Cake.

Wow. That's the most comments I've ever had on a blog entry, I think. And it was about cake. So I'm thinking about making that the focus of my blog. Maybe I should change the name. "JByrdie's Nest o' Cakes" has a nice ring to it.

I went out and bought a cake last night. It was all about research, of course. I had to figure out how they make all those flowers. On the cake was this sticker. I put it up because it reminds me of a funny KU story. Lisa got up in front of 500 freshman and sophomores and told them one of her biggest pet peeves was the word "moist." So, of course, the kids tried to work "moist" into all of their papers during the semester. I don't really get it. Moist doesn't seem like too bad of a word to me.

Most of the snow has melted here and I was too lazy to go take a picture earlier. So sorry. But don't worry, I'm sure I'll see plenty more and will eventually get a picture up.

Here are some of my favorite cake-gazing links, for your pleasure:

Cakes by Sam
Cake diva
Mike's Amazing Cakes
Colette's Cakes

Yes, it snowed

I'll put up a picture of the snow-capped mountain peaks tomorrow. It's actually quite pretty. None of the snow stuck in the valley though. But it has been in the 50's. Kind of weird for September... I think it's supposed to snow later this week too.

I went to Missoula today. That place is awesome. So pretty. The college-town vibe reminded me of Lawrence, which was great. Had some sushi too, which was great. I haven't had sushi since I was in Chicago in June. Yum, yum.

I have a new favorite show: Ace of Cakes on the Food Network.

I love the cakes these people make. It really makes me want to go to culinary school and become a professional cake decorator. That would be AWESOME (mind you, I've never actually decorated a cake before...oh well, details.)

For more awesome cakes to look at, go here.

It snowed here today

But this isn't a picture of that. It was too cold outside to do that...
This is a picture I took coming back from Great Falls. It's a lonely looking tree, don't you think?

I kept meaning to update my blog, but I'd go to and see Rocky and think 'I don't need to update, Rocky is so cute!' Anyway, I figured the first snow fall was a reason to blog. Not much to say here, actually. I just wanted to change things up.

The Real Rocky.

I got Rocky to sit still for his portrait today. Isn't he adorable?

Whickedy Whack for the Soul

Here's a little quiz Y tagged me for:

2 moments in your life you'd like to erase:
1. Falling during the Wyoming State of the State address in front of Iraq war veterans.
2. I'm sure there are many, many more. I just try really hard to block moments like that out and now I can't remember any.

4 moments you'd like to relive:
1. MU-KU football game my first year of grad school. It was awesome.
2. Hanging out with Emily, Shannon, Ia, Cassandra and Luke at SMS.
3. Going to the White House press room.
4. Partying with friends in Kansas.

2 places you wouldn't go to/go to again:
1. The transient motel I stayed at in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Actually all of Cheyenne, Wyoming, period.
2. Lambert's in Ozark. My stomach would be upset for days.

4 places you can't wait to visit/visit again:
1. London. I've got to spend more time in the British Museum and Westminster Abbey.
2. The Louvre. Each time I went the line was too long to get in.
3. Aruba. Hopefully I won't get abducted.
4. Lawrence. Rock Chalk!!!

2 foods you can't stand:
1. This is a hard one. I basically like everything. Funnel cakes (they're so sugary they give me headaches.)
2. Dark meat chicken. Uck.

4 foods you love:
1. Strawberries.
2. Indian food. Any of it.
3. Andy's frozen custard
4. Seafood (salmon, shrimp and crab are at the top of the list)

2 songs that make you change the station:
1."Honky Tonk Badonkadonk." Yes, I'm in the country now.
2. "Shake your bon bon"

4 songs you play over and over:
1. "I Like the Way" by Bodyrockers. It makes me want to dance.
2. "Ruby Blue" by Roisin Murphy.
3. "Proud Mary" by Tina Turner. Also makes me want to dance.
4. "When the Stars go Blue" by Tim McGraw.

2 books you'd never finish/read again:
1. Most of the books I had to read for grad school. That's more than 2.
2.

4 books you have read more than once, and/or will read again:
1. Pride and Prejudice.
2. To Kill a Mockingbird.
3. Catch 22.
4. America the book. Hilarious.

I'm supposed to tag someone: Staci...now that you're done at KU I know you have the time for this!!!

PUG FEST!!!

I went to the first annual Helena Pug Fest today. Pugs are so freaking cute. And they really seem like good dogs. There were probably 50 or so pugs at the fest and I only heard a few of them bark. I think they're starting a "pug club" here. How cool is that? Even though this is a small town, they do some interesting stuff.

I've kind of been obsessing about dogs lately. I think with moving around so much I need a friend and the idea of coming home to someone always happy to see me would be awesome!!! But I'm very reluctant to get one because I don't want to be one of those bad dog owners who doesn't have time to take care of their pet. Dogs are a huge responsibility (almost like children) and I don't think I can handle that yet. But once I do decide to break down and get one, pugs will definitely be on my list now!!!

More pics!!!

Rocky.

My landlords have the most adorable bernese mountain dog named Rocky. He's HUGE!!! This isn't a picture of him -- I never seem to have my camera when he's outside -- but this gives you a good idea. He's just the sweetest, most calm, wonderful dog. And he used to be a show dog, so he's so well behaved and shiney. I want to get a dog, but I'm not sure if I can take care of one. But, oh how I love Rocky.

Heat Wave

You know what's awesome about a heat wave? Not being in it. It's in the 70's here. Just beautiful. :-)

They're/there/their

I was just reading over some of my recent posts and noticed I've been having a lot of they're/there/their problems. Yikes!!! That was one of my biggest issues in high school writing classes. I thought I had them conquered, but it appears not. How embarrassing!!

