Memphis

Sam and Mark have been married for just over five years. So many experiences shared, so many ‘firsts’ continue. They’ve adjusted in their marriage. They’ve got to know each other much better. They know each other’s strengths and weaknesses and know how to work these to their mutual advantage. Their marriage and relationship are becoming so strong and solid with time goes by that I am pretty sure that they will definitely have to choose gifts for their 50th(golden) wedding anniversary from Golden Wedding Gifts.com. This is their story:

Gratitude

chocolate heart

“I can’t believe we’re at our 5 year wedding anniversary already” says Sam “It feels like we’ve only just celebrated our 4th!”. Except in the last year Sam and Mark’s life has changed dramatically with the arrival of their son Boyce, named after Mark’s grandfather, who is now nine months old. “We’ve become stronger as a couple and most important as parents. I love who we are today.”

Mark agrees. “I’m grateful for what we have and who we are today as a family. We’ve had our down times, but the up times more than make up for those”. Mark was made redundant a month before Boyce was born which put pressure on them both. They coped by keeping in close contact with their family and friends and had the humility and wisdom to seek help from those able to give it. “I had to take time for myself with friends to sort out how I was going to provide for my family without Sam getting anxious.” says Mark. He continues “Our families have also been incredibly supportive throughout our marriage and I’m very grateful to have such a close relationship with them.”

Memphis

As the saying goes, actions speak louder than words; small surprises can create a huge impact in your love life. Relationships flourish better if you prepare little romantic surprises for each other often. It doesn’t have to be an expensive or big occasion, but what counts’ is how your partner will think about you. Not only will you be closer, but it will bring them excitement and joy. A woman would do anything to make their man feel loved and cared for and since men love romantic surprises too, as a woman you don’t have to sit back and do nothing for him. Below are some ideas and ways of how you can surprise your partner.romantic

1. Take him to a sports match

You might not be a sporty person, but enjoying his likes won’t hurt. One way you can surprise your partner is by buying tickets to a match of his favorite sports. Always be on the lookout for upcoming sports events, which you can accompany him to. It could be a football or basketball match which will forever make him grateful to you. Both of you can wear matching sports jerseys of his team and get to the cheering and shouting together. If you want to rekindle an old flame, a little excitement will be a perfect way to do so. And also, it will strengthen the bond between you two. Look for a perfect way to either give/ deliver the sports match tickets. You can place them under his pillow, put them in his wallet or place it in his favorite book for him to find.

2. Get him some romantic giftsgolf_ball

One of the romantic gifts you can please your man with is the display golf ball and tee set. This is a genuine and unique tee and golf ball, which has been immersed in pure 24 karat gold. Although they are not intended to be used in a golf course, your man can display it among his treasures or trophies where everyone will see. You won’t have to think about a gift wrapper since they come wrapped in a black gift box ready to be given away.

Memphis

In pondering whether to pursue an academic career, it all comes back to: Does anyone actually use research to make anyone else’s life any better? I’d rather not spend the rest of my career in a parlor game, even a parlor game with the goal of keeping myself employed.

So…. now i want to find “metaresearch”, research on the use of research. Actually i can see myself happily doing *that* sort of research. Thoughts?

Memphis

Usually, caring about the broader context is a Good Thing. Sometimes, it’s a Bad Thing.

I spend a lot of time trying to relate fine-grained data and stimuli to the bigger picture. I really can’t help it. It’s how my brain works.

Having a brain that works this way is certainly supposed to be an advantage in any role that requires thinking strategically or about the long term. I suppose thinking this way makes for better cocktail party conversation, about the state of the world or the meaning of life or what-not. People probably perceive me as intelligent and thoughtful, although I can’t help wondering if they pity my lack of traditionally-defined accomplishment in my life.

