This Day in History: Basketball

The "This Day in History" part of my Google customized homepage was great today--on December 15th, 1891, James Naismith invented the game of basketball. It reads:

James Naismith Invents Basketball (1891)
"Looking for a way to relieve the boredom of his students during indoor gym class, Naismith nailed a peach basket to each end of a gymnasium, created 2 teams of 9 players, and thus invented basketball. Basketball was inspired in part by a game Naismith had played as a child, called Duck-on-a-Rock. One month later, Naismith published rules for the game, which did not allow for what is known today as dribbling; players had to move the ball up the court via a pass. ollowing each "goal" a jump ball was taken in the middle of the court. Although it wasn't a rule, players would commonly use the dust of coal to cover the palms of their hands, allowing them to get a better grip on the ball. The coal palm was used up until the early 1930s when the Depression hit, making the raw materials very pricey. Also interesting was the rule surrounding balls out of bounds - the first player to retrieve the ball received possession."

Today I honor you, Mr. Naismith, because I don't know what life would be like without this great sport. Everyone in my family played basketball, and my dad used to coach it when he was a history teacher (before he became a journalist).


Also in honor of this post, I salute the Duke men's basketball team on their excellent season so far. They lost some great players (like Sheldon Williams) but they've got some great players still there (like DeMarcus Nelson). Here's their record so far:

Duke 96, Shaw University 45
Duke 92, N. C. Central 63
Duke 86, Columbia 43
Duke 72, Georgia Southern 48
Duke 75, UNC Greensboro 48
Duke 71, Air Force 56
Duke 62, Marquette 73 (our only loss so far)
Duke 75, Davidson 47
Duke 54, Indiana 51
Duke 61, Georgetown 52
Duke 57, Holy Cross 45
Duke 69, George Mason 53

Keep up the good work, gentlemen.

Buyback Time Once Again

At the end of every semester, students can go back to the bookstores to sell their books back for cash. Don't want to see that chemistry book ever again? No worries--get rid of it and get some money in return. So I find myself back at the bookstore once again to buy your books back and get some cash money for Christmas presents in the process.

As the days go by, I've started to notice some trends among my fellow students. Hey, you stand at a counter at the front of the store for a few hours every day and you tend to pick up on little things.

• People tend to avoid reading signs. I've got to admit, I've been guilty of this one myself. But it does bring a smile to my face when people try to pull on the front door when you really should push if you hope to go any further. Especially when there's a sign on the door that says "PUSH." Or even better--when we're closing for the night and people try to open both doors at the front of the store when they're locked. The confused almost-customer tries both doors again, then turns his attention to the open/closed sign with the CLOSED tab visible and our hours clearly listed. Comprehension dawns on his face as the lights go out and the last employees drive away. Way to go, champ.
  
• Some people might want to look in the mirror one more time before leaving the house. Ugg boots and Soffe shorts? Not a choice I'd make, but some girls do it. Hopefully they were rushing out the door and grabbed the first pair of shoes they could find on their way out. More than likely, however, they thought it looked cool. Poor things.
  

Hmmm...that's all I can come up with at the moment...more to come later I'm sure...maybe when I'm not worried about another final exam...

Exams, Real Men of Genius Style

"Today we salute you, stressed out college student during exam week. As you sit in your lonely cubicle in the library, doped up on Starbucks and Aderol, you think to yourself, 'Am I ever going to need to know this stuff in life?' The distractions are tempting, and you have suddenly diagnosed yourself with ADD, along with advanced delusionary schizophrenia with involuntary narcissistic rage. I'm sure by now you know exactly what everyone is doing because you have checked your buddy list 800 times. Christmas break is just days away, and your Prozac prescription will be in tomorrow. So crack open an ice cold (root!) beer after that last exam, because for most of us, Christmas will be spent in rehab." -Real Men of Genius

I dedicate this post to all those taking final exams starting this Friday (or for my high school friends, a week or two from now). I think the Real Men of Genius guys hit the nail on the head here--change "buddy list" to "facebook" and change "cubicle in the library" to "table in the SLC" and you've got a relatively accurate representation of finals week at UGA. Especially the part about getting easily distracted; I was studying for my 19th century British prose final a few minutes ago, but the internet seemed a little more interesting somehow. Or take this past Saturday for example--did I study hard all day? Of course not. Christmas (or Hanukkah in Alison's case) shopping seemed much more appealing. ;)