One of my favorite pics...

I took this in Australia last year. I kind of forgot about it until I was going through and deleting pics... It was such a beautiful scene.

My view!!

This is the view from my apartment. Pretty, huh? I like the mountains and want to go climb Mount Helena, which is right behind my place (can't see it in this pic, sorry.) But it has been super hot here, so I think I'll wait until things cool down a bit. Being in an upstairs apartment with no a/c during 90 degree heat is no fun :-(

This place is definitely better than the transient hotel in Cheyenne. Much better. I know you all miss hearing stories about that place though :-)

Stop Signs.

What is the deal about no stop signs in residential areas? I never really experienced that in Missouri or Kansas, but out west there everywhere. So you're traveling along and then another car is coming the other way and nobody knows what to do. I'm really impressed there haven't been more wrecks. It's very strange.

Social Capital

To all you KU-ers oout there that read the “Nest,” I know we’ve all heard up to our eyeballs about social capital. Well, I’ve been thinking a lot about the subject lately. I have good news. Social capital does still exist. Not everyone is “bowling alone” in America. For example, people in Helena know their neighbors. They come over for dinner, they chat on walks. You really can’t be mean to anyone (i.e. flip someone off who cut you off) because you might work with that person. Or maybe it’s your neighbor’s sister. Living in a small town means you have to be more civil. In large cities, it’s easy to cut someone off, push them, slam a door in his/her face. The likelihood of seeing that person you did the bad deed to is very small. Of course, what goes around comes around, as they say.

But, yes, more people are out walking dogs and talking to people here than watching television or surfing the web. Or at least that is what appears to be happening. I thought that was some good news I’d share.

More pretty house photos

Here are some more pictures of mansions. Once I find out some history on them, I'll share. Wildfires are getting pretty bad out here. There more near Billings, but still pretty scary.

Mansion District

Helena was founded as a gold rush town. So there are just some amazing old mansions around here. I actually live in the "mansion district." I took a couple pictures while out on a walk the other day, but there are many, many more. I'll go out and take some more pics soon. I think some of these houses are just beautiful.









This is the view from my apartment. You can kind of see the mountains in the background. It's actually a pretty cool view. The photo doesn't do it justice.

WHO wants some spinach artichoke dip?

This entry is a shout-out to my friend Heidi. While I was in Kansas City last month, Heidi and I went to eat at an Italian restaurant in the new mammoth shopping center by the Kansas Speedway. We ordered spinach artichoke dip and when the waiter brought it to us he held it up and said, "WHO wants some spinach-artichoke dip?" Like he wouldn't give it to us unless we said "Me! Me!" Heidi and I just kind of stared at him. Uh, we do, since we ordered it and all...

He kept doing it throughout the meal. WHO wants some ice tea? WHO wants some bread? WHO wants some Diet Coke? Heidi and I were absolutely cracking up about it. I think the dude overheard us making fun of him and gave us the evil eye. But, come on, we're not five-year-olds. Oh, it was hilarious.

In Helena

I made it to Helena last week, but haven't been able to post because Bresnan is taking FOREVER to connect cable/internet at my place. Good thing Helena has a couple cool coffee shops with wireless. Without them and work, I would feel completely shut off from the world!

Helena is nice. It's surrounded by mountains and has a nice little arts scene. I'll post some pictures once I get the internet up and conencted at my apartment.

North Carolina! Go on and raise up!!!

I went last weekend to visit my friend Lisa in Raleigh, N.C. We toured Duke, UNC and took a nice trip to Wilmington to see the beach (and so I could see the hometown of my most favorite, favorite basketball player of all time -- even Dwayne Wade could not overtake him in my heart I don't think -- Michael Jordan.)

OK, quick thoughts.
*Cameron Indoor Stadium (Duke's home court) is TINY!!! It reminded me of a high school gym. But I can imagine how loud and intimidating that place can get with screaming fans right on your back. It looks much bigger on TV, I suppose. They were having a high school graduation when we were there (see pic.)



*Duke is really just a small liberal arts college that has built up a prestigious name. The campus is quite small and kind of reminded me of Drury in Springfield. It does have a giant (and gorgeous) chapel in the middle of campus and medical and law schools though.

*UNC has a really nice campus and Chapel Hill is a neat place. But KU and Lawrence are still better :-)

*It's nice to be around southern hospitality. If someone runs into you in a store, they say "excuse me." Men let women eat first and open doors. It was a little weird for me...

*Sweet tea is yummy. But too much of it can just give you a headache.

*The Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill area is much larger than I thought it would be (it's quite spread out and the population is just under a million.) I'm not sure why I thought it'd be smaller -- I guess I was just expecting small college towns or something. You don't think you're in an urban area most of the time because of all the trees that line the highways. But then you see some crazy driving and you remember you're in a place with a lot of people (some of which are absolutely NUTS and don't know how to drive.)

A few more photos

I've been having some difficulty posting multiple photos. The text isn't wrapping properly. But here are a few more photos from my trip out west.


In Teton National Park.


At the Crazy Horse memorial in South Dakota (it's close to Mt. Rushmore.) Only a little bit of the actually memorial is finished on the mountain right now, but the statue in the front is what it's supposed to look like. They started the project more than 50 years ago, but haven't gotten too far yet.


At Grand Teton National Park.


Where Custer made his last stand.

Trip continued...

I made it to Chicago today, which means I have enough bandwidth to finally post some more pics.
Old Faithful was cool, but not as tall as I thought it would be.













Mom and Dad at Devil's Tower in northeast Wyoming. Close Encounters of the Third Kind was shot at Devil's Tower. It's a natural formation and I don't think the picture does justice to how big and cool it is.









