People have stuff they want to share.

People create blogs so they can share interesting information and photos with others

People read blogs.

That’s pretty much it, but since Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites have become so popular, the need for a blogger to share her or his thoughts has become superfluous. When the “Cliff’s Notes” version is conveyed via Tweet or status post, who needs the full volume? And photo uploads are much easier via Facebook than Wordpress. However, since no one in my family will deign to join Facebook, I will continue to post the odd summary of my life here and there.

There were four drafts in my Wordpress dashboard when I started this one; I haven’t been able to find the time or the attention to finish one. I’m going to combine them and hit the highlights of the last few months, so that the three people who read this blog will have something to look at other than Chip’s traffic cone imitation.

I swam with dolphins during my last visit to the keys. It was incredible.

We got an early morning visit from a wild dolphin too. I was amazed by the number of people who responded “in the wild?” when I said I’d gone swimming with dolphins. They don’t *generally* swim up to the boat and offer rides, folks.

You’d think I’d get tired of taking sunset sailing photos, but I don’t.

I highly recommend Bahia Honda if you’re ever in the keys; it’s beautiful.

I really wanted to find these kayakers so I could give them this picture … another postcard-quality shot from the keys.

For a full account of my adventures in the Keys, read Misty’s post, because there’s just really no point to typing that up again. Sooner or later I’ll post the photos the Dolphin Research Center folks took, although you can see some of those on Misty’s blog too.

I also visited my parents, and found an amazing pear tree collection just a few streets from their house.

Just turn your head to the side when you look at it. I’m busy, okay?

I have enjoyed a very brief reprieve from school work, but Summer Term starts Tuesday and I already have reading to do. While I’d like to promise I’ll be a better blogger in the future, we all know how that goes.

Just kidding. But, wow, that is one orange shirt.

Anyway, the day was perfect for the maiden voyage of the as-yet-unnamed Subaru. The sun was actually out for once, and since Wright State University’s women’s basketball games are, apparently, poorly attended, we had access to an almost empty parking lot.

This is the Nutter Center. That’s right, Nutter. That name has always made me laugh.

Kory shows great promise, and I’m certain he will be an excellent driver. I hope he will have a better sense of direction than his mother. Fingers crossed.

We also visited Tara and her lovely daughter Addison last weekend. Addison is growing SO fast, and she’s utterly adorable. She was fascinated with Kory’s hair, and really, who wouldn’t be? I love her face. And she loves her lamb.

Tara is expecting another daughter in June, to be named Molly. I am expecting Molly to be just as cute as her big sister.

My point is, I had a very uneventful trip to Louisville last weekend.  It was lovely, don’t get me wrong.  I spent some much needed and much appreciated time with my mother, my father, my sister, my niece, and my brother.  But we didn’t do anything special, other than hang out at my parents’ house.  And yet … I took sixty-three pictures.  Sixty-three!

I’m obviously not going to curb my photo-taking habit, but I feel as though it bears mentioning … sometimes it might be better to enjoy the moment, rather than take a picture of it.

That being said, my niece is as cute as ever, and I did come away from the weekend with a few lovely photos.  Thank goodness I wasn’t shooting film – I got roughly five good ones out of sixty-three.

To celebrate, we met the Koch family at the Cincinnati Zoo. It was hot out, but we had some cloud cover that made it bearable. The Cincy Zoo is really cool if you haven’t been, although it’s HUGE compared to Louisville’s. And the bird show was lots of fun.

It was not a good photo day for the niecii. They really just weren’t having it, even though they obviously had a great time.

I think the girls have been over-photographed. You bust out a camera and ask them to smile, and they just look at you as if to say “Again? Really? We’re tired of that.” And then they look away like this:

I had to have a monkey do a stand in.

Speaking of monkeys, I love this guy. He’s The Thinker of the animal kingdom.

I also love this guy. He’s a bad mo’fo monkey.

Now, I think my mother is beautiful. However, I can’t help but draw similarities between these two photos:

And it goes without saying that Kory is right at home in the zoo …

As is Vicki

As is Karen

As is Michael

Really, my family just consists of monkeys who fool you into thinking they’re people.

Dawn is less monkey-like, but she’s very well hydrated. Seriously, it’s hard to get a photo of her without a bottle in her face hiding that great smile.

Kory actually held Emily for once and I got that on film, rare occasion that it is:

Chip managed to get this lovely shot of Katie and the seal fountain, since she had no idea there was a camera in the vicinity:

All in all, we had a lovely time celebrating the fact that my only baby is one year closer to heading into the big bad world on his own. Can you imagine how I’m going to be when he hits sixteen?

