S - South Africa

South Africa: place

I used to know a lot about South Africa's history and music. Okay, maybe not a lot, but a decent amount. I became interested in South African history during the very first class I took in college (Survey of Southern African History) which I decided to take because I had recently re-discovered Paul Simon's "Graceland" album. I ended up taking more classes in college and writing my Senior Seminar research paper on protest implications of music in South Africa. I've forgotten a lot of what I used to know, as I didn't pursue it much after graduation, but recently I've decided to relearn what I can.

I have never been to South Africa. Since it's in Africa one probably needs many shots to travel there.


SEE ALSO: Graceland, college, guitar

S - Sisters

Sisters: thing, person

I've had a variety of sisters over the years, real ones, pseudo- ones (at tciutbaw), and now, I suppose, step ones, but there's really only 1 that has stuck over the course of the last 25 years. She's pretty good at fighting and diving, being on magazine covers, day-camp directing, triumvirate forming and (so people say) singing (at important baseball games and other places), she also buys really good presents, likes dogs, says "delicious" a lot, wears dangly earrings and has mad-txting skillz. That's probably why she's the one most worth keeping around.

SEE ALSO: vegetarians, meat germs, kick-boxing, trumpet, sweaters, children, pets, easter

S - Swimming Pools

Swimming Pools: place, thing

Swimming pools are pretty important for hotels. The pool was often the coolest part of vacations. I have fond memories of the Hotel in Desmoines that we often stayed at that had a good outdoor pool AND a nice indoor one. The 7 swimming pools at the Caribbean Beach Resort at Disney World were also awesome, as was the pool at the hotel we stayed in in Phoenix.

We used to have some connections at Proctor HS, which meant that many Mondays we'd get to go swim in the Pool and then go to Godfather's Pizza afterwards.

In 8th grade I was friends with the Gym Teacher's son. One day he wrote us a pass to get out of English Class just so we could go swimming in the pool during a period where the gym classes weren't using it.

Poolside Rooms were the pinnacle of luxury, and were excellent places to have birthday parties.

I used to be good at playing in swimming pools. Now that I've gotten old, even though the kid in me just wants to be in the pool, I find that I don't know how to play, or what to do, once I'm in the pool anymore.

Growing up in Minnesota meant that Lakes were for summer/outdoor swimming and pools were for indoor swimming. It disappoints me when I am in other lakeless places where hotels only have outdoor pools (that aren't open in the "winter"). How are you supposed to go swimming when you're at a hotel and it isn't nice outside?

SEE ALSO: Florida, goggles, hotels, vacation, clams, birthdays, middle school

S - Sailing

Sailing: action

I taught myself to sail a Sunfish at A-camp-that-I-used-to-be-affiliated-with. They had a few boats, and my friend Carlos would always go sailing whenever he had free time and it made me jealous. I went on a few rides with people who knew what they were doing, and then eventually just decided to try it myself. I can really only manage a Sunfish, or other single-sailed boats, but that's all I'd want to do. I can't imagine sailing a big boat on big-water anyways. It doesn't appeal to me. Sunfish are easy to fix if they flip, and it's almost kind of fun to flip them.

One of my favorite things that happened while sailing was losing to Carlos in Squirt-Gun "Tag / Assasin" while dueling in two sailboats in the middle of the lake. I had a less maneuverable boat, and he was a much better sailor, but it was still epic.

As a "graduation present" for getting my Masters degree, my Mom got me a used Sunfish to add to the Pike Lake Fleet. She also helped re-finish all the wooden parts, which was awesome. It has a red white and blue sail that had a few mouse holes in that I patched with some fish-shaped patches. Now I still have access to a sailboat in the summer, even though the size and shape and orientation of Pike Lake make it kind of weird for sailing, it's still a lot of fun.

SEE ALSO: Pike Lake, gifts, tag, Fish, dates

S - Sweater

Sweater: thing, clothing

I have a decent number of sweaters. Most of them are blueandbrowne, including an argyle sweater-vest, a zippered sweater (gift from my sister) and one with a half-zipper (also from my sister). The zippered one, while not a cardigan, makes me feel like Mr. Rogers, because I often put it on to lounge around the house.

My sister also gave me an awesome tealandbrownandyellow sweater this year, and a sweater with Bert (of "Ernie and" fame) on it. My sister has an agenda to keep me in sweaters.

I have a heavy navy blue sweater on my chair at work. It's been there for like 3 years (just in case), I think gravity + the chair back have made it permanently deformed.

Also, sweaters (unless they are gaudy, or ironic) almost always add to (and very rarely subtract from) a woman's attractiveness (attention ladies: I don't care about your shoes, or your handbag. Glasses and Sweaters, that's where it's at)


SEE ALSO: Blueandbrowne, contingencies, hottness

S - Socks

Socks: thing, clothing

I prefer black socks to other shades. Unfortunately there are Fashion Rules that prevent me from upgrading to only owning black socks. Also, I am not Neil Gaiman.

I tend to wear white socks when working out. I have a pair of socks that I borrowed from my Grandpa. They were so big, I ended up using them as my special field hockey socks because they fit over my shin guards.

I once spent 9 dollars (!) on a pair of UnderArmor socks, because it was crucial that I had a pair of Red socks and they were the first ones I found.

This is not about baseball.

SEE ALSO: Floor Hockey, Field Hockey, Cage Dancing,

S - Skiing, Alpine

S - Skiing, Alpine: thing, activity

I used to downhill ski a lot. My mom worked at Spirit Mountain for most of my youth, so I got Season Passes and often had a ride to the hill. In 5th grade, when it became clear that I had no future in Hockey, I followed the lead of my friend Scott and quit hockey to ski.

I remember starting to ski right around the 1988 Olympics in Calgary. I wanted to be Swiss skier Pirmin Zurbriggen (because his name was cool).

I had a pair of purple Blizzards. Then I got a pair of Saloman Force9s.

Once I started doing debate in HS, my winter weekends were taken up and my skiing became less frequent. I don't think I've been downhill skiing in 10 years.

SEE ALSO: Skiing, XC; Skiing, Water; Spirit Mountain, Girls

S - Snow

Snow: Thing

Snow is my favorite form of precipitation. I like it with all five senses: how it smells, how it coats everything, how it feels on your face and beard, how it mutes sounds, and how it tastes, whereas rain is only nice to look at and hear.

Snow is also good for throwing people into. Especially girls (and especially girls that were on debate or speech teams). You can't throw a rainball, and hail is just cruel. You can't build a shelter out of sleet.

I like to shovel. I suppose, possibly, I romanticize it, not having lived in Minnesota for full winters for the last 8 years, but I do like to shovel, and I love the feeling of cheeks warming up upon coming inside after being out in the winter conditions.

My favorite type of snow, by name at least, came from an article in a Ski magazine that I used to read when I was a skier. "Death Cookies" are chunks of icy snow that one ought to avoid skiing over.

S - Speed

Speed: Thing

In theory, I really like things that go very fast (animals, superheroes, fighter planes), but in practice speed really scares me.

I've seen the movie Speed while riding on a Coach Bus far to many times.

S - Stay Tuned

coming soon to my blogs near you