Teddy Roosevelt got gypped, I think. He's in the back of the sculpture and you don't notice him as much as the others. You can see George Washington from far away. He sticks out more than the others and his collars are included. None of the others have collars. I also thought it was funny that Lincoln had no ears. Did Borglum get tired? One thing about Mt. Rushmore I didn't know: The idea came about because a local leader wanted to bring tourists to the area. His first idea was a sculpture of western heroes, like Lewis and Clark, Buffalo Bill, etc. The idea that it came about to be a "tourist draw" kind of weakened it for me. Part of the town around the mountain reminded me of Branson.

They're partying it up in Hell

6-6-06. Oh boy.

From Jackson, Wyo.

More pics!
Even though it's been snowing and cold, Jackson has been awesome. The Tetons are breath taking. Literally. My breathing stopped when I first saw them (but then again, maybe that's the altitude...) My dad and I went on the Jackson Hole Tram, which is being retired at the end of this season, to the top of Rendevous Mountain today. We were about 10,000 feet up, I think. Most of the view was in the clouds, but you could see out in certain spots. I was a little woosey on the tram ride up, but it wasn't too bad. Jackson is definitely a touristy place, but the locals seem really eccentric and interesting. Houses are extremely expensive, but given the views, I can understand.

No Dick Cheney sightings (*sigh*) He's supposedly at his Jackson-area house for the weekend. No Secret Service sightings either. Maybe he and Lynn cut their trip back to Wyoming short. Good thing he ran Haliburton for awhile--I'm not sure how many politicians could afford to live here.

Da Vinci Code comments, etc.

So I went and saw The Da Vinci Code. It was a couple days ago, but this is the first chance I’ve had to write about it. I liked it. I don’t know why all the critics seemed so turned off by it. It was slow in a couple places, but overall, I was entertained (but that doesn’t really take much these days.) It was fairly accurate to the book. There were a couple things that bothered me – like how Langdon was interrupted by police in the middle of his lecture at the beginning. In the book there was a good sequence of him sleeping at the Ritz and ignoring police calls. I liked that scene because it personalized him more. And I still don’t really like the casting of Tom Hanks as Langdon. He’s just not what I pictured Langdon would look like or act like. And, maybe my memory is just going, but I don’t remember the sequence about young Langdon falling down a well in the book. Maybe I just missed that part…

You know, the story is female empowering, I think. Maybe that’s why I liked it. Obviously it’s just fiction, but the idea of a vast conspiracy to oppress women for centuries doesn’t seem that far off base to me. It did happen, you know. Of course, I’m simplifying the story line severely.

Anywho. Good movie. Made a lot of money. It showed those critics and religious protesters what it was made of, eh?

This is my last week in Cheyenne. I’ve got to say, I’m quite happy to get out of here (you would have NEVER guessed that from my previous blog entries, right?) Getting out of the hotel will be the best part. I never realized how much I like having “my stuff.” My parents are coming on Friday and we’re going to take off for Jackson and Yellowstone on Saturday. It’s Memorial Day weekend, but I’m hoping there’s not TOO many people at the parks. I’m really excited to see the Grand Tetons and Old Faithful. I think this is the reward for coming out here – if I hadn’t come here, I probably never would have gone to see these cool places. Yes, I feel better now. After Yellowstone, we’re going to head up to Helena to do some apartment hunting. I hope I can find a good place. Since I’m going to be there a little longer than I was in Cheyenne, I’m hoping to avoid a hotel. I think I can probably get a short-term lease on an apartment, but we’ll have to see.

After Helena, I want to swing back around northeast Wyoming and go see Devil’s Tower (where Close Encounters of the Third Kind was shot.) I wanted to see it on my trip to Gillette, but the blizzard kind of ruined things. I’m also hoping we can swing over to South Dakota to see Mount Rushmore. That’s something I’ve always wanted to see and we won’t be too far away.

I think we’ll leave my car in Cheyenne, so after coming back I’m going to take off for Chicago. I may stop off in Lawrence because I really want to see some friends. Oh, I’m so excited about this road trip!!! It’s so great to get away. Only three more days left!

Isn't this an awesome picture?

It was published in the Powell paper today. The photog has got to be brave getting that close to a grizzly. But the picture sure turned out cool.

I got another story on a national wire--this one went out on the financial wire and is about bentonite. It's intriguing stuff I tell you!!!

hotel... driving... me... INSANE!

OK, this hotel I’m staying at is starting to drive me crazy. For the last few weeks, there’s consistently been a car parked in the fire lane, making it extremely difficult to get out of the driveway. It seems I have to Austin Powers my way out of a parking lot just about every day. In most places, when a car is blocking the driveway by parking in a designated fire lane, they’re towed. Right? Makes sense. But no, not here. It’s Wyoming—you can park anywhere and everywhere. We don’t need no stinkin’ parking rules. If there was a fire, a fire truck couldn’t get in. Which is starting to really concern me because everywhere I turn I see someone smoking. The people next door were doing it in their room, so the smoke was escaping underneath the door between our two rooms, totally stinking up my room (which, by the way, is supposed to be non-smoking.) Hello, people, wake up. Smoking is disgusting. And it kills people. I think I’d like it here a lot more if I wasn’t staying at this place... It’s really going to make me appreciate having “a home” in the future. Every time I come back from going someplace the old men painting the building are out on the balcony blasting music ... and staring at me like I’m a foreign creature. It’s really starting to freak me out. Shouldn't they be working? Only 19 days left!!!

Denver is super cool. Plus, Cinco de Mayo fun!!!

