Are you KIDDING me?

Sunday I witnessed a middle aged man texting... during a funeral.

Bieber Fever :-(

I sat through two hours of film featuring tweenager girls crying and hyperventilating over Justin Bieber. How much do I love her? TWO HOURS!!!

This is the Bieber shrine in her room.

Miss Hollywood

Trimmed

"Abby. Did you cut your hair?"

"Um. No?"

I think the evidence says otherwise.

A Brief Detour

Just because it made my kids laugh and laugh and laugh.... and Abby kept saying: "Alan! Alan! Alan!" after she watched it.

Schooled

I've decided to stick with a bit of the "Where I'm from" theme for posts in the near future. Statesboro is a college town and has been for over a century. My sister and I were the third generation of our family to attend Georgia Southern. My Grandmother Hall attended in the mid-1930s. My mother graduated in 1963. Christie, my sister, finished up in 1989 and I graduated in 1998. These trees have been there for all three generations! The common area above is called "Sweetheart Circle".

The town has grown as the college (now a Carnegie Melon Research University) has thrived in the past two decades. We even have a Starbucks now and TWO book stores! Enrollment has tripled since my sister graduated and grown by 5,000 students since my own graduation year. New apartment complexes, shopping centers and restaurants have expanded along with parking complexes, dormitories, and academic buildings. Students make up 40% of the population and Georgia Southern University is the largest employer in our region. We are a true college town.

The campus is beautiful. There is a lake (really a pond) in front of the library and plenty of room has been left amidst the expansion of buildings for trees, benches and cobblestone pathways. I have to admit that when I was a student, it irritated me that the chemistry lab was sadly outdated while money was being spent on new pathways, fancy outdoor lighting and the like. The results are nice and money has finally been spent to update both the biology and chemistry buildings. NOT before the College of Business and Accounting or the Athletic facilities, of course. But updated nonetheless.

What's Your Story?

When I'm not so caught up in my mental to-do list that I don't notice my surroundings, much less the people passing by, I often study the faces, clothing, mannerisms of people I meet - and wonder... What's your story? What do you do? Where are you from? Who are the people who matter to you? Where are you going? Why? What do your dream of for your future? Why did you want to become a banker, lawyer, flower shop owner, teacher, artist, photographer, dance instructor, secretary, architect, etc.?

The city of Statesboro recently installed park-style benches along the downtown streets. Instead of facing out, they face the storefronts. Is it me or is that backwards? The streetscape really is lovely and laidback. One of the bank parking lots is used as a farmer's market each Saturday where local growers sell produce, flowers, homemade breads and crafts. The first Friday of the month businesses stay open late and the downtown restaurants offer free samples and wine tastings. Below is a video that has some neat pictures of the town as it was growing. Disclaimer: It isn't well done. Why the heck are they shooting film through tree branches?