Getting to know the Boneyard members at bit

[omshanti]

The most memorable moment in my life was the murder of my six year old niece in 1992. This shaped the trajectory of my life. Life isn’t always ‘cake and balloons’. Memorable moments sometimes are thrust upon us. What we do with the moments is what matters.

 

[diggerfoot]

My most memorable moment was performing on guitar along with an orchestra at the premiere of a symphony I composed to document the 5,000 mile walk across the country with my wife. The journey was to reboot our lives and Cindy’s brain health after she had been let go from work due to cognitive decline. The movements of the symphony correspond to five themes of discovery while walking across America, synchronized with photos in a slideshow. Cindy improved during the journey but regressed again after it was over. At the time of the premiere I had been her full time caregiver for over a decade, and still continue in that role.

You can view the slideshows here: American Discovery Symphony

 

[CL82]

All of my events are small. I did no signally great thing either professionally or personally. I successfully attained all the professional certifications in my field: MA PhD tenure, published the requisite number of scholarly articles and so on. But these are finally trivial as markers of a life. I’d like to think I’ve been a good mentor to several hundred college students who’ve passed through my college. And that I’ve been a good father and husband. The only sense in which I’ve stepped outside the usual path of a pedant is my hobby: writing novels. I’ve published 8 spy thrillers and am in the middle of #9. They’re just pulp fiction, nothing great about them. But I have enjoyed writing them very much.

There is a thread on detective novels on the entertainment board. You should post about them there. I'm sure a bunch of people will read them.

As for me, I am the inventor of Wikipedia. If you don't believe me, you can confirm that on Wikipedia. Just give me 15 minutes of lead time before you check.

 

[CL82]

The most memorable moment in my life was the murder of my six year old niece in 1992. This shaped the trajectory of my life. Life isn’t always ‘cake and balloons’. Memorable moments sometimes are thrust upon us. What we do with the moments is what matters.

I agree with your last sentence, though it doesn't make working through things and easier. I'm very sorry to hear about your loss.

 

[Ozimoto]

Most memorable and significant event for me is the 10 days spent on a search and rescue mission to the Waveland, Mississippi area after Hurricane Katrina.

 

[Aluminny69]

Do you Practice on the same course?

The courses are always different. Judges design their own courses, following certain guidelines, like number of obstacles, challenges, discriminations, etc. I posted a "clean" run, i.e. no errors, but I could certainly put together a blooper reel of runs that were, let's say, less than perfect. As a handler, you look for certain patterns, or groups of four to five obstacles. Usually, tunnels afford the opportunity to prepare for the next sequence.

The venue in the video is right next to Quinnipiac College in Hamden, but Agility took me all over the East Coast, from Burlington VT., to Orlando, Fla, and West to Harrisburg, PA. I chose not to fly my dogs, but several handlers do. Thanks for asking.

 

[HoopsGuy09]

I would like to say that my most memorable experience in life is having earned my doctorate from Northeastern University. However, I think my most significant moment of personal gratitude would be keeping my feet moving in my formative years. My parents were divorced when I was four due to domestic abuse; was raised lower middle class in each home. When I was nine years old, my mother was in a tragic car accident that left her with a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), nonambulatory, and without the use of one of her arms and one of her legs. At that point, my older sister and I were forced to move in with our father who we had not seen in years due to divorce, and because my mother was fighting the legal battle for full custody at the time of the accident. In the moments that I allow myself to feel pride in who I am, having achieved my doctorate, spent 10 years as a public school educator, and with the plan to marry my partner in Newport, RI, next spring, I feel proud of what I have accomplished.

I would like to pose an additional question for others to consider. What is your first AND favorite memory of UConn Women's Basketball?

My first, and likely why I was hooked, is the memory of Tarausi's half-court basket against Tennessee in January of 2003. It was the first basketball game I can remember watching on TV. I remember running upstairs to tell my sister, "YOU HAVE GOT TO COME SEE THIS SHOT!" As a competitive athlete myself, I very much also remember being so fond of the way DT carried herself -- the confidence, the swagger; I wanted to carry myself like her on the field and court. My favorite memory is a close competition between these two: the game where KML came back from that awful elbow injury (with the hefty brace on) and hit a collection of 3s early on (I think it was against Duke?) OR the 1v2 game where South Carolina was just getting onto the scene and there was the snowy February game at Gampel. Watching Moriah Jefferson cross up Tiffany Mitchell and go in for the lay-up or Stewie dominate Wilson had me sitting on my living room floor, pompously yelling, "Okay, SC, you're good. But you still aren't UConn."

