A Class Act -- Great Aunt Martha

Martha W. James, 91, passed away early Friday morning, July 17, at Seton Medical Center in Austin. Weed-Corely-Fish Funeral Home of Austin was in charge of arrangements with burial in North Belton Cemetery.

Ms. James was born in Belton to Mr. and Mrs. Robert B. James Sr., in the family home on North Penelope Street. She graduated valedictorian from Belton High School and received her undergraduate degree from Mary-Hardin Baylor College in Belton. Afterward, she received her master’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin.

Ms. James continued her education at the University of Michigan, earning a bachelor’s degree in library science – a field of study that remained a source of delight and her passion for the remainder of her life.

Ms. James worked as a librarian in Detroit and Sacramento, California, before moving to Philadelphia where she worked as a reference librarian at the University of Pennsylvania until her retirement.

After retirement, Ms. James moved back to Austin and lived at the Westminster Manor where she expanded the library and volunteered her time. Retirement never dampened her spirit for learning, cultural expansion, music and the arts. Ms. James was a frequent patron of the arts traveling to Houston and downtown Austin for ballet, opera and symphony performances.

She attended services at Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd in Austin until her health deteriorated.

Ms. James is preceded in death by her parents, sisters Eleanor James and Kathrine James, and brother Robert (Bob) B. James Jr. She is survived by niece Maggie James of Morgan’s Point; nephew Jim James and wife, Sharon, of Temple; and great-nephew Mark James and wife Suzanne, and great-great nephew Luke James of Round Rock, and great-nephew David James of Cedar Park.

The family requests that memorials be made to the Bell Country Museum (201 N Main St. Belton, Texas 76513) or a local library of your choice.

Thailand Update

Where did the time go? It seems like just last week that Dawn and I were at Dominican Joe’s booking the REI Adventures vacation to Thailand. Now it’s less than two week away. I’ve cut and pasted our itinerary while there so anyone who’s interested can check out where we’ll be each day.

I’m planning to use Skype on the iPhone to contact family while there. If that doesn’t work out, I’ve heard lots of people say they’ll just buy a cheap mobile phone and add top-up credits for texting.

So here’s the plan: I fly to Los Angeles on Thursday morning. The Mark James Express has agreed to pick me up early that morning. (Thanks Mark!) Dawn and I rendezvous at LAX and fly to Tokyo later that day. There’s a four-hour layover in Tokyo before catching a flight to Bangkok. We’ll spend the night in Bangkok before boarding the Thai Railway for a 12-hour overnight ride to Chiang Mai. We’ll have about half a day for sightseeing in Bangkok before boarding the train. Once in Chiang Mai, we’ll meet our travel buddies for the next nine days. Our group leader/guide is named Mr. Pan. He’s a local Thailand native who’s been leading tours for 20-plus years. I can already tell I’m going to like this guy.

For the next nine days, the group of 10 will travel around the northern province with a mix of hiking, biking, boating and canoeing. Some of the schedule stops include an elephant sanctuary, a tea plantation, northern hill tribes and several Buddhist temples where we can interact with the monks.

After those nine days, Dawn and I will catch a flight from Chiang Mai to Phuket where we’ll take a ferry to Ko Phi Phi Island. This where the resort is located. We’ll remain for the rest of the trip. We’ll likely catch a ferry back to Phuket every now and then for excursions and “city life.”

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t sad about my absence from Africa this year. It’s the first time in more than 2 ½ years I haven’t been planning for Zambia. I feel guilty for ditching my boys I’ve grown so close to these past two summers. My parents sponsor Isaac, one of the young boys in my group. In a recent letter he asked if Uncle David would be visiting him again this year. It broke my heart. But I know I’ll be over there again. I’m hoping for sooner rather than later.

View Thailand itinerary here.

Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson's passing. This is still sad to me. I enjoyed watching "CBS Sunday Morning" today and seeing different takes on MJ's legacy. A contributor to CBS and Rolling Stone talked about the eras of 20th century music that I found fascinating.

