Varsity, Varsity...

Ever been to a Big Ten football game before? And more importantly, ever been to a Badger game before?
These are the questions that two Ole boys were recently faced with as two Madison Alums agreed that what they needed was a serious dose of "Real College Town" and "Real Football Game".

Last Friday afternoon, Slummy, LB, Jff, and I piled into one car and made the trek to Wisconsin for homecoming weekend. The drive down was uneventful, except for the ominous rain that splattered the car as we neared Madison. As we arrived in town, however, the rain stopped and instead we had a clear view of the capital as we drove in.

After a series of hotel decisions early on, we elected to stay in what I remember as a really crappy run-down hotel right in the middle of campus. Upon our arrival, it was nice to realize that it had recently been completely redone and is now a really nice place to stay. As we checked in, it was a comical reminder of who we were traveling with as Slummy realized, or rather the hotel staff realized, that Slummy had 'status' there. Free breakfast buffet for all of us.

We seized the night and ended up heading out for a walk down State Street and a beer at the Great Dane. For both LB and I, the walk was reminiscent of college and yet it was strange to see what had changed... New buildings, old businesses, new chain restaurants, same city essentially. It was strange to see my alma mater through eyes that are now over 12 years older than when I first arrived. I felt really old as we walked into the Dane, but then settled in to just enjoying the loud Friday night scene.

Saturday morning was early, but exciting. I was really excited about the football game and to walk around campus in the day light. We had hoped to fit in a visit to the illustrious Farmers Market around the capital square, but we were crunched for time because of the early game. After a visit to the Alumni Bash for breakfast and some ill advised Bloody Marys, we headed to the bookstore for a refresh on our Wisconsin wardrobes. Along the way we did some sight seeing- the rubble that was the dorm I lived in freshman year, Granger Hall, the Humanities building, and Science Hall... After a stop back at the hotel we headed for the game.

It was inspiring to see the sea of red moving toward the stadium for an 11am kick off. We ended up sitting in one of the end zones almost at ground level. The game was fabulous, and although it got steadily cooler during the afternoon, the Badgers pulled it out against the Fighting Illini. Hooray! The fifth quarter was fun and entertaining as usual. I relished the singing of the fight song, the Alumni song, and many others that are permanently burned into my brain. I was also surprised to hear and see some additions to the fifth quarter of the game that never happened when I was there.
After the game we set off on more sight seeing- visiting LB's dorms, my sophomore dorm, taking the Lakeshore Path all the way to the Union, and ending up in Der Rathskeller for some beer and my Berry Alvarez Shake (delish!). Boy were we tired after we warmed up, so we headed back to the hotel for some late afternoon/early evening snoozing(also delish!)

A dinner at Amy's Cafe followed by a bar further down State street were fun places to do some reminiscing and more discussion of college. Slummy was entertained by new selections of beers, the numerous unfortunate "train-wrecks" that were spotted along the strip throughout the course of the evening (Meel- isssa!), and comparing the Olaf Campus to that of Madison's. The inevitable reminder that we weren't in college anymore came with an early return to the hotel room to go to bed.

Sunday was an early morning wake up for a gratis brunch and quick showers. On our way out of Madison, we dropped LB at the airport for her business trip down to Orlando and the three of us continued on home through the wind, rain, and snow. We were lucky to have encountered a partially sunny day in Madison that managed to highlight some of the pretty leaves and the beautiful campus where both LB and I were lucky enough to spend 5+ years of our lives.

In the end, I could have spent another couple of days doing many of the things I always think of doing in Madison: visiting the Farmer's market, walking down to the Monona Terrace, walking up to see the view from Observatory Hill, and making it out to the tip of Picnic point at night to see all the lights on campus, but we packed a lot into a weekend while we were there. It was a great time, and a great reminder of what a rich history LB and I have from our time there. I left thinking about how lucky I was to go to a school like that, where there was always more to explore and more to do. It is a good thing to have those places that remain so important in your heart that when you are there, you feel a sense of great happiness and contentment.

U, rah, rah, Wisconsin!

