Remembering Mr. Hammond

Remembering Mr. Hammond

My #ThemeSong today, once again, is Helplessness Blues by Fleet Foxes. It's one of my all-time favorites, and today the chorus calls to mind the life of SamHammond, long-time carillonneur at Duke University (53 years, daily(!)) and generous accompanist for Duke University String School (local elementary through high-school students, many on scholarship), who passed away recently. …

Read More
Eulogy for My 2014 MacBook Air

Eulogy for My 2014 MacBook Air

Yesterday, like a sign from the Universe, I accidentally killed my MacBook Air. I felt the urge to be with my 7-year-old computer as it died there on the table. The software was still working like nothing had happened, but the hardware was clearly taking its last breaths. To pass the time, I logged into my blog and began typing the following eulogy to my old inanimate friend. …

Read More
#VoiceInMyHead Today (re Teachers)

#VoiceInMyHead Today (re Teachers)

We need to start paying teachers the salaries of both caretakers and educators if we want to maintain the system as it is. Teachers have shown they can do it, which is why we are demanding they do it now. But the current situation is not sustainable unless …

Read More
Durham Elementary Students to Return to In-person Learning 4 Days/Week (!)

Durham Elementary Students to Return to In-person Learning 4 Days/Week (!)

My last post concerned the debate over whether Durham Public Schools should resume in-person learning in order to accommodate state legislation mandating a return to in-person instruction within 15 days (of the legislation's passing). Discussion on the topic has become heated and personal, which I find sad and incredibly frustrating. The simple question is this: After doing remote learning for nearly 12 months, why are we forcing teachers and staff back into classrooms mere weeks ahead of ensuring they are administered the vaccination we've all been waiting for?

Read More
Rain, Better Conversations, and 3-D Printed Edible Steaks

Rain, Better Conversations, and 3-D Printed Edible Steaks

I had to take a few days hiatus to work on my entries to a Ghost, Fable and Fractured Fairy Tale contest. In the meantime, we've had rain, rain and more cold rain. This morning was no different, which is why my theme song today is Lady Gaga's Rain on Me (below). Here's a great article from TeenVogue regarding the song's 22-year-old co-writer Nija Charles's experience as a young black woman making pop music…

Read More
Edelweiss and Remembering for Both of Us (ReadAloud)

Edelweiss and Remembering for Both of Us (ReadAloud)

Years after the book's release, Charlotte continues her involvement in improving our understanding and communication about Alzheimer's Disease, which her husband suffered before his passing. Remembering for Both of Us is *the* book to give a child (or a parent or grandparent) who has a family member suffering from Alzheimer's Disease or Dementia. Every physician/counselor in the field should have a copy of this book in their waiting room.

Read More
Lauryn Hill and Microplastics

Lauryn Hill and Microplastics

I edited a paper about the ecological impact and human health risks of microplastics in aquaculture ecosystems. My daughter is currently doing microplastics research at Eckerd University, so it was a rare instance where I had a personal interest in the subject matter. During my subsequent trip down the wormhole, I learned that each time you use a microbead-containing facial or body wash (which, for years, has been most of them), up to 94,000 plastic microbes can be flushed down the drain - each time.

Read More
AJR, Snow, Certitude and Sludge
Children, Inspiration, Music, Sustainability Melissa Rooney Children, Inspiration, Music, Sustainability Melissa Rooney

AJR, Snow, Certitude and Sludge

“We wrote ‘BANG!’ about the weird middle-ground between being a kid and becoming an adult; a time when we’re doing all the things adults are supposed to do, but we don’t yet feel grown up,” says AJR. "The fact is, adulthood is bound to hit us at some point, so the plan we made in the song is to ‘go out with a bang.’" I'm at least twenty years older than these boys, and the sentiment applies to all of us, just the same.

Read More
Robert DeLong, Mark Ruffalo, Barkhad Abdi, and Pope Francis

Robert DeLong, Mark Ruffalo, Barkhad Abdi, and Pope Francis

While learning about shrimp and prawns, I also came across the following quote:

"When no one is to blame, everyone is to blame." ~Pope Francis

... which has given me something to think about for the remainder of my last gray afternoon at Carolina Beach.

