Alert! Alert!

Sorry about the Giant chicken picture. I don't have time to change it back.

I am in the library writing my Crockett paper. I am pretty sure it has no solid argument whatsoever, but I am kind of having a good time writing it. I have two more pages to go.

I still need to write my Women's History Paper that was due today. It is not even started yet, but I think I know where it's going to go? Maybe?

This Morning at 3:15am I awoke to sirens, and, "Alert! Alert! This is an emergency!" We had to go down 13 flights of stairs after jumping out of bed. When we got into the hallway it smelled like burning plastic. I really enjoyed the experience. It was fun seeing everyone in the stairwell, and then gathered outside. Of course it was pretty scary, but I guess I have been desensitized by fire drills. That's probably a good thing. I used the disruption as an excuse to sleep in.

Yesterday, Erica and I filled a pot she got from the free table with dirt, and put 4 little trees in it. We hope that we can grow them into Bonsai trees.

Here's something from Francis Galton that we read in Crockett's class. It is from, "Statistical Inquiries into the Efficacy of Prayer."

"Of a similar kind is the bitter cry of the hare, when the greyhound is almost upon her; she abandons hope through her own efforts, and screams-but to whom? It is a voice convulsively sent out into space, whose utterance is a physical relief."

He then goes on to be sexist... but we don't have to talk about that.

I just really like it because it's a view on prayer that I hadn't encountered before. The hare who never speaks in it's life cries out to something when death is upon them. Even if you refused to believe any superstition your entire life, would you cry out?

Chauncey Wright

I am following Josh's blog, which makes him happy, and his quick thoughts on indulgent complacency that get me a tinglin' for revolution make me happy in return. Pretty good deal in my opinion.

Today I found a new boyfriend. His name is Chauncey Wright, and he was born in 1830. He was part of the conversations with William James, and Charles Darwin that helped to form the structures of pragmatist thought in America. I must learn more about him.

Jenny and my facilitation went well, and after I played my trumpet and ran on a treadmill to burn off all of my excess energy that I would otherwise be channeling towards unproductive distractions. It feels great. After the gym I ran into Colin in the library and read last week's chapter on CHAUNCEY WRIGHT.

I was going to do taxes, but it's bed time.

Short Blog

My Blog posts are too long.

It is nearly 2:00am on Monday morning. Jenny and I just finished writing up our facilitation plan for class tonight.

Today after Megan left, I went to bed until 2pm. Erica, Matt and I went shopping for Fabulous Glam outfits, and I didn't get to work until 10pm, even though I had intended to work all day.

I skipped French on Friday to go with Megan to Iowa to Visit Coe. Coe is cool. It's a lot like Augsburg in size and liberal artsiness, but it felt far more like a traditional private school. After my couple days there, I find Augsburg to be more socially aware, more progressive, and simply better.

I really enjoyed my time there though.

After getting back yesterday, Jenny and I went to First Ave. Erica helped to dress me so I wore a black dress, fishnets, yellow go-go boots and a yellow belt. I was so fabulous. I made friends on the light rail.

2 more weeks until this is all done. Ah!

Spring Fever

It's definitely kicking in. I'm crazy, and I am pretty sure everyone else is crazy. My hypotheses for why are:
1) Sudden influx of DAYLIGHT has caused our bodies to produce a lot of different chemicals that we aren't used to yet
2) We've been following the same routines for 7 months, with the same people, and now the end is in sight
3) GORGEOUS WEATHER

I don't think we deserve the gorgeous weather. It's going to get spring/summer all worn out by the time it gets here.

Also, with the whole 7 month thing... I can't imagine having a real job where that could easily turn into 7 years.

Anyway, I have been taking drastic measures to combat the craziness.

Mostly in the form of Playgrounds.

After band tour, when band finished, a group of us got together and went to Riverside park to play hot lava tag. That was a couple weeks ago, and it was about that time again. Last week when I went for that walk with Anna, we found a playground on Franklin by the Co-Op. It is a tall playground, with 4 slides, and artificial turf. It isn't very big, but it was a good choice.

I lead the way and Colin, Steve and Magnus came with. It was raining when we left, so by the time we even got there, we were pretty wet and cold, but that only enhanced the experience. We took off our shoes and socks, and ran around getting acquainted with the equipment, and then Steve was the first brave enough to try one of the slides. The slides are already tall and steep, but since it was raining they became super dangerous(awesome). Steve shot down the slide at break neck speed, and crashed on his back at the bottom. He then repeated the process on the other slides.

At first I didn't go that fast because my pants were still dry, but after the first slide, I was so soaked that I too could fly down the slides. At the bottom I would usually land on my feet, but when I took the straight slide, I crashed on my knees and almost knocked some teeth out.

Then we swung for a while, and finally, we played tag. We didn't do hot lava tag because it was too tall. We played like normal until Colin hurt himself and the came dissipated. We also wanted icecream.

