After hearing this Christmas what Meg has been up to as an international
rock star/model, I feel that I must compete. Paul and I were recently
offered a contract to scuba dive off the coast of Cape Cod to search for the
remaining clues to explain JFK Jr's untimely death. We will complete a
rock-u-mentary on his life and explore all possible causes of the accident.
Our recent theory on the crash revolves around a secret KGB plot to kidnap
Hillary Clinton. Paul is still worn out from writing his expose on Belgian
spies in the White House, and my job as anchor at VH1 keeps me on the road
quite a bit. But we still always come back to our comfy shack in Walkertown,
NC next to the tobacco field. And let me tell you, what a fine crop of
tobacco it was this year. MMMmmm, nothing like the smell of freshly picked
'backer. Oh yeah, did I mention, that we discovered gold in the backyard
behind the outhouse. We're rich!!!!
On a more realistic, and slightly more dull note, I spent my summer in
the library tied to a lap top. My advisor handcuffed me to the IBM and threw
away the key, and wouldn't let me out until I had completed my 25 page,
single space thesis proposal on the finer points of electron transfer in an
antioxidant enzyme system. Needless to say, I was one happy camper on
August 9th when my committee declared that I passed and was now and eligible
doctoral candidate. After being released from the misery of writing all
summer, I went berserk and went on three or four different vacations (NYC,
NC coast, whitewater rafting in WV, camping in NC, cruising in VA). Hence,
I have been completely irresponsible, not even opening my mail or dusting my
furniture, leading to my absence of participation in the OCW.
Paul has been a trooper this summer, putting up with my exam anxiety and
my bitter mood while I was writing. (He did consume a lot more beer than
normal, but its hard to tell.) Currently, he is a woodworking maniac and
has been building furniture in his free time, construcing a bed, a coffee
table, a lamp, and a china cabinent so far. You should see his muscles....
He had the good fortune to go to Denver this summer and hang with Steve Levu
and Lailai both. Aparently they had a marathon grog session (waka purchased
over the internet), and Paul was still a little bit queasy the next morning
when he presented the Department of Pharmacology seminar at the University
of Colorado Medical School. For the millennium celebration, we are visiting
my parents in London (I suppose we'll have to get together with Meg and
Christine too). If anyone cares to join up with us please do. Our door is
always open at the shack, and the moonshine flows freely - however, none of
the locals here care for grog too much.
I do wish I could see all of you more often. Its amazing how vivid my
memories of Fiji are. I still look back on those years in the Peace Corps
as some of the most amazing experiences I've ever had. I want to return
back there badly in some ways, but I would want all of you to be there too.
Someday, I want to be a PCV again. Would anyone like to join me?