Read More
#VoiceInMyHead: "Your Rules"

#VoiceInMyHead: "Your Rules"

My #ThemeSong today is Australian singer-songwriter Courtney Barnett's Avant Gardner. I've been sporadically "having trouble breathing in" since I was in middle-school (maybe before) - I know it's coming on again when I have to yawn to get a good breath. This is why, for my (belated) 50th birthday present, I am spending a few days at the beach by myself…

Read More
Senzenina and Calculated Risks

Senzenina and Calculated Risks

I first heard my #ThemeSong today when I watched The Power of One, written by one of my favorite authors, Bryce Courtenay, and starring Morgan Freeman (one of my favorite actors). Since first hearing this song, my ears perk at any mention of African musical influence, and they are far better off as a result…

Read More
Statistician's Blues and Being Ordinary

Statistician's Blues and Being Ordinary

"They say 3 percent of the people use 5 to 6 percent of their brain

97 percent use 3 percent and the rest goes down the drain

I'll never know which one I am but I'll bet you my last dime

99 percent think with 3 percent 100 percent of the time"

~Todd Snider

Read More
Kilby Girl, Incest, Rofhiwa, Electrical Brain Stimulation, and Korean Popcorn Cauliflower

Kilby Girl, Incest, Rofhiwa, Electrical Brain Stimulation, and Korean Popcorn Cauliflower

I asked my 19YO daughter to send me a theme song, and she gave me Kilby Girl by the Backseat Lovers. Though the lyrics make me wish I could remember the days when I could guiltlessly "waste all afternoon," it's a snappy little tune; and I didn't mind having it in my head today…

Read More
17 Jan 2021- 6 days off Facebook (Peter Gabriel, Watched Pots, and Edible Creations)

17 Jan 2021- 6 days off Facebook (Peter Gabriel, Watched Pots, and Edible Creations)

I came upon the Peter Gabriel song below for the first time today, when looking up the lyrics to Bon Iver's Holocene (one of my son's all-time favorites), and it melted my heart. I shared the song with my musically voracious son, who surprisingly hadn't heard it; and we agreed that it's crazy that, though hauntingly beautiful in its own right, Bon Iver's version is more well-known than Peter Gabriel's original…

Read More
16 Jan 2021: Weaning Off Facebook, Day 5 (Hamilton, the NRA, Aliens, and Psychedelics)

16 Jan 2021: Weaning Off Facebook, Day 5 (Hamilton, the NRA, Aliens, and Psychedelics)

My theme song today is my 17-year-old son's favorite song from Hamilton (he likes all the Aaron Burr songs). It seems fitting as we wait for the inauguration of the new American President and its hopeful after math. In fact, it seems fitting for most days…

Read More
15 January 2021- Weaning off Facebook, Day 4 (Maria Ressa, Ruby Ibarra, and Ginger Dressing)
Children, Medicine and Health, Music Melissa Rooney Children, Medicine and Health, Music Melissa Rooney

15 January 2021- Weaning off Facebook, Day 4 (Maria Ressa, Ruby Ibarra, and Ginger Dressing)

I heard Ruby Ibarra's A Thousand Cuts for the first time last week, when I watched PBS's Frontline documentary about Maria Ressa, a well-known journalist who is now a top target of Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte. I've always felt that everyone has a little God/Jesus in them, some more than others - Maria Ressa definitely belongs in the latter category…

Read More
14 Jan 2021 - Weaning Off Facebook, Day 3 (Sylvan Esso and Marriage Story)

14 Jan 2021 - Weaning Off Facebook, Day 3 (Sylvan Esso and Marriage Story)

I fell in love with Sylvan Esso when I first heard Coffee, the hit from their debut album. Since then, I haven’t heard a song I don’t like, and many speak to my soul in the most happy way. It helps that most of their songs can be played in the presence of toddlers. And they’re based in Durham!

Read More
13 Jan 2021 - Weaning off Facebook, Day 2 (Coldplay and Excessively High Blood Pressure)

13 Jan 2021 - Weaning off Facebook, Day 2 (Coldplay and Excessively High Blood Pressure)

Cold Play’s album, Everyday Life, was released live at the Amman Citadel, Jordan, on 22 November 2019 and broadcast live around the world. The first half was performed at sunrise, and the second half was performed at sunset. It's the first and only time the album has been performed in full…

Read More