The Franklin Freeze Reopened on April First, and we got really excited when we passed it on the way to the park. Colin and I had been there before, but Steve and Magnus hadn't. It was the perfect way to top off more than an hour at the play ground on a fine spring day. I was going to get Cheesecake icecream, but since Colin already decided on that one, I got Maplenut instead. After much deliberation Steve got Orange, and Magnus got Chocolate.

This is important because on the way out we decided that a good way to try all the flavors would be to go one by one all around the poster. That way it would be easier to keep track. Since we all started together, we all have to start on the flavors we chose and work our way around. We will eventually overlap with eachother, and be able to compare and discuss, and never again will we have to go through the difficult process of deciding which flavor to get.

Ah.

When we got back I had to get ready to be picked up for Ali's birthday party. Alan picked me up at 4:30, and we went to Stella's Fish Cafe for Happy Hour before dinner. Then we met up with more people at Benihana's for dinner. I had never been there before, and it was nice. I don't think I would really want to go there again though. Afterward, we returned to Ali and Mitch's and ate cake.

NOW, It's Saturday morning. In half an hour, I am going to go to the music building to practice the Easter Music I need to play with Kelly tomorrow. She is picking me up at noon, and we are going to the easter service rehearsal. The main easter piece has 4 sharps, and I am pretty scared. I hope it sounds good when the two of us play it. I haven't practiced the hymns either, because they seemed easy. Let's hope that I was not decieved!

When I get back to campus, I will have some down time, and at 6, Robin from my Latin American History class last fall, and the trip to Nicaragua is going to pick me up. We are going to go out for coffee, and then go to Orchestra Hall to see GILBERTO GIL! We read a whole book about him and the Tropicalia movement in class, so this is bound to be great. I am really excited.

Weekend in Review

Another weekend down.
This one was good. I worked pretty hard all week, and even did all the readings for deVries' class, AND practiced my trumpet.

My weekend started Thursday night when I went for a walk with Lizzie who I started getting to know on band tour. After our walk I went with her to Urness to hang out with some of her friends. We played Skip-bo. It was fun. It was also very very strange being in Urness. For nostalgia's sake I went down to the first floor and walked the hallway towards 103. SO MANY FLASHBACKS! Then I went down the stairs that I knew so well... I can't believe that was only a year ago.

Then on Friday I had a hard time getting out of bed, but I went to class, and right afterward I went to Uptown to visit Codey. Our plan was to go to a special coffee shop to get Kopi Luwak, which is a drink made from coffee beans that have traveled through the digestive track of a monkey.

Monkey poop coffee.

That didn't end up happening though because Visser didn't get there until after 6, and I was supposed to leave at 6 to make it to Jenny's birthday party. We watched 2 episodes of Ugly Betty, some bad Cartoon Network show, and then started watching "Cannibles the Musical." When Visser arrived, we dyed Codey's hair, and I tried to dye a piece of mine, but it didn't really work.

Then I got back to Augsburg and went to Jenny's room. The cake was already finished, and since Ben is from Cedar Falls, we watched the HUGE, Important Basketball game between Cedar Falls and Michigan State. Michigan won, but it was an intense game, and we were all cheering by the end. When the game finished, everyone went to the Rave at the Film studio, and I went back to my room.

Saturday was Jenny's actual birthday, so after eating brunch, Jenny, Ben, Caleb and I went to North East Minneapolis to explore. It is really cool there. We went to the Holy Land, and a couple thrift stores, and then for lunch we went to a place called Thai Noodle, where we ate delicious rice, and talked with our awesome waitress.

After lunch we went to Target and a party store, and then it was nap time. My two hour nap turned into a three and a half hour nap... but I eventually made it to Jenny's Birthday party. We played cards, listened to music, and went for a walk. In the end we all watched Repo the Genetic Opera and fell asleep. Good night!

Today was also fun filled. I went with Colin and Magnus to the Minneapolis Institute of Art because Colin had to do a worksheet for class. This time we got to spend a lot more time on the third floor, and I enjoyed it. My favorites were the Charles M. Russell paintings and his brass sculpture. Maybe that has to do with my current American West kick. I also found "Still Life With Pheasant and Plovers" By Monet, and spent some good time staring at Van Gogh's Olive Trees.

Yum.

As soon as I got back from that trip, I connected with Anna and we went for a walk down Franklin, and back around down by the river. We played on a play ground and talked about all kinds of things.

Exhausted from the walk, I took a nap until Erica came home, and then I came to the Honor's suite to do homework. Now I am going to bed.

Big Sky, Big Adventure!!!

I don't want to just blog when BIG things happen.

Yesterday Alan reprimanded my lax blogging habits, and today I got an email from Ali warning us of the shame we will face.

Spring Break was AWESOME.

The band went to Montana and back. A senior Oboe player, Kirsten, is from Montana, so we went to her home town. The trip followed basic patterns, wake up too early, get on a bus, play a concert or two or three, get on a bus, arrive at hotel, revel, go to sleep too late, repeat.

The first night I was pouting for lack of a good travel buddy, so I embarked on my own to explore Bismarck, North Dakota. When I had my fill, I started walking back, and I saw a fellow trumpet player who was also wandering alone, so I joined him and we explored even more!