Memphis

From day to day, week to week, I have a lot of thoughts spilling out of my brain that I think are interesting enough to write down here for future reference. But I rarely remember what they are by the time I have the volition to actually type up blog entries.
In any event, the transition to mostly living and working in Memphis is going really well. After some early drama around the question of whether my landlord’s previous roommate was really going to clear out or not (some months after he stopped paying rent!), everything finally worked out. I love Mud Island — very upper-middle class, true, but also great for walking with beautiful views of the DeSoto (I-40) Bridge. I live somewhat off the left side of this view, on the Memphis side

625px-Hernando_de_Soto_Bridge_Memphis

Media

Web turns sports fan into talk show host

A May 2006 graduate of USC, the 24-year-old Mattis did a little research and discovered that streaming his show online was relatively inexpensive. He broadcast his first show last October and, for the first few months, only family and friends would listen or call in.

Sometimes i think my general approach is too nuanced, too intellectual, to make for really good radio though. If nationally #1-rated WEEI’s drive time shows are the Rush Limbaugh of sports talk, i’d want to be the NPR. You know: every issue has one angle, and then another, but if you dig deep some of the people from the second point of view can see merits to the first one, but there’s still some unresolved issues, but wait! there’s a third point-of-view disagreeing with the first two…. That’s how i think. I reserve black and white judgments for only the few essential issues. Sports radio exists by making black and white judgments about everything. Either you’re a Bledsoe guy or a Brady guy. Either Manny is a bum who’s not worth the drama he brings, or he’s a hugely valuable piece of the Sox puzzle. Great for ratings, bad for nuance.

Media

The Matsuzaka story is actually the perfect example of what i would classify as “metasports” in my mind. I’ve been fascinated by this story since a few days before Daisuke’s fateful cross-country plane trip with the Red Sox brass, not because i really give a flying damn about who pitches for the Sox — i mean, not really, i’m happy to see the team do well or what have you but i’d trade 10 World Series for one Vanderbilt win over MTSU in football. The fascination for me is other people’s fascination, particularly in this case the Japanese media’s. (I’m reminded of a joke i heard from Tony Campolo: a sociologist is someone who, when a pretty girl walks in the room, is looking at everyone else to see their reaction.)

Media

As part of its All Predators All the Time round-the-clock vigil, WGFX just had some guy on who claimed that the Titans, “represented our city in front of a billion people in 1999.” (paraphrased)

No.

The NFL likes to quote “audience” figures for the Super Bowl, understating that the definition of audience in this case is everyone who lives in a country or has access to a TV system where they could watch the Super Bowl if they so chose. And if you accept that definition, the SB’s “audience” is indeed about a billion people, or half the number who’ve watched the last couple of World Cup finals. That’s not two billion in NFL terms. That’s two billion who watched.

Sport

Predictably i’ve gone silent in the summer lull for college sports, but if all those old-time sports editors across the nation can write rambling columns (”Hitting to all bases”, the guy in Springfield used to call it; “Random ruminations while wondering what happened to…” was another from Huntsville or Nashville, i forget which) then so can i.

  • I’m at Buffalo Wild Wings watching the USA – Uruguay Under-20 World Cup match, u-200-0 after ten minutes. The US has really done itself proud in this competition so far, beating Brasil and sending that country’s sportswriters into tilt. (How could the Seleção lose to this rag-tag bunch of infidels from a country that barely knows they exist? Futebol is the one topic that gets Brasilian journalists sounding fatalistic enough to be Argentines.)
  • The Copa America didn’t go so hot — three and out, two goals scored, eight allowed — but it comes with a ready-made excuse. We sent a B team, like half of South America typically does for the CA really, and paid for it with our hides. As recently as last summer i was arguing passionately that the US should play in the CA at all costs, even if it meant sending an overmatched B squad because the Euro-based players couldn’t get free for both the Gold Cup and CA. I still believe that, but damn, it’s depressing to get walloped like our A team used to!
  • Uruguay having the better of this so far. They hit the netting at about 15′, just got a dangerous cross into the box for the requisite dive, and in general look a lot more active than the US.
Sport

It’s been a busy week…. but not in my sports life, really. Just busy with taxes, writing a couple of proposals, and miscellanous other stuff that’s kept me from opining about sports. Besides you don’t really want to read another Imus post do you?

VSL shows some, err, love? for the bowling team. Maybe for spite i’ll write up a whole preview of the National Championship field. I want Vanderbilt to win the bowling national championship! I want VU to win every bowling national championship from now ’til the end of time! Take that, revenue-sport-snobs. And Huskers.