I went to Denver today. It was sooooo cool (but, then again, I’ve been big city starved for awhile here…) I think I lucked out. I remembered hearing something on TV about how Denver has the world’s largest Cinco de Mayo celebration. Since May 5 was Friday, I thought I’d missed it. But I guess they celebrate all weekend. So I kind of stumbled upon this giant Cinco de Mayo celebration. I had some wonderful Mexican food and a great opportunity to people watch. I didn’t see any “backlash” against the immigration boycotts that I’d been hearing about on TV. One thing I thought was interesting—the Navy had a HUGE presence at this thing. Giving out all kinds of free stuff, having Navy seals sky dive in, etc. Trying to recruit some not-exactly-legal residents possibly? That’s just my cynical mind at work, I guess.

For pics of the trip, go here.

Downtown Denver (especially the 16th street mall) is SO COOL. And what kind of surprised me was how clean it was. No trash, clean air, no graffiti, etc. The city provides free public transportation up and down the mall and all the buses are hybrids. No diesel stinking the place up-—which was really nice. The weather was really great, the shops were cool and the people were fairly nice. There are some really cool condos near Coors Field. That would be such a great place to live. Right close to baseball, restaurants, bars, shops and a 30 minute drive to the mountains – what more do you need? Too bad the Denver Post is buying out its employees right now. Ironically the Denver Post-Rocky Mountain News building (I think they're owned by the same company now) is right across the street from the state Capitol, which was where all the Cinco de Mayo celebrations were taking place. The newspapers have really nice, big buildings. One was at least 20 stories high, the other was probably around 12-15. They were doing construction on part. I'm guessing the newspapers rent out a big chunk of the space, but should they really be doing all this construction on an already really nice looking building when they can’t afford to pay their employees? I’m sure there's MUCH more that goes into that – but it kind of struck me.

My friend Madinah and Dan were thinking about moving to Denver. I don’t think they are going to now, but I definitely give it two thumbs up!!

Mountains

I went to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park with my friend Jennifer today. It was gorgeous. We went hiking for a while and then it starting looking like rain so we turned around. Colorado is really beautiful. I can’t imagine what it would be look to live in Fort Collins, Loveland, Boulder or Denver and be so close. There are such great views. I guess people probably get used to it and don’t treasure it enough. They get busy with other things. But I thought it was super cool. I may try to make it back out there again before I leave. And to top of the trip, we stopped in Fort Collins for Indian food. Yum. It’s so sad Cheyenne doesn’t have an Indian food restaurant.

To see more pictures from the trip, go here.

I had two stories published this week that I was kind of proud of. They were both interesting to report and write. Both went out on the west wire (not the national wire,) but I liked them. One is about Michigan workers coming to Wyoming because the Michigan economy is not so hot. The other one I wrote Friday. It’s about an increase in fees to film in the national parks.

I just got back from walking down to the coffee shop down the street that has wireless. I thought it would be a faster place to upload my photos from today’s trip. It was closed, but as I was walking at least five people in cars stared at me. True, I was the only one walking. But this is a downtown area – made for walking. It’s always kind of bothered me in these mid-sized towns that if you go out to walk it means either your homeless or crazy. That’s how it was in Springfield. That’s how it was in certain parts of Lawrence. It’s just expected that you drive everywhere. That’s why we have an obesity problem in this country.

I’m excited. I think Grey’s Anatomy is new tonight!!! Yeah!

The Adams Family

I went to Madinah and Dan’s wedding this weekend. It was so much fun!!! Kansas is so green. The ceremony was held at Spring Hill Suites and then the reception was at the Lawrence Arts Center. The arts center was such a cool place to have the reception. Madinah’s family is so cool. It was nice seeing them again. Dan’s family seemed super cool too. I love Lawrence. It’s one of those things you think about when you leave a place—how much you miss it. I love all the hip shops and the unusual people. College towns are the best.

More pics from the wedding here.

www.flickr.com jennifercbyrd's Madinah and Dan's wedding photoset

Another one of my stories went on the “A” wire. Here's a link. It wasn’t picked up by as many sources as the Brokeback story, but still not bad. Pretty cool, actually.

So I went to Casper yesterday for a Wyoming Pipeline Authority meeting. The meeting was basically looking at why oil from the Rocky Mountain area is priced so much lower than the world price. They’re producing quite a bit of oil, but there’s not enough infrastructure to get it out. So after sitting through that extremely loooong meeting (full of white men--I only saw two women who were not reporters and no minorities,) I got in the car and listened to numerous public radio stories about high gas prices. It really seems like we have enough energy in this country—we just don’t know how to utilize it. There are so many possibilities – and things are starting to happen – but it’s not happening fast enough. Oh, and gas in Casper was only $2.55. Amazing. In Denver it’s over $3 a gallon. I know it’s a ton worse on the coasts.

Casper is fairly interesting. There’s a mountain range (or maybe they’re just large hills) directly to the south of town. The mountains were covered with snow and they were really pretty. And, of course, the drive was really nice. Not many people. Cool scenery. The only bad thing was all the construction. ;-(

Wide open spaces

I went to Gillette, Wyo., and Belle Fourche, S.D. on Monday and Tuesday. You know, Wyoming has some pretty cool scenery. Especially on I-25 between Gillette and Douglas. I took this picture from my rental car, so it's not too great. But I think you get the idea. The drive back was pretty rough because of all the snow. I made the mistake of thinking I could cut off some time by going through the Black Hills. Wow, big error. The road was extremely curvy. I was going up and down mountains. Mind you, this was all during blizzard-like conditions. The snow was literally blowing sideways. With 60 mph gusts. A couple times I had no visibility and thought I was going to be engulfed in a white cloud. It was pretty scary. I hit Lead, S.D., and got out to ask someone if the road was going to continue being curvy. She took one look at my rental car and said, "turn around." I guess the road ahead was even worse, so I turned around and headed back to Gillette. Good move. That drive was much better -- even if it took longer.