Fun Fact: I graduated from the same high school that Carla Berube attended.

 

[huskymaniac119]

I worked in public safety for the state of Connecticut for 28+ years. I have many ‘first black female to…’ after my name.

 

[Skeets]

Well, during a three game set I once bowled 25 strikes in a row.

I had 13 strikes in a row, alas spread out over 2 games. I got a hole in 1 on the 13th hole at Oxford Greens, but truth in advertising, all hole in 1s need a heck of a lot of luck. I'm happy to just hit the green on a par 3.

What I am proud of was being accepted into the Coast Guard Academy in 1973. This was wildly difficult at the tail end of the Vietnam war. But wouldcha know, I flunked the physical because of a high frequency hearing loss. Things worked out OK, I spent my entire career at IBM which is unheard of nowadays.

 

[CL82]

Well, during a three game set I once bowled 25 strikes in a row.

Geesh! That's impressive. I imagine the hardest part is keeping the streak out of your head so you don't get the yips and put one in the gutter.

 

[Jim]

I had 13 strikes in a row, alas spread out over 2 games. I got a hole in 1 on the 13th hole at Oxford Greens, but truth in advertising, all hole in 1s need a heck of a lot of luck. I'm happy to just hit the green on a par 3.

What I am proud of was being accepted into the Coast Guard Academy in 1973. This was wildly difficult at the tail end of the Vietnam war. But wouldcha know, I flunked the physical because of a high frequency hearing loss. Things worked out OK, I spent my entire career at IBM which is unheard of nowadays.

There was a time when I would bowl and golf regularly, but my games were vastly different. At the end of a night I would remember the few (2 or 3) bad shots I bowled but after a round of golf I would remember the few (2 or 3) good shots I had. But those 2 or 3 good ones kept me coming back for more...

 

[Jim]

Geesh! That's impressive. I imagine the hardest part is keeping the streak out of your head so you don't get the yips and put one in the gutter.

The hardest is rolling the 10th frame of 300 games as everyone stops to watch you finish the game.

 

[uconnfan68]

Well, during a three game set I once bowled 25 strikes in a row.

Had to have a 300 in there... what were the scores?

 

[Jim]

Had to have a 300 in there... what were the scores?

I finished the first game with 8 in a row for a 259, all twelve in the second for 300, then the first five in the third game for 258. 817 series.

 

[Rixxx]

I am impressed by all the momentous moments/experiences posted above. My momentous moment occurred when I was a kid. In 1957, Sputnik traveled overhead and I knew life as I had known it was about to change.

 

[PacoSwede]

I was wandering around campus when I was in college -- it was in the era of upheaval, the late '60s and early '70s -- and I was trying to figure things out. It was getting dark on the hillside beside the library when I took notice of a tree. Just an ordinary tree. And I recall thinking:

What's it like to be that tree?

This intrigued me. I thought about it some, and after a while I decided to imagine being that tree.

Think I was on drugs?

It was about 1970, after all, and my college was awash in drugs. I remember stepping out of my dorm room on a Friday night and I couldn't see but a few yards down the hall because of the marijuana fog, with accompanying scent. I guess such a scene was not unusual in those days; maybe it sparks some of your own memories. But for me, while surrounded by it, that scene wasn't for me. So, no drugs were not involved. I was just unusual, it seems.

What is it like to be that tree? I meditated. I tried to feel like that tree. I projected myself into that tree.

It worked. I got beyond myself. I realized that the tree was wonderful, that the world was wonderful -- and that I was irrelevant to it all. Ego, while still there, was an impediment to any understanding.

It changed my life.

For awhile, I investigated further. I tried to project into other things, and occasionally succeeded, feeling at one with other objects I meditated on. It didn't always happen, but getting outside of myself, beating ego, was a real high. I wondered if I could develop this; to reach this state consistently; to learn a 'trick' that could bring on this feeling at any time. I wondered how to interpret this; was this what those eastern religions were talking about; could it be nirvana, whatever that was; was mysticism at play?

