In Eckleburg's Eyes - 3/6/2009, Part 2

News & Notes from Thursday, March 5th, 2009

-On Thursday afternoon, I drove to Kennesaw, Georgia, for a brief visit with BKW, RCFW, their four-year old daughter Kelsey (my goddaughter), and their dog Jack (in this photo of horrible quality). When I arrived, I was pleased to see BKW was home early. Kelsey had gotten two splinters and he decided to work half of the day from home to console her.

-When I arrived, I was given a great compliment from my goddaughter. She entrusted me to hold her teddy bear (named “Bear”) while she used the bathroom. She was afraid Bear might get flushed down the toilet!

-Before speaking of anything relevant, BKW and I shot zombies on the Xbox while playing Call of Duty: World at War and then watched Hancock on DVD. I had never seen the film but BKW had watched it four times since he rented it!

-We then ate a great meal prepared by RCFW . The meal started with greens. I enjoyed all of the vegetables with the exception of artichokes. They may be an acquired taste and I am not yet willing to give up on them yet as they are very nutritious. We then ate Chicken Fettucine Alfredo, which was delicious. Kelsey tried to convince me to share her dessert with her - Barbie gummies. She did not understand why I do not eat desserts so she tried to sell me: “They are not vitamins or medicine.”

-Before spending the better part of the night in prayer, BKW and I tried to remove Kelsey’s splinters. She was terrified and despite trying for minutes, we never got it done. We did everything we possibly could. BKW even used the needle on himself to demonstrate the procedure to Kelsey. I tried to no avail to present Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855)’s concept of dread to ease her mind. If Kierkegaard won’t work with a four-year old, I don't know what will.

-BKW and I spent the better part of the night praying. It was 1:43 AM when I finally arrived back in Knoxville. In the interim, both local basketball teams I support clinched championships. Bearden High School defeated Oak Ridge 93-43 to win the Region 2-AAA championship. The Tennessee basketball team clinched the SEC East with an impressive 86-70 win at South Carolina. Maybe I should avoid watching games from now on...

-Finally, Thursday was my cousin ACN’s birthday. Happy birthday! I am sorry I called so late.