During the trip I interviewed these guys who just moved to Wyoming from Michigan because the economy stinks in Michigan (with all the auto layoffs and such...) I kind of felt bad for them, but most of them actually seemed to have wanted to move to Wyoming. They had different reasons -- always wanted to go west, wanted to get away from people (especially the Flint guys), etc. That's got to be a pretty tough transition though. They tried to act all tough, but I could tell the younger guys were homesick. Just like me. You live in one state your entire life and then you pack it all up and move someplace completely new. You know, this may sound conceited, but I'm really glad I went to school and have a college degree. Doing the type of work those guys do -- laying pipe, construction, working in the coal mines -- really does not sound like much fun. But they're making a good living and taking care of themselves. It's all about survival, one guy said. How true that is.

Over the weekend I went back to Springfield for Easter. It was a really short trip. I flew out of Denver on Saturday and was back Sunday. Springfield was so green. You really do start to miss trees out here. My uncle showed my brother and I all the tornado damage to his house. It was pretty bad, but did not even compare to some of the other houses. One looked completely normal from the front, but the entire back had been ripped off. It was sad because these were new, big, beautiful houses -- dream homes really -- that were just torn to shreds.

On a lighter note, Mike and I went camera shopping on Saturday and I got a new Canon SD600 elph. My old camera has been starting to die and since I was taking the trip to Gillette on Monday, I figured a new camera might be a good thing to have. The AP has no photographers for the entire state of Wyoming. So I need to take my own. A story usually does much better if it has some graphical/multimedia elements. I like the new camera. It's super quick and takes pretty good pictures for a point and click. I'm excited because I'm going to get to use it at Madinah's wedding this weekend. I can't wait. It's going to be a blast. It's really weird because I went on their first date. It was kind of double date, but things didn't work out between me and the guy I went with. But now Madinah and Dan are getting married. Amazing.

Ryan Howard

Ryan Howard, a guy I went to college with, is becoming a really well-known baseball player with the Philadelphia Phillies. I didn’t know him – I think I interviewed him once. But I definitely remember his name. This article, which was the lead story on ESPN.com the other day, totally took me by suprise. I wasn’t aware of it until reading this article, but he was named Rookie of the Year last year. Wow. Go fellow Bear!!!

I’m a little surprised nothing is going on with immigration in Wyoming. Hispanics are by far the largest minority in the state, but they’re still only at 6.4 percent. Of course, not all illegal immigrants are Hispanic or Latino, as Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez points out. I know there have been several protests in Colorado and I’m not surprised. I went down to Greeley this weekend and parts of it reminded me of Mexico. Lou Dobbs has been talking about immigration for at least the past two years. I remember writing a blog entry about him being completely OBSESSED with the topic. Well, he’s finally having his day now. He’s pretty much been on every CNN program during the past week—I’m getting a little sick of seeing him. It’s an important topic though. I think the only reason it’s coming up now however, sadly, is because of politics. It gives fuel to both the Republicans (keep them out, build a fence!!) and Democrats (come on now, that’s too extreme!!) This article about Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback interested me. It would be hard for him to come out too strongly against immigrants, given the many, many illegals work in rural Kansas. And the farmers and business owners want to keep them.

My friend Luke called me this weekend to make sure I was “doing OK.” He had been reading my blog and I guess might have been afraid I was suicidal or something. Things have been really negative on here lately, and I apologize. It seems the only way I can make myself feel better is to write about it. I was kind of surprised. I didn’t really think anyone was reading this, because no one comments. Blogs are really so narcissistic. I mean, really who cares about how many “saki bombs” my day was? I’m going to try to keep my Wyoming-hatin’ comments away from this blog now. It could be a lot worse—at least I’m a legal U.S. citizen. I have a lot to be thankful for.

MySpace.

I discovered that a coffee shop downtown has wireless. And it’s good wireless. It doesn’t come and go like my hotel’s wireless (which is soooo slow.) So I proceeded to sit there for, like, three hours and finally figured out MySpace. I signed up a while ago, but never had time to write more stuff on there, find friends or change my background. Of course, now I’m obsessed. I stayed up late working on my profile and finding old friends. It’s kind of cool you can catch up with people you haven’t seen for years through these Internet sites. Seriously, how did people survive pre-Internet? I don’t think I could do my job very well without it. You know how journalists used to keep treasured rolodexes with the names and numbers of all their sources? Yeah, my Rolodex is Google.

Anywho, despite my new obsession with MySpace I think I’m going to keep blogging here. I like Jbyrdie’s Nest and I feel like we’ve got some good history together.

So I saw a car today that I decided I should write about. It was just a regular gold Honda accord – nice car, I must say J – but it had all these bumper stickers all over it. A red, white and blue ribbon with “Freedom isn’t free.” A “Keep Christ in Christmas” sticker. A “Pro-Life” sticker. A “W: The President” sticker. And so on … you get the drift. While these stickers no longer surprise me – I am aware of the fact that I’m no longer in liberal Lawrence but in reddest of all red Wyoming – I was just kind of taken aback by this vehicle. I mean, why so many stickers? Plus, pretty much everyone in this town agrees with his point of view. I guess he felt he had to make a statement. Of course, I’m assuming the driver was a “he.” When I drove by and tried to look in, the windows were tinted so much you couldn’t see a driver. Perhaps he doesn’t want to be known as the guy with all the conservative bumper stickers? It was just weird.

Click my heels...