I was aware of some progress. But you can't subvert ego and also get along in this world. There are things that need to be done, practically, and to do them you need ego. I understood this.

My solution: awareness of the divided aspects of reality, the practical world that we live in, which needs answers, actions, and your ego, and the other, spiritual world, that doesn't. You can adjust perspective to accomodate both.

The one with ego involved is finite. It has problems and solutions, triumphs and loses, elation and sadness, boredom, death.

The one that excludes ego has none of this. It has unity, oneness. Answers to the 'great questions' are irrelevant. The meaning of life? Where does love come from? What's the value of art, creativity? Why are we here? Is there a god? What is time and how does it work? Maybe there are answers. If there are, so what? If ego is eliminated, the answers don't matter. It's even bizarre to have the questions, from this perspective. Just accept, don't try to figure it out.

But, we must make a go at life with ego as companion. We also can have an understanding that there is another way, beyond ourselves and our egos. It's liberating. It's fine.

I realized this because of my encounter with that tree. The exploration ended when I was admiring the night sky and my focus, I ventured, should be on projecting myself into all the universe from the library roof -- or was it a certain star? I don't remember -- and attempted my meditation trick, which was not perfected though at times rewarding. As I did, a bolt out of the blue flashed -- extremely briefly -- and the universe engulfed me. Everything was one. All was one ... including insignificant me.

It was brief but it was complete joy. For a while, I tried to imagine a way to express it. Eventually, I concluded this was impossible. There were no words for it. No way to share it. One simply had to experience it, as mystics apparently have.

I came to know it was simply an incredible gift bestowed on me. By the universe? Why? I have no idea. There are no reasons, at least that I could understand. And it's not important to understand. What is important: I'm grateful.

 

[CL82]

I am impressed by all the momentous moments/experiences posted above. My momentous moment occurred when I was a kid. In 1957, Sputnik traveled overhead and I knew life as I had known it was about to change.

Did it?

 

[Bigboote]

Geez, taking the wife and kid out of the equation makes it tough.

As many others have said, one thing doesn't stick out, it's really a series of small things. PhD defense, first paper published, first paid gig (of two, on the mountain dulcimer), discovering Jane Austen (and Sinclair Lewis), learning to make momos (Nepalese dumplings, taught by a Nepalese friend). . .

Proudest moment is clear. In 2018, the first chips were produced with a technology I'd been helping develop for 25 years, appearing in the iPhone. I was on the periphery of the development, but very much involved. There's nothing like the vindication I felt. I went from being laughed at (the technology of the future and always will be) to being a visionary.

 

[Bone Dog]

I was wandering around campus when I was in college -- it was in the era of upheaval, the late '60s and early '70s -- and I was trying to figure things out. It was getting dark on the hillside beside the library when I took notice of a tree. Just an ordinary tree. And I recall thinking:

What's it like to be that tree?

This intrigued me. I thought about it some, and after a while I decided to imagine being that tree.

Think I was on drugs?

It was about 1970, after all, and my college was awash in drugs. I remember stepping out of my dorm room on a Friday night and I couldn't see but a few yards down the hall because of the marijuana fog, with accompanying scent. I guess such a scene was not unusual in those days; maybe it sparks some of your own memories. But for me, while surrounded by it, that scene wasn't for me. So, no drugs were not involved. I was just unusual, it seems.

What is it like to be that tree? I meditated. I tried to feel like that tree. I projected myself into that tree.

It worked. I got beyond myself. I realized that the tree was wonderful, that the world was wonderful -- and that I was irrelevant to it all. Ego, while still there, was an impediment to any understanding.

It changed my life.

For awhile, I investigated further. I tried to project into other things, and occasionally succeeded, feeling at one with other objects I meditated on. It didn't always happen, but getting outside of myself, beating ego, was a real high. I wondered if I could develop this; to reach this state consistently; to learn a 'trick' that could bring on this feeling at any time. I wondered how to interpret this; was this what those eastern religions were talking about; could it be nirvana, whatever that was; was mysticism at play?

