Last stop: Ypsilanti | The Jamestown Sun | Jamestown, North Dakota

Last stop: Ypsilanti |  The Jamestown Sun  | Jamestown, North Dakota

This is the small town that my father grew up outside of. My oldest uncle still has a house in town. My entire family is buried in the cemetery just on the out-skirts of the town. My dad will be joining them fairly soon. North Dakota is filled with tons of these "ghost towns". It is very sad to think of all the history that goes by the wayside.

Rainy Sunday

I am attempting to work on my manuscript. I have poured two years into a project, and now I have to pull the trigger and write it up. This is proving to be hard because it is ALWAYS easier to do experiments than sit down and think. Just ask Karen. She finally completed her master's thesis and defense. I am so proud of her. I had my first thesis committee meeting last week on Monday. It basically looks like I will be writing my thesis next fall around this time, with the goal of re-entering medical school in Spring 2010. That means that I will be done with the program in Spring 2012. An end is in site!!!!

We got a new patio door install in the condo this week. It is really nice and totally money well spent. My ambition in home improvement projects exceeds both my budget and my know-how, so it is nice to accomplish something. Now that my Dad is gone Matt and I are reliant on the kindness of our uncles and friends to give us advice/help. Both of us are stubborn and not wanting to inconvenience anyone, so we just don't get anything done. I do know that we have to stain the new patio door, which will probably lead to us pulling the trigger on the much talked about trim project. Man....one thing just leads to another.

I would recommend the movie Burn After Reading to anyone in the mood for a goof-ball comedy. Karen, Matt, and I went to it today (Peter is was in theater 8, occupancy 299. We sat in the middle and it was about half full).
I would also recommend the following books:
When You Are Engulfed In Flames by David Sedaris
The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century by Thomas L. Friedman
and SUPER CRUNCHERS by Ian Ayres
The Sedaris book is of course witty and wildly funny. I read it in a single day at the lake.
The second two books are very entertaining and educational. I picked up the first one (World is Flat) in an airport and was blown away about stuff that I thought I was the only one noticing. The second was recommended to my by my thesis adviser. I am listening to it as a book on tape and find myself staying at the gym longer to get another chapter in (good for the waistline, bad for writing papers).
Fall is in full swing here. Matt is once again doing football AV and I am back in the orchestra. Our schedules keep up busy and happy.
Well, I better get back to work here.

Have you Herd? | INFORUM | Fargo, North Dakota - Moorhead, Minnesota

Have you Herd? |  INFORUM | Fargo, North Dakota - Moorhead, Minnesota

Reading this article is a bit bittersweet. Myself and most of my friends from college worked hard to perform and serve NDSU in the marching band and basketball pep band. I was among the few who served 4 years in the marching band, and hardly ever missed a basketball game. We went to UND and got spat on, we were there when the team was terrible during Bob Babich's last season. I spent endless games for basketball hoping we would have enough people to cover all the parts. The band was a second family to me in college, full of rich traditions and tons of fun.
It is awesome that President Chapman finally realized what the band contributes, but PLEASE stop making it sound like it was the fault of the members that the uniforms were shoddy and "Division II". Members of the band have true Bison spirit, more than most of the drunk tail gators interviewed for this article. Most of the time the student section would barely acknowledge our presence at the games when we performed. It was the administration's and the student body's lack of interest and credit (both from the music department and the president's office), that got the band down to that point.
As a member of Tau Beta Sigma, the band support sorority, I remember requesting new uniforms every year between 2001-2004. I paid "band dues" for marching band every semester, in addition, I also paid tuition for the 1 credit I received. In return I gave the University most of my Saturdays, plus extra appearances during Homecoming, Blue Key, etc. Student can tell when their efforts are not appreciated......thanks NDSU for making that crystal clear to me today.
Oh...and for that alumni donation....I'll get back to you on that....