This is how the ‘fro looks on an average day.  Kind of frizzy, a little out of control, and rarely symmetrical.  You would think that’d drive an OCD-affected person like Kory insane, but apparently his disorder only extends to alphabetizing the contents of my grocery cart and making sure the volume on the car stereo is always an odd number.

However, when you add water … strange things begin to happen.

It absorbs the water and repels it at the same time.  It’s fascinating.

While swimming, his hair never gets completely wet.  I’ve never seen anything like it.

This is Caesar’s Creek Lake, by the way.  It’s a lovely spot we discovered recently – I would spend much more time there if I could.

They have seagulls.  If I squint just right, it’s like being in Florida.

The lake is lovely, even if it reinforces my futile desire to own a boat.

Kory is turning fifteen next month (!) so I will, at the very least, have photos of that blessed event.  Until then, continue to be bemused and amazed by the ‘fro.

Chip and Kory ran the Sugar Maple 5k … Chip went on to run the mini, so this is kind of anticlimactic, but it was still an accomplishment.

Right after this shot, Kory turned to me and said “Oh dear God, this hurts.” He hadn’t run in a while.

I took the smart route and walked. That hurt too.

Later that day, Chip enlisted the help of my friend Anna to give him a new ‘do, and let me tell you, she enjoyed it.

If you can’t tell, my friend Anna is kind of a badass. She’s a three time cancer survivor and she’s committed to helping cancer patients, so Chip’s tail went to make hair for someone else.

The beard went too, and here’s the new Chip!

I’m only guessing that enough people have seen him now that I’m allowed to post these. If not … sorry Chip!

As an English major, I am utterly annoyed when someone quotes or mentions some great piece of literature and I have to respond “I haven’t read it.” Similarly, when great contemporary works are mentioned I feel as though I’m falling down on the job if I don’t keep up. I realize I can’t read every influential piece of literature in existence, but I feel that attention should be paid to those works which have formed the basis of the literary world. The contemporary works that continue the tradition of great literature are even more impressive, for they manage to recreate age-old plots in ways unique enough to astonish us all over again.

The idea is to read 100 books in 5 years that are all “important” pieces of literature – to “fill in the gaps” in one’s literary background. Obviously this is a subjective matter, and I have yet to compile my entire list, but I’m soliciting suggestions. Meanwhile, I’m picking up books like Pride and Prejudice whenever I can so I actually have the books to read when the times comes. I figure this way I have something to read at all times, and the things I read can contribute to this list rather than to the deterioration of my IQ. As some of you may know, I have a tendency to read junk when school isn’t in session.

Aside from all that nonsense, the quarter is plugging along and SOS is gaining members thanks to the t-shirts, so thanks to all who donated! I’m writing so much for school this quarter, blogging is difficult to fit in, but I will try to be a little more diligent with updates.

In the mean time, you can check out this link if you’d like to see some truly adorable photos of Vicki and Joslyn crossing the finish line for the Derby Festival Marathon. Huge congratulations and admiration are due to Vicki for running the marathon, and the same to Chip and his l’il bro Joe for tackling the mini!

I don’t have photos of girls’ night, but I had a wonderful time hanging out with Laura, Melanie, and Julia. I didn’t even mind the fact that they made me watch U of L play – it was a good game, and I’m glad the Cards pulled it off.

The shower was for Kory’s cousin Matara, who doesn’t much care to have her photo taken, but I told her she’d thank me later. Little does she know I’m a photo addict and can’t help taking pictures, no matter who the subject is. (Yes, I just ended a sentence with a preposition. I’m almost done with the quarter, so deal.)

Anyway, the best photo I have of Matara refuses to upload properly, so I’m using the second best.

And here are all of the lovely ladies who attended:

Maybe it’s me, maybe it’s Chip’s house (where he kindly allowed us to host the shower) but I really like that photo. Everyone looks great.

My absolute favorite photo of Riley also refuses to upload properly, so you’ll have to settle for this:

If you didn’t already know what cute looks like, that’s it. For further proof, see the following:

I would also like to point out that Riley has gone from this:

To this:

Goofy dog.

At any rate, here’s the new house:

It’s actually quite nice, although the exterior needs some work.  Luckily, I’m only renting for the moment.

I own appliances for the first time in my life.  It’s a little weird.

Do you like my knife holder?  It’s my favorite kitchen apparatus.

We stay insanely busy, and I haven’t made it back to Louisville in entirely too long.  I intended to come this weekend, but my son has THE PLAGUE.  By which I mean, chicken pox.  We’ll see how that works out.