I was aware of some progress. But you can't subvert ego and also get along in this world. There are things that need to be done, practically, and to do them you need ego. I understood this.

My solution: awareness of the divided aspects of reality, the practical world that we live in, which needs answers, actions, and your ego, and the other, spiritual world, that doesn't. You can adjust perspective to accomodate both.

The one with ego involved is finite. It has problems and solutions, triumphs and loses, elation and sadness, boredom, death.

The one that excludes ego has none of this. It has unity, oneness. Answers to the 'great questions' are irrelevant. The meaning of life? Where does love come from? What's the value of art, creativity? Why are we here? Is there a god? What is time and how does it work? Maybe there are answers. If there are, so what? If ego is eliminated, the answers don't matter. It's even bizarre to have the questions, from this perspective. Just accept, don't try to figure it out.

But, we must make a go at life with ego as companion. We also can have an understanding that there is another way, beyond ourselves and our egos. It's liberating. It's fine.

I realized this because of my encounter with that tree. The exploration ended when I was admiring the night sky and my focus, I ventured, should be on projecting myself into all the universe from the library roof -- or was it a certain star? I don't remember -- and attempted my meditation trick, which was not perfected though at times rewarding. As I did, a bolt out of the blue flashed -- extremely briefly -- and the universe engulfed me. Everything was one. All was one ... including insignificant me.

It was brief but it was complete joy. For a while, I tried to imagine a way to express it. Eventually, I concluded this was impossible. There were no words for it. No way to share it. One simply had to experience it, as mystics apparently have.

I came to know it was simply an incredible gift bestowed on me. By the universe? Why? I have no idea. There are no reasons, at least that I could understand. And it's not important to understand. What is important: I'm grateful.

I occasionally teach a class on early Buddhist texts for grad students and often find myself thinking along these same lines. But I've never had an ultimate experience like what you describe. I'll keep looking.

 

[and one]

One 2 minute incident stands out. 1968 and I was 19, in the Air Force, just out of Tech School for Air Craft Instrument Repair. A one stripper, meaning I basically knew nothing. I was at my first assignment at Ton Son Nhut AFB in Saigon. I was out on the flight line working on an airplane when one of our RF-4Cs taxied by. The RF-4C is a large fighter, in this case configured for reconnaissance, with two huge J-79 engines. If it is nearby and running an airplane that definitely gets your attention.

So I'm watching this airplane go by when it suddenly brakes to a stop in front of me, it's crew chief running down the tarmac with a headset in his hands. He motions for me to come over to the airplane. Who, me? So I go over and he jambs the headset on me and plugs into the airplane. Next thing I hear is the front seat pilot asking if I was Instruments. Yes sir. Next a string of instrument readings. And then, is this an engine problem or an instrument problem? And by George I knew the answer! Good to go Sir - have a safe flight. And away he went.

 

[UconnMark]

Starting a Ph.D. program at UConn in the late 80s. I was used to consulting those 50 pound Reader's Guide hardcovers when I discovered the CD-ROMs in the library. It really helped my research. When I looked near the bottom, it said "compliments of the UConn Women's Basketball Team!" I have been a fan ever since.

My non-sports daughter story. One day when she was about 18 and working at the Old Lyme Inn, a guy came in and the staff couldn't do enough for him. My daughter came home and asked "Dad, have you ever heard of some important guy named LARRY BIRD!" Yep, I believe I have, I said.

 

[CL82]

I have to say when I first saw the title of the thread I thought that it would be an exercise in humble bragging. Instead, I found out some interesting things about posters on the board, even posters on the board for whom I was already familiar with their story. It's been a good read.

 

[meyers7]

I was wandering around campus when I was in college -- it was in the era of upheaval, the late '60s and early '70s -- and I was trying to figure things out. It was getting dark on the hillside beside the library when I took notice of a tree. Just an ordinary tree. And I recall thinking:

What's it like to be that tree?

This intrigued me. I thought about it some, and after a while I decided to imagine being that tree.

Think I was on drugs?

It was about 1970, after all, and my college was awash in drugs. I remember stepping out of my dorm room on a Friday night and I couldn't see but a few yards down the hall because of the marijuana fog, with accompanying scent. I guess such a scene was not unusual in those days; maybe it sparks some of your own memories. But for me, while surrounded by it, that scene wasn't for me. So, no drugs were not involved. I was just unusual, it seems.

