Go Heels!

It has been since December 16, 2008 that I updated and I figure this is as good as any return post.

Go Heels!

Bells

Well that was a hiatus. In 8th grade we had to memorize a 500+ word poem for Language Arts and I tackled Poe's "The Bells" and for some reason it's been in my head this morning.

"The Bells" Edgar Allan Poe

I.
Hear the sledges with the bells--
Silver bells!
What a world of merriment their melody foretells!
How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle,
In the icy air of night!
While the stars that oversprinkle
All the heavens, seem to twinkle
With a crystalline delight;
Keeping time, time, time,
In a sort of Runic rhyme,
To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells
From the bells, bells, bells, bells,
Bells, bells, bells--
From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells.

II.
Hear the mellow wedding bells
Golden bells!
What a world of happiness their harmony foretells!
Through the balmy air of night
How they ring out their delight!
From the molten-golden notes,
And all in tune,
What a liquid ditty floats
To the turtle-dove that listens, while she gloats
On the moon!
Oh, from out the sounding cells,
What a gush of euphony voluminously wells!
How it swells!
How it dwells
On the Future! how it tells
Of the rapture that impels
To the swinging and the ringing
Of the bells, bells, bells,
Of the bells, bells, bells, bells,
Bells, bells, bells--
To the rhyming and the chiming of the bells!

III.
Hear the loud alarum bells--
Brazen bells!
What tale of terror, now, their turbulency tells!
In the startled ear of night
How they scream out their affright!
Too much horrified to speak,
They can only shriek, shriek,
Out of tune,
In a clamorous appealing to the mercy of the fire,
In a mad expostulation with the deaf and frantic fire,
Leaping higher, higher, higher,
With a desperate desire,
And a resolute endeavor
Now--now to sit or never,
By the side of the pale-faced moon.
Oh, the bells, bells, bells!
What a tale their terror tells
Of Despair!
How they clang, and clash, and roar!
What a horror they outpour
On the bosom of the palpitating air!
Yet the ear, it fully knows,
By the twanging,
And the clanging,
How the danger ebbs and flows ;
Yet, the ear distinctly tells,
In the jangling,
And the wrangling,
How the danger sinks and swells,
By the sinking or the swelling in the anger of the bells--
Of the bells--
Of the bells, bells, bells, bells,
Bells, bells, bells--
In the clamour and the clangour of the bells!

IV.
Hear the tolling of the bells--
Iron bells!
What a world of solemn thought their monody compels!
In the silence of the night,
How we shiver with affright
At the melancholy meaning of their tone!
For every sound that floats
From the rust within their throats
Is a groan.
And the people--ah, the people--
They that dwell up in the steeple,
All alone,
And who, tolling, tolling, tolling,
In that muffled monotone,
Feel a glory in so rolling
On the human heart a stone--
They are neither man nor woman--
They are neither brute nor human--
They are Ghouls:--
And their king it is who tolls ;
And he rolls, rolls, rolls, rolls,
Rolls
A pæan from the bells!
And his merry bosom swells
With the pæan of the bells!
And he dances, and he yells ;
Keeping time, time, time,
In a sort of Runic rhyme,
To the pæan of the bells--
Of the bells :
Keeping time, time, time,
In a sort of Runic rhyme,
To the throbbing of the bells--
Of the bells, bells, bells--
To the sobbing of the bells ;
Keeping time, time, time,
As he knells, knells, knells,
In a happy Runic rhyme,
To the rolling of the bells--
Of the bells, bells, bells--
To the tolling of the bells,
Of the bells, bells, bells, bells--
Bells, bells, bells--
To the moaning and the groaning of the bells.

A Few Seconds of Fame

Somebody on the Hive posted that MTV now has an online archive of music videos going way back, well I went back a few years and found myself! Here's the link to John Mayer's No Such Thing video that was filmed before a concert at the GA Theatre in Athens in 2002 I think. Look for me in the botton left of the screen around the 2:02 and 2:14 marks, I'm in a navy blue sweater. One day my future kids will laugh at me.

John Mayer - No Such Thing

Fall Adventures

I think I will start all of my blog posts as an apology for my posting slackness. This weekend was a great fall weekend filled with friends, Tech football at Clemson, camping with my dad, and a glorious drive through the mountains of GA and NC on the way back to Raleigh. Here are some photos from the game, camping at Black Rock Mountain State Park, and Montreat!

Clemson Game Photos

Camping and Mountain Drive Photos

Travelin'

Last weekend I headed to Boston for the Tech at BC game along with Ben, Melissa, and my dad. We had a great time seeing things we hadn't seen on previous trips. We took the tour of Fenway and got to experience the Green Monster, rode in the Swan Boats in the Public Garden, and toured the USS Constitution which was really cool and apparently is in great shape. Saturday was taken up by sweating in the stands at the game and watching Tech beat BC!!! After the game we visited with some cousins that I had never met at their amazing house in Wayland. Sunday was a good breakfast at The Paramount in Beacon Hill, a visit to see where my sister lives when not in London, and the flight back to Raleigh. It was a whirlwind trip, but a lot of fun. I love football road trips and walking around the cities and seeing other Tech fans out and about taking in the sights.

Over the next two weeks I'm going to be on the road for work. It's kind of unusual to be gone for that much time in a row, but should be good trips. Monday a coworker and I are flying to Pittsburgh and then driving to West Virginia for two site visits and then up to Ohio for a developer's golf tournament on Tuesday. Wednesday and Thursday we'll be be doing a mega road trip around West Virginia visiting a total of 9 sites for projects in which we may invest. Then the next week I'll be heading to Chicago for a historic preservation conference Wednesday through Friday. I'm really looking forward to learning some new things and you can't beat the location right across the street from Grant Park.

I'm sure most of you have seen them already, but here's the photo album from Boston.

Trip to Boston Album 1

Trip to Boston Album 2

Kick the Ball

First games of the season are always a little rusty and last night was no different. Last night was my first game playing on the TASL Coed D League Aces soccer team. We didn't have a practice and it definitely showed with about 10 new people on the team. I think it's going to be a fun season as the team seems laid back but also has the desire to play well too. It seems that most people probably have some playing experience, but we were all rusty last night. I could definitely tell it had been three years since I last played intramural soccer and it will take a few games to get my feet under me again. One good thing is that I have been running pretty regularly the last few months but still have a ways to go to get in some kind of shape. Unfortunately the increase in endurance doesn't help with the sprinting part of the game and I'll have to figure out some method to start training for that. Despite the out of shape and sorry first game soccer skills I had a good time and I'm looking forward to the rest of the season.

Oh yeah, we lost 6-0.

Braves Win! Braves Win! Braves Win!...

I still get chills when I hear Skip Caray's call when Sid Bream rounded the bases to clinch the 1992 National League Championship. Unfortunately the Braves family lost a great member when Skip Caray passed away on Sunday. Here's a link to an article about Caray and the call.

AJC: Braves announcer Skip Caray dies

Caray's call as Sid Bream rounded the bases!