I have a friend at work whose daughter died today in childbirth. I was especially affected by the news because the situation sounded so familiar to me and Brooklynne--a decision to induce, followed by heart-related complications, which led in this case to a catastrophic stroke. I had to call Brooklynne to tell her that I loved her, because I couldn't stop thinking about how that could have been us.

I used to take pregnancy for granted, but I have come to realize that it is a violent and dangerous process, even with the availability of modern medicine. Just one more sign that the broken world we live in is not as God intended.

Sorry this is such a downer. It's just what I keep thinking about tonight.

Brooklynne has been bugging me all week to post something. I'm busy! But in fact, I do have a ton of material that could be blogged. I think the best way to catch up though, is to post a news roundup list.

• We had a great time out west with Brooklynne family in UT and CO.
• Ben seems to be doing really well.
• Halleigh got to play in the snow, which was new for her, and she was afriad of the horses, but eventually warmed up enough to take a ride with Katie.
• I went scuba diving for the first time while we were in CO. I thought there was more to it, and I'm certainly not an expert, but it was pretty easy.
• I splurged on a large stack of oak wood for 50 cents/bft. The unit would have cost $1400 if I got it at a discount price ($3.50/bft.), but I got it for 200. Here is the list of projects I already have on my mind: headboard and footboard for our bed, toy chest for Halleigh, a murphy bed for our den (the guest bedroom will be occupied in April!), a new dining table, and a hallway bench for storing and putting on shoes.
• Some guy is giving away shed trusses on craig's list. if there are enough, I'll have a woodshop to do all these projects in.
• The UNC-WVU game was disasterous. I hope in all our recuiting, Butch found some guys who can play D.
• The UNC-BC game was disasterous, although I'll tell you I have not been into full basketball gear yet, so the loss was easier than it could have been.
• My watch's battery failed again. I've worn my watch for 13 years now, and I *think* this is the third time I will have replaced the battery.
• Brooklynne and I may go TV-less after Feb. 19. Even with the government coupon, a converter for our TV will be $20 (or $80 if we got one for our other TV and both our VCRs). Getting a working TV for $20 is pretty good, but the problem is I HAVE A WORKING TV NOW. Certainly, the converter box companies are gouging customers, and our reps should have seen this coming. I'm annoyed.
• A couple more pictures after the jump below.... 

First of all, the NFL season is now underway, so it's time for the annual Jeff Saturday update. Unfortunately, Jeff torn his MCL in the last pre-season game, so he will probably be out 6-11 weeks, depending on whether he opts for surgery. You can read the details here.

In other news, Roland Martin validates my concern over Guiliani's condescension toward community organizers.

And, do these stadiums look alike to you?

Well, the one on the left is Wallace Wade Stadium at Duke, where a couple of skydivers delivered a game ball, and the one on the right is Kenan Stadium at UNC, where the same skydivers were supposed to deliver the game ball. Pretty funny stuff.

Here's the podcast of PTI, in which Wilbon and Kornheiser discuss the incident. If you don't have time to listen to the whole thing, right-click and save the target to your computer, then open the file and jump ahead to the 8 minute mark.

While I have to agree with their assessment of Wallace Wade, I can also understand how you could mess up if you were in a hurry (weather concerns) and if you were not familiar with the area (VA-based company).

Marshall tagged me on his blog, so here are a few pieces of Milorad trivia for your enjoyment. Because I'm terribly uncreative at times, I'm going to model my answers on those that Marshall gave.

1) I am occasionally tagged on these things, but I almost never tag other people. I'm the blackhole of tags.

2) I generally dislike (in order from least appealing up): graduations, award shows, openning and closing ceremonies, weddings, and funerals. Of course, there are some notable exceptions to each of these categories.

3) When I played basketball by myself in the yard, I always pretended to be Rodney Monroe.

4) I don't like having to mow the grass, but I honestly enjoy doing it. Every time. I like the physical exersion of pushing the mower, and I like the sense of accomplishment as I see rows of grass become neatly trimmed.

5) I used to think music taste was important, but sometime in college I realized it was too draining to keep up with "good" music and I think I've bought exactly 1 new CD for myself in the the past 10 years since then. The CD I bought: Mink Car by They Might Be Giants. Confession: lately, I've been thinking of buying another.

