the “ripped off” lines and could basically guess what was going to happen next, but it in no way spoiled the fun. If…
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economic downturn and social stratification hit close to home
When we moved into our house almost 9 months ago, it didn’t take me too long to meet the neighbors. To the west live a tile layer (the husband) and a financial secretary at a construction company (the wife). To the east live a granite countertop installer (the husband) and a school counselor (the wife).…
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Tampa in the News
I’ve found since I started teaching Sociology that being up-to-date on local news can be useful (though it is less useful at my new school where many of the students are from other cities). This leads me to read the local paper, which is often relatively quotidian – thefts, car accidents, political debates, etc. Occasionally,…
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2 reasons Florida is cool and one attraction to avoid
As luck would have it, the latest space shuttle launch coincided with our spring break. The only thing I really, really wanted to do upon moving to Florida was see a shuttle launch in person. So, when I saw a chance for us to go observe a launch, we jumped at it. Given it is…
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ever lived in a condo? (and other sundries)
I’ve been wanting to write this for a while but am just now getting around to it. When we moved to Cincinnati we bought a very modest condo in a working class condominium complex. We liked the area and even though we didn’t know most of our neighbors, we were mostly content. At least, that…