TALONS

Thanks to Allan, I had a wonderful weekend in New Orleans--spent quality time with my husband, saw lots of friends, ran in the park, ate too much too many times and thoroughly enjoyed myself. I listened to the first half of the Saints game on the road and watched the last half in my la-Z-boy chair. And proudly wore my Saints shirt all day today.

Got to campus early so that I could make up the weekend time I didn't study, but the best laid plans...Lu Ann (she is the supervisor for my assistantship) came rushing into my office about 9:30 and asked me to go with her to a TALONS meeting this morning and then to take her place at the meeting the next two Fridays. TALONS stands for "Talented Academic Leaders Outstanding National Scholars." It is part of Auburn Engineering's recruitment effort. We have a display and brochures on a table and we talk informally about Industrial and Systems Engineering to academically talented kids (and their families) who are considering Auburn. Each of the engineering disciplines is represented, usually by the department's academic advisor. Lu Ann is ISE's academic advisor. There were three groups with about 15 kids per group. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and look forward to doing it again. The rest of the day I worked linear programming problems to prepare for class tomorrow.

My bird feeder is a hit! This morning I had a brown thrasher, a cardinal, and a bluejay on the feeder at the same time! I have a recording of a brown thrasher I heard in Opine and it is the most beautiful song. Thrashers are in the same family as the mockingbird so they mimic other birds, but they typically repeat a particular song one or two times as opposed to the mockingbird's three to five times. When they're singing, they are often at the top of a small bush or tree and I think their voices are prettier than mockingbirds.