6) I am addicted to being liked by Marshall Benbow. I like being liked, but my liking of being liked by him is more than my average liking of being liked. (That sounds funny, but I'm serious.)

7) The first time I shaved my head was at a Model UN conference my senior year in high school (now you will know how nerdy I was). The conference was at George Mason University (go Patriots!) and Ryan Wade and I were representing the Russian Federation. We had been assigned the USA, but due to last minute cancellations, the organizers asked for volunteers to switch countries for a more balanced and realistic conference. Ryan and I switched to the Russian Fed., and that night in the hotel, shaved our heads into mohawks to intimidate the other delegates. We won an honorable mention "best delegation" award after we requested a point of personal privledge (I used to be very good at bending parlimentary procedure to my will) and gave a 2 minute impromptu speech defending the homeland and chiding another delegate for a negative comment about how "this isn't Siberia after all."

Aside: another funny event from that conference was when a guy in a gas station asked us why we were dressed up. We told him we were there for a Model UN conference and he said, "aren't you too short to be a model?"

My mom cried when I came home without hair.

The second time I shaved my head was with Marshall and Cory when UNC IVCF met our challenge to send 20 (I think?) students to Urbana 1996. Now I like having my head shaved too.

I'm not tagging people. I have to maintain my blackhole rep.

The Summer Solstice Party was VERY fun.

For people with a slightly nerdy sense of humor (via the Joho blog): check out the reviews of these $500 audio cables at Amazon.

Yesterday, I played basketball for the first time in about 3 years. Actually, I know the exact date of the last time I played basketball--February 25, 2005, which was Dave's bachelor party. I used to play ball several times a week, once or more a day over some significant stretches. But I don't have anyone to play with usually, and I don't have a goal at my house anymore. Anyway, I was terrible. I used to consider myself as above average, mostly limited by my height and geneticly inherited slowness. Now I would put myself squarely below average. I could feel how ugly my shot was, and I've never had so many airballs. Not just kind of bad airballs, either--terrible, aweful, off-the-top-of-the-backboard airballs. Me thinks I should rectify that....

Halleigh spent a half hour rubbing my back yesterday. I think I'm liking this dad thing more and more.

1. Sad to see that Alex is transferring, but you can hardly blame the guy. I wish him luck at his next stop.
2. Manchester U vs. Chelsea in the first all-English Champions League finals, Wednesday at 2:45pm. Did you know there is a CONCACAF (North and Central America plus the Caribbean) Champion's League? I didn't know that until this morning when I was reading the soccer news. No wonder soccer can't make it in this country when no one knows about the major events.
3. Saturday, we had Aaron and Sara over for Burgers on Brooklynne's new grill. They were awesome. Nothing is better than grilling in the backyard with friends and eating outside on a perfect day.
4. Before the friends came over, I had a productive day including mowing the grass (Brooklynne mowed the backyard), trimming the bushes, cleaning out (most of) the gutters, tilling the garden, and going for a hike in Umstead Park.
5. We got our garden planted before the rain came yesterday. The area we use for our garden gets really muddy when it rains, so last year we made hills running down-slope to channel extra water away from the plants. The result: the worst drought in recent memory. So this year, we made hills running across the slope, like you are supposed to do. The result: standing water between the hills. I told Brooklynne I was tempted to plant rice in the spaces between the rows. The good news is that I think we may be in good position for the drier part of the summer.
6. Here's a list of what we have: cucumbers, basil, cilantro, carrots, tomatoes, romaine lettuce, bell peppers, watermelon, and maybe cantaloupe. I say maybe because there may have been a mix up what we think is cantaloupe may actually be more watermelon.
7. Here's a list of what we are not planting that we planted last year: broccoli, hot peppers, beans, peas. The jury is still out on a pumpkin.
8. We watched Gridiron Gang yesterday. I give it a B-.

1. Brooklynne posted some new Halleigh shows. She's out-blogging me lately. I better get it together or she'll get the scoop on every Halleigh video.
2. I think the long wait for an announcement from Hansbrough, Ellington, and Lawson is a bad sign.
3. Now I have something to shoot for.
4. Brooklynne is making me go running today.
5. Dad should have the address, well, and building plans for the mountain cabin lined up by next weekend, when we are planning a few work days. Cross your fingers for good weather.
6. LOST began again last night. The writer's strike cut out the last 3 weeks of the season, but that's better than 8.
7. Thierry Henry is rumored to be considering a move to the MLS. I decided recently I should become a MLS fan, but really there are no teams in a natural geographic proximity to us here, so I think I'm going to adopt the Kansas City Wizards. They are one of the charter teams, they have a history through their connections to Lamar Hunt, and they're doing pretty well right now.
8. Just got a call from the mechanic. Not good news. I keep telling myself at least no one died.

