Fathomable Depths: June 2005

The ones that didn't get away

If you think this is big, you should see this one. In case you were wondering who caught the biggest fish of all time, it's Alfred Dean. Here's his fish tale: "The four largest fish ever caught on a rod and reel were taken by one Alfred Dean. Each fish was a great white shark, and each weighed more than a ton. Off the Australian coast, Dean laid down a trail of whale oil and steer blood from his boat to draw the sharks within casting range. He awoke one night at 2 a.m. to hear and feel an enormous presence banging and shaking the hull of his boat. By the next morning, he had landed a white shark 16 feet long and weighing 2,333 pounds. After landing a still-heavier great white less than a year later, Alfred Dean in 1955 caught a 1,600-pound shark. He attached this fish to his boat and used it for bait. A giant appeared in the sea to attack the smaller shark. Dean landed that one, too, a 2,536-pound great white. " His biggest catch was a 2,664 lb Great White. Whew, those are some big fish!

A historian becomes history

Funeral services were held today for Shelby Foote, one of Tennessee's favorite historians. He won worldwide acclaim and recognition for his role in Ken Burns's Civil War documentary, as well as his three volume history of the Civil War, or as a southern gentleman likes to call it, the War of Northern Aggression. His soothing voice is a pleasure to hear and was once described as molasses over hominy. I highly recommend checking out the eleven part PBS special on the Civil War if you have not had the pleasure of watching it yet. Shelby Foote was controversial because of the southern tint he gave to his narrative-styled history, often underemphasizing the plight of the black south. He was fascinated by Nathan Bedford Forrest(Confederate general and eventual founder of the Ku Klux Klan), and has been buried near relatives from the Forrest family in Memphis. Whether you agree with Mr. Foote's leanings or not, his virtuosity as a historian and raconteur is undeniable. Tennessee has lost a great asset, but history will forever remember its favorite southern son.

Time to breathe

Hello blogreaders old and new, the Wizard is back online. I have been getting a lot of hits recently thanks to El Dad's gracious email plug. Welcome new viewers! For those of you who just came to sample my incredible wedding pictures, scroll down to be satisfied. For those of you who came for my "snarky" commentary and obscure links, get ready because there are plenty more to come. Finally, for those of you who have no idea what this whole "blog" business is and somehow managed to get to this web address, hold on because your world is about to be rocked. A blog is basically an online journal. It can be about anything from sports to politics to cat vomit(assuming someone wants to write about it). Foreshadowing you ask? Well I like to stay out of the political arena, but cat vomit is certainly within the realm of possibilities(Our kitty Sasha is definitely giving us some food for thought in that department, no pun intended). Sports? Occasionally, but I'm not a fanatic, so the ladies can breathe easy now. Most of the things I blog about are just random soundings(hmmm, sounds like a nice web address name!!) that ping around my skull until I let them out via the information superhighway. The wonderful thing about blogs is that they are exactly what you make them, much like life. You must be careful, however, because they can be like heroin...one good hit and you're hooked! That is basically the lowdown on this whole blog business for the newbies. I like to update my blog daily, although my regular readers are probably used to my spontaneous hiatuses. Hopefully you will enjoy your visit here and come back periodically to read my ramblings. Now for the rest of this post.
My first few days back at work are finally over, thank goodness. The vacation has all but spoiled me and it is increasingly difficult to motivate myself to get up in the morning. Luckily I have two days off to catch up on rest and get some chores done. Yes, one of them is to post some pictures of the nursery so you may all rest easy knowing Annabelle will not be sleeping in the linen closet! I also have some yardwork, so don't hate me if I don't get them up until Friday. Work has been busy so it is nice to have some time away to catch my breath. We laid the plans for the post-delivery parental visits, which makes the birth day seem that much closer. The official date is July 31st, but the psychic at Wifey's work assures her it will be the 27th. I guess we will find out how accurate her abilities are in a few weeks. Until then I will be working hard to keep those ducks in a row at the homestead. Have a great evening and come on back now, hear?!

Erica and Isabella *Owww* cuteness attack

Wifey and the Bellabean

The twin Peeks

Bella and the Tio Wizard

Mallie and the Wizard

Home again

Well, the Wizard and Wifey have made it back safely to East Tennessee. We both had a super time in Florida meeting up with family and friends. I apologize for not blogging while I was gone, I was too busy enjoying myself. Hopefully you will enjoy the following pictures and feel satisfied that I have fulfilled your posting needs for this journey. I may or may not write more about our trip later because I am feeling a little tired after my first day back at work. I suppose you'll just have to wait and see. Until then, best wishes and good evening.