I went back to Kansas this weekend for my friend Madinah's bachelorette party. We had a blast!!! I miss those girls. It was hard to leave. It's always so great to see friends. Life is hard, friends get you through it.

The party didn't get too crazy ... no strippers unfortunately. :-( Come on, what's a bachelorette party without strippers? Madinah did get up on a table and danced, which was hilarious. The college boys started giving her dollar bills. Kinnard and I were so pissed we didn't have a camera to document it. I'm so happy for Dan and Madinah--it's great to see people happy together.

I got back to Wyoming not too long ago and have to go back to reality tomorrow. Ugh. Why can't life just be a constant party? That's what I want to know...

More pictures here!!!

Jenny Byrd: Eat. Drink. Be Lazy.

Went to Boulder today with Staci and Bryan. It was a blast, but the drive back to Cheyenne was kind of rough. Will it ever stop snowing? Loved Lazy Dogs bar. I think I picked up a new life motto.

More photos here.

Dick. Cheney.

A pic of Air Force 2. In other news, it's -16 degrees here right now. No kidding. It was a very, very, very frigid day. My fingers felt like ice cubes ready to break off. It was so cold, Dick Cheney's shot gun must have froze!!! Haha. OK, enough with the gun jokes...

I saw him get off and get back on the plane. That was about it. There weren't many people at the airport to great him because it was so darn cold. But it was an exciting day.

Hooker boots.

I saw four women wearing hooker boots at the Capitol today. They're really not that bad. A lot of women wear them (you know, the black leather boots that come up to your knees). Maybe I should stop referring to them as "hooker boots." I don't have a pair. But I've heard they're warm. They're probably a good idea for out here since it's so freakin' cold!

Grammy's. Stories.

I'm disappointed Kanye didn't win best record. Come on, Boulevard of Broken Dreams has been out forever, right? Wasn't that song in last year's list? I guess not, but whatever.

Oh yeah, I've had some more stories published. None of them got the play my first story did (I think I was just luckly on that one,) but if you want to read them, here are some links:
UW license plates
State Rodeo
Governor
Legislator who blogs

Rock Chalk!!!

KU beat Oklahoma today! It was an awesome game. Rock Chalk Jayhawk!!!

Pics.

I promised some pics! I couldn't quite get them up on this blog (my connection is too slow). I did make a "Wyoming" album here.

Creepy People.

This hotel is full of some pretty creepy people. Around the corner is a room full of Indian guys who always have their door open when I walk by. Usually there’s one of them smoking outside, putting his ashes into a plastic cup. It’s kind of weird.

The other night someone started blasting Metallica at 2 a.m. I thought about getting up but decided to just fall back asleep. I haven't had this much fun since the dorms. My room's kind of ghetto. The thermostat doesn’t work so I have to manually turn the heat on and off. The shower curtain WILL NOT stay in the right place when I take a shower. Oh, it’s annoying.

OK, enough ranting. Things are really not too bad. And when I get really pissed, I just think “it’s only three months, it’s only three months…”

In other news, Smallville was really good tonight. I had to call my Smallville-buddy (you know who you are!) and discuss. I was really sad Jonathan Kent died, but it was kind of predicatable. We knew he was having heart problems. There were all kinds of foreshadowing hints lately. I wasn’t really surprised Lana died at the beginning, considering Clark told here everything about him. But I didn’t think she’d stay dead long…she’s too big of a character. OK, I’m a dork who has parasocial relationships. But I’m in Wyoming people!!! TV is all I have!!!!

Military.

I’m guessing on this, but I think nearly half of all the people in Cheyenne are somehow connected to the military. I see Department of Defense stickers everywhere. Camouflage, uniforms and “support the troops” signs are everywhere. There is a large Air Force base, which explains this presence. But I don’t think I’ve lived anywhere with such a large military presence before. If the base left, this town would come close to dying, I think.

The girl at the bank who helped me set up a checking account—her husband is in the military. The girl who helped me at Wal-Mart (more on that later)—her husband is in Iraq. The girl at the gym—yep, husband is military. Most of these women are younger than me. Meeting these people really makes the Iraq war seem more real. I’ve been in a bubble most of my life with very little contact with people in the military. They’re all nice and I almost feel sorry for them. Many of them are far away from home and would not be here if it weren’t for the military.

Oh yes, Wal-Mart. It’s weird living in a town with a SuperCenter again. It’s basically the only place to shop. After living in Lawrence for 2 1/2 years I became accustomed to SuperTarget and shopping at many non-chain stores. SuperCenters are in a class by themselves. They’re just simply HUGE! And there’s stuff everywhere. The new thing (compared to when I used to go them in Springfield) is that you can order McDonald’s at the checkout line. Hello, obesity! There are some pluses to SuperCenters. The main one is that you can get everything you possibly could ever want for a cheap price. But the amount of stuff also makes them severely annoying. I walked up and down a million aisles this evening trying to find forks. And the people with “the May I help you” on the back of their jackets really aren’t that helpful. Maybe it’s because they’re not getting their healthcare paid, being sexually harassed and being forced to stay after their shifts are over. I guess that’s the “liberal” coming out in me.

I’ve been listening to Fox News. I don’t really know why. I guess it's because I think it’s important to listen to what everyone has to say. Oh, yeah, also because I'm in a REALLY red state and it's on a bunch of the radio stations and always on TV when I'm going around and about. Bill O’Reilly was talking about journalism schools this morning. He basically called them places for liberal indoctrination. His main argument was that when you ask a journalism student what they want to do, they answer, “I want to change the world.” Well, that’s not your job, Mr. O’Reilly says. I don’t think journalists can necessarily change the world, but you definitely have to have some kind of drive. It’s not an easy profession. You’re going to get yelled at from a variety of different angles. You’ve got to have tough skin. Oh, and you don’t get paid very much. So something’s go to motivate you. I think at first it is that desire to really be involved in what’s going on in the world. Is that really such a bad thing? Should journalists just be completely apathetic? If Mr. O’Reilly considers himself a journalist, isn’t what he’s doing is “trying to change the world”? He would never admit to that. Just say that he’s being “fair and balanced” and telling the truth. But anyone with half a brain can tell O’Reilly is also trying to change the world.