FRITZ: The Walter Mondale Story

Last Thursday night husband and I hurried over to the History Center after a dinner out to see the opening of the documentary, FRITZ: The Walter Mondale Story. We settled into the small, cozy theater amidst many people Jff serves with on the non-profit board, people he worked for when cataloging the former Vice President's papers, and the Mondale family themselves.

The film was excellently done with many people including, President Carter, Vice President Al Gore, and US Senator Geraldine Ferraro, reflecting on "Fritz" while he was in the Senate and in the White House. Even though I already knew much of the history, the look at it through the life of Mondale was fascinating. The thing that kept coming through in every part of the movie was Mondale's strong sense of morals (and not the kind that all too often are pulled into politics now), his dedication to the democracy of this country, and his stalwart belief in the environment, in equality, and in breaking down barriers. Throughout his entire career he has remained down to earth, humble, honest, and dedicated to public service.

There were several parts of the movie that were especially funny or touching. The first one was when he was on a show for new Senators in Washington D.C. and his two youngest kids are on camera crawling around on the floor under the table all while Mondale is being interviewed. Another moment that is moving is the description of how Mondale became Carter's running mate and as a result how he changed the office of the Vice Presidency forever. Finally, I was left feeling sad when the story of the 2002 election where Mondale stepped in for Wellstone was told from his perspective... Here was a man who has all his life served publicly, and was finally returning to private life. Because of his dedication to politics, Wellstone, and Wellstone's supporters, he agreed to run with only a few weeks left in the US Senate race. Obviously he lost the race, but the saddest thing that I was left with was the fact that the same state that had almost unanimously elected him to the Senate in the past only turned out 39% for him against Coleman. He was devasted by the outcome of the election and was left at the end of an illustrious career with a bad memory of his connection to the people of his home state.

Ultimately the loss of the election ended up with husband working for the former Vice President for over a year and then working on his papers after that. It was so exciting and awe-inspiring to realize how much of what was in the film was researched and catalogued by Jff. I was so proud of him as I saw his work come to life (as well as a few brief glances of him in the film, too!).

We ended the evening with a quick exchange of pleasantries with Mondale and a few other people we knew, and then, as we walked to the car we marveled about our wedding in the same location over two years ago. It was a night where I felt very fortunate to have married the man I did, to have grown up in such a great state, and in having had some great politicians to look up to while I was growing up. It put the current election in to a whole new light for me, yet again.

It's Official, Amen.

Now that it is official, I can share my good news. This afternoon my job offer from a local liberal arts college became real, the paperwork is going to HR, and soon I will submit my two weeks notice to the Center where I currently work.

There are a lot of reasons why this is an exciting move. First, there is the grad school thing. I went to grad school and got my master's degree. In my current job that degree has no bearing on anything. Once my degree was in hand, my duties did not change, my income did not increase, and in fact, my satisfaction with doing work below my skill level drastically declined especially since I graduated.

Another good reason for the move is that my new job is the beginning of my new career path. Although my current job has provided me some good experience, learning, and exposure, the reality is that I often am not doing the work in a way that is meaningful. By contrast my new position will be using my masters degree, and doing exactly what I set out to do when I left teaching. It is a really great feeling to have finally made it.

My last reason for why this is a good move is just simply to not have to see the Horrible Supervisor every day anymore! This sounds petty, but it is not. Since this summer when she returned from maternity leave, there was sort of an unspoken agreement that she should leave me alone and that her boss, would ultimately be the person I worked with and checked in with. That has worked out really well and it was a huge improvement. However, in some ways seeing Horrible Supervisor every day, dealing with her snarky comments in meetings, her inability to deal well with people, her inflexibility, and unwillingness to consider shades of gray rather than black or white in the end drove me nuts since she was still apart of a small staff. Although I am generally extremely good at hiding my great dislike for her, in recent weeks I have had a hard time not laughing out loud at her, often in my mind giving her the middle finger as I walk past her cube.