What is it like to be that tree? I meditated. I tried to feel like that tree. I projected myself into that tree.

It worked. I got beyond myself. I realized that the tree was wonderful, that the world was wonderful -- and that I was irrelevant to it all. Ego, while still there, was an impediment to any understanding.

It changed my life.

For awhile, I investigated further. I tried to project into other things, and occasionally succeeded, feeling at one with other objects I meditated on. It didn't always happen, but getting outside of myself, beating ego, was a real high. I wondered if I could develop this; to reach this state consistently; to learn a 'trick' that could bring on this feeling at any time. I wondered how to interpret this; was this what those eastern religions were talking about; could it be nirvana, whatever that was; was mysticism at play?

I was aware of some progress. But you can't subvert ego and also get along in this world. There are things that need to be done, practically, and to do them you need ego. I understood this.

My solution: awareness of the divided aspects of reality, the practical world that we live in, which needs answers, actions, and your ego, and the other, spiritual world, that doesn't. You can adjust perspective to accomodate both.

The one with ego involved is finite. It has problems and solutions, triumphs and loses, elation and sadness, boredom, death.

The one that excludes ego has none of this. It has unity, oneness. Answers to the 'great questions' are irrelevant. The meaning of life? Where does love come from? What's the value of art, creativity? Why are we here? Is there a god? What is time and how does it work? Maybe there are answers. If there are, so what? If ego is eliminated, the answers don't matter. It's even bizarre to have the questions, from this perspective. Just accept, don't try to figure it out.

But, we must make a go at life with ego as companion. We also can have an understanding that there is another way, beyond ourselves and our egos. It's liberating. It's fine.

I realized this because of my encounter with that tree. The exploration ended when I was admiring the night sky and my focus, I ventured, should be on projecting myself into all the universe from the library roof -- or was it a certain star? I don't remember -- and attempted my meditation trick, which was not perfected though at times rewarding. As I did, a bolt out of the blue flashed -- extremely briefly -- and the universe engulfed me. Everything was one. All was one ... including insignificant me.

It was brief but it was complete joy. For a while, I tried to imagine a way to express it. Eventually, I concluded this was impossible. There were no words for it. No way to share it. One simply had to experience it, as mystics apparently have.

I came to know it was simply an incredible gift bestowed on me. By the universe? Why? I have no idea. There are no reasons, at least that I could understand. And it's not important to understand. What is important: I'm grateful.

You and my stepson would probably get along pretty well. At least have some interesting things to talk about.

The other day he was telling us how sometimes when he's asleep and dreams, he can realize he's dreaming. And at this point he can control his dream.... decide what he wants to dream and where he wants the dream to go. He then looks at his mom and me and asks, don't you guys do that sometimes? Eh, no. My dreams go wherever the hell they want to go. And usually not where I want them to (e.g. make some sense). And I never realize I'm dreaming until I wake up and go, geez, thank god that was only a dream.

 

[Blond D.]

I was 10 when I first started watching UCONN womens basketball. It was Sue Bird who really got me hooked on basketball. She was my hero and I tried to play like her.
8 years later my high school team was playing in the state championship. I was a starter and when they announced each of us starters I thought my heart was gonna blow outa my chest. The crowd was huge and everyone was standing and cheering. What a feeling!!
Even with that moment in my life I can't even imagine how the UCONN girls must feel each and every game. That must be the greatest thing in the world to play for UCONN!

 

[Bigboote]

I was 10 when I first started watching UCONN womens basketball. It was Sue Bird who really got me hooked on basketball. She was my hero and I tried to play like her.
8 years later my high school team was playing in the state championship. I was a starter and when they announced each of us starters I thought my heart was gonna blow outa my chest. The crowd was huge and everyone was standing and cheering. What a feeling!!
Even with that moment in my life I can't even imagine how the UCONN girls must feel each and every game. That must be the greatest thing in the world to play for UCONN!

Winning the state championship in track was one highlight I forgot. What made it amazing is that we scored only one point the previous year, so it came out of nowhere.