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Showing posts from February, 2011

something amazing

the most amazing thing happened to me on the way home from campus today: i found some crackers in the back of my pickup!  i mean the type of crackers you eat, not white people. this is amazing not because there  weren't  supposed to be crackers there but because i actually remembered that (1) in fort collins on saturday i bought some crackers, (2) i realized in two days that i didn't know where the crackers were, and (3) i thought to look for them in the truck. i actually remembered something.  that's the amazing thing. usually this scenario would've played out like this: unpack the groceries from fort collins.  drive around for three weeks.  randomly open the tailgate and discover some crackers, smashed to bits from rolling around in the back of the truck.  say to myself: "oh! guess i forgot that i bought crackers in fort collins! ha! ha ha!" throw crackers away.  or, if they're not too mushed, save them for stew.  maybe even use them as impetus to

clean

it's nice to be clean.  or, cleaner, at least.  it's been far too long since i did some decent cleaning around the house, and it feels good to know that things are less dusty/muddy/fuzzy/gross than before.

cabin fever

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This weekend was the second annual Forest Service Cabin Trip.  We didn't start planning early enough to reserve the Brooklyn Lake Cabin, but that turned out okay because we were able to explore some new territory down by Walden, CO.  Melissa was a champ this year, following up on ridiculous hassles created by the online reservation system, but eventually we were able to get a one-night reservation for Grizzly Creek. Here's the cabin: The awesome FS dude at the Walden office called Melissa last week to let her know that we shouldn't plan on being able to drive all the way to the cabin (which the reservation system implies is possible).  So, instead, Mark, Yao, Melissa, and I loaded up packs, divvied out food, and skiied in.  Here we are making ready: The ski-in was about 3 miles, I'm guessing, and we did it in just over an hour.  Conditions were sunny and pretty calm; aside from sticky snow it was great. We ate like champs on the trip.  Veggie curry for dinner

basketball

I haven't had much to say about Cowgirl basketball this year.  Like everything else, I'm not sure why it doesn't strike me as worth noting here lately. Tonight: Cowgirl victory, a close game all night, but one in which they continue to show signs of improvement. The sense of ownership is a weird thing.  If any team is "my" team, it's the Cowgirls--the only team I watch live, and the only team that I might follow-up on after out-of-town games to see how they did.  What do I gain by noting the development of the team, by spending my emotions on their efforts, by feeling that I deserve to share their joy in victory?  And, why does society, in general, encourage us to take on these investments?  And why do I feel a bit guilty that I'd consider not renewing my season tickets next year? Ownership.  Weird.

VD

Last night I was over to my friend George's place, for fried catfish and mixed veggies.  His sister and brother-in-law were in town, too. For my classes yesterday, I brought cookies; I had time before classes to walk down (in 40-degree weather!) to the co-op and pick some up.  Nothing special, but a small effort to observe Valentines Day. I might be misremembering, but it seems like I've been happy to spend Valentines these past few years by appreciating the relationships in my life--not the relationships that aren't  there, but the ones that are.

coaster

The past three days: Up up! Down. Up! Down. Up up! On Thursday morning, Anne and I drove over to Cheyenne for the workshop we've been preparing for the past several months.  The roads were a bit scary for the first 20 miles, but we got there in plenty of time to set up before the writers showed up.  At the end of Day 1, things seemed to have gone really well: lots of laughing, a good bit of real engagement and thoughtfulness, and some signs of progress. Down. By the end of Friday, I felt less positive about the amount of impact we were having on the writers.  I suppose this is entirely understandable: nobody gets "fixed" in 10 hours of writing instruction.  I should know that by now, and yet I really hoped the writers would go away from the workshop feeling that they had gained some real traction on improving their writing.  We'll sit down on Tuesday to review their evaluations, and hopefully we'll have a better sense, then, about how useful the sessions wer