Elvis came onto the scene in the 50s and started "pop music." Glitz and glam ruled. That lasted for almost 20 years until the Beatles arrived with their long hair, anti-establishment and anti-glam look. That lasted until the early 80s when Michael Jackson resurrected the pop music genre again. Looks mattered. Image mattered. Dancing mattered. The whole package mattered again. According to this critic, we're still living in the MJ era where music, looks and marketing matters. That was almost 30 years ago. I think that speaks volumes to MJ's legacy.

I remember growing up Mark, myself, Ben and Rachel (our best friends) would put on "Thriller" in our bedroom record player and just listen to it for hours. We admired the baby tiger on MJ's lap and would play "concert" based entirely on that album. In 1984, I wore out our VCR watching and re-watching the American Music Awards featuring MJ, Cyndi Lauper, Diana Ross, Lionel Ritchie, Huey Lewis and Tina Turner. That was the same night "We Are the World" was recorded. That same year I remember having a black MJ folder that I'd keep inside my Trapper Keeper.

My memories aren't anything special. They're probably not even that different from 90 percent of the population. I downloaded "Thriller" yesterday on iTunes. It was a comforting feeling for some reason. I hope others are enjoying the same feeling this week.

My Favorite Photo

I love this photo of Luke and me leaving our hotel yesterday.  He was such a trooper.  He flew on the plane like, "What's the big deal?"  Disney was a blast. I love family vacations. I can't imagine the Disney experience without LBJ.

I Was Tagged

 I was tagged by Shauna.  

 

8 Things I am Looking Forward To…

- July trip to Thailand

- Going swimming this weekend

- Seeing Joanie this afternoon

- U2 concert in October

- My date tonight ;-)

- Downloading Green Day’s new CD

- Ordering Disney photos of Luke

- Chris Kubinski’s b-day party tomorrow

 

 8 things I did yesterday... 
- Flew home from Orlando

- Watched 2-hour season finale of LOST

- Picked up Molly from Dawn’s

- Watched American Idol finale (last 5 mins only)

-  Caved and checked work email

- Went to bed early (new habit)

- Introduced my parents to a new restaurant (Elsi’s)

- Agreed to house sit my next door neighbor’s cat (Mr. Puss Jackson) while she’s on vacation

 

8 things I wish I could do... 
- See my kids in Africa this year

- Live in the now. (Be more present.)

- Be more giving with my time

- Live in Africa for an extended period of time working with poverty/HIV-stricken families

- Play one song (preferably Foo Fighters) on the electric guitar

- Compete in a triathlon

- Did I mention Africa?

- Read a good fiction book and not get bored with it.

 

8 shows I watch... 
- LOST

- 30 Rock

- Intervention

- The Daily Show

- Anderson Cooper 360 

- Oprah

- Meet the Press

- This Old House

 

8 people I tag... 
- Mark

- William

- Suzanne

- Jake

- Shauna

- Cristi

- Dawn

- Jeff

Where to Find Me

In case you can't tell, I have pretty much given up on blogging.  Most of my updates these days are on Twitter and Facebook. I update both several times a day so send me a tweet or friend request if you are on either of these sites.  

Here's a brief update on what I've been doing since my last post on January 28. I'm embarrassed just typing that.

Work:  Convergys is great.  I love working from home, and Molly loves sleeping at my feet all day.  My travel is very minimal these days (hooray!).  I've gone to Dallas a few times, but most of my travel planning these days is for fun.

Play:  I switched gyms.  I now go to LifeTime Fitness at Parmer and 620.  I enjoy everything about this place and have a great trainer.  I compare it to a cruise ship without the slot machines. They have a full restaurant, spa, salon, pools, water slides, exercise equipment, climbing walls, kids camps, basketball and raquetball.  I've been to three Texas Longhorns baseball games these past few weeks.  Mark and I took in the Texas-Kansas State game last week.

