Duke at 100
by Anton Zuiker on September 28, 2024
The remnants of Hurricane Helene came through this morning, dumping a couple of inches of rain on Chapel Hill. As Erin I and I left our dental appointments together, our phones buzzed with tornado warnings. We got home safely, and the skies cleared by noon. Western North Carolina, and Florida and Georgia, got hit much worse.
The clear Piedmont skies meant that Duke University could go ahead with its centennial Founder’s Day Celebration and Concert starring pop star Ed Sheeran. I barely got tickets so Erin and I were able to go though we were confined to the end zone area without a view of the stage. Still, we got to watch Sheeran on the big screen and hear the one-man show just fine. It was fun and even the short rain squall didn’t matter. As I noted over at Wan Smol Blog, I loved Sheeran’s duet with Andrea Bocelli. Sheeran did sing Perfect tonight.
Walking back to our car across Duke’s West Campus, I told Erin I am proud to have worked for this excellent institution for 17 years. I’m glad to have contributed to the Duke story in my own small way (and as a Tar Heel, to boot).
Reading Shogun
by Anton Zuiker on September 26, 2024
I’m watching the series Shogun, a couple of episodes each night after the day’s work and cooking and cleaning and other activities.
There was an earlier television miniseries based on James Clavell’s novel of 17th century Japan. For the longest time I’ve remembered that I watched that during my first few nights on St. Croix—we had moved from Idaho to Frederiksted in late March 1983 (just before my 13th birthday) and I was allowed to join a neighbor to watch on a small black-and-white t.v. in the shared open-air courtyard. Over the next few years I read that novel and Clavell’s others (King Rat, Tai Pan, Whirlwind). I still have Clavell’s version of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War.
But looking in Wikipedia to confirm this memory, I now understand that the miniseries playing in America that week in 1983 was actually The Thorn Birds. I’d eventually read that novel, too.
I was a voracious reader as a teen. We didn’t have a t.v. for much of my youth in Idaho, on St. Croix, and Illinois. Now I have subscriptions to multiple streaming services, though this year I have given myself time to enjoy reading once again (here and here).
A list of profiles I've written
by Anton Zuiker on September 25, 2024
I was looking for a link to a feature story I wrote about a sea turtle researcher but I didn’t find it in this blog, so I want to list some of the articles I’ve contributed to Duke publications to make it easier to find the links in the future.
- In June 2024, The Duke School of Medicine posted my profile of Charles Muiruri, a health care researcher and globetrotting soccer player. I’m inspired by Charles and how he finds a pick-up game wherever he lands — when he’s in Durham, he often plays in the Sunday pick-up game that I’m in.
- In September 2022, my story about the Pediatrics faculty at DCRI appeared in the med school’s Magnify section.
- The Winter 2021 issue of Duke Magazine ran my feature about sea turtle researcher Kelly Stewart and Aaron’s Leatherback Brewing Company in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
- The SOM Magnify featured my profile of new faculty recruit Opeyemi Olabisi and his mission to revolutionize the prevention and treatment of kidney disease.
The “vivid vision” for my next five years, which I mentioned in my recent post, includes this goal:
Each year, I write a profile of an interesting and accomplished individual. This helps me more fully see the diversity of humankind.
I’m on the search for my next subject and open to suggestions.
First scan
by Anton Zuiker on September 24, 2024
At some point in the last 10 years, I volunteered to be the family historian and archivist, so my father and mother have sent me many boxes of photographs, slides, negatives, transparencies, and Super-8 video reels. These images document my family, my childhood, my father’s Peace Corps service in the Dominican Republic, and even my grandfather’s travels in the 1940s.
There’s a lot of family history to organize and file away on the family tree.
I finally ordered a new flatbed scanner.
Today I unboxed an Epson Perfection V600 and reached to the stack of photos on my desk. On top was the image you see above, an instant photo of me and Erin in Provence taken by the proprietor of Maison º9 took during our stay at that lovely inn. That stay in Cassis was part of our memorable trip to France to celebrate our twentieth anniversary.
My plan is to spend this winter organizing the materials and scan what I can, blogging along the way.
A bye
by Anton Zuiker on September 23, 2024
A work day, and Oliver’s evening soccer game, and daily chores around the house, and other people and issues to focus on, so no blog post of substance tonight.