Me, in the news.

Yep.  Me again.

Just a quick one to pass along some sort of exciting news.

Last month, the journal article based on my thesis research was published.  Shortly after, I was contacted by a guy at the University of Missouri News Bureau who wanted to interview me about the article.  He wrote a short press release, which will be shared with the national news outlets (in case anyone thinks it's interesting...).  The release came out today.

You can read it here (there's even a picture included!):
bit.ly/NcLwEu

Also, if you want to read the whole journal article, you can find it here:
bit.ly/QyKNnC

The Bus Stop

Hey all,

The official countdown has begun.  I have 7 days of Bangla class left and only a week and a half left in Madison.  I'm happy-sad about this.  It's been a great summer.

I'm actually writing today, though, to share this with you:

My Madison roommate, Becky, has this friend who has been married 13 years, is wise about all things relationship and always eager to share his knowledge, it seems.  He gave us this little gem the other night, and it's totally worth sharing.

The Bus Stop Analogy.
Dating is sort of like waiting at a bus stop.  You're standing there, and you're really not sure where the bus is.  It's possible you've missed the bus (which is why I, personally, recommend always being a few minutes early...), in which case, you're waiting like an idiot for a bus that's already gone.  However, it's also possible that the bus just hasn't come yet; that the bus is a little behind schedule.  In that case, if you're patient and just wait a little longer, you'll be rewarded with a nice, easy, free ride downtown to your destination of choice.  But the question is...  how long do you wait at the bus stop?  If you wait too long for an already missed bus, you're wasting time on a bus you were never going to ride anyway.  But, if you give up too soon and go back inside, you're going to miss a perfectly good bus that was just a little late that day.

I'd like to take this one step further and say that it seems there are plenty of nice, normal, good-looking busses (who have homes, jobs, and all the other things that responsible busses should have) that are driving around town with their "Not In Service" light on.  Frustrating.

So...  Do you wait?  Do you go back inside, grab your car keys and drive yourself?  Or, do you walk a few blocks over and see if a better, newer, air-conditioned bus is coming?

Pics from Madison

Hello friends,

My time is winding down quickly here in Madison with only two weeks left before it's time for me to head south and start the fall semester.  I've continued to keep really, really busy, spending time with new friends, seeing the sights, going to concerts, parties, restaurants, and my first Major League baseball game (loved it!), and, of course, plenty of studying and work is happening as well.  My mom visted last week and we did a whole lot of shopping, saw a movie, and I introduced her to the glory that is dinner from the Whole Foods hot bar.  No doubt I'm going to miss Madison and the great friends I've made here, but I'm going to try to make the most of these last two weeks and will be very happy to see my Columbia and Lincoln friends soon.

Here are some pictures from the last few weeks:

Hanging out by the lake on a Friday afternoon...

Eating bagels on the Capitol steps with the roomies.

Friday on my lap.

Cornmeal pancakes at Saturday brunch.

Milwaukee Brewers game!

Cheering on the Brewers vs. the Washington Nationals

Checking in... from Madison

Yipes!  3 weeks have past since my last post.  A bit longer than I had intended (but this is almost always the case with me and this blog, it seems).  Anyway, I'm still alive and kickin' up here in Wisconsin, in case you were wondering.  Language school has kept me very, very busy.  I'm in class until 1:00 every day and usually have 3-4 hours of homework at night.  That might not sound like a lot but, as it turns out, language learning is HARD WORK!  In fact, after 4 weeks of 5-day-a-week classes and homework, I'm a bit brain-dead right now.  So...  I'll let my pictures do the rest of the talking...

Bangla homework

Swinging at the park (it's blurry, but that's what happens on the swing.  Duh.)

The view from the top of the building where I take my classes.  That's the lovely Lake Mendota, one of Madison's two lakes.  I live somewhere up along the shoreline.

I'm doing homework on The Terrace at the University of Wisconsin's student union.  

Sand volleyball on the lake.

Laughing at my roommates.

And again.

Kelsey, me, and Becky - finally a nice picture.  :)

After Concert on the Square near the Wisconsin State Capitol.