Lastly, another beautiful thing about making the job move is that I am staying in the same neighborhood as the Center. Husband and I will still commute together, I will still be close to the co-op, the bus line and LRT, and all the people who I know on the other campus. I will continue to contract with my current center on the oral history project for a few hours a week, and I will remain in the community where I did much of the research for my thesis.

All in all, it is a great move. In a little over two weeks I will move into my new office and don the title of Coordinator of Community and Civic Engagment. and as my father-in-law stated today, I will for the first time become part of the "Lutheran Family". Amen is what I say to that.

Is it just luck, or...?

Several things and circumstances have recently come together to make me feel like I am leading a very lucky and incredibly wonderful life. Some great news came late last night that only heightens the feeling of having everything come together in a way that I could have not even dared to hope for even three months ago. With these many good things come changes, but all good, all welcome adjustments.

This morning when I remarked to a friend that I felt so lucky upon sharing more good news, she responded by saying something like: It is only luck if it truly comes out of the blue. You are not giving yourself the credit you are due when you say it is luck. You have worked hard, positioned yourself well, and been very thoughtful about your life. These are the fruits of your labor- they are not happening without reason. You have made them happen, so rejoice in that.

I thought that was a very kind thing to say (even if I do feel like some of it is still pure luck and a lot of it is privilege). I do often feel like people have the option of creating their own realities and opportunities, so I guess it was good to be reminded of this when it pertains to me.

So as I continue on my (very) merry way today, I am going to both celebrate my luck as well as my responsibility for my good fortune. I will also try to pack some of it away, and save it for those times when I don't feel quite so lucky or so accomplished or so responsible...

More Barfing...

A New York Times article about Palin, "A Riveting Speaker, Waving the Flag".

Although I am happy to read things like this:

Ms. Palin’s partisan zeal could repel some independent voters in closely contested states like New Hampshire and Pennsylvania; Democratic polling in both states shows Ms. Palin with high negative ratings among independents. Palin advisers say many of these voters do not know enough about her; Ms. Palin is campaigning in Pennsylvania on Tuesday and New Hampshire on Wednesday.

And I agree with this:

In some ways, Ms. Palin seems like a 2.0 version of George W. Bush — not the deeply unpopular president, but the plain-spoken and energetic campaigner who rose as a political talent in Texas and solidified his appeal in the 2000 and 2004 presidential campaigns. Hers, like his, is a with-us-or-against-us message, as when Ms. Palin pledges total solidarity with “good, hard-working, patriotic Americans.”

My gag reflex begins when I read this:

“America, doggone it, unfortunately we’re deep in debt, and Barack Obama would put us even deeper in debt,” she added a few minutes later. “We’ve got to reverse this. America, we cannot afford another big spender in the White House.”

Because as we all know, tax cuts for the rich, actually SAVE money, right?

It is not until I get to here that I need to find a garbage can:

If there are holes in logic or a lack of specifics in Ms. Palin’s speeches, her audiences tend to fill the absence with gushing affection…“She’s intelligent, she’s adorable and she has the audacity to speak her mind,” said Ray Gilson of Corapeake, N.C., who attended the Virginia Beach rally. “I’ve never loved a politician like I love her. I want her to be president someday.”

Yep, because that is what we all need: someone who has made no long-term academic commitments, someone who has no experience, and someone who is “adorable” in the White House to solve all of our problems.

In reality, I guess it isn’t Palin that scares me, it is the people who give her power by believing in her glittering generalities and overt racial and cultural discrimination that make me most scared… because they share this country with me.

One thought on fall...

Cortland apples in the fall are pure bliss. Give me some cheese, bread, hummus, and fall apples and I could live for months on nothing else.

Palin on the big screen

Last night, husband and I, in the company of a few friends went to a local theater to watch the VP debates. It was really fun. Sponsored by the local DFL party, the theater felt like a rally where there was not much line standing, comfortable seats, and popcorn to eat. Volunteers were handing out thunder sticks, handing out vouchers for a free Obama sign, and many local candidates came to talk.

It was fun, rowdy, and loud when Sarah Palin did or said something stupid.