Granted

From Mark Childress comes a newsworthy "tip": Dr. Regina Benjamin, a woman in my hometown of Bayou La Batre, is one of this year's winners of the MacArthur Foundation "genius grant." I'm not familiar with Dr. Benjamin, but Mom says that several of her friends visit Dr. Benjamin and one of my childhood acquaintances works for her. Remember when "blog" friend George Saunders received one of those "genius grants"? Yes, I am giving the "blog" some sort of mystical credit for all these "genius grants." Stick with the "blog" and it is pretty much a sure thing that you will get one, too! So: Good for Dr. Benjamin, good for Bayou La Batre, good for everybody. We couldn't be prouder. In other medical news, Mr. Ward fell onto a big clay pot and broke "a bunch of ribs"! We wish him a speedy recovery. It reminds us of when Amanda Stern broke her foot, which we assume is better by now.