My friends Bill and Brandon, the drifters

My dear friends Bill and Brandon, both taking advantage of their dislocation from New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina to traverse the country, recently made their way (separately) through Baltimore for visits. Each spent a day showing me how to be a good medical student, gleaning at least as much from the lectures as I'm usually able to, each got the chance to spend a cool fall evening at the ball park - Bill for the Red Sox, Brandon for the Yankees -, and each spent significant quality time on my couch:). I enjoyed their companionship immensely, but I'm happy to see them both returning to New Orleans to re-establish some measure of normalcy, Bill as a teacher at East Jefferson High School, Brandon as a seminarian at Notre Dame Seminary (temporarily at St. Ben's on the northshore). That's Brandon on the left, Bill on the right - thanks again for great respective visits, guys. I'm thrilled you were able to come visit!

A Weekend in Monterrey, Mexico!?!?!

I never thought I'd be able to say something like this with a straight face, but here goes - i just spent the weekend with Lisa in Monterrey, Mexico! It's amazing how far a good internet ticket deal and just enough daring can get a guy in a weekend:). I'm not usually one for superlatives, but talk about fabulous! With all the exploring and talking and great-food-eating we did, those two days and two nights seemed like at least twice their length. Getting to familiarize myself with Lisa's stomping grounds - her gorgeous campus at EGADE, her convenient apt., her friends, her new favorite places - was as comforting as it was exciting. While leaving was certainly difficult, being back now is not so difficult. Knowing what she's doing, and knowing she's happy, I'm that much more able to be happy for her to have this wonderful opportunity. The pic above is of us at EGADE, the graduate business school associated with Monterrey Tech.

Happy Happy Joy Joy!

I was fortunate this past weekend to participate in the wedding ceremony and festivities for my friends Jason Kemp and Kate Wagner (now Kate Kemp!). Jason is a dear friend from UNC who's now a Marine officer stationed in Quantico, VA; Kate is a nurse at Georgetown Hospital in D.C. Their marriage was spectacular, in large part because it provided a good reason for a good many of my friends from UNC to reconvene in Chapel Hill with the intent to celebrate! Among the notables - Berry French, now in Presbyterian seminary in Richmond, VA; Drew King, see below; Jonathan Crane, an accountant with Deloitte and Touche in Nashville; and a host of other UNC folks, Marines, boy scouts, and family. Pictures are of all involved. One note: apologies for not having any photos from the wedding itself - as I was a participant, i was not able to take any. Special thanks goes to Duane and Sheila (Kemp's uncle and aunt) for feeding me on the morning of my drive back to Baltimore.

Roommate Reunion

Among the many notable roommates from my past, Andrew King is the one who most nurtured the development of my social life. Were it not for him, in fact, I might not have worked up the gumption to approach Lisa about a date way back in September of 2003. I also might never have thrown a birthday party in my own apartment, or watched Star Wars so many times, or been introduced to honey-and-egg-biscuits and dragon freezee pops, or had to study for my organic chemistry final from a textbook that had been set aflame. Drew saw a good bit of the country (plus Costa Rica) after graduating and before alighting in Salisbury, NC where he teachers high school english and coaches baseball. For those who know Drew, you can imagine that his class is a favorite among students in East Rowan County. If he sounds like a good guy...don't be fooled. He's quite good at making mischief. Speaking of mischief, Drew and I had a great time hanging out again this past weekend in Chapel Hill, NC, where we had met for Jason Kemp's wedding. I'm attaching a photo of Drew and me dressed to the nines for the wedding, plus the more typically Drew photo that appears below. Cheers, Drew - I had a great time hanging out with you again, even if you kept me up way past my bedtime.