Borders Baby & Bio Blurb

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I first fell in love with Borders Bookstore in the Spring of 1995. I was a 26 year old “non-traditional” student who had previously graduated from Indiana Wesleyan University with majors in History and Political Science, but couldn’t seem to find my way onto a career path that made sense to me. Between my junior and senior year at IWU I had dropped out and joined the Army during the first Gulf War and was sent to Korea for two years as an infantryman.

I finished at IWU upon my return from the Army and then spent a summer in Europe. From there I returned to Korea as a civilian. I planned on staying there for 1-2 years while I figured out what the “next step” was going to be. I was there for only 3 months in the Fall of 1994 when I decided that the next step would be medical school. So I packed my bags, traded my Won for Dollars, and set my sights on Indiana University, which brings me back again to the Spring of 1995.

I needed to take all the pre-med prerequisites which would spread out over the course of a year and a half plus a summer session. I had to pad my schedule somewhat to maintain enough credits for the GI Bill and so I took classes like scuba diving, Korean language, Hapkido, and Tai Chi. Borders Bookstore became one of my favorite hangouts to study, sip joe, and practice joint-locks/take-downs (just kidding).

The beauty of going to Borders in Bloomington is that IU (according to U.S. News & World Report) has the top music school in the country. What this meant to me was world class musicians playing in the corner of the coffee shop while I tried to figure out how to manipulate organic molecules with a pencil and paper. One of my favorites was Marcos Cavalcante, a jazz guitarist and bandleader from Brazil who was studying at the music school. He had a bald head, bright smile, and wicked bossa nova vibe.

I am a great lover of used bookstores, but Borders was about energy. There always seemed to be a lot of it there fueled by coffee and music. After I met JB in Indianapolis and was in medical school we continued to hang out at Borders a few times a month and would look forward to “Pumpkin Spice” flavored coffee coming out every Fall season.

Now I am finishing my residency in DC and I have a 10 month old son that I love to take to Borders. I hope he learns to love the books and music as much as I do. So far so good…



"Nice, pretty books..."

Waiting for Mom

Is there anything worse than being separated from those you love? And if there is, what does that say about the strangulating coils of pride and narcissism that have taken hold of me in my middle years? Maybe God has graciously given me this little guy to help me reverse this process and shed the scales of indifference.