Southern Charmed

OK, Chapel Hill is loaded super-intelligent people. I’m hoping a little of that is gong to rub off on me. Ever since I was told it was something I wasn’t by my mean brother, I have aspired secretly to become the sharpest tool in the shed.

This part of the country has produced some really smart people and some really smart inventions came out of those people.

Astroturf, for instance, has made my life better and that was invented nearby at the Research Triangle Park.



I went and visited the other day and I was hoping for a crisp isosceles or even a nice right triangle in a pinch. I admit I was a little disappointed that the park is not really in the shape of a triangle. This error I could forgive because the park is loaded with companies like Kryosphere



Syngenta

and Glyconix

that are busy inventing all the things we are going to need once the future gets here.



This handsome old-school logo is for the Association of American Textile Chemists and Colorists and this organization tests all textiles and fabrics to make sure the dye stays put and all sorts of other qualities. Thanks to this non-profit organization, your clothes do not burst into flames. Unless you paid for that feature.

Meanwhile, back in Chapel Hill I stumbled upon this structure off a road at the edge of the campus.

Yes, that is a castle. It is the home of its own secret society, the Order of Gimghoul which was started by a group of enterprising U of N students way back in the day. From what I can get out of the locals, the society is for invited upperclassmen and faculty only and is exclusively male. But not all-male like Legends in Raleigh and I heard that rules also make for an all-female guest list at their parties.

I’ve got my hoop skirts ready, so if there’s any Gimghoulers out there listening, I’m ready for an invite and I’m not going to hog the keg.

This is Deb in the City, your southern belle in training, saying that’s what I like about the south from Chapel Hill.