Travel:  Mark, Suzanne, Luke, Mom, Dad and I are heading to Disney World in two weeks.  Woo-hoo.  In July, I'm heading to Thailand for two weeks.  Doing an REI Adventures trip through Chang Mai (hiking, biking, kayaking) villages, tea plantations, elephant sanctuaries and Buddhist temples, and then a week at the beaches.  Staying on the string of islands where Leonardo DiCaprio filmed "The Beach."

Music: U2's "No Line on the Horizon" and "Medium, Rare and Remastered." Planning to download Bob Dylan's new "Together Through Life" and then Wilco's new album next month.  Got tickets to the U2 show this fall at the new Dallas Cowboys stadium.  

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Music: Fatboy Slim's "Right Here Right Now"

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The Year Formerly Known as 2008

1. Was 2008 good for you? Absolutely.
2. What was your favorite moment of the year? Two stick out: 1.) Seeing my 15 Zambian boys run up to me with open arms yelling "Uncle David." 2.) Witnessing the election of Barack Obama in November.
3. What was your worst moment of the year? The Beijing parasite that lived in my gut for two weeks.
4. Where were you when 2008 began? James and Val's living room
5. Where will you be when 2008 ends? James and Val's living room (I never left!)
6. Did you keep your new years resolution of 2008? Most of them. 1.) I ate red meat only four times in 2008. The first time was in September. I had a weak moment and was spotted at Arby's in Temple in November. 2.) I made it back to Africa for a missions trip. 3.) I organized our HOA online community group and moderate the bulletin board. 4.) I lost some weight but not 14 pounds.
7. Do you have a new years resolution for 2009? I have several. Some are themes; some are actual goals. 1.) Be willing to fail at something. 2.) Go back to Africa. Kenya is looking promising. 3.) Continue to see a personal trainer. I've been seeing him for the past 8 weeks at least 2x a week plus a boot camp.
8. Did you fall in love in 2008? This is the only question I refuse to answer.
9. Did you make any new friends in 2008? Yes.
10. What was your favorite month of 2008? August
11. Why this month? I saw my 15 boys in Zambia and decided to leave Oracle after 5 years for Convergys.
12. How many different places did you travel to in 2008? Too many. That's partly why I changed jobs. Too much travel. Let's see: San Francisco, Washington, D.C., New York City, Minneapolis, Denver. Internationally: Puerto Aventuras, Mexico, Beijing, China; London, England; Zambia; Botswana and 20 minutes in Zimbabwe
13. What was your favorite movie that you saw in 2008? #1 Slumdog Millionaire, #2 Young at Heart, #3 Frost/Nixon
14. What was your favorite song from 2008? "Rise up with Fists" by Jenny Lewis Video
"Human" by The Killers
15. How many concerts or plays did you see in 2008? Does U23D at the IMAX count? How about if I saw it two times?
16. What was your favorite book in 2008? Red Letters by Tom Davis and Bono: In Converstation by Michka Assayas
17. Did you do anything you are ashamed of this year? Okay, that's two things I won't answer.
18. Did you treat somebody badly in 2008? Yes
19. Did somebody treat you badly in 2008? Probably
20. What was your proudest moment of 2008? Hearing Luke say he loves "Uncle David."
21. Where did you work in 2008? I worked at Oracle and then moved over to Convergys.
22. Favorite TV shows(s) of 2008? LOST, Worst Week and Intervention
23. Favorite Band(s) of 2008? Jenny Lewis, The Killers, Ryan Adams
24. Favorite Food in 2008? Enchiladas Verdes at Vivo's
25. Favorite Place in 2008? Zambezi River
26. Favorite person(s) to be with in 2008? My nephew Luke hands down.
27. Favorite person(s) to talk to in 2008? Dawn.  Laughter is guaranteed.
28. Favorite stores in 2008? Apple Store
29. Hardest thing you had to go through in 2008? A break-up
30. Most exciting moment(s) in 2008? 1.) Getting charged by a hippo while canoeing the Zambezi. 2.) Seeing Barack Obama and his family on stage on election night.