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!