When the band went to Romania last spring, my travel buddy and I would take off exploring even if we only had 10 minutes to call time. My buddy not being as enthusiastic this time through, I was left alone. Marrta also wasn't very enthusiastic. I had to take things into my own hands.

One of my biggest anxieties this year has been self confidence, and being able to hang out with the "cool kids." I don't need cool kids. I am a cool kid.

Red Lodge, one of the last towns we stopped at, was my favorite. We got there early in the afternoon, and had the rest of the day to ourselves! There were mountains, rivers, forests and sunshine. As soon as we got there, I packed my back pack with a sketchbook, camera, and journal, and some other things in case I needed them, and set out. On my way, I saw Steve. He asked what I was up to, and he came with.

We adventured until we found other people, joined for a while, and then embarked with fake Steve. We met a Poodle, and then we climbed a ridge to the North of town, where we found a van. We also found a play ground. When I got back, I was tired and ready for rest, but another group was heading out for a walk, and I joined them too! And when THAT group got back, another one went for a hike up the other ridge, and I joined. This time it was me, Erika, Fake Steve, Reed and Marty, and we climbed up the steepest way. There is still dirt in my shoes and scrapes on my knees.

At the top we saw a herd of 16 deer and an awesome springer-like dog named Alice introduced herself. Alice showed us the way down the ridge, and followed us part of the way back to the hotel until she found some of her friends.

By then it was dark, but that meant time to go out to see the stars! So another group got together and found a back road to lay on and see what stars look like in Big Sky Country. Very satisfying.

In the end, what I learned is that I don't always have to be the one asking if I can come along. In fact, it's almost more fun to BE asked.

Yay!

Every night on tour was a blast, and the very last I found a statue of a Rabbit with a saddle on it, which has always been a dream of mine.

Now I am back at Augsburg with a new take on life. I mean that. When I see band people who I might have just nodded to before, or casually taken out my cell phone, I say hello, I shake hands, I talk, I hug! I LOVE BAND.

It's not cool to love band, but I don't care.

I am feeling good about myself, and I am ready for the LAST month of Sophomore year. I can't believe it's here already.

My weekend in Michigan

I am regaining my foot hold at Augsburg after a long, and life changing weekend.

At 9:00am Last wednesday, as I walked to the CCHP to discuss my obsessive compulsive tendencies, I got a text message from my Aunt Faye saying that Grandma was gone to glory at 8:20 that morning. I knew that this was coming, so it did not come as a shock, but it was still sad. THat's what I talked about with my counselor, and then I packed my bag. I skipped everything but band that day. At first I was going to go home to Ogilvie while plans were made, but since the plane was going to leave early Thursday morning, I just hung out here. I had my back pack packed for adventure, and I could have gone anywhere, just like Visser and I talked about, but instead I treated myself to a Athena pizza at Luce a "small" brownie sundae and two cherry cokes.

Thursday at 6:00am, my mom and my dad picked me up at Augsburg, and we drove to the airport. I've done lots of flying in the last couple years, but not with my dad, so it was really great to share that experience with him. The flight went smoothly, and arrived safely in Michigan later that morning.

At that point, the Cramtons minus Nathan were already there, and the next to come in was Uncle Rob. He lost his cell phone and ended up renting a car. John and I drove to the Airport and bonded over Country music and college, and picked up a very cold Nathan. I volunteered to give Martin my cell phone number so I would be the contact when he landed. When he came, Rob, Nathan and I went to get him.

I was terrified of Martin. The last time I saw him was when I was 5, and since then, I had only seen very solemn pictures.

The next day was the funeral. We had to be there at 11 for the viewing, and the service itself wasn't until 7. Luckily, there was an Airport run in between to pick up Rita. Rita is my 13 year older sister. I love her.

From there, it was a great day of hanging out with the whole family. Tim and Nancy drove in, and it was good to see them. Not to mention all of the other friends that showed up.

Claire and I are really close, and usually when I visit I hang out with her, but she and John left on a mission trip Saturday morning, and that left me with Nathan (23), Martin (31) and Rita (32). We became the cool cousins. I can't describe all the fun that we had, but it was amazing. Last summer I wrote Nathan a couple letters, and it was strange to see him in real life, but we were able to connect. Martin is a witty fellow and it was fun to hang out with him. My brain is still running in Martin mode, I like it.

AHHH!

And then we left....

Now I am back, and trying to figure out relationships, and attitudes. ... life plans... whatever. I am worrying too much. Yesterday wasn't fun. My only class in the day time was French, and the teacher was a JERK. Even though I emailed him my circumstances, and he replied, when I asked if there was an exam, he shot back, "What do you think?" Yes? "Yes there is!" I was gone the last three days, leave me alone. "Why were you gone the last three days?" I emailed you. "What did it say?"

I wish I had the ovaries to stand up and stick it to him, but instead I muttered quietly and left. Should I not come back? "NO, don't come back." I wish that meant forever.

I am going to go to lunch now, but it's going to be crowded and I am not going to like it.