In other news, I think I may have pink eye. It’s that or my allergies are severely acting up. My left eye feels like it has glass in it. I keep picking at it, which is just making it more red and puffy. I went and got some eye drops tonight (found those relatively easy at Wally World), so hopefully they’ll help.

10 minutes or less

The nicest thing about Cheyenne is that you can get pretty much everywhere in 10 minutes or less. The roads are good and I haven't been stuck in a traffic jam once! This least-populated state in the country thing definitely has some advantages.

Trucks

This town is full of trucks. A lot of big, loud trucks. I thought there were a lot of trucks in Springfield, but it doesn't really compare. It's especially annoying when they drive up and down the street outside my hotel. Jeez...shut up people!!!

Made it!!!

After a nice snowstorm and eight hours of driving (at least) I finally made it to Wyoming. I took off from Topeka at 7:45 a.m. and arrived around 5 p.m. (CST). As soon as I made it to Colorado the weather cleared, which made the drive much easier. As I approached the Rockies, the scenery was beautiful. There was a light dusting of snow and I kind of felt like I was in one of those Coors beer commercials. I just kept imagining Pete Coors sitting in a rocking chair on the side of the road.

The toll road around Denver was weird. I had to stop three times to pay $2 (definitely higher tolls than Kansas). Couldn't they just ask for $6 at the end? Oh well. Above is a picture of the semi-seedy hotel I'm staying at. Really, it's not too bad. The wireless Internet, cable and heat work--so I'm happy. Plus, the bed is comfy. I haven't taken a shower yet though...

Everyone has been (in the words of Sam Alito) "super-duper" nice so far. I'm excited to look around some more tomorrow and Sunday before starting work Monday. I'll try to post some pictures tomorrow.

Happy 2006!!!

2005 hasn't been a great year. It started with a devastating tsunami, several people died in the London bombings, hurricanes killed hundreds and shamed the entire nation. Problems in Iraq worsened. On a personal level, I left Washington D.C.--a place I love--at the end of 2004 and have spent 2005 mainly in Kansas. I ran into several problems trying to finish up grad school and had a couple mental break downs. But I'm confident 2006 is going to be better. As I sit surrounded by boxes in my apartment, all I can think of are all the great people I've met in the past 2 1/2 years. I'm going to miss my friends in Kansas (I'm getting ready to move to Wyoming.) And I've come to this grand life conclusion: No matter where you are or what you're doing, it's the people who matter. I'm so grateful for everyone in my life. No matter how bad or good things get, we (as human beings) have to remember to always look out for each other. Kindness is what matters.

I love puppies

Aren't these little guys cute? They're from a NYTimes story about dog products.

Kansas is not crazy...

...But these people are.

They'll be voted out soon and then we'll go back to the old standards. It's just this stupid back-and-forth that makes the state look moronic.

People in Lawrence don't seem to be like the rest of Kansas. At least the educated crowd are pissed off by this. That's good.

I love when this happens.

Thesis in!

I turned the final draft of my thesis in on Friday! I still have to go through the defense and I'm sure I'll have to make some changes, but it's still a great feeling. I think it turned out OK. I've lost a lot of the excitement I first had for the project, but hopefully I did well enough to get the heck out of here!!

Yeah!!!!

Scalito

I haven't had a chance to read everything about Alito, but I am really disappointed Bush nominated another white man. How disappointing. And, of course, he's Princeton/Yale. What an old boys club. How annoying it is to us who are "out of the club."

I think I would have been happier with a more conservative woman or minority. Maybe that's superficial and wrong, but that's the way I feel.

"We have lost hope"

I'm watching C-SPAN and David Gergen is chairing a panel on "Leadership in America." It's based on research done by U.S. News and World Reports. Howard Schultz, the chairman of Starbucks, just said the "chasm" between the haves and have-nots is so large in this country that most of the have nots "have lost hope." Jeff Canada mentioned that the government is spending $29,000 (I think a year, I could be wrong though...) to keep people in jail. But if he went and asked for $29,000 a year to help poor children, people looked at him like he's crazy. He cited a studying about how scientists used to drop rats in water to study their resiliency. Wanting to find what characteristics the rats that fought to survive had. His reaction was, "why are we dropping rats in water." That's the same thing we're doing with poor children. Dropping them in water and making it very hard for them to survive.

A lot of this panel echoed a lot of what Richard Harwood is looking at. The panel started by giving results of a survey that said most Americans do not trust leaders in general. It's scary. I don't think things are hopeless, but things need to change. But I guess this is what democracy is all about--discussing things and trying to make the world better.

Howard Schultz in interesting. He grew up very poor and is new chairman of one of the largest companies in the world. Read more about him here.

Naples Web site

Rob Curley left the Lawrence Journal-World and has taken over at the Naples (Fla.) newspaper. I think the Hurricane Wilma coverage shows the willingness of the newspaper to move to convergence. I think this is the future of journalism. But, more importantly, it is just pretty cool to look at. I love well put together news Web sites. They make me happy.

This makes me furious

According to this article, the only abortion clinic in my hometown, Springfield (Mo.), has shut down. This makes me very, very angry. I don't "endorse" abortions, but a woman should be able to get one if she so chooses. I just don't like people imposing their opinions on others this way. The doctors who perform them in Springfield are scared. And scaring doctors is just plain stupid.