1. I've got about 10 projects at home I should be doing and 20 I'd rather be doing...
2. There are more pictures of Halleigh hunting Easter eggs at In Medias Res. If you're not a regular IMR reader, you may have missed that we got a letter from Ben. Sounds like he's doing really well.
3. The game on Sunday was fun. It was maybe the most dominating game I've ever seen in person. Arkansas helped us out some too, by missing a few open shots near the beginning of the game, and they never capitalized on their pick-and-roll, which was ALWAYS open. Still, I don't think they would have had a shot.
4. Which brings me to the fact that every sportswriter in America is ignoring the Heels. As a number one that is basically playing at home and just destroyed their competition in the first two rounds, I would think that someone would be singing our praises, but it looks like Kansas and UCLA are the media darlings. I even saw someone pick Louisville recently, which could be a smart pick if it works out that way, but surely someone should have us as their pick. I have searched the major sports news outlets, and I cannot find one article that offers more than the obligatory support for UNC's case. It's odd to say this, but I really do feel that UNC is being disrespected.
5. I've been several days now without reading a book. I need to elevate my game again. Look for more book reports ahead.
6. I gave Kona Bean a bath this morning before work. She was REALLY dirty and she's started one of her biannual shedding seasons, so there will be giant dust bunnies of Kona hair all over the house if we don't groom her and vacuum. But she knows she is cute when she's washed and brushed and fluffy, and you can tell a change in her mood, so it is totally worth it.
7. I going to try to post a Halleigh show tonight. Stay tuned.

Happy Easter!!! Today I'm wearing one of my bowties to celebrate this special day. I used to have trouble tying my bowtie until I watched this video. Fabulous! So easy. I should write those guys a thank you note.

It's been a while since my last post. I've had to work my time usage since Brooklynne and Halleigh have returned. And i don't feel like I've got alot to post about... so I'm going to try a mental exercise: stream-of-consciousness blogging for five minutes. I'll start with yesterday's big event and move on from there. So....

Yesterday I scored big by buying tickets to the firsta dn second rounds of the NCAAs this weekend. Sold the first round (I'll be ing VA friday) so I'm hoping Coppin State (my pick for the play-in tonight) doesn't make UNC the first ever chumpitized 1 seed. I'm behind on my plans for VA. I need to get intouch with professors, but I'm dreading it. maybe that's why I'm blogging? I had an interensting conversation with someone the other day (Mary?) about why I blog. I know reasons that I wish were the reasons for blogging--self-discovery, inner reflection, etc. but actually blogging is really a complicate penpal system for keeping up with friends. I don't keep up with friends very well. I emailed Scott Bilton for the first time in about 4 years yesterday asking if he wanted my first round tickets. I didn't hear back. I should have kept the tickets just in case he got back to me later, but I chickened out when I thought I might miss a chance to sell them. I think the reason I can't do inner reflection on a blog is that it is public space for anyone to read. What I need is an annonymous did I spekll that right? blog. but what's the point in blogging if you don't get the comments. would I want comments on and innerreflection blog? Is that inner reflection. maybe, if I reflected on the comments. I just watched a thing on Doc Searl's blog that showed the earth's porportions next to the other planets and the sun and the sun to the other stars all the way up to the largest known star. it made me feel really tiny. i think there was somehting wierd about seeing the sun as a tiny pixel next to this giant sea of fire that was just a small part of the surface of the largest star. Halleigh can be really consuming. last night was a tough night with Halleigh. I shouldn't get so tired dealing with her but we did have fun playing. she is becoming a cllimber. last night she climbed onto the endtable and jumped onto the couch. I almost stopped her because my parents always told me I shouldn't do stuff like that but then I just watched. I'm never sure if i'm encouraging her to be free spirited or just bad behaved. I should be getting somehting done right now. oops I'm over my time limit.