Boiling beneath the surface...

Work on my paper continues to go well. My committee and I met this past Thursday to discuss my progress thus far. The meeting was encouraging as I recieved a lot of positive feedback (Note: "positive feedback" is often absent from such meetings, so this was a blessing).

My advisor and I will meet this Monday to discuss Chapters 5 and 6. Her thoughts on Chapter 5 will say a lot as to where this whole thing is going from here.

Speaking of 'going'...

One of the topics brought up during my committee meeting was my placement for this coming fall. Late last summer, I was led to believe a position teaching geography in the UAE was mine for the taking. I'm beginning to realize it was not. Not only am I unlikely at this point to be placed within the UAE, I don't think I'll be teaching geography either and instead will most likely be teaching English.

I passed on several geography positions this spring because I believed this was a reality. Additionally, I have taught TEFL/ESL in the past and realized it was not a passion of mine by any stretch of the imagination. The situation is a bit frustrating and I find myself asking time and again, "How willing am I to serve?" I'm not sure there are any easy answers.

Tough question. Tough lesson.

Busy week?

Do you ever find yourself being incredibly busy and you have little to show for it? I'm not sure that makes sense, but it summarizes my past week. I've had a number of lunches, banquets, and meetings and yet, it hasn't overwhelmed me as I've enjoyed the time-off from my paper. There's been a number of things I could write about, but I'll just focus on one highlight: Lindsey and Sally's visit.

Sally is married to my cousin Stuart and they have two children: Nicolas (senior at Wichita State) and Lindsey (junior at Trinity HS). Yesterday, Lindsey and her mother decided to visit K-State on a school visit. I think Lindsey was just trying to get out of school for the day, but I didn't care. It was great!

For those of you who haven't visited Manhattan, trust me when I say K-State is a beautiful campus. We spent a couple hours walking around campus seeing where my department sits, where I work, etc, and, more importantly, getting caught up to speed on life's happenings. The visit made for a relaxing afternoon and I loved every minute of it.

Favorite moment: Hale Library. Upon entering a large room in the historic part of the library, one of Lindsey's friends remarked, "It's just like Beauty and the Beast!"

"Here lies Paul, and that's all"

There exists in the small town of Kelliher, Minnesota, a headstone which reads:

"Paul Bunyan
Born 1794
Died 1899
Here lies Paul, and that's all"

I would argue neither Paul nor his Blue Ox died. I, for one, believe that they live on. As retold in the 1958 Disney movie, Paul and Babe did not die; they simply moved north. As everyone knows, when gazing upon the northern lights, what we are really witnessing are the reflections of Paul and Babe wrestling and causing havoc on some distant, far-off land.

Chapter 6: Conclusion

DONE!

Legendary Landscapes: First Draft

DONE!

Istanbul (Not Constantinople)...

I must admit, sometimes my life just makes me laugh. Today, I found out I have been recruited to teach English at some university in Turkey for the month of June.

The funny thing about today's news is that I first heard about this from a number of people in the office who all seemed to know about my future plans. As the story goes, my supervisor decided some time ago that I was the man for the job. He just forgot to share that info with me (let alone ask).

I set up a meeting with him tomorrow and plan to let him know that I will not be available. I've been making a lot of progress on my paper of recent and would prefer to finish that first (no need to worry, Mom).

Still, the entire situation just made me laugh...my reputation as a nomad is such that people now just assume I won't mind leaving without notice.

HALF WAY HOME!!!

CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION...

DONE!

That's 5 out of 6! Last week, I met with my advisor and she thought I was about 60% done based on what I had turned in (chapters 1-4) and what I had completed on #5. I told myself I could say I was 50% done when I turned in Chapter 5. Didn't want it to go to my head.

A 40 page monster: DONE!

There are a number of revisisions I will need to do, but tonight, it feels good.

10 Things I Hate About You...

Cox Cable SUCKS!!! Cox Cable may advertise itself as "reliable, friendly service," but it has been my experience that it is anything but that.