The Right to Life guy said, "demand obviously is not enough for them to weather the storm." But the clinic did 1,500 procedures a year. I'd call that demand.

This type of thing is making it really easy for me to make the decision to never move home. I basically want to move as far from the Bible Belt as I possibly can. I can't believe it. What's wrong with these people? The last time I checked, abortion was still legal in this country.

You know, with education and birth control we probably wouldn't even need abortions. But these religious people are so nutty they don't support either of those options either. People are going to have sex. If they don't use birth control, the woman may get pregnant. The woman may not want to be pregnant. Nobody should decide what happens with that woman's body other than that woman. I don't like abortions. I would probably never have one. But they need to be an option. Now, the crazies in SW Missouri are going to require scared, young women to drive at least four hours to do something that is every bit their right. This is a bad topic. I don't usually like to write or talk about it. But this story made me mad.

DeLay's mug shot

Is it just me, or does Tom DeLay look way too happy in this mug shot?

I guess he's trying to look defiant and confident in his innocence, but do you really want to flash a 100-watt smile at a booking?

Harriet Miers Take 2

OK, last week I wrote that it was "intellectual snobbery" that was bashing Harriet Miers. I may have to take that back. She's not been very forthright. And this 'she'll vote the way the President wants her to' is really annoying.

She needs to talk a little bit more I think.

Loneliness

Rich Harwood come spoke to our class a couple of weeks ago. He said some very interesting things that I've been ruminating over.

We have built up barriers to other people and most of us are now very lonely.

I was just out walking/jogging near my apartment. While I was walking I noticed a couple of things. A) Even though it was an absolutely beautiful day, I was the only one out walking. B) In most of the cars that passed me, there was only one passenger. Other than the concern of mine about people wasting gas, I started to think about the barriers we have built. Nobody walks places in American suburbia. There's really not much to see. Cookie-cutter houses. Cars that smell bad. Safety issues. Cars will run you over because the drivers are not used to seeing people actually out walking.

I talked to a friend of mine last night. She grew up in a large European city. The first day she came to America (a mid-size Midwest town) she went for a walk wanting to explore her new home. In the process, she had two or three people ask her if she needed a ride and a lot of strange looks. People just don't walk in that town. They drive everywhere.

Not only do people drive around by themselves (adding to the isolation), the likelihood they would actually bump into someone and have a conversation with one of the fellow frantic drivers is very small. People are not longer people. They're a green Taurus. A red BMW. A smelly old Ford truck.

Maybe as more and more people populate this earth (last count was over six billion,) we will continue to find ways to isolate ourselves. But I don't know how good that is for our psyche.

Harwood spoke about Americans not trusting or knowing their neighbors. About watching television 14 hours a day. In our lives, it's normal not to actually talk with another person. But this lack of human interaction is not satisfying. They are unhappy. People don't trust other people. They don't trust media. They don't trust government. Maybe it's because we've grouped institutions of people together to make them larger than they actually are, and forgot that we're all just humans.

Harriet Miers

OK, I don't have a real strong opinion on whether Harriet Miers should be confirmed or not, but what I do see is intellectual snobbery running amuck. She didn't go to Harvard. OH NO!!! There's no way a person who worked hard, didn't have thousands of dollars to spend on an Ivy league education, and showed up for work every day could EVER become a Supreme Court justice. Ninety percent of this country did not go to an Ivy League school. Should people who didn't go to one of these schools not be represented in government? SMU is not that shabby of a place. She has done well. She is obviously smart. She wouldn't be in the position she is now in if she was not gifted. Yes, being a Supreme Court justice is one of the most intellectually-challenging positions in the country. But, why can't someone who's not part of the "Ivy League gang" be one? It might be good to have someone "normal" on the Supreme Court. The founders never said anything about going to a particular school in setting prerequisites for our leaders. Abraham Lincoln never even went to college.

I look forward to her confirmation hearings. I think she'll impress (and surprise) several of the intellectual snobs.

Only Anderson understands!!!

I have this really nasty habit of biting my fingernails. I've tried everything to stop. My new thing is getting acrylic nails put on. They're kind of annoying. I have to go get them "filled in" about every two weeks because my nails grow fast. While they're very strong, I still sometimes want to bite them right off!! There's just something powerful about it. While I've always been ashamed of this habit, this Anderson Cooper piece made me feel better.

Oh my...

"You walk around it and you can't help but smile."

Conservatives are corrupting this great movie...

I loved the "March of the Penguins" movie. But conservatives are now taking the movie and using it for their own agendas. It makes me sick.

Cool blog

The owners of the Moxie Cinema in my hometown (Springfield, Mo.) are keeping a blog that shows the progress of the theater. It's actually a pretty cool blog.

Bad Science writing

From The Guardian

"There is one university PR department in London that I know fairly well - it's a small middle-class world after all - and I know that until recently, they had never employed a single science graduate. This is not uncommon. Science is done by scientists, who write it up. Then a press release is written by a non-scientist, who runs it by their non-scientist boss, who then sends it to journalists without a science education who try to convey difficult new ideas to an audience of either lay people, or more likely - since they'll be the ones interested in reading the stuff - people who know their way around a t-test a lot better than any of these intermediaries. Finally, it's edited by a whole team of people who don't understand it. You can be sure that at least one person in any given "science communication" chain is just juggling words about on a page, without having the first clue what they mean, pretending they've got a proper job, their pens all lined up neatly on the desk.

Of course a system like that will cock up. The proof is in Bad Science, every week. See you in Berlin.

· Bad Science will be continuing in the Guardian next week"