Hello peoples. It's been a little while but that's how goes the schizophrenic blur known as the college semester. Since I just managed to wrap up a five page art history paper, I figured I'd celebrate by dustin
g off this here blog. So far it'sbeen another whirlwind for Sue and I, but I, for one, have been
enjoying getting my hands dirty in drawing class
dusting off those extremely rusty skillz of mine.
First assignment: some drapes. Second: a still
life. Having never tried my luck with pastels
before, I was a little frustrated at first but things
came together somewhat. Of course, splashes of
mysterious color are turning up all over the
place: on the carpet in my room, on my bag, on my forehead without me noticing it until a few hours later. Good times.
This semester Sue was excited to get the chance to teach a one credit origami class, part of the
Freshmen Interest Groups, fun classes
designed to make the new students' first year more enjoyable. The origami class actually enjoyed the highest
enrollment out of all the classes included in the program. Go Sue!
Sue and I teamed up to contribute to High Tea, the yearly English-style tea event that the sisters at Newman throw. Sue recruited her origami class to help her make beautiful paper flower bouquets and assorted cranes and other animals for the table center pieces and I designed twenty unique table tents containing various fun facts about the history of tea.
This past weekend, Sue and I drove about an hour north of Kansas
City, a four plus hour drive from Wichita, to attend a Medievalist conference that Sue was presenting at. First of all, once you go more than an hour north of here, everything's covered in snow. While we get hit every once in a while, we are lucky enough to live just below the snow line. The conference was just over the boarder in Missouri, where the plains are folded into an almost repetitive undulation of hills. It was held at a Benedictine Monastery called Conception Abbey built in the 1870's. As we drove into the
night on ever more rural and isolated roads, I had to wonder why in the world they held this thing so far away from... everything. But when we came over that last rise
and saw the massive old buildings of the campus looming over the barren white landscape, I understood. It was an awesome sight and a peaceful place for contemplation...ya know, if that's your bag. And the fields surrounding it are dotted with giant wind-turbines, a cool view.
Though she was nervous, Sue presented her riddle, and fielded her questions like a pro. I sat in on part of the days activities and then it was time to cloister myself (get it, teehee) in the library and work on that friggin art history paper. It's a neat place, though.
We plan on staying there again sometime.
Geeze, so much happening I can't remember it
all...don't...know...what...day...it...is...
Well, anyhow, I'll finish with a little road trip I took back in January when Sue visited Nan and Pop for a week after
the holidays. The destination: Independence, Kansas, a little over an hour due east-southeast from Wichita. The purpose: to find the actual site of the Little House on the Prairie!
Come on, like you didn't watch that show throughout most of your childhood! How could I live an hour away and not check it out? So, more accurately, it's probably the site of Laura Ingalls' log cabin as
determined by the state of Kansas based on information in Ingalls' book, other records and archeological evidence. Local volunteers rebuilt the cabin based on the description from the book and ya know what? It's damn tiny. Imagine living on the windy plains in a cabin so small you have to hunch down so's not to bang your head. They built a post office and general store on the site as well. Anyway, it was interesting and Independence is a pretty nice small town too.
Sue and I will be visiting New York this summer, so stay tuned. We hope to see as many of youz as possible. Love you guys, we'll talk to you soon.
um...don't ask.