TOP 5 REASONS COX CABLE SUCKS (I'd do a Top 10 list, but the system will likely crash before I complete typing it in):
5) Our Internet at home is down more often than not
4) "Cheap and Affordable"? Try "Expensive and Unrealiable"
3) Our cable TV at home can best be described as "SNAP, CRACKLE, AND POP!"
2) Digital Max...need I say more?!

...and the number one reason Cox Cable SUCKS!...

1) The post I had just written was completely lost because the Cox system crashed.

ugh.

Basically what I had wanted to share was that yesterday I was told I will not be traveling to Tajikistan this summer as a Fulbright Scholar. I've wanted to return to Central Asia to visit friends and host-families ever since I was evacuated 5 years ago. This seemed the perfect opportunity...an all-expense-paid-trip to conduct research on the land and people. But as odd as it may sound, I'm ok with the how things worked out. Really. I only wish I could apply such patience and understanding to Digital Max and his boys at Cox Communications.

When it's raining...

It's been raining all day, today. Quite nice, actually. Rain somehow has a way of slowing life down. I don't know if I would ever wish for the weather of the Pacific Northwest, but an occasional rainy day is a blessing.

I've been writing a lot of recent. I'm on Chapter 5: Discussion (5th chapter of 6 total). My progress has been encouraging of recent. I'm nearly two-thirds the way through and hope to finish this chapter sometime in the next couple of weeks.

Writing this paper has, if nothing else, taught me that writing goes in spurts. Not that I didn't know that already, but I don't think I've ever given a project the time and energy I have for this. Previously when I was working on a paper or project, a lack of progress was usually a matter of procrastination. That hasn't been the case with this one. For a while, it didn't seem to matter how much time or energy I put into my writing, the thoughts just wouldn't find a way of materializing in written form.

I'm at a coffehouse looking out the window as I type these words. Night is setting in. Soon the ripples in the water puddles that I've been watching will disappear from sight and I will begin typing again.

It's a relaxing thought knowing outside it is still raining.

Thank goodness for Budaj!

My Avs played their last game of the season earlier tonight. As I posted a couple of days ago, we needed to go 3-0-0 or 2-0-1 in our last three games to make the playoffs. Last night, as one writer put it, Forsberg broke our hearts for a second time having two assists in Nashville's 4-2 win (Forsberg had played for Colorado for a number of years and was very popular there). Had the Avs won, we would have been playing for the post season tonight against Calgary.

Last night, I went over to Brent and Jenni's and we played a board game which was a lot of fun (in part, because I won). It was really nice taking an evening off and just catching up with a couple of friends. But as soon as I got home, I rushed to my laptop to check the score...and was devastated.

Out of the playoffs for the first time since moving to Colorado.

There are a number of bright spots for the Avalanche this season. We set an NHL attendance record for consecutive sold-out games (487), set an NHL record for most points by a team not to make the playoffs (95), scored more goals than any other team in the Western Conference (272-tie with Nashville), Sakic scored 100 points this season, Stastny set an NHL rookie record with points in 20 consecutive games, Hejduk and Wolski had strong showings as did Budaj, and Coach Quenneville proved he's the man for the job leading the Avs on a late-season tear finishing 15-2-2 and setting a franchise record for the month of March (11-1-2).

Did I mention we won tonight, 6-3?!

GO AVS!!!

ps--Today, I proudly wore my Avs jersey for one last time this season.

Thank goodness for Hejduk!

My Avs did it again! They beat Vancouver 3-1 behind Hejduk's hat trick!

We still need to beat Nashville and Edmonton needs to beat Calgary Saturday. I can't remember the Battle for Alberta ever being so important to me...Go OILERS!

We're almost there...a Sunday night showdown is just around the corner!

GO AVS!

Thank goodness for Sakic!

My Avs are making a run! They are the hottest team in the NHL right now having gone 13-1-2 in their last 16 games. They need this. Basically, they must win out the remainder of their games to make the playoffs...@ Vancouver, Nashville, and Calgary.

If Calgary goes 0-2-0 or 0-1-1 in their next two games and we go 2-0-0 or 1-0-1, the final seed for the playoffs will come down to the final game of the season.

Hockey the way it was meant to be.

GO AVS!