The last 3 days

Remember when I said I'd return to regular "Photo-a-Day" posting?  Apparently, I'm a liar.  But, I've been busy and Bangla class got HARD yesterday, so, as a responsible student, I spent a lot of yesterday evening studying.  Anyway, how about I share the pictures I should would have posted with you now?

June 19th:  Imperfect

On June 19th, I went for a run.  It was far, far, far from perfect.  It was 93 degrees out (at 6 pm), I was sick the entire week previous so this was my first run in 7 days, and I wanted to die.  But, I didn't (obviously), and I'm happy I went.  After 30 minutes of sitting in front of the fan, I felt like a new woman.  Running doesn't always feel good, but it's almost always good for the soul.

June 20th:  Fave Photo You've Ever Taken

This was a tough one to come up with, but, here it is:

This is Sanibel.  It is one of my favorite places on earth.  This picture represents everything I love about it.  Enough said.

June 21st (today):  Where You Slept

This one totally makes me feel like a nomad.  This is not my bed.  This is not my room.  These are not my sheets.  They are my pillows and pillowcases, however.  See how nicely they match the lovely burgundy sheets?  (Oh, and see how high quality this photo is?  I think I seriously need to invest some money in a new camera...)

Ah, well.  If I'm going to study nomadic people, I should understand how it feels to haul all of one's belongings from place to place, right?

Anyway, Madison is treating me great.  I have some awesome roommates, the city is beautiful, and I'm keeping very, very busy.  It was HOT here for a few days, but now it's in the mid-80's and breezy.  Just as summer should be...

First Day of School

Hey, friends.  Checking in quickly to assure everyone that I made it to Madison, made it to class today, and was careful not to sweat on anyone's belongings but my own.

From what I can tell so far, Madison is a pretty awesome place.  I had the easiest commute of my LIFE this morning, passing by the lake on the way.  Have I already mentioned that I live less than a block from a lake?  As a Nebraskan, this is a BIG F-ING DEAL to me!  I've never lived this close to a body of water before in my life.  I plan to take full advantage.

Anyway, I got in last night, hauled all of my crap up 3 floors (wishing with every. single. step. that I had packed less - as I always, always wish), watched basketball and drank a beer with one of my new roommates, and went to bed.  Today, I went to class, then to the biggest Target store I've ever seen, Whole Foods (where I wandered aimlessly for 30 minutes, but managed to stick to my grocery list), and Trader Joe's.  My new apartment is in a cool, old building with a big bay window in the living room.  My roommates seem like great - and extremely funny - people (who happen to be hosting a party on Friday night - let's say it's in my honor...).  And it seems like there are too many cool places to go, things to do, restaurants to visit in this town to possibly do it all in 2 months.  I look forward to trying.

I'll be back with more "Photo a Day" posts soon.  Today's phrase was "Something we don't know about you."  You know when you are in new group situations and the leader/teacher/coach asks you to go around the room and "tell us your name, where you're from, and something interesting about yourself"?  I always fail at that.  Like, miserably.  I can never decide what "interesting" thing I should tell people.  Well, this is no different.  I'm not sure what you do or don't know about me and I'm not sure that I'd really like to share most of the things that most people don't know about me on the world wide web.  Like, if there are things the majority of you don't know, there's probably a reason for it...  (It's embarrassing.  I don't know what "it" is, this mysterious secret information, but I can assure you that "it" is embarrassing.)

For now, goodnight.  I hope you're all doing well and had a good Monday.

Yellow (Or, Photo a Day: June something-th)

Technically, yellow was yesterday's word.  Technically, I'm, like, a day behind.  Whatever.  These are my new YELLOW running shoes and I really had to show them to you.  They're probably going to make me super fast, right?

Anyway...  It's off to Madison tomorrow and classes start first thing Monday morning.  Keep your fingers crossed that I a) find my new apartment with no problem, b) manage to remember to write down my new roommate's phone number, c) manage to remember to call her ahead of my arrival, like I said I would, and d) make it to my classroom, on time, without sweating all over everything and everyone (I'm riding my bike) on Monday morning.  That's a whole lot of finger crossing, but I have faith in you guys.  You can do it.  And, hopefully, so can I...