Damn It Feels Good To Be A Gangsta

It's Time

Thanksgiving draws near and it's time.
It's time to visit my Thanksgiving home.
It's time to fly to Connecticut to see my dad's relatives.
It's time for my dad to ask us if we've packed everything...and then ask at least 3 more times before we leave.
It's time for the hustle and bustle to get to the airport.
It's time for my dad to give the same "make-sure-to-say-please-and-thank-you-and-offer-to-help-out" speech he gives every year without fail.
It's time to watch my luggage ride the conveyor belt and disappear, only to reappear in the tiny Hartford airport hours later.
It's time to listen to the same computerized voice tell us when to get off the train. "The next station is Concourse B, Concourse B. Concourse B is the next station."
It's time to fidget in my seat at the gate and wait for our section to be called to board the plane.
It's time to watch the old safety video with the same actors who are unusually calm during the simulated emergencies.
It's time to tell the flight attendant that yes, peanuts would be nice and a Sprite would be great, thanks.
It's time for my sister to make fun of me for one thing or another...she doesn't get to do that daily anymore with me being in college, so she uses her time well when we are together.
It's time to descend into Hartford and then have to remain seated at the gate for at least 20 minutes before we can get off.
It's time to watch for our suitcases and get mad when ours take the longest to come out.
It's time to look for Uncle Bill waiting to greet us and drive us to his house.
It's time to see the familiar landmarks along the way and wonder how my family has changed since last year.
It's time for big hugs and "How are you?" and "Look how much you've grown!"
It's time for Aunt Janet's cooking: several batches of pancakes, chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin muffins, and the Thanksgiving feast.
It's time for hours of video games and ping pong in the basement.
It's time for watching the snow fall through the bay window and hurrying outside to enjoy it.
It's time to catch up with relatives I haven't seen in a year and answer the same questions about college and what I want to do with my life over and over again as more family arrives.
It's time to see just how similar my dad and his brothers are.
It's time to listen to crazy stories from their youth and imagine what they were like as kids.
It's time for games of poker every day with my uncle's customized poker chips and his usual, "Come on guys--one more game. Just one more game."
It's time to appreciate the Miller family traditions that never let me down.
It's time to fly back to Atlanta and wish that Thanksgiving wasn't so far away.
It's time to eat at Applebee's for dinner and head back to my dad's house.
It's time to go to sleep and dream about next year.
It's time.

Too Many Books

Books to the ceiling,
Books to the sky,
My pile of books is a mile high.
How I love them! How I need them!
I'll have a long beard by the time I read them.
-Arnold Lobel

I saw this quote online the other day, and I think it suits me. No, I'm not going to have a beard seeing as I'm a girl, but technicalities aside, I do have a pile of books that I need to read. I try to keep one with me everywhere I go--you'd be surprised how often you find yourself sitting on the bus, or with a large gap between classes, or any number of places where a good book comes in handy.

Just a few books in my pile:

• The rest of Stephen King's Dark Tower series. See the description below for more details.
• Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire. Yes, this is the book that inspired the musical by the same name. I own the book--it was a Christmas gift from last year--but I haven't had a chance to read it yet. That's my next task once the Dark Tower is done with my soul haha.
  
• Maus by Art Spiegelman. 2 of my friends have recommended this to me. It's a graphic novel depicting the Jews as mice and the Nazis as cats...I'm told it's brilliant and moving.
  

Here are some books that I would recommend:

• Stephen King's Dark Tower series. Honestly, he wasn't an author I planned to read, but a few of my book-loving friends convinced me to try him out. It's a 7-book series with a very diverse set of characters from different wheres and whens coming together in search of the elusive Dark Tower (shocker). I envy King's imagination--especially when I read these books. They're very long but well worth the read.
  
• Anything by Bill Bryson. As I've noted in previous posts, the man is brilliant. I've read 3 of his books and I own 5, but I'm in the midst of the Dark Tower series...
• The Keeper's Son and Rocket Boys by Homer Hickam. If you ever saw the movie "October Sky," then you'll know the name Homer Hickam--that movie was based on the book Rocket Boys and it's an excellent read. So is The Keeper's Son, which takes place in a small coastal town in WWII. I really like fiction that takes place in small southern towns...throw in the beach and you've got me hooked already.
  
• Fact, Fiction, and Folklore in Harry Potter's World: An Unofficial Guide by George Beahm. As an anglophile and an avid Harry Potter fan, I must recommend this book. Beahm tackles 4 main categories: Fabulous Beasts, Wizards Through the Ages, All Things in the Magical World, and Enchanting Places; he gives detailed descriptions (all in alphabetical order by subject) and important background information for all the entries that give the average Potter fan more understanding into the beasts, characters, things, and places J. K. Rowling writes about. Excellent read.
  

Next Blog >>

Have you ever clicked the "next blog>>" link at the top of the page? I did just now and saw this quote posted prominently on a blog entitled "headlines on things that matter":

"I'm old enough to be satisfied with what I have, and young enough to still want more; Lucky enough to have been really stupid and lived to tell about it--cursed enough to have a good memory; Intelligent enough to understand that I still have a lot to learn, and ignorant enough to continually prove to myself that I still haven't."

I like it. :)