In Search of the Inspirational Grady

My eldest niece Courtney recently had her second child, another boy to join her son Kobey. In addition to this boy's arrival making me an "especially Great Uncle", it brought along some novelty. You see, she and her husband named the lad Grady.

Now for many my age, the face we most commonly associate with this given name belonged to Whitman Mayo, who portrayed the less than gifted friend of Fred Sanford in the old show Sanford & Son. While frighteningly intelligent and well read, I just don't think this is what came to Courtney in selecting the name. Of course, it would be quite simple to ask her the name's origin, but where's the fun in that? Besides, as I've mentioned before, I hate calling anyone unless absolutely necessary.

I begin my quest with a presumption - Grady is named for someone perhaps marginally famous, as opposed to a family name or place (Grady County, GA for example). Also, the Grady in question is Grady Someone, as opposed to Someone Grady. Many of you know that our son Carter was named for a surname, but it's my game. This is probably a built in error, but one I'm willing to accept in that there are far too many of the latter to choose from, and I'm supposed to be doing something else right now.

Off the top of my head, I could pretty much only come up with Grady White, a kind of small boat - probably unlikely. Among the geeks, there's Grady Booch, a legendary software developer and IBM Fellow. Courtney's a lawyer/journalist (really!) and her husband Randy is a tax accountant who's fun to hang out with (really!). I'm not seeing the required worshipping of Grady Booch, but I must admit it's a fun name to say.

Now like most men, Randy is a sports fan, so some possible sources are Grady Jackson (NFL), Grady Little (Dodgers manager), or Grady Sizemore (MLB). They met in New Orleans, so there are musicians Grady Martin (Jazz Guitar) and Grady Tate (Johnny Carson era Tonight Show drummer).

I think it comes down to two frontrunners. First, Grady Patterson, State Treasurer of South Carolina. I know it's a stretch, and I said Randy was fun, but he is a tax accountant. Then again, this comes from a chemist, so it's a pretty weak slam. Otherwise, it's got to be Judge E. Grady Jolly, Circuit Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit in Jackson, MS. I have no idea what, if any, monumental or brave ruling this man may have made, but this cries out as the obvious conclusion. Courtney has the idealism to make this believable.

I'm having dinner with the new grandma (my sister) tomorrow, so I'll probably ask her, if only to avoid having to call someone.

Welcome to the family Grady. Don't worry about where your name came from. One of my daughters is named partially after a flanker from Syracuse.

On being cheap...

I am, almost to the point of being a pain in the ass, cheap. OK, Sandy will testify that this is not the only contributing factor to my being a pain in the ass. Not by a long shot. That said, some of my frugality was learned from her.

But I'm cheap. Without exaggeration, most of my wardrobe comes from Sams Club, or I got it for free. I wear company logo shirts, or golf shirts from my old neighbor Todd. Todd is the director of golf at a Marriott course in Florida. When Marriott changed the name of his course, he gave me something like 40 shirts. Although he's a size larger than me (very tall), I've done a pretty good job of growing into them (getting wider).

Last weekend, I saw a guy that has to be much worse than me. He was edging his yard with one of those manual edgers our parents had when we were young. How stinking cheap must you be to still be using one of these things? We live in a pretty nice neighborhood, so it's not like this guy can't afford the $20 investment for a small weedeater. Clearly, while frugal, he did not subscribe to my other primary characteristic - sloth.

Anyway, this thought process reminded me of a very funny story I heard the other night. The comedian Ron White (scotch drinker on the Blue Collar comedy tour) told the story of going to buy some new sunglasses. He had lost the pair he'd had for several years. Upon being quoted the price of the pair he had selected, he was stunned. He inquired how the man could sleep at night. He asked, "How is it that a pair of sunglasses cost more than a 27" color television?" The clerk replied that he (Ron) clearly didn't understand - these glasses filter out all harmful UV rays. Ron replied, "No, you don't understand. A television receives a digital signal that has been bounced off a satellite and converts it into moving pictures and sound so I can watch a football game. And it still costs less." A smartass redneck - hmmm, I think I can relate.

For the record, my current sunglasses were found by our son on the people mover at Universal Studios.

Sorry for the delay

As is often the case, I've fallen into the "loss of focus" trap again lately. Despite my best intentions, I always seem to find something more pressing than updating this blog. As you've obviously stopped by again, I promise to "do better".

Funniest thing that has happened this week so far - I've managed to maintain Sandy's level of frustration with me. Despite my lack of exercise program and big gut, my blood pressure is still 118 over 75. Man, is that irritating her.

I'm heading to New Orleans next week for the first time since Katrina. I expect that the bars will be open and the streets will still smell like urine. I'll keep you posted.