"Local Man Disturbs Resting Dead"

Scotty, Media Star

I got the chance to do some grave cleaning Thursday afternoon as part of service learning for my graduate program. I cleaned my first grave about a year ago as part of a class assignment, and I liked it a lot. It's easy, mindless, quiet, and nobody asks me any questions while I do it. I can work on one thing and think about another at the same time. With the cleaning product we used, I also got to see immediate results. The marble I cleaned was dark gray when I started and almost copy-paper white when I finished. It was pretty rewarding. So when I was told I could do it again, I gladly said yes.

Cemetery preservation is the centerpiece of my project thesis, and I'm holding a cleanup activity at a local cemetery in November. Getting people to show up for it is one of my tasks, so a little publicity couldn't hurt. However, I was still very surprised when a reporter from the Natchitoches Times showed up while I was working. My committee chair had told her I would love to be asked a few questions. I've answered a question or two before, but this was the first time I can remember where I was actually the target of a newspaper interview. The reporter was nice, but she was too quick to move on to the next question before I'd completely finished answering the first. She also didn't tell me anything about why she was talking to me, or when I could expect to see something in the paper. Stay tuned for my next media appearance on "AC 360."

I've been trying to think of funny headlines that should go with the story. The title of this post is one. Send me any that you can think of.

A Pleasant Surprise

I was browsing a friend's FB page the other day when I came across something that made me pretty happy. One friend had posted the results of some survey, and an exchange in the comments went like this:

Commenter 1: "With this kakistocracy, nothing would surprise me."

Commenter 2: "I AGREE! (Ya I had to look up kakistocracy...)"

Commenter 1: "Well yeah, you're not Scotty."

Believe me when I say that I had nothing to do with this post at all. I didn't say anything, didn't comment, didn't know about it until I browsed and saw it a while later. So out of nowhere, an unusual word gets used, and I get referenced as somebody who probably knows what it means. In this case it happened to be true. Even if it weren't it's kind of nice to be used as the measuring stick for a good vocabulary. It made my day.

And now: Sports!

Don't look now, but the New Orleans Saints and LSU Tigers are a combined 9-0.